Reality Magazine March 2019

MORTGAGE ARREARS – THE NEXT CRISIS

BREXIT: THE CHANGING FACE OF EUROPE

GUIDELINES FOR THE PASTORAL CARE OF THE GAY COMMUNITY

Reality MARCH 2019

Informing, Inspiring, Challenging Today’s Catholic

ST PATRICK DO WE REALLY KNOW OUR PATRON SAINT? FR EDWARD GALVIN IRISH MISSIONARY PIONEER IN CHINA

FATHERHOOD: THE VOCATION OF EVERY MAN WHAT ROLE DOES THE CHURCH PLAY?

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IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE FEATURES 12 ST PATRICK IN IRISH FOLKLORE The historical details of the life of St Patrick are few, and far from certain. But folk tradition makes him a character larger than life.

By Fr John J O Riordáin CSsR

18 TO SCRUTINISE OR NOT TO SCRUTINISE The Scrutinies are a special time of preparation for those entering the faith

By Sarah Adams

22 AN IRISH MISSIONARY PIONEER IN CHINA Fr Edward Galvin went to China in 1912 and was one of the founders of the Society of St Columban

By Dr Neil Collins SSC

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26 FROM DIALOGUE TO SANCTITY: ENCOUNTERS OF MARRIED COUPLES Retreats inspired by Marriage Encounter

By Susan Gately

28 THE HOMOSEXUAL PERSON: GUIDELINES FOR PASTORAL WORKERS A review of the revised edition of this short practical guide

By John Scally

32 THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR Through the vicious scourging Jesus enters into solidarity with all victims of torture

By Fr George Wadding CSsR

36 DELIVER US FROM THE EVIL ONE? Pope Francis believes in the devil, and warns us that it is not everyday common sense but a prayerful listening to the Lord and to others that enables us to discern Spirits.

By Mike Daley

38 FATHERHOOD: THE VOCATION OF EVERY MAN What role does the church have in promoting the values of fatherhood?

By Fr Shane Sullivan

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OPINION

REGULARS

11 BRENDAN McCONVERY

04 REALITY BITES

17 JIM DEEDS

07 POPE MONITOR

31 CARMEL WYNNE

08 SAINT OF THE MONTH

44 PETER McVERRY SJ

09 REFLECTIONS 41 TRÓCAIRE 45 GOD’S WORD

REALITY BITES PILGRIMAGE BOOM AT MARIAN SHRINE KNOCK

THE POPE FRANCIS EFFECT

Knock Shrine has reported an increase in pilgrim numbers over the past year, boosted in part by the historic visit of Pope Francis. About 45,000 tickets to see the pontiff at the shrine were claimed in the hours following the announcement.

Fr Richard Gibbons, the rector of the shrine, said he is hopeful that the growth will continue, particularly as plans are now underway to mark the 140th anniversary of the apparition

in August. The local airport, pioneered by former rector of Knock, Mgr Horan, has also reported significant increase in traffic. It is hoped that a new route linking Knock to Cologne might encourage German pilgrims to visit the shrine. Recent refurbishments of the basilica and parish church, including a new mosaic in the basilica, have made it a more attractive place for prayer and contemplation.

The refurbished Knock basicila and insert, Fr Richard Gibbons

HONOURED IN WOOD 4

NENAGH

REID REMEMBERED IN NATIVE TOWN

Wooden statues of Fr Alec Reid, the Redemptorist peace-maker, and two other natives of Nenagh have been created by an African sculptor at the request of Fr Des Hillery, parish priest of Nenagh, and are now in St Mary of the Rosary Church. The statues of Fr Reid, Sr Bernard Quigley and Fr Dan Fitzgerald were carved

by Paradzai Havatitye, originally from Zimbabwe. Paradzai created the life-sized statues after he was approached by Fr Des Hillery (left) and Paradzai Havatitye (right) with the statue of Fr Alec Reid Photo courtesy of Tipperarylive.ie local parish priest Fr Des Hillery to commemorate three people who had lived the of people in need. She was matron in Nenagh Gospel. Fr Des wished to celebrate the Nenagh and worked in an orphanage in South Africa. parish mission statement based on the words of Sr Bernard was also known for working with Pope Francis: Please, thank you and I'm sorry. For the homeless and her carving depicts a mother Fr Reid, Paradzai was asked to take as his reference and child, symbolising "thank you”. Fr Fitzgerald, the photograph of the priest giving the last rites was born in 1916 in Cork and died in 2016 in to a dying British soldier who had been shot by the Columban Centre in Navan. After a long the IRA in 1988 in Belfast. The work symbolises missionary career which began in China after the "I'm sorry". The late Sr Bernard, who died in 2017 Second World War, he came to Nenagh in 1988 at the age of 84, joined the Sisters of Mercy at and stayed for 23 years. His statue represents all the age of 17 and became known as a champion the missionaries of the parish.

REALITY MARCH 2019

VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT DESTROYS CATHOLIC HOMES SAIGON

REDS IN THE FIRING LINE

More than 100 homes – including a church-run home for disabled war veterans – have been forcibly demolished by state officials in Loc Hu’ng near Ho Chi Minh City, south Vietnam. The inhabitants, the majority of whom are Catholic, were given little or no warning. Among the buildings destroyed was a Redemptorist-owned house that was home to 18 war veterans who lost limbs in the Vietnam War. The veterans have no relatives and sell lottery tickets for a living. The veterans said no notice was given about the demolition; some did not even have time to take their prosthetic limbs and crutches with them. The men turned to the Redemptorists for support. The authorities claimed that the 112 dwellings were erected without permission. Local officials accused the people of illegally occupying the land which it plans to use for building schools and public facilities.

Ho Chi Minh City

N E WS

Trevi Fountain, Rome

THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN ROME

FAMOUS FOUNTAIN RAISES FUNDS FOR CHARITY

Following popular opposition, the Mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, has announced that the coins thrown into the Trevi Fountain in Rome by tourists hoping to return to the city will continue to go to the Catholic charity, Caritas Roma. Popularised in the 1954 film, Three Coins in a Fountain, the coins are worth about €1.5 million annually and represents about 15 per cent of Caritas’ charitable budget. They are used mainly for housing for the homeless, soup kitchens, and parish-based services for struggling families.

The Rome City Council had approved a proposal at the end of December 2018 to use the funds from the fountain for “maintenance of cultural sites and social welfare projects”. An article denouncing the city council’s decision appeared in Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian Bishops Conference, and provoked a popular outcry. Mayor Raggi announced that coins collected from other fountains in the city would also be given to the charity, to the tune of an extra €200,000.

COVERING UP HISTORY? INDIANA

PAINTING OVER THE CRACKS

One of the Columbus Murals at Notre Dame

The Catholic University of Notre Dame has decided to cover a series of murals depicting Christopher Columbus' life and exploration displayed in the university’s main building.

According to the president, Fr John Jenkins CSC, the murals “painted in 1882-84 reflect the attitudes of the time and were intended as a didactic presentation, responding to cultural challenges for the school’s largely immigrant, Catholic population”. He went on to say that in more recent times, many have come to see the murals as at best blind to the consequences of Columbus’ voyage for the indigenous peoples who inhabited this 'new' world and at worst demeaning toward them.

Painted by the Italian artist, Luigi Gregori, the murals were commissioned by Fr Edward Sorin, the founder and first president of the University of Notre Dame. One of the murals was the model for the first series of commemorative stamps issued by the US, in 1893.

AMERICAN BISHOPS AND WOMEN DEACONS GEORGETOWN

TIME FOR CHANGE

A survey carried out by the Centre for Applied Research in the Apostolate of Georgetown University, on the opinions of US bishops and diocesan diaconate formation directors on women deacons, found that almost three quarters of those surveyed do not believe the church will authorise the ordination of women as deacons. Three in five of the bishops (41per cent) and half of the diaconate directors do not believe that it is theologically possible to ordain woman to the diaconate, but if the Holy See were to authorise it, the majority of bishops would implement it in

their dioceses. Both bishops and directors perceived that women deacons would be helpful in the ministries of charity and of the Word, but less so in liturgical ministry. Possible ministries of charity included prison ministry, ministry to married couples, ministry to the bereaved, hospital/nursing home ministry and ministry to the poor. The bishops considered opposition from the laity or clergy to be the main challenge to the ordination of women to the diaconate. The whole survey can be read online at https://cara. georgetown.edu/WorkingPaper10.pdf

continued on page 6

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REALITY BITES PLASTIC HELMETS FOR SWISS GUARDS

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The four-pound, hand-forged metal helmet of the Vatican elite Swiss Guards has been replaced with new lightweight headgear. While still the same shape and topped with a fluffy red or white ostrich feather, it is now made using a 3D printer and tough, weather-resistant plastic, a technique also used to make parts for cars. The new helmets were first used on January 22, the 513th anniversary of their foundation during the pontificate of Pope Julius II. The 110-member Guard is both the smallest and oldest military corps in the world. They guard all entrances into Vatican City State and provide security and ceremonial services during liturgical events and other formal events.

BOMBS AT FILIPINO CATHEDRAL Two bombs exploded outside the Catholic cathedral on the southern Philippine island of Jolo, killing 19 people and wounding 50 others, on January 27. The first bomb exploded at the cathedral during Sunday Mass, and the second shortly afterwards outside the compound while government forces were responding to the first attack. The Muslim majority in the southern Philippines have voted to create a new autonomous region of five provinces and three cities. There has been an increase of militancy among some Muslim groups in the region, particularly of Abu Sayyaf militants, who are blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organisation because of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.

REALITY MARCH 2019

CZECHS AND SLOVAKS: SO CLOSE AND YET SO DIFFERENT After an existence of three quarters of a century, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, an event sometimes called the ‘Velvet Divorce’.

Despite having been one nation for roughly 75 years, the two countries have very different religious profiles that reflect their earlier history.

While the majority in Slovakia is Catholic (63 per cent), around seven-in-ten Czechs (72 per cent) declare themselves religiously unaffiliated – the highest proportion of unaffiliated adults in 34 European countries surveyed by the Pew Centre. In addition to being predominantly Catholic, Slovaks also are more religiously observant than Czechs.

For instance, there is at least a 20-percentagepoint difference between the two nations in the shares who say they pray daily (31 per cent of Slovaks vs 9 per cent of Czechs) or attend religious services at least monthly (31 per cent vs 11 per cent). Slovaks are more likely to say religion is very important in their lives (23

per cent vs 7 per cent). Far more people in Slovakia than in the Czech Republic say they believe in God (69 per cent and 29 per cent, respectively). Slovaks are also more accepting of religious minorities than the Czechs. Nearly half of Slovaks (47 per cent) say they would be willing to accept Muslims as members of their family, and nearly three quarters (73 per cent) say the same about Jews. By comparison, just 12 per cent of Czechs say they would be willing to accept Muslims as members of their family, and around 51 per cent say the same about Jews. While Slovaks appear to be more accepting of religious minorities and are less nationalistic, Czechs consider themselves as less socially conservative. Strong majorities of Czechs say abortion should be legal in all or most cases (84 per cent) and that gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry legally (65 per cent). A smaller majority in Slovakia supports legal abortion (70 per cent), and fewer than half of Slovaks support same-sex marriage (47 per cent).

ANNUAL VISIT OF HOLY LAND CO-ORDINATION GROUP Bishop Noel Treanor, Bishop of Down and Connor, and Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ, Bishop of Raphoe, took part in the annual international ‘Holy Land Coordination’ group visit in support of the Christians of Israel and Palestine in January 2019. While expressing admiration for the many Israeli citizens who work together for peace, they expressed concern about the state of Christians in the region. “We have heard that, along with other Palestinian Arab citizens and migrants living in Israel, many Christians find themselves systematically discriminated against and marginalised.” They drew attention to the recently passed Nation State Law. Local Christian leaders have warned that this law creates a “constitutional and legal basis for discrimination” against minorities, undermining the ideals of equality, justice and

democracy. “We stand with Israel’s Christians and all those challenging discrimination, in support of their call to protect the country’s pluralism.”

The delegation visited the Palestinian Territories, and said that “the misery of occupation has been deepened by severe cuts to humanitarian funding by the US government”. As a result, healthcare, education and other basic services for refugees are being increasingly threatened, exacerbating the ongoing violations of the people’s fundamental human dignity. They called on their own governments to help meet the funding gaps now facing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and to strive for a diplomatic solution, with two democratic sovereign states of Israel and Palestine existing in peace.

N E WS

POPE MONITOR KEEPING UP WITH POPE FRANCIS POPE AT WORLD YOUTH DAY Pope Francis left Rome on the morning of January 23, for Panama. The flight took more than 12 hours, a challenge for a man of 82, so apart from the formal welcome, he went directly to the Apostolic Nunciature on arrival. It was a dramatic climate change from the Roman winter to the Central American midsummer with daytime temperatures in the 30s C. About an hour into the flight, the pope gave his usual press conference for the 70 journalists who accompanied him. That he takes the journalists seriously was evident when he began the press conference asking for a minute’s silence and a prayer for a deceased journalist who had been the Vatican correspondent of the Russian TASS news agency.

The following morning began with formal meetings with government and the bishops of Central America. The World Youth Day was formally initiated in the afternoon at 5.30pm. Thursday began with a visit to a youth prison (see below) and a Way of the Cross in the afternoon. On Friday, he met clergy and religious for a celebration of the Eucharist and dedication of a new altar in the cathedral. In his homily, he urged the clergy and religious not to give into weariness (see below). Lunch was taken with a representative group of young people in the seminary, and after a rest, it was time to head to the vigil with 600,000 young people. Speaking to them during the vigil, he urged them to say “Yes” to life, to building community and to being guardians of the roots, of everything that makes us “feel part of one another”, that makes us “feel we belong”.

Sunday began with the Mass for World Youth Day at 8am. After Mass, there was an emotional visit to Casa Hogar del Buen Samaritano, a centre for people with HIV and AIDS, who have few resources and who in many cases, have been rejected by their own families. In addition to the centre’s patients, other elderly, sick and disabled people were in attendance. "To be here,” he said, "is to touch the silent and maternal face of

the church that is capable of prophesying and creating a home, creating community. It's the face of the church that normally is unseen and unnoticed, but it's a sign of the concrete mercy and tenderness of God. It's a living sign of the good news of the resurrection that is at work today in our lives.” Finally there was a meeting with 15,000 youth volunteers who had been at the service of the visitors all during the meeting. He boarded his flight back to Rome at 6.15pm and arrived back in Rome just before noon the following day.

CONFESSIONS IN YOUTH PRISON Since they were not able to come to him, he went to them.During the Youth Day inPanama, Pope Francis visited a detention centre for young offenders at Las Garzas de Pacora Juvenile Detention Centre, just 30 miles from Panama City, which houses 180 young offenders who are detained for crimes ranging from robbery to double homicide. Along with two other priests, he made himself available for confession.

Although he has frequently visited prisons, this is the first time the pope has heard confessions in one.

God’s merciful love “faces head-on the complexity of life and every situation,” he told the young people.

Before leaving the prison, Pope Francis also greeted 30 adult detainees who built the confessionals for World Youth Day pilgrims.

WE ARE WEARY FROM ABUSE During a Mass celebrated with priests and religious during the World Youth Day celebrations in Panama, Pope Francis said he recognised the weariness felt in the priesthood and in religious communities due to the sins that wound the church today.

“Weariness of hope comes from seeing a Church wounded by sin, which so often failed to hear all those cries that echoed the cry of the Master: ‘My God, why have you forsaken me?’” His homily in the newly renovated Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria la Antigua focused on a description of Jesus’ fatigue found in the Gospel of John: “Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well.

“The Lord knew what it was to be tired, and in his weariness so many struggles of our nations and peoples, our communities and all who are weary and heavily burdened can find a place. There are many reasons for weariness on our journey as priests, consecrated men and women, and members of lay movements: from long hours of work, which leave little time to eat, rest and be with family, to ‘toxic’ working conditions and relationships that lead to exhaustion and disappointment,” he continued. He warned however of the weariness that calls into question the energy, resources and viability of our mission in this changing and challenging world. “It is a weariness that paralyses. It comes from looking ahead and not knowing how to react to the intense and confusing changes that we as a society are experiencing.” The example of “the saints next door” – the faithful members of religious communities and humble diligent priests who have remained faithful to the vision that inspired their initial vocation are the source of our confidence. “ A wearied hope will be healed … when it is unafraid to return to the place of its first love and to find, in the peripheries and challenges before us today, the same song, the same gaze that inspired the song and the gaze of those who have gone before us.”

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REDEMPTORIST SAINT OF THE MONTH ST CLEMENT MARY HOFBAUER 1751-1820

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How Jan Dvorák became Clement Hofbauer is of a piece with his complex story. He was born in 1751 in the small town of Tasovice in what was then Moravia, and is today the Czech Republic, almost 200 kilometres from Prague. His father Pavel Dvorák, a butcher, changed the Slavic form of the family name to its German equivalent, Hofbauer. Both names mean the same, ‘farmer’, but in Clement’s homeland, German and the local Slav dialect were used interchangeably. Switching from one language to another was to be a part of the rest of Jan/Clement’s life.

He was the ninth of twelve children. His father died when he was six, and although Jan from his childhood felt the desire to become a priest, his family’s poverty meant he had to go to work early.

After finishing his apprenticeship as a baker, he was employed by the Premonstratensian canons of Brück. He remained there until he was 24, when he tried to become a hermit. His hermit days did not last long, for the government soon abolished all hermitages in the Habsburg Empire. Jan also had a passion for long-distance pilgrimages. He walked the 1,000 kilometres each way to Rome and back four times in his life. On the third occasion, he tried the hermit’s life again near Tivoli, about 30 miles from Rome, changing his name to Clement Mary in memory of the pope of that name. He stayed there only six months, for his desire for priesthood had not gone away, and he would be Clement for ever.

He returned home to begin studies at the University of Vienna. When he had finished his philosophy course, disappointment struck again, for the Emperor forbade religious orders to accept new candidates.

Once again, Clement took the road to Rome, accompanied this time by his friend, Thaddäus Hübl, who shared many of the same ambitions. While there, they wandered into a small church run by an unknown religious community called the Redemptorists, founded in the south of Italy some 50 years before. They applied to join, were professed in 1785, and immediately began study for the priesthood.

Within a few months of ordination, they were on the road again, with instructions to plant the new order north of the Alps. In February 1787, they reached Warsaw, and were given charge of St Benno's Church to work with the German-speaking congregation – another mix of languages, German in the church and Polish outside. By 1800, the community had grown to 21 priests, seven brothers, five novices and four students for the priesthood. In addition to intensive work in the church from early morning until late at night, they ran an orphanage, a school for boys, and a group of women ran a school for girls.

The Napoleonic Wars brought new difficulties for Clement and his brethren. The faithful Hübl died in 1806, and in June 1808, St Benno's was closed and the 40 Redemptorists imprisoned. After a short imprisonment of four weeks, they were ordered to return to their homelands. Clement gave Fr Joseph Passerat charge of the young men, and for the next 12 years, a homeless band of Redemptorists wandered through Bavaria and Switzerland looking for a permanent home. With one companion, Clement went to Vienna, where, as chaplain to a community of nuns, he gained a reputation as a powerful preacher and compassionate confessor. He became a favourite especially with young intellectuals and artists. They came to his small apartment to talk, share a meal, or get advice. Several of them later became Redemptorists, including one, Frederick von Held, who came to Ireland.

All the time, Clement was struggling to gain recognition for his congregation. He was threatened several times with expulsion, but Providence took a hand. In the course of a visit to Rome, the Emperor Francis II was informed by Pope Pius VII how much the work of Fr Hofbauer was appreciated.

The Emperor agreed to give him a church in Vienna and signed the decree of approval of the Congregation. It was too late for Clement, but it was laid on his coffin. The Redemptorists were given charge of one of the oldest churches in the city, Maria am Gestade. Clement’s earthly remains were transferred there in 1862. He was canonised in 1909, and three years later, was acclaimed as patron of Vienna. His feast is March 15.

Brendan McConvery CSsR REALITY MARCH 2019

Reality Volume 84. No. 2 March 2019 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.)

Editor Brendan McConvery CSsR editor@redcoms.org Design & Layout David Mc Namara CSsR dmcnamara@redcoms.org Sales & Marketing Claire Carmichael ccarmichael@redcoms.org Accounts Dearbhla Cooney accounts@redcoms.org Printed by Nicholson & Bass, Belfast Photo Credits Shutterstock, Catholic News Agency, Trócaire,

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REFLECTIONS Even if the last move did not succeed, the inner command says ”Move again.” Even if the hopes you started out with are dashed, hope has to be maintained.

I think being a woman is like being Irish... Everyone says you're important and nice, but you take second place all the time.

At Harvard I learned most uncomfortably that facts are facts. In Italy I learned that facts are the way you look at them.

IRIS MURDOCH

SEÁN O'FAOLAIN

SEAMUS HEANEY

When anyone asks me about the Irish character, I say look at the trees.

Maimed, stark and misshapen, but ferociously tenacious.

Pangur Bán and I at work, Adepts, equals, cat and clerk: His whole instinct is to hunt, Mine to free the meaning pent.

More than loud acclaim, I love Books, silence, thought, my alcove.

Happy for me, Pangur Bán Child-plays round some mouse’s den.

It takes a great deal of courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still to love it.

OSCAR WILDE

EDNA O’BRIEN

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are.

I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.

Cad é an mhaith dom eagla a bheith orm? Ní shaorfadh eagla duine ón mbás, dar ndóigh. [What point is there in being afraid? Fear never saved anyone from death]

SEAMUS HEANEY

(Translation of Old Irish poem, Pangur Bán)

PEIG SAYERS

All the world’s a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.

Yes, it is a rich language, Lieutenant, full of the mythologies of fantasy and hope and self-deception - a syntax opulent with tomorrows. It is our response to mud cabins and a diet of potatoes; our only method of replying to... inevitabilities.

Lord, I pray that You may be a lamp for me in the darkness.

Touch my soul and kindle a fire within it, that it may burn brightly and give light to my life. Thus my body may truly become Your temple, lit by Your perpetual flame burning on the altar of my heart. And may the light within me shine on my brothers and sisters that it may drive away the darkness of ignorance and sin from them also. Thus let us be lights to the world, manifesting the bright beauty of Your gospel to all around us.

SEAN O’CASEY

BRIAN FRIEL

ST COLUMBANUS

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

What the heart knows today the head will understand tomorrow.

I suppose we all have our little hiding-hole if the truth was known, but as small as it is, the whole world is in it, and bit by bit grows on us again till the day You find us out.

FRANK O’CONNOR

JAMES STEPHENS

Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. (A country without a language is a country without a soul.)

PADRAIG PEARSE

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EDI TO R I A L UP FRONT BRENDAN McCONVERY CSsR

KNOWING OUR PLACE?

At

the time of writing, the Brexit that has dogged us for more than two years still appears to be unresolved, but is due to come into force on March 29, less than a fortnight after St Patrick’s Day. This has not been a good time either for us in Ireland, north or south, or for our friends in the three nations of the neighbouring island.

At times, tempers have been frayed, and in exasperation, people have said things that, on reflection, they realise they ought not have said, but which quickly found their way into the public domain. A BBC political correspondent, for example, quoted an unnamed politician as saying: “We simply cannot allow the Irish to treat us like this. This simply cannot stand. The Irish really should know their place.”

We might have retorted that the Irish have long known that their place is in Europe. Although never part of the Roman Empire, unlike the southern part of the neighbouring island, exchanges between Europe and our island have been part of our story since Patrick first brought the Gospel to the Irish. “Ut Christiani, ita et Romani sitis”, he told them, according to the Book of Armagh. “Just as you are Christians, be Romans as well”, meaning both to imitate the liturgical rules of Rome and to maintain communion with its bishop. While many parts of Europe were plunged in what are inaccurately called 'the Dark Ages', the time of demographic, cultural, and economic decline that followed the disintegration of the Roman Empire, Irish missionary monks from Bangor and Clonmacnoise brought the Gospel to the new peoples that had arrived as migrants from further East into the older Europe of Celts and Romans. Some of the Irish, like Fiacre or Killian, are better known on the European mainland than they are in their home country. When restrictive anti-Catholic legislation blocked the Irish

path to education, and seemed to toll the death-knell for religious communities, it was to Europe that they turned for survival.

There were more than 30 Irish foundations scattered throughout Europe from the 16th century until the French revolution, including Franciscans in Rome, Louvain and Prague; Dominicans in Rome and Lisbon; and colleges for the formation of diocesan priests in Rome, Paris, Salamanca, Douai, to name but a few.

The Irish Wild Geese took wing to join the armies of Europe – hence, a French president with an Irish name (MacMahon) and a Spanish-Irish liberator of Chile, Bernardo O’Higgins. Better off Catholic laity sent their children to be schooled on the continent: Daniel O’Connell, for instance, went to the Irish College in Douai, while Nano Nagle, foundress of the Presentation Sisters, went to a convent in Paris.

Both Ireland and the UK, together with Denmark, joined what was then the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973 and which became the European Union 20 years later by the Treaty of Maastricht. Many of the European pioneers like Robert Schuman, Alcide De Gasperi and Konrad Adenauer were people of faith who had defied both Fascism and Communism, inspired by a vision of Europe that reposed on a strong Christian humanism. To its credit, it has kept the spectre of war far from Europe for more than 70 years, but that founding vision has probably grown more secularist than religious. Stretching from the Atlantic to the Black Sea, the EU now consists of 28 member states. Are we justified in asking whether the nations that make up the community continue to be bound by the initial vision of its founders, and if not, is the glue that holds them together anything more than economic convenience or necessity?

It would be wrong to say that dissatisfaction with the EU is merely a British problem.

According to a report funded by the European Commission itself (The Geography of Discontent 2018), parties opposed to further integration throughout Europe have almost doubled their electoral support, and a growing number of people distrust the Union.

It identifies Southern Denmark, Northern Italy, Southern Austria, Eastern Germany, Eastern Hungary and Southern Portugal as hot spots for anti-EU voting. Ireland still remains in favour of the union. We have done well economically out of it, and we have been in the main ‘Good Europeans'. Hopefully, whatever solution is found, the European connection will continue to be a healthy one for Ireland, north and south. Occasional talk of a 'European Army' poses questions about the Republic’s policy of neutrality: how might we defend it should larger member states advocate strengthening the military dimension of the Union? The Union is not coping well with the rapidly changing patterns of global migration. Like some of its member states, will it close its borders to the poor and become ‘Fortress Europe’? Let us hope that Ireland will continue to stand by that brand of Christian-inspired humanism that gave birth to the European project in the first place.

Brendan McConvery CSsR Editor

11

COVE R STO RY

ST PATRICK IN IRIS H FOLKLORE

THE HISTORICAL DETAILS OF THE LIFE OF ST PATRICK ARE FEW, AND OFTEN FAR FROM CERTAIN. BY CONTRAST, THE ABUNDANCE OF DETAIL IN THE FOLK TRADITION MAKE HIM A CHARACTER LARGER THAN LIFE.

BY JOHN J Ó RÍORDÁIN CSsR

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It

may be trite to say that St Patrick was a larger than life figure, and yet, that is what he was. There is Patrick the saint whose life is a guide for living by the spirit and values of the Gospel of Jesus; and then there is Patrick of the folk tradition. In this article my focus is on Patrick of the folk tradition.

In it we can freely identify with the humanity of Patrick, rejoice in his successes, sympathise with his setbacks and dream of his wonderful personal relationship with the Lord.

What makes Patrick a saint is the overall thrust of his life. And that thrust can readily be gleaned from two surviving writings namely, his Confession and Letter to Coroticus.

In these letters three key elements stand out: (i) his life lived in union with Jesus Christ who is not only his Saviour and Lord but his closest and often his only friend and companion. (ii) Patrick considers that each and every person is of absolute value to Christ, and (iii) it is his ambition to transform every human mind and heart into the likeness of Christ.

Patrick is a saint of the fifth century. The traditional view is that he came here in 432 and died in 461. An alternative view contends that his Irish mission was a generation later, from 456 to 493. He was not the first Christian missionary to bring the faith to our shores but he was the most influential and is symbolic of the whole movement that led to the Christianisation of the country.

LIVES OF PATRICK There is little reference to Patrick for about 200 years after his death. Then in the late seventh century, two biographies of the saint were written, one by Muirchú, reputedly a man of the cloth from Armagh, and the other

by Bishop Tíreachán from Tirawley in north

Mayo. A third Life, Bethu Phátraic is of late ninth century date. That Life, though not as reliable as the two earlier works, is rich in patrician lore and makes an important contribution towards imaging the national apostle in the popular mind.

Tíreachán concentrates largely on Patrick’s activities in the upper Shannon basin and north Connaught. He gives a supposed account of the saint’s travels, of his 40 days on Croagh Patrick and many other matters.

Tireachán and Muirchú, especially Muirchú, draw on a common source namely, an account of Patrick compiled by St Ultan who died in 657. Ultan was abbot of Louth monastery in the village and county of that name. The monastery was founded in the fifth or sixth century by Mochta, also known as Mochaoi of Nendrum.

Initially Mochaoi was a swine-herd in the Nendrum area of County Down. Patrick not only converted and baptised him but also taught him how to read the Latin alphabet.

He must have been a particularly bright student because it is claimed that he learned the Psalter by heart in a month, and by year’s end was an authority on the Bible. Because of Mochaoi’s close association with Patrick, the monastery of Louth treasured not only

He was not the first Christian missionary to bring the faith to our shores but he was the most influential and is symbolic of the whole movement that led to the Christianisation of the country

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his two letters but the considerable corpus of lore that had grown up around him. Muirchú and Tíreachán dipped into these resources and added their own colour and stamp.

PATRICK AND THE DRUIDS According to Muirchú, the druids foretold that Patrick would convert the country to Christianity.

To dramatise his story he introduces a standoff between King Laoghaire and Patrick over the Paschal fire on Slane. There are echoes of the Book of Exodus in the text, Laoghaire and Patrick mirroring the Pharaoh and Moses. When the druids' magical spells proved to be damp squibs, they declared that in contravention of Laoghaire’s law, the fire that was lit on Slane was there to stay: "unless it is extinguished on this night in which it was lit, it will not be put out forever".

Muirchú says that Patrick went on a reconciliation mission to Miliuc by whom he had been enslaved. On hearing of such an impending encounter Miliuc panicked, made his own funeral pyre of his belongings and valuables and set fire to the lot. On hearing of the tragic outcome of his effort to meet Miliuc Patrick fell silent for three hours and then declared that none of the chieftain’s descendents would succeed him.

Both Muirchú and Tíreachán record the ‘test by fire’. For the test a special house was designed and built in Tara. One half was of freshly hewn timber and the other of dry wood. A druid was installed in the less flammable portion and St Benin in the other. The house was set alight and the druid went up in flames while Benin remained unscathed. That story went viral and is associated with saints in many parts of Ireland. In Tullylease, Co Cork, for example, the same story is told of a druid and St Berihert. After the house was set alight the druid with his clothes in flames was seen streaking towards the River Allow, while Berihert was observed to be sitting in the ashes of the house reading his breviary.

On another occasion we are told that when Patrick sought a hilltop site near Armagh for his monastery, Dáire, the wealthy landowner assigned him an inferior plot. To make matters worse Dáire’s stable boy put a horse grazing on the monastery plot despite Patrick’s remonstrations.

The horse died and in consequence Dáire decided to kill Patrick but in the event it was Dáire who

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In memory of the repentant landlady, Patrick said that people should always have a shot of whiskey on his feast day died. Two men were sent to Patrick, not saying that Dáire was dead but that he was ill and in need of something from the saint to restore his health. "Indeed!" said Patrick knowingly, and with that he gave the messengers some holy water that restored both Dáire and the horse.

Dáire was essentially a decent man (a sort of alter ego of Dagda, the father god in Irish folklore). He gifted Patrick with a magnificent cauldron and later inquired what Patrick said on receipt of the gift. He said "Grazacham" replied the servant.

"No more?" said Dáire. "No more" said the servant.

Thinking that he had given the cauldron to a right amadán Dáire sent his slaves to repossess the gift. "What did he say this time?" inquired Dáire. He said "Grazacham". So intrigued was the wealthy man that he personally delivered the cauldron to Patrick commending him for his patience and, for good measure, Dáire threw in the hilltop which Patrick had sought, the very spot on which Armagh is built. And what of ‘Grazacham’?

Apparently the Latin ‘grates agam’ (‘let me give thanks’) was a favourite expression of the saint.

PATRICK AND THE LANDLADY In the folk tradition, Patrick is known for blessing one place and cursing another. Such references reflect the bias of the author. It is said in Cork for example, that ‘St Patrick never visited

Kerry’ ­a hollow jibe surely when Kerry wins the Munster Final. Such a jibe may also be directed at a particular class, publicans or innkeepers for example. Once when Patrick visited a tavern he noticed that the landlady was giving short measure to all her customers. Taking offence at this practice Patrick pointed out to her that the devil in the form of an ugly beast was hiding in the cellar and growing fat on her dishonesty.

This put the wind up in madam. She pleaded with the saint to banish the horrible beast. "Well Mrs" said Patrick, "you’ll have to do that yourself by mending your ways."

A year or so later when he had occasion to visit the same hostelry he noticed that the glasses of whiskey were served full to the brim and overflowing. Patrick then took the landlady to see the fat devil in the cellar. There he was sure enough, but little more than skin and bone, and at the sight of Patrick he vanished in a flash of lightning.

In memory of the repentant landlady, Patrick said that people should always have a shot of whiskey on his feast day (the Pota Phádraig, Patrick’s Pot). In olden times this drink was flavoured with shamrock, hence the term ‘drowning the shamrock’ or ‘wetting the shamrock’. That tradition, together with others such as wearing shamrock, banishing the snakes, using the three-leaf shamrock as a catechetical aid, do not appear in the folk tradition prior to the late 17th century.

The ninth century Bethu Phátraic has Patrick winning some concessions from God. These include the right to judge the Irish on the Last Day; that Armagh would always be the chief church in Ireland; that no foreign country should rule over Ireland indefinitely; and that Ireland would be submerged seven years before the end of the world.

In the same Bethu the saint was said to have done a tour of Munster during which he baptised King Aonghus in Cashel. In the ceremony Patrick accidentally puts his crosier through the king’s foot. Thinking it was all part of the ceremony Aonghus didn’t complain. This tour of Munster (quite unhistorical it must be said) gave a foundation to the image of Patrick, not just on a mission to north Leinster and south Ulster but that he is the man who travelled the length and breadth of Ireland and singlehandedly converted the whole island to the Christian faith.

Ordain a Statue to be Drunk And burn tobacco free as Spunk And (fat shall never be forgot) In Usquebah, St Parick’s Pot.

Fr John J Ó Ríordáin CSsR spent many years giving parish missions. His other passion is the story of the Early Irish Church.

In addition to Early Irish Saints and Irish Catholic Spirituality: Tradition and Transition and other full-length works, he has a series of short books on Irish saints and their pilgrimages.

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COM M E N T WITH EYES WIDE OPEN JIM DEEDS

ANXIETY ROCKS

A PARABLE ON HOW OUR ROCKS OF ANXIETY CAN BE TRANSFORMED INTO BEAUTIFUL BEADS OF SELF-CONFIDENCE Most of us know what it means to be anxious. Some of us know what it means to have life disrupted by that anxiety. And all of us know someone in our families or friendship circles who suffers from anxiety. It is nothing to be ashamed of. And yet, during times when anxiety messes with us, we can feel lonely. We may feel that we are the only one suffering in this way.

We may feel far away from God or, worse, that God is far away from us. Here is a story for young and old about a different reality– that God is always near, loving us in the good times and bad.

I’ve written it about a son and a father, but it applies to daughters and mothers just as much.

FATHER AND SON There once was a loving father who had a good son. The son was talented and loving and special. But the son didn’t see it that way so much. The son was always trying to be better...and better...and this made him feel anxious a lot. He worried about things– would anyone be his friend? Would he have enough lunch money? Would he do his homework well enough? He worried and got a little afraid.

This is what anxiety felt like.

He got so anxious that every morning a big rock of anxiety appeared at the foot of his bed when he woke up. It was cold and grey and spiky. The son was so upset, ashamed and anxious about the rock. He thought his father would not like the rock and that his friends would laugh

at him. And so he hid the rock at the bottom of his garden.

But when he got anxious again another rock would appear at the foot of his bed. Every time one appeared he would carry it secretly to the bottom of the garden and cover it up. Pretty soon, there were a lot of rocks hidden in that garden. Many years went by and the son hid his anxiety well.

As he grew to be an adult, he still got anxious at times. He was anxious about different things now. But like before, it still felt like being worried and afraid.

No more anxiety rocks appeared since he’d grown up but he didn’t forget about the hidden rocks in the garden.

Something else began to happen though. Every now and then he noticed that shiny beads of confidence appeared in his pockets. Confidence feels like being strong and able to breathe easily and not being annoyed by worries. This usually happened when he relaxed and remembered the love his father had for him. He liked the shiny

beads of confidence and when they appeared he forgot about his hidden rocks.

One day, he decided to go and visit his father. He knocked on the door of his father’s house but there was no answer. He looked through the letter box and saw that the back door of his father’s house was opened. He peered through it and saw his father working– at the bottom of the garden!

“Oh no!” he thought, “He’s going to find my anxiety rocks.”

The son thought about running away. But then he thought better of it. His father was kind and he would explain what had happened. He hoped that the father would understand.

A SURPRISE He walked around the side of the house and came to the garden gate. He walked into the garden and what he saw took him by surprise. There was his father sitting at the place where the son had buried the rocks. But instead of rocks there was a pile of shiny beads of confidence identical to

the ones that had been turning up in his pocket. The father had been chipping away at the rocks of anxiety and he polished the chips until they shone.

“Father” said the son.

The father saw the look of worry on his son’s face.

“My son, don’t be worried. I have known all along about your anxiety rocks.”

“I hated them,” said the son.

“I didn’t. I loved them. I knew that they were part of you and to love you was to love them too.

In fact, I knew that they needed more love than the other parts of you, so I came out here and loved them all the more. That’s what transformed them into beads of confidence.”

The son began to cry. Firstly, tears of sadness came and then tears of happiness. He was sad that he didn’t realise the answer sooner– anxiety is not to be feared or ashamed of or shut away. It is to be seen and loved and taken care of. It is to be hugged and spoken of with those who love us. That is how anxiety rocks are transformed into shiny beads of confidence.

Most of all, though he was happy. He was happy that he had a loving father who saw and loved all the parts of him.

The son learned that day that he, too, could love all the parts of himself and, in this way, he knew that anxiety could always be overcome.

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

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In Tune with the Liturgy A series that highlights some of the features of the Church’s worship in the month ahead

TO SCRUTINISE OR NOT TO SCRUTINISE

THAT IS THE QUESTION!

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FOR ADULTS PREPARING FOR BAPTISM, THE THREE MIDDLE SUNDAYS OF LENT ARE A SPECIAL TIME. THE 'SCRUTINIES' AS THESE ARE TRADITIONALLY KNOWN, ARE INTENDED TO "INSPIRE IN THE ELECT A DESIRE FOR PURIFICATION AND REDEMPTION BY CHRIST” WHICH WILL BE REALISED AT THE EASTER VIGIL.

BY SARAH ADAMS

What

does the word scrutinise mean for us when we hear it? Does it fill us with anxiety? Is it just a means of checking, for example, someone’s accounts to ensure that they balance? The dictionary suggests that the word 'scrutinise' means to examine carefully, to take a close look, to inspect. When entering into a contract, customers are advised to scrutinise the small print. People returning from overseas can have their bags carefully searched, scrutinised for

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anything that might be untoward. When we, as individuals, are under scrutiny, we might feel anxious or threatened for fear of being found out.

THE CATECHUMEN’S JOURNEY It might surprise us to discover that the ‘scrutinies’ are a significant part of the liturgical rites in Lent for those who are going through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) in preparation for baptism at the Easter Vigil. The journey of RCIA has four main stages:

Precatechumenate, Catechumenate, Purification and Enlightenment, and the period of Mystagogy. In the Precatechumenate, individuals are generally seeking information about the process of becoming a Catholic.

It is a gentle time of finding out more and being supported in deepening their relationship with God. The Catechumenate begins when a person expresses a desire to accept the Gospel and to continue deepening their faith. The church formally acknowledges

this through the celebration of the rite of Acceptance and Welcome. During this time, catechumens learn more about the teaching of the church and grow in their appreciation of the sacred scriptures. It is a time of prayer and participation in the worship life of the church, learning how to live and witness to the Gospel and hopefully develop a relationship with the Catholic Christian community. This stage can last for as long as it takes the individual to feel secure and comfortable in their decision. This is not a private affair. It is important that everyone in the parish community appreciates their responsibility in ministering to the catechumens by the witness of their lives and commitment to one another.

The Catechumenate is followed by a stage during Lent called Purification and Enlightenment which begins with the Rite of Election on the First Sunday of Lent.

Catechumens begin a final preparation for initiation into the Catholic Church.

It is a time for reflection and prayer as they, now called the Elect, purify their minds and hearts by celebrating several rituals called the scrutinies during parish liturgies. The Candidates also prepare to receive the sacraments of First Eucharist and Confirmation. Lent ends when the sacred Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter begins. At the Easter Vigil the Elect celebrate the sacraments.

In the early church, the Easter Vigil was the only liturgy of the year in which people joined the church because at Easter we celebrate Christ’s victory over death and our sharing in that victory through baptism. The journey during

that all-night vigil was a journey from darkness to light, from death to life. This is the journey that new Christians share as they descend and rise from the waters of baptism in which they are reborn.

During the final stage (the word Mystagogy comes from Greek meaning 'interpretation of mystery') the new Catholics (called neophytes) deepen their understanding of the paschal mystery and make it a part of their lives.

Mystagogy tends to last from the period after Easter until Pentecost.

THE LENTEN JOURNEY OF THE WHOLE COMMUNITY When there are baptisms at the Easter Vigil, the whole service takes on an extra dimension of joy and delight. To reach that stage, however, people need to go through the period of purification and enlightenment and the rituals which are part of that stage. Sadly, many parishes tend to shy away from these particular rituals simply because words like ‘scrutiny’ and ‘exorcism’ can be off-putting. However, a greater understanding of this stage of the journey

for the Elect can help all of us to rethink our Lent and allow us to enter more fully into the mystery of this season and to move away from simply seeing Lent as a time of ‘giving something up’.

The period of Purification and Enlightenment is a little like a spiritual retreat, a time of deepening our relationship with God and at the same time recognising that we are in need of God’s grace. The scrutinies are far more pastoral and comforting than their name suggests. Simply put, they are a series of liturgical rites that are part of the 40 days of retreat for the spiritual benefit of the Elect, as they prepare to receive the three sacraments of Christian Initiation during the Easter Vigil. They are ancient rites but profoundly rooted in our human experience. They are an opportunity for us to ‘scrutinise’ how we are, and to examine those areas of our life where we may feel tempted, or seriously sin in what we fail to do. It is a time of healing and comes with support from our brothers and sisters.

In the book of rites for RCIA #141 states: “The Scrutinies are meant to uncover,

The Catechumenate begins when a person expresses a desire to accept the Gospel and to continue deepening their faith continued on page 21

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€0.35/£0.30

In Tune with the Liturgy

By Sarah Adams

They are an opportunity for us to ‘scrutinise’ how we are, and to examine those areas of our life where we may feel tempted, or seriously sin in what we fail to do

then heal all that is weak, defective, or sinful in the hearts of the Elect; to bring out, then strengthen all that is upright, strong, and good.” Before getting out our magnifying glasses to peer more closely at these people, we must remember it is not us who scrutinise the Elect, rather, they are scrutinising their own lives before God and we are called to do the same along with them. The goal is to be strengthened to overcome the power of sin.

SILENCE One of the most powerful moments of the Scrutinies is at the beginning.

After the homily, the Elect are invited to come forward with their sponsors and kneel down. Then the whole assembly is invited to pray for them in silence. It is a very solemn moment. The silence is important, and shouldn’t be rushed.

In that moment the community, which has cared for these people, sent them to reflect more deeply on the Gospel and expressed to them their longing for the day when they would join them at the table of the Lord, prays a most profound

prayer in sacred silence, asking God to protect them and heal them in the weeks ahead.

In the rite #143 it makes it very clear that the scrutinies are not intended to frighten people but to "inspire in them a desire for purification and redemption

by Christ". It goes on to say, "the elect are gradually instructed about the mystery of sin, from which the whole world and every person longs to be delivered and thus saved from its present and future consequences." Through the ritual, the spirit is filled with Christ the Redeemer, who is the living water (gospel of the Samaritan woman in the first scrutiny), the light of the world (gospel of the man born blind in the second scrutiny), the resurrection and the life (gospel of Lazarus in the third scrutiny).

These three Gospels mentioned are the Gospels of Year A for the third, fourth and fifth Sundays of Lent. They are read in Years B or C. They can raise questions for all of us such as: for what do I thirst? How am I blind and in need of new vision? What does resurrection mean for me, what has become stale or stagnant in my life?

Following the scrutinies. the whole community prays a series of intercessions for the Elect and then a prayer of exorcism follows – a beautiful prayer that they may be freed from the power of the Evil One and protected on their journey. Though we pray specifically for the Elect, there is every reason why we might also pray this for ourselves.

LAYING ON OF HANDS In a silent ritual deliberately reminiscent of the rite used for ordination in the Sacrament of Holy Orders, the priest or deacon lays his hands for a brief moment on each of the Elect. It is a solemn act of calling down the Spirit of Jesus to be with them and protect them. Finally, the Elect are sent forth to continue to reflect upon the Word.

So, to return to the question ‘to scrutinise or not to scrutinise?’ The biggest obstacle to celebrating the scrutinies appears to be a fear of frightening people away. There tends to be a reluctance to engage with the idea of sin and evil. But to do so would be to deprive people of the real opportunity to grow in faith and be supported by the grace which comes from celebrating these very beautiful, if small, rituals.

Sarah Adams is the director of adult education and evangelisation for Clifton Diocese, England. She has a Masters in Theology with a focus on liturgy from Maynooth.

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MI S S I O N

AN IRISH MISSIONARY PIONEER IN CHINA

FR EDWARD GALVIN (1882-1956) WENT TO CHINA AS A MISSIONARY IN 1912. INSTRUMENTAL IN THE FOUNDATION OF THE SOCIETY OF ST COLUMBAN, ‘THE MAYNOOTH MISSION TO CHINA’, HE BECAME A BISHOP, WAS ARRESTED BY THE COMMUNISTS AND ACCUSED, AMONG OTHER CHARGES, OF SETTING UP A REACTIONARY ORGANISATION CALLED THE LEGION OF MARY. EXPELLED FROM CHINA, HE DIED IN 1956.

BY NEIL COLLINS SSC 22

Two

priests arrived in Shanghai in April 1912. One was a Canadian missionary, John Fraser, the other a 29-year-old Irishman called Edward J. Galvin. Fraser brought Galvin to Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and next day left him there while he journeyed on to his mission in Ningbo. Galvin adjusted to a vicariate where there were 11,000 Catholics, 11,000,000 pagans, and just 20 priests, mostly French Vincentians. He studied Chinese and on October 12 heard his first Confession. A week later he preached.

Monsignor Paul-Albert Faveau sent him to a central station and an exhausting round of visits to missions about 14 or 15 miles apart. In each he called together the few Catholics, instructed them, heard their Confessions, said Mass, baptised babies, and

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after a few days moved on to the next town. The whole circuit took two or three months, after which he returned to the central station to rest, read and answer letters before setting off in another direction for two or three months more.

him down and in April 1916 he agreed.

MAYNOOTH MISSION TO CHINA He arrived in Ireland at the end of August and got the support of Cardinal Michael Logue.

Irish Christian Brothers arrived in December 1921 and six Loretto Sisters came from Kentucky in 1924 The situation became worse with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. French priests were called to the army. Galvin began to write huge, long letters to priests, sisters and students in Ireland appealing for volunteers. Two joined him in December 1915 and spent months persuading him to go home and found a missionary society for China. They wore

In October the Irish bishops approved the new mission, and on June 29, 1918 Thomas O’Dea, Bishop of Galway, set up the Maynooth Mission to China.

The first 16 missionaries, led

by Galvin, arrived in Hanyang, one of the three cities making up the megalopolis of Wuhan, Hubei Province, in 1920. By early January the new men had enough Chinese to move out to parishes.

protesting the unequal treaties imposed on China by Britain and other imperial powers, killing four and wounding many. Riots broke out across the nation.

Kuomintang armies led by Chiang Kai-shek marched north from Canton capturing Hanyang in 1926. Galvin asked that one priest stay in each parish but ordered the newly arrived Columban Sisters to remain in Shanghai.

Fr Galvin in Chinese dress

More missionaries arrived each year.

The Columban area in Hubei had a population of five million, the majority uninterested in the faith the missionaries had come to offer. Some educated Chinese pagans admired the church and her doctrines, but despised its members who came from the poorest classes. Galvin planned to open good primary schools as the way to reach the people.

In 1923 he reported that the number of schools had trebled; pupils increased from 437 to 2,708. Irish Christian Brothers arrived in December 1921 to run two primary schools and St.

Columban’s College. Six Loreto Sisters came from Kentucky in 1924. However the Society was expanding too rapidly and a general chapter recommended that the superior general put its finances on a solid foundation.

Schools were closed and some priests were called back to Ireland and the US to raise funds.

Missionaries were regularly in danger. Two Columbans barely escaped with their lives in August 1923. Tom Quinlan wrote that the latest news was "bandits here and bandits there and bandits all along". On May 30, 1925 a British officer in Hankou ordered his police to fire on a crowd

BISHOP GALVIN In the middle of that turmoil Pope Pius XI made Hanyang an apostolic vicariate. Galvin was consecrated a bishop, Vicar Apostolic of Hanyang, on November 6, 1927. He chose as his motto, Fiat Voluntas Tua (Your Will Be Done), commenting "I hope that it might constantly remind us here in China that we are here not to convert China but to do God’s will, and we don’t know 24 hours ahead what that is."

Galvin had a pleasant task in January 1928. The Vicar Apostolic of Yukiang in Jiangxi Province asked the Columbans to take over part of his territory.

John McGrath and Galvin met the Vincentians and negotiated the transfer. Typically the bishop inspected as many parishes as he could, and reported that Kienchang had "the largest compounds and the finest churches I have seen in China".

When Archbishop Celso Costantini, the Apostolic Delegate, criticised Galvin because he had no seminary, he asked Tom Devlin and Jeremiah Pigott to set one up. Twenty-four boys, around 14 years old, were chosen, mainly from the families of ‘Old Christians’ that had been

Catholic for at least 100 years. In 1937 a new Delegate chose two of them, Peter Zhang and Joseph Seng, to study in Rome.

The bishop faced many tests.

Bandits kidnapped John Lalor and demanded $20,000. When Galvin refused they tortured the priest before ramming a lump of raw opium down his throat and leaving him for dead.

In April 1930 he installed the Columban Sisters in Xiantao, a town of 30,000 with its own militia. Nine days later the Communist Sixth Army captured the town and its two priests.

Providentially Galvin and the Sisters escaped. The two priests were held until early December when a British gunboat carried Galvin and a ransom up the Yangtze.

June 1931 brought torrential rain and by August two thirds of the vicariate was under water.

The Central China Flood forced 12 million people from their homes. Refugees poured into the few high places around Hanyang.

Galvin, priests, sisters and lay workers dispensed medicine, erected shelters, and distributed food to 100,000 starving people.

The church in Hanyang grew spectacularly in the years after the floods. Baptisms jumped from an annual average of 800 to 3,800. Galvin credited the increase to the help given during the deluge and the heroism of priests who stayed in their parishes despite the threat from Communists.

JAPANESE INVASION One of his initiatives during the floods gave birth to an important movement. He asked the Virgins, women who

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MISSION

Twenty-four boys, around 14 years old, were chosen, mainly from the families of ‘Old Christians’ that had been Catholic for at least 100 years

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Edward Galvin in episcopal robes

Bishop Galvin, first seminarians and seminary teachers

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devoted their lives to service of the church, to run a shelter for female refugees, and put Paula Wu in charge of them. After the emergency the Virgins of St. Mary continued as a community, running a catechumenate and pharmacy. On March 25, 1939 he transformed them into a religious congregation, the Sisters of St. Mary.

Japanese forces invaded China in 1937. Hanyang was bombed on September 24, 1938, the first raid of many. At the request of Galvin, Sisters nursed the wounded. The Wuhan Refugee Zone Committee appointed him to manage the feeding of the thousands who poured into the three cities. For the next seven years mission work was almost

impossible. Japanese passes were needed to move around. Galvin could visit parishes only rarely and kept in touch with the priests by letter. There was practically no news, mail or money from abroad. Schools were closed.

Food was insufficient. He looked for ways to keep up the morale of his companions. In 1944 fleets of American bombers attacked Wuhan nightly. On October 2, 1945 US forces entered Hanyang.

A young serviceman visited the cathedral and was aghast at the poor food and clothing of the bishop and his companions.

Peace brought Peter Zhang and Joseph Seng back from Rome. Galvin, Zhang and two Chinese sisters began intense mission work in neglected

Bishop Galvin and Loreto Sisters with Chinese Novices

areas. They went from village to village instructing, celebrating Confession and Mass, baptising children, fixing up marriages.

Zhang found it extremely hard work. Galvin was 66 years old and had endured near starvation.

Pope Pius XII erected the Chinese hierarchy, changing vicariates to full dioceses.

Archbishop Antonio Riberi,

REDEMPTORIST

PARISH MISSIONS

the Papal Internuncio, installed Galvin as Bishop of Hanyang on April 1, 1947.

COMMUNISM The Communist army of Lin Biao captured Wuhan in May 1949 and began expelling missionaries.

Galvin released the Chinese sisters from their vows in 1951 and sent them home. Three took

civilian jobs but continued their religious life together in secret.

Galvin was put on trial, charged with opposing the establishment of an Independent Catholic Church in China, with setting up a reactionary organisation called the Legion of Mary, with engaging in anti-patriotic propaganda, and with destroying the property of the people.

He was expelled on September 17,1952 leaving Peter Zhang in charge of the diocese, and died of leukaemia on February 23, 1956. Zhang spent 24 years in prison and labour camps.

There was silence until a letter from him reached the rector of the Columban seminary in Boston. In 1986 Victor Lu Hede ordained him the second Bishop of Hanyang, in a railway station.

He gathered the Catholics in the Xiantao and began to form young priests. Even after his death on October 12, 2005 they continued to minister and built a fine church. The Sisters of St. Mary moved into a hut beside Hanyang cathedral and began to recruit members.

Sister Li Fen Feng, the last of the originals, died on July 31, 2018.

Her younger sisters continue.

Small Catholic communities in Hanyang still revere Galvin.

Fr Neil Collins is a Columban Missionary. He is author of A Mad Thing to Do – A Century of Columban Missions (1916-2016) published by Dalgan Press.

Breaking the Word in March 2019

Please pray for the Redemptorist Teams who will preach the Word and for God’s People who will hear the Word proclaimed this month in:

Toomevara, Co Tipperary (2nd – 8th March 2019) Parish mission preached by Laurence Gallagher CSsR, Derek Meskell CSsR and Helena Connolly.

Ennybegs, Killoe, Co Longford (9th – 16th March 2019) Parish mission preached by Denis Luddy CSsR and Kieran Brady CSsR

Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan (22nd – 29th March 2019)

Parish mission preached by Laurence Gallagher CSsR, Derek Meskell CSsR and Clare Gilmore

Staplestown, Kildare

(23rd – 31st March 2019) Parish mission preached by Denis Luddy CSsR and Helena Connolly

The details above are accurate at the time of printing. If you have any views, comments or even criticisms about Redemptorist preaching, we would love to hear from you. If you are interested in a mission or novena in your parish, please contact us for further information. And please keep all Redemptorist preachers in your prayers.

Fr Laurence Gallagher CSsR, Email: missions.novenas@redemptorists.ie Tel: +353 61 315099

26

FROM DIALOGUE TO SANCTITY ENCOUNTERS OF MARRIED COUPLES ENCOUNTERS OF MARRIED COUPLES BEGAN IN POLAND AND HAS SPREAD RAPIDLY IN EASTERN EUROPE, GERMANY, THE US AND BRITAIN. INSPIRED BY THE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER MOVEMENT IT OFFERS RETREATS TO COUPLES.

BY SUSAN GATELY

It

takes time to find Monika and Szymon’s apartment at the back of the large complex in Artane. Finally, on this cold, winter night, it is journey’s end. I knock and Szymon welcomes me in. Beyond the stacked bikes in the corridor, I pass a shelf with an open Gospel. Sitting down to talk to the couple who lead ‘Encounters of

REALITY MARCH 2019

Married Couples’ (EoMC) in Ireland, I think how young they look – almost too young to be parents to three children aged from nine to one. Over the next hours as we chat and drink tea, they tell me about the Polishborn movement which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.

BORN IN POLAND The movement started in 1978 in Poland.

It was before the iconic election of Pope John Paul II, and Poland was firmly in the grip of Communism. Adapting a Marriage Encounter weekend for the cultural and religious situation there, Irena and Jerzy Grzybowski hosted an Encounter retreat and from this grew the first community of the newborn ‘Encounters of Married Couples’ in Warsaw.

“When we started, we did not expect this to grow so much,” co-founder Jerzy Grzybowski tells me. “After the first basic retreat weekends we saw the good results in ourselves and in the other couples, their joy, how their lives were transformed.” The retreats continued and invitations arrived from other cities in Poland and Eastern Bloc countries. Gradually its spirituality, based on dialogue, spread outwards.

The founding couple explain to me that Jesus commanded us to love God and neighbour. “Dialogue is a way to such love,” says Irena. The four simple rules of Dialogue are: listen rather than speak; understand rather than judge; share yourself rather than discuss; and first of all – forgive.

“Such dialogue and the way of life resulting from it helps us to remain in Jesus’ love. It is a way to sanctity,” says Jerzy.

Back in Artane, as Monika and Szymon tell me their own story, I see this dialogue in action – the way they listen and wait for each other – the tangible respect and tenderness they show.

YOUNG LOVE The couple met at a Catholic summer camp in Poland. Monika was 16, Szymon 18. “It was summer love,” he tells me laughing. Monika had grown up in a ‘non-believing’ home, but a year earlier had attended a Charismatic Renewal Retreat and made a choice for faith.

“I was the only one in the family who went to church. They teased me a lot,” she recalls.

First love was strong love. They finished school, studied in universities distant from each other and corresponded by letter.

After a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, they got

engaged. Shortly afterwards they went for a EoMC weekend for engaged couples. “It was a breakthrough. We worked out what our priorities in life were,” says Szymon. Three months later the couple were wed; Szymon was 23, Monika 21.

In 2008, they moved to Ireland, where they attended another EoMC Retreat. “It was an even deeper experience of dialogue,” recalls Monika. They settled down to life in Ireland and in 2010 their eldest son, Timothy, was born.

From the start, the spirituality of Dialogue was the foundation stone for their marriage, but life was not easy. They were both working and under pressure. After the birth of their second child in 2013, tensions reached breaking point. “I was exhausted and overloaded. We had a different approach to the children. I remember at one point, taking my wedding ring off and flinging it at Szymon,” Monika recalls. “And my response was ‘Bring the divorce papers – I’ll sign them!’” says Szymon. They can laugh about it now, but the heartache at the time compelled them to find space to reconnect.

Subsequently they worked hard on their relationship and went to another EoMC retreat where finally they found time for each other without disruptions. “I fell in love with Szymon again,” says Monika. “Through God’s grace and our hard work on dialogue we came out of the crisis stronger than before.”

“For me it was authentic – proof that nobody can avoid a crisis,” says Szymon.

Encounters of Married Couples is present in Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Moldova, Ireland, Great Britain, Germany and the USA. Retreats have taken place or are planned in Romania, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, Canada and Sweden.

In 2009 it was definitively approved by the Pontifical Council for the Laity as a private international association of the faithful of Pontifical right.

Listen rather than speak; understand rather than judge; share yourself rather than discuss, and first of all - forgive THE RETREAT Retreats, like those Monika and Szymon attended, are the basic form of activity in the movement. The work technique is similar to a Marriage Encounter weekend (with presenting couples sharing testimonies, the presence of a priest, and plenty of couple time); the programme is different however.

Often couples who attend the retreats are on the brink of divorce. A German man wrote: “I came without God and without my wife.

I leave with God and with my wife. We will cultivate the good that we have here.”

Sitting back to back with her husband, a woman from Belarus read the letter her husband had written during the retreat. She was crying. “I experienced like the second sacrament of marriage. I wiped my tears, thinking he would not like to see me crying.

Then I turned around and saw his red eyes and tears and understood that God had worked the miracle and that we would start afresh after this retreat and everything will be fine.”

While the movement is couples based, their ‘family holiday programmes’ involve the whole family. In any case, the effects of dialogue cannot but impact children. A Polish man wrote after his retreat: “We have just been speaking with our whole family for an hour. I told my children (daughter 14, son 18) how I had fallen in love with their Mum again and we were going to change our life.

They were crying with happiness.”

Couples who wish to remain in touch with the movement after their initial retreat can go on advanced retreats covering other areas like sexuality, psychological needs, temperaments and relationship with God.

Worldwide, it has about 600 animator/ leader couples, 130 priests and ten religious sisters. Around 35,000 couples have taken part in their retreats and a further 22,000 engaged couples in their ‘Evenings for Couples in Love’ or weekend retreats.

A novelty in Poland is that the movement runs retreats for couples in second or civil unions. “We have in mind Jesus’ words that there will be more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner. And these retreats are a place where many deep conversions happen,” says Jerzy Grzybowski.

As it spreads, EoMC is trying to integrate more. “We want to spread the good news about dialogue to Irish people,” says Szymon.

They are translating basic information material from Polish and have already run one workshop on dialogue in a Dublin city church. With a priest, and couples in Dublin, Limerick and Drogheda, Monika has great hope for the future. “God will show us the way.”

For further information see: www.spotkaniamalzenskie.pl/en/ or Google Encounters of Married Couples

Suan Gately is author of God’s Surprise - the New Movements in the Church, published by Veritas, and is a regular contributor to Reality

27

F E AT U R E

THE HOMOSEXUAL PERSON GUIDELINES FOR PASTORAL WORKERS DR RAPHAEL GALLAGHER CSsR WROTE A VERY SHORT BUT PRACTICAL GUIDE CALLED UNDERSTANDING THE HOMOSEXUAL. FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1985, IT HAS LONG BEEN OUT OF PRINT; HOWEVER A REVISED EDITION HAS BEEN PUBLISHED RECENTLY.

BY JOHN SCALLY

The

sun shone, bees hummed and the air was full of birdsong.

Although it was not long past dawn, the sun had already burned away the early morning mist, and it promised to be a fine day. The sky was a clear, unbroken blue for the first time in weeks. The scene was peaceful and idyllic.

My next door neighbour favoured me with one of her impenetrable smiles. Although I had long considered them an abomination beyond belief I turned on my smartphone and read the reviews of Pope Francis’ visit to Ireland as I waited for a taxi. As I stared fixedly at the device the comment that resonated most with me described him: "as fanatical about his flock as a mother hen with chicks".

So how are we to create a church in Ireland that pulsates with such a degree of care?

There is no silver bullet or magic wand. To create a church in the image and likeness of the vision of Pope Francis and the Second Vatican Council will require action on a myriad of fronts.

The Second Vatican Council’s vision was for all of people to become "artisans of a new humanity" – a community committed

28

The Homosexual Person. Guidelines for Pastoral Workers, by Raphael Gallagher CSsR. Edizioni Sant’Antonio 2018. It is available online at www.morebooks.shop

REALITY MARCH 2019

to following God’s plan to meet the needs of the new world. The church is called to lead people collectively to formulate their response as Christians and as members of a religious community – which shares in the mission of Christ – to serve and to save.

This will require finding answers to often challenging questions such as: Where are the main needs today? Can there be new ministries like helping sexually abused people? What is our identity? How do we journey with people who are homosexual?

Against this background the publication of Raphael Gallagher’s new book The Homosexual Person: Guidelines for Pastoral Workers is both timely and welcome. For many people the phenomenon of sexual identity and gender is a puzzling issue.

One of the many strengths of Gallagher’s book is that he is able to draw on his long experience of supporting homosexual people who struggle with the Christian way of life.

This booklet was first written 30 years ago. In this new updated edition, the focus remains on the homosexual person though with an acknowledgement that this must now be

understood within the complex questions raised by gender identity.

JESUS AND THE COMPASSION OF GOD The author’s mission statement is evident at an early stage. "The homosexual question is bedevilled by a simplistic use of descriptive terms which can owe more to prejudice than genuinely seeking the truth of a question."

Gallagher is clearly inspired by the image of

hungry to transform us into worthy bearers of the name. This becomes a significant challenge when we encounter homosexual people. The Christian life is an exchange of love – the love we receive and the love we give for Christ. It will be a long journey, and there are no easy answers. We have a lot to learn, not just about homosexuality, but also about the bewildering world of gender identity.

We have a lot to learn, not just about homosexuality, but also about the bewildering world of gender identity Jesus in the Gospels. He was someone who brought the compassion of God to people, someone who did not judge or condemn.

He was with people wherever they were, especially those on the margins of society.

Gallagher believes that the love of God is expressed not only in prayer and Sunday worship, but must permeate every aspect of life. He offers a series of practical guidelines for pastoral workers who meet homosexual people. These guidelines can be translated into practical support.

The type of Christian community Gallagher advocates will develop the full range of our capacities for loving to empower us to become transparent, more vividly sacramental of God's love. Such a community will commit to St Augustine’s idea of "mingling mercy with misery". It will make personal intimate contact with the rejected ones, the homeless, prisoners, the sick, the dying, the old and the lonely. It will be respectful of all types of people, regardless of their sexual identity.

Pope Francis is calling the church to take up Jesus' invitation to make a new beginning.

The heart of this invitation is love, because it is through love alone that we please God and our main challenge is to acquire it. The God of the scriptures is an impatient figure,

CONNECTIONS Gallagher reminds us that seeing ourselves as separate from God and from each other is an illusion. We are all connected to one another and if someone performs an unkind act then it, too, has an effect on us all. At the end of our lives we want to be able to say that somehow we brought the compassion of God to people.

Gallagher seeks opportunities for affirmation, healing and growth for all.

From the outset Christians were not to be autonomous and isolated but were called to communion. They had to discern what was good, what was life-giving, not just for the individual themselves, but for the whole community. They covenanted themselves to commit themselves to lives of fidelity to God and each other. The capacity to love is of God but it was expressed differently, but in community they reached out to it, blessed it and were in turn blessed by it. Gallagher draws on this tradition to bring forward a vision which will help pastoral workers to be sensitive in their ministry with homosexuals.

He wants us to reach for the light for a new and fuller existence and to discern in Emily Dickinson’s memorable phrase "the Truth’s superb surprise" and to identify the key

principles on which to build a better future.

He points us to Pope Francis’ repeated call for the church not to be "unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security" ( Evangelii Gaudium, #49).

Instead we must be constantly striving to be attentive to the word which is "always beyond us" (Evangelii Gaudium #146). Such a church will be sensitive to the insights and wisdom of others and forever respectful of the differences that mark us.

This slim volume raises a lot of big questions.

How do we journey with the many anguished people who need a place where they can share their deep pain and struggles while guiding them ever deeper into the mystery of God's love? Who are we for each other?

How do we support each other? What kind of Christian community allows for a more shared existence between people of different sexual orientations?

Gallagher is very clear about where the real problem is. "It is the trivialisation of sexual encounters, unquestionably aggravated by the tsunami of social media and readily accessible pornography that is the dominant concern for moral theology. The heart of the contemporary challenge is here."

In this book Gallagher provokes us to think in a fresh way. He has performed an invaluable service by enabling us to see more clearly where the issues are. He challenges us as a society to ask questions many of us would rather avoid. He steers us towards a national examination of conscience on the complex issue of homosexuality within the horizon of the gender debate. This will facilitate an inner journey in our consciousness, where we can reclaim and relearn the values to which we pledge our adherence.

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

29

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COM M E N T FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS CARMEL WYNNE

GUIDED BY LOVE

EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU ARE SITTING LISTENING SILENTLY, YOUR FACIAL EXPRESSIONS AND BODILY POSTURE COMMUNICATE MORE THAN YOU THINK. Allan Pease, one of the world’s experts on body language, wrote that “typically a woman can use an average of six listening expressions in a ten second period to reflect and then feedback the speaker’s emotions”.

Her face can mirror emotions that are being expressed like sadness, surprise, anger, joy, fear and desire.

It can appear to someone watching that the events being discussed are happening to both women.

In contrast, in a ten-second listening period a man's facial expressions tend to remain impassive so as not to betray his emotions. Pease said that brain scans reveal that men feel emotions as strongly as women, but avoid showing this. In his book Body Language he wrote that you can learn to read other people’s thoughts by their gestures. Body language is easy to pick up and fun to use.

As part of my training in Neuro Linguistic Programming, I learned that experts have many different interpretations of almost every aspect of a person’s facial expression.

American researchers Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen say that there are six principal facial expressions: happy, sad, disgusted, angry, afraid and interested. Their perception is that these emotions are the ones most of us are likely to agree on when we see their expression in others.

They add that such expressions can be too fleeting for most people to perceive but they can be captured by the camera.

BODYLANGUAGEINTHEFAMILY Parents have an intuitive expertise on body language. They seem to have a sixth sense about lying and evasion.

Mothers are better than fathers at picking up visual clues, or sensing the subtle undertones of deception in the communication of an adolescent.

It’s human nature for family members to want to give young people the benefit of the doubt.

No parent wants to think badly of a teenager who does not abide by rules. A parent may sense that there is something not right about the difficult behaviour of a son or daughter who is cranky and failing in school. Some enquire; some decide that it would be wise to remain calm and non-confrontational; others wait to see what happens.

When a possible confrontation is threatening, many of us find it easier to put on blinkers than to question what intuitively we sense is wrong. A few years ago a colleague suspected that her niece was abusing drugs.

The girl’s mother believed that her daughter was suffering from a broken heart, even though she didn’t know if the girl had a regular boyfriend.

The teenager had lost interest in

everything. She slept late, stayed out until all hours without telephoning home, was non-communicative and doing badly at school. All the signs of substance abuse were present; the glazed eyes and the moodiness.

My colleague asked her sister if she had any concerns that the changes could be drug-related. The mother said she had considered the possibility and was monitoring the situation. Two months later the mother found out that her daughter was dealing with more than a broken heart. When she sensed it was the right time she had the courage to confront her daughter, who admitted that she had a drug problem and needed help.

DOES FEAR BLIND US TO THE OBVIOUS? It’s easy to underestimate how fear blinds us to the obvious. I’m making an educated guess that many of us have had the painful experience of failing to see the signs when a loved one was in difficulty. Looking back

with hindsight we ask, how could I have failed to see that something was wrong? The evidence was right there in front of my eyes. Fear of a truth we don’t want to accept can blind us to the obvious.

It’s impossible to be objective about close family members and friends we love. The term ‘cognitive dissonance’ was coined by Leon Feininger to explain a person’s refusal to accept the obvious. Emotions compromise our objectivity. It’s more palatable to close our eyes and minds to things that are disturbing and distressing than to question what we might discover if we took a closer look.

The fear of making a wrong assumption deters parents. Afraid of breaking trust, if they accuse a teenager of using drugs, they bide their time. It’s understandable that my colleague’s sister felt she needed more information before she could broach the subject, a subject that had the potential to change their relationship for good or ill. Who knows what might have happened had she intervened earlier? What we do know is that she watched and waited for the opportunity to raise the issue and her daughter is now sober and drug-free.

Experts may be skilled in analysing what the camera shows. But they will never match the intuitive ability of a loving parent, who is guided by intuition and love.

Carmel Wynne is a life coach, crossprofessional supervisor and author based in Dublin. For more information go to www. carmelwynne.org

31

Praying with the Rosary – The Second Sorrowful Mystery prayer corner

The Scourging At The Pillar

THROUGH THE VICIOUS SCOURGING HE RECEIVED, JESUS ENTERS INTO SOLIDARITY WITH ALL VICTIMS OF TORTURE DOWN THE AGES INCLUDING TODAY. YOU CAN MARK THESE PASSAGES IN YOUR BIBLE TO READ AND PRAY: MT 26:57-27:31; MARK 14:53-15:16; LUKE 22:54-23:23; JOHN 18:24-19:7.

BY GEORGE WADDING CSsR

Thank

you, friend, for staying with me thus far in my loneliness and pain! I deeply appreciate your company and your love. Our journey together does not get any easier.

My trial at the house of Caiaphas was totally illegal. Even before it began it was determined that I must die. Where normally our religious leaders would carefully screen witnesses to ensure justice, in my case they deliberately sought false witnesses. No defence witnesses were allowed. The trial was conducted at night, also illegal according to our religious laws. Serious charges, as in my case, should have been heard by the full Sanhedrin in its official meeting place and not in the High Priest’s palace.

However, like many throughout history, Caiaphas felt that the ‘justice’ of his cause allowed him to ignore all the rules of right and wrong, and throw compassion to the wind. The ‘destroying the temple’ accusation was quickly dealt with. Then Caiaphas went straight to the heart of the matter. He charged me under oath to say whether I was the Christ, the Son of God, or not. I was under oath. I knew my answer would be my own undoing: “Yes,” I said, loud and clear. Caiaphas was triumphant; he tore at his garments and said to the assembly, “That’s it. That’s all we need; what do you think?” “Definitely worthy of death!” they replied, and the ‘guilty’ verdict

32

REALITY MARCH 2019

unleashed a torrent of verbal and physical abuse against me. I was taken away and kept until a meeting with the Roman Governor could be arranged later in the morning.

PETER AND PILATE Peter had followed us furtively since we left Gethsemane. He mingled with some of the High Priest’s staff who were warming themselves around a charcoal fire against the early morning cold. Fear dissipated his vaunted courage. He cursed and swore that he had never known me or been my disciple. As I was led across the courtyard to the holding-cell, the first cock crowed; our eyes met briefly before he slunk away crying bitterly. With that quick glance I tried to assure him, as I would assure everyone who might betray me, that I still loved him and forgave him.

When Pilate had taken up his position on the judgement seat, they laid the charge against me. Pilate accepted it with little conviction.

He knew there was no genuine case to answer. The symbolic washing of his hands emphasised this. His first dodge was to throw my case back to them: “Try him by your own law!” They needed my death and only Pilate could deliver that. Then he questioned me about my claim to be "King of the Jews". He realised very quickly that I was no threat to his power. Then he thought of a master stroke: he would offer the crowd a choice: Barabbas, a

notorious murderer, or me, an innocent man.

They would have no choice. To his horror, egged on by the priests, they chose Barabbas.

What an irony! Barabbas means ‘son of the father’ – and he is chosen to live in preference to the real Son of the Heavenly Father! To make matters worse, Pilate’s wife sent him a message not to get involved with me. She’d had a nightmare concerning me. The pressure was getting to him. This was the background to my scourging.

SCOURGING Roman flagellation or scourging was one of the most dreaded of all their punishments. They themselves called it ‘horribile’ or horrendous. It was a form of vicious, inhumane punishment administered by two soldiers called lictors.

They used a flagrum, a whip of two or more leather tails that had metal pellets or sheep bones attached to the end of each tail.

Under Roman law scourging was inflicted on slaves and non-Roman citizens. It was always administered before crucifixion, but it could be used as a punishment for lesser offences or as torture when questioning prisoners.

According to Jewish law, scourging could not exceed 40 lashes, but here the number of lashes depended on the cruelty of the executioners. If they did not want the victim to die too quickly, they limited the amount of lashes administered. I was ordered to be scourged in an extreme manner in an attempt to appease the mob.

I was stripped naked and shackled by the wrists to a low column so that I was in a bentover position. The humiliation and shame was distressing. The lictors stood behind me and rained blows across my back from both sides. The weight of the metal pellets on the leather thongs often carried them to the front of my body as well as to my back and arms, my shoulders, and legs. The pellets dug deep into my flesh, ripping small blood vessels, nerves, muscle, and skin. I began losing a lot of blood.

My ribs were bruised and so my breathing became painful. I was sweating heavily. If I cried out it only inflamed further the bloodlust in my tormentors. I prayed for them and for all who, down the ages, would take sinful

pleasure in inflicting pain and humiliation on others. Still the blows came, and I went into injury shock. I was nauseous and collapsed under the merciless pummelling. The floor around me was saturated in my blood. My mangled body, front and back, was a red, raw, open wound, nothing like the neat and blanched figure you’ve seen on crucifixes.

The Shroud of Turin

PRAYING FOR HIS TORTURERS They untied my wrists and I crumbled in a heap on the blood-soaked marble floor. They let me lie there for a few glorious minutes of stillness, while they prepared for my next torment.

Why do they hate me so? I have done them no harm. Look at them – just boys and they are trained to hate and kill for the empire. It is how they earn their living. I do not hate them, Father, they are just obeying orders.

They are steeped in a belief that ‘might is right’, that their emperor, despite the scandalous intrigues and murders in the imperial palace, is a god holding their great empire together.

They are trained to view themselves as the master race with a divine right to enslave and subdue the rest of humanity. In centuries to come, Father, other Christian ‘master races’ will emerge from time to time to steal and rape and pillage poorer races and convince themselves they are merely advancing civilisation.

You sent me to bring hope to a hopeless world, to proclaim that there is another way, your way, Father, your Kingdom. That’s why I must keep going. Pilate, I want to be king of my Father’s Kingdom of peace and justice, not king of your kingdom of cruelty and injustice. As one of your own historians wrote: ‘To plunder, butcher, steal – these things you misname empire: you make a desert and you call it peace.’

Father, receive my humiliation and suffering as my heartfelt prayer for this world which you have created and which you love so dearly.

“Look at me, O Lord, and answer me… Don’t let my enemies say, ‘we have defeated him.’

Don’t let them gloat over my downfall. I rely on your constant love; I will be glad, because you will rescue me…” (Ps. 13:4-6)

33

continued on page 34

prayer corner

Effects of Roman scourging The injuries sustained during scourging were extensive. Blows to the upper back and rib area caused rib fractures, severe bruising in the lungs, bleeding into the chest cavity and partial or complete pneumothorax (puncture wound to the lung causing it to collapse).

As much as 125 millilitres of blood could be lost. The victim would periodically vomit, experience tremors and seizures, and have bouts of fainting. Each excruciating strike would elicit shrieks of pain. The victim would be diaphoretic (profusely sweating) and exhausted, his flesh mangled and ripped, and would crave water because of the loss of fluid from bleeding and diaphoresis. The steady loss of fluid would initiate hypovolemic shock while a slow, steady accumulation of fluid in the injured lungs (pleural effusion) would make breathing difficult. Fractured ribs would make breathing painful and the victim would only be able to take short, shallow breaths. The plumbatae at the end of the leather strips would lacerate the liver and maybe the spleen.

Jesus’ condition after scourging was serious. The pain and brutality of the torture put Him in early traumatic or injury shock. He was also in early hypovolemic shock because of pleural effusion, hematidrosis, hemorrhaging from His wounds, vomiting, and diaphoresis.

(Cf. Frederick T. Zugibe, M.D., Ph.D., The Cross and the Shroud, 1988) Fr George Wadding CSsR is a member of the Redemptorist Community at Dun Mhuire, Griffith Avenue, Dublin.

Available from Redemptorist Communications

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then and now

The way of the cross is not confined to a lonely road in Jerusalem two thousand years ago: it is a busy highway winding through every village, town and city in our modern world.

Fr Denis McBride C.Ss.R. reflectively guides us along the way of the cross. He contrasts the beauty and solemn simplicity of the more traditional Stations by artist Curd Lessig with modern images that challenge us to link Jesus’ story to the struggle of our everyday life. Through its rich array of scripture passages, paintings, poetry, prayers, photographs and reflections, Stations of the Cross – then and now becomes a companion not only on our Lenten journey but throughout the year: suffering is not limited to one liturgical season. Whether we walk in solitude or with others, this book translates the passion of Jesus into our own life and times.

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F E AT U R E

The Call to Holiness in Today’s World

D ELI V ER US FROM T H E EVIL ON E ?

DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE DEVIL? POPE FRANCIS DOES, AND WARNS US THAT THE ABILITY TO DISCERN GOOD AND EVIL SPIRITS IS NOT EVERYDAY COMMON SENSE, BUT A PRAYERFUL LISTENING TO THE LORD AND TO OTHERS

BY MIKE DALEY

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knew my mom meant well, but really.

An embroidered prayer to St Michael to hang in my bedroom? What was she thinking?

Surely there was a better birthday gift for me.

Here I was trying to be a cool teenager; there she was trying to save my immortal soul. Now on the wall for all who entered my room to see, were these framed, cursively stitched words: St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our defence against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and the other evil spirits who prowl about the world for the ruin of souls.Amen.

After all these years, I don’t know if I’ve thanked her for that gift.

It is a constant struggle against the devil, the prince of evil ON THE PROWL In addition to my mom, someone else who looks to alert us to the presence and malfluence of the devil is Pope Francis.

He spends a significant amount of time in the last chapter of his recent apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate ('On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World') preparing REALITY MARCH 2019

believers for battle with the evil one.

When it comes to the devil, Pope Francis knows he is facing a scientifically-minded and, therefore, sceptical crowd that has discounted the devil as a personal being.

He responds to this doubting mindset with impassioned words: “We are not dealing merely with a battle against the world and a worldly mentality that would deceive us and leave us dull and mediocre, lacking in enthusiasm and joy. Nor can this battle be reduced to the struggle against our human weaknesses and proclivities (be they laziness, lust, envy, jealousy or any others). It is also a constant struggle against the devil, the prince of evil.”

Even in the face of the pope’s words, our first inclination is often to dismiss claims of demonic possession and reinterpret them as psychological disorders. Pope Francis reminds us of the words of scripture and of the example of Jesus. Specifically, in the 'Our Father', Jesus encourages us to ask the Father “to deliver us from evil”. The more accurate translation, however, is not evil in an abstract or general sense, but “the evil one”.

Pope Francis goes on to say, “It indicates a personal being who assails us. Jesus taught us to ask daily for deliverance from him, lest his power prevail over us.”

Though consideration of the devil, even evil itself, has been of secondary theological and pastoral emphasis to the centrality of God’s abundant grace recently, Pope Francis is inviting us to reconsider its place and value today. For this reason, he stresses, “we

should not think of the devil as a myth, a representation, a symbol, a figure of speech or an idea. This mistake would lead us to let down our guard, to grow careless and end up more vulnerable. The devil does not need to possess us. He poisons us with the venom of hatred, desolation, envy and vice. When we let down our guard, he takes advantage of it to destroy our lives, our families and our communities.”

The one-time secretary for the service of the faith for the Society of Jesus, now vice president of mission and identity at Fairfield University, Fr Gerry Blaszczak maintains that “Pope Francis, ever the realist, ever the Jesuit, recognises that there is another reality in human experience, another reality in human history, that orients us against God’s will, that turns us in on ourselves and against our neighbour. …His language, his analysis, leads him to describe this reality, which for him is incontestably present in the world and in the hearts of people, he calls this the work of the enemy or the evil spirit.”

Though the battle is never-ending, Christians are not without resources in this demanding challenge to stay alert and awake to the devil’s temptations. According to Francis, “we can count on the powerful weapons that the Lord has given us: faithfilled prayer, meditation of the word of God, the celebration of Mass, Eucharistic adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation, works of charity, community life, missionary outreach. If we become careless, the false promises of evil will easily seduce us.”

DISCERNMENT Therein lies the rub. What is the difference between sound judgment and the seduction of Satan? “How can we know,” Pope Francis asks, “if something comes from the Holy Spirit or if it stems from the spirit of the world or the spirit of the devil?”

In our present day, it is not easy to make good and holy choices. With our cultural need for action and constant distractions, who has the patience? Pope Francis further laments the world of youth and their “culture of zapping. We can navigate simultaneously on two or more screens and interact at the same time with two or three virtual scenarios.”

In this regard, Pope Francis implores us to practice discernment. This gift, developed “through prayer, reflection, reading and good counsel” is “more than intelligence or common sense”. He insists that “it goes beyond them, for it seeks a glimpse of that unique and mysterious plan that God has for each of us, which takes shape amid so many varied situations and limitations.”

Though we may be inclined to think that

discernment is needed only in extraordinary situations, Pope Francis suggests that more often than not “discernment is exercised in small and apparently irrelevant things, since greatness of spirit is manifested in simple everyday realities. It involves striving untrammelled for all that is great, better and more beautiful, while at the same time being concerned for the little things, for each day’s responsibilities and commitments.”

For this reason, Pope Francis adds that “prayerful discernment must be born of a readiness to listen: to the Lord and to others, and to reality itself, which always challenges us in new ways.” He also knows that discernment “is not a matter of applying rules or repeating what was done in the past, since the same solutions are not valid in all circumstances and what was useful in one context may not prove so in another.”

As much as we may like to avoid it, discernment can involve sacrifice for, as Pope Francis indicates, “happiness is a paradox.” Here Basilian Fr Thomas Rosica suggests that Pope Francis is following his spiritual father, St Ignatius of Loyola, the

founder of the Jesuits: “For Ignatius and for Pope Francis, people must discern where God is calling them and following that call requires courage and a willingness to accept suffering and rejection. St Ignatius believed that making progress in following Christ gives birth to a sense of peace and harmony even in the face of challenges. The enemy doesn't like that and tries to disrupt it, particularly by tempting Christians to focus all their attention on themselves and their problems real or perceived. And to doubt whether they really are or even can be capable of following the Lord."

In closing, Francis considers discernment, as a tool on the path to holiness, as “an authentic process of leaving ourselves behind in order to approach the mystery of God, who helps us to carry out the mission to which he has called us, for the good of our brothers and sisters."

Mike Daley is a teacher and writer from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he lives with his wife June and their three children. His latest book, co-edited with Diane Bergant, is Take and Read: Christian Writers Reflect on Life’s Most influential Books.

For Ignatius and for Pope Francis, people must discern where God is calling them and following that call requires courage and a willingness to accept suffering and rejection

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FATHERHOOD IS FATHERHOOD ENDANGERED BY MANY OF THE FORCES IN OUR CONTEMPORARY CULTURE AND WHAT ROLE DOES THE CHURCH HAVE IN PROMOTING THE VALUES OF FATHERHOOD? THIS WAS ORIGINALLY GIVEN AS A TALK AT A MEN’S RETREAT.

BY SHANE SULLIVAN

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ancient cultures, particularly ones which experienced real hardship, boys were initiated into manhood in rites of passage.

Elders would take the boys away from their mothers, away from the familiar to a remote, wild and holy place. There they told the boys the stories of their people, they taught them what it meant to be a man and through some ritual– usually

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one in which the boys were tested and had to prove themselves– they were welcomed into manhood.

Then, and only then, having been changed, they were brought back to their homes where they took up their place and responsibilities, no longer boys but men. Those rites of passage are less defined or even non-existent in Western culture. The result is generations of men who

don’t know what it means to be a man or what critical role they are to play in society.

I am not one of those lost boys.

The reason I’m not confused about who I am or what my role is, is that I had the opportunity to experience four years at the best seminary I ever came across– St. John Vianney in St. Paul, Minnesota in the United States. Thank God I was there at the height of its strength and under the direction of a man with a unique gift for forming young men. I want to offer here some of the important elements of that formation.

FATHERHOOD: A CRITICAL ROLE You have a God-given vocation– one essential to society itself. But you are not called to a romantic mounting of the barricades. You

are not called to be the star of a national movement. You are not the next Jordan Petersen. You, I would suggest, are called to be a father.

There is nothing self-aggrandising about that, nothing that will make headlines… but there is nothing more essential or significant. Why? We influence people on different levels. We influence a large circle of people on a superficial level, fewer people on a more profound level, but on the most profound level (ie shaping who they are as a person) only in the smallest of circles– in your family, your children. As a father you are capable of helping shape your family on the level of ‘who they are as people’. And if you and your wife don’t do that, someone or something else will. Fathers are needed and you are just the man to do it. It is who you were made to be.

THE BOY MUST DIE Would-be fathers beware.

Becoming a father will cost you.

Like the boys in ancient cultures, before we can take up our new role in society, that which is boyish in us has to die. We got a talk in seminary once by a permanent deacon. He told us the church doesn’t want priests who are mama’s boys. He said they don’t want priests who are coddled and self-centred or eccentric. He told us at the end of our studies we should be carried out of seminary, our blood splattered all over the walls. If you know anything about a young man’s psychology you know we loved it. His point was not only relevant for priests-in-training, but for all called to fatherhood. What is self-absorbed, indulgent and selfreferential in us has to die if anyone is going to grow up and become a man for others. Boys (and boyish men) live lives at which they are the centre. They spend their time and money doing whatever they want: time with the lads, hours watching football or Netflix. They

carefully cultivate their image and reputation or career prospects.

And, in pursuing those self-serving ends those who are boyish avoid responsibility.

That self-absorption and allergy to responsibility can keep a man from becoming a father altogether or lead to him living a compromised fatherhood in which he never gives himself fully to his family, but hangs on to as much of his previous way of living as he can. Obviously if a father is sacrificing time at home to be at the GAA club, the pub, the gym, the office or wherever, the kids will suffer. But the funny thing is, so will he. The father whose attachments pull him away from his kids hasn’t figured out an important, but paradoxical truth: that responsibility isn’t the enemy, threatening the meaning of your life. It’s in accepting responsibility that your life becomes far more rich and meaningful as a father.

Can you imagine anything as significant as helping shape the person your child becomes as a father?

PROVIDE, PROTECT AND ESTABLISH We had certain slogans in seminary, things that were repeated over and over. We lived by these maxims.

We couldn’t forget them because they became a part of us. One of the most significant was how we understood what fathers do: a father provides, protects and establishes.

A father has to provide for his family. His family depends on it.

Naturally speaking, he’s got to get up in the morning, whether he feels like it or not, and go to work. Most dads do that faithfully. But what about providing for the supernatural well-being of their children? Do fathers typically play a central role in educating their children about God? Eternity? What is truly important?

The values, traditions and identity we have as Catholics, they have to receive from you. Children need their fathers to teach them and to show them how to live. Bearing in mind that children will pay far closer attention to what you do over what you say, how important is it to be a man of virtue, faithfulness

and character? A man worthy of imitation? What you say or do plays a critical role in whether your child learns to live a life likely to lead to heaven or hell. A family depends on the father and the dad has to step up and provide.

A father doesn’t just provide for his children, he has to protect them from anything that would harm them. The list of what threatens our children ranges from swimming pools to sexual predators, and dads have to be on their guard. One of the most subtle threats any parent who is a believer should be aware of is our contemporary culture. Our culture has its own set of values and priorities and beliefs, and while there are some things which are good or benign, increasingly our culture subverts what’s good, normal and true and celebrates what is bad or harmful. Fathers need to protect their children from anything that would corrupt them. That means shielding them from the ways society would shape them when they’re younger and only as they grow up, slowly exposing them to

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SPRING

those things that are harmful and teaching them how to interpret them. Getting specific, protecting them from culture’s anti-human values, priorities and beliefs will mean seriously limiting if not eliminating their screen-time (smart phones, tablets, television). I know that’s very difficult because they love it, their friends don’t have such a mean dad as you are. But you’ve got to be the dad here. Say “no” firmly and mean it. Pay attention to all those relationships and environments in which your children are formed and can be malformed. Involve yourself in their lives, in their choice of friends (particularly when they’re younger) and in what they’re being exposed to in schools (this will increasingly be critical).

Lastly, a father establishes his children. What dad doesn’t want

to set his children up so they have every chance to succeed?

Men work really hard to have the house, the bit of land, the business or whatever to give their children and put them on a solid footing.

But we’re men of faith. We know that it’s more than just in money or property a father establishes his family. A Catholic father wants to establish his children in a solid, life-long relationship with God. A relationship that will be at the centre of their lives and which is strong enough to withstand all the different things that can kill faith. A relationship which will carry them all the way through to heaven. Also, a Catholic father wants to establish his children in character and virtue.

He wants them to pursue every kind of excellence and reach their potential. He wants them to have

a sense of their own self-worth and carry themselves accordingly. How a man carries himself, how he treats his wife and his children and his ability to teach are all critical to how successfully he’ll establish his kids.

CONCLUSION A man cannot do this alone.

We can’t here treat the essential part mothers have to play in the transmission or shaping of life or women’s own modern crisis of identity. But it is important to underline this fact: although their roles are overlapping, both men and women bring something distinctive to the table which complement each other. Men, society truly needs what you have to give. You are essential. You were made to be fathers.

Ennismore Retreat Centre ST DOMINIC’S

Saturday 2nd March

Saturday 4th May

10am-1pm Lectio Divina : a method of reflecting on the Scripture in our lives.

Fr Brendan Clifford,O.P. Cost €10/ Donation

10:30am-4:30pm Seeing God through Photography.

Lent in Ennismore 2019

Mike Foulds Cost €60 Sunday 12th May

8th -10th of March Lenten Retreat Bishop Brendan Comiskey Cost €175 Residential €100 Non- Residential

2:30pm-5:30pm Mary – and her other Madonnas.

Reflection on Mary and her special place in our tradition.

Fr. Joe Kavanagh Cost €60

Easter Triduum 2019

Friday 24th –Sunday 26th May

18th – 21st April Come and join the Ennismore team for these most holy days.

Ennismore Team.

Cost Res €175 Non Res €100

Ennismore Retreat Centre is set in 30 acres of wood, field and garden overlooking Lough Mahon on the River Lee. It’s the ideal place for some time-out, reflection and prayer.

How to find us: Crossing the Threshold Home ….

A Celtic journey of the heart, through music, ritual, and prayer.

Deirdre Ni Chinneide.

Cost Res €175 Non Res €100

For ongoing programmes please contact the Secretary or visit our website at www.ennismore.ie Tel: 021-4502520 Fax: 021-4502712 E-mail: info@ennismore.ie

Increasingly our culture subverts what’s good, normal and true and celebrates what is bad or harmful

A native of Minnesota, Fr Shane Sullivan was ordained for the Archdiocese of Tuam in 2012. He is currently ministering in Castlelbar, County Mayo.

TR Ó CA I R E

D E V E LO P M E N T IN ACTION

FEAR

IS LOSING YOUR LAND, YOUR HOME, YOUR FAMILY THE TRÓCAIRE LENTEN CAMPAIGN FOR 2019 HIGHLIGHTS HOW LAND IS STOLEN FROM THE WORLD’S POOREST PEOPLE 41

BY DAVID O’HARE

The

Lenten campaign is Trócaire’s biggest annual fundraising and awareness-raising campaign. This year it highlights the different ways land is stolen from vulnerable people. It could be by corporate land grabs, by war, or simply because the tenant is a woman. The Lenten campaign 2019 asks people in Ireland to show their love by supporting people in the world’s poorest countries who are often defenceless against these attacks.

The campaign will use the stories of three families, each of which shows a different way people face losing their land and the effect that has on their lives. Each family is

Activists who campaign to get legal title to land for these communities are often intimidated or murdered

Maria (9) in Parana, Guatemala

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Their families have had their land, and their homes, taken…

Please help this Lent Donate now at trocaire.org or call 1850 408 408

TRÓCAIRE IS THE OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN IRELAND ROI Charity Reg No: 20009601 | Revenue Number: CHY 5883 | NI Charity Reg No: NIC103321 | For more information visit www.trocaire.org

TR Ó CA I R E

a different face to the same injustice. These stories highlight the fear they face of violence, hunger and never seeing their home again.

Three little girls feature on this year’s Trócaire Box – one from each of the families facing this terrible situation. One of them is Maria who is nine years old and lives in Guatemala.

Indigenous communities in Guatemala, and indeed throughout Central America, have very little legal access to land. They live on land their families have cared for for generations, but large landowners often confiscate the land for their own use. The communities are subjected to violent evictions, and are forced to live in poor quality temporary shelters, where they are constantly at risk of attack. Activists who campaign to get legal title to land for these communities are often intimidated or murdered.

The community of Parana, of which Maria and her family are a part, is one of the communities that live in constant fear of violent eviction. The community members see these lands as their ancestral home.

In 2011 hundreds of troops and riot police violently evicted the community of 91 families along with other communities nearby. This

was at the behest of a wealthy plantation owner. Several community members were injured, and a man in a nearby community was killed. Their houses were burned together with all their possessions.

Maria’s mother, Adela, recalls the awful events of that day. “It is terrible what we went through. Some of our children were just babies,” she said. “I thank God none of my family were injured but we were very scared and traumatised. We just want to live in peace.”

After the eviction some of the families left the area but 22 families had nowhere else to go and after camping at the side of the road for several weeks with no government assistance they returned to Parana to try to rebuild. They were attacked again in the middle of the night by state police and private contractors. Two people were injured, an old man and a young girl who were shot. They have faced constant threats and intimidation since then.

Maria’s father José says that the attacks have had a massive effect on the family. “Before the eviction we were happy. We had no idea it could happen. I am always nervous now.

There were many police, army and security

contractors at the eviction. I begged them not to burn my house and crops, but they went ahead. I feared they could kill us so we ran away.”

Maria’s family worry constantly about soldiers arriving with bulldozers and destroying their home again. The parents are always thinking of the safety of their children and their ability to provide a home and food for them.

Donations to Trócaire’s Lenten campaign will help to keep families like Maria’s safe by providing shelter and aid, as well as protecting them from eviction by securing their legal right to their land.

This support is crucial if families right across the developing world are going to be able to provide a future for their children. Knowing that they are supported means everything to Maria’s community. Adela said, “We thank Trócaire and the people of Ireland for their help and hope we can get a resolution to our land issue. This support has given us hope and shown us that there are good people in the world.”

For more information on Trócaire’s Lent campaign visit www.trocaire.org/lent

Maria and her family at their home in Guatemala. Photos: Manuel Morillo

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CO M M E N T REALITY CHECK PETER McVERRY SJ

MORTGAGE ARREARS – THE NEXT CRISIS

THE MORTGAGE ARREARS CRISIS AFFECTS MIDDLE-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS. SOON IT MAY AFFECT EVERY PARISH IN IRELAND. UNLESS IT IS ADDRESSED SATISFACTORILY, IT COULD LEAD TO MASS PUBLIC PROTESTS, SIMILAR TO THE WATER CHARGES PROTESTS.

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We have a homeless crisis which exceeds anything we have ever experienced before – except perhaps during the famine. But there is another crisis coming down the tracks like a runaway train, which could turn the homeless crisis into a catastrophe, namely the mortgage arrears crisis.

At the end of September, there were 27,998 home owners, and a further 12,424 buy-to-let mortgages, in arrears of more than two years.

Most of these are incapable of being restructured to the satisfaction of the lenders and will, very likely, be repossessed, or sold to vulture funds and subsequently repossessed.

Many others, whose mortgages are in arrears of less than two years, are also in danger of seeing their home repossessed. Based on a minimum of four people per mortgage, an estimated 250,000 people’s lives are being affected by the fear of repossession.

A survey by Community Action Network found that over 50 per cent of those in mortgage arrears had lived in their homes for over ten years, while almost 36 per cent had lived in their homes for over 20 years. Many had taken out a joint mortgage with a partner or spouse but are now separated and face the almost impossible task of repaying the mortgage on their own. More than 66 per cent of households, most with children, said that if their home is repossessed they will be unable to afford to rent in the private sector and will become homeless.

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They talk about the shame that they feel, which often prevents them from seeking help. They are often too ashamed to even tell their family or friends of the predicament they are in. This is compounded by the fact that repossession cases are heard in a court which is usually associated with crime.

They also talk about the frustration, anger, powerlessness and sense of injustice which they feel in the face of such a major event in their lives.

Over 80 per cent did not retain a solicitor to represent them in court, mainly because they could not afford it, while the lender is represented by the best solicitors money can buy. Those who applied for free legal aid were refused, only being offered free legal advice. Almost all of them talk about the intolerance shown in Irish courts to those who are unrepresented. They found the experience intimidating, difficult to understand, condescending and daunting.

While government officials and politicians refer to the statutory systems in place to support people in mortgage distress, in reality these systems are often not being used, are not trusted, and, for the most part, do not deliver the supports needed for those who do engage with them.

Losing your home is a devastating, traumatic experience for people, particularly families. Becoming homeless as a result compounds the trauma, from which some people, particularly children, may never recover. There is a stigma attached to being homeless, as it has traditionally been associated with addiction or mental health problems. Unfortunately, that stigma attaches to everyone who becomes homeless, even those who lose their home through no fault of their own. Parents talk about feeling ashamed at having to admit they are homeless and are made to feel they are bad parents.

There is a solution. The Mortgage to Rent (MTR) scheme lets homeowners in mortgage difficulty switch from owning their home to renting their home as a social housing tenant, therefore remaining in their family home. The rent is paid to an Approved Housing Body who purchases the home.

However, the MTR scheme is very restricted. The value of your home and your income must be below a certain limit, which varies depending on where you live. And the lender has a veto! This excludes the majority of those in mortgage arrears. In 2017, only 86 mortgages were restructured using the MTR. Legislation, extending the MTR scheme to almost all mortgages in unrepayable arrears, and making it obligatory on the lenders, should be introduced.

The mortgage arrears crisis affects predominantly middleincome households who tend to vote, and will affect every parish in Ireland. Many people will see family members, friends or neighbours evicted. If not addressed satisfactorily by the political system, it has the potential to lead to mass public protests, similar to the water charges protests.

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

GOD’S WORD THIS MONTH SOUND TREES AND SOUND HEARTS Today’s Gospel contains a series of very brief sayings of Jesus. They are 8TH SUNDAY IN like one-line proverbs.

ORDINARY TIME Depending on how we count them, there are six or seven of them which, for the purpose of our reflection, can be divided into two sets.

The first set of sayings is about right seeing.

It begins with a short parable of one blind person leading another. Unable to see a deep pit in their path, both of them will fall into it. In the same way, a student who forsakes his teacher in the mistaken belief that he has learned enough, is destined to make mistakes that a little more humility and time devoted to learning would have prevented him from making. The third parable is about

someone who notices that his companion has a splinter in his eye but fails to recognise that there is a whole plank in his own.

The theme of the second set of sayings is the need for wholeness if we are to produce good fruit. Only a fool would go looking for figs on a thorn bush or grapes on thistles. All of this is leading up to the central point of Jesus’ teaching – the need for a good heart.

In the Bible, the heart is not just an organ for pumping blood. It is the source of wisdom and of right intentions. If the heart is sound, then its soundness will show itself in good deeds. The opposite is equally true however: if the heart is evil, then it will exercise an evil influence on the rest of a person’s life.

TEMPTED IN EVERY WAY MARCH The Gospel of the First Sunday of Lent is always one of the synoptic accounts of Jesus’ temptation. This year FIRST SUNDAY it is the turn of St Luke. The OF LENT first thing to notice about this Gospel is the role of the Spirit. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit at the time of his baptism. The same Spirit leads him into the wilderness. ‘Wilderness’ or desert is still part of the landscape of the Holy Land. From the summit of the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem you can see the desert.

Not the golden sand-dunes of the Sahara but a rocky, dry place, where little grows beyond a few thorny shrubs. The desert has few inhabitants, apart from shepherds looking for a spot of grazing for their flocks.

The landscape is etched with dry streambeds that in wintertime run with water from the flash-floods, where a little grass springs up for a few days.

The people of Israel feared the desert as an inhospitable place, yet part of their great national epic told how for 40 years they had

survived in the desert before they came to rest in the Holy Land. The desert was where they spent their ‘honeymoon with God’, learning how to become God’s chosen people. Luke emphasises that Jesus was in the desert for 40 days: this recalls Israel’s 40 years in the desert and Elijah’s 40 days' journey to the Holy Mountain of Horeb (1 Kings 19).

Mark said little about the actual temptation of Jesus. Luke and Matthew give us a dramatic account of three specific temptations. Each of them more or less follows the same pattern: the devil tempts Jesus by one particular challenge but Jesus rejects the temptation with a word from scripture. By the third temptation, the devil has got in on the act and is using scripture as part of the temptation.

The temptation to turn the stones of the desert into bread is a temptation to use power to further one’s own ends. The second temptation apparently takes place on a high mountain. There are many of those in the wilderness of Judaea, and from such a height, it is easy to imagine the world spread out before you. According to the devil, it will

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Today’s Readings Sir 27:5-8; Ps 92; 1 Cor 15:54-58; Luke 6:39-45

belong to Jesus if only he will worship him.

For the third temptation, we move from the silence of the desert to the Temple with its crowds milling around. This is a temptation to use a display of power to win popularity.

These are three typical temptations: they may not summarise everything the Gospel means to say when it speaks of Jesus being tempted. The early Christian writer of the Letter to the Hebrews says that "Jesus was tempted in every way that we are but did not sin" (Hebrews 4:15). Nor should we see the temptations as simply confined to those 40 days. For Luke, the final great battle is still to come. The devil departs from Jesus "until an opportune time". That will be during the last days of his life when darkness and abandonment close around him.

Today’s Readings Deut 26:4-10; PS 90; Rom 10:8-13 Luke 4:1-13

God’s Word continues on page 46

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GOD’S WORD THIS MONTH CHANGED UTTERLY On the Second Sunday of Lent, we read one of the accounts of SECOND SUNDAY the Transfiguration.

‘Transfiguration’ means OF LENT (In Ireland, the Mass of St Patrick a change in appearance. may be celebrated today) This story tells how Jesus was ‘transfigured’ in the presence of three of his disciples.

Peter, James and John are the three leading members of the group of the twelve. Jesus takes them with him to a mountain to pray.

We are not told where that mountain was, but Mount Tabor is usually associated with this event. Luke emphasises throughout his Gospel the importance of Jesus’ prayer, so it is that during his prayer he begins to look different – the look on his face changes and it is as though his garments begin to glow with light. Luke may be drawing here on the story

of Moses who had been so transformed by his encounter with God on Sinai that his face was permanently altered and it reflected the glory of God (Exodus 34:29-35).

They are joined by Moses and Elijah – representing the Law and the Prophets. Like Moses, Elijah also had a moment of vision on the Holy Mountain of Horeb (1Kings 19).

They talk to Jesus about his ‘passing’: the Greek word is exodos which means ‘going out’ or ‘crossing over’ and was applied to the departure of the Israelites from Egypt.

At Easter, we celebrate the death of Jesus not just as a departure, but as a crossing over (exodos) into the glory of God and the ‘crossing over’ of the baptised through the waters of baptism to new life through Christ.

Overcome with sleep, the disciples struggle to keep awake: they will also struggle to keep awake during Jesus’ prayer in the garden.

As the visitors depart, Peter babbles rather

incoherently (as Luke adds, "he did not know what he was saying") and suggests building three tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.

At that moment, something even more wonderful happens. A cloud passes over the mountain, and a voice from within the cloud says words similar to those that were spoken at Jesus’ baptismal vision: "This is my Son, the Chosen One, listen to him." The story of the Transfiguration ends with the return of silence. The view from the mountaintop looks the same, Jesus is the same as they knew him, the heavenly visitors have departed. That silence will accompany the disciples until after the resurrection when they see the Risen Lord, as the victorious, but crucified, Chosen One of God.

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE The first part of today’s Gospel is a conversation between Jesus and some THIRD SUNDAY people who have just OF LENT learned that some Jews were brutally killed by order of Pilate. Pilate was a brutal and jumpy administrator. Fearing that a Jewish festival might provide the occasion for an uprising, he had given orders to kill the pilgrims as they were offering sacrifice.

News like this always generates a debate: do tragic accidents prove that the victims were bad? Jesus strenuously rejects this view. The Galilean worshippers were no more sinful than any other Galileans, any more than those who perished in a recent building accident were more guilty of sin than the rest of the Jerusalem.

Jesus’s saying, "unless you repent, you shall all perish as they did" provides an entry into the second part of today’s Gospel. The fig tree of the parable is a symbol for the human

response to God’s invitation to grow and be fruitful. The vine and the fig were the most common fruits in the Holy Land. New fig trees normally produce a poor crop of small fruits their second year, then a better crop in the third. The owner is getting frustrated waiting for this tree to produce fruit. The gardener, more aware of the tree’s life-cycle than the owner, advises allowing the tree to mature for another year. In the meantime, he will try to hurry it along, loosening the hard dry soil to allow the manure and rain, and especially the dew on which growth in Palestine was so dependent, to seep through to the roots. The gardener knows there are limits to what he can do. If the fig tree does not respond to the care lavished on it, there will be no alternative but to replace it with another plant.

This is a sober parable for Lent. It invites us, not to learn techniques for the cultivation of fig trees, but to attend to the cultivation of the soul. A Jewish teacher called Rabbi Eliezer, who lived close to the time of Jesus, recommended his followers ‘to repent the day before they

died’: since no-one could be sure of when they would die, then they would have to live in a state of continuous repentance!

MARCH

17

46

MARCH

24

REALITY MARCH 2019

Today’s Readings Gen 15:5-18; PS 26 Phil 3:17–4:1 Luke 9:28-36

Today’s Readings Exod 3:1-8a, 13-15; PS 102; 1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9

THE REALITY CROSSWORD NUMBER � MARCH ����

A FATHER AND SONS The story of the Prodigal Son is probably the best known parable from the Gospel of Luke. It is the third of a series of three parables about things lost and found – a lost sheep, a lost coin and finally, a lost child. These parables FOURTH SUNDAY were told because the professionally religious people, the OF LENT scribes and the Pharisees, were aghast that Jesus, who (Laetare Sunday) claimed to be speaking in God’s name, was welcoming all sorts of people without demanding that they first perform the religious rites needed to bring them back into good standing in the community.

In Galilee, there were few opportunities for a young man who was not going to inherit the major share of the family land. Rather than wait around for the father to die, and then get a very small parcel of land divided among all the sons, a bright young man might seek fame and fortune elsewhere. A well-intentioned father might be happy to make an arrangement to allow the boy to make a start. Luke’s picture of the youngest son is true to life. A wallet full of money in the big city can mean the end of carefully laid plans and resolutions. Then another calamity, famine, strikes when the wallet is empty. Luke shows his skill as a storyteller by not just telling us what happens, but allowing us to enter the inner world of the characters by hearing them speak their deepest thoughts. The younger son sitting in the pigsty (no place for a well brought-up Jewish boy!) rehearses his home-coming speech – "I have sinned … I do not deserve to be called your son…just give me a job as one of the hired hands."

The scene now shifts. The journey home is nearly over, but we see the arrival from the point of view of the father. He runs to welcome him and calls for all the signs of sonship to be lavished on him – good clothes, gold signet ring, fine shoes and orders a feast to be prepared, for this boy who has been restored to life.

Some people stop reading here. True, it has made its principal point: no matter how far we wander, God is still a loving father. Jesus continued the story because he wanted to make an even more telling point. A new character enters the scene, the elder brother. This is the first time he speaks, and boy, does he deliver a tirade of angry complaints. He rakes over his brother’s faults (and adds a few more for good measure). Then he turns on his father – years of slaving, and for what? Never as much as a young goat to celebrate with the lads! The father listens quietly, but just as determinedly, shows he is not for budging on the way he has treated the prodigal. The elder brother has a choice – to come into the party, or sulk in the barn – and good storyteller that he is, Luke leaves us to work that one out!

We are faced with the same choice in Lent, to recognise that the heart of discipleship with Christ is compassion and mercy. Have we been so taken up by rigid obedience that we have missed the joy, the risk and the sense of adventure that genuine faith brings with it?

MARCH

31

Today’s Readings

SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD No. 10 ACROSS: Across: 1. Grotto, 5. Esther, 10. Crozier, 11. Iberian, 12. Ruth, 13. Groom, 15. Arch, 17. Yen, 19. Sirius, 21. Weimar, 22. Rubicon, 23. Aplomb, 25. Kindle, 28. Auk, 30. Gods, 31. Jesus, 32. Magi, 35. Luddite, 36. Arizona, 37. Hyphen, 38. Thrust.

DOWN: 2. Rooster, 3. Trim, 4. Orrery, 5. Edison, 6. Twee, 7. Epigram, 8. Icarus, 9. Anchor, 14.

Oedipus, 16. Burma, 18. Genie, 20. Sub, 21. Wok, 23. Angels, 24. Lady Day, 26. Deacons, 27. Elijah, 28. Aegean, 29. Kuwait, 33. Wish, 34. Bier.

Winner of Crossword No. 10 Patricia Fitzgerald, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary.

ACROSS 1. Natural or artificial cave, sometimes used for religious purposes. (6) 5. Set her in the Old Testament. (6) 10. Hooked staff carried by a bishop. (7) 11. Relating to Spain and Portugal. (7) 12. The great-grandmother of David, Israel's greatest king. (4) 13. Brush and clean the husband to be. (5) 15. The inner side of the foot. (4) 17. A desire for Japanese money. (3) 19. The Dog Star. (6) 21. Failed German republic of the 1920s. (6) 22. River crossed by Julius Caesar in 49BC. (7) 23. Complete composure, especially when in a demanding situation. (6) 25. Book tablet. (6) 28. Bird which "flies" in the water as well as in the air. (3) 30. They are all false, except the true one. (4) 31. He died for our sins. (5) 32. They visited 31A shortly after his birth. (4) 35. A person opposed to new technology. (7) 36. State of the Grand Canyon. (7) 37. It joins words for a combined meaning. (6) 38. The propulsive force of a jet engine. (6)

DOWN 2. An adult male chicken. (7) 3. Cut something to neaten it. (4) 4. A mechanical model of the solar system. (6) 5. Inventor of the light bulb. (6) 6. A little too cute or overly adorable! (4) 7. A witty or ingenious saying. (7) 8. He flew too close to the sun. (6) 9. Ship stopper. (6) 14. Tragic complex king of Greek mythology. (7) 16. It is also known as Myanmar. (5) 18. A spirit in a bottle. (5) 20. A short underwater vessel. (3) 21. Bowl-shaped frying pan used in Chinese cooking. (3) 23. Attendants and messengers of God. (6) 24. Traditional name in Ireland for the Feast of the Assumption. (4,3) 26. Ordained Catholic who cannot perform any of the sacraments. (7) 27. Prophet and miracle worker in the Book of Kings. (6) 28. The sea between Greece and Turkey. (6) 29. This country has the highest valued currency in the world. (6) 33. A desire or hope for something to happen.

(4) 34. A stand on which a coffin is placed. (4)

Entry Form for Crossword No.2, March 2019 Name: Address: Telephone:

Josh 5:9-12; PS 33; 2 Cor 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 All entries must reach us by March 31, 2019 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.2, Redemptorist Communications, St Joseph's Monastery, Dundalk, County Louth A91 F3FC