Week ending March 26th 2013
Pope Francis came to us with the new moon, a low lying, laidback March moon. It was my dog Mocca that took me out to see it. Well, she actually had different business to attend to, but since being run over by a hearse this time last year I am reluctant to let her out on her own at night. The moon was but a narrow sliver of light in the western sky, which reminded me of the night Peadar Mhicí Ó Conghaile in Inis Meáin greeted me with the remark: “Tá sí ar a droim anocht,”- she is on her back tonight.” I was searching for an answer when I realised that he was referring to the new moon. The bowl-shaped moon was seen as a harbinger of bad weather, a bowl of water ready to be tipped down on top of us. For some reason the Pope’s moon seemed different, a sign of a lucky thirteenth of the month, a
new beginning, relaxed and open, cheerful even.
There were times during the Papal conclave that I had my doubts about the pomp and circumstance in Rome, even though it was great theatre that held more than Roman Catholics throughout the world in its thrall. I had thought of Jesus on the cross seeing this moment in time, the gaudy golden beautiful buildings, the robed cardinals, and I wondered: “Is this what it is all about?” Was it for this he had crawled up Calvary hill with the cross on his shoulders? The humility of the man chosen, the name Francis reassured me to a great extent. All we can do is wish him well, pray for him and hope that he manages to deal with some of the great problems that face him such as the child abuse scandal, the reported difficulties in the Roman Curia, or civil service, as well as the threats to good Irish and other priests who raise questions that Catholics throughout the world want raised.
When Holy Week ceremonies come around, of course, I will not have the Pope or the Archbishop to help me, except by their prayers. The good news is that more and more people are willing to help out through the various ministries that have grown in parishes year by year. It was a co-incidence that the nominations for a new Pastoral Council were taking place here in Carna at the same time as the papal conclave. It was noted that this was as important at a local level as the election of a new Pope at an international and universal church level. While we are all looking to Pope Francis to help re-vitalise the church, and probably expecting too much from one man, it is at the grassroots that the revitalisation is most necessary. Everybody that wants to has a part to play and is welcome to become involved.
This week we follow the footsteps of a battered and broken Jesus as he suffers betrayal, abandonment, false witness, condemnation to death, scourging, crowning with thorns, insult, spittle, nailing to a cross he has just about managed to carry, crucifixion, death, feeling that he is abandoned even by God the Father, hanging on to crumbs of comfort: “Into your hands, O Lórd, I commend my spirit.” We know how the story ends and will be celebrating that at the weekend. For now it is brokeness, our own brokeness, the brokeness of our church, the pain inflicted on so many young and old that we contemplate. The new moon of the papacy that will be reaching full size this week brings us hope.
new beginning, relaxed and open, cheerful even.
There were times during the Papal conclave that I had my doubts about the pomp and circumstance in Rome, even though it was great theatre that held more than Roman Catholics throughout the world in its thrall. I had thought of Jesus on the cross seeing this moment in time, the gaudy golden beautiful buildings, the robed cardinals, and I wondered: “Is this what it is all about?” Was it for this he had crawled up Calvary hill with the cross on his shoulders? The humility of the man chosen, the name Francis reassured me to a great extent. All we can do is wish him well, pray for him and hope that he manages to deal with some of the great problems that face him such as the child abuse scandal, the reported difficulties in the Roman Curia, or civil service, as well as the threats to good Irish and other priests who raise questions that Catholics throughout the world want raised.
When Holy Week ceremonies come around, of course, I will not have the Pope or the Archbishop to help me, except by their prayers. The good news is that more and more people are willing to help out through the various ministries that have grown in parishes year by year. It was a co-incidence that the nominations for a new Pastoral Council were taking place here in Carna at the same time as the papal conclave. It was noted that this was as important at a local level as the election of a new Pope at an international and universal church level. While we are all looking to Pope Francis to help re-vitalise the church, and probably expecting too much from one man, it is at the grassroots that the revitalisation is most necessary. Everybody that wants to has a part to play and is welcome to become involved.
This week we follow the footsteps of a battered and broken Jesus as he suffers betrayal, abandonment, false witness, condemnation to death, scourging, crowning with thorns, insult, spittle, nailing to a cross he has just about managed to carry, crucifixion, death, feeling that he is abandoned even by God the Father, hanging on to crumbs of comfort: “Into your hands, O Lórd, I commend my spirit.” We know how the story ends and will be celebrating that at the weekend. For now it is brokeness, our own brokeness, the brokeness of our church, the pain inflicted on so many young and old that we contemplate. The new moon of the papacy that will be reaching full size this week brings us hope.
Week ending March 19th 2013
The feast of Saint Joseph on the 19th of March tends to be overshadowed in this country by the Saint Patrick celebrations two days earlier, just as Joseph himself seems to be overshadowed in the New Testament and church history by the great personalities that surrounded him. It is not easy to be the centre of attention if you are sharing a home and a life with the Son of God and the mother of God, in Christian tradition. Joseph comes across as the quintessential figure in the background, the man in the shadows, the supporting actor, a prop on the stage as the great scheme of things, the story of salvation, is acted out.
Joseph is often portrayed in religious art and Christmas cards as an aging, balding grandfathet type, leaning on a staff, while Mary, the teenage mother looks after her baby. It looks like an unconscious way of saying that there is no way this old fellow could be the real father, in case you had doubts about the virgin birth. There is no suggestion in the Bible that Joseph was an old man. In this day and age he would probably be at college, or finishing his apprentership as a carpenter. There is a story told of Joseph hitting his thumb by mistake with a hammer. The boy Jesus runs to him and asks: “Did you call me, Daddy?”
That story is just a joke but it suggests more humanity in Joseph than we often give him credit for. Despite arguments and comparisons between nurture and nature, Jesus had to be influenced by the father figure in his life. He learned from him how to hold a hammer, to saw a piece of wood, to drive a nail as well as how to deal with people, to be respectful in the Synagogue or the Temple. How many of the teachings of Jesus that carry Old Testament echoes came to him first from the lips of Joseph? We tend to associate values such as loving God and neighbour with the New Testament, but they were around forever in so far as forever was understood at the time.
I sometimes wonder at this time of the year whether carpenters such as Joseph or his apprentice, Jesus would have been asked to make crosses by the occupying Roman army. I have little doubt that Jesus knew more about wood and nails than the soldiers who nailed him to the cross, missing a stroke now and again and bruising flesh and bone. Death had spared Joseph the pain of Calvary, but Mary was there to listen to what must have been to her the old familiar sound of hammer on nail, and nail on wood. The sounds that had been part of making a living were now leading to death. We are sometimes exhorted to follow the example of the holy family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph of Nazareth. We think of holy pictures and imagine how easy it must have been for them compared with the realities of life that we have to face. When we really think about it we realise that they did not have it easy at all, but I am sure there was joy and laughter there too. For some reason I can not imagine Joseph without a twinkle in his eye, as well as a gentleness that with the serenity of Mary led to what we might now term the laidback-ness of Jesus.
Joseph is often portrayed in religious art and Christmas cards as an aging, balding grandfathet type, leaning on a staff, while Mary, the teenage mother looks after her baby. It looks like an unconscious way of saying that there is no way this old fellow could be the real father, in case you had doubts about the virgin birth. There is no suggestion in the Bible that Joseph was an old man. In this day and age he would probably be at college, or finishing his apprentership as a carpenter. There is a story told of Joseph hitting his thumb by mistake with a hammer. The boy Jesus runs to him and asks: “Did you call me, Daddy?”
That story is just a joke but it suggests more humanity in Joseph than we often give him credit for. Despite arguments and comparisons between nurture and nature, Jesus had to be influenced by the father figure in his life. He learned from him how to hold a hammer, to saw a piece of wood, to drive a nail as well as how to deal with people, to be respectful in the Synagogue or the Temple. How many of the teachings of Jesus that carry Old Testament echoes came to him first from the lips of Joseph? We tend to associate values such as loving God and neighbour with the New Testament, but they were around forever in so far as forever was understood at the time.
I sometimes wonder at this time of the year whether carpenters such as Joseph or his apprentice, Jesus would have been asked to make crosses by the occupying Roman army. I have little doubt that Jesus knew more about wood and nails than the soldiers who nailed him to the cross, missing a stroke now and again and bruising flesh and bone. Death had spared Joseph the pain of Calvary, but Mary was there to listen to what must have been to her the old familiar sound of hammer on nail, and nail on wood. The sounds that had been part of making a living were now leading to death. We are sometimes exhorted to follow the example of the holy family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph of Nazareth. We think of holy pictures and imagine how easy it must have been for them compared with the realities of life that we have to face. When we really think about it we realise that they did not have it easy at all, but I am sure there was joy and laughter there too. For some reason I can not imagine Joseph without a twinkle in his eye, as well as a gentleness that with the serenity of Mary led to what we might now term the laidback-ness of Jesus.
Week ending March 12th 2013
There has been much white smoke around the Carna area in recent times, but no new Pope. People took advantage of the sunny days that followed the frosty nights to burn off old briars, scrub and grasses in order to give a chance to new growth. It can be a dangerous practice, as the blackened ground right up to the perimiter of one dwelling house. When done in the traditional planned manner before birds begin to nest, it is said to have its uses. A shiver ran up my spine every time I saw a plume of white smoke on the horizon. “They are coming to take me away,” I thought. “They must have decided that the church needs a hairy Pope.” Thankfully the call never reached me. Yet.
The truth is I don’t need to be Pope of Rome. I am Pope enough already, thank you. It is one hundred and forty three years since Archbishop of Tuam, John McHale returned from the first Vatican Council, having voted with five other bishops against the proclamation of papal infallibility, because of what he saw as its political implications. Non Catholics would think it suggested a Pope could do no wrong, although in practice it referred only to faith and morals. This judgment was to a great extent borne out by history, as it became an issue before the election of John F Kennedy as President of The United States. Many thought a Pope would have so much influence on his followers that he would effectively be the President although he lived far away in Rome.
When asked about his vote, our man laughed it off, saying he had no issue with infallibility as such: “Every Parish Priest in my diocese thinks that he himself is infalible,” he said. How right he was. At eighty John McHale was one of the oldest bishops at that Council. One of the youngest was a man born and reared in the diocese, but now a bishop in the United States, thirty-six year old James Gibbons whose family came from near Tourmakeady. He went to secondary school in Ballinrobe before his family emigrated to the United States, surviving a shipwreck on the way. He is credited with playing a very big part in the election of Cardinal Sarto, Patrarch of Venice as Pope (now Saint) Pius X at the papal conclave of 1903.
The Irish Times of 17th April 2005 carried an article about that papal election, to coincide with the election of Pope Benedict. In relation to Cardinal Sarto it was stated: “He felt the responsibility was so great that he could not accept the position when he found himself leading on the fifth ballot. He pleaded with the other Cardinals to ignore him, and they would probably done so was it not for the intervention of James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, the only non European Cardinal at that conclave.” Cardinal Gibbons asked another Italian Cardinal, Francesco Satolli to plead with Cardinal Sarto: “for the love of God to bow to the selection and yield to the action of the Holy Spirit. Pope Pius X, later canonised, is best remembered for his reduction of the age for first holy communion, and for the promotion of frequent communion, a sacrament received mostly at that time at Christmas and Easter. May the same Holy Spirit guide the choice of today’s Cardinals.
The truth is I don’t need to be Pope of Rome. I am Pope enough already, thank you. It is one hundred and forty three years since Archbishop of Tuam, John McHale returned from the first Vatican Council, having voted with five other bishops against the proclamation of papal infallibility, because of what he saw as its political implications. Non Catholics would think it suggested a Pope could do no wrong, although in practice it referred only to faith and morals. This judgment was to a great extent borne out by history, as it became an issue before the election of John F Kennedy as President of The United States. Many thought a Pope would have so much influence on his followers that he would effectively be the President although he lived far away in Rome.
When asked about his vote, our man laughed it off, saying he had no issue with infallibility as such: “Every Parish Priest in my diocese thinks that he himself is infalible,” he said. How right he was. At eighty John McHale was one of the oldest bishops at that Council. One of the youngest was a man born and reared in the diocese, but now a bishop in the United States, thirty-six year old James Gibbons whose family came from near Tourmakeady. He went to secondary school in Ballinrobe before his family emigrated to the United States, surviving a shipwreck on the way. He is credited with playing a very big part in the election of Cardinal Sarto, Patrarch of Venice as Pope (now Saint) Pius X at the papal conclave of 1903.
The Irish Times of 17th April 2005 carried an article about that papal election, to coincide with the election of Pope Benedict. In relation to Cardinal Sarto it was stated: “He felt the responsibility was so great that he could not accept the position when he found himself leading on the fifth ballot. He pleaded with the other Cardinals to ignore him, and they would probably done so was it not for the intervention of James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, the only non European Cardinal at that conclave.” Cardinal Gibbons asked another Italian Cardinal, Francesco Satolli to plead with Cardinal Sarto: “for the love of God to bow to the selection and yield to the action of the Holy Spirit. Pope Pius X, later canonised, is best remembered for his reduction of the age for first holy communion, and for the promotion of frequent communion, a sacrament received mostly at that time at Christmas and Easter. May the same Holy Spirit guide the choice of today’s Cardinals.
Week ending March 5th 2013
It is almost eight year’s ago I was asked in a Tourmakeady shop was it true that Bob Geldof was the new Pope. The questioner had his tongue firmly in cheek, but he backed up his assertion by saying: “I hear that the new Pope is the Rat’s singer.” Isn’t that Bob?” We were both old enough to remember the Boomtown Rats. That joke may be lost on a newer generation who may not be aware that Pope Benedict’s name was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before his appointment as Bishop of Rome and supreme leader of the Roman Catholic church. They will hear a bit more about the Rat’s singer, Bob Geldof in the near future as he is bringing his old band-members together in the near future for at least one session. Less will be heard of Joseph Ratzinger/ Pope Benedict as he goes into quiet retirement and meditation in a Roman monastery.
I hope and pray that he will find happiness and peace when the burden of the papacy is lifted from his increasingly frail shoulders. It will be the first time in almost six hundred years that a papal election will take place while the existing Pope is still alive. In some ways this will be easier for the world’s Catholics as there was always an element of grief for the previous Pope as Cardinals gathered for the Conclave to elect the next one. It will be the sixth papal election in my lifetime. I was about ten years old when Pope Pius XII died. I was amazed because he had been there for all of my lifetime and it had not even occurred to me that a Pope could die. We see many pictures recently of the man who replaced him, John Paul XXIII being carried on a chair on men’s shoulders at the time of the Vatican Council fifty years ago. I used to have a certain pity for those men, as John was much heavier than his predecessor.
There used to be jokes about the same chair and those who had to carry it around.. Any mention of Chateauneuf de Pape or “the Pope’s wine” tended to bring the retort: “No wonder he needs four men to carry him around.” Pope John was a heavyweight in the best sense of the word. He was seen as a stop-gap Pope when elected, someone to fill in a few years until a younger, fitter man could replace him. He soon proved his mettle by calling the first Vatican Council for the best part of a hundred years. Having been on the church’s diplomatic service in places like Instanbul before becoming Patriarch of Venice, he had liven in places where some of the great religions of the world meet. He saw that there was more than one way to know God and that the Catholic view on such things as religious freedom needed to be at least discussed. Some would claim that he allowed the church to be stirred around like a pot of stirabout, but he will be seen by history as a far-seeing and open-minded man.
The Popes we have had since, Paul VI, John Paul 11 (John Paul I only lived a month in the office) and Benedict have left their own mark on the church, pleased some and alienated others, but whatever about failure to act in time on sexual abuse issues, have generally been seen as sincere, dedicated and soulful men, unlike some of their predecessors in the Middle Ages. Churches generally play the long game, are not involved in popularity contests and aim to deal with the bigger picture, the picture that includes heaven and earth. Christian churches make no sense at all if Jesus Christ and his teaching are not at the centre of their being. The new Pope has a lot to live up to, a huge task ahead, but with the help of the Holy Spirit he (It is probably too soon to say she) will face the challenge with confidence.
I hope and pray that he will find happiness and peace when the burden of the papacy is lifted from his increasingly frail shoulders. It will be the first time in almost six hundred years that a papal election will take place while the existing Pope is still alive. In some ways this will be easier for the world’s Catholics as there was always an element of grief for the previous Pope as Cardinals gathered for the Conclave to elect the next one. It will be the sixth papal election in my lifetime. I was about ten years old when Pope Pius XII died. I was amazed because he had been there for all of my lifetime and it had not even occurred to me that a Pope could die. We see many pictures recently of the man who replaced him, John Paul XXIII being carried on a chair on men’s shoulders at the time of the Vatican Council fifty years ago. I used to have a certain pity for those men, as John was much heavier than his predecessor.
There used to be jokes about the same chair and those who had to carry it around.. Any mention of Chateauneuf de Pape or “the Pope’s wine” tended to bring the retort: “No wonder he needs four men to carry him around.” Pope John was a heavyweight in the best sense of the word. He was seen as a stop-gap Pope when elected, someone to fill in a few years until a younger, fitter man could replace him. He soon proved his mettle by calling the first Vatican Council for the best part of a hundred years. Having been on the church’s diplomatic service in places like Instanbul before becoming Patriarch of Venice, he had liven in places where some of the great religions of the world meet. He saw that there was more than one way to know God and that the Catholic view on such things as religious freedom needed to be at least discussed. Some would claim that he allowed the church to be stirred around like a pot of stirabout, but he will be seen by history as a far-seeing and open-minded man.
The Popes we have had since, Paul VI, John Paul 11 (John Paul I only lived a month in the office) and Benedict have left their own mark on the church, pleased some and alienated others, but whatever about failure to act in time on sexual abuse issues, have generally been seen as sincere, dedicated and soulful men, unlike some of their predecessors in the Middle Ages. Churches generally play the long game, are not involved in popularity contests and aim to deal with the bigger picture, the picture that includes heaven and earth. Christian churches make no sense at all if Jesus Christ and his teaching are not at the centre of their being. The new Pope has a lot to live up to, a huge task ahead, but with the help of the Holy Spirit he (It is probably too soon to say she) will face the challenge with confidence.
