Reality Magazine December 2021

Nollaig faoi shéan is faoi shonas duit

Reality A happy and prosperous Christmas to you

Informing, Inspiring, Challenging Today’s Catholic

DECEMBER 2021

IN SERVICE OF GOD’S LITTLE ONES FR MARTIN MURRAY’S MISSION IN BRAZIL

THE PEOPLE'S POET REMEMBERING BRENDAN KENNELLY

CARAVAGGIO’S WONDERFUL LEGACY

PLUS INSIDE: THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE REDEMPTORISTS

www.redcoms.org Redemptorist-Communications @RedComsIreland �2.50 �2.00

This Christmas

from Redemptorist Communications 6 Beautiful designs for Christmas

These assorted designs are in packs of 12 with envelopes for just €5 (plus p+p)

TO ORDER: Tel: 00353 (1) 4922 488 Email: sales@redcoms.org Web: www.redcoms.org

In this Christmas issue FEATURES �� IN SERVICE OF GOD’S LITTLE ONES Fr Martin Murray’s mission to Brazil’s poor

By Anne Staunton and Pat O'Sullivan

�� THE IMPORTANCE OF LIGHT The symbol of light is central to the story of Christmas

By Maria Hall

�� �� THINGS ABOUT CHRISTMAS A few festive facts you won’t find in a cracker

By Fr Gerard Moloney CSsR

�� CARAVAGGIO’S WONDERFUL LEGACY It’s 450 years since the great artist’s birth

By Fr Michael Collins

��

�� BURYING THE DEAD IN MOZAMBIQUE Life in an African parish during Covid

By Fr Brian Holmes CSsR

�� CEBU’S SILVER JUBILEE It's 25 years since the vice-province in the southern Philippines became independent

By Fr Colm Meaney CSsR

�� WHATEVER THE WEATHER Mission life under a tropical sun

By Fr Colm Meaney CSsR

��

��

�� THE ADAM AND EVE MYTH The Adam and Eve story conveys the uncomfortable truth that none of us is perfect

By Fr John J. Ó Ríordáin CSsR

Opinion

Regulars

11 EDITORIAL

04 REALITY BITES

FRANÇOIS MAURIAC’S CONTE DE NOËL

17 JIM DEEDS

07 POPE MONITOR

A powerful reminder of the need to celebrate or rediscover the child-like joy of Christmas

By Eamon Maher

31 CARMEL WYNNE

08 FOREVER YOUNG

�� THE JOY AND DESPAIR OF CHRISTMAS:

�� THE PEOPLE'S POET Brendan Kennelly had a deep interest in religion and in the Celtic tradition

By John Scally

43 PETER McVERRY SJ

09 REFLECTIONS 38 ME AND MY GOD 42 TRÓCAIRE 44 GOD’S WORD

Reality Bites this Christmas VATICAN CITY

CLIMATE CRISIS REQUIRES 'RADICAL DECISIONS,' POPE TELLS BBC LISTENERS

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The crises caused by climate change and worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic require a strong response to prevent a "'perfect storm' that could rupture the bonds holding our society together within the greater gift of God's creation," Pope Francis has said.

Ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland, October 31-November 12, the pope was the day's speaker on BBC Radio's Thought for the Day programme and called on world leaders attending the conference "to provide effective responses to the present ecological crisis and in this way to offer concrete hope to future generations."

"We can confront these crises by retreating into isolationism, protectionism and exploitation. Or we can see in them a real chance for change, a genuine moment of conversion, and not simply in a spiritual sense," he said.

BBC Radio's Thought for the Day features "reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news." This is the second time a pope has addressed the programme.

In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI was the first pope to be featured.

In his reflection, Pope Francis said that climate

Pope Francis on BBC Radio 4

change and the pandemic exposed "our deep vulnerability" and raised doubts about the world's economic systems, causing many to lose their "sense of security" and "control over our lives."

"We find ourselves increasingly frail and even fearful, caught up in a succession of 'crises' in the areas of health care, the environment, food supplies and the economy, to say nothing of social, humanitarian and ethical crises," he said. "All these crises are profoundly interconnected."

Nevertheless, the crises afflicting the world call for "radical decisions that are not always easy" but also present "opportunities that we must not waste," the pope said.

Confronting the current challenges, he added, "can only be pursued through a renewed sense of shared responsibility for our world, and an effective solidarity based on justice, a sense of our common destiny and a recognition of the unity of our human family in God's plan for the world.”

VATICAN CITY

CALL TO PRAYER FOR THE SYNOD FINDS HOME ONLINE, IN APP Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, said in the process to create a more “synodal church,” one where every member contributes and all listen to each other, “we are touching something divine, and prayer is essential.”

The synod office, the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and the women’s International Union of Superiors General have joined forces not only to encourage prayers, but to collect them, share them and build a global community of people praying for the synod and each other.

REALITY DECEMBER 2021

Their efforts are built on two main platforms: an updated version of Click to Pray, an app and website run by the prayer network, and www.prayforthesynod.va.

Both were unveiled on October 19 at a Vatican news conference.

The superiors general are soliciting prayers for the synod and its preparation process from members of women’s and men’s monasteries and contemplative communities. Those prayers will be posted on the website. Beginning on November 1, anyone can submit a prayer, said Patrizia

Morgante, UISG communications officer.

The prayers also will be posted on the Click to Pray 2.0 app and can be added to the websites of religious orders, parishes or dioceses with an RSS feed.

In addition to carrying prayers for the synod, especially during the preparatory phase that began in early October, the upgraded Click to Pray app has added features, including notifications so that people can set it to remind them to pray at the time they choose each morning, midday and night.

N E WS

ROME

BIDEN TELLS REPORTERS OF HIS ADMIRATION FOR POPE Pope Francis "is a man who has a great empathy. He's a man who understands that part of his Christianity is to reach out and forgive," US President Joe Biden told reporters during a visit to Rome on October 31.

On the margins of the G-20 summit in Rome, Biden repeatedly was asked about his faith and his meeting with Pope Francis.

Skipping a cultural event planned for the heads of state, Biden went to the vigil Mass at St Patrick's Church, the official home of the US Catholic community in Rome.

The parish, located across the street from the US Embassy to Italy, is staffed by Paulist priests. Paulist Fr Joe Ciccone was the main celebrant and homilist at the Mass; Paulist

Fr Steven J. Petroff, the pastor, concelebrated and gave Biden Communion. Paulist Fr Matthew Berrios also concelebrated.

Later, in a post on the parish Facebook page, Fr Petroff said the three priests "were honoured to welcome the president and first lady on behalf of St Patrick's Catholic American community in Rome and the Paulist Fathers. All are welcome!"

Before leaving Rome, Biden also went to Mass on November 1 in the residence of the US ambassador to Italy. Fr David McCallum SJ, the Rome-based executive director of the Jesuit's Discerning Leadership Program, said he celebrated the early morning Mass for the feast of All Saints. He also posted photos on his Facebook page.

5

President Biden attending Mass, November 1

VATICAN CITY

POPE CLEARS WAY FOR BEATIFICATION OF JOHN PAUL I Pope Francis has signed a decree recognising a miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope John Paul I, clearing the way for his beatification.

The Italian pope served only 33 days as pontiff; he died in the papal apartments on September 28, 1978, at the age of 65, shocking the world and a church that had just mourned the death of St Paul VI. The Vatican announced Pope Francis’ decision along with a number of other sainthood decrees on October 13.

In the sainthood cause of Pope John Paul I, the approved miracle involved a young girl in Buenos Aires, Argentina, who developed a severe case of acute encephalitis and uncontrollable and life-threatening brain seizures, and eventually entered septic shock.

After doctors told family members her death was “imminent,” the local priest encouraged the family, nurses and others to pray to the late pope for his intercession, according to the website of

the Congregation for Saints’ Causes. A panel of experts studying the cause determined there was no scientific explanation for her complete recovery in 2011 and that it could be attributed to the late pope’s intercession.

The Vatican did not immediately announce a date for the beatification ceremony.

Although his was one of the shortest papacies in history, Pope John Paul left a lasting impression on the church that fondly remembers him as “the smiling pope.”

continued on page 6

Reality Bites this Christmas ROME

VATICAN CITY

'WHAT IS LOVE?' POPE, OTHER ELDERS, SHARE STORIES FOR NETFLIX

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Pope Francis, Martin Scorsese, Jane Goodall and a group of less famous 'over 70s' talk to young filmmakers about love in the first episode of a four-part documentary available worldwide on Netflix on Christmas Day. The episode 'Love', part of the series Stories of a Generation, premiered at the Rome Film Festival on October 21.

The documentary is based on Sharing the Wisdom of Time, a book in which Pope Francis called for creating "an alliance between the young and old people" by sharing their stories.

Published by Chicago-based Loyola Press in 2018, the book featured an introduction

by Pope Francis, the stories of 30 older people and reflections by a handful of younger people on 'What I learned from an elder.'

Simona Ercolani, director and producer

of the Netflix series, told reporters that she started working on the project after reading the book. Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, hitting Italy early and devastating its elderly population.

The idea to make the series "became urgent because every day we had a bulletin of deaths," she said. "We spoke with Netflix, which also felt the urgency of collecting the stories of people, who at that moment were more fragile. They liked this idea of a dialogue between generations — filmmakers under 30 and contributors over 70.

"The stories are extraordinary in their normality, because everyone, including Pope Francis, put themselves in a position of relating (to the filmmaker) not just as a grandchild, but human being to human being," she said.

The pope filming for the Netflix series

Primatologist Jane Goodall Film maker Martin Scorsese

REALITY DECEMBER 2021

POPE CALLS FOR AN END TO FORCING MIGRANTS BACK TO UNSAFE COUNTRIES Pope Francis has denounced the "inhuman violence" waged against migrants, refugees and other displaced peoples in Libya and called for an end to sending people back to unsafe countries.

"Once again, I call on the international community to keep its promises to seek common, concrete and lasting solutions for the management of migratory flows in Libya and throughout the Mediterranean," he said after praying the Angelus with visitors in St Peter's Square on October 24.

"We must put an end to the return of migrants to unsafe countries and give priority to saving lives at sea, with rescue devices and predictable disembarkation, guaranteeing them decent living conditions, alternatives to detention, regular migration routes and access to asylum procedures," he said.

The pope said that when people are turned away and forced back to Libya, they face real suffering because "there are real lagers there."

The UN Refugee Agency, the UNHCR, recently called on the Libyan government to address the "dire situation" of asylumseekers and refugees with a humane plan that respects their rights.

Authorities there conducted raids and arbitrary arrests in areas populated by refugees and asylum-seekers, resulting in several deaths, thousands of people detained, and many homeless and destitute, according to the UNHCR on October 22.

Human Rights Watch and other rights activists have long criticised the extreme abuse waged against migrants by Libyan authorities.

N E WS

Pope Monitor – Keeping up with Pope Francis VATICAN CITY

POPE MAY GO TO CANADA AS PART OF RECONCILIATION PROCESS Pope Francis is willing to travel to Canada as part of "the long-standing pastoral process of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples," the Vatican press office has said.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has invited the pope to visit the country, the press office said on October 27. However, no date or time frame for the trip was mentioned.

A delegation of Indigenous leaders, accompanied by several bishops, is scheduled to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican in December to listen to their experiences of how they and their people have been treated by Catholics in Canada, with special attention to the impact on the Indigenous communities

of Canada's residential schools, many of which were run by Catholic religious orders or dioceses.

"Pope Francis will encounter and listen to the Indigenous participants, so as to discern how he can support our common desire to renew relationships and walk together along the path of hope in the coming years," the bishops' conference said in a statement after their September meeting.

"We pledge to work with the Holy See and our Indigenous partners on the possibility of a pastoral visit by the pope to Canada as part of this healing journey," the bishops said.

The statement was part of the first formal

apology the bishops as a conference made to Canada's Indigenous people.

Acknowledging the "grave abuses" perpetuated, the bishops acknowledged "the suffering experienced in Canada's Indian Residential Schools. Many Catholic religious communities and dioceses participated in this system, which led to the suppression of Indigenous languages, culture and spirituality, failing to respect the rich history, traditions and wisdom of Indigenous peoples."

In 2015, the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Call to Action asked for such an apology from the entire church in Canada.

VATICAN CITY

POPE AT VATICAN LIBRARY EXHIBITS CALLS FOR DIALOGUE AND OPENNESS The world needs new maps, guides for the human journey that are focused not on borders, but on what draws all people together and makes them brothers and sisters, Pope Francis said as he inaugurated a map-based exhibit in the Vatican Library.

"Humanity needs new maps to discover the meaning of fraternity, social friendship and the common good," the pope said on November 5 as he opened the library's new permanent exhibition space and its first exhibit: Tutti. Humanity on the Way. Beginning with an almost 20-foot-long map of the Nile by 17th-century Turkish Ottoman explorer Evliya Çelebi, the exhibit features some of the oldest and most unusual maps in the library's collection interspersed with new pieces by Pietro Ruffo, a contemporary artist from Rome.

"The dialogue between my work and the terrestrial and celestial maps of different epochs and cultures sketch a humanity that is increasingly interconnected and responsible for the fragile relationship with its ecosystem," Ruffo said in a statement released by the Vatican Library.

Pope Francis looks at a globe as he inaugurates a new permanent exhibition space in the Vatican Library

Fr Giacomo Cardinali, an official of the library who worked on the exhibit, said it involves a "nongeographical cartography," in that many of the maps are not just rudimentary — many were never meant to

be geographically accurate. "In the course of history, people used the representational scheme of the map not only to describe the Earth objectively," but also to map their own interior life, ideals and convictions.

7

FOREVER YOUNG SAINTS WHO DIED YOUNG

MARIA GORETTI (1890-1902)

8

Maria Goretti was born not far from St Francis' hometown of Assisi in 1890, the third of seven children. By the time Maria was five, the family had hit bad times.

Her father, Luigi, was forced to give up his small farm. They moved to other parts of Italy in search of work. Luigi died when Maria was nine years old. They were forced to share a house with another family, the Serenellis.

Despite their poverty, the Goretti family were deeply religious. Mamma Assunta was illiterate, but she gave her children a profound sense of God and of self-respect.

They could only afford the most basic education as the entire family had to work in the fields to earn money, while Maria kept house and looked after her baby sister.

She badgered her mother to be allowed to make her first communion. Assunta told her she hadn't the time to teach her the catechism and couldn't afford the expense of the dress. But Maria mastered enough of the catechism to be allowed to receive when she was ten.

Alessandro Serenelli, the son of the family with whom the Gorettis shared the house, was taken by Maria. He was twice her age, but she was an attractive looking girl with long hair and tall for her age. The Serenellis were a problem family. They were as poor as the Gorettis, but the father was an alcoholic bully. A few times, Alessandro had made improper suggestions to Maria. She was horrified and fled in tears, Alessandro threatening her: "If you say anything, I will kill you."

On the afternoon of July 5, 1902, both families were at work. Maria, as usual, was at home sewing and caring for her two-year-old sister. Alessandro had prepared a weapon with which to threaten Maria.

Many years later, Alessandro would describe what happened next. "Brutally I grabbed her by the arm and, as she was resisting, dragged her into the kitchen. With my foot I closed the door and secured the latch. She immediately realised that I wanted to assault her, as I had attempted to do before. She told me: 'No, no, God does not want this. If you do this, you go to hell.' Seeing that she was determined to reject my brutal cravings, I went on a rampage, took the weapon and began to stab her in the stomach. As I was stabbing her, she struggled to defend herself and repeatedly invoked the name of her mother and cried out: 'God, God, I'm dying, Mamma, Mamma!" I remember seeing blood on her clothes and leaving her while she was still squirming. I understood that I had mortally wounded her. I threw the weapon away and went into my bedroom. I locked the door and threw myself on the bed."

Maria was rushed to hospital. She died the following day, forgiving Alessandro and desiring to meet him again in heaven.

Alessandro was arrested and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. For three years, he was in denial. Then he wrote a letter to the local bishop, asking for his prayers and telling him about a dream, in which Maria gave him lilies, which burned immediately in his hands. On his release, he visited Assunta and begged her forgiveness. In time, Alessandro became a Capuchin brother.

Along with Assunta and other members of the family, he was present at Maria's canonisation in Rome in 1954. Maria is the patron saint of rape victims, teenage girls, poverty, purity, and forgiveness.

Brendan McConvery CSsR

REALITY DECEMBER 2021

Reality Volume 86. No. 10 December 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, Trócaire REALITY SUBSCRIPTIONS Through a promoter (Ireland only) €20 or £18 Annual Subscription by post: Ireland €25 or £20 UK £30 Europe €40 Rest of the world €50 Please send all payments to: Redemptorist Communications, St Joseph's Monastery, St Alphonsus Road, Dundalk County Louth A91 F3FC ADVERTISING Whilst we take every care to ensure the accuracy and validity of adverts placed in Reality, the information contained in adverts does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Redemptorist Communications. You are therefore advised to verify the accuracy and validity of any information contained in adverts before entering into any commitment based upon them.

When you have finished with this magazine, please pass it on or recycle it. Thank you.

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Promoters: We keep all of our promoters in our prayers and thank them for their loyal service in selling Reality.

We remember in our prayers sick and deceased promoters and their families.

Reflections this Christmas A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.

ROBERT FROST

There are times when I do well to be angry, but I have mistaken the times.

GEORGE MATHESON

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.

LARRY WILDE

Women are requested not to have children in the cocktail lounge.

NOTICE IN TURKISH HOTEL

An elderly woman walked into the local church.

“Where would you like to sit?” an usher asked politely.

“The front row, please,” she announced.

“You really don’t want to do that,” the usher said, trying to be helpful. “The priest is really boring.”

“Do you happen to know who I am?” the woman inquired.

“No,” he said.

“I’m the priest’s mother,” she replied, indignantly.

“Do you know who I am?” the usher asked.

“No,” she said.

“Good,” he answered. “Let me show you to the front pew.”

Christmas is the time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it.

Deficits are when adults tell government what they want and their kids pay for it.

RICHARD LAMM

Friends of ours who recently bought a larger deep freeze decided to buy a side of beef from the local butcher’s and joint it themselves. They cleared the kitchen table and set to work with saw, knives and cleaver. They were still wrestling with the huge carcass when there was a knock on the kitchen door and the new curate peered in. “I was just calling to introduce myself,” he said, “but I see I’m interrupting your tea, so I’ll call again.”

When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?

G. K. CHESTERTON

Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?

I am not alone at all, I thought.

I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone.

Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses.

TAYLOR CALDWELL

After becoming born again in the late 1960s, Jimmy Carter went on trips throughout America as a missionary. One of his companions – they went out in two – was a Cuban called Eloy Cruz. In sermons and speeches in the years afterwards, Carter often quoted a line from Cruz: “A man needs only two loves in his heart: one is a love of God; the other is a love for the person who happens to be in front of you at any particular time.” Carter interpreted that to mean that it’s easy to love nameless innocent people far away in a foreign country, but “the difficulty comes when you try to love someone right in front of you - on the elevator, across the desk from you, whom you might be inclined to hate.”

JONATHAN ALTER

HIS VERY BEST: JIMMY

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

CARTER, A LIFE

I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

The way you spend Christmas is far more important than how much.

CHARLES DICKENS, A CHRISTMAS CAROL

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

9

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EDI TO R I A L UP FRONT GERARD MOLONEY CSsR

The way forward

It's

an analogy I've used before. In 1977, a series of celebrated interviews took place between ex-US President Richard Nixon and journalist David Frost. These were the first interviews Nixon had given since the Watergate scandal had forced him from office in 1974, and Frost was determined to get him to apologise to the American people for what happened.

On April 22, 1977, Frost finally pinned Nixon down and extracted the apologia in a famous exchange. "I gave 'em a sword," Nixon confessed.

"And they stuck it in, and they twisted it with relish.

And I guess if I had been in their position, I'd have done the same thing."

The ''em' Nixon was referring to were his political and media opponents. He admitted that he had brought himself down because he had given his enemies the ammunition they were looking for.

Reflecting on the bad press the Catholic Church in Ireland has received in recent years, there is no doubt the church has brought most of its troubles on itself too. Like Nixon, it has given its critics lots of ammunition. Like Nixon, you could say the church gave 'em a sword and they stuck it in, and they twisted it with relish. And who could blame them?

One of this year's best-selling Irish books has been We Don't Know Ourselves, by Fintan O'Toole.

It is a very personal account of Irish history from the year of O'Toole's birth, 1958, up to the present.

Author and Irish Times' columnist, O'Toole is commonly regarded as Ireland's leading public intellectual, whose opinions matter. In the book, he chronicles the remarkable transformation that has taken place in Ireland during those decades. He maps out the disintegration of the old alliance of Catholic church and state that had been dominant for so long and describes the child abuse that existed at every level of the state and educational system and the punishment of women as sexual beings. It's a story of how the country has moved from backwardness to modernity, from darkness to light, how Ireland has finally, slowly, come of age.

Unsurprisingly, the Catholic Church does not emerge with credit from this analysis and O'Toole's anger is understandable. As its power and influence have collapsed in the last 25 years, what has been most striking is the level of anger directed at the church. Many people haven't just casually or carelessly lost their religion; they have consciously and deliberately tossed it aside.

The litany of church-related scandals is an obvious reason for this anger. But it goes much deeper than that. It's rooted in the close relationship that had existed for so long between priests and people. The church was at the apex of Irish life, a refuge and strength during the difficult times of landlordism and British rule, a trusted ally and friend of the person in the pew.

So the revelations of sexual and other forms of abuse were felt by people as a personal betrayal; the wound more raw, more deeply felt, than in countries where the church had not been so dominant. People's trust was betrayed; their loyalty abused. It's easy to see why they would walk away with scarcely a backwards glance.

Many of those who have walked away are too young to have personal experience of the dominant, arrogant church of yesteryear, but Irish people have a residual collective memory of the church's role in post-independence Ireland and are reacting viscerally against it.

Authoritarianism, clericalism, vanity, intolerance, pietism, and pride have been the toxic mix that has so damaged the church in Ireland and elsewhere.

During his presidency, Nixon had made many enemies, and Watergate gave them the opportunity they were looking for.

The Catholic Church in Ireland made many enemies over the years too – not just those who suffered abuse, but those who were put off by its preening arrogance and unfettered power. In the eyes of many, as O'Toole describes, the church seemed more like a suffocating oppressor than an agent of liberation or a force for good.

Now it's payback time. It is hard to blame people for sticking in the sword and twisting it with relish.

It's also hard to see how the Irish church can even begin to repair the damage done. Its only hope is to follow the synodal path being set out

by Pope Francis.

The future lies not in being a self-reverential, topdown club for celibate males that systematically discriminates against women but in an upsidedown church with structures that enable the sensus fidei (the sense of the faithful) to be heard, irrespective of gender, role or rank.

It lies not in arrogance, power, or the paraphernalia of office but humility, simplicity and service; a church of the street, not the palace.

It lies not in legalism and moral rigidity but mercy and understanding. 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's seen as slow to condemn and ready to stand in the other person's shoes will the church begin to regain any moral authority.

It lies not in presenting as a defensive, angry church preaching a message of fear but as a welcoming, joy-filled body of believers proclaiming a message of love.

More grace and less lace aren't going to pack the pews or stock the seminaries. Those days will never return. But following the path of humility and inclusiveness will at least give the church new credibility and begin to show it as a prophetic presence rather than a perceived obstacle to progress.

All of us at Redemptorist Communications and Reality wish you every blessing this coming Christmas.

Gerard Moloney CSsR Acting Editor

11

C OVE R STO RY

IN SERVICE OF GOD’S LITTLE

12

REALITY DECEMBER 2021

ONES

FR MURRAY’S MISSION IN BRAZIL FR MARTIN MURRAY CSsR, A NATIVE OF LUSK, COUNTY DUBLIN, HAS SPENT ALMOST ALL OF HIS PRIESTLY LIFE WORKING IN BRAZIL, LIVING WITH THE POOREST OF THE POOR

BY ANNE STAUNTON AND PAT O'SULLIVAN

In

the late 1970s and early 80s, you were in Itacajá visiting the rural communities on the back of a mule. Was it from the Basic Christian Communities that you discovered the injustices of the land situation? What effect did that have on your life?

Going from one community to another and listening to the stories of the people, I became aware of the suffering and cruel injustice that poor people in the parish had to endure. It was more than cruel. It was brutal because they lived in fear from day to day, not knowing the moment they would be evicted from their small plot of land for which they had no deeds, as they were posseiros (squatters).

They could not fathom how the piece of land on which they lived and worked for years and years could belong to someone else. A typical case is that of one posseiro, a father of a large family who lived for 44 years on land, which passed from one generation to the next. He was heartbroken as he told us his story. One day two men arrived from

the south, waving a piece of paper, to tell him the land on which he lived was theirs.

It never dawned on him that it might be a false document. He was stunned. He was threatened with a bullet if he didn't leave peacefully. From that day on, the family was gripped by fear of eviction.

The posseiros sought help from the local authorities but got little or no satisfaction.

The country was under military rule at the time. I organised a meeting in the early days of the land struggle in a place called

We believe strongly in a church of the poor and its option for those who are rejected, forgotten by society Goianorte. We had a very simple message for the posseiros: the land on which they lived and worked was theirs. What stands out most in my memory is what they did as they were leaving the meeting. They were ever so

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and daughters. Their battle for survival, their struggle for justice, their fears were ours too.

When the Redemptorists first arrived in the small towns in the north of Goias, the zonas were areas set aside for sex workers on the outskirts of every town and village. These zonas (redlight districts) were seen as just part of Brazilian culture, but not by you. After the 1990 Lenten Fraternity Campaign on equality for women, you started to organise these women. Tell us why.

14 Fr Martin Murray CSsR with Fr Eamon Gowing CSsR

pleased knowing that the priest was on their side. They rode off on their mules, shooting into the air as they realised that justice was on their side. The church's Pastoral Land Commission took on their case and fought it in the courts.

The land struggle in the two parishes I served had a huge influence on our pastoral work. The struggle to get justice for the weak and vulnerable changed our way of thinking, our attitude to people. It awoke a critical sense of reality in us and made us aware of the need for justice. We began to read the scriptures in a different way. We read them with one eye on the Word of God and the other on the reality of life around us. We realised the scriptures have two dimensions, one spiritual and the other social. The land struggle brought home to us that it was not enough just to celebrate Mass with them, baptise their children, marry their sons REALITY DECEMBER 2021

The Lenten Fraternity Campaign of 1990 was a great incentive to do something for the marginalised women living in the zonas. It was an appeal from the churches for all to respect the person and dignity of women and their rights. However, we felt something more specific had to be done for the young girls and women living in the zonas. What gave us that big push to start? The incident in Jn 8:9-12, where the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman who had sinned.

They were armed and ready to stone her to death. Jesus looked at them and said, "let those who have never sinned throw the f irst stone." And, one by one, they left with their heads bowed in shame. Jesus turned to the woman and asked, "Did nobody throw a stone at you?" "No," she said. That short Gospel passage inspired us to get going and do what we could for the women living in the zona in the parish. Who was more excluded from society and from the church than these poor girls and women?

I became even more convinced after I attended a national meeting in Salvador organised principally for sex workers and marginalised women. One talk which stands out in my memory was given by Bishop Fragoso, who closed the two-day event telling the women, "You are more sinned against than sinning," and, in a dramatic gesture, he knelt down and asked pardon in the name of the church for the way it had treated them. I never saw so many tears flowing. The bishop's words and gesture were inspiring. They gave us the courage to overcome our fear and do something for the marginalised women in the zona.

On returning from Salvador, I set about organising a team and found it anything but easy. When one man was asked to join the team, he said his wife wouldn't allow him.

When a woman was asked, she said her husband wouldn't let her. And when we spoke to the youth group in the parish, they told us that neither their fathers nor mothers would allow them to be seen in the zona.

However, eventually, I succeeded in forming a team that had the courage to be 'seen' in the zona. One member was a lady doctor who attended to the women's health needs, and she was so kind and caring that they looked on her as a mother. A married couple helped in every way they possibly could, and

We began to read the scriptures in a different way. We read them with one eye on the Word of God and the other on the reality of life around us.

We realised the scriptures have two dimensions, one spiritual and the other social a young Presbyterian girl completed the group. Trying to form the team was a sobering lesson; attitudes and prejudices needed to be changed. People, in general, were convinced that these women and girls working in the zona loved the life they lived (they are even known as mulheres da vida or women of 'easy' living!). Nothing could be further from the

truth. Their lives were hard and dangerous, living with violence and having no other option but to stay.

With this outreach, we hoped to influence people to think differently and change their attitudes towards these women. Our presence in the zona would testify that these were not dangerous, evil women to be avoided at all costs. We visited them, had meetings with them, and celebrated Mass with them in the zona. One highlight was the Mass we celebrated two days before Christmas. They had the place spick and span when we arrived.

When it came to the Penitential Prayer, we had a small reflection, and I gave them a general absolution. Today we remember the prophetic words of Pope Francis, "Who am I to judge?" How true it is, these women were "more sinned against than sinning."

Fr Martin and his famous scooter

Then about 20 years later, you moved to Fortaleza, a city of two million people.

You took up residence in a shantytown where you have been living the option for the poor ever since. Was it hard to make the transition? Tell us about your life and work now.

Coming to the shantytown in Fortaleza was a bonus because the parish I had left was a very well-established one in the centre of the town, with a large, active choir. The church was packed for the Sunday evening liturgy, singing traditional hymns with no social dimension. Coming here to the shantytown was a step back to my earlier days in the parishes of Itacajá and Colinas. Of course, our lifestyle is hugely different in the shantytown.

Our lifestyle is little different from that of

our neighbours. Our house is small, just like theirs. We don't stand out. My transport for getting around from one community to another is a scooter, and Fr Eamon (Gowing) has a motorbike. You may ask why we live and work in a shantytown. We believe strongly in a church of the poor and its option for those who are rejected, forgotten by society.

One of the aims of our work is to help each community be aware of the reality in which they live, socially and politically, to show them that they are suffering because of injustice and corruption. We noticed when we first came here that people feared the authorities.

That day has gone. They no longer fear the powerful politician. Even though they are poor and have little education, they realise they too have rights and are ready to speak up to defend them.

A crucial aspect of our work is Bible study. It's not an academic study, but a simple reading and reflection on the Word of God in which all are encouraged to link the text with their daily lives.

Life here in the shantytown is not all gloom.

It has its good side. Even though people are poor, they have a remarkably happy spirit. We get a glimpse of this joyful spirit when they sit out in the afternoon in front of their houses, talking and laughing. They are so happy and yet own so little. What is it that gives them their happy outlook? Is it not a sign that God is on their side?

What a contrast meets the eye when you look up at the mansions on the hill overlooking the shantytown. These mansions are magnificent, each with its individual design, but the picture is different on closer inspection. Every house is surrounded by a high concrete wall topped by an electric fence. It's all silence and, as one of Shakespeare's characters says, "not a mouse stirring.” One hears no talk or laughter!

The downside of the shantytown is the violence. It comes from the drug gangs who fight and defend their space within the community to sell their drugs. These no-goareas lead to tension and fights between the different groups. During the day, people are terrified to leave their houses because of their fear of stray bullets.

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Jesus made a very deliberate and clear option for the poor. When we came to live among the impoverished in the shantytown, we made a conscious choice in favour of the 'rejects' and 'outcasts' of society. It's our daily presence with them that counts, and it says that "poor lives matter." We hope and pray that the Redemptorists coming after us will always have the option of living with and serving the poor.

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MY BRUSH WITH THE FEDERAL POLICE In 1985, 95 poor families from my parish in Colinas occupied an area of publicly owned virgin forest called Vale do Juari. They were enjoying the first fruits of their labour when suddenly it all turned sour.

A rancher who lived 3,000 kilometres away turned up with military police armed to the teeth. They ordered the defenceless families off the land, herded them onto lorries and dropped them far away. The posseiros (squatters) then had to decide whether to return to reap their harvests. The community encouraged them to go back as soon as the dust settled. Of the 95 families, 53 went back, rebuilt their huts and replanted their land.

The harvest was almost ready when it all fell apart again. The rancher returned with reinforcements threatening to shoot if their orders were not obeyed. The posseiros and their families were loaded onto waiting lorries like cattle and dumped in the square in front of the parish house. Six families had nowhere to stay, as they had no relatives living in Colinas. They lived and slept in the community centre, and our parish house was made available to mothers with babies and small children. Opening the church to these people drew fire from all sides. As one man in the parish said to me when I met him on the street, "You are destroying our parish.

Forget about those posseiros.”

At this stage, the churches' Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) took on the legal battle on behalf of the posseiros. After a long and tedious struggle, the good news arrived that justice had been achieved, and the posseiros were now the legal owners of the land in Vale do Juarí. It was a tremendous victory for the posseiros, their families and the parish.

REALITY DECEMBER 2021

Article author Pat O'Sullivan with Fr Martin Murray

Having lost the legal battle, the rancher decided to invade the Vale and cut down and remove the best hardwoods. When that news reached the now legal owners, they decided that under no circumstances would he be allowed to steal their most precious asset.

A few days later, two loaded trucks leaving the Vale were confronted. When the news reached Colinas, all hell broke loose. Fingers were pointed in the direction of the parish.

The blame was placed on that communist foreign priest!

The federal police were called in, and an investigation began. Frei Henrique des Roziers OP, the CPT lawyer, was tipped off that the federal police were on their way to Colinas. He rang Bishop Collins CSsR and suggested that I leave the parish immediately.

The bishop then rang me, telling me that I would be arrested and jailed if I remained.

I left in a hurry, travelled by long-distance bus, and spent some time in the cities of Pedro Afonso, Miracema and Brasilia. In phone calls between the bishop and the CPT, I was referred to as ‘the parcel’ in an effort to outwit the police.

When the dust had settled, I returned to Colinas, where the main topic of conversation

was the visit of the police. I was told of the rough and harsh treatment meted out to the youth group in the parish. One of them was arrested and jailed for two nights. Others were stopped on the streets and treated as if they belonged to a terrorist group. The police also demanded to see the minutes of their weekly meetings.

Shortly afterwards, I was summoned to appear before the chief of police. I relied on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The policeman looked at me and asked: Did you keep firearms in your house? I looked at him as much as to say, are you serious?

He passed on to the next question: Did you hold meetings with the posseiros in your house? I said no. I wasn’t telling a lie as all our meetings took place in the community centre. He passed on to the third and final question: Did you incite people to invade other people's land? I said no. And I was not telling lies because the Vale was public land.

This was the final episode that brought the bitter struggle for the land in the Vale do Juarí to an end. We celebrated the people's victory, and many of them continue to be involved in the Basic Christian Community that grew out of the land struggle.

COM M E N T WITH EYES WIDE OPEN JIM DEEDS

Going round the houses

CHRISTMAS VISITS TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS REMIND US OF WHO WE REALLY ARE. An important part of our family Christmas experience over the years has been visiting friends and family. We would do so with an air of excitement, warmth and nostalgia. We get ourselves ready with presents and cards and make the rounds. On Christmas Day itself, this would have entailed meeting at my parents' house around 1 pm, coinciding with my brothers and sister and their families. It was always a joyous gathering.

Even though we talk almost daily on the phone or message on social media, we would all come together only on these special occasions. There was always hugging, laughing, eating, and yet more laughing, singing and a bit more laughing for good measure.

Before Christmas day and on the days after, there would be visits to aunties and cousins, godchildren and friends. Some of these lovely people we would not have seen in quite some time. Relationships would be rekindled when we met up, given life through conversation and contact. Beautiful stuff!

Last year was so different for all of us as there was no going round the houses for any of us at all.

We had one small gathering in my sister's house on Christmas night for an hour or so, as per government guidelines here in the North and in line with our desire to keep each other safe and well. This year may see the return of some of our ability to go round the houses, but

not all such ability will likely be returned to us. We live in strange and difficult times. It may well be that, for many of us, we will have to 'go' virtually to loved ones' houses this year via the various online platforms we can avail of.

But why do we do it? Why do we go round the houses when it is an option for us?

That is a question I wrestled with a couple of years ago, along with a group of Year 9 and Year 12 boys in St Mary's Christian Brothers School in Belfast. I am lucky to be asked to visit the school occasionally to speak about faith and life. So, on this visit, I asked the boys why we call to people's houses around Christmas and the New Year.

They came up with really great answers. Some said they went round the houses because they got something in return. Fair enough, when we call with people, we often get a gift or some nourishment (food, drinks, love).

More said they called round the houses because they loved the people they visited. Whoa!

That was a really good one, and it was even better for a bunch of 13-16-year-old boys to share it. We visit someone's house because we want to meet people we love. We remembered grannies and aunties and close friends in our conversation together.

One boy said that we call in order to see people who know all about us. I took this to mean that they hold a little bit of the stories of our lives (and in return,

we hold a little bit of their stories too). We can reminisce with them. Grannies will say, 'Ah, I remember when you were only a wee baby' or, 'I can't believe you've grown up so much.'

Friends will recall stories of adventures past. All this reminds us of who we really are. That's it, isn't it? Going round the houses reminds us of who we really are.

And it is good to be there.

Whose houses will you go to this Christmas if you can physically or virtually? Bring them to your mind now. Hold them in love in your mind. Be thankful for them and for the times you have shared with them in the past and will share with them again, please God, in the future.

Now, remember those who do not have anyone to visit or to visit them this Christmas. So many people are lonely in our world. Perhaps you could think of someone you could visit or phone or video call?

Of course, on my journeys this Christmas time I will go to another house too. One where I will be fed and nourished. It is a house where I will experience love, joy and mercy (boy, do I need mercy!). It is a house that holds the story of who I am.

Of course, I'm speaking of the house of God. This visit will be the central one of my Christmas visits. I invite you this year to think about making this visit too at some stage over the Christmas season, in whatever life situation you find yourself – even if you find yourself angry

at God, angry at the church, or even disbelieving. Why not make a visit and give it a go? I believe you will encounter peace, quiet and healing there.

And if you can't do that this year, can I invite you to try one other thing? At some stage over the Christmas season, take a minute or two to yourself. Go to a quiet place and close your eyes.

Spend a moment or two just breathing and letting yourself be carefree and centred on the present moment. In the quiet: Call one thing to mind that is worrying you: ask God to help you with it Call two people to mind who make you smile: hold them in love Call three things to mind that you are really thankful for: give thanks to God Just try it. I guarantee you it will not do you any harm. It will not spoil your Christmas. It will not take you away from the turkey for too long. And if it goes ok, why not make it a New Year's resolution to repeat this and grow this time in your life? May 2022 be a good year for us all.

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

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LI T U RGY

The importance of light THE SYMBOL OF LIGHT IS CENTRAL TO THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS AND TO THE CHRISTIAN STORY

BY MARIA HALL

Light 18

is essential for life. It is our most important source of energy.

The power of the sun allows us to breathe, keeps us warm, makes plants grow, creates the weather, and enables us to see our way around. It also gives us days and nights and so marks the passage of time.

Until the invention of electricity, this force of nature has been at the centre of civilisation. Our ancestors lived an outdoor life, and hunting for animals, growing crops, indeed their very survival, depended on the weather and the power of the sun, which gave heat and light, and food. The winter months were difficult as the days got shorter, and so the middle of December marked the promise of better times to come. More daylight and better weather was, therefore, a great cause for celebration, the triumph of light over darkness.

As soon as the days started to lengthen, everyone celebrated by lighting fires, drinking ale and feasting. Norse people thought

REALITY DECEMBER 2021

of the sun as a large wheel that turned during the seasons. This wheel was called houl, which is the origin of yule. So our own winter traditions have ancient roots. In Britain, mistletoe was seen as a symbol of life in the dark winter months.

The Roman celebration of Saturnalia marked midwinter over 400 years before Christ was born. It was a week-long festival which ended on the shortest day, originally December 25. On that day, everyone feasted, and even slaves were given the day off.

Candles were lit, and gifts were exchanged.

Pagan festivals such as these have provided reasons for the date of Christ's birth. December 25 is a traditional rather than an accurate date. There are anomalies in the Christmas story, such as the shepherds in the fields. It would have been too cold in mid-December, and they would not have been minding their sheep outside as accounts suggest. But that date creates a pleasing synergy; six months before, we celebrate the birth

of John the Baptist on June 24, close to the summer solstice when days begin to shorten.

This is echoed in John 3:30, where he says, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” By adopting already established mid-winter pagan festivals, Christmas lessened their importance. The symbolism of the recurring theme of light overcoming the darkness cannot be lost.

SCRIPTURE AND LIGHT In the Old Testament, light represents the presence of God. God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and to the Israelites in the pillar of flame.

God gave instructions to Moses that the lamp stand in the Holy of Holies should be kept lit at all times and by all generations.

In the Psalms, we read, “The Lord is my light and my salvation," and “The commands

of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes." In the Book of Samuel, the Lord is a lamp that turns darkness into light.

Our Advent Sunday readings anticipate the arrival of the light of the Lord. Isaiah says, “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord." St Paul tells the Romans, “The night is almost over, it will be daylight soon… let us arm ourselves and appear in the light."

The readings of the Christmas Masses are full of the light metaphor. At Midnight Mass, we hear the great Isaiah passage, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in a land of shadow, a great light has shone."

Isaiah explains that out of a life of strife and desolation, the light of God will overcome and save.

Understanding the image of light dispelling the darkness

is central to understanding the incarnation. Christ's birth brings the promise of peace and everlasting life, and those who believe are bathed in the light of Christ. Those who haven't heard or do not believe remain in the darkness. Every year, we have the opportunity to hear again and believe with renewed fervour.

The second reading of the Mass on Christmas Day is from the letter to the Hebrews and tells us, “He is the radiant light of God's glory and the perfect copy of his nature." The Gospel acclamation announces, “Come you nations, worship the Lord, for today a great light has shone down upon the earth." It is a perfect prelude to the gospel from John: All that came to be had life in Him and that life was the light of men.

A light that shines in the dark, A light that darkness could not overpower.

The Word was the true light that enlightens all people.

The collects of the Christmas masses help us put the truth of scripture into our lives. The collect for Midnight Mass says: O God, who have made this most sacred night, radiant with the splendour of the true light, grant, we pray, that we who have known the mysteries of his light on earth, may also delight in his gladness in heaven.

And during the Mass at Dawn, we pray that “as we are bathed in the new radiance of your incarnate Word, the light of faith, which illumines our minds, may also shine in our deeds."

SOME TRADITIONS Advent has been celebrated

since the fifth century. For a long time, it was a period of fasting and prayer, and candles are very recent. The candles of the Advent wreath remind us that Jesus is the light of the world and that, as Christians, we also are meant to shine so that people may see our good works (Matthew 5). As Christ's coming draws closer, extra candles are lit, gradually dispelling the darkness.

The themes of hope, faith, joy and peace are represented in the candles. This tradition began in Germany in the 19th century.

Originally there were 24 candles, and the wreath was fashioned from a cartwheel.

There is no evidence that the early church marked Christmas to any great degree.

In fact, marking birthdays was a pagan custom, so they may have actively avoided doing so. The emphasis was on the Parousia, the Second Coming (Christ was expected soon!), so remembering Jesus' birth wasn't a priority. Pope Julius finally settled the date in AD350.

The Christmas story itself has inspired practices and traditions involving light. During the Middle Ages, it was customary to represent the star of Bethlehem with a large candle.

That bright star marked the place where Jesus was born and led the wise men to Jesus. It symbolises the truth that Christ is a guiding light for all time. Jesus tells us that if we follow him, we will have the light of life (John 8). In Revelation 21, Jesus refers to himself as the Morning Star.

The appearance of the morning star means that day is about to break, and the sun will soon appear. This is symbolic of the

resurrection, the light of Christ conquering the darkness, but it also reminds us that he will come again. We can't see the birth of Christ without the bigger picture of God's plan for salvation. Stars and lights on our Christmas trees don't just look pretty; they remind us of this message.

AN IRISH TRADITION In Penal times, Catholics practised their faith in fear of their lives. To have a priest visit your house was dangerous.

Families wished that at least once, a priest would visit them at Christmas time. They placed a candle in the window to indicate their intent to any passing priest.

To the authorities, it was nothing but a harmless custom to welcome Joseph and Mary into their homes and was permitted.

In fact, it was an outward sign of faith, of welcome, and a desire to meet the Lord.

Though we don't live with that fear today, we can still light a candle and share our faith with all who see it.

CHRISTINGLE The Christingle originated in 18th-century Germany. John de Watteville, a Moravian minister, gave the children a candle with a red ribbon around it, representing Jesus as the light of the world. He prayed, “Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these children's hearts that theirs like thine become." The custom spread quickly, and today the candle stands in an orange, representing the world, and the red ribbon reminds us of the blood Christ shed for us. Sticks and sweets represent the four corners of the earth and the fruits of the

earth. This is a growing tradition amongst Catholics and a lovely activity for young children.

A FRESH LOOK AT LIGHT The image of light is a central theme of Christianity, not just Christmas. Knowing that we will have the light of life if we follow Christ should fill us with constant, unbounded joy. But life gets in the way, and we forget, and we live in an age where light is taken for granted and is controlled by technology. Let's not lose the significance of its meaning:  Listen for, and reflect upon the meaning of light in the readings and prayers of Christmastide. Listen to carols with fresh ears, for phrases such as, “Son of God, love's pure light," “Lo we saw a wondrous light," “God of God, light of light," “Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light."  Enjoy decorating your house and trees with lights, rem em b er i n g th e i r re a l significance. Explore and enjoy the use of light in famous works of art: The Adoration of the Shepherds by Guido Reni, and The Nativity at Night by Geertgen tot Sint Jans (on nationalgallery.org there is a beautiful video).

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. https:// www.mariahall.org/

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10 1

things to tell your young ones about Christmas that you won’t find in a cracker 7

uries of Christianity, For the first three cent . celebrate Christmas the church did not ost. tival was Easter-Pentec The major church fes at th AD fourth century It was only in the ts en to celebrate the ev the church began birth of Jesus. connected with the

2

Nobody knows the actual date of Jesus’ birth. Based on Matthew’s Gospel and the references to King Herod the Great, the accepted year of Jesus’ birth is 4 BC, according to our modern Gregorian calendar.

3

It’s very unlikely that Jesus was born in December or in winter, for Luke tells us that the shepherds were out in the fields with their sheep. This is something Palestinian shepherds did not do in wintertime.

4

The date of Decem ber 25 has to do with the winter solstice. For the pagan Roman s this astrono mical phenomenon became an event of religious significance. They turned the solstice into a two-week religious festival in which they celebrated the birthday of Sol Invictus (The Unconquerable Sun). As with many other pagan Roman feasts, the early Christians took it over and sanctified it as the festival of the birthday of the Son of God.

Our word 'Christmas' comes from the Old English Christes Mæsse, which mea ns 'Christ’s Mass.' The first recorded use of Christes Mæsse dates from 1038 AD.

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5

While the commercial Christmas ends with the close of business on Christmas Eve, the liturgical Season of Christmas begins on Christmas Eve with Midnight Mass and continues until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, (which takes place this season on January 9, 2022).

The Season of Christmas contains four main feasts. These are the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord, the Feast of the Holy Family, the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord and the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

The Feast of the Nativity celebrates the birth of Jesus. It has three different liturgical celebrations in one day: Midnight Mass, Dawn Mass and Daytime Mass.

The Feast of the Holy Family (December 26, 2021) recalls that Jesus grew and matured as part of a human family.

The Solemnity of the Epiphany (January 6, 2022) celebrates not just the arrival of the wise people from the East with their gifts to worship the young child, but also God’s appearing (Epiphany means manifestation or showing) among us as one like ourselves in the flesh and blood of Jesus.

The Christm as season ends with the Baptism of the Lord. This celebrates Jesus’ baptism when he came face to face with his identity and calling and then began his mission.

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Sch ool nat ivit y pla ys often emphasise how the hard-h eart ed innkeep ers of Bethlehem turned away Mary and Joseph in their hour of need. But there is nothing about this in the Gospel. Inns in those tim es wer e ofte n crow ded places without privacy. Guests slept in a large room, unrolling their bedding on the floor. There was also accommodation for the travellers’ animals, in much the sam e way as a mod ern hotel has a garage. A woman about to have a baby would hardly want to deliver her child in a crowded public sleeping space and might have sought the privacy of a corner of the space where the animals were tethered.

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Leaving a candle in the window is a common Christmas Eve tradition in Ireland. It is not only a symbol of welcome to Mary and Joseph as they journeyed looking for shelter but also of hospitality to any stranger seeking shelter.

cr ib d at es T h e C hr is tm as cis of Assisi. On back to St Fran 93 the first crib Christmas Eve 12 io woods of Grecc was built in the near Assisi.

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F E AT U R E

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The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio 1602 (discovered in August 1990, in the dining room of one of the houses of the Jesuit Fathers on Leeson Street, Dublin)

CARAa VAGGIO’S WONDERFUL LEGACY

FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AFTER HIS BIRTH, CARAVAGGIO'S PAINTINGS CONTINUE TO ENCHANT VIEWERS IN CHURCHES, CONVENTS AND MUSEUMS

BY MICHAEL COLLINS

Michelangelo

da Caravaggio was born in 1571 in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. His father, Fermo, was tutor to the children of the aristocratic Sforza family. As a young boy,

REALITY DECEMBER 2021

Michelangelo was introduced to the Colonna and Borromeo families, both of which had strong ties with the papacy. Trained as a painter, Michelanglo's talent was recognised by the Marchese di Sforza, and letters of recommendation were provided for him to

the papal court. This was the type of break every young artist of the era yearned for, as the popes were notable patrons of the arts.

In mid-1592, the 21-year-old Caravaggio left for Rome, where Pope Clement VIII (15921605) had been elected some six months

earlier. The papal city provided important opportunities for skilled artists. In the wake of the Catholic Reformation and following new norms laid down by the Council of Trent, a renewed and robust Catholicism used art as a weapon and catechetical tool to combat Protestant teaching.

Paintings of biblical scenes or of the saints stirred up the people's faith. There was a veritable explosion of church building in Rome under Jesuit patronage, and religious orders continuously searched for new talent.

Another fortunate encounter came when Caravaggio met Costanza Colonna, the daughter of Marcantonio Colonna, the admiral of the fleet that won victory over the Turkish forces at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. She gave Caravaggio temporary accommodation on his arrival in Rome, and the two formed a close friendship. A further fortuitous encounter occurred when the young artist met Anna Borromeo, niece of Pope Pius IV and sister of St Charles Borromeo. Such patronage would not have

gone unnoticed in the city of intrigue. It would assuredly have helped the young artist find work.

POVERTY Despite these important introductions, early biographers noted that Caravaggio's early years were marked by poverty and, for the first two years, he worked in an artist's studio as an assistant. Finally, the young man came to the attention of Cardinal Del Monte, a patron of Galileo, who lived at the Palazzo Madama, the stately home which now houses the Italian government.

Del Monte invited Caravaggio to enter his household at the palazzo, and here the young painter produced a series of religious and street scene canvases. In several of these early Roman works, the artist used a couple of male models whom he painted as street urchins or angels.

The cardinal gave his young protégé a space to paint in and provided pigments.

In return, the artist painted several scenes

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio 1601-1602

for his patron. The quality of his work improved dramatically, and his output increased. Already Michelangelo Buonarotti had pioneered a change of painting style in the mid-16th century, imbuing his figures with life, even to the extent of distortion.

Caravaggio preferred a more realistic depiction of his subjects to the Classicism of the past. From 1598, Caravaggio painted more overtly religious canvases, clearly chasing after religious patrons.

Between 1599 and 1600, Caravaggio worked on his most ambitious project – three large oil canvases for the Contarelli Chapel in San Luigi dei Francesi, the French church in Rome.

The chapel was dark, and Caravaggio solved the lighting problem by a heightened use of chiaroscuro, the dramatic contrast of light and shade in paint. Raphael had already developed the style almost a century earlier, but Caravaggio developed it much further.

WONDEROUS PAINTINGS The larger canvases on the lateral walls were

23

FE AT U R E

The Entombment of Christ by Caravaggio 1603-1604 (The Virgin Mary is depicted for the first time as a middle-aged woman)

24

the Calling of St Matthew and The Martyrdom of St Matthew, while the smaller canvas, The Dictation of the Gospel, faced into the church.

The effect was akin to an image caught in theatre spotlights. These were the very years in which the first operas were composed in Italy. Figures emerged from the dusky backgrounds, their faces, limbs and clothes lit by lamps from the side. After the unveiling of the two large canvasses, swarms of Romans came to see the wonderous paintings.

Two years later, when Caravaggio finished the chapel with The Dictation of the Gospel, public taste turned. Objections were raised as the artist had used an elderly peasant for the evangelist. Matthew's calloused feet and wrinkled face were judged as too lifelike and bearing no resemblance to a saint.

Caravaggio probably saw the feet as those of a man who had journeyed along stony roads, preaching the Gospel.

Similar objections had been raised in 1600 when a horse's rump figured in The Road to Damascus. A man's hindquarters, extending from the lower quarter of The Crucificion of St Peter (1601) were prominently displayed.

Both were eventually installed in the Cerasi Chapel in Santa Maria Del Popolo. This was the first church that the thousands of pilgrims who flocked to Rome for the Holy Year of 1600 saw on their arrival at the Porta Del Popolo.

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The following year, with The Entombment of Christ, Caravaggio broke another artistic taboo. Tradition dictated that the Virgin Mary be always depicted in her youth. Here, the mother of Jesus is clearly a middle-aged woman. Her wrinkled face is burnt by the sun. His model was evidently from the lower classes.

In 1604, Caravaggio unveiled the Madonna dei Pelligrini at the church of Sant Agostino beside Piazza Navona. Here Mary is depicted off-centre, holding the infant Jesus, who is evidently far too big for his mother's comfort.

Mary is depicted with crossed legs, leaning against the lintel of a decrepit house. This was in stark contrast with the serene depictions of the Madonna in the High Renaissance.

DISASTER Despite the often hostile public reaction, Caravaggio continued to obtain prestigious and well-paid contracts. But in 1606, his fortune changed dramatically. On May 29, he killed a young man, Ranuccio Tomassoni, during a brawl. The motive is lost in history.

Caravaggio fled Rome for Naples, where he was sheltered by members of the Colonna family. Although a refuge from justice, Ranucci's family seem not to have pursued revenge. Almost immediately, Caravaggio picked up lucrative commissions, although he left some months later for Malta.

It may have been during this sojourn that he became a Knight of Malta, but his membership was short-lived. Within months he was expelled for inappropriate behaviour, although the motive was not revealed.

Unwelcome now on the small island of Malta, Caravaggio sailed for nearby Sicily. His reputation as an artist preceded him, and soon he began painting a number of large canvases. After nine months, however, he left Sicily for Naples. He may have wished to enlist the Colonna family's help in obtaining a pardon from the pope for the killing of Tomassoni. Encouraging news from the papal court indicated that his exile would end when he arrived in Rome. Landing at Port Ercole, north of the Eternal City, Caravaggio died, close to the shore. The cause of his death is unknown, although theories include malaria and lead poisoning. The papal pardon arrived from Pope Paul V three days after Caravaggio's death.

POPULAR PAINTER Four centuries after his death, Caravaggio is now one of the most popular artists of all time. There is a sexual allure to his paintings that resonates with contemporary society. His skill with theatrical lighting is impressive and spawned a school of chiaroscuro followers. But his contribution to the Catholic faith should not be underestimated. In the decades following the Protestant Reformation, Caravaggio and his contemporaries bolstered up devotion to the saints. His depiction of episodes from the Bible often educated illiterate viewers. Several religious orders, notably the Jesuits, Redemptorists and Barnabites, were formed in the aftermath of the Reformation.

The first oratorio, The Representation of the Soul and Body, by Cavalieri was given in Rome in 1600. Caravaggio and the artists he inspired and worked with played a vital part in re-establishing the Catholic faith following a long period of decline and stagnation. The 450th anniversary of his birth is a cause for celebration and appreciation of the master of light and shade.

Fr Michael Collins is a priest of the Archdiocese of Dublin. He is a graduate of University College Dublin. He has written and edited award-winning books, which have been translated into 12 languages.

MI S S I O N

BURYING THE DEAD

IN MOZAMBIQUE IN THE TIME OF COVID LIFE IN FURANCUNGO PARISH IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

BY BRIAN HOLMES CSsR

We

live in a parish called Furancungo, which is bigger than County Cork, with over 200,000 inhabitants. About 28,000 are participating Catholics. Like the rest of the world, we had to batten down the hatches during the COVID-19 pandemic. Luckily, we suffered less in our area than in the rest of the country. Mozambique has a population of around 33 million. At the end of September, we had a total of 1,900 registered deaths from Covid. To compare, Ireland, with a population of five million people, has over 5,200 deaths. Ireland has registered 1,000 deaths per million people, while Mozambique has registered 57 deaths per million.

In an impoverished country with very precarious health care structures, how did we escape?

There are lots of maybes. Maybe because we are off the beaten track, in an inaccessible mountainy region.

Maybe because the people live their lives outdoors; they rarely go back into their tiny houses once they get up in the early morning. They cook, work, and wash themselves and their clothes in the open air.

Some think that generations of people trying to survive malaria may have developed some immunity. Possibly a lot more died but were never identified. Maybe malaria eliminates the weaker

citizens with chronic illnesses, the most vulnerable. Whatever the explanation, only one woman, Dona Dereva, in the whole parish died from COVID -19. And she was a Catholic.

In this part of the world, funerals have a profound impact on our lives. In the community, everybody and everything stops, schools close, market stalls are abandoned, all work is suspended, and everybody participates in the traditional funeral rituals. I won't go into all these rituals in detail, but while the government tried to limit the number of people at a funeral to 20, this was ignored in our parish and all over Mozambique. There were never less than a thousand people at the funerals that passed

Fr Brian receiving offertory gifts.

The new Redemptorist church at Furancungo

by our house, which is on the way to the cemetery.

Because Dereva died of Covid, our Christian leaders were pressured to limit the different rituals. They told me that the local health authorities and the police had insisted that I wasn't to go near the body. Still, the people wanted me to carry out my part of the funeral rituals. One of the key elements for Catholics here is that after the coffin has been made, the women go in procession to bring it to the house where the body has been laid out. There the lay minister or priest, if he can be present, blesses it. As I was not allowed near the body, they asked me to go with the women and bless the coffin in the carpenters' shed.

That was a first for me. We blessed

the coffin and the carpenters.

Then the women carried the coffin, singing and dancing in their funereal mode, to the house where the body was laid out.

Another key moment in the ritual is the blessing of the body, now in the coffin, as it leaves the house and heads for the cemetery. So they asked me to stand on a little hillock near the church and say the prayers of the blessing of the body with the holy water as the funeral passed by, which I did from a little altar with candles and a crucifix.

Finally, there was the challenge of blessing the grave. They got around that by bringing me to the graveyard before the funeral arrived. There, as the men who dug the grave rested in the shade, we blessed the grave, the grave-diggers, and all who were suffering from COVID-19. Then I was whisked away before the funeral was due to arrive.

From this little episode, you can have an idea of how we spent the second year of the pandemic in Furancungo – trying to obey the rules, bending them at times, as the People of God coped creatively with this frightening disease. Despite all the churches being closed for months on end, our people held on, as best they could, to what they really believe in. There is never a dull moment.

25

F E AT U R E

e e l i b u J r e v l i S OF THE PROVINCE OF CEBU

IT'S 25 YEARS SINCE THE VICE-PROVINCE IN THE SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES BECAME INDEPENDENT

BY COLM MEANEY CSsR Baclaran church, national shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help

In

26

December 1905, the first Redemptorist to reach the Philippines arrived by ship into Manila harbour. Fr Andrew Boylan was provincial in Dublin at the time, and he had decided to found a new mission in the Far East. In the years that followed, both Irish and Australian Redemptorists were appointed to the new venture. By 1928, a plan was agreed for their missionary efforts in the vast archipelago: the Australians would conduct missions in the north of the country, beginning in the capital Manila. The Irish would go south and evangelise in the central and southern islands. The Irish arrived in Cebu on June 30, 1906. As time passed, the north evolved into a vice-province of Australia, with both Aussies and Filipinos among its members. To this day, it remains a vice-province due to a lack of numbers. Meanwhile, vocations

were greater in the south, so in1996, what had been a vice-province of Dublin became the independent Province of Cebu (the second city of the country and the residence of the provincial).

That means that 2021 marks the silver anniversary of the province.

At first, without monasteries of their own, the intrepid early missionaries were given the use of a centuries-old church on the island of Mactan, in the town of Lapulapu – named after the chieftain who had killed the explorer Magellan 500 years earlier. From that church, the Redemptorists went forth on their missions to neighbouring towns and islands. As the decades passed, they acquired land on various islands, eventually establishing 11 foundations (monasteries, churches, and retreat houses) on five islands.

Back Row: Brs Gall, Stephen, Richard. Middle Row: Frs Kerlin, Minihan, P.Scott, Madigan, Kearns, Burns, Lawlor, Front Row: Frs Maloney, Ryan, Curran, McMahon, Nulty

REALITY DECEMBER 2021

During the early decades, following the tradition of the congregation since the time of St Alphonsus, parish missions were the chief apostolate. I had many fruitful years involved in parish missions.

My predecessors were great men dedicated to their task. Here are some words of Fr Barney Casey CSsR, quoting a statement from a man in whose house he was staying during a parish mission: "'Your work is the same as that of Jesus Christ.'

I still find great consolation in that affirmation."

Another essential element of any Redemptorist mission soon began – devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. It was an immediate favourite and is now a national devotion.

Later, other Alfonsian ministries were introduced: the giving of retreats to various groups: clergy, nuns, schools. (In the 1960s, three retreat houses were built in Cebu, Iloilo and Bacolod). Eventually parishes were accepted, comprising the villages around a particular monastery. The Redemptorists have been chaplains to the leprosarium in Cebu since before World War II. By the early 1990s, vocations were in steep decline in Ireland but were steady in the southern Philippines. In addition, the vice-province of Cebu had decided to apply to become independent of Dublin. Almost 90 years after the Irish had arrived in the Philippines, the first Filipino provincial Fr Abdon Josol was elected.

The celebrations on becoming a province were memorable. We were honoured with the presence of a general consultor from Rome, Fr Joseph Tobin, and of the then Irish provincial, Fr Brendan Callanan, as well as many other distinguished guests – not to mention our faithful local supporters. We recalled our forebears in the

congregation, especially those who had begun the mission in the early 20th century, enduring some challenging episodes. We recalled the struggles during the martial law years in the 1970s and 80s and its many victims, including our confrère, Rudy Romano. We thanked the Lord for the many blessings conferred through the years, and then we had a sumptuous meal followed by a cultural programme.

Earlier, the Redemptorist members had a simple ceremony in the grounds of our retreat house in Cebu. Each community from the various islands had brought a small bag of soil. A seedling was planted to commemorate becoming a province, and the soil from each community was mixed among its roots. I saw the mixing of the soil as representing two truths: that becoming a province was a common project, a united effort in which all played some part. The soil also was a reminder that we should be among the lowest, the most humble, and that being among them this new plant, the Province of Cebu, would flourish. The quarter-century since then has seen some fine achievements.

Former Irish Provincial Fr Brendan Callanan taking part in the tree planting ceremony

Tacloban 1952: Br Ireland, Frs Collins, Coffey, Corr, Curran, McMahon, Connolly, Power

OUTREACH TO KOREA One of the first accomplishments was opening a mission in Korea in 1991.

Spearheaded by three priests, one each from Thailand, Brazil and Cebu, the mission has gone from strength to strength. It was an important undertaking for the fledgling province. The temptation might have been to rest on our laurels and concentrate on our already established ministries. But the lifeblood of any growing organism is to rise to the challenge of going further, being adventurous, taking risks. Not only was the new beginning in Korea symbolic of the innovative character of the province, but it has proven to be a fruitful strategy.

Vocations in Korea are steady, and among their apostolates is a ministry to the large number of Filipino workers there.

In the area of formation (training seminarians), two regional projects deserve mention. The novitiate is located in the city of Lipa in Luzon, but it serves the SouthEast Asian region (including the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka).

Formators are appointed from these countries.

An even more ambitious project was setting up a Redemptorist theologate in Davao.

This serves the Redemptorists and other congregations and is staffed by teachers from various groups (Redemptorists, Franciscan, Benedictine, lay, etc.) and also provides

teachers for the local diocesan seminary.

As the regular ministries of the province continue year by year (parish missions, retreats, parishes, formation), there has been a steady stream of other initiatives. In Manila, the Redemptorists run the national

Your work is the same as that of Jesus Christ shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. It is truly a massive undertaking, with many thousands attending the novena each Wednesday. Confessions in many different dialects are almost non-stop. For several decades, the Cebu province has sent a confrère to help in Manila. For some decades too, a Redemptorist has also been among the chaplains ministering to the large Filipino populations throughout Italy. A confrère from Cebu assists the Singapore Redemptorists in a parish in Dalat, Sarawak (East Malaysia), while one man also works with Filipino migrants in rural Malaysia.

All in all, I think it's fair to say that the Cebu province is flourishing and well deserves a big splash to celebrate its silver anniversary.

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

27

Letter from the Philippines

WHAT EVER

THE TROPICAL CLIMATE IN THE PHILIPPINES IS VERY DIFFERENT TO WHAT WE ARE ACCUSTOMED TO IN EUROPE

BY COLM MEANEY CSsR

28

The

Philippines, a nation of islands in South-East Asia, is nicely divided into three groups: Luzon (Luz), the large island in the north, where Manila is located; Visayas (Viz), a group of islands roughly in the mid-part of the country, where Cebu is located (where the explorer Magellan met his comeuppance in 1521); and Mindanao (Minda), the large island in the south. The three abbreviations are joined to form Luzviminda, a popular girl's name that has made its way to Ireland. The winner of the 1998 Rose of Tralee was Luzveminda O'Sullivan, from Mayo. (The letters 'i' and 'e' are interchangeable in Filipino spelling).

The country lies entirely north of the equator, stretching about 700 miles from north to south, 400 miles from east to west. The south is quite near the equator, so, therefore, we don't have the glorious, long summer evenings we have in Ireland, nor do we have the short days of darkest winter. Because of its position on the globe, day and night in the Philippines are practically of the same duration throughout the year. Sunrise is around 5.30 am, and sunset is about 5.30 pm, with a brief dawn and dusk.

When you arrive in the Philippines, the first thing REALITY DECEMBER 2021

that strikes you is the wall of heat as you walk from the plane to the arrivals area, and even more so as you leave the air-conditioned airport terminal and stand in line for a taxi. The heat is unrelenting, but so is the humidity. Even after taking a cold shower, one is soon perspiring.

GEOLOGICAL FEATURES The country has some notable geological features. Off the eastern coast runs the Philippine Trench, which is deeper than Mount Everest is high. The undersea trench, which is over 700 miles long, is the deepest place on the planet, reaching a depth of 34,000 feet (Everest is 29,000 feet). After the Trench (invisible, needless to say), the next territories one meets going eastward are the islands of Guam, Saipan, and eventually Hawaii. In other words, the eastern flank of the Philippines faces the Pacific Ocean, which can spell trouble.

The two islands most exposed to the vagaries of the Pacific are Leyte and Samar. The former may be familiar as the site where General McArthur landed during World War II. After

THE

having been temporarily bested by the Japanese, he had famously declared, "I shall return" – which he subsequently did, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Leyte and Samar experience regular typhoons, but Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013 beat all predictions. It was the mother of all storms, and it is difficult to exaggerate the effects.

For example, a huge ship was moved inland simply by the force of the waves and the wind.

Our monastery in Tacloban city was sturdily built in the 1950s, so it didn't suffer any real damage, but practically every house around it was reduced to scrap. Numberless trees fell due to the unrelenting winds. Electric poles fell, cables snapped, as a result of which there was no electricity in many areas for many weeks. One isolated town, Guiuan, practically disappeared altogether as it was in the eye of the storm. Little remained of any of the houses and infrastructure of the town of 45,000 people.

I happened to be in Cebu at that time (about 200 miles distant, on another island). In Cebu city, all we experienced were a few broken windows due to severe gusts. But friends 50 miles north of Cebu city texted me to say that being in the path of the typhoon was like being pummelled in a washing machine; the winds were so chaotic, seeming to attack from every direction. Quite a graphic comparison. Irish readers who remember Hurricane Debbie back in September 1961 will have some sense of the force of such a storm.

The effects of Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines, November 2013

WEATHER EARTHQUAKE Still, as devastating as a typhoon can be, I find the earth quaking under my feet to be even more unsettling. It's a really eerie feeling when the walls of the room you are in begin to tremble; furniture moves, and articles begin to fall. This is the most disturbing side of Mother Nature because you don't know how long it will last or how strong the tremor will be. Most of those I've experienced in the southern Philippines were harmless, but there have been some major quakes in recent years. Is one safer under a door jamb, or is it better to be out of doors?

TWO SEASONS There are really just two seasons in the Philippines, dry and rainy. We celebrate the annual fiesta of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in late June, part of which is a massive procession along the streets of Manila, Cebu and other cities – an awe-inspiring spectacle worthy of a separate article. But it's always touch-andgo as to whether it will rain or not during the procession because June is typically the start of the rainy season. (Later in the year, the heat returns, and the sun usually splits the rocks on Christmas day.) Those rains are reminiscent of Noah, as if they will continue non-stop for 40 days, thundering earthward in torrential downpours. Good fun for the children in the squatter areas in the cities as they frolic innocently in the floods.

But floods, for all the inconvenience they

cause, may also bring blessings. I was in a remote region of the island of Negros in mid-December 2012 when we heard on the radio that there had been severe flooding in Dumaguete (the city where I was officially assigned, about 100 miles from the mission area). We were celebrating the nine days of pre-dawn Masses in preparation for Christmas. I announced, a few days in advance, that I was going to Dumaguete on December 23, and if they wanted to send any food assistance, that would be welcome. The response was most heartening. Almost two sacks of rice were donated, which was gratefully received in the city.

The soil in the Philippines is especially fertile due mainly to the number of volcanoes, the spewing of lava over the millennia guaranteeing a perennially rich harvest, no matter what the crop. Most are now extinct or at least dormant, although, in 1991, there was a mighty eruption of Mt Pinatubo (on the island of Luzon). Volcanic ash reached 22 miles into the atmosphere and spread to many parts of the globe. Amazingly, global temperatures were affected for a few years, so dense was the volcanic ash. Incredibly, only about 350 people died due to the eruption, primarily due to collapsing roofs.

Perhaps any people can recover from a disastrous natural calamity, but Filipinos can do it with aplomb. When Mt Pinatubo erupted, a tremendous amount of volcanic ash was spewed over a large area. This ash is technically called lahar, a greyish viscous substance. It

covered churches and other large buildings.

In fact, there was something biblical about the lahar's extensive presence. Like the plague of locusts before the Exodus from Egypt, it "shall cover the surface of the soil so thick that the soil will not be seen" (Ex. 10:5) – such was the lahar.

So, what do you do with such a vast amount of seemingly useless sludge? The Filipino answer is to use it creatively, which is precisely what they did. Using the hardened lahar, artists sculpted various decorative scenes as memorials of the eruption and as much-needed income. Lovely handiwork, proof that disaster is not the last word.

LIVE THE GOSPEL Whatever clime we find ourselves in, whether the cloying humidity of the tropics or the more bracing Irish weather, the challenge and privilege is to preach, or better, to live the Gospel. Such was the message to the somewhat timid bishop Timothy: "Preach the word in season and out of season" (2 Tim 4:2). And such was the powerful, heartfelt confession of Paul: "Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel" (1 Cor 9:16)

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

29

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COM M E N T FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS CARMEL WYNNE

What is a friend?

HONESTY IN A FRIENDSHIP INVOLVES WAY MORE THAN SIMPLY TELLING THE TRUTH. IT INVOLVES HAVING INTEGRITY, BEING GENUINE, AUTHENTIC AND TRUSTWORTHY What is the logical thing to do if you want to know the meaning of a word? Does it surprise you to know that the answer is age-related? Younger people immediately go online to look the word up on Google.

People who may be older or not computer literate are more likely to look it up in a dictionary.

Dictionaries give limited information compared to what you will find online.

Our copy of the Oxford dictionary is on a high shelf.

It measures 11x9 inches and weighs almost 7lbs. Rather than take it down, I find it easier to go online to look up the definition of a word. It's also more fun and much more interesting. You can look up the five-gift rule, the three-gift rule, and the etiquette for giving Christmas gifts.

For example, some online definitions of the word 'friend' are: 'A person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations,' and 'A friend is someone other than your family or partner that you share close affection with. You share kindness, sympathy, empathy, compassion, loyalty, fun, and probably some common beliefs and values with them.'

Google gives a variety of definitions for any word you look up, a list of the questions people ask about the word and other information. If you want to learn about the qualities of a good friend, the 13 essential

traits of good friends, 11 signs of a genuine friendship, and the nine 'must knows' of a great friendship, look online.

The closest definition I found online to what I believe about friendship is, 'Good friends are loyal and accept you for who you are during the good and bad times. Good friends are also honest – honest enough to tell you when you're not being a good friend yourself.'

There is a widespread belief that a caring friend should withhold information that might be hurtful or upsetting.

The positive intention may be to spare a person's feelings. But honesty is the foundation of trust in a friendship. Honesty in a friendship involves way more than simply telling the truth.

It involves having integrity, being genuine, authentic and trustworthy.

A brief definition of integrity is: 'The quality of being honest, trustworthy and living by strong moral principles.' Isn't it sad that a person who dares to tell the plain, unvarnished truth can sometimes be perceived as insensitive? Expressions like 'too honest for his or her own good' or 'brutal honesty' devalue both honesty and integrity.

People know intuitively when someone lives in accordance with their deepest values. They value the integrity of someone who is honest with everyone, and who will always keep their

word. Integrity is such a highly valued trait that if a 'good friend' unknowingly says something that isn't true, people will have confidence that it was a genuine mistake.

When asked for an honest opinion, do you answer instantly with your first uncensored thought, or do you pause to consider how to reply? If you need to second-guess how the person will react before you speak, you may have a trust issue.

People intuitively pick up on a tiny pause and, depending on the quality of the relationship, assign it a meaning.

The majority of us spend an enormous amount of time trying to second-guess the thoughts, feelings, intentions and attitudes of others. When we shield someone from the whole truth, the underlying belief is that we do not trust that the person has what it takes to make good choices and decisions. From the best of motives, we decide what information to reveal and what must be censored to avoid hurting the other person's feelings. To stop someone from making a perceived bad decision may be the positive intention, but the action demonstrates an enormous lack of respect for the other's skills and capabilities. The non-verbal message is: I have superior knowledge. I know better than you.

The belief that a good friend feels a responsibility to protect

you from the truth goes against almost everything we have learned about friendship. In her book Flourishing, Dr Maureen Gaffney says, 'To be seen as honest or trustworthy, someone has to be honest at all times and in all their dealings with you.'

You must really love someone to tell them the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Finding the correct language to convey an unflattering truth is a challenge. My good friend Colm had a loving way to answer truthfully if I asked him a question like, "Be honest, how do I look in this?" A wise man and a good friend, he'd grin and say, "I refuse to comment on the grounds that I might incriminate myself."

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

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F E AT U R E

THE ADAM AND EVE MYTH

THE MYTH OF ADAM AND EVE CONVEYS THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH THAT NONE OF US IS PERFECT

BY JOHN J. Ó RÍORDÁIN CSsR 32 Let

me read for you the story of the temptation of Adam and Eve from the book of Genesis (3.1-5): "Now the serpent was the craftiest of all the wild creatures that God had made. He said to the woman, 'Did God really say: You must not eat from any tree in the garden?' The woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden, but of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden God said: You must not eat, and you must not touch it or you will die.' The serpent said to the woman, 'You will not die, but God knows that the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.'"

The Bible employs myth to communicate something so profound that it is really beyond expression in ordinary terms The Bible is the word of God, but it is God's word mediated to us through human beings in a particular language, within a particular REALITY DECEMBER 2021

civilisation. The sacred writers used all the skills and knowledge at their disposal, drawing on history, poetry, myth, folklore, literature, drama, and whatever else was available to them. The purpose of the exercise was to communicate a religious message concerning God's relationship with the world.

The culture of the Middle East from which the Bible emerged between two and four thousand years ago is a far cry from that in which you and I have grown up. So you will forgive me if I suggest that we give ourselves a little too much credit by thinking that we can interpret the scriptures without some guidance. Some years ago, a priest friend of mine was working in America. One morning after Mass, a lady followed him into the sacristy and said, "You are the father of my child!"

Without batting an eyelid, my friend replied in his rich cultured accent, "Madame, I'm afraid you give me altogether too much credit!" So the good lady turned on her heels and walked out.

As interpreters of the Bible, perhaps at times, we too give ourselves altogether too much credit.

GUIDANCE Let me turn to the Adam and Eve story in the Bible to illustrate this need for guidance.

To begin with, the story of Adam and Eve is

a myth. Now, anything described as a myth in today's language is dismissed out of hand.

Myth in a biblical context is entirely different.

Here, the Bible employs myth to communicate something so profound that it is really beyond expression in ordinary terms. Therefore, when I say that the Adam and Eve story is myth, I mean that there is a lot more to it than we see at face value.

The story of the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Paradise made good sense to its hearers because they all shared the same language, culture and values. Ears cocked up immediately on the mention of the serpent, for example. The fact that the serpent sheds its skin each year gives a semblance of immortality. Furthermore, because serpents lived underground, they acquired a reputation for communicating with the dead and sharing juicy bits of gossip and scandal with them. As a result, the serpent was considered to be both crafty and wise – we still use the term 'wise as serpents.' The serpent sets about deceiving Eve by suggesting that she is forbidden to eat of the fruit of the tree at the centre of the garden to prevent her from becoming like God, knowing the nature of good and evil.

THE TREE The Bible does not refer to the popular notion that the tree at the centre of the garden was an apple tree. So, where did that idea come from? It seems to have originated in Homer's great poem, The Iliad, dating from the sixth century BC. It was part of the folklore of the Middle East for centuries and would have been known to the author of the Book of Genesis.

There is a story about a society wedding in the Iliad to which all the gods and goddesses were invited, except for Eris, the goddess of chaos, strife and discord. Even though not invited, Eris gatecrashed the party and, true to form, caused chaos by throwing a golden apple into the crowd of goddesses with the words 'the fairest' inscribed on it. Well, three goddesses started fighting over which of them was the fairest. The row ultimately led to the Trojan War, which lasted for the following ten years. In the Iliad, it was the goddess Venus that got the apple, but in the biblical version, it is Eve that takes the apple and gives it to Adam and sparks off endless trouble for humanity.

With the development of modern psychology under the influence of Sigmund Freud, people saw the snake as a symbol of the male sexual anatomy and that Adam and Eve had a bit of hanky-panky in the garden. From a biblical point of view, that interpretation was totally off the wall.

EXCUSES, EXCUSES At the beginning, I said that myths are stories to convey a depth of meaning that is beyond words. The Adam and Eve myth presents how the world is, how people ought to behave, and how people have to sweat and toil, bear and rear children, and most important of all, the message is that while everyone has elements of good and bad within them, there is something lacking, something that falls short of perfection.

Some sociologists nowadays believe that everybody is a good person. There is so much violence in society because the perpetrators have been raised in a bad environment – horrible parents, screwed up at school, sexually abused

by the pastor, or whatever the reason. If only one could stop pastors or parents or teachers from behaving as described, the person would grow to be perfect.

But there is another point of view, that of the Book of Genesis at the root of the Jewish and Christian faith, namely, that no matter what you do, there will always be inherent weaknesses in the person. So, depending on your viewpoint of society, you will have different laws, different rules concerning human behaviour. I think we can all agree that none of us is perfect.

John J. Ó Ríordáin CSsR is a member of the Redemptorist Community in Limerick and has written extensively on early Irish and Scottish Christianity. He is also author of a memoir Before the Night Grows Late.

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34

FRANÇOIS MAURIAC’S CONTE DE NOËL

FRANÇOIS MAURIAC’S POWERFUL SHORT STORY IS A REMINDER OF THE NEED TO CELEBRATE OR TO REDISCOVER THE CHILD-LIKE JOY THAT IS PART OF WELCOMING THE SON OF GOD AT CHRISTMAS

BY EAMON MAHER

The

French Catholic writer François Mauriac (1885-1970) is someone whose work was widely read and appreciated in Ireland, especially in the 1950s and 60s. A member of the Académie Française and winner of the Nobel Prize for REALITY DECEMBER 2021

Literature in 1952, Mauriac is possibly as well-known for his journalism as for his fiction. His Bloc-notes, published in L’Express and Le Figaro between 1952 and 1970, provide superb insights into France’s struggle to recover from the travails of World War

II and the steady break-up of its empire, the bloody Algerian war of independence (1954-1962), which contributed to the fall of Mauriac’s hero, Charles de Gaulle, the Cold War, the diminished reputation of France on the world stage, and the

steady rise of secularism, all of which are discussed in Mauriac’s customary elegant prose and brutal honesty.

Born into a wealthy family who lived close to Bordeaux in south-west France, Mauriac suffered from an early stage as

childhood, Commencements d’une vie: Our nightgowns were so long that I couldn’t even get to scratch my foot.

We knew that the Lord above demanded from His children that they sleep with their arms crossed over their chests. We went to sleep with our arms folded, our palms almost nailed against our bodies, grasping the holy medals and the scapular of Mount Carmel that we couldn’t remove, even in the bath. The five children thus hugged against their bodies, in an embrace that was already passionate, the invisible love of God.

a result of doubts he harboured in relation to his sinful nature, doubts that were attributable in large part to his mother’s distrust of the human body.

This is seen to telling effect in the following extract from the autobiographical account of his

MOTHER’S LOVE The relationship with the mother is key to the discussion of Mauriac’s wonderful short story, Conte de Noël, which relates the contrasting experiences of two eight-year-old boys on Christmas eve. Jean de Blaye is the victim of serious bullying by some of his classmates, especially the rough and ready Campagne, who refers to him as a girl because of his abundant blond curls, which are in stark contrast to the cropped hairstyles of the other students.

To them, he is a living incarnation of Little Lord Fountleroy, a wellknown literary character of the Frances Hodson Burnett novel of the same name, and a Mammy’s boy to boot.

On this particular Christmas eve, Jean’s friend Yves Frontenac hears a heated exchange in the yard, the source of which becomes clear when he hears one student exclaim: “He thinks it is Jesus who comes down

the chimney…” The discussion concerns Jean’s belief that Jesus is the purveyor of the presents that appear miraculously on Christmas Day. He is firm on this point because his mother told him so, and she would not lie.

Greatly distressed, the young boy turns to Yves and asks him to repeat what he said during their walk around the yard. However, Yves, in a moment of cowardice, betrays Jean by announcing he did not believe such nonsense and that he was only talking in jest. As they head home after school, Jean once more confronts Yves and suggests he only said what he said because he was afraid of Campagne, an accusation Yves denies. In the end, they resolve to stay awake that night to ascertain the exact provenance of the presents.

Frontenac struggles to stay awake, but he is determined

unimaginable midnight Mass that I had not attended, I knew that Maman and my brothers must have received Communion and returned from the altar, as I had seen them do so often, with their hands joined and their eyes closed so firmly that I always wondered how they could find their seats.

So while Yves realises that it may be his mother who is leaving presents in the fireplace of his bedroom, God is also present in her as a result of her receiving him during the Mass. That thought is enough to assuage any doubts he had about how the presents appeared so miraculously every Christmas.

REVELATION After the school holidays, Yves eagerly looks around to locate the notorious curls of his friend,

While Yves realises that it may be his mother who is leaving presents in the fireplace of his bedroom, God is also present in her as a result of her receiving him during the [Midnight] Mass to ignore his mother’s warning that Jesus will not come if he is not asleep. The peeling bells of the nearby cathedral aid him in the fight against sleep and he is still conscious when his mother enters his room after midnight Mass. He detects a change in her: It was my mother and yet it wasn’t her. It seemed to me as though someone else had taken on the form of my mother. During the

to whom he wishes to share the revelation he has had. In the end, he sees Jean minus the curls and with a visage that has hardened in some way. When Yves prompts him to reveal what he discovered, Jean brusquely shuns such a discussion, saying that no one believes that sort of thing at their age. He adds that he will never again accept his mother’s lies. Yves tries to share his own experience of continues on page 37

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father died when François was only 20 months and it would be subsequently revealed that he was an apostate, something which must surely have horrified Madame Mauriac.

how the mystery of Christmas had been revealed to him, and how his mother had not lied, but Jean cuts him short, saying: “I saw exactly what happens.”

Clearly, their understanding of the event was very different and the impact this had on Yves was catastrophic.

On the one occasion during his youth when he was not at home for Christmas, Yves wandered from bar to bar in Paris, trying unsuccessfully to get drunk, and suddenly thought he saw Jean in one of the establishments. It turned out to be his younger brother, who explained how Jean had had a challenging life, largely as a result of the troubled relationship he had with his mother. One incident in particular reveals the extent of their enmity. Their mother had a silver box which she always kept under lock and

key. Jean was convinced that it contained treasure and decided one day to force the lock, only to discover that it contained his childhood curls. He confronted his mother with what was for him a sordid revelation and ended up throwing the mother’s cherished memento into the fire.

They reminded him of his lost innocence and the betrayal of his mother. After that, he was constantly in trouble with the police, drank to excess and dabbled in drugs. He died prematurely in a hospital in Saigon.

Reflecting on the destiny of his friend, Yves reflects on what had transpired between Jean’s fierce defence of his mother’s honour in the school yard all those years ago and his lonely death in Vietnam. Cutting off his curls was the first act of rebellion, as they were for him

a reminder of the time when he believed utterly everything she told him. He also knew how much she cherished them.

What he failed to comprehend was the unconditional love she had for him – his brother admits that she loved only Jean – and that what he perceived as a betrayal could easily have been interpreted as a sign of love and a wish to preserve the innocence of youth.

So moved is he by the story he has just heard that Yves starts writing the minute he gets back to his apartment at dawn, feverishly tracing the outline of a destiny that could well have been his own. Mauriac himself had a rather fraught relationship with his mother, but in his case it was mainly down to her close surveillance of her children’s potential frailty when it came to matters of the flesh. Mauriac’s

SIGN OF THE INCARNATION I always think of Conte de Noël when I attend midnight Mass at Christmas. The fact that it rarely if ever takes place at midnight anymore doesn’t matter. The story of the birth of Jesus is beautiful and those present at Mass on the eve of this momentous feast, when families are reunited, carols sung with a particular gusto, children’s faces red with excitement, the priest in the golden chasuble, the congregation attentive to the nativity narrative as they prepare to receive the host that is the concrete sign of the incarnation, all these elements induce happiness in many people, and especially in children. That Jean de Blaye should have had such a horrible experience of Christmas, an experience that changed the course of his life, is a reminder that childhood memories, both traumatic and happy, leave an indelible mark.

So this Christmas it would be nice to rediscover the child-like joy that is part of welcoming the Son of God onto this earth and to reach out to others in the knowledge that kind gestures can change people’s view of themselves and give them a feeling of self-worth.

Eamon Maher is Director of the National Centre for Franco-Irish Studies in TU Dublin.

37

ME AND MY GOD

A series where contributors reflect on their understanding of God and how it has evolved

ARRESTING EXPERIENCES THROUGH A SERIES OF UNEXPECTED ARRESTS, I HAVE COME TO A MORE MATURE UNDERSTANDING OF GOD

BY SEÁN O'CONAILL

The

38

avoidance of sudden arrest – at least until the very end – must surely be a primary purpose of education. Cardiac arrest must happen to us all eventually.

It has therefore come home to me – via no less than six unexpected lifetime arrests – that nothing could be better designed to prevent us encountering the God I know than a sound Catholic education: you may never meet this God until you are arrested.

FIRST ARREST – 1952 Small but vital progress occurs when the parish priest in Sandyford, County Dublin, hauls me out of altar server training on a justified charge of knowing nothing of the Apostles Creed. My sainted mother has me reciting that creed from memory by the end of the following week, aged nine.

Even so, the later discovery that innumerable historical persons have also suffered arrest for not knowing the creed – or for contesting some of it – does not convince me of its inherent usefulness, and there's a period when the Communist Manifesto of 1848 seems more to the point.

Vatican II is happening around then, however, in the early 1960s. I catch a vibe of 'history on the turn,' and decide that history teaching can be my career.

Though the NI 'Troubles' soon ensue in my school context in Northern Ireland, they too cause me to 'think again' about the causes of inter-Christian violence.

SECOND ARREST – 1994 Aged just 14, my youngest son tells me suddenly one evening: "I don't believe any of this Jesus stuff, and most of my class don't either!" That statement

REALITY DECEMBER 2021

arrests me, at 51, because by then, after 25 years teaching history and current affairs, the popular project called secularism is – to my eye – close to crisis.

Reason, divorced from faith, has clearly been failing since 1789 to give the world liberty, equality and fraternity, so how can it succeed if, in a future global climate crisis, there is a struggle for survival? However, just then, I'm at a loss to explain to my son why I believe the Gospels to be important in our own time.

That's the whole point of an arrest. You are stuck – incapable of forward motion under your own power.

It isn't yet the creed that I pray then, however.

Instead, I frankly admit my predicament in the most direct words and ask to be able to see.

What I begin to see, within weeks, are repeating patterns of thinking and behaving that clearly unite the Gospel world and the world of 1994. Those repeating patterns always relate to the issue of honour and shame.

Put simply, our consistent mindset in all eras is that we start out as nobodies who suppose we can only become somebodies if we can convince a significant number of other people that we are indeed somebody. We seek this reassurance from others that we are somebody, even though we don't trust our own judgement on the matter. (Q. Is this sensible?)

This is a fraught affair, this bid for the admiration of others. Almost everybody else has the very same objective. That's why we tend to bully one another.

Jesus's closest followers had the same problem.

In the very first Christian century, they argued

over which of them was the greatest. The mother of two of them asked Jesus to prefer her sons as his topmost men in the same kingdom.

And this also had started a row.

Significantly, less than a century earlier, and in the same part of the world, a character called Julius Caesar had set out to become a somebody by killing as many enemies of Rome as he could. Out of his success had arisen the Roman empire, the cradle of Christianity.

Wherever I look in history or news media, I see the same dangerous pattern of belief. Nobody is ever a somebody unless a considerable number of others agree on the fact.

Jesus of Nazareth, on the other hand, had an utterly different mindset. He treated everybody as a somebody, without precondition, and did not seek to be a somebody. He said that even children are somebodies before they have impressed anybody.

He never shamed anyone yet was crucified to prove he was a nobody.

With that insight, I began writing on that repeating pattern of honour and shame in the

39 events then happening – including, in 1995, the issue of the hiding by bishops of clerical child abuse.

Put simply, the search for honour is always driven by a fear of its opposite – shame, the contempt and rejection of onlookers. Catholic bishops were especially averse to shame since they were still, in the 1990s, honoured leaders of an honoured Irish institution. How could the church survive if its priests could be shamed?

THIRD ARREST – 2003 In Belfast City Hospital, I'm told that a malignant cancer has moved into my lymph system and may not be curable. I am on my own in an alien place.

I realise then that fear of death and fear of shame are the same – and begin repeating to myself, over and over, a sequence of 27 words.* That is when I discover that this prayer is a solution to a lifelong problem – insomnia due to an ever-busy mind. When I wake, I am no longer fearful. I see my CD player and am soon listening to Ubi Caritas et Amor. 'Where there is

caring and love, there is God.' Care, prayer and chemotherapy save me.

FOURTH ARREST – 2011 In a clear case of mistaken identity, I am arrested by three bona fide police officers and soon released with an apology. By this time, I have read a history of the creed and can see the point of these experiences. Jesus had also been arrested and crucified on a false charge – and the creed had been compiled in the most dangerous early era when all Christians needed that reminder.

I have also discovered that the creed suppresses panic in all such situations. Trust me on this!

FIFTH ARREST – 2015 I am hospitalised with atrial fibrillation caused by a chest infection. That could end any moment in cardiac arrest, but I am reciting the Apostles Creed and watching with interest as medics search for, and find, the antibiotic needed.

SIXTH ARREST – 2020 We are all arrested – by COVID-19. Most are soon realising that self-sufficiency is a myth.

Pope Francis is talking of synodality and instituting a new ministry of parish catechist.

Bring that on.

The fact that the Irish Catholic church has also now lost the power to shame anyone, and that we are now ourselves sometimes subjected to shaming, is also both an arrest and a deliverance.

The point of the creed is to remind ourselves that human judgement is always fallible and passing away, that Jesus is alive and nearby in the Holy Spirit, while Caesar is not – and that we are always in the gaze of this God who judges justly, through the gaze of his Son. *Those 27 words begin with "O my Jesus, forgive us our sins…”

A retired teacher, Seán O’Conaill lives in Co Derry. He is a member of the Association of Catholics in Ireland – acireland. ie – and has a website – seanoconaill.com – where most of his past articles for Reality can be found.

F E AT U R E

The

People's Poet

THE LATE POET BRENDAN KENNELLY HAD A DEEP INTEREST IN RELIGION AND IN THE CELTIC TRADITION

BY JOHN SCALLY

40

A

heavy cloud of sadness fell over me when I heard that Brendan Kennelly had left us. One of the great blessings in my life was to have known him for 30 years, and I mourn his loss.

Brendan was perhaps Ireland's best-loved modern poet. His life and writing were marked by a fascinating combination of the relevant and the irreverent.

He was born in 1936 in Ballylongford, Co Kerry. It was fitting that he should spend his final years in Kerry because his interest in football was part of his native county that never left him.

were playing Tarbert. There was great rivalry between them then as there is now. The football began on the first bell of the Angelus at noon, and they kicked the ball between the two parishes until 6 pm, when the bell rang for the second Angelus. Whatever parish the ball was in at that time lost the game. I think it was wonderfully ironic because now whichever team gets acquisition of the ball is the one that has the advantage."

MEMORIES OF JOHN B. KEANE Brendan was a close friend of the late, great John B. Keane.

"John B. had some reser vations about my career in ac ad emic life," Brendan recalled. "He pointed out that teachers were very respected at the time but had very little money. He used to say I would be better if I had a job with a little less respect and a little more money!

I constantly marvel at the fact that Christians believe that even before we were born and long after we die, there is at work a provident, gracious God who has created us and loves us and wants us to share in God's own life "It has a great history," he told me. "I remember hearing stories going back to the origins of the GAA when Ballylongford

REALITY DECEMBER 2021

"As a child, John B. was enthralled by the idea of lifting the Sam Maguire Cup and captaining Kerry to All-Ireland victory. So exercised was he by this idea that at Mass one Sunday, as the priest lifted the chalice during the consecration, he turned to his mother and whispered, 'Why does he get to win the cup every Sunday?'

"As a young man, John B. was so serious about football that he decided to give up the drink for Lent as a sign of his commitment to the game. One Ash Wednesday, John B. met his neighbour Micky Joe. In local parlance, John B. was 'fond of a sup.' So Micky Joe was shocked when John B. told him he was giving up drink for Lent. He then qualified his answer by saying, 'except in emergencies.'

'What does that mean exactly?' asked Micky Joe. "With a twinkle in his eye, young Keane replied, 'Well, someone might say: What are you having, John B.?'"

SPIRITUAL MATTERS Brendan had a keen interest in religious matters and was fascinated by Christianity and the figure of Christ. "I constantly marvel

at the fact that Christians believe that even before we were born and long after we die, there is at work a provident, gracious God who has created us and loves us and wants us to share in God's own life. This view shapes the Christian's moral life by enabling them to live in faith, hope and love. Accordingly, Christianity invites us into the heart of what it is to be human. I love the idea of the divine being most tellingly revealed by our humanisation.

"Of course, as someone who has spent a lifetime studying words, I particularly admire the prologue to John's Gospel: 'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was with God.' "I love the idea of a religion based on love. It is best summed up in the quotation from St Paul, 'To live through love in God's presence.'

Every day, I open the papers and read stories about the absence of love in the world, which depresses me.

"Love of God must be expressed not only in prayer and Sunday worship but must permeate every aspect of our lives. The Bible has no ambiguities on one issue: you cannot love God unless you love your neighbour.

The Old Testament prophets were scathing in their criticism of those who sought to appease God by prayers and sacrifices while oppressing the powerless. Jesus told us that all the law and the prophets are summarised in the commandment to love God and neighbour. All love invites love. God calls us to love.

"The compassion of God enthrals me. There are days when I'm very far from this, but I'm always inspired by the image of Jesus in the Gospels. He brought the compassion of God to people, he didn't judge or condemn, and was with people wherever they were, especially those on the margins of society.

That is why I really admire people like that great Kerry woman Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, because of her work with people who cannot help themselves."

CELTIC TRADITION I had several great chats with Brendan about the Celtic tradition and its poetry,

in particular. He told me that "the Celtic mind did not take kindly to obscurity." He pointed out that Celtic poetry had two other prominent characteristics: a great love of nature and a religious intensity.

"The poetry of the monks shows their willingness to meditate on the qualities that make them deeply human, and that also relate to the superhuman. The problem of their sexual nature is a recurring theme in their poetry, and the challenge they faced was to transform their sexual energy into religious energy. This is not to imply that the religious and sexual are mutually exclusive, but they treated their sexual longings in a way that converted them into a longing for God. This is not unusual. One of the greatest poets in the English language, John Donne, was an accomplished metaphysical poet who went on to become a great religious poet.

"The literature of the early Irish Christians is full of celebration of the fact that God and nature are closely intertwined. The Voyage of Brendan, for example, is the story of Brendan's quest to find the promised land of the saints.

The work is an indication of how Christianity appropriated the indigenous culture as it borrows heavily from the Immran, a pagan tale of the seafaring Celts who had boldly explored the mysteries of the mighty and threatening Atlantic Ocean."

Brendan was keen that I would not have an excessively romantic view of Celtic Christianity.

"There's a danger of an excessively mistyeyed approach to the 'golden age of Irish monasticism.' This era had its 'dark spots.'

Monasteries were often under the control of local chieftains. There are quite a few examples of monasteries going to war with each other.

"One of the problems with the Irish church at the time was that it was so identified with local lords that the original Christian impetus was lost. Sometimes the monasteries became little more than pawns in the wars going on between the local chieftains.

"A warm welcome wasn't always guaranteed in Celtic Ireland. There is a story of a beautiful young woman who was pursuing St Kevin.

According to legend, not alone did he reject her advances, but he threw her into a lake!

"Fifteen hundred years later, in his poem 'Temptation in Harvest,' Patrick Kavanagh would write of his struggle to abandon his vocation as a poet. 'I go to follow her who winked at me.' Like Kavanagh, these monks inspire us to reflect on human relationships and the relationship we have with what lies beyond the human."

One of Brendan's legacies to me is a love of the eighth-century poem, 'Christ's Bounty.'

Whenever I read it, I think of him: I pray you Christ, to change my heart To make it whole; Once you took on flesh like mine, Now take my soul.

Ignominy and pain you knew, The lash, the scourge, You, the perfect molten metal Of my darkened forge.

You make the bright sun bless my head, Put ice beneath my feet.

Send salmon swarming in the tides, Give crops of wheat.

When Eve's wild children come to you With prayerful words, You crowd the rivers with fine fish, The sky with birds.

You make the small flowers thrive In the wholesome air.

You spread sweetness through the world.

What miracle can compare?

I will remember Brendan for the twinkle in his eye as we talked. The words 'national treasure' are much over-used. Brendan will forever remain a national treasure.

John Scally lectures in Theology in Trinity College. He is a native of Co Roscommon.

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FRONTLINE WOMEN TRÓCAIRE SHARES THE STORIES OF TWO BRAVE WOMEN NAVIGATING LIFE ON THE FRONTLINE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACING HUMANITY – CLIMATE CHANGE

Halima

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(48), a mother of nine, lives in Jazira Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Luuq in southwestern Somalia. She has become a nomad in her own country after drought killed her livestock, forcing her family to move 40km from their home in Yurkud village in search of food, shelter and work.

Climate change has made life harder for women in Somalia, and climate projections suggest worse is to come. Mean annual temperatures are forecast to increase by around three degrees across the country by the end of the century.

Since becoming displaced, Halima, her husband Hassan (46), their children and nine relatives have struggled. Education, a basic human right in Ireland, is not an option for the children as they focus on day-to-day survival.

"When we moved to the camp my family had no income and we were struggling to meet basic needs. We could not afford three meals a day and most of my children were malnourished."

Internal migration in Somalia is primarily linked to extreme weather-related climate change events, conflict and violence. Approximately 593,000 people have been displaced in Somalia this year alone.

Last year, Halima was selected to participate in a new resilience food production project, implemented by Trócaire in partnership with the Centre for Research and Integrated Development (CERID).

Through this pilot programme, Halima is now being supported and empowered to reduce the devastating impacts of climate change and to create more sustainable ways of living through farming.

Halima has been given access to farmland, training on agroecological food production techniques and alternative income options. She has also joined a community savings group.

"In the first year of the project, I planted tomatoes, squash, green pepper, cowpeas, sorghum and

REALITY DECEMBER 2021

maize. I learned about good agricultural practice and was given a plot of land to plant. For the first two seasons I made $310, (€263), which I used primarily for family basic needs and to purchase two goats. Legumes and cereals were harvested and sold as fodder to generate income.

"Currently, I have goats all acquired through the support of CERID and Trócaire. I bought six with money from selling crops from my farm. Since then, they have given birth to another six."

Halima's daughter, Qali Hassan (17), is also helping lift the family from poverty after graduating from a course at the Agricultural Training Centre, which trains teenagers on agri-business and entrepreneurship. Trócaire also implements the programme in partnership with CERID. Qali and her mother have now started a kitchen garden where they grow vegetables to feed the family. This is a win-win as it helps provide muchneeded income as well as food.

"I harvest lettuce and other vegetables every morning and prepare breakfast for my children.

I also give some of the daily harvest to my neighbours," Halima adds.

Halima's daughter is applying her newfound skills to improving the irrigation system, soil fertility and pest control.

Thanks to the transformation in their lives, Halima has also been able to send her bed-ridden mother for surgery for her failing eyesight.

"My mother is now independent again. Now she can go anywhere she wishes without anybody's guidance," Halima says.

LORENZA AND SANTA'S STORY: GUATEMALA Mothers Lorenza Cedillo Matom and Santa Paulina Brito Raymundo are from the village of Xeucalvitz in Santa María Nebaj in El Quiché province in Guatemala. Vulnerable communities in the Central American country are seriously affected by climate

Halima

Santa Paulina Brito Raymundo

change and recovering from the devastating double impact of Hurricanes Eta and Iota.

After the hurricanes hit, the Guatemalan government declared a state of emergency as landslides destroyed roads, collapsed houses and isolated communities.

Lorenza and Santa's remote village is approximately 47 kilometres from the main city.

Before the hurricanes, it took two and a half hours by car to reach the city due to the poor state of the roads. But after the hurricanes struck, the community was cut off for two months. Road travel was not possible, forcing community members to walk 14 hours to buy food.

Lorenza and Santa had to abandon their animals, which they heavily relied on for income. Shops were empty, and families were forced to sleep outdoors because their houses had collapsed.

Malnutrition was a huge concern for Lorenza and Santa as they struggled to provide food for their children. Thanks to Trócaire, in partnership with Caritas, Lorenzo and Santa and community members received food rations and hygiene kits in the two months after the hurricanes hit.

They have now been elected as members of the disaster response committee, COLRED, which is helping to rebuild from the rubble. Women like Lorenzo and Santa are becoming increasingly empowered to take on leadership roles and to make a difference.

If you would like to donate to Trócaire, please go to

www.trócaire.org to find out the various ways you can help their projects

COM M E N T REALITY CHECK PETER McVERRY SJ

Putting God’s Kingdom first

THIS CHRISTMAS, WE RECOMMIT OURSELVES TO A DEEP FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD, MADE MAN, AND TO THE KINGDOM HE CAME TO ESTABLISH Two thousand years ago, there was a man who was called 'The Son of God.' He was given titles such as 'Lord,' 'Redeemer,' 'Liberator,' 'Saviour of the World,' 'Prince of Peace.' Who was that person? It was the Emperor, Caesar Augustus.

Caesar had conquered the known world. His victories over his enemies had saved the Roman empire from the turmoil of constant war and brought it peace. Caesar was revered throughout the empire as the one sent by God to bring peace to the world.

But in a little corner of that empire, there came into being a small group of people who gave those same titles – 'Lord,' 'Redeemer,' 'Saviour,' 'Son of God' – to a nobody, a child born into poverty, from nowhere, ("Did anything good ever come out of Nazareth?" John 1.45), and who had been crucified by Herod, Caeser's representative.

Either this was a joke, intended to make fun of Caesar, or it was high treason.

But Caesar was not amused.

The early Christians were persecuted, arrested, imprisoned and sometimes executed.

Those early Christians clearly understood that their king was not Caesar but the Risen Jesus; that the kingdom which commanded their allegiance was not the Roman empire but the Kingdom of God. They understood that the Kingdom of God, which Jesus proclaimed, was not only a 'spiritual'

of every person, regardless of status, gender, disability, colour, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

Political: We are called to challenge government policies that harm the poor or further marginalise some people and to support and promote policies intended to eliminate poverty, inequality, and marginalisation.

The early Christians were profoundly political – they understood that their decisions, such as refusing to serve in the Roman army, were a direct threat to Caesar's law. kingdom, to be found in heaven, but a kingdom in which they were living, here and now, and which posed a challenge to the prevailing way of life. They lived together in community.

They shared everything they had with each other, so there was no inequality amongst them. No one was to be made feel unwanted or second-class since everyone was recognised as a child of God with the same dignity as everyone else.

The leaders of the community understood that their role was to serve the community, not to lord it over them.

Today, we Christians may no longer live together in community or share everything we have. But, at this time of Christmas, we recommit ourselves to a deep faith in the Son of God, made man, and to the kingdom which he came to establish and in which, through baptism, we now live. Now, as

then, this kingdom is a profound challenge to the economic, social, and political values that dominate our world.

Economic: We are called to challenge the consumerist way of life, which continually seeks to have more, to purchase what is better or bigger, to consider that what we have is ours to do with it whatever we like, to use primarily for our own enjoyment or well-being. We are called to put others, especially the poor and their needs, at the centre of our lives, to live simply and share generously. The caring and sharing of the early Christians was so radical that those on the outside said in astonishment, "See how they love one another."

We, too, are called today to be a witness to a radical love and care for others.

Social: We are called to challenge the exclusion and marginalisation of so many in our societies and world by affirming the equal dignity

This kingdom, to which we commit ourselves, is not just a social enterprise. It is a spiritual kingdom into which we enter through our faith in the risen Jesus, but with profound economic, social and political consequences for the way we live our lives. Jesus' kingdom "is not of this world," but it is very much in this world. We are called to transform this world, with all its suffering and exclusion, to be the world Jesus wants it to be, by following his commitment to the poor and the outcast, and his challenge to the religious and political authorities of his time who put their own self-interest first.

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

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God's Word This Season PREPARE THE WAY DECEMBER In today’s Gospel, Luke introduces John the Baptist. John is a fiery figure, who preaches a SECOND SUNDAY OF baptism of repentance, ADVENT and informs people about the coming of the Messiah.

John invites the people to prepare their hearts by changing their lives. This is indeed Good News. There is no time to waste: all people will see the salvation of God; they must prepare themselves. They must change whatever in their lives is holding them back, so that they will recognise the Lord when he comes.

This Advent season is an opportunity for us to think about our lives and to change whatever needs changing, so that we too will recognise the Lord when he comes.

DON’T WORRY; BE HAPPY! These are the very first words of today’s Mass: Be happy! “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice!

THIRD SUNDAY The Lord is near!” (Phil. 4:4) OF ADVENT We all want to be happy. If only I had enough money that I didn’t have to go out to work! If only I had a bigger house, or a better car! If only I could afford a villa in the sun, or at least a nice, winter holiday! If only I could afford a

top-class education for my children! Have you noticed how many more people buy Lotto tickets when the prize money is bigger than usual?

However, the happiness that Jesus offers is of a different kind. As Jesus tells us, it is in giving that we receive, in dying (to ourselves) that we live. True happiness is not about getting and hoarding and showing how better off we are than those around us. It is about trusting in the Lord; it is about giving and sharing. It is about thinking less of our

own needs and more of other people’s needs.

But why does the liturgy talk about happiness today? Because in just a few days' time we will celebrate the birthday of the one who is the source of true happiness, Jesus our Saviour.

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Today’s Readings Ba 5:1-9; Ps 125; Ph 1:4-6.8-11; Lk 3:1-6

Today’s Readings Zp 3:14-18; Ps Is 12:2-6; Ph 4:4-7; Lk 3:10-18

44 JUMPING FOR JOY DECEMBER Joy is infectious, and Mary couldn’t wait to share her good news with her cousin Elizabeth. She knew DAY SUN Elizabeth would rejoice FOURTH OF ADVENT with her. She was to bear God’s son, and such a joy must be shared. When Elizabeth heard the news, she was filled with the Spirit of God. The infectious joy caused the child in her womb to leap for joy. Generations had looked forward to the deliverance of Israel by the Messiah; this generation would see him; and generations to come would rejoice too.

Joy would renew the world.

John the Baptist rejoiced in the womb at the news that Jesus was to be born. This dour, harsh-sounding prophet was not motivated by anger or uncompromising zeal, as we might at first think. He was fuelled by joy.

He was to announce Christ, baptise Christ, and die for Christ as a witness to the truth.

All this he did, rejoicing that salvation was close at hand.

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Today’s Readings Mi 5:1-4; Ps 79; Heb 10:5-10; Lk 1:39-45

LISTENING AND DECEMBER LEARNING One of the first images we have of the great teacher of humankind is of him FEAST OF THE sitting and listening – HOLY FAMILY listening and learning. He has slipped away from his parents to be with the doctors of the law, to ask them questions and so to learn from them.

Mary and Joseph are puzzled and hurt when they find him, and they question him as to why he had left them. He tells them he was obeying a higher authority – the highest authority. He had been

about his heavenly Father’s business. Mary and Joseph too must listen and learn. They do not fully understand the mission of Jesus, and they must ponder the mystery of it all.

Jesus returned with them to Nazareth and lived under their authority. He grew in stature and in wisdom, learning about life and about faith from his parents.

The family life of Jesus, spent in the obscurity of Nazareth, was to prepare him for all that lay ahead.

Here he was to learn the virtues that he was to prize and to preach in later life. He could observe ordinary human beings going about their everyday affairs, and learn the lessons every person must learn to

live well in the world. Here he would also see the darkness that lies in the divided human heart, and the evil actions that issue from it. That evil would confront him in later years, and would be no match for him, but first he must grow and live and learn.

It would be a mistake to idealise the family life of Jesus. What could and must be said about it is that it was a real family life, with joys and woes, laughter and tears. The Word really had become flesh, and really was living among us.

THE LAST WORD The whole New Testament is really an attempt to answer the question Jesus puts to AY ND SU D ON SEC his followers: “Who OF CHRISTMAS do you say I am?” Yet the Gospels are not biographies of Jesus. They don’t tell his story from birth to death, but rather are reflections on his significance in God’s plan of salvation for the world.

In today’s Gospel, we read John’s wonderful account of who Jesus is. In this opening

passage of his Gospel, John outlines the bare bones of the story, which he will fill in with stories and parables as the narrative unfolds.

John’s reflection springs from the very beginning of creation. Jesus is the Word of God, present with God before time began.

Through him all things came to be, and he gives life to all that exists. He is God’s only Son, through whom all of creation has the opportunity to share in God’s life. He has pitched his tent in the midst of our world, and begun his mission, announced by John the Baptist. Christ is the light that shines so brightly no darkness can overcome it. But

people have refused to recognise the light, and they languish in the darkness. Those who hear the Word, however, and respond to him will be called the children of God. As Christians, we are called to respond to God’s word, and to be God’s voice and light in our world today. Through our sharing in the Eucharist, we renew our commitment to help the Light of God to shine in our world, by the example of our lives.

THE HEAVENS OPEN Today’s feast marks the end of the Christmas season and prepares us for the story of Jesus’ THE BAPTISM earthly work as it will OF THE LORD unfold during the rest of the church’s year.

The Gospel has two parts. The first describes the feeling of expectancy that had gripped the people. John the Baptist was a fresh voice that rang out with authority. Could he be the long-awaited Messiah who would throw off the yoke of the Roman oppressor and restore the ancient kingdom of Israel? John is quick to dampen their expectations. Someone

more powerful than he is coming, he says, whose sandals he is unfit to untie.

The second part describes the baptism of Jesus and its aftermath. Luke tells us little about the baptism itself. Jesus takes his place among the crowds that allowed John to submerge them in the Jordan river as a sign of their desire to repent and to be cleansed of sin. Shortly afterwards, while “Jesus was at prayer," the heavens open.

It’s not easy for us to imagine the heavens opening. We use that phrase for a heavy rain shower. For a Jew, it would mean that the barrier separating the earthly world from the heavenly is opened for a moment. “The Spirit descended on him in bodily shape,

like a dove.' In the Old Testament, the Spirit descended on prophets to mark them out as God’s servants. The opening chapter of the Bible describes how the Spirit of God “hovers over the deep,” as though the Spirit were some great bird. The heavenly voice declares that this man on whom the Spirit rests is not simply another prophet: he is the Son, the Beloved, on whom God’s favour rests.

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JANUARY

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Today’s Readings 1 Sm 1:20-22.24-28; Ps 83; 1 Jn 3:1-2.2124; Lk 2:41-52

Today’s Readings Si 24:1-2.8-12; Ps 147; Eph 1:3-6.15-18; Jn 1:1-18

Today’s Readings Is 40:1-5.9-11; Ps 103; Tt 2:11-14.3:4-7; Lk 3:15-16.21-22

God’s Word continues on page 46

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God's Word This Season COMETH THE HOUR JANUARY The wedding feast of Cana is a miracle story but John is careful not to use that word.

He prefers the word “sign.”

SECOND SUNDAY IN You will notice at the end he ORDINARY TIME tells us that this was the first of the signs given by Jesus.

Sign is different from miracle because its significance is not just in the miraculous deed itself but in how it points to something more mysterious.

In the Middle East, hospitality is an important virtue. Being tight with food and drink was shameful – being generous increased the honour of families or individuals. Extra guests could easily strain the resources a family had gathered for the occasion, and that is where our story begins.

The mother of Jesus spots that the wine is running out fast and realises how shamed the couple and their families will be by such a disaster. She asks Jesus to do something about it. The exchange

between them is short but rather mysterious. He calls her “woman.” This is not necessarily a sign of disrespect but may be rather formal, like our expression ‘ma’am.’ What’s surprising is that he says “My hour is not yet come.” This is the first time John speaks of Jesus’ hour. Later in his Gospel, John tells us when ‘the hour’ of Jesus has finally arrived: it is the night before his Passion. His mother doesn’t take no for an answer, even if she quietly leaves centre stage after telling the servants to do whatever he asks them to do.

Now Jesus begins to act. He instructs the servants to fill six stone water jars to the brim.

Most household vessels in Palestine were made of pottery. Stone vessels were expensive. Observant Jews liked to use stone if they could afford it because stone did not pick up and pass on ritual impurity.

Attention now shifts to two new characters, the steward of the feast and the bridegroom. We might call the steward ‘the master of ceremonies.’ He was there to see that things ran smoothly. He tells the

younger servant to serve the good wine first and then you can get away with the cheaper sort after the guests have had a few glasses as they won’t notice the difference. What’s different about this wine is that it’s the very best sort.

This kind of miracle story could be described as a gift miracle. For Jews, a marriage feast was one of the great signs of the Kingdom of God. God would never be tight at the wedding feast of the kingdom.

The jars could hold between 120 and 180 gallons; that means between 500 and 800 litres of wine.

The sheer abundance and quality of the gift is what counts here. It is a moment of revelation in which Jesus lets his glory as God’s Son shine through at a village wedding.

GOOD NEWS PEOPLE JANUARY Today’s Gospel is slightly complicated. It skips from the beginning of the first chapter of Luke to four THIRD SUNDAY IN chapters further on. The first ORDINARY TIME four verses are taken from the author’s introduction.

They tell us two important things: why Luke wrote and for whom he wrote. “Many others,” he says, have written accounts of the Jesus story.

How many we don’t know, but probably Mark and Matthew. Luke has drawn on them to present his own “orderly account” of the events of Jesus life. The Gospel is trustworthy, he says, because it is based on accounts handed down by people who were eye-witnesses to the deeds of Jesus.

Luke is writing for someone called Theophilus, which is a Greek name meaning ‘lover of God.’ Theophilus may have been a convert anxious to learn more about Jesus. He may also have been wealthy enough to help defray the cost of publishing the Gospel. Covering the cost of the production of a book (patronage) was common in Luke’s time. It gave the donor a certain fame

and status as a patron of the arts. The name ‘lover of God’ might be applied to every open-hearted reader of the Gospel, as we try to grasp the story Luke relates.

Luke now jumps to a story about the adult Jesus and his first sermon in his home town. The second part will be told next Sunday. It takes place in the synagogue during the Sabbath worship service. The highpoint of the service was the reading from the Law or Torah, followed by a shorter reading from one of the prophetic books.

Being invited to read in a synagogue was a special honour. It’s a mark of the respect in which Jesus was held that he was called to do the last reading.

The congregation was probably expecting a sermon from this local boy in whose fame family and neighbours basked. When he stands up, Jesus doesn’t read the chosen lesson for the day but two sections from the prophet Isaiah. It speaks about a mysterious figure who has been empowered by the Spirit “to bring Good News to the poor,” to proclaim liberty to captives, restoration of sight to the blind and a year of God’s favour. Many Jews at the time of Jesus took this person to be the Messiah, a Hebrew word meaning ‘anointed.’

The year of God’s favour was probably the jubilee year that took place every 49 years. According to Jewish law, this was a kind of Sabbath that lasted for 12 whole months rather than a single day. The land was rested, as no new crops were planted or harvested. Debts were cancelled and people who had been forced to sell their land because of debt were entitled to reclaim it. The reading and the sermon that follows should be seen as Jesus’ ‘inaugural address’ as Messiah.

Jesus’ choice of the words of Isaiah is a call to hope.

He is inaugurating a new “year of favour,” especially for the poor. The promises of the ancient prophet will be fulfilled as Jesus puts new heart into people and gives them new sight. When he has finished, Jesus sits down, adopting the position of a teacher.

The congregation is in expectant mood as they gaze on him.

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Today’s Readings Is 62:1-5; Ps 95; 1 Cor 12:4-11; Jn 2:1-11

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REALITY DECEMBER 2021

Today’s Readings Ne 8:2-6.8-10; Ps 18; 1 Cor 12:12-30; Lk 1:1-4.4:14-21

THE REALITY CROSSWORD NUMBER �� DECEMBER ���� UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTHS In his preaching and teaching, Jesus makes it clear that if we are to belong to him we must treat everyone with compassion and mercy.

Indeed, given the clarity of Jesus’ teaching, one FOURTH SUNDAY would expect compassion and mercy to be the IN ORDINARY TIME distinguishing characteristics of every Christian.

Unfortunately, we know that’s not true. The Jewish people of Jesus’ time were not the only ones to neglect this teaching.

Modern Christians neglect it too. Ask a Traveller, a refugee, a homeless person or any excluded member of our society, and they will tell you they are not always received with the compassion and mercy the Gospel demands.

In Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice, Shylock asks why a Christian can mock and exclude a Jew like him. He protests that Jews are not too different from Christians: “Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?

Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons? Subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is?”

That’s the message Jesus constantly hammers home. It’s about being a neighbour to all without exclusion. He reminds us that as Christians we can never be rugged individuals. If we do not care for our neighbour, if we live for ourselves without heed to others, then we are living a life cut off from God.

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SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD No. 8 ACROSS: Across: 1. Ethics, 5. Wasabi, 10. Rambler, 11. Sabbath, 12. Avon, 13. Demon, 15. Ulna, 17.

Kim, 19. Zealot, 21. Invest, 22. Wedlock, 23. Patina, 25. Elated, 28. Die, 30. Nuns, 31. Padre, 32.

Slab, 35. Mislead, 36. Scribes, 37. Baffle, 38. Decoys.

DOWN: 2. ombola, 3. Idle, 4. Shriek, 5. Wisdom, 6. Sobs, 7. Braille, 8. Ersatz, 9. Thwart, 14. Mislaid, 16. Towns, 18. Ankle, 20. Tea, 21. Ice, 23. Panama, 24. Tunisia, 26. Tallboy, 27. Debase, 28. Dawdle, 29. Erased, 33. Leaf, 34. Croc.

Winner of Crossword No. 8 Maureen Kane, Castleisland, County Kerry.

ACROSS 1. The setting for "Romeo and Juliet". (6) 5. Biblical prophet who did not die but was taken

by God. (6) 10. Place of unquenchable fire in the Bible (7) 11. Pronounces words in a religious rite to invoke divine favour. (7) 12. Very inquisitive. (4) 13. These animals run wild in Pamplona. (5) 15. A member of a South American empire before the Spanish conquest. (4) 17. Son of the Bible's strongman. (3) 19. Birthplace of St. Francis. (6) 21. Uttered a long mournful cry. (6) 22. Deities in human form, computer characters. (7) 23. Irish city of the Tribes. (6) 25. A form of the Hebrew name of God used in the Bible. (6) 28. Part of a circle. (3) 30. Tool similar to an axe used for shaping wood. (4) 31. Virgin martyr, patron saint of girls and chastity.

(5) 32. Someone who doesn't tell the truth. (4) 35. A person who serves in a coffee bar. (7) 36. People who are pre-occupied with their own interests. (7) 37. Travel with someone to protect or guide them. (6) 38. Desires something very much, especially something difficult or impossible to obtain. (6)

DOWN 2. Ancient Turkish city where St. Paul lived and preached. (7) 3. Possesses. (4) 4. Early counter. (6) 5. Preserve a corpse from decay. (6) 6. Type of wild goat. (4) 7. English football team and weapons store. (7) 8. Landlocked African country. (6) 9. A piece of land surrounded by water. (6) 14. Boxed light. (7) 16. Only son of Abraham, and father of Esau and Jacob. (5) 18. Relating to the nose. (5) 20. Evergreen climber. (3) 21. Using a dry, especially mocking, humour.

(3) 23. Having or showing a selfish desire for something; greedy. (6) 24. Jesus brought him back to life. (7) 26. The seventh Sunday after Easter. (7) 27. Belief contrary to Christian doctrine. (6) 28. Filled with horror or shock. (6) 29. Vegetable which allegedly burns more calories than it provides. (6) 33. The capital of Norway. (4) 34. A prolonged state of deep unconsciousness. (4)

Entry Form for Crossword No.10, December 2021 Name: Copyright © Muhammad Muzamil

Today’s Readings

Address: Telephone:

Jr 1:4-5.17-19; Ps 70; 1 Cor 12:31-13:13; Lk 4:21-30 All entries must reach us by Friday, December 31, 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.10, Redemptorist Communications, St Joseph's Monastery, Dundalk, County Louth A91 F3FC