Notebook I’ve always enjoyed reading John B. Keane’s Letters of an Irish Parish Priest (or I did until I became one, anyway). One of the letters frequently received by this fictional pastor came from an anonymous parishioner, who always signed herself ‘One Who Tries To Be A Good Catholic’. This anonymous scribe’s notes were usually…
Notebook Today I completed my 13th Facebook Mass (11 Sundays, Holy Thursday and St Patrick’s Day). As has often been said, it’s a whole new world, and it’s not all bad either. Online Masses show how amazingly adaptable we Catholics can be. Facebook supplies an amazing array of statistics. For each Mass celebrated live…
Notebook I have been live-streaming Sunday Mass onto our parish Facebook page since March 15, so I feel like a hardened cyber-veteran at this stage. But even with nine broadcast Masses under my belt, the Sunday morning liturgical adventure is always preceded by a sleepless Saturday night. Maybe after a year, when this becomes…
Notebook It’s all very ironic, isn’t it? For years, right-minded people, I among them, have condemned the way in which social media was taking over our society. And yet here we are, in a virtual lockdown, utterly impotent but for the same social media. I have been both a denouncer and one deserving of…
Notebook Every church in Ireland has a box-shaped receptacle, of gold or silver, often decorated with precious jewels. In years past this special container was placed in the centre of the ‘high altar’, but now it’s usually on its own, on a separate column or plinth, with its own spotlight, in its own distinct space,…
Notebook A question that arises for priests (outside of cities) concerns Sunday funerals. In particular, priests wonder if it is fair to transform a scheduled Sunday Mass into what becomes in effect a funeral Mass, with burial afterwards, often in the adjoining churchyard or a nearby cemetery. Ireland may well be the only country in…
Notebook My Auntie Mary was the most famous person in our family, but she attained fame in an unusual way. She was my grandmother’s aunt and had died long before I was born. I knew only two salient facts about her: she lived on North Street, Skibbereen. And she died on Christmas Day. What happens…
Notebook I ran into a resident of this parish recently, who asked me to sign a Mass card for him. A pen was procured, the signature added and details of the Mass intention noted. He explained who the person who had died was – the grandmother of a lady who is on one of our…
Notebook Is your priest punctual; does he start Mass on time? If he does, have you arrived by then? This issue arises in every parish in Ireland, where Mass can begin in one of three ways; a little early, bang on time, or a little (or a lot) late. There is a fourth possibility, which…
Notebook The 10 am weekday Mass in Newcestown on the August Bank Holiday ended at 11.30 am. What’s more, no one bolted for the door during the last hymn. Instead, amazingly, they stood and sang together. And most stayed on afterwards to talk to their neighbours. It was a Bank Holiday after all. No…