Choosing a name for our Parish Partnership

From our Newsletter for Sunday 18th October

Throughout the diocese, parishes are being called to come together in new forms. Grouping, cluster, amalgamation of parishes are the way ahead for the diocese that is reduced in priests to service local areas. 

We are privileged that the parish of Saggart, Rathcoole, Brittas and the parish of Newcastle have been working together for many years. A shared Parish Pastoral Council and Finance Committee have been in place for a number of years showing a shared interest and cooperation between the ‘four districts’. We have been invited now by the diocese to discern a common name for our combined 'Parish Partnership', one that will have a resonance throughout the area.  

A number of matters are considered to be significant in relation to parish partnership patron names. Generally, a parish partnership name should: 1. have a unifying character, avoiding the name of any one parish/church in the partnership; 2. be appropriate to the partnership mission or connect with a tradition of faith in the area e.g. a local saint’s name or the name of a local monastery or well; 3. be discerned appropriately by people of all of the parishes in the partnership; 4. not be already in use by another parish partnership in the Archdiocese. 

One suggestion raised recently was “Mo Sacra” a saint from the 7th century who set up a monastery in what is currently Saggart cemetery. St Brigid’s Well in Rathcoole, St. Finian’s Well in Newcastle are other possible names. ‘Saggart’ was also a suggestion given. Have you any thoughts or suggestions on a name that could be used?

From the Lusk Parish newsletter for Sunday 18th October

We see here (or maybe better here!) that parishioners are being asked this weekend to rank in order of preference four names being proposed for the new "Parish Partnership" of Lusk, Rush and Skerries, i.e. to vote for their No.1! We get a real sense, then, of what the naming of a parish partnership is all about. It is, you will agree, a very important step and one that all parishioners should be informed about with a view to eventually stating their preference. This post (with more to follow) is meant to provide such information.  

"The Far East" 108 years in circulation

Readable on mobile phone

The Society of St Columban (S.S.C.), also known as The Maynooth Mission to China, was created in 1918 by Frs Edward Galvin and John Blowick (more here). Archbishop Eamon Martin paid tribute to the order on the occasion of its centenary in 2018 (here), while their magazine, The Far East, has been  -- and is still to this day  -- documenting their good work. The article above gives us the story of a priest based in Birmingham who had a serious bad turn in Heathrow but, very fortunately, survived to tell the tale and continue, ever so bravely and admirably, his good work. (A digital subscription to the magazine costs, believe it or not, just €10 per annum.)

What memories this magazine brings back to those of a certain age!  It came into every home in the 50s and 60s as did later, though to a lesser extent, The Word (SVD), set up in 1953, and Reality (Redemptorists), set up in 1936. Of these three, only The Far East continues to appear, the other two folding in 2008 and 2022 respectively.

Fr Kieran O'Mahony OSA (1951-2026)

Kieran O'Mahony as seen on his website, www.tarsus.ie

Today, 28th August, is the feast day of St Augustine. The Pope, as everyone knows, is an Augustinian and, for a long time here in Ireland, the Augustinian priest Fr O'Mahony was also very well known. His death ten days ago (see here) came as a big surprise. He set up his own website named after St Paul of Tarsus (www.tarsus.ie) which was a very valuable resource for reading the Bible. Many visitors to this parish website (now blog) must have visited it over the years (see link 'Reading the Bible', left side-bar) and greatly appreciated the work that Kieran put into it. The home page gives us his approach:

The goal of this website is to open people's minds and hearts to the Word of God. The ordinary person experiences Scripture mostly through the readings at public worship. Accordingly, my own emphasis will be on the Sunday and daily readings as found in the Catholic lectionary. This lectionary is not too different from the Revised Common Lectionary and my sincere hope is that the resources found here might be used across the Christian traditions. 

This last statement expresses a laudable ecumenical spirit. 

On the great saint's feast day, then, ten days after the passing into the next life of his faithful follower, Fr Kieran O'Mahony, this line from the Confessions can nicely include them both, the final words echoing the usual prayer for the deceased, RIP (requiscat in pace):

Fecisti nos ad te, et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te ("You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you").