The Reds June 2018

POPE BLESSES THE WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES ICON PAGE 3

GENERAL VISITATION ESKER PAGE 7

SNOWED UNDER! DUNDALK NEWSLETTER OF THE IRISH REDEMPTORISTS

Volume 8 Number 1 • June 2018

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A TRIP TO REMEMBER From singing Zombie, painting houses, working with special needs children, and teaching hurling, to seeing abject poverty everywhere, students from St Clement’s Redemptorist College in Limerick experienced the trip of a lifetime.

Full story on page 4

A VISIT FROM THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY Full story on page 2

Dr Welby closing the morning prayer

Being presented with an icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help

Walking along the Peace Line with Rev Steve Stockman

WHEN AN ARCHBISHOP CALLS On Thursday February 23, Dr Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and first prelate in the Anglican Communion, paid a short visit to Clonard monastery.

Archbishop Welby was accompanied by about 70 men and women clergy on an informal peace pilgrimage visiting parts of Northern Ireland. The guests arrived early in the morning, and spent time reflecting on some biblical perspectives on peace in the conference room before joining the community and congregation for morning prayer at 9am in the church. After the prayer, gifts were exchanged. The archbishop gave Clonard a reproduction of a page of an illuminated Irish Gospel from the library of Lambeth Palace and Fr Noel Kehoe CSsR gave the archbishop a handpainted copy of an icon of the

Mother of Perpetual Help. Speaking about the ongoing political crisis in Northern Ireland, Fr Kehoe described it as “a failure in hospitality... a going out to meet the other to discover, in friendship, a common good. The open space is narrowing, and leadership is found wanting.” He recalled Frs Al Reid CSsR and Gerry Reynolds CSsR who had been involved in the years of talks across community divides that led to the Good Friday Agreement. The group then divided into smaller groups to walk along the ‘Peace Line’ that runs along the back of the monastery. Fr Ciarán O’Callaghan CSsR and Ed Petersen accompanied them on the walk and pointed out landmarks as they made their way between the Falls and the Shankill.

CLONARD ON THE RUN

NEW DEACON

A huge well done to all the young people and the youth ministry team in Clonard Monastery on their great achievement of completing the Belfast City Marathon. Congratulations!

A joyous occasion for the Redemptorist Community in Maputo, Mozambique as Br Jean Carlos CSsR (Fortaleza) was ordained a deacon on April 28, 2018. We hold Br Jean Carlos CSsR in our prayers.

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CONFESSIONS IN LIFFEY VALLEY Frs Michael Murtagh CSsR and Stan Mellett CSsR in the pop-up confessional

“It’s Holy Saturday, one of the busiest Bank Holiday weekends of the year, and for the parishes of Maynooth deanery there is an exciting initiative taking place in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in West Dublin,” reports Jane Mellett, pastoral assistant in Ballyfermot parish. “Fr Stan Mellett CSsR, from Ballyfermot Assumption Parish in Dublin, suggested that we should get out of the church and bring the sacrament of reconciliation to the ‘streets’. Sr Carmel Earls from Clondalkin said ‘Let’s do it, I know the general manager in Liffey Valley.” And that was it. Priests, pastoral workers, deacons and volunteers from parishes across the Maynooth deanery got on board. It was fascinating to watch people’s reactions when they saw the signs and could not believe that we were so publicly advertising confession, a chat or a blessing. Some laughed, while others took photos to post on social media. Volunteers were kept busy chatting to passers-by, and a steady stream of people continued to pour in throughout the day to the ‘pop-up confessional’. At numerous times there were even queues!” For Christina Malone, parish pastoral worker in Clondalkin, “It’s not just about the sacrament of reconciliation; it’s about the chats you have outside the ‘shop’.

It’s about the ones who pull out their phones to post the ‘event’; it’s about the guy who passed by three times before he decided to go inside. It’s about the one who saw but didn’t want to engage and it’s about the ones who find it easier to go through the door of a shop for reconciliation than through the door of a church.” The event was a fine example of the church moving out of its comfort zone and meeting people where they are at.

MAY GOD GO WITH YOU

Mihai meets Pope Francis

Pope Francis blesses both Mihai and the Icon

It was a wonderful day for the Irish Redemptoristine Sisters and Mihai Cucu who wrote the Icon for the World Meeting of Families celebration which will take place in Dublin in August 2018. Mihai had the joy of

meeting with Pope Francis, during which the pope blessed the Icon and Mihai. We are so very proud of our Sisters and Mihai for this wonderful Icon and its ability to call us to prayer and to stillness.

JOHN PAUL II AWARD WINNERS

By Orin Hampson A group of seven young people from Belfast are currently participating in the Pope John Paul II award. The group are developing skills as young leaders by taking an active role within the church and building on their social awareness. We have developed a programme in which the participants are working collaboratively with the altar servers within Clonard and will be active during the Novena and our summer projects.

We have recently had one group graduate with the Gold JPII award recognising their outstanding commitment and hard work within Clonard Youth Ministry.

Clonard youth minister Brendan Dineen with some of the students who graduated this year with their John Paul II certificates

The current group of John Paul 11 students in Clonard Monastery

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3,955 MILES TO DESTINATION

A life-changing stay in Mazabuka, Zambia for the students of St Clement’s College, Limerick

By David Tidswell “3,955 Miles to Destination” rolled across the screen on the back of a headrest, illuminating the face of a rather tired but wholly awake teacher. In that moment the sense of the scale of this journey

anxious, nervous silence but homeward bound these boys were changed: more confident, more grateful and more the men they could be than the men they thought they should be.

The group from St

St Clement’s College Limerick visit St Clement’s School, Mazabuka

dawned on him, a journey that had started 14 hours previously in Southern Africa.

His thoughts turned to how his students must feel; 16 and 17 years old, thousands of miles from home, tired, sore and never having embarked on a journey like this before. He craned his neck to check all was well with his companions. Each one sat wide-eyed, not a sign of the enormity of the work that they had undertaken.

The outbound journey had been filled with an 4

Clement’s Redemptorist College, Limerick embarked on a 15-day immersion project to Mazabuka, Zambia with the overseas development and volunteering charity SERVE this March; a lifechanging experience that saw ten students and three teachers live and work in partnership with a local African community.

Landing in Lusaka, Zambia the students quickly cast their preconceptions aside as we sat in rush hour traffic; not the trip to Africa they had been

expecting. Soon though the lights of the city faded and well-kept roads led to cracked tarmacadam.

Soon, the tarmac faded to dust roads peppered with potholes. As the bus laboured through rural Zambia, the students began to realise that this was not a typical school tour.

Arriving in the Assumption Parish was like coming home. The boys in the community house welcomed us like old friends and sang a welcoming song with gusto which would be at home in Thomond Park on match day. After much coercion, St Clement’s representatives gave their rendition of The Cranberries’ hit Zombie; a clumsy but fitting tribute

to one of Limerick’s finest.

The next day the work began. The group travelled to a local farm to spend two nights camping under the beautiful African sky.

Local farmer Mr. Semana taught the group how to clear land, and the hurlers of the group taught him how to rise and puck; a fair trade.

Returning to Mazabuka, the group toured Luyobolola Primary School and made plans for a few renovations.

Painting was the name of the game for the next few days: a community gym, the exterior of the primary school and a preschool.

As our budding Michelangelos finished all

At the City of Joy Home for Girls, Mazabuka

home that evening, the sense of pride in Ireland and Irish people was hard to quell.

As the work and visits ended, the friendships grew stronger. Nights of laughing, cards and Monopoly proved passports mean nothing when people come together and enjoy themselves.

As the journey came to an end, one memory

The Irish group, proud supporters of Munster!

paintwork, students really began to become part of the local community, interacting with the people of Mazabuka daily.

A visit to Flamboyant Special School, a school for students with special needs, was a highlight of the trip for the students.

Time was spent talking, helping out with a sports day, playing ball and most

importantly laughing.

Further visits took place throughout the next few days with students visiting their namesake, St Clement’s Basic School along with St Paul’s Community College and City of Joy Girls Home.

The next stop on our whirlwind tour was Ndeke, a community compound which houses thousands

Decorating rooms at the City of Joy Home for Girls, Mazabuka

Teaching the techniques of hurling

of people who are living in poverty. A walk through Ndeke highlighted the gravity of the daily living conditions of the people here. That nervous energy that presented itself on the journey to Zambia made itself known again.

No doubt, students and teachers alike will never forget the people surviving on so little. A light in the dark presented itself like it often does. Littered around the compound were plaques emblazoned with Irish name after Irish name who have supported this community. Although it was a quiet bus journey

burned bright. The amazing girls of City of Joy kept us dancing and singing for a lot longer than teenage boys would care to admit and as a parting gift sang the song we first sang when we reached Mazabuka: Zombie. It is fitting that our project was bookended with this song by a Limerick woman, someone who proved that success is a mindset.

This is deeply ingrained in the Zambian people, a mindset the students from St Clement’s College will hopefully emulate in their future lives.

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GONE TO GOD FR LOUIS EUSTACE CSsR 1935-2017 Fr Louis Eustace, who hailed from Newtowncashel, County Longford, was the son of Patrick Eustace and Brigid (McNally). He was born on November 5, 1935; the very first of many babies to be born in Nurse McGuire’s brand new nursing home in Longford town. He professed his vows as a Redemptorist on September 14, 1954 in Esker and was ordained on January 21, 1962 in Cluain Mhuire, Galway. He died on November 30, 2017 in Dundalk.

He attended the local primary school in Newtowncashel where his father was principal. In 1948 there was a Redemptorist Mission in the parish where Louis was an altar server; he was a 13-year-old at the time. During the mission one of the missioners, Fr Hugo Kerr, suggested to him the idea of studying for the priesthood. Louis was greatly impressed by the mission and this more than anything else influenced his decision to join the Redemptorists. It was a happy decision and he had the wholehearted backing of his parents and family.

Following his ordination, he left Ireland in mid-1962 for our mission in the Philippines. His first assignment was in Cebu city where he studied pastoral theology, and the following year he was appointed to the mission team in Iligan, Mindanao, southern Philippines.

About twelve months later a new appointment saw him moving to our then Juvenate (secondary school) in Iloilo where he taught for six years and was for a period its director.

Shortly after his return to Ireland in 1970 he was one of five Redemptorists assigned to Our Lady of Hope Parish in Springfield, Massachusetts, some 90 miles west of Boston. Many of the parishioners were Irish or of Irish extraction, and indeed over a thousand people in the parish were from West Kerry (Dingle and points West, Blaskets, etc). Many still spoke Kerry Irish as their normal language, among themselves.

In Springfield, Fr Louis often conducted wakes and funerals in the Gaelic language. He writes, “They were great people: (a) extremely generous and (b) incorrigibly conservative! If something was not the practice ‘back in Kerry’, then they wanted no part of it...! But I loved it there.”

In 1974 on his return to Ireland he taught for a year in St Clement’s College, Limerick. In 1975 Fr Pat O’Sullivan returned from the Philippines. Pat was anxious to teach, and Louis was equally anxious to get out of the college, so a happy and painless switch was made.

His new assignment saw him become part of the Limerick-based Solemn Novena Team. He found great

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satisfaction in conducting huge Solemn Novenas in major towns and cities around Ireland. Besides his participation in novenas he also took part in preaching missions and retreats in the south of Ireland.

His first mission was with Fr James Murphy in Kildimo-Pallaskenry, County Limerick. Commenting on this mission, he said: “There was a major controversy going on in the parish as the parish priest had built a new church in Kildimo and sold the old one to a local farmer! All hell had broken loose and I am not sure that our mission did much good!”

Then about 1990 Fr Louis packed his bags again, moving northwards to become a member of St Joseph’s Community in Dundalk. Here he was deeply involved in the apostolate of the community, both in the church and as a member of the Dundalk parish mission team. In the mid-1990s he began experiencing erratic heart beats and his condition was diagnosed as fibrillating (irregular) heart. On doctor’s orders, he began to concentrate on work in St Joseph’s church and parish. At this time, he was given responsibility for the weekly novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help and the people looked forward to his homilies and singing. He had a distinctive voice which one confrère described as “Churchillian”.

In the spring of 2014 he suffered a stroke that left him paralysed and affected his speech. As a result, he spent his remaining years in nursing home care.

Louis had a whimsical sense of humour which remained even in his sickness. An example: shortly after his admission to hospital a couple of his confrères called to visit him and a nurse checked to see if it was alright. Louis responded: “Do they have an appointment?” It is a pity his sayings, as well of some of his mischievousness, were not collected as recalling them would be a source of future amusement.

FR PAT REYNOLDS CSsR 1939-2017 Fr Pat, from Mungret, County Limerick, was born on April 13, 1939 and came from a family with a strong Redemptorist pedigree. Two of his uncles were Redemptorists, Fr James (†1971) and Fr Gerard (†1970). In his own generation his brother, Fr Gerard junior (†2015), became a Redemptorist and was well known for his ecumenical ministry and his part in the Northern Ireland peace process.

Pat professed his vows as Redemptorist in Esker in September 1957, and then proceeded to Cluain Mhuire, Galway to begin his clerical studies. In 1961 he was one of a group of five students chosen to go to the Philippines as the nucleus of the new, fledgling studentate in Cebu. He was ordained a priest on December 15, 1963 in Cebu. The Philippines was the scene of his ministry for the following two decades where he was involved mostly in mission preaching, as well as parish work.

In 1982 he returned to Ireland for a holiday, intending to return to the Philippines the following year. However, this phase of his life came to an abrupt end in January 1983. Due to a crisis in the formation system in Cluain Mhuire, he was asked to take over the office of director of students and very generously accepted and took on this responsibility, though his heart was still in the Philippines.

About four years later, in the autumn of 1987, he was appointed master of novices. In 1993 he was elected to our provincial council, and in 1996 he moved to the mission team in Esker. He was rector of Esker from 2002-2005. This was followed by two years in Scala, our youth ministry community in Cork.

Fr Pat came to the parish of Cherry Orchard, Ballyfermot, Dublin in September 2007 and this was to be his community until his death. He was parish priest for seven years and for the remaining years served as curate.

A serious illness (2014/15), kept him away from his parish for a good period, but following a remission, he returned to the parish and ministered there again, until a few months before his death.

Pat died on November 22, 2017 at Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross, Dublin and is buried in the Redemptorist plot in Castle Mungret Cemetery, County Limerick.

No account of Pat’s life would be complete without reference to his encounter with Imelda Marcos, First Lady of the Philippines, when he was stationed in Tacloban, incidentally the home town of Mrs Marcos.

Pope John Paul II was due to visit the Philippines in 1981 and she proposed to build a huge cathedral in Manila. Doing this would involve the relocation of thousands of squatters. One Sunday he preached against these plans suggesting it might be better to help the poor rather than destroy their homes.

Mrs Marcos was in town and had already got reports of the sermon. She first demanded that he report to her house, but she then decided to come and see him. Pat received her in the parlour as he would any other visitor. If she expected to meet an angry priest she was unprepared for Pat’s gentle presence. He listened respectfully to her while she told him that he was confusing and upsetting the people. When she had her say she went on her way.

On the following Sunday Pat got up and said to the congregation, “I’m very sorry, I hear that last week’s sermon may have been unclear, that I have probably confused and upset people, so to clear up any misunderstanding and to make it clear exactly what I said, I am going to preach the same sermon again.”

This happened during the martial law period, but shows Pat’s will of steel! By the way the cathedral was never built.

Some quotations that give a flavour of Pat’s life.

“Pat had that wonderful ability of listening to you.”

“A remarkable human being, faith activist and kind priest.” In Esker and Cherry Orchard: “He was well

known and loved in the local community, because he knew so many people by name and spoke to them.”

“A lovely man.” “A genuine friend to so many and a committed Redemptorist.” “Flexible and adaptable, even at a personal cost.” “Non-threatening, nonjudgemental.”

FR PETER BYRNE CSsR 1931-2018 Fr Peter Byrne was born on July 23, 1931, in Bortle, Kiltegan, County Wicklow. After attending the Redemptorist College, now St Clement’s in Limerick, he joined the Redemptorist novitiate in Esker. He was one of the first group of novices to enter the novitiate in 1949 following its transfer from Dundalk. He professed his vows on September 8, 1950, and was ordained a priest on September 22, 1957 in Cluain Mhuire, Galway. Though he had been unwell for a number of years his death came rather suddenly on February 19, 2018, in Carrigoran Care Home, Newmarket-on-Fergus, County Clare.

Fr Peter had been a member of Mount St Alphonsus

community, Limerick, for the past 45 years.

Following his ordination and pastoral year, he was, in 1959, appointed to the vice-province of Cebu and ministered there for about twelve years. On arrival in the Philippines he taught for a period in the juvenate in Iloilo and later was engaged in mission preaching in the barrios.

On returning to Ireland in 1971 he was assigned to Mount St Alphonsus, Limerick. Here, he was one of a small team appointed to revitalise the church ministry.

After a year or so he took on a new venture which developed into the Family Prayer Movement. To promote this he commenced to write and publish little books on aspects of family life, prayer and devotion to the Eucharist. Besides, he was a strong advocate of devotion to Our Lady. To propagate the Family Prayer Movement and his booklets he travelled to Africa and India.

Another feature he developed was a week-long ‘Healing Mission’ in parishes, where he encouraged devotion to the Mass and to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. During the evening devotions he, with the assistance of another priest, would carry a

monstrance through the church blessing the people individually with the Blessed Sacrament.

He held strong views, and this was reflected in his preaching which was akin to that of evangelical preachers. He made no secret of the fact that the priesthood and priestly ministry was the main feature of his life.

A parish priest writing in his church bulletin sums up Peter thus: “In his preaching he was in the true Redemptorist tradition. Love of God and of His Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

The softly, softly approach to religion common in post Vatican II Ireland, was not for him. He was unafraid to speak of the four last things, Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell. But he did not make people fearful of a loving God, rather of sin and consequences. Many of you still have some of his booklets. Hold on to them and read them to your children. I last met him in Knock which he frequently visited. It was clear that he was very unwell. He just shook his head when I asked him how he was. I am sure he was well prepared when the final call came. He may even now be distributing his booklets in Heaven!”

GENERAL VISITATION

By Fr George Wadding CSsR To tell the truth, none of us was looking forward to four full days of meetings in Esker from April 16 to 20 last.

We’re getting a bit old for that – but that’s precisely why we were there. Most of the Redemptorists in our Western world have passed the ‘best before’ date and new stock is hard to come by. Eight years ago in Rome serious work began on dealing with this rapidly evolving situation. Papers were written, research was done and all the researched material was analysed and studied at our 25th General Chapter in 2016. A lot of what happens at these gatherings goes over our heads in the local communities, but not this time. The Vicar General (Fr Alberto Eseverri) and North European Regional Superior (Fr Johannes Römelt) paid us an official visit to make sure we understood the situation. In great detail they reviewed with us the 52 decisions taken by the General Chapter. Step by step they explained the General Government’s plan of action over the next six years. With ever decreasing numbers we must cut back.

So, what apostolates might get priority and what ones would go? If the Dublin province is not viable on its own with whom should we join - with another ageing province like London or with St Clement’s in Europe or maybe with a thriving young province like Liguori (India)? They call it restructuring. A lot of work done, a lot still up in the air, and a lot to be done!

Frs Dan Baragry CSsR, Johannes Römelt CSsR, Coordinator of the Conference of Europe, and Alberto Eseverri CSsR ,Vicar of the Congregation

Group discussion during the visitation

The gathering at Esker, County Galway

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SNOWED UNDER! By Fr Michael Cusack CSsR The Great Snow of 2018 took its toll on the whole country at the beginning of the year. The heavy snowfall meant that many places of work and worship had to close for health and safety reasons. The Redemptorist church in Dundalk had to close its doors for three days. It was a stroke of luck! During the closure, Storm Emma, the Beast from the East, blew so hard that a stained glass window fell in and shattered and by the grace of God no one was in the house of God at the time! To allow for the church to reopen for the weekend Masses an appeal went out to get helpers to shift the snow. Once again we were snowed under… this time with kindness! A very willing cohort gathered to make short work of the task and had the grounds in ship shape in jig time. Thank God for all these blessings!

MEITHEAL – JUSTICE, COMPASSION, HUMILITY The Meitheal Youth Leadership Training programme has been running in Scala since 1992 and similar programmes operate in dioceses around the country.

The programme is about empowering transition year students in leadership skills. They work as part of a team within their own school communities.

They try to put into practice the inspiring message of the prophet Micah to show justice, compassion and humility in their monthly activities in their schools.

The Scala Youth Ministry Team facilitates four training blocks and trains over 200 students annually.

The strength of Meitheal is that each year past graduates of the programme return to volunteer as facilitators. On April 15, 2018, 200 students gathered for a graduation ceremony marking the end of their year as Meiteal Teams and celebrating the learnings and achievements.

On April 23, a new group of students began their training and by May 18, 215 students from 24 different schools across Cork city and county were trained to return to their schools in September and carry on the work of Meitheal for the coming year.

202 young people on graduation day

Fr Seán Myers CSsR

EXPLORE 2018 By Orin Hampson Clonard Youth Ministry invited young people to take part in a five-week Lenten programme. During this time we explored some of the faith and life issues facing young people, by taking part in workshops and activities. The group journeyed with one another, shared stories focusing on what faith means to each of us and reflected in times of prayer and meditation. The activities were facilitated by present and former Youth Ministry leaders, along with a current YouCat volunteer who helped the group understand what we believe through the Catholic Youth Catechism.

Published by Redemptorist Communications, Unit A6, Santry Business Park, Swords Road, Dublin D09 X651 Ireland. Telephone: 00353-1-4922488 www.redcoms.org © REDEMPTORIST COMMIUNICATIONS June 2018 (Printed on May 20, 2018)

Some of the Explore group following the session on the YouCat.