A chara, – I was at a most joyful “Gospel” Mass in Cabinteely, where the priest announced the collection taken up at all Masses recently in the Archdiocese of Dublin for Syria and the Philippines totalled the staggering sum of €1.3 million.
Over a couple of hours in one weekend in November, at the Saturday Vigil and Sunday Masses, the faithful contributed this amazing amount of money for people in an other country of many religions and none – in their time of hardship.
The Catholic Church in Ireland does wonderful things from time to time and shows that the spirit of Jesus’s “Sermon on the Mount” has real meaning for ordinary Catholics in their every day lives. This is the Catholic Church leadership and their laity at their best.
May the people of these two countries adversely affected by the calamities which befell them enjoy the fruits of this aid and hopefully 2014 will be a better year for them. – Yours, etc,
DONAL DONNELLY,
Willow Road,
Dundrum, Dublin 16.