Reality November 2018

OLIVIA TAAFFE

SR BRIDGET TIGHE

FOUNDER OF ST JOSEPH'S YOUNG PRIESTS SOCIETY

NOVEMBER 2018

A LIFE DEDICATED TO THE PEOPLE OF GAZA

WELCOMING THE CHILD

A CHILDREN'S SUNDAY LITURGY

Informing, Inspiring, Challenging Today’s Catholic

NOVEMBER REMEMBER REDEMPTORIST CHAPLAINS OF THE GREAT WAR

FR JAMES STACK CSsR UNSUNG HERO

LOUIS AND ZÉLIE MARTIN PARENTS OF THE 'LITTLE FLOWER'

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IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE FEATURES 12 CHAPLAINS IN WORLD WAR I To mark the centenary of the end of World War I we remember the chaplains who accompanied the soldiers into the trenches.

By Christopher Reynolds

17 “LET THE CHILDREN COME TO ME … AND LET THEM CELEBRATE!” Supporting children as they learn to worship at Mass

By Sarah Adams

20 FATHER JAMES STACK CSsR CHAPLAIN IN WORLD WAR I A Dromcollogher priest showed exceptional bravery in the care of his soldiers

By John J Cronin

12

23 CONTINUOUS PRAYER FOR MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIFE An ideal parish follow-up to the World Meeting of Families

By Fr Johnny Doherty CSsR

26 ARE YOU LIVING A HERESY? Two obstacles to our quest for holiness are two of the oldest heresies: an excessive intellectualism, and over-reliance on our own efforts.

By Mike Daley

28 OLIVIA MARY TAAFFE AND ST JOSEPH’S YOUNG PRIESTS SOCIETY Centenary of a woman who founded a society to help students for the priesthood on their journey to ordination

By Fr Seamus McEntee

32 INSTITUTION OF THE EUCHARIST What thoughts and emotions filled the heart of Jesus at the Last Supper?

By Fr George Wadding CSsR

36 LOUIS AND ZÉLIE MARTIN A FAITHFUL AND GENEROUS LOVE The parents of 'the Little Flower' were the first married couple to be canonised in the history of the church.

By Fr Eugene McCaffrey ODC

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36

OPINION

REGULARS

11 BRENDAN McCONVERY

04 REALITY BITES

16 JIM DEEDS

07 POPE MONITOR

31 CARMEL WYNNE

08 SAINT OF THE MONTH

44 PETER McVERRY SJ

09 REFLECTIONS 40 TRÓCAIRE 42 UNDER THE MICROSCOPE 45 GOD’S WORD

REALITY BITES BISHOP ACCUSED OF EMBEZZLEMENT BRAZIL SECRET STASH

Bishop José Ronaldo Ribeiro

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Brazilian bishop who was arrested and charged with embezzling thousands of dollars in diocesan funds. Bishop José Ronaldo Ribeiro of Formosa was arrested last March and charged, along with four diocesan priests, with stealing about $606,000 of diocesan money. Prosecutors in the state of Goiás allege Bishop Ribeiro and the four priests purchased a cattle ranch and a lottery store with the money. The courts authorised prosecutors to wiretap their telephones. The bishop's house was searched and money hidden in a secret compartment in a closet. According to the prosecutor, Bishop Ribeiro was suspected of stealing from funds in another diocese,

SEXUAL ABUSE IN GERMANY 4

GERMANY

Janaúba, in the state of Minas Gerais, where he served from 2007 to 2014. They were also investigating allegations that priests paid Bishop Ribeiro monthly 'allowances' so that they could be placed in more profitable parishes. The Brazilian bishops' conference expressed solidarity with the parishioners of the Formosa Diocese.

THE ALGERIAN MARTYRS ALGERIA

OPPRESSIVE AND SHAMEFUL

A study commissioned by the German bishops’ conference reports the sexual abuse of thousands of children in that country over a period of 70 years. The report was scheduled to be released at a meeting of the conference, but was leaked in advance to the German media. The study documents sexual offences against “3,677 predominantly male minors” between 1946 and 2014, accusing 1,670 clerics in that period.

Researchers examined and evaluated more than 38,000 personnel and other files from the Catholic dioceses in the state. The bishops’ commissioner for Questions of Sexual Abuse and the Protection of Children and Minors, Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier, said: “We are aware of the extent of sexual abuse that is proven by the results of the study. It is oppressive and shameful for us.” He described the leaking of the document ahead of time as "irresponsible".

Cathedral of Trier – Germany’s oldest church

Bishop Stephan Ackermann

REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

Brazilian police search the bishop's bedroom

HOLINESS REMEMBERED

A scene from Of Gods And Men

It has been announced that 19 martyrs from Algeria, including seven Cistercian monks of Tibhirine, will be celebrated on December 8 in Oran. Cardinal Angelo Becciu, prefect of the Congregation for Causes of Saints, will preside over the Mass and beatification rite for the six women and 13 men who gave their lives "for the least, the sick and the men, women and young people of Algeria".

The 19 were killed between 1993 and 1996 while Algeria was locked in a 10-year-long armed conflict between government forces and extremist Islamic rebel groups, a conflict that left tens of thousands of people dead. Among them are Bishop Pierre Claverie and his driver who were killed by a remote-controlled bomb left at the bishop's residence. The monks, who had been kidnapped from their monastery of Tibhirine, were beheaded by a group of Islamic terrorists trained by the Al-Qaeda network. Their story was told in the film Of Gods and Men, which won the grand prize at its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010.

N E WS

AFRICA’S CLERGY DRAIN

THAT FIGURES DUBLIN

IVORY COAST

NUMBERS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

According to the 2016 Census of Ireland (Republic), more than three quarters of the population describe themselves as Catholic. While that has fallen from earlier censuses (over 90 per cent in 1981), it takes account of the large influx into the country in recent years of people of other faiths. Despite a large drop in Sunday Mass attendance, the rate of religious practice remains relatively high by European standards. More than 468,000 Irish residents say they are not religious: one tenth of the population.

The Catholic population of Northern Ireland is increasing, especially among the younger age groups. According to the census of 2011, Catholics made up 45 per cent of the population, while Protestants accounted for 48 per cent. According to the more recent Labour Force Survey (2016), 44 per cent of the working-age population is now Catholic, and 40 per cent Protestant.

One of the main problems for the church is finding the manpower to minister to its flock. Vocations have plummeted over the last 30 years, so that the average age of a priest is now about 70. There were more than 300 seminarians in Maynooth at the time of the last papal visit, in addition to others in smaller seminaries and religious houses of study in the country. Currently (2018), there are just 35 seminarians in training in Maynooth.

Figures vary widely from diocese to diocese, but the following are representative. Armagh has 61 parishes, served by 115 active priests with 25 semi-retired. Eleven of these are nonIrish nationals and the diocese had seven ordinations in the past five years. Dublin’s 199 parishes are served by 247 diocesan priests, 97 retired priests, and it had seven ordinations in the past five years. Down and Connor has 108 active diocesan priests for its 87 parishes, 49 retired priests and five non-Irish: it had five ordinations in the past five years. Cork’s 68 parishes are served by 85 priests and 20 retired priests. It has four non-Irish national priests and had four ordinations in the past five years.

St Patrick's College, Maynooth

CATHOLICS IN FINLAND HELSINKI

SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT

Numerically, the Catholic Church in Finland is very small, counting a mere 15,000 registered Catholics from a total population of of 5.5 million (0.3 per cent). It is estimated, however, that there are a further

10,000 unregistered Catholics. Of the estimated 6,000 Catholic families, about 50 per cent are Finns, and the rest are made up of emigrants from 20 language groups, including Vietnam, the Philippines and Portugal. More

CALL TO RETURN

Bishop Ignace Bessi Dogbo leads community prayer in Katiola

The Ivory Coast’s bishops’ conference has complained that more and more of their priests are being absorbed into European dioceses, and ignoring their bishops’ instructions to return after completing study and pastoral assignments. “The situation is worsening and we have to speak out and take a common stand, so the dioceses hosting our priests will understand our position,” Bishop Ignace Bessi Dogbo of Katiola, the bishops’ conference president, said. There are 1,800 foreign priests officially ministering in France, mostly from former French colonies in Africa. This represents almost one fifth of the total number of diocesan clergy (1,500), but it does not include more informal arrangements. It has been estimated that up to 40 per cent of Italian parishes are run by foreign-born priests. Many Irish dioceses have an arrangement with a third world diocese to take priests for an agreed time.

While many priests come to Europe to study and help out in parishes at weekends in return for room and board, others want to stay in Europe to support poor family members, or they have become dependent on medicines unobtainable at home. Bishop Dogbo estimates that some dioceses have lost up to a third of their priests who are unwilling to come home.

than 30 priests minister in the country, but only five are Finnish. The Bishop of Helsinki, Mgr Teemu Sippo, is the first native Finnish Catholic bishop in over 500 years. A member of the Dehonian Congregation, he is, like many of his flock, a convert.

The best-known lay Catholic is Timo Soini, Minister for Foreign Affairs, who is strongly pro-life and has faced

censure from his party for attending a pro-life vigil in Ottawa, during an official visit to Canada. In addition to the Bridgettine sisters, common in Scandinavia, there is one monastery of Carmelite contemplative sisters and a community of Dominican friars who run the Studium Catholicum ecumenical study centre. continued on page 6

5

REALITY BITES END OF ONE-CHILD POLICY?

6

Economists have warned that falling birth rates in China are leading to a rapid ageing of the population, and creating a shortage of workers.

According to the United Nations, China is ageing more rapidly than almost any country in recent history. Its dependency ratio for retirees could rise as high as 44 per cent by 2050. Disparity between rich and poor in China is as bad as it ever was. The richest 1 per cent of households own 30 per cent of China's wealth.

China introduced its one-child policy under Mao Zedong. It was enforced relentlessly, with women required to have a contraceptive intrauterine device (IUD) inserted after the birth of the first child, with forced sterilisation after a second. The rate of abortion was high, especially when families wanted boys and aborted baby girls. This has led to a serious gender imbalance, with 121.2 boys to every 100 girls.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE NUNS?

Bill Hayden’s baptism

Hayden (right) as Governor-general with the then prime minister, Paul Keating

One of Australia’s iconic Labour leaders, who has served as a government minster, leader of the opposition and governor general, has become a Catholic at the age of 85. Bill Hayden had always identified as an atheist. But he admitted, “There’s been a gnawing pain in my heart and soul about ‘what is the meaning of life. What’s my role in it?’”

He attributed his conversion to the influence of his mother, who was Catholic, and to the Ursuline Sisters, who taught him at primary school in innercity Brisbane, and who stressed the principles of REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

humanity, social commitment and service to others. A hospital visit to another old friend, Mercy Sister, Angela Mary Doyle, proved the final catalyst in Bill Hayden’s faith journey. “Sister Angela Mary Doyle was for twenty-two years administrator of Mater hospitals in Brisbane – a citadel of health care for the poor of South Brisbane where I grew up towards the end of the Great Depression,” he said. “I have always felt embraced and loved by her Christian example." The 93-year-old sister was among the congregation at the baptism.

The policy was modified in 2013, when couples were permitted to have a second child. Many, however, chose not to. To address the critical situation, the Health and Family Planning Commission of one area, for example, called on all Communist Party members to support the party’s call to have a second child. Younger members were told to lead by example, while older comrades were told to encourage their children and grandchildren to have a second child. It is likely that the State will eventually cease to prescribe the number of children.

VATICAN-RUN JERUSALEM CENTRE Notre Dame of Jerusalem Centre is a well-known Jerusalem landmark. It was founded in 1882 by the Augustinians of the Assumption as a hostel for French pilgrims to the Holy Land, just as mass-tourism was beginning to bring large numbers of pilgrims flocking to the holy places. Capable of accommodating 500 pilgrims at a time, the building was heavily damaged in the war for Israeli independence in 1947. This was followed by a decline in pilgrims, owing to the political unrest, and Notre Dame’s position in ‘no man’s land’ between Arab and Jewish Jerusalem. In 1972, the site was turned over to the Holy See, and restoration was begun. Since 1978, it has become once again a major centre for pilgrimage groups. In 2004, Pope John Paul II entrusted its running to the Legionaries of Christ. Today it includes a guesthouse, chapel and auditorium, as well as a 'Hospitality and Education Training Section' which is run in conjunction with the University of Bethlehem for training young Palestinians in the skills needed for the tourist industry. There is an Irish link here – the tourism course was supervised by the College of Catering, Cathal Brugha Street Dublin. It also houses a permanent exhibition, 'Who is the man of the Shroud?' Situated immediately opposite the Old City’s New Gate, it is convenient to the Holy Sepulchre and other pilgrimage and tourist highlights.

N E WS

POPE MONITOR HIGHEST LEVEL OF BISHOPS’ MEETING TO DISCUSS SEXUAL ABUSE Pope Francis has called for all the presidents of the Catholic bishops’ conferences of the world to meet at the Vatican in February to discuss the issue of sexual abuse of minors. A statement from the pope’s advisory board of Cardinals on September 12 said, “The Holy Father Francis, hearing the Council of Cardinals, decided to convene a meeting with the Presidents of the Bishops Conferences of the Catholic Church on the theme of ‘protection of minors.’” The meeting will take place at the Vatican from February 21 until 24, 2019. There is a total of 114 conferences of bishops of the Latin rite, and 21 eastern-rite patriarchal synods and similar groups.

PAPAL VISIT TO BALTIC LANDS From September 22-25, Pope Francis visited Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The three Baltic nations are celebrating this year the centenary of their declarations of independence after World War I. That independence was shortlived, for they were occupied by the Nazis during World War II, and then lived under Soviet rule from 1944 to 1990. Making the apostolic nunciature in Vilnius his base, the pope celebrated Mass each day in one of the countries – on Sunday in Kaunas (Lithuania’s second city), on Monday in Riga (Latvia) and on Tuesday in Tallinn (Estonia) – travelling to the locations by helicopter. Lithuania is the most traditionally Catholic of the three. There is a Lutheran majority in the other two, along with some Orthodox. Estonia has been described as the most non-religious nation in Europe: 67 per cent registered at the last census as nonreligious or left the question blank. In each place there were formal visits to the civic authorities, the local hierarchies and other groups. There were two ecumenical meetings – a prayer service in the Lutheran Cathedral in Riga and a

KEEPING UP WITH POPE FRANCIS

MORE LAY CONSULTATION FOR SYNODS In a new apostolic constitution, Episcopalis Communio, Pope Francis sets out rules on consulting the laity on "questions to be dealt within the synodal assembly". Pope Francis has stressed that synods are not just gatherings of bishops, but a collective discernment process for all Catholics. Although the synod is “configured essentially as an episcopal organism,” the Pope explains that it does not live “separate from the rest of the faithful”, but “on the contrary, it is a suitable instrument for giving voice to the entire people of God.” During the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, synod discussions were criticised for being tightly controlled by the Vatican, with the final statement being written in advance by those wishing to limit debate. Pope Francis' new laws give more power to the synod, and remove it from the control of the Roman curia, stating that a final document from a synod gathering “if expressly approved by the Roman Pontiff” is part of the “ordinary Magisterium of the Successor to Peter.”

meeting with young people in Tallinn. Referring to the historic organ in Riga, Pope Francis said: “If the music of the Gospel is no longer heard, we will lose the sounds that guide our lives to heaven and become locked into one of the worst ills of our day: loneliness and isolation.”

During a meeting with young people in Vilnius, the Pope listened to testimonies from a young woman who described the pain of growing up with an alcoholic parent who committed suicide and a young man who described living as a married man with a serious illness. The pope, as he usually does, struck a human note with his introduction.

Commenting on the witness of the two young people, he said “I listened to it as a friend, as if we were sitting close to one another in some bar, telling one another about our lives as we drink a beer.” Then he went on “But your lives are not a piece of theatre; they are real and concrete, like those of everyone else gathered here today in this beautiful square situated between two rivers. Perhaps all this helps us to think back on your stories and to find in them the footprint of God, for God is always passing through our lives. He is always passing by. A great philosopher said: “I am afraid when God passes by! Afraid that I do not notice him!”

Lithuania had formerly a large Jewish population (many of whom emigrated to other countries, including Ireland). Outside the former KGB (Soviet era Intelligence) headquarters in Vilnius, Pope Francis paid homage to victims of totalitarianism and warned Lithuanians to be attentive to any signs of anti-Semitism or racial hatred. He had toured the museum with 79-year-old Archbishop Sigitas Tamkevicius, who had been imprisoned from 1983 to 1988 for "anti-Soviet propaganda". As a Jesuit priest, in 1972 he had begun publishing the Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, an underground newsletter documenting communist repression of the church. John Paul II named him archbishop of Kaunas in 1996, and he retired in 2015

Pope Francis lays a wreath to victims of Soviet State repression

7

REDEMPTORIST SAINT OF THE MONTH BLESSED KASPAR STANGGASSINGER 1871-1899

8

Kasper Stanggassinger was born on January 12, 1871 near Berchtesgaden, a small town in the Bavarian Alps, close to the Austrian border. Berchtesgaden enjoyed notoriety as the holiday resort of Adolf Hitler and his inner circle. The Stanggassinger family, like most others in the region, were farmers. Kaspar was the second of 16 children, and his birth, within the Octave of the Epiphany, was probably why he was given the name of one of the three wise men – Gaspar, Balthasar and Melchior – much venerated in Southern Germany and whose initials were chalked over the door of the family home. They family were relatively prosperous: in addition to his farming, Papa Stanggassinger owned a small quarry, providing building materials for his neighbours.

Kaspar was a pious lad, who made no secret of the fact that he hoped eventually to become a priest.

Like all the boys of the region, he was drawn by the mountains and loved hiking with his pals. Once, one of his friends found himself in a dangerous position in which a false step could have seen him fall.

Disregarding the danger to himself, Kaspar stayed with him until he was sure the lad could move without any danger Having completed his secondary education, he entered the diocesan seminary in Munich in 1890. A bout of serious illness during his school days had left Kaspar rather weak. He was not doing well at his studies, so his father who was paying his fees gave him with an ultimatum: buckle down to serious study, or else leave and get a job. This probably jolted the pious Kaspar back to reality, but he also took the opportunity to make pilgrimages during his holidays to holy places to invoke the aid of Our Lady and the saints on his efforts.

It was during one of these pilgrimages Kaspar made his first contact with the Redemptorists. He was attracted by their spirit of combining pastoral work with prayer, and also by the news that they had recently accepted a foreign mission in Brazil. Despite his father’s opposition, he applied to join the Redemptorists.

Because of the Kulturkampf laws that restricted the activity of certain orders, including the Redemptorists, and forbade them to recruit and train new members in Germany, Kaspar made his noviciate in Durrnberg, in Austria. He was professed in 1893, and having completed the theological studies he had begun in Munich, he was ordained two years later. Young Fr Kaspar had hoped he would be sent to the new Brazilian mission, but instead he was sent back to Durrnberg, to teach in the juvenate, a secondary school for boys who were attracted to the Redemptorists. A change in the political climate made it possible for the Redemptorists to resume more fully their community and apostolic life in Germany. The large medieval monastery which the Redemptorists had occupied since 1858 proved an ideal location for a juvenate, noviciate and house of studies. It was there that Kaspar went in the summer of 1899 as director of the juvenate. He preached the usual opening of the scholastic year retreat to the boys, then he fell ill with what was eventually diagnosed as peritonitis. He died on September 26 at the early age of 28.

Kaspar had done nothing dramatic in his life. By all accounts, it was the quiet life of a pious young priest. He had preached few missions; most of his preaching was to the boys or to the locals and pilgrims at Durrnberg and Gars. His daily work was in the classroom, the responsibilities of community life or preparing the lessons for the following day, yet he was always available to the boys. On Sundays he helped out in the monastery church or in those neighbouring villages, especially by preaching. What marked him out as exceptional was his availability to his students who looked on him more as an elder brother and a friend than as a superior. Although the rules of Redemptorist houses of formation at that time were very strict, Fr Kaspar never acted harshly, and if he ever suspected he had wronged a boy, he immediately apologised humbly.

Kaspar had a profound devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist. He passed this on to the boys, encouraging them to have recourse to the Blessed Sacrament in times of need and anxiety. He encouraged them to go to Christ whether to adore him or to speak with him as a friend. His preaching style was direct and appealing, without threats of punishment as was common in the preaching of that time. He was declared Blessed in 1988. His memorial day is September 26.

REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

Reality Volume 83. No. 9 November 2018 A Redemptorist Publication ISSN 0034-0960 Published by The Irish Redemptorists, Unit A6, Santry Business Park, Swords Road, Dublin 09 X651 Tel: 00353 (0)1 4922488 Web: www.redcoms.org Email: sales@redcoms.org (With permission of C.Ss.R.)

Editor Brendan McConvery CSsR editor@redcoms.org Design & Layout David Mc Namara CSsR dmcnamara@redcoms.org General Manager Paul Copeland pcopeland@redcoms.org Sales & Marketing Claire Carmichael ccarmichael@redcoms.org Administration & Accounts Michelle McKeon mmckeon@redcoms.org Printed by Nicholson & Bass, Belfast Photo Credits Shutterstock, Catholic News Agency, Trócaire, Archives of the London Redemptorists REALITY SUBSCRIPTIONS Through a promoter (Ireland only) €20 or £18 Annual Subscription by post: Ireland €25 or £20 UK £30 Europe €40 Rest of the world €50 Please send all payments to: Redemptorist Communications, Unit A6, Santry Business Park, Swords Road, Dublin D09 X651 ADVERTISING Whilst we take every care to ensure the accuracy and validity of adverts placed in Reality, the information contained in adverts does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Redemptorist Communications. You are therefore advised to verify the accuracy and validity of any information contained in adverts before entering into any commitment based upon them.

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REFLECTIONS World War I was the most colossal, murderous, mismanaged butchery that has ever taken place on earth. Any writer who said otherwise lied. So the writers either wrote propaganda, shut up, or fought.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

What passing bells for these who die as cattle?

Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

Only the stuttering rifle's rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons.

No mockeries now for them; no prayers, nor bells, Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, The shrill demented choirs of wailing shells, And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

WILFRED OWEN Anthem for Doomed Youth

In the Somme valley, the back of language broke. It could no longer carry its former meanings. World War I changed the life of words and images in art, radically and forever. It brought our culture into the age of mass-produced, industrialized death. This, at first, was indescribable.

ROBERT HUGHES

I know that I shall meet my fate Somewhere among the clouds above; Those that I fight I do not hate Those that I guard I do not love; My country is Kiltartan Cross, My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor, No likely end could bring them loss Or leave them happier than before.

So here, while the mad guns curse overhead, And tired men sigh with mud for couch and floor, Know that we fools, now with the foolish dead, Died not for flag, nor King, nor Emperor, But for a dream, born in a herdsman's shed, And for the secret Scripture of the poor.

TOM KETTLE

WB YEATS An Irish Airman Foresees his Death

I wish those people who write so glibly about this being a holy War, and the orators who talk so much about going on no matter how long the War lasts and what it may mean, could see a case of mustard gas in its early stages, could see the poor things burnt and blistered all over with great mustardcoloured suppurating blisters, with blind eyes – sometimes temporally, sometimes permanently – all sticky and stuck together, and always fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will choke.

They bright whiten all this sepulchre with powdered chloride of lime. It's a perfectly sanitary war.

DAVID JONES

We have yielded no more than a few hundred yards of it as a prize to the enemy.

But on every yard there lies a dead man.

ERICH MARIA REMARQUE

Tell the innocent visitor from another world that two people were killed at Sarajevo, and that the best that Europe could do about it was to kill eleven million more.

A.A. MILNE

VERA BRITAIN

ERICH MARIA REMARQUE

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.

All Quiet on the Western Front

LAURENCE BINYON For the Fallen

We had suddenly learned to see. And we saw that there was nothing of their world left. We were all at once terribly alone; and alone we must see it through.

9

ST. MARY’S MONASTERY

REDEMPTORIST CENTRE FOR SPIRITUALITY St Mary’s Monastery, Kinnoull, Perth overlooks the city which is renowned as the ‘Gateway to the Scottish Highlands’. It is an international, multi-cultural, ecumenical place situated within its own extensive grounds and woodland and offers its visitors the opportunity for relaxation, renewal, and rest.

The accommodation in the Monastery is simple but comfortable with 28 single en-suite room, 2 twin en-suite rooms and 4 single rooms with shared bathrooms. There is step free access with a lift to all rooms and free Wi-Fi throughout the building.

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SABBATICALS Fr. Jim McManus C.Ss.R. 2019 Fr. Peter Morris C.Ss.R.

For Laity, Religious Redemptorist Community & Priests Sr. Sheila Burke RSM, Fr. Martin Gay C.Ss.R., Fr. Ronnie C.Ss.R. 13 May McAinsh - 27 June Kinnoull Sabbatical Team 2019 Jim McManus C.Ss.R. 21Fr. October - 05 Fr. Peter Morris C.Ss.R. December 2019

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St. Mary’s, Mary's, Kinnoull, Kinnoull, Hatton HattonRoad, Road,Perth PerthPH2 PH27BP, 7BP,UK UK

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E DI TO R I A L UP FRONT BRENDAN McCONVERY CSsR

A TIME TO REMEMBER

Two

of my maternal grandmother’s brothers served in the trenches in the First World War. Barney had been caught in a gas attack, and suffered from a bad chest until his death when I was about five or six. Frank died before I was born, but Aunt Mary kept a large framed picture of him above what had been his armchair in the kitchen. Every November, she placed one poppy for him and another for Barney in the frame. For their mother, a Tipperary-born woman who had moved to Belfast on her marriage, Armistice Day must have come as a relief. Her two sons would no longer be exposed to the danger of war, and would soon return from the misery of the trenches.

She hung out her flag in celebration. The political mood of the Falls had changed since the War had begun, but Granny O’Neill did not seem to have noticed. Her flag had always been the Union Jack. Her younger neighbours were appalled, and threatened to break her windows if she did not pull it in. Granny O’Neill was a stubborn woman, so her flag fluttered for another while.

The First World War and its commemoration have sometimes troubled me. Uncle Frank looked like a kind man, and Aunt Mary was a gentle, pious woman, but few others on the Falls bought poppies. Growing up, I had known elderly neighbours who had served in both wars. Some had lost limbs and needed crutches to move around. A classmate of my father’s in St Finian’s De La Salle Brothers School was the only person from Northern Ireland to win the Victoria Cross in the Second World War: he was refused the freedom of the city because he was a working-class Catholic. The stories of the Belfast blitz were told so vividly by my family that I could have easily believed I was there too, except I was not born until a few years after it ended! When I went to live in the Republic, both wars were unexplored

territory. The first one was swallowed up in Ireland’s fight for its freedom, and the second was known as ‘the Emergency’ as a cover for the Republic’s neutrality.

HG Wells, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, referred to it as "the war that will end war". How mistaken he was! According to the British Imperial War Museum’s website, it has been estimated that the number of people who died as a result of war in the 20th century is at least 187 million, and probably a good deal higher. The Middle East remains a bubbling cauldron of unrest and injustice that threatens to boil over, and the meddling of the world’s super-powers seems to be dictated by their own desire for control rather than driven by a quest for peace. The recently canonised St Paul VI was the first pope to venture outside Europe when he addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York in 1965.

His words are still a challenge to the nations: “If you wish to be brothers and sisters, let the weapons fall from your hands. People cannot love with offensive weapons in their hands. Those weapons, especially the terrible weapons that modern science has given you, long before they produce victims and ruins, cause bad dreams, foster bad feelings, create nightmares, distrust and sombre resolves; they demand enormous expenditures; they obstruct projects of solidarity and useful work; they falsify the very psychology of peoples. As long as humans remain those weak, changeable and even wicked beings that they often show themselves to be, defensive arms will, unfortunately, be necessary.” More than 50 years later, and on the centenary of the “war to end all wars” that remains sadly true.

In this centenary year of the Armistice of 1918, let us remember all who died as a result of those four years of war. The tradition of some religious orders and dioceses of

offering three Masses on All Souls Day was extended to the universal church in 1915 by Pope Benedict XV who recognised that the number of the war dead was so great that it would have been impossible to offer an individual Mass for each of them. It might be good to remember it this year especially as our Catholic ‘Remembrance Day'. An Irish poet and politician, Tom Kettle, who died in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, spoke for many of his generation when he wrote: Know that we fools, now with the foolish dead, Died not for flag, nor King, nor Emperor, But for a dream, born in a herdsman's shed, And for the secret Scripture of the poor.

We remember them and those who mourned them.

Brendan McConvery CSsR Editor

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REDEMPTORISTIN CHAPLAINS WORLD WAR I AS WE REMEMBER THE ARMISTICE THAT ENDED THE FIRST WORLD WAR "ON THE ELEVENTH DAY OF THE ELEVENTH MONTH AT 11 AM”, WE ALSO REMEMBER SOME OF THE PRIESTS WHO ACCOMPANIED THE SOLDIERS INTO THE TRENCHES.

BY CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS

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The

term chaplain derives from the tale of St Martin, a soldier, who tore his cloak, his cappa, so that he could share it with a poor beggar. However the role of the chaplain can be traced back to St Paul and even beyond to Christ, the pattern of all Christian ministry. In the Mass we say the words: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. But only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” This passage recalls the words of the Roman centurion who asked Christ to heal his servant. Christ

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offers to go with the man to his home but the centurion, recognising Jesus as the Son of God, says “only say the word”. Priests are called to be an Alter Christus, another Christ, but in a special way the Chaplain to the Armed Forces must be able to bring the light of Christ into the darkest and most dangerous of situations. Upon the outbreak of war on August 6, 1914, Cardinal Bourne asked for priests to go and serve as Chaplains to the Armed Forces.

Fr Provincial, Joseph Hull CSsR, returned from Bishop Eton Monastery, Liverpool, to his provincial house in Clapham Common, London, to ask for volunteers to go and serve

the poor and most abandoned on the front line. A large number came forward to serve but it was the provincial who missioned priests to the Royal Army Chaplains Department or the Royal Navy Chaplaincy Service. Fr Hull initially promised 12 who were selected in batches but in total over 40 Redemptorists of the London Province alone would serve as chaplains, while one source in the Chronicles claims over 500 priests of the order served worldwide. The first man in the field was Fr Jack Evans of Bishop Eton and their own Chronicles record: “Bravo Bishop Eton’s volunteer, the first to go to the front!”

Some of the chaplains served for some time in barracks or gun emplacements at home in England and thus had the opportunity to return home regularly and could still give parish missions in the early days of the war. Fr Bernard Kavanagh CSsR CF (Chaplain to the Forces) was a Limerick man and entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1882. In 1914 he volunteered to serve as a chaplain in the Army and was sent to Purfleet, which was a gunpowder magazine and anti-aircraft base. During his time there the gun crews brought down a German Zeppelin and the base received a special honour from the mayor. On December 4, 1914 he was sent to the front in Egypt with the Queen's Own West Kent Regiment as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF). The EEF was marching on towards Jerusalem and Fr Kavanagh was never far from the fighting: Catholic chaplains were famous for being ever at the front with their men. He managed to return home to visit the communities briefly and to relate what life was like at the front. His sister however was furious that he would put himself in harm's way and he wrote to her saying: “Your warlike letter set me off in a fit. Why should everybody else be encouraged to do their bit while your family are wrapped up in cotton wool? I am thriving and in excellent health in spite of rain and sand holes at night and scorching days.� He was well loved by his soldiers, who said of him: “Every Sunday he preached a sermon, and his words always seemed to fit in, help, and make us try again.

In a special way the Chaplain to the Armed Forces must be able to bring the light of Christ into the darkest and most dangerous of situations

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Fr Charles Watson CSsR

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was ordained to the priesthood. In 1914 when Britain entered the war following the invasion of Belgium by German forces Fr Watson, whose family still lived in Belgium, was sent to serve as a chaplain. On February 19, 1916 as the war was reaching its apex with the Battle of the Somme on land and Jutland at sea, Fr Watson left Bishop Eton to make his way to the front.

We know that Fr Watson served in Egypt and from there served in Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq, where on March 17, 1917 the Chronicles note that: “The British captured Bagdad last week.” The next news we have of Fr Watson is a letter, received on May 1, 1917, informing the community at Bishop Eton that the troop transport ship he was on had been sunk near Malta. Unlike many of the fathers who served as chaplains, Fr Watson does not seem to return to England very often at all and is barely mentioned in the Chronicles.

One can only assume that he was at his post in the Middle East serving those in his care. He said Mass each day in the desert heat wearing his uniform and the vestments over the top as was required. On July 16, 1918 after saying

Mass for the soldiers he collapsed and was taken to the hospital. Sadly he never recovered from this exhaustion in the heat and died soon after on July 22: “He was taken to the hospital on July 16, as he had fainted after his Mass, but he got immediately better. However two days after, a change for the worse came on and he became unconscious. The Father never left him for 24 hours hoping for a last

His life was all sacrifice, to the end, and he died with the boy he was tending in his arms

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Fr Bernard Kavanagh CSsR

On the march, he wouldn’t ride his horse very often, he would say, to walk with the boys made him remember how ‘Our Lord and Blessed Lady trod the same ground’. I know of one day he marched with us 17 miles, happy, explaining to us all about the places we were going through.” Sadly, Fr Kavanagh was shot and killed on December 21, 1917 on the slopes of the Mount of Olives whilst ministering the Last Sacraments to a man who lay dying: “His life was all sacrifice, to the end, and he died with the boy he was tending in his arms.”

Only one year later another Redemptorist priest of the London Province gave his life in active service. Fr Charles Watson CSsR was born in Belgium, his father had moved there from Scotland. He entered the Congregation in 1890 after a long discernment, during which he studied at the Jesuit College in Belgium and Ushaw College in England. He completed his novitiate in Bishop Eton in 1891 and in 1897 REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

Fr Thomas Bradley CSsR

message, but he only opened his eyes while he was being given the Last Sacraments – he smiled faintly as they rested on the priest’s stole. He died at 8.30 a.m. on July 22 and was buried the same morning with full military honours on the banks of the Euphrates. Fr. Deeley speaks about the good opinion that all who knew him had of my brother.”

One other member of the London Province of the Congregation was killed in action, Fr Thomas Bradly CSsR R.N. was drowned when his vessel was sunk in the Indian Ocean by a Japanese Submarine. Fr Bradley had served initially in the Army but as a descendent of Captain Hardy of HMS Victory it seems fitting that he transferred to the Royal Navy at the beginning of the war in 1914. He was born in London in 1886 and entered the Redemptorist Juvenate in October of 1899 and was received by Fr Vaughn CSsR who was then provincial. Fr Bradley was quite mischievous as a young man and recalls: “I do not think Fr Director was at all pleased with my conduct. However though he often threatened to send me away, he never did so.”

He was professed in 1905 and was ordained in 1910 but in December 1914 he was missioned to be a Chaplain to the Forces, serving first in the Army as base chaplain at Purfleet.

He later saw service in France before being transferred at his own request to the Royal Navy. In 1914 there were 233 chaplains of the Church of England in the Royal Navy to only one Catholic chaplain and in his time since he entered the navy Fr Bradley did much to improve the situation of the Roman Catholic

chaplains. During his time in the Navy Fr Bradley served in Scotland, the Indian Ocean and was based for a time at Killindini in Kenya. He was aboard HMS Tiger in the squadron lead by the maverick Admiral Sir David Beatty R.N. and spent the duration of the battle caring for the sick and dying. In 1939 he again offered himself as a chaplain to the Navy and was accepted; he was the oldest serving chaplain in the armed forces. He was killed in the Indian Ocean after his vessel was struck by a torpedo.

The Redemptorists were founded to serve the poor and most abandoned in simplicity of life and language and to persevere unto the end: the three Redemptorists whose stories we have told paid the ultimate price for the high ideal of St Alphonsus that all should know that: “with Him there is plentiful redemption.�

G r av e o f Fr K av a n a g h i n th e Commonwealth War Cemetery, Jerusalem

Chris Reynolds is 30 years old and from St Helens. He studied Chemistry at the University of Liverpool and now lives in the Isle of Man where he is a teacher.

COMMENT WITH EYES WIDE OPEN JIM DEEDS

BATTERED

HOW A MISSHAPEN COIN BECOMES A SYMBOL OF GREATER WORTH

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A while back, I found myself travelling from my home in Belfast to Dublin for a meeting. Along the way I came to three toll booths, at each of which I had to produce euro and cent coins to enable me to pass.

I had thrown a handful of coins onto the empty passenger seat before I set off in preparation for this alltoo-familiar process. The first two toll booths brought me nothing of note. I reached into the pile of coins for one euro and two 20-cent coins and handed them over to a smiling toll attendant. However, as I came to the third of the three toll booths – one that ushered me past the port and into the city centre – something happened that stopped me in my tracks. I reached down into my pile of coins on the passenger seat and was about to hand over the coins when I noticed one of them in particular. It was one of the 20-cent coins. I hadn’t really noticed it before.

But this one was different from the other coins. When I lifted it I noticed that it was dirty and jaded looking. It had had its shaped knocked about and battered. It was no longer smooth and circular. It had dents and edges it did not have when it was new. Something about it resonated within me. I got a feeling that I didn’t want to hand it over, so I swapped it for another coin and put it back onto the passenger seat. I drove on, with this little coin on my mind.

What, I wondered, was it about the coin that struck me as being noteworthy; as being important?

As I drove on through the south side of Dublin City with its wonderful architecture and very expensive houses and apartments, the answer came to me: even though this coin was old and battered (and not at all REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

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as wonderful looking or shiny and clean as the houses I was driving by), it held the same worth as any other coin of its denomination. Despite the bruised and battered exterior, it was just as valuable as any other 20-cent coin. In fact, to me, it was a little bit more valuable because I couldn't part with it at the toll booth!

Here in the midst of this affluent area (what we in Belfast call 'real money'), I had a wake-up call about what value really is. The coin wasn't valuable because of how it looked.

It was inherently worthy because of what it was. Its value was not dictated by its experiences since being created.

Its value was guaranteed by the one who created it.

It was then that I realised that I knew this coin. I think that's why I couldn't part with it. I'd met the coin before. I'd sat and held the coin, both of us crying as he or she had told me

of their pain and how they've been bruised and battered.

• I'd heard the coin on TV and radio calling for changes in the church to ensure that no one is hurt again and those who facilitated the hurt are held to account.

• I'd seen the coin sitting in doorways, wrapped only in an old sleeping bag, heated only by a half-lit cigarette as the rain pelted down and there was no bed or home to go to.

• I'd heard the coin put themselves down for not being 'good enough' in a world that values material gain as the biggest and best we should aspire to.

• I'd seen the coin carry a look of worry and despair as life threw turmoil and trouble its way.

Not only did I realise that I knew the coin, I knew that I had been the coin more than a few times too.

This coin, sitting on the passenger seat of my car, was every one of us who have lived and carry the marks to prove it. As I journeyed onwards in Dublin that day, a prayer formed in my heart. When I reached my destination I took out my notebook and wrote the prayer down.

“For those who have been abused and carry the marks on the outside and/or deeper marks inside – may they know love, consolation and justice.

For anyone who has lost the sense of their own worth – may they know that they are inherently valuable, dignified and loved. For an end to poverty – may we work for a world that shares its resources so that no one lives a life of hunger, homelessness or lack of opportunity. For all people who need a boost of love, confidence and friendship – may we all know that God loves us, especially when we experience the bruising and battering that life can throw at us.”

Perhaps you would like to pray with this prayer this month. You could even put a battered little coin in a sacred place in your home to remind you that your worth – the worth of all people – is not dictated by our experiences or the judgements of others, but by the love of the one who created us.

Belfast man Jim Deeds is a poet, author, pastoral worker and retreat-giver working across Ireland.

In Tune with the Liturgy A series that highlights some of the features of the Church’s worship in the month ahead

“LET THE CHILDREN COME TO ME ….AND LET THEM CELEBRATE!”

BY SARAH ADAMS 17

Only a child sees things with perfect clarity, because it hasn't developed all those filters which prevent us from seeing things that we don't expect to see.

Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

In

our last edition of Reality we looked at the quality of welcome that children, in particular, receive or don’t receive when they come to Mass. We now focus on one particular way the church offers us to support children in their engagement and understanding of the Mass. It is known as ‘Children’s Liturgy of the Word’ and is an invitation for children to reflect upon the same scripture which the adults will hear, but at their own level.

Children being enabled to engage with the story of God’s saving grace is not just important intellectually but is a way of

helping children to grow spiritually. It may surprise some of us to know that children are innately spiritual. They are not empty vessels to be filled with what we think is right for them to know or hear. God is already within them. Our job as adults is to nourish and nurture this profound sense of God. Children’s Liturgy of the Word is one way to do this.

WHAT IS 'CHILDREN’S LITURGY OF THE WORD'?

The term 'Children's Liturgy of the Word' refers to the practice of children leaving the

Sunday assembly during the Liturgy of the Word and gathering elsewhere to celebrate a separate Liturgy of the Word that is more appropriate to their level of understanding.

In 1973, the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome issued the document Directory for Masses with Children. This document offers principles and guidelines for adapting the liturgy for children to enable them to take a more conscious and active part in liturgical celebrations.

Sometimes..., if the place itself and the nature of the community permit, it will be appropriate to celebrate the

In Tune with the Liturgy

It will be appropriate to celebrate the liturgy of the word, including a homily, with the children in a separate, but not too distant, room (Directory, #17)

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liturgy of the word, including a homily, with the children in a separate, but not too distant, room. Then, before the eucharistic liturgy begins, the children are led to the place where the adults have meanwhile celebrated their own liturgy of the word (Directory, #17).

This statement is the rationale for many parishes offering Children's Liturgy of the Word as a parish ministry. The purpose of adapting liturgical celebrations to make them more accessible to children must always be to gradually lead them to full, conscious and active participation in the Sunday liturgical assembly. It does not have to happen every week, but generally speaking it tends to happen during the school’s term time when catechists and families are not away on holiday. This reflects the Directory’s guidance which offers two principles for parishes to take into account when determining how often they offer a Children’s Liturgy. The DMC warns that spiritual harm may be done (and thus defeat the purpose) if over the years children repeatedly experience in the Church things that are scarcely comprehensible to them (#2).

On the other hand, children do not, and do REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

not need to, understand everything going on around them. In fact they are often fascinated by adult conversation and activity that is beyond their comprehension. Growing up is a gradual process of growing in understanding of the world around them. Ultimately the aim is that children are led to an adult participation in the parish Sunday Mass.

If parishioners have never led children’s liturgy, they might wonder how to go about it. They might be reluctant to offer to be catechists because they are "not teachers".

This is natural because the role of catechist with children is often misunderstood. What follows are some thoughts on what Children's Liturgy of the Word actually is and how a parish might go about offering it to children.

Two key principles need to be kept in mind when preparing and celebrating Children's Liturgy of the Word. Firstly it is liturgy – ritual prayer – not religious instruction or child-minding. Its purpose is not to give the children activities to keep them busy so the adults can listen to the homily in

peace! Because it is a liturgical celebration, all the principles of good liturgy (active participation, clear symbols, etc) apply.

Secondly, it is liturgy of the word, so it is ritual centred on the proclamation and breaking open of the scriptures. The children do what the rest of the community is doing at this point of the Mass. They listen to the scriptures proclaimed and applied to contemporary life and respond in various ways. It is an experience of prayer, of dialogue with God. To help with this there is an approved book for use called the Lectionary for Masses with Children. It adheres as closely as possible to the readings in the Sunday Lectionary, while adapting them to the needs and capabilities of children. As far as possible the readings follow those in the (adult) Roman Lectionary for Mass. Readings considered too difficult for children have been simplified or omitted completely. The responsorial psalms have been adapted to make them easier for the children to sing.

Taking children out for a liturgy of the word is never simply a verbal experience.

The use of symbols, gesture, movement and singing heightens the children's experience of the transcendent. A beautifully bound book which is handled with respect, a special place for enthroning the word, gathering the children around to hear the scriptures proclaimed well, these all speak to the children of the sacredness of God's word and influence how they accept and live by it.

CONCLUSION Finally, we remember above all else that what we are doing is…. an act of Christ’s love for the children, and an act of service, first to the children themselves and then for the parish and the church. To achieve these aspirations the church says its best if…. whatever you do, you do it with care, actions speak to the heart and you take some care to read the readings yourself first and pray about them.

Sarah Adams studied liturgical theology at Maynooth. After ten years in Devon she has recently moved to Bath to take up a new role as a school lay chaplain.

Things we need to remember: 1. It must be liturgy. The church's liturgy is first and foremost ritual prayer. The liturgy celebrates the word of God in narrative and song and makes it visible in gesture and symbol (LMC #24).

2. The liturgy is celebrated in a space that is separate but not too distant from the church. This place needs to be carefully chosen and well prepared so that the environment is suitable for the worship of God. It should be arranged so that the children can see each other and see and hear the leader.

3. The various liturgical objects used – lectionary, lectern, candle – provide a focal point for the celebration and need to be treated with respect and reverence.

4. When Children's Liturgy of the Word is held, the children participate in the Introductory Rites, the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the Concluding Rites with the worshipping assembly. Only the Liturgy of the Word is celebrated separately.

5. Visual elements used in liturgy such as liturgical colours, light, water, cross, and artwork should be given greater prominence with children.

6. The approved book of readings is the Lectionary for Masses with Children. Of the readings provided, it is probably best to focus on one reading and preferably the Gospel.

7. The liturgical texts should be proclaimed intelligibly and unhurriedly, with the necessary pauses (Directory 37). While the use of dramatic elements is sometimes appropriate, the impression should not be given that the Liturgy of the Word is a play or historical re-enactment.

8. If possible, the Gospel Acclamation with verse is sung before the Gospel reading.

9. A homily to explain the reading(s), appropriate to the children's level of understanding, should be given by an adult. The homily may be instructional or make use of question and answer, discussion, guided reflection or silent meditation. If the Gospel reading of the day is a difficult one, the leader may choose to concentrate on one of the other readings in the homily.

10. After the homily, a variety of methods such as songs, mime and role-playing can be employed to further break open the scriptures and apply them to the children's lives.

11. It is important that Prayers of the Faithful (Intercessions) are included in the celebration.

12. If appropriate and there is time, a simple statement of faith may be said.

The Apostles' Creed or a question and answer form of the renewal of baptismal promises is recommended. As with any Liturgy of the Word, silence should be observed at appropriate times as part of the celebration. In their own way, children are genuinely capable of reflection.

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F E AT U R E

FATHER JAMES STACK CSsR CHAPLAIN IN WORLD WAR I FR JAMES STACK WAS A NATIVE OF DROMCOLLOGHER WHO HAD A VERY DISTINGUISHED CAREER AS AN ARMY 20 CHAPLAIN IN WORLD WAR I . HE SHOWED EXCEPTIONAL BRAVERY IN THE SPIRITUAL CARE OF HIS MEN.

BY JOHN J CRONIN

The

role of Irish chaplains amongst the troops in the First World War has been much-studied over the last years. This magazine, for example, has previously drawn attention to the work of Irish Redemptorists amongst the soldiers in that conflict. Given that we are marking the centenary of the Great War in these years this is not surprising. It is also commendable. After all, providing solace to soldiers on the battlefield, while also facing the industrialised killing might of an enemy with them, undoubtedly took much courage.

Here, I wish to add the exploits of another Irish Redemptorist chaplain to the published record. He is a Limerick native named Father James Stack. Though he attained some celebrity during the First World War, he is largely unknown in Ireland today. This is probably because he lived all his adult life in Britain, only returning to this country for occasional holidays.

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EARLY LIFE James was born in July 1880; the seventh of 11 children born to Richard and Margaret Stack of Ballinlonig, Dromcollogher, County Limerick. Initially educated in the national school in Dromcollogher, James later went to the Jesuit-run Crescent College in Limerick city. The Jesuits would not be James’ destiny, though. Instead it was the Redemptorists.

Inspired at an early age to a clerical vocation by their parish mission in Dromcollogher James entered the Redemptorist juvenate (a preparatory secondary school for those with intentions towards the priesthood) in Bishop Eton, England. At that time Ireland and Great Britain together made up the London Redemptorist Province. They would do so up until 1898, when Ireland became a separate province. Yet, Stack’s move to England for his secondary education is a little unusual.

A Redemptorist juvenate, St Clement’s, had

been established in Limerick in 1884. Indeed, by the early 1890s it was the major centre of education for those young Irish with leanings towards the Redemptorists. Leaving Ireland for his schooling therefore seems somewhat curious in these circumstances. It also led to his being 'stranded' in England when the Irish Province separated from London in 1898.

After Bishop Eton, James entered the Redemptorist Novitiate in Kinnoull, Perth, taking the Congregation’s habit in 1901.

He professed the Redemptorist vows the following year. He then went to Mautern, Austria, for further study. Stack spent four years there, becoming a proficient speaker of German, Italian and French. An illness, so serious that the 'last rites' were administered to him, eventually led to his being sent back to Kinnoull to complete his studies. James was finally ordained into the priesthood in May 1907. He then spent the next seven

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years serving the Redemptorists throughout Britain, working as a missioner, a teacher and a parish priest in various places throughout that island. When the Great War began in August 1914 he was in St Benet’s parish, Sunderland. That conflict changed the

At first, he served with Scottish troops preparing defences on the River Clyde. He soon applied for a role ministering to troops fighting in Europe, however, arguing that his language skills would be useful there.

Consequently, on November 9, 1914, Father Stack was appointed to a chap l a i n c y with troops on the Western Front; a role he took up eight days later, initially serving with the Royal Irish Regiment. He would stay in that theatre of war for the next three years.

Stack soon proved his mettle. In October 1915 he was mentioned in despatches for bravery. The act that seems to have brought him that honour was described in a book published in 1916, entitled The Irish at the

Providing solace to soldiers on the battlefield, while also facing the industrialised killing might of an enemy with them, undoubtedly took much courage direction of James’s life.

THE GREAT WAR On September 21,1914 James took on the role of military chaplain, fourth class, with the rank of captain, in the British army.

Front. It tells how a dying Irish soldier was caught between the opposing lines. His cries for a priest were heard in his own trenches.

Stack responded. He crept into no-man’s land, heard the soldier’s confession, anointed him and lay by his side, praying with the dying man until he passed away. While doing this Stack was fired on by the Germans, but he was able to return to his own trenches unhurt.

Fr Stack’s bravery was again demonstrated in 1916, during the months-long campaign known as the Battle of the Somme. Despite the obvious and prolonged danger faced by all involved in that bloody battle, this priest was again found in the firing line amongst his flock. He also suffered with the troops, receiving a shrapnel wound to his left thigh on September 4, 1916, during fighting at Guillemont. Two months' hospitalisation and recuperation followed, but he returned to

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as testing as on the Western Front, though it often took place in more mountainous environments. Regardless of the landscape, Stack again rigorously executed his duties and the gallantry he displayed in doing so was again mentioned in despatches. Yet, though caught up in the fighting there, Italy did provide other diversions for Fr Stack.

In winter 1918 he took the The homestead in Ballinlonig Dromcollogher – birthplace of Fr James. opportunity to visit the active service in November. His attentiveness Vatican, where he had the honour of being to duty, unsurprisingly, earned further introduced to Pope Benedict XV. recognition. He was appointed a chaplain, second-class, with the rank of Lieutenant- WAR’S END AND AFTER Colonel in January 1917, and later became Though undoubtedly stimulating, Stack’s a Deputy Assistant Principal Chaplain. To time in Italy was short. He was recalled to the cap it all, Stack received the Military Cross Western Front in March 1918. The months for bravery in autumn 1917. that followed, however, proved to be the last Recognition came at home too. A number of the war, with the armistice that marked of newspapers, including the Cork Examiner, the allied victory coming into force on the the Irish Independent, the Anglo-Celt, the following November 11. Fr Stack’s war was Nenagh Guardian, the Sligo Champion and over and he was demobilised from active The Freeman’s Journal all wrote about Father military service the following June.

Stack during these years, reporting on his In the final report on his military service, actions, his wounding and his honours. found in his discharge papers, Stack was Indeed, his return home to Limerick during described as a most gallant officer, who was brief furloughs was enough to inspire some always to be found in the front line, especially newspapers to dedicate a few column inches in times of danger. His constant ministering to that priest. to troops and locals alike during the war was also commended. In terms of honours, aside from winning the Military Cross, he was mentioned in despatches three times during the Great War. Stack also received three service medals at war’s end. Furthermore, his wartime service continued to be acknowledged for years afterwards.

In 1919 he was awarded an OBE, A CHANGE OF THEATRE with the formal investiture taking place in Late 1917 brought a change of scenery for the 1921. That same year he became an honorary courageous chaplain. In November that year, chaplain to British forces. In the 1930s the after the major Austro-German victory at the French town of Arras presented him with battle of Caporetto, he was seconded to a the Medaille d’Arras, an award given to British and French expeditionary force bound those who saw action in the Artois region for the Italian Front. Here, the fighting was between 1914-18. Finally, he was appointed

Stack was described as a most gallant officer, who was always to be found in the front line, especially in times of danger

REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

vice-president of Sunderland’s branch of the British Legion.

The post-war years also saw Fr Stack return to more typical Redemptorist duties, serving as a missioner and as an administrator for the congregation. These activities did not dull his courage, though. He remained willing to put himself in the line of fire, in all senses of that phrase. An account of Stack’s style of preaching during the 1940s survives. In these sermons he reportedly risked censure by altering scripture (something forbidden at the time) from time to time to suit his theme.

In one specific case he quoted the scriptural text “If any man should follow me … let him take up his cross daily”, and then repeated it again, modifying it to “If any man or woman should follow me …” James Stack, in short, willingly risked rebuke in the interest of being more inclusive. He also remained willing to risk life and limb. In 1953 the Redemptorist monastery at Bishop’s Stortford caught fire.

Fr Stack was one of two resident priests who spotted the flames, and alerted the fire brigade. The firemen eventually brought the blaze under control, though the monastery was badly damaged by the conflagration.

While the firefighting was going on, however, Father Stack, at the tender age of 72, and the 11 other members of the community worked for four straight hours to rescue a large collection of valuable books held in the monastery, many of which were stored in an organ loft.

This would prove to be among the last escapades in a remarkable life. In January 1958, Fr James Stack, after a short illness, “died of his wounds”, aged 77.

John J. Cronin, a practising historian, is a former archivist with the Redemptorist Provincial Archive, Dublin. He has written on many topics, including Galway’s linen industry, duelling and exile. He has recently contributed to the Cambridge History of Ireland and is currently executive secretary of the Irish Association of Professional Historians.

P R AYE R

A M OV EM EN T OF

CONTINUOUS PRAYER FO R MARRIAG E A N D FA M ILY LIF E BY JOHNNY DOHERTY CSsR

23

At

midnight on December 1, 1998 this Movement of Continuous Prayer for Marriage & Family Life began. Since then, there has been someone, somewhere,

committed to praying for an hour for the health and wellbeing of the domestic church.

During the summer of that year I had contacted 32 friends of mine. I asked each one to take on

a specific date for each month, in such a way that the 31 days were covered, and to fill it with prayer. Their task was to get at least 24 other people who would commit themselves to an hour of

prayer on that date, so that the 24 hours would be covered. I asked 32, presuming that at least one of them would say no! None of them did. In fact, within two months they all got back to me

P R AY E R

to say that they were ready to begin.

Since then, this has quietly spread to many other people and many countries. I’m sure that this hidden prayer has brought, and continues to bring, many blessings on countless married couples and families of all kinds.

a parish mission, as a practical follow-up to the mission. Many of them welcomed it; others did not want it at this time. Other parishes began to hear about it and asked to have it set up. Just over 40 parishes in Ireland now hold a monthly day in which marriage and family life are highlighted and prayed for.

I asked 32 people, presuming that at least one of them would say no! None of them did.

WHY? In paragraph 202 of Amoris Laetitia, The Joy of Love – Love in the Family – Pope Francis says: “The main contribution to the pastoral care of families is offered by the parish, which is the family of families, where small communities, ecclesial movements and associations live in harmony.”

RE-LAUNCH About three years ago we began to re-launch this Movement of Prayer, this time specifically to parishes. I started to offer it to parishes in which I was giving

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In this statement, Pope Francis places the main responsibility for the pastoral care of marriage and family life squarely on the shoulders of the parish community.

In practice, there is no forum for this to happen. There is no space for these even to be mentioned on a regular basis, never mind to be developed or promoted and built up. Setting aside one day a month to pray for marriage and family life can establish such a forum without interfering with the normal pattern of parish life.

There are many very good resources for the development of both marriage and of family available to couples and to parents with their children. Marriage Encounter is an excellent way, that is very well tried and tested, to help couples to keep renewing and refreshing their marriage relationship at every stage of their journey together. Retrouvaille

is there for couples who are experiencing serious difficulties, to help them make a fresh commitment in their marriage.

The Beginning Experience is a wonderful resource for married people who have lost a spouse either by death or separation/ divorce. Teams of Our Lady is a really effective way for married couples to build community with one another and to support each other in their family life. And, of course, we have ACCORD, the official body set up by the Irish Bishops, to help couples prepare for marriage and to be there as counsellors if, and when, there are difficulties in the marriage.

There are also many very good parenting courses for parents of children at every stage of their development. These are invaluable for the growth of the family in their relationships and in their spirituality.

A WEAKNESS There are many other groups, movements, and programmes like the above active in the church. The great weakness in them is that generally they are not owned by the local church of the parish and diocese. The result is that, even though many parishioners benefit from these, the parish and diocese remains untouched by them to a great extent. Very often these groups then develop a life of their own alongside the parish community and there can be opposition and mistrust as a result.

people and staff in this prayer.

Families could be encouraged to pray together on this day, even if family prayer is not yet a feature of their family life.

2. For this date each month, as many parishioners as possible are invited to take on an hour of prayer as their personal contribution to the health and well-being of marriage and family life in the parish and beyond.

This can be a daunting prospect for most people – an hour of prayer! I must admit that I find it difficult myself. But it is only one hour a month. It is a prayer for which it is not necessary to go to the church, but can be engaged with wherever each person is. It’s not every day or every week, but each month on a specific date, and at a particular hour. And there is help available for this hour of prayer.

Pope Francis places the main responsibility for the pastoral care of marriage and family life squarely on the shoulders of the parish community A PARISH MONTHLY DAY OF PRAYER By establishing a monthly day of prayer for marriage and family life, a parish community can begin to claim its responsibility as the place of "the main contribution to the pastoral care of families", as Our Holy Father has called it to. There are two main things involved in this.

1. On the same date each month all the prayers of the parish are directed to marriage and family life. If there is Mass on that day prayers are said for these intentions. Prayer groups that may meet on that day are asked to include prayers for all married couples and all families.

If the schools are open on the day they should be invited to involve the children, young

ACCOMPANYING BOOKLET I have written a 30-page booklet to accompany this hour of prayer. This is available to anyone who takes on the hour in their parish – or indeed in any other way. I divided the hour into five main sections of 10 minutes each. And, in order to complete the hour, I suggest that it should begin by taking a few minutes to pray for whoever was praying the previous hour and to end with a few minutes of prayer for those taking up the following hour. In this way each one is prayed for twice as a reward for their generosity. The five main sections are:

1. Children, young people, and those preparing for marriage: These are the people in a parish who are in formation for life and faith. They need our prayers.

And they deserve them because at their Baptism we promised to nurture them all through their lives 2. All married couples: It is said that a successful marriage is that of a couple who enter into between 15 and 20 different marriages with one another in the course of a lifetime. Married couples need and deserve our prayers at every stage of their journey together.

3. All families: There is a wide variety of families in our world and in our parishes today. All of them need our prayers. And we need to be able to pray for all families, even if it is only to get beyond our own prejudices and gather them into our hearts.

4. Married people who are alone: We think about and pray for married people who have lost a wife or husband by death, by separation or divorce, or by any other means like severe illness or breakdown of communication. And all these people deserve our prayers.

5 . Th o s e w h o a r e responsible for supporting marriage and family life: In this section we pray for Our Holy Father, bishops, priests and religious, lay leaders in our parishes and all those who generously give themselves for the support

of families and couples. We also pray for governments that their decisions will become much more family-friendly.

CONCLUSION: When people hear about prayer for marriage and family life they often think that it is about couples praying together or about getting family prayer going. Both of these forms of prayer are very important and need to be promoted and developed. However, this Movement of Continuous Prayer for Marriage and Family Life is about a parish, and a diocese, praying for the families of the local church so that they will become more fully domestic churches.

Through this ongoing prayer each month, the leadership of the parish, and the diocese, needs to find the ways of introducing anything and everything that will help to strengthen the bonds of marriage and family life. This is the long-term hope that this prayer can provide. So many of the resources are already in existence. It is not a matter of reinventing the wheel. But it is a call to truly become the main source of pastoral care for couples and families so that generations to come will be nurtured through strong family values and where the faith can be handed on with joy and hope.

This Continuous Prayer for Marriage & Family Life would be a suitable parish follow-up to the World Meeting of Families. For further information regarding family prayer resources, contact Fr Doherty at dohertyjohnny@gmail.com

25

F E AT U R E

The Call to Holiness in Today’s World

ARE YOU LIVING A HERESY?

OFTEN THE GREATEST OBSTACLE TO OUR QUEST FOR HOLINESS IS ONE OF THE TWO OLDEST HERESIES – GNOSTICISM OR AN EXCESSIVE INTELLECTUALISM, OR PELAGIANISM, A SELFCONFIDENT RELIANCE ON OUR OWN EFFORTS THAT FORGETS OUR NEED FOR GRACE.

BY MIKE DALEY

Heresy 26

is serious business, or so I thought. It brings to mind a punitive word like excommunication, the damning phrase “let them be anathema”, and the graphic image of burnings at the stake.

Wanting to get a little bit more background on it, I turned to the book A History of Heresy

by David Christie-Murray. The author rightly dedicates the book to his wife Sheila adding “who married the greatest heretic of them all”.

That’s a pretty impressive, even outrageous, claim when you’re up against the likes of such greats as Montanus, Arius, Nestorius, Pelagius, and Luther (I actually think he was just being a little facetious.)

Advocating a properly formed conscience in accord with the teachings of the church, Pope Francis reminds us that “the Eucharist ‘is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.’”

Interestingly, from the beginning of his papacy, Francis has warned Christians of heresy; two in particular—Gnosticism and Pelagianism. Speaking of them in his first apostolic letter 'The Joy of the Gospel' (Evangelii Gaudium) and alerting us again of these deceptive ideas in 'On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World' (Gaudete et Exsultate), Francis describes them as “forms of doctrinal or disciplinary security that give rise to a narcissistic and authoritarian

the two as inseparably linked. We are both body and soul, integrally connected. This is confirmed in the great 'bodily' truth of Christianity—the Incarnation—through which the Son of God “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

This truth hasn’t always been affirmed however. One of the first heresies that the early church faced was Gnosticism. The Gnostics believed that the spiritual part of ourselves was trapped in the body, the material. The goal of life was to free oneself, escape from the shell of the body which was corrupt, through knowledge of one’s spiritual nature.

Countering this dualistic division of the human person, Pope Francis remarks that Gnostics don’t appreciate this truth “because they judge others based on their ability to understand the complexity of certain doctrines. They think of the intellect as separate from the flesh, and thus become incapable of touching Christ’s suffering flesh in others, locked up as they are in an encyclopaedia of abstractions.”

Gnostics can easily flip the script of holiness focusing more on information and knowledge rather than the depth of their charity. Pope Francis admits that for some this contains an illusory attraction “since the gnostic approach is strict and allegedly pure, and can appear to possess a certain harmony

A consoling and challenging Christian truth is that the body is intimately tied up in our hoped-for

elitism, whereby instead of evangelising, one redemption analyses and classifies others, and instead of TWO OLD HERESIES STILL AROUND Recently added to this list, though, is Pope Francis himself! In response to his earlier apostolic letter 'The Joy of Love' (Amoris Laetitia), a group of Catholics who appear 'more Catholic than the pope' accused Pope Francis of “propagation of heresies”.

The charge concerns Francis’ teaching with respect to reception of the Eucharist by those who are divorced and civilly remarried.

REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

opening the door to grace, one exhausts his or her energies in inspecting and verifying.

In neither case is one really concerned about Jesus Christ or others.”

WHAT’S OLD IS NEW, WHAT’S NEW IS OLD A consoling and challenging Christian truth is that the body is intimately tied up in our hoped-for redemption. Unlike other religious traditions which elevate the spiritual at the expense of the material, Catholicism sees

Arriving in Rome in the late fourth century, Pelagius was scandalised by the immorality of not only its citizens, but the spiritual sloth of some Christian believers there as well. His own moral experience led him to believe that humans, through their own natural powers, progress, and effort, could attain a sinless state and, without divine assistance and grace, earn heaven.

This was met by stern words from St Augustine of Hippo who claimed that Pelagius denied the effects of original sin and how it compromised our free will.

Echoing Augustine, Pope Francis writes “some Christians insist on taking another path, that of justification by their own efforts, the worship of the human

Pelagius

or order that encompasses everything”.

In the process, however, God is domesticated and robbed of mystery. Life we know though, is not lived in the abstract; it is real and messy.

Here Francis cautions us: “When somebody has an answer for every question, it is a sign that they are not on the right road. They may well be false prophets, who use religion for their own purposes, to promote their own psychological or intellectual theories. God infinitely transcends us; he is full of surprises.

We are not the ones to determine when and how we will encounter him; the exact times and places of that encounter are not up to us. Someone who wants everything to be clear and sure presumes to control God’s transcendence.”

I CAN DO IT MYSELF The second heresy Pope Francis addresses is Pelagianism. It takes its name from the British ascetic and spiritual guide Pelagius. Quoting scripture, Francis says that Pelagius forgot the admonition that everything “depends not on human will or exertion, but on the God who shows mercy” (Rom 9:16).

the immense crowds that thirst for Christ.”

Ultimately, Pelagianism proclaims the human as 'the self-made man' who needs only to congratulate himself or herself for any and all achievements, including salvation itself. God’s grace is 'icing on the cake' at best.

Yet, as attractive as this heresy may appear, we have had far too many experiences which have concluded with the words “there but for the grace of God”. Thankfully, as Pope Francis writes, God’s “friendship infinitely transcends us; we cannot buy it with our works, it can only be a gift born of his loving initiative. This invites us to live in joyful gratitude for this completely unmerited gift...”

As Massimo Faggioli, professor of theology at Villanova University, suggests, in Gaudete et Exsultate the “Church is not presented here as an island of grace for the holy ones, opposed to the sinfulness of the world outside; the Church is not an elite, and holiness is not a project that should be shielded from the web

The goal of life was to free oneself, escape from the shell of the body which was corrupt, through knowledge The result is a self-centred of one’s spiritual nature will and their o w n a b i l i ti e s .

and elitist complacenc y, bereft of true love. This finds expression in a variety of apparently unconnected ways of thinking and acting: an obsession with the law, an absorption with social and political advantages, a punctilious concern for the Church’s liturgy, doctrine and prestige, a vanity about the ability to manage practical matters, and an excessive concern with programmes of self-help and personal fulfilment. Some Christians spend their time and energy on these things, rather than letting themselves be led by the Spirit in the way of love, rather than being passionate about communicating the beauty and the joy of the Gospel and seeking out the lost among

of our human relations. There is a holistic view of human life.”

How then can we open ourselves more deeply to the grace of God that surrounds us and avoid the heretical plagues of Gnosticism and Pelagianism?

Mike Daley is a teacher and writer from Cincinnati, Ohio where he lives with his wife June, and their three children.

His latest book, co-edited with Diane Bergant, is Take and Read: Christian Writers Reflect on Life’s Most Influential Books (Apocryphal Press: Berkley, 2017.)

27

A N N I V E R S A RY

TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF

OLIVIA MARY TAAFFE FOUNDER OF ST JOSEPH’S YOUNG PRIESTS SOCIETY THE ST JOSEPH'S YOUNG PRIESTS SOCIETY HELPS STUDENTS FOR THE PRIESTHOOD FROM BOTH IRELAND AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD FINANCIALLY AND SPIRITUALLY IN THEIR JOURNEY TO ORDINATION.

BY SEAMUS McENTEE

The

year 2018 marks the 100 th anniversary of the death of Olivia Mary Taaffe, founder of St Joseph’s Young Priests Society. The Society is present in almost every diocese throughout Ireland with almost 400 branches. There are also 19 vocational branches, including the teachers, Garda, insurance, printers, motor trade, ESB, and banking branches.

Apart from the Society’s members, many of whom have been involved in its work for over 50 years, the Society and what it does remains little known to most people as it prefers to carry out its apostolate in a quiet and unseen way. However, this being a centenary year, it is an occasion to promote the Society’s founder and its great work of supporting and promoting vocations to priesthood which she started all those years ago.

28

WHAT IS ST JOSEPH’S YOUNG PRIESTS SOCIETY AND HOW DID IT BEGIN? St Joseph's Young Priests Society is a Catholic lay organisation which exists to help student clerics on their journey to priesthood and to foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life. It assists students for the priesthood both financially and by prayer. As REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

well as this, it also promotes the vocation of the laity and fosters a greater understanding and love of the Mass.

St Joseph’s Young Priests Society was started by Galway-born Olivia Blake. Her mother died shortly after her birth in 1832, resulting in Olivia and her sister being raised by their grandmother and aunts. They moved to Dublin when she was a child. Olivia was brought up in a strong religious environment and received a private education, mainly from French governesses. Due to this she was greatly influenced by the church in France and Italy while growing up. Over the years this French influence increased further, and she spent her early twenties finishing her education in Paris.

In France, she came across eucharistic adoration and processions of the Blessed Sacrament, which were virtually unknown then in Ireland. She was impressed by the widespread devotion at such ceremonies.

She also grew in her devotion for St Joseph, husband of Mary the mother of Jesus, during her time there.

In 1867 she married John Taaffe, who, like her, had a keen interest in the work of the Jesuits and a great devotion to St Joseph. They

E lived in Smarmore Castle, County Louth for 27 years. They had one son, who died at the age of 22 while studying to become a Jesuit priest. When Olivia was widowed shortly after that, she moved to Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin and later still to Donnybrook in Dublin.

During their marriage, Olivia and John had travelled throughout Europe. While there she encountered something that was greatly influential with her. A priest at Maranville in France had founded a movement of 'Friends of St Joseph', and he had a few boys from poor families in his parish helping him with the liturgy. The boys were taught Latin and other subjects, while also helping out at the various devotions celebrated at the shrine in honour of St Joseph. Benefactors, who would later finance their higher education for the priesthood, spiritually adopted these boys. This gave Olivia an idea. After the death of her husband and son, she found great consolation in devoting herself to the Confraternity of St Joseph. This was the Irish branch of the confraternity that she had joined in Maranville.

Prayer for Vocations O Jesus, send labourers into your fields, which are awaiting holy apostles, saintly priests, heroic missionaries and dedicated saints and brothers.

Enkindle in the hearts of men and women the spark of a vocation.

Grant that Christian families may desire to give your Church, helpers in the work of tomorrow.

Amen

Fr Seamus McEntee and Archbishop Eamonn Martin in front of the memorial plaque to Olivia Taaffe

WHY NOT IN IRELAND? She soon decided that if its work could be done in France, then why not in Ireland too? Enlisting the help of a Jesuit, Fr Joseph Darlington, and imitating the French model, she began to produce an English version of the French shrine’s newsletter La Gerbe, calling it St Joseph’s Sheaf. This newsletter was first issued on the feast of St Joseph in 1895.

Her first appeal in Ireland was for assistance for a young altar boy in Dun Laoghaire. He had all the dispositions and the desire to be a priest, but his parents were not in a position to pay for his education. Along with putting up some of the money for him, she also looked for support from readers of St Joseph’s Sheaf.

The appeal was successful, and the young man was able to go to Mungret College in Limerick for his formation. As a result of this success, she began looking for funds to help many more men in their journey to priesthood, and by the end of the second year the readers were contributing to the support of ten students. St. Joseph’s Young Priests Society had begun and continued to thrive, gaining thousands of members and supporting thousands of student priests in Ireland and around the world. Olivia died at her final home in Donnybrook on May 3, 1918.

THE WORK OF THE SOCIETY Now 100 years later, the efforts of thousands of Society members throughout Ireland continue to carry on the work that she began.

The fruit of this great and generous work has meant that in 2017 alone, 664 seminarians, including 94 Irish seminarians, were financially supported, and 176 men were ordained to the priesthood. In appreciation of the work and fidelity of St Joseph’s Young Priests Society in fostering vocations to the priesthood, His Holiness Pope Francis cordially imparts the requested Apostolic Blessing invoking abundant divine graces to the president, committees and members.

Fr Seamus McEntee is a priest of the diocese of Dublin. He is chief chaplain for the St Joseph’s Young Priests Society in Ireland.

If you would like to find out more or would like to support the great work of the Society through praying for vocations or to financially support a seminarian, please contact: St Joseph’s Young Priests Society, 23 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. Tel: (01) 676 2593 Fax: (01) 676 2549 Email: sjyps@eircom.net www. stjosephsyoungpriestssociety.com

29

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LE

COMMENT FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS CARMEL WYNNE

AN OCCASION OF GRACE

SMALL THINGS CAN SOMETIMES TRIGGER DEEP FEELINGS THAT HAVE LAIN HIDDEN FOR A LONG TIME. HOW DO WE RESPOND TO A FRIEND WHEN THEIR MEMORY BECOMES TOO STRONG TO HIDE? Isn’t there often an aura of discomfort, even embarrassment in us when a person is seen to be emotionally upset and crying? A close friend or family member might feel it appropriate to hold or hug the person. In situations with a colleague or a stranger there is often confusion about what is the right thing to do.

Should you hand the person a tissue, get them a glass of water or offer to telephone someone who would take on the responsibility of minding the person?

Caroline’s friend felt guilty for having caused upset and discomfort to the man from the gas company who installed a new gas fire. He was explaining how to use the remote control for it when she broke down sobbing.

The installer was kindness personified. He suggested that she sit down and he went to the kitchen and got her a glass of water. He didn’t ask for an explanation. She was so glad that he didn’t tell her to stop upsetting herself. So many people in his situation might have asked her not to cry. The man didn’t.

He just stayed with her as a quiet presence. She had no idea for how long the uncontrollable sobbing lasted. At some stage the man offered to make her a cup of tea which she was too distraught to accept. Widowed almost a year, the friend was shocked by the intensity of the overwhelming grief that

unexpectedly poured out of her and amazed at the empathy of a stranger, who was unlikely to have received any on-the-job training on how to cope with distraught customers.

People are different and what may be helpful and supportive for one person may be of little help to another. There can be so many unexpected triggers that bring people to tears when mourning the death of a loved one. It could be the scent of perfume, a song, a fleeting thought that instantly brings up such overwhelming sadness, that uncontrollable tears are pouring out, streaming down the person’s cheeks. Powerless to stem the tide of sadness that overwhelms them, many feel bad about making a spectacle of themselves.

Triggers can be so unpredictable that they catch bereaved people totally unprepared. For Caroline’s friend it was the thought, "If my husband was here he would teach me how to work the remote." Her sense of the enormity of her loss

triggered a devastating sense of isolation. She could never have predicted or envisioned herself reacting as she did and hated the idea that she lost control.

Almost every person who has grieved for a loved one will have had similar experiences. For one person the tears might flow when standing at a checkout, for another it could be when ordering a pint or passing a favourite restaurant, whatever. Isn’t it sad when the first instinct of some people is to find a private place where nobody will be made to feel uncomfortable because they are crying?

Could it be that Irish people are over-sensitive to how others might react? Is it that we feel we’d be letting ourselves down if it looked as if we were not coping well? For a small but significant number it is the fear that, if they allowed themselves to cry, the tears might never stop.

Caroline has been my friend for years and I was confident that she would do what she thought necessary to be supportive. It

was no surprise to learn that she encouraged her friend to stop blaming herself, but I was astonished by how she inspired her to look on the episode as an occasion of grace for both herself and the gas installer.

The friend’s tearful grief was a trigger that allowed the installer to show what a kind, caring and empathetic man he was.

Intuitively he seemed to know that questions or sympathy were not what she needed. Her question, "For what reason would you feel bad when so much that was good resulted from a situation that was outside your control?" was enlightening.

November is the special month when we cherish the memory of our loves ones who have departed this life. Many of us have experienced how prayers for the holy souls will trigger feelings of loss, grief and sadness.

I’m making an educated guess that the majority of people, who haven’t had professional training, feel uncomfortable, unsure of what to do, when someone they hardly know starts to weep.

There is no right or wrong way to offer a grieving person the comfort that will ease their loss.

But you could help them to feel better by explaining that what was initially regarded as a difficult and embarrassing situation for one person may be an occasion of grace for another.

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

31

Praying with the Rosary – The Fifth Luminous Mystery prayer corner

The Institution of the Eucharist WHAT THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS FILLED THE HEART OF JESUS AT THE LAST SUPPER? MARK YOUR BIBLE AT MT 26:26F; MK 14:22F; LK 22:14F; JN 13:14F; AND I COR 10: 16.

BY GEORGE WADDING CSsR

The 32

prayers were said and I invited my friends to take their seats. The group waited silently for me to take my own seat and to initiate conversation. I looked round the table at each one of my loyal friends, my final glance lingering awhile on Judas. He lowered his eyes. I had invited him to sit on my left, the place of honour in our country. As we leaned on our left elbow while eating it meant my head would be near him and I could speak to him privately.

I would make one last appeal to that dark heart of his. Then I said, “Dear friends, I have longed with all my heart to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” My voice wavered a little. It would be my final meal with these good and faithful friends. I had much to say to them. Besides, we were celebrating the most solemn festival of Passover, our deliverance from Egypt. I wanted to leave my followers an even greater festival to commemorate a far greater deliverance. This night I would ‘write’ my last will and testament for them.

LOVE TO THE END I loved these men and in the coming days I would show them the full extent of my love.

I would make the supreme sacrifice of my life for them and leave them a living memorial of my sacrificial love in the Eucharist. But this evening I wanted them to understand that my sacrifice for them must be reciprocated in their willingness to sacrifice themselves for others. I thought the best way to teach this lesson was by a parable in action. I would have to turn some of

REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

their accepted values on their head. By washing their feet, they might learn that I, their Lord and Master (as they called me) had become a servant when I took on human nature. I was still their servant; and on the morrow I would give my life for them.

I got up from table, put on an apron, took a basin and towel and began to wash their feet.

They just sat there in silence, taken aback and as unperceiving as statues. As I approached Peter, I could see he was getting edgy; he was breathing heavily and shifting his feet around nervously.

Suddenly, he jumped up and stepped back.

“No, never, never! You will never wash my feet.”

I know he meant well, but Peter was a hard nut to crack. If he was to be the rock on which I would build my church then he must get it into his well-intentioned but inflexible brain that the Messiah is a suffering servant, not some princely potentate. In my Father’s Kingdom whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else. "Peter," I said, "if you don't let me do this it will be the parting of the ways for us." He capitulated. I put away the basin and towel and we went back to the table.

Again, I pressed home the lesson I was pointing up – if I, your Lord and Teacher, can wash your feet, you must be ready to wash each other’s feet.

My heart was heavy that night. I ate little. The burden of impending betrayal and the web of intrigue and torture woven against me was pulling my soul to the ground. “Are you alright Master?” someone asked me. “Dear friends,” I said, “it’s time for you to learn the truth: one of

you sitting here just now is going to betray me.”

The shock was palpable. Then they all began protesting at once: Surely not! Not one of us surely! I don’t believe it. It can’t be true! Is it me?

Even Judas joined in, in mock disbelief. John was nearest to me on my right side and Peter signalled to him to ask me who it was. “It’s the one I will give this piece of bread to when I have dipped it in the sauce.” I gave it to Judas and whispered to him, “Go and do quickly what you plan to do.” No one else heard it. Judas left the table. I can still see his dark figure framed in the door, his back to the light of the world, and facing out into the night of sin and despair. The words of the psalm rose in my heart: “If a foe had risen against me, I could hide from him. But it is you… my companion, my close comrade, with whom I once enjoyed pleasant friendship as we walked together in God’s house…” (Ps. 54/55).

A quiet, more sombre mood settled on our gathering. I spoke to my friends about many important things: I explained I was the way to the Father; I promised them the Holy Spirit to comfort and enlighten them when I was gone; I warned them that the ‘world’ would hate them as it hated me – I never made false promises to my would-be followers; I assured them that my Father would give them anything they asked in my name. And I prayed: I prayed for myself that I would be faithful and give glory to God by loyally obeying his will to the end; and I prayed for my disciples and for those who would come after them that my Father would protect them from the evil that would surround them; above all I continued on page 34

33

Jesus Washes Peter’s Feet by Ford Maddox Brown (1821-1893)

prayer corner prayed that my followers would be one as I and my Father are one. Disunity in the church would be a counter-witness to my whole mission on earth. The sword that divided the church would shear my heart in two.

SHARING THE BREAD OF LIFE And then, the moment came, a moment of supreme joy for me, the moment when I would inaugurate the eternal banquet at which humanity would ever after receive me as their food of life. While they were eating, I took a piece of bread and gave thanks to God, then I broke it and passed it round to the others, saying, "Take this and eat it, this is my body." I waited a moment before continuing. These followers of mine would be only too familiar with the covenant that God made with Moses, and how Moses confirmed it by sprinkling the blood of a sacrificed bull on the people. This very evening we were celebrating our deliverance from Egypt when the blood of a lamb, sprinkled on their doorposts, warded off the destroying angel. So,

they had some sense of what I meant when I took the cup of wine, gave thanks to the Father and said, "This is my blood which confirms the new Covenant I am making with my people; it will be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. The next time we will drink wine together will be in the Kingdom of Heaven."

A year or so earlier, I had told them I was the Bread of Life. I assured them that if they ate this ‘bread’ they would live forever. That bread was my flesh which I would give for the life of the world. On that occasion, they left me in droves.

Tonight, the response was muted. Still not fully understanding, they responded in blank trust.

Looking into those vacant faces I said, “Dear friends, from now on do this in memory of my unreserved love for you.”

I knew then that the intense joy which I experienced at that moment would fill my heart anew every time a soul would receive me in faith.

And dark sadness would replace that joy if ever I were received unworthily or my sacrament were abused.

"Friends," I said, "I must leave you now and where I am going you cannot come with me for the present. My final word is this: Love one another as I have loved you. This is how everyone will know that you as my disciples, if you love one another."

Poor Peter couldn’t let go. “Why can’t I go with you,” he said, “I will lay down my life for you.” “Will you really lay down your life for me?”

I asked him. “Dear friend, before cockcrow tomorrow morning, you will have denied me three times. But come with me now, I need your friendship tonight.”

We sang a hymn as we left the room to go to pray in the Garden of Olives. In the garden, I took just Peter, James and John. Turning back to the others and, holding back my tears, I said simply “good night.” I never saw them again in this life.

Fr George Wadding CSsR is a member of the Redemptorist Community at Dun Mhuire, Griffith Avenue, Dublin. He is the author of Praying with St Gerard, the Family Saint (available from Redemptorist Communications).

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Louis

&

Zélie Martin

A FAITHFUL AND GENEROUS LOVE

THE CANONISATION OF LOUIS AND ZÉLIE MARTIN ON OCTOBER 18, 2015 WAS A HISTORIC EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH; IT WAS THE FIRST TIME A MARRIED COUPLE WERE CANONISED TOGETHER. THEY WERE, OF COURSE, THE PARENTS OF ST THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX, ‘THE GREATEST SAINT OF MODERN TIMES’.

BY EUGENE McCAFFREY OCD

Louis 36

and Zélie were canonised, and not because of their daughter, though she was the one who first revealed the hidden sanctity of their lives to the world at large: "God gave me a father and mother more worthy of heaven than of earth." It is the holiness of Louis and Zélie themselves that the church has recognised: a holiness lived out as a married couple, working parents living ordinary lives, experiencing the joys and sorrows of an ordinary family as well as having nine children, four of whom died very

Their holiness comes from the way they lived their lives and sanctified the ordinary everyday events, placing God’s love at the centre of their lives

jeweller’s shop. Louis was deeply religious; he read all the spiritual classics of the age and was well informed on the current social and political situation. He had a fine singing voice and was a good storyteller and an excellent mimic. He was a lover of nature; his favourite hobby was fishing, and he was even nicknamed by his friends and neighbours ‘Fisherman Martin’. It is easy to see how angling perfectly suited his gentle, contemplative temperament. As a young man, he applied to the famous monastery of the Great St Bernard in the Swiss Alps. Louis, however, had difficulty learning Latin and eventually returned home to continue his profession as a watchmaker and seemed content to settle down to live a devout single life. But God had other plans, and his providence was already at work.

young. They themselves died of illnesses all too familiar to us: Zélie of breast cancer at the age

ZÉLIE GUÉRIN Louis’ future wife, Zélie Guérin, was born in 1831 near Alençon.

REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

of forty-five and Louis at the age of 71 after suffering strokes and heart attacks and after spending three years in a mental hospital.

Their holiness comes from the way they lived their lives and sanctified the ordinary everyday events, placing God’s love at the centre of their lives – their hearts always turned towards him but their feet stayed firmly on the ground.

LOUIS MARTIN Louis Martin was born into a military family in Bordeaux in 1823. Sometime later, the family moved to Alençon i n N o r man dy.

When he grew up, Louis took up the delicate craft of watchmaking.

Having finished his apprenticeship, he acquired his f irst p remis e s in Alençon where he set up business as a watchmaker; later, he would add to this a

Her early life was far from happy: her mother treated her harshly and showed very little affection to her daughter. She would later say of her childhood that it was as "sad as a shroud". Zélie also suffered from severe headaches as well as respiratory problems, and it was probably because of her poor health that the Daughters of Charity would not accept her as a postulant when she applied to join them.

As the religious life was not for her, Zélie decided to train in lacemaking, a delicate profession in which she excelled. She quickly established herself as an expert practitioner and was soon able to train and employ several helpers and assistants.

Louis and Zélie met for the first time in 1858 and were married three months later on July 13 at the Church (now Basilica) of Notre-Dame in Alençon.

Zélie’s business soon became so successful that, in 1871, Louis sold his watchmaking business to go into partnership with her.

Louis and Zélie Martin

37

EARLY LIFE AND MARRIAGE Louis and Zélie were deeply religious and the beginnings of their marriage reflected this in an unusual way. They wanted to live as a celibate couple, but God was preparing them to be parents even though they did not realise it. They took a fiveyear-old boy into their home for about a year as his mother had died and his father was not able to look after his five children without help. It was not long before they changed their ideas about parenthood.

Louis and Zélie seemed quite happy with what they saw as a ‘call to parenthood’ and very soon they were expecting their first child. The couple went on to have nine children, seven girls and two boys. Sadly, four died in infancy, two boys and two girls. We can only imagine the grief and sadness that consumed these loving parents. But God’s work was not finished. With no surviving sons, they longed for one more child: a boy who would be a priest and a missionary.

Their prayers were answered in

a most extraordinary way: their ninth and last child, MarieFrançois-Thérèse, was born on January 2, 1873 – a future Doctor of the Church, patroness of the missions and the greatest saint of modern times.

A UNITED FAMILY From the beginning , the Martin family was built on strong Christian values. Their prayer life centred around the Eucharist and the feast days of the liturgical year. Sunday was a special day of rest, a day on

which Louis refused to open his shop, despite the financial loss involved.

Zélie had the strongest influence over the children and was not afraid to correct them when necessary. Although she recognised Thérèse as the most stubborn and self-willed of all, she also acknowledged her essential goodness and sincerity of heart.

MARITAL LOVE If we wish to know the depth of the love between Louis and Zélie,

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We walked the length of Ireland this July and August to generate funds and help highlight the need for more funding in this area – and it would mean so much if you could be there with us.

By supporting our walk, you are not only lending your voice to our call for better supports and services for people living with the condition but making those supports possible.

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we have only to read the recently published volume of letters which reveal the intimacy and the depth of their love for each other. Over 200 of the letters are from Zélie, only 16 from Louis.

Zélie writes with great honesty, liveliness and a delightful sense of humour.

She writes especially about her children. She is not a pious writer; her concerns are those of any mother trying to clothe and feed her children and support them in their studies, trying to keep a balance between work and family, and giving them what she herself had never received: love, tenderness and a family atmosphere where they would always feel at home.

ZÉLIE’S ILLNESS In December 1876, when Thérèse was three, the family were distraught to discover that a tumour in Zélie’s breast was inoperable. Marie, Pauline and Léonie accompanied their mother to Lourdes. The pilgrimage was distressing for all of them: Zélie fell and twisted her neck, causing her pain from which she never really recovered. Still, she arrived back in good spirits, even though her health was worse. She died on August 28, 1877 at her home in Alençon when she was not quite 46.

Having consulted the older girls, Louis decided to move the family to Lisieux so that they could be near their brother-in-law and the girls’ aunt. He himself stayed on in Alençon until arrangements for the house had been made and the lacemaking business sold.

LISIEUX When the family moved to Lisieux, the relationship between Thérèse and her father became ever stronger.

A very young Thérèse Martin

Still, this did not stop him supporting her in her desire to enter the Lisieux Carmel – which she did at the age of 15 – following in the footsteps of Pauline and Marie who had already entered a few years earlier.

By this time, Louis’ health had begun to deteriorate. He experienced mild paralytic strokes and severe lapses of memory but was still able to make a pilgrimage to Rome with Céline and Thérèse in November 1887.

Thérèse entered Carmel in April 1888. The date of her Clothing was delayed because of Louis’ illness but was finally fixed for January 10, 1889. Louis was able to take part in the ceremony and to lead Thérèse down the aisle. She called it his "day of triumph", his final celebration before the full onset of dementia. Shortly afterwards, he suffered further strokes which

were to become progressively worse over the remaining years. Léonie and Céline were no longer able to take adequate care of him, and the only solution was to admit him to the Bon Sauveur mental hospital in Caen where he remained for the next three years. By the time he left in 1892, Louis had suffered further strokes, his legs were paralysed, and he spoke very little and with great difficulty.

Through the kindness of the Guerin family, they were able to avail of La Musse, a large country house near Évreux, for the summer of 1893. It was here that Louis died serenely and peacefully on July 29, 1894. Céline was with him when he passed away.

A QUIET AND GENTLE HEROISM In Louis and Zélie Martin we see a couple who loved each other passionately, yet whose everyday life was marked by problems and difficulties which we can easily relate to today. Both were working parents raising their children and facing the sorrow caused by the death of four of them at an early age. They had to learn to share their responsibilities, joys and sorrows. They saw marriage as a vocation based on friendship and an unshakable trust in God’s loving care and providence.

Holiness does not mean doing extraordinary things or accomplishing wonders. Just to be is the raw material of what it means to be holy and live the reality of our lives as God intended us to do. For Louis and Zélie, the secret of their lives wasn’t in a book or a curriculum – it was the lived experience of their everyday life.

Holiness is our birthright (cf. Eph 1:4), as Pope Francis reminds us in his recent Apostolic Letter. Saints

Holiness does not mean doing extraordinary things or accomplishing wonders. Just to be is the raw material of what it means to be holy are God’s gift to the church; it is he who makes saints. Do not, then, he pleads, be afraid of holiness.

We have only to look at the example of Louis and Zélie Martin to be inspired and encouraged.

Fr Eugene McCaffrey is a Carmelite friar and a member of the Avila Centre of Spirituality in Dublin. He has written a number of books on prayer and spirituality.

39

DE V E LO P M E NT IN ACTION

THIS IS LIFE IN GAZA 40 A FRANCISCAN NUN HAS DEVOTED THE LAST FOUR YEARS TO HELPING THE SICK AND INJURED IN GAZA. HERE SHE TELLS OF THE DEVASTATION SHE WITNESSED THERE ON A DAILY BASIS.

BY SR BRIDGET TIGHE FMDM

Growing

up in the small town of Ballindoon in County Sligo, I spent my childhood surrounded by beautiful coastlines and sandy beaches. When you first arrive in Gaza, it too seems just as beautiful – with miles upon miles of blue Mediterranean Sea, lovely buildings, hotels and shops full of food.

Very quickly, however, you realise that the childhoods of Gaza’s people are worlds apart from ours, and the peace, safety and carefree lives we enjoyed as children just

REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

don’t exist here.

THE REALITY OF GAZA Standing at the seaside, you smell the stench of raw sewage being pumped into the water, making Gaza’s tap water toxic and undrinkable.

Although there is food in the shops, people have no money buy it. And in front of the lovely buildings, children fill the streets, begging for money – the only way many families can afford even a loaf of bread.

There is no time for school, and no time for play. Children know nothing

Above: Sr Bridget being presented the 'Romero' award in recognition of her work.

Below: On a sick call (Photo: John McColgan)

WINTER

about peace or what it means to have a normal and happy childhood. Some have already survived three major wars and have lived through horrors no child should ever know.

In Gaza, two million people are packed into a tiny strip of land, just 365 square kilometres long, cut off on all sides. They are living in extreme poverty, without access to clean water or basic sanitation.

And inevitably, many people become sick.

Gaza’s medical services are being stretched to breaking point. The hospitals are understaffed, there aren’t enough beds, and medical supplies are running critically low. Even if you need emergency medical care, you can’t leave Gaza.

Not without permission from Egypt or the Israeli government.

People in Gaza are trapped.

MEDICAL CARE In the clinic where I work, we can see up to 100 people a day, many with wounds that aren’t healing, are getting infected and spreading, leading to amputations. I recently met a young dad with six children who was waiting quietly to be seen by the doctor. Desperate to feed his family, he had brought them to a camp along the border to find food. But instead he was shot at.

Can you imagine getting shot searching for food to feed your family?

This is life in Gaza. No food. No money. No health care. Living in fear. The situation is reaching crisis level and is close to becoming unliveable. It is a life that people

in Ireland could not imagine but sadly it is reality for millions.

Thanks to the support of people in Ireland, we are able to help bring much-needed medical support to people suffering in Gaza, and despite the pain and misery they face, they continue to smile through it all. They have been through so much, have so little, and yet they carry on and are so grateful for the care they get.

For me it is a privilege to be in the Holy Land, and to walk the same ground Jesus would have, doing my small part to help those who need me most as best I can.

I love Gaza and for as long as I am blessed with good health and energy, I will continue to help the children, women and men who call Gaza home.

Sr BRIDGET Sr Bridget has served almost 25 years in the Middle East, working first with Palestinian refugees in Jordan, and then between Gaza and Jerusalem. Until very recently, Sr Bridget had been living in the Gaza Strip, where she served as head of the Caritas Jerusalem medical centre for Gaza.

Earlier this year, she was asked to take on the role of General Director with Caritas Jerusalem.

She was the recipient this year of the Trócaire Romero International Award, in recognition of her work in vital health care among the poor and marginalised.

“I see this Trócaire award as recognition and support of what I have done, but it is also for my own family and my religious family. I could not have achieved this without their support, for which I’m grateful. My family have supported me from childhood onwards and my religious community, my sisters, have been behind me throughout all of the different kind of work I have done.”

Ennismore Retreat Centre ST DOMINIC’S

Saturday 27th October (10:30am-4:30pm) ‘Keep to yourself God!’ – having our house ransacked and laid bare.

Fr. Joe Kavanagh Cost €60 Saturday 3rd November (10:30am-4:30pm) Healing our grief, transforming our loss and rising more strongly!

Pat Sheehan Cost €60 Friday 30th November to Sunday December 2nd Waiting in mindful Hope (Advent weekend Retreat) Martina Lehane Sheehan Cost Res- €175 – Non/Res €100

Ennismore Retreat Centre is set in 30 acres of wood, field and garden overlooking Lough Mahon on the River Lee. It’s the ideal place for some time-out, reflection and prayer.

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

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE TAKE AND READ: Christian Writers Reflect on Life’s Most Influential Books

42

Edited by Michael Daley and Dianne Bergant, Foreword by Martin E Marty Apocrophile Press, Berkley Cal. 2017.

Paperback 265 pages, ISBN: 1944769900 $18.95 £14.95 (Amazon)

Michael Daley needs little introduction to regular readers of Reality. He is author of a series on Pope Francis’ call to holiness, Gaudete et Exultate, a number of which appears in the current issue. Sr Diane Bergant is a leading Catholic scripture scholar, teacher and writer. Now over 90, Martin E Marty is the doyen of historians of the Christian churches, particularly in their American context.

The title comes from a celebrated passage in the Confessions of St Augustine (Book 8, chapter 12). “I heard the voice as of a boy or girl, I know not which, coming from a neighbouring house, chanting, and oft repeating, 'Take up and read (tolle lege in REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

the original Latin); take up and read.'”

Augustine picked up the Bible, and his life was transformed by a verse from the Letter to the Romans. In this book, more than 40 writers and academics describe their encounter with one book. Some were novels like George Eliot’s Middlemarch or Muriel Spark’s Memento Mori or George Bernanos’ Diary of a Country Priest. Others were religious classic or autobiographical works, like Augustine’s Confessions, Ignatius Loyola’s notes on his life, Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle, Thomas Merton’s Seven Storey Mountain or Dorothy Day’s The Long Loneliness.

Many have become classics in 20th century theology and while reflecting their writers’ intellectual pilgrimage, they may not be for the faint-hearted. Under this banner are weighty tomes like Edward Schillebeeckx’s Jesus: An Experiment in Christology or David Tracey’s Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism which opens up the question of how Christian theology can encounter and respectfully answer the questions that modern culture raises for believers, or the Redemptorist Bernard Haring’s multi-volume Law of Christ, a seminal book which led Catholic moral theology’s return to its biblical sources. Its story is told here by one of the best-known American Catholic moral theologians, Charles Curran, who took some of his postgraduate studies with Haring. Other contributors were also shaped by a personal meeting with a great mind they first encountered in print.

Irish-born academic, Thomas Groome, a specialist in adult education, describes his relationship with Paolo Freire and his wife, which began with his reading of Freire’s seminal work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

Particularly striking is the number of contributors who have chosen a book from the field of liberation theology, and how lifealtering an encounter with the 'preferential option for the poor' was for people from the American Catholic middle class. Gerard Mannion, a Birmingham Catholic boy with Irish roots, first encountered the works of Karl Marx as an A-level student, with a

BOOK REVIEW BY BRENDAN McCONVERY

summer job on local building sites. Michael Daley, one of the book’s editors, introduces the collection with his encounter with an unpretentious but explosive book, Jesus Before Christianity, by the South American Dominican Albert Nolan. For the most part, the writers assembled here do not attempt to summarise the book they have chosen.

What is more important for their purpose is to describe how this particular book has challenged, enlightened and transformed them.

This is an ideal ‘read a chapter with a cup of coffee’ book for postgraduate students in theology or young teachers setting out to teach religious studies to A Level or Leaving Cert students. It is also a check-list for anyone attempting to build a library of good theology books.

FIVE YEARS TO SAVE THE IRISH CHURCH: Talks from the National Columba Books Conference Originally addresses at a conference organised

by Columba Books in May 2018, the five short chapters of this book discuss the present state of the Catholic Church in Ireland. The keynote speaker at the conference was Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland. Fr Brian Darcy set the scene with a reminder that many of the most talented clergy and laity have walked away from the Irish church due to its failure to engage with them in a decision-making process, and that its tactics might be better described as “Deny, Delay and Defend".

Fr Joe McDonald, a Dublin parish priest, comes closest to both a diagnosis and a proposal of possible remedies to the present malaise. He identifies four mistaken models exerting a paralysing influence on the Irish church – the Ostrich Church which is in denial, the Roll-over Church which refuses to admit that its prevailing model of priesthood

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has created the malaise, the Saltless Church that has lost its voice for intelligent social critique, and the Haemorrhaging church, whose blood loss is a result of its own dysfunction. As might be expected, Sr Stan as always brings to the forefront the need for the church to stand with the powerless and the weak, and she hopes that her vision of a just, compassionate and caring church is not an impossible dream. Fr Mark Patrick Hedderman’s paper no doubt drew laughter for his well-aimed barbs, but there is also something curiously dated in his rehearsing of the faults of the church of the 1940s and ‘50s.

Mary McAleese begins with a positive picture of the global Catholic Church – it is the biggest non-governmental provider of education, healthcare, charitable and welfare services, especially for the poor. She sees, however, a fundamental design flaw in the clash between church law and international

REDEMPTORIST

PARISH MISSIONS

human rights law. One particular area in which this clash is evident is in the area of baptism and consequent membership of the church. Unfortunately, Mrs McAleese was later associated with the notion that infant baptism is a kind of "infant conscription". The implications of infant baptism are outlined with greater clarity and nuance in this essay.

This short book will provoke argument.

It might make a useful starting point for a parish discussion group.

Columba Books Dublin 2018 Paperback 93 pages €9.99 ISBN 9781782183518

Brendan McConvery CSsR is a former lecturer in biblical studies.

He is currently editor of Reality.

Breaking the Word in November 2018

Please pray for the Redemptorist Teams who will preach the Word and for God’s People who will hear the Word proclaimed this month in:

ATHLEAGUE, ROSCOMMON (3rd – 10th November 2018) Parish mission preached by Denis Luddy CSsR, Laurence Gallagher CSsR and Claire Gilmore KILNAMARTYRA, CORK (24th – 30th November 2018) Parish mission preached by Laurence Gallagher CSsR, Gerry Moloney CSsR and Helena Connolly The details above are accurate at the time of printing. If you have any views, comments or even criticisms about Redemptorist preaching, we would love to hear from you. If you are interested in a mission or novena in your parish, please contact us for further information. And please keep all Redemptorist preachers in your prayers.

Fr Johnny Doherty CSsR, Email: dohertyjohnny@gmail.com Tel: +44 28 90445950

Fr Laurence Gallagher CSsR, Email: missions.novenas@redemptorists.ie Tel: +353 61 315099

COMMENT REALITY CHECK PETER McVERRY SJ

LIVING IN IRELAND TODAY

OUR ATTITUDES TO OTHERS HAVE BEEN SHAPED BY OUR LIFE EXPERIENCES. HOW DO WE SEE OTHERS WHOSE LIFE EXPERIENCES HAVE BEEN VASTLY DIFFERENT FROM OURS?

44

If I had been born in Pakistan, I might now be a Muslim Imam.

If I had been born in Jerusalem, I might now be a Rabbi. If I had been born into a staunchly Unionist family in the North of Ireland, I might now be writing about the dreaded possibility of a united Ireland.

We are all the product of our environment. Our attitudes and prejudices are shaped by the family into which we are born, our culture, our religion (if any), our social class and the experiences which we have had.

If I have been the victim of serious crime, I may have a very different attitude towards criminals than someone who works with young offenders. Our attitudes are so much a part of ourselves that we do not usually question them – they appear to be self-evident, obvious, common sense. We can often be very dismissive of others with opposing attitudes.

Most of the decisions in the political and economic structures of our society are made by middle-aged (or older) men and women, with a wellpaid, permanent, pensionable job, living in a nice house in a nice neighbourhood, who have no difficulty paying the mortgage, renewing their family’s health insurance or car insurance each year, who can (if they wish) send their children to a fee-paying school and certainly on to third-level education, and will probably enjoy a holiday abroad from time to time. This will shape their perspective and REALITY NOVEMBER 2018

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attitudes to what is happening in Irish society. They have achieved their status because of hard work, but also because of tax-payer funded education, a certain amount of luck, possibly family circumstances and other influences over which they had no control. It is important that such decision makers realise that their perspective is limited and try to understand what is happening in Ireland through the perspective of others whose life experiences were very different, usually through circumstances over which they, too, had no control.

Jane is 25 and has one child, aged two. She studied hard at school as she was told that she would have no future unless she got a good Leaving Certificate. She went to college and completed her Masters in Social Care.

She is now in her second year as a social worker, living and working in Dublin. Jane’s aftertax income is €32,550 per year or €2,713 per month. Jane pays €1,258 rent for her one-bed apartment (this is the average rent for such an apartment in Dublin 11, not exactly an area in high demand, with respect to the many wonderful people living there!) She pays €640 per month for her child’s crèche (the third highest in Europe). She pays €100 per month for her car insurance (amongst the highest in Europe), €50 for her ESB (the fourth highest in Europe), and €56 for gas (the second highest in Europe). That leaves her with €609 per month for food, transport, and other necessities!

She had to bring her child to the doctor, paying €55 (amongst the highest in Europe) and another €40 for the medication.

Jane would like to buy her own home but she would require €37,000 deposit (as a first-time buyer) for an average priced house in Dublin, and she would require an income of €100,000 per annum to get a mortgage to cover the balance! Despite having a good job, Jane knows that she has no possibility of ever owning her own home.

She will have to rent for the rest of her life and, apart from the stress of trying to survive on €150 disposable income each week, she worries about the rent increasing to a level she will not be able to afford, or the landlord deciding to sell the house, and she and her child will become homeless.

Jane thought of moving back in with her parents, but they live in a three-bedroom house with her three teenage brothers and the situation would not be sustainable for very long. She cannot even afford to emigrate.

Jane has done everything she was told she had to do, when growing up, in order to make a successful life for herself.

She now feels trapped for the rest of her life in a situation of permanent stress.

How can the decision-makers in our society even begin to understand what Jane is going through?

For more information or to support the Peter McVerry Trust: www.pmvtrust.ie info@pmvtrust.ie +353 (0)1 823 0776

GOD’S WORD THIS MONTH YOU ARE NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM OF GOD NOVEMBER It would be wrong to think that all the Jews of Jesus’ time were implacably opposed to ST SUNDAY IN 31 everything he taught.

E TIM ARY ORDIN Jesus and the leading Jewish teachers agreed on many things: where they parted company was largely around issues of interpretation of some laws, concerned for the most part about matters of observance, such as food and ritual purity. Today’s Gospel is a very good example of that. First century Judaism was not a uniform movement. The first century Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, for example, distinguishes four main groups – Sadducees (the temple aristocracy), the Pharisees (the interpreters of the Law), the Zealots (a militant nationalist group) and the Essenes (an ascetical/ mystical community

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we now know best because of the Dead Sea Scrolls). The setting of the little story in today’s Gospel is an academic debate in which members of competing parties argued about points which divided them. The question of which was the most important commandment in the Law had attracted the attention of the Pharisees especially. We speak of the ten commandments: the tradition of the Pharisees had pushed the number up to 613. With so many commandments to be observed, the question then arises whether some are more significant than others.

The great Galilean teacher, Hillel, who was still alive when Jesus was a boy, had given priority to the love commandment: “Love your neighbour as yourself, everything else is a commentary on this. Go and learn it.”

St Luke’s version of the story casts the teacher in a more negative light. He seems resentful that he has lost the argument, and being anxious to justify himself, opens a new

debate by asking who is my neighbour. This, however, is not evident in Mark’s account.

The teacher who questions does not do so in a rude or belligerent way. He discovers that Jesus and himself share the same view as Hillel and he approves how Jesus has been able to cite the Torah in support of his argument. The first quotation, “Hear O Israel…” from Deuteronomy 6 (today’s first reading) is the most important Jewish prayer: it is recited morning and evening, and every Jewish man or woman hopes to die with it on their lips. Jesus returns the compliment – this learned and sincere man is not far from the Kingdom of God. He shares the same basic religious desire with Jesus and his disciples.

Today’s Readings Deut 6:2-6; Ps 18; Heb 7:23-28; Mark 12:28b-34

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength Mark 12:30

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GOD’S WORD THIS MONTH IN HER POVERTY, SHE PUT IN ALL SHE HAD TO LIVE ON When I was a young priest, a bishop came to our church to preach a mission appeal. A 32ND SUNDAY IN man who worked as a night ORDINARY TIME security guard on a building site wanted to meet the bishop. I introduced them, and left them to chat.

Later, the bishop called me. The man had pressed something into his pocket as he said good-bye. It was only a few hours later that the bishop discovered it was the man’s unopened wage packet.

In the time of Jesus, the widows of urban labourers and agricultural workers were at the bottom of the socialheap.Theirhusband’sdailywagewasjustabout enough to feed the family. With that gone, they now depended on relatives or neighbours for help.

Caring for the widow and orphan was a regarded in Judaism as an essential act of charity for the covenant community.

The woman in this story is not so much a symbol of powerless poverty but of generosity. God measures the generosity of the heart, not by what is given but by the spirit in which it is given. Giving spontaneously and generously was, from an early date, a mark of

Christianbelonging. Writing to hisnewconverts, Paul asks them to set aside something each week for the relief of the poor in the Jerusalem community: “each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). Generous giving remains a hallmark of the Christian community at its best. Each Lent, for example, Irish Catholic school children and their families contribute about € 7 or 8 million to overseas relief through the Trocaire Lenten collection. Beautiful churches or flourishing Catholic

schools were often founded, quite literally, on ‘the pennies of the poor'.

In remembering the story of the widow, we remember her sisters and brothers and their children throughout history, who contributed to the life of the church, not just from their surplus but from what they had to live on.

BE ON YOUR GUARD: STAY AWAKE Today’s Gospel is taken from Jesus’ final teaching to his disciples on the Mount 33RD SUNDAY IN of Olives in Jerusalem in ORDINARY TIME full view of the temple. The disciples, poor country boys, were impressed by the imposing building built of elegantly cut stones, some of which have survived until today as the Western (‘Wailing’) Wall of the temple. Despite its marvellous construction, Jesus tells them, it will be flattened to the earth. The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans took place in 70 AD. It was so thorough that, Josephus, the Jewish historian, wrote that only some stubs of towers were left to show what a great city had once stood there.

Talk of the impending catastrophe provokes talk of other things. Will there be any signs when

this is going to happen? If a great city can fall, will it be a signal for the end of the world? In the first part of today’s Gospel, Jesus says that a war, or even the destruction of a great city like Jerusalem is not necessarily the end of the human story. Speculation about how the human story would end was common among Jewish writers at this time. They had a sense that the world was so full of evil and injustice that God had no alternative but to destroy it and replace it with a new world order. Writings of this kind are known as ‘apocalypses'. It is commonly presumed to mean something like ‘great disaster,’ as in the film about the Vietnam War, Apocalypse Now. In fact, ‘apocalypse’ is a Greek word and means ‘revelation', and this kind of writing claims to unfold heavenly mysteries.

Mark uses ‘apocalypse-language’ in this part of his Gospel. The end of the human world will surely be a time of distress, but it will culminate,

not in disaster, but the last act of salvation history, the coming of Jesus, the Son of Man, in glory.

Mark wrote his Gospel around the time of the fall of Jerusalem. News of the destruction of the city and its temple prompted some believers to ask the inevitable question: is this the sign of the end of the world? Mark replies with the words of Jesus: no one, but God, knows when the world is going to end. In the meantime, we learn to read the signs of the times. Leaves appear on trees in springtime but it will be autumn before the trees bear fruit: calamitous events like wars and disasters are a call to be attentive.

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Today’s Readings 1Kgs 17:10-16; Ps 146; Heb 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

Today’s Readings Dan 12:1-3; Ps 16; Heb 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13:24-32

THE REALITY CROSSWORD NUMBER 9 NOVEMBER 2018

MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS REALM Today’s Gospel is taken from St John’s account of the trial of Jesus. Pilate’s opening question introduces the theme of kingship which dominates the trial scene. The charges the priests and members of the council had brought to Pilate about Jesus made no CHRIST THE KING mention of kingship. Pilate may have been aware that messianic movements often made claims to kingship. Jesus had carefully avoided making such claims. He challenges Pilate about where this charge came from: is he saying it as governor and agent of the empire, or has someone else made the claim? In any case, the kingdom of Jesus is not a kingdom of the type known to Pilate and his political masters: “mine is not a kingdom of this world.” If it were, his supporters, like those of anyone who claims a throne, would have fought to save him from being arrested by the Jews.

As often happens in the Gospel of John, Jesus is speaking a language that his enemies are incapable of understanding. They know only one sort of kingship, absolute political and military power. Jesus’ kingship is not of this type. When he hears him say, “my kingdom is not of this world", Pilate jumps on the words “my kingdom” like a lawyer cross-examining a prisoner and thinking he has forced an unconscious confession out of him: “Yes, I am a king” – but he is a king who has come to bear witness to the truth. His kingdom, founded on truth, justice and love, will stand in judgment over all earthly kingdoms and his witness to truth will win him the support of all who are on the side of truth.

The feast of Christ the King invites us to look at the political life of our country and to judge whether it has any place for the message of Christ the King and his kingdom of justice, of love and of truth.

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SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD No. 7 ACROSS: Across: 1. Jesuit, 5. Angels, 10. Estonia, 11. Austria, 12. Guru, 13. Jesus, 15. Slab, 17. Gas, 19. Red Sea, 21. Ignite, 22. Tribune, 23. Québec, 25. Kneels, 28. Etc, 30. Ibid, 31. Ogham, 32. Mesh, 35. Earache, 36. Turbans, 37. Bagels, 38. Soaked.

DOWN: 2. Entered, 3. Urns, 4. Tuareg, 5. Abacus, 6. Gust, 7. Lorelei, 8. Verger, 9. Babble, 14.

Sabbath, 16. Peter, 18. Agent, 20. Arc, 21. Ink, 23. Quiver, 24. Eritrea, 26. Elevate, 27. Schism, 28.

Egrets, 29. Cactus, 33. Acre, 34. Area.

Winner of Crossword No. 7 Ethna Staunton, Claremorris, Co Mayo

ACROSS 1. One of the commonest minerals, often found in accurate timepieces. (6) 5. Special prayers or services on nine successive days. (6) 10. Happening afterward as a result. (7) 11. An extraordinary event explicable only through divine intervention. (7) 12. Sure-footed and sturdy wild goat. (4) 13. Along with his brother Moses he led the Israelites out of Egypt. (5) 15. In this place. (4) 17. The eternal being who created all things. (3) 19. Preserved item from ancient times. (6) 21. Of something considered to be holy and entitled to reverence. (6) 22. "God's Marines." (7) 23. Someone who is fanatical & uncompromising about their religious or political views. (6) 25. Over there in olden times. (6) 28. A member of a religious community of women. (3) 30. The part of a plant stem from which leaves emerge. (4) 31. The central figure of Christianity. (5) 32. A homeless or abandoned child. (4) 35. Severe physical or mental suffering. (7) 36. Type of warship and boat with passenger accommodation. (7) 37. A clergyman serving a local church or parish. (6)

38. A very unpleasant and prolonged experience. (6) DOWN 2. Long, loose overcoats from the six counties. (7) 3. The remains of a decayed or destroyed building. (4) 4. A line with abrupt alternate left and right turns. (6) 5. The mighty hunter of the Bible. (6) 6. You can't have a sentence or a question without one. (4) 7. Unclear energy. (7) 8. An acceptance that something is true, especially without proof. (6) 9. Epic Latin poem by Virgil. (6) 14. Founder of the Eternal City with Remus. (7) 16. French city famous for mustard. (5) 18. The leader of the Argonauts. (5) 20. Allow. (3) 21. Home for a pig. (3) 23. The time at which something or someone is most powerful or successful. (6) 24. Landlocked Pyrenean microstate. (7) 26. Salt lake bordered by Israel and Jordan. (4,3) 27. Make changes in something to improve it. (6) 28. Substance collected by bees. (6) 29. A papal ambassador. (6) 33. Hurl missiles at an untreated animal skin. (4) 34. Bitterly regretted and wished something undone. (4)

Entry Form for Crossword No.9, November 2018 Name:

Today’s Readings

Address: Telephone:

Dan 7:13-14; Ps 93; Rev 1:5-8; John 18:33b-37 All entries must reach us by November 30, 2018 One €35 prize is offered for the first correct solutions opened. The Editor’s decision on all matters concerning this competition will be final. Do not include correspondence on any other subject with your entry which should be addressed to: Reality Crossword No. 9, Redemptorist Communications, Unit A6, Santry Business Park, Swords Road, Dublin 09 X651