Bono
Paul David Hewson, the U2 member better known as Bono, spoke recently with Lauren Laverne on Desert Island Discs, a long-running radio programme on the BBC, about his half-brother and his at times difficult relationship with his father, Bob Hewson.
Sinéad Crowley, the Arts and Media correspondent of RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster, in her report on this wrote:
Bono (62) also spoke to Laverne about how his relationship with his father came under tremendous strain following the death of his mother, although he now admits he was partly to blame, adding that after Bob's death in 2001, he apologised to him during a visit to a chapel in France.
'There was nobody there, I lit a candle and I got on my knees, and I just said, “look, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, you went through a lot and please forgive me”, and I felt free,’ Bono said.
The belief
that love can reach into the afterlife, that reciprocal giving and receiving is
possible, in which our affection for one another continues beyond the limits of
death—this has been a fundamental conviction of Christianity throughout the
ages and it remains a source of comfort today. Who would not feel the need to
convey to their departed loved ones a sign of kindness, a gesture of gratitude
or even a request for pardon?
. . . We should recall that no man is an island, entire of itself. Our lives are involved with one another . . . The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse. So my prayer for another is not something extraneous to that person, something external, not even after death. In the interconnectedness of Being, my gratitude to the other—my prayer for him—can play a small part in his purification. And for that there is no need to convert earthly time into God's time: in the communion of souls simple terrestrial time is superseded. It is never too late to touch the heart of another, nor is it ever in vain. In this way we further clarify an important element of the Christian concept of hope. Our hope is always essentially also hope for others; only thus is it truly hope for me too.
Since
we are travellers and pilgrims in the world, let us ever ponder on the end of
the road, that is of our life, for the end of our roadway is our home
(St Columban, 8th sermon).
1 comment:
Dearest Father Seán,
Indeed the end of the road is our ONLY destination, where we will end up.
May it be an uplifting one to Eternity.
Hugs,
Mariette
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