Small Is Beautiful

Small Is Beautiful

Vincent Travers OP

I’ll start small. A sparrow is a tiny bird and a penny is a small sum of money. In Jesus’ day sparrows were two a penny. In Matthew’s Gospel, we get four sparrows for two pennies. But in St. Luke’s gospel we get five for the price of two. An extra one is thrown in for good measure. The extra one had no market value. It was deemed worthless. Yet, Jesus makes the point, that even the worthless spar- row, given away for nothing, is priceless. In God’s eyes, we are worth more than hundreds of spar- rows. Each is beloved. Each precious. Each a jewel in God’s crown. Each He looks at with a loving gaze.

You of Little Faith

We are slow to believe what Jesus says. We undervalue and underes- timate self worth. Humanly speaking, we want to be valued and appreciated for our own sake. What could be more natural. Self- worth, alas, is not something obvious. It is not self-evident. Actually, no one can develop a sense of their own self-worth from within. That comes from outside. And it must come as a gift from someone who believes in our worth.

Lies

This insight is powerfully illustrated in the well-known fairy tale of the wicked witch who imprisoned the beautiful princess in the tower. Each day the witch fed the princess a diet of lies. She kept telling her she was ugly. Sadly, when a lie is repeated often enough we tend to believe it. The lie was the spell the witch cast over the princess. And she believed the lie. She believed she was ugly. And as a result, she was spell bound by the lie. But one day all that changed. One day, while looking out the small tower window, she saw a young handsome man below, looking up, gazing wide eyed at her. Their eyes met. They held each other’s gaze. And the moment she saw the look of awe and wonder in his eyes, she knew the witch was a liar. In his presence she discovered a sense of her inner beauty. He broke the witch’s spell. That was his gift to her. That must be our gift to each other.

Spells

There are people close to us who cast spells over us, people who should know better spouses, parents, siblings, teachers, bosses, people in positions of influence and authority. They belittle and demean us, humiliate us in private and public, make us feel no good, stupid, ugly, and lousy. They cast their wicked spell that undermines our selfesteem, and damages our selfrespect. They insist on comparing us to others. Comparisons are odious, at any time, but especially hurtful and damaging when person- al, derogatory, and false.

Unique

God never repeats himself. Each act of creation is unique. Each act is incomparable. There will never be another you. We do not compare apples and oranges. When we do, we insult both the apples and the oranges. Being unique means no two people have the same finger- prints. We may seem the same speak, walk, sing and dance, play and pray, wash our car, cook, brush our teeth, kick a football, swing a golf clubbut we do these things in our own special way, like no one else. God made us differently. Being enlightened is looking in God’s mirror and crying out, as Mary of Nazareth did, “My soul magnifies the Lord. He who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.” But how many of us see ourselves as God sees us? It’s the old story, what we do not see we do not appreciate.

Poor Self-Esteem

Instinctively we feel ourselves to be valuable without, perhaps, being able to pin down the reason why this is so. Deep inside, we place a high value on ourselves. We would hardly be human if we did not. That is why we hurt so much when people, especially good people, ridicule and demonize us. Yet despite our natural instincts, psychologists tell us that most people have a poor opinion of themselves, and add rather ominously, we become what we feel. They claim that most people are too busy trying to be someone else. This, of course, is disastrous. It calls into question God’s good sense in making us who we are, because, in effect, we are saying, “God I don’t like what you have made. You could have done a better job.” Quite simply, that’s not only insulting, it’s blasphemous. We have no right to call into question God’s good taste and creative handiwork. In God’s eyes each one of us is a masterpiece. Each priceless. Each worth more than a hundred sparrows.

Audience

In the movie, ‘A Man for all Seasons’, a young ambitious man his name is Richard approaches Thomas More, Lord Chancellor of England, in the court of Henry V111. He asks him to use his influence with the king to have him appointed to a position of influence in the palace. Thomas knows Richard is selfcentred and ambitious. He can see the direction he is heading and advises him to go home and become a teacher in his village school. Richard was furious and protested,” A teacher!” Thomas More replied, “Yes, you will become a great teacher.” Furiously Richard screamed, “but who will ever know it?” More replied, “You will know it, and God will know it, and that is a mighty impressive audience.”

Supreme Importance

What matters, ultimately, is not what we think, but what God thinks. Jesus tells us what God thinks in words, so simple, that even a small child can understand. “We are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.” This is God’s gift to us and God wants us to accept the gift, cherish it, and live it. Indeed, the more we live it, the more we make our corner of the world the kind of place God had in mind, when he made it.

Question Box

Question 1. Would I be correct in believing that the Parable of the Wheat and Darnel addresses the question why God allows evil to exist with us in the world? When I read this Parable I feel very much reassured by Jesus that justice will be done at the end of time.

Answer:

Yes you are correct. Wheat and weeds growing side by side until the harvest. That’s how Christ described his church. Good and bad, saints and sinners, would all be part of his kingdom on earth. And that is the way it has been from the beginning. Indeed the history of the church is so full of sin and sinners that the wonder of it all is how it survived, how it continued to exist, how, despite its frailty and sinfulness, it managed to continue to be such a mighty force for good in the world up to the present time. How did it sur- vive the scandals, the weakness of its leaders and its members? The answer of course is that Christ never abandoned, never left his church. ‘I will be with you always until the end of time’ he promised. Jesus knew His church would not be perfect here on earth, that ultimate perfection will only come about in the next life, and thathis church needed his presence. During his short life here on earth his enemies denounced him for ‘eating and drinking with sinners.’ But in doing so he made it clear that his love embraces everyone, saint and sinner.

Sinful and imperfect as we are, this teaching comforts us. Christ nevertheless calls on us to keep trying to grow and improve, to keep up the struggle. He tells us to be ‘perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.’ We don’t become perfect overnight. It is a lifetime process but Christ is with us all the way, carrying us in times of weakness, urging us on when we are complacent and tempted to be content with our lukewarm state. As you  mention in your question, justice will be done at the end of time. In its teaching on the final judgement the Catechism of the Catholic Church I (1038) has the following:

The Last Judgment is “the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear the Son of Man’s voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment” (Jn 5:28-29).

Question 2.  Do angels really exist or are they just stories for London Reader children?

Answer:

When we hear about angels we are tempted to dismiss them as stories for children but the bible the word of God refers to them and calls us to believe in their presence in God’s world and in our lives. Remember what God said to Moses, “I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way…” (Exodus 23: 20). Inthe New Testament (Mt. 18:12) Jesus says “see that you never despise one of these little ones, I assure you their angels in Heaven constantly behold my heavenly Father’s face.” It is a long tradition in the Catholic Church that everyone is given an angel to guard him or her and to be a spiritual guardian through life. Our faith tells us that God loves and watches over each one of us and giving us a personal angel to guard and guide us is part of that belief.

Guardian Angel

On October 2nd we celebrate the feast and mass of the Guardian Angels in which we honour these angelic beings who protect us from spiritual and physical harm and inspire us to do good.

Prayer to our Angel Guardian

“Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen”

Some Bible references to Angels

HEBREWS 1:14: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”

Matthew 16:27: “For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s glory with his angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he had done.”

In his 2014 homily for the Feast of Holy Guardian Angels, October 2, Pope Francis told those who gathered for daily Mass to be like children who pay attention to their traveling companion; “It’s dangerous to chase away our traveling companion. Do not rebel; follow his advice. No one journeys alone and no one should think they are alone.”

From Coaching Inns To Hotels

In the early days of the hospitality industry a hotel was usually seen as a brief respite from travel, as extended stays in locations out side of one’s hometown were rare. Stopoff places offering a meal and a room such as coaching Inns were really only just that a place to break the journey or possibly spend the night. However, as modes of transport evolved during the Industrial revolution of the late eighteenth to nineteenth century; tourist lodging had to adapt to serve a new generation of traveller. It was during this time that the true transformation of the hotel industry began.

The arrival of the modern hotel The real growth of the modern hotel industry took place in USA with the opening of “The City Hotel” in New York in the year of 1794; the first building especially constructed for hotel purposes.

It was a brick structure fronting onto Broadway and was marked by stone embellishments above and between the windows. It housed a ballroom, public par-  lours, bars, a circulating library, as well as 137 rooms devoted to lodgings for overnight guests. It catered to the rich, the stylish, and the leaders of New York’s artistic, literary, and scientific circles. It welcomed public figures, from a 1797 reception for the recently elected President John Adams to a party given in honour of Andrew Jackson in 1817. The City Hotel took its last bow in 1849 and was demolished soon after.

In 1829, the Tremont Hotel in Boston Massachusetts opened its doors. It was widely known as the world’s first truly modern hotel. Free soap, bellboys and indoor plumbing were a few of its modern conveniences that offered hints at the modernisation still to come in hotel design.

Luxury hotels

From the mid-nineteenth century, hotels proliferated throughout North America and Western Europe. Luxurious hotels such as the Le Grand Hôtel Paris which opened in Paris in 1862. The hotel was a stunning monolith, designed to highlight the success, beauty, and grandeur of France’s Second Empire. The high arches of the hotel’s exterior were inspired by the nearby Opera House and the hotel included dozens of tracks of indoor lighting, which were powered by 4,000 gas jets. By 1890, the hotel was completely lit by electricity (a major development of the time).

In Great Britain by this time the railways had already begun to build a series of “railway hotels” near to their London termini. Train companies competed with each other to build bigger and better hotels for their passengers to stay in. These hotels were always the most luxurious in their respective cities, and were often built by the most acclaimed architects of the time. They attracted the rich and famous and for a few decades were the place to see and be seen. The first of these was The Great Western Royal Hotel at Paddington, London. The hotel built on Praed Street in the early 1850s was originally the idea of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, one of the nineteenth century’s engineering giants. Designed in the style of Louis XIV, it was opened on 9th of June 1854 by Queen Victoria’s Consort, Prince Albert.

Another great railway hotel is The Midland Grand Hotel at St. Pancras. Built by the Midland Railway Company the 150 roomed Midland Grand opened its doors in 1873. The building included many innovative features including hydraulic ‘ascending chambers’, concrete floors, and revolving doors. The Victorian decor was rich, lavish and expensive, with suites of rooms decorated with gold-leafed walls and a blazing fire in every room.

Many other large luxury hotels were built in London in the Victorian period. The Langham Hotel was the largest in the city when it opened in 1865. The Savoy, perhaps London’s most famous hotel, opened in 1889, the first London hotel with en-suite bathrooms to every room. Nine years later Claridges was rebuilt in its current form. Another famous hotel, the Ritz, based on its even more celebrated namesake in Paris, opened in 1906.

The upper end of the London hotel business continued to flourish between the two World Wars, boosted by the fact that many landowning families could no longer afford to maintain a London house and therefore began to stay at hotels instead, and by an increasing number of foreign visitors, especially Americans. Famous hotels which opened their doors in this era include the Grosvenor House Hotel and the Dorchester.

In the twentieth century, capital cities around the world began to mimic the grandeur stylings of Paris, London, New York, and soon, there were high-class luxury hotels all over the globe.

Boutique and budget hotels

In the mid-1990s there was a major proliferation of new hotels being opened, including hotels of many different types, from country house style hotels in Victorian houses to ultratrendy smaller boutique style hotels and minimalist premises.

The first budgettargeted hotels appeared in the mid 1980s, although, it wasn’t until around 2000 that this type of accommodation really started to grow sub- stantially. These are the Inn or Lodge type hotels such as Premier Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Ibis and Travelodge.

Capsule hotels became popular around this time. These are a type of economical hotel where people sleep in stacks of rectangular containers. They were first introduced in Japan in 1979. These feature a large number of extremely small “rooms” (capsules) intended to provide cheap, basic overnight accommodation for guests who do not require or who cannot afford the services offered by more conventional hotels.

In 2002, Simon Woodroffe, Chairman and Founder of YO! Company, drew inspiration from the Japanese capsule hotels he discovered on his travels; infused them with a sense of compact luxury and YOTEL was born. YOTEL’s ‘cabins’ are uncompromisingly designed around guests, taking the essential elements of luxury hotels into compact, but smart spaces with bespoke mattresses, rejuvenating monsoon rain showers, adjustable mood lighting and a Technowall with smart TVs, multi power points and an electronic check in system.

Conceived for busy international travellers, YOTEL hotels provide everything for a guest to relax, refresh, sleep and connect within global transportation hubs with many of them located in international airports and major cities across the world. The New York hotel is also home to the YOBOT, a robotic luggage concierge that has become a tourist attraction in itself!

In the twenty first century, hotel innovation continues to grow. We’ve seen the building of ice hotels, and an expansion of high-quality affordable hotel lodgings for people from all different socio-economic backgrounds. In the industrial era hotels were rigid autocracies stratified by income. Now they are arguably evolving into communities of like- minded people who, at least for a few nights, live in a system that transcends nationality and responds to who they are. Or who they would like to be. Who do you want to be next time you hand over your passport and check in? The options are now truly endless.

Gianna Beretta Molla: The Pro-life Saint

Then, on 16th May 2004, Pope John Paul II declared Gianna Beretta Molla a Saint, history was made, Never before had a husband witnessed his wife’s canonisation. Her life had been short, 39 years, but in that time she had been wife, mother, physician and Saint. Perhaps it should not be too surprising as she was part of a family who lived “a life of intense piety”. The Rosary was prayed daily as was family attendance at Mass.

Born in 1922, Gianna made her First Communion in 1928 and was Confirmed in Bergamo Cathedral two years later. Her teachers described her as a “diligent student” who was “always smiling”. After the sudden death of her sister Amalia, she made a spiritual retreat, resolving “to do everything for Jesus”. An enthusiastic member of “Catholic Action”, a group that helped the poor and needy, she planned retreats and organised courses, reminding others of the words of Saint Maria Goretti, that life was beautiful “when it is dedicated to great ideals”.

She then studied medicine in Milan, returning home to open a surgery once qualified. Frequently the poor were not charged as she regarded the poor sick as “images of Jesus Christ”. Late nights were common as she never left her work- place until every patient had been seen. Her own ill health prevented her from working with her brother Enrico, a priest in the Brazilian missions.

Accompanying pilgrims to Lourdes in 1945, she prayed to Our Lady for guidance, asking should she join a religious order or marry. No sooner had she returned home than she met Pietro Molla, who had also been praying, for “a blessed mother for my children”. After a short engagement they were married and as Gianna walked down the aisle, the congregation applauded the woman they loved because of “the exemplary manner of her practice of the Catholic faith”.

The Catholic Mother

She had earlier written to Pietro describing her vision of their married life, stating “With God’s help and blessing, we will do all we can to make our family a little cenacle where Jesus will reign over all our affections, desires and actions”. Before long, the children arrived, “God has blessed us” she wrote “we have three beautiful children, three handfuls”. They may have been “handfuls “at times but to their parents they were “treasures”. This joy, however, was marred by problems during pregnancy. Two children were delivered late after long hours of labour, with Gianna refusing all pain relief. Two miscarriages occurred before a further pregnancy. But a life threatening fibroid uterine tumour was found. One procedure could have saved the mother but not the child and, true to her faith, Gemma refused this. Less invasive surgery was carried out, allowing her to continue working until the day she was admitted to hospital. She told friends she was “ready for anything provided my child is saved”. Then she told Pietro “If you must decide between me and the child, save the child. I insist on it”. On Good Friday 1962, Emanuela was delivered by Caesarian section. How- ever, Gianna’s own condition deteriorated rapidly. She lay in agony for a week, frequently calling out “Jesus I love you”. Unable to receive Holy Communion because she could not swallow, she begged for the Sacred Host to be placed on her lips. She died on 28th April 1962.

The cause for her canonisation began in 1972. Five years later, as Lucia Cirilo, a Protestant, was close to death, a nurse prayed for Gianna’s intercession and the woman was restored to health. In 2003 Elizabeth Comparini was told her child had little chance of survival but after prayers to the Blessed Gianna, the child was saved.

At the Second World Day of the Family in 1997, daughter Emanuela, now a doctor herself, offered this prayer;

“Dear Mother, thank you for having given me life two times, once when you conceived me and once when you permitted me to be born. Intercede always for all mothers and families who turn to you and entrust themselves to you”.
Perhaps the greatest compliment paid to her came from her doctor who said “Behold the Catholic mother.”

Guests At The Wedding

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a King who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come…. But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The King was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to the servants, “The wedding is ready, but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.” So these servants went onto the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. (Mt 22:1-10)

A teacher once asked a class of children, “Hands up all those who want to go to heaven?” All hands shot up immediately. All, that is, except little Sarah-Jane. Teacher said “you mean to tell me that you don’t want to go to heaven. “No! said Sarah-Jane, looking around her, “Not if that lot is going!

Have you ever had the experience of attending a wedding celebration and all was going smoothly until you discovered that guest names had been assigned to particular places at particular tables? And you couldn’t settle until you found out at what table you were seated, and who was sitting next to you. And God forbid, perhaps you had to make a few little changes to the seating arrangement before you could relax and enter into the celebration!

Life in the Kingdom.

Jesus had a vision of human life as God intended it to be: of human beings together at the Father’s banquet table, as children of the same Father, as brothers and sisters to one another, relating with mutual acceptance, mutual respect and love. This is what Jesus called ‘the reign of God’ and what we refer to as the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven. In the preaching of our church this Kingdom has often been reduced to the experience of life after death, a pie in the sky when you die, not reality. But, clearly, Jesus had this world, and the here and now, in mind; beginning here and a reality that would see its fulfilment and completion in the heavenly mansions. In the only prayer that he gave us to nourish our identity and mission we pray “Our Father…thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Following on this we can hardly claim to be authentic followers of Jesus unless we are engaged at some level in the work of breaking down barriers, building bridges, and making room for our brother and sister at the table beside us, no matter what the past estrangement between us, no matter what the difference of race, nationality, ethnicity, church or religion.

The chief priests and the elders were so consumed with prejudice that they were shutting themselves out from life in the Kingdom.

And the idea of sitting down and sharing the same table with outcasts, rejects, outsiders, and gentiles was so offensive and repugnant to them, that there was no way they would take up the invitation to the King’s wedding feast.

Prejudice divides and separates.

Some would say we all harbour a few prejudices: any unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex or religion or past negative experience. In the image of the wedding feast these are the people you would not like to be next nor near at the table. At the root of prejudice there is often the idea that I or my crowd are better than the other crowd, socially, racially or spiritually. We look down on them, shun them and when we speak of them it is usually in derogatory terms by which we try to diminish their humanity.

Many of us are fairly happy living inside our prejudices and often oblivious to them. When someone challenges the way we see some people, the way we think about them, the way we relate to them, we resent it, just like the chief priest and elders in the gospel today.

You remember Shylock’s great speech in The Merchant of Venice’ where he asks Antonio why he feels he has the right as a Christian to rubbish Shylock because he is a Jew.

“I am a Jew, yes. But have I not got hands, mouth, ears and senses just like you? And do I not hurt at times just like you? Am I not cold and warmed by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick me, do I not bleed? If you tickle me do I not laugh? And if I am wronged do I not feel the same pain you do?”

Brothers and Sisters, no more and no less!

There is a Story of the Rabbi who once asked his students: “How do you know when the night is over and the day is at hand…?” Is it when you can see a tree in the distance and you can tell whether it is an apple tree or an orange tree?” answered one student. “A good answer”, said the Rabbi, “but not the one I’m looking for.” “Is it when you can see an animal in the distance and you can tell whether it is a sheep or a doe?” answered a second student. “Another good answer,” said the Rabbi “but again not the one I’m looking for.” The students were getting more and more frustrated: “Tell us then, when is it that you know that the night is over and the day is at hand? The Rabbi answered, “It is when you can look into the eyes of any man or woman and see there a brother or a sister, because unless you can do that no matter what time it is it is still dark.”

Dominic Collins SJ: Christian Soldier

David Bracken BA, BD, MESL, MA

This All Hallows Eve – a festival in honour of all the holy ones, light filled, at the beginning of the dark half of the year we remember the soldier and lay brother, Blessed Dominic Collins who was martyred on this day in the year 1602 in Youghal, County Cork and raised to the altars by St John Paul II in 1992.

A land laid waste

Dominic Collins was born in the seaside town of Youghal c.1566, the scion of a prominent merchant family. Both his father and brother served as mayor of the town in 1575 and c.1600 respectively. The first and second Desmond wars devastated Munster between 1569 and 1583 and Youghal was not spared the attendant ravages. The town was sacked and burned by the fifteenth earl of Desmond in late 1579 in a declaration of war against his Tudor overlords: ‘its houses being almost destroyed’ once again, two years later in 1581. During the conflict thousands of civilians died, victims of the scorched earth tactics of total war. In the wake of the conflagration the English poet, Edmund Spenser, describes a land laid waste and emptied of people: ‘there perished not many by the sword, but all by the extremities of famine, which they themselves had wrought’.

Irish migrant: soldier and adventurer

Against this backdrop the young Collins left Ireland in 1586 to seek his fortune and followed the welltrodden path to France. Sixteenth-century France was home to a large and colourful Irish community of soldiers, scholars and priests, merchants, hawkers and beggars, all seeking refuge from religious persecution, political instability and economic distress in the home country. Collins landed at Les Sables d’Olonne and found work in a Nantes hostelry where he spent three years before enlisting in the army of the Catholic League fighting against the Huguenots in Brittany. Tired of the humdrum of work, Dominic was perhaps inspired by the cause and the promise of adventure. Nine successful years were spent in military service: promoted to the rank of captain, he later was appointed military governor of the territory and château of Lapena. With the collapse of the Catholic League, he entered the service of the king of Spain where a glittering career in the army, no doubt awaited him.

Brother-novice

After a chance meeting with Fr Thomas White, S.J. in Lent 1598, Dominic Collins renounced all worldly prospects and after repeated requests, over long months was received as a brother novice by the Society of Jesus in Compostella on 8 December that year. Like Ignatius of Loyola before him a man once ‘given to the follies of the world’, a soldier bearing arms Collins was converted to Christ and wanted nothing more than to serve the Gospel as a religious brother. The seed of a vocation had been planted in his heart some twenty years before in his native Youghal by Jesuit Fathers Lea and Rochford who established a school there in 1577. The idea grew in him on hard-fought summer campaigns and during long nights over winter furlough. To quote the memoirs of St Ignatius, his greatest consolation, ‘was gazing at the sky and the stars, which he often did and for long, because he thus felt within himself a very great impulse to serve Our Lord’. Br Dominic made his first profession as a religious on 4 February 1601.

An ill-fated expedition

On 3 September 1601 a naval force of 33 Spanish ships under the command of Don Juan del Águila sailed for Ireland carrying some 4,500 soldiers. Among their number was the newly professed Br Dominic who had been appointed by his Spanish superiors to assist the chaplain to the forces, James Archer, S.J. In a dark omen the Spanish flotilla was scattered by storm. While the main fleet arrived in Kinsale at the beginning of October, Collins’ ship was forced back to Coruna. It made landfall at Castlehaven, west of Kinsale in early December where the ship’s company accepted the support of DonalO’Sullivan Beare, lord of Bantry. Collins was present at Kinsale on Christmas Eve 1601 when the Irish forces under O’Neill and O’Donnell suffered an ignominious defeat at the hands of the English forces under Mountjoy and the earl of Thomond. The besieged Spanish troops had joined battle when it was too late, the result of a miscommunication. Don Águila surrendered to Mountjoy on 2 January 1602 and returned to Spain with his army.

Siege of Dunboy

Collins remained behind presumably out of duty to his superior Fr Archer who, in the confusion of events, he had only met for the first time later that month in Gortnacloghy. Both men accompanied O’Sullivan Beare who was engaged in a desperate rearguard action against the English to his stronghold at Dunboy Castle on the Beara Peninsula. Archer departed Dunboy before the English laid siege to the castle on 6 June. The garrison was overwhelmed some ten days later on 18 June and all the defenders were summarily executed. Two others were hanged shortly afterwards in Cork, leaving Dominic Collins as the sole survivor of the siege of Dunboy. He was examined at length before Sir George Carew, president of Munster and was pressed to enter the service of the crown. According to the Jesuit historian Proinsias Ó Fionnagáin, as a Jesuit apostate he would have proved more useful to Carew than as a victim of the massacre at Dunboy. He refused. From Cork he was taken to Youghal where he was executed on 31 October 1602, wearing the simple habit of a Jesuit religious brother and professing to the end his Catholic faith.

The Garden This Month

Deirdre Anglim

Honeysuckle scents the air. Mallow is still flowering throughout the garden. Purple osteospermum sprawls along the beds. Orange, yellow and scarlet nasturtium meanders through the hedge at the low wall.

Autumn leaves decorate the lawn in shades of red, and gold and brown. Of course they must be gathered and transferred to the compost heap on the next dry day; but aren’t they beautiful as they drift to the ground?

Weeding is essential. Get out on any dry day, suitably attired in hat, coat/jacket, gloves and your gardening shoes, root out those weeds before they take over the beds. Remember to bend your knees, and protect your back. Pick a small area to clear at a time.

Cut back your perennials once they have finished flowering. Label the height/colour of plants before you lift and divide them. Sedum can be left as they are winter frost will enhance their appearance.

Start planting those spring bulbs. The size of the bulb deter- mines the depth it needs. Random sowing will reward you with clusters of colour next year.

Bare root rose bushes are on sale this month. Prepare a suitable site before you purchase. Roses grow best in their own allocated area. Use plenty of compost to enrich the soil. Allow enough space for the roots to be spread out. Stake if necessary. Water well. Attach a label with details of variety, height, and colour plus the date you planted each bush.

Gutters and drainpipes become clogged with leaves and debris during the month. These need to be cleaned out regularly. Ask for help if you need it!

Pots should be checked for drainage. Turn the pot on its side and poke the holes with old knitting needles or a fat stick to clear them. Where the soil level of the pot has gone down you can add a layer of peat to build it up again. Mount pots on flat stones or blocks so water can flow through instead of lodging in the base.

Share The Joy Of The Gospel

“The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus.” In his apostolic letter ‘Evangelium Gaudium’ Pope Francis urges Christians to be missioners, to share their faith with those they encounter on life’s journey, and to proclaim the gospel with joy.

Our Faith is God’s greatest gift to us. It gives us a vision of the world as God sees it. But it is a gift not to be selfishly hoarded and Mission Sunday in October is a yearly powerful reminder to all that we are called to share our faith with those we meet in life. Celebrated all over the Christian world, it reminds us all that we are all asked to be missioners, to tell others the wonderful news that God loves us. Doing our best to live what we believe, is by far the most effective and best way we have of spreading the Good News, of teaching others about Christ. Standing up for our beliefs and values in a world where they are often ridiculed demands courage, but we are strengthened by the knowledge that Our Lord is always with us, and he tells us ‘Do not be afraid.’ Mission Sunday calls us to renew our efforts at living the faith we profess, and in our love for Christ and His church to pray for the missionary activity of the Church all over the world. His words to his disciples and to all of us are as fresh as ever today: “Go forth and make disciples of all nations… Proclaim the Good news to all Creation”.

Mission Sunday October 22nd

Knowledge of God

The essence of Christianity, and what makes it distinct from Judaism and other religions, is the knowledge of God as Our Father. Jesus makes it possible for each of us to personally know God as Our Father. He tells us ‘Who has seen me has seen the Father’ and in another place ‘I and the Father are one.’ In Jesus we see the perfect love of God a God who cares intensely and who yearns over men and women, loving them to the point of laying down his life for them upon the Cross. Jesus is the revelation of God a God who loves us completely, unconditionally, and perfectly.

Ordination Homily

Philip Mulryne O.P. who was ordained Priest on Saturday July 8th; celebrated his first mass on Sunday 9th July. The following is from the sermon preached by Fr. Ciaran Docherty O.P. at the mass.

This days after your ordination, there is a question you might ask yourself, a question that might and perhaps must haunt you every day for the rest of your life! What have I become?

The simple answer is a priest, and everybody thinks that they know what a priest is…he says mass and hears confessions and visits the sick and organises the bingo, but if we were to list all the different things a priest does still we would only be scratching the surface of what a priest is.

For there really is no easy answer to that question, because to understand what a priest is would be to understand the height and the depth of the being of Jesus Christ himself.

So we take all these things a priest does and we ask the obvious question as to why he does them at all. And to understand this we must investigate two things, we must look at Christ and see why he did what he did, and then you must search your own mind to find out why you did what you did.

The Gospels tell us many things about Jesus; in various ways they tell us who he is and what he did and at the root of it all we find a simple statement of love “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

It was because of God’s love for his own creation that he gave us his only son as Saviour.

So love is the reason that Jesus did what he did,,, why he died on the cross to save us, why he rose again to give us the hope of eternal life.

Your life as a Dominican has been and will continue to be a preparation in prayer and study for the unfolding of your new reality, your priestly reality. In prayer and study you will learn more of this love that God has for you and hopefully you will be so filled with this love that it will strain to the limits your flesh, compelling you to preach the Gospel because you must get out what is within.

A Channel of Grace and love

Because you will stand now in the middle of a relationship, the relationship between God and his people. You are a servant of Christ and his people, a channel of grace and love.

You are a channel, a way for Christ to be in the world, but not the only way, and not the most important.

But you must humbly acknowledge that you are more than just the man in the middle. God has called you to serve him and his people will need you to serve them.

What you have learned from God, great though it is, is but a taste of the fullness of all the possibilities of divine love.

Christ knew the fullness of the love that brought him into the world and through everything which he did and said he communicated this love no matter how unable some were to receive or understand it. It is this love that he will teach you in prayer and which you must communicate to those you serve in your preaching.

So, never rest and say there is nothing more the Lord or his people can teach me. Always be on the lookout for what more you can be taught and what more you can learn so that you can serve Him and his people better. They will show you their need for God in all the ways that human beings need God and God will respond to them through you.

You now participate in God’s work of satisfying the needs of his people and if they see God in you they will come closer to him, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, but even coming a little closer is something to rejoice
over.

So what is a priest? What are you?

You are a servant, a friend, a brother, a father, one who offers sacrifice and praise on behalf of the people and for the people and as you work and pray for the salvation of others, others will in their own way work and pray for your salvation. What you are you under- stand a little, what you are to become you understand not at all, but God who has begun this work in you will bring it to its completion and when he does you will fully understand what you are in the light of God’s full revelation of Himself to you.”

The Little Cross Chapel

Fr. Flannan Hynes

Irish Dominican Fr. Flannan Hynes has spent more than 35 years of his priesthood in South America. He worked in Argentina, Paraguay and is now in Uruguay. Here he writes about his apostolate in Paraguay

In 2003 I found myself assigned to work in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay. Several young men were just about to complete their novitiate year and were returning to Asunción to begin their studies in philosophy, in preparation for the priesthood. They were all from Paraguay. A new community had to be started to receive them. Here they would pray together and study for the Priesthood. Paraguay has one important difference from all the other countries of Latin America. The local native language is Guaraní. In all the other countries of Latin America, Spanish, or Brazilian, took over completely. Fortunately I was working in the city of Asunción where Spanish was the dominant language and I did not have to try to learn the very difficult Guaraní language.

Since the conquest the countries of Latin America have been Catholic, with the exception of Uruguay where I am at present. The Paraguayan people are a most religious people. Their faith is important to them and they express it with many statutes of Our Lord, Our Lady and the Saints, medals and religious symbols, candles, devotions, novenas and pilgrim- ages. From hard working, farming, poor, religious families have come many vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Sadly Paraguay is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. The majority of the people continue to suffer greatly from unjust social structures.

The house where I lived and worked is attached to a small, cir- cular, modern church called The Little Cross. How the church got that name has an unusual history. Years ago on the corner of the street, where the church now stands a young soldier by the name of Cirilo Duarte was on guard duty. When it came time to hand over the rifle to a companion, who was replacing him, an accident happened and Cirilo was killed. A wooden cross was erected. It did
not last long as people cut off chips as ‘relics’. This happened several times. Flowers were left on the spot, candles lit and also money just left on the ground. Neighbours became concerned at what was happening to the money and a committee was formed to build a more permanent shrine. Tuesdays became days of pilgrimage to the Holy Cross. The church authorities became concerned about the devotion. Was it devotion to the Holy Cross or was it devotion to the young soldier? How much of it was superstition? Many plaques cemented to the shrine were in thanksgiving to Cirilo Duarte. With time the committee began to construct a small church beside the shrine.

Religious Orders expelled from Parguay

All religious orders were expelled from Paraguay in the 19th century. In 1969 we Dominicans began steps to return to Paraguay. The archbishop of Asunción asked us to take over this chapel dedicated to the Holy Cross. The people always referred to the chapel as THE LIT- TLE CROSS. When the altar was made the little cross from the shrine was placed within the altar, illuminated and with protective glass. The people could touch the glass, as they touch Crucifixes and all statutes. The shrine on the street corner was demolished. It took several years of patient work for the Dominicans to promote true devotion to the Holy Cross.

Beside the chapel the Dominicans built a technical school. At that time there were no technical schools in Paraguay. The school functioned at night time and gave classes in subjects that would help the young people find work. Carpentry, metal work, electricity, motor bike repairs, hairdressing, were some of the subjects offered.

I spent 8 years in Paraguay. For some of them I helped out as parish priest. The parish was divided into areas, each area with a Basic Christian Community in charge. The priest visited the communities twice a month and helped with the Bible reflection. On Fridays the ministers of Holy Communion would gather for Mass in the com- munity chapel and then set out to visit the sick. Each Friday the priest went to a different area with the ministers to give the sick the possibility of receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation. It might not seem much to go walking around the parish on Friday mornings until it is remembered that the temperature could be as much as 40°!

During my years in Paraguay another Irish Priest, Fr. Martin Hunter from Belfast worked with me. At the end of my time in Paraguay I was sent to Uruguay to work. Next month I will tell you about Uruguay and our missionary work there.

Piano Master and the Defiant Boy

Unknown Author

Wishing to encourage her young son’s progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her. Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked NO ADMITTANCE.

When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy’s ear, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.” Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part.

Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonder- fully creative experience. The audience was mesmerized.

That’s the way it is in life. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren’t exactly graceful flowing music. But when we trust in the hands of a Greater Power, our life’s work truly can be beautiful.

Saint Martin Replies

• Dublin: I want to thank St Martin interceding for me and helping me to get a two bedroomed house. I had been very unhappy for a long time where I had been living, so much so that it began to affect my health. My brother in particular was very concerned about me. The neighbours were very difficult and at times it all became too much for me to cope with. I prayed and prayed for a solution to this very serious and ongoing problem in my life. I cannot begin to tell you how happy I was when finally I was able to get a lovely new place to live. I have great faith in St. Martin and the power of prayer.
• Cavan: Just a line to St Martin to thank him for the recovery of my dog who was knocked down on the road.
• Antrim: I recently prayed St Martin’s Novena to help me with a very personal issue. I have prayed to him since I was very young and he has never failed me. Thank you so much St Martin for always hearing my prayers and helping me with everything. You are truly an amazing saint and I cannot thank you enough for all that you have for done.
• Anon: I wish to thank St Martin for his powerful intercession. I am 75 years of age and I live alone. One night a few weeks ago I had bad palpitations and weak- ness. I rang the doctor on call. Then I went outside where I would have a chance of being found if I should fall down. Out of the blue a man I knew came along and helped me to get a taxi to the hospital where they gave me amazing treatment and attention. I know that man was sent by St Martin. There have been many other times that I turned to him for help and I can truthfully say he has never refused me. I thank you and I love you St Martin. I never feel alone when I can call on you.
• Limerick: I promised St Martin that I would write this long over due thanksgiving. I have prayed to him for years and he has helped me through many difficult times in my life. I am now asking him to intercede on my behalf for a full time job for my son and a suitable job for myself as the shop where I have been working closed down.
• Kerry: A month ago back surgery was planned for my brother. It seemed that the conservative approach to the problem was not improving the situation. I prayed to Our Lady, St Martin and the Holy Souls. The night before the date for surgery the Consultant told him that an improvement was taking place. Surgery was therefore deferred, (hopefully postponed) and he is to continue a regime for a month until another review. Our Lady, St Martin and the Holy Souls are always there to intercede for us.
• Down: Thank you St Martin and Our Lady of Lourdes for helping me to get good results from a recent mammogram. I also want to express gratitude for my daughter passing her exam. Please continue to watch over us.
• Westmeath: I wish to publish my sincere thanks to St Martin, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady for so many favours received. Thanks for my sister’s recovery from cancer and for the health of all my family. Thanks also for my son’s employment. Please keep my family safe.
• Antrim: Thank you to St Martin, St Joseph, the Sacred Heart and Our Lady. I pray daily and make the St Martin Novena on a continuous basis. They never fail to answer my prayers. My husband is a diabetic and after kidney failure I donated one of my own kidneys. He has also had to have a toe removed. Without prayer I could not have got through these and other events in my life. I also pray for my children and grandchildren every day.
• Manchester: This letter to St Martin and the Apostolate is very much overdue. My granddaughter went to University to study medicine in September 2013. She sat her final exams this Summer and she has passed them. She has one more year to complete and another exam to pass which has nothing to do with medicine. I have placed her in St Martin’s care all the time but especially since University. When I prayed for her to get a place to do medicine I promised St Martin I would write and let the Apostolate know. I have known St Martin since 1961 and he is the most wonderful saint in Heaven. He is always by my side in all aspects of my life. He is my friend and I love him. Thanks be to Our Blessed Lord, Our Blessed Lady and St Martin.