360 Miscellany

News and views

Photo above – Confirmation ceremonies for the Class of 2020 from Bunscoil Rinn an Chabhlaigh in Cobh Cathedral

Archbishop Michael Jackson –

wrote a message to the people of Dublin & Glendalough as they awaited news of new restrictions.

“As I write, it is looking more and more likely that we in Dublin will have further restrictions imposed on us and be put into Level 3 of the Government’s Resilience and Recovery 2020–2021: Plan for Living with Covid–19.

“I am sure that you, like me, find the prospect of this both frustrating and frightening but it is important that we face this with resilience and hope. The resilience that we will once again find ways of coping with these restrictions and in the hope that by abiding by these imposed restrictions, by looking after ourselves, our families, our neighbours and our communities, we will suppress this rise in cases.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1)”
+Michael
Archbishop of Dublin. 18 September 2020

In Tuam Diocese there are three sets of ordinations during September –

On 13 September the Revd Clive Moore and the Revd Caroline Morrow were admitted to the Office of Deacon by Bishop Rooke in St Michael’s church, Ballina. The Revd Dr Paddy Delaney was admitted to the Office of Deacon by Bishop Rooke yesterday 20 September, in St Nicholas’ Collegiate church, Galway, and on Sunday 27 September the Revd Maebh O’Herlihy, the Revd Carole Reynolds and the Revd Karen Duignan will be Ordained to the Priesthood by Bishop Rooke in St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, Galway, at 11am.

Congratulations to Bishop Martin Hayes, the new Bishop of Kilmore. The service was held yesterday.

Well worth reading on WWW –

Abed’s story is about a Syrian refugee’s journey to Belfast. BBC NI News tells a most remarkable story which is still in process of a family surmounting violence, political and civic problems.
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-54153398]

Tuam first to zoom Synod –

Tuam held its 2020 Diocesan Synod using the Zoom platform on Saturday. This was the first such Diocesan Synod of the Covid era in the Church of Ireland.

Bishop made history signing the Ulster Covenant –

The fourth man to sign the Ulster Covenant was Charles Frederick D’Arcy, the Bishop of Down and Connor and Dromore (Photo above).

In his autobiography he wrote: “On Ulster Day, September 28th, after a solemn service in Belfast Cathedral, at which I preached to a packed congregation, we signed the Covenant in the new and magnificent City Hall. It was a wonderful day. Never have I felt such a sense of solemn and most unwavering determination as that which filled the hearts of the vast multitude which thronged all the approaches to the great central building of the city. We did not doubt the outcome – such faith in the righteousness of our cause animated us – but we felt that, whatever happened, we were sharing in a most noble endeavour, and that it was good to be alive”.

In Burning Heresies –

Ireland’s most controversial journalist, Kevin Myers, tells his side of the story. More at –

https://irishacademicpress.ie/product/burning-heresies-a-memoir-of-a-life-in-conflict-1979-2019/

Well said

Pointers to Prayer

Today we give thanks for contact tracers. In Ireland, where cases are rising, contact tracers are working doubly hard in the face of increased daily infection rates and increased workload. We give thanks for tracing systems and the hard work of contact tracers.

Give thanks for those who are working hard to create and sustain a safe environment for worship in our buildings and provision for digital ministry to those who cannot return to services. Pray that would continue to make our church premises Covid safe places in which we can encounter the life changing power and presence of God.

From 1 September to 4 October, Christians around the world are praying and caring for creation. It’s the “Season of Creation”

God in creation

Harvest at Myroe, Limavady, Co. Londonderry

Don’t start looking in the Bible for the answers it gives. Start by listening for the questions it asks…When you hear the question that is your question, then you have already begun to hear much – Frederick Buechner