Mission Accomplished – Time for Reflection – Monsignor O’Riordan
“It was my first Parish Mission in Castleisland so I wasn’t sure what to expect and it turned out to be a great experience,” according to Monsignor Dan O’Riordan, PP Castleisland as he reflected on the success of the event which reached its finale on Friday night.
The mission was conducted by members of the Limerick based Redemptorist Order and organised locally by the parish council under the guidance of Monsignor O’Riordan and its chairman, Jack Shanahan.
“The preparation in itself was invaluable. It brought out the best in everyone in terms of volunteering and working together. There was a bit of nervousness as everybody was hoping it would go well. It was a great experience of co-operation between the mission team, the parish council, the volunteers and the parish staff. Some people who were not involved in our parish before put up their hands to help,” said Monsignor O’Riordan.
“The opening ceremony was something special with almost eighty groups represented in the procession. It showed what a variety of services are available here – one participant told me it gave him a great sense of pride and joy in our community.
The spirit of friendship and welcome was maintained during the week and the attendance at every event represented all age groups.
Now that it’s over we will evaluate it and see what we can do to improve how we do things in the parish. A big ‘Thank You’ to everybody,” concluded the Monsignor.
Mission team leader, Fr. Brian Nolan’s homily at the opening of the event struck a chord with the huge congregation. His salt and light theme was so much in tune with the procession of local clubs, organisations and schools. All sent representatives with tokens of their purpose in the community to the altar just before Fr. Nolan came to the pulpit.
Celebrating Community
By Fr. Brian Nolan, Redemptorist Mission Team Leader
Mission team leader, Fr. Brian Nolan’s homily at the opening of the event struck a chord with the huge congregation. His salt and light theme was so much in tune with the procession of local clubs, organisations and schools. All sent representatives with tokens of their purpose in the community to the altar just before Fr. Nolan came to the pulpit.
Salt and light are things that we can often take for granted so they are a strange combination to put together from our perspective. But if we consider what these two things meant to people at the time of Jesus then we quickly realise that both were expensive commodities. Salt was used for everything. It was used not only to preserve and season food but it was also used to make covenants between people. In some places salt was used as currency because it was so valuable and necessary for people to have. We place little value on them today. To buy salt is relatively inexpensive and even though its price has changed from Jesus’ time, one aspect of it hasn’t. Salt in Jesus’ time and in our time is useless on its own. Salt is only useful when it gets mixed with other things. Light is only useful when we allow it to shine brightly.
Act Together
The gospel is telling us that we are the salt and the light but we’re only effective when we act together. More and more society and the fast paced lifestyle that we have become used to has steered us towards being very independent people. From an early age our young people have to compete for college places. Social media allows us to interact with people without ever physically meeting them. People are forced to work such long hours every day that they don’t even know who lives in the house next door. While there are many benefits to that way of living our lives, that very same type of society is what has contributed to the erosion of a sense of community for many people.
In the last few weeks we got a glimpse of people being salt and being light in their own communities. Three weeks ago the terrible weather we have been experiencing caused havoc in parts of Limerick city and right throughout the country. Many had homes and businesses destroyed and were left with nothing. During the days that followed the community came together to help each other out. In Limerick pictures of Ger Hogan and his horse Peg were all over the newspapers and the television because of their help in getting over 200 people out of the floods. There were other images of three young men ferrying people out of the floods on a small boat. They along with so many others showed themselves to be salt and light for their respective communities.
” That sense of being part of a community and caring about our community is not something that is just picked up off the ground. It’s something that is passed on to us. We in turn should pass it on to others. That’s what’s happening in this community. The importance of each one of these groups represented here this evening is that they bring life to this community,” – Fr. Nolan
Salt is useless unless it’s mixed with something else. What happened in those areas that were devastated by flooding is that people made a conscious effort to come together and to support each other. Each of us is the salt of our own communities but unless the salt is mixed with whatever is happening in a community then it’s useless. Coming together as part of any community takes effort. It doesn’t happen magically. Being the salt and the light that Jesus speaks about in the gospel doesn’t just happen naturally. That sense of being part of a community and caring about our community is not something that is just picked up off the ground. It’s something that is passed on to us. We in turn should pass it on to others. That’s what’s happening in this community. The importance of each one of these groups represented here this evening is that they bring life to this community. Each one has something different to offer but the common thread that runs through these groups is that they bring life the community and to the people who live here. Each of the groups mix themselves together with what happening in the community and become part and parcel of the live of the community.
Jesus tells us that we can be salt and light and make and an impact in our community if we make a decision to get involved. That second image of light used in the gospel tells us that we must ensure that the light burns brightly for everyone to see. All of us can think of people who we might describe as shining lights. They’ve made a impact on us or on something. Their light gives inspiration to the rest of us to make sure that where ever we are the light of our community burns brightly for everyone to see.
Necknomination
The other shocking piece of news that we were faced with in the last number of weeks was the death of two young men and with their deaths we were introduced to necknomination. After the death of Ross Cummins and Johnny Byrne there was much debate about what to do to stop the phenomenon. The reality is that unfortunately it can’t be stopped easily. But just like the people in flood hit communities coming together to help each other out the same can be seen in what’s termed the online community. Many people have begun to turn against the social media phenomenon of necknominations after the deaths Ross and Johnny. Videos of people performing random acts of kindness have begun appearing on a Facebook page called ‘RAKnomination’ in opposition to the dangerous drinking game.
One video shows a young woman from Dublin, who approaches a customer at a local supermarket and gives him €100 towards the cost of his shopping. She wrote: “I saw this young guy doing a big food shop with his little kid so I paid for it!”
Fast Paced
We are the salt of the earth and we are the light of the world. But we must ensure that the salt doesn’t become tasteless. We must ensure that like the light continues to burn brightly. Like the people helping those communities devastated by flood water and like that young woman from Dublin who randomly helped someone else and like the members of the countless groups gather here this evening we are all called as followers of Christ to ensure that whatever type of society we live in, however fast paced our lifestyle is, our sense of community is never eroded to a point where the salt is useless and the light has burnt out. Each one gathered here tonight is the salt of the earth and the light of the world and by your commitment and dedication to this community you ensure the salt does not become tasteless. You will ensure that the light continues to burn brightly for all to see.
