In launching the new website of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association I am reminded of a saying of a fellow-Jesuit, Fr.Teilhard de Chardin: "The only task worthy of our efforts is the construction of the future." Over the past nine months the Pioneer Association has been looking at its purpose and place in modern Irish society as well as its influence in various parts of the world.
This has been a struggle and painful - though we should recognise that to struggle with the present is to put faith in the future. The Provincial of the Society of Jesus in Ireland, Fr John Dardis, funded a research project which was professionally done with recommendations which included the appointment of a full time advocacy/communication officer and updating the website. I welcome this new website as a means of information about alcohol abuse and helping people to recognize the need to deepen the spirituality which is the foundation of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association.
There is a deep spiritual vacuum in many parts of the world which has relied on material possessions and pleasures as the goal of their existence. The present world-wide economic crisis forces us to question the meaning of life. This new website will enable us to face that hard question about respect for ourselves, others, the earth and all things given to us by God as a free gift. To live these questions and to struggle for answers is to put faith in a better future for all peoples.
Fr Joe Dargan SJ
Chairman
Pioneer Total Abstinence Association
