07.10.2013
Responsibility for the Environment and the Poor are Christian Imperatives – Dean Tells Kilbride Harvest Evensong
St Brigid’s Church, Kilbride, (Bray) was a riot of colour for the Kilbride Harvest and Fruit and Flower Festival. Some of the best of what nature has to offer was on show in the church for the festival which marked the 20th anniversary of the construction of Kilbride’s parish room.
The four–day festival culminated yesterday, Sunday October 6, with a special service of Choral Evensong sung by the choir of Christ Church Cathedral whose members performed as part of the cathedral’s new outreach programme. This was the first time the choir had sung outside the cathedral for many years and it is planned that the choir will visit other churches to help strengthen connections between the cathedral and parishes throughout Dublin and Glendalough.
Welcoming the congregation to the packed church, the Rector of Powerscourt with Kilbride, Archdeacon Ricky Rountree, paid tribute to all who had helped with the fantastic decoration of the church for the harvest and fruit and flower festival. Presentations were made to Maura Sheehan for organising the people who decorated the church and to Georgina and Anna Masterson.
The preacher at the service was the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, the Very Revd Dermot Dunne who said care of the environment and responsibility for the poor were Christian imperatives. He said that this autumn the hedges were laden with wild berries and the orchards were full of apples and tillage farmers had had a bumper harvest.
The Dean recalled a time when there were less preservatives and people ate what fruit and vegetables were in season. He contrasted this with today when a stroll through any fruit and vegetable department of any supermarket revealed a feast of colours and textures of produce from around the world.
He said that while it was wonderful to be able to get such a variety of fruit and vegetables, there were environmental and ethical questions to be asked. He wondered how much the producer of blueberries which cost just €1.89 per punnet would get paid and what pressures were placed on the environment in transporting them to Ireland.
Dean Dunne also said it was our responsibility to ensure that people had enough food and to share food with those who were less well off. He added that we celebrated our Christianity by showing compassion for the less well off, campaigning for fair trade with food producers and sourcing products with a low carbon footprint.
“If we call ourselves Christians we are called to an authentic way of living… In all our experiences we need to evaluate everything against goodness, truth and beauty. If there are people still homeless on the streets and we walk idly by we are failing in our duty to Christianity. It is our responsibility to share this earth and become co–creators with God,” he concluded.
Photo caption: Archdeacon Ricky Rountree introduces the service in St Brigid’s Church, Kilbride, Bray.