Seamus Ahearne reflects on the reality of pastoral ministry and care in a ‘disadvantaged’ parish;
“more work and different work is essential in a Deis (band 1) parish. Our Church is outside of the building. Our Liturgy has to happen on the hoof. The preparation for the special occasions needs more energy and more imagination. It has to be gentle, real and kindly. The domestic Church is the only church we now have.”
There is an interesting letter in this week’s The Tablet from the retired bishop of Portsmouth, Crispian Hollis.
It confirms the worst suspicions about the lack of attention that was paid by bishops when the ‘new missal’ was being foisted on us.
Pádraig McCarthy pays tribute to the late Ronan Drury Ronan Drury, editor of The Furrow since 1977, died on 16 November 2017, at the age of 93. His funeral…
Gabriel Daly, on his ninetieth birthday, looks back at tumultuous change in the church.
Our best wishes to Gabriel on his birthday and our thanks for his permission to publish this article.
Thanks as well to Brendan Walsh, Editor of the Tablet, for permission to include this article on our site. It was first published in the 18 November edition of The Tablet.
Report of the 2017 AGM of the Association of Catholic Priests
A copy of an audio cd of our AGM is available from Eist Audio Productions by contacting Eist on 087 2789 390 or by emailing eist@eircom.net.
The ACP is happy to inform members that a meeting is being arranged between representatives of the ACP and the Irish Episcopal Conference, represented by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin and Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, President of the Irish Episcopal Conference.
praytellblog.com reports that New Zealand’s bishops have welcomed Pope Francis’ “Magnum Principium (the great principle)”.
They state “We will be working in collaboration with English speaking Bishops’ Conferences around the world, as we seek to explore prudently and patiently the possibility of an alternative translation of the Roman Missal and the review of other liturgical texts.”
Maurice Taylor, a Scottish bishop who served for many years on the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), welcomes Pope Francis’ decision to change the criteria for liturgical translation.
Our thanks to Bishop Taylor and to Mary Cullen, editor of Open House, for their permission to publish this article.
Seamus Ahearne reflects on life and death, and threats of death, amid all the other day to day happenings in a busy life.
“The brush strokes of nature are also hints and whispers of life. They scatter the colours carelessly. They ask us to notice them and not to forget them. But maybe like nature and autumn, we need to throw around the unruly and incomplete brush strokes in our ministry. The unfinished days; the little celebrations; the Godliness of daily life; the laugher among us; the colours that we cannot take for granted. Possibly nature is talking to us. We too can be so serious (so immersed in the quicksand of problems). What are we doing to God’s world? Is that love song wasted on us?”
We carry a transcript of an interview between Brendan Hoban and radio presenter Monica Morley on ‘Faith Alive’ on Mid West Radio concerning the intervention by Bishop Alphonsus Cullinane in the debate on the HPV vaccine for young girls.
A speech by Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv, Bishop of Parramatta, Sydney, gives food for thought about the future of priesthood in the church.
“…. these vestiges of the Tridentine Model of priesthood are powerful symbols of the clerical class. It is part of the ecclesiology that emphasises the ontological change and separation of the ordained from the faithful. It is a powerful ingredient and ideal condition for the disease of clericalism to fester.
I hold that it is time for this exalted model of priesthood to be consigned to the past. Instead, we must rediscover the specific and full charism of the priesthood within the matrix of the universal priesthood of the faithful. The priesthood cannot be lived fully apart from the community of disciples.”
…..
“If we are to break open the priesthood and allow the ministries of the baptised to flourish, I think we will need to revisit the clerical and patriarchal culture along with its many institutional dynamics such as titles, privileges, customs, structures etc.”.
Seamus Ahearne writes of “A long weekend of harvesting”;
“I like the extravagance of God. My little eyes and mind are sometimes too small to notice. The Garden of Eden is everywhere – if my dull heart could only see it. What has been brought to the Table of our life? What do we bring to the Table of Life?”
James Martin, SJ, is a Jesuit priest, editor at large of America magazine, and bestselling author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, and Between Heaven and Mirth.
In this article, which he placed on his Facebook page, he describes how a hateful campaign of opposition to him is being waged on social media sites.
He has recently published Building a Bridge, in which he issues an impassioned plea for Catholic leaders to relate to their LGBT flock in a new way, one characterized by compassion and openness.
Pope Francis appointed him to be a Consultor for the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication.
The Association of Catholic Priests is delighted to welcome the announcement that the Pope has returned the authority over liturgical translations to the conferences of bishops.
“Coping International is a voluntary mental health organisation that promotes the well-being of children of Catholic Priests and Religious as well as their parents worldwide. We work alongside the church encouraging openness toward people affected by this issue.”
Seamus Ahearne looks at the week that was, raids ‘the pockets of God’ and “lifts us beyond the ordinary and the obvious and enables us to see the treasure and the pearl.”
Brendan Hoban, writing in the Western People, says that while it’s good that there is now some recognition of the huge crisis facing the Irish church due to a lack of priests it is past time to take action.
.”Regularly now, in what used to be a listing of priests’ changes in June, we have a listing of parishes who no longer will have a resident priest but will be serviced by a priest in an adjoining parish. Unless something practical is done, that will keep happening until there’s only one priest left with a helicopter trying to cover funerals, weddings and baptisms over several parishes leaving most churches in a diocese without Mass, Sunday or weekday.”
Seamus Ahearne reflects on a recent meeting with some 60 of his fellow Augustinians and on the day to day happenings in his parish and community. “there is still a ladder going up to the heavens. Angels still ascend and descend. God is in this place. And sometimes we don’t sing and dance and laugh and enjoy it as if we knew. The dour Church is not an ambassador for Christ. The clown is a better image for most of us. Life presently needs fun and laughter. God has to be about that something which is more and different. Someone has to stir the music in our souls. I think that is our job.”
Brendan Hoban writes in his column in the Western People about the decisive actions of Pope Francis in facing down disobedience amongst some Cardinals.
Also included are links to;
La Croix International Cardinal Müller’s self-delusion and sense of entitlement
and
www.tonyflannery.com Muller complains of lack of due process in his sacking!!!!!!
America Magazine reports that Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer, a Spanish Jesuit, as the new prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and successor to Cardinal Gerhard Müller
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