Resentment

Resentment

Vincent Travers OP

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth leaves no room for a second opinion. Tit for tat adds fuel to fire. Retaliation is toxic. It’s no way to live. But “fair is fair’ we say “you hit me, I hit you back”. But that idea of fairness is not true. True, we say’ revenge is sweet’. But, for how long? Nothing is solved when you hit me and I hit you back, even harder, if I can. When we retaliate, when we take revenge for a wrong done, or a perceived wrong done, we become enemies. Enemies hate each other while they are still enemies. Jesus says it should be the other way around. Love and forgiveness comes first.

Responding to Wrongdoing

Resentment is the natural reaction to wrong doing. A large part of everyday life is deciding how to respond to people who do us wrong in matters small and big. Usually instinct takes over. We feel hard done by. We get mad, or get even, or give the offender the silent treatment. We fight back. We say, “I will stand up for myself. I will not let anyone trample on me”. The hurt we feel takes on a life of its own. We feel victimized. And being a victim, or playing the victim, is a recipe for further hurt and misunderstanding. We put a big label on the per- son who offended us. The label says “enemy”. And sometimes, just for a little while, we may even put that “enemy” label on one of our beloved ones.

Alternative

Jesus offers an alternative way of responding to people who hurt us. It begins with changing the way we look. Instead of seeing “enemy” written across their faces, we see pain and hurt written across their faces. Jesus’ advice could not be clearer or more definite: “Don’t respond to injury with injury. Don’t respond in kind. Get rid of the labels we cling to.” But how do we let go without losing face? Again, Jesus could not be clearer: “Offer no resistance to an injury. Make peace.” Two Christian generals, equal rank and age, had a bitter falling out. Which one takes the peace initiative? The one who is more Christian!

Hand of Friendship

So with good will we make a peace gesture. And, that’s good. But what if the gesture, if the hand of friendship, is refused? Jesus is radical in his response. “Treat him or her as a pagan or a tax-collector.” At first this advice sounds very odd and strange. But on closer examination, we look at how Jesus treated these people. He didn’t excommunicate them. He didn’t give up on them. He never took back his offer of forgiveness. When his hand of friendship was refused, there was nothing Jesus could do about rejection. We do not know, for example, how many, if any, accepted Jesus’ offer of forgiveness on Calvary. We take our cue from him. We try to do things his way. We try to be his kind of people.

Resentment

Forgiveness can be achingly difficult because of resentment. Resentment clings to us like a leech. Resentment relives the past. It keeps rubbing the old scab, and the wound never quite heals. We find it hard to bury the past. A nagging sense of injustice remains. The past stays alive. The memory remains long after we have forgiven the injury. We still feel the hurt in our bones. He cost me my good name, my job, my self-respect. I don’t want him to get away with it. We are caught between a rock and a hard stone, between forgiveness and injustice.

Hardness of Heart

What happens when we do not forgive? Not to forgive, imprisons me in the past, and keeps me there. In the state of imprisonment, I can go to the grave burning with resentment and bitterness. In his book, What’s so amazing about Grace?, Philip Yancy tells the story of a rabbi, a survivor of Hitler’s concentration camps, about to leave Germany for America, at the end of World War Two. The rabbi said something truly amazing. “I had to for- give Adolf Hitler. I did not want to bring Hitler inside my head to my new country. If I did, I would never be free of Hitler and what the Nazis did to me.” The first, and often, the only person to be healed by forgiveness is the person who does the forgiving.

Learning to Forgive

The great Thomas Aquinas, the Prince of Theologians, made a profound Christian statement when he said, “The truth by whomsoever speaks it, is the work of the Holy Spirit.” With this in mind, I quote Nelson Mandela, a man who spent over 20 years on Robbin Island in captivity. “No one is born hating another person. People learn to hate, and if they learn to hate they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite, hatred.”

Learning to Love

A Yukon woman introduced me to her husband. She said something I haven’t forgotten.

It’s a lesson for the learning. “At first I didn’t like him. He told me that he loved me and wanted to marry me. I said “But I don’t love you”. He said “but you can learn to love me.” And over a period of time I learned to love him. We got married and we are very happy, despite our ups and downs.”

We can learn to love and for- give. It may take time. It may take a long time. I met a man in prison fairly recently who told me it took him eight years to for- give. He said “I prayed and prayed for eight years to forgive. And then it happened. I never thought it would happen. But since it happened, I have a peace of mind I never thought possible in this life.” We can learn to love and forgive only with the grace of God.

Question Box

Question 1. I was wondering if it is sinful for a Catholic to attend a wedding in a Registry Office? I know someone who has done so but I always believed it was wrong and that they might even have to confess this to a Priest.

Answer:

This is an interesting question and raises a few issues. Firstly sin is something that ‘separates’ us from God so we will ask ourselves if attending such a wedding would do that. The Catholic Church views marriage as much much more than just a ceremony by which two people are legally bound together. The Code of Canon Law states; “Only those marriages are valid which are contracted before the local [bishop], priest or deacon… and before two witnesses”. On the other hand Canon Law does not prohibit Catholics from attending ‘invalid weddings’. Therefore we cannot apply the term sinful to the act of attendance. Catholics are asked to use their own judgment and discernment. Ask yourself if the couple are doing the best that they can to act honourably and according to the truth they have. The couple are certainly making a commitment of sorts unlike many who simply live together. This is to be encouraged. Civil marriage may indeed be the first step for a couple in recognizing the importance of marriage. There is also always the option of Magazine Reader attending the reception only, if one feels unable to go to the Registry Office. Maintaining peace within families and not putting undue strains on relationships are also important considerations. The issuing of the invitation is a gift in itself from the couple and an indelicate refusal of same could ‘separate’ us unnecessarily from others. Everything has to be done in charity.

Question 2. The Gospel at Mass recently was about the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. Does anyone know what it was that Jesus wrote in the sand? It is something that often puzzled me.

Answer:

Therr is no actual or clearindication as to why Jesus wrote in the ground although there has been much speculation as to what he might have written. The subject was a fairly common theme in art, especially from the Renaissance onwards with examples by artists including Bruegel and Rembrandt. St. Augustine wrote that this gesture portrays Christ as the divine legislator. In Exodus God wrote the law with his finger on the tablets of stone. One theory is that Jesus wrote the name of each stone-holding accuser; another says Jesus wrote the sins of each religious leader. We simply do not know. It may be that the clue lies in the words of the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah when he said, “those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord” (Jer 17:13). If so it is an indirect reminder of the “guilt” of those who are condemning the woman. It is interesting to note that whenever someone was caught in adultery both the man and the woman would be brought to the Nicanor Temple gates and accused. If witnesses could be gathered to confirm that adultery had indeed been committed, then there was a certain ceremony that would be done in order to bring judgment. However in this instance they only brought the woman. This was a violation of the Law. Secondly, the priest was required to then stoop down and write the law that had been bro- ken, along with the names of the accused, in the dust of the floor of the Temple. This may be what Jesus did. If so he was showing these accusers that they were not keeping the law but he would anyway.

Question 3. Up to relatively recent times an old name for Pentecost Sunday was Whitsunday. Why was that?

Answer:

Pentecost was called Whit sunday or “White Sunday” because of the white baptismal robes that were worn by those baptized on the Vigil of Pentecost. Often these white garments were worn for some time afterwards, as a mark of consecration and as a mark of the purity bestowed on their souls through Baptism.

While sitting on a train recently, I glanced around. Practically everyone – including myself – had a mobile phone in their hand. Some talking into it, some intently scrolling through emails, messages, looking up things on the internet, watching the news, listening to music… I could go on and on. Mobile phones and tablets have become part of us, part of our lives; something many of us would not like to be without. To many young people they have been around all of their lives; they don’t know what it was like not to have that instant communication available pretty much wherever and whenever they wanted or needed it.

In the beginning

Mobile phones have come a long way in the last seventy years; if you were around in the late 1930s and in the US military you could have found yourself lugging a 25-pound portable’ phone on your back. These were not quite what you would consider a mobile phone, but were portable, two-way radio receivers nicknamed ‘Walkie Talkies’ (because you could walk and talk into them). The first portable, two-way radio is said to have been invented in 1937 by Canadian, Don Hings who created a portable radio signalling system for his employer CM&S which he called a ‘Packset’. During the Second World War they were used extensively by the military. In 1942 a handheld version called the ‘Handie-Talkie’ was produced by Motorola and became widely available; opening up communications in battlefields around the world.

After the war, walkie-talkies slowly evolved from large portable radios to practical handheld de- vices. Two-way radios are limited in that they are point to point devices and can only talk to other devices in the same frequency band and in relatively close proximity to each other. However, their popularity inspired researchers at Bell Laboratories an American re- search and scientific development company, to create a mobile radio phone network for vehicles. This network would allow users to place and receive calls on handsets from inside their automobiles. By June 17, 1946, Bell Labs had begun to offer mobile telephone services on vehicles in St. Louis, Missouri. A few weeks later another American Telecommunications company,

AT&T, matched Bell Labs, with a network called the Mobile Tele- phone Service, which was soon developed to be used by police forces, ambulance and other public safety bodies, and for commercial use. Eventually they also became popular with the general public. Technologically advanced versions of these two-way radio systems are still widely used for the same reasons today.

Cellular Networks and cell phones

Eventually, Europe, like America, developed its own series of mobile radio networks. Up to this point, all of these networks relied on radio technology; however, throughout the latter half of the twentieth century researchers worked on creating cellular analogue networks made up of individual cells emitting radio signals through a certain area to base stations. When joined together these cells provide radio coverage over a much wider geographic area, enabling a large number of hand- sets to communicate with each other anywhere in the network.

On April 3, 1973, 10 years before cell phones were first released onto the market; Motorola researcher and executive, Martin Cooper, made mobile phone history when he made the first ever mobile phone call. The call was to his rival, Dr. Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs, announcing that he and his team at Motorola had beaten them in the race to develop the world’s first truly usable handheld mobile phone. This prototype phone was huge. It weighed 1.1 kg (2.42 lb.) and measured 23 cm long, 13 cm deep and 4.45 cm wide, took 10 hours to re-charge and offered a talk time of just 30 minutes. Motorola went on to spend $100 million over 10 years developing a more practical device which they named the DynaTac; eventually releasing it on 6 March 1983 with a price tag of a whopping $3,995.

The following ten years in the history of the mobile phone saw a massive advancement in performance and usability. At the start of the mobile revolution typical mobile handsets were large and heavy and required a carrying handle. However, in 1989 Motorola further revolutionised mobile phones when they launched the world’s first miniaturised flip phone, the Motorola MicroTAC and by 1995 mobiles weighed around 250 g and could fit inside a shirt pocket.

This new technology was developed and rolled out in a series of progressive networking systems. In the 1970s, 1G automated analog cellular networks were introduced.

The first commercially automated cellular 1G network was first deployed in Tokyo in 1979 by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) and would spread through- out the rest of Japan by 1981. Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark also received 1G that same year. In 1983, the first 1G net- work launched in the USA was Chicago-based Ameritech using Motorola’s DynaTac mobile phones. Several countries then followed in the early to mid-1980s including the UK, Mexico and Canada.

Over the next decade, mobile telephony developed in leaps and bounds particularly with the arrival of handover technology. This allowed users to keep their connections as they travelled between base stations – so as a user walked from one mobile phone mast to another, the connection and conversation would not drop or be interrupted.

In the early 1990s, 2G Telecommunications were introduced. The main difference between the two mobile telephone systems (1G and 2G), is that the radio signals used by 1G networks are analog while 2G networks are digital. 2G technologies enabled the various mobile phone networks to provide services such as text messages (SMS), picture messages and Multimedia Message Service (MMS). All text messages sent over 2G are digitally encrypted, allowing for the transfer of messages in such a way that only the intended receiver can receive and read it.

2G introduced cellphone networks to people around the world. Suddenly, everyone wanted a mobile phone and before long, demand had outstripped existing 2G technology. People wanted to do more than just call: they wanted to browse the internet at faster and faster speeds. It became clear that 2G technology was not able to keep up. Thus, the world’s first 3G network launched in Tokyo in May 2001; this opened the door for media streaming over mobile networks. For the first time, mobile devices were fast enough to support online video and music streaming. 3G also allowed mobiles to let users receive and send emails, and get map and SATNAV directions.

From the late twentieth century, Smartphones able to perform many of the functions of a computer were developed. Typically these phones have a relatively large touchscreen instead of a keyboard and an operating system capable of running general-purpose applications. Smartphone technology continued to advance throughout the early 2000s. These advances in technology brought about the introduction of the Blackberry, the iPhone and the Android operating systems and more.

The phones many of us use today are 3G mobiles, or even the more advanced 4G phones which became commercially available in late 2012. 3G and 4G technology allows us to download content at super-fast speeds and has transformed the handsets in our pockets and bags from simply communication devices into mini computers and complete entertainment hubs. Experts predict that 4G is set to be the catalyst for a host of new, entertainment focussed mobile internet
services to be introduced on the yet to come fifth generation 5G phones, the like of which would have been unimaginable just a few short years ago.

Eusebio Kino “God’s Cowboy”

Peter M Smith

In the U.S. Capitol building in Washington there is a statue honouring Eusebio Kino. He may not be known to many but he was one of history’s foremost explorers of the south western U.S.A. and northern Mexico. But, he was far more than a “mere” explorer; add astronomer, linguist, cartographer, mathematician and geographer to the list and that gives a better idea of just how much this man, often referred to as “God’s Cowboy” did during his lifetime.

Born in the Italian town of Segno and educated in Austria, he joined the Jesuits and worked as Professor of Mathematics at Ingoldstadt University in Germany before heading for Mexico in 1678, along with 17 other Jesuit priests. Money for such expeditions was always in short supply but Father Kino made and sold scientific instruments to help finance the work.

During his travels in Mexico, Fr, Kino covered 50,000 square miles, mainly on horseback, and accurately mapped an area 200 miles long and 250 miles wide. Much of his success with the people was due to his insistence of working “with” them rather than attempting to control them. Co-operation, he said, was initially more important than instant religious conversion. In a letter, he pointed out that success could not be achieved when “one sits perched on his chair ordering subordinates or officials to do what we should be doing personally by sitting with them time and again on earthen floors or on a rock”

He introduced European seed, fruits, herbs and grains where they could prosper in what he described as “most fertile country” whose “abundant fields had plantings and crops of wheat, maize, chick peas and beans” adding, “There are good gardens and in them vineyards for wine for Masses”. Mexico’s best known table wine is today called “Father Kino” in his memory.

His maps showed watering holes for Cattle and Humans

On one occasion, some natives gave him a gift of blue shells which the priest was convinced could only have come from the Pacific Ocean. This made him believe that “Baja California” was not an island. Further investigation and travels along the Gila and Colorado rivers were to prove him correct, “Baja California” was indeed a peninsula. Such travels enabled him to pro- duce maps of the region showing routes from one mission to another and also included the positions of watering holes for cattle and humans. So accurate were his maps that his 1705 map of the area was the standard map used for more than a century.

He successfully taught the indigenous peoples how to raise cattle, sheep and goats. A herd of 20 cattle imported into the region had grown to 70,000 by the time Fr. Kino died. One historian was moved to describe him as Arizona’s first rancher and because he was always depicted on horseback in statues, he was called the “Primero Vaquero”, the first cowboy.

Wherever the priest found injustice he fought against it, opposing slavery and compulsory hard labour in the Spanish silver mines. This antagonised the Spanish who were suspicious of both his wealth and influence over the region. However, after an Inspector was sent out to examine his work, his Report stated that he had “never seen so much work accomplished in such a short period of time”.

Each of the 20 or so Missions he helped establish were situated where water was plentiful and had land for grazing animals and growing crops. Timber for building was also a priority. Always the site of the Church was fixed first and the remaining buildings laid out around it.

Yet, Eusebio Kino took little credit for the work he did, which included baptising some 4,500 Indians and bringing more than 30,000 into the Catholic community. Such events were due, he said, “to the celestial favours of Our Lord” and not “human forces”.

One of Fr. Kino’s friends, Augustus de Campos, had built a church honouring St. Francis Xavier and, in March 1711, Fr. Kino went to celebrate a Mass dedicating the building to the Saint. He never completed the service, “a weakness overtook him” and he died on 15th March. His remains are in the crypt of the church of Magdaleno de Kino in Sonara, Mexico.

Living Bread Come Down From Heaven

Jesus said to the crowd: “I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world….For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him. As I, who am sent by the living Father, myself draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will draw life from me.”

JOHN 6:51-58

Iremember some years ago when living in Grenada in the West Indies I arrived to celebrate mass in a small community of Byelands only to discover that there was no altar bread. I remembered from my student days that canon law allows us, in the case of an emergency like this, to use ordinary bread. One of the parishioners, Nesse, offered to nip down to her home and bring what was left of the bread she had baked for her family the previous day. She had fed her children with it for supper, and sent over a few slices to an elderly neighbour, but there was more than enough left over for the needs of that small worshipping community on that Sunday morning. As I held Nesse’s bread at the prayer of consecration I was very conscious of the love that had gone into making it, her dedication and commitment to her children, the self giving and selfsacrificing love of this mother for her family and neighbours. It was all contained there in the bread. And this was the same bread raised in the consecration of the Mass and Jesus exclaimed, “This is my body”. In other words Jesus is saying “This is me. I am this bread. See me, giving of myself in loving service to the end. You thought it was only you, Nesse, baking your bread for your children and sharing it with your neighbours but it was me in you, and you in me. It was my love living again in you.”

“Giving His flesh to eat”.

In the same way the gifts of bread and wine that we bring to the altar in the Offertory procession of the Mass, “the work of human hands,” as we call them, symbolize and express for us all the experiences of self-giving love in our lives: our giving and forgiving; our care and respect for one another; our welcome for the stranger; our compassion for the sick and suffering; our self-giving and self-sacrificing love; all our efforts to build a more just and fraternal society. Indeed, all the many ways as spouses, parents, friends, neighbours, community workers, that in spite of our human weakness and limitations, we try to give of “our flesh to eat” and “our blood to drink” for “the life of the world”…so that others might find lives of happiness, fulfilment, wholeness and harmony.

“This is my Body”

These life experiences of “human love” are the ordinary bread and wine that Jesus takes in His hands, raises His eyes to heaven and says “This is my body. This is my living and life-giving presence among you today. At the time, you may have thought it was only you, going about your ordinary everyday life and responsibilities, but I’m telling you now I was there too! It was me in you and you in me!” Our love for one another is now lifted up and fulfilled in Christ and our eyes are opened to recognize His real presence among us today.
“The Body of Christ. Amen!” So when we receive communion not only are we in communion with the person of Jesus, giving of Himself totally in his earthly life and death… “giving His flesh to eat and blood to drink” so that we might find life, but we are also in communion with one another in so far as His love lives again in us today. We are in communion with all in whom this same self- giving love of Jesus is manifest today, be it in partial and limited ways. But not only are we in communion with those who are alive today but with all who have gone before us, who have given of themselves to us in love… who have incarnated something of the love of Jesus for us. In the Eucharist we are nourished on His love so that we might in turn grow in that same love, and more and more come to embody His living and life-giving presence for others.

I trust that this is what the poet Patrick Kavanagh had in mind in his poem “The Great Hunger” when he said, “In a crumb of bread the whole mystery is.”

This mystery is beautifully celebrated in that well known Catholic prayer:

‘Lord Jesus, I give you my hands to do your work. I give you my feet to go your way. I give you my tongue to speak your words. I give you my mind that you may think in me. I give you my spirit that you may pray in me. Above all, I give you my heart that you may love in me your Father and all mankind. I give you my whole self that you may grow in me, so that it is you, Lord Jesus, who live and work and pray in me.’

In more recent years in view of the shortage of clergy in many parts of the world, there has been some discussion of ordaining so- called vir probati to the priesthood. These are single men judged to be of good standing in their respective Christian communities. Having proven by the witness of their lives their suitability for ordination, they would forego the usual lengthy studies and formation required of student priests. The practice was not unknown in times past when circumstances called for it, as in the case of Archbishop Dermot O’Hurley who, as church histori- an Monsignor Patrick Corish puts it, ‘travelled a strange path to his dignity and to his martyrdom’. Archbishop O’Hurley, one of twelve Irish martyrs beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1992, died this month in 1584.

From Lickadoon to Louvain

Dermot O’Hurley was born in the vicinity of Emly, County Tipperary in 1530 but the family later moved to Lickadoon in the County Limerick parish of Donaghmore, a stone’s throw from Limerick city. From Lickadoon he went to the University of Louvain to pursue his studies, rising to great heights in the 1550s, first as professor of philosophy and later as dean of the university’s school of law. After some fifteen years in Louvain, he was invited to take up a position in the newly estab- lished University of Reims from where he went to Rome about 1570. In 1581, at the very height of his career, he was called by Pope Gregory XIII to become Archbishop of Cashel. In a gesture that displays an extraordinary generosity of spirit and depth of Christian commitment, he accepted the invitation, sacrificing his academic career of some thirty years in the process.

Archbishop of Cashel

In the late sixteenth century pro- motion to high ecclesiastical office was the guarantee, every where in Catholic THIS MONTH Europe, of an enviable stature and standing. Preferment to such a position in Ireland was a much less attractive prospect: in the case of the layman Dermot O’Hurley it amounted to a sentence of death. Ordained priest in August 1581, he was provided Archbishop of Cashel in September and received the pallium of white lamb’s wool the symbol of his archiepiscopal authority from the pope in November of that year. O’Hurley cannot have been unaware of the consequences that followed from this extraordinary series of events. Only two years before in 1579, the Franciscan bishop of Mayo, Patrick O’Healy had been executed in Kilmallock, County Limerick. Archbishop Richard Creagh of Armagh, O’Hurley’s fellow county man from Limerick was captured in 1567 and languished for twenty years in the Tower of London before being poisoned in 1586.

Holmpatrick Harbour

Sometime in late 1583 O’Hurley landed at Holmpatrick Skerries, County Dublin. His papers, which had been dispatched to Ireland separately, were in the meantime intercepted and the Dublin government had advance knowledge of his arrival. He stayed for a time with the baron of Slane, Thomas Fleming but his presence was notified to the Castle authorities. Patrick Corish suggests that the Archbishop failed to take account of the change that had taken place in Ireland since his departure for the continent over thirty years before. He placed his trust in noblemen who were no longer in a position to provide the protection hereto- fore extended to churchmen such as O’Hurley. Fleming, fearful for his own safety and pressurized by the authorities to obtain O’Hurley’s arrest, met with him in Carrick- on-Suir. Extraordinarily, he man- aged to persuade the Archbishop to accompany him to Dublin where he was arrested in early October.

Torture and death

O’Hurley’s arrival in Ireland coincided with a period of heightened political anxiety: although the Desmond Rebellion in Munster was in its death throes, there was talk of conspiracy and war elsewhere in the country. The authorities, for their part, were convinced that Archbishop O’Hurley was implicated in an international plot against England with Rome at its centre. In an effort to extract information from the prisoner, his interrogators were authorized to ‘put him to the Torture… which was to Toaste his Feet against the Fyer with hot Bootes’. To the discomfiture of the Dublin government it quickly became apparent that O’Hurley had no intelligence to give.

It was clear that, in returning to Ireland, he had no political purpose in mind whatsoever. In an effort to avoid the embarrassment that would have resulted from a public trial and possible acquittal, it was decided that he would be convicted under martial law. On 20 June 1584, very early in the morning, he was taken to College Green and hanged: the executioners were surprised to find there a number of the citizenry who had gathered on the Green for an archery match. News of the execution spread quickly through the city and his body was recovered and given Christian burial in the nearby St Kevin’s Oratory.

Like a lamb to the slaughter

The suffering and death of the saintly Archbishop O’Hurley and, indeed, the manner of his surrender to the authorities recall Isaiah 53: Though harshly treated, he submitted and did not open his mouth; like a lamb led to slaughter or a sheep silent before shearers, he did not open his mouth.’ For O’Hurley the white lamb’s wool pallium, prefigured the yoke of martyrdom. In 1984 a plaque was unveiled in the grounds of Knockea church near Lickadoon to mark the anniversary of the death of Dermot O’Hurley, Archbishop of Cashel, four centuries before. The twen- ty-fifth anniversary of his beatifi- cation invites remembrance of this remarkable Christian witness in Lickadoon, in Limerick and far beyond.

The Garden This Month

Deirdre Anglim

Honeysuckle wanders with a young pieris and lupion roses are magnificent. Everlasting sweet pea scents the front garden. Red and white clematis adorn the granite wall. This is a glorious month.

Gold and brown alstromeria yielded flowers all last summer so I’m expecting a repeat performance this year. Purple osteosper- mum was my best purchase last spring. It blossomed almost all year and has spread along the bed, keeping weeds at bay.

Did I tell you that I replaced second relucatant rhododendron with a young pieris and lupin? Both thrived in the ericaceous soil. The first tub still contains lilies. I have smeared Vaseline all over the rim and around the sides of the tub to prevent slug attack.

A few months ago a kind neighbour offered me some cuttings from the quince bush she was trimming. It was some weeks before I had a chance to put them into the ground. Imagine my delight when I spotted one greening up!

Last autumn I donated honesty that seeds to several gardening friends. I neglected to plant any in my own garden till this spring. I’m looking forward to an abundance of golden pennies’ this coming autumn.

A pink and purple fuchsia didn’t survive this year but other hardier red/purple eardrops are vibrant outside the kitchen window.

You can still pot up an assortment of annuals in containers/ hanging baskets/window boxes. White alyssum, nemesia, trailing blue lobelia, combined with yellow petunia look very attractive. Or go for a variety of nasturtium. The beauty of this hobby is that you can decide just what you want to grow in your garden. Do choose healthy plants in the garden centre/nursery. Keep them in shelter and well watered till you are ready to place them in situ. Daily watering of window boxes, containers and tubs is essential. I prefer to do
this at night.

Rake the grass before you mow the lawn. Stems of creeping weeds will be lifted and can be cut off by the mower. A neat lawn improves the appearance of the whole garden, doesn’t it? Keep the edges of the lawn trimmed too.

Bougainvillea is alive again! For the past while it has had no leaves, let alone flowers, on its branches. I had almost given up hope of ever seeing those delicate cerise pink bracts again. I continued to water it sparingly through winter months which may have encouraged it to bloom again. It has pride of place in the porch as it continues to flower.

Does God Change His Mind?

Stephen Cummins OP

May I begin this article with a question? I invite you to spend a few moments on this question: “Do you think God has feelings and emotions?”. When we look at various texts in the Bible, God is described as hearing the cry of the poor and the oppressed. God sees the suffering of the Israelites and sends Moses. God is depicted as both feeling and acting on his feelings. The Book of Jonah is a good illustration of a God who is touched by people and the shock such a ‘feeling God’ brings to Jonah. Jonah thought he knew God. In fact, he was certain he knew God. Jonah’s God was almighty and all-powerful. There was not an ounce of change or feeling of empathy in Jonah’s God. So, when God told Jonah to preach to the people of Nineveh and invite them to con- version, Jonah was puzzled and even resistent. Jonah was a Jew and the Ninevites were seen as ‘pagans’. So, Jonah preached as he was told to do. To his surprise, the Ninevites repented. The text tells us that God did not punish the Ninevites as he had threatened to do. He saw the people repent. He felt their hearts turning to Him. God changed his mind. The actual text can be translated not just that ‘God relented’, but, ‘God repented’. This was all too much for poor Jonah. He got angry at a God who could change his mind. His God was static, fixed, distant, untouched by human beings. Yet, here in front of him was proof that this was not the real God.

Our God Feels For Us

At the Incarnation, this God who feels, chose to walk amongst us in Jesus of Nazareth, Emmanuel, God-with-us. In Jesus’s parables we have plenty of examples of a God who changes his mind and who feels for us. The Prodigal Son illustrates the mercy of a God who is open to change. It also shows us the Jonah-type older brother who became lost in his own form of idolatry. His God was a God of duty and good behaviour. Like Jonah’s anger at God, the elder son was angry at his father being moved with pity for his erring son. In another parable, the parable of the workers in the vineyard, we have another example of God’s generousity and refusal to be limited to how some create their own image of God. Jesus asks the question which could have been asked of Jonah and the elder brother; ‘Why are you angry at my generosity?”

See the tenderness of God in Jesus

How does such rigidity grab hold of us? Can we identify with Jonah or the elder son? In what way do we encase God? If you are a parent or grandparent, do you show this generosity of God to your children or grandchildren? Are you passing on a fixed and unfeeling notion of God, or, a God who is touched by our experience? The image of God which we believe in and pass on to others can decide how we influence them for better or worse. The Easter Vigil liturgy acknowledges the damage done by believers in communicating an image of a static and unfeeling God. Contrast such rigidity with the tenderness of God-in-Jesus. His language and images were those which invited what was best in a person. His parables spoke of a God touched by the plight of individuals.

If you have a Bible at home, perhaps you could look up the following texts. Here you will see and feel the mildness of God. A God who refuses to be type-cast into a cold, static and unfeeling God. Old Testament: Exodus 3:7- 12; 32:14; Jonah 3:10; Judges 2:18. New Testament texts: Matthew 20:1-16; Luke 15:11-32; John 11:35 and Mark 6:34.

From the very opening of Genesis, God is seen as an active God: he moves, he creates, he calls and he invites. It is, as if, God could not be isolated. The God who is a Trinity, a community of Father, Son and Spirit can- not be a distant God. He is a God who uses us to express his empathy and mercy to others. He acts through us. We can be the face of God’s mercy.

Growing Old Gracefully

Helen Morgan

“Anyone can get old, all you have to do is to live long enough” said Groucho Marx, the quick-witted American comedian, television and film star. Your entitlement to an Irish bus pass at the age of 66 does not necessarily mean that you are old. With 70 now the new 50 when exactly does old age begin?

In Ireland during the Fifties, people of 55 were considered old but today with better medical care and sound nutritional advice, many older people are taking up new hobbies; getting married; studying for a degree and travelling the world.

Whereas the body will age to a certain degree over time, the same is not true of the mind. Mental performance remains roughly the same throughout one’s lifetime but recall can slow down a little. If you forget somebody’s name don’t panic. You do not have Alzheimer’s; forgetting small details as you grow older is perfectly normal.

Life Expectancy Has Risen

Life expectancy has risen dramatically in the last 50 years and in the developed world it is currently 80+ for both male and females. Although women usually outlive men by 6 years, many pensioners of both sexes today will celebrate their 100th birthday. During the Roman Empire the average life span of adults was 22 years; in medieval times 33, and by the 1900’s it had increased to between 36 and 55 years.

People who live long healthy lives are not remarkable; they are just normal people who think positive thoughts and who are open to what life has to offer. Complaining about your ailments will make you old before your time. Some people are blessed with energy and vitality throughout their lives and continue to do the things they have always done well into their eighties and nineties.

A healthy diet, plenty of exercise, limited alcohol consumption and no smoking combined with a positive attitude will go a long way towards keeping your body fit and healthy for longer. Keeping your mind active is easier; read a book, complete a crossword puzzle, or join a debating society. Don’t spend all your time sitting in front of a television set.

The general attitude towards older people in Irish society today however needs to be updated.

Many senior citizens are dismissed as “being over the hill” and are not treated with the respect they deserve. A growing number of GPS feel that older patients clutter up their surgeries and have a “give them a prescription and get rid of them” attitude towards senior citizens.

Senior citizens are not children

Addressing a pensioner as “pet”, “sweetheart” or “good girl” is demeaning to an older person. Senior citizens are not children to be talked down to but intelligent human beings who have contributed a great deal to society by working and raising families. Although in most cases these forms of address are well-meant, it is important to reserve this type of language for children.

In Asian countries older people are valued for their knowledge and wisdom. They are treated with deference by their families and by the society in which they live. Their advice is regularly sought by the younger generation in their neighbourhoods.

Growing older does not necessarily mean “getting past it.” A number of well-known people did not find fame until late in life. Grandma Moses, one of America’s most prolific artists, began her painting career at the age of 80 and by the time of her death at the age of 101, had produced more than 1,500 paintings. At 76, Pope John XX111 was elected pope and despite a short pontificate of only 5 years, he left his mark on the Roman Catholic Church. In 2009, Susan Boyle, then aged 48, took the world by storm when she sang “I Dreamed a Dream” on the X-Factor. Despite a life littered with insurmountable obstacles, Susan never gave up on her dream.

According to a recent survey in the Daily Express old age begins at 85 but age is not a number, it is an attitude of mind. Old age begins when you give up on your dreams and think and act old. Dame Vera Lynn, who celebrates her 100th birthday this year, is a classic example of growing old gracefully.

Here

Donagh OShea OP

There was a sailing vessel off the coast of Brazil, out of sight of land. The crew had run out of fresh water, and when they spotted another vessel they called to them in their distress. “We need water,” they signalled; “we’ll send over some boats with barrels to collect it.” They got back a signal, “Let down your buckets where you are!” They were shocked, thinking that the other sailors were only making fun of them. But one of the deckhands a very simple man, almost a simpleton let down a bucket, and when he drew it up again he began to drink the water greedily. The others watched, expecting him to spew it out. When he didn’t, one of them tasted the water and found to his amazement that it was fresh. Although they were out of sight of land, they were where the Amazon River empties into the ocean. It is such a massive river that even a hundred miles from land there is still fresh water. So, “put down your buckets where you are,” was not a cynical joke; it was the best of advice.

We already have everything we need

How many people have ever told us that we are missing nothing in our life, that we already have everything we need? Very few, I think. We have an ingrained habit of admonishing one another to change, to move, to acquire some- thing we don’t have, to be some- thing we are not… If we were to stop all that, even just for one day, what a strange experience it would be! Meister Eckhart said, “In truth there is not a cent’s worth of difference between my actual condition and the best I could imagine for myself.” This was not an expression of smugness; it was an expression of his “taking every- thing evenly from the hand of God.”

I remember being fascinated by some small monkeys in a zoo, and I would often go back to watch them. At feeding-time they nearly went berserk: a monkey would grab a piece of banana, and just as he was about to eat it he would spot a piece of apple; he would drop the banana and grab the apple, but just as he was about to eat it he would see something else… For several minutes they would be incapable of eating anything at all. Then one day I saw clearly that I was that monkey! (and that’s why I was fascinated by them). It is our very eagerness for things that makes us overrun them; it is our searching for things that hides them from us; it is our restlessness that conceals the truth. The truth (the saints assure us) is always right here. “Let down your buckets where you are!”

Another trick we have

There’s another trick we have too (I’ve seen it many times in myself, and in other people). Very often when we go for something we’re not really seeking it, we’re only running away from something else. What is the energy that makes us run? Fear. Fear doesn’t have to look like fear. Your face doesn’t need to be white, your knees knocking, your whole body trembling. You may look quite calm, relaxed; you have the short- lived peace of someone who has turned aside from a duty or a challenge. How hard it is to stay where we are and not be tossed around by fear and desire! Desire makes us jump forward, fear makes us jump back. Both are ways of avoiding the patch of ground we are on.

We are always telling ourselves how restless these times are, how fast everything moves. But there’s evidence that we’re not the only unsatisfied people the world has ever known. Writing in the first century to the Christians of Corinth, St Clement of Rome said, “There was a time when you were… satisfied with the provisions of Christ.” Evidently that day was gone. They used to be satisfied with what Christ provides for the journey… Now they were looking for something else: something that would distract them from their lives. “Why are you people of Galilee standing here looking into the sky?” said the mysterious presences to the disciples when Jesus was taken out of their sight (Acts 1:11). They might have added, “Let down your buckets where you are!”

A Simple Clerk

Unknown Author

15-year-old Paul had suffered from a high fever and flu-like symptoms for several days. So finally his mother took him to the hospital where Paul was diagnosed as having leukemia.

The doctors explained the disease to him and said that for the next three years he would have to undergo intense chemo- therapy. They told him of the side effects that would follow – baldness and a bloated body which sent him into a deep depression.

To lift his spirits, Paul’s aunt called a local floral shop to order and send him a flower arrangement. She told the clerk it was for her teenage nephew who had leukemia.

When the beautiful flowers arrived at the hospital, Paul read the card from his aunt. Then he saw a second card attached that said:

Paul.

I took your order. I work at Brix florist. I had leukemia when I was old. I’m 22 years old now. Good luck. My heart goes out to 7 years you.

Sincerely.

Rita.

For the first time, his face lit up. Paul was in a hospital filled with sophisticated medical equipment and technology. He was being treated by some of the best doctors and nurses around. But it was a simple sales clerk in a flower shop that took the time to care and helped give Paul the hope to carry on.

Saint Martin Replies

• Kerry: Could you please publish in your magazine my grateful thanks to St. Martin, Sacred Heart, Our Lady and St Faustina for many favours during my years. I had a stroke and then cancer but I got through that and then my son died from a heart attack. My faith remains and I pray now for my grandchildren doing exams. One grandson got his wish after persevering for a long time thank God. I hope before I die my requests will be answered for all my family. God bless you St. Martin, St. Therese and all the Saints.
• Scotland: When my cat was knocked down she broke her leg and the vet wanted to amputate it but I prayed to St. Martin. I was inspired to ask for a ‘second opinion’ and when this other vet attended him she managed to save his leg. My other cat, a female, was also knocked down and sustained a broken jaw. However she too recovered after prayers and novenas to St. Martin. St Martin is a dear friend to our animals as well as ourselves.
• Tipperary: Sincere and grateful thanks to my good friends St. Martin, Our Lady and The Sacred Heart of Jesus. They have never let me down, no matter what I ask for. I prayed for my son to get a job to help him get over the Christmas period and not only is he still working but he has since moved on to a better paid position. He gets very depressed at times and needs to be kept occupied. Thanks also for all their help with trouble I have been having with my eyes.
• Mayo: I promised thanksgiving if everything went well for my daughter who was pregnant. The baby was born before the time and things were not looking good, but St Martin intervened with The Sacred Heart and Our Lady and all went well. She has a lovely little baby girl and also succeeded in finding a house which had been a worry and for which I had offered prayers.
• Manchester: I am writing to say thank you to St. Martin, The Sacred Heart and Our Lady who have answered all our prayers for over fifty years. He has never failed me or my family members in anything we requested, especially when we had a lot of health scares in recent times, some that were serious. St. Martin never turned us away without answering all that we ever prayed for. So I will never cease praying to this wonderful Saint. Everyone out there put your trust in him.
• Dublin:  I was very anxious about issues concerning my marriage. With faith I prayed asking for help. I am happy to report that I have received my answer. I want to offer thanksgiving to St. Martin, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Holy Spirit. God bless you in your good work.
• Glasgow: I want to thank St. Martin, Our Blessed Lady and The Sacred Heart for many favours received over the past years. I have made the St. Martin novena daily and prayed for health issues for my family and myself which have come back favourably. I am praying presently for my grand- daughter for a place at University for teaching and hope St. Martin will intercede for me. Thank you St Martin, you are my trusted friend.
• Galway: In reality I could be writing every month with thanks for favours received through the intercession of Our Lady, St Martin and other saints. Recently, however, a close friend of mine was given the ‘all clear’ after a second test relating to a serious illnesses. This prompted me to put pen to paper. I am always impressed by the faith and gratitude of your readers in the ‘Saint Martin Replies’ section of your magazine so I hope you can publish this which may be of benefit to your readers also.
• Tipperary: I would like to say a sincere word of thanks to St. Martin, St Jude, St. Anthony and The Sacred Heart for a favour I received with regard to disagreement in the family, about which I was very anxious. I prayed that things might be resolved and unity and harmony restored. I am now praying for a favour with regard to my daughter and her baby.
• Northern Ireland: In grateful appreciation. I wish to thank St. Martin, St Anthony, St. Joseph and the Sacred Heart for favours received over the past three years. Better mental health for myself; a baby boy for my sister when all hopes were fading. There are numerous other favours I could mention and I will never stop praying to St. Martin.