Sunday Newsletter

Masses Today

6.30: (Vigil): Willie & Patsy Conneely, (Anniv).
11.00: Fr. Gerard Garvey (Market St.), (Anniv).
6.30: Peter, Margaret & Colm Conneely, (Anniv).

As I Was Saying...

A recent survey showed that there are 3.4 million mobile phones in Ireland, and the average user sends 82 text messages per month. The number of Facebook users in Ireland increased from 7,000 in 2007 to a staggering 400,980 in January of this year. This surely represents a communications revolution in a short time.

But this trend is not confined to Ireland, obviously. The new Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, sees this as a major problem among young people in his own diocese. So he cast a jaundiced eye over these developments last weekend. He claimed that these virtual sites are leading teenagers to build "transient relationships" which leave them unable to cope when their normal social networks collapse. He said the Internet and mobile phones were "dehumanising" community life. His comments follow the death of 15-year-old schoolgirl who took a fatal overdose of painkillers last week after being bullied on Bebo, another networking site.

He particularly warned that teenagers are spending so much time using technological forms of communication that they are loosing the interpersonal skills necessary for building community. Relationships are already being weakened by the decline in face-to-face meetings.

So why does this sort of behaviour particularly draw the attention of a religious leader? I suppose Christianity has for centuries promoted the virtues of the 'close' community. The 'close' community is typically found in the small country village. Everybody knows everybody else. People trust each other - they keep their back doors open, and so forth. At the centre of this 'close' community is often the pub and the church. In this scene, people generally look alike, drink alike and worship alike.

In contrast, the 'loose' community is typically an urban reality where people don't know their neighbours, and where they don't all look alike, drink alike or worship alike. This community lacks the same degree of social solidarity; but nevertheless, the 'loose' community allows for a great deal more freedom and social diversity. And this really is important.

For it's not always easy being different in a 'close' community; not easy to be of a different ethnic group or to grow up gay in a small place where nobody else understands. This is why the 'loose' community of the city can be so liberating. Here there is no problem being different. Everybody is different. Facebook, Bebo and the like are, in a sense, the ultimate forms of 'loose' communities. They offer the freedom of self-expression combined with a less intense form of social togetherness.

Many, like Archbishop Nichols, worry that the mutual support they seem to offer is illusory. He is right to insist on the priority of the face-to-face relationship. But his warning is dangerous if it encourages Christians to leave this particular field clear to those who are deeply hostile to Christian values. If there are suicidal teenagers on Facebook, then it is important that Christians are there also to give hope and encouragement. Shouting at them to turn off the computer is not a helpful response. After all, these sites are not inherently evil. They have the potential to be used for good and for evil. In this sense they are no different to any other type of media.

-Dick Lyng

The Late Teresa O'Connor

Teresa O'Connor, late of St. Augustine St., was born in Forster St. almost 84 years ago. She passed away on Thursday morning last. While she had been ailing for over a year, she managed to lead an active, independent life up to the week before she died. She travelled to Lourdes in July with the Galway Diocesan pilgrimage.

Teresa lived for over 50 years Augustine Street, in the shadow of the Augustinian Church, literally. It is no exaggeration to say that the Augustinian Church and community shaped her life. Her life was a difficult one by any standards. She married Michael John O'Connor in 1953. By the time of Michael John's untimely death in July 1962, they had four children: Gerard, Mary, Patricia and Tommy. Another child, Michael, was born the following November, exactly four months after the death of his father. Teresa, always an unflappable woman, rose magnificently to the enormous challenge of rearing them on her own. Her children will proudly testify to this day that they never 'wanted for anything'. That is a wonderful tribute to this small, resourceful woman.

Teresa was a dedicated servant of the Augustinian Church and community. She attended Mass in the Church every day. She was a member of that small select band of women who looked after the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel with obvious devotion. Every Saturday afternoon was set aside for this 'labour of love'. Flowers were arranged, brasses burnished, candelabras cleaned and floors polished with great care.

Her devotion to the Augustinian community was equally constant. She worked here as a housekeeper after the death of Michael John. She innocently boasted that she was 'the very first woman to go upstairs in the priory', a remark that betrayed either a naivety of language, or a cast-iron confidence in the virtue of the friars! She was an infinitely curious woman. Not a mouse moved in this town without her knowing it. But she was infinitively caring too. Even after retiring from her 'official duties' in the Priory, she continued to take a keen interest in the place. She was never afraid to remind the Parish Priest of matters that required urgent attention. But she wasn't just an 'overseer'; she personally took on a great variety of mundane chores. For years it was Teresa who got the 'Dues' ready, who provided the ashes for Ash Wednesday, and the palms for Palm Sunday. Teresa was a vital cog in our 'liturgical wheel'.

On a personal note, I will remember her as a loving, caring woman. My last visit to her at here home was the Saturday of the Galway Races. I was shocked at her condition, but she remained upbeat. "I had Ballyholland in the Plate" she said. "I'm sorry I didn't phone you." Having pardoned her criminal negligence, I took my leave of her. It was obvious that the end was near for her. It was sad, but she approached death with the same peaceful equanimity that she brought to all circumstances in life. She leaves five children, five grandchildren and one great-granddaughter who was born last year to her immense delight. Two sisters, Mary and Jenny survive her also. She was an exemplary Christian whom her family, and indeed all of us at the Augustinian, will miss greatly.

DAY FOR CHURCH READERS AND OTHER MINISTERS

Most people at Mass on Sunday hear the Word of God only in that formal setting. Their only regular exposure to Scripture is from the lips of the reader (also called Lector) and the preacher there. That lays a heavy responsibility on the reader, as well as the preacher. That responsibility has two elements:

  1. an appreciation and understanding of the scriptures generally, and of the passage being proclaimed in particular; and
  2. some familiarity with the 'technical' skills involved in public reading, like voice projection, proper use of the microphone, and so on.
  3. We have now completed the task of organising a Training Session for both Sunday and Weekday readers, and for other groups and individuals involved in Leadership roles in the Parish. I would have in mind in particular members of the Steering Committee, Liturgy Group and perhaps Choir members. We have secured a venue:

The Sacred Heart Retreat and Conference Centre, Rosary Lane, Taylor's Hill. We have decided on a date:

Saturday, September 26th, from 10.00 to 4.30. Refreshments will be supplied.

Father Michael Gilroy, Lecturer in The Newman Institute, Ballina, and priest of the Killala Diocese, has kindly agreed to act as Director for the day. Michael's area of expertise is Liturgy.

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