Sunday Newsletter
Masses Today
6.30: Annie Conneely, late of Market St., (Anniv).11.00: Esther Tierney; John Crean, (Long Walk), (Anniv).
6.30: Frank Barrett, (Anniv).
- Masses Sunday, October 14th: 6.30 (Vigil): Joseph Carroll; 11.00: Martin & Bridgie Murray; John Margetts (Month's Mind); 6.30: Patrick Tyrrell.
- COLLECTION: Last Sunday's collection - €1,088.00.
As I Was Saying...
The bishops have designated today as the annual 'Day for Life'. Abortion is passionately debated, as it should be. However, when passion dominates, logic disappears. The Pro- Life people, with their grotesque displays and raucous rallies, have been the greatest offenders. They regularly come across as spiritual 'shock-jocks', impervious to the views of others. In fact so hysterical have they sometimes been that the 'Pro Choice' people have found it rather easy to present their own case as 'THE reasonable option'.
This is the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act by the British parliament, on October 27th, 1967 when abortion was made legal up to 28 weeks gestation. Then, in 1973, the United States Supreme Court overturned all state and federal laws that outlawed or restricted abortion because they violated 'a constitutional right to privacy'.
The central holding of Roe v. Wade was that abortions are permissible for any reason a woman chooses, up until the "point at which the foetus becomes 'viable,' that is, potentially able to live outside the mother's womb." Viability is usually placed at about seven months (28 weeks) but, thanks to advances in modern prenatal care, viability will now occur much earlier.
The Court also held that abortion after viability must be available when needed to protect a woman's health, which the Court defined very broadly. At first, both in the UK and the US, supporters of abortion advocated it on medically therapeutic grounds; but, in a very short time, this same lobby had extended the understanding of 'therapeutic' beyond the realm of the medical to the social and, most enigmatic of all, personal. An abortion could be classed as 'personally therapeutic'.
In the UK last year, 185,400 women had abortions. Perhaps 7,000 of these were Irish. Abortion is now viewed, not as a therapeutically necessary procedure, but as 'A Woman's Right'. The 'Woman's Right to Choose' lobby now makes the running. The ground of debate has shifted. And, if we are to accept this shift, the male has no right to voice an opinion here!
Cardinal Hume viewed abortion as a social malaise that blighted humanity at its core. 'What slavery was to the 19th century, abortion will be to the 21st,' he said. 'And all will some day see this truth clearly.'
But the pro-choice lobby will beg to differ: 'The foetus is not a person; it is the woman's Right to deal with her own body as she sees fit. Abortion is a private matter.'
The same case was made for slavery in the 19th century: 'The Negro is not a person but the property of his master. It is the master's Right to dispose of his property as he sees fit. Slavery is a private matter.' The Catholic Church opposed slavery in the 19th century. It opposes abortion today for the same reasons.
Cardinal Hume believed that the tide would turn against abortion in the 21st century, just as it turned against slavery in the 19th century. However, the 'abortion tide' is still rising in Ireland. According to an Irish Times poll, 54% of Irish women believe the Government should permit abortion, an increase of 5% since the last such survey. Those who advocate legislating for abortion are seen today as 'liberals'. In the 19th century, it was the slavery abolitionists who were the Liberals. Cardinal Hume was probably right. Today's conservatives will be tomorrow's liberals. Slavery takes many forms.
-Dick Lyng
Items of Some Interest
- Harvest Festival: This is our 6th year celebrating the Harvest Festival in St. Augustine's. This is but one of the healthy practices we plagiarised from the Church of Ireland Book of Common Prayer! Thanks to them for helping in ways that they knoweth not! We are grateful also to those who helped out with the decoration of the Church for the festival this year. Thanks to those who donated 'the fruit of the earth' and those who arranged it so decorously. When the fruit and foodstuff has served its 'holy purpose' in the church, we will find suitable consumers for it in the city. On their behalf, I thank you!
- Meeting: The Children's Liturgy Group will meet in the Priory on Wednesday next, October 10th at 8.30. They will apply to their group the same criteria used at the other group meetings: (i) How could the church community help us in our work with the children? Could they supply more helpers? (ii) What does the church community expect of us? Otherwise, the agenda is open.
- Remembrance:A 'Service of Remembrance' will be held in St. Augustine's here on Sunday next, October 14th at 3.00pm. It is intended for all parents, family members and friends who have had the sad experience of a baby's death, whether through miscarriage, stillbirth, cot death or a baby who died shortly after birth. All are welcome.
- Youth Mass: I misled you last week (not deliberately, of course!) when I announced that the Mass for young people in the senior classes of Secondary Schools would be celebrated this Sunday, October 7th. Actually that Mass is celebrated on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of every month. So the two Masses this month will be on October 14th and 28th at 6.30pm.
- Church Kneelers: We have gone a full week now with our new regulations concerning the church kneelers. Understandably, a few people found the adjustment rather difficult. Not that many, it must be said. Nonetheless, we beg you to be patient with us as we conduct this experiment. It is my personal hope that we will grow used to this new arrangement. It has certainly eliminated the two difficulties we set out to address: (i) the unnerving noise made by the kneelers in lowering them to the floor after the Sanctus; (ii) the fact that a number of people sustained facial (not fatal, as some believed!) injuries. Again, I repeat here the suggestion I made on Sunday last: the congregation stand from the Offertory Prayer to the Acclamation after the Consecration, bowing in reverence both at the elevation of the Host and the Chalice; then sit for the remainder of the Eucharistic Prayer. Remain standing for the 'Behold the Lamb of God', again bowing in reverence. Then be seated until its is your turn to come forward for Holy Communion.
- Altar Servers: Today is a very special day here in St. Augustine's as we welcome six new Altar Servers to our ranks. We will have a special 'Ceremony of Induction' immediately after the homily. We will present each new server with a special 'Servers's Cross' which they will wear around their necks as they serve Mass. We will also introduce some new practices so that we can exploit the talents of our new team to the full! For example, it will fall to the Altar Servers to dress the altar during the Mass (at the Offertory), placing the altar cloth, book and candles on it in preparation for the Holy Sacrifice. This is the largest influx of Altar Servers we have had since the late Fr. O'Shea's time here in the late 1980s. We are delighted to have you and we thank you and your parents for their interest.
Courage Personified
Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the Burmese prodemocracy movement, once defined courage as 'a condition of the mind born from strength of belief and strength of will'. She's reminding us that courage is not some chance inheritance, some quirk of birth or fate; courage is something you have to cultivate in yourself. Part of how she has sustained her courage through her long house arrest has been by the spiritual practice of memorising Buddhist sutras - holy texts. Courage is hard work; it is the patient instilling of self discipline, the entrenchment of habits of thought and behaviour. 'Cultivate' is a verb often used in translations of Buddhist teaching; it conveys those qualities of attentiveness, care and nurture which are needed for something to flourish. Strength of will is like a muscle: it develops with exercise.
-Madeleine Bunting, BBC Radio 4.
New Marriage Laws
New requirements for the Civil Registration of Marriage will come into play from November 5th this year. {It must be stressed again that all these regulations are matters for the civil authorities and have nothing whatsoever to do with the Church. So, if you do not find them to your liking, direct your ire at the proper culprit {your local TD I suppose!}
The civil nature of the marriage contract, and the personal responsibility of the couple for the registration of that contract are stressed in the new regulations. Every priest who 'performs' a marriage must be registered with the state as a 'Marriage Solemniser'. All priests working in parishes will be registered as such by their bishop; however, if you intended to have a visiting uncle (or aunt!) from the Missions preside on your big day, then you must ensure that he is registered as a 'Temporary Solemniser'.
The happy couple will be obliged to bring the following documentation to the Registrar's office at least three clear months before the wedding:
- Photo identity (preferably a passport or driving license).
- Names and dates of birth of witnesses.
- Name of the church where they wish to be married.
- Date of marriage.
- Name of the priest who will officiate at the marriage; this presumes that the celebrant is a registered Solemniser and that he has agreed to officiate at the marriage.
- If either party has been previously married, they must provide the civil registrar with an original divorce decree or a death certificate if widowed.
- When all these civil requirements have been completed satisfactorily the couple will receive, from the registrar, a Marriage Registration Form (MRF). Without this form the couple cannot get married nor may the priest proceed with the marriage ceremony.
- When the bride and groom arrive in the sanctuary, the priest must ask the couple to make a verbal declaration of no civil impediment.
- After the marriage has been celebrated, it is the responsibility of the couple (not the priest) to return the Registration Form to any Registrar's Office within one month of the marriage ceremony.