 |
The Church of Ireland Diocese of Dublin |
|
|---|---|---|
|
|
The Church of Ireland Diocese of Dublin |
|
|---|---|---|
Other NewsWorld News | Parish Discussion Day | Parish Directory 2006-07 | Holy Week | The Mystery of Life | Notices | Daffodil Day | Thank You Letter World NewsMonks produce pray-as-you-go podcasts A new initiative by the British Jesuits - a religious order of the Catholic church - to offer commuters daily prayer sessions in MP3 format, as free downloads from the internet, has proved an instant success around the world. Jesuit Media Initiatives planned to trial the new project – called ‘Pray-As-You-Go’ – for the season of Lent. They invited people from their parishes and schools in Britain to give it a go by using the audio files on their iPods, mobile phones or other MP3 players to guide them through prayer on their daily journey to work, school or college. But by the time dawn broke on the first day - Ash Wednesday (1 March) - word had spread, and some 3,300 prayer sessions had been downloaded from the web in countries as far apart as Australia, Mexico and the United States. Since then, a further 18,400 sessions have been downloaded, prompting a flurry of emails to JMI’s Director, Fr Peter Scally SJ. Brooks Thoman from Nipomo, California, called it “awesome, wonderful, inspiring”, while Patrick Allen in San Jose, California, declared, “This is the most beautifully produced prayer that I have ever heard. It touches me in ways that I never thought possible.” Robin Farran, the wife of the Anglican Bishop of Newcastle, New South Wales, emailed to say: “It fills a real gap and is professionally and sensitively put together”; her husband is already promoting it in Australia. Nearer to home, a Metropolitan Line commuter from Harrow in North London, Audrey Newbury, said, “There is no better way to spend the tube journey home, after all the stresses of the day.” A new prayer session is offered every day, combining music, a short reading from the Bible and a few questions for personal reflection in a session of guided prayer that lasts around 10 or 12 minutes. The site also offers the option of using ‘Pray-As-You-Go’ as a daily podcast (with iTunes or other podcasting software) which automates the downloading process and keeps you up to date with the site’s latest offering. Peter Scally says the response has been amazing. “So many people have been enthused by pray-as-you-go that we are left in no doubt that it is addressing a very real need in people’s spiritual lives,” he says. Peter cut his teeth in the internet world as the designer of Sacred Space – a prayer web site launched in Ireland in 1999: this provides users with 10-minute prayer sessions on their computer screens. It has since been reproduced in 19 languages and has logged over 17 million visits worldwide since its inception. The news comes after a group of Vatican Radio employees gave Pope Benedict XVI his first iPod.
Parish Discussion DaySaturday 8th April 2006Howth Parish CentreYour chance to have your say about what you like and what you want to change over the next few yearsThe discussion will be in small groups where everyone will have their chance to contribute10 a.m. – 4 p.m.Facilitated by Canon Cecil HylandLunch included!Contact the Parish Office (820 0040) if you want to attend.
Holy Week - The Great WeekThe Events of Holy Week and Easter are of course central to the Christian faith. Without the passion and death of Jesus, we would not have God’s forgiveness and redemption. Without his resurrection, we would have no hope for the future, in this life and beyond. So we should not take this time of year for granted. The Church offers us a chance to reflect once again on this great story, by walking with Jesus from his triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, to his Last Supper, arrest and trial, and to his death on Good Friday. We then pause and wait on Saturday, before gathering again to celebrate his rising on Easter Sunday morning. In our worship that week we try to use word, song, story and symbol to bring this story afresh to us. Palm Sunday Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Maundy Thursday Good Friday Easter Eve Easter Vigil Easter Day Full details of service times are in the Services Section.
The mystery of life: ‘Reflections on the ethics of embryo research’A summary of a sermon preached by The Rector The debate on human cloning, frozen embryos and stem cell research has once again hit the headlines in the last month. The technology can leave us confused, and each advance brings new ethical dilemmas, which have to be discussed and resolved. So what can we do about this? How do we come to terms with these issues? Is there a Christian viewpoint? Can the Bible say anything to us about this? Along with the other modern dilemmas like abortion, or the moment of death, the Bible doesn't say anything directly about these issues, simply because they weren't even thought of when the books were written. But it does speak about principles which we should consider carefully when we look at this ethical problem. First, it speaks of the value of God's creation. "God saw everything that He had made and it was good." This is God's world, and God loves and cares for it. It has a value, and it is not there simply to be used or misused. Second, each person is a unique individual with rights and duties. The Ten Commandments set out in basic form the rights of each individual person, and the duties that we have towards one another and God. Humans, no matter who they are, have a right not to be abused, ill treated or interfered with by anyone else. Each person is unique. Third, the rights of individuals are not to be trampled on by the demands of an institution, no matter how good it may be. That is the message of the money changers in the temple. The system and the institution had become more important than the individuals. We see the same principle at work in dictatorships like modern China, where the rights of individuals are suppressed so that the country runs more smoothly. Fourth, the Bible also makes it clear that suffering is not part of God's will for his creation. Medical advances are to be welcomed, because they help to reduce suffering. They are part of God's healing for individuals and the world. So, given all this, what can we say about the cloning of human beings, and the whole area of genetic engineering? I think, first, that we have to accept that it is not possible to stop all research in this field. Not only will people continue to work in secret, but we might be stopping important research which could see the end of genetic diseases like cystic fibrosis. But, having said this, we must nevertheless have a debate in our society about where we are going to set our limits. To take the area of animals: if all sheep or cattle are exactly the same, what happens when a deadly new disease comes along? At the moment, some animals will always survive because of differences in their resistance to the disease. But that might not be the case if they are all the same. And what about humans? Just because we may be able to clone a human being doesn't mean that we should. At the same time, identical twins are clones of each other, and that doesn't mean that they are not unique individuals. Nurture as well as nature has a part to play in the person we become. If we want to say that every human being is unique, then we will think long and hard about permitting techniques whereby you could choose the sex of your child, or whether it will be musical or athletic or whatever. We would be losing something very valuable if we lose the diversity that random selection of our genes gives to us. We are unique parts of God's creation, and we interfere with that at our peril. Furthermore, the long term results of genetic experiments are unknown. Could strange mutations happen to humans and animals with results we cannot predict? All the questions are still open. But one thing is sure. This is too important to be left to scientists and experts. We all need to think the issues through very carefully. We need to reflect on what the Bible says, on what Christian tradition says, and listen to the experts. We need debate and discussion on this from an informed Christian viewpoint. Society cannot let the scientists carry on with their research without asking what the results will be. We cannot shut our eyes and pretend that it will not affect us. The primary basis for what we believe about issues is the informed conscience. We have a duty to make sure we are informed, by understanding the issues, reflecting on scripture and tradition, and then using the minds that God has given us.
Notices
Daffodil DayWe had an excellent turn out for our annual Daffodil Day coffee morning in aid of the Irish Cancer Society. We raised €1,300 for this very worthy cause. Many thanks to all who supported the event and especially those who baked for us and helped us on the day. This is the fifth year that we have run a coffee morning and we are delighted to say that to date we as a parish have donated almost €6,000 to the Irish Cancer Society. So well done again to everyone and thank you for your continued support. See you all next year! Shirley McGuckin and Janet Seaman
Thank You LetterDear Andrew I just wanted to thank you for all your help with our choir trip last weekend. We arrived back in Belfast at 5.30, a tired but happy bunch! As you know, it was the choir's first trip away, and they thoroughly enjoyed the experience, not least because of the warm welcome we received in both churches. The choir is very much an interdenominational group, but all agreed that they felt very much at home in the services. It was extremely kind of the ladies of the parish to provide lunch: that, plus the lifts, made things so much easier for us. Once again, very many thanks Edwin Gray
World News | Parish Discussion Day | Parish Directory 2006-07 | Holy Week | The Mystery of Life | Notices | Daffodil Day | Thank You Letter |
||||
|
Parishes of Castleknock and Mulhuddart with Clonsilla |
||||
