Month: May 2017

‘God is Still Smiling’; a seaside meditation

Seamus Ahearne offers an early morning seaside meditation for consideration and reflection.
“Why have I been always so thrilled with the liveliness of the world of God around me? Why has it been such a happy place? Why is ‘my church’ so privileged and so astonishing? Twenty years in Finglas today and and still amazed and delighted daily at the revelations of God among us. A very happy God – indeed the God of surprises.”

The New National Maternity Hospital and The Religious Sisters of Charity

The Religious Sisters of Charity have decided to end their involvement in Saint Vincent’s Healthcare Group and to have no further involvement in the New National Maternity Hospital.
In the light of the discussion that has gone on about this subject the statement from the Sisters of Charity is carried here in full.

Married priests: call for courageous conversation

Sarah Mac Donald writes in the NCR about recent comments by Bishop Crispian Hollis, the retired bishop of Portsmouth, concerning the ordination of married men to the priesthood which he says “needs to be explored openly within the church in England and Wales at national and diocesan levels.”
With fewer than 40 students in the national seminary at Maynooth it is an issue that is crying out to be explored in Ireland as well.
Liamy McNally is quoted as saying “There is no priest shortage!” ….. “We have many priests, but they are married and so are not allowed to have a public ministry,” ….. “in the early church those with a vocation to priesthood were married, whereas today, those who feel called to priesthood must also have a vocation to celibacy.”

With open hands

Chris McDonnell, writing in the Catholic Times, pays tribute to Henri Nouwen and finds that one of his metaphors ‘with open hands’ to be ‘very pertinent to our present times. A few days back we saw pictures of Francis at Al Azhar mosque in Cairo where he embraced the mosque’s Grand Imam, Ahmad al-Tayeb, who urged the West not to hold an entire religion “accountable for the crimes of any small group of followers.” That image of greeting between a Christian and a Muslim runs counter to our populist press view of castigation of a whole people through the actions of a few.’

Catholic Ethos and other Mysteries

Gabriel Daly OSA writes about the current controversy concerning the proposed new National Maternity Hospital.
Gabriel says that for the Church it has been “a testing and uncomfortable time and an opportunity to behave as adult Christians aware that the Second Vatican Council has altered the parameters under which previous disputes of this kind had been fought. Here was an opportunity to step away from triumphalist pronouncements and instead to learn humbly how to listen to others before pronouncing the church’s position on reproductive matters. Modern medicine is highly specialised and difficult to understand by those still moralising under the old essentialist moral categories which were thought to be unchanging and were treated as such. Today we may find that there is a legitimate diversity of views, and thus no univocal doctrinal pronouncement is possible.”

Wellbeing of Priests – Media Coverage – Irish Examiner

The Irish Examiner gives coverage to the wellbeing of priests and in particular to issues of mental health and suicide.
It quotes Roy Donovan as saying that for priests “the issue of depression amongst members of the clergy was certainly one of the main areas of concern” that arose at regional meetings. Roy said that some “are suffering in silence, not knowing where they can turn to for help.”

For your information:

GROW 1890 474 474

PIETA HOUSE 1800 247 247

SAMARITANS 116 123

AWARE 1800 80 48 48

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