On this day 100 years ago...The Capuchin Friars and the 1916 Leaders.

There has been much written about the Easter Rising in Dublin, the execution of the Leaders, and the journey towards the signing of the Treaty of 1921. Today we arrive at the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. The first the Capuchins heard of the Rising was a “startling burst of fire” almost outside the door of St. Mary of the Angels Church, on Church St on that Easter Monday morning, April 24^th 1916. They were just finishing their midday meal when all this began to happen. This was also following what would have been a busy time for the priests and the brothers in the Friary with the Easter ceremonies. No doubt they were looking forward to some rest during these next few days.

Fr. Columbus (Murphy) tells of rushing outside to meet walking wounded and a doctor ministering to a man shot in the arm. There were some accounts of soldiers of the Sixth Cavalry Regiment taking gun powder to the Phoenix Park and coming under fire at the Four Courts. At this stage, no one seemed to have any idea that the beginnings of a rebellion was taking place. Later, he learns of a small boy, John Francis Foster (2) being killed in his pram outside the Father Mathew Hall.  The Hall seems to have become a flash point as the week progresses as members of Cumann na mBan tend to people’s injuries in the Hall and the more seriously injured are taken to the Richmond Hospital.

Frs. Columbus and Aloysius (Travers) are on duty that week supplying Mass in both Jervis St Hospital and Gloucester Street Convent so they are making their way over each morning through the chaos. Fr. Columbus gives a very comprehensive account of the noise of incessant gunfire, the blast of cannon fire, and the eventual destruction of many buildings in Dublin City Centre and indeed O’ Connell Street. He also risks serious injury and even his life to perform his priestly duties to those killed and injured.

As the week wears on and the casualties increase, the priests from Church St continue to be involved in the relief work. This is perhaps because they are on the ground where the action is happening, also because they are hi-visibility in their religious habits. They endeavour to be honest brokers in ministering to those killed and injured and their families. Fr. Columbus in his memoir tells of how on April 29^th Padraig Pearse formally surrenders the GPO Garrison “To avoid further slaughter” and Columbus travels with Elizabeth Farrell, a Cumann na mBan nurse, who attempts to convince Edward Daly at the Four Courts Garrison that Pearse’s surrender was genuine. This then spreads to the other Garrisons over the next few days. Fr. Aloysius and Fr. Augustine (Hayden) mediate negotiations between the British authorities and Thomas MacDonagh (Jacob’s Biscuit Factory) and Éamonn Ceannt (South Dublin Union) for the peaceful capitulation of the men and women under their command.

When the leaders were imprisoned in Kilmainham gaol and court martialled, the Capuchin priests were called upon to come to minister to them and give them spiritual support. They were taken by car very late each night and driven to Kilmainham gaol where they would meet the prisoners individually. By extension, they made themselves available to some of the families of the men too, and they also ministered to some of the women prisoners, most of whom were members of Cumann na mBan.  

The executions began on May 3^rd 1916 when Fr. Aloysius heard the last confessions of Padraig Pearse and Thomas MacDonagh. He was ordered form Kilmainham Jail before they were executed. Later following protests, the priests were allowed to remain present for the executions to complete the administration of the Last Rites of the Church. Tom Clarke was attended by Fr. Columbus.

On the 4^th of May, Fr. Aloysius notes in his memoir that Fr. Augustine Hayden ministered to Joseph Mary Plunkett, he also ministered to Michael O’Hanrahan, and William Pearse. Fr. Columbus Murphy ministered to Edward Daly. Fr. Albert Bibby, and Fr. Sebastian O’Brien were also in attendance that night.

On the 5^th of May, Fr. Augustine was in attendance for John McBride.

On the 8^th of May 1916, Fr. Augustine was in attendance at the executions of Éamonn Ceannt, Con Colbert, And Michael Mallin. Fr. Albert Bibby was in attendance for Seán Heuston.

Finally, on May 12^th Fr. Aloysius ministered to James Connolly (both before in Dublin Castle, and then in Kilmainham Gaol) and was in attendance at his execution. He notes that Fr. Eugene McCarthy of James’s St and chaplain to Kilmainham, ministered to Seán MacDiarmada earlier but Aloysius then attended to him after the shooting.

Having read through some of the accounts Frs. Columbus and Aloysius (Aloysius much later ministered to Jim Larkin before his death in 1947) It shows to me the commitment, the bravery, and the selflessness of these priests who were primarily pastors of souls in their ministry. They were on hand night and day to try to bring pastoral care and hope to the many people who were deeply affected by the violence and chaos of the Rising. I’ve no doubt that they were also moved by the bravery of the 1916 Leaders who were executed.

Humanly speaking, reading their accounts, I am also moved by how they stayed sane following what most have been a deeply stressful time for them seeing the things they did. Today those of us in ministry will be involved at times in critical incidents and we have structures in place to help us in our pastoral ministry. In the days following the executions for example, Fr. Columbus travels to Dundalk to give a two-week Parish Mission. He pens his memoir in the following months as a way of recording the week that was. I also believe he writes it to help him cope with what must have deeply ingrained itself in his soul – as it has done on the soul of Ireland and indeed the world.

Top left; Fr. Columbus Murphy, Bottom left; Fr. Augustine Hayden, Middle; Fr. Albert Bibby, Top right, Fr. Aloysius Travers, Bottom right, Fr. Sebastian O'Brien 

Good Friday

At first glance, the cross is THE symbol of failure. Those who were crucified by the Romans were executed as ‘non-persons’ and they were crucified in public so as to de-humanize them even more. Crucifixion was designed to cause maximum pain and agony for the victim.

Jesus was crucified after a long night of being tortured, mocked, humiliated, and a brutal scourging with barbaric instruments made from bone fragments, metal, and chain mail. He carried the instrument of his death, his cross through crowds of people while being kicked, and whipped along the way, and as he fell in exhaustion, he was pulled to his feet to continue.

When they came to the place of the skull, they crucified him along with two criminals on either side of him. As he hangs upon the cross, Jesus is made to look like a fool, one who called himself the King of the Jews. Pontus Pilate, Caesar’s representative in that region who condemned Jesus to death, writes a death-note. The note reads; “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.” It is placed above Jesus’ head as he hangs upon the cross. Again designed to mock him, in a strange way, the Romans, who don’t believe in God, by crowning him with thorns, and placing a staff in his hand, proclaim Jesus a King.

The cross of Christ is to the onlooker a symbol of shame, but looking deeper, it is the ultimate triumph of a loving God who sent his only Son to be our Saviour. Jesus’ death upon the cross is the theatre of redemption where we are all saved from our sinfulness. As we venerate the cross at 3.00 p.m. today in all our churches, we do so knowing that as Jesus says in John’s Gospel "No Greater love can anyone have than to lay down one's life for one's friends." 

The cross of Jesus Christ is evident in a week where we see people bent on mass- murder in Brussels, and so-called Gangland murders on our streets here in Ireland. Lord, we pray that hard hearts will be changed and transformed. However, we also see a heroic man risking his life to save a drowning family in Buncrana. "No greater love..."

"...But we, we thought of him as someone punished, struck by God and brought low.
Yet he was pierced through for our faults, crushed for our sins. On him lies a punishment that brings us peace, and through his wounds we are healed.

We had all gone astray like sheep, each taking his own way, and Yahweh burdened him with the sins of all of us. Harshly dealt with, he bore it humbly, he never opened his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter-house, like a sheep that is dumb before its shearers, never opening its mouth..." (Isaiah 53: 5-7)

Set your hearts on the higher gifts - a guilt free love

1 Cor 13
Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited,
it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store up grievances.
Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth.
It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes.
Love never comes to an end. But if there are prophecies, they will be done away with; if tongues, they will fall silent; and if knowledge, it will be done away with.
For we know only imperfectly, and we prophesy imperfectly;
but once perfection comes, all imperfect things will be done away with.
When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and see things as a child does, and think like a child; but now that I have become an adult, I have finished with all childish ways.
Now we see only reflections in a mirror, mere riddles, but then we shall be seeing face to face. Now I can know only imperfectly; but then I shall know just as fully as I am myself known.
As it is, these remain: faith, hope and love, the three of them; and the greatest of them is love.

When St. Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians, he was challenging them to reach for the stars, to be ambitious for the higher gifts. He was offering them a set of guiding principles for their love-lives.

This love he speaks of is not the same kind of love that does well on February 14th. This is not aboutcandle light dinners, cuddly toys, valentine’s cards, or boxes of praline chocolates. All these things are good in themselves but this is not what Paul is writing about. The love he writes to the Corinthians about will not put on any weight and is completely guilt free if well lived.

It is a love that turns away from humiliating the other person, and it does not enjoy other people’s sins. It is opposed to scandal and gossip, preferring to tell the truth instead. St. Paul’s view of love warns us against human prophesy which is always imperfect and putting our trust in human horoscopes or fortune tellers can be trouble. Instead, by putting our trust in God, we will always know who can take us forward in kindness.

The love that St. Paul describes is also given another name, caritas, which means charity. This does mean charity to all in need but in its essence it also means a deep love that is selfless so it sets the bar very high. It is a love for the honours course and it is for the long haul. It is a love that walks the road of life and it is a love that puts the other person first.

Today, couples often choose St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians as the second reading at their church wedding ceremony. I believe that the challenge he lays down to the people of Corinth in the first century after Christ is a relevant to us now in the twenty-first. Set your hearts on the higher gifts…

The Holy Family

There are two different messages between Christmas day and St. Stephen’s Day. Christmas Day is predominantly about the birth of Jesus Christ, the Lord of all life. Almighty God came down into the human story as a little baby born in poverty, in a borrowed cave, and laid in a manger because there was no room at the inn.

On December 26^th, the Church then celebrates the feast of its first martyr, Stephen. So, the liturgy goes from life to death in a sense. In the Acts of the Apostles, Stephen is one of the disciples filled with the Holy Spirit that will not stop preaching about the good news of Jesus Christ and those who oppose him want to put an end to him. He is stoned to death as he proclaims Christ and a young man called Saul entirely approves of the killing. Later we meet Saul as he too is transformed by Jesus Christ and becomes a champion of the Christian way.

So, in 24 hours its fitting that the Church shows in its liturgy the birth of Jesus Christ and what it means for the world, and how Stephen (and many others – even up to our time) witness to Jesus Christ by the shedding of their blood.

The feast of the Holy Family can be seen as a sign of contradiction too. In the Gospel today we see Jesus getting lost from the caravan of people travelling back to Nazareth from Jerusalem after the Passover. For three days his mother Mary, and Joseph are beside themselves with worry until they go back to Jerusalem and find him sat in the company of the doctors and experts of the law. Of course it must be hugely traumatic for Mary and Joseph after looking for him. Luke draws out the parallel between how the boy Jesus is missing for three days and later he will after his death on the cross be in the tomb for three days.

Let’s not get too caught up with the popular images of the Holy Family in that almost clinical and sterile way they can perhaps be portrayed. They had their struggles and fears. Just look at the infancy narratives of Luke’s gospel. They must be held up as a model for families today all over the world. Jesus, Mary and Joseph identify with the highs and lows of family life with all their complexities.

Look at the images coming from airports and ferry ports today as families are joyfully re-united for Christmas. There’s so much joy and excitement around the Christmas dinner table and the living room fireside. Yet, there can be tension and stress especially too as families make that extra effort. The Holy Family know that struggle. And as surely as our young people come back to the family for Christmas, there’s also the looming departure gates. I really pray that very soon our young people especially will be in a position to return home to Ireland if that’s what they want. For those that have made a new life and formed relationships overseas, may we always find new ways to make our world a smaller place.

I am also conscious of the families who will have an empty chair at the Christmas table. Families broken by emigration, unemployment, and death. The Holy Family of Nazareth, the model for all families, knows the struggles and sadness and Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are with all families as they face the new year with hope or fear.

May this Christmas time and 2016 be blessed for all. Amen. 

Jesus Christ is the mercy of God...

Some people would say I like the sound of my own voice. I’m well able to talk and I can feel quite at home in any pulpit. Words usually come easily to me. One of my faults is that I don’t prepare very well to write a homily.

Therefore, I made a conscious decision to write a Christmas homily for our Masses in the parish and the friary. I wanted to say something about God coming into our human story as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem and how Jesus Christ is the true door of mercy for all. I wanted to attempt to tie it all in with the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in the Church. The Holy Father, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door in St. Peter’s in Rome on December 8^th. Here in the Dublin archdiocese, Archbishop Martin opened the Jubilee Door of Mercy in the Pro Cathedral last Sunday.

In Pope Francis’ Document inaugurating the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy entitled Misericordiae Vultus, some lines really jumped out at me; for example, the Pope says; “Mercy is the force that reawakens us to new life and instils in us the courage to look to the future with hope.” He goes on; “The Church is commissioned to announce the mercy of God, the beating heart of the Gospel.”

However, every time I tried to sit down to write something, I got distracted. I was called down to the parlour and the front office to meet different people and I also took a couple of phone calls.  At the same time, I was conscious that I needed to go out to buy some gifts for our valued helpers and volunteers in the friary and the parish. I sat in front of the computer screen and tried to put some words together based on some inspiring thoughts from Pope Francis and the minute I’d begin to get on a roll, the phone would ring.

On reflection, when I went to meet people in the parlour, at the front office, or on the phone, I became aware that I had an encounter each time with Christ. Someone came for confession and I was able to help them to begin again for Christmas.  Some people came for help of some kind or another and they needed me to give them a listening ear and spend some time with them. Someone who wanted to help Br. Kevin help the many that come to the Capuchin Day Centre for Homeless. And we’ve been moved by the magnificent generosity of ordinary people.

St. Conrad of Parzham, (1818-1894) a Capuchin, said that when he was called away to the parlour he would respond with “Yes Lord” as if it was God himself that needed him. Blessed Mother Teresa in her ministry to the poorest of the poor used to say she just saw Jesus himself in a distressing disguise.

On Christmas Day, a Saviour has been born for us, He is Christ the Lord. We need to open our eyes to recognize him and our hearts to love him as he loves us very much and indeed Jesus Christ is the mercy of God. No one is forbidden to approach the crib, there’s a place for you there, and a welcome. Amen.

In the steps of Jesus in the Market Place

On both sides of the River Liffey in Dublin, there are fruit and vegetable markets. For generations people from all over the country would do business buying and selling fruit and veg in bulk. The Moore Street and Thomas Street dealers and traders would sell fresh fruit to people from their street stalls. The fish, fruit, and vegetable dealers on Moore street in Dublin's north inner city are famous all over the world.

Today, trucks come in from Europe with shipments of flowers, fruit and vegetables. Markets people buy them and retailers then stock them in their stores the length and breath of Ireland. The markets people who work here begin their day very early and work into the afternoon. After a long day, they return home to begin again the following morning when most of us are asleep. 

In St. Michan's Parish, we daily meet the markets community as they load and unload the best of vegetables, fruits and herbs. Forklifts drive back and forth around the parish with another pallet of goods ready to travel to a shop or supermarket. 

Each year, we always had a memorial Mass for those markets people who have died and gone before us. The Mass was usually in St. Michan's Church, Halston St and the traders would come in and pray for and remember their dead. About five years ago, we decided to bring the Mass to the markets where the dealers and traders erected a beautiful altar festooned with fruit and vegetables and flowers. 

Following a conversation I had with Derek Leonard, one of the traders of long standing and also a Permanent Deacon for the Archdiocese of Dublin, we felt it would be lovely if the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Diarmuid Martin would come and celebrate the memorial Mass this year. And so, last Friday, the Archbishop came to the Market place and along with the traders, dealers, and neighbors, as well as the school children from Presentation Primary School, George's Hill, we prayed for those gone before us marked with the sign of faith. These Markets people we offered the Mass for have passed on the love of the fruits of Mother Earth as well as the love of the faith and family. We give thanks to God for their life and their generosity.

All Saints

 

St. Jose Maria Escriva: “The saint is the sinner who never stopped trying.”

St. John Paul II: “Do not afraid to be saints”

We have what it takes to be saints.

We are called by name – chosen

We are saved by the power of the love of Jesus Christ

He reminds us that God is Love.

St. John

Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God’s children, and that is what we are.”

Lavished - This means generosity.

To paraphrase Pope Francis; He doesn’t just grease us with his love. It’s an abundant pouring out of it.

So our response must surely be to be the best people we can be - or to at least try.

And indeed, the happiest people are people who attempt to live the beatitudes each day.

And as we go down through them, lived honestly, they are a recipe for happiness and contentment on the inside.

This I believe is what the saints did.