09 May 2011
Story #396
R. Linda:
Usually, I don't take the time to research this particular subject matter, but this news has finally got to me. Today, I was informed a Catholic church in Dublin was holding a memorial mass for the late Usama Bin Laden. Yes, indeed. I was wondering if UBL was, after all, a Catholic, and we didn't know it. I know it seems far-fetched, but what other explanation could there be? So I had to look into this, you know me, a nosey parker par excellence. I rang up a friend in Dublin and asked about this service, where, when, and why. He was perplexed he was, and said it was the first he'd heard of it. He had the same question as I, was UBL a closet Catholic?
Well, he was so interested that he asked his wife about this. May the saints preserve us. She did know! She said it was true that a parish in Howth (north of Dublin) was indeed holding a service this coming Thursday.
"And ya never taught to tell me dis?" Her husband asked while I waited on the other end of the earpiece.
"Well, at tirst, I didn't bloody believe it," says she, "But den I taught well, Jaysus wanted us to forgive and maybe dis particular parish was plainly puttin' dat to da test."
"And it's dis Turdsday?"
"Aye, it be at 10 in da morn at the Church of the Assumption." She said, sounding very positive.
I wanted so bad to ask if she was going, but I did not.
"Gabe," says me friend, "Let me git back ta ya on dis. I can hardly believe me ears."
So, I hung up, scratching me noggin, wondering if that was indeed the reason, but still, what was the truth of it?
So, I contacted Father Murphy at a local church to get his reaction. At first, there was dead silence on the other end of the phone. Then he asked me to repeat me question. I did, and he said, "Yee-ah, I taught dat wuz wot ye said dere Gabriel. Well, perhaps dat church be taking Jaysus's words literally, but den He also taught us to be peaceful people and not to kill each other for what we want, and that man certainly didn't practice that. We believe the Lord has the final say. I don't know dere Gabe. Something seems off."
I thought the same thing. An hour later, I got a call from me friend in Dublin. He had the scoop he did.
"Well, dere Gabe, I know the whole of it. Bloody mess and very embarrassin' it be, too. Seems da church be sayin' dat someone messed wit da church programme and pranked the congregation. The congregation be upset wit da priests and the church officials have taken the programme back. Den later it was reported dat, and as ye know yersel, any church member can request a mass said fer the dead, and that's wot really happened. They know who dis be, but dey didn't make his name public . . . yet."
"So it's all a mistake, a prank, for real, for what?" I said.
"Well, depends on how ye look at it, I reckon. Someone requested it, someone else put it in the church bulletin and printed it (eejit editor), sent it out and well, ye see, the reaction wus not exactly . . . uh . . . Christian? I don't know the word for it, ah yes I do, inappropriate."
On the other side of this, I was thinking that ULB must be swirling in his watery grave to think he's having a Catholic mass said for him. He didn't like Christians, and Christians were referred to by him as crusaders, so what's the deal? Are we to love our enemy even though he has vowed to kill us because he doesn't like our religion, lifestyle, and culture? On the other hand, a man who clearly didn't like Christians would not appreciate a Christian mass said. Or is that the reason why it was requested? Hum, it seems to me there could be much debate on Christian teachings coming, not from me but from those involved in said crisis management.
Gabe
Copyright © 2011 All rights reserved
R. Linda:
Usually, I don't take the time to research this particular subject matter, but this news has finally got to me. Today, I was informed a Catholic church in Dublin was holding a memorial mass for the late Usama Bin Laden. Yes, indeed. I was wondering if UBL was, after all, a Catholic, and we didn't know it. I know it seems far-fetched, but what other explanation could there be? So I had to look into this, you know me, a nosey parker par excellence. I rang up a friend in Dublin and asked about this service, where, when, and why. He was perplexed he was, and said it was the first he'd heard of it. He had the same question as I, was UBL a closet Catholic?
Well, he was so interested that he asked his wife about this. May the saints preserve us. She did know! She said it was true that a parish in Howth (north of Dublin) was indeed holding a service this coming Thursday.
"And ya never taught to tell me dis?" Her husband asked while I waited on the other end of the earpiece.
"Well, at tirst, I didn't bloody believe it," says she, "But den I taught well, Jaysus wanted us to forgive and maybe dis particular parish was plainly puttin' dat to da test."
"And it's dis Turdsday?"
"Aye, it be at 10 in da morn at the Church of the Assumption." She said, sounding very positive.
I wanted so bad to ask if she was going, but I did not.
"Gabe," says me friend, "Let me git back ta ya on dis. I can hardly believe me ears."
So, I hung up, scratching me noggin, wondering if that was indeed the reason, but still, what was the truth of it?
So, I contacted Father Murphy at a local church to get his reaction. At first, there was dead silence on the other end of the phone. Then he asked me to repeat me question. I did, and he said, "Yee-ah, I taught dat wuz wot ye said dere Gabriel. Well, perhaps dat church be taking Jaysus's words literally, but den He also taught us to be peaceful people and not to kill each other for what we want, and that man certainly didn't practice that. We believe the Lord has the final say. I don't know dere Gabe. Something seems off."
I thought the same thing. An hour later, I got a call from me friend in Dublin. He had the scoop he did.
"Well, dere Gabe, I know the whole of it. Bloody mess and very embarrassin' it be, too. Seems da church be sayin' dat someone messed wit da church programme and pranked the congregation. The congregation be upset wit da priests and the church officials have taken the programme back. Den later it was reported dat, and as ye know yersel, any church member can request a mass said fer the dead, and that's wot really happened. They know who dis be, but dey didn't make his name public . . . yet."
"So it's all a mistake, a prank, for real, for what?" I said.
"Well, depends on how ye look at it, I reckon. Someone requested it, someone else put it in the church bulletin and printed it (eejit editor), sent it out and well, ye see, the reaction wus not exactly . . . uh . . . Christian? I don't know the word for it, ah yes I do, inappropriate."
On the other side of this, I was thinking that ULB must be swirling in his watery grave to think he's having a Catholic mass said for him. He didn't like Christians, and Christians were referred to by him as crusaders, so what's the deal? Are we to love our enemy even though he has vowed to kill us because he doesn't like our religion, lifestyle, and culture? On the other hand, a man who clearly didn't like Christians would not appreciate a Christian mass said. Or is that the reason why it was requested? Hum, it seems to me there could be much debate on Christian teachings coming, not from me but from those involved in said crisis management.
Gabe
Copyright © 2011 All rights reserved
