THE LISBON TREATY

IRELAND SAYS 'NO'

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Friday June 13 will be remembered as the day that the Irish people gave a resounding NO to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. As the only country amongst the EU who had to hold a referendum on the Treaty, Ireland was in a unique position and despite all three main political parties advocating a yes vote the electorate decided otherwise by a sizable majority of 53.4% against and 46.6% in favour. I think most people sensed a lack of accountability and basic democracy at the heart of the European parliament where several high offices would not be elected directly by the people, and also there seemed to be an unnecessarily heavy emphasis on updating of individual states defence capability. Now that the people have spoken our politicians are less than happy and already the usual European heavyweights are chastising us for our ‘unwise’ choice while the European union has gone in to a time of ‘reflection‘. What emerges from that time of reflection is anyone’s guess but it seems likely that the other 26 states will carry on regardless ,ignoring what Sarkozy has already referred to as the ‘Irish incident’…so much for democracy. Apparently the freedom of choice is guaranteed as long as everyone says YES, and as with a previous Niece Treaty if necessary the referendum will be repeated until we all say YES. Economically Ireland has benefited hugely from EU membership over the last decades, but the level of interference by EU legislation irritates and worries many, the spectre of a super World Government looming larger as the Union solidifies its position. Most people are all for a mutually beneficial union of the European states but few have the stomach for a United States of Europe with a common political and defensive strategy. This for most is a bridge too far and it seems that’s the way the Lisbon Treaty was perceived and rejected on this historic day !

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Gerard O'Shea

THE FLORIDA REVIVAL

Todd Bentley prays for a miracle

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WHAT'S GOING ON ?

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For over 70 nights now Todd Bentley has been holding meetings in Lakeland Florida where thousands gather to worship God and seek a miracle ! It seems many have been miraculously healed of a variety of conditions in what has been called an ‘outpouring’ or revival. The strange phenomena at the meetings, Bentley's tattooed body and his emphasis on angelic messengers have all engendered much debate amongst believers and loads of controversy. As the nightly meetings are going out live over GOD TV the revival is having repercussions globally with similar meetings starting up around the world. I have no definitive word on the Florida Revival but I have watched it with a mixture of scepticism…interest…challenge and genuine awe at times. I’ve tried to sum up my evolving reaction in the poem below...

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Signs and wonders, oh my God
Miracles on faiths demand…
The lame are walking and the blind see
Touched by a tattooed hand.

Through his lips secrets revealed
The very spot in which you ache
By Divine knowledge imparted
Yours for the asking just reach and take.

Oh the glory oh Gods glory
Drips like honey from heavens throne
Those below are rapt in awe
Lifting hands and hearts to God.

My heart and head strain to believe
That Gods spirit has come as fire,
Seeing these strange acts unfold
Searching out my true hearts desire.

As Gamaliel said long ago
This is either God or man
The one will surely one day fold
And the other will forever stand.

Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ?
They said before of the King of Kings,
We need to look beyond the visible
To lay hold of Godly things.

Like David young and small selected
To fight Goliaths mighty power,
The little lad with stone and sling
Was Gods anointed for that hour.

Or Moses stuttering with passions stirred
Who killed a man in a fit of rage
Was chosen by God above all his peers
To free His people and see His face.

We dare not despise what God calls clean
We are not in the place to judge
Only the Shepherd knows His sheep
Only He will bring them home.

Lord above melt my heart
Remove all stony soil of doubt
Breathe your warmth and fire within
To cast all sin and hardness out.

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Gerard O'Shea

SIGN OF THE TIMES

I'm indebted to Jim King for this satirical

take on the rocketing price of fuel

THE PEOPLES PARK

A Grand Green Excess

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SUMMERTIME

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Thanks to the intolerable cruelty of a work related course this morning ,I found myself free for a glorious summer interlude in the afternoon. With uncustomary foresight I had packed a picnic before leaving the house and as soon as I was released from my vocational commitment I skipped up to the Peoples Park in the heart of Limerick city. Here summer is celebrating in grand green excesses midst sheltering trees and fragrant rose-beds !
The origins of the Park stretches back to the 19th. century, 1877 to be precise when it was opened in memory of Richard Russell a prominent businessman of the time, so for the last two hundred years it has been an oasis of retreat from the din and commerce of the city. On this afternoon, the lawns and benches are festooned with workers from the nearby offices indulging in a little solar therapy on their lunch hour…large groups of students congregate squat legged in circles between throws of a Frisbee …old men saunter along the meandering paths walking their dogs…children playing ball and toddlers taking first tentative steps as daisies press between their toes…proud grannies wheeling their children’s offspring out in the blaze of the summer sun, babies peering out from under large floppy bonnets.
The hum of distant traffic only accentuates the liberating feeling of escape in this tranquil landscape as the words of an old John Denver song seems to waft in the very air…“Find yourself a piece of grassy ground…Lay down close your eyes…Find yourself and maybe loose yourself…While your free spirit flies…” Here is summer at full throttle, the sound of children at play, the thud thud of a bouncing ball, the swishing of the stately trees in the gentle summer wind and the general feeling of health and well-being permeating the very atmosphere in this distillation of time and space!
Once again the Park has drawn to itself its native citizens…the people ! Lured from the hard streets to this pastoral island which is truly ,on this June afternoon, the Peoples Park !

Gerard O'Shea

THE RUTH FACTOR

Naomi with Ruth and Orpah

in a drawing by Chagall

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WORDS SPOKEN
WORDS LIVED !

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One of my favourite stories in the Bible is the little book of Ruth which is tucked in between the weightier tomes of Judges and 1 Samuel. It tells the story of Naomi and her two daughters-in-law Ruth and Orpah and the events which unfolded after the two girls lost their husbands and Naomi her sons. Three women alone in the land of Moab without a male to provide and protect was not a viable proposition in the patriarchal culture of those days, so the mother-in-law decided to return to her own place of Bethlehem, encouraging the girls to remain behind and find husbands for themselves. Orpah shed a few crocodile tears and took Naomi's advice and remained behind but the Bible says that Ruth clung to Naomi saying, “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17)
Unlike Oprah's half-hearted speech Ruth backed up these high sentiments with concrete action and refused to abandon her aged mother-in-law. Jewish tradition says that Orpah turned back just four miles outside of Moab and that she shed only four tears over the thought of parting from her mother-in-law Naomi. But the rabbis go on to say that in recompense for the four miles that she went with Naomi, Orpah gave birth to four sons - Goliath and his three brothers ! How different was to be faithful Ruth's fate ! Ruth by her act of obedience and selflessness earned her place in the genealogical line of the Messiah,Jesus. The King James in just five words succinctly records the place of Ruth the Moabitess in the blood line of Jesus of Nazareth…“Boaz begot Obed of Ruth…” (Matthew 1:5) What seemed back in Moab like a small act of fidelity from a daughter-in-law towards her late husbands mother, became in the fullness of time a pivotal link in the chain of events which would usher in a Saviour for the world. There are no small decisions, each day we choose a path that may have eternal consequences. The Scripture adjures us to make wise choices and Joshua challenges us to “Choose this day whom you will serve.?” (Joshua 14:25) Our answer to that particular request will have reprecussions not just here but for eternity !

Gerard O'Shea

REVELATION !

Oops !

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HIS FIRST CONFESSION

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A parish priest was being honoured at a dinner on the twenty- fifth anniversary of his arrival in that parish. A leading local politician, who was a member of the congregation, was chosen to make the presentation and give a little speech at the dinner, but he was delayed in traffic, so the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited. "You will understand," he said, "the seal of the confessional, can never be broken. However, I got my first impressions of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I can only hint vaguely about this, but when I came here twenty-five years ago I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first chap who entered my confessional told me how he had stolen a television set, and when stopped by the police, had almost murdered the officer. Further, he told me he had stolen money from his parents, embezzled money from his place of business, had an affair with his boss's wife, and taken illegal drugs. I was appalled. But as the days went on I knew that my people were not all like that, and I had indeed come to a fine parish full of understanding and loving people." Just as the priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and give his talk. "I'll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived in this parish," said the politician. "In fact, I had the honour of being the first one to go to him for confession."

ROYAL EDICTS...

KING DAVID

AND

KING SOLOMON

King David and King Solomon
Led merry, merry lives,
With many, many lady friends
And many, many wives;
But when old age crept over them,
With many, many qualms,
King Solomon wrote the Proverbs,
And King David wrote the Psalms.

J.B.Naylor