Sunday Newsletter

Masses Today

6.30 (Vigil) Willie Fahey (Month's Mind).
11.00: Patrick & Winfred O'Connor, (Anniv).
6.30: John & Pauline Ryan, (Anniv).

As I Was Saying...

"Where were you when Kennedy was shot" was the most frequently asked question (FAQ!) of my generation. That tragic event, in Dallas on November 22nd 1963, achieved iconic status. The fact that Kennedy was Irish and Catholic, and that he had visited here a short time previously, intensified the shock for us. It was, literally, a defining moment in many of our lives: the smiling couple, the muffled shot, the jet of blood and brain tissue, the accelerating limousine, and death. Where we were, and what we were doing on that particular day became an ingredient in our selfunderstanding. The image itself gripped the imagination and stunned the world, admittedly in more innocent times.

September 11th, 2001 rendered the the fatal Dallas motorcade redundant. Instead we now ask, "Where were you on 9/11?" Five years ago tomorrow, two hijacked planes, with their horrified human cargo, were deliberately directed into the famous twin towers of the Word Trade Centre. They reduced the massive structures to rubble with mind-numbing ease. That smoking inferno remains the most graphic image of terror in every mind. On that day, about 3,000 people (including 343 fire-fighters) from 115 countries died in horrible circumstance. Some, literally, took their lives into their own hand and jumped to death, and freedom.

Globally, five years on, the scars of 9/11 remain. There is fear in the air and the world still constantly looks over its shoulder. Who ever heard of Osama bin Laden before 9/11? His face is now as familiar as the Pope.

For New Yorkers, 9/11 remains an intense part of everyday life. Recent studies show that thousands inhaled toxins that day and some will die as a result. In light of the Madrid and London bombings, as well as other foiled plots since 2001, fears of another attack are realistic rather than paranoid. Indeed, it is hard to spend time in any major city without being acutely aware that this is fragile and vulnerable, and that there are people who would happily die for the privilege of destroying it.

"Where were you on 9/11?" has become something of a social 'icebreaker'. "Where was God on 9/11?" has an uncomfortable theological edge to it, perhaps because the deed was done in Allah's name! We tend to forget that 9/11 created more heroes than villains. They came from diverse cultures, but on that day all were victims. From Pakistan, India, China and Nigeria, their stories are remarkably the same. A human being, not a nationality, saw strangers in need, and in many cases risked - and gave - their own life in order to save another. So, "Where was God on that fateful morning?" You must look no further than those selfless global heroes who spoke different languages, but shared a common humanity. In them was God.

-Dick Lyng

Events of Some Interest

St. Nicholas' Bread

Though the feast of Nicholas of Tolentine falls on September 10th, it will be celebrated this year on Monday 11th so as to avoid a clash with the Sunday liturgy. Nicholas (1245- 1305) was born in 1245 in Sant' Angelo, Italy. He came from a poor family and he joined the Augustinian Order in 1261 at the age of 16. Ten years later he was ordained to the priesthood, in 1271. He lived in several difference monasteries of the Order, engaged principally in the ministry of preaching, and visiting the sick and the poor. In 1275 he was sent to Tolentine and remained there for the rest of his life.

As a priest, he was renowned for three things in particular: (1) his effective preaching, (2) his great charity to the poor, and (3) his great devotion to the souls in Purgatory. His contemporaries regarded him as a saint.

There he died September 10, 1305. Canonized in 1446 by Pope Eugene IV, Nicholas is the first Augustinian to be so honoured. His body is preserved and venerated at the Shrine of Saint Nicholas in the city of Tolentine.

To keep alive the memory of his devotion to the poor, Saint Nicholas Bread is blessed and distributed annually in all Augustinian Churches. This custom will be observed here in the Augustinian in Galway at the 11.00 Mass tomorrow, Monday.

Auction in October

We met on Tuesday night last in connection with the forthcoming auction at Ross Castle on Sunday October 1st at 3.00pm, just three weeks from today. Again, we are sorely in need of volunteers at three levels:

  1. to solicit (and donate) material for the auction itself
  2. to promote the event in your area
  3. to help organise and expedite the event itself, such as assembling the material, organising its transport to Ross Castle, arranging for its display there.

Unfortunately, we are in no position to know the numbers we will need until we know the actual amount of stuff we have at our disposal, literally.

If you are prepared to help with the event, posters are available for you at the end of the church after Mass today. These are not just simply for straightforward promotion: the reverse side contains a list of items that are 'popular' at auctions such as this.

Simply give this poster to potential donors and point out to them the list on the back. So the poster is not simply for displaying in shop windows (though it may serve that purpose too, obviously.)

The following is a suggested list of desirable items: old furniture - in any condition; mirrors; paintings; objets d'arts; carpets; lamps; delft (and that is the correct spelling!); silver; copper; brass items; statuary; glass; fuel (coal, turf, etc); vouchers; all agricultural produce, and so on.

Obviously, this list is not an exhaustive one. But it will give you a rough idea of the stuff required. Be aware that this whole exercise is highly labour-intensive. Consequently, we need a big crowd at our next meeting on Tuesday next at 8.00.

Brian Cody: Defensor Fidei

Well, the inevitable happened on Sunday evening last. God had promised Kilkenny's hurling fundamentalists that heaven will be an eternity of days like these. In return they work feverishly in the fields proselytising for the game, nurturing the player crops of the future.

Redemption and renewal are articles of faith. And chief guardian of that Flame is manager, Brian Cody. Brian Cody was canonised by public acclamation and Papal Decree.

He fulfilled the three conditions laid down for Sainthood by the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints: (1) Candidate must have lived an exemplary lifestyle; (2) He must have been rigidly orthodox in doctrine and discipline; (3) He must have three verifiable miracles to his credit. The final miracle was supplied by Cody on Sunday. After that, canonisation was a 'shoo-in'.

Morning After Death

Morning after death
Silence up above
Crying across streets
Rubble and debris
Dust still aloft
Thousand dying screams
Empty table places
Empty morning beds
Hope against dark
Manhattan, Washington, America
If only, only, only.

-Edward Ruffin

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