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Post by Alaisdir Ua Séaghdha on Oct 5, 2011 19:32:41 GMT
Your prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of Garret Fitzgerald. Many of the measures he advocated and carried out were harmful, but at least he was usually straight about them - more harm was done by cynics who said the right things and did the wrong ones. Your prayers are also, belatedly requested for Mr Richard Power, a founder of the Irish Council Against Blood Sports, whom I understand from his IRISH TIMES obit to have regularly attended the EF Mass in limerick. ^ I admired both. RIP and long live their memories. Yes Dick Power was a regular attender of the EF in Limerick. I think he might have been on the EDI committee at some stage. I remember meeting him at one of the Knock pilgrimages about a decade ago. Here's the Irish Times obituary: www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/obituaries/2011/0409/1224294304445.html which is good publicity for the Mass in St Patrick's.
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Post by hibernicus on Oct 9, 2011 19:25:47 GMT
At Mass today the priest quoted Steve Jobs' 2005 commencement speech at stanford in which he told his audience that the most important thing to remember is that life is short and if you wish to achieve something, time is limited. Here is an interesting piece in which a Jesuit compares this Jobs speech to St Ignatius' emphasis on the same point in the Spiritual Exercises: www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1103948.htmHere is a link to a variety of comments on Catholic blogs. www.patheos.com/community/theanchoress/2011/10/06/steve-jobs-rip/Some point out that Mr Jobs was adopted and if conceived a few decades later under the same circumstances might have been aborted. Others debate his record and personality - which seems to have been a mixture of good and bad, as with any powerful person. But what a difference he made to people's lives - and how many are mourning him. As I walked around after Mass today I saw a computer store with his picture in the window and a wreath of lilies underneath. I was also sorry to hear some self-proclaimed Christians have been consigning him to Hell because he was a Buddhist. I remember when Otto von Habsburg died a few months ago seeing descriptions of the ceremony at the funeral crypt. His hereditary titles, and those achieved through his own efforts, were read out, and met the response "We do not know him!" Only when his name was given as "Otto, a poor sinner seeking mercy" was his body allowed to enter. The forms of worldly power change, but some things do not: "I said, 'You are "gods"; you are all sons of the Most High.' But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler. (Psalm 82:6-7) So say a prayer for Steve Jobs, a poor sinner seeking mercy - like us all. And thank God if you have benefitted from his gifts.
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Post by hibernicus on Oct 9, 2011 19:32:41 GMT
I saw in the IRISH TIMES yesterday an obituary for Fr Simon O'Byrne OFM, who in the 1960s and 1970s engaged in youth ministry. I remember his book against divorce which he published in the early 80s, and I once attended an anti-divorce rally at which he spoke. The IRISH TIMES obit quoted various anti-permissiveness and anti-secularist statements he made with the implication that these were quaint and ridiculous blasts from the past, but they were prophetic. From the Book of Wisdom, Chapter 3 The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,a and no torment shall touch them. 2 They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction 3 and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace.b 4 For if to others, indeed, they seem punished, yet is their hope full of immortality; 5 Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself.c 6 As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings* he took them to himself.d 7 In the time of their judgment* they shall shine and dart about as sparks through stubble;e 8 They shall judge nations and rule over peoples, and the LORD shall be their King forever.f 9 Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love: Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,g and his care is with the elect. As he stood up for marriage, and as he faithfully observed his own marriage to Lady Poverty for love of Christ, may the Spirit and the Bride welcome him to the eternal marriage feast with his Father Francis and all the other Irish Franciscans who have been faithful over the centuries. Pray for him.
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Post by hibernicus on Oct 9, 2011 19:41:13 GMT
Wangarai Mathai, the Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize laureate (2004) who died recently is a reminder of what used to be called Ireland's spiritual empire. She was educated at a Loreto school where many of the teachers were Irish nuns, and as a young woman she was active in the Legion of Mary. I do not know whether she was always orthodox ( I believe she was pro-life) but she was a brave woman who stood up against corruption and worked courageously for the well-being of her people, and she always acknowledged her gratitude to the nuns who taught her. Sometimes when I look at American "conservative" sites a few clicks on links take me to pages on which some creep is proclaiming that Christianity should be reinvented as a white tribal religion and denouncing missionaries for evangelising and otherwise assisting non-whites instead of leaving them to starve. Let us never succumb to such swinishness. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wangari_Maathai Pray for her and for her teachers who came to spread the faith they received in Ireland; pray also that new teachers may arise, here or elsewhere, to rekindle that faith in Ireland.
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Post by hibernicus on Oct 9, 2011 19:47:32 GMT
On the same day that Steve Jobs died, died Fred Shuttlesworth, a black Baptist minister from Alabama who was one of the pioneers of the American civil rights movement. I link below to a sermon by a Catholic permanent deacon who discusses what his life has to say for us. His witness was not only for his own people; remember it was the example of black US protesters like Fred Shuttlesworth which inspired Northern Ireland Catholics to stand up and demand justice in the 1960s: www.patheos.com/community/deaconsbench/2011/10/08/homily-for-october-9-2011-28th-sunday-in-ordinary-time/EXTRACT ...For decades, Fred Shuttlesworth was knocked down, but got up; he was beaten, but unbowed; he was targeted for death, but never tried to hide from life. A price was put on his head – the KKK offered $10,000 for his death – but he stood firm and stood proud. He stood up for equality, and for justice, and for the dignity of the human person. Put simply: Fred Shuttlesworth stood. And he stood for something. Friday, Diane McWhorter, who wrote a book about Rev. Shuttlesworth, said in the New York Times: “His legacy reminds us of the not-so-distant era when the task of our heroes was to persuade society to regard as human a class of people who had long been treated as things.” I read that and I can’t help but think of the great human rights battle of our own time: abortion. And I’m reminded of the clarion words that another hero, Paul of Tarses, wrote to his own beleaguered followers two thousand years ago, words that call out to us in today’s scripture: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” Fred Shuttlesworth knew those words intimately. He lived them. He was ready to die because of them. I can do all things in him who strengthens me. If Fred Shuttlesworth could “do all things” – and he did — imagine what we can do. We aren’t all called to march in the streets or spend time in jail or stand up to the thundering force of water from fire hoses. But we are called to do something just as courageous and just as radical. We are called to love. Think of how Christ can strengthen each of us. He gives us the grace to hope when we’d rather despair…to love when it’s easier to hate…to forgive when we’d rather be vengeful. He nourishes us with his own body and blood, to make himself a part of us, and make us a part of him. And from that, we can do all things in him who strengthens us. What seemed impossible becomes possible. We can do something radical: we can be radicals for Christ... END OF EXTRACT Pray for him, and for our world - that we may be given strength to bear witness
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Post by hibernicus on Oct 9, 2011 20:00:54 GMT
Your prayers are also requested for Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, an Iranian Evangelical Christian who is threatened with being put to death for apostasy from Islam because he refuses to deny the Name. Pray for him that he may remain steadfast and that God may protect him and his family:
2 MAccabees, Chapter 7 - 30 She had scarcely ended when the young man said, "What are you all waiting for? I will not comply with the king's ordinance; I obey the ordinance of the Law given to our ancestors through Moses. 31 As for you, sir, who have contrived every kind of evil against the Hebrews, you will certainly not escape the hands of God. 32 We are suffering for our own sins; 33 and if, to punish and discipline us, our living Lord vents his wrath upon us, he will yet be reconciled with his own servants. 34 But you, unholy wretch, bloodiest villain of all mankind, do not be carried away with senseless elation, crowing with false confidence as you raise your hand against his servants, 35 for you have not yet escaped the judgment of God the almighty, the all-seeing. 36 Our brothers already, after enduring their brief pain, now drink of ever-flowing life, by virtue of God's covenant, while you, by God's judgment, will have to pay the just penalty for your arrogance. 37 I too, like my brothers, surrender my body and life for the laws of my ancestors, calling on God to show his kindness to our nation and that soon, and by trials and afflictions to bring you to confess that he alone is God, 38 so that with my brothers and myself there may be an end to the wrath of the Almighty, rightly let loose on our whole nation."
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Post by hibernicus on Nov 7, 2011 12:48:27 GMT
Your prayers are requested for Bishop Hegarty of Derry, a good friend to the traditionalist movement, who has just resigned on serious health grounds. May the Good Shepherd watch over him. www.rte.ie/news/2011/1107/hegartys.html
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2011 23:46:37 GMT
Your prayers are requested for Bishop Hegarty of Derry, a good friend to the traditionalist movement, who has just resigned on serious health grounds. May the Good Shepherd watch over him. www.rte.ie/news/2011/1107/hegartys.htmlGod forgive me but when I saw that headline on the news I held my breath thinking it was another scandal... I will pray for him and God help him to get the best treatment available for whatever it is that ails him.
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Post by hibernicus on Nov 19, 2011 18:48:42 GMT
Your prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of Archimandrite Serge Kelleher, who died recently.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2011 0:17:46 GMT
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Post by hibernicus on Dec 1, 2011 22:01:32 GMT
Your prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of Right Rev Mgr Joseph Quinn, Parish Priest of Knock and Administrator of the Shrine, who died this morning. Please bear in mind that Knock has a special connection to the Holy Souls through Archdeacon Kavanagh, parish priest at the time of the Apparition.
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Post by hibernicus on Dec 16, 2011 14:31:38 GMT
Your prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of Christopher Hitchens, who has just died.
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Post by hibernicus on Dec 18, 2011 18:22:19 GMT
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Post by Alaisdir Ua Séaghdha on Dec 18, 2011 20:18:26 GMT
I was just about to request the same thing, Hibernicus: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Glenn. One hopes Blessed Francis Taylor and Blessed Margaret Ball will welcome her.
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Post by loughcrew on Dec 19, 2011 12:47:45 GMT
Alice Glenn was the last Irish politican who I had any respect for, may she rest in peace amen.
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