JULY 12TH - A DAY OF IRISH REMEMBRANCE...........

As the sun rises on this July 12th Tuesday morning, my thoughts, prayers, and memories, are with the Irish people, on a date that is mired in historical significance, so that down through the centuries since the Reformation in the 16th Century, it has colloquially come to be known as, "Orange Day".  The political and religious divisions between Protestants and Catholics, that are grounded in a series of historical battles fought by both sides, hundreds of years ago, that in the modern age have been commemorated by a, "Marching Season", annually - in which Catholics and Protestants alike; literally marched triumphantly in the neighborhoods of the opposing side, controversially colored the celebration of this day and the weeks that followed every year.  In 1969, those occurrences flared up again and sectarian violence ensued for three decades, taking the lives of over 3,000 persons, for no reason other than they were of a particular religious denomination, and thus the target of paramilitary groups and over zealous proponents of division and disunity, between Protestants and Catholics; a united Ireland, versus a Northern Ireland, affiliated solely with Great Britain.  Then, in the 1990's a tide of change and constructive negotiations between all the parties involved, and Ireland, England, Northern Ireland, and facilitated in large measure by the United States, led to an mutually arrived at understanding known as, the Good Friday Accord, in which the major negotiators included Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern; British Prime Minister Tony Blair; and American President Bill Clinton; opened a renewed spirit of peace and has led to the cessation of most of the recurring violence and the perceived occupation of Northern Ireland, by British troops.  The Marching Season proceeds even now, but with much more civil and restrained occurrence, not provocation to emnity and violence.....July 12th is also a memorable milestone in the lives of several of my personal Irish friends.  It is the birthday for openers of three of them.  Reverend Father Charles Brady, a native of County Cavan, Ireland - who was ordained a Priest of Jesus Christ in June 1955, for service in the Diocese of Sacramento, and is now the Pastor Emeritus of Holy Spirit Parish, in Sacramento's Land Park neighborhood, today is celebrating his 81st Birthday !!!!!!!!!!!  Thirty five of his fifty years of active ministry in Sacramento, until his retirement in 2005, was spent as both Associate Pastor and Pastor of Holy Spirit Parish.  Reverend Father Daniel Bollard, a Kilkenny, Ireland native, also celebrates his birthday today.  Fr. Dan was the Spiritual Director of St. Kieran's Seminary for a decade and a half, and is currently the Parish Priest, (Pastor) of the Parish of Thomastown, in County Kilkenny.  He is also a 1972 fellow ordinand of Reverend Father Michael Downey, of the Sacramento Diocese, who is the Pastor of Holy Spirit Parish, in Fairfield, Solano County, California.  Also on this date, the departed mother of my beloved seminary classmate and consumate friend, Reverend Father Oliver Maher, Noreen Long Maher, was born in County Cork.  "Mother Maher", as I called her, who went home to God on March 4, 2001, was born on the very same day as Fr. Brady, July 12, 1930.  Today, is also the 8th Wedding Anniversary of my Letterkenny, County Donegal friends, Dara McDaid Higgins, and her husband, Danny.  Dara, is the sister of my St. Kieran's classmate, Paul McDaid.  Remember to dance the, "Anniversary Waltz", Danny & Dara !!!!!!!!!!!  May the Peace and Prosperity of the Irish People Be a Lasting Priority For All...........Slan,   Fr.  Troy