President’s Greetings to RTAI members
A Dhaoine Uaisle,
COVID-19 has changed our world in ways we could never have imagined. This pandemic is a fast spreading health crisis with no certain end in sight forcing entire societies to shut down.
We should not be disheartened. CARE and CONNECT by phoning a friend and supporting each other. We will get through this crisis. Is treise muid le chéile.
Perhaps this piece I would like to share with you by Fr. Richard Hendrick OFM will bring you comfort.
Lockdown
Yes there is fear
Yes there is isolation
Yes there is panic buying
Yes there is sickness
Yes there is even death.
But
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise, you can hear the birds again
They say that just after a few weeks of quiet the sky is no longer thick with fumes – but blue and grey
They say in the streets of Assisi people are singing to each other across empty squares,
Keeping their windows open so that those who are alone may hear the sounds of family around them
They say that hotels and businesses in Ireland are offering free meals and delivery to households
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are
To how little control we really have
To what really matters
To LOVE.
So we pray and remember that
Yes there is fear - But there does not have to be hate
Yes there is isolation - But there does not have to be loneliness
Yes there is panic buying - But there does not have to be meanness
Yes there is sickness - But there does not have to be disease of the soul/spirit
Yes there is even death - But there can always be rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how you live now
Today, breathe
Listen, beyond the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again.
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming.
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul/spirit.
And though you may not be able to touch across the empty square
SING!
You are all in my thoughts and prayers.Go gcoinneoidh Dia i mboise a láimhe sibh go léir. Beannachtaí Dé is Muire libh, A chóiche is go brách.
Mary Kyne
RTAI President
March 2020
Message from RTAI President
Dear Branch Secretary,
The staggering speed with which the Coronavirus has spread has caught us all off guard. It has shown us that we are depending on something much bigger than we think. It has made us appreciate the luxury we lived in, the abundance of product, freedom and health that we took for granted.
This quiet time has allowed us to put aside problems that we once thought were important and is showing us what is really important. We have woken up to the sheer fragility of our lives and have come to realise the reality of human inter-independence. We breath the same air and we share the same planet.
Our ancestors faced many difficulties in the past. We are now facing difficulties as we enter a more intensive stage of curtailing the coronavirus. We are confined to our homes and gardens while vulnerable RTAI members are in residential care where there are clusters of the virus in some. This is a challenge for us to help our doctors and nurses so they can help us. We will do our part to keep the demand on our health services down. “Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine,” (people live in one another’s shelter); Comhar na gComharsan (co-operation of neighbours) – both were much used phrases and much practised acts by our ancestors. But we will have hope for the future. Is gaire cabhair Dé ná and doras.
Be cheerful, do not be a slave to rumours of fear and panic as we struggle through the trials and tribulations of this virus. When this time of fear and uncertainty passes and it will pass let us be ready to CARE and CONNECT with each other in a meaningful way to make this world a better place for all mankind.
“This is a time to be slow
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.
Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All senses of yourself
And all your hesitant light.
John O Donohue
Enjoy as best you can this quiet time.
Seasfaimid le chéile gualainn le gualainn
Care and Connect and share the love that lives within you.
Casfaimid le chéile amach anseo le cúnamh Dé.
I am with you in spirit.
Mary Kyne
RTAI President
6 April 2020
A Dhaoine Uaisle,
COVID-19 has changed our world in ways we could never have imagined. This pandemic is a fast spreading health crisis with no certain end in sight forcing entire societies to shut down.
We should not be disheartened. CARE and CONNECT by phoning a friend and supporting each other. We will get through this crisis. Is treise muid le chéile.
Perhaps this piece I would like to share with you by Fr. Richard Hendrick OFM will bring you comfort.
Lockdown
Yes there is fear
Yes there is isolation
Yes there is panic buying
Yes there is sickness
Yes there is even death.
But
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise, you can hear the birds again
They say that just after a few weeks of quiet the sky is no longer thick with fumes – but blue and grey
They say in the streets of Assisi people are singing to each other across empty squares,
Keeping their windows open so that those who are alone may hear the sounds of family around them
They say that hotels and businesses in Ireland are offering free meals and delivery to households
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are
To how little control we really have
To what really matters
To LOVE.
So we pray and remember that
Yes there is fear - But there does not have to be hate
Yes there is isolation - But there does not have to be loneliness
Yes there is panic buying - But there does not have to be meanness
Yes there is sickness - But there does not have to be disease of the soul/spirit
Yes there is even death - But there can always be rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how you live now
Today, breathe
Listen, beyond the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again.
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming.
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul/spirit.
And though you may not be able to touch across the empty square
SING!
You are all in my thoughts and prayers.Go gcoinneoidh Dia i mboise a láimhe sibh go léir. Beannachtaí Dé is Muire libh, A chóiche is go brách.
Mary Kyne
RTAI President
March 2020
Message from RTAI President
Dear Branch Secretary,
The staggering speed with which the Coronavirus has spread has caught us all off guard. It has shown us that we are depending on something much bigger than we think. It has made us appreciate the luxury we lived in, the abundance of product, freedom and health that we took for granted.
This quiet time has allowed us to put aside problems that we once thought were important and is showing us what is really important. We have woken up to the sheer fragility of our lives and have come to realise the reality of human inter-independence. We breath the same air and we share the same planet.
Our ancestors faced many difficulties in the past. We are now facing difficulties as we enter a more intensive stage of curtailing the coronavirus. We are confined to our homes and gardens while vulnerable RTAI members are in residential care where there are clusters of the virus in some. This is a challenge for us to help our doctors and nurses so they can help us. We will do our part to keep the demand on our health services down. “Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine,” (people live in one another’s shelter); Comhar na gComharsan (co-operation of neighbours) – both were much used phrases and much practised acts by our ancestors. But we will have hope for the future. Is gaire cabhair Dé ná and doras.
Be cheerful, do not be a slave to rumours of fear and panic as we struggle through the trials and tribulations of this virus. When this time of fear and uncertainty passes and it will pass let us be ready to CARE and CONNECT with each other in a meaningful way to make this world a better place for all mankind.
“This is a time to be slow
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.
Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All senses of yourself
And all your hesitant light.
John O Donohue
Enjoy as best you can this quiet time.
Seasfaimid le chéile gualainn le gualainn
Care and Connect and share the love that lives within you.
Casfaimid le chéile amach anseo le cúnamh Dé.
I am with you in spirit.
Mary Kyne
RTAI President
6 April 2020