Sir, - Should we not return to the source of our information? Jesus said that when two or three were gathered together, he would be among them, if they met in His name. And at the Last Supper: "Do this in remembrance of me." He did not go on to say that the doing must be by a man, a woman, a child, an ordained minister, a member of a special ecclesial group. We have a simple mystery of faith, and perhaps we try to explain it at our peril.
Of course, the Eucharist of the Church of Ireland is not a sham, any more than the Roman Mass is "popish idolatry". And if anything is lacking in our celebration of the sacred mysteries, the Holy Spirit will make it up; she will not let us be sold short.
If there are tears in heaven, they are for ecclesiastical red tape, theologians spinning theories, and, worst of all, opinionated saints. And Jesus called on his followers to love one another . . . - Yours, etc.
Daphne D.C. Pochin Mouls, BSc., PhD., LLD, Aherla, Co Cork.
Dr Connell On Communion
Sir, - Poor Dr Connell! Ye're at him again. It would never be enough just to put his actual words down in black and white so that your readers could judge for themselves whether to agree to disagree, to applaud or ignore him. No! The media have to jump up and down in an unholy fuss until every mongrel, pup and bitch is yapping, yelping and yowling. Then, affecting more sorrow than anger, you reproach him with, "Look what you've done to the dogs!"
We are used to that. It is what is known as the special position of the Catholic Church. What is hard to understand is how the urbane bishops of another persuasion are so willing to be the hounds that the journalists set on a singularly stalwart exponent of free speech. Can they not find their own offence without the goading of hysterical hacks?
I have taken the trouble to read the entire published interview to find the little nugget of acrimony that was pounced upon. What did he say? That if a pastor tries to instil in his flock a reverence for the Eucharist as he conscientiously believes the Lord intended it to be, then it is bad form for a rival pastor to say to the same flock: "Don't mind him! Come and share the taste of our special eucharist, full of flavour, GM-free and traceability guaranteed from farm to altar."
While some, I suppose, might disagree that it is bad form, no one, rival pastor or otherwise, is forced to agree. But acrimonious? Offensive? Insensitive? Surely that is over the top for anyone protected by the normal complement of cutaneous layers? - Yours, etc.,
Frank Farrell, Lakelands Close, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.