ABBEYDORNEY PARISH ~ ST



The Presbytery, Abbeydorney. (066 7135146)abbeydorney@dioceseofkerry.ie6th Sunday of Easter, 17.5.2020Dear Parishioner, I am sure you have met people who find themselves going through a lot of hardship and, despite their situation, they say to you, ‘There are people a lot worse off than us!’ You find yourself saying to yourself, ‘How can they be so unselfish, having pity for others rather than themselves.’ The headline over Nuala O’Loan’s article in the most recent Irish Catholic is ‘In dark times we still have to think of those who have it worse than us.’ In her article, she notes that there are many other countries, who are struggling to control Covid 19 but they already had very serious problems before the pandemic came their way. She mentions Syria, ‘which is enduring a different sort of lockdown, where the country has collapsed after the nine year civil war, in which nearly 400,000 have died and almost 200,000 are missing, presumed dead. Over the past few weeks, I have been getting e-mails and text messages (courtesy of Whats App, which I only began to use recently) from my friends in Kenya, who have told horror stories about the effects of extra heavy rain. “Since the start of this year, the rain ahs been falling heavily, especially in the months of March and April. Our crops are completely destroyed by hailstone and flooding and our rural roads are very badly damaged. In some areas, families have moved from their homes to higher ground. A number of people have been drowned in the floods.” A priest in a recently opened parish (It was part of Kipkelion Parish, when I was in that parish in the years 1997-2000) wrote, “For now, the people here are battling the floods, the Corona Virus, and the locusts that stole our food crops that we hoped to have in the months ahead.” In this past week, I got an e-mail from a lady in Uganda, a country with a boundary with Kenya. She made contact with me a few years ago, after getting my name from a priest who had known me in Kenya. She was hoping I might be able to give her some support to run the orphanage that she had. I explained to her that I just could not help all who had asked for help. Even though I did not help, she continued to keep in touch and her recent e-mail gave a description of the problem she is facing in the orphanage. “Hunger is a more immediate threat than the ‘Corona Virus’. Some business people were helping us with food and other necessities but, because of the virus, their businesses are closed and they cannot do anything for us.” (Fr. Denis O’Mahony) The Village of Bernadette -?The Irish ConnectionFor the month of May, I’m taking a look at a recently published book ‘The Village of Bernadette – The Irish Connection’ by journalists and authors Colm Keane and Una O’Hagan. Colm Keane has published 28 books including eight No.1 bestsellers and has received awards as a broadcaster. Una O’Hagan is a No.1 bestselling author and former news-reader with Radio Telefís ?ireann (RT?). ?In a style that is simple, direct, matter-of-fact and generally understated, the writers trace what can only be described as Ireland’s fascination with the events that occurred in Lourdes between February and July 1858. The focus is on the sick, “the aristocracy of Lourdes…For nobody can see their twisted and broken bodies, their resignation and faith in God, and go unmoved” (p170) in the words of Kevin O’Kelly who visited the shrine in 1952 and who would later become the Religious Affairs correspondent with RT?.Bernadette’s early life is recalled. We read of the poverty of her childhood, living with her parents, sister and two brothers in a “one-roomed cesspit…dark, dank and infested with lice” (p9). There was the constant hunger that at times bordered on starvation and we read of her ill-health, especially of her struggle with asthma. Given such circumstances, we are somewhat surprised to meet the “unflappable, headstrong young girl” of 14 who not alone is confident and unwilling “to be pushed around” but is also honest, kind and has a sense of fun. She would need all of these resources as she faced intense interrogation and ridicule, the challenges of convent life and years of suffering before her death. After “almost 13 years battling a frightful array of symptoms” (p38) mostly related to TB, Bernadette, known by now as Sr Marie-Bernard, died at Nevers on April 16th 1879. She was 35.?While gathering firewood to ward off the harsh, winter cold, the 14 year old Bernadette Soubirous saw “a lady in white” in the grotto of Massabielle, half a mile west of Lourdes. It was February 11th 1858. She would see the apparition 18 times over a period of five months until July 16th. On February 25th a spring of fresh water was uncovered. It would become known as “Lourdes water”. On March 25th the “beautiful lady” revealed her identity: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Reports of the curative powers of the water spread like wildfire. Life, for the young Bernadette, for the villagers of Lourdes and for the millions of pilgrimswho would soon flock to this place, would never again be the same. Reports of the events at Lourdes appeared in Irish newspapers just four weeks after the apparitions began. Reaction was mixed. There was nothing for it but to go and see for oneself. This is exactly what the Co Waterford-born priest, Monsignor Thomas John Capel did in 1859, “most likely becoming the first Irishman” (p46) to meet Bernadette who by now, at just 15, had entered the convent.Through the remainder of the book, the writers trace the extraordinary growth of Irish interest in Lourdes. Reports of the many miracles are presented in a matter-of-fact, undramatic fashion with accounts from the individuals involved, their relatives, eye witnesses, newspaper reports and before-and-after statements from the examining medical personnel. Most moving are the verbatim accounts of those who were cured. The facts are laid before the reader and no attempt is made to convince him/her one way or the other.? I found some accounts to be of particular interest. There is the story of the popular French novelist ?mile Zola whose book, Lourdes, published in 1894, caused uproar (p76). Also, of interest is the first Irish National Pilgrimage of 1913 when over 3,000 people travelled against the backdrop of the 1913 “lockout” (p86). We are given full accounts of those cured while on that pilgrimage.?This book gives us a glimpse into a very different Ireland to that of today. It was a country profoundly Catholic and of deep faith. Thousands travelled to Lourdes even in times of political upheaval both at home and abroad. Spurred on by faith and hope, it is their stories and the case studies of individuals who found “peace of mind and soul” (p211) that make this well researched publication a page-turner. This is a heartwarming, uplifting and thought-provoking read. ?We might wonder with Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, after his pilgrimage to Lourdes in 1958: “How many unsteady wills have received the strength to persevere?...How many in darkness received light in Lourdes?” (p186). He would soon become the beloved Pope John XXIII.?(Colm Keane & Una O'Hagan Africa Magazine May 2020)Death is still there, to be sure, and we face it and someday, it will come and take us. However, it is our whole faith that, by his own death, Jesus Christ changed the whole nature of death, made it a passage – a Passover - into the kingdom of God, transforming the tragedy of tragedies into the ultimate victory. (Alexander Schmeman in Reality Mag., May 2020) The Deep End (Jane Mellett Intercom May 2020)This week marks the ?fth anniversary of the publication of Pope Francis’ encyclical on ‘Care for Our Common Home’. Catholic communities worldwide have been asked to celebrate Laudato Si’ Week in some way from 16 to 24 May. Laudato Si is a beautiful document, inspired by the words of St Francis of Assisi, ‘Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured ?owers and herbs.’ In this document, Pope Francis asks us to listen to the cry of the earth, to really awaken to what is happening to God’s creation. We live in extraordinary times, where vast ecosystems are being destroyed and global warming poses a threat to life, all due to human activity. In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis says that this environmental crisis is, in reality, a spiritual crisis, because we have forgotten who we are and where we come from. We need a conversion of heart where our relationship with nature is concerned. He invites us to re-awaken a child-like sense of awe and wonder and to remember that ‘the entire material universe speaks of God’s love... soil, water, mountains: everything is a caress of God’ (LS 84). In today’s Gospel, Jesus says: ‘This is the Spirit of truth… He abides with you and He will be in you.’ Let us begin again to see God present within ourselves, in others and in all of creation. We start here, for we will only protect what we love. How will you celebrate Laudato Si’ week this week in your home and in your parish community? Spend time in nature, plant a tree, read Laudato Si’…Seeing your Life through the Lens of the Gospel1. ‘If you love me you will keep my commandments,’ speci?cally the commandment to love one another (cf. 13.34). How have you experienced the link between love of God and love of those around you? 2. Jesus is preparing his disciples for his imminent departure and for a future in which he would be with them in a di?erent way. He would not ‘leave them orphans’ but send an ‘Advocate’ to ‘be with (them) for ever’. How have you experienced the presence of God with you in your life? 3. Perhaps you have also experienced the challenge of preparing another (a child, a friend,) for a time when you would no longer be physically together. Recall how you gave the message of your ongoing support. 4. How have you experienced the presence and support of a loved one (parent, spouse, friend) when circumstances have separated you.? 5. The proof of the ongoing presence of Jesus with his disciples is that ‘I live and you will live’. Discipleship is about much more than rules and regulations. It is about being alive. How has discipleship helped you to be more fully alive? (John Byrne OSA Intercom May 2020)Laudato Si: On Care For Our Common Home.Pope Francis has invited us all to participate in a global campaign to mark the fifth anniversary of the publication of his encyclical letter. He repeats his urgent call to listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor and to celebrate and take care of God’s gift of creation.Introduction: Pollution, waste and the throwaway culture. Paragraph 13: My Appeal. The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a substantial and integral development, for we know that things can change. The Creator does no abandon us, he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us. Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home. Here I want to recognise, encourage and thank all those striving in countless ways to guarantee the protection of the home which we share. Particular appreciation is owed to those, who tirelessly seek to solve the tragic effects of environmental degradation of the lives of the world’s poorest. Young people demand change. They wonder how anyone can claim to be building a better future, without thinking of the environmental crisis and the sufferings of the excluded. Chapter 1: What is happening to our common home?Pollution and Climate ChangePollution, waste and the throwaway cultureParagraph 20: Some forms of pollution are part of people’s daily experience. Exposure to atmospheric pollutants produces a broad spectrum of health hazards, especially for the poor and cause millions of premature deaths. People become sick, for example, from breathing from high levels of smoke fumes from fuels used in cooking or heating. There is also pollution, caused by transport, industrial fumes, substances which contribute to the acidification of soil and water, fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and agrotoxins in general. Technology, which, linked to business interests, is presented as the only way of solving these problems, in fact proves incapable of seeing the mysterious network of relations between things and so sometimes solves one problem only to create others. Chapter 1: Paragraph 21:Account must also be taken of the pollution produced by residue, including dangerous waste present in different areas. Each year, millions of tons of waste are generated, much of it non-biodegradable, highly toxic and radioactive, from homes and businesses, from construction and demolition sites, from clinical, electronic and industrial sources. The earth, our home, is beginning to look more like an immense pile of filth. In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish. Industrial waste and chemical products utilised in cities and agricultural areas can lead to bioaccumulation in the organisms of the local population, even when levels of toxins in those places are low. Frequently, no measures are taken until after peoples’ health has been irreversibly affected.Paragraph 22: These problems are closely linked to a throwaway culture, which affects the excluded, just as it quickly reduces things to rubbish. To cite one example, most of the paper we produce is thrown away and not recycled. It is hard for us to accept that the way that the natural ecosystems work is exemplary: plants synthesize nutrients which feed herbivores; these in turn become food for carnivores, which produce significant quantities of organic waste, which give rise to new generations of plants but our industrial system, at the end of its cycle of production and consumption, has not developed the capacity to absorb and re-use waste and by-products. We have not yet managed to adopt a circular model, capable of preserving resources for present and future generations, while limiting as much as possible the use of non-renewable resources, moderating their consumption, maximising their efficient use reusing and recycling them. A serious consideration of this issue would be one way of counteracting the throwaway culture, which affects the entire planet, but it must be said that only limited progress has been made in this regard. ................
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