Markethill church group re-trace St Paul’s journeys; Armagh CD launch for charities; Archbishop’s insights on Trinity Sunday; Clogher events; Book review – Political Corruption in Ireland, 1922-2010
Markethill church group re-trace St Paul’s journeys
Portadown Times – Members of two Markethill Church of Ireland parishes journeyed in the footsteps of St Paul the Apostle on and around the eastern Mediterranean – but they did it in rather more comfort than the Biblical Epistle writer. The joint parishes of Mullabrack and Kilcluney made the journey under the leadership of the Rev Neville Hughes, who said, “Of course, the people of St Paul’s day had to travel by foot, while we enjoyed the luxury of jet flights and a five-star cruise liner. But it didn’t make the experience any less real. We jetted and sailed back and forth across the Mediterranean and spent hours patiently waiting in airports.”
http://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/community/markethill-church-group-re-trace-st-paul-s-journeys-1-3906296
Armagh CD launch for charities
Lurgan Mail – A CD in memory of one of the young girls who lost her life on the M1 Motorway 10 years ago is to be launched in Tartaraghan Church , Armagh diocese, on Tuesday (June 5). Laura Robinson and Leigh Creaney were killed on June 5, 2002, after the car they were in was hit by a drunk driver who was speeding down the fast lane of the motorway towards oncoming traffic. Laura was a gifted singer/songwriter who never got the chance to record her own work. She did however record a cover version of ‘The Power of Love’ the night before her death. Her family went on to release this song showcasing her talent in 2002. More at:
http://www.lurganmail.co.uk/news/local/cd-launch-at-tartaraghan-1-3915106
Archbishop’s insights on Trinity Sunday
Preaching in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Archbishop Michael Jackson concluded his sermon, thus:
“On Trinity Sunday we celebrate and receive life itself in its fullness and its abundance. God gives life because God is the source and the being of life itself. Receiving life from God – this takes us into our second and third Readings, that is from The Letter to the Romans and St John’s Gospel. As so often St Paul starts with a contrast which draws us into conflict. Once you understand that this is his way, you can see where he is going and, I hope, go with him. As with so much of the way in which we take to our heart the Trinity, St Paul is talking about the power of what we call baptism. The key give–away in Romans 8 is the word: adoption. Just think back to Thomas Cranmer and 1662 once again, and go straight to the Collect for Christmas Day: …Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit …our baptism – regeneration, adoption and grace – gives us the strength to respond to Christmas Day. And so the argument of St Paul continues with ever–quickening pace. We join our song with the Song of the Spirit; adoption gives us belonging and inheritance. The gift is freely given. Baptism is the place where the water of revival flows. We are the children who are called to be friends and heirs.
“Maybe too much of the concentration in reading St John chapter 3 – whether it be here in Christ Church Cathedral on Trinity Sunday or on a Sandwich Board on any of our streets is laid on: JOHN 3.7: Ye must be born again … But, as Oscar Wilde told the NT Greek Examiners in Magdalen College, Oxford as he was translating the story of St Paul’s shipwreck from Acts and it was perfectly clear that he knew how to translate from the Greek original: Oh dear, I do really want to read on and find out what happened …. be patient and go a little further and what you will find is quite revolutionary. It goes like this: And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“The sandwich board sound bite, therefore, is not so much a threat of damnation, but it is an invitation to receive healing through the self–sacrifice of God in the Son. And so we can make sense of another sound bite: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“It is this healing we now recognize first and foremost which enables God to make demands, to give a commission, to send people like Nicodemus out to be carriers of God in the lives they live. We have to take heart that St John 3 features so prominently in our celebration of Trinity Sunday. It connects us with parts of our faith and of our tradition which many of us often fail to enter because we have eaten the caricature and have decided to spit it out. This is a mistake.
“And on Trinity Sunday in particular it is a specific mistake. Trinity Sunday is the great festival of community, the community of God and therefore the community of life lived in God’s image and in God’s love. We cannot afford to construct or to continue caricatures. We cannot rubbish the principles of others and dismiss them as prejudices. Justice and advocacy demand respect of others as well as commitment to our own causes. The sustaining of community is what a stable and a liberating society is built on. It is the open–ended challenge which God the Trinity offers to us on Trinity Sunday. Trinity Sunday gives voice to the healing power of God’s holiness. Let us together celebrate something so glorious that we are not ashamed to be numbered among those who are: born again.”
Text at:
http://dublin.anglican.org/news/2012/06/Sermon-Preached-by-Archbishop-Michael-Jackson-on-Trinity-Sunday-in-Christ-Church-Cathedral.php
Clogher events
Tuesday 5th June – The Olympic Torch will pass through Clogher and Augher. It is planned to ring the cathedral bells as the torch passes to mark this unusual event.
Friday 8th June – Jubilee Barbeque at Colebrooke Rectory to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee at 6.30pm A fun-filled evening for all the family including music, games, bouncy castle, fancy dress party and display of royal memorabilia, etc. Adults: £10, children £5 (pre-school free).
Friday 8th June – Dromore Parish Annual Steak Barbeque at 8.00pm.
Monday 4th June – The Lighting of the Jubilee Beacon in Coolbuck Church from 9.45-10.30pm. A short service precedes the lighting of the beacon.
Tuesday 5th June – The Olympic Torch will pass through Clogher and Augher. It is planned to ring the cathedral bells as the torch passes to mark this unusual event.
Friday 8th June – Jubilee Barbeque at Colebrooke Rectory to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee at 6.30pm A fun-filled evening for all the family including music, games, bouncy castle, fancy dress party and display of royal memorabilia, etc. Adults: £10, children £5 (pre-school free).
Friday 8th June – Dromore Parish Annual Steak Barbeque at 8.00pm.
Saturday 9th June – Car Boot Sale with Strawberry Teas in Drummully car park. Gates open at 8.00am. Teas start at 12 noon.
Sunday 10th June – Deadline for all submissions for the July/August issue of Clogher Diocesan Magazine. Email to: editor@clogher.anglican.org
Sunday 10th June – Friends of St Maeldoid’s Annual Reunion Service in Muckno Parish Church, Castleblayney at 3.30pm. Speaker: Revd Bryan Kerr.
Sunday 10th June – Outdoor Service by the old church in Drumswords, Co. Monaghan at 3.30pm.
Monday 11th June – Children’s Ministry Evening ‘A child’s spiritual live with Alistair McCracken’ in Fivemiletown Parish. The evening will include a hot fork supper.
Monday 11th June – St Barnabas Day Service of Holy Communion in Clogher Cathedral at 9.00am.
Tuesday 12th June – ‘Deadline for all entries for the Archdeacon Ruddell Prize and Bishop”s Medal 2012 Competition. Entries to be sent to the Clogher Diocesan Board of Religious Education secretary: Joyce Clingan, 37 Meadowfarm, Garvary, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh BT74 4QS.
Tuesday 12th June – Friend’s in the Afternoon Queen’s Jubilee Celebrations in Ardess Parish Centre at 2.00pm with afternoon tea party including the Primary School choir and a drama by Alan Crawford.
Thursday 14th June – Lunch-time Healing Service in St Macartin’s Cathedral, Enniskillen from 1.05-1.35pm.
Friday 15th June – Mothers’ Union Indoor Tea Party in The See House, Fivemiletown.
Friday 15th June – Church Picnic at Dartrey.
Saturday 16th June – Mothers’ Union General Meeting in Llandudno, Wales.
Book review – Political Corruption in Ireland, 1922-2010
Financial Times – Political Corruption in Ireland, 1922-2010: A Crooked Harp?, by Elaine A. Byrne, Manchester University Press, £16.99 (paperback), £65 (hardback). In the closed shop of post-civil war politics, moreover, too much of Ireland’s social and political capital was invested in the Catholic Church – which exploited the link between Irish political and religious freedom – and Fianna Fáil.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/02db1a9e-abd5-11e1-a8a0-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1wqAVfNy1