December 2018 The Sacred Heart Messenger

MESSENGER THE SACRED HEART

DECEMBER 2018 I €1.75 / £1.60

SHARING THE WISDOM OF TIME I POPE FRANCIS FAMILY LIFE: THE JOY OF LOVE I AVEEN & CATHAL O’REILLY HOLY FAMILY SEEKING REFUGE I ALAN HILLIARD LETTING THE LIGHT IN I PATRICIA CARROLL RE:LINK: THE SEASON OF GIVING I FAITH QUILLE

CONTENTS

CONTENTS 25 12 4FROM THE EDITOR

LEARNING WHAT WE BELIEVE Donal Neary SJ

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DAILY OFFERING Pope’s Intention

Cover Photograph © Lucky Business / Shutterstock

6POPE’S INTENTION

A NEW LANGUAGE FOR A NEW CULTURE Gerry O’Hanlon SJ

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KINDNESS

Aideen Madden

9THE BOOK OF PSALMS Martin Hogan

NOEL CLEAR: THE REAL DEAL Gerry Jeffers

15 MASTERPIECES OF CHRISTIAN ART

THE NATIVITY: CHARTRES CATHEDRAL Eileen Kane

18 REALITY SPIRITUALITY GENEROSITY AND GREED Alan Hilliard

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SONGS OF ZION

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20 PLACES OF WORSHIP

BELVEDERE COLLEGE CHAPEL Christopher Moriarty

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HOLY FAMILY SEEKING REFUGE Alan Hilliard

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FAMILY LIFE: THE JOY OF LOVE Aveen and Cathal O’Reilly

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RE:LINK

THE SEASON OF GIVING Faith Quille

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LETTING THE LIGHT IN Patricia Carroll

33 GARDENING

DEEP DECEMBER Ciaran Burke

36 THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING LETTERS

37 A KINDNESS I’LL NEVER FORGET

PURPLE DRESS Anon

52 38 COOKERY

47 IN THE MASTER’S FOOTSTEPS

Marie McGuirk

John Murray

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Gavin Murphy

FESTIVE RECIPES THE HOLY INNOCENTS

CROSSWORDS YOUNG READERS

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NO ROOM

Maeve McMahon

MAGNIFICENT MAGNIFICAT

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SHARING THE WISDOM OF TIME Pope Francis

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CALENDAR

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REFLECTION

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FROM THE EDITOR

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DAILY OFFERING LEARNING WHAT WE BELIEVE In August, a good walk to the Papal Mass took me through quiet streets and with many people along the way. I took it as a kind of pilgrimage, a few hours Camino! Someone was once asked why people go on pilgrimage – the Camino, Lough Derg and many other places. A common sometimes unconscious reason is ‘they want to learn what they believe’ (in Guy Stagg, The Crossway).

On my walk I wondered, ‘what do I really believe in my heart?’ I came up with a few truths: that I love the Church with all its faults, that I believe today that we are all the body of Christ with the divine spark in all of us, that we are to look the peripheries of poverty and homelessness in the eye, that I value my relationship with Our Lady, that prayer is important to me and I believe that I will one day see God. Another day it might be different.

At Christmas you can give a bit of time to ‘learning what you believe’.

This is different to believing what you have learned! It’s finding out

what keeps us going in faith and life.

Advent and Christmas can be annual stages on a pilgrim journey of life. The crowded churches at Christmas are made up of all sorts of people – the regulars, the occasionals, and the annuals.

Maybe a question for Christmas in the middle of all the secular and religious celebration is ‘what do I learn about my faith?’ In discovering why I go to Mass at Christmas maybe I discover what I really believe in!

A pilgrimage ends with what we bring home with us. Christmas ends with what we bring through the year – if we are extra kind at Christmas, we can be so for the rest of the year. If we worship or pray, why not during the year? If we do things that help us enjoy family life, we can do the same.

As we move home from a pilgrim place, we move into the new year that follows. We bring the spirit of our pilgrimage with us all year.

Donal Neary SJ

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Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER

POPE’S INTENTION EVANGELISATION: IN THE SERVICE OF THE TRANSMISSION OF FAITH

That people, who are involved in the service and transmission of faith, may find, in their dialogue with culture, a language suited to the conditions of the present time.

MORNING PRAYER Merciful Father, I begin this day resting beneath your loving gaze. May the Holy Spirit be with me and teach me the true path of love. I offer you my heart this day and all that I am for the intentions of Pope Francis this month. Our Father ...

As another day ends, I consider your presence, Lord, and how I reacted to your promptings throughout the day. Forgive me if I did not notice your voice and pursued my own desires instead of your will. Grant that tomorrow I may follow you, no matter where you lead me. Hail Mary ...

THE SACRED HEART MESSENGER incorporating the Pope’s Worldwide Network of Prayer (Apostleship of Prayer).

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POPE’S INTENTION

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POPE’S INTENTION

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A NEW LANGUAGE FOR A NEW CULTURE

Pope’s Intention: That people, who are involved in the service and transmission of faith, may find, in their dialogue with culture, a language suited to the conditions of the present.

I heard a young mother speak recently about her love for her infant son. With all her being – and she knew her husband was the same – she wanted all that was good for her son. She believed that this was what Jesus, what God, wants for all of us.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has often spoken of the risk that christianity in Ireland runs of becoming ‘an irrelevant cultural minority’, and of the need to find a new language for the transmission of faith to avoid this.

The language of faith has to be in touch with the idiom of the day.

Jesus, above all, was a master in using language easily understood by ordinary people: his parables, stories and miracles were rooted in their everyday lives, with mention of vineyards and labourers, shepherds and sheep, wine and bread, owners and employees, funerals and wedding feasts. Paul and many others, through the early Church and onwards, followed this example.

We live in different times, a different culture, and new language is required. This is not a question of keeping up with fashion but of

renewing the freshness and vitality of the Good News.

Ireland has moved from a society that valued obedience, authority and the dominance of men to one that respects experience, freedom, dialogue and the equality of women. Whereas before there was a culture of convention (so, for example, almost everyone, with or without much thought, went to church) now there is more a culture of conviction (and sometimes of drift). Whereas before truth was the paramount value and arguments could be expressed in abstract, legal and even philosophical terms, now people place a higher value on meaning, relevance and stories of personal experience. How many parents and grandparents have heard younger people complain about Mass in terms like ‘it’s boring!’ without discussing the truth or otherwise of the Mass itself?

Of course this dominant culture of experience and freedom needs over the longer term to be counter-balanced by a renewed respect for truth, and indeed an understanding of how this culture

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‘We live in different times, a different culture, and new language is required.’ itself is dependent today on a socioeconomic model which narrows our vision about meaning to what is useful and measurable. It may fail to provide space for wonder, surprise and mystery in our lives. However this counter-balancing (so central to the Gospel and the practice of Jesus), will not take place until we learn to speak the language of our times, to connect with those around us.

Pope Francis gives us good examples of how to do this. He knows how to speak of the deepest issues using familiar stories, images and language. For example, in speaking about holiness, he notes that it grows through small gestures and gives the example of the woman who goes shopping, meets a neighbour, they begin to speak and the gossip starts but the woman says in her heart: I will not speak

badly of anyone. Later she goes home, one of her children wants to speak about his dreams and fears, and, though tired, she listens with patience and love. Later still, experiencing anxiety, she prays a decade of the rosary, renewing her faith. Finally she goes out on the street, meets a poor man, and stops to say a kind word to him. People can identify with all this, it is part of the stuff of ordinary life, and it is wonderful that the Pope can name it and say that, far from being just ordinary, all this represents steps to holiness.

The Quiet Revolution of Pope Francis: A Synodal Catholic Church in Ireland?

Gerry O’Hanlon SJ €12.95 www.messenger.ie

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Photo © Photographee.eu / Shutterstock

GERRY O’HANLON SJ, author of The Quiet Revolution of Pope Francis: A Synodal Catholic Church in Ireland? (Messenger Publications), links the language of faith with the culture of our times, a concern dear to Jesus himself.

FEATURE

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Kindness, in the words of the poet John Keats, is ‘a thing of beauty’. AIDEEN MADDEN, a regular contributor, offers a reflection. Maybe we can relate it to the ‘loving kindness of our God’, one of the titles of Jesus.

FR MARTIN HOGAN, parish priest of St John the Baptist, Clontarf, Dublin, concludes his series on the Book of Psalms by noting the liturgical significance of some of these biblical poems. It is interesting how much of their content is similar to our liturgy.

KINDNESS Christmas card at about six years of age from an uncle of mine who was a De La Salle brother. The card was addressed to me personally. Does this kindness to me as a child explain in part my love today of sending cards of all sorts?

The kindness of nurses and doctors has been just as healing for me in various illnesses as any medicines or treatments they dispensed.

The kind deeds, loving smiles, kind words, helping hands and especially listening ears of family, neighbour, friends and professionals have been guiding lights on my path of life and still influence me for the better every day.

Ultimately, a kindness is, in the words of the poet, John Keats, ‘A thing of beauty’. To paraphrase Keats further: ‘Its loveliness will never pass into nothingness’. As followers of Jesus we know he would say: ‘The kindness you have rendered was rendered unto me’.

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SONGS OF ZION

Image © Iryna Bezianova / Shutterstock

When you are kind you put others in the place of yourself. Self-love becomes unselfishness or out-going love.

Are we not conscious of being loved when we experience true kindness. As Paul writes, ‘Love is kind’ (1 Cor 13). Kindness can heal, lift us up and may even inspire us. This is not surprising as the impulse out of which kindness acts is the noblest part of ourselves.

Four aspects ground kindness: a kind word, a listening ear, a helping hand and a cheerful unforced smile could be taken as a template for the Christian life.

I am grateful to those who have been kind to me over my lifetime.

Kind teachers have inspired my interest in learning. Indeed, a kind teacher can encourage a student of any age who is finding life difficult.

I remember with fondness the generosity of uncles and aunts.

I remember receiving my first

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THE BOOK OF PSALMS

The Lord who had chosen the king to exercise his divine rule, also chose Jerusalem or Zion as the earthly centre of that divine rule.

There are a small number of psalms related to the royal psalms often known as Songs of Zion (Psalms 46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 122, 134).

The king was the one whom the Lord chose from among all the people; Zion was the city that the Lord chose from among all the places of the earth. Zion is the city of the king, God’s anointed one. More than that, it is the city of God, the city where God has chosen to dwell.

Psalm 46 is a good example of this kind of psalm. The city of Zion is described as ‘the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High’ (Ps 46:4). The opening verses express

confidence in God as the Creator who holds at bay the chaotic forces that threaten to destroy the order of creation (Ps 46:1–3). In Psalm 46:4–7 the focus is on the Holy City, a place where water gives life rather than destroys life. The life-giving river signifies that God is in the midst of Zion. The Holy City is the sacred place of divine presence. God’s presence will protect the city when the nations surge like waves against its stronghold. In Psalm 46:8–11 the poet invites the people to share his vision of God’s sovereignty, to behold the works of the Lord in overcoming the powers of chaos. An oracle delivered in the name of the Lord by one of the Temple personnel calls on the whole world to cease their roaring and clamour and to

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THE BOOK OF PSALMS

experience God exalted in his majesty who works to destroy war and the weapons of war. It is this sovereign, transcendent God who is present within Zion, a presence which gives the city an enduring stability, ‘God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved’ (Ps 46:5). Yet, Zion did in fact fall in 589BC. Once this happened, the psalm had to be reinterpreted and in the time after the Babylonian exile it was prayed with reference to the new Jerusalem which will emerge at the end of time.

Given this understanding of Zion or Jerusalem as the dwelling place of God, it is understandable that some psalms express a great longing to go to Zion, such as Psalm 84. The psalm seems most appropriate when the pilgrims come within sight of the city.

The opening verses express an ardent desire to be present in the Temple (Ps 84:1–4). The absolute longing of the pilgrim, increased by the sight of the city, is well expressed in verse 2. The journey the pilgrim has made to Zion is beautifully expressed in verses 5–7. The nearer the pilgrims get to the city, the stronger is their step. In verses 8–9, the psalmist prays that God would bless the king.

The longing of the pilgrim to be in

the Temple at Zion is highlighted towards the end of the psalm, as it was at the beginning (Ps 84:10–12).

The psalm celebrates the joy at arriving at a pilgrimage’s end. It is the encounter with the divine presence that makes the place so significant.

This song of Zion is closely related to a group of psalms known as the psalms of ascent.

This collection (Psalms 121–134) once existed as a kind of a handbook for pilgrims making their way to the holy city, Jerusalem. These psalms express the piety of a pilgrim people, their faith in a God who was present to them and on whom they could rely as their support and strength.

Jerusalem was the city of God, where God was believed to be present in the temple. The journey to Jerusalem was a journey to the Lord.

Psalm 122 was sung by a group of pilgrims as they arrived in the holy city. From the perspective of arriving at the Temple, the psalmist looks back at the moment of departure.

The pilgrims are glad to have arrived at last in the holy city (Ps 122:1–2).

An address of praise is then made to the city of Jerusalem, which gives the reason for making the pilgrimage (Ps 122:3–5). The goal of pilgrimage is

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THE BOOK OF PSALMS

to give thanks to the Lord for the Davidic thrones of justice that are constituted there. The psalm concludes with a beautiful prayer of peace for the city (Ps 122:6–9).

Psalm 134 is a hymn of praise which could be understood as a dialogue prayer that was prayed when the pilgrims were leaving the temple. In the opening two verses, the priests and Levites and others who serve the Lord in the sanctuary are invited by the pilgrims to continue praising and blessing the Lord as they watch through the night in

the Temple (Ps 134:1–2). The priests then respond to this invitation of the pilgrims by calling on the Lord to bless them (Ps 134:3). Blessing is a mutual activity between the Lord and his people. Those who bless the Lord in the sanctuary are blessed by the Lord as they return home.

There are a couple of psalms outside this little collection which suggest that when pilgrims arrived at the gates of the holy city, there occasionally took place some kind of entrance liturgy. This is evident from Psalms 15 and 24.

In Loving Memory

The names sent to us of all those who have died are entered on our

List of the Dead

They are placed on the Sacred Heart Altar in our oratory and remain there for two months. Every Wednesday Mass is offered especially for them, that they may have eternal rest with the Lord, and that their families and friends may be consoled in their loss.

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FEATURE

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FEATURE

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GERRY JEFFERS, author of Clear Vision, the life and legacy of Noel Clear, Social Justice Champion 1937–2003 (Veritas), introduces us to Noel Clear, former president of the Dublin section of the Society of St Vincent de Paul. He reminds us that loving your neighbour is an everyday possibility.

NOEL CLEAR: THE REAL DEAL

It’s a blessing in life to encounter remarkable people. For me, Noel Clear was a truly remarkable person.

I wrote a book about him and since it was published last year I have been struck, in numerous conversations with people, by how we view ‘goodness’.

I first met Noel fifty years ago. He was a founder of St Vincent’s Boys’ Club in Keogh Square, Inchicore in Dublin. By the late 1960s, Keogh Square had become a focal point for Dublin Corporation to accommodate rent defaulters and had acquired a certain notoriety. As a student I became a voluntary leader in that club. The following summer twelve of us leaders, including Noel, accompanied sixty-four lively teenagers from St Vincent’s club on a week’s holiday to Knockadoon, Co Cork.

Many words could be employed to describe those sixty-four, some of whom were on their first extended trip outside Dublin: lively, energetic, animated, spirited, robust, challenging and immensely likeable. For me and many of my colleagues that intense week with these vibrant and demanding young people was a serious educational experience. We learned a great amount.

Behind the wit, humour and banter it was clear that these boys had

great respect for the soft-spoken Noel Clear. I later discovered that this extended to their parents who recognised his deep and sincere commitment to improving the lot of families living in what were, at times, squalid conditions in the Square.

They sensed his goodness.

Noel was a very focused person, with a flair for organisation. As his work in St Vincent’s Youth Club became better known, youth organisations throughout the city sought his advice and expertise. By the 1980s, Noel’s commitment to fighting poverty and inequality, his empathy and strategic thinking and ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds, saw him leading the SVP Council of Youth Clubs.

All these were voluntary positions, unpaid, fitted into a busy life that included being the number two person in the Probation and Welfare Service of the Department of Justice, husband to Anne and father to Rory, Alan and Conor.

Noel was elected president of the Dublin section of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in 1990 and national president in 1996. His six years in that voluntary role coincided with the emergence of the so called ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy. Noel worked hard to re-position the Society to respond

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Noel Clear

to new challenges. He was a powerful voice for the marginalised. He was especially effective in gaining support for a view that charity needs to be complemented by action for justice. He was acutely conscious of Irish people’s generosity and sought to safeguard people’s trust in the Society. While respecting the legacy

of the Vincent de Paul in Ireland, which dates from 1844, Noel Clear also challenged SVP members to ensure that the core work of the Society – weekly visitations to families in difficulties – involved high quality support and friendship, promoted self-sufficiency and was directed towards social justice.

FEATURE

In 2002, Noel retired from his paid employment in the Probation and Welfare Service and, in the same year, stepped down as SVP national president. Shortly afterwards he was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Noel died on the 8 December 2003, at sixty-five years of age.

Researching Clear Vision, The Life and Legacy of Noel Clear 1937–2003 led me to interview a wide cross section of people who knew and/or worked with Noel. Those I interviewed gave me some lovely images, anecdotes and phrases about Noel: focused, a mediator, a peacemaker, loyal to so many people, a grafter, angry at injustice, a lovely man who could laugh at his own shortcomings, a gifted organiser, a leader without an ego, a man who respected people, someone who brought humanity to probation and welfare service and – I like this one very much – ‘a sort of taken-for granted individual who never made a compliment of doing anything and so made it awfully easy to ask’. Noel’s life and legacy can inspire us to believe that loving one’s neighbour is an everyday possibility, often worked out in modest, quiet and even mundane human interac-

tions.

The quality of his interactions is what people remember most clearly.

In the words of Bishop Eamonn Walsh, ‘Some people present themselves as being people for people, but Noel Clear was the real deal’. Noel’s brother Tony put it well when he recalled how ‘In later years, I’d often meet Noel for lunch. I knew he was probably squeezing it in between two other meetings because he was intensely busy. But when you were with him he was totally present to you. That ability to focus on the person he was talking to was striking’. Noel, the Christian, knew that actions speak louder than words. His life resonates with a saying attributed to that great champion of the poor, St Francis of Assisi: ‘Preach the Gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words.’

NOEL’S LIFE AND LEGACY CAN INSPIRE US TO BELIEVE THAT LOVING ONE’S NEIGHBOUR IS AN EVERYDAY POSSIBILITY, OFTEN WORKED OUT IN MODEST, QUIET AND EVEN MUNDANE HUMAN INTERACTIONS.

Clear Vision: The Life and Legacy of Noel Clear Gerry Jeffers Veritas €16.99

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MASTERPIECES OF CHRISTIAN ART

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For December, EILEEN KANE takes us to the Cathedral of Chartres, where the life story of Christ is told in stained glass.

She focuses on the Nativity, which depicts one of the most well-known, and beloved scenes of the New Testament: Jesus’s birth.

THE NATIVITY: CHARTRES CATHEDRAL Photograph © Cynthia Liang / Shutterstock

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Above: Top of right hand window.

Below: bottom of centre window

West front of Cathedral from the inside

In the west front of the Cathedral of Chartres, in France, the life of Christ is narrated in the stained glass that fills three tall lancet windows and the great rose-window above them. The story begins, as does the Gospel according to Matthew, with the genealogy, or ancestry of Christ.

This is represented, in an abbreviated form, as the Tree of Jesse, in the lancet that appears on the right, seen from inside the building. Jesse was the father of King David, to whose royal house both Mary and Joseph

belonged. At the top of the genealogical tree is Jesus, surrounded by seven white doves, symbolising the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Directly below him is Mary, his mother.

The narrative continues in the next window, with the scenes of how Jesus came to be born. This window, in the centre of the façade, is taller and wider than those on either side of it, and the scenes are arranged in rows of three, in alternating circles and squares. Starting in the lower, left hand corner, the first scene, in a square, shows the Annunciation, when, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Beside it, in a circle, is the Visitation, in which Mary is greeted by her cousin

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MASTERPIECES OF CHRISTIAN ART

Elizabeth. Next to that, in a square, is Holies’ hidden from sight, in the Old the Nativity, the scene we are consid- Testament, by the Temple veil, but revealed to all mankind at the birth ering this Christmas-time.

This scene is not a realistic portray- of Christ in Bethlehem.

In this sanctuary, two animals are al of the birth of Jesus in a stable at present. These are Bethlehem; it is a the animals referred meditation on the to by the prophet event, and there Isaiah (Isa 1:2–3), is a good deal of when he laments symbolism present. that God’s own peoMary is shown lying ple no longer know on a bed – thus, him, whereas even her motherhood is Top of centre window ‘the ox knows its emphasised. She is prominently placed in the foreground owner, and the ass its master’s crib’.

According to a very long tradition, of the scene, and points upwards these animals are included in scenes to Jesus, her new-born son. By this recalling the Redeemer’s birth in a gesture she invites us to look at this stable. There is a reference, here, also child, and consider who and what to the opening of the fourth Gospel, he is. He is lying, not in a manger, where John writes that ‘the Word was but on an altar raised up on four made flesh and lived among us’ (Jn columns. The altar refers forward to 1:14). He was in the world that ‘had his sacrificial death on Calvary, but its being through him’, but ‘the world it also refers back to the sacrifices did not know him’. offered under the Old Law, particuAt the feet of both Mary and Jesus, larly to the sacrificial lamb. This child, Joseph sits with his eyes closed, Jesus, is the Lamb of God, who will offer himself in sacrifice to redeem all deep in thought. Mary’s eyes are open, and she is looking up at the mankind. It is interesting that, amid large, golden star that fills the top, all this symbolism there is the detail which we read in the Gospel of Luke, right corner of the scene. This star is the one that the ‘wise men’ who that the child is wrapped in swadcame to Jerusalem from the east dling bands. had seen at its rising. They followed That the infant Jesus is lying on it, first, to Jerusalem, where they an altar is indicated not only by the sought an interview with King Herod, structure of the altar itself but also asking ‘where is the infant king of the by the lamp, just like a sanctuary Jews?’, and then on to Bethlehem, lamp, that hangs above him, and by where it stopped over the place the blue and white curtains that are opened in the centre and drawn back where the child Jesus was, with his mother. In the window in Chartres, dito reveal his presence. We underrectly above the Nativity, we can see stand from these details that this is the three wise men, represented as a sanctuary, the place made holy by kings, being received by King Herod. the presence of God, the ‘Holy of

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© Alamy Stock Photo

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The story of the childhood of Christ continues, scene by scene, in this window, concluding with his Baptism in the Jordan, and his Entry into Jerusalem. At the top of the window is the Virgin Mary Enthroned, with the Christ child on her knees.

In the third lancet window, Christ’s passion, death and resurrection are narrated, from the Transfiguration, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion and Entombment, to the scenes after his Resurrection. Finally, in the rose window, Christ is shown as judge, at his Second Coming.

Over the centuries, a spectator, standing on the floor of the cathedral, and looking up at these windows, could read the scenes sufficiently well to grasp the great mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God. Are we not especially blessed, in our century, to be able, with the aid of photography, to see also the details of each scene, and so to access more fully the depths of learning and of faith that guided the creators of these masterpieces of Christian art?

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REALITY SPIRITUALITY

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MASTERPIECES OF CHRISTIAN ART

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FR ALAN HILLIARD, concludes his reflections on Gaudete et Exsultate developed in his book, Happy to Be Holy?

He notes how Pope Francis contrasts the message of the marketplace with the message of Jesus, and reminds us of the power of discernment.

He’d been through a tough time. He had reacted badly to heavy cancer treatment and to the chemotherapy.

He was in a better place now but as many of us know it’s never really over.

He came in for a chat every so often but this day he needed a little more.

His mother’s spirituality and faith sat on his shoulder and even though he expressed indifference to faith he couldn’t help but admire and be influenced by hers.

I asked him what keeps him going explaining that for me it’s my faith.

He responded ‘well to be honest with you Alan it’s nothing other than pure hedonism!’ It’s one of the joys of today’s ministry, the sheer unadulterated honesty of people which they often feel is not matched by the Church. I enjoyed the conversation.

He explained it well but couldn’t really respond to my final comment.

After thirty minutes I said, ‘well hedonism may have helped you in the past but it doesn’t seem to be ticking the boxes for you now’. I knew by his smile he had no response; he wanted to utter an expletive but he bit his lip!

There’s a lot written about the way the Catholic Church of the past supressed people but there is little said about current waves of hedonism and materialism in society that

overwhelm people. Hedonism has its limits too – its promise of ‘limitless’ pleasure comes at a price, and it will not deliver on all that it promises.

The world of the marketplace knows that more than ever people can be bribed to do things that they’d never do on their own initiative. We need look no further than this season of the year to acknowledge this. Isn’t it ironic that the occasion that marks the generosity of God also marks the triumph of greed? The letter from Pope Francis alludes to the need for spiritual strength to withstand the subtle and not so subtle seductions that a measured intuition would not allow.

See Gaudete et Exsultate, Chapter one, Paragraph 11: ‘the important thing is that each believer discern his or her own path, that they bring out the very best of themselves, the most personal gifts that God has placed in their hearts (cf. 1 Cor 12:7), rather than hopelessly trying to imitate something not meant for them’.

I believe that what is worth noting about Pope Francis’s letter is that the main themes, especially those referred to in this article, are expressed by many others who have a reflective concern for the world and its inhabitants. I was

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© fizkes / Shutterstock

GENEROSITY AND GREED

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reading a conversation that took place between a sociologist and a journalist: ‘We do not even see the process anymore … blinded as we are by the swiftness of the solution’.

There are gems of wisdom in chapter five of Gaudete et Exsultate, especially concerning contemplation.

It is contemplation that can lead us to take evasive action, and leave us more mature and in control of our lives when attending to the needs of others. Here is one such ‘gem’ that I hope to pass on to my friend who has journeyed through the ‘valley of hedonism’!

The gift of discernment has become all the more necessary today, since contemporary life offers immense possibilities for action and distraction, and the world presents all of them as valid and good. All of us, but especially the young, are immersed in a culture of zapping. We can navigate simultaneously on two or more screens and interact at the same time with two or three virtual scenarios. Without the wisdom of discernment, we can easily become prey to every passing trend. (Para 167)

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PLACES OF WORSHIP CHRISTOPHER MORIARTY takes us on a tour of Belvedere College Chapel, which was added to the college in 1927, and was substantially refurbished in 2013.

All Photos © Christopher Moriarty

BELVEDERE COLLEGE CHAPEL

In 1841 the Society of Jesus purchased a north-city dwelling called Belvedere House. Built in 1786 to the design of Robert West and ornamented within by Michael Stapleton it served both as a school

and a residence for members of the order. The word ‘belvedere’ simply means a place with a good view.

Dublin’s Belvedere House, on Great Denmark Street, stands high on the north side of the Liffey Valley and

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looks downhill over the splendid classical houses of North Great George’s street, across the Liffey and away to the Dublin Mountains.

Belvedere House provided a home – and a new name – for St Francis Xavier’s College, which had been established in 1832. The college grew and grew, and buildings were added to north, west and east to accommodate this growth. The first of the new additions was a red brick range built behind the original house in the 1880s.

Forty years later, in 1927, the chapel was added to its east end. It projects a little way to the north and is marked by a simple stone cross on its gable. The architects were Alfred Edwin Jones and Stephen Stanislaus Kelly who had established

a partnership in 1919. One of their most distinguished pupils was Michael Scott who had a very low opinion of their predilection for ancient ecclesiastical styles.

The chapel is quite small and just one storey high, entered through an unobtrusive porch to the right of the main doorway to the school buildings. Its ground plan follows the tradition of a cross-form with a nave, a pair of shallow transepts and a sanctuary. Tall Tudor Gothic style windows line both sides. The remarkable ceiling is supported by a series of low angular arches, springing from corbels with floral designs. The altar is a beautifully simple table of pale oak on a plinth with gently curving sides and a decoration in the colours of the

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22 Jesuit coat of arms. In accordance with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council it stands just behind the transepts and well forward of the east wall where there is an older marble altar bearing a relief sculpture of the Last Supper.

Above this altar is a highlight of the chapel, the three-part window with images in stained glass of the Blessed Virgin, flanked by four renowned Jesuit saints: Francis Xavier, Stanislaus Kostka, Aloysius Gonzaga and Ignatius Loyola. The beautiful faces of the figures and rich colours of their clothing, with their emphasis on shades of blue, identify them as the work of one of Belvedere’s most distinguished pupils, Harry Clarke, who studied there from 1901 to 1905, leaving at the age of sixteen to become apprenticed in his father’s studio. A number of other windows are by his hand and include a pair depicting the Apparition of the Sacred Heart to St Margaret Mary Alacoque, in which the red robes of the Saviour contrast with the blue of the saint. Another of his masterpieces is a charming small scene of the Holy Family in the carpenter’s shop of Nazareth.

The chapel of the 1920s had windows on both sides of the nave.

Additions to the school building led to the blocking out of those to the north, resulting in a faintly lopsided effect. A major refurbishment took place in 2013 to the design of Liam McLaughlin Architecture. The work involved the installation of a controlled lighting and sound system and the refurbishment of the stained glass. In the course of the work a

PLACES OF WORSHIP remarkable discovery was made. The Stations of the Cross were already well known for their very unusual design, being made from coloured glass. Their restoration led to the identification of the artist as Harry Clarke. The chapel was re-opened for the annual Carol Service in the same year, 2013.

Belvedere College has a long and distinguished history and tradition of inspiring young minds in the essentials of Christian ideals and its alumni include many outstanding figures, religious and lay. Columba Marmion, beatified in the year 2000

by Pope John Paul II, was educated there, leaving in 1874 to enter Clonliffe College and ultimately join the Benedictine Order. Perhaps the most widely read account of schooldays is in James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. They and many others worshipped in the precincts – even if long before the present chapel was built.

The chapel is also the venue for a notable annual service of carols at Christmas in which a number of the college’s choirs participate. History was made recently when Shane Daly SJ was ordained a Jesuit priest there on Sunday 22 November 2017. It was the first ordination ever to take place on the college grounds.

A few years ago Gerry Foley, the headmaster, summed up the present position of the chapel: ‘On Friday mornings there is Mass for those who wish to attend. The chapel is at the heart of the college … The chapel is a place where many take time out.

It’s where we gather for assemblies, to pray and to reflect.’

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FR ALAN HILLIARD, author of Open Heart, Open Hands, is inspired by the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt to reflect on the plight of today’s refugees. Drawing on a gift given to Pope Francis in 2013, he encourages us to think of our duty to our fellow travellers in life.

HOLY FAMILY SEEKING REFUGE

Look closely at the picture above: in it you can see a man reaching out of a boat, coming to the aid of someone who is drowning. Across from him is a mother with her new-born baby. The action of reaching into the water to rescue the drowning person is putting those in the boat at risk. Both the man and the woman, even though she holds the child, have their arms and hands open as

they gesture towards the water. They aren’t holding back in fear; they are actively engaged in assisting the person who is struggling in the ocean.

This is a depiction of the journey of the Holy Family to Egypt and is found in many sea-faring homes. The moulding was given as a gift to Pope Francis when he visited the island of Lampedusa on his first trip outside Rome in 2013. It can now be found

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24 in a display case in the church on the island, the gift of the Pope.

The model is a reminder to those who journey of their duty to fellow-travellers. The islanders are in no doubt that their Christian duty is to offer assistance to those in the water without questioning how they got there. Not all faiths hold this belief, but the Christian faith does not see suffering and danger as the will of God. The Gospels are very clear that it is the duty of one who follows Jesus to assist their brothers and sisters in their need. The redemptive power of God works through the actions of our fellow human beings, as is so beautifully depicted in this picture.

Those who dwell by the sea know only too well that they depend on others when they are in danger, just as others depend on them. This ingrained belief held by the fisherfolk on the island is that you have a duty to your fellow-traveller that is underpinned by what we term ‘natural law’.

This belief in natural law holds that these actions are part of our godly nature and furthermore constitute a way of holding the world, our common home, together. Sadly many of the decisions taken in our world today are not underpinned by any ‘natural law’ but by an increasingly narrow focus on individualism and materialism.

Since the Norwegian ship, the MV

Tampa, picked up 433 people who were rescued from perilous waters off the coast of Australia in 2001, the natural law of the sea has been rewritten to suit those who hold privilege rather than serving those in need. So began the inhumane process of the warehousing of refugees off-shore. These decisions, while having a direct fall-out for the refugees concerned, also have far-flung consequences for our world order.

No longer does the law of the sea necessarily protect those in need – it protects those in power. Law no longer bestows ‘natural’ rights on every human being, but instead creates zones where rights don’t exist, so that we can turn a blind eye to those in need and sedate our consciences.

The Christmas message has, as such, become more relevant and holds a more profound challenge for all who claim the name Christian.

Like the family in the boat we might experience more risk and fear when we reach out to others, but this is our true calling and is how we participate in the redemptive power of our God. May we try to correct the direction that our world is taking and try to steer it towards calmer, safer waters where safety is guaranteed as a part of the natural order of things, and is not just a benefit enjoyed by those in the bigger boats.

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AVEEN and CATHAL O’REILLY addressed the World Meeting of Families in Dublin in August this year. Married ten years on 21 June 2018, they have three children.

Aveen is a community palliative-care nurse and Cathal is a religion teacher in an all-boys’ secondary school.

FAMILY LIFE: THE JOY OF LOVE

NO LONGER DOES THE LAW OF THE SEA NECESSARILY PROTECT THOSE IN NEED – IT PROTECTS THOSE IN POWER

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‘The Joy of Love’ has been a huge part of our experience of family life, both before and after our own marriage. We were blessed with great parents who have inspired us and guided us in our faith. We met each other through the Pioneers and we continued on a faith journey

together, encouraged by experiences on World Youth Days in Rome, Cologne and Canada, pilgrimages to the Holy Land and volunteering in Mother Teresa’s orphanages in Kolkata.

The arrival of our three energetic children, our daughter Saoirse and

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26 our two boys Kylan and Cody, aged nine, seven and four respectively, has curtailed some of this travelling, but we feel that they bring us on a new journey of faith. We try our best to live out our faith both as a couple and as a family, encouraging our children to pray with us, saying bedtime prayers, grace before meals and always when beginning a car journey.

At night we try to say our wedding prayer together. While we both say the rosary, however, we struggle to get the kids beyond one decade!

Our strong faith has been an important foundation on which to build our future together. That is not to say that we always agree with each other in how we approach our faith. One of us, Aveen, likes quiet, reflective prayer and music while the other, Cathal, likes quite the opposite! As with all in marriage, compromise is an important virtue which enriches us both individually and as a couple.

In living out our faith, there is pressure from society, friends and peers to turn away from God especially when faced with difficult situations and questions, and in our work-lives we often face this pressure.

Our faith community in the country parish of Bohermeen and the nearby town parish of Navan helps to bring the joy of love and faith to each other and our children. Saoirse received her First Holy Communion this year.

Being involved with all the other parents in the ‘Do This in Memory’ programme grew our own faith as a family.

We always try our best to attend Mass on Sundays. This is not always

easy, as it competes with all-day Irish dancing feises that take place on Saturdays and Sundays, football matches and more. We did recently attend Mass while on holidays in Spain and despite the kids’ moans due to the language barrier and extreme heat they enjoyed sharing in the common aspects between our Sunday practice and the Spanish Sunday practice.

That is not to say they didn’t complain afterwards!

As a young family we feel that we are still growing into our faith and ask why we want to hand on faith to our children. We want that, even if our children decide to go down entirely different paths later, they will have something to fall back on in our tough society.

In a secular society, where it can be seen as a negative thing to say you have faith, we believe we can pass on the values of the joy of love and faith to our own children. We feel the practice of faith particularly for our children isn’t always interesting and that this is where our challenge for the future lies. The influences of technology, social media and society in general are immense. On our milestone tenth anniversary we feel that the joy of love sustains us and that hopefully when we reach other significant anniversaries we can say the same.

The simple message of Pope Francis – to say ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry’ (Letter of Pope Francis on the Occasion of the Ninth World Meeting of Families) in our family life will remain with us, a daily source of support and challenge.

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re:link

December’18

27

Resource for Religion Studies

relink.messenger.ie

The Season of Giving

As Christians we remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the exchange of presents at Christmas time, we remember the three wise men who brought the gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh to the baby Jesus.

Over time, the tradition of giving and receiving gifts has grown into

a big industry. Some would say that the message of Christmas as the celebration of Jesus’ birth can be forgotten in the rush and panic to find many ‘perfect’ and often expensive gifts, rather than small tokens of appreciation for that special person in your life.

One way which some people find

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peal

x Ap o b e o h S ope

Team H

helps them to celebrate Christmas in a more meaningful way, is to give to those less fortunate than themselves.

There are many people who won’t be receiving presents at Christmas time and who aren’t surrounded by their loved ones. These people often appreciate small gestures a lot more, which can humble the giver and can restore the purpose of gift-giving at Christmas time.

It is important to remember that on the night of Jesus’ birth, Mary and Joseph were alone and probably very afraid. They took shelter in a cave and, surrounded by only animals, Mary gave birth to her son. You can only imagine the joy that Mary and Joseph must have felt when the shepherds and wise men arrived to spend time with them and present what they could in appreciation of Jesus’ arrival. Is there somebody who you could reach out to this

Christmas? Are there some unwanted clothes or gifts that you could donate? These little things could mean a lot to those who have much less, especially at this time of year.

TEAM HOPE: CHRISTMAS SHOEBOX APPEAL One inexpensive idea for giving something back this Christmas time, is an annual collection known as the ‘Christmas Shoebox Appeal’.

Team Hope asks participants to fill a shoebox with small tokens, wrap the shoebox in wrapping paper (making sure that it can still be opened and checked), tie it with an elastic band, label the shoebox and enclose four euro to cover the cost of shipping.

Then just drop it off to your nearest collection point. These shoeboxes are for young people in less fortunate countries and Team Hope will deliver them, just in time for Christmas.

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WHAT SHOULD I NOT INCLUDE? WHAT COUNTRIES DO THE • Food (apart from sweets with a SHOEBOXES GO TO? good use-by date) Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet • Chocolate Union: Albania, Belarus, Kosovo, • Medicines of any kind Moldova, Romania, Transnistria and • War-related items, for example: Ukraine. toy gun Africa: Burundi, Congo, Kenya, • Large clothing items Lesotho, Malawi and Swaziland.

• Anything breakable Last year Team Hope delivered • Any liquids that could spill or 264,636 shoeboxes from Ireland to freeze eg: shampoo or drinks the countries listed above.

• Sharp items WHAT SHOULD I INCLUDE? • Scary things (like Halloween As a rough guide, Team Hope asks items, masks and so on) participants to follow the four W’s • Books with words rule.

1. Something to Write with (Items for school): pencils, pens, colouring pencils, copy books, a colouring book, markers, sharpeners, erasers.

2. Something to Wash with (Hygiene items) eg : a facecloth, soap (wrapped), a sponge, a toothbrush, toothpaste (check the useby date), a hairbrush, a comb.

3. Something to Wear (Small clothing items): socks, gloves, a hat, underwear.

4. Something Wow (A treat): a soft toy, a doll, sweets, a photo of yourself, make-up, a game, a car, Happy Chr istmas to a a skipping rope, a yoyo, ll our reader s of sunglasses.

R E :L in k , and *NOTE* Team Hope ask that thank you for your s out of respect to the children, upport over the y all items should be new or as ear . wishin good as new. g te

acher s, ch apl ains an d students a happy new year!

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FEATURE

Where can I get the labels?

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PATRICIA CARROLL is Pastoral Coordinator for Evangelisation in the Archdiocese of Dublin. She suggests some approaches to Advent, based on Pope Francis’s Gaudete et Exsultate, which we can take in the family or parish to prepare us for Christmas.

You can print the labels off on the Team Hope website (www.teamhope. ie/christmas-shoebox-appeal/fill-abox/) The shoebox categories are divided for a boy or for a girl and for the age categories: 2–4 years, 5–9 years and 10–14 years.

LETTING THE LIGHT IN

Find out more

© Aksenova Natalya / Shutterstock

If you would like to find out more, or read about and see photos and videos of the young people who have received shoeboxes in the past, go to www.teamhope.ie. Team Hope have other year-round campaigns that you may be interested in assisting with instead, such as School Bags for Malawi Appeal and the Confirming Hope Campaign, where confirmation classes/individuals can donate some of their confirmation money to young people in need.

C ompetition !

Write a 200 word essay titled

CHRISTMAS GIVING

Get in touch:

Send your entry via email to relink@messenger.ie or post to RE:LINK, The Sacred Heart Messenger, 37 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2.

Please include your name, age & school.

Closing date: 24th of the month.

01 775 8523

Winner receives a voucher wor th €30!

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SEPTEMBER 2018 RE:LINK WINNER: Catriona Toner, St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt

relink@messenger.ie @RelinkMagazine

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Here are four Advent practices your parish can connect with to help you get the best of this great time of preparation, which may get lost in the rush to Christmas and the practical arrangements for the tree, the meal and the presents. These ideas are inspired by Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad).

WEEK 1: LIMITING TECHNOLOGY AND THE TELLY Advent is a time of darkness and waiting but most of us don’t take the time to notice. As Pope Francis reminded us at the World Meeting of Families, technology can be a gift to us, but can also draw us away from what is real. During Advent, you can encourage each other at home and

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By Lina Truman / Shutterstock

in the parish to become more aware of the darkness and the stillness of this time by switching off the technology. You can use it as an opportunity to tune into the presence of God. This tuning into God need not be lengthy; you could make a commitment to switch off in order to switch on to God for just five minutes every evening. Practice sitting in the darkness with a candle and notice how much the light fills the room.

Become aware of the presence surrounding you in the darkness, filling you with light and love. You may even have the courage to do this with other family members!

WEEK 2: NOTICE THE CLOUD Here I am not suggesting that you look up into the sky and see if the clouds are dull and grey. We can often feel isolated in our faith. Pope Francis invites us to reconnect to the network of relationships that support us. This cloud of witnesses, as he calls them, can even be our own mothers, grandmothers or loved ones (GE 3). He invites us to contemplate the holiness in parents who are raising their children with immense love, in men and women who work hard to support their families and in the sick and the elderly who never lose their smile. During the Advent journey we can simply notice the goodness and kindness of others, and become more aware of the everyday holiness in our next-door neighbours!

WEEK 3: TAKE TIME TO LISTEN The season of Advent is also a time of expectation; we are waiting for God to break into our lives in a new way. Pope Francis reminds us that we can only really do this by building up a habit of listening to God’s voice.

In this week you can ask yourself ‘How good am I at listening?’ Most of us are waiting for the gaps in a conversation to get our bit in! And here is one of the great challenges of Advent: to become a person who listens to the voice of the Spirit. Pope Francis suggests that there are three levels of listening we can practice: the first is listening to the Lord, then to others and finally everyday reality.

(GE 172) WEEK 4: GO AGAINST THE FLOW We can all easily imagine the week before Christmas. People are stressed out, running around finding presents in town or on the internet.

Pope Francis reminds us to take a step back from the Christmas rush.

The Gospel invites us to peer into the depths of our hearts to see where we find our security. Perhaps this year you will hear the invitation to go against the flow, to step away from the bright lights and glitz and really enter into the authentic spirit of Christmas. In this final week you could take a step back and simply pray for all those who are harassed and stressed, and for yourself too, that you will leave space for him in your heart or home.

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CIARAN BURKE, of the Gardening School, puts us in touch with our ancestors in this dark month of December. How often we forget to appreciate the beauty and diversity of the trees of Ireland!

DEEP DECEMBER

As the days slowly descend to their darkest and crisp frosts coat our gardens with white dust, the garden may seem at first like an uninviting place. However if we take the time to look around we can see that there is beauty especially in the bare network of the branches of trees.

Our ancestors placed great importance on trees.

The Celts were aware of their usefulness and value, and they conferred a special spiritual significance on them. The beauty of trees is undeniable.

Every tree has its own unique character. A beauty revealed all the more when winter strips away their clothing and adornments. In the depths of winter the outline and

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FEATURE

34 shape of the tree, standing barren of its foliage and exposed to nature, is a thing of magnificence. The low winter sun provides dramatic back lighting to enhance strong forms, while the grey clouds paint the perfect backdrop for admiring the dark and intricate branch patterns of deciduous trees. The invigorating experience of sunrise breaking above the horizon and flooding through the stems of the naked tree is something that brings us back in touch with our basic being, a feeling that was surely shared by our ancestors.

Old Oak trees have a magnificence of their own, their spreading round shape and twisting limbs create an air of mystique and wonder; twisted branches can look aeerie and beautiful at the same time. No specimen of our native Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, ever reaches anything like the monolithic stature of the English oak, Quercia robur, but the knotted branches embody magic of old fables and tails.

Trees growing in different situations will grow differently. To a great extent they are products of their environments, and nowhere is this seen in such a sweeping dramatic way as near the coast. Any windswept area will reveal what strong winds can do to the shape of a tree: hawthorns lose the rounded growth, lines of tall Poplars bend their backs to the winds.

Conifers can also play their role in the symphony of winter silhouettes.

The deciduous Metasequoia glyptostroboides has a strong conical shape and thin wiry branches, a truly

ancient tree species, often referred to as a living fossil. The more familiar conifers are evergreen, and probably the most obvious tree silhouette is that of the Christmas tree. The silhouettes of evergreens give a very different effect; instead of the open airy patterns of deciduous species, evergreen conifers have more solid or closed silhouettes.

Conifers provide a huge array of shapes of which the Irish yew is probably one of the best known.

Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’ has a strong vertical outline and the dark green colour of the foliage enforces the sturdy columnar silhouette.

The Italian cypress Cupressus sempervirens is much narrower, almost wispy in silhouette, lacking the firmness of the Irish yew. Instead it stretches upwards to the heavens in search of blue Italian skies. Picea omorika makes a slender and tall stately tree with an air of opulence.

It is a slow growing species but in time it will make the most impressive living column one could desire.

There are so many shapes and branch patterns to enjoy; individual trees buffeted, cajoled and trained by the wind, or garden specimens carefully sculpted to create perfect specimens.

We can enjoy the winter tree profiles growing on a busy street, and in gardens, in our own private retreats, in a field or park.

Take time to appreciate the beauty of trees and the winter days will pass faster. Before you know it the sap will be flowing, buds will be growing and spring will be in the air.

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GIFTS FOR THOSE YOU LOVE

Bright Wings, Dappled Things

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You might want to keep this one for yourself!

Available from your local bookshop, or from www.messenger.ie or phone 01-7758522

THANKSGIVING LETTERS

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Every month we publish a selection of thanksgiving letters from our readers. Please be assured that receipt of a letter is fulfillment of a promise to publish. A longer ‘letter’ – a story of thanksgiving – is on the facing page, and our readers are invited to submit their own ‘A Kindness I’ll never Forget’.

LOVE, ENCOURAGEMENT, FAITH

As I am devoted to the Sacred Heart dearly, I wanted to thank most sincerely my mother (Mary) who has given me everything from time, love and encouragement but above all she has passed on the gift of faith.

Still to this day in her eighty-fifth year we pray together. St Anthony and The Sacred Heart are most special to us.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus I place all my trust in thee.

Loving Daughter

GOD’S HOLY WAY

Father, I promised the Sacred Heart that if I got my request I would send in a petition in gratitude.

I am thanking God for granting my request and I am praying for another miracle if it be God’s holy will. I really am worried this time and I ask all your readers to pray for me.

Thanking you and the Sacred Heart.

A grandmother.

LOVELY BIRTHDAY

Father, Many thanks for favours received, especially my recent operation; it was a success and someone was there with me during the day and to bring me home afterwards.

Thanks also for a lovely birthday, my friend’s recovery from cancer and many other favours received over the years.

I always pray to the Sacred Heart and Our Blessed Lady for help when in need.

A sinner

CONTINUE TO HELP

This is a letter of thanksgiving for so many favours received. The Sacred Heart, Our Blessed Lady, the saints and angels have all helped me many times.

A big thank you to the Sacred Heart, Our Lady, the saints and angels, I know you will continue to help me and my family.

A grateful grandmother

THANKSGIVING: A KINDNESS I’LL NEVER FORGET

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This month our contributor, who wishes to remain anonymous, tells a touching story of the kindness and generosity of her sister, and all the difference a beautiful dress can make in our lives!

PURPLE DRESS How often I think and pray for my late sister who was older than me. How kind she was to me, in every way. Back in the late 1960s she worked very hard in England.

She never forgot to send me nice dresses to wear to dances. How proud I felt, for there wasn’t much money for style in Ireland at the time.

Every time she came home she brought me lovely clothes. On one

occasion she came home and as usual had brought me clothes but she had the most beautiful purple dress that she had bought for herself. She knew that I loved it! On the day she was returning to England I cycled with her to meet the bus taking her to the railway station. I was heartbroken to see her go.

On my arrival home I went into the bedroom to make up her bed, and what was on the bed but the purple dress! How I cried as I do now almost sixty years later.

May God and his Blessed Mother rest her soul.

OUTSIDE IRELAND

Many thanks for favours received.

My daughter recently took a trip to the US to visit her place of birth, Portland, Oregon. It is the first trip she has taken on her own, outside of Ireland, and I prayed to the Sacred Heart that she would be safe and well.

She came home to us in one piece, delighted at all she had seen. Thank you to the Sacred Heart for guiding me and my family.

A mother

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Do you believe?

Mt 9:27-31

First Friday: 7th December 2018 ................................................................ ................................................................ ................................................................ ................................................................ ................................................................

Petitions may be sent to us on this form, or on any piece of paper.

All petitions received are placed on our Sacred Heart altar, and Mass is offered for them once each week.

SEND TO:

The Sacred Heart Messenger,

www.messenger.ie

37 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.

COOKERY

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For Christmas MARIE McGUIRK offers a range of festive treats, from prawn puffs to truffles. The spicy Christmas biscuits are sure to liven up dark December days.

COOKERY

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© Africa Studio / Shutterstock

FESTIVE RECIPES

I wish all our readers a very Holy and Happy Christmas and I hope these festive recipes will come in useful over the holiday period.

PRAWN PUFFS

1 roll of ready made puff pastry (shop bought for convenience) 8oz (200g) cooked prawns 2 shallots finely chopped 1oz (50g) garlic butter Flesh of 2 large tomatoes ie skin and seeds removed 6 basil leaves 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves 1 egg Sesame seeds

METHOD

n On a floured surface roll out the pastry and cut into circles about the size of a drinking glass. n Place on a plate and keep in fridge while you prepare the filling. n Melt the butter in a saucepan and cook the chopped shallots until soft. n Chop the tomatoes and add to the pan and cook for 1 minute. n Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Chop the prawns, thyme and tear the basil. n Add these ingredients to the shallots. n Remove the pastry from the fridge and divide the filling between the rounds.

n Beat the egg and dampen the edges with the egg, fold each one in two to form a half moon shape. Press the edges together with a fork to seal. n Brush each one with beaten egg and sprinkle top with sesame seed. n Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet and bake in a hot oven for 12–15 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Serve hot.

CHRISTMAS TRUFFLES

150g good quality chocolate 40ml of fresh cream 20g butter 2 tbsps whiskey rum or brandy (optional) Icing sugar Cocoa powder

METHOD

n Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. n Add the cream, butter and liquor if using. Stir over the hot water until the chocolate and butter are melted and then remove from the heat. n Allow to cool and cover bowl with cling film and when cold

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refrigerate until mixture stiffens.

Best to leave overnight or at least a few hours. n When stiff take spoonfuls of the mixture and roll into balls a bit larger than a walnut. n Roll half the ball in icing sugar and the other half in cocoa powder. Refrigerate until required (usually after Christmas dinner). n Serve the truffles in petit fours Christmas papers.

SPICED CHRISTMAS BISCUITS 4 oz (100g) wholemeal flour ½ level tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp mixed spice 2oz/50g rolled oats 3oz (75g) sugar 3oz (75g) butter 1tbsp golden syrup 1tbsp milk

METHOD

n Place the flour, soda, rolled oats,

spices and sugar in a bowl. n Melt the butter, syrup and milk together and stir into flour and spices, mix well. n Form the mixture into small balls and place a little apart on a baking sheet covered with non stick parchment. n Flatten each biscuit with a fork and bake for 15 minutes in a preheated oven 160°C until pale golden in colour. Allow to cool on baking tray. n Remove and store in an airtight tin or ice with water icing. n To ice mix 4oz (100g) icing sugar with boiling water a little at a time until the correct consistency is achieved. Do not add too much water as icing will become too runny. n Colour icing red or green if desired and spread on biscuits.

Coloured sprinkles can be used to decorate in a festive fashion.

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CROSSWORDS _________________________________________________

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Sarah’sWordsearch

G R D E C A D E R Z Y K N E T T C R Q J K T Y P I F E E R A K N E G O K R L G J C M R I P P T R E E N M N H C G P Y A T E C E J A O N O J L B W T T L F S R S O U B E B N I L J U I R C L D Y M U V A K T T E I D O J N L E H E B S U I A L G L O T C K D R N R W G Y Y V Z J L Y G Q Q E D E N

In their article on family life Aveen and Cathal O’Reilly reflected on ten years of marriage. Can you find these words from their article?

Volunteering Society Secular Reflective Marriage Opposite Challenge Future Technology Grace Wedding Decade

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FEATURE

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FEATURE

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Hospitality and gifts almost define a good Christmas.

MAEVE McMAHON OP, who works with JUST, a tutorial programme for adults seeking access to third level education, looks at the first Christmas in this context.

NO ROOM

After his birth, Jesus’ mother, Mary, ‘wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn’ (Lk 2:8). Homelessness was a thread in the fabric of the story of Christ’s birth on earth.

The tradition of gift-giving at Christmas is tied to the story of the Magi, the second visitors to Jesus, together with the story of Santa Claus, also known as St Nicholas, a fourth-century Greek bishop and gift-giver.

By the thirteenth century, St Francis of Assisi was concerned that there was too much emphasis on material gifts and commercial gain at Christmas. Eager to bring people back to the reason for the season, he created the first nativity scene in 1223, at Greccio, Italy, with human beings acting as Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Real animals breathed on the little baby, just as they had breathed on Jesus.

Within a hundred years, every church in Italy was expected to produce a nativity scene at Christmas.

Over time, people in the crib were replaced by richly-robed statues.

Exotic landscapes became the backdrop to Christ’s birthplace.

By the end of the nineteenth century, cribs had become less ostentatious and were so popular that they

were created in various materials, sizes and versions. By the twentieth century, as well as cribs being erected in all Catholic churches throughout the world, many Catholic families owned a small, simple crib which they put in a place of honour in their home at Christmas time. It was a way of making room for the family of Jesus.

Alongside the annual remembrance of the period of homelessness experienced by Mary, Joseph and Jesus, Christmas gift-giving increased in popularity. Retailers stretched out the purchasing period before Christmas and directed their marketing efforts at children in the hope that they would entice their parents to buy them more expensive presents. In 2016, an online survey of 13,576 people was carried out in fourteen European countries in which 70% of respondents said that too much attention is put on spending during the Christmas period, 42% felt they were forced to spend more money at Christmas than they really needed to do and 10% borrowed money to be able to buy the gifts they wanted to give family members and friends.

So, we can see from this survey that it is as important now, as it was in St Francis of Assisi’s time, to get

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back to the reason for the season and for believers to tell the Christmas story with a crib, a reminder that Jesus was a child without a home at his birth. Nearly 10,000 people, in Ireland today, have no homes to call their own.

In 2018 there is an increasing number of homeless families ,with more than 3,000 children, living in temporary accommodation. Children’s basic needs which include nutrition, adequate rest and healthy conditions cannot be met when they are living in confined and often, overcrowded accommodation, such as a hotel room.

Apart from seeking to address this

crisis as citizens who are committed to the common good, we should be concerned that children, who are homeless at present, will likely develop problems such as depression in adulthood. As followers of Christ, we must not allow homelessness to be normalised and must work for its eradication.

Maybe we could start a movement of prayer? We could pray at the crib this Christmas that government agencies, county councils, developers, builders, landlords and people, in general, will be moved in their hearts to make a serious commitment to end homelessness in 2019.

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DAILY INSPIRATIONS A selection of books from Messenger for the Advent Season and the days of 2019

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The Prayerbook 2019 The Irish Jesuits 400pp €12.95

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Weekday Reflections for the Liturgical Year 2018/9 Martin Hogan 272pp €14.95

GOSPEL REFLECTIONS

Year C Donal Neary SJ 80pp €9.95

An Advent Journey John Scally 64pp €4.95

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IN THE MASTER’S FOOTSTEPS

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This month FR JOHN MURRAY, parish priest of Downpatrick, tells the story of the innocent children lost to King Herod’s pursuit of Jesus. He reminds us that all the innocent are known to God, if not to history.

THE HOLY INNOCENTS

‘A ngels in heaven continually see the face of my heavenly father.’

‘See that you do not despise any of these little ones; for I tell you their angels in heaven continually see the face of my heavenly father.’ (Mt 18:10) The timing of the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a few days after Christmas, can often seem strange to us: as if breaking into the peace and goodwill of the festive season, and even invading the somewhat selfish contentment of our secular celebrations. Indeed, even before that, on the day after Christmas, we are asked to call to mind another tragic event, the killing of Stephen, the first martyr.

It is as if the Lord is saying to us, ‘Do you want to follow me? Then be prepared for trials’.

We know the story, of course. To ensure that he would eliminate the new-born king, whom he saw as a threat, Herod killed all the boys in the area who were two years old and under. We don’t know how many were killed; estimates vary from a few score to fourteen thousand. The latter figure appeared in the Byzantine liturgy, while the Copts put the number even higher at 144,000. These numbers were probably intended to be more symbolic than actual.

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More sober assessments suggest that around twenty-six children were killed in the town itself, with another twelve or so in the outlying areas.

Such atrocities were not unthinkable, given Herod’s character.

He drowned his sixteen-year-old brother-in-law, killed his uncle, aunt and mother-in-law, and murdered his own two sons and some three hundred officials whom he accused of siding with his sons. To suggest he was paranoid is an understatement.

He simply did not brook opposition.

The innocent children who were killed were not believers in the strict sense, of course, but nonetheless they were killed for the sake of Christ, and from the third century the Church has seen them as martyrs.

By the fourth century the feast was celebrated in North Africa and it had spread to the universal church by the sixth century. In early times the festival commemorated all newly-baptised infants who had died prematurely, thus linking the sacrament not just to Easter but also to Christmas.

That particular understanding of the feast is returning again in some areas, as parents call to mind their stillborn children, and those who had not reached the age of maturity.

The event as described in Scripture has given rise to many different representations. Medieval dramas included this story among the

events portrayed. One such was The Pageant of the Shearmen and the Tailors, which was performed in England and included a haunting song which in time became known as the ‘Coventry Carol’. Matthew in his Gospel account had already anticipated this kind of lamentation by his plaintive quotation from the prophet Jeremiah, ‘a voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be consoled, because they are no more’ (Mt 2:17).

Artists and painters too have captured the scene, sometimes interpreting it in the light of contemporary events. Painting in the period of the religious wars following the Reformation, Bruegel’s versions show the soldiers who killed the children carrying banners of the time.

Nicolas Poussin painted the scene in 1634 at the height of the Thirty Years War. Peter Paul Rubens and Guido Reni also painted the scene in dramatic detail.

Liturgically, the Anglican and Lutheran communions remember not just children on this day but indeed all victims of injustice who have paid the ultimate price for their innocence. The list could be endless and the numbers are beyond imagining but the following can readily be called to mind: the six million Jewish people massacred

TO SUGGEST HE [HEROD] WAS PARANOID IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT. HE SIMPLY DID NOT BROOK OPPOSITION.

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IN THE MASTER’S FOOTSTEPS

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in the Holocaust; the hundreds of thousands of people fire-bombed in the carpet bombing of Dresden and other German cities at the end of the war; the countless numbers of African slaves transported to America and the Indies; the victims of Pol Pot in the Killing Fields of Cambodia; the millions sacrificed on the altar of communism in Russia and China and beyond; the victims of the atom bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. There have been millions and millions of innocents, mostly unknown to history except as cold statistics. We can be grateful that they are all known to God. In recent decades, we have added another category to the Holy Innocents: the millions of unborn children

who are sadly killed through abortion before they see the light of day. Let’s pray that, whatever public opinion may hold and whatever laws are passed, we as Christians can remain firmly on the side of life, at every stage of its existence.

The feast of the Holy Innocents is not simply a memorial to those who died before their time. While the little children of Bethlehem were unconscious victims of forces beyond their control, they also serve to remind us of the many who dream of a different future. In remembering the Holy Innocents, we commemorate the victims of Herod’s rage. But we also celebrate Herod’s failure, for the child of hope lives on in every generation.

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IN THE MASTER’S FOOTSTEPS

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A modern retreat chalet in En Kerem, traditional place of the first Magnificat.

Run by the Sisters of Sion now, it is also a place of visitation and hospitality.

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Yes to your promptings, your movement within, Yes to your inner light, your sunny sensualities.

Yes to her hands filled with openness, Sing Hallelujah to her magnificent lowliness.

Yes to your open road, your warm invitations, Yes to your genuineness, your grounded worldliness.

Yes to her embrace filled with wholeness, Sing Hallelujah to her magnificent fruitfulness.

Yes to your gaze, your soft sensitivities, Yes to your blissfulness, your heavenly mindfulness.

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FEATURE

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Sharing the Wisdom of Time, which is available from Messenger Publications, is a special book. In 2016 Pope Francis requested a collection of the stories of elders from around the world, so that their wisdom could inspire younger generations. In this issue of Messenger the editor includes a selection of these stories, along with the Pope’s responses.

SHARING THE WISDOM OF TIME

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FEATURE Pope Francis responds Father Desmond very much resembles Jesus, who took upon himself all of our illnesses. Christ serves by suffering, because he shares the same conditions as those he intends to heal. Father Desmond gives so much hope to the people who are near him and to those who are like him.

child. Elisa Margarita’s glance must contain a dream, the simple dream of giving life and birthing the future.

Elisa Margarita Quiroa Lopez: 100 Retired midwife, Guatemala I became a midwife at age fourteen.

My first delivery was triplets right here in town. I continue to care for the women of my community. I can’t deliver babies anymore, but I follow women through their pregnancies.

The people of our community know me as ‘mamita’ because I have delivered a whole lot of babies! Even the mayor calls me mamita because I delivered him, too.

Pope Francis responds Midwives and nurses have a special place in my heart. I hold in my heart the midwife who delivered me. What a great joy to give life, to deliver babies, to contribute to the beautiful relationship of mother and newborn

Desmond O’Grady SJ: 76 Chaplain, Dundrum Central Mental Hospital, Ireland It works best if I say ‘oh I am sorry, I am suffering from Alzheimer’s’ or ‘my memory has gone’. I am very proactive. Why should I be embarrassed that I have Alzheimer’s? I think the honest way I’ve been handling Azlheimer’s for the past two years has been a gift to many people. People see they can get on in life without being fully healthy, fully perfect. They see that, if you have disabilities, you don’t have to deny them.

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Berta Golob: 85 Writer and retired teacher, Slovenia For years, I taught teenagers at a behavioral institute for children and adolescents. It is important for educators in such institutes to be like guardian angels at every step those teenagers take. Somewhere deep down in them is a burning fire of love. Love is silent and often hurts in silence. Those troubled adolescents taught me to recognise the bright light behind all the shadows.

Pope Francis responds Berta’s story illustrates one of love’s basic stances: do not let appearances fool you; look under the ashes and look there for the fire. This is a great piece of wisdom. Under the ashes, there is often a coal that shouldn’t be put out but actually deserves to be fanned into flame.

Martin Scorsese: 75 Film director, producer and screenwriter, USA I think I’ve learned more from failure, rejection and outright hostility than I have from success. When you’re young, you imagine that there’s an ideal state called ‘success’. You’d struggle, you’d be recognised, you’d finally ‘arrive’. But arrive where? To do what? Take it easy? Actually, what I learned from failure prepared me to learn from success.

Pope Francis responds Our life does not play out like a movie where the scenes are all predetermined. A movie director may know this better than anyone else. Your life is not determined. You have to take everything in your life, mix it all together, and with this mixture, move forward. The success of life is not glory but patience.

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Mt 10: 17-22 Jn 1: 1-18 Lk 1: 67-79

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Mary greeted Elizabeth

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My spirit exults in God

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I’m dreaming of a white Christmas … how often will we hear this?

What am I dreaming of for Christmas?

Family, home, enough to get by, peace in conflicts?

Can I dream also that the world will be what the Christ-child would like?

Photograph: Brendan McManus SJ. Text: Donal Neary SJ ISSN 1649-4450

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