Tipp-ex and other decisions!

Tipp-ex and other decisions!

“I wish you a happy National Bank Holiday Weekend” ……

I was in the car on Friday and heard a well known Radio Presenter close his show with those words.

It seemed a contrived and long-winded way of saying “Happy St Patrick’s Day”!! Of course, to do that, might be considered politically incorrect and possibly, even more of an offence, an indication that something of our Sacred Story was being acknowledged.

It is quite common in some countries to exchange the greeting “Happy Holidays” around the third week of December!! Again, political correctness, secular tipp-ex, seems to distance, through silence and omission, the reason for the holiday.

So where are we with this? Will we celebrate “Paddys”, “Paddy’s Day”, “Drown the Shamrock” …. ? Or, will we let the name be heard?

It’s not just a choice for this week. It’s a choice we are called to make each day.

Let the name – the Holy Name be spoken! Let our voice be heard!

Look before you leap … or drive!

Look before you leap … or drive!

Last night I was going to a funeral in Killaraght.  That should not be a problem since it’s part of my own home parish.  It turned out to be a bit of a problem though for two reasons ….

I was in Ballaghaderreen and decided to go through Frenchpark and head on to Killaraght Church that way.  It was a cold and damp night and I hadn’t travelled that road before other than knowing the sign on the left of the Boyle road that says “Killaraght Church”.  I followed the sign.

Last minute as ever I came to a fork in the road and took the road to the left.  I drove for quite a distance down a narrowish enough road and wondered all the while if I’d made the right decision.  The closed gate in front of me – a gate into an open field,  let me know the answer, I hadn’t!  Panic ensued!  I wondered if I’d be able to turn and knew that it was too long to reverse.  I got out of the car, tested the ground and it was soft enough.  Panic took a firm grip …. a short prayer, remembering that my car is front wheel drive I was anxious to keep those two wheels at least on firm ground.  A few twists and turns later, thanks be to God, I was on the road again. 

culdesac1Time was ticking and I doubted if I’d make the church in time but kept going.  It was then I noticed the sign that I’d missed on the way in ….

There’s no doubt about it, we should make time to notice “the signs”!!

I arrived at Killaraght Church on the stroke of 8pm.  Relieved that I made it on time but my sense of stupidity remained – I was exactly twenty-four hours early!!

2013 in review

2013 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 47,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 17 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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