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 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…)
Apr 21, 2012
On April 22, more than one billion people around the globe will participate in Earth Day 2012 and help Mobilize the Earth. People of all nationalities and backgrounds will voice their appreciation for the planet and demand its protection. Together we will stand united for a sustainable future and call upon individuals, organizations, and governments to do their part. As part of the Earth Day 2012 Campaign we are looking for a billion people to commit to some small or large Acts of Green. As I write this blog the number of those who have committed to make a difference is up to 997,806,501.
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You can sign up to make a difference at www.earthday.org/ You can take action in Ireland. In Dublin in the Lighthouse Cinema they will be showing One Day on Earth at 1:00pm Sunday 22nd . This movie creates a picture of humanity by recording a 24-hour period throughout every country in the world. Founded in 2008, One Day on Earth set out to explore our planet’s identity and challenges in an attempt to answer the question: Who are we?
Creation is a living, visible sacrament showing us God’s invisible presence all around us. What is most surprising for me at times is how we can lose sight of this. For a day like this pictures I think speak louder than words.
Apr 7, 2012
When the women went to the tomb early on that Sunday morning one can only wonder what was going through their minds. Only a week earlier Jesus was welcomed into the Jerusalem with cheering and acclamation, as the long awaited Messiah. Now his body was left bruised and broken, hastily buried in a nearby tomb. They must have felt fear, for we are told they traveled early in the morning, just as the sun was rising when no one would be around. They were surely apprehensive at the task ahead of them, as they prepared to anoint the corpse of one they had loved so dearly. What they encountered was beyond their wildest hopes and has changed the course of humanity forever.
We are called to be Resurrection people. We are invited by God to live out our vocation as people filled with the hope of Easter. In the sacrifice of Christ on Good Friday we witness a power stronger than death, a love so profound that it is beyond our comprehension. It’s this love we are challenged to live out each day of our lives. If we look at the women who journeyed to the tomb that Easter morning almost 2,000 years ago we see something of that witness. Their faith, we are told in all four Gospels, is rewarded by making them the first messengers of the Resurrection.
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This Easter let’s follow the example of the women, who didn’t keep the good news of the Resurrection to themselves but shared it with everyone they knew. For this sharing of faith is what it truly means to be a disciple of Christ.
Apr 4, 2012
As we ready ourselves for the celebration of Easter it’s probably a good time to pause, to reflect, and to ask ourselves how are we feeling at this time. What is going on in my heart? What are the things I am truly thankful for? Are there any blocks or struggles in my life that I need to let go of and surrender, so that I can enter these days of prayer unencumbered by useless baggage? What is God saying to me this year? What are the quiet words that he is speaking in the silence of my heart?
Diarmuid O’Murchu, a Missionary of the Sacred Heart, has spoken a great deal of the central message of Jesus’ vocation, especially as it is lived out in the reality of Easter. He talks not in terms of the Kingdom of God, but of the Companionship of Empowerment. To illustrate what he’s saying he points to Palm Sunday. On the one hand we have Jesus, coming from the east, representing in his way vulnerability, empowerment, non-violence and prophetic action. He is living out something entirely new and challenging to the way the people of his time saw their world. (more…)
Apr 2, 2012
This Holy Week and throughout Easter we look at the what it really means to be a follower of Christ. A lot has been written on the subject, but I think an article in today’s Irish Times really sums up what it takes to be a true disciple.
As a minor aside when I went looking for a photo to accompany the article one wasn’t available. If you Google ‘Fr. Brian Ryan’ eight photos come up and none of them are him. If you Google ‘Kardashians’ you get 402,000,000 results. Enough said.
Let’s hear it for the uncle Brians of this world
FRENCH NOTES:Â Being part of a sport where the successful are lauded as heroes by media, we can lose sight of the fact that the real ones live anonymously amongst us, writes MATT WILLIAMS (more…)
