February, 2012
(March meeting will be on Tuesday, the 6th @ 7pm at Bunker Hill)
Brothers,
Wow – almost half way through Winter. And we fooled Old Man Winter last month … changing our meeting date to
the second Tuesday of January resulted in the first time our January meeting was not on a night fraught with ice and wind. (Of course, the preceding Tuesday evening did not have ice and wind either, but I’m not going to confuse anyone with those facts.)
A few high points from last month’s meeting:
We celebrated our Division Chaplain, Fr. Joe Mecir, receiving his PhD. And while we all know Brother Pete Chrystal is a terrific baker, surprise! surprise!, it seems Brother Joe Casey also knows how to manhandle a mixer and preheat an oven as he baked a very delicious cake – complete with decorations – to celebrate Fr. Joe’s accomplishment.
Details are being finalized on the judging of submitted essays and the awarding of scholarship money from last year’s golf outing fundraiser. While it can very easy to give away money, the concern is that we do this right, and thus eliminate any cause for criticism.
Brother Paul McNamee volunteered to again sign us up for a Buehler’s hot dog stand day for 2012. Once we have an assigned date, more details will follow; this really is a terrific opportunity to earn easy money and promote our reputations (I foresee that our signage this year will tout the three Medina County scholarships we awarded), and when all Brothers participate, it becomes even easier and funner. (Okay, so I made that last word up.)
Brother Dave Manley, Chairman of Missions & Charities, relayed his story of meeting Fr. Kevin Conroy in Cambodia (Dave was a vacationing tourist, Fr. Conroy was a working missionary.) The conversation took on a deeper meaning when Dave learned that Fr. Kevin Conroy, obviously of Irish descent, hailed from Cleveland Ohio! And as is true of virtually all missionaries, Fr. Conroy can always use additional funding to help the children of his mission, so the Division voted to make a one-time contribution, and Dave is working on ideas to raise funds and awareness later in the year. A little notoriety is sometimes a good thing – a few cases in point from just the last two months ….
Our Lady of Grace parish bulletin (December 18) acknowledged our Division’s contribution to the Food Pantry.
The Medina Post recently had a nice article about Pete Chrystal being awarded the Division’s Commodore John Barry Memorial medal.
The Hinckley Record (January 2012, page 12) had a nice article covering our Troops Overseas collection efforts and our Boxing Party, complete with a group picture. (And speaking of pictures in the Hinckley Record – did you see the picture of our Division Marshall on page two? Emma cleans him up pretty good!)
And the Cleveland.com website also had a recent article about our Troops Overseas collection efforts and Boxing Party. (I unfortunately did not see that article so I can’t say if it had a picture, but several Brothers who did see it commented very positively on it.)
And so why is this good? The more we get our name out there (for positive things, gentlemen), the more chances we have of reaching other Catholic men of Irish descent, which is an easy way to promote our Division, and building Division
membership is everyone’s job. We will soon start planning Meet & Greets following masses at a number of our parishes. The more Brothers we have at these masses, the more our ‘statement’ is broadcast and heard. You go to Mass already – why not make the additional effort to attend one of these Masses. Building Division membership is everyone’s job. (did I mention that before?)
REMINDER – 2012 dues are now being collected; $36 for regular members, $32 for retirees, $18 for fulltime students,
and no charge for clergy and active military. Dues not received by March 31 are subject to a $5.00 late fee. If you are not able to attend the upcoming meeting, please be sure to mail your check to Joe Casey to avoid the March late fees. And don’t forget, with your dues payment, you are entitled to your very own set of AOH calling cards.
Pot of Gold raffle tickets ($5 for one, or three for $10) are going fast – February 7 may be the last meeting these are available. First prize is $500, with second and third prize awards of $100 each, and proceeds offset the State AOH/
LAOH hospitality room costs. Please contact Kevin Hickey or myself for tickets and information.
And let us not forget to help support the Akron St. Patrick’s Day Parade (which will be Saturday March 10); our Division pays nothing for a prominent spot the procession line-up, but don’t think that parade costs are really “free”. The annual ‘Night At The Races’ fundraiser will be Saturday February 18 – for a nominal cover charge, you then will enjoy all the beer, food, camaraderie and entertainment you desire for one evening. Details are later in the newsletter. Can’t show your support that night? Consider this …. Buy a horse for the evening; just send Leo Stalter $20 and you get: a chance to win $50 (if your horse wins his race), and naming rights for the horse! And if you have ever attended one of these events, you know that the horses in the front of the pack keep having their names repeated again and again as they round the track and head for the finish line, so this presents an excellent opportunity for you to show your creativeness (or maybe vindictiveness?). You can call Leo at 330-882-3174.
Lastly, in closing, I again ask that each of us take a moment – right now if you can – to say a prayer for Brothers and family
members who are in want/need of our prayers: for Ray Schulte’s mother; for Chris Courtney’s sister, Rachel ; for Mark
DeLima’s brother-in-law; and for Dave and Tony Manley’s sister, Mary (also aunt to Scott) – let us pray for their collective health and well being, as well as all other Brothers and family members who are in need of our prayers.
And it’s always nice to end on an upbeat note – let us also give a prayer of thanksgiving – Kevin and Marie Hickey have now welcomed their new daughter, Olivia, into this world. Mom and daughter are doing wonderful, and Kevin, well he didn’t work as hard as they did, and Marie says he is still the same.
In Friendship, Unity and Christian Charity -
Tony
CHAPLAIN’S COMMENTS
HOW DO YOU SEE THE CHURCH?
Have you ever thought about the early church and what it looked like? Scripture tells us that the first Christians devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to loving one another, to prayer, and to the Eucharist. It says that they regularly met in the Temple, shared meals in each other’s homes, and cared for each other.
It’s important for us to know that the apostles didn’t just dream up these practices. At the Last Supper, Jesus told them: “Do this in memory of me”. And through-out his ministry he told them to pray, to forgive each other, and to be mindful of the poor. In short, he told them to be holy as their heavenly Father was holy – and to do this together, as brothers and sisters. So after Pentecost, this is what they did. They began to put his words into practice, and as a result, the church grew and spread from city to city.
Of course, the church had its fair share of problems. Not only were there persecutions from without, there were problems from within: disagreements over the place of Gentiles in the church, arguments over who should be trusted as apostles, and fights over whether or not to hold to Jewish traditions. Some elders, like Paul, even made these differences very public, and some of these grudges were held onto for many years. And these are just the ones we know about!
Two thousand years later, while many things in the church have changed dramatically, the most important things remain the same. Our leaders continue to call us to pray, to receive the sacraments, and to be Jesus’ light in the world. As a people, we continue to defend human dignity and speak out for the poor and defenseless. At times the church has been attacked from without for its teachings. But there have also been times when it has been threatened from within: public disputes, even deception and sexual abuse. In many ways, the church has always been a green light to the world, but with a bit of its own tarnish.
A MYSTERY IN CHRIST. But no matter what strengths or weaknesses we may see in the church, we need to be careful not to look at it only as a human institution. Yes, the church is a gathering of fallen, sinful people, but it is also the beloved bride of Christ. No matter how much sin we see in its members or its leaders, we need to
remember Jesus’ promise that not even the gates of hell will prevail against it. We need to look at the church as something more than just a human invention. It is also a divine act of God, the sacrament of God’s Presence in human history, the holy dwelling place for the people of God.
We need to look beyond the flaws of the church – including our own personal flaws – and to see the church as Jesus sees it: as an undeniably perfect gathering, whose members are being purified and prepared for the eternal wedding feast.
Fr. Joe Mecir,
Irish Brigade Division Chaplain
Pro-Life March – Washington D.C.
Joe Casey
The Hibernians were out in-force on Monday, January 23rd, when they met near the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. They met for the 39th anniversary of Roe v Wade. Hibernians from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Washington DC and other states first met at the Irish Channel Restaurant & Pub for breakfast and a series of short speeches before heading out on that cold, rainy march. One senator from Maryland said he actually hopes we never have to get together and do this again; meaning that, if we can get the government to agree, then abortion would be illegal in the U.S. again and the need to march for justice would no longer be required.
Until that time, you can be certain of one thing…..the Hibernians will be there, in force.
Congratulations Fr. (Dr.) Joe
Our Chaplain, Fr. Joseph S. Mecir, recently received his PhD. His dissertation was titled “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” a comparison between Catholics and Jehovah’s Witnesses!
We celebrated with him at our January meeting.
Barry Gate
Annapolis, MD: January 6, 2012:
Today, at the US Naval Academy, the Hibernians honored the Irish born American Revolutionary War hero, Commodore John Barry. They installed an arch emblazoned in gold letters with Barry’s name over the Naval Academy’s main pedestrian gate in Annapolis, Maryland. The workers from Signcraft of Annapolis installed the arch at 11:35 am (Eastern time).
A delighted group of Hibernians (LAOH and AOH) and members of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick from Philadelphia were in attendance and participated. Those present took an informal but democratic vote to recognize the gate as the Barry Gate. Without objection, the motion passed!
With a sheet over the gate for a few minutes, a group held an informal unveiling. Many photos were taken and John E. McInerney, the National Co-Chairman and Public Relations Director of the Barry Memorial Project, gave a speech in front of the gate. “This is indeed a great day for the Irish American community and the United States Naval Academy,” declared McInerney. “For a long while we have been saying – “Let’s meet at Barry Gate.” Finally, we are here today actually meeting at Barry Gate.” It is the hope of Naval Academy officials that Barry Gate will be a popular designated meeting place for midshipmen. “For 175 years the Hibernians honored the memory of Commodore John Barry,” McInerney pointed out. “Today, Barry’s life, patriotism, heroism and great naval victories are a model and inspiration for our future commissioned officers of the Navy and Marine Corps.”
“We accomplished phase one of the Barry Project with the new Barry Gate,” said Jack O’Brien, National Co-Chairman and Organizer of the Barry Project. “Now we have to raise the money to erect the Barry Memorial and Plaza. The total cost will be around $200,000.00.”
