Sunday Newsletter
Masses Today
6.30: (Vigil): Eileen Carr, (Month's Mind).
11.00: Eileen Kelly & Teddi Molloy, (Anniv).
6.30: Damien Madden & Grandparents, (RIP).
- Masses for Sunday, July 19th: 6.30 (Vigil): Mary Barrett; 11.00: Martin Ryan; 6.30: Michael John O'Connor, (St. Augustine St.).
- LAST SUNDAY: The collection last Sunday was €1,235.00. Thanks very much.
- BAPTISM TODAY: We welcome into the Church this morning young Peter Ross Molloy, son of Peter Eamon Molloy and Sheilagh (Clarkson) from Reading in the United Kingdom. However, their roots are deep in Galway soil. Young Peter is grandchild of Peter and Nora Molloy, regular patrons of the Augustinian Church. This child is but the latest in a long line of Molloys to be baptised in the Auggie. Lovely to see you all back again and we wish those of the family who travelled for the occasion a lovely break.
- MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS: The Galway branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society will hold their annual Church Gate collection this weekend, 11-12 July. Please be generous.
- LITURGY MEETING: We held our monthly meeting of the Parish Liturgy Group in the Priory on Tuesday night last. The meeting was very well attended. The group was reminded of its remit: "The group will take a good look at how the community does liturgy, and how it might do them in the future. This means that they will be asked to offer reactions and constructive criticism to what they experience at liturgies. This in turn means that they will need to keep their ears and eyes open and have a care for the prayer experience of the whole community." We reviewed the Summer Festival Liturgy and offered suggestions for next year. We did some 'de-cluttering' work on the church shrines. We made some remote plans for the Feast of St. Augustine on August 28th. Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday August 5th at 7.30.
As I Was Saying...
Despite the recession, Galway will be en fete for the next four weeks. The holiday season here peaks with the Arts Festival and Race Week. Let's pray that the weather will be kind. May the Lord do for the horses what he has already done for the boats!
The city comes vibrantly alive with the Arts Festival. The concept of 'art' and 'artist' is interpreted very broadly here. If past experience is anything to go by, all sorts of wacky people will travel under this 'flag of convenience' for the next two weeks.
Who could forget 'The Urban Dream Capsule' of 2001? Four Australians lived out their lives in public for two weeks in the library window across the road. They did almost everything in full view of the public. Mercifully, the toilet was always hidden. Plus the shower door had a strategically placed painting, in the interests of family entertainment. There are no other concessions to privacy. The performers are on display 24/7. Amazingly, they never lacked an audience. But was it art? I don't know, but I do know it was outrageous and it was funny for some reason.
However, Galway has no monopoly on the zany and the wacky. Trafalgar Square in London has attracted more attention than usual these days. At its centre is Nelson's Column. Other statues are on display in the square, including a fourth plinth which is vacant. It was built in 1841, as a pedestal for an equestrian statue of William IV. The king left no provisions in his will for a statue, so it remains vacant. But, since 1999 it has functioned as an occasional showcase for pieces of modern art, including Mark Wallinger's statue of Christ, Ecce Homo.
This summer, however, sculptor Antony Gormley invited the 'common Brit' to make the plinth their own for an hour. (Gormley is obsessed with making casts of his own body and leaving them all over the place!)
He calls his ongoing work of art 'One & Other'. So, every hour, for the next 100 days, 2,400 different people will be hoisted by a forklift up onto the Fourth Plinth, which stands about 6.7 metres high. The rules are simple: you must stand on the plinth alone, for the whole hour; you can do whatever you want, provided it's legal; and you can take anything with you that you can carry!
Reactions have varied. Anglican Vicar, Rev. Bob Marshall, showed that the wacky and the religious are not always distinguishable: "Each of us is unique and extraordinary. Gormley is right to place us all on pedestals."
I preferred the reaction of one Daily Telegraph journalist who wrote: "There we shall see a succession of attention-seekers, spending an hour each in the public eye, night and day. They must be protected from the danger of falling off the 6ft×18ft platform by a wide, ugly safety net. The temptation for the sterling British public will be to mock the plinth poseurs and pelt them with soft fruit. This is not to be encouraged, but it would be a natural reaction to an antithesis of art."
How about removing the statue of Fr Tom Burke from his plinth for a fortnight so that the ordinary citizen of Galway could live the dream? God forbid! Enjoy the festival.
-Dick Lyng
Happenings
- KNOCK SATURDAY: Saturday next, July 18th, is our annual Augustinian Day in Knock. On that day pilgrims from every Augustinian Church in the country will make their way to Ireland's premier Marian Shrine. Should we have pilgrims, a vehicle will leave from Merchant's Road at 12.00 noon, leaving Knock that evening at about 5.30. Tickets (€10) are available after all Masses this weekend or at the Priory Office throughout the week. If you intend to travel, please let us know as soon as possible. Do we need one bus, or a fleet?
- MIGRAINE ASSOCIATION: There are over 35,000 migraine sufferers in Galway. That's why the Migraine Association of Ireland are inviting you to attend a meeting in the Victoria Hotel on Thursday, July 9th at 7pm. Attendance is not seen as a commitment. You can listen to presentations on migraine, stock up on leaflets or take the opportunity to quiz the Chair of the European Headache Alliance! Call 1850 200 378 to reserve your place or email info@migraine.Ie
- CHILDREN'S ART: There are still works of art that remain to be collected after the Summer Festival Art competition. The panel of judges were really impressed by both the quantity and the quality of the submissions this year. They were very impressed in particular by the 3-D entries submitted. They were very taken by these and insisted on they being elevated to a category of their own. They did recommend that promotion of the competition should begin much, much earlier, perhaps during the second half of May. Just to warn you all that these works are no longer covered by insurance. The works will be available for collection after all Masses this weekend or at the Priory Office during the week. Well done to all the kids.
New Altar Servers Needed
We really do need a new batch of Altar Servers for our three weekend Masses. The photograph in the PDF version of the newsletter was taken in April 2008. These nine young people gave great service to the Augustinian, and some of them will continue to do so for a long time yet, please God. However, since the picture was taken, brothers Benedict and Dominic D'Costa have returned to India with their family while Sam Ashmore (left) has retired on the grounds of age! Georgia Ryan (back row, right) and Emma Beuster (back row, left) have given notice that they will be available on an occasional basis only. Tommy Hayes (front row) is not available for selection during the rugby season. So that leaves a big gap in the ranks.
When the gender bar was lifted (or, more correctly, collapsed) some years ago, we thought there would be a rush of young ladies to join the ranks. Instead, we witnessed an exodus of young males from the ranks! I really don't know if this had anything to do with the presence of some strident feminists among our female servers. But the lads took flight (fright?) in any case.
We discussed this topic at our Liturgy Meeting on Tuesday evening last. The group felt that Servers do really add an extra important dimension to the liturgy. But we have been negligent in securing new recruits. It is mind-boggling to think that we have had no Servers, male or female, at our two evening Masses for some years now. Even at our 11.00 Sunday morning Mass we are depending on the same few faithful stalwarts.
Yet other city Churches, like Salthill, seem to have no problem attracting new members. Or are they being paid under the altar out there? We should be told! Because burn-out is threatening to deplete the ranks still further here in St. Augustine's.
Parents, please encourage the young ones to join us as Altar Servers here. They really do need that sort of encouragement now. The conditions are not demanding: the applicants will have made their First Holy Communion, be willing to undergo three training sessions, and be regular attendees at the Mass. Please give your name to any one of the priests and we will take it from there.