GLNL Spring11 PRINT 16/5/11 1:48 PM Page 2
2 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER Spring 2011
Spring 2011 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER 3
Fr. Austin Milner O.P. (1947-1953)
The Class of ’75 Continued The evening continued and before long, it seemed, taxis and time ran out.
n 24 April 2010, Fr. Austin Milner O.P. (1947-1953) celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving in Oxford on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination. He died peacefully on November 29th the same year. Here are some reflections he offered on the occasion of his Jubilee.
Walking along the quays by the marina, the sea air sharpened by the November night, we pondered the question: Why did we wait so long before meeting again? The reasons are obscure but the result was an enjoyable event. Well Done Frank, and to all of you who turned up, but also fond greetings to those who didn’t. You are not forgotten. Neither is John Hunt. He was sorely missed, and we remembered him with joy and happiness. Until we meet again, May the road be short and the meeting long, or whichever way round. Go mbeadh an t’adh agaibh. The Hon. Michael Dillon imparting his blessing John P. Ryan
Photo by Mark Conan
40 Year Reunion: Class of 1970 True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. (Kurt Vonnegut) t may seem like just yesterday when we drove down the avenue for the last time but, whether we choose to ignore it or not, the frighteningly grand total of 40 years has elapsed since the class of 1970 said goodbye to the school that had seemed a second home since forever. Thanks to the organizational skills of Pat O’Connor, a quite amazing 24 members of the class assembled at the St Stephen’s Green/Hibernian Club to celebrate our 40th anniversary. I am sure that I was not alone in feeling slight trepidation as I entered the hallway of this Dublin landmark: would anyone recognise me, would I be able to put names to faces, after all these years? Perhaps through a feat of mutual self-delusion we rapidly agreed that nobody “had changed a bit”; the addition of spectacles or some facial hair appendage alone serving to cause come transient befuddlement as, one by one, we greeted each other.
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The real highlight for the group was the attendance of our headmaster, Fr Celestine, and one of our housemasters, Fr Andrew; the former remembered minute details of the school life of each attendee, the latter, as usual, had accompanying amusing anecdotes. It was a pleasure to spend the evening with both of them and, especially, to hear that the monastery and the school continue to thrive. As old acquaintances were renewed the sheer joy of meeting old friends and hearing, however briefly, of their life stories, enveloped the group. Though all now mature in our respective careers (if not quite running the country) we are truly a diverse lot, and so much the better for it! As dinner and drinks progressed, memories flowed back and an open floor policy allowed those who wished to do so to say a spontaneous few words. Those who are no longer with us, Paul O’Hanlon, our school captain, George Griffin and Richard Seigne, were remembered, and messages from those who, for various reasons, could not
on the study and contemplation that has gone before. In fact I have always found that prayer was the most important element in preparing to preach.
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attend, shared. Happenings in our individual school lives that we had hoped were long forgotten were unceremoniously resurrected, traits and peculiarities of teachers and staff remembered (and, no doubt, amplified) and, needless-to-say, each and every match of that memorable rugby season relived in glorious Technicolor (though the Munster Senior Cup final replay was given rather short shrift!). Each of us has very individual and precious memories of the years we spent in Glenstal. This reunion served as an opportunity to spend a wonderful evening with old classmates, and also, thanks to the presence of Fr Celestine and Fr Andrew, as a reminder of the formative role that Glenstal played in all of our lives, and of the very special place that it will always retain in our hearts.
The life of a Dominican priest is by necessity very different from that of a secular priest in so far as it does not usually consist in being a pastor. St Dominic decided that his followers should be clerics primarily so that they would have the authority to preach and to hear confessions. The fifty years of my life as a priest have been spent mainly in teaching in seminaries and preparing young men for ordination as diocesan priests and Dominican friars. At the same time I have acted as pastor of many parishes, sometimes full time, sometimes being there only at weekends. I have enjoyed that work, especially the effort to reach people who did not often go to church, and helping those reduced to poverty or rendered homeless through hurricanes. The work of evangelization often begins by forming personal relations with individuals and showing them the love of God.
Out of Africa … and back again
Eamonn Quigley
LET US REMEMBER Redmond Walsh (1937-1943) Fr. Austin Milner O.P. (1947-1953) Martin Tierney (1947-1952) Brian Murphy (1946-1951) R.I.P. 2007 Louis Corbett, Father of Paul, Frank, and John Jayne Gilmore, Sister of Adrian Nessa Fleischmann, Wife of Alan Patrick Pollen, Father of Peter Kay Holloway, Mother of Ernest Brendan Bastible, Son of Brendan & Elizabeth Barbara Sutherland, Grandmother of Shane and Ian Gordon Holmes, Father of Keith and Gordon Grace Blake, Wife of Bruce, Mother of Carl & Dermot Denise Hickey, Wife of Peter Eithne Swan, Sister of Brian John S. Moore, Father of Roger and Shane Jacqueline O’Toole, Sister of John, Fergus (†) Edward
The task of preaching the gospel message in our time has been my main preoccupation, whether in my preaching or in my pastoral work. After fifty years I still feel that I know very little about it. I have always tried to preach solid sermons and worked hard at them, but often my most successful preaching has been on those occasions when I have had no time to prepare and have just prayed to the Holy Spirit for guidance, relying
Ordained in 1960 most of my priestly life has been dominated by the Second Vatican Council and the implication of its decrees. I have witnessed the tremendous effect on people of being able to take part actively in the celebration of the liturgy in their own language, the way they have grown spiritually through the new emphasis on reading the Bible, and seeing how many have been able through these means to form a close relationship with Christ. Particularly interesting has been participation in various lay movements and helping the laity to serve their church communities and minister in various ways. The training of mature Christian men for the diaconate has been for me a great privilege and a great learning experience. In my old age, returning to the narrowness and pettiness of the ecclesiastical disputes of England and Europe, I am greatly saddened by the neo-ultramontanism and all the various attempts to put the clock back and undo the wonderful work made possible by the Second Vatican Council.
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know it’s stupid and cowardly but I’ve always been anxious about ‘going back’ ... which I suppose is why I’ve never visited Glenstal since leaving in 1975. So it was with some apprehension that I returned last year to Kenya where I was based as a journalist for much of the 90s. It had never crossed my mind that I’d find myself back in East Africa but, when a position with the United Nations came up here, it seemed to make sense. By last year, I’d been living and working as a foreign correspondent in India for 11 years, and my family and I were keen to move. Overall, coming back to Kenya and its wonderful climate has been a good experience, particularly for my two children who now spend a lot more time outdoors than they ever did in sweltering New Delhi. My wife is again working as a TV producer for Reuters and, despite a daily commute that was initially a shock to the system, I’m enjoying my latest incarnation as a regional spokesman for the UN World Food Programme (a real job at last, as one or two ex-classmates have maliciously remarked). In the same way that UNICEF represents the interests of the world’s children or UNHCR is responsible for refugees, WFP concerns itself with food assistance to those in need.
The largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, WFP is currently feeding more than 90 million people in 73 countries, some of them fleeing emergencies in places like Ivory Coast or Libya, others in longer-term crises such as Iraq or Afghanistan. The food assistance is provided mostly through cash donations from governments. Ireland, for example, is ranked 25th in the donor league with the USA, Japan and Canada being the biggest contributors. My mother at first thought I was running a soup kitchen but I actually handle the media side of things, responding to requests from journalists for information or to visit programmes in the field. And sometimes, I’ll get to do some reporting or filming myself, in Somalia or Zimbabwe or wherever ... For a school located in such an out-of-the-way place, Glenstal has always had a large window on the world and I know that has stood to me and all those other old boys who find themselves living and working abroad. David Orr davidharmanorr@gmail.com www.wfp.org