Catholicism can't be as nasty and biased as 'Alive'?

Why is the freesheet 'Alive' so opposed to the European Union?

Most issues make snide remarks about the EU.

The February issue has a story about VAT on new homes and how the EU controls so much of our lives. Indeed, the piece tells its readers that EU bureaucrats tightly control Irish life and society.

On the same page (9) there is a piece on Hans and Sophie Scholl's resistance to the Nazis and how the church can learn from the Scholls.

The Scholls were members of the White Rose movement. Its members were brave and paid the price for their resistance to the Nazis.

Sophie and Hans Scholl were martyred on February 22, 1943. But it is worth noting that the group became more resolved in their fight against the Nazis after the German defeat at Stalingrad on February 2, 1943. It was the first significant setback for the Wehrmacht.

Members of the White Rose were remarkable people. Their resolve grew ever stronger after some of their soldier friends came back from Stalingrad.

Neither news item includes a byline. Something akin to the 'hidden EU bureaucrats?

'Free Catholic Monthly Newspaper' is written on the masthead of the free-sheet. Is Catholicism as nasty, sectarian and biased as the sentiments in 'Alive'?

Who edits the free-sheet, who manages it, who finances it? Not a mention in the publication.

'Alive' constantly berates the EU for its 'hidden bureaucrats'. Has the free-sheet an editorial board? 

It attempts to link itself with the Dominican Priory in Tallaght, gives a priory telephone number.  Many people who know little about it easily think that it is connected to the Dominicans. Is it?

Who owns it?

An Irish woman admonishes Farage in parliament

Watching the scenes in the European Parliament in Brussels on television last evening it was profoundly sad to see European Parliament back terms of UK's exit.

The antics of Nigel Farage and the flying of the Union Jack was vulgar and rude.

There was an ironic touch when Irish woman Mairead McGuinness, who is a vice-president of the European Parliament, reprimanded the Brexit Party for their behaviour in the parliament. She told them it was forbidden to fly flags in the parliament building.

On a bright and friendly note, European Parliamentarians sang Auld Lang Syne after approving the Brexit deal.

The UK is the first state to leave the European Union.

It is also worth noting that today reminds Germans of a black day in their recent history.

On January 30, 1933 Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.

Ben Kavanagh in Wuhan

In the last few days Ben Kavanagh has been speaking on RTE Radio and RTE Television.

Ben is teaching in Wuhan, comes from Kildare and now lives in Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the coronavirus.

He comes across has an amazing young man. In the first days he was adamant on staying in China. But this morning he is less certain and has been in contact with the Irish embassy in Beijing.

Ben seems a matter-of-fact person. This morning for the second time he said that one of his reasons about not leaving the city is because he would not want to be the cause of someone being infected by him.

Striking.

And also, he makes for great radio. 

Auschwitz did not fall out of the sky

At the commemoration in Auschwitz on Monday for victims of the Holocaust one of the surviving inmates said that Auschwitz did not fall out of the sky.

It was the little things that happened in the previous years that allowed it all to happen. And those who turned a blind eye and never said a word helped open the gates at all the death camps.

Wise words.

One good argument against democracy

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column

Michael Commane

Stopped at traffic lights while cycling on Saturday I spotted two men armed with election posters, cable ties and a ladder. I smiled, complimented them on their endeavours and said that I was impressed and went on to say that they must be convinced of what they were doing. I suggested they were conviction politicians. 

One of them quipped: ‘And also maybe conflicted.’

All three of us thought it funny. They got on with the job-in-hand, the lights turned green and off I went.

That brief engagement spurred something in me and I’m now paying more heed to election posters than I might usually do.

Poster spotting is fun and I can only imagine it’s a fount of material for psychologists and anyone who has anything to do with the workings of the mind.

Do election posters work? They must, otherwise politicians would not be wasting money erecting them. 

Though I have been told, this year because of our awareness of how we are destroying the planet, there may be fewer lampposts festooned with posters.

What do you make of the Fine Gael nationwide slogan, ‘A Future to Look forward to’? Is it not reprehensible to finish a sentence with a preposition?

I phoned the constituency office of a government minister and asked the person at the other end of the phone what the Fine Gael slogan was. To his embarrassment he was not able to tell me.

Then there is the Fianna Fáil one, ‘An Ireland for All’. Certainly it’s far easier to remember, crisper and clearer than the FG one. And it might even do something for GAA followers who go to the All-Ireland.

But what exactly does it mean? Who are the ‘All’? Underlying tones of a united Ireland hidden there somewhere?

And then all the mugshots. Are there rules and regulations whereby candidates have to pass certain photogenic standards before they are allowed throw their hat in the ring? 

Looking at all these posters I’m reminded of something in Canon Law where candidates in the past could not go forward for priesthood if their looks were repellent. A candidate for priesthood could not have damaged hands.

Without knowing the first thing about a candidate I am finding myself looking at mugshots, making judgements and coming to conclusions about the person on the poster. Surely that can’t be right. The politicians are using the phrase ‘voter recognition’. I’m wondering what exactly that means.

How does the media coverage, all the debating on radio and television, influence us?

I find panellists interrupting someone when they are speaking infuriating. If I had anything to do with managing candidates, I would warn them under pain of expulsion that they should always refrain from interrupting the person who is speaking.

What about those candidates who sound arrogant and patronising, the toffy type, who give the impression they know best?

I kept asking myself was I any the wiser after the first Leo versus Micheál debate on Virgin Media 1 last Wednesday evening. And then all the analysis afterwards, I find my head spinning in confusion.

Winston Churchill’s words on democracy are worth noting: ‘The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.’

I’m back thinking about my encounter with the two men putting up posters.

They were pleasant and friendly, well-mannered and funny too.

Could that interaction be the cause of my voting for their party?

Is the whole exercise as ephemeral as that? That’s democracy for you.

Great new easy-to-read real time bus signs

Congratulations to Transport For Ireland (TFI) on the new real time bus signage.

But what about all the money that was wasted with the first series? Anyone taken to task for the bad design?

These new signs are far easier to read and are not blocked by the bus shelter roof.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today is World Holocaust Day.

The day has been commemorated since 2005 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Among those liberated was the Italian-born writer and chemist Primo Levi.

Levi was one of the estimated 900 Jews left in the Judenlager (Jewish camp) on Auschwitz IV on that January day in 1945 when the Soviet 322nd Rifle Division liberated the remaining inmates at the German death camp.

The previous day the Red Army began encircling the German Army in East Prussia, which was the beginning of the end of German power in East Prussia.

January 27, 1945 was a Saturday. The sun was shining on snow-covered Auschwitz.

The Russian cavalry men announced: 'Germania kaputt!'. They dismounted, showed the red star on their uniforms and said: 'Ruski, Ruski'. But they looked embarrassed, even revolted by what they saw. 

The Jews in front of them had been starved and had the furtive gaze and gestures of hunted animals. Primo Levi covered his head in shame.

In 1947 Levi wrote a memoir of his time at Auschwitz. If This is a Man shows how the Germans working at the camp as well as the prisoners had been dehumanised by their presence in the camp.

When we call the perpetrators of these atrocities Nazis there is always the possibility that we remove them from the human race. Better to call them by their nationality. The overwhelming majority of them were Germans, though peoples in the countries they enslaved, also worked for and with them.

The frequent admonishments in post-war Germany to 'mourn and master the past' struck Levi as pietistic and hollow.

In a letter he wrote in reply to one of the 'kinder German guards' at Auschwitz Levi wrote: "I would like to help you come to terms with your past but I doubt that I am able."


(Some material in the above is taken from an article by Ian Thomson in The Tablet.)

RTE presenter shows crass disrespect

At the end of yesterday's RTE Radio 1's 'Saturday with Cormac O hEadhra', the  hour-long programme on the upcoming election, the presenter referred to the death of Seamus Mallon and then said: "... who passed away in the last day or so".

Seamus Mallon died on Friday.

Mr O hEadhra's comment sounded most disrespectful and flippant.

Not good enough from the State broadcaster.

Chinese build hospitals quicker than the Irish

Chinese officials said they would build a new hospital in six days to accommodate patients with the coronavirus.

The new hospital will be modelled after an isolation facility constructed during the Sars outbreak.

Tens of millions of Chinese are under lockdown.

At least 11 cities in China's central Hubei province are facing travel restrictions.

If the Chinese can build a hospital in five days, how long will it take the Irish to build a hospial?

This fact of building a hospital in five days is certainly set to become an election question/topic and great material for Irish comedians.

Recalling the horrors at Auschwitz-Birkenau

Monarchs, presidents and prime ministers were in Jerusalem yesterday to remember the Holocaust. 

They were given stark warnings not to ignore escalating antisemitism and violence against Jews in Europe and the United States.

Leaders congregated at the Yad Vashem remembrance centre on the western hills of Jerusalem for a three-hour event held by the fifth World Holocaust Forum. 

Organisers hoped the meeting would provide a united front against anti-Jewish hatred, including in countries run by many of the attendees.

"Historical lessons were forgotten. Remembering the past is our duty, but it is not enough,” said the narrator of a video played at the start of the ceremony, as the Russian president, Vladamir Putin, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the US vice-president, Mike Pence, sat in the front row.German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier was the first to speak at the event. 

It was the first time that a German representative had been invited to the event.President Steinmeier spoke in English. Out of respect to the victims of the Holocaust he did not utter one word of German.

Vladimir Putin said Russia lost more than 20 million people, had “paid the highest price, more than any other” in the war. 

He added that the European concentration camps were “operated not just by Nazis but by their henchmen in various countries”.

England's Prince Charles also spoke as did French president Emmanuel Macron.

It is 75 years since the Red Army liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau.

That was all made possible by the Soviet victory in Stalingrad, which Russia will celebrate on February 2, remembering the great battle on the Volga that ended on February 2, 1943.

Fr Martin McCarthy OP - an obituary

Martin McCarthy died in Tallaght University Hospital on Tuesday evening.

At the time of his death Martin was assigned to St Mary's Priory, Tallaght, where he had been living since 2014.

Martin was born in Tralee, Co Kerry in August 1944. He attended the 'The Green', the famous Christian Brothers School in his home town and during that time he served as an altar boy at the Dominican Church, Holy Cross.

A number of young men, who were altar boys at Holy Cross in the second half of the last century, went on to join the Dominican Order.

Martin joined the Dominicans in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1970.

Matin was widely known in the Order as 'Maxi', a nick-name that he had been given while at school in Tralee.

After ordination he did postgraduate studies in Rome before returning to Ireland to work in the Retreat House in Tallaght.

Among the priories where Martin ministered were Lisbon, Newbridge, Drogheda and Cork, where he worked as a hospital chaplain. He spent a number of years working as bursar at San Clemente in Rome.

In his pastoral work Martin had the ability to build up friendships with people, who attended our churches. He would always make himself available to chat with people as they left church.

He made it his business to help people who were on the margins and offered them advice and consolation too.

For many years Martin had at his side a dog to whom he gave great care and attention.While working as a dean in the Dominican boarding school in Newbridge, the students in an attempt at frustrating Martin, would tease his dog.

As a young man Martin was struck down with arthritis, which greatly impaired his work. He suffered  ill-health for many years but never allowed himself to be rolled over by the effects of his illnesses.

On a personal note and a somewhat funny story, in 1969 when I was a young student in Tallaght it was obligatory for us to wear black hats. I thought it was a silly custom and not in keeping with the dress style of the day. 

At the time Martin was senior student in Tallaght, which gave him a certain status in applying and monitoring house rules. He discovered I was not wearing the black hat and reported me to the student master, who was at the time Fr Anoninus Delaney, a kind and gentle person.

Some time later I sold the hat for £1 to a friend for a fancy dress party.

Approximately 40 years later when Martin was trying to assist someone in difficulty he was aware that I knew the  person. He contacted me to get me on board to help solve the  person's problems.

In recent years Martin experienced poor health. He received sterling care in St Mary's Priory in Tallaght from the carers' team and the prior, Fr Donal Roche.

May he rest in peace.

Martin's remains will be removed from St Mary's Priory, Tallaght to the church on Saturday at 5.30pm.

Requiem Mass is on Monday, January 27 at 11.30pm in St Mary's Priory church in Tallaght village. Burial afterwards in the priory cemetery.

Martin McCarthy OP, RIP

Dominican priest Martin McCarthy died in Tallaght University Hospital last night.

May he rest in peace.

Obituary to follow.

Crisis in Lebanon, a land of sanctuary for many

Lovely piece in current issue of 'The Tablet' on Lebanon.

Patrick Page describes his encounters on walking the country's length from north to south.

There are 18 officially recognised groups in Lebanon: Sunni Muslim, Shia Muslim, Isma'ili, Alawite, Druze, Jewish, Assyrian Church of the East, Protestant, Latin Catholic, Melkite Greek Catholic, Chaldean Catholic, Syriac Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox and Coptic.

The president must be Maronite Catholic, the prime minister Sunni and the speaker of the house Shia.

Lebanon has taken in approximately 1.5 million Syrians fleeing war. Refugees make up 25 per cent of the population.

And not to forget, Lebanon produces some of the finest wines in the world.

The current political crisis and resignation of the prime minister was sparked when the government tried to tax internet calls.

We all need to be inspired

This week’s Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers’ column

Michael Commane

Chris Hadfield was interviewed on RTE Radio 1’s Ryan Tubridy Show on Wednesday, January 8. It made great radio.

Commander Hadfield has flown two space shuttle missions and is the first Canadian to walk in space. 

Chris is doing project work with Electric Ireland. You may recognise his voice on the current Electric Ireland radio and television advertisements.

He has the distinction of being the only astronaut to tweet in Irish from Space.

His father, who is 86, is still flying planes. In fact, he owns and flies two aircraft. Chris acknowledged that it’s keeping him alive. ‘When people retire the purpose can go out of their lives,’ he said.

His parents told him and his brother to be curious but never to leave their curiosity unanswered.

He stressed the importance of sculpting who we are into who we would like to be. But his wife did tell him that carrying out one’s dreams doesn’t come for free.

And it so happened on the following Saturday comedian and actor Brendan O’Carroll was guest on the 

Tommy Tiernan Show. He too spoke about how his mother had inspired and impressed him when he was a child. He went on to talk about how important it is for us to be happy in our lives.

The following Sunday in the second reading at Mass from the Acts of the Apostles, St Peter tells his friends that he has realised, ‘that God does not have favourites’.

Both Chris Hadfield and Brendan O’Connor were most impressive and set me thinking about the importance of living in the now and realising our own individual potential. We all have something to offer. We can all play a role in making the world a better place and by doing so, giving ourselves a confidence in our own worth.

For those who believe in God, it’s reassuring to know that God is batting for all of us. And that line gave my faith a new impetus. In a world that concentrates so much on elites and celebrities, it’s reassuring to know that such nonsense has no place in God’s ‘world’.

If anyone had that magic potent always to be able to inspire people, they would be indeed special.

Thinking about it, isn’t that really what leadership and management is? Surely it is not to do with ordering people about, but rather inspiring and enthusing people so that their potential can be realised. The best managers and leaders should indeed be catalysts. I heard someone once say that the good teacher makes her/himself redundant. It makes great sense.

We all have our own personal stories to tell. There is no paradise on earth, there will always be awkward people and nay-sayers who are impossible to inspire and enthuse. But even in their cases, it’s worth asking why they are like that.

From my personal experience of the workplace I get a sense that managers and leaders far too often fall short in their job of inspiring and enthusing. Yes, we all have a role to play in our own life-stories but those stories can be helped along, supported and enhanced by leaders and managers.

A positive or uplifting word never goes astray. I’m not talking about PR spoof but the real genuine words, spoken with honesty. All people deserve to be treated with equal dignity. There’s far too much hierarchical thinking across society, and that includes the workplace.

Eleanor Roosevelt wisely advised: ‘To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart’.

No 'Queen's English' for Prince Harry

So much for the 'Queen's English'.

In a talk in London yesterday Prince Harry said:

"For my wife and I'' and later in the speech he said: "The support they have shown Meghan and I."

And so far not a word from any media outlet.

Does it say something about the English monarchy, the attention it gets and the money and power it has.

Poster men admit conviction and conflict

Two men, armed with a ladder and posters, putting up election posters in Tallaght on Saturday were approached by a cyclist who commented that they must be men of conviction and be convinced.

One man replied: 'conflicted'.

All three smiled.

Remembering a black day in German history

On this day, January 20, 1942 senior German officials met at Wannsee, a Berlin suburb, to discuss the  'Final Solution to the Jewish Question.

Heydrich, Freisler and Eichmann were among those who attended the meeting. Hitler was not present.

A black shocking day in German history. It must never be forgotten.

'Who is and who is not a faithful Catholic'

This appears in an article in the current issue of The Tablet.

It is in a piece about the upcoming Democratic primaries preparing for the November US presidential election.

€326 million bonanza for betting boss in one year

There has been much talk in both Ireland and the UK in recent weeks about the dangers caused by gambling, especially online betting.

English football has been criticised for its links with betting companies.

In 2018 the chief executive of gambling group Bet365, Denise Coates was paid €326 million.

Ms Coates is ceo of the Stoke-on-Trent based group, which she co-founded in a portacabin in 2000.

Not a word from DCC or Waterways Ireland

On Tuesday a homeless man suffered life-changing injuries during a tent clearing operation beside the Grand Canal at Leeson Street Bridge.

On Thursday morning no one from Dublin City Council or from Waterways Ireland was available to speak about what happened to the Eritrean man, who received serious injuries, when the mechanical claw of a machine was used to lift the tent.

Indeed, now Friday morning and still not a word from a spokesperson from either agency.

That is not acceptable behaviour.

'The lads in Limerick'

The driver saw nothing wrong with the spelling on the back door of  his van.

When it was brought to his attention he said: "That's the lads in Limerick who did that."

Miracle on the Hudson

Ten years ago today US Airways Flight 1549 ditched safely on the Hudson River in New York.

After takeoff the plane experienced a birdstrike and lost engine power.

The Airbus A320-214 was piloted by Chesley Sullenberger.

All 155 people on board the plane survived.

The pilot received many plaudits for his successful 'landing'.

A film 'Sully: Miracle on the Hudson', featuring Tom Hanks, was made about the spectacular event. The film received some criticism on a number of issues.

What we might miss by being seduced by our cars

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

I’m one year, one month and two weeks without a car. I have survived.

There have been the few occasions when a car at my disposal would have made life a little easier but I managed.

I was back home in West Kerry after Christmas.

On the Tuesday after Christmas I railed to Dublin for a new year’s eve party and returned to Kerry the following day, which was a bank holiday. 

Usually when I arrive in Tralee I take the bus to Camp, which is a distance of 20 kilometres and then cycle the final 10 kilometres to West Kerry.

But on this occasion I did not have my bicycle with me and there was a waiting time of 75 minutes for the bus.

I decided to try my luck at hitching.

Bank Holiday traffic was light and after about ten minutes I felt this hitching operation was not working. I decided to give it another ten minutes and then walk back to the bus station.

At that moment a car slowed and pulled in approximately 100 metres from where I was standing. I was not sure they were stopping for me as there was a shop at that spot. For a moment or two I hesitated before walking up to the car. 

The woman in the passenger seat opened the window and I, ever so politely, asked if they had stopped for me. She looked at me and said, no. I thanked her and walked off. I had not taken ten steps when I heard a voice say: ‘Commane, you clown, of course we stopped for you’. Relief. I now had a lift right to my hall door and I’d be there before the bus would have left Tralee.

The couple who gave me the lift are friends. I had not seen them in five or six years and just in the instant and circumstances I had not recognised them.

What a fortuitous meeting. They were home from Canada over the Christmas. It so happens that it was this couple  introduced me to motor cycling and guided me in the purchase of my first motorcycle.

They were also home to visit a sick relative, whom I also know. For over six months I had been intending to visit the sick person but had never executed my intention. I had all sorts of excuses. I was annoyed with myself that I had not called.

As a result of my hitchhiking encounter I called on the sick man. It was such a lovely afternoon. I was dined and ‘coffeed’ and delighted to be back sparring with my friend.

The majority of people need a car, especially so in rural Ireland. But in my case the number of times in 2019, where not having a car has thrown up all sorts of opportunities and experiences, that have enhanced my life.

Has the modern lifestyle locked us up in little capsules that tend to isolate us from the world right in front of our noses. What do we do? We launch out into social media and do daft things?

There have been days when I have toyed with buying an electric car. It would not take too much for me to be seduced by the motor industry.

Over the Christmas holiday I have been observing the number of times I have seen people jump into their cars when they could have done the same journey either on a bicycle or walking.

What they might have missed?

Irish Dominicans abandon a booming place

Last Friday the State-sponsored Land Development Agency outlined plans for the development of a €2 billion project in Limerick.

The LDA has signed a memorandum of understanding with Limerick City and County Council, the HSE and CIE to create a master plan for the brownfield site located at Colbert rail station.

The 50 hectare site has capacity for 10,000 homes.

LDA chairman and former Department of Finance general secretary John Moran said: "Healthy living without car dependency can now become a reality for thousands of new residents in Limerick."

Mr Moran spoke on RTE's Morning Ireland on Friday and was most enthusiasic about the project.

The Irish Dominicans have a fine property within a five-minute walking distance of this development.

What do they do? In 2016 they handed the house over to a group of Dominican sisters from the United States.

Limerick is a university city and the Irish Dominicans walked away from the city. Also present in the city is Mary Immaculate College.

A bad move on the part of the management team of the Irish Dominicans. A terrible pity and a shame too.

The property is still owned by the Irish Dominican province.

Sense may prevail and they will see the importance of their presence in the city and return to the priory. 

Irish Dominicans first founded a priory in Limerick in 1227.

Mourinho gets depressed if he speaks too much

Quirky piece in yesterday's Guardian.

 José Mourinho did not want to speak about injured Harry Kane. The pain of losing his talismanic striker due to injury until April was too raw.

"If I speak too much, I get depressed,” the Tottenham manager said. “And then you say I’m miserable and in a bad mood. It’s better to speak about things that make me laugh.”

Mourinho wanted to present an image of radiant positivity as he sat down to preview the visit of the Premier League’s runaway leaders, Liverpool, in the Saturday’s teatime kick-off. He was shaved and nicely coiffured, looking good. How was he feeling, one reporter asked. “Amazing,” he replied, flashing a full-beam smile."

Liverpool 1 - Tottenham 0.

Boris's back door to close

London's New Routemaster buses commissioned by Boris Johnson for London at huge expense, reintroducing rear doors, are to have them closed to boarding because of widespread fare evasion.

When he was mayor he decided to replace the city’s articulated, single-deck “bendy buses”, in part because he said they encouraged fare-dodging.

Transport for London said the 1,000 New Routemasters in operation would be converted. 

The company loses more than £3.6m a year in fares dodged across the new fleet, which has double the evasion rate of other London buses.

Passengers will only be able to board by the front door, with those in the middle and rear becoming exit-only.

Before and after

When you listen to the life story of another person, especially if the person is ill, you can never be the same again.

It is a privilege beyond words to sit beside the bed of an ill person and listen to their story.

Donald Trump and Mohammad Javad Zarif

Last evening Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was interviewed on CNN.

The interview was followed by a press conference of sorts with US president Donald Trump.

The Iranian foreign minister was articulate and clear spoken, urbane. 

The US president was belligerent and confusing, intemperate.

People are interested in hearing the word of God

This week's Independent News & Meida Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane
We have survived another Christmas and New Year festivities.

How many more ahead? No one knows the answer to that question.

In my first years teaching I would ask the new children in first year what was the only thing we knew with certainty would happen all of us. There would always be silence. Then I would tell them that we would all die.

You certainly could not say that in a classroom today. Looking back on it, it may well not have been the wisest question to ask 13-year-olds.

I think many would say Christmas and the New Year season can be high in emotion. And of course that means the good and the bad.

This Christmas I celebrated three Masses. There were over 800 people at the Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve. The following day I celebrated Mass in hospital, where the chapel was filled to capacity, and then later at midday I was back in the parish church for another Mass. And this time there were over 500 people in the church.

I don’t think I have ever seen a church so full for Mass as I did this Christmas.

At all three Masses there was a genuine sense of people in communion, praying together, expressing their belief in Jesus Christ.

People were there because they wanted to be present. I doubt if anyone was forced or frog-marched to the church or chapel.

And I for my part tried to celebrate all three Masses in a prayerful and meaningful manner.

We had music and community participation. After the Gospel I attemtpted to throw light on the Scriptures. I spoke for no more than six minutes.

I said it at the Masses and say it here again, it was a privlege to be a celebrant at Christmas Mass.

People are interested in hearing about the Word of God. Our Christian communities want to be challenged by the wonder, the mystery, the goodness of God.

But they certainly don’t want to be shouted at, nor do thy want to be spoken down to or patronised.

Some months ago a wise lawyer said to me that there are fanatics across all groups in society and unfortunately they can sound plausible, but fortunatley most times they run out of steam.

Right now I have the impression the church is in a perfect place for fanatics to hold sway, for us to allow their ranting and roaring to be heard.

The faith of the people that I experienced this Christmas gives me hope that all forms of fanaticism will not win the upper hand.

Of course the church is in crisis but preaching 35-minute sermons at Mass, telling people that Jesus had no brothers and sisters is not going to help the church in its crisis.

I mention those two instances because people came to me and told me about them. And in both cases the people, good, Christian people, were upset and annoyed with their experiences. Nor do I understand why priests celebrate Mass in Latin.

We seem far too often to miss the point that the church is the people of God. The church is the last place in this wide-world of ours where there can or should be a place for elites. The church is a church of sinners, even for fanatics, provided no one takes them too seriously.

Maybe a good new year’s resolution would be for us not to take ourselves too seriously.

Epiphany

Today is the Christian feast of the Epiphany. The celebration of God's revelation through Jesus Christ.

The perfect occasion to ask how do I, how do we help in making known the presence of God in the world.

Our kind words and actions, our prayerful and simple celebration of the Sacraments.

And all done in conversation with people. 

Is the church as we know it fit for purpose? If so, why do so many good people feel alienated and are walking away?

If the church is not revealing God's presence, then surely the problem is with the church.

US assassination

“Mr Trump the gambler, I’m telling you, know that we are close to you in that place you don’t think we are.

“You will start the war but we will end it.”

- Qassem Suleimani

Worrying words. 

For the United States to assassinate a member of a foreign government cannot be wise. To do it to a high Iranian official leaves the world in a very dangerous place.

And all decided from a holiday resort in Florida.

“If this thing sparks into a war, it will absolutely not benefit us,” warned retired Lt Col Daniel Davis, a veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq now at the Defense Priorities thinktank. “It will be catastrophic for everyone.”

The kind word works

The ‘Thinking Anew’ column in ’The Irish Times’ today.

Michael Commane

Does it ever cross your mind how we take words for granted and yet, when you stop to think about them, words are fascinating?

My mother was a great talker but in her late 60s she was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx, and had surgery to remove her voice box. It meant there was never again any fluency in her talking. I managed to understand most of what she said but my father had great difficulty, which naturally caused anguish and frustration for my mother for the final 10 years of her life.

I still find slips of paper in books on which she had written notes for my father.

Tomorrow's Gospel (John 1: 1 - 18), which was also the Gospel of Christmas Day, is considered one of the great pieces of literature. 

St John begins with powerful words: ‘In the beginning was the Word: the word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.’

Those words describe the creative power of God. But they also give us an insight into the power of words.

Are you, am I conscious of the power and the effect of our words? Maybe we grow wiser with age, perhaps our work and life-experiences give us an understanding and insight into the world about us, but since taking up a job as a hospital chaplain over three years ago I have become ever more conscious of the importance of the words we use.

Here I have to be honest and come out with my hands up. At my funeral Mass it would be terrible humbug and indeed crass dishonesty for a presiding priest to say I never said a bad word about anyone. Because I have. I know I'm far too quick to criticise the failings of others. Indeed, I have a penchant for being extra critical of thelayers of bureaucracy which afflict the temporal world and that of the Catholic church.

Through working as a hospital chaplain I have seen first-hand how important our words and gestures are. No, it's not a PR tactic, it's not some sort of sales technique, nor is it in the slightest way superficial or supercilious to take care in the choice of words to support and offer hope and guidance to people.

Using supportive and positive words to build people up is part of the mission statement of Jesus Christ. In the Gospel at the Christmas midnight Mass we read how the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds and assured them of the great joy they were to experience, a joy that would be shared by all the people. The birth of Christ brings joy to the world.

It's our task, our great privilege to speak and spread the Good News. And that's not restricted in any way to religious or holy talk. All our words, whatever the subject matter, should be words of kindness and goodness. They should be about building people up, giving people confidence, supporting people to do the best, to get on with their lives using all their God-given talents. And kind words to the sick and fragile bring a comfort and ease that we might never fully appreciate, until we are the recipients.

People often talk about the ‘good old days’. I'm not too sure how good they were when people were constantly criticised or made little of. Certainly, we have made extraordinary advances right across our education system. Young people have no idea how brutal it could be. Some of us went to school in fear and trembling, knowing that we might well be insulted and humiliated, even beaten, in the classroom. And those days must never return.

Sadly, the cruel words, the insults, the vulgarity has not gone away. They have moved on to the the world of social media. 

Many politicians and world leaders have succumbed to hurling verbal insults at people. US President Donald Trump has made insulting  people into part of his political bag of tricks. At a rally in Pennsylvania late last year he referred to one of his political opponents as ‘scum’.

That language must never be tolerated. Instead of rubbishing and denouncing people, we need to speak kindly, supporting what is good, understanding frailty and allowing people  space to respond in kind.

Six hundred years before Christ came among us with gentle words,  the Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, put it nicely when he said: ‘Kindness in words creates confidence.’

Free-sheet ‘Alive’ shows off GDR stamps

The current issue of the far-right free-sheet ‘Alive’ carries a number of unusual stories.

One such story is about Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans. 

The Scholls and their friends formed the resistance group, The White Rose, which opposed the Hitler regime.

The Sholls were murdered by the German authorities in April 1943, two months after the significant defeat at Stalingrad.


The ‘Alive’ story uses a photo of a stamp depicting the Scholls.

But the stamp is a stamp of the Deutsche Reichspost, the postal service of the German Democratic Republic.

The German Democratic Republic was an ardent opposer of the Catholic Church. It imprisoned priests, harassed clergy, including the Dominicans in Leipzig, legalised abortion on demand.

The government of the GDR made it impossible for young children to be altar servers. It was close to impossible for active Catholics to study at university.

The GDR was an anti-Catholic dictatorship and the free-sheet ‘Alive’ shows off its stamps.

Ryan Tubridy’s ‘excursion’ to Auschwitz

On his morning show on RTE Radio 1 today Ryan Tubridy spoke about his ‘excursion’ to Auschwitz.

In talking about his 48-hour ‘excursion’ he advised listeners to bring the Polish currency Zløty with them. He told us he flew to Cracow and his Ryanair flight departed and landed on time.

Just recently a survivor of the death camp spoke of how tourism can trivialise the evil of what the Germans did.

Ryan Tubridy’s account of his ‘excursion’ did that.