Séamus Ahearne: Sitting beside the fire and thinking…
IS THE CHURCH DYING, OR IS IT only THE CHURCHES, that are dying?
- Two dates: 7th October 2018 and 12th July 2026. Two Churches – closing. The Annunciation in Finglas West. St Augustine’s, Washington Street in Cork. Numbers present – between 2000 and 3000. (How this is calculated; I don’t know). The Spire at the Annunciation was always such a highlighting statement of presence,and possibly of transcendence, which announced its importance, to all the world from a distance. The Church had its final Service on the 7th October 2018. The doors were closed. The memories remain. The history is remembered. The Church has been knocked down. The building was no longer fit for purpose. The Worshipping Community moved to St Fergal’s School Hall for Mass. It is a very prayerful and homely setting, but there is a nostalgic craving, for a new Church.
- Much work has gone on over those years, attempting to answer that craving. But the numbers that might attend such a new Church, have rapidly declined. That great turn-out on the 7th October has appeared to fade away. Of course many have died and many have got too old to attend. The Celebration in Cork remembered the story of the Augustinians from 1270. It was a remarkable sight to see people sitting everywhere, where all possible space was filled. It was almost aggressive and lovely – the participation and the singing. To see the Symbols brought up was significant and evocative. To hear that Christy Ring’s All Ireland Medal was part of the Chalice for the Mass. Now he did have another 7 such medals. Big Churches. Big histories. Big sadness. Big changes.
- But now. We need new Churches. Not made with bricks, blocks etc. But rather new imaginative Communities. New ways of sharing. New ways of showing off faith. New ways of Liturgical celebration. New expressions of faith. New Ministry. Big expansive and exciting ways of thinking. Bless us now for the poetry of tomorrow. I think James Alison is also trying to stretch our minds to be bigger and more adventurous in our thinking as working theologians. We will never build with prosaic models of faith.
BONES, MUSIC AND FAIRIES:
Leitrim and Sheebeg featured in the News recently. Was Fionn Mac Cumhaill connected there too? Some bones, which were found a hundred years ago, have now been dated, and seem to be 5300 years old. I believe a Sheebeg links us to Irish traditional folk music. Supposedly – Turlough O Carolan composed this. And this music was a gift from the Fairies. It seems that the Fairies have much to tell us from the past, in bones and music. Who knows what is there to be found – if we do the searching. More revelations.
Captain Jack in Juno:
O’Casey said it well in ‘Juno and the Paycock’ with Captain Jack. ‘The world is in a state of chassis.’ Captain Jack might suit the profile of King Donald with his exaggerations and his grandiosity. The war is over. Iran have nothing left. (Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, OEA might disagree, as the country with nothing left can rain down destruction.) Everything is destroyed. (According to Trump). The Strait of Hormuz is but a minor irritant and now completely under the control of the States! They are scum – Iranians. America is supreme. The best ever. No one can beat them. He is the best President. Everything about America is great. He has no idea (or insight) of his own stupidity. And the nincompoops around him pander to his foolishness. When Donald arrived in Turkey for the NATO summit, he had a very loose mouth. Mark Rutte appeared to massage his ego. It is concerning for the world if the world leaders give in to the tantrums of a two-year-old child (or similar). His effusions after the meeting were more outlandish. It was a lovefest – the whole meeting. Now Erdogan gave them all a going away present. A gun. Has the world surely gone mad? ‘The world is in a state of Chassis.”
Seamus Ahearne osa
16th July 2026.