Weekend Masses

Dear Brothers and Sisters, You do not visit Ireland for the weather, but these last few days in the middle of November have been lovely. This evening we have the wedding rehearsal a much more low key event than in the US. The sun has been shining. Yesterday my brother cut the grass and tided the garden and you would know that there had been lots of rain as the grass was hard to cut because it was so wet. It is a nice time to be here as I connect with people I have not seen in a long time and it is good to be here for a wedding. As we come to the end of the Church year and enter into Advent we are constantly reminded of God’s love for us. Family and friends are a reminder that love. We have given thanks and I hope that Thanksgiving was for you a gathering of family and friends with all the usual glitches, but enjoyable nonetheless. Say a prayer for those whose loved ones are far away and in harms way and give thanks. The journey continues Fr Karl  

Dear Brothers and Sisters, I am sitting at the kitchen table at my brother’s house in Dublin writing this piece. It is a damp November day, but it’s still above freezing. The garden still has tomato plants with ripening tomatoes on them. There are still flowers in bloom, and as my niece’s wedding is on November 18, and we are hoping that this kind of weather will continue. Even though I am thousands of miles away, I have had emails telling me what is going on with the rectory site. I have seen pictures of the corn around the church being cut. Our world is a small place now and so easy to keep in touch. When I went to Kenya a letter from Kenya took a week to travel from Kenya to Europe. Today it’s an instant email and yet it seems as if this instant communication has not brought our world closer to peace. We need as Christians to continue to show that the message of love is the way to live. We make peace by living it out in our lives. Our world is a small and getting smaller which means we need to be much more aware of what is going on in other places. Only by knowing how others live and their fears can we begin to understand or world and work for peace. Pray for and work for peace. Let the journey continue, Fr Karl