Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
When I was growing up the first Monday in August was what we in Britain and Ireland called a Bank Holiday. Originally Bank holidays were days when the banks were closed to catch up on accounts and eventually they became public holidays but the name remained in the culture. It was the beginning of Horse Show week, which in those days was one of the big social events of the year held at the headquarters of the Royal Dublin Society or in the local slang the RDS. Nowadays it has been superseded by bigger events. Horse Show was a misnomer because it was a cattle show country fair all under the same roof and fields. My father always took a day off to take us to the show. Many of the families in our neighborhood had never been at it, because they saw it as an old British event. Both my par- ents were of farming origins and they saw it as a farming event and felt it was important for us to be there. I am eternally gratefully to my parents for the memories and the experiences they created for us, both at a secular and a religious level. They shared their experiences and their traditions and encourage us to create and continue these traditions.
We need to share these traditions and experiences because if we do not, we lose something of who and what we are. To visit a beautiful church, to go to the county fair or a local fair is important . It is taking a look at the world around us and reminding us that God is in the beautiful church and at the fair. Our faith is lived in the world and in order to live it to the ful,l we have to be at home in our world and practice our faith in our world. Thank God for our parents who did that and encouraged us to do the same.
The Journey continues
Fr Karl
LOOKING FOR CATHECISTS: We are still short of catechists for our religious ed pro- gram. Please contact Penny if you are interested
10Aug2017