âThe Curateâs Reflectionâ is a weekly message from our curate, offering spiritual insight, encouragement, and thoughtful meditation on Scripture. Rooted in the rhythms of parish life and the liturgical calendar, each reflection invites our community to pause, pray, and draw nearer to Christ in the midst of daily life.”
Light a candle to find something lost – October 12th 2025
Reading a book addressing the parishes of tomorrow, I came across a reference to the different ways some people have found their way to discovering God in their lives. Some only managed a weak glimmer of faith, searching in the dark for something that might reflect an image that would point to a God encounter. There is seldom a moment of dawn when searching for God in our lives. You might say, what about the dawn on that famous Sunday over two thousand years ago? The eye-opener that morning wasnât about searching for God because the searchers already knew God. No, like the moth in its cocoon, we know because of our understanding of natural occurrences that it will change into something greater. Similarly, the disciples that Sunday morning ran to see the cocoon that held the body of God inside. Would it reveal Him in a new light? I often discuss the various paths people take when seeking meaning and a connection to God in their lives. Some carry a candle; some are blinded by the bright lights of the city, and others are called to leadership, going ahead and leading people on a safe path. Others find God behind high walls and gates. They see him in prayer and quiet reflection. Others have chosen to take the road ahead to lead the people, and often find that what they thought was familiar and comfortable is no longer recognisable. For years now, I’ve often wondered where that road was going. If you have been in the city lately, you’ll agree that change is taking place all over, because that is the way of social and economic change, and thatâs good for our country. Somewhere in the middle of all of this development is our church and its members. Our people are advancing and becoming involved in the new changes in the world, especially our young people. The church in this synodal year needs to reassess its perspective on the modern world and its challenges, as these same difficulties are faced by the people who attend church every Sunday. I am aware that the world offers a no-holds-barred approach to people today. It doesnât care. World distractions have loose rules, making it easy for the unsuspecting victim to get caught in the web of distraction. The church, on the other hand, has rules, and thatâs good. The central focus in all discussions among priests and bishops is the lack of attendance at Sunday Mass. There are plenty of brainstorming meetings taking place to find a solution to the problem. But the elephant in the room isnât just the lack of filled pews; it can also be how the Mass is celebrated. Since I was a child, I have often been amazed at the tolerance of people as they have to listen to a preacher going on and on, like when you get a ringing in your ear and someone is talking to you. You hear, but you can’t understand a word. The Mass, like life, needs to be moulded into a structured version of the Gospel. I knew a priest who would bring two or three books to the pulpit to preach on. He mostly quoted intellectual passages which no one understood. Another would tell a story to make a point, but couldnât move on and kept making the point in his ensnared state. Both were excellent men, but people were in dread when they appeared on the altar. Itâs a problem facing a lot of parishes today. The difficulty is that there is more to a parish than the church building. The celebration on the altar has to be visible all around the community. To be fair, all priests intend to take people on a journey so that they may meet Jesus in their lives, and that means walking with people. Young people especially need to feel engaged in the celebration they are attending. They are used to being in the thick of things, with their friends, and if it’s in a church, they need to be recognised for who they are. The Gospel speaks to everyone, not the few, so the homily should speak to everyone in the church, shouldnât it? This is why myself and others need to be aware of how we present the gospel message. Jesus speaks to his disciples, “speak to everyone” by first sharing the Gospel to all the whole world. We priests should be excited and confident when speaking with truth, & kindness. Our words should be seasoned with a salty taste, reflecting God’s divine wisdom and love, not ours, but His word. Â We sometimes, when examining the absence of people from church, though Covid played its part in encouraging people to stay home and attend mass on TV, and for those ill, thatâs ok. But the hard question is seldom answered because we always fall back on the so-called converted, never seeking those who donât attend church, asking what keeps them away. Maybe having a focused mass on Sunday, addressing young people, or having a youth minister trained to lead the young. There are so many options if we think outside the box. The challenges facing our church today are not all on the outside. I look forward to the conclusion of the Synod of Hope.
Archived messages:
Sunday – October 5th 2025
Walking on Howth Head last Sunday evening, I had to stop several times to look at the scenery and say what a wonderful country I live in. So many visitors of all nationalities walking on the cliffs with smiles of satisfaction at this beautiful sight just outside our capital city. I sat down at the place where it reminds us of a shameful time in history when we had to put markers for overhead fighter bombers to see that they were over EIRE, a peaceful nation. As I sat there watching the planes turning on their approach to Dublin Airport and the Stenna line below heading out of the bay across to the UK made me think of the transition our country has made since the tricolour was flown over the GPO for the first time all those years ago. Two people sat on the bench beside me, speaking in a language I discovered was Spanish. They were taking photos of each other, and of course, I offered to take the two of them together. Please, with this sign behind us the man said. I obliged. They asked me what this EIRE meant. I explained as best I could the difference between my country being neutral at one end and at another at war, and so signs like this were all along the coast to protect our people. They told me they found Ireland “beautiful” and its stunning green landscapes. They are staying in the city, and someone in their hotel suggested they take a bus and visit Howth. They were glad they did and said we are a very friendly people. A nice compliment to receive, especially when some tourists have a negative experience when visiting our city. I left them taking some more photos as I moved on towards the village. You get to do a lot of thinking and say a lot of prayers while walking alone. It clears your head for a while. Thinking and praying while walking, some call it the practice of “prayer walking.” It helps concentration and increases a spiritual connection, which gives a person a break from the mundane troubles of the mind. I get a greater sense of purpose and peace on those short breaks. There is so much going on in all our lives that combining physical exercise with spiritual reflection can help us connect more deeply with our faith and help us face life’s challenges. Sadly, I donât do enough of it.
I was listening to a priest on the radio one of the mornings during the week. He was talking about the situation concerning the drop in attendance at church on Sundays. Of course, he spoke about other things as well. His attitude was one of upbeat when it came to the practice of faith in community, for example, Mass on Sunday. We priests have to be upbeat and excited about our own faith and not treat it like a special gift only given to us, who will share it with those who choose to listen to our sermons or fall into the image of a good catholic. Indeed, can it be said that any of us is a good Catholic? Cheerful is a hard word for a lot of us today, no matter what type of organisation we work in. People often recognise the signs of stagnation when there is no growth in the spiritual connection between two people, and when it is a priest, it can be very damaging, especially if the encounter is with young people. Development can be resurrected when the person begins to understand what the root cause of their sluggishness is. I often think that the problem with groups of well-intentioned people who have lost their Zip for the job is that the skills are no longer being utilised, and there is a need to re-energise with another similar group of like-minded people. Maybe the odd workshop. Age has no power over an enthusiastic spirit if that spirit is as alive now as it was at the beginning of taking on the ministry, especially in the case of a priest. For myself and a lot of priests, the end goal of our ministry provides us with the fuel for that growth.
When I lived in Finglas in the 1950s through to the 1980s, Finglas was then a home of prominent gangs, some poverty, and had challenging social conditions (to be polite). Every week, I experienced a small taste of life in Finglas. Being a youth leader, I experienced the pressures of gang interference in the lives of some of our young people, and they and their families endured the challenges that even today face the young trying to grow up in a constructive and positive environment when our surroundings encourage a different outcome. If we are not positive thinkers in our vision, our church, what’s the point?
My experience of growing up in challenging times shifted my thinking about the power of diversity among people. Doesnât God love everyone? What happens next? The example I used before about not judging and I use again. The young fellah running towards me at speed. My first thoughts: Am I going to get a box in the mouth? Hey, aren’t you a priest? âMy mate has just died; will you pray for him?â I judged, and I was wrong. Being recognised is important today.
Harvesting of Creation – September 28th 2025
Speaking with a friend the other day, the conversation moved from people we both knew who had passed away on to ourselves in general and where we are at this present time in our lives. As a priest, I have a certain slant on the faith I was born into and believe. And he, on the other hand, though he was also born into the Catholic Faith, left it soon after he reached his teenage years. He discovered for himself that he had difficulty in relating to the preaching of priests about God. Often, when explaining a point of doctrine from the pulpit, he said the priest would preach too much theology to the congregation and presume that whether they understood it or not, they should accept what he said. My friend argues that He was never, as a young man, in a conversation with a priest and had so many questions, such as, âBut why?â. Roughly, I feel things are difficult to understand as a young person, and maybe a broader discussion where people can come and talk about where they are in their faith journey would be good. While we both agree to respect our own understanding of a creator, we did agree that we play a very important part in the creator’s plan. My friend has a lovely vision of God’s presence in everything and everyone. And as we encounter them, we discover another link in the chain of awareness of the Creator. Over the past weeks, our parish has been focusing on Creation and the Harvesting of Nature’s Gifts, as spoken of by our late Pope Francis. He presented to us that beautiful image of the heavenly body touching the earthly. As his namesake, St. Francis spoke of the beauty of our created world in his beautiful poem, Brother Sun and Sister Moon. Every generation evolves and contributes to the development of the world as it moves through time, but not every generation has benefited. Life for every generation has been either wonderful or awful. Millions of young lives were wasted in the two major world wars, and today, too many young people are suffering because of war. God, our creator, has positioned Himself in the centre of all creation. Today, Creation is groaning in pain and on the point of extinction because the urgent attention needed is not being addressed. This yearâs Conference (COP16) concerning Creation in Cali, Colombia, appropriately based on the theme âPeace with Nature,â highlighted the urgency of addressing the situation facing our world. The superpowers met together to come up with solutions to the problem. We have just come through a summer of devastating fires, floods, and water shortages in many countries, and it is a worrying time globally. Some populations are moving in mass into already overstretched economies. We Christians are called to protect and nurture Creation given to humans as a gift, working in partnership with others to correct the imbalance to hand it on to future generations. Our human connection, whatever our race or creed, makes peace both essential and delicate. Wars are a terrible distraction and are stifling the efforts of improving the situation in struggling parts of the world. There are many religious denominations in the world with many leaders, but it seems only the voice coming from Vatican City is the loudest, even if it seems ignored by some. It is the birthright of every child to know it belongs to a piece of ground and be able to call it home. We can only hope for better days ahead for peace in the Holy Land. I feel Godâs peace will emerge only when countries work for justice, unity, reconciliation, and harmony with each other and creation. Change takes patience, understanding, and trust. Amos, the farmer prophet, stood up to the leaders of Israel, who were shamefully mistreating the poor and the weak. Yet all he cried out for was justice and peace, and for people to be let get on with their lives. That was 800 years before Christ. And now, after over 2000 years, his cry is still unheard, not only in his own country but it seems in a large part of our world today. The gospel of Luke should give a shiver up the spine of most people today, as the poor are more recognised in heaven than the rich. Just as in last week’s readings, the rich are not condemned for being rich but only when they abuse their power at the expense of the poor, and we who are smug in our own attitude too, will be called to give account of ourselves. The rush for the Aras has begun now, with posters going up on our streets depicting the faces of those who want to live in the park. Michael D will be a hard act to follow, donât you agree? A man who commanded huge respect from all who stood beside him. Michael D, for me stood taller than anyone who stood beside him. Let’s hope we get a president of the people for the people who will uphold our traditional Irish values.
Go raibh maith agat, a UachtarĂĄn Ă hUigĂnn, as bhur seirbhĂs dĂĄr dtĂr agus dĂĄr ndaoine.
Sunday – September 21st 2025
Last Sunday, we celebrated the Feast of the Holy Cross. It occurred to me that every Christian church has on its wall a Crucifix displaying the image of Christ going through the agony of giving his all for the sake of us and those in the world who couldnât care less, and sadly for those who claim to love him. He went through so much pain on our behalf so that we would be spared from it ourselves. The world today is full of pain, mostly inflicted by the powerful on the weak, and we are traumatised. It causes some to act in a way they would never have thought of. Pain, when it comes, be it emotional or physical, can be so heavy it becomes unbearable, and sadly, some people who feel they are alone fall deeper into the abyss of despair. The image they have of the man on the cross has become distorted in the midst of their illness. My own sense of Jesus in my life is those words he uttered from the cross when he spoke to his father, âForgive them they donât know what they doâ. In the garden of Gethsemane, the evening before he died, he had also fallen into that human despair when trapped in a life-changing situation. Jesus asked his father to please help him. I cannot cope on my own, he said. Aren’t these words the words of anyone caught in a life-threatening illness or an impending approach of painful death? Those two sentences spoken by Jesus encourage me, and I hope anyone caught in a low-esteem situation about themselves. I was saddened on hearing of the death last week of a well-known sportsman in England. It is such a lonely road we tread when our emotions are troubled and we feel there is only one solution to end our pain. God doesnât bless us with illness, like I often hear from religious preachers, but he does help us deal with our illness through prayer and good people available to assist. As we journey through this Jubilee Year of Hope, there is a call to look at our own personal relationship with God and our church. That means our involvement in the Mass. The mass is central to our Christian calling, and we find value in our commitment to the celebration. That is not to speak ill of anyone who is not joining the Sunday gathering. They, too, have their own way of living the faith in their home with family and a lifestyle that may be under pressure. For me, the gathering at Sunday mass brings it all together, especially receiving the Eucharist and hearing the Gospel preached. If we enter church on Sundays with an open mind, we will discover for ourselves that the Mass joins us to Jesus as he speaks to us of his love and as he feeds us with himself in Holy Communion, and unites us with the whole Church throughout the world and across the centuries. We are one with those we love, those we miss, those we have never met. The Mass brings together all humanity and makes us one. It is the dining room where the Master sits us down at the table to wait on us; it is the surgery where the heavenly doctor heals us; it is the school classroom where he teaches us the understanding of His infinite love. So many of our people here in our parish are missing such a rich experience every Sunday because they choose not to join the people at Mass. When we decide to go to Mass, we join with those gathering all over the world. We are part of the entry procession. The whole liturgy is a sign of our being part of a Pilgrim Church, as Pope Francis often called it, journeying towards the heavenly city together with all those who have gone before. In the Mass, there are no individuals, only a sense of being with common-minded people. The priest is not the only member of the congregation dressed; we come robed as the Baptised as Priest, Prophet, and King. The priest, when he can, should process from the people as part of the gathering, ascending from the back of the congregation to the Altar, and if there were room on the Altar, we would all be there as one body. Instead, we process with the gifts. We bring our contribution of bread and wine to the priest for the great event celebrating Holy Thursday. We prepare to experience Jesus himself before our very eyes on the altar. We process to the altar to consume Christ’s Body with our brothers and sisters, having already consumed His Word, and then, sent by the priest, in procession as one Body out into the Community, we go and become to the world what we have consumed. Thanks be to God!
Ministry of Youth – September 14th 2025
Last Sunday, while watching the canonisation of Saints Carlo Acutis and Giorgio Frassati, I could not help thinking of everything going on in the world outside Saint Peter’s Square. Thousands of youths gathered there, listening to Pope Leo addressing them about the importance of the contributions they have to offer to the future of our Catholic Church and world peace. It was like standing on a rock in a sea of imaginings. I say this because the future is unclear for our young people at this perilous time in our world. I was caught up, like those listening to the Holy Father speaking, in the hope that the atmosphere of prayer and celebration would permeate beyond the square, out over and beyond the bullets and the guns. These thoughts went through my mind as I watched a beautiful celebration of our church’s rich liturgy in honour of Carlo and Georgio. I remember listening to a priest one time giving a retreat, saying saints are not made, they are ordinary people who become extraordinary by the way they live their lives. There arenât many people in our world today who would come to mind if we were asked to name some living saints we know. We would struggle a bit. Yet there in that square, a remnant of the Roman Empire stood the leader of the universal church, not an emperor of a now dead civilisation, but a voice which has echoed throughout history and will reverberate into the future. It is a voice that has preached peace right down the ages. The pope quoted King Solomon on the death of his father, David, âI have wealth, youth, power, what must I do to be careful not to lose it allâ? Life in the world today seems to have very little value to some people. We only have to look at countries at war, and if there is no war, there are violent protests. Our youth have very few role models today. Yes, a good footballer or a singer-musician is always a runner, but not all young people are into sport or music. I think Pope Leo was addressing the problem when quoting 1 kings. Telling all those young people in the square not to squander their wealth of gifts God has given them. I know I am always going on about our young people watching and not seeing and listening, but not hearing the call to become involved in their church. Too much washing of the hands with excuses like 0â we tried or we have too much to do already. And to a certain extent, thatâs true. But give up, never. Parents, when going on a journey, do not set out on the journey and leave their children behind to look after themselves no they encourage them along. Unless the children have been brought up in a family with a strong, loyal bond of love and respect, they will soon find alternative activities to occupy themselves. In every community, there is always someone in the shadows ready to step in and offer to help an idle young mind. In todayâs fast-paced world, providing guidance and support to young people is more important than ever. As part of their spiritual journey, youth need a solid foundation in their faith to navigate the challenges they face. The priest today needs to be part youth leader and part pastor of his community. Celebrating the Mass is only a part of his ministry. When it comes to the future of the Catholic church, the role of young people cannot be undervalued. Engaging young minds in religious activities not only supports their connection to God but also secures the churchâs future. We know little of Jesus life between age twelve and thirty but I am sure like all teenagers and young men he was involved in lifeâs activities. Working in the shop with dad and meeting friends after work. Involving himself in conversations about world and local events. Not unlike today. Moving from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Through youth ministry, the young become active participants in the growth and energy of a church. I sometimes think the church expects too much of our parents and teachers in the way of nurturing the minds of our young in religion. The old saying God is the three-legged stool of faith and each leg represents an important aspect of the faith. Home, School and Church. if one fails, the fallout can be terrible for that young person, and they should never be blamed for it. itâs been said before. For a church to grow, it must be watered and cared for. It needs many gardeners and some specialists, too. Caring for the small seeds and taking care to prune where needed. Thatâs the basis of a healthy church. Our celebration next Wednesday evening for all our church volunteers is part of our gardening process, and I pray God’s blessing on all who spend time helping in his work. Gina Heraty, released last week in Haiti, in describing her ordeal, said what brought her through it all was prayer. Knowing someone is praying for us lifts our souls. Our young people have a great sense of prayer, even if outside the church. Gene is persevering with the young, and so should we!
Sunday – September 7th 2025
Take a moment to reflect: We all need to find a space to reflect on life. Some things in our lives evoke different emotional responses, and privacy is often called for. Sitting in a church, looking around you at all the beautiful, ornate statues or ceilings, you find a sense of peace descending on you. You have found a moment. All of a sudden, nothing outside of the space you occupy exists. There is just you and that feeling of presence, yours and a sense youâre not alone. People visiting the same church are busy lighting their votive candles or kneeling and praying on their beads, but it is not a distraction. Instead, it’s an encouragement to remain in the moment quietly listening to your own silent breathing. Itâs a safe place to be yourself. In the midst of all thatâs going on outside of your space, there is a sense of stillness, and only you can break it with one single movement. You are in total control of your world for these few minutes. Wars, famine, and crazy world events are now within your power to solve? You replace incompetent politicians with peacemakers and arrange where food mountains should go, so they benefit the most vulnerable. And to solve the problems of the crazy world, well, that might take a bit of time. However, to begin with, I would focus on all the women in the world. Women have an inner instinct to know and to love. They are born with a mothering attitude, whether they are mothers or not. Women influence all our lives. Children react to a woman either through listening and obeying or responding to that sense of love expressed in that genuine hug, now and then. Love and kindness are instinctively present in a woman, and she sees it as her duty to pass them on. Like seeds, they will grow and spread across borders of jealousy and mistrust. Women and children see the world differently from men. Men see a problem and solve it on their terms? A woman reads the problem and will resolve it to everyone’s satisfaction. Yes, a lot can happen in those quiet, still moments in a church. You might see beautiful features and workmanship and leftovers of past lives, priests long gone, and parishioners who once sat where you are now. But in these moments, a sense of peace and closeness becomes visible between you and God, a spiritual relationship that injects those thoughts of problem-solving world events. People often experience an internal connection, finding rest, support, and a reminder of divine guidance, even amidst the silence and loneliness of the sacred space. God is never too far away from us, and though He is always with us, we tend not to recognise him except in those moments of either life’s chaos or genuine quiet prayer moments of relationship, like sitting in silence. As I write, things are not getting any better for people in troubled parts of our crazy world, and it seems some people are making matters worse with ill-thought-out comments. What if I were president or Pope, or some other person for a day? Donât we all think like that from time to time? Wouldnât the world be a much happier place if we were in charge? Looking at my TaizĂ© Cross the other day, I thought of my friend Joe from Howth parish, who brought the image back from his visit to Brother Roger. The boys in Beneavin College make the Cross for the imprint to go on. They did a great job of it. I intended to form a TaizĂ© prayer group here in St Canice, just like we used to have when I was a youth worker in Finglas West. A long time ago now, but it worked. We had one Taize Holy Hour here on Good Friday after the Stations of the Cross, which was well attended. The cross of TaizĂ© is seen as a symbol of Reconciliation and Love. Saint John Paul II said when visiting TaizĂ© that it was a place for all those who thirst. He said you would come away satisfied. I know during my own visit there, my thirst was indeed quenched both by the prayers and the music, but also by being among a community of people lost in our crazy world, Catholics, Protestants, and no Religion at all. There is something special about stillness and gentle music. You are fully immersed and fully alive. We are celebrating the canonisation of two new saints today in the church. The two are Carlo Acutis, age 15, and Pier Giorgio Frassati, age 24. Pope Leo will perform the ceremony. Pope Francis was so excited about performing the ceremony himself, but events in his own life took charge. Perhaps a few people might help organise a Taize Holy Hour to honour the two new saints, especially Carlo Acutis. A Wednesday evening might be a suitable time, as both young men had a great devotion to the Holy Eucharist. We intend to have a sacred space in St Canice’s for our young people to sit, pray, and find their own moment. Carlo is known today as The Great Influencer of Youth.
Sunday – August 31st 2025
It’s been a great summer for everyone, especially all our young people. The younger kids, of course, have no worries; summer is an adventure, as is life itself. But for those moving up from primary to secondary and those waiting on results from exams, itâs a summer of hope and anxiety. Looking back to last January, the annual celebration of Catholic Schools Week was marked by parish communities. At least in some parishes it was. During this dedicated week, school communities were expected to pray, explore and discuss the 2025 theme, Alive in Christ!. We were asked to focus on service in our schools, our family, our local community, and service in our faith groups. The bishops told us to be grounded in the dedication to service of our communities. Catholic schools continue to set a high standard in the provision of education in Ireland. This is the result of the dedication of all in the school community: pupils, parents, staff, parishes, and those who volunteer to serve on Boards of Management. Christ the Teacher provides the example and sign of what it is to be fully human, to be fully alive, and our local schools endeavour to model the education that they provide on this example.
Generations of people have benefited from Catholic schools, and our society is all the better for their contribution to the common good. The bishops encouraged Catholic schools to explore the meaning of our late Pope Francisâ introduction to Christus Vivit, âChrist is alive! This yearâs theme, âChrist is our Hopeâ, complements Jubilee 2025, where Pope Francis called all Catholics to be âPilgrims of Hopeâ, contemplating what it means to be fully alive as a human being â living life to the full in Christ. Sensitive to the age-appropriateness of the various classes and years, the teachers, using their own faith experience, are expected to encourage pupils to explore how we exist for one another in Christ, building from the wellbeing of the individual child and extending the notion of true happiness to others, to our families and communities, all based in love of God. The theme will explore hope, the true purpose and meaning of human life, and, in the later years, true freedom. The theme resonates with Grandparents, who should be the soil from which the innocent child grows, faith-based or not. But not all grandparents, indeed not all parents, though, show signs of providing that growth. We have many good faith-based teachers in our local schools here in Finglas, and we constantly thank them for the work they do, especially preparing the children for the Sacraments. There is, of course, an element in the community, both among teachers and parents, who would like to eliminate religious teaching from the school altogether, and we have to accept that. Certainly, many parents and teachers believed that âhaving a firm foundation of faith can help people through difficult timesâ and that âreligious practice, which Catholic education helps to foster, is proven to improve the mind and behavioural outcomes, especially in youth and can help with anxiety and other issues. Most families and most teachers I have spoken to are not hostile to religion in schools, and those who are often have had a negative experience of their own school days. What I look forward to every new school term is the conversations we have about what faith means and how we see ourselves living that sense of faith out in the community. Today, in our community here in Finglas, we have many children who belong to other faith practices, and I enjoy hearing their perspectives. We often discover, together in our conversations, that there is not much difference between us when it comes to living our faith outside the school gates. Our readings today at Mass speak of humility and service, as well as power that is respected when it serves others. Its authority lies in its act of service. Doesnât that sum up the vocation of all teachers and priests and all responsible adults in charge of young lives? Not building ourselves up, but those in our care. We as Christians must never contradict the message of Jesus: âGo and teach all nationsâ. Too often, we shy away when asked a question about our faith practice. Teachers of religion often see themselves as just there to prepare children for the Sacraments, especially First Eucharist and Confirmation. Prayers and hymns, Jesus and the Holy Spirit? I reflect sometimes on how I present all these things to the young. The Fruits of the Holy Spirit may seem straightforward and presented as a desirable moral quality to be embodied when speaking to a Confirmation class: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23). If we are honest, these arenât just behaviours for the young to memorise. These should be what people see in all of us as we witness to God every moment of our day.
Sunday – August 24th 2025
Our holy father Pope Leo and the Popes centuries before him are preaching peace and harmony among all people in our world. We live in a world full of people who harbour hatred in their hearts and are afraid of becoming invisible in the ether of life. Fearing becoming a nobody, a person of no consequence on the world stage. They are people distracted by world events and see others with power, and think force and violence are the only ways to achieve those things. I think it was the Dalai Lama, a saintly man, who said people who do an injustice to others as a means to achieving power are deluded, and their attitude will only lead them to have an even greater sense of personal insecurity and because of this, others will suffer the consequences. People like that live a life of self-hatred and underachievement, leading to negative thoughts, which lead a lot of the time to negative actions. An example of this is to look at the world at present. Why would someone voted into a position of trust with an opportunity to do so much good, do the opposite and inflict suffering on others? Pope Francis reminded leaders of every country he visited of their responsibilities to their people. After the First World War, life changed for everyone. Empires were brought down, and the world economies were splintered, both for the victors and the defeated. The Second World War had the same impact, only instead of the empires, society itself, like a mirror, shattered into a million pieces. The middle class and upper class no longer exist. Now it’s them and us. And it’s unclear whose side people are on, that side today, tomorrow, whatever suits? Society has shaped a protective shield around itself. Individualism, not capitalism or communism, is the danger in our world today. We used to know our neighbour, the butcher and the local policeman, but many people today live in self-imposed isolation, growing old lonely. There is now no number attributed to âThe Warâ because it’s being fought right this minute in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, Haiti, Africa, it’s playing out all over the world. Albert Einstein said, âI donât know with what weapons World War three will be fought, but World four will be with sticks and stonesâ. Many wars in the past were because of religious conflicts. People were divided over the practice of one another’s faith. It is now important for leaders of all faiths in the world to come together and recognise the common belief that links us all. One God, for one people on the same journey. At present, the people at the front of all these ongoing conflicts call themselves believers in God. There has to be a contradiction between their faith understanding and their actions towards their fellow humans. Thatâs where leaders of faith need to speak out collectively and call for accountability. Discussions are ongoing as I write; politicians in these countries are expressing their concerns about the economic fallout for their governments in this conflict. âWe need to manage this situationâ is a common phrase used. The thousands of deaths, especially children, donât seem to fall into those discussions because they are seen as collateral damage or âaccidentsâ in these wars. Russia wants to rekindle its pride in the past. America has on its currency, âIn god we trustâ. Both are countries with a troubled past, and both fought for the rights of their people. Pope John Paul II spoke to ambassadors from all over the world in the Vatican in 2003. He was talking about all the conflicts in the world at the time. War, he said, solves nothing, only causes pain and suffering for the innocent on both sides. One of the greatest obstacles to resolving conflict is pride. Faith teaches us to humble ourselves, to consider others above ourselves (Philippians 2 1-5). Paul is addressing people who feel threatened by others. They feel the need to show strength of power in order to control. They are afraid to take the first step to reach out for reconciliation. That was over two thousand years ago, and still, it finds Stubbornness in the minds of so-called leaders. Saint Augustine, of whom Pope Leo is very fond of quoting, spoke of poverty in the world. No food, no clothing, no money. That was then, and now, in 2025, it seems nothing has changed. The priority of every faith leader in our world today is to communicate a message to every world leader that enough is enough. Stop the War. Tut, Tutting and offering prayers isnât working. They are not listening. The war will end, and bullies will shake hands. People will go back to their homes if they are still there. No father now to sit for dinner, no mother to care for her children. Children won’t come home; they belong elsewhere now. Politicians sold their freedom, but people will always pay the price.
Sunday – August 17th 2025
I had the strangest dream the other night. I found myself standing in front of Jesus. I havenât had a good conversation with him in ages, so it was a little embarrassing. I had been watching the news, all the terrible things happening to people in the world. people is promoting themselves as prophets of peace and talking to tyrants with a promise that they can do business together if they stop killing people. Isnât that a contravention of the Human Rights Act? Jesus just sat there at the end of my bed with a smile on his face. I explained my upset to him and said, surely these people cannot be prophets of peace. He said there are many self-proclaimed “prophets” going around the world today. I was curious as to what Jesus would have to say in light of the recent events, especially the deaths of children. Besides, I was still unsure about the whole notion of peace being promised. Pope Francis entered the room and sat near Jesus. It was great to see him again. After a few minutes, he spoke. He looked at me and said, Iâm sorry I didnât get to complete the ‘Jubilee year of Hope.’ I had prayed my health would hold out, and my efforts for peace would have been listened to. I said to him that our young people are crying out for a pathway to be made for them to follow towards the new âJerusalemâ proclaimed in the Bible. Francis told me that I had a role to play in making that pathway. I thought for a moment. He smiled at my explanation. It seems to me, I said, that the pathway is like a minefield, to be approached single-mindedly with only one ambition: to reach the end alive. Distractions are present on either side, and a momentary lapse in concentration could be risky. I told Francis that I had been to Lourdes the previous week and had a most wonderful sense of the presence of Grace there. Now Iâm back to reality. He told me, âEveryday life, which sometimes may seem monotonous or difficult, is always ‘inhabited by Godâs hidden presenceâ, he said it takes our attentive eyes to be able to seek and find God in all things. Jesus was sitting there nodding in agreement, and then looked at me and spoke. Do you remember when in school the teacher looked at you and you knew a question was heading your way? well, this is one of those moments, except this is not school anymore. I wasnât sure what he was going to say to me. I am aware he said you find life difficult as you try to live according to your vocation, but life’s events cloud your relationship. I felt my tears about to flow; it was such a moment. He said my name can get you through lifeâs most difficult circumstances. Trust me, he said, you have the ability to destroy doubt and fear, and replace it with comfort and hope. He said I was right to tell Francis that the new generation needs a path to walk on. But he said, the path is there for I have walked that path, and so have my disciples. It is well-worn, but it is hard today for the young to find because of the growth of weeds and rocks and no one to guide them. The young do not know hatred unless they see or experience it. They will not know love either unless they feel loved. Francis has worked hard explaining this to the world, and now Pope Leo, his successor, will proclaim the same message. You asked about self-made prophets of peace in the world today. I can say yes, there are prophets in the world. Missionaries, men and women in our churches, reciting rosaries for the conversion of people’s hearts. Many organisations preach the message of Hope in their work. All are prophets because none are in it for themselves only to serve. He said the world is on the precipice of disaster. Now is a time to reflect on Christian values. Hope is a gift and a task for every Christian. It is a gift because it is God who offers it. Hope is not like waiting for the bus to come on time. Hope is waiting for something that has already been given to us through the Cross of salvation by God’s eternal and infinite love. The place that Christian hope assigns us is on that narrow path, that line at which our baptism requires us to choose, every day, every hour, to be faithful to Godâs love for every person. As I woke up, I wondered if I would find hope in the day ahead. Well, I could hear the birds chirping outside, and thatâs always a good start.
Sunday – August 10th 2025
It was Tuesday afternoon when we all met in Terminal One at Dublin Airport. Coming from places like Wexford, Maynooth, Dundee in Scotland, Armagh and of course our parish here in Finglas. Most of us hadnât met since last year’s visit to Lourdes. It’s not like going on holidays to the sun, though we had plenty of that. No, there is a different excitement attached to travelling on pilgrimage. Everyone’s conversations are about what’s been happening the past year, and the joking as to who needs the visit more than the other. Time in Lourdes was spent listening to each other and praying together, and was incredibly encouraging for those with us for the first time. I think for me it was the blessing of the sick in the underground basilica. Hundreds of people gathered in one place, and yet there was still room for silent reflection, without a word spoken; it is very moving. Even if youâre not too religious, you can still take in the beauty of the surroundings and wonder of Lourdes and enjoy watching the masses of pilgrims coming to wash in the water and join the evening torchlight procession in the hope of being able to say I experienced the prayerful beating heart of Lourdes. A lot of us, when meeting, had a story of a conversation we had with someone who just wanted to talk about their time here or pray for someone in the group who was very ill. I was surprised to see so many young people in Lourdes until I was told they were returning from Rome, having attended the Jubilee mass of evangelisation celebrated by Pope Leo. Of course, we can be sucked into a false notion that the church isnât suffering at all when we see thousands of young people all praying together. Pope Leo said in his homily, when he was young, he knew God was present inside him, but for a long time, he was searching outside. Isn’t that something we all experienced in our youth until we experienced the light of faith? We can be forgiven for thinking healing is something that happened in hospitals, or indeed at the baths in Lourdes. But I have learned over the years something astonishing, and that is that sometimes, the most powerful healing happens in the simplest moments. Talking to a good friend in a coffee shop. A long, late-night talk with someone who just gets you. A fleeting conversation with a stranger that lingers in your mind long after you part ways. That certainly was the case for me while sitting along the Gave at the Grotto. The people who sat beside me were asking what nationality I was, and it developed into a conversation on common interests for both of us. Some asked for confession., The way a single sentence, perfectly timed, like asking can I speak with you for a moment. can open a locked door inside two hearts. The person spoke and I listened. Isnât that what any of us wants? Someone to give us a little of their time? The way someoneâs voice, filled with warmth, can soften the sharp edges of our pain. We underestimate this, but a conversation, and I mean a real conversation, can be a form of medicine more effective than we realise. It is no surprise that talking to someone works. The thought that someone is listening is healing in itself. Yet, we do not need to be a medical person or counsellor; we can carry it with us, everywhere, weaving it into our everyday speech. Observing our group in Lourdes, I saw genuine conversations being conducted among the small gatherings around the hotel lounge or on our bus trips. At some point, I realised that human connection is something that gives me motivation to do what I do in the ministry of my priesthood. Not the shallow kind, not the obligatory small talk that exhausts the soul. I am talking about the kind of connection that pulls you back to yourself, that reminds you what it feels like to be fully alive. Those few conversations I had along the Gave or in the hotel lounge were a form of building exercise for me. To have an authentic conversation with a person, you cannot make them feel insecure or afraid. They have to see honesty in your face; there must be no mask of insincerity. I do believe I was transformed by my visit to Lourdes this year. I’ve been going for the past thirty-seven years. Do I say I am transformed every year? Yes, I do. Shouldnât we be every new day? âEvery day, a school dayâ.
Sunday – August 3rd 2025
Next Tuesday we celebrate the Memorial of the Basilica of Mary Major in Rome. The church is dedicated to Our Blessed Lady and is the first church in the Western world dedicated to Mary. It was the wish of our late Pope Francis that, instead of traditional internment in Saint Peter’s crypt, he be put to rest in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. There is only one other Pope interred there. It is one of the five great ancient basilicas in Rome. You may ask what our connection is to the dedication of a building that took place in Rome over 1,500 years ago. The history of this church is rooted in the role of Mary as the mother of God. it celebrates her maternity of Jesus. For a while, the basilica was known as St. Mary of the Crib after it obtained a relic of the Holy Crib, believed to be the one in which Jesus lay at His nativity. This relic was carried to Rome by Christian refugees from the Holy Land fleeing the Muslim invasion of the seventh century. The basilica still hosts a procession of the Holy Crib every year on Christmas Day, and there is an altar in the Basilica dedicated to the Holy Crib of Bethlehem. The feast of the Dedication of St. Mary Major is not intended simply to call our attention to a legend or a dedication of a beautiful church. Rather, it reminds us that Catholic Christians throughout history have believed, and continue to believe, that a young Jewish girl named Mary, chosen among all women to be the fleshly tabernacle of Jesus, is indeed the mother of God. This belief is an established truth; a dogma of the Catholic faith declared in Ephesus in 431 AD. St. Mary Major Basilica stands as an earthly symbol of that important reality. All of us pray to Mary, and Pope Francis called on her in every prayer to help bring peace to the world, especially where Mary herself was born and gave birth to a Son who walked the Holy Land preaching peace. Mary is an important element in the life of our Catholic Faith. âYou cannot talk about a family without the mother, nor can you talk about our Church without Mary. Mary is our mother, a mother who feels the pain of her children. Today, Mary feels the suffering of her people, looks at them with compassion, and prays fervently for them to our heavenly Father.â What happened to our fellow Catholics in the awful bombing of our church in Gaza would have broken her heart to think of so much blood spilt, especially after her son had shed his own on behalf of all people without exception. What is happening to all the people in parts of our world today shows what is possible when revenge and hate replace the love of God, the same God of all people. Pope Leo has taken up the baton of peace from Francis, who tried his best to bring sense to those blinded by their hatred, without any consideration that they are killing the dreams of thousands of young children and bulldozing a path for their very own children to follow, which only leads to a continuation of the chaos. Tomorrow can hold great things for each one of us if only we sit down and plan together for a world where all children can live in peace. Abraham, the father of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths, was told by God to take his people to the land allotted to them and to live in peace there. Jesus, in his ministry, walked on the roads of Palestine or as it was known then as Judea, when there were no walls or barriers, and God was central in all hearts. Commerce and travel between all the people flourished in both cultures. In the ice breaker game,â The Knot,” progress doesnât move one dot if one of the people in the line is unwilling to hold hands. Politicians in our world who are sincere and not just puppets of false hope but honestly connected with real justice in the World should try this game instead of the one their playing because the one their playing isnât working out. Politicians are flying all over the world on what they call âPeace Missionsâ, they are bringing new words and old, tired words and is anyone listening? The Pope stands at the window of the Vatican and uses four-letter words like love and good and calm, and hope. His voice seems to travel badly outside. He must know they are not the words the world wants to hear. Hate, fear, kill, and dead are words we see on TV every day. Politicians may promise a rosy future if an end to fighting is achieved, but if it is a future without God, then it is no future at all. Pope Benedict XVI said that politics and human domination should not be seen as pathways to hope; they will inevitably trespass on people’s freedom. Freedom only comes when the right judgment is made for the good of the innocent suffering in the conflict.
Sunday – July 27th 2025
I am sure that you, like me, were taken aback at the huge turnout in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis. And if I can speak of a funeral being beautiful, it was. Many people throughout St Peter’s and along the streets respected the body as it passed by and arrived at the Church of Mary Major for internment. Again, on the day of the election of Pope Leo XIV, huge crowds of people were watching and waiting for that chimney to expel its good news to the world. And it was good news and has been since Peter two thousand years ago, and will be into the future. When we look at the church in Ireland, we donât see or feel the same excitement as we did when Pope Francis visited our lovely country. In contrast to the visit of Saint John Paul 11, who was met with loud enthusiasm, Francis was met with quiet courtesy. The sins of our churchâs past will haunt us here in Ireland for a very long time yet. We were reminded once again in Galway this week. An overview of the rest of the world, things are brighter. Itâs been reported that, unlike Ireland, where many have turned away from their church, in other parts of the world, many young and old people are joining the catholic faith. Since the death of Francis and the election of Leo, there has been a huge surge in Catholic conversions. But is there another reason? Whatâs behind this sudden conversion? The growing number of young people turning to the Catholic Church from other denominations, religions and even no faith at all has, in a sense, caught the church off balance. Are people converting for the right reasons, or is it a momentary spider’s web of emotional crowd surge after the two events in Rome? For over two thousand years, our church has never strayed from the basic core of what Jesus said and did on that Holy Thursday night, both in the institution of the Eucharist and the giving to Peter the keys of Heaven and authority over the church. People are drawn to Catholic rituals because they offer order and meaning in this era of progressive chaos. But what happens in the Mass is much more than a ritual or a tradition; it is a real encounter at the Altar with Jesus Christ Himself. Sadly, a lot of us attending mass do not realise that. Too many good people have given their blood for the sake of the table of Sacrifice. Many of them are here in Ireland. St Oliver Plunkett, Margaret Ball, two of our martyrs. Matt Talbot saw in the Eucharist the means to changing his whole way of life and succeeded at the very end of that life. People all over the world are seeing churches watering down their traditional values to attract people through the doors. It doesnât work, and thatâs not the way. Brother Roger of TaizĂ©, an Anglican, invited everyone inside to enjoy the company of the Lord. And we all came. Musical chant was our prayer, and we did it together. Rev Nicky Gumble, another Anglican of Alpha, always invites people to share their faith in such a way that the richness of each outcome is always the same as the other person’s, meaning all of us are part of the Body of Christ. There is no need to water down any faith; only make the faith inviting to those searching for a home for their soul to live. Our Catholic church today, founded on tradition, can restore meaning for our young people, and I think itâs clear they won’t find it in the culture this world has adopted. Prayer is the bridge we cross for meaning in all our lives. And it matters because when you have meaning and there’s a storm in your life, it becomes a signpost helping you face the storm, and though itâs still a storm, prayer can shelter you. Young people today want certainty in their lives. Wars do not give it, nor do drugs. Both create disorder and anxiety. Certainty is belonging to a church that gives stability and hope. But that means giving your all into the spirit of the celebration in the heart of that church, which is His Word and His Body and Blood. These two things are what hold our world, yours and mine, together. This, for me, is what the human soul is thirsting for. Ritual and tradition can offer a solution to our youth because they provide stability and âbuild community â like a congregation singing together to the one beat or two friends laughing together. It creates warmth in the beating heart of the soul. When we read the Acts of the Apostles, we can trace back the history of what you and I celebrate every time we share in the Mass together. Yes, young people want stability and certainty. well, they only need to look back on the history of our Catholic Faith, and they will find at least two thousand reasons for joining us on Sunday mornings. Let’s not condemn the young, but let’s encourage them.
Sunday – July 20th 2025
The death of Brother Kevin last week brought home to me the treasures we have living among us here in Ireland. Kevin was ours to honour in the best way we could. A man of strong belief in those words of Jesus, when he said to Peter,â Peter, do you love me?â âFeed my sheepâ. Kevin was the giver of God’s Word in every aspect of its meaning. Those in need are always waiting for a hand to reach out to them, and many like Kevin are doing that in our city every day and night. Need comes in many forms, and some people are afraid and lonely. There are, of course, emotional experiences like the companionship of another person. Sometimes, a person gives their all in the home or job and feels they get no recognition for it. The Gospel today, Lk:38-42, addresses this concern. Martha and Mary, two sisters, who both know Jesus. Martha appears to only know him intermittently, but Mary knows him prayerfully, which is to say as a personal friend. Jesus is not a puppet. There is a space in this big world for all who search for a meaningful life of peace and a small portion of someone’s love. Every one of us is searching for that sense of purpose in our lives. What gets us out of bed in the morning? For some, it is to go into the next room to check on how a person slept during the night, and maybe start all over again, caring for them, getting medication and breakfast ready and still the day is ahead, still tired from yesterday. While we get out of our beds every morning, there is so much going on that we are not aware of. For some of us, life can be overwhelming. If I didnât have my faith and my love of Jesus in my life, I donât know what I would do; I would be less of a person than I am today. I am sure you can say the same about yourself. Another saying is âlet those with the broadest shoulders carry the heaviest loadâ. Have you ever felt tired as if God had picked you out from the crowd to be a âSimon of Cyrene at the end of another personâs cross? Those who have the responsibility of living with a sick person in the home are often confused and can be very vulnerable themselves. Having to bear unfair burdens of care, and often no one notices until it’s too late, and they become ill. That TV ad on the television where the daughter brings her dad a bar of chocolate and he tells her his daughter used to give him chocolate like it. It always made him laugh because he never liked that particular chocolate,â but we never told herâ. She is sitting right there beside him, but in his illness, he doesnât know her, but he has never forgotten her love. Life is often about sacrifices. We live with people and do things for them that they are not aware of, but we do for them because we love them. If it goes unnoticed, it doesnât matter. Iâm reminded of the man of Galilee and all he did for us, not but hoping those around him would gain an insight as to what he did for them and us. The saddest thing for some people in the world is the missed opportunities every day to notice the need in another person’s life. A held-back tear, a look of loneliness or even fear. A conversation or just our presence can be enough. At least someone cared enough to ask, Are you ok?. Genuine friends are good for noticing if a person is out of sorts, and even when pushed away for asking the question, the friend will never desert us. Knowing we are not alone is such a warm feeling and can be so uplifting for someone who is not coping too well. There are people all around us every day who do great things in a small way, unnoticed by the wider community, dropping in next door, checking on the neighbour or dropping off the morning paper. Is the neighbour’s grass too high? Did she ever whisper that her husband used to keep the garden so tidy; he loved his garden, God rest him. Taking the old lady with you on Sunday on that drive out to Howth for an hour or two. She saying, I havenât had a ninety-nine in years. Simple gestures make big impressions on people’s lives, and our own lives, too. Of course, Jesus noticed all Martha’s work, but she also needed to take time now and then to sit quietly like Mary and listen. Donât we all?
Sunday – July 13th 2025
I was reflecting on life the other day. We have had so many funerals here in our parish and witnessed so much grief and pain with family members and friends. It’s a little easier dealing with death when you’re slightly removed from the experience. I always encourage young people to appreciate their parents, or, more precisely, those of advanced age in our community. If they are parents, always remember the struggle they went through on our behalf. Every one of us has relatives or knows people who are advancing in years and are individuals we might consider âold.â As they become older, we sometimes lose our patience with them and become annoyed or angry. We forget the times when we were young, that they were kind, caring, and put up with a lot from us, especially childish questions and inquiries about so many things. All of us need to remember our aged loved ones and the love they freely gave us. There is a story told as an example of this. An old man was sitting on the settee in his house along with his son, a highly educated teacher, when suddenly a bird perched on their window. The father asked his son, âWhat is that?â The son replied, âIt is a bird, Dadâ. After a few minutes, the father asked his son the 2nd time, âWhat is that?â The son said âDad, I have just now told you âItâs a birdâ. After a little while, the old man again asked his son the 3rd time, âWhat is that?â By now an expression of irritation was felt in the sonâs tone when he said to his father with a rebuff. âI told you Itâs a bird, a birdâ. A little after, the father again asked his son the 4th time, âWhat is that?â This time the son shouted at his father, âWhy do you keep asking me the same question again and again, I have told you so many times âIT IS A birdâ. Are you too stupid to understand?â A little later, the old man got up out of his chair and went to his room and came back with an old tattered diary, which he had maintained since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page. When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary. âToday, my little boy, aged two, was sitting with me on the sofa when a bird was sitting on the window. My son asked me 25 times what it was, and I replied to him all 25 times that it was a bird. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question again and again, 25 times. I did not at all feel annoyed or irritated, I rather felt affection for my innocent small boyâ. While the little child asked him 25 times âWhat is thatâ, the father had felt no irritation in replying to the same question all 25 times and now today the father asked his son the same question just 4 times, the son got so irritated and annoyed. Please speak to parents with a polite word, be loving, and respectful to them. You should remind and tell yourself every day, âI want to see my parents happy forever. They have cared for me ever since I was a little child. Our parents have crossed a lot of mountains and deep valleys and faced a lot of storms to make us a person fit to face the world of todayâ. Just as in life we should respect our loved ones, so too in death we should honour them, especially by visiting their grave. It is this story that prompted me to think of those no longer in my own life. Fr Martin and I were blessing the graves in St Margaret’s last Sunday afternoon when, right as Martin was saying the prayers, the heavens opened. All I could think of is God having a laugh. Here I am holding an umbrella over Martin and with two big bottles of holy water in my arms to sprinkle on graves, and it’s raining cats and dogs. Anyway, it stopped raining long enough for us to go round the graves and pray over them with holy water. There’s a great sense of fulfilment when we stand at someone’s grave and say a prayer, whether it be a family member or a stranger. I think itâs the thought that you made an effort to take time out of yourâ busy dayâ to think of someone other than yourself. A good feeling to end the day, what?
Sunday – July 6th 2025
I realised something about myself last Saturday while on a parish day pilgrimage to Glendalough. Everything about the day was perfect, and all who travelled down were satisfied that it had been a worthwhile exercise in spirituality. Though I had been preparing for a few weeks and hoping all would go well for our parishioners, I need not have worried. We headed on to the site of Saint Kevin’s Monastery, and I began my tour guide information talk. But as I was talking and explaining what each building was in its period, I began to realise I was also talking to myself. The group were very respectful and listened to me, but I was talking about fellow priests who lived millennia ago. Here we were walking on the ground where they had walked to morning mass and prayer, and probably went out to the fields and forest to work afterwards. Saint Kevin’s Cross became for us a special moment of silent personal prayer. A young man, Leo, who in a previous life was involved in our Christmas Nativity plays in the Church over many years and was now able to put his arms around the cross and touch his fingers, thus opening up a connection, as is said to Kevin to hear our prayer. It was a special moment, as one person whispered to me later. The weather was great, and the group got a chance to sit and chat over a cup of tea. While a lot of the tourists on Saturday were there for a bit of hiking and the scenery, both are beautiful, I thought they missed something special about their visit, that sense of presence. Seven churches, seven ways to communicate with God. surrounded by nature with the trees and the river, and the deer was just a stepping stone towards appreciating that we were surrounded by the Glory of God. Before heading for home, we celebrated Mass in the Parish Church aptly called Saint Kevin’s. I carried my connection with Kevin and his Monks into my homily explaining the richness of the call to priesthood. When Leo touched that cross and I touched it myself later, not with my arms around it, just a momentary touch, I did feel a sense of gratitude that I had some relationship with that special piece of ground. We all had the opportunity to make our prayer of petition during the mass, and afterwards headed home, agreeing to arrange another trip before the year ends. I suppose what was disappointing was that I booked a fifty-seater coach, and many people who had asked to go on the trip didnât show up in the morning. It was disappointing as quite a few people had shown an interest and had to be turned down because the bus was full. Speaking with someone while sitting having a cup of tea, the conversation turned to the hard life of those who lived all those years ago, compared to the good life priests have today. As I was stuffing a nice cheese sandwich into my mouth, I didnât argue. After I was able to speak, I said it was a different kind of priesthood then. The life of a priest has never been easy. It has required living as a celibate, foregoing the consolations of marriage and family life, receiving an income at the discretion of a bishop. And practising a demanding form of obedience. As the people in Kevin’s time were mostly uneducated and worked mainly on the land or with their hands, building or making, they looked to those educated for advice when it came to making decisions relating to family and secular matters. The church was a place where advice was sought. But people today have become less dependent on clerical judgment in secular matters. Over time, as more and more people graduated from school, & college, peopleâs intellectual independence has grown, even in matters of religious judgment and belief. Although priests are still seen today as responsible for providing spiritual guidance and sacramental liturgies. Many young people turn to one another when discussing matters of importance, seldom seeking advice from a priest. And you know it surprises me every time I celebrate a person’s funeral mass. Usually, it’s young people who step up and read the scripture or the prayer of the faithful. You know, Michael OâLeary has a very inviting personality and is very good at drawing people into his bargain flights. That is, until you accept the ticket. Amazingly, add-ons keep sticking to the ticket, and before you know it, wham! Your trapped. Church is a bit like that. young people hear the Gospel read, but they donât hear it explained. If we look at St Paul’s writings, we see he speaks to the crowd by addressing relevant situations affecting their lives at that moment. He does, of course, relate his faith and theirs as he weaves the message, but they âget it.â
Peter’s Pence – June 29th 2025
The old school year is not over yet, though this is its last week, and already we are talking about September and making plans for implementing new strategies in relation to the sacraments and the parent meetings. I spoke to a lot of sixth-class children this week while I was going round the schools handing out winners’ prizes for our essay competition. We had asked the children to write an essay about hope to celebrate Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Hope. Talking to the boys and girls and finding out what school they will attend in September, I could see that little bit of nervousness in each one about entering new corridors and meeting new people. Of course, they would never admit it in front of the class but I hope they do speak with close friends and loving parents. There is a great sense of God in the young peopleâs life in primary school, and this in mainly down to their parents and their teachers. But will God follow them into big school? I should like to think that God will travel with them wherever they go. The confirmation commitment will come alive in their new school because, as I told them they will no longer be big fish in a small pond anymore. Pope Francis, may he rest in peace, began the Synodality to discuss the future of these young people I met this week and all the young people in our world today and tomorrow. As far back as 2018, the pope spoke of the importance of the church focusing its attention on the young people in what I call no mans land when it comes to religious practice. The Irish bishops have been discussing since then what Frances had to say. Words like listening to the voice of the people and being quiet while listening to what the spirit tells you is some of the language we often hear since the Pope called for serious thought on the direction our church is going. The bishops sayâ We must be alert to the need to connect with the energy and gifts of our young people, forming and enabling them to be missionaries to each other and inviting them to spread the Good News not only in Ireland but around the world that Christ is Alive!â I think that statement is very encouraging but I suspect there is a plan as to how this is to come about and I look forward to hearing it. The lad on the noisy motorbike screaming up and down our roads wonât hear it and neither will the young people busy playing their favourite sport on Sunday morning hear it. One phrase I picked up from Francis was âlets walk togetherâ which is what synodal is about. For me that is the essence of all the talk thatâs going on since the synod was started. Unless we as the church and may I say the clerical part get involved and have a joined-up plan we can say were walking but not only will we not be together we wonât even know where were going. There is sense of tiredness among clerics in the church and thatâs understandable. Few feel support from their parish especially from those who have the skills. Energy, physical and spiritual is critically important, not only for addressing particular crises in the Church, but for the vitality of the Churchâs mission in the parish setting that Francis spoke about. In fairness the Irish church is trying to address the crisis but to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ for the salvation of souls is a hard ask. First, I have to ask myself how is my soul. Am I walking with my neighbour on this journey of faith? I was in Glendalough on Saturday with a group of parishioners. Following the steps of Saint Kevin and his companions. At the archway at the entrance to the site, there is a large stone. On that stone, there is a very peculiarly carved Celtic cross. It symbolises a spot where a beggar or someone seeking shelter might be greeted by a monk and receive, perhaps food or clothing, and maybe a bed for the night. Sandals would have been in good supply in the hospitality keepers’ press due to the long road travelled to reach safety. Those two things affect a lot of people in todayâs world. The long, endless road of poverty or homelessness. Daily asking and hoping for help. Most of us have not had to walk too far for food and a comfortable bed. Most of us have not had to wear the shoes of a beggar who, sometimes even when asleep, had had those taken from them. Francis, when he introduced the Synod of Hope, was thinking of more than church attendance, bums on seats; he was thinking of what encompasses the whole person, physical and spiritual. Unless the churches in the world, whether they be Christian or otherwise, look out that window, Pope John 23rd all those years ago opened and saw a people in need, not just one family. Together, in synodality lets watch the sun rise over a new horizon.
Corpus Christi – June 22nd 2025
Sitting in Saint Saviour’s church in Dominick Street during the week, I observed a priest in conversation with another man. They were standing beside a bench where a man stretched out was sound asleep. Neither man disturbed the other sleeping, who was possibly homeless, and the quiet church gave him a little respite. I had been speaking with someone about our reminiscences of growing up in the inner city, and dropped in to see my old church and the old statues and, like our friend asleep, take a moment of quiet time before the Tabernacle. As I left, there was some literature on a table inviting any young men thinking of a vocation to religious life. Maybe the young man talking to the priests was asking questions about his inner feelings. I left the church after a few minutes, closing the door carefully not to disturb our sleeping friend. As I headed home, I couldnât help thinking of that man in the church and how he affected my thoughts for most of the afternoon. I was reminded of an Easter a few years back, Fr Joe Connolly in the church of the Annunciation placed a bench near the altar with a sleeping man lying across it. It was Good Friday. Joeâs homily was about what if? His talks that weekend were about the journey we all have to take in life, which for a lot of us can be a great struggle. For me, he spoke of not just the three days of Holy Week but of all the time we are allotted on this earth. Everyone in the church, unlike our friend in Saint Saviour’s, were sitting up, listening intently to the message being given. When Fr Joe finished his very moving talk, he pointed out the message, âit could be anyone on the benchâ, donât reject the person, help them or at least pray for them. It’s what Jesus would do! He looked for a moment of silence at the bench and the figure lying there. Then the body on the bench sat up, much to the astonishment of the people. Of course, it was Paul, our assistant sacristan, but the point was made. I thought it was a very evocative Easter message. If you’re passing Christ Church in Dublin City and visit the park, you will see a statue lying on a bench, and the representation is of a homeless Jesus. We have so many homeless people in our city, indeed, here in our parish. last Saturday, I got soaked in the heavy rain while attending a burial and had to pass the Charlestown traffic lights. Two young men were standing at the lights with paper cups in their hands. They were soaking wet. I was going home to the warmth and a hot meal! I have been guilty many times of refusing help to a homeless beggar on the street simply because I can see another one further on ahead. But is that right? Can there possibly be more than one beggar on the same street? Of course, there can be and there is. Giving a bit of money here or there, perhaps, can help, but then we say, the money can be used for drugs. Or it can be part of an elaborate scam. I suppose itâs better to be duped than to be callous, but at the same time, we donât want to make individual problems work. Sometimes, for a lot of us, carrying on with our lives and not getting involved seems like the more reliable option. I often think of how Jesus was able to minister to his disciples and the people. I donât remember reading about him having a job or coming from a rich family. As far as I can see, Jesus depended on handouts and the charity of others. Mt8:20- Lk 8:1-2. In Mt 19:21, we are encouraged to reach out to those in need, and as Jesus says, we will be blessed. Here in our parish, there is a wealth of generosity among our people towards the needs of others. We only have to appeal, and the response is immediate. Look at Br Kevins in Church Street or across in Pearse Street. The Dublin Christian Mission runs it. I often meet people I knew from prison, who, for the most part, are doing very well with their lives. Others who are genuine, decent people, like a lad I met some time ago, who told me he spent the whole day wandering the city trying to figure out how to restart his life. âWe can make mistakes sometimes and be like a bull in a China shop judging what people are like, âTheyâre just sinners and druggies that need sorting out? Each of us is capable, in our heart, of turning the wrong way in life. Here was a lad just saying, âIâm just trying to figure out my life.â That changes things for me as to how I judge people living on the street.â There but for the Grace of God?
Trinity Sunday – June 15th 2025
A few weeks ago, we asked the primary schools to have the sixth-class pupils write an essay referencing Pope Francis’ vision of hope for the church of the future. We also supplied each school with information on a young boy, aged fifteen, Carlo Acutis, to be declared a Saint of the church later this month by Pope Leo. The question was focused on the child’s hopes for a life in the future. Some schools declined to take part as they had too much work on, but those that did produced amazing insights into a twelve-year-old child’s mind. An end to poverty, wars, one reflection mentioned two countries at war over a city. A twelve-year-old decided, âWhy donât they both live in the city and learn to live together?â Another one said Carlo was young, just like us, getting into trouble and still became a saint? âI think I’ll become a saintâ, and why shouldnât the young have thoughts like that? You know, I think children often have a ministry all of their own. And if we adults studied what comes out of their thought process from viewing the world in their eyeline, we might learn something about the church community. We have a disadvantage here in Finglas in that a priest doesnât have an assigned fixed church location anymore, whereby he builds up a relationship with the young people that is constant. Our parish is so busy now it’s impossible to continue an ongoing relationship anymore. But we do our best. I overheard a comment last Sunday outside the church after mass. Two people were talking within earshot, discussing their observations on Pentecost. I had spoken of the celebration not being limited or confined to the Catholics, but that other churches also celebrated Pentecost. One man said to the other I’m not too happy with him (priest) talking about spirits in front of the kids. Theyâll be up all night looking under the bed. Then he said he didnât know non-Catholics believed in the Holy Spirit. I would add that we priests need to preach in such a way that children and adults glean at least some understanding from the message in the readings. The mass for me is an exercise in conveying biblical truth through the celebration. I would also add that having children as active participants in worship, such as reading in mass or being involved in presenting symbols or just processing, can be a reminder to us, the older members, that the service is not all about a particular group. One of the unintended consequences of Childrenâs involvement is the lack of smooth growth of worship styles. I believe that we taught kids to be loud and excited about Jesus in the children’s celebrations in our masses, which seems a long time ago now, but today we keep things quiet and reverent like a Big Shush Church.â Now we expect them to simply accept our way of doing things, and I think that stifles good celebration. A lot of the children commented on Pope Leo being the one to bring peace to our troubled world. They see him as a Pope similar to Francis in his efforts to bring people back to Mass again. We are celebrating today the Feast of the Holy Trinity. You remember in school when being told of the three persons in One God? The example always given was that of St Patrick and the Three-Leaf Shamrock. If it was confusing to the pupil, it was also challenging for the teacher. The confused understanding at the time was that there was God the Father, and then God, who was Jesus, and finally, God the Holy Spirit. As if God were separated into three parts. God, of course, is one God, three titles. We are celebrating Bloomsday this weekend. Leopold Bloom, that great Dubliner, was created by James Joyce. Do you have a straw boater hat or buy the love of your life a lemon-scented bar of soap in Sweeney’s Chemist on Lincoln Place? Is it still there? Werenât they innocent times? Today, social media rules our lives, and news events from anywhere in the world are before us in an instant. There was a time when one person who could read and afford a newspaper would sit in the middle of a room or pub and read aloud what was happening in the outside world. Or the owner of a radio who would be kind enough, especially on a Sunday afternoon, to open the window in the kitchen and let the neighbours listen to the hurling or football game being described in colour by Micheal OâHeir. Yes, there was once a time when all we discussed was whether you’re man with the rose in his lapel is up for election again or Maddens are selling lovely broken biscuits. Sometime in the future, they will say If only we could turn back time and do things differently, or treat people differently but that won’t ever happen. We will never again hear Micheal shouting out the kitchen window or even get a bag of Maddens’ broken biscuits. EU consumer protection would be on us like a ton of bricks. Well, Iâm going to sit down with my Ulysses and a big mug of giblet soup and ignore them. Happy Bloomsday.
Feast of Pentecost – June 8th 2025
Today, we are celebrating the Feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit blessed the apostles to fulfil their vocation to go and tell the world all they had heard. It is the beginning of the Church. Most of us will remember someone in our childhood who exemplified what a faith-filled life is about. Some of us tried to be like that person. St John Vianney was such a person, and Cardinal Lazzaro Heung You, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy in Rome, reflected in a sermon on the life of St John on the centenary of his canonisation. Speaking to priests, said I would like to say: do not be afraid of being weak. Do not fear if you are not always understood. He spoke of âThe Holy Cure of Ars being a humble priest but great before God because he lived with love and dedication towards others.â The Cardinal was looking back over the Saint’s life and referring to the great day in the life of all priests, He referred to May 31, 1925, when Pope Pius XI declared John a âheavenly patron of all priests in the worldâ. At the Mass celebrated on the anniversary morning, May 31, at the Shrine of Ars, Cardinal You recalls how this event marked a moment of grace for the entire Church. âA humble parish in the French countryside became the spiritual centre of Europe, Thanks to this priest who put God first, without compromise,â. St. John Vianney was an example of holiness âborn from prayer, the Eucharist, and Confessionânot from prestige,â but from the ability to listen, love, and guide thousands of people âwith the heart of a shepherd.â He remains today more than everâa model for all priests. He invites us not to become discouraged but to live our ministry with joy, humility, and courage,â. The Cardinal emphasised, especially that a community, should support the priestâs through âprayer, respect, and affectionâ, he said it is crucial for their vocation. Reflecting on the Jubilee Year, the Cardinal reminded the faithful that âthe Cure of Ars is like a companion on the journey, a silent beacon guiding us towards the essentials.â âTo you, priests, I would like to say be strong in your ability whether your gifts be many or few use them to the full. The Cure of Ars himself was considered âtoo simpleâ for the priestly mission, and yet God entrusted him with the hearts of thousands.â âYour daily faithfulness, your hidden sacrifices, your nights of prayerâthese build the hope of the world.â The Cardinal then thanked the faithful who support their pastors, just as St. John Vianney did. Recalling the words of our new Pope Leo XIV on the importance of vocations, the Cardinal encouraged them to âlisten to the voice of the Master and walk together as pilgrims of hope,â not out of habit but out of love. âNot out of duty, but out of vocation.â He concluded by inviting everyone to ask the Cure of Ars to âteach us to live the faith authentically, without shortcuts, without appearances,â and to help priests become âmen of prayer, of listening, of joy.â Just as God breathed life into the first man, so too does the Holy Spirit breathe life into the Holy Church of Christ. Man turned his back on God through Adam, but God restored man’s relationship through Mary and her Son. Man, all through history has refused to listen to God and continuously turns away, as with Jesus on the steps of the palace of Caiphas, the high priest, when the Messiah was rejected. And Pilate, representing all future abusers of power intent on exchanging justice for the people for their own ego, and continues to do so today. Pope Francis always spoke of that lovely word, Reconciliation. It struck me while passing by what we call the confession boxes on Patrick’s Well Road, part of the old Monastery. Hundreds of years ago, hundreds of people knelt there to confess to their priest all their troubles. Pentecost is a reminder to all of us of that special relationship we have with Jesus. Itâs a sort of unbalanced relationship in that Jesus gives us himself in the Eucharist, and we give Him our sins. Yet like a good parent, his love overshadows all our faults, and he sees the full person. God has given each living person on this planet unconditional love, but not everyone knows it because of the distractions of worldly events. We, together, cannot give unconditional love unless we experience it ourselves. In the Acts of the Apostles 2:44-47, we can get the concept of unconditional love, sharing and caring as we live. Pope Leo, in his inauguration address, spoke of Love and unity: these are the two dimensions of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus. But he could only carry out the task if love and unity were present in his own life, as they should be in yours and mine. I think they are, donât you?
Ascension Day – June 1st 2025
I have just returned home from a visit to Italy. I didnât know I was going until four weeks ago when a fellow brother priest was unable to travel at the last moment. Visiting the shrines of Saint Anthony and Saint Francis of Assisi was very spiritually uplifting, but a little priest called Saint Leopold was the one who caught my attention. A simple priest. He suffered ill health for most of his life and was limited in his priestly ministry, except in his performance in the confessional. It is his ministry as a confessor that he is remembered. I also visited the tomb of Young Carlo Acutis in Assisi. It was as if he were sleeping, and it was a heartening moment to see him lying there. A group of school children in front of me were all excited as they pressed their faces against the glass to see as much of Carlo as they could, not knowing the influence he would possibly have on their young lives in the future. My fellow pilgrims were made up of people from all walks of life and all parts of our Island, and a lovely group. Over a cup of tea or on the coach, there arose many discussions concerning faith issues. Mostly about family members not practicing their faith in church, especially the young. Some people spoke of the youth initiatives being organised by parish councils. Another spoke of regular meetings between youth groups from protestant and catholic parishes to discuss the common thread flowing through our churches that links both. It was very interesting. We hear so much today about losing our young people to the spiritual wilderness. We do hope and pray that after some time, they will eventually come back to church, but one person said she managed to stay true to the Catholic faith, even though her teens and college years were pulling her in another direction. Remarkably, this young woman stayed on the right path. She gives all the credit to God and says it has always been clear to her that Godâs grace covered her like a blanket, and this kept her focused on pursuing a relationship with Jesus. She spoke so honestly. I gave my views, and spoke of our parish and the age group of our priests who are in that older age bracket and are tired, and that is understandable. But we are on a journey, no matter what our age, and that journey will end hopefully with the words on our lips, I’ve done my best. The different aspects of parish life were discussed, and we found that we had a lot in common about our priests and parish activities. One lady listening to the conversations spoke of the lack of ministry to older people in her parish. it prompted another person to comment and explain how her parish group works. It happens in many different ways. The most common senior ministries among her parish community are arranging activities that create movement. Lunch Clubs and afterwards some form of conversational activity. Another was the arranging of home Services & Visits. Young people were also involved in these visits. Finding out where they could help, be it painting or cleaning the front garden. One man spoke of some churches that are engaging with older people through dementia groups, coffee mornings, Sing Together sessions, friendship groups and by cleaning local areas. What came up as the urgent need of all parishes was a ministry to older people, especially those confined to their homes, and the other group is the young. One has contributed so much to the building of a parish, and the other needs to be encouraged to become a contributor to parish life. Someone said their local scouts visit their local nursing home and sit talking to people. I spoke of the Beatles song Eleanor Rigby, All the Lonely People, Eleanor sits in a church where a wedding had been, no one to see her. And Fr McKenzie is writing a sermon no one will hear. Were they right? It was a very informative pilgrimage and very encouraging. Like a pastoral council on tour, we all learned from each other, and all agreed church is not just providing mass, it must generate life and assist in building up the whole community. Church shouldnât exist in isolation. Community life affects all of us, and we should all contribute, whether it be tidy towns, or speaking about anything coming into the parish with a possible negative impact on the people. Beginning a project or joining one. I would love it if anyone would introduce an idea as to how we can improve our little space here in Finglas. Look up our website.
6th Sunday of Easter
I was visiting one of our nursing homes recently and bumped into a girl leaving with a really nice dog on a lead. I’m not a dog lover myself, which goes back to my memories of schooldays and my life as a postman. Anyway, she told me the dog was a Yorkshire Terrier and I have to say a very friendly little fellah. I told her of my horror encounter outside the Floods pub at the bottom of the village. Coming home from school, minding my business with a friend, the dog lying at the pub door disliked me. It caught up with me at Rosehill House and struck home with a part of my body in its mouth. Very embarrassing moments followed by me being rushed, roaring up to the chemist for a dollop of iodine plastered over me! well, you know where. Other times, I ran the gauntlet of Vicious ‘ dogs and a few times their owners. Anyway, back to my conversation with Maria and her dog (we introduced ourselves). She told me her dog was a therapy dog and she had been in to visit her aunt. Her aunt used to have a dog for years, but when she had to go into the home, she had to give up her little dog. Thatâs the saddest thing about life. When age and infirmity catch up, there are limitations to be considered concerning the freedom once enjoyed and perhaps taken for granted by most people. But for those struck down with illness or age difficulty, there is always an angel of kindness to step in to assist. Look around you in your own family or neighbourhood. Isnât there an angel who is always ready to reach out to do for you? In my own life, I have met many angels who could see my need at a particular stage in my life and reached out. Sometimes in that most beautiful Sacrament of Confession, I have had many warm and encouraging conversations with an angel of God. itâs the place where we can be ourselves. In the journey of faith, we are reminded of the significant role played by our neighbours. As Christians, the Bible instructs us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. This command is deeply rooted in the second great commandment, which states, âLove your neighbour as yourself.â When we think about reaching out to others, it all starts with this foundational principle of love. It encourages us to extend kindness, service, and support, not just to those we know, but even to strangers. By reaching out and showing love to our neighbours, we fulfil the heart of our Christian faith. Matthew 22:39. Going back to the dog story, we often hear the phrase âa dog is for lifeâ, but so is love. Saint Paul puts it beautifully, âLove does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore, love is the fulfilment of the law.â â Romans 13:10. I always think people who own dogs are kind and considerate. I know there are exceptions, but mostly they are friendly people. You only have to see them on the street or in a park, and there is a meeting of common interests, and that, of course, is their dogs. There are other animals people like as pets, but I think most people feel a dog listens and looks at its owner as if it knows what they are talking about, or else wondering why this human thinks I (dog) know what the!! are they talking about? There are powerful lessons to be learned concerning our dogs. If we reflect on the loyalty of a dog, it can teach us about Godâs love and how it strengthens our faith. No matter how many mistakes we make, in life and especially concerning our dogs, it never stops loving us. They donât hold grudges, keep records of wrongs, nor do they expect perfection. These gentle souls teach us that loyalty isnât just given; itâs earned and nurtured over time. Their loyalty is a balm for our souls, a reminder that true loyalty withstands trials. I’m getting to a position of declaring dogs are better Christians than some people, and I am not saying that. What I am saying is that through their silent yet powerful presence, dogs show us that loyalty is indeed priceless, something to cherish and protect. We live in a world where a person can be lonely even though they live in the centre of the community, and maybe all they have is their dog to keep them company. But a dog can never replace the company of another human voice, and thatâs a shameful experience. Remember, in our prayers, we are never alone.
5th Sunday of Easter
Anyone looking at the scenes on TV last Thursday week in Saint Peter’s Square would think there was only one faith in the world. Wasnât it just unbelievable? Only joyful, happy faces of old and young people celebrating the event of the election of a new leader of our great church. People of faith and none ran to Saint Peter’s when they heard the loud cheers and the bells ringing. And then our new representative of Christ showed himself, Pope Leo XIV. Every TV station in the world watched the whole beautiful event. Were you emotional? I was. Now, after feelings of that sense of loss at the death of Francis, our spirits have been lifted with this good news. I heard a priest discussing the voting process on television, and he said that the election had nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. Iâm sure the Holy Spirit was right there in the middle, involved in the prayer and reflections of each cardinalâs decision on his first vote. Perhaps on the second or third, becoming aware of something moving in the chapel, focusing minds and hearts on what the church needs. Pope Leo is, of course, a great choice for the church in facing the troubled world of today. He has vast experience in meeting different church ministries, and he certainly has the ear of the poor in the world. Pope John XX111, calling for Vatican Two, said, and I think his words went something like I want to open the windows of our musty church and let fresh air in. I have a feeling that our new Pope will have the same attitude. He has honoured both his order and his loyalty to his missionary priesthood by immediately calling for an end to ignoring the poor in the world. He is known personally to Fr Seamus here in our parish. Seamus is sure the Pope is a man of his word and will always follow through on it. He is or was the provincial of the order. Pope Leo has quoted many times when asked his opinion of all the differences in our world today that cause so much suffering. Psalm 127 speaks of unity in oneness. âThough we are many, we are oneâ. Communion in each other is truly part of the charism of the Order of Saint Augustine, and also, he said it guides his way of acting and thinking,â. He said. âI believe it is very important to promote communion in the Church, and we know well that communion, participation, and mission are the three key words of the Synod called for by Pope Francis. So, as an Augustinian, for me, promoting unity and communion is fundamental.â That’s a great opener for us to examine. Looking at the people in Saint Peter’s last Sunday for the first Papal Blessing, I thought to myself, not all those people are Catholic, perhaps maybe not even Christians. So why were they there? It’s not like going to the Sistine Chapel or the catacombs on the tourist trail. There is built into every person a quest to know and understand that something in a person attracts others to them. We love a good film because it provides a good story and is a distraction for some people living a mundane life. Itâs the same with a show on in the theatre, which can have terrific characters, but they are just actors taking us on a journey of imagination. No, the people in the square were there to glimpse someone who is not an actor or an entertainer. Their curiosity drew them into the square to get a look at the new Pope, but they left the square having been looked at or, in some cases, challenged. Christ’s Vicar on earth came out on that balcony not to be seen but to see. All those people, especially the young, had rushed to St. Peter’s; they made a choice they were not going to miss seeing the new Pope. Now, as they start home, they have to decide their future, and so do we. Otherwise, we are only onlookers at a spectacle, for some, once in a lifetime. Thatâs not faith, and neither is it church. Three questions were asked of us all on the Thursday of the election. Who am I, where do I fit into His plan, and what is His plan for me? In life, there are challenges to our faith. Rules, bad leadership, bad liturgies, always something, but always that little light stays alight. Yes, faith has been difficult, and likely will continue to be so, but the difficulties have made our faith so much deeper and more personal. We have discovered greater happiness within faith than without it, and I believe that is largely because we continue to choose our faith, despite the things we donât like or donât understand. If you are the same, well, questions will always come, but now we know that those questions can feed our faith instead of diminishing it. Pope Leo will build a fire I hope, that can be seen across all seas and lands and like Saint Patrick, will not turn people away but invite people to come and be warmed by it.
4th Sunday of Easter
We are living in exciting times. I know that every day is exciting in that we donât know what it may hold for us. But we are excited at the moment at the prospect regarding the choice of a new leader of our church. And as this reflection goes to print, we may already have a new Pope. Also, this week we are remembering all those who died in the two terrible world wars, while still, all around the world, wars are raging. Are human beings really that stupid? Seems we are. Iâve been to all our primary schools today concerning a request for the sixth-class pupils to write an essay on their hopes for the future. This is the Jubilee year of Hope. I included in the request for them to look at young Carlo Acutis, who was to be canonised on Divine Mercy Sunday, but the death of Our Holy Father Francis has delayed the ceremony. Giving our young a voice in our church can be a learning experience for a lot of us. During the week, I celebrated the funeral of a young twenty-four-year-old who died from drowning. Only a boy to his parents and a great person to his friends, who were emotionally moved at the mass.
Last week I said I was in a church on my own, just sitting and listening. I often think, especially at a funeral if just for a moment we sit with each other in silence. Those few minutes speak volumes because, like Mary following her son on the road to Calvary, words can distract rather than be a help. She just looked and he too, and for a moment that corner of the road was embellished with love. Itâs the same for all of us. We donât know what to say, but we know what to do, and thatâs to be. Be in the moment of a person’s grief. Be in the place where others assemble and be that support through our prayers. That family, the other day, knew and they were aware in our church that they were experiencing in the silence of all those around them that they were not alone in their loss of their beautiful son. Listening to all the commentators covering the Conclave and remarking on Francis or different aspects of church life, I was warmed in the heart by the amount of positivity in the discussions. One or two spoke of the pope having already been chosen by the Holy Spirit, and we just had to wait for it to permeate the cardinalsâ minds, guiding their decision. But some others seem to have left God out of the equation altogether, as if a leader of a religious group was being voted in. Over a thousand years of our churchâs history were being played out before our eyes in the words of Jesus. âYou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my churchâ. to leave God out of the decision-making would be to compromise our understanding of what our church and our faith are about. We could eventually be reduced to a meeting of minds. 2We would succumb to a form of lukewarm Christianity that prioritises comfort and convenience over essential discipleship and sacrificial living. But itâs a daily struggle for the church. Most people would rather kick back and binge for hours on streaming media or endlessly scroll on their smartphones than snap open their Bibles or kneel for five minutes to pray. Or they would rather enrol their children in every sport and activity than take them to Church or train their children to follow Jesus. Isnât that happening at this very moment? There is that tendency creeping in towards comfortable, lazy, and lukewarm Christianity in a lot of people’s lives today. A lot of us in church nowadays, instead of taking the initiative to speak with and mentor newer believers joining the community and build them up in the faith, to read the Bible together and pray for one another. Our Lectio Divina would be so helpful to this group of people. Many older believers are stranded in their own homes and are forced to watch church services on television. Others consume mass quantities of electronic media that rot their brains and corrupts their hearts, leading them further away from the Lord Jesus. And all of us need to take responsibility for our inactivity. Like the Cardinals in Conclave, our response to these challenges must be rooted in prayer, dependence on the Holy Spirit, and a commitment to the Bible, all in obedience to the law of God.
3rd Sunday of Easter
I took advantage of the weather the other day and travelled up to Roscommon on a visit to a priest friend of mine. On the way, I stopped off at a church to stretch my legs and go inside a say a prayer or two. There is something about sitting in church and just listening to your thoughts. In the sanctuary area, there was a picture of our late Pope Francis, may he rest in peace. It was draped in black with a small lighted candle beside it, expressing that emptiness the whole church is feeling while we wait for our next good priest to be elevated to the great honour of leading us once more. At Mass, I have to leave a blank spot in the Canon where typically i would list the name of the pope alongside that of the local bishop. Everything for the moment is on hold. It was a prayerful moment of reflection until I headed out to continue my journey. As I continued on the road, I wondered who would come after Francis. Whoever he is, it will be a hard act to follow. Does our church need to follow the example of Francis in speaking out to the bully in the world, pointing out the moral and ethical flaws in his argument? Other popes who approached world problems decided it was better to speak in diplomatic whispers. Itâs hard to know if we should ask the people who are dying in their thousands in Sudan or the Palestinians in Gaza which form of speech is more welcoming, as at the moment neither is helping them. What the church needs is a man, first and foremost, of God. That might sound strange, but too many of us today criticise the world and all the violence in it. The world is a beautiful place, and we talk about our young people being affected by it. Depression, emotional imbalances in students in our schools and colleges. That is all true, but not because of the world. It is because there is no grounding, both morally and spiritually. The biggest challenge for the Church and that is important when choosing the new Pope is to convince people to accept Christ and live according to his teaching and example. I hear you say, âEasy to say, difficult to do. But that is what the Church is for. The Church is to evangelise.â Too many of us in church, teaching in our schools and yes parents avoid the ugly challenge demanded of us by our faith, to teach these values to our children. At the heart of everything we do is kindness. We understand, we sympathise, and where necessary, we challenge the young. Always through kindness and acceptance of where they are in their development. We work with young people in a way that helps them to appreciate that looking after one another and mutual support for each other are the way to help everybody succeed and thrive in the world. We see young people and make a judgment without ever looking at their circumstances. If we see them in an empty church, we’re suspicious, and if they won’t come, we criticise them. Society should never give up on children because they are shaped by it. Pope Francis had a great rapport with the young, very visible by their appearance at his funeral. And even though we have no control over who the next Pope will be, we trust in Our lord who set up our church. So even if we get a pope who is not a good pope, or a bishop who is not a good bishop, or a priest who is not good, they can never pull down the Church, but they can do damage. They can hurt. They can injure. So, every one of us has to, in fear and trembling, ask himself: âWhat is God calling me to do in the Church. The church being the place where I live and work. I think it was in St. Peter’s Square that I heard an interview with Cardinal Arinze from Nigeria. When asked to share some wisdom with younger Catholics from his 92 years of life, the cardinal emphasised the importance of Godâs providence for each one of us. âGod is the director general of history,â he said. âHe is also the providence for each individual ⊠God knows best. We think that we are directing everything, but God is there, who looks into the details.â He quoted the words of St. Teresa of Calcutta: âMay God help us not to spoil his work.â âIf we were faithful to God ⊠God will do great things for us,â he said. âHe did for the Blessed Virgin Mary, who confessed: âThe Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.â With many things God does, we think we are the clever ones who did them. We just beg God that we do that little part which he expects of us, so that his work will succeed.â âIf every one of us will remain open to Godâs action and know that God takes the initiative, his grace leads us to start, to continue, and to bring to a happy finish the action in his kingdom.â