Sunday Newsletter

Masses Today

6.30 (Vigil) Patrick & Nora Cunningham, (Anniv).
11.00: Con Daly, (Anniv).
6.30: Cawley family, R.I.P.

AS I WAS SAYING.....

Anger has had an ambiguous history in our religious tradition. The Old Testament had no hesitation in presenting God's anger as 'a blazing anger'; yet the Catholic tradition didn't hesitate to consistently present anger as on of the seven 'deadly sins', or 'capital sins' as the New Catechism calls them. (The seven are so categorised because 'they lead to other sins'.)

Anger then is a powerful emotion. And an ambiguous one too! In the long experience of humanity, it has driven individuals and nations to selflessly pursue justice for themselves and others. Anger is at its most creative when it is disciplined and has a focal point. The most obvious embodiment in our own day of such 'creative anger' has been Nelson Mandela. His 'anger' is so far removed from the unfocused, undisciplined anger of the hothead, the firebrand, the football hooligan, or the lynch mob.

Mandela's anger is the righteous anger of which the bible speaks, an anger constructively and unselfishly directed towards the improvement of the lot of humanity.

But not all anger is unselfish. There is an hysterical communal anger that can be manufactured, whipped up, manipulated and exploited. The tabloid journals are leading exponents in this field.

We saw a very good example of this 'manufactured rage' in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision to strike down a section of the 1935 Criminal Law Act. Its a complex area but a hypothetical case may clarify the central issues. If for instance, a 14-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy engaged in sexual intercourse, a possible consequence of such an act was that the boy could face life imprisonment while the girl could never be guilty of such a crime by virtue of the Act. This resulted in the "complete objectification of a whole group of a community - young men - and a disregard for their human and constitutional rights". The legislation was seriously flawed and as a consequence, was wholly contrary with the provisions of the Constitution which guarantee the right to a fair and proper trial.

Two popular broadcasters whipped up a 'Spontaneous Demonstration.' "No child is now safe from sexual predators!" the White Flower brigade screamed. When a few legal minds attempted to contradict this, the 'lynch mob' accused them of being 'uncaring'. My ability to care can only be gauged by the intensity of my anger! ('I am very angry; therefore I care very much!') The mob was now in 'emoting mode' and enjoying the freedom of the airwaves! So the government ran scared and rushed through emergency legislation that will return to haunt us.

The law has been laid down by 'Liveline', literally. We will live to rue it! And the White Flower mob will be out again, baying for the dismantling of the legal provision that was originally enacted to allay their anger. It's no way to run a country!

-Dick Lyng

Items of Interest

Reasons for Winning

Win it for the fans whose happiness will depend on it
Win it for Sven whose career may well end on it
Win it for the nurses and local authorities
Win it for the poor and ethnic minorities

Win it for the girl awaiting the operation
Win it for the firefighters racing back to the station
Win it for the late train and the overcrowded bus
Win it for granny who can't understand the fuss

Win it for prisoners banged up in their cells
Win it for couples in seedy motels
Win it for young mums pushing their buggies
Win it for saddoes, asbos and druggies

Win it for the dads who can't bear to lose
Win it for Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz
Win it for young Rooneys-in-the-playground, learning new tricks
Win it for old heroes at Wembley, the class of sixty-six

Win it for the ex-pats, all the fans overseas
Win it for the viewers at home. Please.
Win it for the ordinary man in the street.
But above all, win it for yourselves
You've got the world at your feet.

Reasons for winning. No pressure.

-Roger McGough.

Request for Support

You may recall that at the beginning of May we had a note from the Rev. Sahr Yambasu of the United Methodist & Presbyterian Church, Victoria Place in Galway. His Church is organising a Fund Raising Barbecue to support their work in Galway here. The planned event, a distant dot on the horizon when we were first notified, is now imminent. In fact it will take place in the Sports Grounds in College Road, on this day week, Sunday 18th June 2006 from 5.00pm -11.00pm.

Rev. Sahr Yambasu sent out the following 'distress signal' in early May: We are kindly asking for your support in this undertaking. We are aware that you have already been supporting our social work in the city through the Friendship Club. We count on your support for this event, praying and hoping that you'd give us your full support. We are finding it difficult at the moment to meet our financial needs and any help you'd give us in this undertaking will be much appreciated.

Mid-Summer Festival

As you already know, we celebrate our Mid Summer Festival on the last weekend of June (23-25). It will, as usual, consist of 'An Evening of Music and Poetry' on Friday evening at 8.00. We will celebrate the Mid-Summer Liturgy on Saturday evening at the 6.30 Mass. The focal point of that liturgical celebration this year will be the baptism of baby Sheridan, son and heir of the Sheridan Cheese Establishment in the Markets. The Church of Ireland community, together with their beleaguered Rector, will join us for all phases of the celebrations.

A barbecue will follow in the Priory Car Park afterwards. (Incidentally, has anyone seen our barbecue - I have in mind the machine rather than the event? We last saw it last August when we thought we stored it in the garage of the presbytery in Salthill. There is a remote chance that this note may jog someone's memory. If not, we will simply have to invest in a new one.) As is our custom, the barbecue will be the focal point of our social celebrations. As announced already across the page, the Steering Committee will meet on Tuesday June 13th to finalise arrangements.

Don't forget the Children's Art Competition. We have two categories: (1) for children from 4-10 years; (2) for for those from 11-17 years. I have already passed on this information to Rev'd Patrick Towers and St. Nicholas' Church of Ireland National School will be competing for the very attractive prizes on offer. It is imperative that some Catholic children get in there with paintbrushes to ensure that the Papal flag is kept flying over the studios of artistic endeavour.

As you know, we have already engaged a Catholic Puppeteer for the night of June 24th. He has already inspected the pitch he has pronounced himself satisfied with life in general. So things are shaping up well.

Rota for Weekday Readers

As you know, we attempted this week to draw up a Rota for readers at our three weekday Masses: 8.30, 10.00 & 11.00. At present, the burden falls daily on the shoulder of the same few people. We left three copybooks at the end of the church and we harvested some names. The response wasn't overwhelming! So I will embark on a 'charm offensive' early this week in an effort to extend our 'team sheet'. Meanwhile, I will post a rota on the notice board at the back of the church.

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