Parish News Archives - April 2007

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

Rector Writes

A letter from the Curate

Dear Friends,

It’s almost Easter and, as we know, the Easter story is at the heart of Christianity, commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But some argue that it has been secularised and commercialised.

What do you think about when you hear the word ‘Easter’ mentioned? What does Easter mean to you? Although the styles and traditions may vary, on Easter Sunday we celebrate a central tenet of our faith: that Jesus Christ was crucified and three days later, he rose again. The story may be 2,000 years old, but for us as Christians, we believe that it still has meaning today.

While its name in many European languages is thought to come from the Hebrew word ‘Pesach’, meaning ‘Passover’ (from which we derive the word ‘Paschal’), scholars believe that the English word ‘Easter’ stems from the Scandinavian word ‘Ostara’ and the German ‘Ostern’ or ‘Eastre,’ both goddesses of mythology signifying spring and fertility whose festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox.

Every Sunday is, of course, a celebration of the resurrection. Since we know that the resurrection happened at the time of the Jewish Passover festival, we therefore know what time of year it occurred: the Sunday after the fourteenth day of the Jewish Lunar month of Nisan. The early Christians, many of whom were of Jewish origin, were brought up in the Hebrew tradition and regarded Easter as a new feature of the Passover festival, a commemoration of the advent of the Messiah, as foretold by the prophets. Thus, they observed Easter on the same day as Passover.

In 325 A.D. the Council of Nicaea decided that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox of March 21st. Therefore, due to these complex calculations, Easter became a ‘movable’ feast, which can occur as early as March 22nd or as late as April 25th. Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches observe the festival on the same day, but the Christian Churches in the East (Greek, Russian, and other forms of Orthodoxy) usually do not celebrate Easter on the same day - the formula for calculating the date of Easter is identical for both Western and Orthodox Easters, but they base the dates on different calendars: Western Churches use the Gregorian calendar, the standard calendar for much of the world, while Orthodox Churches use the older, Julian calendar. This means that the Orthodox Easter only occasionally occurs on the same day as the Western Easter (as it will this year), but the two celebrations can occur as much as five weeks apart.

The theological inconsistency of two Easters has been a difficult problem for the Christian Church. The World Council of Churches has stated that ‘By celebrating this feast of feasts on different days, the Churches give a divided witness to this fundamental aspect of the apostolic faith, compromising their credibility and effectiveness in bringing the Gospel to the world’. In the 20th century, discussions began as to a possible worldwide agreement on a consistent date for the celebration of the central event of Christianity, but no resolution has yet been reached.

When you think of Easter you may also think of eggs, rabbits and lambs – the celebrations of Easter have many customs and legends which are pagan in origin and have nothing to do with Christianity.

As Christianity spread throughout Europe, many of these customs were adopted and ‘Christianised’. For example, eggs and rabbits were widely-used pagan symbols for fertility. The Easter bunny had its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. Hares and rabbits were the most fertile animals our ancestors knew, serving as symbols of abundant new life in the spring season.

The ban on eating eggs during Lent is one reason why the egg became so popular at Easter. The eggs were collected and saved and, once the fasting was over, were distributed to servants and children. Also, Christians viewed the eggs as symbols of joy and celebration, of new life and resurrection – and so the tradition of giving eggs (around the time of what had been ‘Ostara’) developed.

Another Christian symbol associated with Easter is the lamb. The origin of this symbol is related directly to the Jewish Passover, when Jews traditionally sacrificed a lamb in the course of the festival. For Christians, Jesus became the one necessary sacrifice: the ‘Lamb of God’ dying on the cross to provide liberation from death through his resurrection. Lamb has become a traditional delicacy during the Easter dinner in many places – indeed since the Middle Ages, roast lamb has been the main feature of the Pope's Easter dinner.

It’s good to enjoy chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs at Easter time, but let’s not forget the real meaning of Easter – the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Saviour of all the world. Let’s not be afraid to proclaim this message of hope to our world so much in need of it.

May the Risen Christ bless each of you with His peace and joy this Easter.

Elaine.

From the Registers

Holy Baptism:
11th March: Ben Harry Osman-McGettigan, son of Sandra and Darren of Clonsilla.

May he shine as a light in the world, to the glory of God the Father.

Christian Marriage:

Funeral:

In Memorium:

Organisations Reports

Sunday Club
On Sunday March 11th, eleven of our Sunday Club members travelled to St. Andrews College, Blackrock for the Annual Sunday School Society Quiz. Many thanks must go to Regina Liepe and Marie Roberts who provided “Taxis”. The children proved to be great ambassadors for the Parish and one of our teams picked up bronze medals. Well Done to Rolus Olusa, Rachel Orr and Sam McIntosh!! The others performed well coming in 4th and 6th in a field of 19 teams. Needless to say they all had fun. Now we can look forward to our own Parish Quiz where the Cups will be hotly contested……Time and place to follow.

We have been very busy in Sunday Club this year and hope all the ladies appreciated the mini-vases that the children made for Mothering Sunday. The Children’s Way of the Cross will take place in the parish centre on Good Friday morning 10.30-12.30.All children of school age are most welcome.

Lesley Anders -Sunday Club Coordinator

Girls' Brigade
We entered a team into the Musical Theatre and our musical was ‘Oliver’. While we weren’t placed,our team was fantastic, from First Year Juniors up to Captain (along with a few flower sellers at the back)! We sang a medley of songs: “Food, Glorious Food”, “Oom Pah-Pah”, “I’d do anything” and “Consider Yourself”. Once again this was a lovely competition – more like a show with the different musicals entered.

We are very busy preparing for our display which is held later this year because of the way Easter falls.

Ros Garrett

Announcements

Holy Week:
There will be a service at 8 p.m. each evening during Holy Week in St. Brigid’s Church, Castleknock, when we will hear a guest speaker reflect on a different part of the Holy Week story. Each night, the organisation members come on their usual meeting day, and on Wednesday, 4th April, the service will be aimed at our younger members.

Good Friday (6th April):
10:30 a.m. Castleknock Parish Centre - A Children's Way to the Cross
2:00 p.m. St. Mary's Church, Clonsilla - A service of prayers, readings and music to reflect on Jesus' last hour on the cross
8:00 p.m. St. Brigid's Church, Castleknock – Service and meditations on the seven last words from the cross.

Easter Eve (Saturday 7th April):
Easter Egg Hunt at 6.30 p.m. in the grounds of St Thomas’ Church, Mulhuddart – all children are most welcome. This will be followed by the Lighting of the Paschal Fire, Vigil Service and Renewal of Baptismal Vows.

Easter Day (Sunday 8th April):
For many Christians, Easter Day will begin with a Sunrise or Daybreak Service. In Dublin there will be a number of these services, when people of different traditions will gather together in the open for a service to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

This year we have, once again, organised an ecumenical sunrise service on Easter morning at the cross in the Phoenix Park at 6.30 a.m. Last year almost 200 people from Dublin 15 to Crumlin gathered together in prayer and song to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection, with the Paschal fire burning brightly as dawn broke.

Women’s World Day of Prayer:
The Annual Women’s World Day of Prayer service for Dublin 15 was held in St. Brigid’s Church, Castleknock. This year the service was prepared by the women of Paraguay. It was a good chance to pray together with our fellow Christians. Many thanks to all those who helped to organise the service and refreshments.

Other News

Diocesan Youth Camps

Youth Alive Camps are run by the Youth Department of the Church of Ireland (Dublin and Glendalough Dioceses).

They offer a full week where your child/teenager can come along and learn about their faith while participating in fun activities, games and team building, making plenty of friends as well. See http://www.3rock.net/events/183/diocesan-youth-camps for more information.

New Communion Linen

The Clergy and the Churchwardens have examined the current state of the linen in Castleknock and have found some of it to be worn, to the extent that it now needs to be replaced. This will cost approximately €600. Would you like to sponsor or co-sponsor this in memory of a loved one?

If so, please contact Rev Elaine Dunne at the Parish Office.

Congratulations

To our former rector Canon Cecil Bryan on his retirement. We wish him and Primrose every happiness as they set up home in Newbridge, Co. Kildare.

Easter Vestry Meetings

Clonsilla Easter Vestry -
Sunday 15th April at 11 a.m. in St. Mary’s Church.

Castleknock Easter Vestry -
Sunday 22nd April at 12.30 p.m. in Castleknock Parish Centre.

Parish Directory

All changes to the Parish Directory to be with the Parish Office by the 25th April please.

Easter Eggs

Of all the symbols associated with Easter the egg, the symbol of fertility and new life, is the most identifiable.
The customs and traditions of using eggs have been associated with Easter for centuries.

Originally Easter Eggs were painted with bright colours to represent the sunlight of spring and coloured and etched with various designs the eggs were exchanged by lovers and romantic admirers, much the same as valentines. In medieval time eggs were traditionally given at Easter to the servants. In Germany eggs were given to children along with other gifts.

Smite Lines

Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.

If you think nobody cares whether you're alive or dead, try missing a couple of mortgage payments.

Before you criticise someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.

That way, when you criticise them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

He had a photographic memory that was never developed.

If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket then giving Fido only two of them.

In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog to worship him and a cat to ignore him.

The reason lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place is that the same place isn't there the second time.

The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was.

The most effective way to remember someone’s birthday is to forget it once.

Higher Power

A Sunday school teacher said to her children, ‘ We have been learning how powerful kings and queens were in Bible times. But, there is a higher power. Can anybody tell me what it is?’ One child blurted out, ‘Aces!’

You know you are living in 2007 when….:

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 16 phone numbers to reach your family of 4.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. You know people’s e-mail addresses before their home addresses.
6. Your reason for not staying in touch with various friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
7. You pull up in your own driveway and use your mobile to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the shopping.
8. Every advert on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.
9. Leaving the house without your mobile, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

Bits and Pieces

The Lord is my Shepherd:

A Sunday school teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible, Psalm 23. She gave the youngsters a month to learn the Psalm, but little Charles did not find it easy to memorise much of anything. On the day that the children were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Charles stepped up to the microphone and began proudly, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd….’ He knew that much, but the rest of the Psalm suddenly deserted him. So he concluded bravely: ‘… and that's all I need to know.’

Moses and the Red Sea:

Nine-year-old James was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday school. ‘Well, Mum, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his army build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely. Then, he radioed headquarters for reinforcements. They sent bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved.’

‘Goodness, James, is that really what your teacher taught you?’ His mother was startled. ‘Well, no, Mum. But, if I told it the way the teacher did, you'd never believe it!’

Don’t break ’em:

There was a very gracious lady who was posting an old family Bible to her brother in another part of the country. ‘Is there anything breakable in here?’ asked the postal clerk. ‘Only the Ten Commandments’, answered the lady politely.

Thought

Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

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