Murroe Website Editor

Thought for the Week – Laudato Si

March 5, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Thought for the Week No comments

Laudato Si is the title of an Encyclical Letter from Pope Francis. The title, ‘Praised be to you’, is taken from the words of Saint Francis. It has a subtitle, ‘On Care For Our Common Home’ – to emphasise the fact that we share this ‘home’ with other creatures and not just humans.

It is the first major intervention by the Catholic Church on the environment and marks a new era in Papal documents. It is unusual in that it doesn’t have a latin name – all other encyclicals do. It also quotes other authorities which is a first and is addressed to everyone on the planet – not just church members. We all ‘share a common home.’

Whereas most encyclicals are teaching documents, in Laudato Si, Pope Francis does not issue a set of instructions on what we ‘should’ do but rather calls for dialogue and debate among all people about the future of our common home. Pope Francis is keenly aware that everyone needs to be involved if we are to solve the problems of our ecological crisis and come up with solutions. “We are faced”, he says, “not with two separate crisis, one environmental and the other social but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental”. LS 139

He doesn’t want us just to read it but to do something about the issues. He is challenging us to expand our thinking about creation and our role in the world.

Murroe / Boher Newsletter 4th March 2018

March 4, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Murroe/Boher Newsletter No comments

Parish Clergy: Fr Loughlin Brennan Fr. Tom Ryan

Tel. 386227 Mobile 087 9814051 Tel. 352223 Mobile 087 6291557

Anniversaries: Murroe

James and Kathleen Doyle and

Mai O’Brien 7pm this Saturday

Tom, Eileen, Billy and Martin Grant 9am this Sunday

Mary Cooke Months Mind 11.30am this Sunday

James and Mona Hourigan and

James and Kathleen Carroll 10am next Friday

John Coughlan and

Pauline Tobin 7pm next Saturday

Esther Healy 9am next Sunday

Pat Ryan 11.30am next Sunday

Boher

Margaret and Pat Looney 9.30am next Thursday

Michael Tierney 10am next Sunday

May They Rest in Peace

Eucharistic Ministers Next Weekend: Boher: Des Duffy

Murroe: Elizabeth Power-Lynch 7pm. Mary O’Brien 9am Bridget McLoughlin 11.30am.

Milford Hospice annual church gate collection will take place on Sat. 10th and Sun. 11th March in the parish of Murroe/Boher. Your support is always very much appreciated.

Madaboy House Annual Coffee Morning – In Aid of Cancer Research: Please keep Saturday 21^st April free, from 10.30 am to 1 pm, for a delightful offering of tea, coffee, treats, sweets and music in choice surroundings. This is a very worthy cause.

Church Windows Fundraising: Jimmy Buckley concert has had to be postponed due to the bad weather. It is re-scheduled for Sunday April 29^th. Tickets will remain valid for that date.

Cashel & Emly Lourdes Fundraising Draw: Tickets are now available and can be purchased locally from Liz Barron, Boher or Mary O’Brien, Murroe.

The Murroe Marian Club reopens this Wednesday 7^th March 2018 at 7.30pm. The club meets every Wednesday evening at 7.30pm and new members are always welcome

Grinds in Maths, BIOLOGY, Science. Leaving Cert and Junior Cert. Experienced teacher. Excellent results. Call 087 243 5154

Murroe Tidy Towns had to re-schedule their Table Quiz. It now takes place on Friday 16^th March at 8pm in the Valley Inn. Table of 4 is €20. Raffle on the night with lots of spot prizes. Your support would be very much appreciated.

Killinure NS Parents Council invite you to come along to their annual table quiz in Pa McGraths pub in Boher at 8pm on Friday 9^th March. This year’s quiz is 80’s themed and will be followed by an 80’s disco. Live 95fm’s Paul Prenderville will be MC and DJ and there will be finger food and a raffle on the night. A table of 4 is €20 but individuals are welcome as teams can be made on arrival.

A Coffee Morning will be held in Boher Community Centre after 10am Mass on this Sunday 4^th March. The funds raised will be used to send a number of students and teachers from St. Clement’s College to Zambia to participate in volunteer work for two weeks in March. This work will involve building, farming and community projects for the poor. We are raising funds to provide equipment to help these communities. Please help this worthy cause.

Doon community council are holding their annual monster table quiz in all five pubs, in Doon, on Friday the 9^th of March, starting at 9.30pm. Table of 4, €20 per table. Raffle and spot prizes on the night.

Children Dance Classes, Set Dancing, Sean Nos, Waltzing, Line Dancing, Jive, etc in the Muintir na Tire Hall, Murroe on Tuesdays from 5 to 6 pm.

Lotto Results for 25/02/18 -4,6,11,22- No Jackpot Winner. €20 Lucky dips Mary O’Brien, Dan & Smirnoff, Finbarr Cusack & Margaret Ryan. Next week’s Jackpot 5,400. Draw in Powers.

Murroe Boher GAA: DVD orders for victorious Intermediate final and replay are now been taken. €12 for drawn game. €15 for replay. Please contact Denis Mulcahy on 086-6019233.

Murroe Boher Community Games: Congratulations to all our competitors who took part in County B Swimming, Model-Making, Hand-Writing & Art Finals last weekend. Well done to our medal winners – Peter Ashe Silver U10 Freestyle, Allyson Quinn 4^th Place U10 Backstroke, Odhran Diggins Bronze U10 Backstroke, Siobhan Cooke 4^th Place U14 Freestyle, Eileen Stockill Silver U14 Model Making.

Bee Blogs -February 2018

March 2, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Bee Blogs No comments

One of the things missing in our results driven world, is a sense of wonder – it is easy for everything to become over familiar and we lose our innate, childhood sense of wonder and can even develop a low grade of depression where everything seems grey.

I recall some years ago daffodils appearing near my bees and caught myself saying to myself, “Oh no, not again.” I couldn’t believe my reaction – the irritation that they were back again! I had become over-familiar with them and as with all things familiar I failed to see them. It was Hegel who warned that, “that generally the familiar, precisely because it is familiar is not known!”

It is a good question to ask oneself at the end of a walk, at the end of a day: what did I really see? I am often surprised at how little I saw. My eyes function automatically all day without seeing anything – while you were looking out from yourself, you never or really attended to anything.

So the challenge is to open our senses to the reality hidden in the most ordinary things and events – see the extraordinary in the ordinary things and events of life. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking out new landscapes but in having new eyes”. Proust. The problem is that technology has sidelined our senses and they are now so underused that we are oblivious to the hints and messages coming through them.

As this beekeeping season approaches, maybe we could take a step back from our management techniques, our plans and take stock of our sense of wonder – it was G.K.Chesterton who said wisely, “We are perishing for want of wonder not for want of wonders. And there is no shortage of things to wonder at in the world of the honey bee.

Bees, like all life, are responding to the lengthening days. On the shortest day of the year December twenty first there was only seven hours and forty four minutes of daylight. By the first of February it was up to nine hours and six minutes of daylight and this triggers increased activity in all colonies.

Now into March – this is one of the most vulnerable months of the year for the bees. Make sure they have enough food – starvation is one of the main causes of death in colonies at this time of year. It is still too early to give syrup but you can feed fondant if needed. If in doubt feed a bag of fondant. Fondant comes in a plastic bag. Cut a hole underneath and place over the hole in the crown board. If you take off the plastic the fondant will dry out. Towards end of March you could use a contact feeder with 2-1 syrup mix. In March brood rearing is increasing significantly and adding to the workload of the bees…..more pollen needed, water needed to dilute crystallised winter stores…winter bees dying off and slowly being replaced by young bees. Some people add a layer of insulation (probably better earlier) to help the bees retain heat – most heat is lost through the roof. You can place a super on the crown board and fill it with insulating material such as old papers, sawdust shavings, an old blanket. This will retain heat making it a bit easier for the bees to keep the temperature up. The ratio of adult bees to brood can be low sometimes making it even more difficult to maintain suitable brood temp. The insulation could stay on till April.

Once we reach Saint Patrick’s day I will be watching for a good day to do a first inspection – the temperature would need to be somewhere near 15 degrees. Opening a hive leads to heat loss and could result in the bees killing the queen or balling her. All beekeepers develop their own methods of management. It is important to keep learning and modifying your techniques. Once you have mastered the basics you can gradually develop your own methodology. There is a lot in beekeeping that you won’t find in books and will only learn with experience. Inspections must be done for a specific reasons and be part of a management system – there is no point performing them without understanding what you are trying to achieve. One of the fascinating things about keeping bees is that there is no guarantee that any method will work every time!

Be ready to mark the queen if she is not marked and remember the following questions to answer during an inspection:

Do you see the queen?

Is there sealed brood? Is it in solid slabs with few missed cells?

Are there any signs of disease in sealed or open brood?

Has the colony got adequate food supplies?

Is it as strong as its neighbours? If not why not?

Has it got adequate room?

The Bee Research Centre at the Hebrew University in Israel reports that if you give bees a ‘menu’ they will instinctively choose dishes that provide the right balance of nutrients; sugary nectar plus pollen full of protein, fatty acids and micro nutrients.

They conclude that, “bees are dying for all kinds of reasons – there is the ongoing debate as to the causes. We believe there are multiple causes and they synergies. The three most important factors are the use of pesticides and poisons in the environment; the Varroa mite and the viruses it transmits and the lack of proper nutrition or malnutrition caused by shrinking amount and variety of wildflowers.

Nutrition is the basis of everything, because malnourishment leads to a weaker immune system that cannot fight the effects of pesticides and viruses”.

I am looking forward to seeing the first dandelion appear…no sign of one yet! I hope they haven’t all been nuked by sprays. Meanwhile here is a recipe for a honey tea cake.

Honey Tea Cake – it is a hard cake. Take six pounds of floor, three pounds of honey ,one and half pounds of sugar, one and one-half pounds butter, six eggs, one half ounce baking soda, and ginger to your taste.

Directions- have the floor in a pan or tray. Pack a cavity in the centre. Beat the honey and yolks of eggs together well. Beat the butter and sugar to cream and put into the cavity in the flour then add honey and yolks of the eggs. Mix well with the hand adding a little at a time during the mixing the half ounce saleratus dissolved in boiling water until it is all in. Add the ginger and finally add the while of the 6 eggs well beaten. Mix well with the hand to a smooth dough. Divide the dough into seven equal parts and roll out like gingerbread. Bake in an ordinary square pans made for pies from 10 X 14 tin. After putting into the pans mark off the top in one hand inch strips with something might n sharp. Bake for an hour in a moderate oven. Be careful not to burn but bake well. To keep the cake stand on en din an oak tubm tin can or stone crock – crock is best. Stand the cakes up so the flat sides will not touch each other. Cover tight and keep in a cool dry place and don’t use for three months at least. The cake improves with age!

Table Quiz in Aid of Tidy Towns – Cancelled for Fri 2nd March

March 2, 2018 Murroe Website Editor News, What's on No comments

Hi All,

Due to the bad weather forecast it has been decided to cancel our Table Quiz on the 2nd March.

The Table Quiz will be rescheduled for Fri 16th March 2018 in the Valley Inn,Murroe

Apologies for any inconvenience caused

Thought for the Week – Being transfigured

February 26, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Thought for the Week No comments

Last week the Gospel at Sunday Mass had us deep in the Judean wilderness – Jesus driven there by the Spirit and he was there long enough to be ready for his Transfiguration – and he was not alone – he was with the wild beasts and the angels looked after him.

This week we have Jesus transfigured – quite a contrast – first a wilderness – hungry, unwashed, strained – next ….clothes dazzling white, transfigured. It seems we need to spend time in the wilderness before we can be transfigured. Strip away the excesses we carry – the addictions that cramp us – that stop us living life to the full.

Sometimes we are not good at the maths – we add or multiply when we are meant to subtract – lent is a time for subtraction……we are unlikely to be transfigured by addition or multiplication of stuff – that new gleaming car, that lovely suit….that new smart phone, more make up. That seems clear – but it goes against everything our culture tells us – it tells us – you need ‘more’ to be transfigured, to make it – more of this and more of that….possessions, stuff …slaves in Egypt or Dundrum shopping centre..or where ever your Egypt is….slaves to technology….

Instead of being transfigured, we can easily become a resource…and a resource not for other people but for the Social Media giants – reduced to walking information processors and entertainment consumers….and beginning to feel ….that if I am not ‘on’ I am not …..And this can happen to monks too. In Chapter 55 of the Rule, Saint Benedict advises the Abbot to check the monks beds frequently to see if they have any private property hidden away under their mattress – and if anyone is found to have something that he did not receive from the Abbot, he is to undergo the most severe discipline.”

Why? he is not being mean but he is saying we are missing the point. Stuff doesn’t do it. Even the two accompanying Jesus up the mountain don’t get it – they want to put up tents on the mountain – set up a stall on the spot where Jesus reveals that he is God – you could imagine them up there the following week with their Mount Tabor souvenirs.

So during lent we are encouraged to head for the wilderness – maybe even a wi-fi wilderness – getting rid of…. or at least turning off, something that has enslaved us, that is holding us back – getting back to who you were before you took on all those unnecessary extras. Being transfigured …slowly..

A challenge – but then lent is a challenge. But we are not on our own – God is on our side so it doesn’t matter who is against us… and I am not sure about the wild beasts but I am sure about the angels – they will be there to look after you and me. And they come in all sorts of disguises – as parent, sibling, friend, teacher, spouse,….good people dotted around the landscape of my life …mostly we may miss them but they are there to help me become…… just a little bit more transfigured this year.

Murroe/Boher Newsletter 25th Feb 2018

February 26, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Murroe/Boher Newsletter No comments

Parish Clergy: Fr Loughlin Brennan Fr. Tom Ryan

Tel. 386227 Mobile 087 9814051 Tel. 352223 Mobile 087 6291557

Anniversaries: Murroe

Ryan and Bobby Cusack and

Jimmy Galligan 7pm this Saturday

Eileen O’Brien 9am this Sunday

Peggy Fitzgerald Months Mind and

Paddy and Patrick Owens and

Jimmy Coleman and

William and Bridget Maher and

Noreen Dee and

Ned O’Malley 11.30am this Sunday

James and Kathleen Doyle and

Mai O’Brien 7pm next Saturday

Tom, Eileen, Billy and Martin Grant 9am next Sunday

Mary Cooke Months Mind 11.30am next Sunday

Boher

John Finucane Months Mind and

Pat Carmody 10am this Sunday

May They Rest in Peace

Eucharistic Ministers Next Weekend: Boher: Elizabeth O’Connor

Murroe: Nora Lonergan 7pm. Michael O’Loughlin 9am Anthony Nevill 11.30am.

New Weekly Envelopes start next weekend 03/04 March. If you don’t get a box of envelopes and would like one, please contact Fr Brennan or Fr Ryan, or call to Sacristy in Murroe.

Congratulations to the 68 Girls and Boys from Murroe and Killinure Schools who received their Confirmation on Thursday.

St Vincent’s Centre, Lisnagry wish to thank all who contributed to their recent collection. Amount raised was €675. Special thanks to the collectors who braved the elements.

Church Windows Fundraising: Jimmy Buckley will perform in concert in Murroe Church on Sunday 4^th March 2018. Tickets cost €20 each and are currently available in Post Office and Local shops in Murroe, and O’Neill’s and Pa McGrath’s in Boher.

Murroe/Boher Lourdes Invalid Fund will hold their Church Gate collection next weekend, 3^rd & 4^th March. Funds raised are used to send a local invalid to Lourdes

Cashel & Emly Lourdes Fundraising Draw: Tickets are now available and can be purchased locally from Liz Barron, Boher or Mary O’Brien, Murroe.

The Murroe Marian Club reopens this Wednesday 28^th February 2018 at 7.30pm. The club meets every Wednesday evening at 7.30pm and new members are always welcome

Grinds in Maths, BIOLOGY, Science. Leaving Cert and Junior Cert. Experienced teacher. Excellent results. Call 087 243 5154

Murroe Tidy Towns are holding a Table Quiz on Friday 2nd March at 8pm in the Valley Inn. Table of 4 is €20. Raffle on the night with lots of spot prizes. Your support woud be very much appreciated.

Community First Responder Boher are holding their AGM on Wednesday 28^th February, 8pm, in Boher Community Centre. Everyone with an interest in Community First Responders are encouraged to attend as there have been a number of changes since CFR Boher was set up in 2016. Even if you are not available as a volunteer, your experience could be very valuable to the smooth operation of CFR Boher.

Comfort Keepers are recruiting Carers in your area. Are you interested in becoming a carer? Come to our Open Day Tuesday 27^th February in the Abbey Court Hotel Nenagh from 10am-3pm For more information please call 061-317712 Interviews will be held on the day. If Successful at interview, training will be held on the 12th and 13th March. If you are unable to attend the Open Day contact our office and we can arrange an interview with you.

A Coffee Morning will be held in Boher Community Centre after 10am Mass on Sunday 4^th March. The funds raised will be used to send a number of students and teachers from St. Clement’s College to Zambia to participate in volunteer work for two weeks in March. This work will involve building, farming and community projects for the poor. We are raising funds to provide equipment to help these communities. Please help this worthy cause.

Children Dance Classes, Set Dancing, Sean Nos, Waltzing, Line Dancing, Jive, etc in the Muintir na Tire Hall, Murroe on Tuesdays from 5 to 6 pm.

Lotto Results for 18/02/18- 4,7,29,30 – No Jackpot Winner. €20 Lucky dips Julie Morrissey, Danny O’Brien, Kathleen McGrath & Smirnoff. Next week’s Jackpot 5,300. Draw in Valley Inn

Murroe Boher Bord na nOg are delighted to announce that our U6’S are now back training at 11.00am in the new Astro Turf in Murroe Wood on Saturday mornings, €2 per child to help cover the cost of the rent, for any further details, please contact lead coaches Mike Crowe 083 0070212, Jer O’Sullivan 086 1728767, Sarah Bergin 087 6134134 or Aine Fogarty 086 3559385. Our u14’s are playing the next round of Feile at 16.00pm on Sunday 25^th February at 16.00 V Clan na Gael, on the Astro Turf in Murroe Wood, all support welcome.

Murroe Boher Camogie Club: Katie Heelan, Edel Cunningham, Sinead McElligott, Megan Kiely and Karen Cunningham are part of the current Limerick Camogie minor team. We wish them well in the All Ireland Championship.

Thought for the Week – God’s beauty

February 20, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Thought for the Week No comments

Richard Seymour makes the point that beauty is something we feel rather than something we think about – this is not surprising given that a large portion of the brain is set aside to deal with information from the senses rather than thinking

– also the wiring between our senses and our brain is shorter then the wiring that goes through to our thinking centres.

It is the feeling of beauty that lures us on – we thirst for it and it nourishes us. It calls us beyond the present and the past to that everlasting now where Beauty dwells. It lifts us out of the mundane and encourages us to become more than what we are.

And our vocation is to become beauty and where we are, must be more beautiful because we were there than it was before our coming.

In a previous letter Pope Francis wrote about teaching something beautiful capable of filling life with new splendour and profound joy in the midst of difficulties ..every expression of true beauty can thus be acknowledged as a path leading to an encounter with God…

So this lent let us remove some of the clutter from our lives – surround ourselves with beauty and consciously, relentlessly, give it away until piece of the world for which we are responsible begins to reflect the raw beauty that is God.

“We are made to be manifestations of God’s beauty,’ wrote John Chrysostom. Saint Basil the Great threw down a similar challenge, “we are creatures”, he wrote, “but we are creatures who have received the command to become divine”.

Creatures who are meant to become divine!

Now there is a challenge for lent and beyond!

Murroe Tidy Towns are holding a Table Quiz on Friday 2nd March

February 19, 2018 Murroe Website Editor News, What's on No comments

Murroe Tidy Towns are holding a Table Quiz on Friday 2nd March

at 8pm in the Valley Inn. Table of 4 is €20.

Raffle on the night with lots of spot prizes.

Your support woud be very much appreciated.

Murroe / Boher Newsletter 18th Feb 2018

February 19, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Murroe/Boher Newsletter No comments

Parish Clergy: Fr Loughlin Brennan Fr. Tom Ryan

Tel. 386227 Mobile 087 9814051 Tel. 352223 Mobile 087 6291557

Recent deaths: Denis O’Malley, Castletroy and late of Madaboy

Anniversaries: Murroe

Kitty and Tom Lynch and

Mattie and Maureen Hoyne 7pm this Saturday

Maureen Kenny Months Mind and

Michael Humphreys and

Florence Byrnes and

Ned O’Malley 11.30am this Sunday

Jim Casey 10am next Friday

Ryan and Bobby Cusack and

Jimmy Galligan 7pm next Saturday

Eileen O’Brien 9am next Sunday

Peggy Fitzgerald Months Mind and

Paddy and Patrick Owens and

Jimmy Coleman and

William and Bridget Maher and

Noreen Dee 11.30am next Sunday

Boher

Agnes Smith and

Tommy and Mary Bartley 10am this Sunday

John Finucane Months Mind and

Pat Carmody 10am next Sunday

May They Rest in Peace

Eucharistic Ministers Next Weekend: Boher: Laurence Bartley

Murroe: Evelyn Lorigan 7pm. Suzanne Barron 9am Kathryn Buckley 11.30am.

No Adoration in Murroe next Friday.

Weekly Envelopes are now being delivered. If you don’t get a box of envelopes and would like one, please contact Fr Brennan or Fr Ryan, or call to Sacristy in Murroe.

Confirmation Day – Next Thursday, February 22^nd: Time 11am – The boys and girls to be confirmed with their sponsors should be seated in the Church by 10.45. Please be on time.

St Vincent’s Centre, Lisnagry wish to thank all who contributed to their recent collection. Amount raised was €675. Special thanks to the collectors who braved the elements.

Cashel & Emly Lourdes Fundraising Draw: Tickets are now available and can be purchased locally from Liz Barron, Boher or Mary O’Brien, Murroe.

The Murroe Marian Club will reopen on Wednesday 28th February 2018 at 7.30pm. The club meets every Wednesday evening at 7.30pm and new members are always welcome

The Centenary Oak planted by President Michael D. Higgins at the monument in April 2016 is now in its final home at the Five Roads. A suitably worded plaque indicates its location there. Many thanks to the Murroe/Boher Historical Society and Murroe Tidy Towns for funding this project.

Housekeeper/Childminder required in Annacotty Area. Approx 30/35 hours per week

Contact: Caoimhe 087 9676687

The AGM of Murroe Tidy Towns Will take place on Wednesday next 21^st February at 8pm in the Valley Inn. New members very welcome.

Murroe Tidy Towns are holding a Table Quiz on Friday 2nd March at 8pm in the Valley Inn. Table of 4 is €20. Raffle on the night with lots of spot prizes. Your support woud be very much appreciated.

Painting art classes resuming in Murroe hall on Thursday the 22^nd Feb from 7-9pm. No experience is needed. Absolute beginners are very welcome. 8 weeks. €15 Euro pay as you go weekly. Some materials and refreshments supplied, just please bring your own acrylic paints and brushes. Please text Jenny on 085-7237256, email jenny28111987@gmail.com or look for Jennifer Lynch artist on Facebook to book a place.

Children Dance Classes, Set Dancing, Sean Nos, Waltzing, Line Dancing, Jive, etc will commence in the Muintir na Tire Hall, Murroe on Tuesday 20^th February from 5 to 6 pm.

Lotto Results for 11/02/18 -8,13,22,31- No Jackpot Winner. €20 Lucky dips Paudie Meehan, Calla & Smirnoff, Charlotte Ryan & Mary Ryan (5 Roads). Next week’s Jackpot 5,200. Draw in O’Neill’s

Murroe Boher Ladies Gaelic Football Club would like to wish our club players the very best of luck this weekend as they will proudly fly the Limerick flag, with their respective Limerick teams on Sunday. Munster LGFA Minor Championship, Clare v Limerick, Sunday Feb 18, St. Joseph’s GAA Pitch, Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare. Throw In – 2pm. Wishing our Minor Players Anna Madigan, Aoife Ryan and Charlotte Walsh the best of luck against Clare on Sunday. Lidl Ladies NFL Division 4 – Round 3, Limerick (H) v Wicklow, Sunday Feb 18, Askeaton, Throw in – 2.00pm. The club would like to extend best wishes to our senior Murroe Boher players Grainne Regan and Shauna Ryan, who will line out for the Limerick Junior Team against Wicklow this weekend also. Please come and support our Murroe Boher Girls and their respective Limerick Teams!

Thought for the Week – Beauty

February 12, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Thought for the Week No comments

Beauty is a complex issue – a huge variety of things are described as beautiful – music, sporting moments, paintings, dancing ….Most people identify beauty with art.

There are strong claims made for beauty: “Dostoyevsky claimed that, ‘only beauty will save the world.’ John Keats wrote, “Beauty is truth and truth beauty….That’s all we know and all we need to know.”

John O’Donohue in our own day claimed that, “the contemporary crises of our world can be reduced to a crisis about the nature of beauty”. He goes on to suggest that the strongest condemnation of modern industrial life is its ugliness rather than its often cruel and crude materialism.

In our complex, rushed world it is easy to miss out on beauty (even in church) – a world in which efficiency is often valued ahead of beauty. Pope Benedict at his inauguration, called for a greater sense of beauty in liturgy, “if the church is to continue to transform and to humanise the world, how can she dispense with beauty in her liturgies, that beauty which is so closely linked with love and with the radiance of the Resurrection?”

Pope Francis in Laudato Si, claims there is a beauty enfolded in our world, a divine presence in every presence. The Pope is telling us about a new way of looking, a new way of seeing, a new way of being that can see the divine message in everything, see the seeds of beauty scattered everywhere.

He wants us to recapture our sense of beauty – and view our planet the first sacrament of God’s beauty.

Beauty beckons to us and nourishes our spirit – it can take us past the ordinary to the mystical away from the expedient to the endlessly true…it is beauty that can sustain us in the midst of sorrow. Blaise Pascal suggested that in difficult times, you should always carry something beautiful in your heart. Could we add, even in your purse or pocket. Perhaps it is true, that beauty will save us in the end..