Jun 4, 2012
Some of the children who stay at the Holy Family Centre
You couldn’t have planned it if you tried. After a very long drive and a good night’s sleep I’m up and wandering around the Holy Family Centre with Sr. Susan. There are children running around, playing football or simply chatting with one another. As I turn the corner by the hall next to the pitch there are two children aged 11 and 7 and the older one is reading her Bible to her friend. It’s all about Moses, Pa-hair-ooh ( think about it! ) and the ten plagues. She stumbles over some of the words, but soliders on with great energy. It’s about frogs, locusts and plenty of drama. What’s not to love! (more…)
May 31, 2012
After Mass in the neighbouring township of Ivory Park
There’s a clock on the office wall of the Tshwaranang Hospice and Care Centre that advertises the services of a local funeral director. It’s a sombre reminder of the reality facing South Africa in light of the HIV / AIDS crisis. But in a place that could easily be overshadowed by despair hope reigns, at least for now.
As we walk around the ground with Mna. Joanna, the centre director, we meet Sammy working in the garden. Sammy was once a patient in Tshwarang, but because of the care he received he has now recovered, at least temporarily. He is now looking after the vegetables that the Centre grows and sells in order to help support itself.
Tshwaranang Hospice
The word ‘Tshwaranang’ means ‘holding hands.’ It is small centre, with only eighteen beds. On the weekend we visit one person has died and two more patients have been admitted. What is important here is the quality of care. From the food prepared in the simple kitchen, to the grounds where the patients sit out on warm days, to the gentleness of the nurses, there is a sense of something special happening.
Tshwaranang is a place where the Gospel message is very much alive. It’s not enough to treat the sick because they are in need of medical attention or even because they are our brothers and sisters. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus tells us the mark of a Christian will be their ability to see the divine in the poor, the imprisoned, the refugee and the infirm and to treat them as they would treat Christ himself. This is an essential part of our truest vocation and the greatest challenge of our faith, to see the divine spark in all people, especially those at the margins.
May 26, 2012
By my very nature I’m not a nervous passenger. In fact I love travelling. I love the sights, trying the food, making new friends, and experiencing different cultures! But by any measure this trip has gotten off to a rocky start.
I’m sitting in Cork Airport with an incessant ringing in my ears typing fast and furiously. It’s because there’s a power cut and I forgot to recharge the laptop last night. The aiport siren though is working perfectly, letting us no there’s no power. One would have thought that the complete absence of lights anywhere in the building would be a good enought indicator, but better safe than sorry. On top of that my flight to London is delayed an hour and a half. And to make mtters just that little bit worse there no coffee, because the coffee machine isn’t working, because there’s no power. Even Job would be getting a little antsy at this stage and I’m definitely no Job.
Fr. Herman in the after school project
However it’s all for a great cause. I’m off to South Africa for two weeks to look at setting up a volunteering programme with our Missionary of the Sacred Heart brothers in the Region. Along with Sr. Susan Jones, a member of the Holy Faith Congregation and a chaplain in DCU, we’ll be travelling around the country, working in the various projects and looking at possibilities for short term volunteering ( three months ). We’re going to begin in Tembisa, one of the largest townshops just outside Johannesburg. Fr. Herman van Dyke, based in the Ivory Park parish, is involved with the local Tshwaranang AIDS Hopsice and the Pilani youth project. We should be starting on Monday, so I’ll fill you in as it happens.
In the meantime God has taken pity on my plight. The electricity is back on. The sirens have stopped. Perhaps now is a good time to see if the coffee machine is running again. Things are beginning to look up!
May 21, 2012
Steve Colbert
“If you don’t have it, don’t spend it.” As far as common sense goes it doesn’t get any more self evident than that. But are there certain things that are absolutely essential, things that we cannot abandon, without sacrificing values that make us who we are?
This was evident last week when the Irish Government stated that is was still committed to keeping its UN target of allocating 0.7 per cent of gross national income to overseas aid by 2015. We are in a time of cut back, redundancies and closures and one could be forgiven for thinking that the future looks a bleak. You would think that this would be a time when we need to look after our own first, after all charity begins at home. (more…)
May 4, 2012
The Eucharist Congress Bell has travelled all round Ireland
There’s an App apparently for everything. There is no aspect of our lives, no matter how obscure, how bizarre that doesn’t have an associated smart phone feature that can make our lives more hassle free. Today I found out that these handy features now extend to our upcoming Eucharistic Congress. Fair play to Dominican Friar Luuk Dominiek Jansen and the Congress team for all their work.
There is a real sense of anticipation growing about the upcoming Eucharistic Congress. The line up of speakers and workshops is impressive, with a range of themes and topics explored. Pilgrims are traveling to Ireland from all around the world, not just from England and Europe, but from North and South America, Africa and Asia. There are expected to be 20,000 people attending each day, with a total of 80,000 attending for the final Mass in Croke Park. It will be an opportunity to experience the true universality of the Catholic Church and to celebrate it in prayer, song and fellowship.
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On Thursday there’ll be a special focus on vocations to priesthood and religious life and the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart will be there in force for the week. If you around drop in to Stand 71 and say hello. If I can borrow a Nespresso machine in the meantime there may even be a coffee on the go! For more information on the Eucharistic Congress check out their website http://www.iec2012.ie/
Mar 20, 2012
BHA's Atheist Bus Campaign
I remember living in our parish in St. Albans when the British Humanist Association’s bus advertising campaign came out. Eight hundred buses ran throughout the UK for a number of weeks with the slogan, ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.’ As usual the ensuing debate, stirred up by the media, generated more heat than light. What struck me though was not BHA’s claim that there was no God, but that I should stop worrying and start to enjoy my life. This bit of hyperbole caused me some concern. It implied those of us who believed in God were a worrisome, scrupulous, miserable bunch. It was a fascinating observation, staggering in the extent of its arrogance. Perhaps as a priest I would have to be particularly overwhelmed with the burdens of faith, incapable of wringing the smallest atom of enjoyment out of life. Many people today believe that the life of a priest is too challenging and difficult. Traditionally parents would have encouraged their son to explore a vocation to priesthood and religious life. These days it seems they actively discourage it because they fear their child would be unhappy. (more…)
