Seamus Ahearne shares his thoughts on a day in the life of a parish
“The life in the day could fill a book and not a page”
“The routine of daily living is ‘killing the spirit’ of so many.”
“We are invited to open the eyes of our hearts, minds, imaginations to the enjoyment, hilarity, fun, laughter and peace. It isn’t only Autumn is colourful. Life is full and good. The day goes on. “
Brian Eyre: Catholic Married Priest, Recife, Brazil responds to the discussions at the AGM
Address by Liamy McNally to the AGM.
Sean McDonagh finds signs of hope in an unlikely place, the scandal ridden Vatican bank.
Canberra-Goulburn Catholic priest Peter Day quizzes Cardinal Pell about his outspokenness in reasserting the church’s longstanding exclusion of divorced and remarried people from communion ahead of October’s Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family. ‘Has a simple, inclusive and profound ‘family’ meal been overwhelmed by an impersonal and, often times, sterile institutional sacrifice; one that tends towards mass exclusion?’
http://johnmenadue.com/blog/?p=2459
I was never too happy with herding the entire school community into a church for a beginning of year or end of year liturgical extravaganza.
A youth liturgy group was set up; not a children’s liturgy group, by the way, as the members range in age from sixteen to the mid twenties. This group was given the responsibility of organizing liturgies on five or six occasions during the liturgical year.
In light of the discussion due to take place at the AGM and as part of the ongoing debate in our church about vocation and ordained ministry we include these two contributions of how ministry is already being carried out in varied ways in church. Thanks to Brian Eyre and Mossy Hynan for these contributions.
Johan Bonny, Bishop of Antwerp, Belgium, has written of his expectations of the forthcoming synod.
It is a longish document but well worth reading in its entirety. The following excerpts are meant to only give a flavour of what he has written.
Thomas Reese in his latest NCR column expresses concerns that change is not really happening with the Curia if we are to judge by the make up of the upcoming Synod on the family. He says that ” Having curial officials as members of a synod fails to recognize that they should be staff not policymakers.”
He also states his concerns whether the lay auditors “will represent to the bishops the views of lay Catholics, but it is hard to argue that they are representative of Catholics at large.” He concludes that ” If Francis and the Council of Cardinals is not willing to change the makeup of the synod of bishops, it is hard to believe they will really fix the Roman Curia.”
Brian Eyre draws on his own experience to add his contribution to the General Assembly of the ACP on October the 1st on the discussion of the possible return of married priests to public ministry. Brian says that his own experiences show that married priests need not necessarily be a financial burden on a parish and secondly that their dedication and time will not be divided.
As a preparation for our discussions ‘The Vocations Crisis, will clustering work?’ at our AGM on 01 October, we commend to our members two articles from the September Furrow, On the Edge by Donagh O’Meara and The Last Priests in Ireland by Donald Cozzens, which map out the context for our discussion.
We encourage as many of our members as possible to attend the AGM in the Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone, 01 October 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
As a preparation for our discussions ‘The Vocations Crisis, will clustering work?’ at our AGM on 01 October, we commend to our members two articles from the September Furrow, On the Edge by Donagh O’Meara and The Last Priests in Ireland by Donald Cozzens, which map out the context for our discussion.
We encourage as many of our members as possible to attend the AGM in the Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone, 01 October 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Enda Lyons in Tuam’s diocesan magazine, New Dawn, writes that when considering the permanent diaconate we should start with the ministry of Christ and not of priests. “Christ’s ministry was, as we know, very broad and not at all narrowly ‘churchy’. The Christ in the gospels was to be found much more often in the villages, on the roads, by the lakeside and in the hills, than in the Temples or synagogues. His Temple was wherever people were and his ministry started and ended with tending to their needs.”
Kirsty Jane McCluskey interviews Peter McVerry SJ, for her project about Jesuit vocation and identity: http://jesuitstories.wordpress.com/2014/08/31/peter-mcverry-sj-social-activist-and-campaigner/
Josephine McKenna, Religion News Service, reports in the NCR that Bishop Nunzio Galantino, leader of the Italian Bishops Conference, said that “that everyone should ‘feel at home’ in the church, and especially at Mass — including migrants, the disabled, the poor and those in unconventional relationships.”
Seamus Ahearne in his unique style shares his reflections on his fifty years with the Augustinians. Seamus, as usual, challenges us with his experience and wisdom.
Ad multos annos.
Brendan Hoban in his weekly Western People column states that history, while recognising the failures and limitations of a minority of Irish nuns, will eventually laud the extraordinary contribution nuns have made to Irish life. ‘
The self-less service given by thousands of nuns should not be air-brushed from the national memory. They deserve more than that.
Seamus Ahearne reminds us that August is often spoken of as the ‘silly season’ when any old trivial story will fly and fill the spaces. His stories may be ‘kites’ but they hint at a culture that is changing. We either embrace this new world or it runs away from us and we become irrelevant.
Fr. Gerard Maloney writes in the Irish Times of his reaction to the information, and disinformation, about the mother and baby homes.
Jesuit priest, Thomas Reese, writing in the National Catholic Reporter, comments on the meeting of U.S. bishops. The meeting could be a turning point but he asks, will they sail with the Francis wind or will they buck the waves of change?
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