Reality Magazine April Edition 2021 by Redemptorist Communications

250 YEARS OF THE URSULINE SISTERS

APRIL 2021

CELEBRATING THE YEAR OF ST JOSEPH

FAIRNESS IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE VACCINE

Informing, Inspiring, Challenging Today’s Catholic

HEALTHCARE HEROES

CHAPLAINS ADAPTING TO COVID-19 CHALLENGES

REMEMBERING CANON SHEEHAN OF DONERAILE

REDEMPTORIST TONY BRANAGAN REFLECTS ON 55 YEARS AS A FOREIGN MISSIONARY IN BRAZIL AND SIBERIA

EADER

RR ALL OU

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Redemptorist Communications are proud to present this new book from Jim Deeds, A Look of Love – Witnesses to Jesus. Deeds brings the stories of Jesus and his early followers to life. Through a series of imagined conversations, stories and poems, he invites the reader to experience familiar Gospel stories through the lens of various characters who witnessed Jesus’ ministry first-hand. Jim’s love of the Gospels shines through, while his gift for storytelling imbues each of these unique stories with emotion and gentle humour. With questions to encourage further reflection and prayer, this book is the ideal companion for anyone looking for a fresh approach to the Gospels.

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IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE FEATURES �� HEALTHCARE HEROES COVID-19 has brought new challenges and opportunities for hospital chaplains. By Tríona Doherty

�� SIGNS AND SYMBOLS OF HOLY WEEK Creative ways to celebrate the most important week of the church's year By Maria Hall

�� REMEMBERING CANON SHEEHAN OF DONERAILE Cork priest who provided a portrait of a tumultuous period of Irish history By Eamon Maher

�� A PANDEMIC OF DARK CLOUDS

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Fratelli Tutti on the hunger for authentic connection By Mike Daley

�� MAID IN EMMAUS A look at the famous painting by Diego Velazquez By Stephanie Walsh

�� TWO ENCOUNTERS WITH DARKNESS Sometimes all is not what it seems, when it comes to the forces of darkness. By Fr Colm Meaney CSsR

�� THE ROAD TO BRAZIL Fr Tony Branagan's extraordinary life as a missionary By Tríona Doherty

�� AMONGST REMARKABLE WOMEN The story of the Ursulines in Ireland By John Scally

�� WITH A FATHER'S HEART The Year of St Joseph is an invitation to the whole church. By Fr Brendan McConvery CSsR

�� THE COMPLEX LANDSCAPE OF THE PAST Positive memories of an Irish childhood By Kevin Williams

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OPINION

REGULARS

11 EDITORIAL

04 REALITY BITES 07 POPE MONITOR 08 FOREVER YOUNG 09 REFLECTIONS 42 TRÓCAIRE 45 GOD’S WORD

17 JIM DEEDS 31 CARMEL WYNNE 44 PETER McVERRY SJ

REALITY BITES IRAQ

BELFAST

ONE ADDED TO THE FAMILY Br Ryan Holovlasky CSsR made his profession of Perpetual Vows as a member of the Congregation of The Most Holy Redeemer (The Redemptorists), in Clonard Monastery Belfast. Br Ryan’s vows were accepted on behalf of the congregation by Fr Ciaran O’Callaghan CSsR, Vicar Provincial of the Dublin Province of Redemptorists. The day was a milestone moment for Br Ryan who joined the Redemptorist in 2012 and has completed nine years of study, prayer and pastoral preparation. Due to COVID-19 restrictions this was a private event but was watched by many thousands of people online as it was streamed live on the Clonard Monastery webcam. Br Ryan will be ordained a Deacon on March 21 by Bishop Noel Treanor with ordination to the priesthood following later in the year.

Pope Francis with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, praying at Mosul and at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Erbil

Br Ryan Holovlasky CSsR

PRAYERS FOR POPE'S IRAQ TRIP On the same day that ten rockets hit an airbase in Iraq, Pope Francis said he had to travel to the country because he could not disappoint them. "The Iraqi people are waiting for us; they awaited St John Paul II, who was not permitted to go" in 1999, Pope Francis said March 3. "One cannot disappoint a people for the second time. Let us pray that this journey will be a good one." The pope spoke about the trip at the end of his weekly general audience, telling viewers, "The day after tomorrow, God willing, I will go to Iraq for a three-day pilgrimage.

REALITY APRIL 2021

"For a long time, I have wanted to meet those people who have suffered so much; to meet that martyred church in the land of Abraham," he said. "Together with the other religious leaders, we also will take another step forward in fraternity among believers," the pope said before travelling to the country where most people are Muslim but coexisted for centuries with Christian and other minority communities. "I ask you to accompany this apostolic visit with your prayers, so that it may unfold in the best possible way and bear the hoped-for fruits," Pope Francis said.

Frs Peter Burns, Ciaran O'Callaghan and Br Ryan

The Clonard community

N E WS

VATICAN CITY

CARDINAL TOBIN APPOINTED TO CONGREGATION FOR BISHOPS On March 4, Pope Francis named Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, as a member of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, making him the second American now serving on the group tasked with advising the pontiff on which Catholic priests to appoint as bishops across the world. The congregation, which traces its origins to the 16th century, is responsible for helping the pope review and then select possible candidates for the Catholic episcopate. Tobin is a Redemptorist priest who served in Rome as superior general of the Redemptorists from 1997-2009 and as the No. 2 official at the Vatican's religious congregation. He returned to the US in 2012 as the archbishop of Indianapolis before being made a cardinal and the archbishop of Newark by Francis in 2016.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin

IRELAND

REMEMBERING FR ENDA McDONAGH

The late Fr Enda McDonagh

The funeral of Fr Enda McDonagh took place in Maynooth on February 28, 2021. The 90-year-old theologian died following a fall. Numerous tributes were paid to the Mayo native, including from President Michael D. Higgins, who said that Fr McDonagh always enriched Irish life through his profound and compassionate scholarship. Born on June 27, 1930, in the little village of Bekan, Co Mayo, Enda McDonagh obtained a doctorate in theology in Maynooth in 1957, before going on to earn a degree at the Angelicum in Rome and a second doctorate in Munich in 1960. A prolific author, Fr McDonagh's writings explored anything that intersected with the Irish church and society, be it the Northern Troubles, Vatican II, women's status in Irish society, liberation theology or ecumenical relations. Known for his good humour, he was devoted to the priesthood and to the people he served, so much so that he turned down a permanent appointment at the University of Notre Dame in the United States in 1979. A giant of the post-Vatican II Irish church, an advisor to presidents and taoisigh, Fr McDonagh will be hugely missed.

REALITY BITES NEW YORK

FINANCIAL ISSUES FACING NEW YORK ARCHDIOCESE AS CHILD VICTIM ACT PAYMENTS LOOM During a financial update on the state of the archdiocese finances, New York's Cardinal Timothy Dolan pointed out that Mass offerings have dropped but that online donations are rising. In his report, the cardinal also noted many clerical abuse lawsuits filed under the New York Child Victim Act, presenting a challenge to the archdiocese's financial stability. Cardinal Dolan said that following the

revelations of abuse by former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, New York Governor Cuomo extended the window for filing lawsuits until August 14, 2021, due to complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic. By December 2017, nearly 200 clergy sex victims received more than $40 million from the archdiocese. That figure may have risen to more than $200 million by 2021.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan

MADAGASCAR

PRIEST NOMINATED FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 6

Fr Pedro Opeka

Fr Pedro Opeka, a Vincentian priest from Argentina who has worked for more than three decades with the poor in Madagascar, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Fr Pedro founded the Akamasoa humanitarian association in 1989 as a solidarity movement to help the poorest of the poor living on the site of a garbage dump, Akamasoa, which means 'good friend'. The Akamasoa association has provided more than 4,000 brick houses and helped educate more than 13,000 children and

NEW ARCHPRIEST OF ST PETER'S BASILICA Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Mauro Gambetti as Archpriest of St Peter's Basilica. The former General Custos of the Convent of St Francis in Assisi will now serve as the pope's Vicar General for Vatican City, Archpriest of St Peter's and President of the Fabric of St Peter. He succeeds Cardinal Angelo Comastri, whose resignation was accepted by Pope Francis and who is entangled in an unfolding scandal involving knowledge of abuse in the Vatican's minor seminary.

REALITY JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

young people who once lived in poverty. On his visit to Madagascar in September 2019, Pope Francis visited the 'City of Friendship" built on top of a rubbish dump. During the coronavirus pandemic, Opeka has helped families who have fallen into even deeper poverty due to coronavirus measures. This is not the first time Fr Opeka has been nominated for the peace prize. Slovenian parliament representatives also nominated the priest in 2012.

VATICAN CITY

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti

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POPE MONITOR KEEPING UP WITH POPE FRANCIS POPE FRANCIS MEETS WITH AUSCHWITZ SURVIVOR On February 20, Pope Francis met with Edith Bruck, a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor who has lived for many years in Italy. Francis had read her interview with L'Osservatore Romano, in which she spoke about the horrors she and her family had experienced during the Nazi persecution. In the meeting in her home, the pope said he wanted to thank her for her testimony and pay homage to those martyred by the insanity of Nazi populism. "And with sincerity, I repeat to you the words that I spoke from my heart at Yad Vashem and that I repeat before every person who, like you, has suffered so much because of this: I ask forgiveness, O Lord, in the name of humanity," Francis said. Edith Bruck has dedicated her life to bearing witness to what she saw in the Nazi death camps.

THE SECRET TO POPE FRANCIS' LONG LIFE Pope Francis, who may be described as a sedentary person due to sciatic nerve pain, shows no signs of slowing down. Now in his 84th year, Francis admits he does no physical exercise, despite his doctor's recommendation. The pope maintains a hectic daily schedule and says he stays mentally and physically fit by listening to classical music, which helps him remain calm and relaxed before making difficult decisions. Daily naps are also critical for his overall well-being. Every day after lunch, he goes to his room, removes his shoes and lies on his bed. "My siestas are sacred," he says.

POPE ANNOUNCES THE THEME FOR ��th WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES

Edith Bruck with an unexpected guest

Pope Francis has announced that the theme for the 107th World day of Migrants and Refugees will be "Towards an ever wider 'we'". The day takes place on September 26, 2021. The theme will stress the importance of being attentive to the entire human family through an inclusive church capable of creating communion in diversity. The first World Day of Migrants and Refugees was inaugurated in 1914 to express support and concern for those forced to flee their homes. Catholics are invited to pray for refugees and migrants in their many difficulties and learn more about the benefits migration offers.

FOREVER YOUNG SAINTS WHO DIED YOUNG

ST DOMINIC SAVIO 1842–1857

Dominic Savio was born on April 2, 1842 in a small village in northern Italy, one of a family of nine. The Savios were poor but hard-working. His father, Carlo, was a blacksmith and his mother, Brigitta, a seamstress. Dominic began to serve Mass when he was about five. Until Pope Pius X changed it in 1910, the usual age for first communion was 12. Dominic pestered his local priest to allow him to receive earlier than that. The priest examined him on his religious knowledge and found no reason to withhold communion from him. Dominic said the day of his First Communion at age seven was the happiest of his life. In a little notebook, he wrote four resolutions he made that day: to go to confession often and holy communion frequently, to keep Sundays holy, to be friends with Jesus and Mary, and to prefer death rather than sin. Dominic was a bright boy at the village school. Once, when two of his classmates interfered with the heater, Dominic was blamed but said nothing and took his punishment. When his teacher later learned he wasn't to blame, he asked him why he hadn't excused himself. He explained that he was trying to imitate Jesus, who remained silent when he was wrongly accused. When Dominic was about 12, his teacher introduced him to Fr (Don) John Bosco, who had grown up in the neighbourhood. The teacher knew Dominic hoped to become a priest, but there was no secondary school in the village. Don Bosco, who would later be canonised, was running a school for poor and orphan boys in Turin. To test Dominic's intelligence, Don Bosco gave him something to read and told him he would question him about it the following day. To his surprise, Dominic had mastered the text and replied correctly to every question he was asked. He proved to be a diligent student at Don Bosco's oratory. He read the lives of the saints and wanted to imitate them. When Don Bosco discovered he was not wearing warm clothes in wintertime as a penance and making his bed uncomfortable, he forbade him to do such things. Holiness for a boy, he explained, was to be found in daily life, paying attention to his studies and trying to be cheerful, especially when he didn't feel cheerful. Don Bosco's mother acted as mother of the boys at the school. She quickly noticed Dominic and remarked to her son, "You have many good boys, but none can match the good heart and soul of Dominic Savio. I see him so often at prayer, staying in church after the others; every day he slips out of the playground to visit the Blessed Sacrament. When he is in church, he is like an angel living in paradise." When Dominic was about 13, his health began to give cause for concern. Don Bosco sent him home for a while, but he returned after a few days. Don Bosco sent him home again, with orders to stay until he was better. Dominic had an intuition that death was closer than anyone believed. Medical treatments at the time were basic but painful, including extracting large quantities of blood. The doctor cut deep into his arm four times in one day and believed his patient was on the mend. But Dominic asked his father to send for the priest to give him the last rites. On the evening of March 7, 1857, he woke from a doze and said to his father, "Goodbye, Dad, goodbye. What was it the parish priest suggested to me? I don't seem to remember. Oh, what wonderful things I see." Carlo thought his son had just fallen asleep, but it was the end. Don Bosco wrote his life, and the story of the teenager spread. When it was suggested he might be canonised as a saint, many Vatican officials objected that he was too young. The only young saints venerated in the church were martyrs. St Pius X, who had admitted children to holy communion at the age of seven, overruled them. Dominic was beatified in 1950 and canonised four years later. His feast day is May 6. Brendan McConvery CSsR REALITY APRIL 2021

Reality Volume 86. No. 3 April 2021 A Redemptorist Publication ISSN 0034-0960 Published by The Irish Redemptorists, St Joseph's Monastery, St Alphonsus Road, Dundalk County Louth A91 F3FC Tel: 00353 (0)1 4922488 Web: www.redcoms.org Email: sales@redcoms.org (With permission of C.Ss.R.)

Acting-Editor Gerard Moloney CSsR editor@redcoms.org Design & Layout David Mc Namara CSsR Sales & Marketing Claire Carmichael ccarmichael@redcoms.org Accounts Dearbhla Cooney accounts@redcoms.org Printed by W&G Baird Printers, Belfast Photo Credits Shutterstock, Catholic News Agency, Trócaire,

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REFLECTIONS Being an atheist must be like living in a closed cell with no windows. I’d hate to live like that, wouldn’t you? We see them, mind you, on television today, many brilliant people who are professional atheists who say they know for a fact that it’s insanity to have a God or to believe in religion. Well, OK, God bless them for feeling that way and I hope they’re happy. But I couldn’t live with that certainty, and I wonder about some of them: why are they protesting so much? How are they so sure of what is out there? And who am I to refute the beliefs of so many great philosophers and martyrs all the way down the years? SIR ANTHONY HOPKINS

When I first open my eyes upon the morning meadows and look out upon the beautiful world, I thank God I am alive.

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic.

The story of Easter is the story of God's wonderful window of divine surprise. CARL KNUDSEN

UNKNOWN

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy. They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. MARCEL PROUST

Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. WILLIAM PENN

You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen; it said "Parking Fine”.

Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength and beauty and happiness FLOYD W. TOMKINS

Being aware of your privilege allows you to spend it to benefit other people. As you move through the world, think of the opportunities you could pass on or how you could give up space for people who don’t have the same access to important spaces that you do. Real change happens when we give up power, without telling anyone we did it. FLORENCE GIVEN

TOMMY COOPER

The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances.

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

True, a worldwide tragedy like the COVID-19 pandemic momentarily revived the sense that we are a global community, all in the same boat, where one person’s problems are the problems of all. Once more we realised that no one is saved alone; we can only be saved together.

ROBERT FLATT

POPE FRANCIS, FRATELLI TUTTI

MAYA ANGELOU

WALTER RALEIGH

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery. FRANCIS BACON

An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity. SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL

But from this earth, this grave, this dust, My God shall raise me up, I trust.

Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye. HELEN KELLER

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EDI TO R I A L UP FRONT GERARD MOLONEY CSsR

WHAT FUTURE FOR THE IRISH CHURCH? Few Dublin archbishops have entered office in more testing times than those facing Archbishop Dermot Farrell. Not only is the priest shortage growing ever more acute, but the COVID-19 lockdowns have also exacerbated the diocese's financial burdens. There is the challenge of motivating priests and people wearied by abuse scandals and by a society and culture that is increasingly anti-clerical. Few institutions have had as rapid and brutal a fall from grace as the Irish Catholic Church. Archbishop Farrell's task is unenviable. It's all a far cry from 1979 when Pope John Paul II at Shannon congratulated the Irish people on their extraordinary loyalty to the church down the centuries. "Ireland, semper fidelis," he said. Ireland, always faithful. The vast crowds that turned out during his visit and the extraordinary fervour on display during those three glorious autumnal days testified to the apparent truth of that observation. And to most observers, it did seem as if Ireland would remain semper fidelis. Irish Catholics had always clung tenaciously to the faith of their fathers. It appeared to be a defining characteristic of the indigenous Irish. They had clung to it during Penal times when to be Catholic meant to lose everything. They had clung to it in famine times when proselytisers tried to woo them with soup and school books. They had clung to it in the decades after the Second World War when other Western countries slowly lost their religion and liberal values were beginning to take hold. Now, less than two generations after John Paul's visit, all has changed, changed utterly. If the Irish were tenacious in clinging to the church in the past, more and more of them are now equally resolute in wanting nothing whatsoever to do with it. With extraordinary speed, we have gone from semper fidelis to

non-semper fidelis. It has left many clerics and traditional Catholics punch-drunk and disoriented. What has been most striking is the level of antipathy towards the church. Many people haven't just casually or carelessly given up on religion; they have consciously and deliberately walked away from it. The awful litany of church-related scandals is a major reason for this strength of feeling. But the anger runs deeper than that. It's a reaction to church leaders' arrogance in the past and the overweening control they exercised over so many facets of people’s public and private lives. Many people, including regular churchgoers, have been increasingly turned off by what they regard as the church's flawed stance on sexual morality and its refusal to give women an equal voice in its life and ministry. Many who reject the church weren't even born when John Paul visited Ireland. But Irish people have a residual collective memory of the church's role in the Irish state's early decades. They are now reacting viscerally against it (a memory coloured by media depictions of the church and its role). Careerism, clericalism, vanity, pietism and pride have been the toxic mix that has so damaged the church in Ireland, and elsewhere. The only way forward for the church lies in humility and service – not in power or careerism or ornate vestments or the trappings of office or in waging culture wars against the modern world. In this, Pope Francis is showing the way. It lies in mercy – not legalism or moral highhandedness or thinking the church has all the answers. Pope Francis' famous "Who am I to judge?" comment on homosexuality made headlines because it indicated a more compassionate approach to moral questions. Only when it is seen as slow to condemn and

willing to stand in the other person's shoes will the church begin to regain some little moral authority. Above all, it lies in being genuinely inclusive – not a top-down, elite club for celibate male clerics that systematically discriminates against women, but a people's church with structures that enable the sensus fidei (the sense of the faithful) to be heard, irrespective of gender, role or rank. Those days when popes praised us for our fidelity are gone. They won't return. Despite the best efforts of good leaders like Archbishop Farrell, despite Pope Francis' extraordinary impact worldwide and the hope he has instilled in many disillusioned Catholics, despite the wonderful work and quiet dedication of lay people, religious and priests in parishes up and down the country, it seems too late now for a great new dawn of the church in Ireland. There has been no 'Francis effect' here. And after the extended lockdowns of the past year, and with so many religious services streaming online, who can tell how many regular churchgoers will return to the pews once church doors open again? The church and religion won't collapse completely, but they will become increasingly irrelevant to most people, who will use them only to mark rites of passage, if they use them at all. All the rest of us can do, the best any of us can do, is to give quiet witness to our faith every day by the kind of people we are and the example we give.

Gerard Molonry CSsR Acting Editor

C OVE R STO RY

HEALTHCARE HEROES HOW HOSPITAL CHAPLAINS ARE ADAPTING TO THE CHALLENGES OF COVID-19 BY TRÍONA DOHERTY

Anyone

who has ever been a patient or visitor in a hospital, hospice or nursing home is aware of the vital role chaplains play in the life of the place. They support patients through illness or at the end of life, and comfort anxious and grieving families. For many, they offer a kind face, a prayer or a sympathetic ear that is desperately needed during a difficult time. It is a ministry of presence – simply being with people and providing space for them to share their stories and their fears.

REALITY APRIL 2021

However, the COVID-19 restrictions of the past year have changed everything about healthcare, and that includes the way hospital chaplains carry out their ministry. Where once chaplains were free to pop in and out of wards, visits are now confined to a short time slot and generally only allowed when there is serious illness or end-of-life. In a time when patients are more vulnerable than ever, chaplains are coming up with new and innovative ways of bringing comfort to those in the hospital community.

"BACK TO BASICS" Fr Michael Forde CSsR is a member of the chaplaincy team for several hospitals in Cork – St Finbarr's Community Hospital, South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Farranlea Community Nursing Unit, and also occasionally on call to Cork University Hospital (CUH) and Mercy University Hospital. The most significant change, he says, is that there is a lot less contact with patients than in pre-Covid times. "Generally, when Covid is in a hospital, we only go where we are called, particularly to end-of-life situations or a situation where compassion is needed. It has changed the frequency of calls from the hospitals; now there has to be a definite reason or concern," says Fr Michael. Like all healthcare workers, chaplains have been on a learning curve when it comes to

Sadly, Eucharistic ministers can no longer function in healthcare settings, which is a big casualty of the pandemic. "People miss being able to receive Communion; they often say how much it means to them." the practicalities of dealing with COVID-19. Last April, at the start of the pandemic, Fr Michael and other clergy attended an online Zoom meeting with a panel of doctors to help them get to grips with PPE. It quickly became second nature, but there are knock-effects for interaction with patients. "The gear is very simple really – you decontaminate hands, put on apron, mask and goggles, and then follow the steps when removing them. But the big question is, how present can you be when covered in gear?" queries Fr Michael. "Even if the person is on a ventilator or unconscious, we always act on the presumption they can hear us, and we make sure to address the person directly. That was always the case, but it stands even more so now." End-of-life situations are particularly difficult, but they are handled with the utmost care. "Patients can't have a big group of visitors, so we communicate with family

members by phone to allow them to be with them. If they can't have someone present, a staff member will be there. We can give last rites with care – the recommendation is to do the oil with a cotton bud. The thing to resist is to come in with the attitude of 'Am I safe?' The visit is not for us," he stresses. Fr Michael Forde CSsR The increased use of technology to keep patients in touch with family and this side of things," he suggests. "We've had church has given Fr Michael inspiration for Mass via Facebook Live in St Finbarr's and in the future. "Zoom and other methods have Farranlea, so the wards can tune in, and CUH helped in a positive way. They've especially also has its own volunteer-run radio station impacted long-term residents in nursing that broadcasts ceremonies." homes, who are learning very quickly how Sadly, Eucharistic ministers can no longer to use them. Now that we are in the middle function in healthcare settings, which he says of using it, it's a golden opportunity to grow is a "big casualty" of the pandemic. "People miss being able to receive Communion; they often say how much it means to them. There is a heavy emphasis at the moment on spiritual communion. It's not the same as being present, but it gives people encouragement." He says one of the most significant losses in nursing homes has been the drop in interaction between residents. During the first lockdown, for example, residents of the community nursing unit had to stay in their rooms all the time, even having meals delivered. "They were really missing interaction with the other residents; they love to find out the news and hear what's going on." In St Finbarr's, residents are no longer able to gather for Sunday Mass and meet up with the local regulars who also attended. "That community aspect is sorely

C OVE R STO RY

missed," says Fr Michael. "We haven't been able to open the church since July, and we weren't able to have a Christmas carol service with the staff choir." Fr Michael hopes that the pandemic has highlighted areas of chaplaincy that can be developed and improved. "The training up of men and women in the area of pastoral care needs a bit of a push. Priests and sisters have traditionally been at the interface. A lot of well-trained lay people are also working now, but we need more of an uptake. There is a great opportunity for the church to drive it and make it more feasible," he says. "With the pandemic, the normal way of working doesn't apply anymore. It's all back to the basics of spending time with people. When this is over, we are going to evaluate things, and I think we'll find that in a lot of ways, it's been a positive thing."

"SOMEONE TO TELL OUR STORIES TO" Colette Furlong is a chaplain in Sligo University Hospital and North West Hospice, and says the past year has been challenging on a number of levels.

Colette Furlong

REALITY APRIL 2021

"Families have been so creative. One person might visit and do a WhatsApp call with other family members. I have done a decade of the Rosary with a patient, with family joining in from America and Australia, and we all prayed together." One of the first practical concerns she noted was the difficulty of having a conversation with patients through a mask and PPE gear. "It can be a challenge sometimes to make yourself heard. You are inclined to say less when you know someone can't hear you and is getting frustrated; the last thing you want to do is exhaust people," she reflects. "I'm conscious that 80-90 per cent of listening is done with the eyes, by reading facial expressions. That's gone with the mask, and with full PPE even more so. Voices don't sound the same. For the patient, it can be hard to distinguish who is a doctor, nurse, chaplain or even family coming into the room."

Colette says she has had to learn not to do the "normal" things she would have done previously when visiting a patient. "The policy is generally to touch nothing. Don't even touch a chair to sit down. Don't do the normal things. It is hard to restrain yourself, but you do what you have to do. I look forward to the day when I can sit beside a bed and put my hand on the person's arm and even whisper to them, 'Don't worry, you'll get through this.'" The one thing that is lacking in her visits with patients is time. "I find it often takes a bit of time for patients to settle and to really talk," she says. "There are times that people want to talk but don't know how. Before COVID-19, we could take the time. When we listen to a person telling their story, it becomes meaningful to them in the process. We don't get to do that right now, and patients miss out on a moment that can be enriching. "Our icebreakers in Ireland are the weather and 'I'm grand' – they serve a purpose. But

now, all the 'faff' is cut out, and people feel they have to get straight down to business, and there's an anxiety that comes with that. We're not great at it; we like to go around the hills before we get to the point! It's in the faff that the human situation is." Colette says she misses the opportunity to build up a rapport with patients, as chaplains are only called in when someone is in a serious condition. "People have a huge need for meaning in life, and this really comes to the fore when we're sick. We need someone to be present, someone to tell our stories to. There's a mourning process that begins for people, and they have to rewrite their story. As chaplains, we can't do this for them, but we can accompany them to a place of discovery. It's part of the hospital journey," she explains. "But now, we can't build up that rapport. We are meeting patients when they're already in trouble. When a person is at one of the worst moments of their life, our role is to stand in their pain with them. Now, we're not getting

"We are missing the humanity of gathering together and sharing stories, having a cup of tea. Those ritual moments really matter." there until they are beyond that pain and are dying; often they are not responsive. We are still standing with them, but I don't feel we can offer as much." She says the staff are "brilliant", and their concern is always for the patient's wellbeing. Families have been extremely innovative in communicating with their loved ones. "If a patient is close to end of life, they are generally in a private room, and this is the only circumstance where visitors are let in. Feelings run high, but I have yet to see anyone get irate. Families have been so creative. One person might visit and do a WhatsApp call with other family members. I have done a decade of the Rosary with a patient, with family joining in from America and Australia, and we all prayed together."

However, Colette says the shared moments of liturgy and gathering are missed. "We've always had a chapel channel on the hospital TVs. We closed the chapel doors now for the celebration of Mass via a camera. We rely on the staff to let people know about the channel. In each ward, we used to be able to ask if anyone would like Holy Communion; now nurses will send for us only if a patient requests it. "We couldn't have our memorial service last November for babies and children who have died. We pre-recorded some of the parents and staff involved in that area and held the service online. But we are missing the humanity of gathering together and sharing stories, having a cup of tea. Those ritual moments really matter."

C OVE R STO RY

"AN IMMENSE PRIVILEGE" Fr Sean O'Donnell is one of the Catholic chaplains serving the Altnagelvin Group of Hospitals along with Fr Michael Canny, Fr Malachy Gallagher and Fr Daniel McFaul. Fr Sean feels that his role "changed dramatically" in March 2020 when the usual programme of ward visitation had to be suspended. "We then had to rely on the ward staff to communicate with us as to who needed a visit. The Trust provided a system of mobile phones to chaplains as well as a mobile or tablet device to each ward. This meant that we could use video calls to chat with, pray and encourage patients and thus cut out the physical visiting as much as possible," says Fr Sean. "Staff became innovative at getting family members and chaplains all on one ward device, and we all adapted and did what we could for the patient's spiritual welfare and also for their family while ensuring everyone was kept safe at the same time." Certain incidents stick in the mind that highlight what a strange year it has been. "Fr Canny recollects a day that he was called to anoint a lady in end-of-life care who didn't have COVID-19. She had a large family. It was a ground-floor ward, and some of the family had gathered around the

The prayer tree in Altnagelvin Hospital

window outside her room while he was inside with their mother. Then he met with them outside afterwards. This is so different and sad, and it will be a difficult memory for them, yet at the same time, they understood that this was the way it had to be in these times," says Fr Sean. To administer sacraments, chaplains are required to wear full PPE, another Fr Sean O'Donnell with the hospital in the background new experience. "At the bedside and in full PPE we could use the ward device to have family members join us as we administer the sacraments. The changing into scrubs, donning and doffing PPE, meant that a visit that may have taken 20-30 minutes maximum before now took at least an hour or more. But it is the wonderful privilege of our chaplain ministry to be able to be with the faithful when they need us most. One just needs to be aware of how precious such a visit is to all involved so that enough time is available to make the visit." Prayer Packs have been distributed to patients, containing a letter from the chaplaincy team with contact details, a rosary, miraculous medal, and some prayer literature. "Even these small gifts are of consolation,"

says Fr Sean. "Holistic care is about treating the whole person, and looking after their spiritual and pastoral needs can aid and speed up a person's recovery." Part of the role is also to support staff, and staff have become more aware that the chaplains are there for them, not just the patients. "I have seen the intensity of care given – the relentless nature of what is required from the staff, especially during the peaks of COVID-19 In addition to their normal attention, they also have to maintain regular contact with families via audio and visual means. Not to mention the wearing of PPE," he says. "Their determination to do the best they can for those in their care is obvious to all who see it. The loss they feel when a patient passes away, the joy when a patient heads home, are part of the rollercoaster of emotions they have to cope with. At Altnagelvin, we are so blessed to have not just their skill, but their compassion and determination to do more than just a job." One initiative which has proven popular is a Prayer Tree in the hospital prayer room, made up of leaf post-its on which staff write their thoughts and prayers. "We meet as chaplains each Sunday at 3pm in the hospital to pray together for all patients and staff. These prayer requests are held in that prayer time and are also remembered during the Saturday 'Hospital Mass' [currently celebrated in a local church]." While it has been a challenging year, the team have adapted as best they can. "It is so encouraging when I receive a face-to-face acknowledgment, a phone call, a text message or a card in the post from patients, staff and families. These are received after happy or sad outcomes and are a beautiful reminder to me of how important the vocation of chaplain is to them," says Fr Sean. "I never lose sight of the plan God has for each of us and continue to answer God's call in what I consider to be an immense privilege and duty to see Christ in those who are in our hospitals."

Tríona Doherty is a freelance journalist and editor who lives in Athlone. She is a regular contributor to Reality.

COM M E N T WITH EYES WIDE OPEN JIM DEEDS

TAKE A DEEP BREATH

ALLOW YOUR BREATH TO BECOME A SIGN OF GOD'S CLOSENESS TO YOU. My friend Fr Martin Magill and I have fallen into a habit when phoning one another. Whoever makes the call begins the conversation with five simple words, spoken slowly and with feeling: "Breathe in, and breathe out." The person on the other end of the line responds by taking a slow and intentional breath. We've found it's a great way to start a conversation. Moreover, it serves as a reminder for us both to slow down and breathe as easily as we can. It came about after our work on this year's 4 Corners Festival in Belfast in January and February. (You can find out all about the festival and see many of this year's events by going to www.4cornersfestival.com.) The theme of this year's festival was 'Breathe'. Using as our starting point, ruach, the Hebrew word for breath, we tried to discover how the breath of God was bringing love, joy and mercy to the four corners of Belfast, the city where we live, a wounded and wonderful city as many of you know. In this Easter season, I am always drawn to a scripture story about the breath of God that could easily get missed as we concentrate on the day of Resurrection itself, with the excitement and drama of the empty tomb. In John 20:19-23, we read of an incredible experience the friends of Jesus had that evening. They have locked themselves in a room, well away from the authorities of whom they are terrified. After all, they didn't want to suffer the same fate that befell Jesus on Good Friday. Into their fear, worry, and uncertainty comes Jesus

himself, even though we are told the doors are locked. He sees their stunned faces and wishes them peace. "Peace be with you," he tells them, before showing them the wounds of the cross that he bears on his body. They seem even more stunned now because we read that he tells them once more, "Peace be with you." How wonderful it is that he appeared to them amid their real-life experience. These were frightened people, worried people. These were the people who had run away from Jesus and left him with only his mother, Mary Magdalene and John for company in his agony. In other words, these were imperfect people. Dare I say that these were flawed people, just like us. And yet, despite their flaws, fears and shortcomings, Jesus himself came and stood among them, wishing them peace. This Easter season, we could reflect that even in the fear and worry of this pandemic and even in the face of our own shortcomings, Jesus comes to us offering his peace. After he wishes them peace, Jesus tells them he is sending them out

just as his Father sent him. He tells them – and by extension us – that they are part of his mission to build God’s kingdom. How can we be part of the mission that Jesus came for? How could we even begin to contemplate that we can do this? Well, the clue to how we do this is in the next line of the story. In John 20:22 we read that "he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" He breathed on them. How curious that is, if we take a step back. Think about your own life right now. Who breathes on you? Who do you breathe on? It seems to me that we can only breathe on those we are very close to. In these times of social distancing, the number of people we are close to has shrunk to only those with whom we are intimately connected – loved ones, family, close friends. And even then, it is only when we hold those people close that we would be able to breathe on them or feel their breath on us. Jesus, it seems, got very close to his friends that evening – close enough to breathe on them and, of course, his breath brought with it the Holy Spirit.

This Easter season, we could reflect on the fact that Jesus is as close to us as he was to his friends that night. Jesus is, if you like, in our bubble! He holds us tight and allows us to hold on to him. Why not spend a few moments each day contemplating that feeling of holding and being held by Jesus? Focus on your breath as it enters and leaves your body. Allow your breath to become a sign of the closeness of God. Allow God's breath to fall on you. Allow the Holy Spirit to fall on you and fill you. The Holy Spirit equips us to play our part in Jesus' mission in our own time and in our own way. But just as our breath leaves us and goes out into the ether, so too this notion that we could be called to play a part in God's great plan for the world could become a fleeting notion that leaves us as we sink back into feeling inadequate or powerless or even uninterested. That is why the habit Fr Martin and I have fallen into is so useful. It stops us in our tracks and reminds us of the gift of life we have received and the small part we play in God's plan for the world. So, this Easter season, I invite you to pause, take a breath, be thankful for it, and open yourself up to the work of the Holy Spirit. It could be the beginning of an exciting adventure.

Belfast man Jim Deeds is a poet, author, pastoral worker and retreat-giver working across Ireland.

LI T U RGY

HOLY WEEK Signs and symbols of

THERE ARE MANY CREATIVE AND ENGAGING WAYS WE CAN CELEBRATE THE MOST IMPORTANT WEEK OF THE CHURCH’S YEAR. BY MARIA HALL

God speaks to man through the visible creation. The material cosmos is so presented to man's intelligence that he can read there, traces of its Creator. Light and darkness, wind and fire, water and earth, the tree and its fruit speak of God and symbolise both his greatness and his nearness.

CCC 1147

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Signs

and symbols are bearers of unseen realities. They are God revealing the mysteries to us, God's plan for salvation, in ways we can understand. Symbols make something real; they make it active, present, encounterable. This is particularly true during the liturgies of Holy Week which are laden with symbolism. Our senses are attacked on all fronts during these beautiful liturgies. Here are a few of those we encounter. PALMS In the ancient world, palm branches were a sign of triumph and victory. Victorious athletes in ancient Greece were awarded a palm branch. Kings carried them after victory in battle. Palms were often depicted on coins, and King Solomon had them carved into the walls of his temple. In Egypt, palms represented immortality. In Judaism, they were used in festivals. The Book of Revelation speaks of people from every nation waving palms and praising God. Early Christian martyrs were often depicted holding a palm, a sign of the spirit's victory over the flesh. And so when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, it was natural for the people to hail him by spreading and waving leaves from the local palm trees. They recognised him as king, offering him honour and praise and accompanying him on his journey. The church soon adopted this symbolic action. The famous pilgrim Egeria describes events in Jerusalem on the Sunday of The Great Week: At five o'clock, the passage is read from the Gospel about the children who met the Lord with palm branches saying, 'Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.' At this, the bishop and all the people rise from their places and start on foot down from the Mount of Olives. All the people go before him with psalms and antiphons. Everyone is carrying branches either palm or olive, and they accompany the bishop in the way the people did with the Lord.

In the seventh century, St Isidore refers to the 'Day of the Palms' and in eighth-century England we finally hear about Palm Sunday. When we process with palms, we are doing so as the Mystical Body of Christ. The palms help us remember and understand, thus drawing us deeper into the Paschal Mystery and closer to Christ. In the parish The more we enter into the liturgy, the more we gain from it. We are not observers but have an active role to play. We take a palm, process, sing, listen and pray. There is an integral link between the palms of this year and the ashes of next, reminding us of the liturgical year's cyclical shape and the continuing life of the church. It's not a common practice, but it would be so meaningful to invite people to return their palms in time for making next year's ashes.

HOLY OILS Oil is one of our primary liturgical symbols (used in four sacraments) and has its roots in the Old Testament. Olive trees grew abundantly in Galilee. Their oil served to soothe and comfort. It was used in cooking and as fuel in lamps. David and Solomon were anointed kings with it; Jacob anointed a pillar where God had appeared to him as the house of God. And in the week of his Passion, at Bethany, Mary anointed Jesus' feet with expensive, aromatic oil, a precursor to his body being anointed in the tomb (this is the Chrism Mass Gospel). In the Early Church, St James writes, "Is any among you sick? Let them call upon the Presbyteroi (priests) of the church and let them pray over them anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord." The bishop blesses the Oil of the Sick and

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, it was natural for the people to hail him by spreading and waving leaves from the local palm trees. They recognised him as king, offering him honour and praise and accompanying him on his journey.

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the Oil of Catechumens (both pure olive oil) at the Chrism Mass – attend if you can, it's wonderful! The Oil of Chrism isn't just blessed but consecrated, and the bishop breathes on it to invoke the Holy Spirit. It is mixed with balsam, a sweet-smelling resin that symbolises receiving grace and being preserved from the world's evils. Oil is the sign of God's goodness reaching out to touch us. In Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders and finally in the Anointing of the Sick in which oil is offered to us, so to speak, as God's medicine. They now assure us of his goodness, offering strength and consolation. Thus oil in its different forms accompanies us throughout our lives… right up to the moment when we prepare to meet our God. Pope Benedict In the parish After the Chrism Mass, each priest brings back Holy Oils for his parish. Many of us never see them or are even aware of them. Newer churches are often built with an ambry, a cabinet which houses the oils in public, emphasising their importance. This is something for all churches to consider. THE CROSS How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross, there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise but opens the way for our return. St Theodore the Studite The cross is perhaps the most familiar Christian sign. But for the early church, it was a sign of torture and suffering. There are few early images of the cross (more of fish, Chi Rho, anchor and others) but it was certainly used. Second-century Syrian Christians hung a cross (not crucifix) on an east-facing wall and prayed in that direction. In the third century, Hippolytus described the Rite of Confirmation where the bishop anointed the

candidate's forehead with a cross. It wasn't until Constantine made public worship legal that the cross was used widely. Constantine's mother, St Helena, is credited with discovering the true cross in Jerusalem and it is from there that the tradition of venerating the cross began. Our friend Egeria describes the Good Friday liturgy in glorious detail: The bishop's chair is placed on Golgotha behind the Cross…the deacons stand round and there is brought to him a gold and silver box containing the Holy Wood of the Cross. The people go past one by one. They stoop down, touch the holy wood first with their forehead and then with their eyes and then kiss it. This tradition wasn't established in Rome until the seventh century. In medieval England, creeping to the cross took place. People approached the cross slowly, barefoot and on their knees, a sign of reverence and humility. Our current Good Friday liturgy has changed little since the Middle Ages. We venerate the cross with a bow or kiss, for the same reasons and with the same prayers, anthems and hymns as our early Christian forbears. FIRE Fire is closely allied to life. It is the aptest symbol we have for the soul within that makes us live. Like fire, life is warm and radiant, never still, eager for what is out of reach...what an image it is of that mysterious flame in us that has been set alight to penetrate the whole of nature and provide it with a hearth. Romano Guardini The Easter Vigil fire begins the 'Mother of all Holy Vigils', which is sumptuously laden with symbolism. It is a celebration of the victory of light over dark, of new life in the light of the Resurrection of Jesus, the Light of the World, who has gained our redemption. This is the most important, powerful and unique liturgy of the year, and requires a mighty symbol to reflect its significance.

Symbolic fire is an ancient practice. Pagan festivals used fire to celebrate spring conquering winter. St Patrick was one of the first to use this symbolism. He lit an Easter fire, which angered local druids, but many were converted to Christianity after listening to him. In the ninth century, it was the custom in many places to extinguish all church and domestic lights in anticipation of the great feast. The symbolic lighting of lamps and candles developed into lighting a new fire using a stone or lens. In the parish Such an important symbol requires care and effort. The flames should 'dispel the darkness and light up the night'. Therefore, the liturgy should only begin after nightfall and with a 'blazing' fire. Of course, there are safety issues, but the symbol should have an impact. This is 'the greatest and noblest of all solemnities'. All candles should be lit from the Paschal Candle, the one 'light of Christ' (I've seen a well-meaning usher using his lighter to get the task done more quickly!) All liturgical symbols need to be treated with respect. They 'signify and make actively present the salvation wrought by Christ and prefigure and anticipate the glory of heaven'.

Resources https://bustedhalo.com/ministryresources/a-catholic-guide-to-holy-weeksymbols https://zoom.homeofthemother.org/ liturgical-year/lent/holy-week/signsand-symbols-of-holy-week (Great for children) Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year, Ignatius Press. (an invaluable practical guide for all parishes) Festa Pashcalia: A History of the Holy Week Liturgy in the Roman Liturgy, Philip J. Goddard Sacred Signs, Romano Guardini (Amazon)

Maria Hall is music director at St Wilfrid's Church, Preston, England. A qualified teacher, she has a Master’s from the Liturgy Centre, Maynooth and is a consultant on matters liturgical for schools and parishes. www.mariahall.org

REMEMBERING CANON SHEEHAN OF DONERAILE

THE LARGELY-FORGOTTEN WORKS OF CANON SHEEHAN PROVIDE AN INVALUABLE PORTRAIT OF AN IRELAND STRUGGLING TO DISCOVER ITS TRUE IDENTITY AS IT BEGAN TO LOOSEN THE SHACKLES OF COLONIAL DOMINATION AND ENVISAGE A FUTURE WHERE IT WOULD BE IN CONTROL OF BOTH ITS RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL DESTINY. BY EAMON MAHER

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have only recently begun reading the work of Canon Patrick Augustine Sheehan (1852-1913) and have been impressed by its quality and human interest value. In addition to containing some moving evocations of the beautiful landscape of west Cork, the work has also helped me rediscover a world where Catholicism still played a fundamental role in the life of rural Ireland, in particular, where priests were an inescapable and powerful presence. Some might view the church of Canon Sheehan’s time as being synonymous with a form of prescriptive authoritarianism, but, in fairness, the majority of its priests looked after the spiritual and material needs of their flock very well. Canon Sheehan was a hugely popular writer during his lifetime and yet he does not feature in the main encyclopaedias of Catholic literature. Considering that the human situations he depicts are completely tied up in Catholicism and that he displays such an impressive mastery of literary devices, such an omission is unusual to say the least. In his Introduction to an essay collection, Revisiting Canon Sheehan of Doneraile (1852-1913), published in 2014, Gabriel Doherty singles out "the emphasis upon the individual, and the unique nature of personal experience" as constituting the essence of Sheehan’s literary and personal life. He further emphasises the global reach of his output, which is obvious from his huge popularity in the USA and the translation of his works into numerous languages. Sheehan was recognised as a man of letters early in his career and this, allied to the supportive bishops in his home diocese of Cloyne, ensured that he was given time to devote to his writing. His appointment as parish priest of Doneraile in 1895 showed the faith placed in him by Bishop Robert Browne, who needed someone who could maintain cordial relations with the resident landlords, the St Legers. This was a function that Sheehan fulfilled with some aplomb, probably as a result of his great tact and culture. TUMULTUOUS PERIOD The late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Sheehan wrote the bulk of his work, was a tumultuous period in Ireland. The effects of the Famine continued to be felt, and most of the land was still controlled by the Anglo-Irish aristocracy. Priests regularly had to act as intermediaries

F E AT U R E

between the landlords and their tenants, a role that was rendered even more fraught as a result of increasing agrarian unrest and nationalistic fervour. Sheehan provides some insightful sketches of clerical figures who struggle to find a fulfilling role as pastors in rural parishes, mainly because of the yawning cultural and intellectual divide between themselves and their parishioners. This is the experience of the eponymous and semiautobiographical hero Luke Delmege, who, like Sheehan, began his ministry in England and who discovers late in life that he has begun to feel "a strange, passionate attachment to my country and people". This epiphany only comes about after several painful episodes which reveal to the priest that his assumed ‘superiority’ was actually the opposite and that he could learn more from the ordinary people than he could ever teach them. We will return to this novel in due course. In Sheehan’s writing, priests are treated as royalty by parishioners who are nevertheless also prepared to withdraw support if they find their ministers aloof or lacking in empathy. Sheehan confided to his biographer, the Jesuit Herman Joseph Heuser, that there was a dangerous gulf developing between priests and laity: “The priest moves through his people, amongst them, but not of them!” This is not the case with the parish priest Fr Dan (familiarly referred to as 'Daddy Dan') in one of Sheehan’s bestloved novels, My New Curate (1900), who confides to his curate: “You take away the poetry, which is an essential element in the Gaelic character, and you make the people prosaic and critical, which is the worst thing possible for them.” Fr Letheby, who tries to eradicate the primitive practices he encounters in the parish, is slow to appreciate this, but the arrogance and inexperience of youth finally give way to humility and a heartfelt desire to serve the people, which is at the core of priesthood in Sheehan’s view. Letheby is sometimes overly zealous in his pursuit of improving the spiritual and economic fortunes of his flock. He sets up a community fishing business and a factory to keep the locals in gainful employment, which turns out to be a lamentable failure. The main problem is that the people are not used to working towards a common goal and fail to see the advantages of adopting a cooperative approach. Equally, he never succeeds in inspiring the same love and trust in his parishioners that Fr

Dan enjoys. He does, however, gain the support of Bittra Campion, whose father, a former captain in the British army, is an influential member of the local community who has moved away from the teachings of the Catholic Church. Because of the example of his daughter and the work of the curate, the captain slowly displays signs that he is ready for a return to the fold, only to be killed in a freak sea accident just after his daughter’s wedding. After praying the Angelus with Fr Dan, he boards the ship and is not seen alive again by those remaining on the shore. Afterwards, the parish priest reflects: “I did not know then that the musical strains of the mid-day Angelus were his death knell – the ringing up of his great stage-manager, Death, for his volté subito – his leap through the ring to eternity.” Bittra ends up marrying Ormsby, a sceptic in religious terms, who converts to Catholicism after taking instruction from Fr Dan and witnessing the stoicism and resignation of a young girl called Alice, who is afflicted with a horrible skin disease that she feels is the result of her vanity. Ormsby admits to her: “Mind, little one, if I become a Catholic, it’s you have made me one.” The apparent stigmata that Alice endures without a word of complaint, her ability to survive on bread and wine – the symbolism of her diet is intentional – are concrete signs to Ormsby and others that she is the beneficiary of grace. Father Dan remarks to Ormsby: “Faith is not a matter to be acquired by reading as knowledge. It is a gift, like the natural talent of a great painter or musician – a sixth sense, and the pure gratuity of the All-Wise and the All-Good.” DAILY ROUTINES The semi-autobiographical Luke Delmege (1901) shows once more how intelligence and academic achievement must be tempered when ministering to people whose deep spiritual needs often require an approach that is in keeping with their daily routines. Fresh out of Maynooth, where he was awarded the ‘First of First', the highest academic award, Luke Delmege befriends a number of the Anglican clergy and parishioners during his period in England. He is initially in thrall to their sophisticated manners and the calm, independent way they express their opinions. After a while, what he sought above all else was "men’s praises". A friend, Fr Sheldon, remarks to him on one occasion: “Did you ever feel an impulse to go down on your

knees and kiss the hem of the garment of some poor, half-witted illiterate old duffer, who knew just enough of Latin to spell through his breviary, but who was doing, with sublime unconsciousness, the work of his Master?” Delmege painfully uncovers the real secret of happiness, which is not found in intellectual attainment, but in the unique bond a priest develops with his community. Through the spiritual witness of others, especially that of Barbara, who joins a convent to atone for what she considers her brother’s licentious life, this once proud man finds the solution to life’s enigma: "Lose all to find all.’" It might appear to be a simple formulation, but it is one of the most difficult challenges posed by Christianity. It is only by putting others ahead of self, being humble and open to the intervention of grace, eradicating all preoccupations with worldly achievement, that one can truly follow in the footsteps of Christ. REPUTATION Canon Sheehan published ten novels, a number of short stories, and several religious and philosophical tracts. He developed a strong international reputation and achieved sales that would have been the envy of any writer of his era. Yet he is very rarely spoken of today. This may be because he was seen as a ‘popular’ writer rather than as a literary figure. In an article published in Studies in 2009, historian Tom Garvin acknowledged Sheehan’s role as the writer of "tales of Irish Catholic and rural life of a kind that appealed to the popular taste of a newly educated Irish public" and pointed out that his appeal also extended to the Irish diaspora in Britain and America. For me, he provides an invaluable portrait of an Ireland that was struggling to discover its true identity as it began to loosen the shackles of colonial domination and envisage a future where it would be in control of its own destiny, both religious and political. His fictional priests may be remnants of what seems like a distant past, yet they made a telling and largely positive contribution to the crucial fin de siècle period of Irish history that Sheehan captures so memorably in his work.

Eamon Maher is director of the National Centre for Franco-Irish Studies in TU Dublin. He is a regular contributor to Reality.

F R AT E LLI T UT TI

A PANDEMIC OF DARK CLOUDS THERE ARE A NUMBER OF FACTORS PULLING AT THE SOCIAL FABRIC OF HUMANITY CREATING “CLOUDS” AND “SHATTERED DREAMS” OF UNIVERSAL SOLIDARITY, WRITES POPE FRANCIS, IN THE ENCYCLICAL’S OPENING CHAPTER BY MIKE DALEY

A 24

pope usually delivers an Urbi et Orbi ('To the City and to the World') blessing after his election and/or on the yearly feasts of Christmas and Easter. These are joyous occasions. St Peter’s Square is full of cheering pilgrims. What a difference a pandemic makes. This past March 2020, in pouring rain, Pope Francis approached the steps of St Peter’s Basilica. A lone, solitary figure. No cheers, only silence. No sunlight, only the evening’s darkness. There, prominent in the background, was the miraculous crucifix of San Marcello. Having survived a fire in 1519, it is venerated by the people of Rome. It was also processed through the city in 1522 to invoke God’s mercy during a plague. On a raised platform, Pope Francis offered an extraordinary blessing praying for an end to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Central to Pope Francis’ prayer was a meditation based on a story from Mark’s Gospel: The Calming of a Storm at Sea (Mk 4:35-41). In the midst of a violent squall, with waves crashing over the boat, while Jesus is asleep,

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the disciples cry out: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Awakened by their cries, Jesus rebukes the wind and calms the sea. Afterwards he asks them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” Paralleling the disciples’ situation then to our own situation now, Pope Francis remarked: “For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice it in people’s gestures, their glances give them away. We find ourselves afraid and lost.” Pope Francis then voiced the words of Jesus: “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” In the face of this overwhelming fear, Francis, like Jesus, offered words of encouragement and a way forward: “In this storm, the façade of those stereotypes with which we camouflaged our egos, always worrying about our image, has fallen away, uncovering once more that

(blessed) common belonging, of which we cannot be deprived: our belonging as brothers and sisters.” “AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?” It is one of the questions of scripture. The splendour of the Garden of Eden, with its image of union between God, humans, and creation, quickly gives way to the tension of relationship between brothers. Anger and rivalry culminate in the death of one of them. When asked by God where his brother Abel is, Cain, in an attempt to evade responsibility, dismissively responds, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Like the iconic story of Cain and Abel, Pope Francis’ encyclical on fraternity and

social friendship, Fratelli Tutti, is another reminder that, yes, we are our brother’s and sister’s keeper. Unfortunately, as Francis makes clear in Chapter 1, 'Dark Clouds Over A Closed World', there are a number of factors pulling at the social fabric of humanity creating “clouds” and “shattered dreams” of universal solidarity. Admittedly, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought forth its own fears and anxieties. Pope Francis admits, however, there were deep-seated social, political, and economic “viruses” besetting humanity long before this one: the world grows closer together, but further apart at the same time; wealth increases dramatically, but so too does a “throwaway” world; human rights are voiced for

all, but granted only to some; and, finally, there is greater access to communication and information, but there is no parallel moral formation and wisdom to go along with them. READING THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES Like any good doctor, Pope Francis knows a description of the condition must precede the prescription. What may be seen by some as too uncomfortable, negative, and pessimistic to talk about is for Francis the truth which must be admitted and faced. Rather than having learned from history, Pope Francis laments “a concept of popular and national unity influenced by various ideologies is creating new forms of selfishness and a loss of

the social sense under the guise of defending national interests” (#11). Ironically, globalism has made us neighbours, but not brothers and sisters. In the face of a loss of historical consciousness and cultural colonisation, Francis encourages us to restore the meaning of words like democracy, freedom, justice, and unity. Otherwise, we will continue to realise that “We are more alone than ever in an increasingly massified world that promotes individual interests and weakens the communitarian dimension of life” (#12). Building on his previous environmental enc yclical Laudato Si, Pope Francis observes that not only have we grown indifferent to the cries of the planet, but we also have become unresponsive to

the fundamental dignity of the human person. Seeing ourselves more as consumers than persons, we have left the unborn, elderly, poor and disabled, and migrants, to fend for themselves. In a “throwaway” world, people who are not productive become disposable as well. Here, Francis states that we must change “a profit-based economic model that does not hesitate to exploit, discard, and even kill human beings. While one part of humanity lives in opulence, another part sees its own dignity denied, scorned or trampled upon, and its fundamental rights discarded or violated” (#22). Sadly, economic development has not been matched by human development. In perhaps what is a first for a papal encyclical, Pope Francis calls our attention to the negative effects of digital communication. Privacy scarcely exists anymore. Addiction, isolation, and distortion of reality are all too real possibilities and actualities via social media. Speaking at the Vatican on the release of Fratelli Tutti, Anna Rowland, associate professor of Catholic Social Thought & Practice at Durham University, said that “Digital communications trade on our hunger for connection but distort it, producing what the pope calls a febrile bondedness built on binaries of likes and dislikes and commodified by powerful interests.” What Pope Francis wants is authentic encounters with and between persons. We often settle for far less. Here he calls to account Catholic media where “limits can be overstepped, defamation and slander can

become commonplace, and all ethical standards and respect for the common good of others can be abandoned” (#46). In the process, the social friendship so desired by Francis is compromised and, with it, the Gospel message itself. A HORIZON OF HOPE If Pope Francis were to end here, his observations would leave us in a state of despair and alienation. But Francis is a pope of hope. He believes that the path we appear to be headed toward need not be the future. The dark clouds and shattered dreams can give way to a new horizon if a costly hope is practised. With this in mind, Pope Francis ends Chapter 1 with these words of possibility and opportunity: “Hope speaks to us of a thirst, an aspiration, a longing for a life of fulfilment, a desire to achieve great things, things that fill our heart and lift our spirit to lofty realities like truth, goodness and beauty, justice and love… Hope is bold; it can look beyond personal convenience, the petty securities and compensations which limit our horizon, and it can open us up to grand ideals that make life more beautiful and worthwhile.” Hope leads to fraternity and social friendship.

Mike Daley is a teacher and writer from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he lives with his wife June and their three children. His latest book, co-authored with scripture scholar, Sr Diane Bergant, is Take and Read: Christian Writers Reflect on Life’s Most Influential Books (Apocryphile Press).

F E AT U R E

MAID IN EMMAUS

'KITCHEN MAID WITH THE SUPPER AT EMMAUS' IS THE FIRST KNOWN PAINTING OF 17TH-CENTURY SPANISH ARTIST, DIEGO VELAZQUEZ. IT'S TEMPTING TO IMAGINE WHAT A MAID IN EMMAUS MIGHT HAVE OVERHEARD AS SHE TENDED TO THREE WEARY TRAVELLERS ON THAT FIRST EASTER WEEK. BY STEPHANIE WALSH

mmediately I was drawn to her as I stood wondering which gallery I should explore. Entranced, I stood staring at the painting of a girl in a white turban. The gallery attendant, bored on a quiet afternoon, asked if I knew the story of this Velazquez painting. "No, please tell me." "This is one of the paintings stolen from Russborough House by Rose Dugdale and her accomplices in the 70s. It's part of the Beit Collection that's kept here now in the National Gallery in Dublin." Yes, I remembered it then and all the fuss about the English heiress-turned-IRA activist. Rose Dugdale had led the raid on Sir Alfred and Lady Beit's collection, succeeding in

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stealing 19 paintings, including Velazquez's 'Kitchen Maid with the Supper at Emmaus'. However, the story I really wanted to know was that contained within the picture itself. The Moorish servant girl leans over a kitchen table, where she has been working cleaning pots. Sunlight floods in from above, highlighting her white turban and cuffs, the ceramic water jug and plates, the copper pan. Her shoulders are hunched forward with tiredness and resignation to this daily drudgery. Yet her head is slightly tilted as she seems to listen, with raised eyebrows, to the intense conversation of two men in the background, glimpsed through a serving hatch.

I go downstairs to the Friends' Desk, where a willing docent explores the background to this masterpiece. FIRST KNOWN PAINTING 'Kitchen Maid with the Supper at Emmaus' is Velazquez's first known painting; he was only 17 when he painted it. He had just been accepted into the Painters' Guild of St Luke in Seville – which is equivalent to union membership now. The young Spaniard experimented with painting kitchen and tavern scenes, slices of everyday life, as well as working on religious themes. In this startlingly beautiful picture, he manages to combine both elements. Later, he painted a full-size picture of 'The Supper at Emmaus', which shows Christ in animated conversation with two men at a table. Velasquez sold many of his works to the clerical market in Seville where he lived. Up to 10 per cent of the population there was Moorish; it had been the main port for traders coming from Africa to the New World where, sadly, the cargo was slaves. Diego Velazquez's father was a slave owner, so a model for this painting was readily available. At the time, 'Saving African Souls' became a hot

topic in ecclesiastical circles with the archbishop advocating catechising and baptising slaves. An early example of Black Lives Matter? This might be an overly optimistic view. In all likelihood, the impetus for these baptisms sprang from the concept that life in the next world is more important than one's actual earthly life, as a slave. This 'picture within a picture' was a standard enough device in 16th- and 17th-century art. Here it is of the risen Christ at a meal in Emmaus. It depicts two disciples at table with him, having walked from Jerusalem. EXTRAORDINARY TALE At the point in their journey when Jesus, whom they failed to recognise, fell into step with the two disheartened men, they were discussing the recent death and resurrection of a man from Nazareth. He asked what they were discussing. Excited at meeting someone who had not heard the latest news, the disciples regaled him with the account of the most amazing event ever: they told him about their friend, Jesus, who was a prophet. They explained that he was also a great teacher and had performed incredible miracles but that the authorities had conspired against him and he had

been crucified, had died on the cross and been buried in a tomb. Touchingly, they added that they had hoped that this same Jesus might be the promised Messiah who was to save the people of Israel. Their tale did not end on that pensive note. For, three days later, some women followers of Jesus had gone to that tomb but found it empty. Furthermore, these women said they had met angels who told them that this same Jesus was alive. All of Jerusalem was buzzing with the news of these events, they said. Perhaps they took more than two hours to walk the seven miles to Emmaus, as they discussed what had happened and what it signified. When they reached the village, they asked the stranger to have supper with them as they wished to continue the conversation. They coaxed him by remarking that it was nearly evening, they were tired and hungry. Because they asked, he stayed for a meal with them. It was only in the breaking of the bread that it dawned on them that the stranger was, in fact, Jesus of Nazareth. As soon as they recognised him, he vanished, and they were left discussing this extraordinary encounter.

DID SHE OVERHEAR? Perhaps this is the part of their conversation that the servant girl overheard? Were her ears opened to the message of freedom and hope? As she pondered the Good News, was she too transformed? Did her heart also burn within her as they spoke to the Risen Lord? This picture hung for many years in a convent refectory before it was cleaned in 1933, when the 'picture within a picture' was rediscovered. I imagine the generations of sisters who must have identified with this servant girl, working unnoticed in the background. Another famous Spaniard, St Teresa of Avila, reassured her own community of sisters that "the Lord walks even among the kitchen pots". In the year of the COVID-19 attack, we have spent long hours in the house, in the kitchen, in the garden. Strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, many of us were happy doing such humdrum work, discovering satisfaction in the completion of tasks. Diego Velazquez's beautiful painting makes me wonder if there's more than one type of women's liberation. How many of us can glimpse 'the miraculous amidst the humdrum’?

TWO ENCOUNTERS WITH DARKNESS EXPERIENCE HAS TAUGHT ME THAT IT’S EXCEPTIONALLY NAÏVE TO IMAGINE THERE ARE NO FORCES OF DARKNESS AFFECTING BOTH INDIVIDUAL LIVES AND SOCIETY AT LARGE. BY COLM MEANEY CSsR "Let us put on the armour of light." Rom 13:12 gospels recount many times when Jesus expelled demons from people who were "possessed". Nowadays, we might think of these as examples of various ailments, epilepsy, etc., but the generic term in the gospel times was "possession", and what was needed was an exorcism. It is instructive to note some details: (1) the "demon" is always to the detriment of the person; it is not a source of good, but of misery; (2) the person so assailed is never blamed. Instead, that person is looked upon as a victim, someone to be set free; (3) Jesus has an uncompromising attitude to demons: no discussion, just "leave the person!"He has an unapologetic antagonism towards any semblance of the powers of darkness. And, of course, Jesus sent out his followers specifically with the power to cast out

The

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demons (Mk 6:7; "he began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits"). We moderns may regard all this talk of demons to be so much mumbojumbo, but it would be exceptionally naïve to imagine that there are no forces of darkness affecting both individual lives and wider society, however you may wish to call them. I've had my own experiences of battling against the powers of darkness (admittedly not as stark or exciting as the gospel accounts). I offer two such accounts, one in which I was the loser, the other in which I was witness to a minor success. I was relaxing in the monastery, having returned from some weeks in the hills. It was 8pm, the secretary had gone home, and I was enjoying a cool beer, watching TV. The doorbell rang. I answered it to find a wealthy, glamorous lady dressed to kill. She said she lived nearby and that one

of her maids had been possessed by an evil spirit, and would I come with her to perform an exorcism. I said to myself "zero training in exorcisms in the seminary", but I put on a brave face and said that I'd change into something more formal and be with her shortly to perform the necessary anti-diabolical rites. We travelled in her car, something very expensive. The chauffeur was in the front, Madame and I in the back, she with Chanel No 5 and diamonds to boot. Frank Sinatra was crooning out his hits on the CD player. The air conditioner was at full strength, so we were all nicely cooled. At last, we arrived at the mansion. I made to climb the steps to enter through the front door, but she said that the maids lived below ground. I went down and entered into a stuffy, windowless bunker with three or four beds. It was a disturbing scene: three or four of her fellow-maids,

male and female, were gathered around the 'victim', praying and offering various invocations for her wellbeing. At least three rosary beads were placed on her neck. If the poor girl was in any danger, it was from Marian strangulation! (Actually, this was quite a calm scene, and the protagonists were acting quite reasonably if a little excitedly. My colleague Sean Purcell told me of his witnessing a most distressing scene, harrowing in fact, when a teenage girl, clearly having an attack of some sort, was being pinned down by four or five grown men – all of whom were convinced that the unfortunate lass was in the possession of truly satanic powers.) I gently but firmly asked those present to vacate the area, which they did, and then I sat beside the 'possessed' girl on the edge of a bed. She was about 15 or 16, but she had the strength of a boxer. She was clearly

in some distress, and it was manifest in her altered state. When I put my arm around her shoulders to calm her, she initially resisted and emitted some quite scary moans, still in a stressed state. I was a little unnerved, but after a few seconds, she relaxed, and then we had our conversation, and thus I diagnosed the cause of her distress. I asked her where she was from, and she replied that she was from a remote mountain area (with which I was familiar). She had been in Madame's employ for many months but had not returned to her home village. So naturally, she was lonely for her parents and family and for her usual surroundings and habits. She had a heavy workload in the house, and the food allotted to them was insufficient. Furthermore, her salary was dismal. So, she was lonely, over-worked, under-nourished and underpaid. No wonder she had temporarily lost her way and had slipped over the edge. If there was any 'demon' involved in her misery, it was in the person of her glamorous employer! I left the girl in a calm state, but I wonder how long it lasted. Because on the trip back to the monastery, once again in the air-conditioned car, I told Madame of my encounter and

suggested that, far from suffering any demonic attack, the girl's trauma had much more human and mundane causes, and that her circumstances should change. I recommended that she visit her parents, that her salary might be augmented, etc. She thanked me for performing the 'exorcism', smiled patronisingly, and said we should pray that the demon would not return. I had lost that particular tussle with the forces of darkness. The second example found me in a night club – to be more exact, a 'strip club'. The girls were on the stage and, as the music proceeded, they removed the last vestiges of their skimpy attire. Yes, I'm sure regular readers of Reality will think it somewhat unbecoming of a Redemptorist to be caught in such compromising circumstances, so let me immediately redeem my reputation! I had been invited to visit the club by two girls, both of whom were former prostitutes. They said it would be good for me to see the girls in the club and speak with them, which was the background to my visit. After their individual stage display, a few of the girls put on a kimono and joined us at our table for a few minutes. My overall impression was that they were all

from the province (far from the city) and that their parents thought they were studying at university, but many weren't. They gravitated to the various clubs because the money is good, especially if a customer takes the girl to a hotel. But it's a kind-of deadend livelihood. So I chatted with my two interlocutors. Our chat was enlightening for me. I asked what the purpose of their group was. They said that primarily it was to entice girls away from the dead-end life of a prostitute. I asked what their strategies were. Their replies were interesting. First, they sought simply to convince girls of the futility of their way of life. To provide some alternative, they started some livelihood projects: typing, manicure/ pedicure, knitting, etc (very practical for the girls, I told myself, because their bodies will not always be appreciated in their current way of life). I asked if they had much success, and, quite candidly, they admitted they had not. The money a girl could make on a night out of the club (taken out by the client) was too tempting to pass up. Still, they had some successes. They had also given the girls the number of a trustworthy lawyer so that, whenever the club was raided by the police, they could call

upon his help. The scenario would unfold as follows: the customers would be given a tip-off and would high-tail it, and the girls would be arrested. Then they would call or text the lawyer, and he would set about getting them free. I much admire the two women who had invited me to meet the dancers. High-end prostitution may seem glamorous, but for most of these young women, once the attraction of their bodies began to lose its allure for their customers, they would be discarded forthwith. The two founders of the group were not marching in the streets with placards. They had no rallying cry for justice, but in their own quiet way, with no fanfare but only dogged determination, they were standing up to the powers of darkness, represented by the murky world of prostitution. Earlier I had lost my battle in trying to help the distressed maid. Now I was witnessing a small victory by these two latter-day prophets.

A native of Limerick city where he went to school in St Clement’s College, Fr Colm Meaney first went to the Philippines as a student and has spent most of his priestly life there.

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COM M E N T FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS CARMEL WYNNE

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR INTERNAL DIALOGUE

SPOUSES WHO MAKE EACH OTHER RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR HAPPINESS ARE DESTINED TO END UP FEELING UNHAPPY. People who genuinely love each other often don't communicate well because of their guilt about things they are unwilling to discuss and issues they believe their partner can't handle. They withhold information because they are afraid of making the other angry. They're worried that their feelings will be disrespected, rejected or dismissed. It is amazing that so many people have fantasy ideas about what it means to be in a loving relationship. Some couples get married with the unrealistic expectation that they will live happily together and that, if the relationship doesn't work out, they will get divorced. I don't intend to be cynical when I suggest that every couple I've ever met who are in a happy marriage now admit they went through difficult patches, and that growing through them helped them stay married. There are numerous books on how to have the perfect relationship, how to keep romance in a marriage, how to rekindle the early passion after you have children, and so on. Most readers of these books are women who are dissatisfied and want something more. A happy marriage is a wonderful aspiration. In the past couple of years, I have asked approximately ten couples a question that all agreed was difficult to answer: "What are your criteria for a happy marriage?" Happiness is ephemeral. Some experts say that we only know happiness in retrospect when

we look back and remember the emotional state we experienced but didn't fully appreciate at the time. Do you have your own criteria for measuring how happy you are, or is this something you have never thought about before? A marriage's honeymoon is a time when couples expect they will be blissfully happy. Brides returning from their honeymoon are usually only too delighted to tell anyone who will listen how happy their husband makes them. I feel uncomfortable when I hear anyone say that a friend or partner makes them happy. The person who believes this is true has ceded control over how they feel. Someone who can make you happy and excited also has the power to make you sad and angry. It may seem like semantics, but words are incredibly powerful. Spouses who make each other responsible for their happiness are on a collision course for blame, complaints and grievances. An event occurs that

causes a row, and the hurt party feels victimised. Where there's a victim, you always find a villain, the person you blame for hurting your feelings and upsetting you. Let's say that Aoife and Archie are on the verge of breaking up. They are in serious financial difficulties when they come for relationship coaching. Their goal is to be happy and have a more emotionally healthy relationship. They are invited to answer powerful coaching questions, such as, "What are you feeling?" and "What do you say to yourself that makes you feel that way?" Each answers as best they can. Aoife feels hurt at how insensitive Archie can be about her worries. Her internal dialogue goes something like: "He lies; he's often sarcastic and argumentative. We're in serious debt. We need to talk. If he loved me, he wouldn't act this way. He has no right to have me worry. I deserve better. He has to take responsibility and not walk away when I want us to sort this out." Aoife's demand to talk makes

Archie feel threatened and defensive. He feels he's between a rock and a hard place. His internal dialogue goes something like: "I hate when she's right. I love her. I know she deserves better. I feel guilty about getting us in so much debt. It's not my fault that I overspent before losing my job. Can't she see how humiliated and ashamed I feel? I'm worried sick, and all she does is nag, nag, nag." Each wants the rows to end. Each wants the other to see their pain and stop doing things that are hurtful and annoying. Aoife wants an apology when Archie hurts her feelings. He wants her to stop nagging and stop going on and on about paying debts when they don't have money. Having listened carefully, the coach suggests they look at their relationship from a different perspective. She invites them to take a few minutes to reflect on the question: "What if your own expectations and internal dialogue trigger your feelings? Try changing 'You should' to 'Please could you?' and see how you feel." Changing the style of their communication is an excellent first step towards healing their relationship. The secret to a happy life is to accept that you are responsible for your own happiness.

Carmel Wynne is a life and work skills coach and lives in Dublin. For more information, visit www.carmelwynne.org

F E AT U R E

THE ROAD TO BRAZIL

Fr Tony Branagan's Extraordinary Life as a Missionary - Part 1

IN DECEMBER 2019, AT THE AGE OF 85, FR TONY BRANAGAN CSsR RETURNED HOME TO IRELAND AFTER MORE THAN 55 YEARS AS A FOREIGN MISSIONARY IN BRAZIL AND SIBERIA. FROM HIS CURRENT HOME IN CLONARD MONASTERY, BELFAST, HE REFLECTS ON HIS EARLY LIFE, HIS CALL TO JOIN THE REDEMPTORISTS, AND THE 32 YEARS HE SPENT IN BRAZIL. BY TRÍONA DOHERTY

Anthony

(Tony) Branagan was born in Rathkeale in County Limerick in 1934. His father Michael was married twice; his first wife passed away in 1922, and he was remarried in 1926 to Josephine ní Shaughnessy. Michael and Josephine went on to have nine children, including Tony, who was the fourth youngest. Tony also had four older siblings from his father's first marriage who lived with an aunt in Dublin and would visit during the holidays. When Tony was two years old, his family moved to Dublin, where they lived on Aughrim Street in Stoneybatter in the north of the city. He attended the parish primary school, right behind their house, before going on to secondary school

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with the Christian Brothers in North Brunswick Street, where he completed his Inter Cert. The call to religious life was evident from an early age. "From the earliest I can remember, I wanted to be a priest, and my family has told me it started when I was very young," says Fr Tony. "There was one time when I was 15 or 16 when I thought maybe I didn't have a vocation. I mentioned it to my mother, and she told me to pray about it, so I went to the sanctuary of Our Lady in Cabra and prayed about it. From that day, I never had any more doubts." Tony was attracted to the Redemptorists after attending a retreat with Fr Leo Halloran CSsR: "I told him I'd like to be a priest, and he brought me to Marianella [former Redemptorist

house in Dublin] where I met other lads who were thinking of becoming priests. He met my family, and they arranged for me to go to the Redemptorist Minor Seminary in Limerick for my last two years of school." It was his first time away from home, and Tony found the juvenate very different to the Christian Brothers: "My favourite subjects in school had been Maths and Science, but in the juvenate they weren't regarded as principal subjects," he recalls. But he settled in and was joined by a childhood friend, Phil Dunlea. "Phil was from Rathkeale, and I knew him from holidays in Ballybunion. I arrived in the juvenate and there he was, and we were together until after ordination." Tony went on to progress through the novitiate,

M ISS I O N S

to hear confessions and to preach at Mass and parish missions. FIRST STEP The year 1963 marked the first step in Fr Tony's missionary life, when he was appointed to Brazil along with friends Dan Bray from Tipperary and Bill Donnelly from Belfast – he would spend the next 32 years there. The initial journey itself was a "great adventure", travelling by boat from Dublin over a period of three weeks. "We stopped at Lisbon and various ports and islands like Trinidad and Barbados. In Lisbon, a priest met us and arranged for us to go to Fatima. We met a young English Anglican priest who was going to Trinidad, and we struck up a great friendship – it was the beginning of ecumenism! It was all very eye-opening after being in the seminary. While on our way to Brazil, Pope John XXIII died and Pope Paul VI was elected." When they reached Belém, a port city in the north of Brazil, they were met by a confrère and brought to the city's Redemptorist house. Once their paperwork was completed, they flew to Pedro Afonso in the centre of Brazil – "a small town on a very wide river [Tocantins], cut off from civilisation" (however, a new road was under construction from Brazilia to Belém which would run past the town). During his early years in Brazil, Fr Tony also spent time in São Paulo in the south of the country and Fortaleza in the north-east.

His first major placement was in a new parish in Iguatu on the river Jaguaribe, some 350 kilometres inland from Fortaleza. "It was a big parish covering half of the city and a rural area," says Fr Tony. "The Redemptorist community there consisted of myself and the parish priest, Fr Michael Kelly. The Second Vatican Council had finished in 1965, the documents of the council were coming out, and big changes were coming. We began to say Mass in Portuguese and to dress

As Redemptorists, we always had that sense that we might be going on the foreign missions

A wedding photo of Tony's parents Josephine and Michael, 1926, Dublin

after which a group of six went to university in Galway. "I studied for a degree in sociology, politics and philosophy. I found my studies quite difficult," he recalls. "My family weren't very academic, and no one else had gone to university. Those of us from the novitiate who had gone to university were then a year behind the lads we had been professed with, so we did an extra year of philosophy and theology in Cluain Mhuire [Redemptorist seminary in Galway]. There was a big number of us, up to 100 students. I liked the seminary and made good friends there." As Tony neared the end of his formation in the early 1960s, the Redemptorist mission to Brazil was just beginning, and he recalls the provincial visiting the seminary to gauge interest in this new mission: "As Redemptorists, we always had that sense that we might be going on the foreign missions. We met many priests who were coming back from India or the Philippines, and they gave talks to us, but I didn't have a preference." Fr Tony was ordained in January 1962, along with 17 others. His parents, two brothers and a sister attended. After ordination, he spent a week in the family home in Dublin, where he had the opportunity to say Mass in his local parish in the Church of the Holy Family; he describes this as "a very happy time". Upon finishing his studies, he spent a 'pastoral year' in Limerick preparing for ministry, during which he began

in civilian clothes and go out to the community more. "At the same time, the military dictatorship had taken over [in 1964], and the question of liberation theology was beginning to grow, and we were starting to move in that direction. We began to focus more on the social dimension of our apostolate, supporting people who were suppressed by the military government." Fr Tony recalls the extreme poverty in Iguatu, where he says there were funerals "almost every day" for babies who had died from dehydration and disease. "There was very little healthcare for poor people. Fr Michael started a clinic in the parish, he got a doctor to run it, and they got

Fr Tony with family and friends after his ordination at Aughrim Street Church, January 1962

MI S S I O N S

medicines like penicillin and started to distribute. It was very effective." When Fr Michael finished up at the end of 1969, Fr Tony was appointed parish priest of Iguatu for the following five years, sharing the workload with two other priests. In this role, he had several meetings with Bishop of Iguatu José Mauro Famalho, who had been heavily involved in Vatican II and was keen to put its resolutions into practice in the diocese.

MISSIONARY GROUP Fr Tony also served for two years as secretary to the Bishop of the Diocese of Miracema do Norte (Jim Collins CSsR from Kerry). During that time, he was part of a missionary group travelling to various parishes for missions. "There was a great difficulty with travel, with the huge river, long distances and dirt roads. We said Mass and preached every day. The emphasis was quite social; we were helping people to know their rights in the face of land conflicts," he explains. "Land was being taken over, and those living on the land were getting thrown out to make huge farms for cattle or cotton. Priests became advocates in this struggle, and we were instructed on the law and how to help people fight for their rights. It was a dangerous time, and many people were threatened; others were killed."

A young Fr Tony in the Redemptorist missionary habit

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Fr Tony with friends in Brazil

The years in Brazil brought both joys and sorrows. "We had a great relationship with the people. They were very open and shared their joys and sorrows with us. There was much celebration at times of Carnival, Christmas, around football and World Cups," recalls Fr Tony. "However, we had a big tragedy in 1973 when Fr Paddy Fitzgerald drowned. He had just arrived a few months previously. On a personal level, my mother died in 1963 and my father in 1970 while I was away. Some of my brothers and sisters also died while I was away. For any foreign missionary, that is a huge thing to deal with." By the mid-1980s, Fr Tony had been teaching students in the seminary in Fortaleza for several years but felt that a new challenge might be on the horizon. "At the end of my time teaching, I had a sense that some change was coming for me. I spoke to our vice-provincial in Brazil, Fr Richard Delahunty, and got permission to do a pastoral year in Dublin on peace studies from 1987-88 [with the Jesuits in Milltown Park]. It was a small group, and I found the studies very interesting." CALL OF THE EAST It was one of his fellow students who unwittingly set the wheels in motion for the next chapter of his life: "It was during that time that I got the idea of going to Russia. A lady on the course had been to Russia and gave me a brochure, and I got permission to go on a tour. A priest friend of mine in

England was on one of the international peace groups and he encouraged me, saying it would be interesting to get an idea of what was happening in Russia," says Fr Tony. This two-week trip in October 1988 made a deep impression on him as he got to know the country, its people and language, and learned about the Catholic Church's predicament there. On his return, he wrote an article for Reality about his experience. "Our Redemptorist in Rome who was responsible for Eastern Europe got my article, so he knew of my interest. I went back to Brazil but continued my interest in Russia," says Fr Tony. In 1993, he went on a second trip; this time, he visited the Redemptorists in Siberia and met Bishop Joseph Werth, who was keen to have him come to live and work in Siberia – the Catholic Church was enjoying a period of openness and revival following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Irish Provincial, Fr Brendan Callanan, agreed to the move, and Fr Tony eventually embarked on the long journey to Siberia in April 1996.

Tríona Doherty is a freelance journalist and editor who lives in Athlone. She is a regular contributor to Reality.

ANNIVE R S A RY

AMONGST

Remarkable Women 35 THIS YEAR MARKS THE 250th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARRIVAL IN IRELAND OF THE URSULINE SISTERS,WHOSE PRESENCE HAS HAD A REMARKABLE IMPACT. BY JOHN SCALLY

Just

as the Reformation was taking hold in Europe, a young Italian woman called Angela Merici had a vision of a new and revolutionary way of integrating women into the educational ministry of the church. Angela was born in the old part of Desenzano on Lake Garda in northern Italy sometime between 1470 and 1475. As a teenager, she felt called to do something worthwhile with her life. Her understanding of her mission was moulded by a vision she had while having a siesta in the nearby village of Brudazzo. Suddenly, she heard music and heavenly voices. When she opened her eyes, there among

the olive trees she saw a ladder rising to heaven. Angels were on the ladder, playing instruments, and young women were singing. Legend has it that the melody made such a deep impression on Angela that she could sing it many years later. In that vision, God told her she was to help other women and girls to live in ways that would propel them heavenward. For Angela, women were the ones who could challenge the corruption of the Renaissance society of the time. Passing on the faith to young women would improve the faith of society as a whole. In 1531, Angela began to develop a new community

Angela Merici was beatified in 1768 and canonised in 1807.

A N N IV E R S A RY

of women. Says the leader of the Ursulines in Ireland, Sr Anne Harte Barry: "At a time when there were only two options for women – marriage or cloister – she led women in a new way, and in 1535 established a form of consecrated life in the world without the protection of the cloister. It is a way of life still lived by many of her followers. Subsequent developments led to the development of two other strands. First, an uncloistered consecrated life with simple vows and a commitment to the Christian education of girls developed in France, followed later by a cloistered form of consecrated life with solemn vows."

for girls. They had 12 boarders, and it was an instant success. The sisters opened their doors to rich and poor alike. They soon received so many applications for their school that they were obliged to adjust their plans. The school quickly became a badge of honour to a subjugated and disadvantaged people. Nano Nagle – her intervention brought the Ursulines to Ireland

Sr Anne Harte Barry, leader of the Ursulines in Ireland

teaching congregation throughout Europe and the New World. Its legacy and ongoing impact are still apparent almost five centuries later, most notably, but not exclusively, in the formation of dynamic, welleducated women. Through their teaching, the sisters exercised a profound influence on the social life of the communities in which they lived. After some false dawns, the Ursulines finally arrived in Ireland in 1771 through the intervention of Nano Nagle, founder of the Irish Presentation Sisters. Margaret Butler, a cousin of Nano's, had joined the Ursulines in France. In 1767, Nano joined her in order to enter religious life and explore the

idea of an Ursuline foundation in Ireland. Having received permission from the Archbishop of Paris, Margaret and Nano sailed from Le Havre to Cork. Margaret's health declined, and she returned to France after a year. She was not in a cloistered state which created the hope that other sisters would be allowed to follow her example. With the money bequeathed to her by her uncle, and with help from her brother, Nano built a convent in Cove Lane, Cork, in preparation for the Ursuline sisters' arrival. The first group, accurately described as 'contraband freight', landed in Cork in May 1771. The first Ursuline convent in Ireland was opened on Ascension Thursday, May 9, 1771. Eight months later, they opened a boarding school, one of the first Irish Catholic secondary schools

Its legacy and ongoing impact are still apparent almost five centuries later, most notably, but not exclusively, in the formation of dynamic, well-educated women. URSULINES AND EDUCATION One strand of the Ursuline family would become a key female

Castle, Cathedral and Ursuline Convent in Thurles

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THE TRIP TO TIPP The next step on the Ursulines' Irish journey came in 1787 when, after completing her noviciate in Cork, Sister Clare Ursula (Anastasia Tobin), returned to her native Thurles, Co Tipperary, in response to a request from the Archbishop of Cashel. Pope Pius VI had given permission for this new foundation. Sr Clare Ursula set up school in a little thatched cottage which was also the convent for nine years. It was described as "so crazy that every blast of wind seemed likely to throw down the walls". Meek and mild these sisters were not. In 1804 the Mother Superior heard rumours that a barracks for British soldiers was to be established nearby. Worried that their presence would be detrimental to the moral fibre of her school girls, she took pen in hand and made her feelings known to the Lord Lieutenant in Dublin Castle. It was a bold move given the political climate. How could a note from a Roman Catholic nun who led a community of just four expect to change the plans of the greatest army the world had ever seen? The letter of reply stated in language that a bureaucrat could only write that her concerns had found a receptive audience and the barracks would be situated elsewhere. In sporting parlance, the outcome was: Ursulines 1: British Army 0.

The Ursuline Convent and School in Waterford

PIONEERING PRINCIPLES In 1816, the Waterford convent was founded by four sisters from Thurles. It was the 'year of the bad flour', which meant that often there was no food. They couldn't afford 'the good flour' available in shops at a very high price. In 1926, the introduction of the Montessori school there attracted great praise. Then senator William Butler Yeats visited it in his capacity as a government committee member appointed to investigate the state of Irish education. As a

result of this visit, the Ursulines in Waterford can claim to have left an indelible mark not just on the Irish educational landscape but also on the Irish literary landscape. His visit is credited as the inspiration for Yeats' famous poem 'Among School Children': I walk through the long schoolroom questioning; A kind old nun in a white hood replies; The children learn to cipher and to sing, To study reading-books and

Girls of the Ursuline Convent in Waterford pose in their gymnasium, circa 1908

history, To cut and sew, be neat in everything In the best modern way. TAKING THE SCENIC ROUTE The Ursulines came to Sligo in 1850 via a complex maze of detours and ecclesiastical turf wars. They continued the sisters' tradition of breaking the glass ceiling. The school in Sligo was originally a Gaelscoil. One of the sisters, Mother Mary of the Sacred Heart, wrote the first Irish-language science book

for secondary schools, Eolaíocht do'n Scoláire Og. In 1966, the first female Young Scientist of the Year, Mary Finn, came from the school. What unites Ursulines everywhere is "the love of Christ which urge us on" (2 Cor 5:14). United by that passion, the Ursulines have given effective witness to the love that makes them live. Reflecting on religious life in the western world today, Sr Anne Harte-Barry observes: "We are at the end of an era. Religious life as our forebearers knew it is changing. Its shape in 50 or a hundred years is unknown to us now. Religion and religious life are so different from when we were growing up and need to evolve in line with people's experience, with the exciting and wonderful scientific and theological insights and developments which are calling for a new way of being religious and of being Christian today." Just as Angela Merici conceived of a new way of being a religious sister 500 years ago, so today, new forms of religious life will emerge to address the challenges of the digital age.

John Scally teaches theology at Trinity College, Dublin. He has a special interest in the areas of ethics and history.

WITH A FATHER'S HEART ON THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION 2020, POPE FRANCIS FORMALLY LAUNCHED THE SPECIAL JUBILEE YEAR IN HONOUR OF ST JOSEPH. IT WILL CONCLUDE ON THE SAME DAY IN 2021. BY BRENDAN McCONVERY CSsR

Pope

Francis has never made any secret of his devotion to St Joseph. He inaugurated his pontificate on St Joseph's feast. In his homily, he spoke of St Joseph's role as protector and reminded us that we are all called to be protectors of creation, "protectors of God's plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment." One of his first official acts was to approve a proposal his predecessor had not been able to ratify, namely to include the name of St Joseph in all the Eucharistic Prayers of the Mass and not simply in the first (the traditional Roman Canon), where it had been inserted in 1962 by another papal lover of St Joseph, Pope St John XXIII. A curious, and usually unnoticed, feature on Francis' papal coat of arms is the symbol of the spikenard, an ancient fragrant plant mentioned in the Bible. This has been identified as the flower that often appears in representations of St Joseph. On another occasion, Pope Francis told visitors how he kept a sleeping St Joseph figure on his desk and slipped requests for prayer under it, confident that St Joseph would think about it while he slept. He joked that, like a good carpenter, Joseph might keep you waiting, but you could be sure he would do a good job when he got around to it! In a footnote to the apostolic letter instituting this special year in honour of St Joseph, he reveals another of his devotions to the saint. "Every day, for over 40 years, following Lauds I have recited a prayer to Saint Joseph taken from a19th century French prayer book… It expresses devotion and trust and even poses a certain challenge to Saint Joseph: 'Glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph, whose power makes the impossible possible, come to my aid in these times of anguish and difficulty. Take under your protection the serious and troubling situations that I commend to you, that they may

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have a happy outcome. My beloved father, all my trust is in you. Let it not be said that I invoked you in vain, and since you can do everything with Jesus and Mary, show me that your goodness is as great as your power. Amen.'" WHY THIS YEAR? The announcement of a special year in honour of St Joseph came as something of a surprise. The year 2020 marked the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of St Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church by Pope Pius IX in 1870. That was a difficult time for the church and the papacy. The first Vatican council, which began on December 8,1869, defined the infallibility of the pope in July 1870. The approach towards Rome of the armies of the new Italian state brought it to a hasty conclusion. On September 20, 1870, Rome, the ancient city of the popes, was declared capital of the newly-united Kingdom of Italy. The state confiscated the Quirinale, the popes' summer residence, for use as the palace of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of Italy. In the aftermath of these events, Pius IX proclaimed St Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church by the decree Quemadmodum Deus – opening words for "just as almighty God appointed Joseph, son of the patriarch Jacob over all the land of Egypt…". While it had been in session, the council had invoked the prayers of Joseph for what it anticipated would be difficult days ahead: And now, therefore, when in these most troublesome times the church is beset by enemies on every side and is weighed down by calamities so heavy that ungodly men assert that the gates of hell have at length prevailed against her, the venerable prelates of the whole Catholic world have

presented to the Sovereign Pontiff their own petitions and those of the faithful committed to their charge, praying that he would deign to constitute St Joseph Patron of the Church… Accordingly, it has now pleased our Most Holy Sovereign, Pope Pius IX … to comply with the prelates' desire and has solemnly declared St Joseph Patron of the Catholic Church. In 1883, Pope Leo XIII instructed that the rosary be recited each day of October along with a special prayer to St Joseph. One of its invocations summed up the reasons for special prayer to St Joseph: "As thou didst snatch the Child Jesus from danger of death, so now defend the holy Church of God from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity."

5. Joseph is an example of creative courage in facing the challenges of life. Francis singles out the holy family's stay in Egypt as an occasion when that creative courage was manifest. What did it mean for a young couple with few resources to head off into the unknown of a strange land? Although the gospel narrative tells is little about their stay in Egypt, "they certainly needed to eat, to find a home and employment. It does not take much imagination to fill in those details. The Holy Family had to face concrete problems like every other family, like so many of our migrant brothers and sisters who, today too, risk their lives to escape misfortune and hunger." This makes them the special patrons of those people so The symbols on Pope Francis' coat of arms are: 1. The traditional close to the heart of Pope Francis, "all abbreviation of the Holy Name of Jesus (IHS), for his religious order, the those forced to leave their native lands Jesuits. 2. The star (traditional symbol of Blessed Virgin Mary). 3. The "WITH A FATHER'S HEART" because of war, hatred, persecution and spikenard flower, associated with St Joseph. The title of Pope Francis's Apostolic poverty.” Letter initiating the Year of St Joseph is 6. Joseph is a working father. This has be in complete control, yet God always sees the Patris Corde – 'with a father's heart'. The Holy Father been central to the church's teaching on St Joseph bigger picture." identifies seven aspects of the paternal relationship throughout the modern age. We will return to 3. Joseph was an obedient father. His obedience of Joseph and Jesus which are an excellent summary this again. was manifest in his willingness to respond to the will of the meaning of devotion to St Joseph. 7. Joseph is a father in the shadows. Here Pope of God that was often revealed to him in dreams. 1. First and foremost, Joseph is a beloved father Francis addresses some of his most telling words to This same spirit of obedience was transmitted to who has been venerated and honoured by believers fathers today. Fathers, he reminds us, are not born Jesus. During the hidden years passed in Nazareth, on account of the special relationship they share but made. Men do not become fathers simply by Jesus learned from the example of Joseph how to with him. "Thanks to his role in salvation history, begetting offspring. One of the tragedies of family become at the most difficult moment of his life Saint Joseph has always been venerated as a father life today is that children, even when both their "obedient unto death, even death on a cross" (Phil by the Christian people. This is shown by the parents are still alive, often seem orphans, lacking 2:8). During the hidden years in Nazareth, Joseph countless churches dedicated to him worldwide, fathers. Fatherhood is a challenge, for becoming a was Jesus's tutor on how to do the will of the Father. the numerous religious Institutes, confraternities father "entails introducing children to life and reality. 4. Joseph was an accepting father. From the very and ecclesial groups inspired by his spirituality Not holding them back, being overprotective or beginning of the infancy Gospel, Joseph was a and bearing his name, and the many traditional possessive, but rather making them capable of model of unconditional acceptance. He accepted expressions of piety in his honour." deciding for themselves, enjoying freedom and the shock of Mary's pregnancy unconditionally, 2. Joseph is a tender and loving father. Pope Francis exploring new possibilities." even when he could only grasp its importance by considers that Joseph learned the deeper meaning trusting totally in what was revealed to him. This of fatherhood in his daily prayer of the Psalms that CONCLUSION is something, Pope Francis suggests, that makes often invoked God's memory as father. Being a The Year of St Joseph, as Pope Francis sets it before him a model of authentic masculinity. "Today, in father was not something that came without some us, is a challenge and invitation to the whole church, our world where psychological, verbal and physical degree of struggle, but Joseph believed God was at but especially to its younger male members who violence towards women is so evident, Joseph work in him. His example, Pope Francis suggests, are already fathers or who are preparing to face the appears as the figure of a respectful and sensitive "teaches us that faith in God includes believing that challenge of fatherhood. man. Even though he doesn't understand the bigger he can work even through our fears, our frailties picture, he decides to protect Mary's good name, Fr Brendan McConvery CSsR is editor of Reality. He has published and our weaknesses. He also teaches us that amid her dignity and her life. In his hesitation about how The Redemptorists in Ireland (1851 – 2011), St Gerard Majella: the tempests of life, we must never be afraid to let best to act, God helped him by enlightening his Rediscovering a Saint and historical guides to Redemptorist the Lord steer our course. At times, we want to foundations in Clonard, Limerick and Clapham, London. judgment.”

F E AT U R E

THE COMPLEX LANDSCAPE

OF THE PAST

WHILE MANY PEOPLE SPEAK NEGATIVELY ABOUT THE IRELAND OF THE PAST, THE AUTHOR REFLECTS ON AN UPBRINGING THAT WAS BENIGN RATHER THAN OPPRESSIVE. BY KEVIN WILLIAMS

Recently

some old friends have been sharing photos of GAA and athletics teams from our schooldays. This prompted me to excavate the memories of my youth and, like Marcel Proust, enter into a search for my past. My memories of my schooldays

recall. Conversations with contemporaries encourage me to feel I have not been practising memory burial. So what was it like as a pupil of St Paul's Raheny, the Vincentian school that I attended? Religion lessons included much discussion of fundamental philosophical

proofs for God's existence are alive in my mind, and I continue to find most of them persuasive. Yet I remain perplexed by the contradiction in the argument from causality. If everything must have a cause, then how can it be claimed that God is uncaused? I also enjoyed discussion about the nature and status of angels and especially of guardian angels. This is not to say that the boys in my class were all equally intrigued by the lessons. Apart from a small group, most treated the whole business with a mild indifference. I cannot recall fear of hell having the slightest influence on anyone's behaviour – which was little different from that of young people

Class differences were reflected in the sports that people played and followed. Growing up, we were aware of this division, and it was captured in the dictum that soccer is a gentleman's game played by hooligans, rugby is a hooligans' game played by gentlemen, and Gaelic football is a hooligans' game played by hooligans. that ended over four decades ago little reflect the stories of intellectual suffocation and general repression that some people REALITY APRIL 2021

and theological matters, and a key text was Archbishop Michael Sheehan's Apologetics and Catholic Doctrine. To this day, St Thomas'

today. I certainly have no recollection of compliant Catholics assiduously fulfilling religious duties. Instead, my recollections are of boys who were as enthusiastic for sexual activity, alcohol, and even drugs as today's young people are supposed to be. The conduct and values of my contemporaries were not conspicuously different from those of youth today. Most of my contemporaries connected as little with Irish as they did with religion and I suspect that few can speak more than a couple of words of the language today. I resonated with Irish and enjoyed accessing its inner workings and comparing them to English, French and Latin. SCEPTICAL These recollections serve to make me sceptical of those who speak of a past populated by biddable youths governed by

moral police and equally harsh zealots forcing the language on the young. Compulsory study of religion and of Irish did not produce adults committed to the faith and proficient in the language. The spirit of the school was liberal, partly because it was run by the Vincentians who had a commitment to humane learning. This spirit is communicated in an interview with the late Eugene McCabe, who died in 2020, which appeared in a volume edited by the late Dan Murphy of Trinity College. McCabe attended Castleknock, another Vincentian college, during the 1940s and he remembers warmly the intellectual, cultural and sporting climate of the school at the time. The emphasis on sport did not detract from a high value being placed on literature. He benefited from tuition from very good English teachers and, most of all, he was encouraged to write, especially by the late Fr Donal Cregan, who was to become president of St Patrick’s, Drumcondra. Interestingly, too, McCabe experienced little sense of Irish nationhood in the school's ethos. Still, he was to write powerful plays dealing with the 'Troubles' in the North. In a similar vein, John McGahern speaks of the relaxed, non-punitive climate of his secondary school run by the Presentation Brothers. He claims that they were 'liberal' and 'encouraged reading' and thus quite unlike the Christian Brothers. CLASS ELEMENT The class element implied in McGahern's distinction between the Presentation Brothers and the Christian Brothers was not absent from leafy Clontarf in the 1960s and 70s. He mentions this in his Memoirs and in interviews where he refers to teaching in Belgrove, the local national school. In Clontarf, class differences were reflected in the sports that people played and followed. Growing up, we were aware of this division, and it was captured in the dictum that soccer is a gentleman's game played by hooligans, rugby is a hooligans' game played by gentlemen, and Gaelic football is a hooligans' game played by hooligans. It is interesting

to note that those who played these sports referred to their chosen game as 'football', which, for me, meant GAA. Though I played all three, I never resonated to the allegiance many displayed towards English soccer teams or 'football clubs', as they called them. Such volumes of reminiscences as Catholic Girls and Convent Girls and, indeed, the fictional account of education in a wellknown Limerick school in The Land of Spices by Kate O'Brien confirm my impression that positive memories of school are quite common among many people who attended schools run by certain religious orders. These were the orders that generally served the middle class both in Ireland and elsewhere. Schools that served the more affluent tended to be liberal in their educational philosophy and encouraged intellectual inquiry on the part of pupils. CAVEATS Two qualifications need to be made here. First, not everyone who attended such schools had a positive experience. Undoubtedly, many past pupils of these schools look back with resentment upon their school days. Second, I do not for one moment want to suggest that the experience of intellectual stimulation and cultural enrichment was the exclusive preserve of a middle/upper-class constituency of learners. Many young people who came from modest backgrounds and attended less privileged schools also enjoyed a liberating education. Commitment to the promotion of honest and rigorous intellectual inquiry was also found among teachers of the less advantaged. Yet a comprehensive review of different recollections of educational experiences would probably disclose significant correlation between class background and positive memories of the past.

Dr Kevin Williams is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Evaluation, Quality and Inspection, Institute of Education, DCU.

ALL DESERVE ACCESS TO THE COVID-19 VACCINE

"NONE OF US IS SAFE UNTIL ALL OF US ARE SAFE," SAYS DR MIKE RYAN OF WHO AS HE ACCEPTS TRÓCAIRE'S ROMERO AWARD. 42 BY DAVID O'HARE

a passionate address on Ash Wednesday, Sligo-born Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said richer countries must share COVID-19 vaccines with frontline healthcare workers and the most vulnerable in developing countries. "Once we cover those individuals who are most vulnerable in our society, can we then at least begin to share with those in the world who don't have access to the vaccine? None of us is safe until all of us are safe," he said. Dr Ryan and Dr Lilian Otiso, of Kenyan healthcare provider LVCT Health, were receiving Trócaire's Romero Award in an online ceremony in recognition of their efforts to protect vulnerable communities from COVID-19. The annual award, given to honour outstanding contributions to global justice, was given this year to co-recipients to recognise the efforts at the global and local levels to protect people from the virus. Dr Ryan was awarded for his global leadership and his efforts to highlight the risks facing vulnerable people in the developing

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world, while LVCT Health, a Trócaire partner, was named as co-recipient for their efforts to protect vulnerable young women in Kenya throughout the pandemic. Trócaire CEO Caoimhe de Barra said: "The last 12 months have been enormously difficult for everybody. Combatting COVID-19 has required a global and local response. We are delighted to award the Romero Award to Dr Mike Ryan for his global leadership and to LVCT Health for their vitally important

SUPPORTING SOUTH SUDAN This Lent, the UK government will match public donations up to May 16 in Northern Ireland pound for pound. These matched funds will support thousands of people in South Sudan to grow enough food to feed their families by empowering women, facilitating access to cultivated land, and providing suitable crops and training on sustainable farming practices. For more information on the Lenten appeal, visit trocaire.org.

work in protecting young women in Kenya. "Trócaire's partners around the world have had to change their programmes entirely to respond to the health and social needs brought about by the pandemic. LVCT Health has worked with vulnerable women in Kenya to keep them safe, not only from COVID-19 but also from gender-based violence. The rates of violence against women around the world have grown significantly during the pandemic. Violence against women is itself a pandemic, and we are delighted to work with such a strong partner as LVCT Health to help keep young women safe. "We are also delighted to honour Dr Mike Ryan. Dr Ryan has consistently highlighted the threat of COVID-19 in the developing world and the need for global solidarity in our response to the virus. This message is so important now at a time when the unequal distribution of vaccines threatens to derail the global effort to combat this virus." NO DISCRIMINATION Accepting the Romero Award, Dr Ryan said:

THE ROMERO AWARD This is the third time the Trócaire Romero Award has been awarded. The inaugural winner in 2018 was Sr Bridget Tighe in honour of her more than two decades working with vulnerable people in the Middle East. The following year, the award went to Abelino Chub Caal, a Guatemalan human rights defender who had spent over two years in prison due to his efforts to protect the rights of indigenous communities. "COVID-19 does not discriminate. We, too, cannot, must not, discriminate in our fight against this pandemic. Doing so will only work in the pandemic's favour. The last eight months have shown us that unity, not singularity, defeats pandemics. Richer countries don't need to share all of their vaccines. They need to share just some of their vaccines so that the most vulnerable

Dr Lilian Otiso

Praying the Rosary

and the most at risk in the developing world would have access. And I think the citizens in Ireland, north and south, would want that to happen." Dr Lilian Otiso of LVCT Health said: "COVID-19 has been difficult for everyone but especially the vulnerable. Lockdowns and other restrictions made the poor even poorer, increased cases of genderbased violence and interrupted schooling for millions of children. We are grateful to partners like Trócaire and our staff who adapted quickly and worked tirelessly to minimise the suffering and improve access to food and education for vulnerable girls and their families. As COVID-19 continues to threaten the world, let us ensure our response does not further marginalise those most vulnerable in our communities. We are not hopeful of receiving any vaccines in Kenya this year, and this is very unfair when some countries are buying five times the number of their population."

Just

€3

Plus P+P

MEDITATING THE GOSPEL STORY WITH THE MOTHER OF THE LORD By Fr George Wadding CSsR Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that when we pray the rosary in a prayerful, contemplative manner, it lifts us into a world where “we see and enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known.” Fr George Wadding CSsR is well-known for his thoughtful but simple and imaginative style of writing. In this little book, he invites us to explore the twenty scenes from the story of Jesus our Redeemer that make up the Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous and Glorious mysteries of the Rosary. Walking and praying with Mary, we accompany the Lord along his way. This beautifully illustrated book is for beginners, as well as those who have been praying the rosary for many years. It can be used by the family or a prayer group. It is ideal for those who wish to pray the rosary tranquilly, resting in the mysteries, like Mary, ‘who pondered them in her heart.’ It is well-bound but still small enough to slip into a handbag or a pocket, and the colourful images for each decade will long stay in the memory. May God’s Spirit be with all who seek comfort in its pages.

To Order:

ONLINE: www.redcoms.org EMAIL: sales@redcoms.org PHONE: 00353 (1) 4922 488 Redemptorist Communications, St Joseph’s Monastery, Dundalk, Co.Louth A91 F3FC

CO M M E N T REALITY CHECK PETER McVERRY SJ

EXPLAINING DRUG-FUELLED VIOLENCE

RAISED IN A NEOLIBERAL SOCIETY THAT PERPETUATES SYSTEMIC POVERTY, IT'S NO SURPRISE THAT MANY YOUNG MEN SEE DRUGS AND DRUG-DEALING AS THEIR ONLY MEANS OF ESCAPE. "The most dangerous creation of any society is the person who has nothing to lose." James Baldwin.

In recent decades, our society has become increasingly violent. We have sometimes witnessed drugrelated, at other times, random, unprovoked knife attacks, leading to death or serious injury. Consider John (not his real name), a 14-year-old growing up in a deprived area, whose parents have been unemployed for as long as he can remember, who anxiously await the weekly visit from the St Vincent de Paul with a voucher to help meet their food bills, who borrow from moneylenders for Christmas – as well as for birthdays, First Communions and Confirmations, and when the television breaks down – plunging them into a debt they can only repay by borrowing more from a different money-lender. John sees for himself only a future of unemployment, or perhaps low-paid, insecure or part-time employment, waiting at least 12 years to get a council house in which to rear his children and facing the same struggle as his parents to provide even the basic necessities of life for his family. Going to school won't change anything. He only goes because he has to. He can read and write reasonably well and sees no point in learning algebra or history or the names of the rivers in Russia.

REALITY APRIL 2021

John is growing up in an area devastated by drug use and drug dealing. Many young people are hostile to the Gardaí and alienated from the wider society around them. They see no future for themselves. Some people care – the local youth worker, a kind teacher or a sympathetic probation officer. But they cannot change the systemic injustice which defines the future for them. Our society has analysed to death the poor and areas of deprivation. Many books have been written about them. Some people have got their PhDs by researching them. But we can only understand people like John by looking at the broader society in which he lives. Our society is dominated by money and the desire for more money. Businesses constantly seek ways to increase profits. John's father was made redundant by a company that saw it could

increase its profits by making him unemployed. Society says that this is how 'the market' works. There is no alternative. Or rather, the alternative is to become 'uncompetitive' and go out of business. Politicians are obsessed with growth, meaning increasing the country's wealth, even if this involves austerity weighing most heavily on the poor, as it did during the last recession. This neoliberal culture and its idolatry of growth, profit and the market are accompanied by an increasing individualism, with its isolated conscience, which ignores the structural injustices that create and maintain neighbourhoods of poverty and marginalisation. The only way out that John can see is by selling drugs. Those in his community who sell drugs have money and status. Lots of it. Their material desires are fulfilled. They go on foreign holidays, have

the latest gadgets at Christmas, and wear expensive jewellery and Rolex watches. Drug dealing also is a business dominated by money and the desire for more. And the drug business also is highly competitive. The only way to stay in business is to be more violent than your competitors. The weak die or are forced to leave the country. Violence becomes part of who you are. This is how 'the market' works; there is no alternative. Like traditional businesses, you become obsessed with growth, expanding your territory, eliminating the competition. If I tell them that they will likely end up dead or in prison, they will reply: "I'm already in prison; it's just there are no bars.” Or: "I don't want to die, but I live for the present because there is no future." Irish people are generous. They donate to the St Vincent de Paul and numerous other charities. Many charities depend on the generosity of the Irish public. But we need to ask why charities, which provide basic needs such as shelter and food, even need to exist. In the words of Martin Luther King: "Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of injustice which makes philanthropy necessary."

For more information or to support the Peter McVerry Trust: www.pmvtrust.ie info@pmvtrust.ie +353 (0)1 823 0776

GOD’S WORD THIS MONTH

SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY Early on the Sunday morning before dawn, Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb of Jesus. Seeing EASTER SUNDAY that the stone has been rolled away, she concludes that someone must have stolen Jesus’ body. For this is what she reports to Peter and the Beloved Disciple. Note that she says “we do not know…” She is not just expressing her own puzzlement at the empty tomb, but also that of all Jesus’ disciples. Once Mary has made her report, the focus shifts to Peter and the Beloved Disciple. They now set off for the empty tomb. The Beloved

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Disciple gets there first and waits for Peter to catch up. But he does look inside the tomb and sees the linen wrappings. Peter, always impulsive, has no hesitation and enters the tomb. He notes the linen wrappings and the place of the head cloth. The evangelist has offered us a dramatic progression in what has been seen. Mary saw the stone rolled away. The Beloved Disciple saw the linen wrappings. Peter saw the wrappings and the head cloth. Mary’s fear that the body was stolen is resolved. When stealing a body, grave robbers would never leave the burial garments behind. The implication is that no one has stolen Jesus’ body away. He has stolen away from death. It is only now that the Beloved Disciple

enters the tomb. The Gospel tells us that “he saw and believed.” What did he believe? Is it Mary’s report or is it faith in the Resurrection? What he believes in is the evidence of the empty tomb. He believes not simply that the tomb is empty, but that its emptiness bears witness to the Resurrection. They have not yet met the Risen Lord and so scriptural faith in the Resurrection as such still awaits them. They will only come to full faith in Jesus’ resurrection when they encounter the Risen Lord and he sends the Holy Spirit. Today’s Readings Acts 10:34. 37-43; Ps 117; Col 3:1-4; Jn 20:1-9

God’s Word continues on page 46

GOD’S WORD THIS MONTH I’M A BELIEVER It is evening on the first Easter Sunday and the disciples are behind closed doors full of fear. They SECOND SUNDAY clearly have not believed OF EASTER Mary Magdalene’s report, and have shut themselves away “for fear of the Jews”. Jesus’ greeting is one of peace. It is an ordinary greeting, still used in Israel today. Yet Jesus reminds this fear-filled group that, with his peace, there is no need to be afraid of the Jewish authorities. Jesus then shows them his hands and side. They break into rejoicing as the reality of his resurrection dawns on them. Jesus repeats the greeting of peace. But

this is not mere repetition. The disciples have finally come to recognise him as Risen Lord and the peace that only he can give. Jesus offers them peace and now sends them out to continue God’s work. He breathes on them. The Holy Spirit is the breath of the new life offered by God to all who believe in Jesus. It is this believing community, filled with the Holy Spirit, which will now continue God’s work begun in Jesus. Thomas is not present when Jesus appears to the disciples. When they tell him the good news of the Resurrection, he does not believe. Jesus appears again a week later and offers Thomas the proof he is seeking. Pay particular attention to how verse 27 is translated in the reading. The Greek text reads: “do not be

RISEN LORD In today’s gospel Jesus APRIL appears to the Jerusalem community. It comes immediately after the story about how two THIRD SUNDAY disciples met Jesus on OF EASTER the road to Emmaus, and how it was only when he broke bread at table with them that they recognised him as Risen Lord. They raced back to Jerusalem to tell the others and that’s where we pick up today’s story. Luke’s account of the appearance of the Risen Jesus has close parallels with John’s Gospel that we read last Sunday. These parallels are: Jesus’ greeting of peace, his invitation to touch him, and the disciples’ doubt. In Luke’s story (as in John’s) Jesus greets his disciples with “peace”. Fear and doubt set in immediately. They doubt what they are experiencing and think it is a ghost. Yet they say nothing. Jesus’ response is first to question their doubting attitude and then to alleviate it by proving he is no ghost. Jesus’ first proof is to show them his hands and feet. Luke is clear that the Risen Lord has a living, physical body. Jesus’ invitation to

examine his hands and feet is to verify that his body is physically real. But this first proof doesn’t work. The disciples still do not believe and remain in their wondering doubt. Jesus’ second proof is to eat grilled fish in front of them. Luke wants to make an important point: these disciples are eyewitnesses to the Resurrection and are those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. Jesus now gets the disciples both to look back in time and to look to the future. In looking back, he interprets the scriptures in relation to his death and resurrection. He reminds them of everything he had told them while he was with them. He had told them that he would die. He had told them that everything in the scriptures about him would be fulfilled. He refers to “the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms”. These are the three sections of the Hebrew scriptures with which Luke’s readers would be familiar. In short, Jesus tells the disciples that everything in all of the scriptures has been fulfilled in his death and resurrection. Not only are his death and resurrection the fulfilment of the scriptures, so too is the preaching of repentance to all nations in his name.

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REALITY APRIL 2021

unbelieving, but believing.” There is nothing about “doubt” here and Thomas does not deserve the moniker of 'Doubter'. Jesus is inviting him to move from unbelief to belief, and offers himself as the basis for this. Thomas’ response to Jesus is profound – “My Lord and my God!” Thomas recognises, not only that Jesus is risen, but that Jesus now shares God’s glory. Thomas and the other disciples have come to faith because they have seen Jesus. Now Jesus offers a blessing to future believers who have come to faith without seeing. Today’s Readings Acts 4:32-35; Ps 117; 1 Jn 5:1-6; Jn 20:19-31

The text ends with Jesus declaring that the disciples are witnesses. They are most suitable for this role because they can give testimony to the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus and proclaim the significance of Jesus with a living faith. Today’s Readings Acts 3:13-15. 17-19; Ps 4; 1 Jn 2:1-5; Lk 24:35-48

THE REALITY CROSSWORD NUMBER � APRIL ��

MODEL SHEPHERD This is Good Shepherd Sunday and in the gospel Jesus describes himself as the “good shepherd” whom he contrasts with the “hired hand”. The Greek word for “good” is kalós, but it also means 'true' or FOURTH SUNDAY 'genuine'. Jesus is claiming to be the 'true' or 'model' OF EASTER shepherd. But what kind of shepherd is he? He is one who is willing to die for his sheep. In Jesus’ time, at night fall, the shepherds would round up the sheep and guide them into a sheep-pen. It was a rectangular stone structure about a metre high. But it had no gate. When the sheep were all inside, the shepherd would lie across the open gate. If a wild animal should attack the sheep or a thief should try to steal them, they would have to face the shepherd. Indeed, many a shepherd died while protecting his sheep. Unlike the good shepherd, the hired hand is not willing to die for the sheep. He is only interested in what he can get from looking after them. So, when the sheep are threatened, he abandons the sheep to danger and destruction. For a second time Jesus states that he is the “good shepherd”. This time he uses the phrase based on the quality of his relationship with his followers and with God. He is a good shepherd because he “knows” his own who “know” him, just as he “knows” the Father and the Father “knows” him. Generally in the Bible the degree to which one person knows another is based on the intimacy of their relationship. Similarly, one can only really know God if one has a close, personal, intimate relationship with God. The “good shepherd” has such a relationship not only with his sheep (his followers) but also with the Father. It is because of both these relationships that he lays down his life for his sheep. In the final part of the reading, Jesus leaves aside the shepherd image and focuses on his own death and his relationship with the Father. In these short verses the evangelist identifies three theological themes which are essential for understanding the death of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel. The first is that Jesus lays down his life out of love. The second theme is that Jesus lays down his life freely and in obedience to God. He is not anyone’s victim, but remains in control of his life to its end. The final theme is that Jesus’ death and resurrection are connected. He lays down his (earthly) life in order to take up his (risen) life. Jesus takes up his life by the power given him by the Father.

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SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD No. 1 ACROSS: Across: 1. Esther, 5. Mammon, 10. Aurochs, 11. Recital, 12. Baku, 13. Orcas, 15. Kiev, 17. Yam, 19. Bishop, 21. Solemn, 22. Marvels, 23. Pass by, 25. Yellow, 28. Ore, 30. Lies, 31. Abyss, 32. Asks, 35. Amphora, 36. Elixirs, 37. Deluge, 38. Malign. DOWN: 2. Strikes, 3. Hack, 4. Rosary, 5. Miriam, 6. Mace, 7. Outside, 8. Baobab, 9. Eleven, 14. Calvary, 16. Tombs, 18. Roses, 20. Pay, 21. Sly, 23. Pillar, 24. Steeple, 26. Listing, 27. Wisest, 28. Oblate, 29. Esteem, 33. Tofu, 34. Till.

Winner of Crossword No. 1 Noel Murphy, Greenhills, Dublin.

ACROSS 1. Place for public Christian worship. (6) 5. This John wrote 'The Pilgrim's Progress'. (6) 10. Show reverence and adoration for God. (7) 11. Mary, mother of Jesus. (3,4) 12. Take this hardwood. (4) 13. Remove the lid or cover from. (5) 15. The hill of Jerusalem on which the city of David was built. (4) 17. When you have this gift you're an excellent speaker. (3) 19. Many-headed serpents of Greek and Roman mythology. (6) 21. Sides of a cut gem. (6) 22. Knotty problem solved by Alexander the Great. (7) 23. Sharp power tool and cardboard puzzle. (6) 25. Europe's second-longest river. (6) 28. Long bench with a back. (3) 30. Object indicating the occurrence of something else. (4) 31. Art that uses sound in time. (5) 32. Movable frame for a coffin. (4) 35. Nationality of those born in Jerusalem. (7) 36. Small field where horses are kept. (7) 37. Sinful, wicked. (6) 38. A stoat by another name. (6)

DOWN 2. The oldest university in the USA. (7) 3. The largest urban area in Germany. (4) 4. Wishing for something to happen. (6) 5. It is also called 'the Upside-down tree'. (6) 6. Fiery Roman emperor. (4) 7. Extreme greed for wealth or material gain. (7) 8. A small sample of fabric. (6) 9. African scavengers. (6) 14. Wax stick used for votive purposes. (7) 16. A person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main worl religions. (5) 18. A man made waterway. (5) 20. Plant seed by scattering it on or in the earth. (3) 21. A trend or craze, often short-lived. (3) 23. A member of the society founded by St. Ignatius Loyola. (6) 24. This Yuri was the first human being to travel into space. (7) 26. Legendary creature with a single horn projecting from its forehead. (7) 27. What Archimedes said when he had it! (6) 28. Freedom from contamination, adulteration or immorality. (6) 29. Cloth headdress still worn by some nuns. (6) 33. No quantity or number. (4) 34. The very first man. (4)

Entry Form for Crossword No.3, April 2021 Name:

Today’s Readings

Address:

Acts 4:8-12; Ps 117; 1 Jn 3:1-2; Jn 10:11-18

Telephone:

All entries must reach us by Friday April 30, 2021 One €35 prize is offered for the first correct solutions opened. The Editor’s decision on all matters concerning this competition will be final. Do not include correspondence on any other subject with your entry which should be addressed to: Reality Crossword No.3, Redemptorist Communications, St Joseph's Monastery, Dundalk, County Louth A91 F3FC

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Reality Magazine April Edition 2021

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