Presider’s Page for 1 September (Ordinary Time 22)
Who gets the places of honour in God’s house, the pushy or the humble? The Word of God in this Sunday’s Mass teaches us that the humble are the ones who find favour with God.
Editor’s Choice
Presider’s Page for 25 August (Ordinary Time 21)
Our God is a gracious God, who throws open the doors to the Kingdom to all of humanity. We gather to worship this compassionate king
Presider’s Page for 18 August (Ordinary Time 20)
Following Jesus may not bring us happiness in this life, but we are challenged to follow him nevertheless. We come together to worship our gracious God and to ask for help in our Christian life this week.
Presider’s Page for 11 August (Ordinary Time 19)
We are challenged by today’s Gospel to stand ready for our Master’s return in glory. We gather to worship God who sustains us all the days of our life, and beyond.
Presider’s Page for 28 July (Ordinary Time 17)
We can ask God for help whenever we need to, today or any day. We gather this Sunday to worship God who is always concerned for us.
Presider’s Page for 21 July (Ordinary Time 16)
As we gather for Mass today, we are challenged to be hospitable, welcoming people. We worship the God who always has a welcome for us.
Presider’s Page for 14 July (Ordinary Time 15)
The beautiful story of the Good Samaritan is told again at today’s Mass, with its challenge to us to look after others, as the Good Samaritan did. We gather to worship God who showed us what love means.
Presider’s Page for 7 July (Ordinary Time 14)
We gather for Mass to praise God’s faithfulness, and to ask for grace in the work we’re called to do.
Presider’s Page for 30 June (Ordinary Time 13)
Now that the great feasts of Easter and the Sundays following it are behind us, we return to Ordinary Time and reflect on the challenges to disciples found in the Gospel of Luke. At today’s gathering, we’re challenged us to look carefully at our commitment to our faith. We worship God who gives us the grace we need.
Presider’s Page for 23 June (Corpus Christi)
Since the beginning of time, God has always nourished his people. Today we celebrate our creator’s kindness in giving us the Body and Blood of Christ to our food.
Presider’s Page for 16 June (Trinity Sunday)
Today is Trinity Sunday. We worship God who creates, redeems and sanctifies: three persons, one God.
Presider’s Page for 5 May (Third Sunday of Easter)
We’re two weeks into the Easter season now, but the Good News of the season continues to reverberate in the Liturgy. Joyfully we worship God who raised our Saviour from the dead.
Presider’s Page for 28 April (Second Sunday of Easter)
Even though Easter Week is now behind us, today’s liturgy still overflows with the joy of Jesus’ resurrection. We continue to celebrate that great event for the next six weeks, until Pentecost Sunday on the 20th of May, the fiftieth and final day of Easter.
Presider’s Page for 7 April (Fifth Sunday of Lent)
This fifth Sunday of Lent, we gather to worship our compassionate God, who heals our sinfulness and challenges us to leave our sinfulness behind.
Christmas Presiders Pages published
To facilitate people taking time off over Christmas, the entire set of Christmas Presiders Page has now been published, up to and including New Years Day.
Presider’s Page for 25 November (Christ the King)
We celebrate the feast of Christ the King today, acclaiming Jesus as our king, the one who died for us and rose triumphant. We offer praise and worship — and ask for the grace to live as worthy citizens of his kingdom of justice, truth, love and peace.
World Meeting of Families – Let’s be real.
Faced with the ‘lucky bag’ of glossy advertising material about the world meeting of families regularly reaching most parochial houses, Seamus Ahearne pens a few thoughts, and hopes, about this upcoming event.
“We need the messed up, chaotic struggle of most ordinary and real families to be centre stage. We have to reflect the life of the family in Ireland and not some idealised version.”
“I don’t dismiss or undermine anything of the mighty work being done in preparation. I am concerned that it can reflect something of what we see daily.”
Difference, division, and the acceptance of diversity
The text of a lecture given by Gabriel Daly OSA to a “We are Church” event on Monday, 15 January 2018.
Our sincere thanks to Gabriel and to Colm Holmes of ‘We are Church Ireland’ for providing the text.
ACP Information Card: Correspondence from and to the Kildare & Leighin Council of Priests
Correspondence from and to the Kildare & Leighin Council of Priests concerning the ACP information Card issued at the recent AGM.
The card outlines rights priests have in civil and canon law and are taken from “Guidelines for the Care and Management of Respondents (i.e. priests) Standard 4” as outlined by the National Board for Safeguarding Children.
Mass is flabby and possibly obese
Seamus Ahearne reports of an interesting dialogue he had recently about the state of church and liturgy and sacraments.
“Much of Liturgy has evolved from the Monasteries. It has grown fat with the accretions of history. It has become something to endure or admire or look at. Despite all the changes of language; it can still be so passive as a Celebration. ……
The psychological reality is that there are too many words hurled at us. Any real psychology of praying is absent. There is no space for quiet; for sharing; for being still…..
Someone has to shout stop and strip off the accretions and reduce the Mass to its essentials and make space for God to speak and for us to be part of it. It is all noise and fuss and rush.”
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