CHURCH UNITY WEEK
When I was seven years of age, I remember I put the question to my mother: ‘What are Protestants?’ In good biblical fashion she replied by way of a parable! She reminded me that as a young teacher in Limerick, she had been in digs at the house of a Mrs. Eakins who was a Baptist. My mother then continued with the following story:
One very wet Saturday morning her landlady had purchased a Fair Isle jumper for one of her several sons. Mrs. Eakins was a widow. She was a woman of modest means who would have been dependant for income on whatever rent two young teachers contributed for their keep in the Eakins home. On the day in question her son had donned his brand new garment for all to admire. A knock came to her door. Outside stood a poor woman accompanied by a ragged young boy, her son, who stood shivering in the rain .The shabbily dressed woman asked for alms. There and then Mrs. Eakins took the jumper from her own son and handed it to the poor woman.
“Now”, concluded my mother “in my experience that’s what Protestants are like”’.
The result of my enquiry meant that for me, for a long time afterwards, I believed that being a Protestant was to be a person who instinctively forfeited what they themselves could ill afford ,in order to bestow goods on others who were less fortunate still!
In retrospect, my mother’s story was not a bad first lesson in ecumenism. In my lifetime, our Catholic attitude towards Christians of other denominations has changed hugely. Gone is our suspicion of the quality of their faith. Our traditional,
‘superiority complex’ vis a vis Protestants of all shades, has long since blessedly dissolved. The Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism and subsequent Papal teaching urge us to work and pray for Christian Unity. This echoes the words of Jesus Christ himself who prayed that all who bear the name Christian should be “one” (John 17:20). This goal, indeed this imperative, was most recently served at the gathering which took place in our church here in Milltown on Wednesday last. It was our parish’s privilege to host the Inter - Church liturgy which is organised annually by the Dublin Council of Churches, marking church Unity Week. The service was led by our own Archbishop Diarmuid and the Church of Ireland’s Archbishop Michael Jackson. It included representation of other Christian faith communities; all of whom shared hospitality at our Pastoral Centre following the celebration of God’s Word together. We give thanks for this warm and fruitful gathering.
Fr. Tom Stack
Thank you for last Sunday’s Offertory Collection of €1,663 and the Share Collection which amounted to €964.
Thank you to those who have returned their Christmas Dues. There are some additional Christmas Dues envelopes available at the back of the church.
Congratulations to Alison Byrne, Martina Szczepaniec and Johanna Mullin whose names were drawn out of a hat in our Christmas colouring competition.
Following consultation with parishioners it has been agreed that evening Mass on Holy days will be at the later time of 6pm.
Milltown Parish / Foroige Youth Club
This club will re-commence in January. New members are welcome. Please leave your name and contact details in the Parish Office if your children would like to join this group.
Date for your Diary
Please note that the New Year Liturgy Seminar will take place between 9.30 am and 1.30pm on Saturday morning, the 28th January in Clonliffe College. Details of the courses on offer and booking forms are available from the book rack and the Parish Office.
A photography training course will take place in the Parish Pastoral Centre from 10-12 am on Saturday the 4th of Feb.. This two hour course teaches you the basic principles of SLR photography. This is a hands on course with lots of practical experience. The course costs €45 per person. For further details call 087 6866026 or log onto www.softlight.ie/courses to register
Ministers of the Word are invited to attend a training meeting at 8pm on Tuesday, Feb. 7th. This meeting will have a practical content.
The Milltown Parish Active Retirement Group are showing the film ‘Jane Eyre’ on the new large screen, in the Parish Pastoral Centre at 2.30pm on next Tuesday, Jan. 24th. All members are welcome to attend. No charge.
Global Awareness Course: The Volunteer Mission Movement (VMM) is running a global awareness course in the Irish Aid Volunteer Centre Dublin. The course begins on Thursday 23rd February and runs for ten consecutive Thursdays. For further information see poster on the church Notice Boards or contact Eugene Smith, Irish regional officer, VMM, The Priory, John Street West, Dublin 8.Tel:016334421 e-mail: eugene@vmminternational.org.
Are you 60+ years of age? Have you a small repair job which you would like to have done for you? The Care and Repair programme (run by Age Action Ireland) uses a pool of trustworthy volunteers and handypersons to carry out minor repairs for older people. All volunteers are vetted and carry official Care and Repair identification cards. The service is free; you only pay for the materials used. For your bigger jobs, we maintain a register of reliable and honest tradespersons. We are also accepting requests for small gardening jobs. You can arrange to have a job done for you by phoning the Age Action Care and Repair number which is 01-4756989.
Please contact Orla at 087, 9340839 if you are interested in attending an afternoon six week Yoga course in the Parish Pastoral Centre. A course will commence if enough people are interested in attending.
