Madam, – I wish to congratulate Breda O’Brien for injecting a little compassion and kindness into her analysis of calls for women to boycott Mass on September 26th (Opinion, September 11th). Her counter-proposal for women to take their places “shoulder to shoulder” at the top pews at Mass is a reasonable and positive suggestion. Her proposal is made all the more attractive by her refusal to engage in the sort of Bible-thumping and name-calling that can blind us to the essence of our Christian faith.
May I be allowed to extend my sympathies on the recent death of her father? She describes him as a man of great faith and courage. The apple does not fall far from the tree. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Your columnist Breda O’Brien does not agree with the recent invitation to all the Catholic women of Ireland to stay away from Mass on Sunday, September 26th.
She says that the proposed boycott “is essentially a negative gesture”. That is not so. It is absolutely not negative. And it is absolutely not a gesture. There is nothing negative about a public all-Ireland campaign to stop Catholics from going to Mass. It is a positively abusive act.
Breda O’Brien does not leave it at that. She proposes, by way of thoughtful substitution, that Irish Catholic “women should take the top pews in every church” on that day. They should “sit shoulder to shoulder”.
Every Catholic church is consecrated to the service of God. It is not a parish hall. It is not a community facility. The divine presence is in the tabernacle. The ancient prayer of the church has been said every single day century after century all over the world. “I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house and the place where thy glory dwelleth.”
The glory of God dwells in the church. It is not an arena for demonstrations. Shoulder to shoulder or otherwise. – Yours, etc,