Sunday Newsletter
Masses Today
6.30: Thomas & Josephine McNamara, (Anniv).11.00 Sean & Rosetta Keogh (Anniv).
6.30: William & Joan Kelleher, (Anniv).
- Masses Sunday, December 7th: 6.30: Gerry Lennon, Whitehall; 11.00: Bridget Moloney and her sons Raymond and Edward; 6.30: Gerry Ward, Jack and Bridget Ward.
- COLLECTION LAST SUNDAY: €1,433.00.
- COLLECTION ENVELOPES: It's almost a year ago now since we began the weekly envelope system of collection. While not in a position to give precise returns yet, we do know that its success surpassed our expectations. We will be in a position to report more fully at the beginning of February. But meanwhile, you will all need a new set of envelopes. We will distribute these at all Masses next weekend. It is vital that you retain your present number. (As you know, each envelope contains an individual number which identifies you.) So will take some care next Sunday, December 7th, to ensure that all are getting their own numbers.
- STEERING COMMITTEE: Our Steering Committee will meet on Tuesday evening next, December 2nd at 7.30. This is an important meeting as we will be 'tweaking' the Christmas Programme. Again, our full panel is as follows: Peter Cunnane (Chair), Cathal Cunninghan, Gerry Ferguson, Pádraig O Gormaile, Micheál Hayes, Edward Jones, Pauline Staunton, Patricia Lally, Brigid Headon, Niall Coghlan, and Dick Lyng. Resident Friars are always welcome to attend.
- ADVENT PROGRAMME: The first of our Advent sessions on St. Paul got off to a flying start on Wednesday night last, despite some initial technological hiccups. Kieran O'Mahony OSA and Sean Goan, members of the Orlagh Retreat Team, gave the (virtual) presentation. This was followed by a 30 minutes local discussion and another 30 minutes in a Q & A session with the presenters via a telephone. It was a very interesting evening, as much for the technology as the content. Everyone present enjoyed the night thoroughly. Incidentally, we would be delighted to see you all on Wednesday night at 7.45 for our second session. Attendance at the first session was not compulsory!
As I Was Saying...
Advent has begun. The season means different things to different people. For many, - and this will include the vast majority of children - it is a season of great expectation and great joy. To the child, uncontaminated by experience or cynicism, everything is new and filled with wonder Christmas ensures that their childish expectations will not be disappointed: on Christmas night the Old Reliable will deliver, on target and on time, from his ample bag of uncountable blessings!
At Christmas, we adults too find ourselves counting our blessings. In fact, I suspect that the heart of all religion is really gratitude, an expression of the need to say 'thank you' for everything that we have, indeed even for life itself. For some, this need to say 'thank you' goes hand in glove with the existence of a creator God who is responsible for the world and all its beauty. For others, it's the natural world itself that generates this sense of dependency that leads to spirit of gratitude and thankfulness.
Yet, whatever way we come to it, there are still those who will regard all this as whistling in the dark, the desperate attempt to console ourselves with up-beat stories. But it's not that at all; actually counting our blessings is a sort of reality check, just as our gloomy self-absorption urges a retreat into some insular unreality. What we need to do is take a big step back from our obsessive attention to the stock exchange and our empty wallet and look at things from a much wider perspective.
It is interesting that those who are able literally to step out of the world often return with their world-view changed. A spectacular example of this 'conversion' was the astronaut James Irwin. Irwin walked on the moon in 1971, the eight man to do so. He often spoke of the lunar mission as 'an epihany', declaring "I felt the power of God as I've never felt it before." In his book 'More than Earthlings' in 1983, Irwin wrote that, from a huge distance, "The earth reminded us of a Christmas tree ornament hanging in the blackness of space. As we got farther and farther away it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful marble you can imagine."
Religious practice is an attempt to create just this sort of perspective, to view our own life from the viewpoint of eternity. And from this vantage point, however it's reached, the world is not so fraught and not so anxious. Consider the lilies of the field, says Jesus, they are all beyond anxiety.
Jesus is making a simple point: there's a vast reality beyond our own worries, and that getting exclusively caught up in the trials of the day is a form of blindness. That is why most of us could do with a lot more gratitude in our lives. Because the central event we are preparing to celebrate is good news for all: for children, for the emigrant, for the family, for the poor, for the lonely, the sick and the dying. The one who opened the door to God for us then drained the bitter cup of human experience for love us. Gratitude becomes us.
-Dick Lyng
Advent & Christmas
- JESSE TREE: The decoration of the Jesse Tree begins today, the First Sunday of Advent. It will continue through the four Sundays of Advent. As usual, it will be carried out by the children. As they are decorating the tree, they will explain to the congregation the meaning of the individual symbols. We will follow the same pattern for the four Sundays of Advent. (We would welcome adult volunteers to supervise this exercise).
- SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14th: MASS OF GIVING: We have drawn up a 'Programme of Events' for the Advent and Christmas season. As you will notice, the two Giving Trees are already in place and awaiting attention! They ahve already been festooned with labels. Each label specifies a particular gift. We will have done our research with four particular charitable organisations: (a) The Women's Refuge in Westside; (b) the Refugee's Friendship Club, based in Victoria Place; (c) No. 4 Augustine Street, a befriending service for the marginalised, and (d) assorted individuals and families in need. As usual, we will draw up a list of 'useful presents' after discussions with these groups. Among items requested in years gone by were Vouchers for various local stores, a €50 note, a couple of duvets, and so on. I presume matters will not have changed radically this year. So you simply take a label home with you, supply the item specified there, wrap it up, attach the label to it and bring the gift along to the Mass of Giving on December 14th.
- CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS MASS: This will be held on Sunday December 21st, when the Liturgy of the Word will be presented in pageant form. We need as many children as possible to get involved. The more the merrier! Preparation for this has begun already. Pat Lally has already embarked on a process of rigorous selection and culling! She, together with her able assistants, have taken full charge of auditions and rehearsals. On that day too, December 21st, a certain bearded, debauched octogenarian will grace us with his presents! We look forward very much to his visit.
- ICONS FOR ADVENT: Thanks to Steven Higgins for mounting the Icon Display to mark the beginning of Advent in our Church here. Each of the icons will have an Advent-related theme. Steve has had an interest in sacred icons for many years now and he is himself an accomplished icon painter. Thank you Steve. We will treat the icons with the utmost care and reverence.
Happenings
- NED CROSBY: Many of you will be familiar with Fr. Ned Crosby. Ned is a priest of the Galway diocese who served for many years in such exotic locations as Hillside, Ballybane, Clare Island and Lima, Peru. While in Lima he was chaplain to a prison that housed some of the most effective terrorists in South America, the 'Shining Path' guerillas. Because of this, I suppose, Ned doesn't see the world as the rest of us see it. He comes at things from a peculiar (unique?) angle. He has now published his fourth volume of poetry, titled 'Windows', which will be launched with great pomp and ceremony (and much drink!) in Charlie Byrne's bookshop on Thursday night next, December 4th at 6.00. Come along and purchase the book, retailing at a mere €10. All profits will go towards a Housing project in Haiti, being managed now by Sr. Rose of the Jesus and Mary Sisters in Salthill.
- FEAST OF ST NICHOLAS: We will celebrate the Feast of St Nicholas in St. Nicholas' Church on Friday night next, December 5th at 7.30pm. This will be a full 'Sit-Down Meal' with places limited to 150, the Augustinians getting 90 tickets and St. Nick's people with a mere 60! There are still a few tickets (€25) available. But be alert and do not tarry! They are sold on a "first-come-first-served" basis.
- ROWING NEWS: The Galway Rowing Club, founded in 1910, will be 100 years old next year. To mark the occasion, they have commissioned James Casserley to write an illustrated history of the club. This book will be officially launched by former Minister Bobby Molloy at the clubhouse on Friday night next, December 5th at 7.30pm. All are very welcome. The book retails at €30.