The day Patrick Kavanagh died, November 30, 1967

Appropriate to print  Patrick Kavanagh's poem Advent on this, the first Monday in Advent 2020, the last day on November in the year of Covid-19.

Kavanagh was born in Inniskeen, Co Monaghan on October 21, 1904 and died on this day, November 30, in 1967

We have tested and tasted too much, lover-
Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder.
But here in the Advent-darkened room
Where the dry black bread and the sugarless tea
Of penance will charm back the luxury
Of a child's soul, we'll return to Doom
The knowledge we stole but could not use.

And the newness that was in every stale thing
When we looked at it as children: the spirit-shocking
Wonder in a black slanting Ulster hill
Or the prophetic astonishment in the tedious talking
Of an old fool will awake for us and bring
You and me to the yard gate to watch the whins
And the bog-holes, cart-tracks, old stables where Time begins.

O after Christmas we'll have no need to go searching
For the difference that sets an old phrase burning-
We'll hear it in the whispered argument of a churning
Or in the streets where the village boys are lurching.
And we'll hear it among decent men too
Who barrow dung in gardens under trees,
Wherever life pours ordinary plenty.
Won't we be rich, my love and I, and
God we shall not ask for reason's payment,
The why of heart-breaking strangeness in dreeping hedges
Nor analyse God's breath in common statement.
We have thrown into the dust-bin the clay-minted wages
Of pleasure, knowledge and the conscious hour-
And Christ comes with a January flower.

Journalist Paul Murphy tells his story in print

Life-long journalist Paul Murphy has published his story as a journalist.

Get There First: A Reporter's Life is about his 57 years working as a journalist.

Paul began as a cub reporter with the Drogheda Independent. He later worked with the Irish Independent and Evening Herald and then returning to the Drogheda Independent as editor.

Paul had a great nose for the scoop and covered the Miami Showband murders, the Dublin planning scandals an on one occasion found a baby in a phone box.

Paul is a gentleman and during his years as a journalist, whether working in the newsroom or editor, he always offered a guiding hand to young, and indeed, not so young people setting out as journalists.

How to cut your phone bill by at least half

This is an interesting and informative article on mobile phones providers.

We, the customers, take far too much nonsense from service providers.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/karlin-lillington-how-i-managed-to-cut-my-mobile-phone-bill-by-at-least-half-1.4419140#.X8FtIi-vUw8.mailto

Rahner explains how we never move away from childhood

A lovely thought from Karl Rahner

We do not move away from childhood in any real sense. 

We move towards the eternity of this childhood, to its definitive and enduring validity in God's sight - a field which bears fair flowers and ripe fruits such as can grow in this field of childhood, and in no other, and which will be carried into the storehouses of eternity.

German government pay compensation to gay soldiers

The German Government decided yesterday to give every homosexual soldier, who was  discriminated against because of his/her sexual orientation, the sum of €3,000. 

The compensation will be given to all soldiers, whether troops in the Bundeswehr (West German Army) or NVA (East German Army) troops.

Until 2000, Bundeswehr policy held that putting gay soldiers in positions of authority would lead to poor morale and could even pose a security risk.

Unity is always the key to success

If we want to go far we have to go together. 

Anthony Gardner, former US ambassador to the European Union.

Joe Biden has named Anthony Blinken his new Secretary of State. An impressive man. 

His spouse is Evan Maureen Ryan. A good Tipperary name. She is a United States public servant.

Letting business needs careful regulation

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

Michael Commane

At the beginning of the month three foreign workers moved into a house near where I live. They found themselves locked out of the house sometime after 7pm. 

Not a pleasant experience on a November evening in a foreign country and on a road where you know no-one. I tried to open the door but I failed. 

After about ten minutes of wondering what to do we phoned a locksmith, who arrived within five minutes. Within two minutes he had the door open. He was both efficient and friendly. It cost the new tenants €100. 

Someone gave them an electric fire as they were unable to switch on the central heating.

I carried the heater into the house for them. And then what I saw and experienced made me ashamed to be Irish. The state of the place would immediately ‘put years on you’. There was a collapsed couch in what I presumed to be the living room. I didn’t see any smoke alarms or a fire extinguisher. 

I tried to turn on the central heating but was unable so I went out to the outside shed where the boiler was housed. No luck but what I did see was a gaping hole in the shed roof. Along with the depressing look it gave, it was in a dangerous condition and could cause harm to someone who might be in the shed. Surely not clever to have a gas boiler exposed to the elements.

Before leaving the house I checked the door lock and found it almost impossible to operate. I chatted with the tenants and was annoyed when they told me the rent they were paying for the house.

The next morning I phoned the property - estate agents. I expressed my concern in clear and unambiguous terms. In our conversation I let them know in no uncertain terms what I thought of the condition of the house. 

A political spin doctor would refer to such a conversation as ‘a frank and open discussion’. After the call I sat in my chair for a few minutes thinking about how the dialogue went. So I decided to call back. I apologised for raising my voice and for being probably abrasive and acerbic. The person I was speaking to acknowledged my apology and in turn also apologised for their less than friendly approach. 

It was a wonderful moment. But I did stress that I felt that the property should have been in better condition and that the agency should reimburse the tenants for the locksmith callout.

Since then I have had a lovely card from the tenants and I also was told that a new couch was delivered at the weekend.

There are many morals to the story. Certainly it is essential that the world of letting and renting needs to be regulated with an eagle eye. Vulnerable people need to be protected. But I also learned that very often we can be far more effective and constructive in getting things done when we are polite and gracious.  

And that does not prevent us from being firm.

I’m delighted I made that second phone call. And I wish the tenants happy days in their new accommodation. It’s good to keep an eye out for one another, especially so in the world of Covid-19.

What an Irish priest said on Friday on RTE Radio 1

Last Friday on RTE Radio 1's Today with Claire Byrne Fr PJ Hughes, a Cavan priest spoke about his objection to State regulations on closing churches for public Masses during Level 5 of Covid regulations.

He made some strange statements during the interview. Early in the interview he said: "I don't represent the church". Then later he said: "I'm the Catholic Church".

And that in many ways sums up the tone that Fr Hughes was saying.

Dr Gabriel Scally summed up the interview wisely, saying: "Gosh".

A perfect summation.

Bohernabreena to Britain Quay along the Dodder

 

The stretch of the River Dodder along Fitzwilliam Quay just before it flows into the Liffey at Britain Quay as the sun set over Dublin yesterday.

It's an interesting place. It's where the Dodder and the Grand Canal come right beside one another.

It's a wonderful walk from Bohernabreena near Tallaght all along the Dodder as far as the Liffey.

Most of the walk is off road. It's a mix of rural and urban walking. It has to be one of the most eclectic walks in Dublin.

Currently two bridges are being built across the Dodder between Templeogue and Tallaght.

Because of the construction part of the walk is closed off. The first the walker discovers about the closure means that one has to reverse one's walking steps. It's a pity there is not far earlier notice advising people about the diversion.

But the new bridges will be a great addition.

Anniversary of Paulus' telegram from Stalingrad to Hitler

On this day, November 22, 1942, the man in charge of the German Army on the Volga, Friedrich Paulus sent a telegram to Hitler in Berlin telling him that the Sixth Army in Stalingrad was surrounded and on the verge of defeat.

Diminishing resources, partisan guerilla attacks, and the cruelty of the Russian winter began to take their toll on the Germans. 

On November 19, the Soviets made their move, launching a counteroffensive that began with a massive artillery bombardment of the German position. The Soviets then assaulted the weakest link in the German force-inexperienced Romanian troops. Sixty-five thousand were ultimately taken prisoner by the Soviets.

The Soviets then made a bold strategic move, encircling the enemy, and launching pincer movements from north and south simultaneously, even as the Germans encircled Stalingrad. 

The Germans should have withdrawn, but Hitler wouldn’t allow it. He wanted his armies to hold out until they could be reinforced. By the time those fresh troops arrived in December, it was too late. The Soviet position was too strong, and the Germans were exhausted.

According to archival figures, the Red Army suffered a total of 1,129,619 total casualties [in the Battle of Stalingrad alone]; 478,741 men killed and captured and 650,878 wounded. 

These numbers are for the whole Stalingrad area; in the city itself 750,000 were killed, captured, or wounded. Also, more than 40,000 Soviet civilians died in Stalingrad and its suburbs during a single week of aerial bombing as the German Fourth Panzer and Sixth Armies approached the city; the total number of civilians killed in the regions outside the city is unknown. – Jewish Virtual Library

And on this day, November 22, 1909 my mother, Myra Hickey was born in County Tipperary.

Seapoint swimmers in November in the year of Covid-19

Seapoint, Friday, 15.25.

Seapoint, Friday, November 2020, in the year of Covid-19

A large number of people swimming on the tide. 

The water was bearable, indeed enjoyable.

The Irish Coastguard and the RNLI are warning people about swimming in cold water. They are advising people not to swim alone, not to swim too far out and not to swim in choppy waters. They are also advising people, who usually do not swim in winter to think again before taking to the water. 

Taking all that good advice to account, swimming these days in Irish water is pure magic.

Diarmuid Martin's zoom meeting with the Taoiseach

 A note from Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to the priests of the diocese on the current Covid-19 situation 

 

On Tuesday evening I took part in a Zoom meeting with the Taoiseach and a group of representatives of different faiths (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist, as well as Humanist) to talk about the challenges experienced by religious bodies during the current Level 5 lockdown and about expectations for the coming months.

 

The Taoiseach expressed his awareness of how the current Lockdown is affecting all faiths.  He recognised that for believers participation in public worship is central. While the provision of online services is important at this moment, physical gathering for common worship belongs to the essence of the Christian and other faiths.

 

There was unanimous agreement on the part of all the faith representatives that if there is a return to Level 3 at the beginning of December, then there should be a rethink on the place of public worship in Level 3 provisions. The Taoiseach recognised that unanimity.

  

He noted that the public health authorities continually express their anxiety about large gatherings, but that they distinguish between controlled gatherings and spontaneous uncontrolled gatherings.  The gatherings for worship are controlled and monitored and the Taoiseach stressed the enormous effort made by Churches to ensure that Church buildings were safe places for worship during the pandemic. While not making definitive commitments, he showed an openness (as he had done earlier in the day in the Dail) to a re-examination the place of public worship at Level 3.  Definitive answers, he noted, will depend on government.

 

While the government seems to be showing an openness to move towards a modified Level 3, much will depend on what the situation is like at the beginning of December.  In a number of countries where there had been considerable progress in curbing the virus, there has been a frightening return to very high infection levels as soon as restrictions were loosened.

 

I think it is vital that over the next two weeks that our Churches should be leaders in society in bring super attentive to attaining to the current norms.  The way we work together over the next weeks will determine the manner in which we can properly prepare for and celebrate Christmas.  I am hearing of laxity at some funeral events, not within Church buildings, but afterwards.  It is vital at any events within Church grounds or in funeral corteges that social distancing be respected. 

 

The faith representatives spoke of the ongoing work of Churches in addressing the concrete difficulties people face in the current stressful situation.  Faith contributes to personal and spiritual wellbeing.  The Taoiseach recognised the work of organizations like Saint Vincent de Paul, Crosscare and the charities of other faiths especially in addressing questions such as food supplies, mental health and loneliness.  I mentioned how important Advent Church collections are for the work of our charities.

 

We have to use Advent to prepare for how we will celebrate Christmas, both liturgically and through our care services.  Can we find ways of spreading attendance at Mass over a longer period than just Christmas night and Christmas Day?   How can we organise more Masses at Christmas, while managing necessary levels of hygiene and sanitising?  How do we reach out to people who will be lonely at Christmas? Many people living alone may not be able to travel to relatives?  How can we ensure that children can experience the mystery of Christmas as the birth of the Christ Child?   Families could be encouraged to visit the crib together.  Can we provide simple online services of religious Christmas music and stories?

 

At meeting of the Standing Committee of the Bishops’ Conference, there was some discussion as to how we can provide greater access to the Sacrament of Reconciliation for those who wish to avail of it.  The Bishops also reminded that, when access to the Sacrament of Reconciliation is not readily available, people can make acts of perfect contrition in order to attain forgiveness and return fully to the state of grace.

 

Christmas 2020 will certainly be a very different Christmas to anything we have experienced.  We have to show that the simplicity of the Christmas message can touch hearts in any situation.  

 

We will also have to celebrate Christmas at a time of uncertainty.  Even with the promise of more rapid access to vaccines there is no doubt that the pandemic crisis will continue well into the coming year and we shall have to find ways to live with the virus without losing hope.  This makes our demands for reopening of Churches for public worship more important not just for ourselves but for society.

 

Finally, as priests and as leaders in our Christian communities  we should allow ourselves the time and space to keep our own hearts open to the message of which we are the bearers and not allow our own frustration and  isolation weaken that sense of hope and meaning for which people turn to us.  Let us pray for each other.

 

+Diarmuid Martin

Archbishop of Dublin

A spooked White House invited Trump

Americans spooked by black man in White House led to Trump presidency.

- Barack Obama

England's glorious 1966 World Cup victory

BBC Two screened a wonderful documentary on Monday night on the 1966 World Cup.

Sir David Jason presented the programme, World Cup 1966: Alfie's Boys and he did it with his natural genius, sense of fun, and panache.

Do you remember where you were on that Saturday, July 30, 1966?

One of England's highest ever goal scorers, Jimmy Greaves was dropped for the semi-final and final and watched the game from the stands. It was many years later before he got his medal.

Back then substitutes were not permitted.

His replacement, Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick in the final. He is the only person ever to score three goals in a World Cup final.

Nobby Stiles played the full 90 minutes in every game of the World Cup campaign. His post-match celebration featured him dancing on the Wembley pitch, holding the World Cup trophy in one hand and his false teeth in the other.

The FA offered the team £12,000 to be divided among the players proportionally, that being decided on the number of games played by each member of the squad. Bobby Charlton objected and the money was divided equally among the squad. The German runners-up, received substantially more from the DFB. 

The players' wives/girlfriends were not invited to the  subsequent victory meal. 

Team manager Sir Alf Ramsey was credited for uniting the team and giving them a great sense of camaraderie.

He was often jeered for his posh accent, which many players and commentators said was acquired by taking elocution lessons.

It was a lovely programme and David Jason added a great touch to it.

If you have a chance of watching it, it comes highly recommended.

The nightmare of downloading new Bank of Ireland App

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

Michael Commane

Bank of Ireland hit the headlines back in August for all the wrong  reasons.

A number of customers phoned RTE’s Liveline to explain how they had been victims of a smishing (SMS phishing) scam. Some Bank of Ireland customers reported losing thousands of euro as a result of inadvertently handing over their banking information to fraudsters.

At first Bank of Ireland were adamant in pointing out that the customers were liable for their losses and refused to admit any responsibility insisting the bank: “will never text, send emails or call a customer looking for these details”.

Eventually Bank of Ireland agreed that criminals had inserted a fraudulent text into a thread containing genuine text messages from the Bank and refunded customers.

Bank of Ireland have to be commended for taking the correct action.

Last week I was thinking of what happened back in August.

I received notification on my Bank of Ireland account of an upcoming updating of their App and also notification that Bank of Ireland customers in the Republic could now avail of Apple Pay. That simply means that BoI customers can make touchless transactions using their mobile phones.

I found it all a nightmare operation. From what I can recall, when I opened the new BoI App I was told before I could proceed, an activation code would be sent to me. I entered the code.

I was asked to enter three digits of my PIN. But now I was worried that I may have been redirected to a fraudster’s site.

I became so scared downloading the new App that I eventually cancelled the operation and phoned the bank.

It took some time before I got through to a human voice. Yes, the man I spoke to could not have been more helpful. He did admit that my worries and confusion were understandable.

I was concerned that I was being scammed by a fraudster.

Later when activating  the Apple Pay  facility on my phone I received an SMS from the bank with a code to activate my Apple Pay. But it turned out that my Apple Pay was activated without my having to punch in the six-digit number. And that further confused me.

Would it not make more sense for the bank to write  to their customers informing them of upcoming changes they were making to their online banking App?

There are so many issues about banking that can be most annoying. 

Take the Bank of Ireland bank card. It is, at least for me, impossible to read the telephone numbers printed on the reverse side of the card. The reason being that the embossed numbers printed on the front of the card indent on the phone numbers on the reverse side. It would be so simple for the bank to print the phone numbers in a different place on the revers of the card. 

And remember, you may be looking for those numbers in a hurry, in panic or under pressure. It’s the very time when the numbers should be clear and legible.

Our banks need to spend more time and care listening to the concerns and worries of their customers. And guess what, they might save themselves a lot of money by doing so. 

Jonathan Sacks - a man with the warmest human spirit

This article on the late Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks is worth a read.

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-uk-and-ireland/2020/11/warmest-human-spirit-uks-former-chief-rabbi-sacks-dies/ 

Biden's empathy is fundamentally decent

Irish Times journalist Fintan O'Toole wrote a piece on president-elect Joe Biden in yesterday's paper, titled American's mourner-in-chief.

In the piece, talking about Biden's empathy, he writes: 

It is real and rooted and fundamentally decent. It has at its core the baffled humility of the human helplessness in the face of death that makes life "so difficult to discern".

As an antidote to Donald Trump's grotesquely inflated "greatness", it has authentic force. It is a different, and much better way, of talking about distress, of making pain a shared thing rather than a motor of resentment.

For anyone who works as a hospital chaplain these words resonate strongly.

Diarmuid Martin calls for a church of dialogue and hope

Today is the feast of Saint Laurence O’Toole, principal patron of the Archdiocese of Dublin.

Below is Archbishop Diarmuid Martin's sermon, delivered in the pro cathedral today.

He makes some interesting points. But why does the press office spell church with an upper case c, when the word is a common noun?  Does it tell its own story? If poor is spelt with a lower case p, surely church should be too?

 

Homily of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin

 

Saint Paul reminded us in our first reading that his ministry was a ministry of service for Jesus’ sake.  He himself was simply the earthenware jar charged to carry the treasure that is the saving power of Jesus Christ.

 

We gather to celebrate the Feast of Saint Laurence O’Toole, principal patron of the Archdiocese of Dublin.    We come together to pray for all those who in our day have responsibility in this diocese for spreading that treasure of the revelation of Jesus.

 

There is a sense in which, outside the Archdiocese of Dublin, Saint Laurence O’Toole is a forgotten Irish Saint.  Many of the more popular Irish Saints are linked with local culture, or with the Irish monastic missionary period, or were martyrs.  Laurence worked within a different cultural situation but one that is remarkably relevant to the current situation of the Church in Ireland.

 

The Dublin to which Laurence was appointed was in the midst of great cultural change.  The dominant Norse political culture was being replaced through a Norman invasion and internal conflict among the Irish chieftains.  Dublin was a city marked by violence.  Hunger, poverty, and vulnerability were the order of the day.

 

Today the religious culture of Ireland and especially of Dublin is also at a crossroads.  It is not the crossroads of martyrdom or oppression.  Certainly there is hostility towards the Church from some quarters.  The current change in religious culture is inspired more by indifference, uncertainty and at times voluntary rejection.  The fact that there are in Ireland today more civil weddings than religious marriage ceremonies is not by imposition.  The fact that, according to the last census, “no religion” is the second largest population group after Roman Catholics is the fruit of choice. 

 

In some cases, cultural change may be the fruit of disillusionment at how the Church is perceived.  The recent report on the former Cardinal McCarrick will have convinced many that the governance structures of the Church have again failed victims.  Nearer home, the victims of what was a harsh, authoritarian Irish Church in the past rightfully continue to haunt the Church of today seeking answers.  Their hurt will not be healed simply by saying that things are different now.  

 

I believe that the challenges of Church life due to the current pandemic are pointing the way towards another challenging moment for the Church. Many whose attendance at Church services before the pandemic was fragile will never return to public worship.  When Churches were reopened for public worship for the summer period, numbers were low and the demographics of those who returned were different. Younger faces were noticeably missing. 

 

The numbers who will attend public worship in the foreseeable future will be significantly lower.  It would be foolish to imagine that many of those who do not return to worship will not find themselves also drifting away from wider bonds with Church life.  The post-pandemic Church will look significantly different to the Church we traditionally knew.

 

I believe that the extraordinary charism of Saint Laurence O’Toole can serve as a valid model of renewal of the Church in Dublin in the coming years. 

His personal way of life made him a respected and forceful voice of witness in a time of cultural uprooting.  We need a Church that can speak the message of Jesus to a world that is searching and uncertain about faith, and be listened to not because of self-proclaimed status, but through the quality of its care and vision and faith. 

 

What were the characteristics the charism of Laurence O’Toole and why do I say that he can be a model for setting out the path towards a different future Irish Church?   Let me look at some.

 

The first was his evident holiness.  His was a holiness developed in the solitude of his years at the Monastery of Glendalough.  That solitude remained at the heart of his ministry as Archbishop.  Those whom he encountered thought of him in the first place as a man of holiness.  It may seem strange that those who feared him, feared most of all his holiness.  Personal integrity and holiness bear within them a striking strength that can be stronger than physical power. 

 

The solicitude within his heart gave him the freedom to make significant choices.  He rebuilt his Cathedral Church not as a monument but as a focal point of prayerfulness. He established a praying community of monks at his Cathedral and shared personally in their daily prayer life.    He encouraged the clergy to do likewise.  Laurence did this not by the imposition of norms but by his own sense of prayerfulness and his rejection of any aura of worldliness that was alien to being a minister of Jesus Christ.

The second characteristic of Laurence’s spirituality was his evident love for the poor.  His political interventions with the Norman and Irish local kings were always a response to the perilous condition of the poor, the victims of violence and of the failure of a society that had the duty to protect them.  He was not a political priest who sat at the side-lines and commented from a distance, even when such comment might have been valid.  Laurence was known as one who opened his own house and cathedral to be places were the poor were made feel welcome and where they were sure to receive food, support and protection.  

 

Laurence was very much someone who in his life as Archbishop encapsulated Pope Francis’ notion of a “poor Church and a Church for the poor”.  He was a man of authority who understood Christ’s injunction, as we heard in our Gospel reading, to exercise authority to serve the poor rather than to seek earthly power or recognition.

 

The third characteristic of Laurence’s activity was the manner in which his personal holiness and his care for the poor provided the strength for his active presence in the complex and uncertain political systems of his time.  His patent holiness represented a dimension of stability that was absent from the political intrigues of his day.

 

It was the authenticity of his witness that caused Laurence to be recognised as a forceful influence in public life.  His vision of the Church was one of reaching out, rather than an inward looking vision trapped in the internal in-fighting or small mindedness within the Church. 

 

Today we need an outward looking, forward looking Church that touches the hearts and the lives of both people and society through authentic witness to Jesus Christ.  The Church must touch hearts not by constant condemnation but by opening hearts realistically to joy and hope.   Its influence on society must be transparent in showing the purity of its intentions, rather than hiding behind the false security of worldly power or of fearfully hiding just with the likeminded.  We need a Church that confidently offers the saving message of Jesus in creative language that opens to a dialogue of hopefulness.       

 

If we remain trapped in an inner Church culture, we will end up struggling to find a place in a changed society, while becoming ever less relevant to that society.  Much of the Church language used about renewal - even important calls like that of Pope Francis to synodality  - could end up being used simply to talk about ourselves and our internal structures, rather than reaching out with a renewed sense of what the courage of missionary discipleship involves.

 

Laurence O’Toole was a fragile man - he died at only 52 years of age - whose strength came from the depth of his faith.  He never lost his sense of courage and vision.   Our challenge is great but we can address it if we keep our sense of courage and vision.

 

In our current situation where attendance at public worship is suspended, we have constantly to remind ourselves that the Christian life is not suspended.  Our Church doors may be closed for public worship, but the message of Jesus Christ belongs not just within buildings.  We must bring that message to those who are open to it, whether they are near to or distant from Church, whether young or old.   

 

The hearts of the indifferent and of those who feel disillusioned by their experience of the Church will only be reached by a Church marked by holiness, care for the poor and by engagement in bringing an authentic Christian contribution to the common search for goodness and truth.  The figure of Laurence O’Toole points the way for the future, but that future must begin today.  

 

The first day of one of the world's finest broadcasters

On this day, November 14, 1922  The BBC began radio service in the United Kingdom.

The BBC had plans to close down BBC Four, the specialist arts and science television channel. It will not now be closed down, instead it “will continue to have originations [commissions], with a focus on the arts”, a BBC spokesperson said.

Earlier this week it showed a four-part series, Berlin 1945. It was a powerful recall of the last year of the war. It strongly relied on the diaries of Berliners, who experienced the arrival of the Red Army, the death of Hitler, the Potsdam Conference and the subsequent four-part division of the ruined city.

The programme acknowledged the literary genius of Vasily Grossman and it also referred to Soviet Marshal General Georgy Zhukov's management of the city in those great days of horror.

Biden's idea of self comes straight from his religion

 A short extract from an article by Diarmuid Pepper in the current issue of The Tablet .

Biden may not be a perfect Catholic, but who among us is? Catholicism can be messy and hard; St Paul was a notorious persecutor of Christians, Blessed Bartolo Longo was once a Satanist, Servant of God Dorothy Day had an abortion.

Trump’s administration was at constant odds with the teachings of Pope Francis; the Pope said many of his policies were “not Christian”, while Trump said Pope Francis was “disgraceful”.

How refreshing it will be to have a POTUS in Joe Biden who says his “idea of self, of family, of community, of the wider world comes straight from my religion”.

Remiss of this blog to ignore Armistice Day

The piece below is from a reader and indeed it's a point worth making. 

 Thank you.

First of all, as a faithful reader of 'Occasional Scribbles' I would like to thank you for a daily insight into your interesting world! 

However, on Armistice Day, one of the great days in the European (indeed world) calendar not a mention. 

Any of us who worked in “Europe” can never forget how L’ Armistice was and is solemnly commemorated. In fact most of Europe closes schools, businesses to attend war memorials in local towns, cemeteries… 

In France La (Fete de) St Martin was and is also a big day in the church calendar…..

Far be it from me to add to your already heavy commitments, but I was really impressed by the parish newsletter in Sandymount, Star of the Sea, which carried the topic.

Again, many thanks for providing regular daily sustenance.

Priestly entitlement is not compatible with transparency

The link below is from Tuesday's Guardian. 

A question, what has really changed in the churches.

There is something fundamentally wrong with the environment of priesthood. 

There is an atmosphere attached to priesthood that spells entitlement. And all forms of entitlement lead to arrogance and closeness.

Entitlement in priesthood is alive and well in the churches. And it's thriving in the time of the pandemic too.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/10/child-sexual-abuse-in-catholic-church-swept-under-the-carpet-inquiry-finds

Dominican priest Conleth Cronin, who died in 1973

Today is the anniversary of the death of Dominican priest Conleth Cronin, who died in 1973.

Con, as he was known, was driving his Honda 50 from Tallaght back to St Saviour's Dublin, where he was living at the time.

He had been playing a game with the GAA club Thomas Davis on that fateful Sunday afternoon. It was a wet dirty November day when he crashed his motorbike.

Con was a past pupil of Newbridge College. He grew up in the Curragh, where his father was a member of the Defence Forces.

At the time of his death he was still in his 20s.

Con Cronin was a most interesting person. It would be easy to describe him as a character. And that he was.

On a first encounter with him it would be easy to get the impression that he was a rough diamond. But spend 30 minutes in his company and one would quickly realise that he was the gentlest of souls, alas, a quality he seldom if ever showed on the football field.

He was also known as Rocks Cronin. That may have been because of his physical strength and prowess on the football field, where he could be fierce.

He had many fine qualities, one of which was his ability to support and help those who were marginalised and forgotten.

Con had an impish sense of humour. He was loyal but enjoyed laughing at authority.

I can still remember the day of his funeral. From what I can recall, many tears were shed both during his funeral Mass in St Mary's Priory, Tallaght, and then later at the graveside.

Where would he be today but for that accident?

Robert Fisk sided instinctively with the underdog

World renowned journalist Robert Fisk, who died on Friday October 30, was married to Lara Marlow for 13 years. Marlow is currently The Irish Times correspondent in Paris. I had the good fortune on one occasion to interview Lara Marlow, a lady to her fingertips.

She wrote a page-long piece on her former husband in her paper on Saturday.

She writes that he was the finest journalist she'd ever known.

This paragraph stands out:

Robert refused to cho0se sides. He knew there are executioners and victims on both sides of every civil war. 

British public school, a difficult relationship with his father and the years he spent covering the troubles in Northern Ireland imbued him with profound mistrust of authority. He never accepted the official version. 

He sided instinctively with the underdog. He gave voice to people who had none. That is what made him a great journalist.

And the following quote appeared in his obituary in The Irish Times on Saturday:

If you watch wars, the old ideas of journalism that you have to be neutral and take nobody's side is rubbish. As a journalist you have got to be neutral and unbiased on the side of those who suffer.

Trump's no-surrender is a reminder of another man

Across the four years of Donald Trump's presidency this blog has on many occasions been critical of the man and also made comparisons between him and Adolf Hitler.

Comparing anyone to Hitler is always dangerous and may well have little meaning.

But it is startling, watching Trump refusing to concede. Compare his current behaviour with that of Adolf Hitler, who in Spring 1945 as the Soviet Army was in the streets of Berlin, refused to allow the Wehrmacht surrender.

The nightmare of hitting the floor early in the morning

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

Michael Commane

The struggle of getting out of bed early in the morning is really one of the great challenges of life.

It amazes me that there is so little clever pieces of writing about moving from the bed to the floor. Then again, maybe there are and I just haven’t seen them.

It is an exercise that intrigues me and I’m often inclined to think it is a paradigm for the story of our lives.

Mid March is now a long time ago. And for all of us it is a moment of time etched in our heads and hearts. It was the moment that Covid-19 struck such a heavy hammer blow on the nation. Indeed, it’s a blow that has slammed the entire planet.

Up to then it was my custom to rise at 06.10. The arrival of Covid meant that there was no 07.30 Mass to celebrate so I pushed the dials of the alarm clock on two hours to 8am. And what a difference it makes.

We have put the clocks back, which in theory should mean that we have an hour longer in bed in the morning. But whatever we have done, getting out of bed in the dark in the morning can be hell on earth. At least that’s my humble personal experience.

Even going to bed the previous night there is fear and trembling knowing that you have to be up early the next morning. That’s why Friday is so special, no early rising on Saturday.

And it all happens within a 20-minute time frame. I set the clock for 05.50. And those next 20 minutes are such a mix of emotions. ‘If only I could stay in bed just this one morning. I’d give anything to snooze for another two hours. Leave me here till 8am and that will make it all so much easier.’ 

But I know in my heart-of-hearts that can’t and won’t happen. I look at the clock. It’s three minutes past six. I have another seven minutes. Oh the pleasure of those seven minutes. You think the time is up and discover you have another three minutes. 

Every second in bed is magic. But eventually the clock strikes ten past six. I’m out of the bed, crookedly standing on the floor. I’m up. I look at the bed and almost plead with the gods to let me back in. No, that doesn’t happen. I’m up. Probably within two minutes the agony is over. 

I’m in the bathroom. Another few minutes, I’m dressed and downstairs, preparing breakfast. By the time I’m eating my porridge the entire ordeal is forgotten. At least for another 23 hours 40 minutes.

It’s all taken for granted and I get on with the day as I do every day.

In a way it really is the story of our lives. There is the temptation in all of us, at least so it is with me, that we would love to be doing something else, something different.

I’m saying to myself, if only I could relax more in the the bowl and appreciate it to the full.

And isn’t it funny, that the mornings we can stay on in bed, it seldom if ever turns out as good as the dreams we have about it on the mornings we have to get up in the early hours.

Anyway, it’s time to move on and put the whole saga to bed. At least until tomorrow. It gives me plenty of time to think.

Donald Trump and those who lived in his coattails

Donald Trump behaves and looks like a pathetic person. It would be a terrible insult to children to compare him to a spoilt child.

And then there are those around him, who have supported and lived in his coattails during his presidency.

But what about the US bishops who supported him, the daily nonsense that appeared on Bishop Strickland's Twitter account? Strickland is bishop in Tyler in Texas.

And then there has been the sycophancy of New York's Cardinal Timothy Dolan around President Trump.

On the other hand Chicago's Cardinal Blase Cupich  and Newark's Cardinal Joseph Tobin have to be commended for the stand they have taken against Trump and his policies.

Fr Vincent Twomey's letter in The Irish Times last week 'explaining' why a Catholic could not vote for Joe Biden was most unhelpful, though it did give a glimpse into Fr Twomey's pomposity.

Already an American Dominican, Pius Pietrzyk has sneered at the president-elect.

Watching young people across American cities come out on to the streets to celebrate the election of the new president-elect was a moment of inspiration for the US and the world.

The behaviour of Donald Trump since his defeat must give the world some insight into his crass arrogance.

He shares that arrogance with right-wing elements within the Christian churches.

The Catholic Church should hang its head in shame for allowing any of its bishops to have had any sort of liaison with Donald Trump.

Trump called Kamala Harris a monster. Did Bishop Strickland say a word of condemnation? 

Surely the United States and the world is a better place without President Donald Trump and all his lies, vulgarity and showmanship.

Today President Trump fired his Defence Secretary Mark Esper. Another of the many signs of how dangerous and unpredictable the man is. This is the man a number of US Catholic bishops support. It is another story that tells the world how dysfunctional the Catholic Church is.

Turkey, China and Russia have not yet recognised the result of the election.

 

Donald Trump

He's gone. 

Donald Trump will be replaced by Joe Biden, whose mother was a Finnegan.

And Joe’s father’s people way back come from Ballina in Co. Mayo.

Time to heed the wisdom of the young

The 'Thinking Anew' column in The IrishTimes today.

Michael Commane

Sibylle Berg was born in Weimar in 1962. She is one of Germany’s most famous and provocative current writers. Her books have been translated into 30 languages.

In her book Did I Ever Tell You she recounts the story of two children living close to each other, Anna and Max, growing up in East Germany.

They live in dysfunctional families and are not happy with their lives.  They feel that adults refuse to listen to children and how the world would be a far better place if more heed were paid to children and their ideas. Berg, through the minds of Anna and Max,  argues that far too often children are simply afraid to express their thoughts out loud. 

On reading the book it dawned on me that as a child I often wondered what would happen if the world ran short of oil or coal. But of course I always dismissed it as a silly idea because no adults would ever think of such a possibility.

When Greta Thunberg appeared on the world scene there were those, including Donald Trump, who dismissed her and suggested she go back to school.

But that young woman and her growing band of young followers have forced the world to think again about the catastrophic climate change crisis that is facing us.

Tomorrow’s Gospel is the well-known parable from St Matthew (25: 1 - 13) where Jesus tells the story of the 10 wise bridesmaids, “Five of them were foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps.”

In other words the wise women were prepared for eventualities and were looking at the bigger picture. 

Whereas the unwise women were just thinking of the now and gave no thought to what might happen if their oil ran out. And so it did.

Really, isn’t it a great story to tell a throw-away society?

We have become so accustomed to our profligacy that we are no longer aware of how appallingly badly we are treating our environment. A friend of mine, who spent his working life as an engineer, keeps repeating to me that if we think the effects Covid-19 are having on us are bad, then how will we deal with the calamity that is facing us with the environment.

Pope Francis in his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si (Praised Be),  writes: “We know that approximately one-third of all food produced is discarded, and whatever food is thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor.” (50) Written clearly like that brings home the enormity of how wrongly we are behaving.

Pope Francis goes on to talk about the pollution caused by multinationals in the poorest areas of the world, behaving in a manner in which they would never in developed countries or in the so-called first world.

It’s as clear as day that the five wise bridesmaids took the sensible action in preparing for all eventualities. 

They had the wisdom not to concentrate exclusively on the here and now but plan for the future. 

There is a wonderful universal tone to tomorrow’s Gospel. Jesus is talking to us right now. But isn’t that the wonder of the Bible and all good literature, in that its wisdom never dates and it always has the power to inform and inspire us?  Add to that, the Christian belief, that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.

Anyone with an ounce of sense must now be aware that we have mistreated our planet and it is a matter of great urgency that we take the necessary steps to begin to do what we can to repair the damage that we have done.

In the first reading in tomorrow’s liturgy from the Book of Wisdom (6: 12 - 16)we are told: “Wisdom is bright and does not grow dim. “By those who love her she is readily seen and found by those who look for her.

I’m back thinking of Sibylle Berg’s novella and how she describes two young children who have the wit and insight, indeed, the wisdom, to see when things are going wrong but also to know what is right. Is it that adults become accustomed to what is happening  and simply go with the prevailing wind? When it comes to our environment and the damage that we are doing to it, we might pause and turn to younger people and pay more attention to them.

I strongly recommend Pope Francis’ encyclical letter. Encyclicals can be heavy reading but Laudato Si is like no other.