Reality April 2016

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APRIL 2016

THE EASTER RISING

THE CHURCH STREET CAPUCHINS AND THEIR UNIQUE ROLE IN THE RISING

THOMAS MacDONAGH HIS FAITH AND HIS DOUBT

A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS

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IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE FEATURES 12 THE CHURCH STREET CAPUCHINS AND THE EASTER RISING A Community of Friars played a unique role during the Easter Rising

By Brian Kirby

16 FAITH AND DOUBT IN THE LIFE OF THOMAS MACDONAGH The intense devotional fervour of Thomas Mac Donagh’s early life was replaced by doubt and darkness to which he gave expression in his poetry

By Salvador Ryan

20 A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS Catholic Bishops group visits the local Churches in the Holy Land

By Bishop John McAreavey

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26 TO PAY THE TAX TO CAESAR OR NOT? Straightforward question raises serious political issues in a colonial society

By Mike Daley

28 FR NICHOLAS CALLAN: PATHFINDER FOR ELECTRICITY A professor at Maynooth was a pioneer in the discovery of electricity

By Susan Gately

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32 THE PILGRIM ICON Our Lady’s Icon visits all the Irish Cathedrals

By Fr Seamus Enright CSsR

36 THANK GOD FOR SMALL MERCIES The promise of the Holy Year of Mercy seen from a busy children’s hospital

By Liz Larkin

40 THE BOY ON THE TRÓCAIRE BOX A visitor to Uganda never expected to meet the boy who figured on the collection box

By Colm Hogan

OPINION

REGULARS

11 BRENDAN McCONVERY CSsR

04 REALITY BITES

19 DAVID O'DONOGHUE

07 POPE MONITOR

31 CARMEL WYNNE

08 FEAST OF THE MONTH

43 PETER McVERRY SJ

09 REFLECTIONS 44 UNDER THE MICROSCOPE 45 GOD’S WORD

REALITY BITES THE MERCY BUS ENGLAND

4

DEATH OF THEOLOGIAN OF LIBERATION NICARAGUA

ON THE BUSES

The diocese of Salford in England has come up with a novel way of spreading the news of the Holy Year of Mercy: it has put on the road a double-decker bus called “The Mercy Bus.” Bishop John Arnold of Salford says: “The Mercy Bus is a way of reaching out to people who might not otherwise have contact with the Church.

We are going to them, rather than expecting them to come to us.”

The diocese of Salford includes Greater Manchester and much of Lancashire. The bus was formally blessed at the end of January. It is proposed that it will go out on the streets of the urban areas, as well as to shopping centres, schools and prisons from 11 am to 4 pm every Saturday until Easter.

A number of priests will accompany the bus each time it

goes out. They will be available for confession, a blessing or just a chat. Volunteer musicians will provide live music near the bus, while other volunteers distribute leaflets to passers-by, inviting them on board or simply offer them a medal and a prayer card.

Fr Frankie Mulgrew, one of the priests coordinating the project, explained that the bus will target urban areas especially, like Manchester, Salford, Burnley and Blackburn, “following the example of Jesus who spoke in synagogues and also brought the gospel on the streets, on hilltops, at dinner in people’s homes.” Fr Mulgrew is the son of Tyroneborn comedian, Jimmy Cricket, and he spent some years in the entertainment business himself before entering the seminary.

SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE

Fr Fernando Cardenal, a well-known proponent of the ‘theology of liberation’ who accepted a role in the Sandinista socialist government of Nicaragua, has died at the age of 82. Fr Cardenal was suspended from the priesthood after refusing to stand down from his post as education minister.

A Jesuit, he was one of many priests in the country who supported the rebellion against the government of Anastasio Somoza in the 1970s.

When Somoza was overthrown in 1979, Fr Cardenal accepted a role in the government, which was opposed by the US-backed Contras. He led a successful literacy campaign. Five priests, including his brother, Ernesto and Fr Miguel d’Escoto also held government office. When St John Paul visited Nicaragua in 1983, he publicly rebuked Ernesto, telling him to regularise his position with the Church.

Fernando Cardenal was expelled from the Jesuits in 1984, but he defended the position he had taken up in an open letter: “I cannot conceive of a God that would ask me to abandon my commitment to the people.” He was remained in good standing as a priest and was readmitted Saint Pope John Paul II rebukes to the Society in 1996.

Ernesto Cardenal

DECLINE IN NUMBERS VISITING LOURDES

Fr Frankie Mulgrew at the wheel of the Mercy Bus

REALITY APRIL 2016

The number of pilgrims visiting Lourdes fell by 24 per cent between 2009 and 2014. Reasons given for the decline include rising costs, administrative problems and competition from other Marian shrines, especially Medjugorgje.

Fr Jacky-Marie Lhermitte, head of the French pilgrimage association, says that interest in the sanctuary continues to remain strong, but many pilgrims cannot come as frequently as in the past. French rail prices have risen sharply,

deterring individuals and groups from travelling to Lourdes, while bureaucracy has made it has made it more complicated to arrange for older people resident in nursing homes and hospitals to visit.

N E WS

RELIGION IN THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION USA

BELIEVING IN GOD MAY SWING THE VOTE

The religious background of the candidates in the US presidential election is a matter of interest to both prospective voters and the media commentators. The Washingon Post considers that Bernie Sanders “has the chance to make history: not just as the first Jewish president, but as one of the few modern presidents to present himself as not religious.”

Among Republicans, the religious habits of Marco Rubio have been attracting comment.

He has gone from childhood Catholicism to Mormonism, back to Catholicism, then to an evangelical mega-church, before returning finally to Catholicism. Donald Trump has been endorsed by the evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr., despite his rather hazy religious views and lack of familiarity with the Bible.

One group, CatholicVote, came out strongly against Trump: “Some candidates ought to be disqualified from receiving the support of a Catholic voter.” In a January survey of 2,009 adults, only 5 percent of those who identified

Bernie Sanders

Marco Rubio

themselves as Republican described Mr. Trump as “very religious,” while 39 percent considered him as “somewhat religious.” That total of 44 percent was much lower than the 70 percent who said the same of Mr. Rubio or the 76 percent who said it of Ted Cruz.

Forty-eight percent of voters (and 65 percent of Democrats) consider Hillary Clinton to be “very” or “somewhat” religious but the proportion of Americans considering her as ‘not too’ or ‘not at all’ religious rose

CONTRASTS IN THE CHURCH IN VIETNAM VIETNAM

A GROWING CHURCH

A recent gathering of Vietnamese bishops in Ho Chi Minh City

Last January, Vietnam’s Catholic Bishops announced that classes will commence at a long planned theological institute in Ho Chi Minh City in September next. The first intake will see 100 students beginning studies

in philosophy and theology. The bishops hope, however, that over the years, student numbers will rise to 1,000 and that degrees up to doctorate level will be awarded in additional disciplines, such as psychology, the

Donald Trump

Hillary Clinton

sharply since 2007. In the run-up for the 2008 Democratic nomination, 24% said Mrs Clinton was ‘not too’ or ‘not at all’ religious; today, 43% say she is not religious.”

According to the survey, 51% of all voters would be “less likely” to vote for a candidate who “does not believe in God,” down from 63 percent in 2007. Sixteen percent said they would be more likely to vote for a Catholic candidate; 8 percent would be less likely, and 75 percent said it “wouldn’t matter.” sciences, and canon law. The Catholic Church was forced to withdraw from education when the Communists took over the south at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

Although this is a sign of how far Church and State tensions have eased, there are still causes for concern. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich, chair of the German Bishops’ Conference and member of the Vatican Secretariate for the Economy, led a delegation to Vietnam in January at the invitation of the local Bishops’ Conference. The delegation was refused access to the diocese of Vinh. Under the current regulations governing religion, the government is required to state why permission is refused for religious activities: no explanation has been given in this case.

Vinh has been described as one of the most troubled regions of Vietnam for faith communities continued on page 6

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REALITY BITES

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THE WRITER AND THE CARDINAL

ARE CHRISTIAN REFUGEES BEING VICTIMISED?

The Italian writer, Umberto Eco, who died in February last, was best known in the English-speaking world for two novels, The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum.

Eco drew on a rich background of Catholic cultural information in his novels, the product of a Salesian secondary education and studies in philosophy at the University of Turin where he wrote his thesis on the philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas. He had ceased to believe during his student days, but continued to probe into the nature of reality. He and Cardinal Carlo Martini of Milan, himself a distinguished biblical scholar, became friendly, and in 2000, they

The Archbishop of Cologne has warned that Christian refugees are being threatened by other asylum seekers in refugee camps.

Speaking at an ecumenical service in Dusseldorf, Cardinal Rainer Woelki said: “Concern is growing that politicians and the authorities might not be taking such threats seriously enough. Christian persecution is not a topic of bygone ages,” Gottfried Martens, a Protestant pastor reported that the “mobbing” of Christian refugees in refugee camps in Germany was increasing. He said it was no longer rare for entire Muslim communities in refugee shelters

published a short book consisting of eight letters on topics as diverse as the meaning of the Book of Revelation, abortion, the ordination of women and other questions touching on moral and ethical life. They remained aware of the gulf between belief and non belief that separated them, but were able to respect the other’s viewpoint. Published as Belief or Nonbelief? A Confrontation, it was a model of how the Church can engage in respectful dialogue with people who do not believe but who are none the less concerned with deep questions of human existence and the future of our common earthly homeland.

to threaten Christians. He claimed that Christians had been forced to watch videos of beheadings, were barred from using the kitchen because they were “unclean” and had been beaten up and had their crosses removed from their necks.

He proposed that both groups be segregated in the migrant camps. “In our efforts to be tolerant, which are in themselves praiseworthy, we cannot just let Christians become some kind of guinea pigs. Whenever I talk to politicians, I’m told that the churches do not think that separate housing is necessary and I’m left looking stupid."

INCREASE IN ANTI-CHRISTIAN VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN NIGERIA THE CHURCH’S PRESENCE IN SYRIA Figures released by a Christian Even in the midst of constant bombing, Jesuit and Salesian priests remain in war-torn Aleppo, Syria, trying to create a sense of normality for those unable to leave. Father Sami Hallak SJ wrote that Islamic State militants "cut the water for reasons still unknown." Unless it is designated for drinking, he said, water is reused two or three times.

In five years of fighting, more than 250,000 people have been killed, 4.6 million forced to leave the country and 6.6 million are internally displaced.

Father Luciano Buratti, a Salesian, says: "Our community has chosen to continue its activities as if nothing has happened. We try to offer families a place where they can breathe stability and harmony even in the midst of chaos."

REALITY APRIL 2016

charity show a 62% increase in violent killings of Christians in northern Nigeria during the past year. According to the report released by Open Doors and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), entitled Crushed but not Defeated shows that in 2015 there were 4,028 killings and 198 attacks on churches.

Figures recorded for the previous year were 2,484 killings and 108 church attacks.

The rep or t fo cus es on persecution of Christians by three main groups: Boko Haram, Muslim Fulani herdsmen and the Muslim religious and political elite that dominate the government in northern Nigeria. Thirty million Christians form the largest minority in the

The result of religious violence, Jos, Nigeria

mainly Muslim Northern Nigeria.

According to Lisa Pearce, chief executive of Open Doors UK and Ireland, “even though Nigeria is officially a secular federal state with a constitution that guarantees freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the reality in northern Nigeria is radically different. For decades, Christians in the region have suffered marginalisation and

discrimination as well as targeted violence.” In several areas of Northern Nigeria Christianity has been virtually wiped out, she said.

The general secretary of CAN, Rev Musa Asake, said the publication of the report was an “an opportunity to let the entire world know what Christians in Nigeria have been going through.”

N E WS

POPE MONITOR KEEPING UP WITH POPE FRANCIS POPE AND PATRIARCH MEET

TRUMPING THE PAPAL CARD?

During a break on the flight to begin his visit to Mexico, Pope Francis met Patriarch Kirill of Moscow on 12 February last. As Patriarchates go, Moscow is very much the new comer and it has a chequered history. It was established in 1589, abolished in 1721 and restored during the Communist Revolution in 1917. It claims, however, the direct allegiance of the largest number of Orthodox faithful, estimated at 150 million. The Patriarch of Constantinople is the senior patriarch of the Orthodox Church and enjoys a primacy of honour.

But Moscow vies with him for influence. Since the first meeting of Pope Paul and Patriarch Athenagoras in Jerusalem in 1964, Popes and Patriarchs have met frequently and joined in acts of common worship.

During the Cold War, relations between Moscow and Rome were at best cool, sometimes even hostile. Moscow claims jurisdiction over the Ukraine, and has attempted to annex forcibly the Greek Catholic Church, which is in union with Rome and is strong in Western Ukraine. Relations have thawed since the fall of Communism, but it has taken more than two decades of delicate negotiations to bring Pope and Patriarch together. Ostensibly, the Patriarch was visiting Russian Orthodox communities in Cuba, and this offered an ideal venue for the meeting which was hosted by Raul Castro. Cuba was long seen as being within the Soviet sphere of influence but the papal visit to the island last September was the outcome of rapidly improving relations.

Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill signed a joint declaration that emphasized the things the two churches have in common. Both expressed special concern for the state of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa, where, they said, "whole families, villages and cities of our brothers and sisters in Christ are being completely exterminated." They called on the international community "to act urgently in order to prevent the further expulsion" of Christians, to end violence and terrorism and to ensure that large amounts of humanitarian aid reach the victims of violence. “In raising our voice in defence of persecuted Christians, we wish to express our compassion for the suffering experienced by the faithful of other religious traditions who have also become victims of civil war, chaos and terrorist violence. Attempts to justify criminal acts with religious slogans are altogether unacceptable,” they said.

The two leaders exchanged gifts. The Patriarch gave the Pope Francis a small copy of an icon of Our Lady of Kazan. The oldest known copy of this icon had once hung in St. John Paul II's study, as he hoped to return it to Russia personally.

Realising he would be unable to do so because of his failing health, he asked Cardinal Walter Kasper to bring it back as a gesture of goodwill in 2004.

Just as Pope Paul VI gave Patriarch Athenagoras a chalice on their first meeting, Pope Francis gave Patriarch Kirill a chalice, a sign of hope for full communion between the two churches and a reminder of Roman Catholic Church recognition the validity of the Orthodox sacraments a relic of St. Cyril, his patron saint.

As the plane carrying him back to Rome from Mexico on 17 February, was flying over Texas, Pope Francis held his usual press conference for the journalists travelling with him.

One journalist asked him for his reaction to U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's proposal that the United States extend the fence along the full length of the border, and his comments to Fox Business Network that Pope Francis is a politician and is being used by Mexicans.

"Aristotle defined the human person as 'a political animal, ' so at least I'm a human person" in Trump's eyes, Pope Francis said. "As far as being 'a pawn,'" the pope continued, "that's up to you, and to the people, to decide." One thing Pope Francis said he did know was that "a person who thinks only of building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, isn't Christian."It was clear that this was a reference to Mr Trump, even if his name was not mentioned.

Pressed with a further question if a Catholic could vote for such a candidate with a clear conscience, the pope said: "I'm not going to get mixed up in that.

I'll just say, this man is not Christian if he says this" about building walls.

7

IN ZIKA OUTBREAK, CONTRACEPTIVES MAY BE 'LESSER EVIL' Another question was raised during the in-plane press conference was the Zika virus. Health experts across Central and South American have urged women to postpone pregnancy due to the birth defects it causes. Pope Francis was asked whether the use of contraceptives or abortion could be considered as "a lesser evil" when a prospective baby had a high risk of birth defects.

The pope was clear: "Abortion is not a lesser evil, it's a crime," he replied.

Taking an innocent human life, he insisted, was an absolute evil. “Don't confuse avoiding pregnancy with abortion."

The concept of a "lesser evil" may apply to artificial birth control, however, Pope Francis said, pointing to Blessed Paul VI's consent for women religious in the then-Belgian Congo to take the pill when rape was being used as a weapon of war in the early 1960s. Unlike abortion, he said, "avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil. In certain cases, as in this one and such as the one I mentioned of Blessed Paul VI, it was clear."

At the same time, Pope Francis pleaded with doctors and scientists "to do their utmost to find vaccines against these mosquitoes that carry this disease." Health officials have urged women to postpone their pregnancies for two years, because the Zika virus has been linked to microcephaly, a rare neurological condition that causes smaller heads in newborns, affecting the normal development of their brain.

FEAST OF THE MONTH ST CELSUS OF ARMAGH APRIL 1

ST

8

When he was aged twenty-six, the abbacy of Armagh and the title coarb of Patrick fell into the lap of Celsus (Cellach in Irish). Immense power and prestige attached to both offices. How that situation arose was due to his people, the Clan Sinaig, managing to keep the honours in the family for the previous century and a half. The arrangement was contrary to Canon Law, but not to Brehon Law, the ancient Irish law code, which had come to recognise the practice not only as legitimate but as a requirement for holding office.

With the gradual decline in monastic discipline during the Viking terror of the 9th and 10th centuries, a coarb, or successor to an abbacy, tended to be reserved to a member of the founder’s bloodline. If the incumbent of the abbacy was a layman, he usually employed one or more priests, and perhaps a bishop, to serve the needs of the faithful; revenues and executive powers, however, rested with himself. It was through this system in 1105 that Cellach, a layman, succeeded his granduncle Domnall as abbot of Armagh and coarb of Patrick.

At the time of Cellach’s accession, things were astir on the continent. There was a new energy abroad, a mood for reform in the air. Ireland had caught a whiff of it, and there was already a growing restiveness with the status quo. According to Brehon Law, Cellach was the legitimate choice of the establishment, the unreformed party. By a stroke of good fortune, he was also the choice of the emergent reform party.

Within weeks of taking office, instead of marrying and founding a family as his predecessors had done, Cellach opted for ordination to the priesthood. The following year, the bishop of Armagh died, while Cellach, coarb of Patrick, was on an official visitation of Munster. The coarb responded swiftly to the developing situation. While still in Munster, he received consecration as bishop: so for the first time in centuries the abbacy and diocese of Armagh were back in church hands.

Side by side with the routine tasks of visitations, negotiating peaceful settlements among warring factions or rival claimants, the new coarb applied himself to freeing the church from lay hereditary control; the establishment of a diocesan rather than a monastic based system of church governance; and the renewal of devotion and spirituality among the faithful. Such were the priorities of the Reform party.

The Synod of Cashel in 1101 was probably a direct response to a letter to the Irish church from Pope Gregory VII urging structural reform in church government. It was followed in 1111 by the Synod of Rath Breasail, presided over by Muirchertach O’Brien, king of Munster, Cellach, Abbot of Armagh and coarb of Patrick, and Gilbert, the Norse bishop of Limerick and papal nuncio.

Numbers attending are given as 50 bishops, 300 priests, and more than 3000 others, of whom 160 were deacons. The synod established a diocesans system throughout the island. Thus began a new era in which church organisation was brought into line with the practice in mainland Europe.

Cellach was instrumental in establishing a community of Canons Regular of St Augustine in Armagh under the learned and saintly Imar. In the generations following, houses of the Canons Regular spread rapidly throughout the land, frequently on the site of older monasteries that had seen better days.

In 1129 when on yet another visitation of Munster Cellach took ill. As he lay dying in the monastery on the Hill of Ardpatrick, Co. Limerick, he indicated that he wished to be succeeded by Malachy, a bishop in Co. Antrim who had long enjoyed Cellach’s respect; and to him he sent his staff as a symbol of office. This was in contravention of Brehon Law, but it was another blow for the independence of the church. He requested to be buried, not in Armagh, but in Lismore where the reform movement was making progress. His request was carried out with great solemnity but among the Brehon Law faction and in Armagh ‘the gloves were off’. But that’s another day’s telling.

John J. Ó Riordáin, CSsR REALITY APRIL 2016

Reality Volume 81. No. 3 April 2016 A Redemptorist Publication ISSN 0034-0960 Published by The Irish Redemptorists, Unit A6, Santry Business Park, Swords Road, Dublin 09 X651 Tel: 00353 (0)1 4922488 Web: www.redcoms.org Email: sales@redcoms.org (With permission of C.Ss.R.)

Chair, Redemptorist Communications Seamus Enright CSsR Editor Brendan McConvery CSsR bmcconvery@redcoms.org Design & Layout David Mc Namara CSsR dmcnamara@redcoms.org General Manager Paul Copeland pcopeland@redcoms.org Sales & Marketing Claire Carmichael ccarmichael@redcoms.org Administration & Accounts Michelle McKeon mmckeon@redcoms.org Printed by Nicholson & Bass, Belfast Photo Credits Catholic News Service, Shutterstock REALITY SUBSCRIPTIONS Through a promoter (Ireland only) €18 or £15 Annual Subscription by post: Ireland €22 or £18 UK £25 Europe €35 Rest of the world €45 Please send all payments to: Redemptorist Communications, Unit A6, Santry Business Park, Swords Road, Dublin D09 X651 ADVERTISING Whilst we take every care to ensure the accuracy and validity of adverts placed in Reality, the information contained in adverts does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Redemptorist Communications. You are therefore advised to verify the accuracy and validity of any information contained in adverts before entering into any commitment based upon them.

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REFLECTIONS I said to James Connolly, "Will you pray for the men who are about to shoot you?" and he said: "I will say a prayer for all brave men who do their duty."

His prayer was "Forgive them for they know not what they do," and then they shot him.

FATHER ALOYSIUS OFM CAP

Mother of God have pity on the pair of us.

Oh Blessed Virgin, where were you when my darling son was riddled with bullets? Sacred Heart of Jesus, take away our hearts of stone, and give us hearts of flesh. Take away this murdering hate, and give us thine own eternal love.

SEAN O’CASEY, THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS

Our children are the ‘raw material’; we desiderate for their education ‘modern methods,’ which must be ‘efficient’ but ‘cheap’; we send them to Clongowes to be ‘finished’; when ‘finished’ they are ‘turned out’; specialists ‘grind’ them for the English Civil Service and the so-called liberal professions; in each of our great colleges there is a department known as the ‘scrapheap,’ though officially called the fourth preparatory the limbo to which the debris ejected by the machine is relegated.

Fix your mind on the ideal of Ireland free, with her women enjoying the full rights of citizenship in their own nation, and no one will be able to sidetrack you, and so make use of you to use up the energies of the nation in obtaining all sorts of concessions.

CONSTANCE MARKIEVICZ

We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God, whose blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine. In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.

PROCLAMATION OF THE REPUBLIC, 1916

By the time this reaches you I will, with God's mercy, have joined in heaven my poor father and mother, as well as my dear friends who have been shot.

No terms of denunciation that pen could indict would be too strong to apply to those responsible for the insane and criminal rising of last week.

IRISH INDEPENDENT, EDITORIAL , 4 MAY 1916

Know that we fools, now with the foolish dead, Died not for flag, nor King nor Emperor, But for a dream, born in a herdsman’s shed, And for the secret scriptures of the poor.

TOM KETTLE, DIED AT THE SOMME, 1916

The day has passed for patching up the capitalist system; it must go. And in the work of abolishing it the Catholic and the Protestant, the Catholic and the Jew, the Catholic and the Freethinker, the Catholic and the Buddhist, the Catholic and the Mahometan will co-operate together, knowing no rivalry but the rivalry of endeavour toward an end beneficial to all.

JAMES CONNOLLY

PATRICK PEARSE,

Self-government is our right, a thing born in us at birth; a thing no more to be doled out to us or withheld from us by another people than the right to life itself.

Of Pearse and Connolly, I admire the latter the most. Connolly was a realist, Pearse the direct opposite. I would have followed Connolly to hell had such action been necessary. But I honestly doubt I would have followed Pearse.

THE MURDER MACHINE

ROGER CASEMENT

MICHAEL COLLINS

SEAN MAC DIARMADA

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EDI TO R I A L UP FRONT BRENDAN McCONVERY CSsR

RISING AT EASTER

Writing

early this year, the religious affairs correspondent of one of Ireland’s leading daily papers claimed that “the timing of the Rising for Easter was deliberate, and intended to signify a risen people commensurate with the risen Christ.” He continued, “as if to underline the Catholic nature of the rebellion he [Pádraig Pearse] and all signatories to the Proclamation, including James Connolly, received Communion from Catholic priests prior to execution.” The writer’s argument, in part at least, was that the Rising was a sectarian affair, and that none of those who were executed had shown any understanding or consideration for the fate of twenty-five percent of Ireland’s population who did not belong to the Catholic majority.

One might counter that argument by pointing to the non-Roman Catholics either directly involved in the Rising or in sympathy with it. Some of them, notably Constance Markievicz, Roger Casement and Grace Gifford, widow of Joseph Mary Plunkett, did join the Roman Catholic Church either before or immediately after the Rising, but in most cases, that decision had been a long time fermenting. As an article in this number shows, the religious quest of Thomas Mac Donagh took him from seminary to firing squad through a period of doubt and agnosticism. Connolly had stated that he had not practised the faith for many years, and some among the signatories had a troubled and difficult relationship with the official Church. The assumption that all the leaders of the Rising had the same traditional Catholic faith that fell into easily recognisable patterns of conforming practise is too easy an assumption.

Born and educated in the North of Ireland, I have a somewhat ambiguous relationship

with 1916. Irish history came a poor second to British and European history in my school curriculum, so I cannot forget that 1916 was also the year of the Battle of the Somme. On the first Sunday of July every year, if you are driving through Belfast, you have to plan your route very carefully, since the Orange Lodges will be parading to a church service to commemorate that event. The Somme figures prominently in the foundational story of the Unionist community, but probably about half of the 3,500 Irish men who lost their lives or who suffered serious injury were from the Nationalist community, north and south.

There an element of ‘Passion Mysticism’ associated with the Easter Rising, especially in the poetry of Pearse, Plunkett and MacDonagh. As a teenager, I was deeply moved when a Redemptorist preaching on the Mother of Sorrows during Holy Week quoted Pearse’s last poem to his mother: I do not grudge them: Lord, I do not grudge My two strong sons that I have seen go out To break their strength and die, they and a few, In bloody protest for a glorious thing.

Later, I discovered the rest of Pearse’s poems, especially “The Fool,” with a question that leaves no doubt about the degree to which his part in the Rising was inspired by a deeply held religious faith: “was it a jest of Christ's / And is this my sin before men, to have taken Him at His word?” Joseph Mary Plunkett universalises the mystery of the passion to see it reflected in the world of every day nature.

Given the prominence of the Passion and Easter language and symbolism both before the Rising and in the later memorialising of its martyrs, it is puzzling that the State commemoration of Easter Sunday, 2016, proposed closing the city centre to all traffic, including to people wishing to attend church services, and this with little or no consultation with the churches involved. Christchurch Cathedral and six Dublin Anglican parishes were forced to cancel services, although eventually, a compromise of sorts was reached.

The traffic ban had less effect on Catholic churches in the city centre as they tend to draw the larger part of their congregations from the local area.

Was this another symptom of an ongoing tendency to secularise Irish public life? The concluding paragraph of the Proclamation states: “We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God, Whose blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine. In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.” The Rising was shaped by a view of the world that was religious, if understood differently by its participants, but so too was much of the response to the First World War throughout Europe. To attempt to write religion out of the history of either would be a travesty of history.

Brendan McConvery CSsR Editor

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C OVE R STO RY

THE CHURCH STREET CAPUCHINS

AND THE EASTER RISI

12

Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap.

THE CENTR AL LOCATION OF THE CAPUCHIN CHURCH AND FR IARY IN DUBLIN CAUSED THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY TO PLAY A UNIQUE ROLE IN THE EVENTS OF EASTER WEEK 1916.

BY BRIAN KIRBY

© Photography courtesy of the Capuchin Archive, Ireland www.facebook.com/CapuchinArchivesIreland

REALITY APRIL 2016

The

events of the 1916 Rising have resulted in the Capuchin Friars becoming very prominently associated in the public mind with the Irish revolution.

The Capuchins of Church Street found themselves in the thick of the fighting when the Rising broke out on Easter Monday (24 April). On that day the Friars heard the first shots of the Rising and witnessed barricades being erected on the streets around them.

Following the occupation of the Four Courts

by Commandant Edward Daly, Church Street became a centre of Irish Volunteer activity. A first aid post was established in the Capuchin-run Father Mathew Hall and Volunteers were posted on Church Street

Bridge. Jameson’s Distillery and the adjoining houses were also occupied. The area would see some of the bitterest engagements of the Rising as British forces repeatedly attacked Volunteer positions around Church Street.

THE MINISTRY OF THE FRIARS The Friars were in constant attendance in the hall, providing consolations to the combatants, conveying the wounded to Richmond Hospital and hearing the confessions of the Volunteers in the houses which they occupied.

Richmond Hospital, located on North Brunswick Street, received many of the casualties of the fighting. Fr. Albert Bibby

ING

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Fr. Aloysius Travers OFM Cap OFM Cap. (1877-1925) recovered the body of a young child who had been shot near the Capuchin Friary and brought him to Richmond Hospital, John Francis Foster (aged 2) was killed on Easter Monday on Church Street, the first of nearly thirty children aged sixteen and under who died during the Rising.

As the week wore on army reinforcements began encircling the Volunteers in the Four Courts. Consequently, the situation in Father Mathew Hall became ever more desperate.

Those more seriously injured were moved to Richmond Hospital but Cumann na mBan members continued to care for casualties in the Hall itself. By Saturday, 29 April, the

Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. British military had retaken North King Street and it seemed very likely that the Hall would be shelled.

and that Capuchin priests had been placed in charge of the wounded.

On 29 April, Pádraig Pearse formally

John Francis Foster (aged 2) was killed on Easter Monday on Church Street, the first of nearly thirty children aged sixteen and under who died during the Rising.

Under the protection of a white flag, Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap. (1870-1954) and Fr. Aloysius Travers OFM Cap. (18701957) approached the British barricades to begin negotiations. Fr. Augustine explained that the Hall was being used as a hospital

surrendered the General Post Office garrison.

Fr. Columbus Murphy OFM Cap. (1881-1952), accompanied by Elizabeth Farrell, a Cumann na mBan nurse, later met with Edward Daly at the Four Courts and convinced him that Pearse’s surrender was genuine. The Four

C OVE R STO RY

Courts garrison laid down their arms and marched along the quay via Capel Street to the Rotunda Hospital.

Meanwhile, a truce was agreed in the Church Street area on Sunday, 30 April. Fr. Aloysius and Fr. Augustine were later granted permission to visit Pearse in Arbour Hill Prison and James Connolly in Dublin Castle

(South Dublin Union) for the peaceful capitulation of the men and women under their command.

THE EXECUTIONS On Monday, 1 May 1916, a call was made to the Church Street Friary conveying the message that James Connolly wanted to speak with Fr. Aloysius. Many of the Capuchin Friars The Capuchin Chapel, Church Street, Dublin. were subsequently given permits to travel freely the British military to the Friars requesting through the city and visit rebel prisoners at them to visit Pádraig Pearse and the other their places of detention. After the courts condemned prisoners. Fr. Aloysius went to martial of the Rising leaders, it became Kilmainham to hear the final confessions apparent that the Capuchins would be of Pearse and Thomas MacDonagh. The required to minister to these men before Capuchin priest was forced to leave the their executions. prison before the executions of the two On Tuesday, 2 May a note was delivered by men took place – an action which Fr.

On Monday, 1 May 1916, a call was made to the Church Street Friary conveying the message that James Connolly wanted to speak with Fr. Aloysius Hospital. The rebel leaders agreed that the Capuchin Friars should convey the surrender order to the last garrisons still holding out in the city. Subsequently, Fr. Augustine and Fr. Aloysius mediated negotiations between the British authorities and Thomas MacDonagh (Jacob’s Biscuit Factory) and Éamonn Ceannt

Aloysius vehemently protested. ‘In every civilised country’, he argued, ‘the clergy were permitted to remain with the prisoners and administer the last rites of the Church’. As a result of this plea, a Capuchin Friar was allowed to remain at a prisoner’s side until the end. Thomas Clarke was later attended to by Fr. Columbus Murphy OFM Cap. As the executions continued, the Church Street Friars were repeatedly called upon to minister to the rebel leaders in Kilmainham.

On Thursday, 4 May, Fr. Augustine recollected how he ‘called Fathers Albert [Bibby], Columbus and Sebastian [O’Brien] and we started for Kilmainham where the Governor told us that four were to be executed – Edward Daly, Michael O’Hanrahan, Joseph Mary Plunkett and Willie Pearse. The Governor told us that there was not much time, but he had got a slight postponement of the fixed hour so as to give us an opportunity of attending the men. Father Columbus, having met him before at the surrender, naturally went to the first [Daly], Father Albert to the second [O’Hanrahan], Father Sebastian to the third [Plunkett], and I to Willie Pearse whose hands were already tied behind his back’.

Fr. Augustine wrote a moving account of Con Colbert’s death on 8 May, explaining how ‘his heart was near to God and to his friends’ in his last moments. Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap., who ministered to Seán Heuston, left an account of the closing scenes of his life: Father Mathew Centenary Memorial Hall

Sixty members of Cumann na mBan

A soldier directed Seán and myself to a corner of the yard, a short distance from the outer wall of the prison. Here there was a box (seemingly a soap box) and Seán was told to sit down upon it. He was perfectly calm, and said with me for the last time: “My Jesus, mercy”. I scarcely had moved away a few yards when a volley went off … I rushed over to anoint him: his whole face seemed transformed and lit up with a grandeur and brightness that I had never before noticed’.

FINAL MESSAGES Not only did the Capuchins attend the executions but they also relayed last messages to relations. Fr. Aloysius also made contact with John Dillon, a nationalist MP, in an attempt to bring a halt to the executions. He explained to Dillon how ‘the feeling among the working classes in the city was becoming extremely bitter over these executions and this feeling is strong even among those who had no sympathy whatever … with the Rising’.

On 12 May 1916, a military car called to the Church Street Friary for what would be the final time.

Fr. Aloysius travelled to Dublin Castle Hospital where he heard the last confession of James Connolly. He then accompanied Connolly who was taken on stretcher to an ambulance which took him to Kilmainham. The Capuchin Friar stood behind

the firing party as Connolly was placed on a chair and shot.

‘It was a scene I should not ask to witness again’, Fr. Aloysius later remarked, ‘I had got to know Connolly – to wonder at his strength of character … [and] now I had to say goodbye. All I could do was to return to Church Street and to offer the Holy Sacrifice for his soul. May he rest in peace’.

CONCLUSION During the 1916 Rising, and the War of Independence which followed, many Capuchin Friars rendered spiritual, pastoral and humanitarian service to nationalist participants in the struggle. They visited the imprisoned and condemned and consoled their families.

Although the interaction of these Friars with Republicans has attracted most attention, it should be noted that other traditions found expression in Capuchin ministries. Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. (1883-1935), Fr. John Butler OFM Cap. (1873-1950), and Fr. Ignatius Collins OFM Cap. (1885-1961) served as British Army chaplains during the First World War. Throughout this turbulent period in Irish history, the Capuchins continued to provide spiritual assistance to all combatants, for they held that men and women acting in good faith and in danger of death were entitled to support and consolation.

Brian Kirby is the Provincial Archivist at the Capuchin Friary, Church Street, Dublin 7. For further information see: www.facebook.com/CapuchinArchivesIreland

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C OVE R STO RY

FAITH AND DOUBT

IN THE LIFE OF

THOMAS MACDONAGH 1878-1916

In

anticipation of the centenary of the Easter Rising, a number of months ago I was asked to write a short article on the faith life of one of the 1916 leaders. In agreeing to do so, I chose to take a look at the life of Thomas MacDonagh simply because he was born and reared just a few miles from my own native village of Moneygall. What I found in MacDonagh’s faith journey both surprised and intrigued me, for it was one of intense devotional fervour matched with equally intense periods of doubt and even despair.

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THE SIGNATORIES OF THE EASTER PROCLAMATION ARE OFTEN PRESENTED AS DEVOUT TRADITIONAL CATHOLICS. FOR THOMAS MACDONAGH, THE INTENSE DEVOTIONAL FERVOUR OF HIS CHILDHOOD AND EARLY MANHOOD WAS MATCHED BY LATER INTENSE PERIODS OF DOUBT AND DARKNESS TO WHICH HE GAVE EXPRESSION IN HIS POETRY.

BY SALVADOR RYAN

REALITY APRIL 2016

EARLY YEARS Thomas MacDonagh was born in Cloughjordan, County Tipperary on 1 February 1878 to Joseph and Mary MacDonagh (née Parker), who was a convert from Unitarianism. Both were national school teachers who had moved to Cloughjordan with the opening of its new school the year before. Initially, the couple lodged with the local priest, Fr Denis Moloney, before moving into a home of their own.

His mother’s adoption of Roman Catholicism led to something of a convert’s zeal and heavily influenced the short stories, poems and devotional pieces that

she subsequently composed. Among them was a treatise in ten chapters entitled, “The Daily Life of a True Catholic – by a Convert.”

These writings undoubtedly left their mark on the young Thomas. This was a household in which there was not just the recitation of the family rosary, but also the reading of advanced spiritual works such as Thomas à Kempis’s The Imitation of Christ. It was very much a lived faith. Thomas’s mother, for example, encouraged her children to recite a litany “for the relief of the souls in Purgatory,” if they could not sleep at night.

When it came to the time for secondary education, Thomas was sent to the Holy Ghost Fathers at Rockwell College, a few miles from Cashel, in 1892. This experience, too, would leave a deep impression on him.

THE SEMINARIAN Shortly after the death of his father, Thomas decided he wanted to be a Holy Ghost missionary. He wrote to the Superior of the Holy Ghost Fathers in Dublin asking for permission to enter the Junior Scholasticate at Rockwell, which marked a student’s first step on the road to priesthood. The words in which he expressed his wish are enthusiastic and full of idealism: I have concluded that I have a vocation for this Congregation, and a decided taste for the missionary and the religious state.

It has always been my wish to become a priest and now that wish is stronger than ever, and it is to become, not only a priest, but a missionary and a religious.

This decision would see Thomas don a soutane and become a surveillant, someone who had the potential to carry on and join the Congregation. At Rockwell, surveillants followed a spiritual timetable of mass and private study of church doctrine, but they also served as prefects with some teaching and games supervision among the younger pupils.

During this period he would write some devotional poetry of which the following lines are typical: “O Holy Ghost! / Thou art our comfort in the fight / against the impious world / come down in tongues of heavenly light / dovelike – with wings unfurled”.

But, over time, his youthful religious zeal began to wane, and on 22 June 1901 he declared that he no longer felt called to priesthood and subsequently left Rockwell.

The letter in which he communicated his intentions to his superior could not have contrasted more sharply with that of some seven years before; here, the words are terse and cold: Having, after much hesitation and anxious questioning, come to the conclusion that I have no vocation for religious life, with sorrow, I request you to release me from the obligations contracted by me at my reception.

RELIGIOUS SEARCHING In the years leading up to his departure, MacDonagh had experienced periods of intense doubt and, indeed, something approaching despair, especially in the aftermath of the death of a young school-friend and fellow-scholastic, to whom he had once been very close. Poem 25, entitled “Through the Night”, of his first collection of poetry, Through the Ivory Gate (1903), dates from this period: Man comes and lives and goes / Brief honoured and frail.../And when he’s had his day /Dies —for all time — who knows?

In the same poem he laments “Once — oh how far it seems! — / I could believe at will; / Till came the blighted chill / of dark despairing dreams / which have destroyed my life / making me darkly grope / to my sure end, no hope / for a less bitter strife.” What made the loss more bitter still was that he had fallen out with this friend and had rejected his later offer of reconciliation, and death would ultimately cheat him of a second chance to do so. It is believed that some heart-breaking lines in his later poem “De Mortuis” in Through the Ivory Gate refer to this incident: “He is dead, my foe — I must be silent now / Or speak at last whate’er I know of good / In him before whose cold set face I bow / In reverence humble. Once, when he had stood / Long hostile, he said, smilingly — ‘Forgive’ / For years I have repented that I

turned / In scorn away ...”

And yet, in poem 31, entitled “Resurgam”, in that same collection, he grasps at the promise of resurrection: “I trust the Lord that He will raise me up / when silent I have waited in the grave for lonely years”. In the introduction to Through the Ivory Gate, MacDonagh explained that his poetry constituted a “struggle of soul from the innocence of Childhood through disillusion, disappointment and ill doubt; and thence through prayer and hope and the pathos of old memories to lasting Trust and Faith.”

THE MARRIED MAN By the time MacDonagh married his Protestant bride, Muriel Gifford, on 3 January 1912, and by which point he had secured a lecturing post in English at UCD, his soul-searching had led him to forsake the religious practice of his youth. He wrote to his friend, Dominick Hackett: “ ... of late the Church here is absurd about mixed marriages. Muriel and I are of the same religion, which is neither Catholic nor Protestant, nor any other form of dogmatic creed; neither of us ever goes to church or chapel, but for the sake of several things and people we are willing to conform for a marriage ceremony”.

MacDonagh had experienced periods of intense doubt and, indeed, something approaching despair One of those “people” was his sister, Mary, who was a nun, and whose name in religion was Sister Francesca, and of whom MacDonagh could say “[she] is really the decentest sister that anyone ever had”. His depiction of nuns at prayer in one of his poems “A Dream of Being”, suggests, however, some disillusionment with their particular calling: “I heard their voices rise and fall and rise / in their long prayer like quiet faded sighs / calling from hearts that lost / their passion long ago”.

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C OVE R STO RY

RECONCILED IN DEATH? As it happened, however, before MacDonagh was executed, his sister, Mary did manage to get to see him and she flung a rosary beads around his neck. A Capuchin friar, Fr Aloysius, heard his confession and gave him Holy Communion, although he was not permitted to remain for the execution.

According to the July 1916 issue of the Catholic Bulletin, before his death, MacDonagh “knelt for a long time in prayer, on the bare floor of his cell, with his crucifix clasped in his hands” and “he died as he had lived, with no rancour in his heart, with his courage high and unshaken, and with a firm faith in Christ who redeemed him.” Likewise, an article by Rev. A. Raybould in The Irish Monthly in September 1919 played down MacDonagh’s struggles with faith: “It has been hinted that Thomas MacDonagh fell away from his childhood’s – Catholic – faith, but surely his poems refute this accusation.”

Raybould preferred to regard him as intensely

From REDEMPTORIST COMMUNICATIONS

speculative: “and to the naturally speculative, the practical acceptance of revealed religion must open up a labyrinth of intellectual difficulties; but a thousand difficulties do not make one doubt”.

Such papering over the fissures which often accompany faith, however, does little justice to its lived experience. Many people today who struggle with issues of belief are likely to find MacDonagh’s own words in the poem “The Tree of Knowledge” far more authentic.

In presenting a dusky scene in which he sees a “chalice of sacred gold / filled to the brim with wine”, MacDonagh continues: “I tremble and lie still / Held by a holy dread / Lest the wine from the chalice spill / and the knowledge of God lie dead / I lose the chalice from view / Through infirmity of will.”

Thomas MacDonagh with his his son, Donagh, in his arms at Greystones

Salvador Ryan is Professor of Ecclesiastical History at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. This is an expanded version of an article published in David Bracken (ed.), Faith Profiles of the 1916 Leaders (Dublin: Veritas, 2016).

THE DOOR of MERCY The new ‘Jubilee of Mercy’ announced by Pope Francis is of great significance. Drawing from his biography, his motto, interviews, homilies, and messages, here we learn how Francis sees himself as a pilgrim in need of mercy. Further, we are all pilgrims, called to pass through the ‘door of mercy’ opening before us in this Holy Year. In a world that sits lightly to love and forgiveness, where many feel they are beyond forgiveness, this is an invitation to start out on a personal journey to discover what mercy truly is.

We are pilgrims, called to pass through the “door of mercy” in this Year of Mercy. In a world where many feel beyond forgiveness, let’s start out to discover what mercy truly is.

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COM M E N T THE YOUNG VOICE DAVID O’DONOGHUE

HOW ART HAS IMPACTED MY FAITH

MUSIC AND POETRY OFTEN EXERCISE A POWERFUL ATTRACTION AND CAN DRAW US DEEPER INTO THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE AND THAT MYSTERIOUS WORLD WHERE GOD SPEAKS IN UNEXPECTED WAYS “I love you Jesus Christ!”

When I, as a pouty, atheistic teenager, was met with those words blaring from my stereo I was taken aback. The song was “The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2 and 3,” by one of my favourite bands, Neutral Milk Hotel, and at the time I was slowly falling in love with their classic album “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea”.

But that line, which is screamed several times at the beginning of the track, turned me off. How could such ‘enlightened’, gifted musicians declare that kind of blind religiosity which I, at the time, abhorred? But the song and the words grew on me.

The declaration was so unabashed and sincere, so unashamed and full of passion, that I began to see spirituality as something to be taken seriously, perhaps even to be held in as high regard as I hold art. And I live for art.

My love of folk music and poetry has not only informed my spirituality but is, in many ways, the very root of it. In my early teens, when I dismissed religion and spirituality entirely, I possessed a short-sighted attitude that “No intelligent person can have faith” and no amount of rational argument could dissuade me. Only literature and music, two of my great passions, could offer sneaky rebuttals in the form of beauty and artistry.

Sufjan Stevens is a prominent example, darling of the independent folk scene, whose recent album Carrie and Lowell was met with much acclaim. Stevens is a passionate Christian, who holds

his faith dear, but rarely preaches or proselytises. Instead he uses his music to subtly communicate his personal experience of religion.

His ghostly folk is always grasping for transcendent beauty and meaning which he identifies with God. Before Sufjan, I had never made the connection between artistic beauty and spirituality, but his music made it evident. In the track “Vito’s Ordination Song” the chorus is sung in a way that is somehow both vulnerable and confident. The words “There’s a design/There’s a design” hover in the air, like notes on a spectral blueprint for the universe. They represent a way of thinking of which the artist’s creation of beauty reflects God’s creation of the universe; an eternal, gorgeous schematic which reassures and comforts us.

of frontman John Darnielle to be indistinguishable from poetry, and study of his work has immensely helped my own writing. But I also find comfort in his religious identity; a lapsed Catholic slowly finding his way back to spirituality. He is a man with a picture of the Blessed Virgin on his guitar strap and who wrote an entire album of songs based around bible verses. His lyrics often chart the emotional turmoil of people who feel powerless ) – drug addicts, the broken-hearted, the dying – and illustrates their struggle to feel whole and complete again. His work brings spirituality to its most basic and beautiful level, using sometimes obscure scriptural passages to speak beautifully about life’s most difficult experiences such as the death of a loved one or keeping faith in our ideals even at times of suffering.

Keats, which eloquently displayed a love of beauty and nature and all things transcendent and eternal.

And so I happened to trip across William Blake. Blake was absolutely devoted to God and to poetry, which he often saw as inseparable pursuits. He saw the beauty and kindness of Christ’s teachings as anathema to the industrialising Britain of the time as illustrated in the lines: “And was Jerusalem builded here,/Among these dark Satanic Mills?”. In Blake’s poetry my appreciation of Christ’s moral teaching and of the connection between spirituality and beautiful art was brought together. In Blake I found a man who expressed deep religious convictions but equally championed human liberation and equality, being critical of the abuses of the Church of his day. He saw spirituality as an emancipatory expression, being interested not in order and status and power but instead with freedom and kindness and beauty.

Art has a wonderful power for communicating spirituality in a way that ordinary preaching often can’t. It does not confront or cajole, but it slips between our barriers and touches our very soul with beauty.

In song or string or stanza, all the beauty of the spiritual experience unfolds, and our ears prick up.

My absolute devotion to North Carolina-based folk band the Mountain Goats (which borders, at times, on religiosity itself) is well known to anyone who knows me. I have found the lyrics

In my late teens, just as music was softening my attitude to spirituality, literature deepened my love of it.

At this time I was devouring the poetry of the British Romantic period, especially that of John

David O'Donoghue is a freelance journalist from Co. Kerry. His work has appeared in the Irish Catholic, The Irish Independent, and the Kerryman. He is the former political editor of campus.ie and holds an abiding interest in all things literary, political and spiritual.

The Mountain Goats

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THE H O LY L A N D

A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS 20

A VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND

THE HOLY LAND COORDINATION GROUP, MADE UP OF BISHOPS FROM EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA AND SOUTH AFRICA, WAS SET UP AT THE INVITATION OF THE HOLY SEE. THE PURPOSE WAS TO VISIT AND SUPPORT THE LOCAL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES OF THE HOLY LAND. ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS SHARES HIS EXPERIENCES. BISHOP JOHN McAREAVEY

In

2013 I took a period of sabbatical leave from my ministry as Bishop. I spent three months in the Holy Land, including six weeks with the Benedictine community at Abu Ghosh, an Arab town just off the road from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Since the Benedictine community is committed to improving relations with people of the Jewish faith, I had opportunities to meet Jewish families and communities in

REALITY APRIL 2016

Š Photography by Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk

various ways. Later I spent two weeks at the Benedictine monastery in Tabgha, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. For the final month I lived with the Benedictine community at Dormition Abbey, Jerusalem.

Each day I walked down through the (predominantly Arab) Old City on my way to Ecce Homo, an institute of the Sisters of Zion on the Via Dolorosa. During my sojourn in the Holy Land I spent most of my time with

Christian communities. Overall my contact with the Arab community was limited. In the last two years I have brought two groups of pilgrims to the Holy Land; on these visits contact with either Jewish or Arab communities was also limited.

It was a great benefit to have an excellent Christian Arab guide and a Jewish bus-driver. Our guide in particular was able to talk about contemporary life in Israel and the West Bank.

Bishop John McAreavey with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal

Going through Erez Check Point

21

THE HOLY LAND COORDINATION GROUP In November 2015, I was invited as chair of the Council for Justice and Peace of the Irish Bishops’ Conference to join the Holy Land Coordination (HLC) Group on a visit to the West Bank, Gaza and Jordan. (In the event, I was unable to take part in the Jordanian part of the visit).

Since 1998, the HLC has assembled each January in the Holy Land at the invitation of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land.

Mandated by the Holy See, it focuses on prayer, pilgrimage and persuasion with the aim of showing solidarity with the Christian community, as it experiences intense political and social-economic pressure.

The HLC includes priests and lay members, as well as representatives

of international organisations, such as Pax Christi and NGOs, such as TrĂłcaire. Since 2015, the Anglican Bishop of Southwark and representatives of the Church of England have been part of the group.

On my recent visit, we focused on three areas: the community of Susiya in the South Hebron Hills, Gaza and the Cremisan Valley (near Beit Jala).

SUSIYA`AND GAZA We visited the village of Susiya, a community that is threatened with the demolition of their village.

The Palestinian communities have lived for centuries in this area as shepherds and farmers, subsisting on the produce of their fields and their flocks.

As the leader of the community spoke of the threat of being forced off their land, he pointed to the

These Palestinian villagers are under constant pressure to abandon their homes, their villages and their way of life ever-expanding Israeli settlements on nearby hills. These Palestinian villagers are under constant pressure to abandon their homes, their villages and their way of life.

They are convinced that, but for international lobbying on their behalf, they would have been expelled from their land long ago.

We had the opportunity to see various elements of life on the Gaza strip. We visited communities that are struggling to replace homes destroyed in the 2014 war. The blockade of Gaza means that continued on page 22

THE H O LY L A N D

Statement of Holy Land Co-ordination Group, January 2016

The Holy Land Coordination visit of Cremisan Valley

At the end of their visit, the HLC issued a statement in which they echoed the plea of Pope Francis in his recent Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si (Praise Be to You) ‘to remember our interdependence in an integrated world’:

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Here in this land holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, we have been reminded of the Church's enduring presence among the weak and vulnerable and those who are too often forgotten. We take away our experiences and the stories that we have heard, and we are determined to give a voice to the voiceless.

The ongoing violence makes it all the more urgent that we remember and assist all, especially those on the margins, who seek to live in justice and peace.

The statement continued: To those Israelis and Palestinians who seek peace, (we say) you are not forgotten. The right of Israel to live in security is clear, but the continuing occupation eats away at the soul of both occupier and occupied. Political leaders across the world must put greater energy into a diplomatic solution to end nearly fifty years of occupation and resolve the ongoing conflict so the two peoples and three faiths can live together in justice and peace.

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Life in Gaza

The blockade has reduced the community to total dependence on the state of Israel rebuilding homes is extremely difficult. In one village, 2000 of the 4000 dwellings had been damaged in 2014: only 200 have been rebuilt.

We also visited a school run by Catholic Sisters and an orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity.

We celebrated Mass in the church of the Holy Family with the parish priest, Fr Mario da Silva, his curate Fr Victor, religious and lay people of Holy Family parish.

The harm done to buildings in Gaza is visible. Less obvious, but equally devastating, is the damage done to the people who have been blockaded by land and sea since

2006. The blockade has reduced the community to total dependence on the state of Israel. It limits their ability to manage their own affairs and the life-chances of the young people. Many too are struggling with the loss of loved ones in the 2014 war and many children suffer from serious psychological problems.

Catholic Relief Agency from the USA and other NGOs are doing heroic work to support people to get their lives together. In a moving address at the end of Mass, Fr Mario said, ‘your visit to us is an act of mercy, a sign of interest, solidarity and concern’.

Mass with Jordanian Clergy and local community in Fuheis

There are great benefits of having a good guide

23 The visit in Khuza, East Khan Youmis (Shelter Project)

CREMISAN VALLEY The Cremisan Valley lies near the village of Beit Jala (close to Bethlehem). Here the Israeli confiscation of land and the expansion of the “Separation Wall” threatens to cut more families off from their agricultural land and to damage the sustainability of the Christian community in the Holy Land.

I was deeply moved by the anguish of the farmers who have tended their olive trees on the terraced hillside of the valley and whose ancestors have done so for generations. The JCB parked among the olive trees, which is normally engaged in preparing the way for the separation wall, was quiet when we visited; it was the Sabbath.

On the evening of our visit to the Cremisan Valley, the Coordination Group hosted members of the St Yves Society, a Catholic human rights organization working under the patronage of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem. It was founded in 1991 by the former Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, Michel Sabbah, to help "the poor and the oppressed" according to the social doctrine of the Catholic Church.

St. Yves provides free legal assistance, counsel and advocacy in the Israeli courts for the farmers of the Cremisan valley whose lands are threatened. Through national and international lobbying and advocacy, the Society seeks to bring the situation of the poor and marginalized to the attention of

communities around the world.

Currently the Society, a partner organisation of Trócaire, deals with 700 cases per year and assists about 2,000 people. Its most recent report (2015) is The last nail in Bethlehem’s coffin: the annexation wall in Cremisan.

SUPPORT FOR HOLY PLACES AND CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES OF THE HOLY LAND The Holy Places and the Christian communities in the Holy Land have a special place in the thoughts and prayers of Christians around the world. For Catholics, this finds expression in the ‘collection for the Holy Land’ taken up in parish churches on Good Friday. Pilgrimages to the continued on page 24

THE H O LY L A N D

Visit to Our Lady of Peace Centre

Prayer in The Grotto of the Nativity

24 Security at Our Lady of Peace Centre

Holy Land are an important form of support.

Some pilgrimages bring this support a step further by joining Catholic communities for Sunday Mass in their parishes in Jerusalem or in the West Bank.

Representatives of the Christian communities pleaded with us to do this more often to show solidarity with them and to give them hope. I would ask pilgrimage leaders to ensure that their visits to the Holy Land include not only the Holy Places but also contact with the ‘living stones’, the Christian communities in the Holy Land.

THE WORK OF TRÓCAIRE I was impressed by the way in which Trócaire is making an impact in the Holy Land. For REALITY APRIL 2016

A visit to the home of Charles De Foucauld in Taybeh

people struggling with Israeli settlements (in Susiya), for those rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of war (in Gaza) and for those threatened by the Separation Wall (in the Cremisan Valley), the support of Trócaire for partner NGOs in the West Bank, such as the Society of St Yves, is significant.

The people of the Holy Land do not hunger for food; they hunger for justice, solidarity and care.

By supporting Trócaire we help those crying out for justice.

EROSION OF SITUATION OF PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS In his book, From the holy mountain (1997) the Scots writer, William Dalyrmple, wrote in that ‘few Western

Christians are aware of the degree of hardship felt by their co-religionists in the Holy Land, and the West’s often uncritical support for Israel frankly baffles the Palestinian Christians who feel their position being eroded year by year.’ The erosion of the position of Palestinian Christians continues unabated. It will take more than visits from Church leaders, important though these visits are, to bring an end to this situation. In the interim, we can – and should - is to raise our voices and share with a wider public what we saw and heard in the Holy Land.

Bishop John McAreavey is Bishop of Dromore. .

The Spirituality of St Patrick is a fountain of nourishment based on the writings of the man himself. The booklet presented here is not just ‘a good read.’ It is the Rule of Life that gave Patrick meaning in success and adversity – something upon which the reader is invited to reflect, to ponder, to revisit and to live by.

by John J. Ó Ríordáin C.Ss.R.

Besides including “Patrick’s Profession of Faith” and “Sayings of St Patrick,” part 5 of the publication is a ready resource for Patrician hymns in English and Irish, notably Hail Glorious St Patrick, Dochas Linn Naomh Pádraig, and Mrs Alexander’s classic rendition of St Patrick’s Breastplate.

Ecumenically the booklet contributes to “the new season of reconciliation that is defrosting the divisions that have scarred our island and pushed believers apart.”

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Q U E ST I O N S TO JESUS 7

TO PAY THE TAX TO CAESAR OR NOT? “SHOULD WE PAY TAXES TO CAESAR?” SEEMS LIKE A STRAIGHTFORWARD QUESTION, BUT IT RAISES MANY OTHERS INCLUDING SERIOUS POLITICAL ISSUES IN A COLONIAL SOCIETY

BY MIKE DALEY

All

Pearl Wortham Thompson wanted was a library book.

Yet, in the process of asking for one, she helped bring down an empire based upon injustice.

CIVIL RIGHTS AND LIBRARY BOOKS The year was 1942, and Jim Crow was the law of the land in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, laws were passed in the American South which created a society that was supposedly “separate but equal.” Segregation, however, placed African Americans in a decidedly unequal position and disadvantaged them on a variety of levels.

“You’re in the wrong place.

This is the white library,” were the first words Pearl heard upon entering the place. It didn’t really help when she explained that the book she needed for her paper wasn’t at the black library. Ushered to a back basement room, she was told to wait.

Eventually a librarian found her and asked, “What are you here for?” After explaining her situation, Pearl was allowed to look at the book, but she was

26

REALITY APRIL 2016

not allowed to check it out. Now, some years removed from the events of her “second-class citizenship,” Pearl remarks that “It wasn’t right, but it was the law back then.”

Recently, close to seventy-five years after her first encounter, Pearl returned to Raleigh. The original Oliva Raney Library long since torn down, one of the places she visited was the new Cameron Village Regional Library. Rather than ask a question, this time Pearl offered a statement, “So, I’ll take my card now.”

In ways that were both subtle and subversive, Pearl followed, challenged, and changed an unjust law and nation. Over the course of her years, she struggled with how best to respond to injustice—accept it, accommodate oneself to it, or resist it.

JESUS IN A COLONIAL SOCIETY Jesus as well lived in the midst of oppression and injustice. He lived in an occupied land. For Jews it had long been their lot to be ruled by an outsider—the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and now Romans. By Jesus’ time they were what could be considered the world’s super power.

Their influence went out from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea to further parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. The chief way Rome sustained their empire was by taxing, ahem, their “loyal” subjects.

As Warren Carter, professor of New Testament at Brite Divinity School, notes in the book, In the Shadow of Empire: Reclaiming the Bible as a History of Faithful Resistance, “The payment of any tax carried a symbolic value of loyalty and submission to Rome. Paying taxes recognized

Rome’s sovereignty over human lives, territory (both land and sea), and resources. Accordingly Rome regarded the refusal to pay tax or tribute as an act of rebellion. It retaliated harshly against such rebellion as numerous incidents attest….”

It is in this context that the Pharisees and Herodians—two Jewish groups holding conflicting views from one another—approach Jesus with their question (Mt 15:15-22; cf. Mk 12:13-17 and Lk 20:20-26): “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” How sincere their intent was in asking is in serious doubt at this point. It appears that any response besides a resounding “Yes” would get Jesus in trouble. Sensing the trap, he replies, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?”

Jesuit priest and scripture scholar Daniel Harrington writes in The Gospel of Matthew, “If Jesus opposes paying the tax, he gets in trouble with the Roman officials. If Jesus agrees with paying the tax, he loses face with the ardent nationalists.” So does Jesus cooperate (the position of the Herodians who support the Roman’s puppet king Herod Antipas) and pay, or does he resist (which is what the Pharisees want him to do) and give support to revolutionary tendencies amongst some Jews?

ASKING ANOTHER QUESTION Rather than answer the question posed to him, Jesus reframes it by asking for the coin that pays the tax. As the scene plays out: “Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, ‘Whose image is this and whose inscription?’

They replied, ‘Caesar’s.’” In the process, as N.T. Wright, a leading British New Testament scholar and retired Anglican bishop, relates, “Jesus gets his interlocutors to produce a coin, tacitly admitting that they kept the hated coin, with its blasphemous inscription and its (to a Jew) illegal image, a portrait of Caesar himself.”

(Ironically and uncomfortably enough, I have in my pockets several coins and dollar bills with the words “In God We Trust” and a picture of America’s first president George Washington.)

The encounter concludes with the notorious, ambiguous, and highly debated line: “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” Some argue, taking the words at face value, that Jesus was advocating

92 year old Pearl Wortham Thompson signs her new library card

for two separate kingdoms or spheres—one relating to politics and the world (Caesar), the other relating to religion and things spiritual (God). Similarly, invoking Paul and Romans 13:1 (“Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities….”), others have understood this to mean that Christians should be deferential to civil authority, going so far as to equate disobedience to the state with disobedience to God. As a result, rather than see a necessary connection between the two spheres, far too often this has led to a separation between religion and the world. For a first century Jew, though, religion as a private affair was unheard of and totally foreign to their way of life. They didn’t have one day of worship and then the rest of the week. Religion and worship of God was integrated into the whole of their lives. As they should be in ours today.

WHOSE IMAGE? Returning to Wright, mindful of the Roman occupiers of Jesus’ day, “Paying back the Gentiles was not meant to refer to money. I am sure that some of Jesus’ hearers would have picked up that revolutionary hint. Because he was standing there looking at a coin, his surface meaning was, of course, that the tax had to be paid; but underneath was the strong hint that Caesar’s regime was a blasphemous nonsense

and that one day God would overthrow it.”

Enlarging Jesus’ comment even further, the British Dominican Herbert McCabe reminds us in God, Christ and Us, “The Kingdom of which Jesus speaks is not to be achieved just by defeating Roman domination…. The Kingdom is fully achieved only when Jesus will hand over

Underneath was the strong hint that Caesar’s regime was a blasphemous nonsense and that one day God would overthrow it the Kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power, so that God may be all in all.”

Jesus avoided the trap set by his questioners, but it still remains for us today: whose image has priority in our lives—Caesar’s or God’s? In this exchange Jesus is getting those involved then and us now to ask ourselves where our deepest commitments are. Admittedly, we live this question of discipleship out with some degree of tension and conflict.

Mike Daley is a teacher and writer from Cincinnati, OH where he lives with his wife June, and their three children. His latest book is Vatican II: Fifty Personal Stories (Orbis).

27

SCIENCE AND FAITH SERIES Science and Faith are often placed in opposition to each other. In fact nothing could be further from the truth. Some of the greatest scientists have been Catholics, and among them a number of Catholic priests. In this series we tell some of their stories.

FR NICHOLAS CALLAN: PATHFINDER FOR ELECTRICITY

LOUTH-BORN NICHOLAS CALLAN WAS PROFESSOR OF ‘NATURAL PHILOSOPHY’ OR SCIENCE IN MAYNOOTH COLLEGE AND A PIONEER IN THE DISCOVERY OF ELECTRICITY. HE ALSO TRANSLATED MANY OF THE DEVOTIONAL WORKS OF ST ALPHONSUS INTO ENGLISH FOR SALE AS CHEAP EDITIONS.

BY SUSAN GATELY

You 28

took your life in your hands if you happened to be a seminarian studying in St Patrick's College Maynooth in the 19th century with Fr Nicholas Callan as your professor.

"We have a priest here from Co. Louth, Dr Callan, the Professor of Science and many are afraid he will blow up the college," writes freshman Lawrence in 1855. "Yesterday we heard an explosion that was like the end of the world."

THE YOUNG SCIENTIST Small in stature but bright, keen and fascinated by physics, Nicholas Callan came from Darver near Dundalk, Co. Louth. He was fifth in a well to do family of seven. He studied initially in the Dundalk Academy and then at Navan seminary.

Aged seventeen, he felt the call to priesthood, which he followed, even though early ordination meant forfeiting a "considerable legacy" he had been promised if he waited until he was over 26.

In third year, he studied experimental philosophy (physics) under Fr Cornelius Denvir. "He was the flint that struck the first spark of scientific inquisitiveness from the Callan steel," writes P. J. McLaughlin in his book Nicholas Callan: Priest Scientist. He was particularly fascinated by the area of electricity and magnetism.

REALITY APRIL 2016

Ordained at 24, Callan moved to Rome to continue his studies at the Sapienza University where he got to know the pioneering work of Volta and Galvani on electricity. Fortuitously, the Chair of Natural Philosophy at Maynooth became vacant, and Fr Callan, aged just 27, was appointed professor, a position he held until his death thirty eight years later.

THE PROFESSOR In the basement of Stoyte house, Callan set up his laboratory, and was soon hard at work developing his first great discovery - the induction coil –the forerunner to the modern day transformer and a key component in

many devices like car ignition systems, X rays and camera flashes.

Callan wound thin insulated wires (the secondary coil) around thick wires in his primary coil and then introduced a large electrical charge in the primary. He discovered that the speed with which he could change the current in the primary coil determined the size of the voltage in the secondary coil. Using a grandfather clock mechanism, he invented a device to break the circuit rapidly, noting that the faster he interrupted the current, the bigger was the spark.

He gauged the strength of the electrical pulses by getting his students to form The great induction coil

a toll on his health. "People made fun of him. The professors looked down on him," wrote his cousin.

Then in 1851, a German instrument maker Heinrich Ruhmkorff patented and commercialised his own induction coil.

Callan needed to publicise his earlier invention. He got the chance in 1857 at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. "It is now more than twenty years since I discovered the method of making the induction coil, or a coil by which an electric current of enormous intensity may be produced with the aid of a single galvanic cell - a coil which is now to be used for working the Atlantic Telegraph," he told them.

Stoyte house

a circuit attached to electrodes on the secondary. From their reactions he judged the power of the cell. A student, who later became Archbishop of Dublin, fainted from the shock. After this Fr Callan was told to desist from using students as guinea pigs.

CHEAP ELECTRICITY In 1837 Callan made his giant induction machine with a mechanism which could interrupt the current twenty times a second. It generated 15-inch sparks, and the largest bolt of electricity ever seen, an estimated 600,000 volts. Callan sent a replica of his apparatus to his friend, William Sturgeon, inventor of the electromagnet, who presented it at the Electrical Society in London.

Callan's quest was to generate cheap electricity, "inspired, by the motto ‘Electricity in the service of man’," writes the late Fr Michael Casey, former Professor of Chemistry at Maynooth.

But in the1840s he changed. One story recounts how he found himself tracing diagrams of electro motors on an altar cloth while saying mass and realised his obsession with physics. But others believe it was the time itself that brought the change.

A PRIEST IN FAMINE TIMES The 1840s were a time of tragedy and transition for Ireland. The great potato

famine was ravaging the land and its people.

Callan responded by donating his salary to 'poor relief'. The repeal of the last of the penal laws brought a chance to build again "like natives returning to a region blitzed by an earthquake." The Church needed devotional material to put into the hands of the faithful so Callan set to translating the writings of St Alfonsus Liguori. "He subordinated science to his priesthood and human feelings. He was not one to botanize upon a mother's grave," writes McLaughlin.

Meanwhile to fuel his experiments, he began designing batteries using cheaper cast iron casings and zinc plates. In March 1848, before a large audience, he demonstrated the power of his battery, generating a five inch arc of blinding light between brass and copper terminals and electrocuting a large turkey placed in the circuit. He developed the world's largest battery with 577 individual battery cells in over 30 gallons of acid which could power an electromagnet lifting 2 tons.

GALVANISED IRON The dampness in his basement laboratory began rusting the iron casings, so Callan invented the principle of galvanisation to stop iron rusting. "Every iron shed in the country owes its roof to Callan," comments Dr Niall McKeith, Curator Maynooth museum.

Callan's ground breaking work won him few accolades, and his relentless work took

Every iron shed in the country owes its roof to Callan 29

Dr Niall McKeith

Four years later Fr Nicholas Callan died of a stroke while hearing confessions. His "childlike simplicity and saintly example" made "a lasting impression on all," wrote Dr Lennon, his successor, but his discoveries seemed doomed to oblivion, as the "Ruhmkorff Coil" entered the textbooks as first induction coil. In 1936, the record was set straight and Callan was reinstated as inventor of the induction coil. Recently two learned institutions honoured Callan with plaques for his achievements in induction.

"Farraday was the Father of electricity, but Callan was its Reverend Grandfather," says Dr McKeith.

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

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COM M E N T FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS CARMEL WYNNE

LIP SERVICE

HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS? SUCCESS DOES NOT ALWAYS MAKE US HAPPY, BUT BEING HAPPY AND MORE POSITIVE CAN CAUSE US TO BECOME MORE SUCCESSFUL. What is more important to you, being happy or being successful?

Statements like, “I want to be happy”; or “I want to be a success” may seem self-evident but are they? People assume that we all understand the word success. We don’t.

We allocate different meanings in different contexts. For example a person can be very successful in one area of life and fail miserably in other areas. The Chief Executive Officer of a global organisation may have the reputation of being an outstanding success as a businessman but fail miserably as a husband and father.

There is an infinite variety of ways to view success. What we now know from studies on positive psychology that have been carried out at Harvard University is that success does not make us happy but being happy and more positive causes us to become more successful.

Almost everyone has had the experience of discovering that happiness is transient. What makes us happy at one time in our lives no longer satisfies us as we mature and our needs change.

For a teenager success may be to get a place in college, graduate and find a job.

Some graduates who decide to work in a supermarket or burger shop, work for which they are over-qualified, are happy to take on any kind of work. Others would rather go on the dole than be seen to be so unsuccessful in the jobs market that they end up in a job that has no status.

Our family values play a huge role in our perceptions of happiness and success. Does it surprise you to learn that when asked, “How do you know you are happy?” the majority of us tend to answer, “I just know”. Most of us have clarity about when we are unhappy or dissatisfied but hardly any of us are aware of how our beliefs about success affect how happy we feel.

I love the story of the wealthy businessman who was driving through a small fishing village.

He met a fisherman returning from his daily fishing trip. The businessman immediately saw an immense opportunity and with his own business acumen he showered the fisherman with ideas of how he could make lots of money. If he took the advice that was freely offered, the fisherman could make millions and buy all the luxuries that his heart desired.

After the fisherman asked a series of questions the businessman told him that if he created a hugely successful business, the fisherman could achieve his definition of fulfilment.

He could live in a quiet village,

sleep late, fish a little, take an afternoon siesta, play with his children, and take a stroll into the sunset. The puzzled fisherman looked at the businessman and said, “But isn’t that how I am living right now?”

Success can mean having a prominent position, wealth and all the possessions that go with having money. For example, it’s hardly surprising that a person living in a three bedroomed house with a ten year old car would believe that if they had a bigger house, a newer car, or lived in a better neighbourhood they would be happier.

Possessions can certainly make for a better quality of life.

However the kind of happiness that is fostered by status or owning things can be short lived. The good feelings will quickly disappear if they car is damaged, problem neighbours move in, or the house is repossessed.

The huge appetite for Reality TV shows illustrates a level of confusion about what is fame, success and happiness. The

attainment of media celebrity has become a popular measure of success in modern society.

It’s hard to understand the naivety of people who believe that if only they can achieve a few minutes of fame, they will be happy. They may be successful in their own world view but that happiness will be snatched away as soon as the spotlight is put on another aspiring celebrity.

It’s not what you have but how you think about what you have, that makes you feel a success or a failure. You have beliefs about what makes a person successful.

Are you aware that when you believe something is true, your perception becomes your reality?

Many spiritually aware people who embark on a journey of selfreflection discover that they have been programmed with unhelpful beliefs. They have achieved what is defined as “success” by others, they made their parents proud but they feel unfulfilled, dissatisfied and unhappy.

If you are seen to be successful, yet feel unfulfilled, your personal experience is that success does not make you happy. You have probably unquestioningly accepted a definition of happiness that is not yours.

Live by your definition of happiness and you are already a success.

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

31

JU B IL EE O F O U R MOTH ER OF P E RP E TUAL HELP

THE PILGRIM ICON THE CELEBRATION OF THE JUBILEE OF OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP WILL TAKE ON AN ALL IRELAND DIMENSION IN APRIL AND MAY. SEAMUS ENRIGHT CSsR

32

The

icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was brought in procession across Rome to the Redemptorist Church of Sant’Alfonso on the Via Merulana on April 26th, 1866.

This was truly a homecoming for the icon, as it had been venerated for almost three hundred years in the ancient

on it. San Matteo had been in the care of Irish Augustinians from 1656. When they were forced to leave San Matteo, they brought the icon with them, first to the nearby church of Sant’Eusebio, and then in 1819, to Santa Maria in Posterula. Blessed Pope Pius IX, who had prayed before the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in San Matteo as a boy, decided that the icon should be venerated on this site once more. Hence the homecoming procession on April 26th, 1866.

A tradition, commemorated by a picture and a plaque on a building on the Via Merulana, tells how Our Lady of Perpetual Help worked her first miracle that day as she entered into the keeping of the Redemptorists. A mother held her sick child out the window of their home as the

A mother held her sick child out the window of their home as the Icon passed by, imploring Our Lady to either heal the child or take the child to heaven church of San Matteo from 1499 until 1798. The Redemptorists had bought the land on which San Matteo stood in 1855, and built the Church of Sant’Alfonso REALITY APRIL 2016

icon passed by, imploring Our Lady to either heal the child or take the child to heaven. A few days later she was able to bring her healthy child to the shrine

to give thanks for its miraculous healing and to tell her story to the Redemptorists.

BEGINNING FROM LIMERICK The first copy of the icon arrived in Ireland in December, 1867 and was solemnly enthroned in the Church of Mount St Alphonsus.

A special programme for the jubilee year to mark the 150th anniversary of Redemptorist devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help will commence on 4 April, 2016 with a procession from Mount St Alphonsus to St John’s Cathedral.

A specially commissioned copy of the icon, the “Pilgrim Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help,” will be carried through the streets of Limerick. The procession will pause at the Augustinian Church on O’Connell St for a short prayer service, commemorating the Irish Augustinians who cared for the icon from 1656 to 1865 in the three churches where they ministered in Rome.

This procession to St John’s Cathedral will mark the beginning of a pilgrimage with the icon to all twenty-six Catholic Cathedrals of Ireland.

The Pilgrim Icon will also visit all the Redemptorist and Redemptoristine communities, as well as Holy Cross Abbey,

The first Icon in Ireland- at the Limerick shrine

which hosts a novena in honour of Our Lady of Perpetual Help each September. It will conclude with the arrival of the icon in Clonard Monastery on May 15th.

There will be other opportunities to join in the 150th Anniversary Celebrations and to spend time in the company of the Mother of Perpetual Help.

The Pilgrim Icon will be in Knock for the feast of the Assumption, August 15 th , which is also the beginning of the Annual Knock Novena. It will reach a bigger audience at the National Ploughing Championship in Tullamore from September 20th to 22nd.

A NEW SHRINE The Apostolic Nuncio, Most Rev Charles J. Brown, will inaugurate the Limerick celebrations by

dedicating a new outdoor shrine.

The unusual statue was carved for the Redemptorists by the famous Irish sculptor, Seamus Murphy (1907-1975), in 1959.

It originally stood over the entrance to Cluain Mhuire, the Redemptorist House of Studies in Galway. When Cluain Mhuire closed in 1990, it was removed to Marianella, which closed earlier this year. In Limerick, it will join two other striking pieces of art in the grounds of Mount St Alphonsus. The first is a crucifix presented the Drapers’ Apprentices of the city to mark the establishment of the Holy Family Confraternity in January, 1868 after a mission for men that celebrated the arrival of the icon.

The other is a statue of St Patrick, carved by Willie Pearse in 1901.

Archbishop Brown als o will present the specially commissioned Pilgrim Icon to those gathered for the celebrations. It was written for the Irish Redemptorists

by Fr Eugene Kapriel, a Polish Redemptorist. It was blessed by Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square

on March 23rd. The Our Lady og Perpetual Help in Pilgrim Icon will her new home at Mount Saint travel the length Alphonsus, Limerick and breadth of the country over the next few months.

It will then find a permanent home i n S t P a t r i c k ’s College, Maynooth, where it will be a reminder of the close links between Maynooth and the Redemptorists.

Many of the first Irishmen to enter the Redemptorists were diocesan priests who had been educated at M ay n o o th. Th e f i r s t P ro v i n c i a l Superior of the independent Irish Province, Andrew Boylan (1842-1910) had been bursar in Maynooth College.

He founded the p ro v i n c e ’s f i r s t foreign mission in the Philippines and ST JOHN’S AND THE FIRST St John's Cathedral, Limerick was later appointed MISSION Bishop of Kilmore. Archbishop Brown and Bishop Th e o n ly I r ish Brendan Leahy will then lead Superior General of the procession to St John’s the Congregation, Cathedral. St John’s holds a Patr i ck Mu r r ay special place in the memory (1865-1959), had of Irish Redemptorists, as the done most of his first Redemptorist Mission theological studies in Ireland was celebrated in i n th e co l l e g e the old Cathedral in 1851. A before he entered member of that mission-team, Fr the Redemptorists. Edward Douglas, was responsible Since then other for building the Church of Redemptorists have Sant’Alfonso, and he was its studied or taught the Rector when Pope Pius entrusted theological sciences the icon to the Redemptorists, with the mandate to make it in the college.

33

known throughout the world.

It was also Fr Douglas who sent one of the first copies to Limerick.

Archbishop Brown will celebrate and preach at the Jubilee Mass. The Mass will be followed by an all-night vigil, which will include prayer for healing, a Taizé-style “Prayer around the icon” at midnight.

Priests will be available all through the night to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation.

People will be able to pass through the Cathedral’s Holy Door and join in celebrating this Year of Mercy.

J U B IL E E O F O U R M OTH ER OF P E RP E TUAL HELP

Follow the Icon

The Icon of our Lady of Perpetual Help will visit the following cathedrals:

34

Limerick 4 April Opening of the Pilgrimage Procession to St John’s Cathedral from Mount St Alphonsus Limerick 4-5 April St John’s Cathedral Thurles 5-6 April Cathedral of the Assumption Killarney 6-7 April St Mary’s Cathedral Cobh 7-8 April St Colman’s Cathedral Cork 8-9 April St Mary and St Anne’s Cathedral Enniscorthy 9-11 April St Aidan’s Cathedral Waterford 11-12 April Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity Carlow 12-13 April Cathedral of the Assumption Kilkenny 13-14 April St Mary’s Cathedral Ennis 14-15 April St Peter and Paul’s Cathedral Esker, Athenry 15-18 April Redemptorist Church, Esker Loughrea 18-19 April St Brendan’s Cathedral Galway 19-20 April Cathedral of St Nicholas and Our Lady Assumed into Heaven Tuam 20-21 April Cathedral of the Assumption Ballina 21-22 April St Muredach’s Cathedral Ballaghaderreen 22-23 April Cathedral of the Annunciation and St Nathy Holy Cross 23-25 April Holy Cross Abbey Longford 25-26 April St Mel’s Cathedral

REALITY APRIL 2016

Mullingar 26-27 April Cathedral of Christ the King Ballyfermot 27-28 April Church of the Assumption (Redemptorists) Cherry Orchard 28-29 April Blessed Sacrament Church (Redemptorists) Drumcondra 29 – 30 April Redemptoristine Convent Chapel Dublin 30 April- 2 May St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral Derry 2-3 May St Eugene’s Cathedral Monaghan 3-4 May St Macartan’s Cathedral Cavan 4-5 May Cathedral Ss Patrick and Felim Letterkenny 5-6 May St Eunan’s Cathedral Sligo 6-7 May Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Dundalk 7-9 May St Joseph’s Redemptorist Church Armagh 9-10 May St Patrick’s Cathedral Newry 10-11 May Cathedral of St Patrick and Coleman Belfast 11-12 May St Gerard’s Redemptorist Church Belfast 12-14 May St Peter’s Cathedral Belfast 14- 15 May Clonard Monastery Close of Pilgrimage Additional Dates Knock Novena – 15 August National Ploughing Championship Tullamore – 20-22 September

There will be Masses on the morning of April 5 th, and a special prayer service for primary school children. The pupils of CBS Primary School, Sexton St, will have a leading role in this prayer service. The Christian Brothers, who have a very strong devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, are celebrating the bi-centenary of their schools in Sexton St. There were very close links between the Christian Brothers and the Redemptorists during the early days in Limerick.

The Brothers taught English to some of the Redemptorists, and Brother Walsh, the superior in Sexton St, helped find the site of Mount St Alphonsus and served as clerk of works on the first building projects.

The statue of St Patrick, carved

by Willie Pearse, 1901

THROUGHOUT IRELAND A similar programme will mark the arrival of the Pilgrim Icon in all the Cathedrals. There will be celebrations of Mass, healing services, prayer around the icon, times for silent intercession, opportunities to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation, prayer gatherings for primary schools. Pilgrims will be able to pass through Holy Doors and join in celebrating the Year of Mercy.

The Pilgrim Icon will also visit nursing homes, hospitals, day care centres, Poor Clare Convents, Centres for the Travelling People all over the country. The Clonard and Scala Youth Ministry Teams will lead celebrations for children and

The crucifix presented by the Drapers’ Apprentices of Limerick city

local o your Look t r parish o press r details fo n i bullet on’s visit to c I e of th rea your a

young people in some of the Cathedrals. There will be a special gathering for members of religious communities when the Pilgrim Icon visits the Redemptoristines in Dublin on April 29th/30th.

Just as the pilgrimage will begin with a procession in Limerick, it will end with a procession in Belfast. St Peter’s, Belfast, will be the last Cathedral to be visited by the Pilgrim Icon. There will be a procession from St Peter’s to Clonard Monastery on Saturday, May 14th and the pilgrimage will officially close with a Jubilee Mass in Clonard on Sunday, May 15th.

Clonard Monastery has been the centre of an intense devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It is also home to a vibrant ministry of peace and reconciliation.

Clonard is probably the only Redemptorist Church in the world where devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help has a strong ecumenical dimension.

Preachers from other churches are a feature of Clonard’s Annual Novena and hopefully, Clonard will witness to Mary’s role as Mother and Sister of all believers.

Fr Seámus Enright is rector of Mount Saint Alphonsus, Limerick and the coordinator of the Icon Pilgrimage.

Follow the Icon Coming to a Cathedral near you!

Celebrating 150 years with the Redemptorists Blessed Pope Pius IX presented the Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help to the Redemptorists for veneration in their newly-built Church of Sant’Alfonso, Rome in December 1865. It was much in need of restoration so it was April 26th 1866 before it was solemnly installed there. The Holy Father gave the Redemptorists a mandate: they were to promote devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help throughout the world. Just over a year later, the first copy arrived in Mount St Alphonsus, Limerick.

To celebrate this Jubilee year, the Icon will visit all the Redemptorist communities and the 26 cathedrals in Ireland, beginning Limerick on April 4th and ending in Belfast on May 15th 2016. Watch the local press or Reality magazine for details or go to: www.followtheicon.ie for information of its visit to your cathedral.

www.followtheicon.ie

YEAST E AR EORF M E R C Y

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THANK GOD

FOR SMALL MERCIES Forgive A YOUNG DOCTOR REFLECTS ON THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY YEAR OF MERCY FROM THE CONTEXT OF HER WORK IN A BUSY CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL.

BY LIZ LARKIN

REALITY APRIL 2016

me, I am going to unburden myself.

And in a very un-teacher like way, I’m going to do so by plagiarizing people much smarter than me. I suspect it’s a good thing, though, that Motorhead didn’t have many songs about mercy, or we’d be listening to some music.

The past few months, for me, have been plagued with indecision, uncertainty, blindsiding misery, and upheaval. I am sorry to say that I did not enter 2016 with much optimism. So I suppose it’s good that I’m not here to talk about optimism; I’m here to talk about mercy.

THE COMFORT OF SMALL MERCIES I found it apt that Pope Francis declared a Holy Year of Mercy, speaking of his thoughts on the Church’s mission to be a witness to mercy. He has, in my opinion, shed light on the need for forgiveness, on the human need for comfort, by simple and humble means. But mercy, like any of God’s gifts, is something that the harder I think about it, the less concrete it becomes. So where Francis says, “A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just,” Chesterton would say, “Children are innocent and love justice, while most of us are wicked and naturally prefer mercy.” So what is it? What is mercy? And where do I find it? Because I’ll tell you, right now, it feels like I need it.

There is no easy way to say this. Mercy, in my line of work, comes out in what we tend to code as, “Small Blessings” or “Small Mercies.”

It’s our roundabout way of saying that something is horrible, but it probably could have been worse. That I know the names and faces of the clergy and lay ministers that serve the hospitals I work in – small mercy; that of all the doctors and nurses that pass through the doors, they tend to know me – that’s a bit of a pity. I remember one horrible night, I was up and down the halls as much as our priest.

And the fourth time I went flying past him, he called out, “Are we winning?” I looked at him like he had five heads and told him he’d seen too much of me for it to be winning.

He smiled and said, “Ah, but at least I’ve seen you. Thank God for small mercies.”

AND GREAT SUFFERINGS I’ve had a bad run at work. The past half dozen shifts I’ve done saw the handful of things you only tend to see once or twice in a career. I’ve found myself saying and hearing the word mercy without knowing if it’s a real thing. The boy that crossed in front of the bus and was knocked down by a taxi – small blessing the cab wasn’t accelerating. That he only suffered a broken leg – small mercy. He’ll walk with a limp for the rest of his life, and only after the 5th surgery to correct the damage. But it could have been worse, couldn’t it?

The baby that was brought in at midnight, CPR from the ambulance crew for 30 minutes before reaching us. She had no pulse. In fact, she hadn’t had a pulse for at least an hour. It was 10 minutes before we were allowed to withhold resuscitation and declare death. That we didn’t recover a pulse in that 10 minutes – Small mercy. That I was 3 hours late leaving the department that night – shame, because, as HR told me, it was my own fault for not leaving on time.

Two days before Christmas, the little boy that mum knew just wasn’t quite right, she was right.

Cancer. Mets to the liver. Mets to the lungs.

Mets to the lymph nodes. There is no clemency there. No possible condolence to make right what had to be said. That I finished my shift two

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I’ve found myself saying and hearing the word mercy without knowing if it’s a real thing hours later, saw another four patients, stood as a shoulder for my colleague, for the nurses, for the mum and the grandmother, and managed to get into my car before crying – that was a small mercy.

That one patient, the one that everyone knew, because she was always so sick. Sick with her inborn problems, sick with complications, sick with the flu. Her charts stacked higher than her head, because she’d struggled with life from first breath. We all knew her. We’d all treated her.

And she was in again. And when she died, we thought, “Good for her.” Death - small mercy.

Y E AR O F M E R C Y

The limitlessness of God’s mercy is only fathomed by the inability to accept it.

It seems impossible

38 WHEN IT GETS PERSONAL I lost my cousin last May. He was 35; married; 3 young girls. It was cancer. A rare, nearly unheard of type of cancer at his age. No one knew how to treat it, but the survival rates were not promising. Months not years. It was aggressive. Weeks not months. And it metastasized. Days not weeks. And I had the first proper row with my mother in years, when she demanded that I be optimistic and stop being a doctor about it. But that’s what I do. It’s who I am. And when it was quick, I told my family that it was a small mercy and they nodded in agreement.

And with all these small mercies building up around me, above me, in me, I sometimes feel like I will break from them. It is too much to carry. All this mercy. Is it though? “I can’t go on… … I’ll go on” (Samuel Beckett).

If you believe the old poets, Mercy… has a human heart (William Blake). And suffering is a gift – in it is hidden mercy (Rumi). Forgiveness when we don’t seek it. Compassion when we don’t deserve it.

And somehow, it seems, that at the end of REALITY APRIL 2016

the day, the limitlessness of God’s mercy is only fathomed by the inability to accept it.

It seems impossible. Get up and walk.

And this is where mercy becomes real for me. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? (JRR Tolkien) I can’t. But: the very contradictions in my life are in some ways signs of God’s mercy to me. (Thomas Merton).

2016 has, thus far, been peppered with loss on many different levels for many different people. And we’ve discussed showing mercy to others. So my question for reflection now is this: Where do you let God’s Mercy into your life? How do you let it in? How are you merciful with yourself?

Liz Larkin holds a BA in Psychology and Masters of Education from the University of Notre Dame, and then qualified as a doctor from the Royal College of Surgeons. She currently is both a clinical practitioner and clinical lecturer here in Ireland, where she has lived for the past decade.

A RESOURCE FOR THE YEAR OF MERCY JOURNEYING WITH JONAH –THE STRUGGLE TO FIND YOURSELF By Fr Denis McBride CSsR In this new book Fr Denis has chosen to explore the character of Jonah – a somewhat unlikely hero. The prophet Jonah is a sympathetic partner, albeit a curious one, to help us review our lives. Although a believer in God, Jonah struggles to come to terms with the awful strangeness of God’s choices, particularly God’s mercy; he grapples to find his true self and purpose in life; he tries to flee from the presence of God; he is angry when he finds that God is not angry but all-merciful. Jonah is offered to us as an unusual teacher – awkward, reluctant, disobedient, opinionated, fearful, flighty: the prophet who remains stubborn to the end. But his story celebrates the beauty of the indiscriminate mercy of God, a message for our time.“ There is one constant in the book of Jonah: Jonah’s belief that God’s indiscriminate mercy extended to the pagans of Nineveh is not only inappropriate but incomprehensible: Jonah is scandalised by God’s mercy. Our minor prophet has to learn as we all do, that mercy is indivisible: we cannot plead for mercy for ourselves and then deny it to others.”

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Missionary Extraordinaire by John J. Ó Ríordáin C.Ss.R. Loss of Memory can affect nations as well as individuals. Through the publication of his attractive booklets Fr John J. Ó Ríordáin, CSsR nourishes the ‘nation’s memory’, his latest contribution being St Columban, missionary extraordinaire Ireland’s greatest missionary. Columban made such an impact on Continental Europe in the 6th century that he is still remembered there with admiration and wonder. He died at Bobbio near Milan in 615 AD, and next year, his 1400th anniversary, is being celebrated widely on the Continent. We are invited to celebrate at home too; not only for personal reasons but also for the sake of national health! Ó Ríordáin’s booklet is well within people’s reading range; and at €3 it is probably within their financial range as well.

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

THE BOY ON THE TRÓCAIRE BOX THE TRÓCAIRE BOX IS A FIXTURE OF MANY IRISH HOMES EACH LENT. THE IMAGES ON IT MAKE AN IMPACT. A VISITOR TO UGANDA 40 NEVER EXPECTED TO MEET THE BOY WHO FIGURED ON IT FOUR YEARS AGO.

BY COLM HOGAN

I

remember seeing Daniel’s face on the front of the Trócaire box in 2012 and wondering about what life must be like in his village in northern Uganda - imagine my amazement just a few weeks ago when I found myself standing with Daniel in that very village!

Since his story featured on the Trócaire box four years ago, Daniel has continued his schooling and now attends a primary boarding school in nearby Lira. He still wants to be a doctor, just as he said in the video from four years ago. It was a great privilege to meet the young boy whose face already seemed so familiar to me.

MEETING THE FAMILY I was in Uganda with eleven priests from the Archdiocese of Dublin, led by Fr. Paddy Sweeney, and accompanied also by Mary Coogan of Trócaire. We were travelling to Uganda to see the practical difference their support has made to the lives of people in the developing world.

REALITY APRIL 2016

We sat with Daniel and his family and heard his mother, Betty, say how proud she is of her son. Emmanuel, who is Daniel’s older brother, is also studying and wants to become a nurse. He entertained us with a song, played with a musical instrument similar to a ukulele, which spoke of Trocaire’s help to his family. It was a very touching moment.

In nearby Barlonyo, we visited the site where approximately 400 people were massacred by the Lord’s Resistance Army in 2004. It was very emotional and heart rendering to be standing in an area where such murder and torture had taken place just 12 years previously, and a reminder of the horrors experienced by people like Daniel and his family in the past.

STRANGER IN AFRICA It was my first venture into the African continent.

My first impressions of Uganda, as we descended into Entebbe, was of green fields and dirt roads.

As we travelled from the airport to the heart of Kampala I was struck by the massive posters of President Museveni in the run up to the elections in February and also large billboards of Pope Francis from his recent trip to Uganda last November.

Indeed, we managed to attend Mass at Munyonyo, one of the sites where Pope Francis had visited. The mass took place in a small chapel erected over St. Andrew Kaggwa’s graveyard at Munyonyo. It was a very emotive celebration with about 70 locals and great singing and participation.

Travelling through Uganda, I noticed the thousands of people on the sides of the road trying to make a living. The red soil of the road, leading into many shanty residential villages, was a contrast to landing in Dublin airport and driving into the centre from there.

ANOTHER DANIEL We met some incredible people on our short visit to the country. In Mbikko we met 60 community

We also visited the Ugandan Episcopal Conference(UEC) in Kampala where we met first Monsignor John Kauta, the secretary to the Bishops’ Conference. He gave us a great welcome and tour of a large premises with many diocesan offices where 156 staff work.

Msgr John described Trócaire as a “God-send” to the UEC in relation to the ongoing programme in operation on domestic violence. There is great cooperation with the different dioceses and priests speaking in their parishes with regard to what is happening on the ground level in many homes. As a parting gifts we received mementoes of the recent Papal trip. We went to lunch to Café Chateaux and joined by Fr. John Lutti, a Ugandan diocesan priest who has served in the Archdiocese of Dublin.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE We visited another gender-based violence project that Trócaire supports in partnership with the Muslim Centre. Similar to the programme with the Catholic Bishops Conference, the Muslim Centre work with Muslim sects through the support of the Imams (Muslim clerics) and village community leaders. The centre empowers leaders to effectively handle domestic violence.

Overall, there is 60% domestic violence throughout Uganda, which is one of the reasons why Trócaire puts such a focus on it. In one village activists who are undergoing community based health programmes and volunteering in their own village communities. I was really touched by the story of Daniel, a married man with nine children.

He stated that the training he received on the programme changed his behaviour towards the care he gave his wife and children and his life is much better now.

At a women’s group we heard the personal stories of the women and their challenges with domestic violence and their efforts now to address the imbalance of power within their own community.

Interestingly, their group included four men, which emphasises the work of the community activists to change attitudes and behaviours.

These projects, and the many others we visited during our stay in Uganda, left a huge impression on everybody in our group. The sense of humanity from everybody we met as they recalled the challenges they have faced was insightful, inspiring and life-changing.

Daniel 2012

community, over a period of three to five years, domestic violence had reduced by 52 per cent - a concrete consequence to changing the norm as to how women are seen.

We paid a visit to the Irish Embassy in Kampala and received a very warm welcome there from Frank Kirwan, a representative of Irish Aid, who came in to meet us even though it was the equivalent of a bank holiday in Uganda. He told us of the warm relationship between Irish Aid and Trócaire and of the work of Irish Aid in Kampala and Uganda. A great deal of support from Irish Aid is going towards an area in North west Uganda called Karamoja - this is where poverty is increasing and according to the Karamojong, the main factors responsible for poverty include persistent poor harvest as a result of dry spells and droughts. In this area in March 2002, an Irish priest, Fr. Declan O Toole very sadly was shot dead at a checkpoint.

He was from the Mill Hill community of priests.

Overall, this visit left a deep and lasting impression on all of us as we met with people whose lives had been positively touched by the generosity of parishes across Ireland.

Colm Hogan is Trócaire’s Church Officer. Visit trocaire.org to read more about this year’s Lent campaign.

Daniel 2016

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Breaking the Word in April 2016 www.proclaim.ie

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:

Rochfortbridge Parish Mission (9th – 15th April 2016) Mission preached by Laurence Gallagher, Kieran Brady and Niamh O’Neill Magilligan, Derry, Parish Mission (9th – 15th April 2016) Mission preached John Hanna and Sarah Kenwright Clifden Novena (18th – 26th April 2016) Novena preached by Derek Meskell and Niamh O’Neill Dromintee Parish Mission (23rd – 30th April 2016) Mission preached by Denis Luddy and Noel Kehoe St. Joseph’s Carrickmacross Parish Triduum (29th April – 1st May 2016) Triduum preached by John Hanna

SPRING

Accepting mission bookings for 2017

Ennismore Retreat Centre

16th April - €55 “The Ecology Encyclical of Pope Francis”- an inspiring call to Contemplation and Action Fr. Donal Dorr 17th April 10.00am-4.00pm The Bible - Word of God: Preached for 800 years by the Dominican Order Fr. Gerard Norton O.P. Fr. Benedict Hegarty O.P. 7th May - €55 Mental Health, Spirituality & Well-Being 10.30am-4.30pm Professor Patricia Casey & Martina Lehane Sheehan 21st May - €55 10.30am-4.30pm Day of Reflection Fr. Donagh O’ Shea OP

ST DOMINIC’S

28th May - €55 10.30am-4.30pm Living, Loving, Learning - The Sacred Path of Relationships Martina Lehane Sheehan 5th – 9th June Res - €385 ”The Word was made Flesh” Fr. Stephen Cummins OP. 12th June Res - €400 “Blessed are the gentle the call to live with Compassion and Acceptance ”- Mathew 5:4 Martina Lehane Sheehan 4th – 8th July Res - €385 The Eucharist. Mystery of Life.

Fr. Benedict Hegarty OP. 10th – 15th July Res - €460 Centering Prayer.

Sr. Fionnuala Quinn OP.

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.

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

COM M E N T REALITY CHECK PETER McVERRY SJ

PRIVATE PROPERTY

MORE AND MORE OF THE WEALTH AND RESOURCES OF THE EARTH ARE OWNED

BY FEWER AND FEWER INDIVIDUALS. PRIVATE PROPERTY CARRIES WITH IT SERIOUS OBLIGATIONS OF CARE AND JUSTICE In 2010, one half of the world’s wealth was owned by 388 individuals; in 2015, it was owned by 62 people.

“What I have acquired legally belongs to me and I can do whatever I want with it,” is the dominant attitude to private property today.

This was first articulated in Roman Law, during the 500 years dominance of the Roman Empire, and forms the basis of the modern capitalist economy. This “absolute conception of ownership”, is taken for granted by most people today.

Christianity is a way of life that challenges many of the attitudes and values of the societies we live in. One of the most fundamental challenges is the attitude to private property.

In the early years after Jesus’ death, this Roman Law understanding was alien to the early Church. Everything was held in common. Indeed it was a non-negotiable condition for joining the community that a person had to give up their possessions and put them at the disposal of the community. They took seriously Jesus’ warnings about the injustices associated with the possession of wealth and how possessions may take over one’s heart. Indeed, in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus talks about wealth more than almost any other subject: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12 v 34).

As time passed and the community grew, holding everything in common became more and more impractical.

The Church came to accept the value of private property on the grounds that “self-sufficiency” provided freedom from anxiety, an important

while the poor remained hungry and homeless was compromised.

goal of the Christian life. But it was very clear that possession of property was not an end in itself, nor was it a licence for amassing riches for one’s own benefit. All one needed was sufficient to meet the necessities of life; after that, possession of property was an opportunity for sharing with others who were more needy (Clement of Alexandria c200).

For the early Fathers of the Church, the ethical possession of private property did not depend on how it was obtained (The Roman Law), but on how it was used. Possession of private property can only be justified if it is used rightly, that is to say, taking into consideration the needs of others. For them, giving to the poor was not an act of charity, but an act of justice.

“If each one would take what is sufficient for one’s needs, leaving what is in excess to those in

distress, no-one would be rich and no-one poor… Will not one be called a thief who steals the garment of one already clothed?

Is one deserving of any other title who will not clothe the naked if he is able to do so” (Basil the Great c370).

Or as Augustine of Hippo said, around 400AD, “The superfluous things of the wealthy are the necessities of the poor. When superfluous things are possessed, others’ property is possessed.”

However, with the conversion of Constantine, and the recognition of Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire, Christians and the Church began to acquire extensive properties. With wealth came power. The warnings of Jesus about the injustices associated with the possession of money were quickly forgotten. The Church’s ability to challenge the accumulation of wealth

While the Church always had an intuitive sense that the pursuit of wealth kept others poor, it only began to focus on what really causes the poverty of the dispossessed in the last hundred years or so. It began to identify injustice, not just in the hearts and pockets of individuals, but in the economic structures which generated and maintained inequality. Prior to the collapse of atheistic socialism, the Church felt obliged to defend Godfearing capitalism and its inherent right to private property and so it only felt free to criticise the abuses of capitalism. However, in recent decades, the Church has felt much freer to criticise the very structures of capitalism.

For example, Pope Francis said: “Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringingabout greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting”.

(The Joy of the Gospel, 54) Obscene levels of wealth exist alongside desperate poverty around the world. What would Jesus say? We only have to read Luke’s Gospel to find out.

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UNDER THE MICROSCOPE DEAR POPE FRANCIS CHILDREN FROM AROUND THE WORLD WERE ENCOURAGED TO WRITE TO POPE FRANCIS. THEIR LETTERS HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED, ALONG WITH THE HOLY FATHER’S REPLIES REVIEWED BY BRENDAN McCONVERY CSsR Dear Pope Francis: The Pope Answers Letters from Children Around the World Published by Messenger Publications, Dublin. Price €14.99

The 44

author of one of the classic children’s stories, The Little Prince, claimed it was a children’s story written for grownups. Much the same might eventually be said about this delightful collection of letters to Pope Francis and his replies, but from his earliest audiences, it has been quite clear that Pope Francis loves children, enjoys their company and takes them very seriously indeed.

The organisation of this book and its presentation is the brain-child of Fr Antonio Spadaro, an Italian Jesuit theologian and editor of the Italian Catholic weekly, La Civiltà Cattolica.

He is best known for his very candid interview with Pope Francis, which was published internationally shortly after his election in 2013. With the help of friends and contacts around the world, 259 children from 26 countries were encouraged to write letters to the pope in their own language and to illustrate them with their own coloured drawings. From the collection, thirty letters chosen for the pope to answer. Fr Spadaro recorded his replies and put together the collection, with some concluding notes on how the book was made.

The result is an extremely attractive book. Its size makes for easy reading, perhaps even for reading aloud to

REALITY APRIL 2016

children who can also look at the coloured drawings. Each two page spread contains on one page, the child’s letter in its original language, along with the coloured drawing illustrating its theme and a sidebar containing a translation of the letter into English, a picture and brief description of the writer. On the opposite page is the Holy Father’s reply in the form of a letter to the child, often commenting on a feature of the drawing, as much as on the contents of the letter itself. It has already been published in Italian and several other languages. The English edition was first published by Loyola Press of Chicago: the Irish edition is published by Messenger Publications and printed to a very high standard

by Nicholson and Bass, printers of Reality.

Anyone with experience of children knows that their questions are often unexpected, original and at times, so profound that they leave an adult stumped for a reply. The questions here are the same, as the children were not overawed by the status of the pope. The single Irish contributor, eleven year old Clara, writes in Irish: “A Phapa Proinsias, a chara, an airíonn tú mar Phápa gur tú athair ag an domhain iomlán?’ (“Dear Pope Francis, do you feel like father to

everyone?”) Ten year old Karla from Nicaragua wants to know if bad people have guardian angels too, while Faith from Singapore wants to know why the pope needs a tall hat (mitre) and why some saints have wounds (stigmata). Prajila’s question about whether Pope Francis like dancing draws again the admission that he enjoyed dancing the tango as a young man, and the concluding observation that David’s wife was sick with too much seriousness when she objected to his dancing, and that ‘people who can’t express joy are always serious. Dance now children, so that you won’t be too serious when you grow up!”

Sometimes, a child’s pain is concealed in a question. Seven year old Luca from Australia writes: “My mum is in heaven. Will she grow angel wings?” The answer reassures the child that his mum has not grown angel wings, she is still the person he know, only more radiant that ever and advises him “Think of your mother like this: beautiful, smiling and full of love.” Ivan, a thirteen year old boy from China wants to know if his grandfather, a good man but not a Catholic, will go to heaven when he dies.

This collection of letters is not simply a book of pleasant

thoughts for children. In a very real sense, it covers many of the thorniest questions of faith from the tradition of classical Catholic theology. To use that tradition’s language for a moment, it raises questions about the state of the glorified body, the salvation of those outside the Church, the mystery of final repentance and how to pray.

Any priest who has celebrated Mass with children knows that the most attentive people in the congregation are often their parents or grandparents. Pope Francis is no exception and for their benefit he occasionally includes a story that might be just a little difficult for a child to grasp, such as when answering the boy asking about the salvation of his non-Catholic grandfather, he tells the answer of the Curé of Ars to a woman whose husband committed suicide by jumping off a bridge: “Look, between the bridge and the river, there is the mercy of God.” This book will make an ideal First Communion or Confirmation gift.

Better still, it offers families a crash course in the basics of the Faith.

Fr Brendan McConvery CSsR is editor of Reality

GOD’S WORD THIS MONTH DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY The stor y of the appearance to Thomas and the other apostles is always read today SECOND SUNDAY because of its reference OF EASTER to ‘eight days later’ or after Easter. The first part of the Gospel describes the appearance to the apostles when Thomas is absent and the second is an appearance when he is present.

Jesus’ greeting, “Peace,” is probably just ordinary Jewish greeting, shalom, but John often uses such phrases with an awareness of their deeper meanings. Shalom in Hebrew suggests wholeness. It looks back to Jesus’ promise at the Last Supper to give them his peace (cf. John 14:27). This scene has been

APRIL

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described as the ‘Johannine Pentecost’, even though it takes place on the evening of the first Easter Sunday. Matthew twice used the words ‘binding and loosing’ for the forgiveness of sins (16:19, 18:18). They have the same sense as John’s forgiving and retaining and they reflect the rabbinic use of ‘binding and loosing,’ as making authoritative and binding decisions for the community.

The second part of our Gospel is the story of the appearance to Thomas. Thomas receives a lot of attention in John. It pokes gentle fun at him, implying that he is both impetuous (e.g. at the raising of Lazarus), and a doubter, yet he is the one who will make the most daring act of faith in the Gospel. Like the appearance to Mary, the Thomas incident emphasises that faith in the Risen Lord is a deeply personal

decision. His confession “my Lord and my God' is a fitting climax to the Gospel, and also to our celebration of the Easter festival.

The best known picture of Thomas is by the Italian artist, Caravaggio. He does not make Thomas an attractive figure. He is a middleaged, care-worn man, marked with poverty.

His clothing is worn and hands are the hands of a worker, the nails well bitten and with dirt under them. Yet it is this dirty hand that Thomas thrusts into the wounded side of the Saviour. That is what divine mercy is, God’s capacity to allow us to come to the riches of his heart.

Today’s Readings Acts 5:12-16; Ps. 117 Rev 1:9-13, 16-19; John 20:19-31

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The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio

God’s Word continues on page 46

GOD’S WORD THIS MONTH STRANGER ON THE SHORE The scene described in today’s Gospel takes place at dawn by the shore of the Sea of Galilee. There AY is a hint that the disciples THIRD SUND OF EASTER were still uncertain about what the Cross and Resurrection meant, and had gone back to their old ways in the fishing trade. After a night in the dark and cold, there was no fish. As dawn was breaking, a stranger called from the shore, telling them to throw their net on the far side of the boat. So great is the catch that they cannot haul the net aboard but have to drag it behind them to the shore.

The Beloved Disciple is the first to recognise that something mysterious is happening here.

Only the Lord could have spoken with that kind of authority. Peter, anxious to get there first and as impetuous as ever, jumps into the water. John can convey a great depth of meaning by the smallest detail. When Peter reaches the shore, the first thing he sees is a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it and a small pile of bread. The only other reference to a charcoal fire in John’s Gospel was in the courtyard of the high priest after the arrest of Jesus. Near that fire, Peter had denied him three times and probably never wanted to

see another charcoal fire in his life, especially if Jesus were anywhere near it! Jesus greets them with an invitation to eat a meal of bread and fish for breakfast. The conversation around the fire is uneasy – ‘none of the disciples was bold enough to ask him “Who are you?”’ It is Jesus who breaks the strain by asking Peter if he loves him.

The question is asked three times, corresponding to the three times Peter had denied him. Peter, probably wondering whether Jesus is going to bring up his denials, is clearly uncomfortable until he finally blurts out with the impetuousness of the old Peter: ‘“Lord, you know everything! You know I love you!”’

Each of Peter’s protests of love is met with a new commission – to feed the lambs and the sheep.

The fisherman has to learn a new trade, that of shepherd. It will require new skills and in the end will lead him to the same fate as Jesus met. In his old way of life, he was a free agent and could go wherever he liked. If he is to follow Jesus, he must be prepared to die in his service.

As we read this Easter story, we notice how, like last Sunday’s, it gives us an insight into the life of the Church. The Church’s mission is founded on the Easter faith of the community in the Risen Lord. The service of its leaders is to be modelled on that of Jesus the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep.

THE SHEPHERD’S VOICE The gospels we read during APRIL Easter are not the accounts of the Resurrection alone.

They also include earlier FOURTH SUNDAY passages of the Gospel in an attempt to get a deeper OF EASTER understanding of what the death and resurrection of Jesus means.

One of the great images of the Easter season is the Good Shepherd. Long before they ever carved the first crucifix, the Christian of Rome and other places carved images of the Good Shepherd. It was especially favoured for the decoration of tombs. The tomb of a child in the Catacombs of St Calixtus in Rome dates

back to the third century and it has an image of the Good Shepherd, with the inscription: “Apuleia Chrysopolis lived for seven years and two months; her parents made this for their dearest daughter.” One can imagine how the image of the shepherd lovingly carrying the young sheep gave comfort to the parents in their loss that their little girl had found a real protector.

Today’s Gospel takes up three short verses from John 10, the “Good Shepherd Chapter”.

Just as sheep learn to trust the voice of their shepherd, the followers of Jesus listen to his voice speaking to them. Secondly, just as sheep follow the shepherd trusting that he will lead them to rich pastures, the followers

APRIL

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REALITY APRIL 2016

Today’s Readings Acts 5:27-32, 40-41; Ps.29 Rev 5:11-14; John 21:1-19

of Jesus follow him because he has promised to give them eternal life. Finally, there is an added assurance: the sheep that are in the care of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, are also in the care of God the Father, the Shepherd of Israel.

Today’s Gospel may be short but it is rich in meaning. Listening for the voice of the shepherd is above all a commitment to daily reading of the scriptures, in the confidence that in them we will hear the Shepherd’s voice speaking to us with love and confidence.

Today’s Readings Acts 13:14, 43—52, Ps 99 Rev 7:9, 14-17 John 10:27-30

THE REALITY CROSSWORD NUMBER 3, APRIL 2016

SAYING GOODBYE For the next two Sundays, our Gospel readings will APRIL be taken from the long ‘Last Supper Discourse’ in the Gospel of John. This is the longest version of the final conversation of Jesus with his disciples and it extends over five chapters, concluding with a final FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER solemn prayer (John 13-17). First of all, let’s make some general comments on this section. The main reason why John’s version is so long is because he was trying to imitate something that would have been familiar to his first readers. The principal character in many writings at that time made his ‘last will and testament,’ not in the form of a written document, but as an intimate address to his followers. Paul delivers such a farewell to the church leaders of Ephesus (Acts 20: 17-35). We can then read these chapters as the ‘testament of Jesus’ to his followers, a legacy to guide them as a community, as they strive to be faithful to him in the years after the resurrection. The Jesus who speaks these words is not just someone who is shortly about to meet his death. He is also, as John knows well, the Risen and Glorified Lord of the Church who has promised to remain with his own to the end through whatever difficulties lie ahead.

Today’s Gospel is from the beginning of the ‘farewell of Jesus.’ Judas, the traitor, has just left the supper room to betray him. For Jesus, this signals the beginning of his glory. ‘Glory’ is a key word in the Gospel of John, especially in this part of it. To grasp the truth about Jesus is to ‘see his glory’ as the only Son of God, the Word made flesh (John 1:14).

The great American Catholic Bible scholar, Fr. Raymond Brown suggests that we should divide the Gospel of John into two major sections – the ‘Book of Signs’ (the first twelve chapters) and the ‘Book of Glory’ (the final nine, from Supper to Resurrection). In the eyes of the world, Jesus’ mission ended in failure when he died the death of a slave or common criminal, crucified in an unclean place outside the city. From the perspective of God’s saving plan, this was no failure but a glorious triumph. If Jesus was nailed to a cross, it was so that he could be lifted up, exalted in glory. That process of glory will begin very soon. In it, Jesus will be revealed as the faithful servant of God who was despised and rejected but who would be raised to great heights (Isaiah 52:13).

A testament usually included the bequests a person wished to leave to his heirs after his death. Jesus’ first bequest to his community is the love commandment – they are to love one another as he has loved them. Just before this, he had given a powerful example of this kind of love as he washed the feet of his disciples. The climax of the Book of Glory will be the crucifixion when he laid down his life for his friends.

Love is the Easter mark of the disciple of Jesus.

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SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD No. 1 ACROSS: Across: 1. Daniel, 5. Abrupt, 10. Utopian, 11. Babylon, 12. Edam, 13. Pesto, 15. Urge, 17.

Sos, 19. Baobab, 21. Pelmet, 22. Coyotes, 23. Vortex, 25. Tattoo, 28. Nod, 30. Nile, 31. Linen, 32.

Ague, 35. Climate, 36. Absolve, 37. Shanty, 38. Ensign.

DOWN: 2. Avocado, 3. Ibid, 4. Lances, 5. Abbots, 6. Ruby, 7. Pilgrim, 8. Superb, 9. Insect, 14.

Solomon, 16. Facet, 18. Resat, 20. Box, 21. Pet, 23. Venice, 24. Raleigh, 26. Tagalog, 27. Obeyed, 28. Ninety, 29. Defame, 33. Cain, 34. Asps.

Winner of Crossword No. 1 Ivor Path, Galway.

ACROSS 1. Censored free speech. (6) 5. Discover the position of something. (6) 10. Turkish empire and upholstered box seat. (7) 11. Sufficient numbers for meetings to go ahead. (7) 12. Eager and enthusiastic. (4) 13. The personification of evil, Satan. (5) 15. Garment traditionally worn by women in South Asia. (4) 17. Removable cover for a container. (3) 19. Tricking, deceiving. (6) 21. Tidewater moving back to sea. (6) 22. Goth slain by David. (7) 23. Croatian capital. (6) 25. Wants something without regard for the rights of others. (6) 28. The Curate's one was good in parts. (3) 30. Heavy hammer used for driving wedges. (4) 31. The burning crime. (5) 32. Turn over the pages in a book casually.

(4) 35. A tendency to do nothing. (7) 36. Buried Roman city. (7) 37. Worked a series of jobs short term. (6) 38. A cardinal, representing the Pope. (6)

DOWN 2. Belgian port and city. (7) 3. Precious stones. (4) 4. Biblical hero who escaped the lions' den.

(6) 5. One of the states of matter. (6) 6. Large perching raucous bird. (4) 7. High sea wave caused by an earthquake.

(7) 8. Extremely wet, saturated. (6) 9. Requesting information. (6) 14. Unwelcome early Irish visitors. (7) 16. Winged spiritual being. (5) 18. Regard with disgust and hatred. (5) 20. A person's mouth informally. (3) 21. Abbreviation at the end of a list to indicate there is more. (3) 23. Landlocked country of Southern Africa. (6) 24. Hard yellow Swiss cheese. (7) 26. Earth's Highest mountain. (7) 27. The underside of an arch, balcony or overhanging eaves. (6) 28. A short journey to deliver or collect something. (6) 29. The teachings of Jesus and the apostles. (6) 33. Each movement of the feet which makes up a dance. (4) 34. Self-righteously complacent. (4)

Entry Form for Crossword No.3, April 2016 Name:

Today’s Readings

Address: Telephone:

Acts 14: 21-27, Ps.144 Rev 21:1-5, John 13: 31-35 All entries must reach us by April 30, 2016 One €35 prize is offered for the first correct solutions opened. The Editor’s decision on all matters concerning this competition will be final. Do not include correspondence on any other subject with your entry which should be addressed to: Reality Crossword No. 3, Redemptorist Communications, Unit A6, Santry Business Park, Swords Road, Dublin 09 X651

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