Pádraig McCarthy offers a re-phrased version of the discussion questions of the consultation document for the Synod, since the questions as posed in the official document are not user-friendly; and also the paragraph reference numbers to the Relatio are inaccurate.
It may be of interest to some users of the ACP website.
As we come together for worship, each of us brings worries, anxieties and fears. We gather them all together and entrust them to the one who heals his suffering people.
In his weekly Western People column Brendan Hoban discusses the RTE ‘Meaning of Life’ programme following a recent edition featuring Stephen Fry.
Brendan marvels that ‘in a country immersed in religion, it’s quite extraordinary how few seem to have given little more than a passing thought to the meaning of their lives – and how many still imagine that God is some version of Fry’s caricature, notwithstanding huge unanswered (and probably unanswerable) questions about the problem of evil and suffering in the world.’
The World Day of Prayer for the Sick occurs next Wednesday, 11 February. Seamus Ahearne, reflecting on his own illness and hospitalisation, shares some very pertinent thoughts about the reality of illness.
“I couldn’t think. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t read. I couldn’t write. I couldn’t pray. I couldn’t talk (socially) I shut down. This different world took control of me. The ‘nakedness’ of the ward took over. I was institutionalised. The rhythm of hospital life absorbed me. I had no control over anything. “
Seamus also suggests that we in church could gain inspiration from the ‘teamwork’ he has observed in hospital.
We wish Seamus a speedy return to full health.
“Most Catholics experience the faith through a single cultural lens. Yet people all around the world live and imagine it in a rich diversity of ways. “
Last week, the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the world marked Holocaust Memorial Day. Brendan Hoban in his weekly Western People column tells us that forgetting or allowing time to diminish the significance of Auschwitz is not an option. Remembering is a human and historical imperative.
We come together to listen to God’s word and share the bread of life together. As God’s family here, we praise the one who has rescued us from sin and darkness, and brought us the hope of heaven.
A Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Culture meets in Rome 4-7 February 2015, with the above theme.
Notice from the Association of Catholics in Ireland
Soline Humbert reminds us of an international day of prayer against human trafficking on 08 February.
The calling of Andrew and his brother Peter is described in today’s Gospel. Like those early disciples, we too are called. As believers, we gather here to listen to God’s word, resolving to put it into practice in the coming week.
Tony Flannery reviews a new book by Angela Hanley, Athlone based theologian.
Whose A La Carte Menu will be launched on Sunday, February 1st, in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone at 5.00pm.
Chris McDonnell responding to Brendan Hoban’s article and recent events sees hope in the meeting of Pope Francis and Hindu priest Kurakkal Somasundaram and its message of “peaceful understanding between peoples, of religious tolerance and of care not to offend.”
However the reality of the world is that some will continue to go on insulting anyone they choose and “This is the reality we must live with, always willing to respond to what we perceive as unjust comment, always preserving the right for opinion to be expressed, but always careful that violent reaction is not the outcome of thoughtless words.”
Brendan Hoban, in the Western People, muses about the rights and responsibilities of freedom of speech.
“While the right to free expression is important and should be defended, it’s not an absolute right. And those who are prepared to hurt and offend should not see it as a fail-safe or catch-all defence for their bigotry, of whatever hue.”
Brian Eyre expresses concerns about the illogical norms that are being followed in ordaining married men, former Anglican priests, while excluding Catholic priests who wish to marry from official ministry.
Now that the Christmas season is behind us and we are moving into the New Year, the liturgy challenges us to reflect on what following Christ means. We gather as God’s people, called to follow the Lamb of God and we praise God, with thanksgiving.
Gabriel Daly OSA writes that ” In a body as large and as culturally diverse as the Catholic Church, discrepant and irreconcilable attitudes are inevitable. We should try to live with them, not pretend that it is necessary – or even desirable – to smooth them over. “
Gabriel reminds us that “The truth and the will of God may actually be found in the clash of ideas and convictions expressed freely and without the threat of institutional interference.”
Sean McDonagh tells us that the most important part of the forthcoming encyclical on the environment by Pope Francis is that it develops a credible and adequate theology of creation.
Australia’s catholic bishops have produced a new questionnaire of 30 questions, based on the 46 proposed by the Vatican, to survey Catholics’ attitudes to issues relating to family life. The consultation is to help inform October’s Synod on the Family.
Michael Commane OP in a column for INM Irish regionals says that statements from Pope Francis and the German Bishops set him thinking. He found what they had to say ” … heart warming and must give hope to those who pray to an open and forgiving God. How great would it be to see far more of a church that stressed prudence and compassion over authoritarianism and discipline.”
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