The Irish Examiner gives coverage to the wellbeing of priests and in particular to issues of mental health and suicide.
It quotes Roy Donovan as saying that for priests “the issue of depression amongst members of the clergy was certainly one of the main areas of concern” that arose at regional meetings. Roy said that some “are suffering in silence, not knowing where they can turn to for help.”
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Fr. Pat Moore died on 01 May 2017.
Tim Hazelwood remembers a friend, and Tony Flannery pays tribute to his memory.
Seamus Ahearne looks at the often bleak and angry news of the day and decides that “God; is splashed about everywhere and in everyone. Moaning and groaning isn’t graceful. The world we used to know, is changing. The familiar is gone. The God we knew, and the Rituals that supported us, has gone wandering. But God is in this place and we may not know it. (Gen 28.10). We dare not sulk like Jonah or eventually give in to despair like Job (Job 38). I go to Church each day and I come away smiling.
Report on the Dublin Region Meeting concerning the wellbeing of priests
During the Easter season the Church continues to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Today, we join together to worship God, who has brought about this great victory over sin and death.
Bernard Cotter writing recently in The Tablet noted how “It is a strange feature of those who control the consumer calendar, that every feast is celebrated to the full beforehand rather than on the day itself or indeed on any day in its immediate aftermath. Christmas and Easter share a common fate in this regard.”
“How does one respond to the challenge of sustaining Easter joy over its full season? Communication is the Church’s primary tool. Perhaps instead of making so much of the 40 days of Lent on their own, the 90 days of Lent/Easter should in their entirety comprise the annual springtime renewal for Christians, with 40 days of fasting, prayer and almsgiving followed by 50 days of feasting, prayer and celebration (a time to honour those in parish ministries with social time together, perhaps).”
Even though Easter Week is now behind us, this Sunday’s liturgy still overflows with the joy of Jesus’ resurrection. Christians continue to celebrate that great event for the next six weeks, until Pentecost Sunday on 4 June, the fiftieth and final day of Easter.
Chris McDonnell, writing in the Catholic Times, 21 April, asks “why is it that so often the fabric of buildings where people gather for worship is attacked and in consequence many lives are lost? Mosques, Churches, Synagogues, all have been the subjects of outrageous actions……..
We should remember in our prayers those of faith who have died in their places of worship with no weapon in sight, their hands open in prayer to the one God who made us.”
Seamus Ahearne writes of how current events – among them “Kim Jong-un and Trump. Two bully boys let loose in our fragile world with bombs and nuclear possibilities” – lead him into recalling images from a distant past. Sadly, “We were full of negativity. The Church was full of misery.”
Seamus says we need to “Have fun with faith. Make a splash.”
Invitation to all priests in the Dublin region to a meeting in the Regency Hotel, Swords Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 9 on Tuesday 25th April, 2.00 to 500pm.
This is one of the planned regional meetings of priests to explore in practical detail the worries and the fears that surfaced about the wellbeing of Irish priests at our recent AGM.
Brendan Hoban, in The Western People, takes a look at the recently released Census 2016 figures.
This Easter morning we celebrate the central mystery of our faith, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He suffered on the cross and died for us, but now he is risen!
We gather around the Easter candle on this cold Easter night, celebrating the Lord’s resurrection. With that light to illumine our way and to warm our hearts, we listen to God’s word at the Easter Vigil and prepare to renew our baptism an make a new start in the Easter springtime.
Rita Fernandez is a member of the Parish Pastoral Council and is also one of the Parish Team in Rivermount Parish, Finglas.
Rita shares some thoughts on her experience of the reality of parish life.
Brendan Hoban, in the Western People, comments on the recent statement by the Oblates made in response to Minister for Education, Richard Bruton, who stated that it was government policy that the congregations would share equal liability with the State for the State’s commission of investigation and its redress board.
The liturgy that begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday continues until we reach Easter. We are at the start of a three-day celebration of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. We journey from the Last Supper to Gethsemane tonight, from there to Calvary tomorrow, and from the tomb to resurrection and new life at the Vigil of Easter Sunday.
Chris McDonnell, writing in the Catholic Times. makes a few suggestions about how we pray the ‘prayers of the faithful’. “Too often the content of our Bidding Prayers seems to be disconnected from the Liturgy we are celebrating. Unless our liturgical actions have a real connection with the life we are living, they are hollow.”
Opening Comment (for Mass without Procession or Solemn Entrance) Today’s liturgy gives us a preview of the events we will celebrate in the Easter Triduum later this week. The passion,…
Pádraig McCarthy shares some interesting statistics with us. e.g. In Ireland those with no religion now account for 9.8% of the population. Those declaring to be Catholic declined by 3.4% since 2011.
Worldwide catholics increased in number in Africa and Asia and the Americas and declined in Europe .
Dublin Regional Meeting, Tuesday 25th April, 2.00-5.00pm. The Regency Hotel, Swords Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 9
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