Thought for the Day

26 July 2015 - A discussion on Sacramentals - 17th Sunday in Ordinary time (Year B)

On this weeks programme the full SS102fm team is back on air together for the first time in a couple of months. The discussion this week is around the issue of sacramentals and pious objects. We have our regular reflection on the Sunday gospel as well as other liturgical odds and ends.

You can listen to the podcast of this weeks full programme HERE.

Holiday & pilgrimage souvenirs - Sacramental's & Pious Objects

It is the holiday season at the minute and many people are also undertaking pilgrimages to the likes of Lourdes, Fatima and Medugorje as well as walking the Camino to Santiago and also more local pilgrimages to Lough Derg and Knock. It is traditional to bring back souvenirs and memento's especially pious objectives for those at home from such journeys. But there can be a tendency by some people to view such items as being superstitious or as some kind of "magic" item. At the same time there are also some who view such items as medieval and passé, anachronistic or mildly embarrassing  like an eccentric old aunt. 

So on this weeks programme the SS102fm team discuss what exactly sacramentals are, how they are different to the Sacraments, the different types of sacramentals and how they are supposed to be used and respected and ultimately what is the point and purpose of them as guides and sign posts in faith towards Christ. 

You can listen to the discussion on sacramentals excerpted from the programme HERE.

Pope Francis has raised the issue of popular piety in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium and he reflects on the role of popular piety in evangelisation.  

You can read what the Catechism has to say here. You can also listen to the Faith Check podcast from the Discerning Heart website here. You can find a powerpoint presentation used on the main points of this weeks radio programme here.

A few other resources including how to dispose of old and worn out pious objects properly here and here.  

Gospel - John 6: 1-15

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.  A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 

When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’ 

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Word on Fire
English Dominicans
Centre for Liturgy
Sunday Reflections
Deacon's Bench - Preachers, don’t make this mistake this weekend


Liturgical Odds & Ends

Liturgy of the Hours - Psalter week 1; 17th week in ordinary time

Saints of the Week

27th July - Saint Ecclesius of Ravenna
28th July - Saint José Melchór García-Sampedro Suárez
29th July - St Martha
30th July - St Peter Chrysologus
31st July - St Ignatius of Loyola
1st August - St Alphonsus Liguori

Some web browsing...........

Some odds and ends to browse as you have a cuppa:

Eat, Pray, Doubt: Temptation and the Call to Love - the challenge of vocation

A Poorer, Younger Church of Great Promise

A Prophetic Pope and the Tradition of Catholic Social Teaching

The Mass of the very Old Men

The Gift of the Millennial Catholic to the Church 

Salt + Light - Why is Pope Francis so Obsessed With The Devil?

Planned Parenthood: Profiting from Infanticide
Patti Armstrong profiles the Catholic behind the Planned Parenthood scandal videos.

National Geographic Magazine - Will the Pope Change the Vatican? Or Will the Vatican Change the Pope?

“Deacons aren’t just decaffeinated priests”

Gänswein on Francis: “There is continuity with Benedict XVI”

The last decade has been challenging for American Catholics as scandals and apathy have rocked the Church. The energy generated by Pope Francis's new approach has galvanized many, but the statistics are still bleak. But are the statistics the whole story? Over at Patheos essays address the current realities in the Church and focus on the cultural trends that jeopardize faith, the hope of spiritual revitalization, and the possibilities of new vocations, of young leadership, and of radical choices for authentic discipleship. - check it out.

Summer vacation for the soul

Yet Rome Reports explains why Francis isn’t taking a summer holiday

Limerick Diocese - Clerical Changes 2015

Bishop Leahy says faithful will rise to their pastoral ministry role in response to fall-off in vocations

Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy has predicted that the deepening involvement of laity in response to the fall off in priestly vocations will serve to bring the Church closer together.

Speaking as he announced a small number of clerical changes across the diocese, Bishop Leahy said that the faithful is responding to its calling to play a greater role in pastoral ministry by showing a clear intent and desire to enhance its role in the Church.

Continue reading HERE.

19th July 2015 - Rise of the Roses

On this weeks programme we welcome back regular programme participant Lorraine Buckley who joins John and Ann. The SS102fm teams has a discussion with Meabh Carlin about the "Rise of the Roses". We have our regular reflection on the Sunday gospel as well as other liturgical odds and ends.

You can listen to the podcast of the full programme HERE.

Rise of the Roses

On this weeks programme John and Lorraine interview Meabh Carlin about the movement "Rise of the Roses" and their upcoming visit to Limerick which is being hosted by the Salesian sisters in Fernbank on August 1st

Rise of the Roses has blossomed from friendships formed through the Michaela Foundation. Through volunteering at the Michaela Girls Summer Camps these young adults have discovered a tremendous thirst for God amongst the young girls of Ireland. There is an eagerness to know God and a huge amount of energy and joy that is palpable when young people embrace their faith. Their desire to spread the joy of our faith has led them to some very special people  and religious congregations.

We have all been invited  to help them with a special project .

They were inspired by Pope Francis' call for Religious Congregations to 'wake up the world' and they asked us to help them come up with a way to promote and celebrate this 'Year for Consecrated Life ' (Nov 2014-Nov 2015). Together, through the intercession of St Brigid, St Clare, St Therese & St John Bosco, and the inspiration of the late Michaela McAreavey, the Holy Spirit has helped them to devise: Rise of the Roses.

Rise of the Roses website
Facebook page
Article from Irish Catholic on the launch of "Rise of the Roses"

You can listen to the interview with Meabh excerpted from the main programme HERE.

Gospel - Mark 6:30-34

"The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things."

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Sunday Reflections
Word on Fire 
English Dominicans

Liturgical odds & ends

Liturgy of the Hours - Psalter week 4; 16th week in Ordinary Time

Saints of the Week

July 20th - St Apollinarius
July 21st - Saint Iosephus Wang Yumei
July 22nd - St Mary Magdalen (Apostle to the Apostles)
July 23rd - St Bridget of Sweden (religious and co-patron of Europe)
July 24th - St Sharbel Makhulf; also St Declan
July 25th - St James (Apostle)

12th July 2015 - Laudato Si: A discussion with Professor Eamonn Conway

On this weeks programme John and Shane are joined by Professor Eamonn Conway of Mary Immaculate College in Limerick to discuss the recent papal encyclical Laudato Si.

You can listen to the podcast of this weeks programme HERE.

Laudato Si - On Care for our common home 

On this weeks programme John, Ann and Shane are joined by Fr Eamonn Conway who is a Professor of Theology at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick to discuss the latest papal encyclical Laudato Si.

The discussion on the encyclical in this weeks programme is excerpted from the main programme and available HERE.

We have posted a lot of coverage on the encyclical over the last number of weeks which is available under the tag "Laudato Si" which you are invited to check out to see the various commentaries and analysis of the encyclical.

“LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs”. 

This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.

Fr Eamonn has co-authored a study to the encyclical which is available from the Irish Catholic newspaper. You can order it online HERE.

You can find a Vatican summary of the encyclical HERE.

NCR has also produced an extremely short reading guide HERE.

Gospel - Mark 6:7-13

"He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them."

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Sunday Reflections

Centre for Liturgy

English Dominicans

Word on Fire

Liturgical Odds & Ends

Liturgy of the Hours - psalter week 3; 15th week in ordinary time

July 13th - St Henry

July 14th - St. Kateri Tekakwitha

July 15th - St Bonaventure

July 16th - Our Lady of Mount Carmel

July 17th - Servant of God Francis Garcés and Companions

July 18th - Saint Aemilian of Dorostorium

"Let's Not Be Afraid To Say It – We Need Change, We Want Change": To Poor and Powerful Alike, Pope's Watershed Call for "Justice"

Over at Whispers in the Loggia, Rocco discusses the most recent address by Pope Francis during his trip to South America:

While much of yesterday's PopeTrip news-cycle fixated on what Francis did or didn't say to the Bolivian President Evo Morales on receiving a crucifix in the shape of a Communist hammer and sickle – or the reported use of a Burger King as a makeshift sacristy before yesterday's mega-Mass – yet again, the big story in reality lay elsewhere: his unleashing of a bombshell text that immediately takes its place among the handful of truly landmark addresses of this pontificate.

Before a summit of social movements representing workers, the poor and marginalized, the Pope delivered one of the longest and strongest speeches of his 28 months as Bishop of Rome – a loaded call for social justice born from "the barrio, the land, the office, the labor union" and its demand for "real change, structural change" from the "tyranny of mammon" through a revolution of an "intolerable" economic system that, he said, "runs counter to the plan of Jesus" as it "kills," "excludes" and "destroys Mother Earth."

The address was the second Papa Bergoglio's given to the World Meeting of Popular Movements – a joint venture of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Vatican's Academy for Social Sciences – following his appearance at an initial gathering in Rome last October.

In a rarity for a speech from the usually free-wheeling Pope, the heavily programmatic product was laid out in numbered paragraphs with footnote citations – not merely a signal of its import, but the intent for the text to be received less as fleeting remarks able to be discounted than an enduring, consequential teaching document.



The centerpiece talk of this eight-day trek – which, later today, enters its home-stretch in Paraguay – the bombshell speech indeed doubles as the principal curtain-raiser to date for the most intensely awaited moment of Francis' September US trip: the unprecedented papal address to a joint meeting of Congress (for which, it emerged this week, an inauguration-style staging area is being planned on the Capitol's West Front so the Pope can greet an overflow crowd after the speech's simulcast on outdoor screens).

In the meantime, a manifesto of this magnitude has already seen no shortage of attempts at summary and will birth a flood of commentary for weeks. Even for that, just do your intelligence the favor of reading the actual text first.

Continue reading HERE.

Limerick Diocesan Synod 2016 - Update on the journey to Synod and where things are at

 
On Saturday June 27^th approximately 250 delegates to the Synod gathered in the iconic setting of Thomond Park Conference Centre, overlooking the famous rugby ground.

The Synod Journey towards April 2016 has reached a critical juncture. The journey is following the broad map of Theological Reflection. This is a means of reflecting on our faith which allows it to touch our lives and indeed, our lives to be touched by faith. It believes that our everyday experience provides an agenda for our faith and that our faith has something to say to the everyday. Essentially it begins with ordinary everyday life and brings this into conversation with the Good News of the Gospel. This methodology is well tried and tested in Ireland as it forms the basis for Lectio Divina, Clinical Pastoral Education etc. However it is the adaptation of this method by the Belgian priest Joseph Cardijn and his pattern of See, Judge and Act (which inspired the Young Christian Workers movement) that gives us the clearest guide on our way.

We are now coming to the end of the ‘See’ stage in which Listening has occurred to gather the issues of the people as expressed by the people. The delegates have been actively engaged in a variety of methods of listening in their own communities. Parishes, schools, hospitals, universities and many other groups have used questionnaires, focus groups, informal listening and various other means to gather the views of people throughout the diocese.

The meeting of delegates on June 27th was akin to a group of pilgrims on the Camino who stop along the way, to rest, take stock, share together and gain renewed energy and enthusiasm for the next part of the journey. On a day which was excellently facilitated by Limerick’s own Martin Kennedy, delegates were given the opportunity to debrief and share with each other on the experience of having conducted listening in their own communities. Delegates were also asked to answer the Synod questions themselves as they may not have yet had the opportunity to do so. Delegates of course would now be doing so in light of the experience of listening and consulting widely and this enriched the responses.

From this day it is clear that delegates are committed to and have confidence in the process even if it can prove demanding and challenging at times.

We are now entering the ‘Judge’ stage which involves discernment to identify what God is calling us to address from the issues raised. Its central decisive moment is the selection of themes for the Synod. A team of ‘analysts’ has been assembled and they will combine Christian discernment, ethnography and data analysis in determining the themes emerging from the Synod listening. These analysts were trained by means of a workshop held on June 20th. This was a ‘fishbowl’ in which an inner circle of ‘experts’ from different disciplines held a conversation around analysing the data generated in the ‘See’ stage, surrounded by an outer circle – comprising those who would be conducting the analysis. This has given us some guiding principles on how to undertake the task of coding which will enable us to proceed in a manner that is truly ‘synodal’ – true to the rigours of data research but in a way that is consistent with Christian discernment. The next step will be to present the codes to the delegates in early Autumn and provide them with the opportunity, through a process of discernment, to determine the themes which will be brought forward to the Synod in April 2016.

Following the brief rest moment that was June 27th the journey continues and delegates carry on with renewed enthusiasm and vigour.

You can read about the day, listen to the talks and open floor discussions and check out some photos of the days events here.

Some web browsing...........

Word on Fire -   We’ve Been Here Before: Marriage and the Room of Tears

Bondings 2.0 - A Prayerful Catholic Response to the U.S. Supreme Court Decision

John Kerry needs a lesson on anti-Christian persecution in Egypt

No Vatican decision yet on Medjugorje, leading journalist reports

Historic meeting of pope and Russian Orthodox head seen nearer

The Largest Collection of Relics Outside the Vatican Is In… Pittsburgh, PA?

Leading Russian Orthodox figure meets with 3 Vatican officials

“Laudato Si” and Liturgical Life — Example 1: Green Burial Practices

Pope Francis Establishes a New Vatican Secretariat for Communications

NYT - The Hero and the Nazi

NYT - The Appeal of Christian Piety

NYT - How Places Let Us Feel the Past

Remembering the Dead in the Abbey

Oh for the days when public telephone was your only man

Pope Francis in South America

In a sweet moment, an elderly woman in a wheelchair is carried to meet the Pope.

Pope Francis is visiting three countries in South America this week. Check out the coverage over at Whispers in the Loggia, News.va, Crux and Salt + Light.

5th July 2015 - Children's Faith Summer Camps - 14th Sunday in Ordinary time (Year B)

On this weeks programme John, Anne and Martina are joined by Fr Patrick Cahill of the Family of Mary. Fr Patrick discusses the upcoming Children Faith Summer Camps in Abbeyfeale. We have our regular reflection on the Sunday gospel as well as some notices and liturgical odds & ends.

You can listen to the podcast of this weeks programme HERE.

Children's Faith Summer Camps

Martina and John are joined by Fr Patrick Cahill to discuss the Children's Faith Summer Camps which are being held in Abbeyfeale this summer.

You can listen to the podcast of the interview with Fr Patrick excerpted from the main programme HERE. 





Gospel - Mark 6:1-6

He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary* and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence* at him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching.

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Word on Fire
English Domincans
Sunday Reflections
Centre for Liturgy
Limerick Diocese Weekly Newsletter
Salt + Light blog

Liturgical odds & ends

Liturgy of the Hours: Psalter week 2; 14th week in ordinary time

Saints of the Week

July 6th - St Moninne
July 7th - St Maelruain
July 8th - St Kilian 
July 9th - St Augustine Zhao Rong & Companions (martyrs)
July 10th - St Etto of Dompierre
July 11th - St Benedict 

Popes Intentions for July

• That political responsibility may be lived at all levels as a high form of charity.
• That, amid social inequalities, Latin American Christians may bear witness to love for the poor and contribute to a more fraternal society.

Reflections from the Apostleship of Prayer for the Pope's intentions.

How is the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors progressing? - iCatholic

Laudato Si - Videos exploring the encyclical from iCatholic

Discernment: A Jesuit Guide to Decision-Making

From Ignatian Spirituality - Kevin O’Brien, SJ, presented an hour-long webinar on “Discernment in the Jesuit Tradition” for Georgetown University Alumni Career Services. The information is valuable for anyone interested in learning about how to make decisions using Ignatian discernment.