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).
Fr Joseph Houston was from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and was ordained at Easter 1969. He spent the early years of his priesthood in Chile before coming back to Ireland to teach in our seminary. He later returned to Chile but was to spend the last 25 years of his life in China.
Father Joe was a Christian gentleman to the core. Solas na bhFlaitheas air - The light of Heaven upon him.
GospelLuke 9:28-36 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)
Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on
the mountain to pray.And as he was praying, the appearance of his face
was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.And behold, two men were talking with him,
Moses and Elijah,who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which
he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy
with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the
two men who stood with him.And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to
Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one
for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.As he was saying these things, a cloud
came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.And a voice came out of the cloud,
saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was
found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything
of what they had seen.
[The Lord]
brought [Abram] outside and said, “Look towards heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he
said to him, “So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5; First Reading).
+++
I am preparing this under the shadow of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. That shadow covers the whole world. Today's gospel tells us: As [Peter] was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. But there are breaks in that dark cloud where we can catch a glimpse of God's loving presence such as the story of Hassan Al-Khalaf, the 11-year-old boy who travelled on his own on a journey of 1,000 kms to safety in Slovakia where he was welcomed warmly. Another glimpse of God's loving presence is the wedding of a young couple in the middle of the invasion,Yaryna and Sviatoslavtrusting in God with hope for the future. These two events are for me 'Transfiguration moments', two of many that we can glimpse in this war.
Another such 'Transfiguration moment' is the story below. I have used it before because it reveals for me God's presence in the midst of so much that could lead us to despair.
+++
By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
The deacon or priest says these words quietly as he pours wine and a little water into the chalice during the Offertory of the Mass. In today's gospel Jesus, who humbled himself to share in our humanity, allowed Peter, James and John to get a glimpse of his divinity. Moses and Elijah spoke of what Jesus was to accomplish at Jerusalem. That was not only his death but his Resurrection and glorification.
Jesus calls us to share in his Resurrection and glorification, to share in the divinity that is his.
We don't share in the Resurrection, glorification and divinity of Jesus Christ only after death but also, as Peter, James and John did in the Transfiguration, in this life when we experience the gift of God's love in events that can transform us here and now.
My Australian fellow Columban, Fr Warren Kinne, who worked in Mindanao, Philippines, for a long time before spending many years in China, tells the story of Xiao Ai, who was in her early days a 'non-person'. But through the love and care of strangers, Chinese and foreign, she now has possibilities open to her that she never could have imagined. And Father Warren, who has some Chinese ancestry, sees her story as encapsulating in some ways the meaning of Lent and Easter. Here's how he tells it. It's taken from the January-February 2013 issue of MISYONonline.com, the Columban online magazine I used to edit in the Philippines. It is also on the website of the Columbans in Australia and New Zealand.
Before the great Feast of Easter when we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Church goes through a period of preparation by prayer and fasting. We call this Lent. In the northern hemisphere, where Christianity started, it was celebrated in spring and slowly, throughout that time, the dead of winter burst forth into the luxuriance of new growth, signifying life and the resurrection.
Xiao Ai is a young friend of mine. She was left at the steps of a convent about 2004 or 2005 in a remote village of Shan Xi Province, China. She was born with clubbed feet and abandoned. Xiao was brought to Shanghai where a group of foreigners provided money and logistical support for multiple operations.
During that period she was taken in by a family who took great care of her and eventually wanted to adopt her as their own. However there were many hurdles to be overcome. Xiao Ai did not have any identification as the convent was not a registered orphanage and so was not in a position to register her. Indeed people could only guess at her actual birth date. She was really a ‘non-person’.
After years of effort Xiao Ai has had all her paperwork completed and she now has a Chinese passport that will allow her to travel with her adopted family to Singapore. What happiness followed the long and anxious wait where a wonderful outcome was hoped for rather than expected.
Xiao Ai and Fr Warren Kinne
For the Lord takes delight in his people (Psalm 149:4, Grail translation)
Xiao’s struggle to me is a Lenten story that has become an Easter story; a fast that turned into a feast; a long journey in a desert that ended in freedom; a near death that heralded a resurrection, a new life.
Shanghai is a city of tinsel and glitter. Most people recognize the image of its iconic buildings and towering structures along the Huang Pu River. There are myriad neon signs and a ‘yuppie’ lifestyle for many expatriates who ride the wave of economic frenzy. But it has its under-belly.
The construction of this city has been done on the backs of migrant workers - currently seven million - who have travelled to the city to find work. They left their villages and often their families in order to make a little money on construction sites and in restaurants and factories.
These people do not have residency permits in Shanghai and so they cannot settle down where they work. Often they leave their children back in the village in the care of grandparents and may only get home once a year – during the Chinese New Year – to see how the family is going.
Children can resent their absence and may not appreciate the sacrifice of the parent or parents in order to better the whole family economically.
In the cities where they work they do not have equal access to medical and educational opportunities that are open to the local population.
Their sacrifice is a sort of ‘Lent’ lived in the hope of a better future for their family. Like Xiao Ai’s adopting parents or the migrant parents, they in fact live the admonition of God in Isaiah 58: 6-7: Is not this the fast that I choose: to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him. [Editor's note: This is what is happening in Ukraine's neighbouring countries right no especialy in Poland.]
God brought the slaves out of the land of Egypt where they had made bricks for the ostentatious buildings of the Pharaohs. This same God made a covenant with them and subsequently with us that we might treat each other differently because in one way or another we have all been freed. The worship of the market and the God of money has caused many to suffer. May we all have the courage to live a Lent that will usher in true life for the world.
Xiao Ai in 2016
Just the other day Fr Kinne told me in an email that Xiao Ai is doing well in Singapore. He had been speaking to her mother the day before.
About
two-thirds of Ukraine's population of more than 41 million (pre-invasion) are
Orthodox Christians. Eleven per cent of the people are Catholics, most of them
members of the Greek Ukrainian Catholic Church, in full communion Rome. Most of
the Catholics live in the west of the country and Lviv is a predominantly Catholic
city.
Fr McPolin led the first group of Columbans to Korea in 1933
One hundred years ago on 10 October the Bishops of Ireland gave their blessing to a new venture known as the Maynooth Mission to China. On 29 June 1918 this venture became the Society of St Columban, in the Diocese of Galway, Ireland. The Missionary Society of St Columban, as it is now known, is already preparing to celebrate its Centennial in 2018.
Fr Edward Galvin in China
Sometime between 1912 and 1916
As I see it, 29 June 1918 was the date when the Society was ‘baptized’. It had been ‘conceived’ in China between 1912 and 1916 when Fr Edward Galvin, ordained in 1909, and three or four other Irish diocesan priests working there saw the need for a mission of the Irish Church to China. It was ‘born’ on 10 October 1916 when the Irish bishops, approached by Fr Galvin and Fr John Blowick, ordained in 1913 and already a young professor at St Patrick’s, Maynooth, the national seminary for Ireland, gave their assent to what quickly became known as 'the Maynooth Mission to China'.
Frs Owen McPolin, John Blowick and Edward Galvin
China 1920
Frs McPolin and Blowick were ordained in 1913 for the Diocese of Dromore and the Archdiocese of Tuam, respectively, and Fr Galvin in 1909 for the Diocese of Cork.
Fr Edward Galvin in China
In a letter dated 5 October the Superior General of the Columbans, Fr Kevin O'Neill, an Australian, sent a letter to all Columbans and Columban Lay Missionaries in which he wrote, One hundred years ago, on 9 October 1916, in a ground-floor room of the main college building at
Maynooth [St Patrick's College, the National Seminary of Ireland], the 28-year-old Fr John Blowick had the nerve to face the Standing
Committee of the Irish Bishops and to present his and Fr Edward Galvin’s scheme
for a new mission. After about half an hour’s talk with the bishops, [Michael] Cardinal Logue [Archbishop of Armagh] said that they were prepared to grant their approval for the two things Blowick
requested, namely, the making of a collection in the country and the foundation
of a Mission College in Ireland.
The ‘memorial’, drawn up by a committee of prominent clerics was
laid before the full body of the bishops on the 10 th October, 1916 informing
them that: ' . . . a vigorous movement, of which the heart is Maynooth College,
has grown up among young Irish ecclesiastics to go forth and carry the light of
the Gospel to the Chinese . . . The bishops were rejoiced and thankful to God
for this new and striking evidence of the continued life of the ancient Irish
missionary spirit.' After careful consideration the bishops approved the
project and issued a statement to the press.
Dublin city centre after Easter Rising 1916[Wikipedia]
In Easter Week 1916 an uprising against British rule in Ireland took place, mainly in Dublin. The country was still part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Irish regiments of the British Army were fighting in the Great War (1914-18), mainly in Belgium and France. Nearly 30,000 of them died during that conflict. There was widespread extreme poverty in Ireland, particularly in the cities. 1916 did not seem a good time to start such a foolhardy venture as sending Irish priests to preach the Gospel in China, a country very few Irish people knew anything about.
Fr O'Neill mentions the influence of the the 'Easter Rising', as it is often called, on the new mission: Shortly after the Irish
Bishops’ approval for the new Society, professors from Maynooth, together with
priests from religious orders and almost every diocese in Ireland, helped in
the nationwide appeals to raise funds for the new Society. The young band of
newly formed missionaries avoided publicly taking sides in the nationalist
politics of the day in their contact with the clergy while on their parish
appeals for funds. But Fr John Blowick is on record as saying, 'I am strongly
of the opinion that the rising of 1916 helped our work indirectly. I know for a
fact that many of the young people of the country had been aroused into a state
of heroism and zeal by the Rising of 1916 and by the manner in which the
leaders met their death. I can affirm this from personal experience. And
accordingly, when we put our message before the young people of the country, it
fell on soil which was far better prepared to receive it than if there had
never been an Easter week.'
But the Irish bishops said ‘Yes’ to the Maynooth Mission to China. And the people supported it, as they have continued to do down the years. Fr Blowick once said that the pennies of the poor were more important than the pounds of the wealthy. But he welcomed both.
Commemorative medal 1968
Golden Jubilee of the Missionary Society of St Columban
Obverse side
The vision of a mission of the Irish Church to China broadened to a more international one. After the Society of St Columban was set up – all the founding members were Irish diocesan priests and seminarians – priests were sent to the USA and Australia to establish roots there, especially among the large Irish diaspora. Irish-American Archbishop Jeremiah Harty of Omaha, Nebraska, USA, invited the Society to set up shop there. He had been Archbishop of Manila (1903 – 1916), the first non-Spaniard to hold that position.
The first group of Columban priests went to China in 1920. Fr Blowick went with them but didn't stay as he was Superior General and was needed in Ireland to direct the new Society.
Bishop Edward Galvin
First - and only - Bishop of Hanyang, China
Expelled in 1952
Over the years the Columbans have taken on missions in Korea, Burma (now Myanmar), Japan, Chile, Peru, Fiji, Pakistan and Taiwan. They have had missions also in Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Guatemala and Jamaica.
Fr Leo Distor, first Filipino parish priest of Malate, Manila
Most of the younger Columban priests are from countries the older men had gone to from the West. Fr Leo Distor, the first Filipino Columban parish priest of Malate, is a symbol of the changing face of the Society. After serving in Korea he spent many years in Chicago and in Quezon City in the formation of future Columban priests from Asia, the Pacific and South America.
This year there are Columban seminarians from Fiji, Peru, Myanmar, the Philippines and Tonga in the formation house in Cubao, Quezon City and on the two-year First Mission Assignment (FMA) overseas, the latter including one from China. There is a seminary programme in Seoul, Korea, and students in formation in Chile and Peru.
The young Fr Edward Galvin (1882-1956), later Bishop of Nancheng, China, and the young Fr John Blowick (1888-1972), not to mention the Irish bishops in 1916, could not have foreseen how the Maynooth Mission to China would evolve from being a purely Irish venture into the international Society it is today with Priest Associates from dioceses in Ireland, Korea, Myanmar and the Solomon Islands, and Lay Missionaries from Chile, Fiji, Ireland, Korea, Philippines and Tonga currently involved in its mission.
Fr Leo Distor (4th from left) with Filipino Columban priests
Starting yesterday, 9 October, and until 22 October Columban priests and lay missionaries under the age of 50 are meeting in Tagaytay, south of Manila. Please keep them in your prayers as these are both the present and the future of the venture blessed by the Irish bishops 100 years ago today.
Thank God for the birth of the Maynooth Mission to China on 10 October 1916.
Graves of Fr John Blowick and Bishop Edward Galvin
Father Dan celebrated his 100th birthday on 28 June, a celebration in which he delighted, and died peacefully exactly six weeks later.
With Fr Patrick Raleigh and Columban Sisters after Mass on his 100th birthday
Fr Patrick Raleigh, Regional Director of the Columbans in Ireland, wrote about the celebration. Here are some extracts.
Fr Dan was born in the city of Cork on 28 June 1916. He grew up with the beginnings of the Society of St Columban. His great hero was Bishop Edward Galvin, Co-founder of the Society. Fr Dan was educated by the Christian Brothers at Sullivan’s Quay in Cork and entered the old Dalgan Park in Shrule, on the Galway - Mayo border in 1933. He was ordained there in December 1939.
Images of Cork city shortly before Fr Fitzgerald was born
When he was asked about the influences that drew him to the priesthood he spontaneously pointed to the influence of his parents who were daily Mass goers. The family Rosary was said each night in the house. Time and again he has expressed his deep gratitude to his parents for all that they did for him. Here in the Nursing Home in Dalgan Park the words 'thank you' are always on his lips. He is very much appreciated by all the staff in the Nursing Home. They left no stone unturned in making sure that everything would go well for the day. They put a huge effort into decorating the place beforehand.
Early years as a Columban
His first appointment was to the Philippines in 1940 but because of World War II he never got there. In the early 1940s he served as chaplain to the Maria Reparatrix Sisters in Cork. At this time he took up golf, a sport in which he became quite proficient. He has said on many occasions that to keep his mind off exile and not knowing the day or the hour he would be called he would hit golf balls in the golf course in Douglas in Cork.
In 1946 he set sail for China with five Columban priests and five Columban Sisters. Sr Damien Rooney, Columban Sister and now living in the Columban Sisters Home in Magheramore, County Wicklow, was one of those. It was indeed very symbolic that she was able to attend the Ceremony in Dalgan. While Father Dan was the centre of attention, Sr Damien made a great impression on those who attended. She is now in her 96th year. In a strong and very clear voice and without a microphone she read out the special message that she had prepared for Fr Dan. I’m very happy to be here today to celebrate the 100th birthday of Fr Dan. Fr Dan has been a life-long friend since we first met in Hanyang, China in 1946. That was a very difficult time in China; a time of great destruction during the communist regime. Through it all Fr Dan was always calm – a source of strength and consolation for all of us. For all my life Fr Dan’s friendship and his faithful life as a Columban missionary, has kept me going. We are both a little advanced in age now, but we are still on the way. We are both on the road with Jesus as our constant companion, and who could have a better companion than Jesus !
A young Fr Edward Galvin in China, 1912-1916
During his six years in China the political situation was quite chaotic. Nevertheless, for Fr Dan it was a great privilege to work in the diocese with his great hero and friend, Bishop Edward Galvin whom to this day he has held in such high esteem. His first impressions of China were of the heat and mosquitoes. The Diocese of Hanyang was roughly the size of Munster. Only one per cent of the population were Catholics.
Bishop Edward Galvin and Fr Dan Fitzgerald were forced to leave China in 1952
In 1952 he left China but he left it with a great love for the Chinese people which continues to this day. He says that they were like a sheep without a shepherd. It was indeed very fitting that Dan received a number of emails from China including emails from Columbans there.
After China
After his years in China Father Dan worked in Australia where he spent seven years. There was a lovely email from Fr Pat Baker in the Philippines to Fr Dan thanking him for all the help and encouragement he gave him as his Spiritual Director in Turramurra back in the late ‘50s and ‘60s. Fr Pat said that Fr Dan was an inspiration to the students and he was delighted to have the opportunity to thank him. Fr Dan also worked on Promotion in Australia with the late Frs Gerry O’Collins and Pat Hennessy. In his email Fr Pat refers to them as the 'Dream Team'. Wonderful stories circulated about Fr Dan’s experiences in some of the parishes he visited, especially his feats on the golf course.
Nenagh
St Mary of the Rosary Church, Nenagh[Source: Parish website]
After his time in Australia, he was assigned to Scotland from ’73 to ’81.When he returned to Ireland he worked in many different places including being Chaplain for eight years at the Care Home run by the Bon Sauveur Sisters in Carriglea, Dungarvan, County Waterford. When most people would have considered retiring Dan in his seventies set out on a new Mission to the Diocese of Killaloe. He spent a short time in Sixmilebridge, County Clare before moving on to Nenagh.
He immersed himself wholeheartedly in the life of Nenagh and its people. Over the years in Nenagh Dan spent many hours every day praying in St Mary of the Rosary Church. As the people of Nenagh dropped in to the Church to say a prayer Fr Dan could be seen praying before Our Lady’s Altar. He built up many very genuine and strong rapport with everyone with a special attachment to Hospital visitation. During his time in Nenagh he visited the Hospital every night. Almost every family in Nenagh and in North Tipperary has some story to tell about meeting Fr Dan and his kindness to them. His nightly visits to the Hospital were eagerly looked forward to by not only the patients of all creeds but also by their families and the staff in the Hospital. His words of encouragement were always very much appreciated.
His daily Communion rounds to the sick are legendary. Fr Dan has often said that the people of Nenagh are a very decent people. When in Nenagh he spent many hours in the Confessional. During his time there he brought something very special to the people.. When the time came for him to return to Dalgan Park to the Nursing Home the people made every effort to keep him there and had organised a rota of nurses to look after his medical needs. As Columbans we owe a huge debt of gratitude to so many people in Nenagh, too numerous to mention. He continues to receive visitors from there on a weekly basis.
A visit from Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly SMA of Cashel and Emly, previously Bishop of Killaloe
His endearing presence
Since his return to Dalgan he has endeared himself to so many. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the very caring staff in the Nursing Home here in Dalgan for the very special way that they minister to his needs.
After the celebration of the Eucharist people were very anxious to gather around him to greet him and have their photo taken with him. He certainly rose to the occasion and was very effusive in his words of gratitude. Everybody enjoyed an excellent meal after Mass in the College dining room.
St Columban's, Dalgan Park
Columban Fr Sean McDonagh, from Nenagh, spoke in his homily at the 100th birthday celebration of how Fr Fitzgerald had served the people of the parish of St Mary of the Rosary.
His daily
communion rounds were legendary. He brought my own mother communion every day
for the last six-and-a-half years of her life when she was housebound.
During his 23 years of service, Fr Dan visited the hospital
every night. Almost every family in North Tipperary has some story to tell
about meeting Fr Dan on nightly rounds. I remember my own mother being rushed
into Nenagh hospital. I received a call to come home as they thought my mother
was dying. When I reached the hospital it seemed that she was dying. It was
only after Fr Dan’s visit that I wondered whether her potassium levels had
fallen. In fact, her potassium levels had fallen. The procedure to address that
helped save her life.
Not alone the patients, but all the hospital staff valued Fr
Dan’s contribution to healing in the hospital. In an email to Fr Donal Hogan
(who at the time was the Columban Regional Director) in March 2012, Fr Pat
Malone, the parish priest of Nenagh, wrote: 'Fr Dan is deeply loved, highly
respected and greatly valued by the whole community.' He wrote that 21 nurses
were willing to organise a rota to look after Fr Dan’s medical needs.
Fr Dan also spent many hours in the confessional servingthe needs of people. His pastoral presence at the Christian
Brothers School was deeply appreciated by both the staff and the students.
Fr Pat Raleigh
concluded his article about Father Dan's 100th birthday celebration with these
words:The
occasion would not have been complete without the singing of the The Banks and with great gusto everybody
joined in the singing.
(‘The Banks of My Own Lovely Lee’,
usually referred to colloquially as ‘De Banks’, is the anthem of Cork
people, especially those from the city. It was sung again after the lunch that followed the funeral
Mass and burial of Father Dan on 12 August.)
Father Dan died in the evening of 9 August. That afternoon he prayed the Rosary for the last time. In his homily at the Mass on Father Dan's 100th birthday and at the funeral Mass Fr Sean McDonagh spoke of the great devotion of this holy priest to our Blessed Mother. As the
people of Nenagh know very well – any time you would visit the Church to say a
prayer, Fr Dan could be seen praying right before Our Lady’s Altar . . . I
wondered whether there was
anything akin to a Guinness Book
of Records in Heaven. If there is
Fr Dan would certainly be close to winning the prize for the person who has
said the most rosaries in his life.
Nenagh is in County Tipperary, as is Clonmel, where the late Irish tenor Frank Patterson was from. In this video he is singing this hymn to our Blessed Mother, not as a performer but as the man of faith he was.
know very well – any time you would visit the Church to say a prayer, Fr. Dan
could be seen praying right before Our Lady’s Altar.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal. May his noble soul be at the
right hand of God.
Thanks to Frs Cyril Lovett, Patrick Raleigh and Sean McDonagh.
