Freesheet 'Alive!' pickings

A headline in the June issue of the freesheet 'Alive!' runs:

"More UK teenagers have a smartphone than a father"

Does that mean there are no smart phones in the UK?

Another headline goes:

"No peace in society without faith in God"

A work colleague, who saw this headline and who does not believe in God, was greatly offended.

And then there is the picture on the front page, which is referred to in a comment on this blog and has received national news. It is alledged the picture was used without permission of the artist.

In the same issue soothing words for the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government. At the same time the Guardian newspaper gets a lashing as does President Obama.

Then there are stories about Sharing Joy and Opening ourselves to mercy.

P45s for members of episcopal conference

Today's Irish Examiner carries a page-long open letter to Pope Francis by Ballyfermot priest Joe McDonald.

In the letter he talks about issuing P45s to members of the episcopal conference. But no mention of P45s for provincials. Why?

See http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/analysis/help-us-holy-father-the-church-is-dying-336226.html

Is the cat out of the bag?

Priestly celibacy

It seems more and more bishops are now asking for conversation about priestly celibacy.

Is that now the 'expedient' thing to do?

Has it all to do with power, control and fashion?

It's a 'funny old world' and a 'funnier old church'.

What bishops were asking for such discussion when  John Paul II and Benedict were popes?

Is everything always a question of following the leader in charge on the day?

New Berlin archbishop

Heiner Koch, current bishop in Dresden-Meissen has been appointed Archbishop of Berlin.

Koch was born in Düsseldorf in 1954, studied theology at Bonn and was ordained a priest for the diocese of Cologne in 1980.

He was appointed an auxiliary bishop in Cologne in 2006 and moved to Dresden in 2013.

A sober reminder

The Berlin Senate some years ago began a project marking the pavements outside the doors of people, mainly Jews, who were taken from their homes by the Nazis and deported to the camps.

That project has now been extended to other cities, including Frankfurt-an-der Oder.

Below is a picture of the plates outside a door in the German border city.

The men who dragged these people out of their homes were 'ordinary' people. They did what they were told. And so many of the upper echelons were 'respectable' people.

Mercedes Benz supplied Hitler with a customised vehicle. IG Farben supplied the gas to the camps. After the war IG Farben was divided up into new companies, including BASF and Hoechst.

On the other hand it s now well established that many of those who joined the Nazi party were deviants and miscreants. 

Being careful funny too

Certainy a funny headline in the Guardian.

Bee forces Flybe BE384 to turn back

Keane on Delaney

Assistant manager of the Irish soccer team, Roy Keane was asked on Friday if Mr Delaney's revelation about the 'hush hush' money that the FAI received was a distraction? Keane laughed: "Isn't he always?" he said.

Being blessed

Below an extract from Psalm 67. Imagine if we relaxed in the graciousness of God.

O God, be gracious and bless us *
and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth *
and all nations learn your saving help.

Sachsenhausen and evil

Sachsenhausen concentration camp north of Berlin, is a site of evil, a place where one sees and touches evil.

Here too was a brothel.

And so many of the perpetrators got away with it.

In the current issue of Spirituality there is an article written by a former Dominican priest, who was physically and sexually abused by a priest.

The abuser priest is three years dead.

In 1977 he verbally abused me. And from then until his death it was as clear as day he hated me.

Years later at a provincial meeting he sneered at me and attempted to humiliate me.

We lived in the same community from 1989 until approximately 2010.

I was removed from the community on the grounds that I was not a 'good influence' on the young men studying for priesthood. The man who physically, sexually and verbally abused, lived in the same building. Indeed, he lived there as a privileged person until his death as an old man.

That removal  is a badge of honour to me, especially sitting here  in Sachsenhausen. But it was a savage attack on my good name.

I write these words at the end of a two-hour visit to Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

I can feel and smell the evil of this place.

And we can all do this.

The public knows the tricks

“How to please the public - that's the test.

But nowadays I find I'm in a fix; 

I know they're not accustomed to the best

But they've all read so much they know the tricks.
How can we give then something fresh and new
That's serious, but entertaining too."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

God and the universe

Schilller keeping an eye on Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt on a sun-drenched day in June.

"The universe is one of God's thoughts." - Schiller.

The Bike2Work scheme

This week's INM regional column.

Michael Commane

Will the following two scenarios make you reconsider your way of thinking about things?

Take a husband and wife team with two young school-going children. They are both unemployed so they have to watch every cent they have.

They have no marketable qualifications. They live from day-to day, never with any spare cash for a rainy day. 

Suddenly something happens and they urgently need to find €1,000 somewhere. They have no option but to go to a loan shark. They manage to borrow the money but it’s at a price. They will have to repay the money at exorbitant interest rates.

Now take another couple, again with two young school-going children. But in the case of this couple both parents have jobs and they are not short a few bob. They are both paying the top rate of tax, which is 41 per cent. They decide they are going to start cycling to work so they avail of the Bike2Work Scheme.

They both work for the same company. They buy two new bicycles priced at €500 per bike. Their employer makes out two checks to the bicycle shop for €500 each and now they both have new bicycles. 

But because they are paying 41 per cent tax they will pay less than €590 for the bikes as PRSI and USC is also taken into account. The employer then deducts a sum every month from their salaries until they have paid for the bikes. 

It’s not just a free loan for €1,000, it’s a subsidised loan. 

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a great scheme. It was introduced by the Green Party when they were in coalition with Fianna Fáil. It has brought thousands of extra bicycles out on to the roads. People are exercising. It’s great. I have availed of the scheme. It was and is a brilliant idea.

It’s just another example of the divide there is between those who have money and those who don’t.

Yes, people constantly berate the poor and less privileged, call them names, say they are lazy and are simply shy of work. Only in the last fortnight I heard a woman, indeed a knowledgeable woman, say that poor people can ‘earn’ more on the dole than at work.

There are no standard answers. There are no simple solutions to getting people out of poverty but that does not mean that we dare stop trying.

In the last few weeks there has been a lot of talk about equality. It’s something towards which we strive. But sometimes I’m inclined to think that when it comes to the social divide, both locally and indeed globally, equality doesn’t seem to appear on our radar.

I put up my hands straight away and say I have no answers. But still, I think it’s at our peril we lose our sensitivity for those who are weak and marginalised.

Imagine the outcry there would be if the Government announced they were going to give subsidised loans to the unemployed to buy bicycles.

Imagine if we all decided it makes no sense that one in seven of the world’s population have not enough food to eat.

There was a line in last Wednesday’s Gospel reading at Mass that went: “… whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant ...”

Or the lines on the plinth of the Jim Larkin statue in Dublin’s O’Connell Street:

“The great appear great because we are on our knees, let us rise.”

A fairer and more just society, where everyone is respected and cherished. We can never take our eye off the ball.

Air-brushing images

Spiegel Online today shows how Russian authorities falsified satellite images so as to blame Ukraine for the shooting down of MH17 as it flew over the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine last year.

Christoph Mueller CEO of Malaysia Airlines and former top man at Aer Lingus plans to cut 6,000 jobs at the airline. Announcing a restructuring programme today, he said, the airline is "technically bankrupt". 

May hailstones

Tess taking a break while walking around the reservoir at Bohernabreena.

Far less strenuous than the usual weekend walk but this time, on the last day of May, there was rain, wind, cold and hailstones.

€1.2bn for Irish farmers

There has been an amount of publicity on making public the sums of money Irish farmers received in 2014 under the EU Common Agricultrual Policy (Cap).

Irish farmers received €1.2 billion last year.

France got the largest Cap amount in 2014, receiving more than €9 billion. Ireland was the 11th largest beneficiary.

The Cap was introduced after World War ll to guarantee food security. But its aims have broadened over the years.

That apostrophe

What makes people do it?

Pizza shop in Rathgar.

Wisdom from elderly men

Comments from two wise elderly men.

1. "I would really like to do a study on the link between the libido and our journey in spiritual growth."

2. " When I was a young man the bishops in the Irish Catholic Church had far too much power and       we paid too much attention to them. Today it seems the media is playing the role of those bishops."

Tess catches the sun

Not much sun about today but in those few moments when the sun did shine, Tess, as opportunistic as ever, managed to catch it.

But as soon as she was spotted she returned to her modest position.

Before she's spotted.

After she saw the camera

RTE's Bill O'Herlihy's Dominican connections

Much acclaimed RTE journalist Bill O'Herlihy will be buried today after Requiem Mass in Foxrock.

Bill had Dominican connections. His brother Jack joined the order and was ordained a priest in the early 1960s. After ordination he studied in the United States. Shortly after returning to Ireland he left the Dominicans and resigned from priesthood. He went on to work at the then Letterkenny RTC.

Bill's first cousin, Paul Patrick O'Leary, also joined the Dominicans. He was ordained a priest in 1968.

Paul was the kindest of men and a great teacher. He always looked out for those who were in difficulty or marginalised.

He died in 2005, aged 67.

His doctoral studies included some work on a Russian theologian. On one occasion he received a phone call from the Soviet Embassay on Orwell Road. The Soviet Ambassador had requested his presence at a luncheon to recognise his work on the Russian theologian.

A car from the embassy arrived at the priory in Tallaght to collect Paul. En route to the embassy the 'chauffeur' turned to Paul and explained to him it was April1.

Fellow Dominicans in Tallaght organised the prank.

Paul took it in his stride. 

dublinbikes

Why does the gear control on the bicycles opearted by dublinbikes work in reverse to the gear control on all conventional bicycles?

It seems the operator is grossing over €1.45 million annually.

Sale of Aer Lingus

What happens if the United Kingdom leaves the EU? IAG will no longer be within the EU. Where does that place Aer Lingus?

It would seem that selling the company for €1.3 billion is a bargain deal for IAG. Aer Lingus has 50 aircraft, an extensive property portfolio, cash reserves of €1bn. Then the famous Heathrow slots. Alone, the Aer Lingus brand is worth a small fortune.

There's seems something terribly wrong about this deal.

Willie Walsh does not see result defeat for humanity

The piece below is from the online version of today's Irish Independent.

The bishop emeritus of Killaloe said he could not support comments by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who yesterday said the same-sex marriage referendum was not only "a defeat for Christian principles, but also a defeat for humanity."

“I was quite uncomfortable with that statement. I mean there has been lots of disasters in the world but I certainly would not support the belief that the referendum was among them.”

“To suggest that over a million people who went to the polls and voted yes were so false in their judgment that it was a disaster for humanity is not something I can accept,” he said.

Speaking on RTE Radio, the retired bishop said he “seriously doubted” that the sentiments expressed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin was shared by Pope Francis.

“It is an inappropriate statement… [and] not one I think that represents the mind of Pope Francis despite it coming from a very senior Church figure.”

“It is a very heavy judgement on the whole issue.”

Asked if he had supported the referendum, Bishop Walsh declined to answer but did say that "one could hardly look at the celebrations and say it didn’t increase the sum of human happiness [in Ireland]."

Kindness at the Mater

Below is this week's INM Irish regional newspaper column

Michael Commane
On Thursday I went to visit a school friend, who is in hospital. He’s a patient in the Mater Public Hospital in Dublin.

It’s some time since I had been in the hospital so I took a bus to Dorset Street and walked up Eccles Street, passing the Mater Private Hospital and walked up the short entrance to the public hospital.

To my surprise there was no reception desk, at least I didn’t see one.

I was getting a little irritated. It’s a busy hospital with plenty of people coming and going. I saw a woman carrying a large bundle of files. I stopped her and asked her where the reception was. 

At times, even unbeknownst to myself I may sound a little harsh or abrasive. Once I asked the women, she then asked me where I wanted to go in the hospital. I told her I was visiting a patient. She politely brought me to a small office, turned on a computer, keyed in her password, asked me the name of the patient and gave me the information for which I was looking. And she did all that in the friendliest and politest manner. She then explained to me that the main reception area had moved to the new building on North Circular Road.

I was greatly taken with her kindness. She was a busy woman, carrying files. She could so easily have been as snooty as I was but instead she was friendly and kind.

That was not my only experience of kindness on my visit. Later I was looking for a toilet. Again I asked a member of staff and she duly directed me to the said place. I noticed there was no sign on the door designating it as a toilet. So when I was finished I went back to the lady and explained that it would be difficult to know that it was a toilet. Later passing the door I spotted a toilet sign had been placed on the door. On the hospital ward a nurse was extremely kind to me.

Impressive  experiences.

I’ve been thinking about the experiences. What it means when people are pleasant and friendly to us. It changes our whole attitude. At least it does mine. Indeed, I might well be a very subjective person but I have a sneaky suspicion we all are. Surely we are all influenced by how people treat us. If people are nice to us we will respond accordingly.

I have been telling people about my experience in the Mater and certainly I have a different attitude towards it now than I had before my visit on Thursday. And my God, does the opposite hold true too. When people are nasty and abusive to us it’s most likely we respond accordingly.i

The world needs a little bit more kindness.

It is estimated that worldwide there are about 600,000 violent deaths annually and 340,000 of these are thought to be at the end of a gun. It is estimated there are over one billion guns in the world and 12 billion bullets are produced every year.

Give me kindness over guns any day.

It turns out that the main reception for the Mater Public Hospital is now in the Whitty Building on North Circular Road. The new building is called after Mercy Sister, Mother Mary Vincent Whitty (1819 – 1892) and was opened in June 2012. Mother Mary Vincent worked with Catherine McAuley in Baggot Street and was later involved in the planning of the Mater Hospital. The new building is an expansive clean-cut and most attractive structure.

'When push comes to shove' wise to abandon the cliché

This week's Sunday Independent carries an interesting piece on buzzwords and clichés in the English language.

The writer of the article, Dr Declan Collinge, lists 25 words or phrases.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin described their divorce as uncoupling.

Collinge explains how whistleblower became fashionable.

"The American activist, Ralph Nader, reputedly coined the epithet whistleblower in the 1970s as a substitute for informer/snitch. Since this term carried a pejorative association before that time, it is surley as politically as correct to use the term informant."

But does Collinge not get it wrong? At least in this part of the world informant also has a pejorative sense to it?

Pentecost and silence

Yesterday Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said that the Irish Cathoic Church needs to do a reality check.

The Irish Catholic Church has been in need of a reality check for a long time.

Today the feast of Pentecost, what is the church saying about the influence Jesus had on his disciples when he spoke to them? They had cowered away in fear behind closed doors. And then the change.

Has there been a a word, a letter from a provinical, from a bishop, about the great feast of Pentecost, a letter, written in a language that touches the hearts and minds of people?

Ireland first on German news

The first item on the main ARD German news this evening was today's marriage referendum result in Ireland. Health Minister Leo Varadkar  featured on the clip. And then there was a short comment on the Catholic Church in Ireland.

The third item on that news was the beatification of Oscar Romero.

An interesting main evening news from ARD's Berlin studios.

On the Six O'Clock RTE news this evening Dr Diarmuid Martin, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin said: " The Church needs to do a reality check." 

Letting go of our fears and opening doors wide

The piece below is the 'Thinking Anew' column in today's Irish Times

Michael Commane
A neighbour of mine once said that what we worry about or what causes us anxiety seldom if ever happens. Wise words. We can spend so much of our time worrying about issues. More than often they don't happen and then if they do we manage to cope. The world does not come to an end. At least it hasn't so far.

Tomorrow is Pentecost Sunday one of the most important feasts in the Christian calendar. We are celebrating our belief in the presence of the Holy Spirit in the world. We are reminding ourselves of the presence of God in our midst.

Since Easter Sunday there has been an emphasis on the communitarian aspect of God. Three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit living in perfect communion with each other.

In tomorrow's Gospel (John 20: 19 - 23) we see how the disciples of Jesus locked themselves behind closed doors.

“In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews.” (20: 19)

Jesus appears to them and greets them: “Peace be with you.” Their immediate response is one of joy. Suddenly the idea of hiding behind closed doors makes no sense. Instead there is an atmosphere of joy and happiness. In this context Jesus tells them that they are to receive the Holy Spirit. Is gaire cabhair Dé ná an doras.

It's a central part of Christian teaching that the Holy Spirit represents the continuation of the life of Jesus in the world in which we live. We believe that through the Holy Spirit the Word of God is alive and vibrant in the world. It is a reassuring, indeed a powerful statement, giving us a confidence that we have the support of God guiding us in the lives we live.

Isn't it interesting that those, who were closest to Jesus, those who lived their lives with him and worked with him, were afraid when he left them? All they could do was go into a room and close the doors.

Jesus comes into their presence and introduces them to the Holy Spirit. He brings with him a sense of joy, a spirit of courage and excitement. In a world dominated by the Holy Spirit there can never be a sense of fear. It's contrary to everything God stands for to cower behind closed doors.

In all religions there are tensions and different opinions. There will be dogmatists, those who will suggest that they know exactly what God is thinking. Can that really be the way a God, whom we all accept as mystery, 'operates'? Of course there is a teaching authority, there is Scripture and tradition. But there is also the common sense of the wider Christian community. After all, we believe that the Holy Spirit is present in the world. It would seem strange in the extreme if the Holy Spirit limited her/his presence to a tiny minority of human kind. 

So often God's ways are not our ways. And that is so evidently clear in tomorrow's Gospel. The disciples, people like you and me, get it wrong and to counteract their fear they close the doors. 

They are afraid of the Jews. Does Jesus ever talk about closing doors? No, he disseminates an atmosphere of joy and openness.

The three persons  of God are a powerful sign of the importance of the community aspect of Christianity. And it is in that context, people working together, people in honesty and trust, respecting one another,  that the Holy Spirit thrives.

The feast of Pentecost is about the presence of God being alive and vibrant in the community.

Unclear ballot papers

When it comes to designing a voting paper the Irish State should employ new designers. Today's balott papers were unclear and confusing.

Surely the articles of the Constitution that citizens were being ask to amend or not amend should have been written in full and in bold.

Is that the best the Irish State can do?

Coming out

Whatever the result in today's marriage referendum it would seem that there is a more open and tolerant attitude towards people of homosexual orientation. The nasty 'jokes' the fear of being gay, hopefully will be something of the past.

It has been heart-warming and something good to see people open and honest about their sexual orientation.

Ursula Halligan's article in last Friday's Irish Times was an impressive piece of writing.

And yet hardly a whsiper from ministers of religion.

On a lighter note - at this stage many people must surely be suffering from 'referendumitis'.

Gun culture

Eight years ago it was estimated that there were at least 875 million guns in the world. Today, if you include antique and homemade guns, that number is probably greater, fed by gun and ammunition industries across more than 100 countries.

Police forces worldwide are said to have about 260 million firearms. Armies are thought to hold about 200 million. Civilians, though claim the rest and are by far the biggest owners of guns. About 12 billion bullets are produced every year, almost enough to kill every person on the planet - twice.

Estimates suggest there are about 600,000 violent deaths annually - 340,000 of these are thought to be at the end of a gun. If you take into account that, at a bare minimum, for each person shot and killed, three will survive, about 1,360,000 people are shot by someone else every year.

The WHO estimates that more than 800,000 kill themsleves each year, and one commonly used way is with a firearm.
Guardian

A page exclusive to men

On yesterday's page three of the Irish Times three men wrote on the  upcoming referendum. Fintan O'Toole and Patsy McGarry wrote in favour of a Yes vote and Diarmuid Martin argued for a No vote.

Below is an extract from McGarry's article.

"Still, it is possible to feel sympathy for the Catholic bishops and the bind they are in. Some of them. Generally, in a pastoral context, they are sensitive to gay people and groups, as are most priests. This also makes sense as few institutions have such a disproportionate number of gay men in their ranks. 

"Such sympathy has to be tempered, however, by a realisation of what the bishops have not told their congregations over recent weeks. They have not told them that they can, in conscience, vote Yes on Friday."