On 6 October last, Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ of Down and Connor, welcomed the online availability of daily Mass readings in Irish. The Irish language has joined seventeen other world languages in now having daily Mass readings available to Irish speakers at home and to over half a million speakers throughout the world.
This faith initiative has been undertaken by Evangelizo, a Catholic lay association founded in France in 2001 by Bertrand Couderc and Grégor Puppinck. Full permission to publish the Irish translation has been granted by An Bíobla Naofa © An Sagart, Maigh Nuad 2000, Éire. Evangelizo seeks to make free and available online and on social media daily Mass readings to as many people as possible, today the service has seventeen language versions and over 500,000 subscribers.
In welcoming the success of translating and making available daily Mass in the Irish language, Bishop McGuckian said, “Go gcoimeáda an Tiarna na hÉireannaigh ina lámha agus a muintir atá ina gcónaí thar sáile, sa Fhrainc agus ar fud an domhain. Go gcosnaí an Tiarna iad, agus go bhfana siad gar don Tiarna [May Our Lord hold the Irish living in France and around the world in His hands and protect them, and may their families flourish and stay close to God].”
Bishop McGuckian continued, “Reading the Scriptures in Irish, or indeed in any language, is an extraordinary way to discover and rediscover the richness of the words and images of the Holy Bible. The daily Mass readings are a particularly powerful way to follow the liturgical year and explore the connections and associations between the books of the Bible. It is especially gratifying for Irish language enthusiasts to see our language take its place among seventeen major world languages. I wish to commend Ciarán and the Irish language community in France for this work of evangelisation. May I encourage everyone of faith, and with a love of our language, to access Soiscéal an Lae, the daily Mass readings on www.evangelizo.com.”
ENDS