Travelling in the dark and not a word from anyone

This week’s Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column

Michael Commane

October was a mild month, indeed there were days when I was out and about without a coat. I even spotted a number of people wearing shorts. But there have also been days where there were heavy bouts of rain. And I should know, as I’m out and about on my bicycle most days.

One day two weeks ago I got a serious wetting while cycling. Over the years I have learned, no matter how good the rain-gear is, it’s impossible to keep the rain out when cycling. 

After 67 years of cycling I have decided the best way to cycle in the rain is in shorts and a vest. Mind you I haven’t made a practice of it, though I did see a cyclist last week doing just that.

The day after getting drenched I was leaving my house at the usual time of 7am, heading down to celebrate 7.30am Mass. The heavens had opened, yet again. My rain-gear was still wet from the previous day so I decided to abandon the bicycle and take the bus. It all worked out fine. 

It was still not bright on the way home at 8am. Standing at the bus stop I was delighted I had not cycled, as the rain was still pouring down. A short wait of less than two or three minutes and the bus arrived. 

I had a short journey ahead of me, just two kilometres. I decided to go upstairs. To my disbelief, upstairs was in pitch darkness, yes not a light on. A good few passengers scattered over the seats and not a word from anyone. It was my first time ever to travel in a darkened bus. And no one seemed to be bothered. Most of the passengers were glued to their smart phones.

 

I moved downstairs two stops early, sidled up to the driver’s cab and told the driver in as polite a manner as possible that there were no lights on upstairs. 

He looked at me in amazement, then at the control panel and turned on the lights: ‘yes you are right, I must be asleep but why did no one tell me’, he smiled. I presumed he was from North Africa and I replied that it was in many ways typically Irish for no-one to say a word. We both had a good laugh. He thanked me. 

Next stop was mine. I got off the bus and we both waved to each other. He was a lovely man. 

And then as I walked the few short steps to my house it dawned on me, that would all have been impossible 20 or 30 years. 

Back then, fadó fadó, passengers would have been reading their newspapers or books in hard copy format and the driver would have been told quickly enough that upstairs was in darkness. 

And something else, 20 or 30 years ago I doubt if the driver would have been from North Africa. Nor were there any hybrid electric diesel buses on the streets of Dublin.

Dublin Bus was established 34 years ago when Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and Irish Rail were set up as three separate companies, with CIÉ remaining as the holding company.

 

If my memory serves me right, anytime I was ever in the city I would see a broken down bus or a rescue truck towing one back to the garage. It’s many years since I have spotted such a spectacle. 

Of course there is no paradise on earth but do we ever realise how good we have it.

We are all conditioned by how others think

Pamela Rose, who died on October  17 at the noble age of 104, was an actor and linguist, who worked at the famous Bletchley Park during World War II.

After the war she did not go back to the stage because she wanted to spend her life with her husband Jim and thought one can’t have everything. "I doubt I would’ve thought like that now but one is conditioned by the way others think and I was a product of my time.”

The people of Ireland elect their first woman president

On this day, November 7, 1990 Mary Robinson was elected the first woman President of Ireland.

Questioning the status quo

The Thinking Anew column in The Irish Times today.

Michael Commane 

Anyone with a heart or soul must be enthused by tomorrow’s Gospel reading (Mark 12: 38 - 41). It’s a story that should be front and centre of every mission statement the Christian churches release. It’s a story that has the perfect resonance for our times, indeed, it is a universal story that makes sense in all generations.

It’s a Gospel passage of two parts. In the first part Jesus tells his listeners: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seat in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who swallow the properties of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers”. And then in the second part of the Gospel Jesus tells the story of the poor woman who puts her two coins into the treasury.

I’ve often been surprised that communist governments in their first years of zeal and enthusiasm did not use this Gospel story to win over the minds and hearts of Christians. It has all the rallying ingredients of their famous cry ‘Workers of the world unite’, indeed, it has far more substance and inspiration to it than any slogan that ever appeared on a communist banner.

Today, just as in the time of Jesus, the so-called holy men and women can so easily speak a language of pomp and nonsense, while the real presence of the word of God is enacted  by the poor and marginalised and those who serve them. It’s so easy for all of us to accept the rules and regulations of the status quo, never questioning what actually is happening right in front of our eyes.

Last week on RTE’s Prime Time the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue, while answering a question put to him by Sarah McInerney, mentioned the fact that that night 700 million people would be going to bed hungry. Sarah did not blink an eye at such a horrific reality, nor did I. But stand back and think about it. 

In a world just short of eight billion people, almost one billion have not enough to eat. And what really are we doing about it? What am I doing about it?

The late Archbishop of San Salvador Oscar Romero, who was murdered celebrating Mass in 1980, spoke out forthrightly about social injustice and violence in his country, indeed, that’s why he was murdered. On one occasion he said: “When we defend the poor, Rome accuses us of meddling in politics - but never when we side with the rich.” 

While Rome may have refused to listen to him when he was alive, at least Pope Benedict declared him a martyr and Pope Francis canonised him in October 2018. They say the church does not work in years or decades, but rather in centuries and millennia. 

Not trying to be flippant, but that might give us all some perspective on matters.

We need to be constantly reminded that the Christian message is always centred around the dignity of every person and until we all play our part in placing that concept centre stage we are playing games with God’s word and the story of the life and times of the historical person of Jesus Christ.

None of us is perfect and nor does the perfect politician exist. But I was struck last week with the praise that German Chancellor Angela Merkel received on her retirement. The praise came from a large cross section of society. 

Former US president Barack Obama said of her. “So many people, girls and boys, men and women, have had a role model who they could look up to through challenging times. I know because I am one of them.” 

Many will say that the highlight of her chancellorship was accepting close to 1.5 million asylum seekers into Germany in 2015.

Of course it was a political action but it was also a genuine attempt at coming to the rescue of the weak and marginalised. The word humility has often been associated with Merkel’s years as chancellor.

Tomorrow’s liturgy should tempt us all to put centre stage the conditions of the poorest and weakest in our society, in our world. 

The Responsorial Psalm includes these words (Psalm 145): “It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever,/who is just to those who are oppressed./It is he who gives bread to the hungry,/the Lord, who sets prisoners free.”

Mark’s account of the behaviour and words of Jesus is a great read. It is a remarkable story. And it’s so relevant right now. 

Car rental group Hertz buys 100,000 Teslas

Car rental company Hertz has ordered 100,000 Tesla cars. The Tesla is the premium all electric car.

Tesla is the first car maker to be valued at $1tn. 

The new Hertz deal pushed Tesla shares up 12. 6 per cent and makes Tesla CEO Elon Musk worth $172bn.

Dublin parishes get first glimpses of church synod

In preparation for the upcoming synod in the Catholic Church the Archdiocese of Dublin kicked off on Tuesday evening with a meeting of a number of Dublin deaneries. Deaneries are groupings of parishes.

The meeting was conducted over zoom. 

Approximately 56 people participated, including Archbishop Dermot Farrell.

The archbishop spoke for 10 minutes. He said that the synod was a gathering. It was not a forum like an opinion poll or a referendum. Archbishop Farrell said it was a church event, and like every church gathering it has to be prayerful.

He pointed out that it was the first synod in Ireland since Thurles in 1850.

The archbishop said that it would be an occasion where people could listen and it was not a platform for confrontation.

The synod was not in a position to change church doctrine. Later in a chat room, Augustinian priest Kieran O’Mahony made the point that while doctrine does not change it can be developed. Another participant felt that the word doctrine could alienate the very people with whom the church needs to communicate.

There was a consensus that it was important that we listen and listen especially to those on the periphery. 

Archbishop Farrell commenting on the importance of listening to those on the margins and periphery quipped that there were one million people in Dublin on the periphery.

The meeting was chaired by Fr Kieran McDermott, a priest of the Archdiocese of Dublin.

The meeting conveyed a sense of reality with participants aware of where the Irish church might be at present.

Elon Musk could feed world’s poor many times over

According to the director the United Nations’ food safety organisation just two per cent of Elon Musk’s wealth could solve the problem of world hunger. 

Approximately 700 million people have not enough to eat. The world population stands at just under eight billion people.

Too many trains miss the bus every day

This week’s Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column

Michael Commane

A letter in The Irish Times of October 22 caught my attention.

It’s worth quoting the letter in full.

Sir, - Last week I had a most enjoyable hotel break in Mulranny. I took the train to Westport but then had a very long walk (in the rain) to meet the bus bound for Achill soon after.

Why doesn’t the bus meet the train?

A cost-free initiative in one of the finest tourist areas in the country. 

Am I missing something? - Yours, etc, Dominic Gallagher.

No, Dominic you’re not missing anything.

Did you know that Bus Éireann has discontinued its Dublin Limerick service? I find it incredible that our State bus company does not operate buses between Dublin and a major city. It means that if you want to travel from Tralee to Dublin using Bus Éireann you have to go via Cork. I am aware there is a private company that operates between Tralee, Limerick and Dublin. If they can make it work why can’t Bus Éireann?

The letter writer prompted me to do some timetabling investigations.

During the summer a new service was introduced between Dingle and Tralee. There are nine buses every weekday between Dingle and Tralee and 10 between Tralee and Dingle.  

Any time I have been on the new frequent service there have been fewer than 10 passengers on board. I’m wondering why so many buses on the service. I’ve been told that Bus Éireann no longer draws up the timetabling and that now is done by TFI - Transport For Ireland.

 

There are eight trains a day serving Tralee/Cork and Dublin and seven in the opposite direction.

If a passenger wants to travel from Dublin/Cork or any of the intermediate stations to West Kerry then there is only one Tralee Dingle bus that meets the train. It’s the same story in the opposite direction.

Just one simple example a bus arrives in Tralee from Dingle  at 15.03, the Dublin/Cork train departs Tralee at 15.05. I doubt two minutes gives a passenger time to get from the bus to the train, even at a sprint. 

The majority of arrivals and departures mean that passengers have to wait an hour for connecting between train and bus.

Ticketing too is not fit for purpose.

It is absurd that there is not a ticketing system in place that allows a passenger to buy a through ticket that covers bus and rail outside the Dublin commuter belt. And tickets should be interchangeable between different transport companies.

This sort of nonsense is happening at a time when we are all being told to get out of our cars and use public transport as much as possible.

Bus Éireann CEO Stephen Kent highlighted last week the role the company plays in cutting carbon emissions. May I humbly suggest that he and the TFI team try to design timetables that are more passenger friendly. 

And I’d much prefer to be called a passenger than a customer.

The plastic feast of Halloween

COP26 has kicked off in Scotland. The G20 has concluded in Rome.

The world rightly is talking about protecting our world from doom.

How much plastic was made and then binned for Halloween?

The fireworks, the decorations, everything to do with the modern celebration of Halloween is covered and wrapped in plastic.

It’s a feast of plastic. Parents teaching their children to use more plastic.

It all sounds and looks so strange.

Why we need a new golden age of European rail

This is a lovely read on rail travel with special reference to the iron ways of Deutsche Bahn, German Rail.

The article appeared in the Guardian on Wednesday.

The author seems not to be aware of how both Austrian Rail ÖBB and German Rail DB are in the process of reintroducing sleeper trains. And isn’t there a night sleeper, the Caledonian Sleep, from London to Scotland?

It’s worth noting that most European rail companies are wholly owned and operated State enterprises.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/27/why-we-need-a-new-golden-age-of-european-rail?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The Pope, Biden and the picture

A comment made by a reader of this blog.

Just happened to switch to CNN for a few minutes  and saw live coverage of Biden arriving at the Vatican to meet the pope. There were around thirty people there, maybe 40 if you include the Swiss Guards. The vast majority of them from the Vatican side.

In the whole affair there was only one woman present, Jill Biden.

Do any of the Catholic Church leadership even see what's wrong with this picture?

Protons, neutrons, and electrons and the missing piece

A reader sent this in for publication.

Scientists say the universe is made up of protons, neutrons and electrons.

But they forgot to mention morons.

Synod must bring women’s stories to the fore

This article appeared in The Irish Times on Tuesday. It is by Soline Humbert.

How do you respond to a call to “journey together” with people who, in Christ’s name, proclaim your non-existence? This is what I asked myself when I heard the Irish Catholic bishops calling for participation in a five-year synodal pathway.

Pope Francis has also launched a two-year worldwide synodal process, so we are now doubly exhorted to be a listening church where everyone can speak freely. I have heard that before.

My first experience of formal consultation in the church was three decades ago, as a member of the women in the church subcommittee, in the Dublin archdiocese.

The Dublin Council of Priests wanted to listen to women’s pain and set up a sub-committee of four priests and four women. Our subcommittee met for more than a year. Soon there was pressure to censor ourselves and not to mention women’s ordination for fear of episcopal anger.

On February 23rd, 1994, we gathered in a large room in Clonliffe College, with the archbishop, the auxiliary bishops and all the priests on the council. It took me all the courage I could muster to be vulnerable and share the very deep spiritual pain I felt about the sense of calling to the presbyterate/priesthood I had experienced since my teens.

The response was mostly silence and no further contact.

Physically sick Months later, I was contacted by a journalist from the Tablet, in London. Margaret Hebblethwaite was puzzled at seeing my name among the women’s names attached to a report ruling out women’s ordination.

The report of the council on women in the church had been written up, approved by the archbishop and press releases sent far and wide. I had never seen it.

As Hebblethwaite read out the content of the report to me over the phone, I felt physically sick. It stated: “The fact that the priesthood was given only to men did not prevent women from taking their full part in the life of the church.’’

I wrote to the chairman of the council who replied that this was a report of the council, of which I was not a member. I was only on the subcommittee, I had no grounds for complaint. The women’s names were attached to it because we had been consulted. I felt betrayed, my trust violated.

A month later, the pope shut the door to women’s ordination. Gagging all discussion, it was designed to crush any hope in women like me. Buried alive with a vocation that would not die.

We are now invited “to trust that this synodal pathway is a sincere effort to bring about real transformation and renewal in the church guided by the Spirit”, and at the same time we are warned by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference that “Pope Francis has been clear that synods are not instruments to change church teachings but rather help to apply church teaching more pastorally”.

I do not believe this much-needed renewal can happen while insisting all church teachings (of various degrees of authority) remain in place. Many render the gospel message inaudible.

Dr Nicola Brady, the chairwoman of the steering committee of the Irish Synodal Pathway, has said that “we are seeking to acknowledge the hurts that exist within our church community and work to heal those relationships”. The stark reality is that male dominance in the church has been sacralised for centuries and distorts relationships. Women must be under the control of men, who alone can represent Christ.

Gender-apartheid The structures and theology, including papal teachings, which underpin the church version of gender-apartheid perpetuate the violence of inequality and exclusion.

They are truly a scandalous counter-witness to the foundational baptismal affirmation that, “In Christ there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”(Galatians 3:28) and Christ’s prayer “that all may be one” (John 17).

In his recent blog post, entitled The Taliban Within, Gerry O’Hanlon SJ starts with a letter published in the Tablet on September 11th, 2021, from Dr Anne Inman: “What does the Catholic Church have to say about the Taliban announcement that women can work for the government, since almost half of the workers are women, but ‘in the top posts . . . there may not be a woman?’’’

O’Hanlon doesn’t answer directly but concludes : “. . . when women in the Catholic Church are now so conscious of not being taken seriously for so long, their feelings and thoughts not given equal value, then there is a real crisis, a time of discernment”.

Can the pope open himself to an encounter with women with a calling like mine and listen to our stories, something his predecessors have never done? What if the vocations we bear are of the Spirit?

The first-century church could dispense with male circumcision; can we dispense with a male-only priesthood? With the help of that same Spirit.

Soline Humbert is a spiritual guide and an advocate for women’s ordination

 

German parliament elects new Ceann Comhairle

The German parliament, the Bundestag met yesterday and elected a new Ceann Comhairle or Bundestagspräsidentin.

The parliament elected SPD member Bärbel Bas as its new president or speaker. She is the third woman to hold the position.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier formally dismissed German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her cabinet, but they will  stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new chancellor is elected and a government is in place.

This, the 20th Bundestag is the largest ever, with 736 members. It is the first time in its history that a black woman is a member. Awet Tesfaiesus is a member of the Green Party.

Below is the link to Bärbel Bas’s first speech as President of the German Parliament.

A fine parliamentarian speech.

https://youtu.be/x9dAck3NZNE

UCD and Fáilte Ireland ads on far-right US radio station

This week’s Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column.

Michael Commane

We’re a small country and I think it’s fair to say that our national and local radio stations offer us a reasonably good service. Of course there is always room for improvement.

The world of radio, like so much in our lives has changed beyond belief in my lifetime.

Today at the press of a button you can listen to radio stations from every corner of the globe. You can tune in on many devices, including an internet radio. 

With the internet radio you can preset stations, which means you can listen in at the press of a button. Some years ago I bought myself one and I’ve been travelling all around the world with it, without leaving my house.

By accident, scrolling through US stations I came across Patriot Radio. It broadcasts out of Phoenix, Arizona and has millions of listeners all across the United States.

To my ears it is unbelievable radio. Monday to Friday, at least any time I listen to it, it is non-stop attack against everything and everyone who is not at least as right wing as the Republican Party. 

All its presenters hurl extraordinary abuse at those who have different opinions than they. Currently President Joe Biden is the focus of their attack. 

According to the Patriot rulebook Biden and his entire team in the White House and all Democrat Senators and House members are staunch communists who want to overthrow the US way of life. In their attacking of the Democrats they use foul and abusive terms. 

Early weekday mornings, Irish time, presenter Mark Levin hurls the vilest of insults at Biden. He tells his listeners that the president is dumb, his brain has stopped functioning and he is simply the front man for dark people in the background, who are directing the US to the evil ways of communism. It’s as mad and crazy as that. 

And of course it is the darling voice of anti-maskers and gun-touting citizens. Only last week there was someone explaining the advantages of one type of gun silencer over another. The presenter of that particular programme was British-born Sebastian Gorka, who worked in the Trump White House for seven months.

The station is also a supporter of far-right Christian groups. Presenters constantly sneer and ridicule at anyone whom they deem has different opinions than they.

I have to admit the station intrigues me. Is there something about violence and raw hatred that attracts? And that sure is worrying.

But what I have heard in the last weeks has set my ears on fire. To my astonishment, Irish companies are now advertising on the station. Not only companies but also State agencies. 

To my horror I have heard ads for Fáilte Ireland and UCD. That tax payers money is being spent on ads on Patriot Radio is nothing less than scandalous.

Does the UCD president or the CEO of Fáilte Ireland know about this?

I doubt there are many right-thinking people who would be impressed.

Advertising with Patriot Radio sullies the names and reputations of good decent Irish State agencies.

Lara Marlowe writes about her former husband Robert Fisk

The Irish Times correspondent in Paris, Lara Marlow writes most tenderly about her former husband, Robert Fisk in her new book Love in a Time of War: My Years with Robert Fisk. It will be released by Head of Zeus, London on October 28th.

I had the good fortune to interview Lara while I was working with Concern Worldwide. It was a memorable moment and Lara could not have been more helpful and understanding. She was a joy to meet and interview.

Below is an extract from her new book. The extract is taken from The Irish Times of Saturday.

Hopelessness is today the common denominator of the countries where I lived and worked with Robert. Lebanon is on the verge of total collapse, with 78 per cent of its population living in poverty. Gaza has been cut off from the world by Israeli blockade since 2007. The West Bank remains under occupation and talk of Palestinian statehood has virtually ceased.

The hardliners have consolidated power in Tehran. Sanctions impoverish that country, and attempts to resurrect the Iran nuclear accord are going badly. Iraq is dominated by Iran and fragmented between Shia, Sunni and Kurds. Algerian youths despair more than ever. Bosnia, Kosovo, and Serbia languish in the waiting room of Europe. The 9/11 atrocities precipitated George W Bush’s “War on Terror” and two decades of extremist attacks.

The turn of the century was a cruel time, which coincided with the slow disintegration of our marriage. At the end of 2001, Robert was severely beaten by Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal correspondent who with his wife, Mariane, nursed Robert’s wounds, was decapitated by al-Qaeda. Then Juan Carlos Gumucio, the Bolivian journalist and Robert’s compañero from the kidnapping days in Beirut, took his own life.

“What in God’s name, I have been asking myself, have we done to deserve this?” Robert wrote to me. He expressed nostalgia for what he called the “blithe and oddly happy years of innocence amid danger” when he and Juan Carlos were close.

I too felt nostalgic for our early years together, when we felt indestructible. Writing this book, I relived our progression from passionate youth to disabused middle age. I watched love flower and then falter. I realise now that it was not a tragedy. It was my life, and a good one. I remember everything that Robert taught me. Something remains.

Obama and Springsteen speak with ARD’s Ingo Zamperoni

German television ARD’s Ingo Zamperoni interviews President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen.

It’s great television. Here it is.

https://youtu.be/aV7BarD0Ick 

Rude and insulting words of Reverend Ivan Foster

Reverend Ivan Foster of the Free Presbyterian Church on the Queen of England:

"She is not a Free Presbyterian. The queen is not someone who has sat up and said ‘I believe in the doctrines of the Free Presbyterian Church'.

“She’s the head of the Church of England, which is a dogsbody for every form of filthiness.”

Rude and insulting.

What is it about right-wing fanatical people of religion? And they are in every religious grouping.

Does the far left insult people in such a manner? It doesn’t seem so.

Bus Éireann and Irish Rail don’t understand integrated travel

Letter writer Dominic Gallagher in The Irish Times yesterday bemoans how there is no joined-up thinking when it comes  to rail and bus service in the West of Ireland.

He should travel to Kerry.

There are eight weekday trains a day between Dublin/Cork and Tralee,  and intermediate towns, and there are 10 weekday buses from Tralee to Dingle.

Trains arrive in Tralee at 08.26, 10.58, 12.58, 14.58, 16.58, 18.58, 21.00 and 22.55. 

Buses leave from Tralee to Dingle at, 06.00, 08.00, 09.00, 11.15, 12.30,14.00, 16.15,m18.00, 19.30 and 22.00

Trains depart from Tralee 04.40 (Monday only), 05.10 (Tuesday to Friday), 07.05, 09.05, 11.05, 13.05, 1505, 17.05 and 19.05. 

Buses from Dingle arrive in Tralee at 08.14, 10.03, 11.33, 13.33, 15.03, 16.33, 18.33, 20.29 and 21.59.

Yes Bus Éireann and Irish Rail are two separate companies but what’s happened the concept of an integrated bus and rail service.

This timetable means there is only one rail bus connection between Dublin/Cork and West Kerry.

There are two daily services linking West Kerry with Dublin/Cork, with both connections with less than an hour’s waiting.

French philosopher who did not want to be institutionalised

On this day, October 22, 1964 French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

He refused to accept the award . He said he always refused official distinctions and did not want to be institutionalised. He believed it would limit the impact of his writing.

How many people are prisoners to institutions?

Does it matter?

Covid-19 vaccination facts and figures

47.9 per cent of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccination.

6.72 billion doses have been administered globally and 19.91 million people are administered every day.

2.8 per cent of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose.

Approximately 34 per cent of the Russian population has received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine. The rate of fully vaccinated people in Russia is approximately 31 per cent.

Yesterday 1,000 Covid-19 deaths were recorded in Russia.

89.2 per cent of the Irish population over 12 have been doubly vaccinated.

Life is characterised by change

Opening words of Archbishop Dermot Farrell’s reflections in Dublin’s pro-cathedral on Sunday to launch the opening of the diocesan phase of the synod.

Life is alive!  When we reflect on our lives, we see that human life is characterised by change: that which does not change has either never been alive, or is no longer alive.   

Stones do not change, and unfortunately, life can become like that: life can become fossilized—very beautiful, but no longer alive, a stunning relic of another age, but no longer alive: “dry bones,” (Ezekiel  37:1-14) to use Ezekiel’s powerful image. The way the Church lives out its mission—the way we live out our mission continually needs revitalisation; just as the dry bones in Ezekiel’s valley of death need to be invigorated.  

As proclaimed by the prophet Ezekiel, Israel’s restoration is not meant to be a mere political change, but an occasion of profound spiritual renewal, requiring a new heart and a new spirit.

How close can we get to another person?

This week’s Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column.

Michael Commane

Since lockdown regulations were eased and we are back out and about travelling on buses and rail, a friend asked me on a number of occasions to book a rail ticket for her. She is well familiar with using her computer, uses WhatsApp and indeed has an Instagram account. 

But when it came to the rail booking, every time she did it she could not manage how to negotiate the Free Travel Pass or Valid Ticket tab. And we all know that it can get very frustrating when we get into an argument with our tablets, phones or computer screens.

On the last occasion I did it for her we decided she would watch and then do the next one herself, with my overseeing her. And that’s exactly what she did and she’s off on her own now and can easily do it for herself. 

The experience set me thinking. It’s only when we do something for ourselves that we appreciate and understand how to do it and how to handle the issues that arise.

I think most people will agree, a month in a classroom is the equivalent to a year or two learning how to become a teacher. At least I can speak for myself and readily admit I learned my teaching trade from being with the students in the classroom and listening to the advice and stories of fellow teachers.

With most aspects of our lives it’s only when we ourselves are personally and intimately involved with the situation, that we fully appreciate what is happening.

In other words, we never know what’s going on in the mind and body of another person.

Elvis Presley’s ‘Walk a Mile in My Shoes’ includes the line: ‘If we could find a way to get inside each other’s minds….’ Is a brilliant piece of wisdom.

And that’s what empathy is all about. The dictionary definition of the word is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

I’m inclined to think we can never over score when it comes to empathy.

When someone close to us dies no-one but we actually understands the pain and grief that is involved. Yes, we sympathise with people, we mean what we say but there is always a gulf between what we say and what the other person is feeling.

 

And it’s similar when it comes to illness. It’s only the person who is actually experiencing that trauma who knows the real story, and knows it in its most intimate way. Certainly those closest get some sort of hint, but again, they never know the exact story.

The finality of the death of someone close to us gives us a hint of the mystery that makes it so difficult for us to feel for and understand the other person.

There are times when words break down and we acknowledge that, in our moments of silence. I remember a lecturer saying that we can never take back our words.

Antonie de Saint-Exupéry in The Little Prince gets close when he writes: ‘I did not know how to reach him, how to catch up with him... The land of tears is so mysterious.’

 

Is there a change of policy at Dublin Bus?

Has anyone noticed a change on the destination boards on Dublin Bus vehicles?

For example has anyone seen ‘Wear a face covering’ in the Irish language on Dublin Bus vehicles? 

Also, it would seem the Irish place names appear for shorter times on the vehicle destination boards.

Murdoch has helped make Britain a malevolent place

A quote from film producer David Putnam in conversation with The Irish Times

 “Mirroring the anxieties of many of those angry Brexiteers in 2016, I feel I’ve had my country of birth, and the values I believed it to represent, stolen from me.

“It’s worse than that, I find myself embarrassed by what, on an almost daily basis, I see it becoming – my old enemy Rupert Murdoch’s dream made real. He never liked Britain, and he’s kind of won; he’s helped remake it in his own malevolent image,” he said.

“Given all of this and more, at 80 I no longer find myself with sufficient patience to treat mendacious political inanity with the appearance of courtesy.”

On this day, October 16, 1946 10 Germans found guilty at the International Military Tribunal at Nürnberg were executed by hanging.

Twenty seven years earlier to the day, October 16, 1919 Adolf Hitler gave his first public address at a meeting of the German Workers Party.

Imagine, on the first night that Nazis called to people’s doors to take them away had their neighbours said you can’t to this, what might not have happened?

Had the locomotive drivers said no, we are not going to drive the trains to the concentration camps, what might not have happened?

When we see evil happening we all have the privilege and responsibility to call it out for what it is and say stop.

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Today is World Food Day. It marks the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945.

People who resist are those who choose to think

Hannah Arendt was born on October 14, 1906 near Hannover in the German Empire. When she was a child, the family moved to Königsberg in East Prussia, now Kaliningrad, in Russia.

Joe Humphreys wrote an interesting piece on her in The Irish Times yesterday. 

It was Arendt who coined the phrase the “banality of evil” when she was overing the trial of Adolf Eichmann. 

But she was also concerned with everyday human activities and believed “unthinking” to be a factor in general unhappiness and alienation in society.

Samantha Rose Hill writes: "In 1933, after the burning of the Reichstag, Arendt broke with the so-called ‘professional thinkers’. She left the world of academic philosophy, because she was horrified watching friends, colleagues and professors going along with the Nazification of German social, cultural, political and educational institutions.

“The people who spent their whole lives thinking about the good, about morality and ethics, were no better equipped to deal with the rise of fascism than anybody else.

“In her essay on Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship she doesn’t mince her words. She says, the difference between those who went along and those who resisted was that those who resisted chose to think. That is, they realised they wouldn’t be able to live with themselves if they did nothing.

Cardinal on spiritual time out continues to draw salary

Cardinal Archbishop of Cologne Rainer Maria Woelki, who is currently on a six-month 'spiritual time-out’, in other words suspension, for his mishandling of clerical child sex abuse cases, continues to receive his salary.

According to German Spiegel magazine the archbishop’s salary works out at €13,800 per month. It’s a similar salary to that paid to a city mayor.

A man who had no great idea what he wanted to do

A thought or two from recently retired Chief Justice Frank Clarke in an interview with The Irish Times:

“It’s partly about public service and partly because doing exactly the same thing for too long is not necessarily a good idea. It was nice within a single career box to maybe reinvent yourself every decade or so, to do something slightly different.

“I have absolutely enjoyed it, there have been days that were not so enjoyable, but, in the round, yes. I had no great idea what I wanted to do, but I think I found the hole that suited the shape of my peg, as it were, by luck more than anything else. I’m just very glad it happened to work out that way.”

Remembering a story well told 62 years ago

This week’s Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column

Michael Commane

I can imagine most people are familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan.

It’s a lovely New Testament story. A man is travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho when he is attacked by a group of bandits. They take all he has and leave him for dead on the side of the road.

A priest and a Levite arrive on the scene. What do they do? Nothing. They pass over to the other side of the road and completely ignore the poor man.

Sometime later a Samaritan arrives. He realises what has happened the man. He has great sympathy for him and does what he can to relieve the man’s pain. He puts him on his mount and carries him to a nearby inn, where he asks them to care for him until he returns. And he pays for any expenses accrued.

It’s a great story. The two establishment figures turn up their noses and do nothing for the poor man. The Samaritan, who is considered a nobody by the ruling class, is the one who comes to the rescue.

It is the Gospel story read at Mass on Monday, October 4 and is taken from St Luke, chapter 10, verses 30 to 37.

Every time I read it I am reminded of an event that happened when I was nine or 10 years of age.

It was third class and the teacher was a Christian Brother. Back then I had no idea what age he was. In later years I discovered he was 20, 10 years older than I.

He was a great teacher. I do remember having difficulties on one occasion with him when I could not get how many inches were in a yard. 

But I can still vividly remember the day he read the Good Samaritan story in religion class. Whatever way he explained and spoke about it, it has stayed with me for 62/63 years. That’s a long time in anyone’s reckoning.

He concentrated on the kindness of the Samaritan and how he helped bandage his wounds, how he brought him on his horse from the side of the road to the inn. It was probably not a horse, but does that matter, of course not. He spent some time explaining how the Samaritan chatted with the innkeeper before he set off on his journey.

I relished every moment of the story and I can even remember how he told us about the white cloth that was wrapped ever so gently around the head of the man who had been brutalised.

And you can imagine the teacher had no time whatsoever for the priest and the Levite, who ignored the plight of the man and simply went over to the other side of the road so as to avoid him.

Isn’t it strange the aspects of our past that we remember? That man that day left an indelible mark on my psyche. Indeed, most likely we never have any idea how our words and actions influence other people. 

But certainly a kind word or gesture, a good deed never does anyone any harm. And so often it can be the most insignificant moments that leave lasting impressions.

Ok, I had trouble with the inches and yards. Come to think about it, there are no longer feet and inches but there sure is kindness. And it so happens, the teacher later went on to study mathematics.

Another shameful Catholic Church story, this time France

 A report published in France on Tuesday estimated that 330,000 children in France were sexually abused over the past 70 years, providing the country’s first accounting of the worldwide phenomenon.

The figure includes abuses committed by some 3,000 priests and an unknown number of other people involved in the church — wrongdoing that Catholic authorities covered up over decades in a “systemic manner,” according to the president of the commission that issued the report, Jean-Marc Sauvé.

The 2,500-page document was issued as the Catholic Church in France seeks to face up to shameful secrets that were long covered up. Victims welcomed the report as long overdue and the head of the French bishops’ conference asked for their forgiveness. 

The report said the tally of 330,000 victims includes an estimated 216,000 people abused by priests and other clerics, and the rest by church figures such as scout leaders or camp counsellors. 

The estimates are based on a broader research by France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research into sexual abuse of children in the country.