Week ending June 25th 2013
I was asked recently to relaunch the first book banned by the Irish Censorship Board in 1930, “The House Of Gold,” by Aran Islander, Liam O’Flaherty. Those who asked me to speak at the launch have formed a committee in memory of Liam and his brother, Tom, also a writer. Both were radicals and communists, as are many in this new group. It amazed me that atheists and former or present communists should invite a Roman Catholic priest to do the honours on this occasion. It got me wondering are they more open than many in my church to people who are “not one of our own,” or as I have heard a priest describe it, tongue in cheek: “not gospel greedy.”
The arrival of Pope Francis may have stirred people far beyond his own church to look again at common causes, to see what our aims have in common and to remember the words of Jesus: “those who are not against us are with us.” The great bastions of Communism and Christianity have imploded because of their own mistakes in the past quarter of a century, but the people drawn to both were idealists, people who wanted a better world, who wanted to do away with poverty and to share the goods of the universe. Institutions and their preservation took precedence over the messages for a time, but the messages have not gone away, you know. The gentle presence and the quiet symbolic actions of Francis again remind people of commitment to the poor and to common good, ideals more important in their own way than faith.
Never one to back a winner, I was present in Óstán An Dóilín, An Cheathrú Rua for the launch of the Irish language version of Tho Communist Manifesto (Clár na Comhsheilbhe by Karl Marx and Frederich Engels) on the 24th of June 1987, the feast of the birth of Saint John the Baptist, who was as loud in his condemnation of exploitation of the poor by the rich as any communist, calling the great and good of his time “a brood of vipers.” This led eventually, of course, to the loss of his head at the whim of King Herod’s wife, Salome. Two years later European Communism had collapsed with the Berlin Wall. China is still nominally communist, even though it has adopted capitalism as if it was going out of fashion.
I know the date the manifesto was launched because it was written on the flyleaf by Party President Micheál Ó Riordáin as he signed the book. Micheál himself reminded me of the hearty Parish Priest he might nave been if life had taken him a different direction. I thought of the idealism of his youth which had brought out young men and women to fight for Ireland, while others set out to convert China and the then known world. Others such as Liam and Tom O’Flaherty devoted their idealism towards the betterment of people through communism, socialism and what they saw as throwing off of shackles of gombeenism and church.
Liam had spent some time studying for the priesthood and was apparently reconciled to the church on his deathbed. His nephew, Breandán Ó hEithir once told me of how the RTÉ programme “Féach” had brought his uncle back to Inis Mór to talk of the island of his youth. Faced with the prospect of the ten seater Islander Aer Arann plane travelling out over the boiling sea, the old communist blessed himself and said a few quick prayers before getting on board. As I read the powerful descriptions of poverty and condemnations of its causes I felt the words could have come straight from the prophet Amos in The Old Testament or the letter of Saint James in the New. We have more in common than we often realise.
The arrival of Pope Francis may have stirred people far beyond his own church to look again at common causes, to see what our aims have in common and to remember the words of Jesus: “those who are not against us are with us.” The great bastions of Communism and Christianity have imploded because of their own mistakes in the past quarter of a century, but the people drawn to both were idealists, people who wanted a better world, who wanted to do away with poverty and to share the goods of the universe. Institutions and their preservation took precedence over the messages for a time, but the messages have not gone away, you know. The gentle presence and the quiet symbolic actions of Francis again remind people of commitment to the poor and to common good, ideals more important in their own way than faith.
Never one to back a winner, I was present in Óstán An Dóilín, An Cheathrú Rua for the launch of the Irish language version of Tho Communist Manifesto (Clár na Comhsheilbhe by Karl Marx and Frederich Engels) on the 24th of June 1987, the feast of the birth of Saint John the Baptist, who was as loud in his condemnation of exploitation of the poor by the rich as any communist, calling the great and good of his time “a brood of vipers.” This led eventually, of course, to the loss of his head at the whim of King Herod’s wife, Salome. Two years later European Communism had collapsed with the Berlin Wall. China is still nominally communist, even though it has adopted capitalism as if it was going out of fashion.
I know the date the manifesto was launched because it was written on the flyleaf by Party President Micheál Ó Riordáin as he signed the book. Micheál himself reminded me of the hearty Parish Priest he might nave been if life had taken him a different direction. I thought of the idealism of his youth which had brought out young men and women to fight for Ireland, while others set out to convert China and the then known world. Others such as Liam and Tom O’Flaherty devoted their idealism towards the betterment of people through communism, socialism and what they saw as throwing off of shackles of gombeenism and church.
Liam had spent some time studying for the priesthood and was apparently reconciled to the church on his deathbed. His nephew, Breandán Ó hEithir once told me of how the RTÉ programme “Féach” had brought his uncle back to Inis Mór to talk of the island of his youth. Faced with the prospect of the ten seater Islander Aer Arann plane travelling out over the boiling sea, the old communist blessed himself and said a few quick prayers before getting on board. As I read the powerful descriptions of poverty and condemnations of its causes I felt the words could have come straight from the prophet Amos in The Old Testament or the letter of Saint James in the New. We have more in common than we often realise.
Week ending June 18th 2013
While everyone else’s ice-cream was melting during the recent short but glorious heatwave, it was my lap-tor that was in meltdown, one of the results of which was that my weekly article did not reach the Connaught Telegraph. I hope there was not too much weeping and gnashing of false teeth throughout the known world when ‘Standún’s Station’ did not appear. My own teeth were knashing in frustration as it was not clear to me or neighbours and friends who looked at my computer whether was it was finished or not. I still do not know, as it is in computer garage at the moment, but am grateful to those who set up e-mail and Internet facilities for me, so that I could keep going until I know whether the lap-top is repairable or not.
While distance from large areas of population can be a bonus for those of us who like a relatively quiet life, fifty miles or eighty kms to Galway is a long way when a person is on parish duty. Simpler problems can be dealt with closer to home, but major repairs, whether to a car or a computer is another matter. Anyway the main thing from my point of view is that I am up and running at least for the moment in so far as writing or receiving e-mails are concerned. While technology is a boon most of the time, it can leave us stranded when there is a breakdown. People who send announcements for the parish newsletter are themselves thrown out of kilter when their notices do not reach their destination.
In hindsight I feel that I may not have been fair to the local broadband provider when I blamed them rather than a wonky lap-top for a failure to deliver promised services. Some e-mails were coming back ‘failed to deliver’ while others were disappearing completely. I moved from one service provider to another and back in the hope of improving the situation. One of them virtually refused to give me the UAN number required for such a change, and when I informed them that this was my right under law, I was given the wrong number twice. That really made me feel wanted.
Did you miss much in the article that ‘failed to deliver?’ Not a lot in that I was really musing on where would I find sermon subjects for the summer, once the feasts associated with Easter and Whit, Ascension, Pentecost, Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi had come to an end. It is relatively easy to hang a sermon around such feastdays as they have a particular story to them. It is more difficult when someone is dealing with scripture readings which are sometimes vague and reflect the world of two thousand or more years ago rather than today’s world.
It was then that I thought of the wealth of international, national and local feastdays that are listed for the coming months. We will shortly have the feast of the birth of St. John the Baptist, just after the solistice and bonfire night, with only about one hundred and eighty shopping days left till Christmas. The following week brings the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. There are annual pilgrimages to Croagh Patrick, Mám Éan, Knock and thousands of local holy wells and shrines. St. MacDara’s Day is a big day here in Carna, with Mass on his island on 16th of July. The patron of the other half of the parish, Naomh Ciaráin is celebrated in Kilkerrin on the 9th of September. We wont be running out of something to say for another while yet. Le cunamh Dé (With God’s help)
While distance from large areas of population can be a bonus for those of us who like a relatively quiet life, fifty miles or eighty kms to Galway is a long way when a person is on parish duty. Simpler problems can be dealt with closer to home, but major repairs, whether to a car or a computer is another matter. Anyway the main thing from my point of view is that I am up and running at least for the moment in so far as writing or receiving e-mails are concerned. While technology is a boon most of the time, it can leave us stranded when there is a breakdown. People who send announcements for the parish newsletter are themselves thrown out of kilter when their notices do not reach their destination.
In hindsight I feel that I may not have been fair to the local broadband provider when I blamed them rather than a wonky lap-top for a failure to deliver promised services. Some e-mails were coming back ‘failed to deliver’ while others were disappearing completely. I moved from one service provider to another and back in the hope of improving the situation. One of them virtually refused to give me the UAN number required for such a change, and when I informed them that this was my right under law, I was given the wrong number twice. That really made me feel wanted.
Did you miss much in the article that ‘failed to deliver?’ Not a lot in that I was really musing on where would I find sermon subjects for the summer, once the feasts associated with Easter and Whit, Ascension, Pentecost, Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi had come to an end. It is relatively easy to hang a sermon around such feastdays as they have a particular story to them. It is more difficult when someone is dealing with scripture readings which are sometimes vague and reflect the world of two thousand or more years ago rather than today’s world.
It was then that I thought of the wealth of international, national and local feastdays that are listed for the coming months. We will shortly have the feast of the birth of St. John the Baptist, just after the solistice and bonfire night, with only about one hundred and eighty shopping days left till Christmas. The following week brings the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. There are annual pilgrimages to Croagh Patrick, Mám Éan, Knock and thousands of local holy wells and shrines. St. MacDara’s Day is a big day here in Carna, with Mass on his island on 16th of July. The patron of the other half of the parish, Naomh Ciaráin is celebrated in Kilkerrin on the 9th of September. We wont be running out of something to say for another while yet. Le cunamh Dé (With God’s help)
Week ending June 4th 2013
I was disappointed that Cardinal Seán O’Malley declined to attend Boston College’s Commencement Ceremony because Taoiseach Enda Kenny was principal speaker. The Cardinal boycotted the occasion because the Irish Government is “seeking to pass abortion legislation.” Cardinal O’Malley was the United States frontrunner in the recent papal conclave. I am glad now that he not elected Pope because in my view he displayed poor judgment in boycotting Mr Kenny’s address. Only the most fervent anti-abortion campaigners here in Ireland would see the recently published heads of the bill on the issue as anything other than conservative and careful in efforts to prevent tragic deaths during pregnancy. The bill will be probably more refined after discussion and amendment in Dáil and Seanad Éireann. A probable soon to be Cardinal also weighed in on the issue. Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh, and anointed successor to Cardinal Seán Brady when he retires, Eamonn Martin went over the top in my estimation with his comments that anyone who clearly and publicly said they supported abortion should not approach a priest for Holy Communion. I note that the Archbishop put the onus on the person seeking communion rather than on the eucharistic minister or priest distributing it, but when we allow for people’s consciences I think that attaching a sanction to this or any sacrament is foolish. It became in issue at the time of the Irish Civil War and again during the more recent Troubles, and had little effect in either case.
I remember an occasion it became an issue when Gerry Adams TD and Sinn Féin President was asked to speak publicly after a Mass in Kilmichael in West Cork. The following day an almost breathless Pat Kenny asked the celebrant An tAthair Micheál Ó Dálaigh how could he possibly have given holy communion to Mr.Adams given the atrocities committed by the Provisional IRA around that time. Father Ó Dálaigh, a classmate of mine in Maynooth and a wise man answered: “When sometime comes up to me and puts out their hand or their tongue for holy communion, I am not going to ask them what their politics are.”
I see the present controversy over the abortion issue as a classic conforontaion between the idealistic and the realistic. There are good people on both sides, though in many cases they have very different views and understanding. Church leaders and others have the luxury of opposition even if it is constructive opposition. They can ask for the optimum, whearas the Goverent has to legislate for the real world, the world faced by medical people at short notice when they are confronted by a crisis during pregnancy. Efforts since the early eighties to deal with those matters by the blunt instruments of constitutional referenda have left loopholes that in themselves leave medical people in danger of facing criminal charges even for doing their jobs in a most conscientious fashion. Clarity is needed and I wish the Coalition government well in their efforts to provide that clarity without creating more loopholes. It is a very delicate balancing act and I commend their courage in facing the issue and trying to deal with it without harm as far as is possible to mother or child.
I remember an occasion it became an issue when Gerry Adams TD and Sinn Féin President was asked to speak publicly after a Mass in Kilmichael in West Cork. The following day an almost breathless Pat Kenny asked the celebrant An tAthair Micheál Ó Dálaigh how could he possibly have given holy communion to Mr.Adams given the atrocities committed by the Provisional IRA around that time. Father Ó Dálaigh, a classmate of mine in Maynooth and a wise man answered: “When sometime comes up to me and puts out their hand or their tongue for holy communion, I am not going to ask them what their politics are.”
I see the present controversy over the abortion issue as a classic conforontaion between the idealistic and the realistic. There are good people on both sides, though in many cases they have very different views and understanding. Church leaders and others have the luxury of opposition even if it is constructive opposition. They can ask for the optimum, whearas the Goverent has to legislate for the real world, the world faced by medical people at short notice when they are confronted by a crisis during pregnancy. Efforts since the early eighties to deal with those matters by the blunt instruments of constitutional referenda have left loopholes that in themselves leave medical people in danger of facing criminal charges even for doing their jobs in a most conscientious fashion. Clarity is needed and I wish the Coalition government well in their efforts to provide that clarity without creating more loopholes. It is a very delicate balancing act and I commend their courage in facing the issue and trying to deal with it without harm as far as is possible to mother or child.