Thinking of Christian community seldom stays static

The Thinking Anew column in The Irish Times today.

Michael Commane

Happy New Year. We’re edging out of the Christmas season. Tuesday will see a glimmer of normality return and once Nollaig na mBan or Little Christmas, which is also the feast of the Epiphany is over, Christmas 2022 will have become history. A new year beckons. Shall we be people of hope? 

Tomorrow is the feast of Mary Mother of God. I think it is fair to say that most of us  have lost touch with the panoply that makes up the calendar or structure of the Christian faith. 

Was our faith in any better state 50, 60, a 100 years ago? I’m not sure it was and certainly I would not wish to return to a state of faith where there was little place for any sort of  independent thinking. 

Today many young people have lost touch with the structures that supported   Christian understanding of God. We are children of our times;  we are influenced by our peers and our surroundings. It is now beyond question that the established Christian churches in Ireland are not in the front rank of being relevant. 

What are the essentials of the Christian faith? Surely number one must be that Christians believe that the historical Jesus was both man and God. The Scriptures, the tradition down the generations, and the Christian community are more or less the building blocks of our faith. But in the 2,000 years since Jesus appeared as man in the world the thinking of the Christian community has seldom been static. 

There have been seismic disputes over many fundamental issues. There have been rows about almost all aspects of our faith, indeed, there have been wars about matters of faith.

 

If, as we believe, Jesus is God, it is natural for us to hold Mary the mother of God in a special place in the history of salvation. Instead of seeing Mary as some sort of other-worldly figure we have been given a wonderful description of a woman who had the ability to live in the now and appreciate the gift she had been given. In tomorrow’s Gospel (Luke 2: 16 - 21) St Luke tells us that Mary “treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart”.

It’s customary for us to make resolutions as we head into a new year. Isn’t this the perfect time for us to make it our business to treasure each other, irrespective of whether or not we like or dislike them, whether we agree or disagree with them. Isn’t it the perfect time to make a stand and make it our business to treasure the less fortunate and marginalised, the weak, those who have to flee their countries because of war, starvation and oppression. 

Surely it is the wish of the mother of God that women are treated with respect.

I am forever inspired by so many young people who are dedicated and enthused to do what is right, honourable and just. And those same people may never see inside a church door. Language, style, thought change constantly. Anything of significance is forever developing. Surely our understanding of our faith too is constantly growing and seeing the mystery of God in a new light. 

January 1 is the day we pray for peace in the world. Just as Mary “pondered” all that was happening her, we believe that God and the mother of God can be called on to help us in our search for peace, charity and justice. And we can do that in a vocabulary that makes sense to us. The Christian message offers us a wonderful adventure of discovery .

How can I be a person of hope in 2023? We look back in history. We may  look back in sorrow at some of the things that were done in the name of religion, but we can  look forward in hope and leave the baggage of the past behind us.

I’m reminded of the words of the poet and philosopher John O’Donoghue: Awaken your spirit to adventure;/ Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;/ Soon you will be home in a new rhythm/ For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

Gracious words from Kylian Mbappe

Fine words from a defeated Kylian Mbappé as reported in the Guardian. He comes across as a decent person.

The 24-year-old Mbappé earns €90.91 million annually. He has one World Cup medal and scored a hat trick in this year's final, which France lost.

“I talked with him after the match, I congratulated him,[Messi]” Mbappé added. “It was a life’s goal for him, for me as well, but I failed, so you must always remain a good sportsman. I don’t think [the defeat] will ever really be swallowed. But as I told my [PSG] coach and teammates, there’s no reason that my club pays the price for a failure with the national team. It was a complicated time … PSG isn’t responsible for our defeat. I tried to come back with the best energy possible, being as positive as possible.”

His he as good a footballer as Pele, who died yesterday?

Ireland adopts its own constitution

On this day, December 29, 1937 the Irish Free State was renamed Ireland and the State adopts a new constitution.

Archbishop Broglio gets it wrong on Marcial Maciel

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who is archbishop to the US military was elected last month as president of the US Episcopal Conference. 

Broglio worked as chief of cabinet for the late Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who was Vatican secretary of state, from 1990 to 2001. 

Sodano has been widely criticised for stalling investigations into prominent clerics found to be sexual abusers, such as the Fr Marcial Maciel, leader of the Legionaries of Christ.

“Hindsight is always 20/20,” Broglio said at a news conference after his election. “Many things that we’ve learned now perhaps certainly weren’t known then.”

He said that during his tenure, Maciel “had everyone fairly well buffaloed” because he was recruiting so many new priests.

In the mid 1970s it was clear to the writer of this blog, who was a post graduate student in Rome at the time, that there was something terribly wrong with Maciel and his organisation.

There were many people who were asking questions about the Legionaries of Christ for a long time.

It’s too clever by half to talk about hindsight being 20/20.

Maceil had not ‘everyone fairly well buffaloed’ as Broglio states.

Archbishop Broglio's comment is unfortunate.

It would be terrible if we were fooled in the two worlds

This week’s INM/Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column.

Michael Commane

It’s a year since Fr Ned Foley died. He died on December 18, 2021 at the noble age of 99. I’m sure I’ve mentioned him in this column on more than one occasion. He was a wonderful human being. 

He had great pair of hands. He made the fruit bowel on my kitchen table and explained to me the intricacies of the working of a domestic hot water system.

In one of our conversations before he died I asked him did he believe in God and the afterlife. He looked at me and said: ‘Yes, I do, but if there be no God Michael, we’ll never find out. Clever. I was reminded of his comment last week, when someone recalled how her aunt once turned to an elderly man, who was recognised as a holy person, and said to him ‘wouldn’t it be terrible if we were fooled in the two worlds’.

It’s a brilliant comment. It’s funny but it’s a lot more than funny, it’s sharp, cuttingly sharp, indeed, so sharp it immediately confronts one with the entire mystery of our lives and makes us ask the ultimate question, is there anything beyond the grave. I can still see the questioning face of Fr Foley when I asked him did he believe in God.

Another Dominican, John O’Gorman, who died far too young at 57 in 2003, also an extremely talented and gifted person, was a strong advocate in allowing men to retire from priesthood if they so wished. The rationale behind his thinking was that he knew priests who no longer believed in God and would have served the church far better by leaving ministry.

The God question is a big one and like all big questions it’s easy to shirk away from it.

The older I get the more intriguing I’m finding it all. When I hear people say they don’t believe in God an emotional sadness comes over me. And then when I hear people shout from the rooftops about the existence of God I’m inclined to slink away and say to myself surely God can’t be like that. When I hear people talk about religious obligations and commands I’m more than confused.

But something I cannot at all take is when people say to me that because I am a priest I must know more about heavenly matters and God. That is bunkum. For example I know that my parents were far holier and better than I could ever be.

I’d love if there were some space, some possibility where there could be a genuine and open dialogue or conversation about what it means to believe in God. How do I see God? Is it possible for me to paint a picture of God in a different way than my antecedents?

I’m thinking of Patrick Pearse’s line, The beauty of the world hath made me sad…

The mystery and beauty of God is beyond my comprehension. But when I meet good and honest people I think I’m reminded of God. My parents remind me of God.

What about making a new year’s resolution to ask some serious, outside the box questions about God and our relationship with God.

Happy New Year.

‘We have a new Hitler in Russia’: Maria Alyokhina

This from the Guardian.

Pussy Riot are the bravest of women.

Over 10 years ago the band told the world that Putin was another Hitler and the world didn’t listen

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/11/pussy-riot-maria-alyokhina-putin-crimes-hitler-years-of-resistance?CMP=share_btn_link

Pussy Riot tell it as it is this Christmas Day

This is a powerful reminder of the violent and corrupt behaviour of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The writer of this blog spotted Pussy Riot early in their anti-Putin, anti-Patriarch singing career, indeed impressed with them when they ‘misbehaved’ in a Russian church many years ago.

The link below is explicit but powerful and  effective.

What must it be like for the people of Ukraine on this Christmas Day? What must it be like for the young Russian soldiers being used as cannon fodder, being maimed and losing their lives for the imperialist madness of Vladimir Putin?

https://youtu.be/W4IsdnlbOr8

A happy and blessed Christmas to all readers of this blog. 

For a New Beginning by John O'Donoghue

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

Putin’s missiles versus Zelensky’s words

From yesterday’s Guardian.

A good read.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/22/sixty-years-cuban-missile-crisis-us-putin-ukraine?CMP=share_btn_link 

And below is the link to Zelensky’s address to US Congress on Wednesday.

https://youtu.be/f-mwCoEdfSg

The two tribes through the eyes of Sean O'Rourke

The first of Sean O’Rourke’s two part documentary, 'The Two Tribes' on the paths taken by Fianna Fáil and  Fine Gael was aired on RTÉ One Television last evening.

The difference between the two parties explained by a member of one of the parties: “When we are in they are out”.

Someone else said the difference between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael was that the Fine Gael fellas don’t roar.

Éamon de Valera said that if The Irish Press disappeared the Fianna Fáil Party would disappear shortly afterwards.

"Even if you didn’t admire him you were mesmerised by him.” - Justine McCarthy on Charles Haughey.

Garret FitzGerald went out to see ailing Charles Haughey before he died. A nice touch.

Putin admits complications and difficulties

This from Monday’s Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/20/putin-admits-to-complicated-situation-in-russian-occupied-ukraine?CMP=share_btn_link

Dangerous Dublin on Saturday

 Anyone who visited Dublin City on Saturday will have noticed the volume of people between the two canals.

It was positively dangerous at the Luas south bound stop on St Stephen's Green and the trams travelling bumper-to-bumper were dangerously full. Surely health and safety regulations were not being adhered to.

The slightest mishap, someone getting sick, someone tripping and falling could have had terrible knock-on results.

Again, at the junction of George's Street and Dame Street alarm bells must be ringing for city officials. If not, they should be.

Dublin Bus was stretched to capacity on a number of routes. Some routes with a frequency of 10-minute intervals were managing two buses per hour.

People were left standing at bus stops as buses passed full to capacity.

Dublin City was badly managed on Saturday.

The year of the three UK PMs - one worse than the other

Looking at how the Tories behave in parliament through the eyes of the Guardian. And Boris Johnson proves an extra treat. If it weren't so pathetic it would be hilarious.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/15/boris-johnson-chicken-feed-tories-nurses-strike?CMP=share_btn_link

'My wife is an NHS nurse and a trade unionist'

The link below is a response by Mick Lynch to the interview he did with the BBC on Tuesday morning. It would be difficult to disagree with what he says or attempt to put up a counter argument.

It has been shocking the insults and names that the right wing media has thrown at Mick Lynch.

It would seem they know he is a competent communicator. He is also speaking truth to power and does not intend to be bullied by the Tory party or their friends in the media. It's difficult to know exactly where the Labour Party stands in the current strikes across the UK.  

https://youtu.be/YxXInFyUZiQ

Scholz says Russian invasion a strategic disaster for Putin

From yesterday's edition of The Irish Times.

So far the Germans have refrained from giving the Ukrainians their Leopard tank.

The United States is hinting that they may give more support to Ukraine to protect their skies. The argument goes that if the Russians are using Iranian drones to attack Ukraine then the US can supply Kyiv with Patriot missiles to shoot them down.

DEREK SCALLY

Berlin Chancellor Olaf Scholz has described Russia’s war in Ukraine as a costly strategic failure for President Vladimir Putin, driven by his “mania for power”.

Ahead of a European Council meeting in Brussels, Mr Scholz told the Bundestag in Berlin that the “real story” of 2022 was not the Russian invasion of its neighbour – but just how far it has gone wrong.

“Putin was wrong: about the courage of the Ukrainians, about Europe, about us and the nature of our democracies,” he said, adding that Moscow had not achieved “a single goal” of its war.

The German leader said that Moscow’s imperial ambitions had also underestimated European solidarity with Ukraine, in particular its ability to source, at short notice, alternatives to Russian energy.

In a nod to Hungary, which this week dropped objections to aid for Kyiv, Mr Scholz added that efforts to “undermine the values of the EU to which every member state has committed itself, by blocking its foreign and security policies, will fail”.

Underlying Russia’s miscalculation was the assumption that Ukraine, facing a much larger military force, would capitulate after a short time.

‘Frank conversation’

Ukraine’s ex-ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk claimed this view was shared by several leading German politicians, including finance minister Christian Lindner.The ambassador said that, in a conversation on February 24th, Mr Lindner told him: “You’ve only got a few hours.” A spokesman for the finance minister has disputed this, but conceded it was an “open, frank” conversation. After a year in office, Mr Scholz said the war had catalysed overdue reforms in Germany, boosting its military spending and energy diversity. On Saturday, the first ship carrying liquid natural gas (LNG) will dock at a new floating terminal, constructed in the German port of Wilhelmshaven in six months.

With ongoing talks at EU level about a common gas price cap, Mr Scholz said he was optimistic at reaching a “pragmatic” understanding.

However, he restated German wariness not to “intervene in prices in such a way that too little gas is then delivered to Europe”.

Yesterday Germany’s federal economics minister Robert Habeck said agreement was still elusive on an EU-wide gas price cap.

A lively Bundestag debate yesterday focused on Germany’s military deliveries to Ukraine, including armed personnel carriers, rocket launchers, an air-defence system as well as arms. So far Berlin has declined to supply battle tanks, saying no Nato partners have done so, either.

Opposition leader Friedrich Merz, chairman of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) said German hesitancy on weapons deliveries was prolonging the war.

“The more we help, the faster this war will be over,” said Mr Merz. Turning to Mr Scholz, he said it was “mainly up to you personally that Ukraine doesn’t get this aid”.

Russia reminds us what the Germans did at Drobytsky Yar

While the war in Ukraine may no longer be the lead story in the media, the people of the stricken country continue to experience the cruelest of atrocities. There are no words imaginable to describe their suffering. 

It's cold these days in Ireland. What must it be like in Ukraine, where people are without water, electricity, heating, food and shelter?

On this day in 1941 German troops Murdered over 15,000 Jews at Drobytsky Yar, south east of Kharkiv.

In December 1941, German, troops on their march across the then Soviet Union began killing local residents over the following year. Approximately 16,000 people, the majority being Jews, were killed. 

On15 December 1941, when the temperature was minus 15C, approximately 15,000 Jews were shot. Children were thrown into pits alive, to save bullets, in the expectation that they would quickly freeze to death.

It's significant and worth noting that the site's menorah monument was smashed by Russian forces on March 26, 2022.

Why on God's name have the people of Ukraine to suffer so much at the hands of the Germans and now under the brutality and violence of the Russians.

Can no power, no State, no organisation stop this badness?

Lynch accuses BBC of 'parroting' right-wing propaganda

RMT boss Mick Lynch was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 close to 8am yesterday morning. 

Whatever one may think of the current UK rail strike this interview made for riveting radio.

Below are two links to the interview.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/13/mick-lynch-accuses-bbc-parroting-rightwing-propaganda?CMP=share_btn_link

Mick Lynch: RMT leader hits out at BBC train strikes coverage

Chaplains play an important role in hospitals

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

 

Michael Commane

Up to 20 or 30 years ago it was generally accepted that a hospital chaplain was an ordained minister.

That has all changed. Today one does not have to be a priest to be a chaplain.

I’ve been a hospital chaplain for six years. I have often referred to my work in this column. 

It’s been a life-enhancing experience, a privilege to sit with patients and listen to their stories. You might ask what does a hospital chaplain do, I can only answer that question by explaining what I do. I wasn’t in the job long when I came up with the idea of doing a morning paper round. It was a great way to introduce myself to patients. Indeed a patient’s choice of a particular newspaper could well lead to a conversation on politics, sport, anything. It could be a moment for a laugh. 

And on the rare occasion when they might tell me that they read my column, then of course the whole ball game changes and I tell them that I now have proof that I have at least one fan. That might sound silly or supercilious but the job is all about engaging with patients and we all have our own unique ways in how we engage with other people. 

I can imagine patients enjoy or like being distracted from their worries and concerns. To lighten their load I see as part of my job. To engage people in chit chat is usually, whether in hospital or not, an enjoyable and fun moment.

Earlier this month I attended a conference at UCD. The title of the day was ‘International Symposium on Spiritual Care in Nursing’. It was hosted by UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems. There were speakers from Italy, Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland.

I came away from the day with a realisation that there is a spiritual dimension to every human being. But then the question is what does spirituality mean?

There is a distinction between spirituality and religiosity. Spirituality recognises that there is more to us than the corporeal and material side of our being. It’s seldom I’ve met a patient who does not accept that there is more to them than riches, status and all those worldly things about which we spend so much time worrying.

During the day someone noted that there are at least 25 different religions in Ireland and that we are not prepared for this new reality.

The conference made me more aware of the innate spirituality of the person, and that no one religion has exclusive rights on the spiritual.

Every time I chat with anyone, whether a patient or a member of staff in the hospital surely we are engaging with each other as spiritual beings. It so happens I’m a Catholic priest, which allows me to administer the Sacraments of my church. I seldom if ever ask a patient what religion they are. And I like it that way.

The conference gave me new ideas for my work and I came away with a realisation of the importance of hospital chaplaincy.

I was surprised that there was only one ordained minister at the conference. A pity.

Praise can drive us on to do even better

This week's INM/Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

Anywhere there are people there will of course be disagreements, moments of annoyance and it’s usually the case that there will be some people who get on our nerves.

I am forever mesmerised how at all the world holds together. When you think of it, all eight billion of us are unique, no two people are the same or identical. At least that’s how it is now. 

With scientific develop of Artificial Intelligence we have no idea what lies ahead. 

I may have shuffled off this mortal coil just in time to have missed the ramifications of AI. Who knows?

There’s no perfect society, no perfect family, no perfect workplace. And we all know too well no matter what impressions we try to give of the perfect group, it simply doesn’t exist.

Last week someone annoyed me at work. It wouldn’t be the first time the person irritated me. I felt put down. 

Later that day sitting down having a coffee with a member of staff I told her about how I had been annoyed, adding that I’m not impressed with the person’s attitude. 

My colleague looked at me, smiled. I might even have detected a note of empathy. 

There was silence for a few microseconds before she launched out. She told me the previous weekend she had been down home and was chatting with her sister-in-law and that my name came up. Of course by this stage I was hanging on to every word she was saying. It transpires that her sister-in-law reads this column every week. Not only does she read it but she thoroughly enjoys reading it and it is one of the first things she reads in the paper. I was chuffed. Younger readers will not be aware of what we were told in school - self praise is no praise. Too many teachers did everything conceivable to put us down. 

Honestly, I was delighted to hear that my colleague’s sister-in-law enjoys my column. Isn’t only normal and natural that I should be delighted to hear such news?

I had forgotten all about my earlier annoyance and I said that to my colleague. The wise woman she is, looked at me in a philosophical mode and said isn’t all that part of the jigsaw of our lives. ‘We never know what's around the corner we never know where one situation or one word might lead us. It’s the positive words and deeds that we should hang on to,’ she said.

That makes great sense. It’s so easy to go about moaning and groaning and giving out about this person and that situation. 

And I know that, as I can easily behave in such a manner. But what keeps impressing me is the importance and value of the positive word. When people tell us we do a good job, when we are praised for our accomplishments it simply drives us on to do better. It’s the old adage, success breeds success.

Far too often far too many people are lost, never reach their potential because nobody has whispered into their ear how great they are.

It’s exciting to reach for the stars and no one should ever get in our way. No one.

The importance of Dónal de Róiste’s story

 Justine McCarthy has an interesting piece on Dónal de Róiste in The Irish Times on Saturday. It’s about how he was fired from the Defence Forces.

Close to the end of the article she quotes from a fellow officer of Dónals at the time, Paddy Walsh and this paragraph is revealing:

‘Donal was a passenger in a car driven by a drunken officer the previous October that hit and seriously injured a young female teacher,”he says.

“There was a Garda investigation and Dónal was going to testify that he had to take the car keys to stop him driving but the investigation mysteriously stopped.

I believe that’s why it happened. Somebody needed Dónal to be silenced.”

It happened five decades ago. Unfortunately these things happen today too and no doubt the army is no exception. 

That’s why it’s so important that people make it their business to speak out, tell the world, speak truth to power. 

No organisation should be allowed behave in such a manner.

It’s so easy to apologise for historical wrong doings. The challenge is never to tolerate wrong doing, never cover up, never attempt to protect culprits, even your colleagues. Never.

The striking Irish union bosses

 It's said that Kingsbridge  Station was built close to the Phoenix Park and the nearby British Army barracks so that the British could move its troops and soldiers quickly and easily out of Dublin to places where trouble may arise. It was the job of the British Army to keep the Irish down, to subjugate them at all times and at all costs.

Anyone who is following English labour relations these days must see great irony in the fact that it's an Irish man who is bringing the railways  to a stand still. The general secretary of the RMT is Mick Lynch, born in London to Cork parents.

And while the trains are marshalled in their depots and stations the nurses will stage a major strike.

Head of the Royal College of Nurses is Tyrone woman Pat Cullen. This coming Thursday she will lead over 270,000 nurses in the largest strike in the UK's National Health Service's history - the first time nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have gone on strike together.

Putin suggests possibility of settlement

An Interesting article in yesterday's Guardian. Putin suggests possibility of settlement to end war in Ukraine https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/09/putin-shelling-ukraine-power-grid-russia-president-strikes-energy-infrastructure?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

British prime minister wants to curb strikes

While 7.5 million people in the UK are on hospital waiting lists the British prime minister is intent in curtailing the rights of working people to strike.

A tired, out of touch Tory government and their right-wing press barons  are  on a daily basis implying that strikers are the enemy of the people.

Teachers, lecturers, nurses, ambulane staff, railway employees are just a few who are on strike or planning to strike.

GMT boss Mick Lynch was on BBC Radio 4 news on Tuesday. He gently and politely corrected an eror the interviewer made. Not s hint of apology from the interviewer. Interesting.

If workers feel they get a fair deal they don’t strike.

Rishi Sunak should realise how best to stop strikes.

The day the Flag of Europe came into being

On this day, December 8, 1955 the Flag of Europe was adopted by the Council of Europe.

Was it a coincidence that it was on the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Mother of God that the flag came into being?

Conference stresses need of spirituality in hospital care

There was a conference yesterday in UCD titled Spiritual Care Nursing Education to Embrace New Challenges in a Moving World.

The day-long conference heard from academics and practioners the need for spiritual care for the sick.

Professor John Wells noted how large scale pandemics are civilisation changing events. He said 2022 is a watershed year.

He pointed out how the Spanish flu, which took the lives of 120 million people in three years, caused a seismic change in world events.

At present there are 82 million refugees worldwide.

Wells said on current trends in 340 years there will be no mammals left and in 500 years all other life will be extinct.

It was interesting that there was only one Catholic priest present at a conference on hospital chaplaincy and spirituality.

Is it time to stop the lights this Christmas?

This week’s INM/Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column.

Michael Commane

The killings and bombings in Ukraine are unspeakable crimes and it is becoming more and more difficult to look on as a bystander and see what is happening. Just some few days ago a film crew visited a Ukrainian field hospital. They spoke with a surgeon who told them that every metre of soil retaken by the Ukrainian army was costing an untold number of lives and unspeakable injuries to others.

And then the lives that are being lost every day, the infrastructure that is being ripped asunder, no water, no gas or electricity. It is unbearable and unimaginable. 

We in Ireland are doing our fair share and have certainly stepped up to the plate receiving Ukrainians fleeing the mayhem. Cycling from Dublin’s Jervis Street, across the Liffey and over to Georges Street on Saturday evening I got a glimpse of the city’s Christmas decorations. I noticed the Millennium bridge is all lit up in multi colour lighting. And just as I crossed the bridge, and of course it is a pedestrian bridge on which bicycles should be wheeled, I did ask myself do we really need all these lights this Christmas. 

I can hear people call me Scrooge. And that’s okay too but I’m having serious thoughts about all our Christmas lights this year. 

When Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU imposed its sanctions on Russia and subsequently Russia turned off its gas to Europe we were all wondering how might we get through this winter. 

Every household in the country has been given €200 to help defray the electricity costs, with another €400 landing in our accounts in the new year. Christmas arrives and it seems we have forgotten all about the seriousness of our gas and electricity supplies. But there is another aspect to it too. 

Is there something unwholesome about us lighting up our bridges, our buildings, every empty space with Christmas lights while an evil darkness descends across Ukraine? 

I have to say I think it looks all wrong. Have you seen the satellite images of a blacked-out Ukraine? Since the beginning of the World Cup there has been much talk about how appropriate it is to host the games in Qatar. 

Brendan O’Connor in his column in the Sunday Independent praised Roy Keane for saying the World Cup should not have been held in Qatar but in the next breath O’Connor points out ever so nicely that Keane is working as a pundit on the games for ITV. 

Should the captains have worn the LGBT arm bands? What’s the value or purpose in half-hearted protests? 

Certainly the captain of the Iranian team was a brave man to condemn the behaviour of his government, as was the team in not singing the national anthem. In cutting back on our Christmas lights we would be reminded that there is something not right in Ukraine. 

We might think again of the unimaginable suffering the people are having to endure. It also means we are using less electricity, most of which is gas generated. 

They keep telling us that it is in short supply and we are frivolously burning it away as if there were no tomorrow. I don’t get it. What about churches having no lights on Christmas trees this year?

Far more attention needs to be given to apprenticeships

Sixty two per cent of Irish people aged between 30 and 34 have a third level qualification, which is the highest percentage in Europe.

But what’s happened our trades and apprenticeships? Or is the above figure including apprenticeships in third level qualifications?

Continental Europe has always put great importance into its apprenticeship programmes.

Unfortunately, in Ireland working in an office has always been seen a step up on being an electrician, a mechanic or fitter/turner.

But fortunately, that does seem to be changing now.

3,000 kilometres in 11 days on a ship’s rudder

Three Nigerians travelled 3,000 kilometres from Lagos to the Canary Islands stowed away on a ship’s rudder.

Extraordinary. What must have been the quality of their lives to undertake such a hazardous journey?

Will they be sent back to Nigeria?

Advent - a time for openness and courage

The Thinking Anew column in The Irish Times today.

Michael Commane

Homonyms, especially for those whose English is not their first language – words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings –  can cause confusion, embarrassment or even laughter.

Tomorrow’s Gospel (Matthew 3: 1 - 12) talks about how the Old Testament prophet Isaiah describes John the Baptist as ‘a voice crying in the wilderness:/Prepare a way for the Lord,/ make his paths straight.’

John the Baptist too is a prophet. What do we mean by a prophet? Has the word any links with profit? I doubt it, indeed, the two words are in many ways diametrically opposed to each other. Or are they?

 

When I think of prophet I think of a wise person, one with  the ability to read the signs of the times and apply their knowledge to the situation in which they are living so that we are all enhanced by their insights. No doubt those who make profit can also be wise people who are agile in making money. Back to the Biblical characters, Isaiah and John the Baptist. They speak  about a wisdom that they believe is linked to God. In the first reading (Isaiah 11: 1 - 10) Isaiah writes that the Lord does not judge by appearances, ‘… he gives no verdict on hearsay,/ but judges the wretched with integrity,/ and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land.’

Elsewhere in the passage we are told that, ‘on him the Spirit of the Lord rests’. These are ideals to which we aspire.

It’s so easy to write these words but living them is an altogether different matter.

 

Is it that some people are simply born good and subsequently live out good and honourable lives?

How much does our environment influence how we behave? Do we all fall victim to the culture in which we find ourselves?

 

It’s highly unlikely that every Russian, who supports Vladimir Putin is an evil person. Are they simply  misguided? Have they fallen victim to propaganda. Have I fallen victim to propaganda? The perennial question –  what is truth?

I’m a Catholic. Can I be an a la carte Catholic, picking the aspects which I choose to believe? These are serious questions. I’m suspicious and highly critical of any organisation that sounds imperious and speaks with assumed authority. I’m nervous of people who are obsessed with secrecy and constantly believe they know best.

 

I saw two great examples of that last week. Miriam O’Callaghan on RTÉ’s Prime Time interviewed Masoud Eslami, the Iranian ambassador to Ireland, and that same evening  Victoria Derbyshire interviewed the Russian ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, on BBC’s Newsnight. I thought both men exhibited breath-taking arrogance and refused even to consider what they were being asked. Or was that because I have a different opinion than they?

Was it that the party line had to be adhered to under all circumstances? Though it was startling to hear the Russian ambassador not call it ‘A Special Military Operation’ but rather a war. That might not help his career.

And is that not the rub? How many leaders, people in positions of authority simply mouth the party line and the last thing on their minds are integrity and all those sentiments expressed by Isaiah? It’s refreshing to hear the person who bucks the trend.

The Iranian women demonstrating across the Islamic Republic of Iran certainly are staking their lives on their beliefs. Prophetic?

It’s difficult to strike a balance between the free flow of ideas and keeping the ship on course so that it can seek out the truth, support the weak and allow for openness. A safe pair of hands might well be the last thing any organisation needs. 

Isaiah and John the Baptist were not safe pairs of hands.

No, it’s not hopeless. John the Baptist tells us that the one who follows him will baptise us with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Advent is an opportune time to do some serious – outside the box – thinking about what we believe and then acting out our convictions.

The Germans pack their bags and fly back to Frankfurt

It was a sad night for German football. The German team fly back to Frankfurt-am-Main today.

They beat Costa Rica 4 - 2. The Japanese goal should not have been allowed.

Thomas Müller announced last night his retirement from the national team and thanked his fans for the good days, and there were many of them.

The old saying: if all the ifs and buts made pots and pans there'd be no need for tinkers.

German manager Hansi Flick gave a measured post- game interview. He denied the team lacked passion, yes they made mistakes, were unlucky too.

Flick plans to stay on as manager and publicly admitted that he loves the job, enjoys it too.

That’s life.

French and UK tunnellers meet and Ukraine says bye bye

On this day, December 1, 1990 French and British tunnellers met under the sea. The breakthrough in the railway line between London and Paris.

And then the following year, again December 1, this time 1991 Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum for independence from the Soviet Union.

Just 32 years ago and the world was such a different place.