Category: Fr Rory Writes

There is a little phrase in Latin “Festina Lente” which expresses “hurry up, but slowly”.  This I think and hope echoes our present situation.  Now with a number of people having received the vaccine it is becoming more real, but at the same time because of the amount of people catching and dying from the virus the situation remains very difficult.  Even though the number of new incidents remains high, the need to return to normal life, especially for schools and indeed elderly people is becoming critical on account of the mental stress that is involved.

Safety remains a great concern.  To safely return to a normal healthier life is also now important.  So caution, adhering to wearing masks and social distancing is essential, and to avail of this as an important opportunity to live and learn, and please God, to gain a better quality of life in the future.  This is much to be desired for our catholic Christian community.  I have heard quite regularly of silver linings in the great dark cloud that is Covid 19.  Silver linings may give us opportunities as we return to family and parish life and a good constructive challenge to our future. 

I am taking a break this weekend, with Fr Kieran covering Masses for me.   We will have plenty of time to recover and especially with the season of Lent approaching we can share and strive to live our faith together with confidence and trust.  Then continuing on from last week, the message from Pope Francis, for the next couple of weeks can give us food for thought:-

“Being happy is not a fatality of destiny, but an achievement for those who can travel within themselves.  To be happy is to stop feeling like a victim and become your destiny’s author.  It is to cross deserts, yet to be able to find an oasis in the depths of our soul.  It is to thank God for every morning, for the miracle of life.

Being happy is not being afraid of our own feelings.  It’s to be able to talk about you.  It is having the courage to hear a “no”.  It is confidence in the face of criticism, even when unjustified.

It is to kiss your children, pamper your parents, to live poetic moments with friends, even when they hurt us”.

Many of you, like Tessa and myself, are unable to attend Mass during the present circumstances and receive Holy Communion. For some time now we have been using Live Streaming as a way of attending mass. This usually includes an Act of Spiritual Communion which is a source of grace. It is a real personal desire to receive Him in sacramental Communion when we cannot attend Mass. This prayer is of the form: 

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love you above all things and I desire to receive you in my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, come spiritually into my heart so that I may unite myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from you.  Amen.

Our Parish Internet site includes addresses where you can follow mass online, including our own site on Sunday. Some sites, such as Hove Sacred Heart Church, have this available daily(8am Monday to Friday with Mgr. Michael Jackson who supplied here for over a year before Fr.Rory came.)

The following Prayer, found on the Internet, was offered by Pope Francis to our Holy Mother for protection during this pandemic:

O Mary, you shine continuously on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope. We entrust ourselves to you. At the foot of the Cross you participated in Jesus’ pain, with steadfast faith. You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need, as you did at Cana of Galilee, We are certain that you will provide, so that, joy and feasting might return after this time of trial. Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform ourselves to the Father’s will and to do what Jesus tells us: He who took our sufferings upon Himself, and bore our sorrows to bring us, through the Cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Amen.

We seek refuge under your protection, O Holy Mother of God. Do not despise our pleas – we who are put to the test – and deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

With my love and prayers.

The response to the psalm this weekend is “Lord show me your way”.  At this time to give His word time and attention is about the only thing we can do, and obviously the best also.

Last week in our very difficult circumstances, inspiration and encouragement came to me from our local paper at home.  Following all the scandals with the clergy, another shocking revelation has its focus upon mothers and their babies.  This has to be acknowledged as a great darkness for our nation of Ireland.  I was very much in need of the very welcome surprise when the local newspaper highlighted this message “Pope Francis, a new year message of Hope”, and what a message.

So please God, it will carry me along for the next couple of weeks:-

“You can have flaws, be anxious, and even be angry, but do not forget that your life is the greatest enterprise in the world.  Only you can stop it from going bust.

Many appreciate you, admire you and love you.  Remember that to be happy is not to have a sky without a storm, a road without accidents, work without fatigue, relationships without disappointments.  To be happy is to find strength in forgiveness, hope in battles, security in the stage of fear, love in discord.

It is not only to enjoy the smile, but also to reflect on the sadness.  It is not only to celebrate the successes, but to learn lessons from the failures.  It is not only to feel happy with the applause, but to be happy in anonymity”.

To be continued ………….

“Every day as long as this today lasts, keep encouraging one another” Heb 3.13 from the divine office.

Last Sunday was the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus who was baptised in the river Jordan, by John the Baptist.  This highlights an idea, “that actions speak louder than words”.  But words are so important, as they give meaning to the events.  In this case, no sooner has Jesus come up out of the water, then He saw the heavens torn apart, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on Him, and a voice came from heaven “you are my son, the beloved, my favour rests on you”.  This gives us a clear picture of the Life in the Holy Trinity of God, which is at the heart of our faith.

Largely, because of the coronavirus, I have spent a lot of hours here in the church.  At the moment, when life is dark and difficult for all of us, for me it is one of the silver linings in the dark clouds of the moment.   Here in the church the sanctuary lamp stands out in the coming darkness.  It is there as a powerful expression of what we hold to be true.  The living presence of Jesus is the Holy Eucharist through His promise “The bread that I shall give you is my flesh for the life of the world”.  The sanctuary lamp and the stations of the cross have a very special memory for me.  Brian Winter was so involved with the decision to bring them forward from the old church, they contribute to the beautiful atmosphere that is in the new church.  A Sister who comes to holiday with us for a week each year, mentioned so firmly that she could spend the rest of her life here in this church.  We are truly blest with it.  So a thank you to Brian, Billy O’Rourke and the team that was with them – a lovely legacy.

A Christmas card made a strong memorable and lasting impression on me this year.  It was a picture of Mary with her child sitting on an ass when Joseph as the scripture tells us “to escape, Herod had to take them down to Egypt”.  This grounds us in real life when there are so many refugees having to leave their homes.  The idea that life is a journey of faith for everybody helps us with our present circumstances.  When we were in the seminary, we were full of hope after the Second Vatican Council that a great  opportunity was in store for us.  Now I draw a lot of consolation from that Christmas card, and the nature of journeys.   They tend to be down to earth.  But inspiration and consolations are important, and highlights again and again that primarily we are a community of faith, and like Joseph and Mary, willing witnesses to our faith in the Christ child.

Here we go again, a New Year.  In my homily on Sunday I presented what I thought were two powerful images.  The darkest night following the shortest day, followed by the image when the tide has gone out to its furthest distance.  Since then I was introduced by a friend to a more pertinent and purposeful image when he spoke of his garden.  This has been very much confirmed with proper care and attention; already even in the harshest cold, new signs of life are ready to break forth.  Even now the occasional flower is scattered throughout the emerging bulbs.  Life is always getting ready for its opportunity to come to life and to bear fruit.

The Prime Minister spelt out the reality of the moment, with the virus and the numbers affected by it spiralling, with the instruction, stay safe and stay at home.  That is central to our attention.  At the same time we have essential needs, and shopping for food expresses one of our needs.  Other needs surface as life has a multi purpose agenda to it, part of it work.  For us in our Catholic faith there is also a wider agenda and spiritual nourishment is a true reality.

Unlike the spring lockdown, churches can remain open for worship and prayer.  This has its risks and responsibilities, and a reality for me was having to isolate just when we were ready to celebrate our Christmas Masses.  I really know what it is to be in the dark.  Indeed  quite a difficult dark year –  but also receiving a lot of kindness, help and support.  A last moment opportunity to stream a Christmas morning mass, and like the new buds, signs of life to come.

First, the challenge.  We are very short of stewards and cleaners, and we have to really, really appeal for help.  For us to return to our masses will not be easy, but with fresh help, like the buds, life gets ready to begin. 

Please God, days lengthening, tides turning and new life in abundance will come again.

I recently found this prayer from Saint John Henry Newman which speaks of the real grace we receive in the miracle of Christmas.

              “Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance wherever I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly, that my life may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus! Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. The light, O Jesus, will be all from you; none of it will be mine. It will be you, shining on others through me. Let me thus praise you the way you love best, by shining on those around me. Let me preach you without preaching, not by words but by my example, by the catching force of the sympathetic influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to you. Amen.”

May the Light that is Christ shine upon you, and the peace of the Christ Child be yours this Christmas.  Fr Rory and I, wish you all a happy and holy Christmas, and may God bless everyone, your families and your friends. Amen.

Let us celebrate the Feast of Christmas this year, with the fruits of our journey through Advent.

Christmas comes just after the shortest, darkest and sometimes bleakest days of the year.  It celebrates God’s salvation, which has come into our world.  The coronavirus at this time has a particularly powerful hold on us, and does represent an awareness of the greater kingdom of evil that Jesus came down from heaven to redeem and save us from.  It is always important to keep our attention on the amount of goodness and people of great goodwill who are always at work among us.

At the moment life is very challenging and difficult.  So a simple, “thank God”, for the vaccine with the hope that it brings light at the end of the tunnel.   I remain with my old faults of communication, and particular difficulty with visiting in place, so I ask for patience and understanding.

I am grateful for all the help that is provided to our parish, helping with our celebration of Mass, providing the essential service of our parish, and help with streaming, which remains a particular challenge.  Thanks be to God and to you all that financially and administratively our parish is functioning very well.  I am very grateful to you for your gifts, greetings and donations to me this Christmas.

So sincerely, thanks be to God for Christmas and for salvation, for the fruits of our journey through the Sundays’ Advent Prayers.  The First Sunday with its focus upon ‘hope’, the second ‘peace’, the third ‘joy’ and last Sunday ’love’.  Let them be the fruits of our Christmas and Bishop Richard has presented us with a vision and a challenge for the next few years, so let us give it our full attention when we return in the new year.

Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man’s hat.  If you have not a penny a halfpenny will do. If you have not a halfpenny, well God bless you. 

I just realised that in nearly seventy years I had not heard or said this rhyme coming up to Christmas.  When growing up as a child it was part of Christmas.  This Christmas is so different in many ways, but its reality is much more important.  For us to realise that salvation is coming into our world, and all the children’s plays at Christmas are about this most important message.  “A Saviour is born, this day in Bethlehem”.  The Gospel with its message is what should never be lost.  Reality the world over, from the reaction to the American Presidential Election, to the advice that is given on how to respond to the virus, the human response remains the same.  Jesus addressed this by “their fruits you shall know them”.

Family is a great blessing to life.  I have a nephew who is returning from Japan and a niece returning from France for Christmas.  Obviously they have taken into consideration the requirements to isolate and parents and family are happy with it.  The outcome will be the key factor when the final verdict is in place.  Certainly the challenge that the virus has presented, with the benefit of what hindsight will bring through the validation of decisions will give greater guidance for our future.  How to be more prepared, how to give appropriate value to human dignity.  How to care for those most vulnerable, the care for children, and the different needs of the young, people with mental issues and the importance of health and wellbeing are all very important factors in life.

What about us in the life of the church?  Please God, this has presented us with a learning curve.  The challenge for us is great, confronted with our age profile, many would say it is impossible.  With the age requirements that were needed to facilitate the use of our churches for prayer, masses and sacraments, we were very short of volunteers.  Exposing a  failure which is ours.  What can we do about it is our only hope.  What I see as a two fold failure of those in authority in the church.  First, the importance of baptism with its meaning for our lives, without it, it is like trying to build houses without foundations.  The second is ministry within the church.  What the ministry of the eucharist, readers, cantors and other ministries can bring.  How a body made of many parts working together, is the key to our future in the life of our church.

In Ireland there was a well known poet, who was greatly loved and appreciated.  He was blind and his name was “Raftery an File”.  For the winter he used to move down into the south of Ireland, the prosperous part where I lived, but he really thought we were a lot of mean old people, but he much preferred to live with his own people out in the west of Ireland.

So he used to really look forward to his return there.  He left us a great rich legacy.  A poem in Gaelic.  The words were “anois teacht an earraigh”.  Now with the coming of Spring I will raise up my sail and tar eis na feil Bride… and after the Feast of St Bridget – 1st February – he would take off for happier summer grounds.  I very much identify with his sentiments.  After this most difficult year, and we still have quite a time to go to survive, we can all look forward like Raftery an File, we can also be prepared to lift up our hearts and re-launch our lives once again.

For the moment “grace and peace”.   May this holy season bless, strengthen and restore us.  I am most grateful for all the help that I am getting in spite of or maybe on account of the difficulties that we have been going through.

“These are the trials by which we triumph through the power of Him who loves us”.  I am receiving help to prepare a letter from some persons from our leaven group at St George’s.  This will be sent  out to members of our parish.  This gives me a chance to say thank you to them and to all who have helped me through the years.  Also to acknowledge how reliant I am upon receiving that help.  One of the fruits from the pandemic, is a deeper awareness of the solid foundation that our faith is built upon.

Returning to our first lockdown in March, when a stringent isolation process helped me to focus clearing upon our churches liturgy.  From the end of Lent, giving the Holy Season my fullest attention; on through Holy Week, then the celebration of the Ascension and the great promise of Pentecost .  This promise  “I am with you always”, this was so well echoed by Springwatch.  The great challenge that will be ours, when we climb our way out from the grief caused by the pandemic, there will be a great challenge from global warming that will be the consequences of human greed and exploitation.  For our church this may be more drastic, as we have experienced a great loss of credibility. 

I keep returning to a privileged time when I was in the seminary in the late sixties.  The second Vatican Council had ended and one professor in particular, together with all of us in the seminary, was inspired with the spirit of the council.  It reflected a time of great hope, but the seeds for the opposite to happen were deeply ingrained.  So the fact that the seminaries have emptied is a very important consideration and sets the scene for life following on from the coronavirus.

Again, the great assurance “I am with you always”.  We are deeply and unconditionally loved by the living God.  Our sure hope, our sure foundation, and our sure point of reference as we continue our journey of faith.  Let us have love one for another.