Parish News Archives - October 2008

Rector Writes | Readings & Services | From the Registers | Organisation Reports | Announcements | Other News

Rector Writes

Dear Friends,

We are all well aware of the threat climate change poses to our world, but sadly, too often there is often little response from the churches. Reflecting on this recently, I wanted to share with you some ideas about what we can do as Christians to care for God’s world.

It was yet another sign that something is going very wrong in the Arctic Circle. The polar bear was swimming in open water in the Chukchi Seas off Alaska, over 60 miles from land. It was one of 9 bears US scientists spotted in one day in mid-August. The sightings came in the wake of a report from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center that Arctic sea-ice was declining at an unprecedented rate. The ice that is the bears' home was literally melting beneath their feet.

Polar bears spend most of their lives on the sea ice. Climate change means that each summer the ice breaks up more and more, leaving the bears facing longer and longer swims between feeding, mating and denning grounds. It probably is not a big deal for a polar bear in good condition to swim 10 or 15 miles, but swims of over 50 miles can be exhausting.

I don’t need to tell you the cause: rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, causing rapid climate change. But what is new is just rapidly this is occurring.

Scientists predicted 30 years ago there would still be 7 million sq kilometres of ice left at the end of this century. That's dropped by 40% already. Most alarmingly, the rate of thinning occurring annually is running far ahead of what the scientific models predicted. Scientists who until recently said that the Arctic might be ice-free in summer by 2070 now say it could happen within a decade.

What happens in the Arctic will have a direct affect on the rest of us. The ice-cap acts as a giant mirror reflecting the sun's rays back out to space. By contrast, the dark ocean waters absorb the sun's energy fueling a vicious cycle of heating and melting. The sea-ice also holds in place land glaciers on Greenland and elsewhere around the Arctic Circle. The melting will hasten their slide into the sea, raising sea-levels. Thanks to how weather systems work the decline in sea ice is likely to lead to less rain in North America and more in Europe. A huge change in flooding patterns, agriculture, population movements. Most of all, the Arctic is the canary in the coalmine of global warming. The dramatic changes we are seeing there will be matched around the globe unless we act.

For Christians, the stories of creation in the Bible are not factual scientific accounts, but they are wonderful parables about the responsibility given to human beings by God. Adam and Eve are asked by God to take responsibility for, to be stewards, of the Garden of Eden, and they fail. As human beings now God asks us in the same way to be responsible for, to be stewards of his whole creation, the whole enormous complexity of it. We have greater powers now than Adam and Eve had, and that gives us the chance for greater good and greater evil. And that is why we need to be reminded that this God's earth and we are expected to take good care of it. We have not made a great job of it so far. At this point you may be sceptical - climate change has always happened, the ere are constant cycles in earth’s history. And that’s true but never ever has there been climate change on the scale we are witnessing now. There is no doubt. Climate change is human caused - almost every single reputable scientist says so.

You probably ask what can we do? It may seem as if we can do little oour own. It's easy to become overwhelmed when we look at "The Big Picture". Global warming, climate change and fuel shortages can make us all feel powerless. They're pretty big threats, and it's understandable if our knee-jerk response is: "But What Can I Do?” The answer, actually, is "Quite A Lot". For example, log on to change.ie. They’ll ask you to do an environment audit, a bit like a safety statement check, and see you can reduce your carbon emissions, your use of heat, your consumption of water and much more. There are lots and lots of ideas.

We can make a difference if we choose the environment friendly and locally produced product when we go shopping, if we ask about the environment when we next come to vote, if we put a bit more in the collecting tin for the organisations like Christian aid who need our money to change the way governments act. Because it’s ultimately governments that can do most.

God has asked us to take on the responsibility of being stewards of his creation. But in the end, all stewards are asked to give an account of what they've done. What answer will we give to God?

Yours in Christ,

Andrew

From the Registers

Holy Baptism:
16th August in St. Mary’s: Jeff Foley, son of Niall and Sonya of Leshemstown, Dunshauglin.
24th August in St. Brigid’s: Victoria Claire Lily Good, daughter of Philip and Olive of Brookhaven.
24th August in St. Mary’s: Kate Qi Li Glanville, daughter of Peter and Li Hui of Huntstown.

May they shine as lights in the world, to the glory of God the Father.

Christian Marriage:

Funeral:

In Memorium:
We were sorry to learn of the death of Jim Higgins, who was for many years sexton and caretaker of Castleknock Parish and well known to many of our long standing parishioners. His care for all the church furnishings, and his encyclopaedic knowledge of the Churchyard, dating back many years, were deeply appreciated by a succession of Rectors.

Organisations Reports

Mothers' Union
The opening service of the year was held in St. Mary’s, Clonsilla when our guest preacher was our friend and member Rev. Aisling Shine. Aisling expressed her pleasure at being back in her home parish for the first time in several years, and then went on to talk about the work of Mothers’ Union at home and abroad and the need for forgiveness in all our relationships. At the service, two new members were enrolled: Christina Russell, and our first man, Rev. Andrew Orr! The branch year opened with a fun evening, Beetling About, which provided a lot of hilarity…..! A number of our members attended the diocesan service in St. Saviour’s Arklow. Our next meeting will be open to all the parish, as Sr. Francis talks about Human Trafficking in Ireland. Everyone is encouraged to come and hear about this important issue in our society on October 6th.

Susan Green

Announcements

Mulhuddart:
St. Thomas’ services return to their winter schedule with services on the 3rd Sunday of each month at 8pm.

Harvest:
Harvest Festival services in Clonsilla and Castleknock: Sunday 12th October. The preacher will be Rev. Mark Wilson, Chaplain of Tallaght Hospital.

The Discovery Harvest Festival:
The Discovery Harvest Festival takes place in St. Brigid’s on 12th October at 3.00pm. Featuring the Discovery Gospel Choir, and organised by the Chaplaincy for the International Community, this promises to be a very enjoyable occasion, with wonderful music and singing; and then a feast of international food afterwards. The archbishop will be the preacher. We are delighted to be hosting this service, recognition that we have one of the most ethnically diverse parishes in Ireland.

Ecumenical Blessing of the Graves:
2nd November Ecumenical Blessing of the Graves (Castleknock only) 3.30pm. All welcome.

All Souls Day Service:
This is a chance to remember all those close to us who have died. There will be chance at services in the weeks previous to place their names on the list to be read out at The Eucharist.

It takes place on Sunday 2nd November at 8pm in St. Brigid’s.

Parish Barbeque:
A fantastic day was had by all at the Clonsilla Parish Barbeque on Sunday 14th September. A truly international event, as well as the usual barbeque fare, we had genuine Tandoori chicken from Kerala; Nigerian beans, rice and kebabs (served with serious chillies!) and Italian and Scandinavian desserts. Fortunately, all the food was served and everyone settled before the rain came…. the story of this summer! A huge number of people contributed to the day, setting up, cooking, serving and cleaning up afterwards, but especially we want to thank the Churchwardens, Valerie and Margaret for all their hard work in planning and organisation.

Other News

Madrid Conference links Interreligious Dialogue with Building Peace

Madrid Conference links Interreligious Dialogue with Building Peace

Dialogue is “the best way for mutual understanding and cooperation in human relations as well as in peaceful coexistence among nations,” said the final communiqué issued by the conveners of the World Conference on Dialogue and broadly affirmed by the conference which ended on Friday 18 July in Madrid, Spain.

“Dialogue is one of the essentials of life. It is also one of the most important means of knowing each other, cooperation, exchange of interests and realizing the truth, which contributes to the happiness of humankind.” The communiqué urges continuing dialogue between religions, civilizations and cultures, calls upon the UN General Assembly to support the recommendations of this assembly, and looks forward to follow-up events.

Metropolitan Emmanuel (Adamakis) of France, speaking on behalf of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, affirmed that inter-religious dialogue has been on top of the pastoral concern and agenda of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and of the WCC for a long time.

“Communities of faith can balance secular humanism and nationalism with spiritual humanism and ecumenism”, H.E. Emmanuel said in a speech to the Madrid gathering which was convened by King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia in Madrid, Spain. He continued, “Although we cannot deny our differences, neither can we deny the need for alliance and teamwork to help lead our world away from the bloody abyss of extreme nationalism and intolerance.”

Opening the conference last Wednesday, the Saudi king said, “We must tell the world that differences don’t need to lead to disputes. The tragedies we have experienced throughout history were not the fault of religion but because of the extremism that has been adopted by some followers of all the religions, and of all political systems.

“This event is historic not only because it was convened by the king or by Muslims, but because among the dialogue partners were Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs traditionally not regarded as religions by conservative Muslims,”

said the Rev Dr Shanta Premawardhana, who is director of the WCC programme on Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation and also attended the conference.

Among the many Christians present was Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. The conference also was attended by Jewish leaders.

“It is a good beginning and quite an achievement that this many religious leaders responded to the king’s invitation,” said Premawardhana.

Art Classes

Artzone are back in Castleknock Parish Centre on

Friday afternoons with a fabulous new portfolio (Junior 5-7 years; and Senior 8-12 years).

Artzone is run by qualified Art Teachers from The Faculty of Education, NCAD.

www.artzone.ie

North Dublin City & County Regional Drugs Task Force (NDCCRDTF)

The North Dublin City & County Regional Drugs Task Force (NDCCRDTF) was established in 2003. It is responsible for ensuring the development of a co-ordinated response to tackling drug problems in areas not covered by the Local Drug Task Forces.

The role of the RDTF is to research, develop, implement and monitor a co-ordinated response to illicit drug use.

The RDTF would like to increase the awareness of drug related support services available to individuals and their families living within the area.

If anyone requires any further information please do not hesitate to email on info at ndublinrdtf.ie

Rector Writes | Readings & Services | From the Registers | Organisation Reports | Announcements | Other News

Parishes of Castleknock and Mulhuddart with Clonsilla
Parish Office
Main Street
Castleknock
Dublin 15
Tel: 01-820 0040
Fax: 01-820 0040
E-mail: castleknock@dublin.anglican.org