Dear Editor, As all Christians know the birth of the baby Jesus is the reason for the festive season. Indeed without Christ there would be no Christmas. However, our society has now become so secular that Jesus is increasingly not invited to his own birthday party.
How can so called Christians send a secular Christmas card to their friends and ignore the birth of Jesus? Wishing our colleagues, family, friends, neighbours the season’s greetings or happy holidays is an insult to our Lord. In Matthew 10:33 Jesus says “But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.”
So please can we all make an effort to send a religious card ideally one that supports a Christian charity or a religious organisation to all our acquaintances this month.
For those concerned about the cost of postage why not use an online service to email such a card to all you know. Using such a service you can promote a Christian service to a multitude for a minimal outlay. Jesus will then be able to say to you someday “well done my good and faithful servant”.
Another point, why does RTÉ not broadcast Holy mass during the Covid-19 crisis on Saturdays and what are the hierarchy doing about this serious omission.
In 1866 the Redemptorists were entrusted with the mission of making Our Lady of Perpetual Help known throughout the world. At St Joseph’s Monastery in Dundalk, the Redemptorists celebrate a Perpetual Novena in honour of Our Lady of Perpetual Help every Saturday at 9.30am Mass.
Surely this Holy Mass could be celebrated on RTÉ which is funded by hundreds of thousands of Irish Catholics, the largest Christian denomination on the island of Ireland.
Yours etc.,
Liam de Paor
Carrickane, Cavan
‘Wow-factor’ of Raphael’s painting of child Jesus
Dear Editor, Raphael’s ‘Niccolini-Cowper Madonna’ [IC 26/11/2020] has a powerful wow-factor.
The expression on the face of the child Jesus is full of mischief, with his little tongue lolling in a slightly open mouth. How evocative is the position of the child’s hand (something one often sees in little boys and little girls) soliciting a feed.
Mary’s face is tranquil but suggestive of a determination to begin the weaning process!
Yours etc.,
Judith Leonard
Raheny, Co. Dublin
Recognising the need for us to celebrate Christ’s birth together
Dear Editor, I for one can’t wait to go to a Christmas Mass. I know we are being advised not to expect to get a place, as space is very limited and in high demand (who would have thought ‘high demand’ and ‘Mass’ would be words put into the same sentence in modern Ireland!) but that doesn’t mean I won’t try my best.
Reading the Association of Catholic Priests statement about public Christmas Masses needing to be cancelled to protect health etc… I was overcome with disbelief [IC 10/12/2020]. After so many months this year of not being able to celebrate Mass as a community, for an association of priests to say, of all people, that the public celebration of our Lord’s birth ought not to go ahead is depressing. They even describe it as a “token Mass”.
If a priest feels he can’t make a church safe enough for his congregation, for whatever reason, then by all means move it online. However, a blanket statement like that seems extremely defeatist and unhelpful as so many Catholics have struggled due to the restrictions on worship. So many priests are working hard to put on extra Masses and make sure they can cater to the needs of their parishioners and they are doing this not because of all the supposed pressure they are being put under – according to the ACP – but because they want to do it. They seem to acknowledge the extreme trauma caused by subsequent lockdowns, which I do believe needed to happen to some extent, and have measured the risks and made a very reasonable decision. Why is it that the Government are happy for people to attend public Mass, with Covid restrictions in place, but the ACP think it’s too dangerous?
Yours etc.,
Gerry Doyle
Tallaght, Co. Dublin
ACP don’t do the Church any favours
Dear Editor, I was absolutely stunned to see the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) describing Christmas Mass as a ‘token’. It seems as if they have forgot what it means to be a Catholic priest. There is a constant stream of disappointing and dispiriting messages coming out of a group that claims to represent a huge number of priests – although I really don’t believe this is actually the case. I know so many of Ireland’s clergy have risen to the occasion during this pandemic and have found the strength and resolve to do everything in their power to allow people to go to Mass as safely as possible. For the ACP to now say that Masses should move online, even though the Government have specifically stated that public worship is allowed over the Christmas, is so profoundly strange. The number of people leaving the Church is growing in the western world, the virus has undoubtedly sped up this process, the last thing we need is a group of priests asking people not to go to Mass.
Yours etc.,
Jamie Donnelly
Naas, Co. Kildare
‘Little to no substance’ in RTÉ Mass homilies
Dear Editor, For the past several months, I’ve been putting a question to myself repeatedly, asking: “Can I be the only person who feels greatly dissatisfied and undernourished by the weekday Mass on the RTÉ News Now channel?”
While it’s most welcome for believers to be able to tune in for daily Mass, and I’ve been able to watch it on average three to four times weekly since March, I find there’s little to no substance in the homilies and there are glaring omissions in the Prayers of the Faithful. I allow for the possibility that there may have been a different experience during the Masses I’ve not seen.
Regarding the sermons given, especially with time constraints for same, with a priest from St Brendan’s Cathedral in Loughrea being the one notable exception, every other priest, and indeed bishop, has consistently ignored the numerous challenging Epistle and Gospel passages, and instead have picked a feel good phrase or sentence completely out of context, providing nothing more than any positive secular humanist could offer.
Alternatively, they speak on populist topics like climate change or they continue to reiterate the endless comments in the media and political world about best practices in looking after each other during Covid-19.
Just as glaringly obvious, relating to the bidding prayers, with the one exception mentioned above, no other celebrant has ever mentioned, even remotely, the growing scandal of the huge and ongoing rise in the killing of the innocent unborn in Ireland since January 2019.
What I’ve communicated verbally to several people, I now suggest here; namely, that there seems to be what can only be described as a “conspiracy of silence” from the hierarchy and clergy across the board in refusing to address even in the mildest way both the abortion issue and the now large looming possibility of a euthanasia bill, designed to further undermine our whole Judeo-Christian values.
Yours etc.,
Flann Dwan
Nenagh, Co. Tipperary
Donald Trump exhibited anti-life credentials
Dear Editor, I agree entirely with Ann Campbell [IC 10/12/2020] when she writes that “being pro-life extends beyond voting pro-life, it is a way of life in thought, word and deed”. Genuine pro-lifers and clergy cannot congratulate anyone who is anything but pro-life in word and deed.
Donald Trump, however, exhibited significant anti-life credentials during his time in office. These include his separation of migrant children from their parents, his support for the death penalty, his attempts to expel the dreamers who were born in the US, his efforts to overturn the affordable healthcare provisions that would leave 20 million US citizens without health insurance, his treatment of women and his failure to provide adequate leadership in the face of the death of 290,000 Americans from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pro-Life? I don’t think so.
Yours etc.,
Micheál Ó Braoin,
Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare