Marriage Equality Referendum: ACP Statement
“we appeal for a respectful and civilised debate in which the issues involved can be discussed in a calm and reasonable manner.”
Author: Tony Flannery
Presider’s Page for 22 March (Lent 5)
In just over ten days time, the Easter Triduum will begin, at sunset on Holy Thursday. Today we pray for all the adults and children who will be baptised at Easter. And we ask that we may be fit and ready to renew our own baptismal promises.
A fleeting thought on a solar eclipse
“For God had made two huge lights, the sun and moon, to shine down upon the earth
— the larger one, the sun, to preside over the day and the smaller one, the moon, to preside through the night;” Gen 1:16
Love, Not Atonement
Coming to Holy Week, we reflect on our Theology of the Cross, our Soteriology. This article from Richard Rohr OFM may be of interest in that reflection.
Pádraig McCarthy
Presider’s Page for 17 March (Lá ‘le Pádraig)
Today we in Ireland pause from our lenten penances to honour Patrick, the apostle of the Irish. In our celebration of this solemn feast, we worship God, creator, redeemer and sanctifier, who brought our ancestors into the Christian fold through the preaching of St Patrick.
They shall have mercy shown them …
Donal Dorr offers a very practical way for the church to excercise mercy during the coming Jubilee Year of mercy announced by Pope Francis.
Is there more that we can do to prevent it being the damp squib that the Jubilee year of 2000 turned out to be?
While all the others were away at Mass (Seamus Heaney)……….
Seamus Ahearne finds hope in the language used by Pope Francis. “He talks in a new and real language. Is it possible that our bishops have the gumption to learn from him? Have they got the backbone to listen to Francis and to Gerald O Collins? The people aren’t coming to us. When they come; let’s talk in words that they understand.”
The language we use in church has to connect to the reality of people’s lives. “We have to knock down the walls of a Church that uses ‘bad language’ or shouts out meaningless rules about what family is. We all have to listen and learn.”
Presider’s Page for 15 March (Lent 4)
This Sunday we come to the midpoint of Lent. The season is half over, and the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus is nearer to us. On this midway Sunday, it is traditional to honour mothers, praying for those still with us and remembering those who have died.
When we vote in referendums we legislate for all citizens not just members of a church
Iggy O Donovan offered his thoughts on the upcoming referendum in The Irish Times.
“The arguments crowd in on us from both sides. Much of life today is like that and we cannot off-load our troubled consciences on others, whether in church or State. We have to make our own decisions for ourselves.”
Render unto Caesar
In his weekly Western People column Brendan Hoban welcomes the introduction of new regulations that will come into force governing the accounting for all church monies. These are a result of the Charities Regulatory Authority (CRA), being established by the government last October.
“While the Church for years has encouraged openness and transparency at diocesan and parish level with mixed results now the new regulations will universally enforce a new, transparent regime in every parish in Ireland.”
Open letter to English speaking bishops – Gerald O’Collins SJ
Gerald O’Collins SJ writes to all English speaking bishops asking that they ‘act quickly to help English-speaking Catholics participate more effectively in the liturgy.’ Gerald suggests that the “Missal that wasn’t,” the 1998 translation be used.
Fr O’Collins SJ, who was a professor at the Gregorian University in Rome for 33 years, made his comments in a letter sent to The Tablet entitled “An open letter to English-speaking bishops”.
The ‘New’ Missal – the problem hasn’t gone away, yet.
Mattie Long reflects on the open letter Gerald O’Collins S.J. wrote to English speaking bishops concerning the continued use of the “new” missal. Added to this letter are the comments of Pope Francis on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the celebration of the first vernacular Mass celebrated by Pope Paul VI in 1965.
Mattie draws on James Dallen’s ‘What Kind of Ecclesiology?’ to question the purpose of the ‘new’ missal.
Presider’s Page for 8 March (Lent 3)
The Lord has the message of eternal life: in Lent we come to know this message and deepen our relationship with the Saviour of the world.
‘Open Forum on the Family’, Regency Hotel, Drumcondra, Dublin Saturday 21 March 2015
To provide ACI members and supporters with an alternative approach to the consultation process the ACI Steering Group is organising an ‘Open Forum’ on the Family’ in the Regency Hotel in Dublin on Saturday, 21 March, 2015.
Confronting racism and homophobia
Brendan Hoban in his weekly Western People column raises the issue of how we deal with racist and homophobic comment. He reminds us that
“The Catholic Church has had to learn some big lessons in this regard. It wasn’t so long ago that papal letters used the phrase ‘intrinsically disordered’ to describe homosexual people. I don’t think it will happen again. Or at least I hope not because its use didn’t just diminish homosexuals.”
Presider’s Page for 1 March (Lent 2)
As we continue to celebrate Lent, it’s important that we keep the goal of our journey before us. The gospel of the transfiguration is read on this lenten Sunday each year, to remind us to hold firm to a vision of glory, on dark days. Easter and its joy will follow this season of penance, just as the resurrection followed the passion and death of Jesus.
Big Tobacco Flexes its Muscles
Sean McDonagh comments on the current conflict between Dr. James Reilly, the Children’s Minister, and Japan Tobacco International over the issue of plain packaging of cigarettes.
Sean challengingly reminds us that “Religious people do comment on alcohol miss-use, but not on cigarettes. I wonder why, because every time you use tobacco products as described by the producer you harm yourself and those around you.”
Widen the circle at the 2015 Family Synod
Deborah Rose-Milavec, Executive Director of FutureChurch, brings to our attention a campaign to ‘widen the circle’ of those who can contribute at the Synod about family.
She argues that ‘The synod would benefit from listening to Catholic representatives from diverse constituencies and from engaging in the dialogue Pope Francis has promoted throughout his papacy. We believe widening the circle will create greater understanding among the synod fathers whose final recommendations to Pope Francis may impact our Church’s pastoral practice for years to come.’
God in Winter
As winter lingers in many parts of the country, and with Moygownagh being no exception, Brendan Hoban offers this reflection on God in Winter by Pádraig Daly.
“Daly’s poems penetrate to the core of reality, dissecting the human condition, finding rumours of the divine in everyday experiences and mining a seam that echoes the experience of priests and people in parishes in Ireland today.”
Outsiders and Insiders
As he continues his recovery from recent illness Seamus Ahearne finds himself musing on a comparison between church and the gentry of old. The gentry who once ‘lorded’ it over others are now the outsiders. Seamus concludes that “as (Gospel ministers) we are now very much outsiders; so we can be more aware of how so many felt ‘outsiders’ in the world of Church in our past. We now feel in present day Ireland as we made so many feel in the past . The empathy of understanding can help us along.”
Select a category in the sidebar for more posts
Select a category in the sidebar for more posts