Seán Walsh: WALKABOUT…

WALKABOUT

I leave the church by the main entrance,

one hand on the railing,

careful on the steps leading down

to a safer level.

The air fresh, balmy – an Autumn day

reluctant to let go of Summer –

as I descend…

 To my right, I glimpse the girls

of Corpus Christi national

at play in their school grounds.

‘Pause a while to listen

to their carefree cries and laughter.

Innocents who know little – care less –

about the world that awaits them.

To my left, the community hall,

ghosted by a thousand yesterdays,

bygone memories…

The main gates, ever welcoming,

unto Homefarm Road… then across

and down to the park where people

saunter, sit, chat by the Tolka,

making the most of the fine spell…

Past the library, the Health clinic…

And so into Millmount Avenue

and the terraced houses

still clinging to a Joycean age…

Now here’s a thing:

through every letter-box

a copy of the parish newsletter

is slotted, ever so often,

  rain, hail or shine,

by some unnamed parishioner.

Sure where would we be –

where would Corpus Christi be! –

without our many selfless volunteers?

Sean Walsh   2023

Corpus Christi Parish

Drumcondra

Dublin 9

Similar Posts

  • A Time to Pause

    Blog
    1 Comment

    Chris McDonnell, in the Catholic Times, reflects on how we might beneficially use Lent this year.
    “It is a time to ask questions, a pause time on a journey, a time when we might re-examine the baggage we carry from month to month, maybe a time to lighten the load.”
    “So maybe there is a good question that we could all address this Lent, how might the Church meet the needs of the community without resorting to worn platitudes? …. We should encourage each other to face reality and trust that we might follow God’s Spirit as it moves in our hearts.”

  • A Very Catholic Coup?

    Blog
    0 Comments

    The issuing of his 11 page letter by former nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano raises many questions; as many about his own motives as about what he alleges.
    Two articles, one in the National Catholic Reporter and the other in The Washington Post attempt to fill in the background to the issuing of the letter and the influence that conservative catholic media organisations played.

    The Washington Post article says “news this week that Catholic journalists were involved in editing and distributing a Vatican diplomat’s explosive and largely unverified letter calling for the pope’s resignation reveals an influential and tightly knit conservative Catholic digital media network that’s been particularly active during the tenure of its nemesis, Pope Francis.”
    The article offers two ways to view these journalists;
    quoting a ‘conservative lay leader’ who says ““This whole episode seems like total Fake News … The allegations of sexual abuse coverup “have to be investigated, wherever they lead. But the way this came out, it really struck me: ‘They’re really out to get Francis.’ ”
    and from ‘one commentator in the conservative Catholic media sphere’;
    “They’re not trying to be objective,” the person said. “They are trying to evangelize; they’re trying to spread the good news, spread the message as they understand it. They are activists.”

    Cui bono? Who benefits?

Join the Discussion

Keep the following in mind when writing a comment

  • Your comment must include your full name, and email. (email will not be published). You may be contacted by email, and it is possible you might be requested to supply your postal address to verify your identity.
  • Be respectful. Do not attack the writer. Take on the idea, not the messenger. Comments containing vulgarities, personalised insults, slanders or accusations shall be deleted.
  • Keep to the point. Deliberate digressions don't aid the discussion.
  • Including multiple links or coding in your comment will increase the chances of it being automati cally marked as spam.
  • Posts that are merely links to other sites or lengthy quotes may not be published.
  • Brevity. Like homilies keep you comments as short as possible; continued repetitions of a point over various threads will not be published.
  • The decision to publish or not publish a comment is made by the site editor. It will not be possible to reply individually to those whose comments are not published.