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).
These photos were taken in Rio. I came across them on Facebook and they're from the FB of Zenit, one of the leading Catholic news agencies. Here is the story that goes with the photos.
While the papal entourage made its way through the picturesque Quinta de Boa Vista park, a nine year old boy wearing a Seleçao soccer jersey, jumped the hurdles and made his way through to the white jeep, where he was received affectionately by Pope Francis, and whispered in the Pontiff’s ear: 'I have a very important message for you . . . I want to become a priest.'
At this point the Pope, visibly moved, clutched him to his chest and told the boy. “'dream begins to fulfill today. I will pray for you, but you must pray for me.'
With trembling legs and his hands over his face, full of emotion and excitement, the young boy returned to his father, happy and even more proud of his son for this unique moment.
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One of my Irish Columban confreres told me that when he was eight he wrote to Far East, the magazine of the Columbans in Ireland and Britain, saying that he wanted to be a Columban priest. The editor took him seriously and wrote him a letter in which he gently pointed out that while he was still too young at that stage to enter the seminary he should continue praying that he would become a priest.
The first stirrings of my own vocation came when I was around seven or so, being attracted by the white habit of the Dominican friars in St Saviour's Church, Dominick Street, Dublin. My father used to take me there occasionally for High Mass.
The boy's football shirt is that of the Brazilian national team, known in Portuguese as Seleção Brasileira.
One of the remarkable things about all World Youth Days is that while young pilgrims from every country are very proud to carry their national flags they all find their common and deepest identity as Catholic Christians as they try to live out their baptism and celebrate that at the various liturgies and gatherings. Just before the closing Mass in Rio all were asked to lower their flags.
My own experience is that when a person with a strong positive sense of self is totally at ease with others who may be different in many ways and makes them feel at home. The same applies to communities with a strong positive sense of identity. When at home with ourselves we can rejoice in the diversity around us.
I'm pretty sure that if the youngster in the photos and Pope Francis were at a football game between Argentina and Brazil they would be on opposite sides in cheerful, good-natured but real rivalry. But here the little boy sees a Holy Father in whom he can confide his dream of becoming a priest.
May that dream come true and may the memory of the Holy Father's embrace be a source of hope to himself and through him to others in the years ahead.
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One remarkable thing about the lower photo is that the security men, who have a very serious and difficult job, are smiling. You don't often see that!
Fidelis servus et prudens, quem constituit Dominus super familiam suam.
A faithful and prudent steward,
whom the Lord set over his household.
This is an anonymous setting of today's Introit or Entrance Antiphon from the 18th century. It might have been written by Domenico Zípoli (17 October 1688 – 2 January 1726), an Italian Jesuit who died in Córdoba, in what is nowArgentina. Or it might have been written by Martin Schmid, also known as Esmid (September 26, 1694 – March 10 1772), a Swiss Jesuit who died in what is now Bolivia.
CONFESIONES - CONFESSIONS Lunes a Viernes - Monday to Friday: 9.45 a 13.15 - 14.30 a 17.30. Clearly the Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, of which Pope Francis was Archbishop for the last 15 years, gives priority to the Sacrament of Confession. I started out this post with the intention of having something about St Joseph. The Introit of the Mass for the Solemnity led me to the musical setting with close links to the native country of our new Holy Father and two fellow Jesuits, and with links to the country of his parents, Italy.
This is what the Vatican website gives as the activity of Pope Francis on the Solemnity of St Joseph: 19 Tuesday Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary Saint Peter's Square, at 9:30 PAPAL MASS Imposition of the Pallium, conferral of the Fisherman's Ring and Holy Mass for the beginning of the Petrine Ministryof the Bishop of Rome Francis. The Church honours St Joseph on this feast as the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But he is also Patron of the Universal Church and the Collect of the Mass reflects both of these. May he protect Pope Francis in a very special way, as he protected Jesus. Collect Grant, we pray, almighty God, that by Saint Joseph's intercession your Church may constantly watch over the unfolding of the mysteries of human salvation, whose beginnings you entrusted to his faithful care. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
I recently asked that if you were a graduate of the National University of Ireland to give your No 1 preference to Senator Rónán Mullen in the election for the Irish Senate or, if you didn't have a vote, to pray that he would be re-elected. In 2007 he was the last of the three NUI senators to make it. The Irish Timesreports today that this time he headed the poll.
I am delighted. Seanad Éireann, the Senate of Ireland, has little power and is basically a talking-shop. But it has always had some truly independent voices who can say things not heard in the Dáil, the parliament, or elsewhere. Rónán Mullen has been one of those voices for the last four years and, God willing, will be so for nearly five years, as the new government has such a strong majority that it is unlikely to be defeated on any major issue. If that were to happen, the government would resign and there would be an election. When the Dáil is dissolved the Seanad is also.
Senator Mullen has been involved in a project in Argentina of Irish missionary Fr Liam Hayes SVD among the poorest and most abandoned, St Teresa's Foundation. In a column in The Irish Examiner some years ago Rónán Mullen described Father Liam thus: He combines traditional faith with social action. You can read the full article below. From what I know of Senator Mullen, you could describe him in the same words.
Here is a video about St Teresa's that I came across through a link on Senator Mullen's website.
How Prayer and Practicality Mean So Much To The Poor of Argentina.
- The Irish Examiner, 7th July, 2004.
Rónán Mullen.
President McAleese smiled down as our neighbour lifted the tarantula. He did it so effortlessly.
Two fingers thrust forward surgically, squeezing the spider just enough to grab him but not so tight as to kill. Transferring the creature to a piece of paper. Followed by a graceful removal to the priest´s garden.
It´s great the way the locals are so casual. When my fellow volunteer announced, “er, there´s a rather large spider in here”, the missionary was all reassurance. But when Fr. Liam Hayes put his head around the door, spotting this furry creature about the size of a digestive biscuit, the diagnosis changed somewhat. “Oh, that one could bite you all right. Hold on. I´ll get a neighbour. Don´t kill it. They do a lot of good, you know.”
Fr. Hayes´s idea of “good” is that tarantulas can kill snakes and mosquitoes. Our idea of “good” would involve them leaving the room. Any time now would be good.
During all this drama, President McAleese and her husband Martin radiated benevolence from the photo on the mantlepiece, safe from all danger and discomfort.. I have no doubt that they would have taken that spider in their stride. The President would probably have known that tarantulas are not fatal to humans. I know it too, now.
We are in Oberá, a fairly desolate town in the remote province of Misiones in northern Argentina. There is only one Irishman in this place - Liam Hayes, the Divine Word Missionary priest. He´s been here for 19 years. We´ve come here for a few weeks, to do some voluntary work and to learn a little about life here.
At the human level, there is plenty to notice. Like the priest´s strong east Limerick burr. “Hola Flipper”, he says, as he greets one of the many dogs which inhabit the mission. Flipper is unfortunately troublesome – a beast full of affection but inclined to attack the local hens. He did 17 of them in one week a while back. Fortunately the neighbours are supportive and they mind Flipper while the priest is on his rounds.
Just before the tarantula incident, Fr. Liam took us to evening Mass in one of the parish´s outlying chapels. The earth is red here, and we bumped over about 10 miles of it (these roads are like ice when it rains) before reaching our destination – a red – brick chapel with no windows and doors, a few wooden benches, and a group of families from the barrio.
The parishioners are friendly but poorly dressed. Fr. Liam says a simple Mass and thanks to that Cappamore accent, his Spanish is easier to understand than the local version. He likes to conduct a discussion as part of his homily – getting people´s thoughts and opinions as he analyses that day´s scripture readings. After Mass, we are moved by the middle – aged man who asks if we could help by donating a window or a door to the church. It transpires that Fr. Liam started this brick chapel (a wooden shack – where he once spotted snakes in the roof as he said Mass – stands next door). It seems the fixtures could be got for a few thousand pesos (about 1,000 euro) and the locals could fit them. It is not the first time we are surprised by how much could be done with so little cash.
Last weekend, Fr. Hayes said Mass five times, in some cases in remote chapels miles from the town of Oberá, and baptised a couple of dozen children. He combines traditional faith with social action. There is spiritual reading, reflection in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and simple prayers at the beginning and end of journeys. Since 1993, Fr. Hayes has been running homes for abandoned people in Oberá. He is in charge of the health pastorate for the local diocese of Posadas. He acts as chaplain to the local hospital, where 120 beds are all that caters for a town and hinderland of 60,000 people.
The missionary estqablished the homes after coming face -to-face with disabled people abandoned by their families.
“I began to have sleepless nights thinking about some of the things I saw. Poor people who could not move their hands, unable to shield themselves from swarms of flies and mosquitoes and people left by the roadside”.
One such person was Miguel, affectionately known as Miguelito. He was discovered in sub-human conditions, having been abandoned by his father.
Since all births are registered in Argentina, it was possible in time to discover more. Miguel was 22 and was born with perfect health. His mother died when he was two. After that, he suffered various illnesses and didn´t get proper medical help. Years later, his father returned to plead forgiveness for abandoning him.
“He told me he had walked long distances on mud roads with MIguel on his shoulders only to arrive at the public hospital and receive no medical attention”, says Fr. Hayes. “Sadly this is how the majority of the poorest people are treated”.
Next door to Miguel sleeps Clorinda, who neither speaks, sees or hears and who had been violated by the time she was found. Clorinda is one of the reasons Fr. Hayes wants to put air-conditioning in the homes. “She cries out at night sometimes. We think it is with discomfort at the terrible heat of summertime”.
Most of the residents are utterly helpless, although it is hard to be sure about the extent of their disability. Lorena, who was assisted by an Irish volunteer one night, seems completely unaware, has no movement, and occasionally gives vent to long wails. Yet at the end of the meal she croaked “thank you” in English.
You might think it is impossible to find happiness in such a place but there is laughter from the home´s youngest resident, Joni, who has cerebral palsy, and Maria Inez, a saintly, soft – spoken person with a smile for everyone. There was happiness, too, when President McAleese came to visit Hogar Santa Teresa (the Home of St. Teresa) last March. It was the first visit by a foreign head of state to Oberá and a moment of confirmation for the Irish missionary that his work was appreciated in Ireland. Other visits are memorable for other reasons. Last week, as one of the home´s newer residents, Marcello, was on the brink of death, his mother – quiet by chance – came to see him for the first time in 20 years.
I don´t know what news story is breaking at home as you read this, but the big news here this week is that people continue to suffer, and there don´t seem to be enough Hogar Santa Teresas to go round. But I am glad there are some.
When I started on this post here in Bacolod City, central Philippines, to congratulate Senator Mullen on his re-election to the Senate in Ireland I didn't expect to end up in Argentina! Comhghairdeachas, aRónáin, agus go soirbhí Dia duit! Heartiest congratulations,Rónán, and Godspeed!
Today is the feastday of Blessed Laura Vicuña, patron of victims of abuse. In the January-February 2008 issue of Misyon, the Columban online magazine in the Philippines that I edit, we published an article on this young girl by Fr John Murray, a parish priest in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The article first appeared in The Sacred Heart Messenger and was used with permission. As today is her feastday and since there are still so many young people, both boys and girls, being abused by adults, we are posting the article again. I also posted it on this blog a year ago.
This evening, as I began doing two years ago, I will celebrate Mass at Holy Family Home here in Bacolod where so many of the girls and young women there have suffered from abuse by adults. We link the feast of Blessed Laura with that of St Agnes, a girl of the same age, martyred in 304, whose feast was yesterday.
I first became aware of Blessed Laura while giving a retreat in a Salesian retreat house near Manila some years ago.
Although she was only twelve when she died, Laura Vicuña had grown to a maturity of faith well beyond her years. Fr John Murray sees the life of this young girl whose feast is 22 January as an inspiration.
Throughout his pontificate, Pope John Paul II endeavored to offer to the Church and the world at large, models for Christian living: people we can imitate and learn from, as we try to make our own way through the maze and pitfalls of life. In an age of sexual license, when often girls and young women can be at the mercy of sexual predators, the life of Laura Vicuña has something to say in our own day.
Painful experiences
Laura was born in Santiago, Chile, on 5 April 1891.Soon after her birth, her father had to flee the country because of political upheavals, and when she was only three he himself passed away. Bereft of support, her mother, Mercedes, sadly entered into a relationship with a local ranch owner, one Manuel Mora.
He offered to pay for the care and schooling of her children at a Salesian boarding school, if Mercedes became his mistress. Laura attended the Salesian mission school with her sister, Julia. With a maturity beyond her years, Laura often helped the younger children with their tasks, and acted almost like a mother to them, combing their hair and mending their clothing.
Even then, Mora would try to molest her, especially when he was drunk. She made her First Holy Communion when she was ten, but was always afraid of Mora, because of his lewd desires on her. When she fought off his first assault, the ranch owner refused to pay for her school tuition, but despite that the Sisters continued to educate her.
Offering up her life
Despite her young age, Laura was conscious that her mother was not living as God would want, and she had already decided to offer her life to God for her mother’s conversion.
At this stage, her own health was delicate, and in the winter of 1902 Mercedes left the Mora’s hacienda in order to care for her ailing daughter.
At this time, they were living in Argentina.However, in January 1904, Mora arrived on their doorstep to demand that Laura surrender to his lusts. When she refused him, he whipped and kicked her, and then threw her brutally across the saddle of his horse to carry her back to his ranch. Aware that the local people were watching him, he dumped her body in a ditch and left. Laura lingered on until 22 January, when she died of severe internal injuries.
Just before she died, she told her mother that she had given her life to bring about a conversion in her. ‘Mama,’ she said. ‘I am dying, but I’m happy to offer my life for you. I asked our Lord for this’. After Laura’s death, Mercedes made a good confession, left Mora, and became a devout Catholic again.
Beatification
In September 1988, Pope John Paul II beatified Laura, calling her a ‘Eucharistic flower . . . whose life was a poem of purity, sacrifice and filial love’. In many ways, her life parallels that of St Maria Goretti, whose life and death may be better known to many people. She too fought off the advances of a young man with lustful desires.
Maria died but was able eventually to achieve the conversion of her murderer, and when she was later canonized in 1950, he was present at the ceremony. (Note: I saw a TV documentary on St Maria Goretti on EWTN recently and it stated that he wasn't present, though he was still alive at the time and living in a Capuchin friary in Italy as a member of the Capuchin Third Order.)
Like Maria, Laura did not let the sordidness of Mora destroy her innocence, nor did she allow her heart to become embittered. Instead, she prayed for her mother and also for her lover. We can but hope that Mora too experienced the conversion which Laura prayed for her mother. Her life is a testimony to the words of St Paul: ‘However much sin increased, grace was always greater’ (Rom 5:20).
Today is the feast of Blessed Laura Vicuña, a 12-year-old girl born in Chile on 5 April 1891 who died on this day in Argentina in 1904. I came across this article, by Fr John Murray, a parish priest in Belfast, in the Irish Messenger of the Sacred Heart and got permission to use it in Misyon. We printed it in January-February last year, our second-last printed issue.
Blessed Laura’s feast isn’t on the universal calendar of the Church but she is especially venerated by Salesians. The day before, 21 January, is the feast of another girl around the same age, St Agnes. I regularly celebrate Mass in Holy Family Home here in Bacolod, featured in the current issue of Misyon as A Safe Havenand last July-August as ‘A Child Redeemed is a Generation Saved’ . Some of the girls there can relate to the experience of Blessed Laura and so last year we had a combined celebration of both of these saintly young girls. We celebrated Mass in their honour again last evening.
The reality of two young women offering their lives for others out of their faith in Jesus, St Agnes as a martyr and Blessed Laura offering her life for the conversion of her mother, can speak to the heart of anyone open to the Gospel and is Good News for young persons who have suffered deeply. Our suffering doesn’t have to be useless or meaningless. The words of St Paul in Col 1:24 once hit my heart like an arrow straight from Jesus himself: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. The lives and deaths of Agnes and Laura show the truth of this.
