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Sunday |
Mar-28 |
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The following reflection is by Fr.Tom Cahill
Who would think that the Internet is threatening the jury system! Well, it seems it is, according to England’s most senior judge. The more people use the Internet, and the more people who use it, the fewer there are who get their information by listening. You go down the tubes and YouTube takes your place. So, sitting down for a long listen, concentrating on what’s being said to evaluate its content may well become an art-form alien to a gadget-groping generation.
What, then, to make of today’s first reading (Isa 50:4-7)? The Lord has given me the tongue of a teacher … to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens my ear. Use the Internet to get that sustaining word across? Well, it would get it out for sure, but across is another matter entirely. Getting something across means getting it in. It means entering someone’s mind with a thought, a value, an understanding, perhaps even a vision and leaving it there. It means penetrating someone’s heart to lay a gift of life-giving inspiration, of uplifting hope, of reassurance of one’s worth before God, but above all to lay down his gift of shared love.
That’s what a teacher’s tongue can do, coming from the hand of God. That’s what an ear can hear and a mind can comprehend when open to the Teacher’s word. The question is: can that be done online? Should liturgy be in cyberspace, not sacred space? Would a virtual reality Palm Sunday skirt a real life Golgotha? The jury needn’t be out too long on that.
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Thursday |
Mar-25 |
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‘Confirmation is a commitment for young people who pledge themselves to Jesus Christ and the Church. When people take on a commitment they dedicate themselves to something special. They put their hearts and their energy into something that is important to them. They know that the commitment they are undertaking will require discipline, generosity and perseverance.’ ~From yesterday’s Scoil Barra Confirmation booklet in Ballincollig
Confirmation ceremonies are taking place in many churches at the moment. Great effort is put in at school and parish to make this a memorable occasion. Anyone who attends such a ceremony is always touched by the energy, enthusiasm and vibrancy of the occasion. This doesn’t happen by chance and clearly the presence of God’s spirit is alive and vibrant. Maybe we take the spirit of God for granted in our lives. The Holy Spirit always invites us from a place of closed doors, darkness, fear, worries, obstacles, apathy and despair into a place of openness, vibrancy, colour, energy, healing, possibility, hope, teamwork, honesty, generosity and perseverance. It is always an invitation and never forced. As we pray for all those making their Confirmation at this time, we too are invited to be open to God’s spirit in our lives. |
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Tuesday |
Mar-23 |
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We so often make prayer complex when in fact it isn’t. Children always pray with honesty. If we could do the same with our prayers then they would take on a new meaning. Here are some prayers written by children of different ages……
Dear God, I wish I could see a long way and see things that were very far away. Then I could see my granny in her house and she could see me and we could wave to each other. All the best Jo. Dear God, I’d like to have a different name, I want everyone to call me Ariel. Can you change my name or do I have to tell them? Love Bernadette. Dear God, Can you get my dad a new job? He hasn’t had one for six months and he is getting bored of trying to find one. I know he wants one and he will work very hard. Thank you, Colleen. Dear God, Why don’t animals use toilets? Our cat uses a litter tray but some dogs just use the footpath. That’s disgusting. Yours Leona. Dear God, How does the world stay up in the air? From Georgio. Dear God, My mother says you are everywhere at once, but how do you watch everyone? It must get confusing for you. From Mark Dear God who is your mummy and daddy? All the best Calvin. Dear God, Every morning when I get out of bed I feel happy to know that you are there looking after us. I try to live my life well and to always do what Jesus would do. I don't always get things right, but it feels good to know that I am doing things for you. I will try to live a good life for you. All the best Georgie  |
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Sunday |
Mar-21 |
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Our Thought Today is by Fr.Tom Cahill
Somebody once said that just because he had 99 per cent of the DNA that Beethoven had that didn’t make him a musician. Luckily, there’s more to being human than DNA. Otherwise, we might be embarrassed by the fact that a worm, whose pet name is C. Elegans, shares up to 80 per cent of our genetic material. Next time you call someone a worm you might be more accurate than you think! Some 4,000 of these low-life wigglers left their usual haunts of rubbish dumps and compost heaps last November for higher things – 322 kilometres higher to be exact. They became wormonauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. Not in the least interested in being upwardly mobile, they went nevertheless on a seven-million kilometre journey so that scientists could study the effects of space travel on muscle-wastage.
Being upwardly mobile is what Paul yearns for in today’s second reading (Phil 3:8-14) but in a special way: the resurrection way. Paul yearns for something above and beyond his lot in life. And so he should. Genesis tells us imaginatively that we have come from the dust of the earth, not that we’ve been created to live in it. Our calling is to rise. Paul describes this as knowing the power of Christ’s resurrection (3:10). When evil tries to put us, and keep us, in the dirt we must not forget that we are called to higher things – not just 322 kilometres out in space, but throughout the vastness of eternity once we’re transformed through dying. Want to worm your way out of that one?
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Wednesday |
Mar-17 |
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God’s strength to direct me, God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak to me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect and save me.’ ~St.Patrick
Shamrock is scarce this year because of the harsh winter and hard frosts. But a lack of shamrock won't dampen the significance of today and the impact of the celebrations taking place all over the world today. St.Patrick had great devotion to God and was always sensitive to God’s presence in creation. In today’s world where many people drift aimlessly in life, Patrick is a voice of hope. He took great confidence from God’s presence in his life. In his own personal writings he explains how prayer helped him with his own struggles. He talks about how he overcame seemingly impossible difficulties through prayer. Today the feast of St.Patrick is a day to celebrate all that is good in our lives and all around us. It’s a day to acknowledge God’s gentle presence in our lives. It’s a day to pause for a moment in prayer and like Patrick not to be afraid to ask God for guidance, direction and an abundance of blessings.  |
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Sunday |
Mar-14 |
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The following reflection is by Fr.Tom Cahill
The world’s fastest computer makes 1,759 trillion calculations per second. Though faster than any human brain for calculating, it can’t do the mundane problem-solving that Joe Soap does daily. Neither can it calculate what the important things in life are. Such things as meaning, purpose, destiny, friendship, service and love. Maybe that’s because it doesn’t have a mind of its own. But even humans with a mind of their own don’t always calculate correctly either.
Take the prodigal son in today’s Gospel. (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32) He has a mind of his own, but focused on himself. If ‘garbage in garbage out’ is the techno mantra for computers, then ‘selfish in, selfish out’ is the moral mantra for people. The father knows this, yet allows his son the freedom to act selfishly. Rather like God with us. If we don’t use our head we’ll suffer for it. Unfortunately, often so too will others. The father can object to his son’s demand, but doesn’t. He acknowledges that his son is a free agent. So he gets his way. Not surprisingly, it’s the way to disaster. Back he comes to his father the wiser for a lesson that only life can teach him.
Wisdom doesn’t come from machines, even from supercomputers that use 147,456 processors to simulate just 1 per cent of the human brain. The director of America’s National Science Foundation claims that supercomputers ‘let you get closer to the truth.’ Good to know! Yet even better is to know that when you accept God’s word without calculation you find real truth even more quickly.
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Friday |
Mar-05 |
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‘Somebody hurt you, maybe yesterday, maybe a lifetime ago, and you cannot forget it. You did not deserve the hurt. It went deep, deep enough to lodge itself in your memory. And it keeps on hurting you now. Forgiveness is God’s invention for coming to terms with a world in which, despite their best intentions, people are unfair to each other and hurt each other deeply.’ ~Lewis B.Smedes
Forgiveness is a word that is often spoken about in our Gospels. Jesus says we are to forgive seventy times seven. This is another way of saying that forgiveness is to be part of our lives, woven into our relationships with each other. It has been said that forgiving is love's toughest work and love's biggest risk. It is hugely challenging. We live in a fragile and imperfect world. It affects us every day and sometimes extremely so. To forgive someone allows us to take a step forward, a step towards new beginnings. Not to forgive means we stay firmly rooted to the one spot, we never move on and any chance of a new beginning just never happens. If forgiveness is to be a part of our lives and woven into our everyday relationships, then we sometimes have to take the first step to make it happen.
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