Knock Y2K Festival

Just another reminder about the Catholic youth festival of the summer in Knock, July 26-29. It's a collaborative effort between Youth 2000 Ireland and the Youth Ministry team at Knock Shrine. And, as well as the event itself being run on a donation-only basis, there are now also FREE BUSES to Knock from all over Ireland! There's no excuse not to be there :)

Graduation

Sorry for my recent silence - I've been busy moving my life back to Galway. I arrived late last night, having graduated in the morning. I'm not very good at posting pictures, but I've got a few decent ones from graduation... Apparently I'm now Conor McDonough BA (Cantab), but I don't feel very different!

My brother, Owen, managed to make it

over - here we are at the graduation dinner.

With my parents. As usual, my mum was concerned

to make sure her son looks somewhat presentable!

With the Dean (my hard-working

Director of Studies) and Praelector of King's College.

Not sure why I have that look on my face...

With the ink still wet on the certificate!

Leaving King's for the last time... perhaps.

Dublin Mayor is Heading to Sydney

According to catholicireland.net, the outgoing Mayor of Dublin, with his wife, will attend World Youth Day '08 in Sydney! The couple, who are expecting their first child in August, met at WYD Toronto in 2002.

They'll be travelling with Catholic Youth Care, who are offering a very attractive package: their 'days in the dioceses' trip will be spent in a parish on Bondi Beach!

The Human Experience

Here's a teaser of the Grassroots Films new release, 'The Human Experience'. Looks good!

Faith and Film

I've been meaning to post about Grassroots Films for ages. It is a Catholic film studio that is somehow connected with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (anyone know exactly how?). In their own words, they 'aim to inspire and change the way people see reality'. Their production values are excellent, and some of their films (like Fishers of Men, a vocations video produced for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops) have been very influential. If any reading this are involved with Catholic youth, I urge you to buy some of their films - the formation of young people should not ignore the imagination. Thanks to television, cinema, and, above all, the internet, our imaginations are formed by a huge variety of images which are often unhelpful in living a Christian life. In 2002, John Paul II asked the question: 'From this galaxy of sight and sound will the face of Christ emerge and the voice of Christ be heard?'. Grassroots Films are doing their best to ensure that they will. God bless their work!

Poetry on St Dominic

St Dominic (biography by Jacques Maritain) is a truly heroic figure in the history of the Church. As heroes do, he has inspired many literary tributes. His character is well-sketched by Dante, who focusses on the outward aspect of his sanctity, his mission:

There where the gentle breeze whispers among the young flowers that blossom over the fields of Europe, not far from that shore where break the waves behind which the big sun sinks at eventide, is the fortunate Calaroga; and there was born the loyal lover of the Christian Faith, the holy athlete, gentle to his friends, and terrible only to the enemies of truth. They called him Dominic. He was the ambassador and the friend of Christ; and his first love was for the first counsel that Jesus gave. His nurse found him often lying on the ground, as though he had said, 'It was for this that I came.' It was because of his love for the Divine Truth, and not for the world, that he became a great doctor in a short time; and he came before the throne of Peter, not to seek dispensations or tithes; or the best benefices, or the patrimony of the poor, but only for freedom to combat against the errors of the world by the Word of God. Then, armed with his doctrine and his mighty will, he went forth to his apostolic ministry even as some mountain torrent precipitates itself from a rocky height. And the impetuosity of that great flood, throwing itself on the heresies that stemmed its way, flowed on far and wide, and broke into many a stream that watered the garden of the Church.

An anonymous nun of Prouilhe, Dominic's first foundation (1207, 800 years ago), brings out the contemplative dimension of his character in the beautiful poem below (which I found in The Way of the Preacher by Simon Tugwell OP). It's quite long, but is really worth reading:

He was a man who wept.
And in his tears glistened, men saw, love
human and tender; human because divine,
divine because wrung from prayer, from an agony of truth.
'Ah Lord, what will become of sinners?'.

Alone he waited, in a place he could not convert,
carrying alone, through the years of disappointment,
a task that had seemed begun.
The Word of God burned in him
fiercer than fire, deeper than flood,
banishing fear and comfort;
a Word uttered in silence, echoing still,
breaking the night into groans of entreaty.

This, then, was Dominic, his signature
barely visible on the scrolls of history;
a trace of a smile still lingers over the vineyards
where they tried to kill him, but found
death died in his eagerness to die.

He founded an Order, men say.
Say rather: befriended.
He was their friend, and so
at last, in spite of themselves, they came.
He gave them an Order to found.

Those eyes, wet with the tears of truth, knew Truth.
And Truth - seeking still to become frail flesh -
did not disdain to clothe itself in the very disappointments,
the indifference and inadequacy of men.

The faith of God in man makes, every now and then,
a man come true.
And then a hear ish rhythmed
to the very beat of God, a mind
to truth, and a mouth to gospel,
wooing the matter of man to God.

Such a man was Dominic,
messenger of God's love, a carrier
of his infinite pain and hope,
a hurricane and a haven,
hurling torrents of peace through the civilized corridors
of comfortable half-truths
of plump correctness and wizened zeal;
to dwellers in ancient darkness long familiar,
a disturbing possibility of day.

And yet, after all, a man.
A man at home with popes and peasants
and fading gentlewomen,
a man of beautiful hands and un-grey head.
'The night for God, the day was for his friends',
nemo communior, so they said
in wonder so still they forgot to wonder.
Emmanuel, God with us, God like us:
the ordinary always the vehicle of Infinity.
Such a one was Dominic,
not loud in the display of strange religion,
loud only in his mere humanity,
too mere for 'sanctity',
too mere for chroniclers to tell of much,
too mere to hide the dewfall of God's light.
A fragrance still, still fragrance of far home,
to exiles stooped to very grave-side of forgetfulness
sudden remembrance - Ah! What
will become of sinners? Pray, pray for us,
bearer of the torch,
pray for us sinners, pray
for our world of drab.

Ant and Dec Undercover

I never knew much about Ant and Dec growing up but I've come to love their presenting style. They seem really natural and good-natured. Here they play the part of Irish nuns brilliantly. Top class accents. If you think this clip is too irreverent, remember what GK Chesterton said: 'It is the test of a good reigion whether it can laugh at itself'.

Interesting bit of trivia, Dec's brother, Dermot Donnelly is a priest of Hexham and Newcastle diocese.

Passionists

I just came across this great blog - Laus Crucis - by a Passionist priest in Scotland. It includes lots of stuff on St Charles of Mount Argus. I did my coursework this year on the theological and philosophical dimensions of devotion to the passion, and reading texts about the passion, such as Bonaventure's Lignum Vitae, has really helped me get deeper into the Mass. God bless the work of the Passionists!

St Aloysius

It's the feast of St Aloysius Gonzaga today, a Jesuit who died at the age of 23. He's the patron of young people - why not ask his intercession for the young Church, especially those being called, perhaps without realising it, to priesthood or religious life.

Lord God, source of every grace,

you joined an innocent heart to a penitent's sorrow

in the life of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga.

Grant, through his intercession,

that we, who have failed to imitate his innocence,

may follow his example of penance.

(Concluding Prayer for the memoria of St Aloysius Gonzaga)

Silly Ian

I don't intend to start a crusade against the man, but Ian O'Doherty's poor standard of journalism has clearly ruffled many feathers... Here's a very good response to an article of his on embryonic stem cell research.

Letter in Indo

I was pretty peeved after reading a really biased and uncritical review of Christoper Hitchens' "God is Not Great" by Ian O'Doherty, a tabloidesque journalist who writes for the Irish Independent... so I wrote a letter, and it got published today (20/06/07)!

Here it is:

'Ian O'Doherty's recent review of Christopher Hitchen's latest book (Irish Independent, June 16) featured the simplistic approach to religion that readers of his column have come to expect.

From the off, he displays his biased perspective, describing Dawkins's 'The God Delusion' as a "truly interesting, original and persuasive defence against the stupidity of faith." Dawkins and O'Doherty are united in their unassailable conviction in this regard, but such conviction leads in both cases to a worldview incapable of incorporating subtlety (in Dawkins' case, this means that his writings on religion are neither respected nor influential in mainstream academia).

Such an incapacity leads Ian O'Doherty to commit the cardinal error of aligning science with secularism, and irrationalism with faith.

This characterisation, which bears little relation to the facts of history, is unacceptably simplistic.

Ian O'Doherty, and other "aggressive secularists" like him, if they wish to make a case for the irrationality of faith, should, at the very least, engage seriously with the philosophical articulation of the faiths they detest.'

Hope it's not too angry!

Ampleforth!

Great news - Ampleforth College have decided to take me on as a teacher of Christian Theology! I went up for interview on Tuesday, and was very impressed by the school and the department of theology. The atmosphere in the staff room was positive and happy - a very rare thing for a school staff room. The department of Christian Theology is one of the biggest in the country. Its name was very deliberately chosen - rather than focussing on 'religions' and their differences, it encourages the pursuit of truth in a framework of faith.

I had to teach a class on Aquinas' understanding of natural law as part of the interview process, and I asked for his intercession... Thanks Tom :)

King of Kings

Another beautiful traditional Irish prayer from 'Saltair':

Jesus, Son of Mary, bright King of Kings,
emperor of mankind and their beloved,
sweet, honoured Christ,
through whose radiance were created
the kingdom of heaven and the things of earth
in their time.

Banish our blindness, our folly and our madness
from our hearts for ever, Star of all Graces,
remember your sufferings, holy child of the Cross,
remember it was through them you freed us from death.

I dread the wearying storm and the game of evil,
that have thrown into slavery the children of Adam.
By breaking your laws, Holy Spirit, I have deserved
the dread fires of hungering sin to be my torment.

Holy Jesus,
gentle friend,
star of the morning,
glorious sun of the noonday,
bright light of believers and of truth,
well of everlasting life,
beloved of the patriarchs,
beloved of the prophets,
master of the apostles and disciples,
giver of the law,
judge of the last day,
Son of the merciful Father and of no mother in heaven,
Son of the Ever-Virgin Mary and of no father on earth,
grant us your love.

Possible Job

I'm travelling to Yorkshire tomorrow to be interviewed for a post teaching theology at Ampleforth. It's a really cool place, and a great school, but I don't have much teaching experience so my hopes aren't too high!

President's Message

Below is the text of the message from Mary McAleese, the President of Ireland, to the Irish College in Rome, on the occasion of the martyrdom of one of its alumni, Fr Ragheed Ganni:

'I was in Rome last weekend when the tragic news came through that Fr. Ragheed Ganni, someone I first met in Lough Derg some years ago and a former student of the Irish College had been killed with three of the deacons who worked with him - one of those deacons his cousin.

Fr. Ragheed’s father and mother, and all his family, must suffer great pain at this time. Their loss is all the more terrible for the suddenness and evil manner of his death. May Fr. Ragheed’s dear parents be sustained by their deep faith.

The manner of Fr. Ragheed’s death will be mourned in particular by the people of Iraq — and as his funeral mass in northern Iraq demonstrated - by the people of the whole region. Fr. Rag heed returned to live and minister in the ancient city of Mosul, in the parish of the Holy Spirit, in full consciousness of the risks. There had been a bomb attack on the parish church as recently as Pentecost Sunday. Let us recognise Fr. Ragheed’s sacrifice for what it was. Equally, we should reflect in truth on the sequence of events that has brought so many communities in Iraq to the edge of survival. As we follow the daily tragedies of Iraq, we should pray, as Pope Benedict said, that this ‘costly sacrifice will inspire.. .a renewed resolve to reject the ways of hatred and violence.”

In the middle of the forced exodus to Connaught in the 1 650s, a Gaelic poet (Fear Dorcha O'Mealláin) wrote about the possibility of faith even under dire circumstances of persecution and social dislocation (An Duanaire). He spoke too of God’s oneness:

“People of my heart, stand steady,
don’t make play of your distress.
Moses got what he requested,
religious freedom, even from Pharaoh.

Identical Israel’s God and ours,
One God there was and still remains.
Here or Westward God is one,
One God ever and shall be...”

Fr. Ragheed Ganni’s death challenges us to work for reconciliation between faiths and to create a world where each human life is revered. The process of our own island’s reconciliation that began so promisingly in Belfast a few short weeks ago, may hold out hope for Fr. Ganni’s beloved, but troubled, homeland.

These are days of sorrow for a caring family, for a lacerated country, and for so many others. But Fr. Ragheed lived his life by a commandment to love. In our sorrow we remember, on this feast of Corpus Christi, his sacrifice, his willing sacrifice in service of his faith.
I thank God today for the blessing that has been given us in Fr. Ragheed Ganni.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.'

Mary McAleese
President of Ireland

All Done!

The last exam of my finals took place this morning - I've done all the work for my degree! Praise the Lord! It's involved four years of hard work, but I don't regret a bit of it. Cambridge offers a great intellectual formation, and I've been really blessed here.

And it was quite nice knowing I had an entire convent of Poor Clares praying for my revision...

A New Martyr for Iraq... and Ireland

Fr Ragheed Ganni, the priest killed in Iraq, was trained at the Irish College in Rome and spent time working at Lough Derg, according to this blog. His words at a Eucharistic congress in Bari concerning the violence which surrounded him are truly remarkable, and have given me a whole new perspective on the Mass:

'There are days when I feel frail and full of fear. But when, holding the Eucharist, I say "Behold the Lamb of God Behold, who takes away the sin of the world", I feel His strength in me. When I hold the Host in my hands, it is really He who is holding me and all of us, challenging the terrorists and keeping us united in His boundless love.



In normal times, everything is taken for granted and we forget the greatest gift that is made to us. Ironically, it is thanks to terrorist violence that we have truly learnt that it is the Eucharist, the Christ who died and risen, that gives us life. And this allows us to resist and hope.'

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis (May his loyal soul be at God's right hand). And may his witness to the Eucharist sow the seeds of a Eucharistic renewal in the Church.

Final Exam

My last ever undergraduate exam is on Friday! It's on 20th century Christology - Barth, Bonhoeffer, Balthasar and the lot. Say a prayer please!

Blessing for a Priest

I've just been having a conversation with a friend about the state of seminaries, and the awful formation received by many who are now ordained. We've really got to pray for our priests!

In that vein, here's a blessing for a priest from the book I posted about before:

Go mbuanaí Dia i gcóta Chríost thú - May God keep you always in the robe of Christ.

The Saint of Mount Argus

Pope Benedict will canonise on Sunday Blessed Charles of St Andrew, the Dutch Passionist who spent much of his life in the monastery of Mount Argus in Dublin. The citizens of Dublin christened him 'the saint of Mount Argus'. By the sounds of things, he was a gentle and compassionate man, with great love for the people he served. Let's ask for his intercession for priests. From CatholicIreland:

'He wasn’t a great preacher, never really mastering the language, but his gift was in the confessional and comforting the sick. In community he was cheerful and often was heard humming the Dutch National Anthem as he walked around the house.

It became a daily routine for him to walk from the monastery to the Church preaching to the kneeling people about the love Jesus showed in his passion. Inside the church he would pray privately, ask the people to renew their baptismal promises, bless them with the relic of St. Paul of the Cross, and then move among them laying his hands on them in prayer.

Great graces were attributed to his prayers – not only physical cures but also healing of depressions and psychological disorders. Often people would send carriages to bring him out through the city and into the country to visit the sick at a distance.'

Traditional Irish Prayers

I recently bought a great book of 'Prayers from the Irish Tradition' (in Irish and translated into English) called 'Saltair'. It's published by Columba Press and is available in Catholic bookshops (in Ireland at least). The poetry alone makes it well worth buying.

There's been a real crisis of faith in Irish Catholicism recently, and I think a proper ressourcement in the devotional tradition is vital to its revival. The prayers are a reminder of the particularity of Irish folk-Catholicism, with their tendency to address Christ as King (or 'King of the Friday') and the emphasis on the Passion. However, the doctrinal content shows that the faith of the Irish was the faith of Rome - to contrast the two, as is commonly done in popular presentations of 'Celtic Christianity' is to ignore the facts of the matter.

I'll post just two of the prayers, both related to the Mass, which the poor people of Ireland clearly loved (that's another tradition we could do with reviving!). Remember, they're translations, so they might sound a bit awkward:


We bid you welcome, blessed Sunday,
a fine and lovely day after the week,
a fine and lovely day to speak to Christ.
Stir your feet and make your way to mass.
Stir your heart and drive from it all spite.
Stir your lips and speak words of blessing.
Look up and see the Son of the blessed Nurse,
the Son of the Virgin, for it was he who redeemed us;
may we be his in life and in death.


On the way to Mass:
Let us walk together with the Virgin Mary
and the other holy people
who accompanied her only Son
to the Hill of Calvary.