Articles

On Friday 1 May, the government launched its “Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business.” It proposes, in phase 4, the opening of “religious and places of worship where social distancing can be maintained.” The date planned for this is 20 July.
This means we have nearly three more months before opening our places of worship. What will we do with that time?
Pádraig McCarthy hopes to stimulate reflection and discernment.

Don’t know where to send this. But here it is… — Dear Father in God and brother priest,   I stood holding the processional cross, right next to you, when…

Seamus Ahearne celebrates his 21 years in Rivermount Parish in Finglas.
“We have created space for Voices. We have given confidence to people. We watch people grow and speak out of their own lives.”

Chris McDonnell writing in the Catholic Times reminds us that despite the many forms in which the written word can be expressed ” it is the spoken word that is our basic currency of exchange.”
“In our own times, we have been continually reminded by Francis that conversation is important, that listening is part of understanding. That is why within parishes open conversation leads to involvement and pastoral care, one for another. …. we must not give up seeking conversation that is honest and purposeful.”

The experience of Corpus Christi in Portugal, still celebrated on Thursday and a state holiday, gets Seamus Ahearne thinking; “The Feast is evocative. The past. The Procession. The dressed-up windows. The Monstrance. The Communion children. That big heavy cope. Relics of old decency. I wonder now what it all meant and means.”
…. “The feast of Corpus Christi screams at us: Don’t be minimalist in what is celebrated at The Table of Life”

Tony Flannery looks ahead to the fourth conference of the International Church Reform Network (ICRN) that will take place in Bratislava from 11 June to 15 June.

Seamus Ahearne casts an eye on affairs in Ireland from a safe and warm distance.
“We are hiding ourselves in the paint of the past. We are ornate museum pieces. And we may be. But the beauty of God is everywhere. The challenge to all of us is to reveal a God of such beauty and wonder. This is daunting. We have to strip off the paint of the ages. Our life is revelation. …….. God still is wonderful and is still taunting us and teasing us and surprising us.”

Brian Fahy’s memory of an encounter with a lonely lost young Irish woman many years ago makes him reflect that ” ‘Priest’ has connotations of someone who presides in liturgy, in religious ceremonies, …… Whereas, ‘pastor’ … is someone who cares about people.”
“Let us help one another to tell our stories and to live.”

Aoife Kelly in the Irish Independent reports that a “new Irish documentary reveals how Irish missionaries risked their lives to save millions from starvation during the Nigerian Civil War.”
Biafra: Misean Dearmadta (Forgotten Mission) airs on TG4 on Wednesday at 9.30pm.

Seán McDonagh reminds us of the true cost of our taste for chocolate!