Fr Frank McCabe SMA
Funeral Homily – September 6th 2007 at SMA Parish Church, Wilton Cork
(Preached by Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, Provincial Superior)

Readings: Isaiah 55: 1-11
               1 Thess 5:1-6.9-11
               John 6: 35-4

“But it is not as if you live in the dark, my brothers, for that Day to overtake you like a thief”. These words from St Paul’s first letter to the disciples at Thessalonica were heard in today’s second reading.  This in fact was the first reading at Mass on the morning that Frank died. Few people were as well prepared to meet the Lord as Fr Frank McCabe. His whole life was dedicated to the Lord: the greater part in active ministry; the latter years in full-scale prayer and adoration. It is a consolation to his family and friends that he went to meet the Lord not in the dark but very much in the light.

Frank was blessed to live a long and fruitful life to 89 years of age. As Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying “… in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years”. Certainly Frank packed a huge amount of experience into those 89 years. I will speak of some of this experience shortly but I first want to set his passing in its proper context. We gather not just as any happenchance grouping of people. We gather as a Christian community praying our brother disciple home into the arms of the God he tried to serve all his life. And we pray with firm conviction that the promise made by the Lord will be fulfilled.

That promise is beautifully outlined for us in our Gospel passage this afternoon. Jesus says “Now the will of him who sent me is that I should lose nothing of all that he has given to me, and that I should raise it up on the last day. Yes, it is my Father’s will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and that I shall raise him up on the last day”. Those who knew Frank well know of his tremendous dedication to the Holy Eucharist. I know that at different periods of his life he would spend many hours in private adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. “He who comes to me will never be thirsty: he who believes in me will never thirst”. Such words ring through for Frank.

As, indeed, do the words of our opening reading from the Prophet Isaiah. These words come from a time well before the coming of Jesus but the message is similar to that of the gospel text. We are told that the ways of the Lord are very different to our ways. “my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways not your ways”. God’s ways are so totally above our ways that we cannot really ever grasp the awesome generosity of God. He provides all the things we need without our having to make any payment. This is so alien to our human way of thinking that we find it difficult to grasp. I believe that Frank McCabe did grasp it. He did not, as the reading puts it “spend his wages on what fails to satisfy” , and he continued throughout his life to “seek the Lord while he is still to be found, and called to him while he was still near”.

And these words provide us with a very good reflection for a funeral Mass, particularly, I believe at the funeral of a priest. When one recounts the good deeds done by a priest – as I will shortly do for Frank – there is the temptation to think that it was somehow these good deeds that earned him salvation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Because the simple but very profound truth is that salvation cannot be earned. It is a freely given gift of God. To our way of thinking of course that is preposterous. But God’s ways are not our ways; God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.  It is important to understand, then, that Frank, like every other human on the face of the planet, will be saved not through anything he did in this life but simply through the free gift of God. Frank’s task, like our task on the last day, will be simply to accept that gift. But accepting such a gift is not quite as simple as it seems. It can take a lifetime to really prepare oneself to accept such an awesome gift.

Frank spent 89 years preparing. Born into a family of seven children at Derrinasoo in the parish of Ardcarne on the Leitrim/Roscommon border [I understand that Frank was given to altering county affiliation depending on the fortunes of the county football team!], he spent his opening years in the local primary school. It was here that he first learned of the SMA and applied for admission to Ballinafad secondary school. He moved from there to the school here at Wilton to complete his secondary education and then went on to Clough and Dromantine. He completed his BA degree in philosophy and education between UCC and UCG and completed his H.Dip in Education post ordination, in 1948.
During his student days he was a keen footballer. One of his more pleasant memories was the day he played for the Fenagh club in the Leitrim county final on the year of his ordination.

After ordination Frank was appointed to the diocese of Lagos, Nigeria which at that time included Ibadan. In all he spent the next 42 years in ministry in the Ibadan area.  He spent the first 20 years in the education apostolate, founding many schools and being principal of many others. He served in Oke-are Minor Seminary where he taught many of the present day priests and bishops of Nigeria; he taught in Teacher Training Colleges and secondary schools in such places as Ile-Ife, Ikire, Maryhill etc.

After twenty years of school apostolate he was delighted to get the opportunity for pastoral experience. First assigned to Eleta and later to Moor Plantation, he is perhaps best known from his assignment to the parish of Igbo-ora. Along with the usual catechetical and sacramental ministry he became renowned here for his Family Unit Farming Project. This was a project to enable local farmers to learn new skills and provide mechanised machinery such as tractors which he was able to provide through funding from different international agencies. Frank was in his element in this environment, exercising all his farming knowledge and empowering the locals to cultivate to levels hitherto unknown. In a truly literal sense Frank was maintaining his hand on the plough. Every spare bit of land in the area was taken up with a vegetable garden of one kind or another. At this time he had yet to develop an interest in growing flowers, perhaps feeling they were an unwarranted luxury. Later he was to develop a wonderful taste for flower growing.

In all these years a number of characteristics were readily observable. He lived an austere and frugal lifestyle. Any donation to the mission was certainly not spent frivolously on himself. He had a great devotion to the Eucharist and Our Blessed Lady. He promoted devotion to the Family Rosary and supported the establishment of the Legion of Mary. But it was not a case of “all work and no play”.  Frank was a very keen tennis player and I had the privilege of playing against him more than once. Though thirty-five years my senior he was still a formidable opponent and gave away no easy points! In fact, one of the few lighter moments in an otherwise questionable sojourn in Australia some years later was the morning he told me over the phone that at 81 years of age he had begun taking up tennis again!

In 1989, the pressure and stress of work on the African continent forced him to reluctantly agree to return to Ireland. But he was in no mood for retiring so he spent the next six years in the diocese of Clonfert, staying at the parochial house in Attymon in the parish of Kiltulla in the famed hurling territory of Killimordaly. Here he continued to promote adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, devotion to our Lady and the Family Rosary. Pilgrimages to Knock were also a regular feature during these years. He retired officially in 1995 and was to spend the next three years between Claregalway and here in Wilton.

But even in retirement he was indefatigable in his evangelising outreach. Devotion to Mary became ever more central to his spirituality and it was this that led him to join the Magnificat Meal Movement in Toowomba, Queensland, Australia. His going, however unwise, was undoubtedly motivated by a faith perspective. He was to spend the next six years or so here in what can best be described as quasi seclusion. Repeated requests from superiors and family to return to Ireland were refused. Then one fine day in 2004 he mysteriously appeared in Galway. His health condition did not allow for a rigorous investigation of what had transpired over the previous years or how he had suddenly appeared back among us. But perhaps that was not really important as the greatest feeling shared was one of relief that he was home.

He has been a valued and much loved member of the Blackrock Road community ever since where he has received top class care and affection from all members of staff. It was a great blessing that on June 18th last, though frail of mind and body, he was able to join his classmate Joe Maguire to celebrate 60 years of priestly ministry. All that remains for us now is to surrender him into the arms of Jesus.

Ar dheis lámh Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Fr Fergus Conlan SMA

Funeral Homily – Janurary 23rd, 2006

(Preached by Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, Provincial Superior)

Readings: Isaiah 25: 6-9
1 John 4: 7-11
John 11: 19-27

First of all, I want to extend to you from Ireland profound condolence on the very unexpected death of Fr Fergus Conlan SMA. On behalf of the entire membership of the Irish Province of the SMA I extend to Fr Fergus’ family, the church here in Ndola our sincerest sympathy. To Bishop Noel O’Regan SMA, to the priests, sisters, catechists, laity leaders, youth leaders, and the full membership of the church I give an assurance of prayerful remembrance at this sad time. It is always sad to lose a colleague; it is even tougher to lose a leader; to lose both a colleague and leader in such unexpected circumstances is a significant trauma. To those of you who were present last Tuesday morning at Kuomboka to realise that Fergus was no longer with us I offer a special word of comfort and sympathy. When I heard the news in Ireland it was with profound shock. How much more shocking must it have been for you to realise that the one you greeted ‘good night’ to in seeming good health only a few hours before was now dead. My prayer is that this celebration of Fergus’ life and entry into new life will be for you a moment of great consolation and serenity. May you find in this celebration the strength to continue your ministry of service to the church in Zambia and find in the memory of Fergus empowerment for yourself and your people in the days and years ahead.

It is at moments such as this that we value our faith. If it were not for our faith in Jesus’ promise of new life events such as that which took place last Tuesday morning would leave us full of despair. Because of our faith despair is replaced by hope. We believe with sure conviction that the God who called Fergus into earthy life sixty-six years ago in Ireland has now called him home to his own side to enjoy the fullness of life in his very presence.

What is important to realise is that our belief that Fergus has entered new life is not due to the fact that he was a priest. Being a priest does not entitle him to any favours in the sight of God. He has been a servant, and a good servant, but in the words of scripture he has merely done his duty. There is a danger that we may think that a priest, because he deals each day in the things of God, because through a regular prayer life he ought to have a deep relationship with God, he somehow has a shortcut to new life. But this is not the case. The priest, just like any Christian, just like any human on the face of the planet, is redeemed and saved only by Jesus Christ. New life, fullness of life, resurrected life is not something we can earn by dent of hard work. Rather it is a free gift that God bestows on those he loves. Our job in life is to somehow put ourselves in the right frame to receive that new life when it is offered. Whether you are a catechumen setting out on the road to Christian living or the Pope in Rome you will have to receive from our loving Father in heaven this gift of new life. It is not a prize for anything we have done on this earth. Our task today then is to pray for Fergus. To pay him our final respects. To give gratitude to God for the life he gave him and the way he used him to better the lives of countless thousands, both in Africa, Europe and America. And to pray him home into the arms of the God he tried to love and serve all his days.

Fergus has been tremendously influential in the lives of so many people in this church today. The outpouring of grief and the sense of solidarity over these last days is fitting testament to that. He has been influential in the lives of many people thousands of miles from here. It is only natural then that we should over these last days be full of sadness and grief. This is a normal, solid human response. But while we acknowledge our grief and give it sufficient time to be articulated in word and deed, we cannot stay in our grief. Fergus himself would have little patience with us if we were to wallow in grief to such an extent that we were unable to function effectively. Fergus did not live in the past; his focus was always on present and future. So now we must continue the struggle to advance God’s reign in our daily lives.

Our opening reading this morning reminds us that in God’s plan the mourning vale would only be a temporary thing. Our Christian faith assures us that at death life is changed, not ended. We will reaffirm this faith in our Preface prayer of this Mass shortly. But even long before the coming of Jesus, God was assuring his people through the Prophet Isaiah that he was preparing for all peoples a banquet of rich food, that he was going to remove the mourning veil and the shroud of death enwrapping all nations because he would destroy death for ever. We know that he did this completely in the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. We know that God never reneges on his promises so we can be assured that our present mourning will pass into celebration and rejoicing. I already detect that the church here in Ndola has moved into that stage of celebration. Your faith is your assurance. Long may it live and be strengthened.

Our gospel passage today gives us that wonderful encounter between Jesus and Martha. On the human level, I believe, each of us can identify with Martha’s disappointment. She had put her hope in Jesus but his late arrival had now meant that her brother, Lazarus, was already dead. I’m sure any one of us would have been annoyed at Jesus for his delay in answering their summons. Jesus does not take offence at Martha’s reprimand but he says to her in his gentle but reassuring way “it is not too late. In Christ it is never too late because I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die”. He then goes on to ask a very simple but very crucial question “Do you believe this?” That same question is being asked of each one of us present in this church this morning. Do you believe this? If Fr Fergus’ death does nothing else than force us to address that question, it will have achieved much.

Fr Fergus gave a very clear and unambiguous answer to that question. Yes, he said, I do believe. He proclaimed this faith every time he entered the church to pray. Every time he vested for the celebration of Mass. He proclaimed it in every act of kindness and love he did for his family. Every act of kindness and care for the people of his parish was a statement of belief. He proclaimed it in every selfless deed he did to make this community a living and caring community. He had no doubt that with Jesus he too would rise again. And with Jesus he believed that his spirit would never die. That too is our faith today. Fergus’ spirit lives on through his extended family, his colleagues in the SMA, through the communities he has served, and through all those he blessed in this life through his natural goodness.

Fergus lived as a man who at a very deep level knew he was loved by God. He did not always have to articulate this in flowery language. He simply lived it. In his uncomplicated way he grasped the essence of today’s second reading. Here we are admonished to love one another “since love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Anyone who fails to love can never have known God, because God is love. This is the love I mean: not our love for God but God’s love for us when he sent his Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away”. Fergus had a very positive attitude towards people. He believed they could achieve the best if they were given the freedom to exercise their own natural gifts. He did not like to impose but rather sought to draw out from people the goodness that was within them. Sometimes his style was laid back. At other times he could be enormously challenging. But whatever style he adopted at any particular moment his entire attitude was formed by this conviction that we are deeply loved by God. As St John puts it, our concern is God’s love for us, not our love for God. Why does St John focus so much on this? Simply because he knew that to focus on our love for God would eventually leave us profoundly shamed. As the song puts it, “my love for you my Lord is only a shadow of your love for me”. Our love is limited and conditional. God’s love is enduring, it is lavish, it is eternal, it is not even dependant on our response. God is not going to love me less because my response is inadequate. Sure, my inadequate response may mean that I am not in a good space to receive God’s love but that never stops God seeking me out to be the recipient of his love. This is beautifully put by the prophet Isaiah when he says “God is waiting to be gracious to you”. This is a beautiful image: one can picture God waiting with a broad smile for our return to him.

Fergus Conlan was born in Newry, Co Down, Northern Ireland in 1939. He had three brothers and one sister. His brother, Finbarr, has predeceased him. He did his primary studies in his local school and then graduated to the Christian Brothers school in Newry. He joined the Society of African Missions and during the course of his studies took a degree in zoology and bio-chemistry. During his student days he was a noted athlete. He was particularly adept at the game of Gaelic Football and achieved the highest honours with his native county when Co Down won the All-Ireland championship in 1961. After ordination to the priesthood in 1964 he was first appointed to the Diocese of Ondo in Nigeria. After four years he was called home to serve as dean in the SMA juniorate College of Ballinafad. He found the atmosphere in the school too restricting so he sought and was given permission to take further studies in youth guidance. This course was to have a profound influence on his subsequent career. He returned to Nigeria for another ten years. For the rest of his life he was to become the champion of youth everywhere he went. He even earned the title ‘Professor’ in this ‘University for Youth’ here in Francisdale. He had little sympathy with those who found young people indisciplined and untrustworthy. He believed that youth should be challenged but they should also be allowed to take risks because to risk is to jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down. I know that there are many youths in this church this morning who owe a great deal to Fergus’ insistence on youth being given their rightful place in society. He put many a student through school be seeing to their school fees and sponsored others for different arts and crafts. In fact, something remarkable about Fergus was his ability to relate across the generations. In order to relate to youth he had to consciously get younger each year. When many others who were chronologically younger than Fergus began to tire of the patience youth work required he never lost his passion for this ministry.

Because of his interest in youth it was only natural that the SMA would ask him to take up the ministry of vocations recruitment. This he did for three years in Northern Ireland. He followed this up with two years of a Masters in Psychology programme in Boston, USA. The skills he was to pick up here were to stand to him in his next assignment which was here in Zambia. He came to Zambia in 1986 and for the last twenty years he has been a stalwart champion of the church of the laity. He was obviously impressed by the church he found here and did all he could to continue in that tradition. At every international meeting he would talk with pride of the laity-led church of Zambia. He never espoused the clerical model of church. I read recently of the rather humorous happening at the time of his Silver Jubilee of priesthood. If there was to be a celebration, Fergus insisted that the laity should also be celebrated. Organising the jubilee of wedding ceremonies turned out to be a bit more complicated than was first envisaged. Fergus served in Cimwemwe, Francisdale and in Kuomboka. All of you here will knows these towns and parishes far better than I do so I will not attempt to describe the quality of his ministry there. However, I do know that it was mainly characterised by his love and care for those on the margins of society; the poor, women, widows, youth. He lived in a very practical way the vision of the founder of the SMA, Bishop Melchior deBresillac, who dedicated himself and called on all his followers to serve the most abandoned. I am told that Cimwemwe means ‘joy’. Very fitting because I know Fergus brought much joy to many during his earthly ministry.

Fergus was a very gifted singer and guitar player. Yet, he was rarely the life of the party in that he was a shy man in many ways. Quietly spoken, sometimes almost taciturn, and yet a good mixer. A good listener, he always gave space to people to find their own strength and if they faced problems he did not simply solve them but rather empowered people to be the agents of their own problem solving. He was generous, innovative and creative and always keen to push the boat out beyond the safe harbours of the status-quo. He was his own man and never gave in to playing the party line just for his own comfort. The German poet and philosopher, Goethe, once said, The dangers of life are many, and safety is one of them. Fergus never allowed himself to fall into that danger.
He was passionate and forceful, and had a huge hunger for justice. Nowhere was this more obvious than in church issues. This sometimes made him a difficult interlocutor. Those in authority positions could always be assured of a vigorous challenge if Fergus perceived them being too afraid to move in the direction that he felt the Spirit was moving the church. He could even sometimes be sharp but one always knew that his purpose was not to offend or to cause personal hurt but rather to shift the model to a more innovative and liberating style of leadership.

Because of his competence it was only natural that he was frequently voted by his confreres in the SMA to positions of leadership. He did not seek such positions but when they were thrust upon him he did not shirk for the task. At the last General Assembly of the Society in 2001 he constantly challenged the leadership and the other delegates to move beyond the zones of comfort, to seek to move the global church to recognise new forms of ministry and priesthood. Not everyone agreed with him and not all his ideas carried the day, but his enthusiasm was enough to effect change that has continued to challenge in the intervening years.

Obviously Fergus’ health was not as strong as it appeared. In fact, going back many years he has had a catalogue of surgical procedures on his body. Almost twelve years ago he underwent by-pass surgery of the heart. Two years ago in Ireland he took a turn and was actually clinically dead for a few moments. Thank God he then recovered and was able to continue his ministry here. But all together must undoubtedly have taken their toll on his physical wellbeing.

Fergus’ death creates a huge loss for his family and for the church here in Zambia. For the Diocese of Ndola, and particularly for the SMA here in Zambia. As Superior of this Region he was responsible for the continuation of our mission here and the growth of the Society. He carried these responsibilities lightly but he will be difficult to replace. Our prayers must now be with Fr Anthony Kelly and the team as they take over the mantle of leadership. I have no doubt that they will do so with great effectiveness, but I do ask all of you here to support them through your prayers and every kind of assistance.

Fergus has now begun the procession down the road to eternity. He will be hugely missed: his strength, his handshake, his smile, his devilment, his music, his determination, his tenacity, his honesty, his courage, his conviction, his faith, his charity, his companionship.

Ar dheis lamh De go raibh a anam dilis.

Fr David Hughes SMA

Funeral Homily – 15 January 2007

(Preached by Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, Provincial Superior at SMA Parish Church, Wilton, Cork)

Readings: Ecclesiasticus 2:7-13
Hebrews 4:12-16
John 14:1-6

The coming of the hour of dawn seems to be a significant time when people accept the invitation to journey from this life to the next. Our last two confreres buried from this church died at almost the exact same time of morning, soon after 8am. That final turn in the bed after a somewhat protracted illness seemed to allow them move gently into God. These two men’s lives warrant comparison: both lived to a ripe old age; both were ordained during the course of the 2nd World War; both served their early missionary career in Egypt, a mission to which not a large number were ever assigned; and both enjoyed healthy mental functioning until shortly before they died. David Hughes can now connect again with Owen Maginn and rehearse stories of Choubra and St George’s, Heliopolis. One thing we can be sure of: there will be much laughter.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled”, Jesus assures us in our gospel passage today. There is no indication that Davie was ever troubled by the prospect of death. Since his heart attack in 1988 he had been almost twenty years preparing for this eventuality. “Trust in God still, and trust in me…. for there are many rooms in my Father’s house… and I am going to prepare a place for you…. and I shall return to take you with me, so that where I am you may be too”. David had a firm conviction in the resurrection on the last day. He believed it himself and he devoted his life to sharing this belief with others. These words of the gospel are consoling words for David’s family of birth and his SMA family with whom he lived for the guts of seventy years. Today we pray for the repose of his gentle soul, that his time of purification before enjoying the fullness of the beatific vision will be short.

David Hughes was born in Cabinteely, Co Dublin on 7th April 1917. Less than three months would have seen him enjoying his 90th birthday. He came from a family of three girls [one of whom was a Presentation Sister serving in Manchester, England] and two boys. After his early Primary schooling with the Irish Sisters of Charity in Milltown he moved on to the famous Christian Brothers in Synge Street. Having read about missionary life in a CTS pamphlet he almost stumbled upon the SMA and pursued his studies in Clough and Dromantine. Ordained in 1940 [by virtue of dispensation for not having yet attained the canonical age] in a class of twenty, he was first assigned to Egypt. Due to the 2nd World War his passage there was delayed some months. When he did eventually travel by sea it was quite an eventful journey, one that Davie used to tell with some relish. Suffice it to say there was more than good fortune in their reaching the shores of Africa at all.

But the sentiments of our opening reading this afternoon would surely have been nourishing his heart, even if it is highly unlikely that the words of Ecclesiasticus were on his lips. “You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy: do not turn aside in case you fall. You who fear the Lord, trust him, and you will not be baulked of your reward”. Fear of the Lord in the best sense of respect and awe before God’s presence was ingrained in Davie’s psyche. He would have relied on “the Lord who is compassionate and merciful” to bring him through the acutest danger.

His early period in Egypt was spent in Choubra in Cairo. Here he taught in two different schools and in fact he was to devote the first twenty-five years of his priesthood to the teaching profession. These first years were difficult as provisions were in short supply. For a man who became renowned for hospitality and the quality of his table it must have been difficult to accept such poor fare; oftentimes the only meat available was camel meat, and the house had no fridge to preserve food or cool the water. The last twelve of the seventeen years he was to spend in Egypt were spent in St George’s College, Heliopolis. Many of these years were spent as Superior and it was through his efforts that the school attained the very high renown that it achieved. Davie was very precise and supremely efficient. Indeed, even in retirement, he could wither you with a damning look if you were to be any bit off the mark in the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours.

Davie enjoyed good relations with the majority Moslem population in Egypt but it was his relations with the Oriental Coptic Christians that he specially treasured. He greatly admired the quality of their liturgies, the diversity of their rites, and the precision of their icons. He visited Coptic monasteries in the desert and was a frequent visitor to St Catherine’s at the foot of Mt Sinai.

Notwithstanding his enjoyment of life in Egypt, Davie’s soul stirred with thoughts of a different experience of Africa. “The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts more finely than any doubled-edged sword: it can slip through the place where the soul is divided from the spirit; and it can judge the secret emotions and thoughts”. This we are told in our second reading today from Hebrews, the actual reading of the Mass on Saturday morning when Davie died. The word of God was alive and active in Davie and he responded to its promptings. On request, he was assigned to the mission in Northern Nigeria to the Diocese of Kaduna. For the next twenty years or so he laboured in this vineyard. He taught at St John’s College, Kaduna; at the Minor Seminary in Zaria and the Teacher Training College. Eventually he left the teaching ministry and joined in parish ministry in such places as Our Lady of Fatima, Kano, Mabushi, Kaduna town itself and perhaps other places. He felt most at home in the ‘bush’ ministry to remote villages.

Davie’s efficiency, his decency, his ability was well respected by his colleagues in the SMA as by the people among whom he lived and served. This was testified to by the fact that he was on three separate occasions elected by his colleagues to be their representative to the Provincial Assembly, once by the men in Egypt in 1952 and twice by the men in Kaduna in 1968 and ’73. He was generally easy to get on with, was kind and always hospitable. These qualities remained with him as he moved into a different location of ministry after thirty six years in Africa.

In 1977 Davie took a sabbatical in Scotland doing parish ministry in the Diocese of Aberdeen. He was assigned to the Highland district around the town of Inverness. He especially enjoyed serving these isolated communities. When his sabbatical year came to a close he was asked by the bishop and agreed to continue on in this ministry. He was to do so for another ten years and who knows how much longer it would have continued had a heart attack in 1988 not intervened. This forced him to abandon his isolated communities and seek a job that would be less taxing. He was much appreciated by the bishop, clergy and people of Aberdeen as is noted in these words I quote from a letter written to him by Bishop Conti: “you were a tremendous help, a marvelous colleague, and an exemplary pastor”.

From the Highlands of Scotland he moved to the lowlands of Nottingham where he spent five happy years as chaplain to a group of elderly nuns in a convent in Cleethorps. An amusing angle to this apostolate was that the Sisters resided in St Hugh’s convent.

Ill health gradually became more pronounced so in 1993 he moved into retirement. First of all he spent four happy years in Dromantine and this was followed by almost a decade in Wilton and finally joining the community at Blackrock Road just about three months ago.

Recounting his life in this manner should not be interpreted to mean that Davie had no weaknesses. He did, just like every single one of the rest of us. But he did, as we can, take comfort in the second half of that beautiful passage from Hebrews. “For it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us”. Yes, Jesus too experienced weakness; he was tempted in every way that we are, though without sin. With such a one as this on our side, what do we really have to fear? Davie has now conquered fear; we pray that we too will one day join him in that victory.

Ar dheis lámh Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Fr DANIEL J DALY SMA

Funeral Homily – 14 July 2005

(Preached by Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, Provincial Superior)

Readings: Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8,11
Hebrews 12:18-19.21-24
Matthew 11: 25-30

The date 12th of July is associated by one community in Ireland with joy, by the other community with sadness: by one community with victory, by the other with loss. For Fr Dan Daly SMA this was the day he finally heard the invitation to accept victory over death and cross over into new life. For some time now he had enjoyed the status of being the oldest member of our Province. For someone who lived 95 and a half years – and indeed would sometimes claim that his recorded date of birth denied him another year – it was perhaps fitting that he should die on such an historic date. He was born at the very tail-end of the first decade of the last century and last millennium at Caherhayes, Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick. And he was to spend almost an entire century devoting his life to the promotion of God’s reign. Almost seventy years of this life was lived as an SMA missionary priest. So, we gather in thanksgiving this afternoon to pray that like Jesus Dan too will be resurrected into new life.

Many of you will recognise that this afternoon’s Gospel passage was the passage read at yesterday’s Mass, the Wednesday of the 15th week of the year. This passage speaks directly to Dan Daly’s lived faith experience. I would describe his faith as simple but solid. It was built on the twin towers of devotion to the Eucharist and devotion to Mary. This Gospel passage reminds us that we have no claim on divine revelation. Whatever is revealed of the mystery of God is pure gift. “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children”. Human intelligence – intellectual knowledge – is no gateway to understanding the mystery of the divine. Only the stance of solid faith opens us to the possibility of receiving whatever is gifted to us of the mystery of God.

Our opening reading from Ecclesiastes shows us that there is a time proper to everything. “A time to be born, and a time to die; …. God has made everything suitable for its time; but although he has given us an awareness of the passage of time, we can grasp neither the beginning nor the end of what God does”. Over the course of a century Dan must have had a keen awareness of the passage of time. Just imagine the enormous changes that he witnessed throughout his 95 years, changes becoming ever more accelerated in latter years. But he was even more keenly aware that we can truly grasp neither the beginning or the end of this incredible process. And he devoted his life helping people come to an awareness of this mystery, both in Africa and in Ireland, as missionary priest.

Our Hebrews reading speaks of fear before the mystery of God. A scene so terrible that even Moses himself was struck with trembling and fright. But what else would one expect to be struck by when introduced into the very presence of God himself. Our belief is that today Dan is experiencing God’s presence in greater fullness than heretofore. And before that mystery the only right response and attitude is one of wonder, of not knowing, of serenity before the mystery. The fear we speak of here is no ordinary fear. This is biblical fear. A fear not sourced in threat to one’s very being but rather sourced in awe before the presence of God, fear sourced in wonder, in amazement, in acceptance of not knowing and yet believing. Dan Daly knew this kind of fear. And he learned over the course of a long and sometimes difficult life to accept it with serenity.

For Dan Daly, vocation to priesthood was not the first call. His first desire was to work as an agricultural instructor. And so he spent some years at agricultural school with the Salesian Order. But a vocation to missionary priesthood was being discerned and so he gradually made his way to secondary school in Wilton. He was to spend three difficult years here but such difficulties might be understandable given that this period coincided with the great Depression of the late 1920s and early 30s. He moved on through Kilcolgan and Dromantine before ordination on 19th December, 1937. As a priest, his first assignment was to Lagos, Nigeria. In fact, he arrived in Lagos on 28th October, 1938 on the very day that the Bishop of the Vicariate, Bishop O’Rourke, died.

Lagos at that time was still a Vicariate, and it was huge, stretching from Lagos to Ilorin. Dan’s first appointment was to Ado-Ekiti where he was to spend 18 months in pastoral work. In fact, a run through his early appointments is to receive a geography lesson on Western Nigeria. From Ado he moved to Oke Padi in Ibadan, from there to Ile-Ife, from there to Iperu in Ijebu Province where he was to teach and be principal of a Teacher’s Training College, from there to Suru-Lere in Lagos itself and other appointments besides. It was a time of physical hardship – compounded for a period by the 2nd World War when resources were as scarce in Nigeria as they probably were here in Ireland – but a time also of contentment and spiritual fulfilment. In all, Dan was to spend the guts of thirty years on mission in Nigeria.

The severe climate, causing regular bouts of dysentery and malaria, was to wreak a severe price on his health. His latter years in Nigeria were plagued by illness and this illness was to dog his life for most of the remainder. He once thought a transfer to the American Province might be the solution to his problems but this process was never completed. A desire to work in pastoral ministry in America also had to be shelved. His struggle with illness meant that any significant pastoral appointment anywhere was afterwards precluded. Yet he was to give valuable service to the Society through office duty and valuable service in the wider pastoral scene here in the city of Cork through his promotion of devotion to Our Blessed Lady. He became somewhat of a leader to the Marian Priests Movement here in Cork and various lay Marian Prayer Groups which resulted in a profound devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.

Unfortunately, the illness meant that for many years relationships with his family, his confreres in the SMA, especially with Superiors of Diocese and Society, became strained. Thankfully, however, his latter years, through the blessing of very good and kind medical care, were lived out in great serenity. He became a much loved member of the community at Blackrock Road, to those he lived among and to those blessed to care for him. Throughout all his illness – his hearing too becoming more progressively impaired – he remained faithful to prayer. One would almost never see him without the Rosary beads entwined in his hands. This was always his first request of the caring staff. He spent many hours too in quiet contemplation of the Blessed Sacrament.

But his interests were not so heavenly minded that he lost all interest in the world here below. He remained lucid to the very end. His hearing may have almost completely gone but his interests and mind were razor sharp. I was often amazed in recent times by the questions he asked about subjects that I would have assumed had completely passed him by. He was always keen to know how his beloved Limerick had done in hurling or football. And he took great delight in simple things such as the success he recently enjoyed in the house lottery on the Grand National. He also had a great appreciation for flowers: he insisted that every week fresh flowers would be placed at Our Lady’s altar. He paid for such flowers but also insisted on getting value for money! In fact, his use of money in latter years reflected his faith. Much of it was given away to the Vincent de Paul or the Samaritans or to one or other of the Marian movements.

Dan was to make a few attempts at dying. I well remember that about six or seven years ago we remained at his bedside through several nights believing that the end was surely near. And his recoveries were always dramatic; not a slow recovery but a dramatic one as if to suggest the previous days were but an aberration to the norm. In some ways such recoveries reflected his strong and forceful personality style.

Two days ago his timing and the Lord’s timing finally coincided. We can indeed be grateful for his long life, a life of struggle and yet a life that, in the end particularly, became an inspiration that illness can also, given the right care, lead to serenity. As the elder statesman, he will be missed by us all.

Ar dheis lamh De go raibh a anam dilis.

Fr Con O’Driscoll SMA

Funeral Homily – November 23rd, 2005

(Preached by Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, Provincial Superior)

Readings: Wisdom 6: 12-16
1 Cor 15: 20-28
John 14: 1-6

Con O’Driscoll was vested in alb and stole ready to celebrate Mass with his beloved Knights of St Columbanus when he was taken suddenly ill and died just after 3pm on Sunday last, the Feast of Christ the King. For all of fifty-six years Con had lived his missionary priesthood with a passion that was both exemplary and inspiring. I have no doubt were one to ask Con for his choice of dress at death he would have chosen none other than what he was wearing. He may not have dared to hope for this. But it looks awfully like God’s way of saying “well done my good and faithful servant”. This is surely but a part of that hundredfold that the Lord promises in this life to those who serve faithfully and well. And few could have been as prepared as Con to enter effortlessly into the Father’s embrace when the final call came so suddenly. Sunday was also the eve of the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady. For a man who had such a strong devotion to Our Lady there was surely a symbolism in this timing also.

Con’s passing came so suddenly and unexpectedly that even four days later we still find it hard to take in. Only on Sunday morning he seemed just as keen as ever to enter into a hectic day of pastoral and evangelical outreach, just as he had done on countless Sundays before. But he has gone from our sight, to accompany us no more on this earthly plane. He will be sorely missed by his wide extended family, spanning four generations. He will be sorely missed by his friends and colleagues in so many kingdom-building endeavours in this city and well beyond. And he is and will continue to be a huge loss to us his brothers in the SMA.

While Con would recognise and affirm the natural human sense of grief and loss that accompanies his death, he would want us quickly to move beyond the tears to a consideration of the deeper questions. Con’s was a life absorbed by these deeper questions. And he was vehement in his response to such questions. For him there were no doubts, buts or maybes. It was all a seamless Yes. Not for Con the questioning of Thomas, “how can we know the way?”. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus is Lord and in him we find the fullness of life. Death on the earthly plane is but a stage, a transition point, on the greater journey back to God. At death life is changed, not ended.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house”. How often Con must have repeated those words of Jesus to console grieving relatives of the dead. One can almost hear him speaking them right now. He had no doubt that Jesus had gone and prepared a place for him and that he would return to take him with him. Jesus has now returned and our faith assures us that he has brought Con with him into one of those rooms in the Father’s house.

Many of you will recognise our second reading this afternoon as being the second reading of last Sunday’s Mass. St Paul theologises for the people of Corinth on the significance of Christ’s death on the cross. “Just as death came through one man in the same way the resurrection of the dead has come through one man. Just as all people die in Adam, so all will be brought to life in Christ”. We see here that death and life are at the heart of God’s plan for the world, with life always winning out. While death is part and parcel of the life of each human person, so too is life beyond death. But these are mysteries not so easy to grapple with. In an age when our various cultural expressions seem to be moving us towards the denial of death it is imperative that we do not concede ground to such illusions. Con O’Driscoll had no truck with such illusions. During the last fifteen years, when such illusions were gaining greater popularity, Con devoted his life to countering them. Whether in the parish of West Green in London, or through Legion of Mary, Knights of St Columbanus, Simon community, various Marian prayer groups or other outreaches Con never failed to preach in season and out of season the eternal values and creeds of the Christian gospel.

Con was a genuine seeker after Wisdom. For this reason I think the opening reading today is quite appropriate. It is true that he did seek news, sometimes even gossip. And his range of interest was wide. But the search went much deeper; not for things at the superficial level only but for the wisdom of God. In fact, you could say that wisdom befriended him. As the reading puts it, “wisdom is found by those who look for her”. One of Con’s innocent quirks was to begin a conversation with a query about some person or something. One quickly learned that this was Con’s none too subtle way of telling you that he was privy to information that you did not have yourself. This was an innocent enough trait that hid no malice but it could be a little irritating at times, especially if it carried the further tone that somehow you were failing in your duty by not knowing what he knew. Sometimes, just for a tease, it was interesting to bat back with a point that was slightly revolutionary and vaguely heretical. Con would chase such a point to the end like a greyhound after a hare.

Con was born in the parish of Aughadown in the heart of West Cork – a great SMA stronghold – almost 83 years ago. He did his secondary schooling in St Fachtna’s, Skibbereen and always spoke warmly of his years there. As a young man he had a keen interest in sports, especially athletics. He was once presented with a pocket-watch for being the best all-round athlete in the school. He also played Gaelic Football with some distinction at the local level. Towards the end of his life I would not have considered him to be sports minded but perhaps it was these early endeavours that sparked the enduring interest in how his grand and great-grandnephews and nieces were performing in their chosen sports. And I understand that he was not slow either to deliver some tactical advice and propose physical exercise programs.

Con never lost his love for his native place. He went back frequently to West Cork, in more recent times probably mostly for the funerals of his contemporaries. Regularly during these trips he would wander back to the place of his birth and gaze out to sea. He must have derived great spiritual sustenance from the contemplation of his roots. He had a tremendous sense of pride in his native place and in the O’Drisceoil clan.

After ordination in 1949 Con was appointed to the Mid-West of Nigeria and served in Asaba-Benin Vicariate, Benin City Diocese and Warri Diocese. He was known to have a facility as a builder; one of his proudest feats was to have the old marble altar from Drimoleague church transported to Nigeria and set in the new church he had built in Ashaka, and it is still in use to this day. But Con will perhaps be best remembered as an administrator. He served as Vicar-General of the diocese of Warri during a turbulent time in the State of Nigeria and the Church in Warri. [Fr Dan Cashman gave a very moving testimony to that period of Con’s life last night] He coped admirably during the Civil War years that affected the missionaries in Warri closely. The absence of the Bishop during much of this time meant that the weight of responsibility fell on Con’s shoulders. This took a severe toll on his psyche and physique. Simultaneously with the Civil War a climate of mistrust was also to develop in the Church at Warri. This was to add to the burden of office resulting in Con’s needing to return to Europe for some needed recuperation. He spent two years in Ballinafad and over four years in the Diocese of Clifton. This was followed by twenty wonderful years in secondment to the British Province working in their parish of West Green, North London. Con really flourished in this environment; the spirit that seemed to have been sapped and sucked out of him through the difficulties in Nigeria returned with gusto and he was to enjoy a very rewarding pastoral experience in West Green parish. Many parishioners there hold him in very fond memory and it is good to see some of them with us today.

When Con retired from West Green in 2001 we all assumed he came home to rest. It is dangerous to assume anything. Con’s talent and skill to befriend people meant that it was all but impossible for him to sit and rest. He needed to be active. In the last two days I have found the following little gems of wisdom in my daily calendar, almost as if written with Con in mind. The first says, As you grow older, you’ll find the only things you regret are the things you didn’t do. It seems to me Con was intent on proving there would be few things he would regret. The second says, When one has a great deal to put into it, a day has a hundred pockets. On that calculation Con must have had about a thousand pockets.

An impairment to his sight meant that he had to forego driving a car. But this he could see as gift as it meant that others now were drawn into his missionary endeavours. And I don’t think any of his numerous chauffeurs really objected to being co-opted in this way. He had extraordinary energy for a man of his years. And, of course, he proved the rule that the only one to ask to do a task was a busy person. Con was never to be found wanting when some chore was required by the community. He loved working in the garden; this, I understand, was a relatively late interest for him, an interest deepened by his relatives’ regular gifts of books on gardening matters. His apostolate to the Legion of Mary – whether to Praesidium, Curia, Comitium, Concilium – was persevering. Within the last month he hosted a group of young people on Legion of Mary outreach to the natives of Cork. He was especially proud of the part in played in the work of the Knights of St Columbanus, and the wonderful new structure of Bru Columbanus just here beside us was a genuine source of pride to him. He led several pilgrimages to Knock or Medugorge, and he was already planning to return there this coming June; he took part in numerous prayer groups, especially those with a Marian flavour; he promoted devotion to Divine Mercy and was a devoted rosary man. Each evening he prayed the rosary with the men in St Theresa’s before his own silent Holy Hour for the missions.

Con’s missionary career has now closed. But his spirit will remain with his family, Society and colleagues as we work to bring about God’s reign in our world. His inspiration is a fond legacy.

Ar dheis lamh De go raibh a anam dilis.

Fr Connie Griffin SMA
Funeral Homily – November 26th 2007 at St Peter’s Church, Sabon Tasha, Kaduna, Nigeria
(Preached by Fr John Haverty SMA)

Your Grace, Archbishop Jatau, My Lord Bishops, Fellow Priests, Rev Sisters, Brothers & Sisters in Christ:

On behalf of Fr Connie Griffin lying here, l wish to express our sincere gratitude to all of you gathered here this morning to pay our final respect to the Late Fr Griffin SMA.  He has indeed touched the lives of many people: he has  touched my life to the very depth of its core: not only because we have been close friends and near neighbours and because we have spent many hours sitting in the moonlight at Kurmin Sara, sharing experiences and expectations, but mainly because he was a deeply spiritual priest.

On Monday last, November 19th on my way from Abuja, where I had witnessed the last days of Fr Griffin on earth, I called in to Kurmin Sara, his parish, to tell them the shocking news that ‘Griffin, Your Parish Priest, is dead’ one of his faithful friends shouted  BA GRIFFIN YA MUTU BA, MU NE MUN MUTU : MU DUKAN MUTANEN K / SARA MUN MUTU. SHI YANA A NAN DA RAI AMA MU MATTATU NE.  As he uttered these words I had a vision of Griffin being escorted by the Angels to his seat of glory in heaven and “l John heard a voice from Heaven say to me ‘Happy are those who die in the Lord. Now they can rest for ever, after their work, since their good deeds go with them. Then the One sitting on the Throne spoke: I will give them water from the well of life, free for anybody who is thirsty. It is the rightful inheritance of the one who proves victorious… he will never hunger or thirst again: neither the sun nor the scorching wind will ever plague him for the Lamb on His throne will be his Shepherd.”  I was happy for Griffin but sorry for ourselves.  MU NE MATTATU.

That Griffin of that vision was a different Griffin to the one of the past 4 days. On Tuesday I had called to him to pick up some letters for Abuja: he said he had ‘a bit of a fever’ but it was not serious. I tried to persuade him to come with me to Hospital in Abuja but he refused saying he was busy and he’d be OK. The following evening on my return I noticed that he had deteriorated but still insisted he’d be fine.  I told him that in the morning he must come to hospital: next morning I came at 9.45 and he had to be carried unconscious from his room and when we reached the Hospital in Abuja he was almost gone. The Staff at the National Hospital all tried their best for the next four days but all in vain.

There is no inherent dignity in death except what the person brings to it by his patience and endurance.  He never complained.  While conscious he signed himself with the cross regularly. On the last morning he said to Sam “Zan mutu”. This suffering Griffin was a different Griffin to the victorious later Griffin of the Apocalyptic vision.

Fr Griffin was born on September 1st 1947 in the beautiful seaside resort of Schull in Cork, Ireland, the youngest of four, two boys and two girls. In due time he attended the Minor Seminary but to fulfil his Missionary ambition he later joined the SMA .  After ordination to the priesthood in 1974 he came to Nigeria.  At the initial stages one might have doubted ‘if he were built for the Nigerian roads’ as the ad says. He had a rather frail appearance and a sensitive and timid personality. He had his first few short appointments in urban areas of Zaria and Kano and then launched out into the rural areas where he would spend the remaining 28 years of his pastoral life.

He endeared himself to the people of Ikululand during his appointment there 1980 to 1984.  The following 4 years were spent at Sabon Sarki and then to the vast parish of Dan Ladi (1989 – 96 where the familiar sight of Griffin shrouded like a Sheik on the back of a motor bike was certainly rather amusing.  Back in Kagoro 1996 – 2004 he made a lasting impression: his buildings and decoration are adequate testimony.  Kurmin Sara welcomed him with open arms in 2005: he was the answer to their prayers.

Fr Griffin was a man of many talents: the builder and decorator, the well digger, a social developer, etc. I will not dwell on any of these, worthy as they are: rather I will try to find the secret that gave him that charism to touch the lives of so many people. Many heartfelt tears have been shed by adult men and w omen on hearing of his death. He sure touched many hearts.                                      

The key to his energy and inner strength was his personal relationship with God. I say that because I’ve had the privilege of sharing many relaxed hours of mutual visits and conversations and sometimes arguments.  He was a man of God and his love for humanity sprang from his strong personal love of God.  God was always p resent to him.  God was in him and he was in God. He reminds me of Anthony de Mello’s story.  He always had one of De Mello’s books at his bedside.  He has one story about the Grandfather Fish who was swimming around very relaxed in the sea. A young fish swam up to him in a great hurry, so impatient: I am looking for the Sea: where is it?  Relax, my boy, said Grandfather: you are right in it, swimming in it.  But this is water, said the young fish impatiently, and swam away annoyed. Griffin knew God is here, all around him, always. Many of us are too busy like the young fish. De Mello said read a passage of Scripture, carry it around in your heart and let it light up your experiences of the day. The Hub of your life will be God.

During our sitting down together conversing he will sometimes break off and make the sign of the cross; equally when travelling there must be the occasional sign of the cross. I was expecting him to visit one evening at Kachia: I saw the headlights of his car turning in off the main road: I recognised his pick up: I waited, waited. No sign. I took a short stroll to see what was wrong: I was astonished: there I saw him kneeling by his car on the road….l retreated.

Most of us don’t even know where to look for God.  Another little favourite story of Griffin from Tony de Mello: Nasruddin was on his hands and knees on the street busy looking for something. “What are you looking for asked his neighbour?  My key, I lost it yesterday. They both searched for a while but in vain. Where do you think you lost it. I lost it in the forest. Then why are you looking for it here? Because it is easier to search here. Like Nasruddin we are looking for God sometimes in the wrong place and that’s why we don’t find him. Whether in Kurmin Sara or Danladi, Kagoro, Gidan Bako or Sabon Sarki or wherever Griffin knew God was there.

De Mello tells us to look into the eyes of the sick and the suffering and the needy and there we will see and meet God, the God of compassion. It was touching t a mass in K/Sara during the week to hear a poor disabled person giving testimony weeping and recounting all that Griffin had done for her. Another parishioner there confided in me that Griffin had told him that wherever he died(and whenever) he wouldn’t wish for an expensive coffin and an elaborate funeral: he thought such expenses should better be spent to assist the needy. When he realized that he was in that wonderful but rather expensive National Hospital he was quite concerned about such matters. And later on sorting through his personal items in his inner room at Kurmin Sara was a lesson on the right use of Mission money.

His little sense of humour and fun was well known to all.  At any sitting with Griffin you must expect something funny from him.  And so to end up on a lighter note I just recall a recent local party which we both attended.  When it was time for “Riddles and Jokes” he was first to raise his hand and go to the centre: ‘The teacher in the classroom said: Who can make a sentence with the word ” INCOME “? One bright boy raised his hand: Yes, what is it?  Sir, I opened the door and INCOME THE CAT.
AT 3.15 P.M. ON NOV 19TH 2OO7 ST PETER OPENED THE DOOR OF HEAVEN AND “INCOME GRIFFIN”. MAY HE REST IN PERFECT PEACE. AMEN.

Ar dheis lámh Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Funeral Homilies – SMA Irish Province

2009

Fr James Harrold SMA – Funeral Homily – 1st September 2009 at St Joseph’s SMA Parish Church, Wilton

Jesus wanted to be remembered by us. On that night before he died at the last supper, with his Apostles around him, he set aside his cloak, filled a basin with water, grabbed a towel, got down on his knees and washed their feet. This was the same Jesus who on another occasion at another meal changed water into wine. This was the same Jesus who had raised people from the dead, gave sight to the blind cured the lepers healed the sick. This was the Son of God and yet it was in the context of this simple gesture and what would immediately follow it, that he specifically wished to be remembered… Homily here

Fr Jimmy O’Connell SMA – Funeral Homily – August 6th 2009 at St Joseph’s SMA Parish Church, Wilton
As we gather to mourn at the death Fr James O’Connell, together with his family and friends, we come also to celebrate the life of our brother and fellow missionary. His life can be viewed as having two major chapters: the active missionary and the retired man who suffered from Parkinson’s disease for many years. While it is easier to focus on the active part of his life we acknowledge that the latter years are an integral part of the story of this good man. Our life is like a weaving or tapestry woven through the relationships we form and events that overtake us in the life time given to us by the God who created us. Death offers a time to remember and retell our stories. We turn to the wisdom and insights of Sacred Scripture to help us relate to the mystery of Jimmy’s life and death… Homily here

Fr Harry Casey SMA – Funeral Homily – February 9th 2009 at St Nicholas’ Parish Church, Ardglas, Co Down
Our readings from scripture are important today as they provide us with windows of hope and so they become avenues through which we grapple with death and gradually come to terms with the loss of Fr Harry Casey, our brother priest. These readings also invite us to be more conscious of our own life as it unfolds each day and our future death which will come eventually in God’s time… Homily here

Fr Paddy Carroll SMA – Funeral Homily – January 31st 2009 at St Joseph’s SMA Parish Church Wilton
A monk asks: ‘Is there anything more miraculous than the wonders of nature?’ The Master answers: ‘Yes, your awareness of the wonders of nature.’ Over the last several months Paddy Carroll had turned his always enquiring mind to the issue of Creation. Some would say, perhaps, that his wonder was primed by the many happy hours he spent on the green sod in different continents. But his wonder was a deeply spiritual quest. He sought out again the spiritual poems of George Herbert to cast light on the magnificence of creation. This was a spiritual quest… Homily here

2008

Fr John A Creaven SMA – Funeral Homily – December 5th 2008 at St Joseph’s SMA Parish Church, Blackrcok Road, Cork
“As I approve of a youth that has something of the old man in him, so I am no less pleased with an old man that has something of the youth. He that follows this rule may be old in body, but can never be so in mind”. I believe those who knew John A. Creaven will agree that this short quotation from Cicero captures the essence of this extraordinary missionary priest.  Homily here…

Fr John O’Mahony SMA – Funeral Homily – November 14th 2008 at St Joseph’s SMA Parish Church, Blackrock Road, Cork
I had to send a text message on Wednesday evening last to Bishop John Moore SMA in Bauchi, Nigeria. I took the opportunity to also tell him of John O’Mahony’s death, in case he had not heard it. His reply text offered sympathy to all and then said “John was a giant in every way”. John’s physical frame had increased somewhat over the last months especially; but it is not his physical stature that merits him the title of giant but rather his pioneering and unique contribution to the spread of the gospel through the use of modern means of communication. His establishment and management of the Catholic media centre in the archdiocese of Kaduna, Nigeria will stand the test of time. Here he trained more than 2000 Nigerians in the craft of radio and TV production and made more than 200 religious radio programmes and 30 TV programmes per year. Of John it can be truly said: “he was a legend in his own life time”.  Homily here…

Fr James McCarthy SMA – Funeral Homily – October 15th 2008 at St Joseph’s SMA Parish Church, Blackrock Road, Cork
Many of you will recognise that two of the readings chosen for this Mass were the assigned readings for last Sunday’s liturgy. Jim died within a few hours of those readings being proclaimed in Catholic churches throughout the world, just a few minutes into the first hour of Monday morning. He was a few months shy of attaining 88 years of life; two months shy of celebrating 65 years as an SMA priest. Today we gather as a Christian community to celebrate his life and to pray him home to the God he strove to serve faithfully all his life. Homily here...

Fr Jeremiah Dwyer SMA – Funeral Homily – August 7th 2008 at St Joseph’s SMA Parish Church, Blackrock Road, Cork
Tuesday 5th August was a difficult day for Fr Jerry Dwyer’s family. It was a difficult day but also a very special day because Fr Jerry’s sister Ann and her son Denis and brother Dan and his wife Brenda knew that when they were called by Fr O’Shea before breakfast that it was to come and say goodbye to their older brother who was such a part of their life. The family sat with Jerry from breakfast until supper when he took his last breath just before 6.00pm. Homily here…

Fr Dominic Kearns SMA – Funeral Homily – April 9th 2008 at St Joseph’s SMA Parish Church, Blackrock Road, Cork
For the last few weeks of this Easter Season we have been celebrating the life and death and New Life of Jesus Christ.  As we continue that celebration we gather here today to celebrate also the life and death of Fr. Dominic Kearns SMA and to pray with great trust and hope that our friend and missionary is sharing also the New Life of Easter Resurrection with his God. Homily here…

2007

Fr Connie Griffin SMA – Funeral Homily – November 26th 2007 at St Peter’s Church, Sabon Tasha, Kaduna, Nigeria
Your Grace, Archbishop Jatau, My Lord Bishops, Fellow Priests, Rev Sisters, Brothers & Sisters in Christ: On behalf of Fr Connie Griffin lying here, l wish to express our sincere gratitude to all of you gathered here this morning to pay our final respect to the Late Fr Griffin SMA.  He has indeed touched the lives of many people: he has  touched my life to the very depth of its core: not only because we have been close friends and near neighbours and because we have spent many hours sitting in the moonlight at Kurmin Sara, sharing experiences and expectations, but mainly because he was a deeply spiritual priest. Full text here…

Fr Frank McCabe SMA – Funeral Homily – September 6th 2007 at SMA Parish Church, Wilton
“But it is not as if you live in the dark, my brothers, for that Day to overtake you like a thief”. These words from St Paul’s first letter to the disciples at Thessalonica were heard in today’s second reading.  This in fact was the first reading at Mass on the morning that Frank died. Few people were as well prepared to meet the Lord as Fr Frank McCabe. His whole life was dedicated to the Lord: the greater part in active ministry; the latter years in full-scale prayer and adoration. It is a consolation to his family and friends that he went to meet the Lord not in the dark but very much in the light. Full text here…

Fr Brian Horan SMA – Funeral Homily – April 16th 2007 at SMA Parish Church, Wilton
There is a piece of wisdom that goes something like this:
Those who go looking for happiness for itself rarely find it.
But if you pursue being a good person; be motivated to be dedicated in ones calling
and conscientious in ones work – then happiness will find you.
These are the words that come to my mind as I try to sum up the life of Fr Brian. Happiness found Brian. The transition to the fullness of that happiness found him most unexpectedly when he died in his sleep some time on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning last. Unexpected for sure; unprepared I don’t think so. Full text here…

Fr Micheál Kennedy SMA – Funeral Homily – March 28th 2007 at SMA Parish Church, Wilton
“There is a destiny that makes us brothers None of us goes our way alone
All that we put into the lives of others Comes back into our own”.
I do not know the exact origin of these words but they impacted Halai Kennedy to the extent that he used them in a speech prepared for the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of ordination to priesthood in Blackrock Road in June, 2001. I think they express eloquently sentiments he lived his life by. He knew he was not alone. For the past number of years debilitating sickness necessitated his being aided in most things. Perhaps it was merely payback time for the goodness he brought to others’ lives during 55 plus years of missionary priesthood. Full text here…

Fr Peter Devine SMA – Funeral Homily – March 26th 2007 at Tullyallen Parish Church
When the renowned scripture scholar, the late Raymond Brown, was once asked if he intended following the writing of The Death of the Messiah by a similar work on the Resurrection he replied, ‘I would prefer to research that topic face to face’. Fr Peter ‘Doc’ Devine SMA is now face to face with the topic of resurrection and it is the belief of the Christian community gathered here this afternoon that the Lord has invited him home to begin the process of full sharing in the very being of God. Full text here…

Fr John McCreanor SMA – Funeral Homily – 01 March 2007 at The Parish Church, Ballinahinch, Co Down
Dietrich Bonhoeffer has been quoted as saying “we must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.” The last decade or so of Fr John McCreanor’s 87 years of life was lived with the sign of suffering. Now his suffering is finally over. In the early hours of last Tuesday morning John yielded up his spirit and breathed his last. Full text here…

Fr Christopher Murphy SMA – Funeral Homily – 02 February 2007 at SMA Parish Church, Wilton, Cork
All things are born and die in time, but only in the case of human beings is an awareness of temporality constitutive of their identity. Without remembrance, we know not who we are, can make no plans and have no hope. We learn, or fail to learn, to live and speak the truth – and truthfulness takes time. This quotation from the theologian, Nicholas Lash, reminds us of the importance of remembering. It is through remembering we know who we are. In the life of Chris Murphy there is much to remember. In fact, eighty-eight full years of remembering. Sixty-two years of that as a missionary priest in the Society of African Missions. Full text here …

Fr David Hughes SMA – Funeral Homily – 15 January 2007 at SMA Parish Church, Wilton, Cork
The coming of the hour of dawn seems to be a significant time when people accept the invitation to journey from this life to the next. Our last two confreres buried from this church died at almost the exact same time of morning, soon after 8am. That final turn in the bed after a somewhat protracted illness seemed to allow them move gently into God. These two men’s lives warrant comparison: both lived to a ripe old age; both were ordained during the course of the 2nd World War; both served their early missionary career in Egypt, a mission to which not a large number were ever assigned; and both enjoyed healthy mental functioning until shortly before they died. David Hughes can now connect again with Owen Maginn and rehearse stories of Choubra and St George’s, Heliopolis. One thing we can be sure of: there will be much laughter. Full text here …

2006

Fr Owen Maginn SMA – Funeral Homily – 05 December 2006 at SMA Parish Church, Wilton, Cork
“When the Father laughs at the Son and the Son laughs back at the Father, that laughter gives pleasure, that pleasure gives joy, that joy gives love, and that love is the Holy Spirit”. When Meister Eckhart spoke those words back in the 14th century he may well have been motivated by having encountered someone like Fr Owen Maginn. I think for most of us the abiding memory we will carry of Owen is his laughter. Even when he was being most serious, or trying to be most serious, even in the latter days of his sickness when describing a condition that was obviously painful and critical, he could hardly conclude his remarks without breaking into his trademark giggle. That mischievous sparkle in the eye [as someone noted in our website guestbook], that giggle and laughter, were manifestations of something very wholesome inside the spirit and body of this extraordinary missionary. Full text here …

Fr John Burke SMA – Funeral Homily – 21 November 2006 at SMA Parish Church, Wilton, Cork
One sometimes has to wonder at the planning of God! To take a man at a relatively young age, a man who is seemingly at the height of his powers and energy, a man who is devoting enormous amounts of time to good works, to the advancement of God’s reign on earth though pastoral action and writing, to take such a man appears to our way of planning as strange. Yet, this is all part of the mystery that is God and the mystery that is life. We do not know the mind of God. All we can do is live with the mystery and surrender ourselves to its unfolding meaning. Full text here…

Fr Tom Egan SMA – Funeral Homily – 5 May 2006 at SMA Parish Church, Wilton, Cork
In his heyday, Fr Tom Egan was renowned for the eloquence of his after-dinner speeches or his words of gratitude at an SMA Promoters’ meeting. It was a pleasure to be treated to Tom’s choice of complimentary and affirmative phrases that were rarely understated. However, in his latter years, particularly since he joined the community at Blackrock Road, his was a quiet but contented presence. It is perhaps fitting then that he died on the Feast of two of Jesus’ less prominent apostles, Saints Philip and James. Tom died on Wednesday morning last at the South Infirmary Hospital after a relatively short illness. We gather here this afternoon to celebrate this funeral liturgy and pray for the repose of his soul… Full text here…

Fr John Breheny SMA – Funeral Homily – 25 April 2006 at St Kevin’s Church, Keash, Co Sligo
If there is any such thing as a good time to die, then to die within the octave of Easter is not such a bad deal. These weeks the liturgy bombards us with resurrection imagery: the appearances of the post-resurrection Jesus the Christ testify that when he said while on earth “destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again” he was not joking. The confidence with which Peter and companions go about healing in the name of Jesus and accounting for their actions with boldness before the Sanhedrin proves the truth of that extraordinary and eternal paradox of Christianity, namely, that new life can only come through death. During this Eastertide the Paschal or Easter candle is lit throughout, as it is lit at all funeral Masses. It is intended to be a symbol of the risen Lord among his people. His presence is light, shedding this light on the meaning of life. The candle is an invitation to those who seek this light in their lives to search the Scriptures if they wish to embrace the teaching of Jesus found there…. Full text here…

Fr Joseph Brennan SMA – Funeral Homily – 3 March 2006
“Remember, man, that you are dust and to dust you will return”.

These words of the Ash Wednesday liturgy were prayed in St Teresa’s Oratory just two hours before Joe Brennan died, peacefully in his bed just two doors down the corridor from the Oratory. The words are a stark reminder of the inevitability of death. Ash Wednesday, perhaps more than any other day with the possible exception of Good Friday, is a reality-check day. On that day one cannot avoid the reality of one’s own mortality. We will all eventually decay as our bodies return to the state of dust. Joe Brennan had the fortune to die on Ash Wednesday. Even though in the end his passing was sudden, he had really been preparing to die for quite some time now. Given his general state of health when he came over to Blackrock Road from Wilton some four years ago, one could say that these years have been a real bonus. It is also, of course, testimony to the wonderful care provided by our staff in Blackrock Road, lay and cleric. Joe appreciated this care very much. It is only right today to acknowledge it. … full text here

Fr James Gerard Lee SMA – Funeral Homily – 22 February 2006
When Archbishop Michael Francis of Monrovia returned to Liberia on Tuesday of last week, after more than a year of medical care in the Blackrock Road community, and word came through that he had travelled comfortably and well and was now positively blooming and blossoming back in his native environment, it was almost as if Jim Lee gave himself permission to die. Though Jim would shy away from any comparison to the holy man Simeon in the temple there was a Simeon like quality to his passing, as if he were saying ‘now your servant is ready to go in peace’. It was as if the knowledge that the bishop whom he had faithfully companioned for the guts of thirty years, sometimes in days of extraordinary danger, was safely home was all that he needed to let go that fragile grasp of life … full text here

Fr Fergus Conlan SMA – Funeral Homily – 23 January 2006 (in Zambia)
First of all, I want to extend to you from Ireland profound condolence on the very unexpected death of Fr Fergus Conlan SMA. On behalf of the entire membership of the Irish Province of the SMA I extend to Fr Fergus’ family, the church here in Ndola our sincerest sympathy. To Bishop Noel O’Regan SMA, to the priests, sisters, catechists, laity leaders, youth leaders, and the full membership of the church I give an assurance of prayerful remembrance at this sad time. It is always sad to lose a colleague; it is even tougher to lose a leader; to lose both a colleague and leader in such unexpected circumstances is a significant trauma. To those of you who were present last Tuesday morning at Kuomboka to realise that Fergus was no longer with us I offer a special word of comfort and sympathy. When I heard the news in Ireland it was with profound shock. How much more shocking must it have been for you to realise that the one you greeted ‘good night’ to in seeming good health only a few hours before was now dead. My prayer is that this celebration of Fergus’ life and entry into new life will be for you a moment of great consolation and serenity. May you find in this celebration the strength to continue your ministry of service to the church in Zambia and find in the memory of Fergus empowerment for yourself and your people in the days and years ahead. Full text here…

2005

Fr Con O’Driscoll SMA – Funeral Homily – 23 November 2005
Con O’Driscoll was vested in alb and stole ready to celebrate Mass with his beloved Knights of St Columbanus when he was taken suddenly ill and died just after 3pm on Sunday last, the Feast of Christ the King. For all of fifty-six years Con had lived his missionary priesthood with a passion that was both exemplary and inspiring. I have no doubt were one to ask Con for his choice of dress at death he would have chosen none other than what he was wearing. He may not have dared to hope for this. But it looks awfully like God’s way of saying “well done my good and faithful servant”. This is surely but a part of that hundredfold that the Lord promises in this life to those who serve faithfully and well. And few could have been as prepared as Con to enter effortlessly into the Father’s embrace when the final call came so suddenly. Sunday was also the eve of the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady. For a man who had such a strong devotion to Our Lady there was surely a symbolism in this timing also. … full text here

Fr Daniel (Dan) Daly SMA – Funeral Homily – 14 July 2005
The date 12th of July is associated by one community in Ireland with joy, by the other community with sadness: by one community with victory, by the other with loss. For Fr Dan Daly SMA this was the day he finally heard the invitation to accept victory over death and cross over into new life. For some time now he had enjoyed the status of being the oldest member of our Province. For someone who lived 95 and a half years – and indeed would sometimes claim that his recorded date of birth denied him another year – it was perhaps fitting that he should die on such an historic date. He was born at the very tail-end of the first decade of the last century and last millennium at Caherhayes, Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick. And he was to spend almost an entire century devoting his life to the promotion of God’s reign. Almost seventy years of this life was lived as an SMA missionary priest. So, we gather in thanksgiving this afternoon to pray that like Jesus Dan too will be resurrected into new life. … full text here

Fr Richard (Rickie) Devine SMA – Funeral Homily – 14 June 2005
Dietrich Bonhoeffer has been quoted as saying “we must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.” Fr Rickie Devine’s life was blessed with many deeds. We will reflect on some of them in the course of this homily. But we remember also that the final years of his life were marked with the sign of suffering. He bore his suffering nobly and well. For a big powerful man the gradual weakening of his body and mind cannot have been easy to accept. His suffering is now finally over. He died peacefully, surrounded by the loving care of his own family and his family in the SMA, on Saturday afternoon last, at Blackrock Road, Cork. … full text here.

Fr John J (Seán) Kelly SMA – Funeral Homily – 28 April 2005
The unexpected death of Fr Seán last Sunday evening at his house in Lecarrow, Co Roscommon was a shock to his family, especially to his sister Theresa who was visiting with him for the weekend. It was a shock to his SMA family; to his parish family; to his large circle friends and acquaintances. It left us stunned, in complete darkness with all the lights gone out. We depended on our faith and God’s word to help us in our struggle with the trauma. … full text here

Fr Robert Molloy SMA – Funeral Homily – 11 April 2005
The beautifully solemn and dignified funeral ceremony of the late Pope John Paul II on Friday last was a reminder to all of us of the dignity of life, the dignity of death and the hope that Christians carry that death is not the end of dignity but the beginning of a new stage of greater dignity where life is lived in the greater fullness of God’s presence. Bob Molloy lived 92 years of life with great dignity. He died, as he lived, peacefully and quietly on the very morning that the leader of his church was buried, a church he served faithfully, diligently and with an admirable dignity all his life. … full text here

Fr Oliver Smith SMA 9 April 2005
I imagine, if we were given a choice about when to die, many of us would choose to die during the season of Easter. This is the season of alleluia and new life. The season when we are reminded again and again that death is truly swallowed up in victory. For Oliver Smith it was a lovely blessing to die during this season. And to have died in the very week that the Pope himself died, a man who seniored Oliver by only 20 days, must be regarded as a special privilege indeed. … full text here.

Fr Thomas Higgins SMA – Funeral Homily – … February 2005
1st February ushers in the Season of Spring. We notice a lengthening of the light at both ends of the day. That theme of light is carried on into the second day of the month, when we celebrate a mini-festival with lighted candles as we contemplate the Presentation of the child Jesus in the temple. 1st February is also the Feastday of St Brigid, secondary patron of Ireland. Tom Higgins’ theology and spirituality would have little truck with modern day, feminist inspired connections being made between a pagan goddess and a Christian saint, but that he should die on this particular day is not without some significance. Brigid consecrated her whole life to God, as a virgin; so did Tom. Brigid is renowned for her hospitality, almsgiving and care of the sick. These are themes running through the life of Fr Tom; at one point, as giver; at another, as receiver. He died peacefully early on Tuesday morning, in Blackrock Road, after a protracted illness. … full text here.

Fr Laurence Skelly SMA – Funeral Homily – … January 2005
The Tsunami tragedy in S.E. Asia over the holiday period has given rise to lively debate as to where was God during this tragedy. How could a good God allow such a tragedy to happen, many asked. This is not a new question. The problem of suffering has been debated since the beginning of time, since humanity has become aware that suffering is part of the human condition. Some valiant attempts at explanation have been offered, running something like the following: God’s is a creation in freedom where the marvellous processes of nature have the capacity to produce wonderful development and growth but can also bring utter destruction and devastation. For God to intervene to stop disasters occurring would necessarily involve the cessation of freedom. In such a state we would all be responding in a programmed fashion like robots. God’s gift was to create the world with its own laws, and human beings with freedom and the ability to make choices. … full text here.

2004

Fr Thomas (Tommy) Lindon SMA – Funeral Homily – 28 December 2004
There is something very poignant and sad about dying on Christmas Day. And, yet, there is something very uplifting in it also. To die in the hope of eternal life on the very day when we celebrate the coming down to earth as man of the very Son of God, the one in whom all our hopes of eternal life rest, the one who himself incarnated hope, is somehow a beautiful rounding off to a life lived in this unquenchable hope, and dedicated to spreading this same message of hope to the very ends of the earth. Fr Tommy Lindon passed away very peacefully at about 7pm on Christmas Day. His death concludes one stage of his existence. His death also brings to a closure a time of suffering and unease when the quality of his life was far from what one would wish. For a man of brilliant intellect these last few years must have been shockingly disfigured. And, yet, not least because of the loving care he received in St Theresa’s, he was gently released to meet his God when the time was right. … full text here.

Fr Michael (Mick) McGlinchey SMA – Funeral Homily – 14 December 2004
John Ayscough is quoted as saying, “Death is but a sharp corner near the beginning of life’s procession down eternity”.
These words seem appropriate in attempting to preach the word at the funeral of Fr Michael McGlinchey. In the last few years Mick’s walking style was considerably slower making sharp corners difficult to negotiate. As was observed of a famous man in his declining years, frail step following frail step – going nowhere with elegance. … full text here.

Maurice Slattery

Born: 22 September l874 at Laccamore, Abbeydorney, Co Kerry, in the diocese of Kerry
Died: 11 May l957, of heart failure, while holidaying in Tralee, Co Kerry

In his family there were eight boys and two girls.

l893-l896: secondary studies at St. Joseph’s College, Wilton, Cork
l896: joined the Society’s seminary at Lyon, France and the Society’s seminary at Choubra, Egypt
21 December l897: admitted to membership of the Society .
Ordained: 9 June l900 in the seminary chapel at Choubra along with James O’Rafferty and Thomas Gibbons by Bishop Roveggio.
1900 Teacher in the seminary at Choubra, director in the SMAs school at Zeitoun and then teacher in St. Louis college, Tantah. l904-l905: Director of students at Mahalla, Egypt
l905-l9l2: Professor at Tantah The qualities displayed during these years were such as to make him a likely choice for an important role in the launching of an Irish Province of the Society.
1912: appointed vice-Provincial of the new Province
10 September 1913: succeeded Stephen Kyne as Provincial Superior.

Maurice took charge at a time when the Province was facing a crisis of confidence. The ground work for creating the Province had been laid by Joseph Zimmermann who had been resident in Ireland since 1883. The erection of the Province coincided with a decision by Society superiors in Lyon to withdraw Fr Zimmermann from Ireland because of long standing differences. The membership of the new Province (scarcely 20 priests and brothers) was divided on the question of Fr Zimmermann’s removal, while many of the bishops, clergy and laity who had supported him over the years, now withdrew their support from the new Province. This was the situation which Maurice faced when he assumed office in 1913. By the time his term came to an end, in July 1918, he had succeeded in restoring the confidence of the members, regaining much of the lost support and placing the Province on a sound financial footing. His sure touch reflected itself in the growing confidence of the Province’s increasing number of missionaries in Liberia, Nigeria and Egypt, and in its flourishing training institutions in Ireland.

On 15 October 1913 Maurice had the joy of sending off to Liberia the first contingent of young priests ordained for the Province. They were John M Collins (later bishop of Liberia), Peter Harrington (later American Provincial), Eugene O’Hea and William Shine (who was to die a year later). Each subsequent year he presided over a new ‘departure ceremony’, held in St. Joseph’s Church, Blackrock Road, on the feast of St. Therese, patroness of the missions. One far-seeing decision which he took early in his term was the foundation of the African Missionary, the Province’s magazine which brought the missionary message into Irish homes. He himself was to contribute regularly to this journal throughout his long life. It’s first edition appeared in January 1914. Scarcely less important was the establishment of the ‘Missionary Shilling’ promotion scheme, which brought large numbers of people into contact with the Society and raised badly needed revenue. The most obvious acknowledgement of his work between 1913-1918, was the decision by Propaganda Fide to confide the vicariate of Western Nigeria to the Province in 1918, two months after Maurice’s Provincialship ended.

1918-1925: maurice was vice-Provincial and also superior of the new novitiate and house of philosophy at Kilcolgan, Co Galway. During these years he made important additions to the house to cater for the growing number of students, acting often as his own architect and clerk of works. His approach to the training of students was liberal and open minded.
1925: Maurice was once again elected Provincial by the Provincial Assembly. One of the pressing needs for the Province at this time was the provision of a suitable theological seminary, since the existing seminary at Blackrock Road was too small. Maurice acquired and adapted for this purpose a fine house and estate at Dromantine, Co Down. He remained Provincial until the Assembly of
l931: Stephen Harrington succeeded him as Provincial Superior and appointed Maurice as Provincial procurator, entrusting to him the day to day financial management of the Province.

1937: The 8th General Assembly of the Society held at Lyon elected Maurice as Superior General. It was under his supervision that the Assembly’s decision to move the Generalate from Lyon to Rome was successfully implemented. Maurice found a suitable house within a short distance of the Vatican – at 324 via dei Gracchi. The outbreak of war in 1939 made it difficult for him to administer the Society as he would have wished, but he did manage to keep in contact with the members through circular letters. The war also interfered with his plans for an international house of studies that would group around the Superior General a chosen body of students from all the Provinces. His ten-year term as Superior General (prolonged because of the war) came to an end in 1947, leaving him still in good health in spite of the privations and anxieties which he had endured and in spite of his 73 well filled years.
1947-1953: After the General Assembly of that year (he was again succeeded by Stephen Harrington), Maurice returned to Cork where he was appointed first superior of a university hostel for African students attending U.C.C. (St. Francis Xavier’s) founded at Doughcloyne outside the city limits.
1953 (October): at seventy nine years of age he retired from active duty. He spent his last years living at Doughcloyne.

Maurice’s life spanned almost three generations. Born in the relative peace of the Victorian era, he lived to see the turbulent birth of the atomic age. A fine figure of a man, well over six feet, he made an impression wherever he went not only by his appearance but also through the force of his strong personality. Highly regarded on all levels within the Irish Church and in Vatican circles, he won for the Province respect and esteem, so necessary for the accomplishment of its work in Ireland and in Africa. Maurice’s strong features belied a sensitive and creative nature, which expressed itself in a number of small volumes of poetry and prose works. Maurice took a keen interest in social, economic and political questions and frequently wrote in newspapers and journals on the great issues of the day. Two of Maurice’s brothers became priests: William and Tom, both who served in New South Wales, Australia and died in the 1930’s.

He is buried in Wilton cemetery.

Jubilee celebrations in St. Patrick’s parish, Cable Point, Asaba

Fr Jim at 85
There was a great spirit of celebration around St. Patrick’s SMA Parish, Cable Point, Asaba on Sunday, 15th March, 2009 when a huge crowd joined Fr. James Higgins SMA to celebrate his 85th birthday and the Diamond Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood. Presiding at the Mass was Most Rev Emmanuel Otteh, the Bishop Emeritus of Issele-Uku diocese.

Fr Tim Cullinane, Bishop Otteh and Fr Jim

The chief celebrant was Fr Higgins and the concelebrants were Fr Tim Cullinane, SMA (Regional Superior, Nigeria South), Fr Basil Soyoye, SMA (Superior of the Bight of Benin District-in-Formation), Fr Joseph Chege, SMA, Parish Priest, St. Patrick’s), Fr Noel Musa, SMA, (Assistant priest, St Patrick’s), Fr Mattie O’Connell (St Thérèse parish, Akure), Fr James Owosu-Yeboah, SMA (St Joseph’s, Gowon Estate), Fr. Richard Wall (SMA House, Uromi), Fr Colum Nilan, SMA (SMA House of Formation, Ibadan), Fr Bernard (Holy Cross Cistercian Monastery, Illah), Fr Eric Yapi Yapi, SMA (Assistant priest, St Patrick’s) and Fr Peter McCawille, SMA (St Andrew’s, Benin City). Sunday obligations prevented Bishop Michael Elue (Issele-Uku) and many local priests from attending the Mass but they all came later to pay their respects to Fr Higgins. The sermon was preached by Fr Timothy Cullinane.

Tributes to Missionaries: Holy Ghost Fathers and SMA
At the end of the Mass Bishop Otteh paid glowing tributes to both the SMA and the Holy Ghost Fathers for the great sacrifices they made in bringing the faith to that part of Nigeria and he prayed that successive generations of priests would endeavour to emulate their example in the years ahead.

Fr Jim Gives Thanks
In his valedictory address at the end of Mass Fr Higgins asserted that all the thanks for his having reached this milestone in his life were due primarily to almighty God who blessed him with good health throughout every day of his nearly 60 years in Nigeria. So good was his health that he had never once spent a day in hospital. He continued to acknowledge his gratitude for the many people who had helped him along the way: his SMA family, Archbishop Patrick Ekpu, Bishops P J Kelly, Anthony O Gbuji, Emmanuel N Otteh and Michael O Elue who all inspired him to greater heights, a whole host of local priests who had been such a source of encouragement to him, teachers and pupils in the various schools in which he worked; the different congregations that he had served in parishes even when he was teaching. He made special mention of the wonderful work done by the various catechists in the parishes throughout the country, calling them the unsung heroes of evangelization.

Reception
After the Mass a grand open air reception was laid on with a great display of cultural dancing and other events all designed to mark this special day. Special mention should be made of the little children, popularly referred to as the de Brésillac Babes, who moved delightfully throughout the Mass and gave a special dancing display during the reception.

Bishop Elue, Fr Jim and Parish Priest, Fr Joseph Chege SMA

Blessing of Rain
The day was brought to a premature end by a huge shower of rain which sent everybody scurrying in all directions and which was interpreted as a clear sign of further divine intervention in the life of Fr. Higgins, leaving the people convinced that this unexpected downpour was in itself a promise that continued blessings would be showered not only on Fr. Higgins in the years ahead but on all those with whom he had come in contact throughout the length and breadth of the mid-west over the past 60 years and hopefully for many years to come.

Fr Jim and Bishop with Sisters present

Peter McCawille, SMA.
St. Andrew’s Church,
Benin City.

The French Invasion

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FOUNDER’S DAY AT SMA HOUSE BLACKROCK ROAD

SMA celebrated Founder’s Day on 25 June 2005. On this day in 1859 the Founder of SMA died in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The occasion was marked at SMA House, Blackrock Road, Cork with a special Mass concelebrated by the community. Two of the concelebrants of the Mass were Archbishop Michael Francis, Archbishop of Monrovia and Bishop Boniface Dalieh of Cape Palmas, both from Liberia which in 1859 was part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Sierra Leone, territory entrusted to the SMA and Bishop de Marion Bresillac.

The principal celebrant was Fr Tom Curran SMA, the Communications Director of the Irish Province. The following is the text of the homily he preached at the Mass.

FOUNDER’S DAY HOMILY: 25/06/05

This day, June 25 2005, marks the 146th anniversary of the death of the Founder of SMA. We have come together for this Eucharistic celebration to commemorate the death of the Bishop, Melchior Marie-Joseph de Marion Bresillac. His death coming just 2½ years after he founded the Society was an event of immense significance.

This day is a challenge to us:
– It raises the question about who we are as members of the SMA
– it challenges us to examine the significance of Freetown and its impact on SMA.

December 8 1856, as Brésillac and his companions came together at the shrine of Our Lady at Fourvieres in Lyon, was a profound moment for the history of the missionary movement in modern times. What was inaugurated there was to make an immense contribution to the development “spiritual and material” of Africa and her peoples. This is because, and we should have no doubt about it, the SMA has had a deep impact on Africa and has and is continuing to set its mark on the continent to which Bresillac and his followers were to dedicate their lives, their energies and their service.

Just two years after the Society was launched the first SMA missionaries arrived in Africa, at Freetown, Sierra Leone, at the heart of the Apostolic Vicariate entrusted to Bishop de Marion Bresillac. These two years had been spent publicising the new Society, setting up the seminary, fund-raising and making preparations for taking on the missionary work in Africa. Within two months of the arrival of Frs Louis Reymond and Jean-Baptiste Bresson and Brother Eugene, Bresillac himself set off to join them on mission in the company of Fr Louis Riocreux and Br Gratien Monnoyeur. On 14 May they reached Freetown. It was the fulfilment of his deep felt longing to continue the missionary apostolate he had had to abandon in India.

The town of Freetown was engulfed by an epidemic of yellow-fever. Despite the urging of the ship’s captain not to, Bresillac went ashore to meet his confreres.
Why wasn’t he more sensible?
Why did he have to go ashore into the disease-ridden land?
Why did he take what, in hindsight, many would see as the foolish option?

To attempt to answer these questions might prove futile. But he must have been motivated by his missionary commitment and his desire to go amongst his abandoned people in their hour of need. He most certainly may have been motivated by the pledges he himself had made on retreat earlier. These would be the guiding principles of his missionary life.

• “To be a missionary from the depths of my heart”.
• “To neglect nothing that might advance the work of God”.
• “To seize every opportunity to preach the Gospel”.
• “Finally, and it is for this that I especially implore Your blessing, O my God, to use all my strength, all my study and make every possible effort to contribute to the formation of an indigenous clergy”.

His earlier experience in India would have enriched the Founder in the missionary apostolate but would also have sharpened his own ideas about what the missionary ought to be engaged in. Of particular significance is his own reflection on the method of Jesus in coming first to the locals, the children of Israel. So Brésillac became deeply committed to the establishment of the indigenous clergy, first of all in India and then, later, this was to become a major part of his vision for the new society he founded.

If the formation of the indigenous clergy was to be a fundamental aspect of mission policy, the second aspect was his own commitment to reach out to the most abandoned giving rise to the SMA prioritising Primary Evangelisation as one of its principal targets.

These two aspects of the missionary apostolate were what shaped his attitude and determined his vision. They also were to determine the vision of SMA up to this very day.

• The commitment to be involved in the local church ensuring it would be developed and managed by its own people
• And the commitment to the most abandoned peoples of Africa

were to be enshrined in our policy-making and to be the basis for our SMA mission location and apostolate.

Today’s Gospel account describes Jesus commissioning his disciples – “Go out to the whole world, proclaim the Good News to all creation”

Melchior de Marion Bresillac’s love for the continent to which he was to dedicate the work of the Society was to inspire and compel him to go ashore to be with the people he had come to serve” even if around him the advice he was given would have suggested staying safely on board ship.

It was the culmination of all his work over the previous decade’s for resources, for recruitment, for animation about mission. Now at last he had come to Africa, to his people, to his territorial see” And go ashore he must and he did. He was going to proclaim the Good News to the people entrusted to him.

And we know the rest. Fr Riocreux became ill and after a few days of fever he died on 2 June, aged 27. Meanwhile Fr Bresson too became ill and died on 5 June, aged 47. When Br Gratien became ill, Brésillac was already beginning to see the tragic end to his mission in Sierra Leone and even spoke about moving the mission further along the coast to Dahomey. When Gratien died on 13 June at the age of 29, Brother Eugene was sent back to France. By then Bresillac himself had become ill and though he seemed to respond to some medical treatment and to hold out hope of recovery, his condition deteriorated a few days later and by then Fr Reymond too was ill. Bishop Brésillac died on 25 June at the age of 46, and Fr Reymond three days later aged 36. A French trader was present as the bishop died and he recorded the final moments including the spoken words of the Founder “Faith, hope” and the uncompleted word “Charity” and finally his very last words – and not insignificant – “Thank you”.

The sacrifice that was to be so much a part of the SMA for the next fifty years had begun. That sacrifice at Freetown was to motivate and inspire men and later women to continue to come to Africa to fulfil the mission command of Jesus. What ended tragically in Freetown was to mark the beginning of a new phase of evangelisation that brought the message of Jesus Christ to the notorious West Coast of Africa and in time over the next 150 years to many other parts of that vast continent.

Today we look back and recall and remember. We remember the price that has been paid, we remember the generosity of so many of our confreres who have gone before us showing us an example and inspiring us not to spare ourselves in the service of God and in the bringing of the Good News to people who have not yet heard it. That work, that vision continues today. We ought to take pride in being part of it. And, for the privilege it is for us to be part of it, we too could make as our own message to God the very last words of Bishop Melchior de Marion Brésillac: “Thank You”.

[Fr Tom Curran sma]

SMA PARISH – EMBULBUL, DIOCESE OF NGONG, KENYA

The SMA parish of Embulbul, where Fr Con Murphy SMA is working, we have received appeals for two different projects. Your contribution is sure to help us.

The Vincent de Paul Society

A Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society was established in 2006 by Fr. C. Murphy SMA, assisted by Sr. Alice Daly, Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.

The aim of this rather small conference is to respond to situations of extreme poverty that exist locally. This involves visiting the poor and the sick in their homes and in hospitals; praying with them and for them; communicating interest in and concern for their situation and giving whatever material help that is possible within the Conference’s limited resources.

The principal needs of those seeking help are food, medicine and clothing as well as school fees and house rent.

The local community is by no means rich but the people are quite generous with donations of clothes and food. For financial assistance, however, the Conference is largely dependent on overseas donors.
During the month of December ’08 the Conference spent 25,000.00 Kenya shillings (£ 250) on food, medicine and some essential household furnishings. Christmas food was supplied to 30 families and roughly 70 people were given clothing donated by parishioners.
In the village many people are unemployed and many earn less than 200 Kenya shillings per day (£ 2)

Any assistance for their project will be greatly appreciated.

Fr. Con Murphy – Assistant Priest
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THE GOOD SAMARITAN PROJECT

This project is under the direction of the Parish priest of Embulbul and its aim is to provide practical assistance for those in the locality who are HIV positive and practically for children who are affected by the AIDS pandemic. Some of these children who are affected by the disease and many others have lost one or both parents.

Help for the children are provided especially through meeting their educational needs. The project attempts to:

a)    Pay school fees
b)    Provide school uniforms and text books
c)    Pay medical expenses.

A special feeding programme provides food for 140 children for three times weekly.

Also, a small group of adults about 123 – are given opportunity to participate in a self help programme which involves the working and the selling of articles of clothing as well as the manufacture of African ornaments and articles of jewelry for sale to tourists.

The annual budget for the project is roughly $ 25,000.00.

Any contribution will be deeply appreciated.

Fr. Fabian Hevi SMA – Parish Priest
Fr. Con Murphy SMA – Assistant

Silver Jubilee celebrated

Dromantine was the location for the Silver Jubilee Celebration of Fr Fergus Tuohy SMA which was held on 7 July 2006.

Fr Fergus was ordained to the priesthood on 13 June 1981 in Cork. He was first assigned to the Docese of Jos (Nigeria) and when the Vicariate of Bauchi was created in 1996, Fergus moved there. His missionary career has been divided between educatain and pastoral activities.

About 50 SMA members joined in the celebration of the Jubilee Mass. The homily was preached by Fr Aodh¡n McCrystal SMA. The Provincial Superior, Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, paid tribute to Fergus and his work at a function that followed the Mass and made a suitable presentation to him.

Links:
Bethany House

SMA Diamond Jubilee Celebrations – 1943-2003

On 19 December 1943 twelve SMA missionary priests were ordained in St Colman’s Cathedal, Newry. Over the past sixty years, ten of these men passed to their heavenly reward: Fathers Hugh Conlon (Cork), Michael J Conway (Tuam), John Moorhead (Meath), Thomas Lennon (Kildare & Leighlin), Martin Whyte (Achonry), Gerard Scanlon (Killaloe), John Browne (Kerry), Michael Maughan (Tuam), Patrick Fitzsimmons (Dublin) and Patrick J Clancy (Limerick).

Two of the class of 1943, Fathers James McCarthy (Cork) and Owen Maginn (Down & Connor) celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of their ordination on Friday, 19 December 2003.

Celebration in Cork
Fr James McCarthy served for most of his missionary career in the Archdiocese of Lagos, Nigeria where he was highly regarded for his work in the field of education before assuming the pastoral care of the people in the parishes of Falomo and Lafiagi in the great metropolis of Lagos. His contribution to education in Nigeria saw him give service in Oyo, Abeokuta and finally in St Gregory’s College in Lagos. For a number of years between his time in education and his time in parish work he served the Irish Province of the SMA as Vice-Provincial and as Provincial Councillor. He is now in retirement in Blackrock Road where the Jubilee was fittingly celebrated with Mass and a reception on 19 December.

Celebration in Zambia
Fr Owen Maginn’s sixty years as a missionary priest saw him give service in Egypt and Zambia. Having just returned to Zambia after a brief visit to Ireland, he celebrated his Jubilee in Ndola, Zambia amongst the SMA members working in the mission.

Fr Fergus Conlon SMA, Regional Superior in Zambia writes: “We had a beautiful celebration of Owens Diamond anniversary on Friday 19th December here in SMA Regional House. At first he wanted SMA’s only – something small. But after gentle persuasion he gave us names of those who he was close to. About 50 turned up – as one Sister remarked at the mixture “they were old and young, of many different nationalities, lay and various congregations of religious, sisters and priests and diocesan … a very representative turn out and a tribute to the high esteem in which Owen is held in the diocese. The Chief celebrant was Fr Owen himself … he was at his brilliant best. Flanked by Fr Patrick Chilambwe, Diocesan Administrator of Ndola Diocese, and Fr Secky Doran SMA who was celebrating 40 years of missionary priesthood … between these two East Down stalwarts Owen and Secky, 100 years of Missionary priestly service. The Mass was followed by speeches … from anybody that wanted to … some were very humourous but all ended in an appreciation of how Owen had helped them and was there for them at some important time in their life and family … followed by drinks and dinner … A recurring theme was the witness of Owen’s spirituality, acceptance, fidelity and good humour.”

Ad Multos Annos

What is a SYNOD?

[From Greek synodus, an assembly].  Generally, a Synod is an ecclesiastical gathering for discussion of matters relating to faith, morals or discipline. It can be held at local diocesan level under the bishop of the diocese or at international level when all the bishops of the Church assemble together for a General Council of the Church.  The Pope may also convene a Synod of bishops and other advisors from a particular region or to discuss the situation in a particular region.  The African Synod is such.

Has there been an African Synod before?

The 1994 Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops took place from 10 April until 8 May, with the theme: “The Church in Africa towards the Third Millennium”. That Synod addressed the many and varied issues affecting the Church in Africa – Evangelisation, Inculturation, Dialogue with traditional religion, with Islam and with other Christians, the Christian Family, Jutice and Peace, Refugees, AIDS, Development, Social Communications, Seminary and Religious Formation, Education, Priests, Religious, Catechists, Lay Missionaries, Women and Youth.  The Synod was made up of Holy Father with 35 Cardinals, one Patriarch, 39 Archbishops, 146 Bishops and 90 Priests.  The full message of the 1994 Synod here…

Who attends the Synod?

All the Episcopal Conferences in Africa send delegates.  The Pope appoints some cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and lay people with particular interests or who may have a particular contribution to make as delegates, experts, auditors and advisors.

The African Synod (2009)

The Second Special Assembly for Africa, popularly known as the Second African Synod of Bishops, took place in Rome from 4 – 25 October 2009. The theme of the Synod was “The Church in Africa in service to reconciliation, justice, and peace:  You are the salt of the earth… you are the light of the world.”

Official Opening: The Homily of Pope Benedict XVI can be viewed here and sets the tone for the Synod.

Some Resources:

The AFJN (Africa Faith and Justice Network)
presents some material on the preparations for the Synod here….

The Launching of the Synod Preparation Paper:
by Pope Benedict XVI at Yaounde, Cameroon: Report here…

SMA Presence at the 2009 Synod of Bishops:

Fr Kieran O’Reilly SMA, Superior General represented the Superiors General of Societies of Apostolic Life. Fr O’Reilly’s intervention is here…

Archbishop Michel Cartateguy SMA, Archbishop of Niamey, Niger

SMA Active Apostolate

The 150 year-old apostolate of SMA continues. 400 SMA members work in various apotolates in Africa today.
They work in sixteen countries and come from various countries reflecting the internationality of the Society. 85 of them are Irish.

Their work is in primary evangelisation and in development.

Their work is in the rapidly expanding urban apostolate of the big cities as well as in the traditional rural areas.

They care for the spiritual as well as the material needs of our less well-off brothers and sisters in Africa.

They live among

• people in need of education, health and medical facilities;
• people living in slums and overcrowded conditions;
• people suffering from effects of drought and water shortage, famine, poverty;
• people with HIV-AIDS and other diseases.

They need support for maintenence and transport, to build churches, schools, clinics, bridges and wells, to care for refugees, street-children, the homeless,

Examples

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Sabriana was introduced to a man called Yani by a neighbour in her village as someone who would help her to a better life in Western Europe.  She would earn good money, have a new life and be able to send money home to her elderly mother and father.  She agreed to pretend to be married to the man and went with him using false documents he procured.  But what began as a journey of hope soon became a living hell.

As soon as she reached London she was beaten and abused, she was locked up, told she would be put in jail if the police caught her.  Yani forced her to sell sex.  Foolishly she hoped for the best because she did not want to believe that it could get worse.  It did when Yani sold her to another man and she had to work in brothels and clubs.  Without documents escape was almost impossible, she was controlled through a combination of promises, lies, threats and violence.  She was even told that her parents would be killed if she tried to escape.  Months later she was sold on again and was moved to Dublin from where she was regularly sent to “visit” provincial towns.  After a severe beating Sabriana decided she had to get out. She escaped and arrived in a Garda Station afraid, bruised, with broken ribs and teeth.

Sabriana’s saga is not yet over.  She is now in the asylum process. She lives in fear that the “owner” who beat her will find her again.  She fears being deported and also that her parents will suffer because of her escape.

It is estimated that over 400,000 women and girls are trafficked into and within Europe every year. Sabriana is one of the many who’s suffering and misery is unimaginable.     Back to Human Trafficking

The love of Christ towards Migrants  – excerpts

The love of Christ towards migrants urges us (cf. 2 Co 5:14) to look afresh at their problems, which are to be met with today all over the world. In fact nearly all countries are now faced with the eruption of the migration phenomenon in one aspect or another; it affects their social, economic, political and religious life and is becoming more and more a permanent structural phenomenon.  Thus Christians are called on to:
• give witness to and practice not only the spirit of tolerance – but also respect for the other’s identity.  
• to open a way towards sharing with people of different origins and cultures a “respectful proclamation” of their own faith.
• called to a culture of solidarity so as to achieve together a real communion of persons.
 
Migration as seen with the eyes of faith :   12. In migrants the Church has always contemplated the image of Christ who said, “I was a stranger and you made me welcome” (Mt 25:35).  Their condition is, therefore, a challenge to the faith and love of believers, who are called on to heal the evils caused by migration and discover the plan God pursues through it …….15.  In the foreigner a Christian sees not simply a neighbour, but the face of Christ Himself, who was born in a manger and fled into Egypt, where he was a foreigner…..“There is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised and the uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and free man” (Col 3:11).

36. …….. Tolerance is not enough; needed is a certain feeling for the other, respect as far as possible for the cultural identity of one’s dialogue partners…… Keeping our eyes on the gospel thus means attention to people too, to their dignity and freedom.  Helping them advance integrally requires a commitment to fraternity, solidarity, service and justice.
37. In the vision of the Second Vatican Council …….. the unity of Pentecost does not abolish the various languages and cultures but recognises them in their identities …the universal love at work in them. ……… It will thus be necessary to build up the Church and make it grow in and with the migrants …….

Welcome and solidarity   39. …. it is important that communities do not think that they have completed their duty to migrants simply by performing acts of fraternal assistance ….Christians must in fact promote an authentic culture of welcome capable of accepting the truly human values of the immigrants over and above any difficulties caused by living together with persons who are different. 

41. .. local Churches must rethink pastoral care, programming it to help the faithful live their faith authentically in today’s new multicultural and pluri-religious context.  ..the local population should be made aware of the complex problems of migration and the need to oppose baseless suspicions and offensive prejudices against foreigners.  …In religious instruction and catechesis suitable means must be found to create in the Christian conscience a sense of welcome, especially for the poorest and outcasts as migrants often are..

43. ..assistance or “first welcome” are of the greatest importance (in response to the emergencies that come with migrations … But also important are acts of welcome in its full sense, which aim at the progressive integration and self-sufficiency of the immigrant.  Let us remember in particular the commitment undertaken for family unification, education of children, housing, work, associations, promotion of civil rights and migrants’ various ways of participation in their host society. Religious, social, charitable and cultural associations of Christian inspiration should also make efforts to involve immigrants themselves in their structures.

46. Popular piety, too, deserves particular attention as it is characteristic of many migrant communities.  Besides recognising that “when it is well oriented it is rich in values” – we must also bear in mind that for many migrants it is a fundamental link with their Church of origin and with their ways of understanding and living the faith.  Here it is a question of …….. enabling the local Catholic community to know and appreciate certain forms of devotion of migrants and thus to understand them.  From this union of spirit a more participated liturgy can also develop, one that is better integrated and spiritually richer.

Catholic Migrants: The uprooting that moving abroad inevitably involves should not be made worse by uprooting the migrant from his religious rite or identity too.  50. …… the particular Church where they have arrived should help them overcome the problems caused by uprooting from their community of origin and the serious difficulties of finding their place in their new one.  …….catechism and liturgical formation by religious and lay pastoral workers in close collaboration with chaplains/missionaries will prove to be particularly valuable….

Workers in a Pastoral Care of Communion:  The principal tasks of the pastoral worker among immigrants are
• safeguarding the migrants’ ethnic, cultural, linguistic and ritual identity since effective pastoral activity is unthinkable if it does not respect and value their cultural heritage, which, however, must also be brought into dialogue with the local Church and culture so as to respond to new demands;
• guidance along the way to authentic integration, avoiding a cultural ghetto and at the same time opposing the pure and simple assimilation of migrants into the local culture;
• … sharing the situation and conditions of migrants ….in an atmosphere of a clear witness of life.

The laity   86. In both the Church and society the lay faithful ….. are called to bear Christian witness and to be in the service of migrants too.  In particular we have in mind pastoral assistants and catechists, animators of groups of young people or adults, persons engaged in the world of labour, in social and charitable services.
87.  In the Church itself, one could examine the possibility of instituting a suitable form of non-ordained ministry of welcome with the task of approaching migrants and refugees and introducing them gradually into the civil and the ecclesial community.

 Unity in plurality: the problems  89. In this context each host Church is called upon to integrate the concrete reality of the persons and groups that compose it, bringing the values of each one into communion, as all are called upon to build a Church that is concretely Catholic. “In this way there is brought about a unity in plurality in the local Church, a unity that is not uniformity but harmony, in which every legitimate diversity plays its part in the common and unifying effort.
To view the full text of the Encyclical click here

Back to what the Church says about the Stranger

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR THE 93rd WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES (2007)

The migrant family
 Dear Brothers and Sisters!
On the occasion of the coming World Day of Migrants and Refugees, and looking at the Holy Family of Nazareth, icon of all families, I would like to invite you to reflect on the condition of the migrant family. The evangelist Matthew narrates that shortly after the birth of Jesus, Joseph was forced to leave for Egypt by night, taking the child and his mother with him, in order to flee the persecution of king Herod (cf. Mt 2:13-15). Making a comment on this page of the Gospel, my venerable Predecessor, the Servant of God Pope Pius XII, wrote in 1952: “The family of Nazareth in exile, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, emigrants and taking refuge in Egypt to escape the fury of an evil king, are the model, the example and the support of all emigrants and pilgrims of every age and every country, of all refugees of any condition who, compelled by persecution and need, are forced to abandon their homeland, their beloved relatives, their neighbors, their dear friends, and move to a foreign land” (Exsul familia, AAS 44, 1952, 649). In this misfortune experienced by the Family of Nazareth, obliged to take refuge in Egypt, we can catch a glimpse of the painful condition in which all migrants live, especially, refugees, exiles, evacuees, internally displaced persons, those who are persecuted. We can take a quick look at the difficulties that every migrant family lives through, the hardships and humiliations, the deprivation and fragility of millions and millions of migrants, refugees and internally displaced people. The Family of Nazareth reflects the image of God safeguarded in the heart of every human family, even if disfigured and weakened by emigration.
The theme of the next World Day of Migrants and Refugees – The migrant family – is in continuity with those of 1980, 1986 and 1993. It intends to underline further the commitment of the Church not only in favor of the individual migrant, but also of his family, which is a place and resource of the culture of life and a factor for the integration of values. The migrant’s family meets many difficulties. The distance of its members from one another and unsuccessful reunification often result in breaking the original ties. New relationships are formed and new affections arise. Some migrants forget the past and their duties, as they are subjected to the hard trial of distance and solitude. If the immigrant family is not ensured of a real possibility of inclusion and participation, it is difficult to expect its harmonious development. The International Convention for the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families, which was enforced on July 1st, 2003, intends to defend men and women migrant workers and the members of their respective families. This means that the value of the family is recognized, also in the sphere of emigration, which is now a structural phenomenon of our societies. The Church encourages the ratification of the international legal instruments that aim to defend the rights of migrants, refugees and their families and, through its various Institutions and Associations, offers its advocacy that is becoming more and more necessary. To this end, it has opened Centres where migrants are listened to, Houses where they are welcomed, Offices for services offered to persons and families, with other initiatives set up to respond to the growing needs in this field.
Much is already being done for the integration of the families of immigrants, although much still remains to be done. There are real difficulties connected with some “defense mechanisms” on the part of the first generation immigrants, which run the risk of becoming an obstacle to the greater maturity of the young people of the second generation. This is why it is necessary to provide for legislative, juridical and social intervention to facilitate such an integration. In recent times, there is an increase in the number of women who leave their countries of origin in search of better conditions of life, in view of more promising professional prospects. However, women who end up as victims of trafficking of human beings and of prostitution are not few in number. In family reunification, social workers, especially religious women, can render an appreciated service of mediation that merits our gratitude more and more.
Regarding the integration of the families of immigrants, I feel it my duty to call your attention to the families of refugees, whose conditions seem to have gone worse in comparison with the past, also specifically regarding the reunification of family nuclei. In the camps assigned to them, in addition to logistic difficulties, and those of a personal character linked to the trauma and emotional stress caused by the tragic experiences they went through, sometimes there is also the risk of women and children being involved in sexual exploitation, as a survival mechanism. In these cases an attentive pastoral presence is necessary. Aside from giving assistance capable of healing the wounds of the heart, pastoral care should also offer the support of the Christian community, able to restore the culture of respect and have the true value of love found again. It is necessary to encourage those who are interiorly-wrecked to recover trust in themselves. Everything must also be done to guarantee the rights and dignity of the families and to assure them housing facilities according to their needs. Refugees are asked to cultivate an open and positive attitude towards their receiving society and maintain an active willingness to accept offers to participate in building together an integrated community that would be a “common household” for all.
Among migrants, there is a category that needs to be considered in a special way: the students from other countries, who are far from home, without an adequate knowledge of the language, at times without friends and often with a scholarship that is insufficient for their needs. Their condition is even worse if they are married. Through its Institutions, the Church exerts every effort to render the absence of family support for these young students less painful. It helps them integrate in the cities that receive them, by putting them in contact with families that are willing to offer them hospitality and facilitate knowing one another. As I had the opportunity to say on another occasion, helping foreign students is “an important field of pastoral action… Indeed, young people who leave their own country in order to study encounter many problems and especially the risk of an identity crisis” (L’Osservatore Romano, 15 December 2005).
Dear Brothers and Sisters, may the World Day of Migrants and Refugees become a useful occasion to build awareness, in the ecclesial community and public opinion, regarding the needs and problems, as well as the positive potentialities of migrant families. My thoughts go in a special way to those who are directly involved in the vast phenomenon of migration, and to those who expend their pastoral energy in the service of human mobility. The words of the apostle Paul, “caritas Christi urget nos” (2 Cor 5:14), urge us to give ourselves preferentially to our brothers and sisters who are most in need. With these sentiments, I invoke divine assistance on each one and I affectionately impart to all a special Apostolic Blessing.

18 October 2006

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

 Back to what the Church says about the Stranger
 

ABOUT COIS TINE

MISSION STATEMENT: Rooted in the call of the Gospel to welcome the stranger, Cois Tine addresses the pastoral, spiritual and social needs of the immigrant community.

Cois Tine is a multicultural organisation that respects and promotes the integration of people from all communities, cultures and faiths. It works primarily with asylum seekers and refugees particularly those of African origin.

OUR NAME: The name Cois Tine or “ By the Fireside” in the Irish language was chosen, because in Irish culture it is a place of welcome, warmth and safety where people can meet, socialise, discuss and make decisions. Cois Tine’s aim is to extend a warm welcome to immigrants and to provide them with a place where they can tell their story, be listened to and can obtain the information they need in order to make informed decisions.

OUR LOGO: The flames symbolise the warmth and welcome that Cois Tine, our name (meaning “ By the fireside”) implies. Gathered round the fire are figures representing the diverse nationalities and ethnicities who are now part of our community. The Cross gives witness to our Christian motivation and to the fact that we see respecting, listening and caring as essential elements in our pastoral response to all who use our service no matter what their faith or beliefs.

OUR STAFF:

Administration: Gerry Forde,SMA Justice Office, 021 4933475

Background and History
Aims and Values
What does Cois Tine do

AFRICAN ISSUES

BBC African News …………  …. Africa Focus

All Africa.com ……. ……………African News – Breaking News

Africa Sun News …………………Nigerian Headlines

Africa: The Good News

NEWSLETTERS
Cois Tine’s Newsletters are available ito download here in pdf format.

Readers are welcome to use the content from Cois Tine Newsletters in other publications.  We would however appreciate if you would acknowledge Cois Tine as the source and email us to let us know you are using our material.    

The Cois Tine Newsletter has now been replaced by the SMA Justice Briefings also available on this website.  Click here