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).
Showing posts with label Northern Ireland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Northern Ireland. Show all posts
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.(John 21:18, today's Gospel).
Readings, (Jerusalem Bible:
Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand,
Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel, John 21:1-19 [1-14] (English Standard
Version Anglicised: India)
After this Jesus revealed himself again to
the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.Simon
Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in
Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were
together.Simon
Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with
you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught
nothing.
Just
as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not
know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have
any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the
net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast
it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That
disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When
Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for
he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The
other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were
not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.
[When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to
Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do
you love me more than these?” He
said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He
said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”He said to him the third time, “Simon,
son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved
because he said to him the third time, “Do you
love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know
everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you
used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you
will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you
do not want to go.”(This he said
to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying
this he said to him, “Follow me.”]
Director:
Philip Saville; Narrator: Christopher Plummer
[Today's
Gospel ends at 5:00]
Fr Keith Gorman
(21 January 1920 - 19 December 2016)
Fr Keith Gorman was a Columban priest from Australia who worked for many years in Japan. I met him a number of times and was always struck by his delightful sense of humour and how he grew old gracefully. In one of the articles he wrote for Columban magazines he stated that his idea of heaven was having breakfast with Jesus on the shores of eternity. He clearly had today's gospel in mind.
This is a gospel I often return to. Imagine being served breakfast by Jesus himself, as the seven apostles were on that blessed morning! And the second part, which will surely and unfortunately be omitted by many priests who will choose the shorter gospel, is for me one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible. Jesus is calling us into a deep intimacy with him. He addresses his question Do you love me? not only to St Peter but to each one of us today.
It is in that context that he tells Peter Feed my lambs . . . Tend my sheep . . . Feed my sheep. Jesus emphasises the relationship of intimacy with him as being fundamental, not the mission on which he sends us. Being sent on mission is a consequence of being invited into a deep, personal and intimate relationship with him.
For me as a priest today's gospel tells me that I must put prayer at the very centre of my life, not only the official prayer of the Church - the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Breviary, the Sacraments - but personal prayer. The same applies to all who are called by God to the single life as priests, as religious, as lay persons.
Today's gospel is a call to married persons to put their spousal relationship at the centre of their lives. Through the Sacrament of Matrimony Jesus himself is the foundation of that relationship. And it is the bride and groom who confer that sacrament on each other, not the priest. He is a witness on behalf of the Church to their exchange of vows.
The first question Jesus puts to Peter is, Simon son of John, do you love me more than these? I understand this to mean 'Do you love me more than the others love me?' Husbands and wives are called by God to love each other more than anyone else loves them - including their children and their parents. And I take it to mean also that God calls them to love each other more than they love their children and their parents.
This does not mean loving anyone less, but rather drawing their children, especially, into their love for each other, a love that is based on God's love for them as a couple.
I truly believe that when their children become more important for spouses than they do for each other their marriage is heading for trouble. The same applies, I believe, to priests and religious who place their work, no matter how important and good in itself it may be, above their personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.
I once heard a boy of around 11 in the Philippines say, What I love most about my parents is that they are always together. He felt drawn into their love for each other, the same love that led to his being born.
A teenage girl in the Philippines who had been abused told me how she was drawn to Jesus by a very poor black-and-white copy of Rembrandt's painting below.
My young friend said to me, He looks so human. She was basically expressing a desire to be close to Jesus, which is the desire Jesus has for her and for each of us.
For married couples, if God grants them children, Feed my lambs means primarily taking care of their children until they are ready to take on the responsibility of being adults. My mother often reminded me that when I'd be 21 - the then legal age of majority in Ireland, now 18 - I would be responsible for myself. I never took this to be an admonishment but rather as her giving me something valuable to aspire to. This, along with how I saw her and my father carrying out their responsibilities, was also a way in which they carried out the words of Jesus, Feed my lambs.
Countless single individuals, never married or widowed, with a deep sense of the love of Jesus for them have 'fed the lambs and sheep' because of that relationship. Many of us have been strengthened in our faith or have grown in our awareness of God's love for us through such persons. Often enough I have written here about Blessed Piergiorgio Frassati. St John Paul II, who beatified him, said of him, I, too,
in my youth, felt the beneficial influence of his example and, as a student, I
was impressed by the force of his Christian testimony.
The First Reading expresses in a different way the centrality of our invitation from Jesus to enter into an intimate relationship with him: But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men'. In other words, as Christians we are meant to live the values of Our Lord Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives.
As it happens, there are elections in Northern Ireland on Thursday 5 May and in the Philippines on Monday 9 May. Will those involved in these elections allow the values of the gospel to determine how they vote? How we vote is also a way to Feed my lambs . . . Tend my sheep . . . Feed my sheep. How we vote is meant to be a consequence of the intimate relationship into which Jesus calls us within the Church. And when it comes to legislators making laws that are contrary to God's will, as some laws are, we must make the words of St Peter our own: We must obey God rather than men.
How do we do this? By accepting the invitation of Jesus: Follow me.
Worthy is the Lamb
from Messiah by Handel
Performed by Academy of Ancient Music with Voces8
Conducted by Barnaby Smith
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain,
and hath redeemed us to God by hisblood, to receive
power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour,and glory, and blessing.
Blessing and honour, glory and
power, be untoHim that sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever (from Apocalypse/Revelation
5:12-13, today’s Second Reading).
[Handel used the King James translation, slightly adapted.]
Traditional Latin Mass
St Joseph the Worker
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 05-01-2022 if necessary).
Epistle: Colossians. 3:14-15, 17, 23-24. Gospel: Matthew 13:54-58.
There's an old Irish ballad, The Wearin' of the Green, with its roots in the uprising in parts of Ireland against British rule in 1798 that has these words in the version written in the 1800s by Irish writer Dion Boucicault: I met with Napper Tandy And he took me by the hand And he said 'How's poor old Ireland? And how does she stand?' She's the most distressful country That ever you have seen . . . Some recent events in the country of my birth suggest that it may well be choosing to be the most distressful country that you have ever seen.
The government of the Republic of Ireland is introducing legislation to legalise abortion in certain circumstances. The Irish Times reported on 16 April, A Bill to legalise abortion in certain circumstances, including the risk of suicide, is included in the programme of legislation the Government intends to publish between now and the summer break. The report goes on to say: The Bill, which is still being drafted, will make abortion legally permissible in certain circumstances and give statutory backing to the Supreme Court decision in the X case in 1991. The legislation will permit abortion when there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother. That risk will include the threat of suicide or self-destruction. As the video above shows, there is no evidence whatever that an abortion is a 'cure' for a person with suicidal thoughts.
Sinn Féin claims on its website to be working for the establishment of a democratic socialist republic. Yet in March it blocked a cross-party proposal in the Northern Ireland Assembly to prevent Marie Stopes International from providing abortions in its clinic in Belfast. Marie Stopes International offers 'safe abortions'. Laws on abortion are much stricter in Northern Ireland than in the rest of the United Kingdom. Marie Stopes International claims to be working within the law, and they probably are, but their initiative is a private one. So much for Sinn Féin's policy of the establishment of a democratic socialist republic. Meanwhile, the government of the Republic of Ireland is introducing legislation to legalise abortion in certain circumstances. The Irish Times reported on 16 April, A Bill to legalise abortion in certain circumstances, including the risk of suicide, is included in the programme of legislation the Government intends to publish between now and the summer break. The report goes on to say: The Bill, which is still being drafted, will make abortion legally permissible in certain circumstances and give statutory backing to the Supreme Court decision in the X case in 1991. The legislation will permit abortion when there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother. That risk will include the threat of suicide or self-destruction. In the Republic of Ireland last weekend the ongoing Constitutional Convention voted to recommend that the constitution be amended to allow for same-sex marriage, with 19 per cent against and the remainder having no opinion. 79 per cent were in favour. The Irish Times report adds: Commenting on the outcome today, a spokesman for the Catholic Communications Office said: 'While the result of the constitutional convention is disappointing, only the people of Ireland can amend the constitution. The Catholic church will continue to promote and seek protection for the uniqueness of marriage between a woman and a man, the nature of which best serves children and our society.' The comment of the Church's spokesman is not quite accurate, It is only the people of the Republic of Ireland who can amend the Constitution, since those in Northern Ireland, even if they have Irish passports, don't have a vote in the Republic.
I don't look on Hollywood as a major source of wisdom or morality. But I think that its adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes should be listened to by anyone who buys into the utterly bizarre notion - and that's what it is - of 'marriage' between two people of the same sex. How has the Western world gone from the extreme of criminalising sexual activity between two adults of the same sex to the extreme of worshipping at the feet of the noisy 'gay lobby'?
By their very nature, the institution of matrimony itself and conjugal love are ordained for the procreation and education of children, and find in them their ultimate crown. Thus a man and a woman, who by their compact of conjugal love "are no longer two, but one flesh" (Matt. 19:ff), render mutual help and service to each other through an intimate union of their persons and of their actions. Through this union they experience the meaning of their oneness and attain to it with growing perfection day by day. As a mutual gift of two persons, this intimate union and the good of the children impose total fidelity on the spouses and argue for an unbreakable oneness between them.
I would suggest that the song and dance of Gene Kelly and Judy Garland is much closer to what the Vatican Council said about marriage than the recommendation of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention in the Grand Hotel, Malahide, County Dublin, last weekend.
I had my ordination reception in that same hotel on 21 December 1967. If anyone there on that occasion had suggested that one day a group of adults gathered in that same place would tell the Irish government that they should introduce 'marriage' for two men or two women that person would rightly have been deemed to be crazy.
To answer Napper Tandy's question about today's poor old Ireland, she is indeed the most distressful country that ever you have seen.
Thanks for your prayers during my retreat last week. I made my retreat in Cebu City where I was based from 1984 till 1993. One of the city's daily newspapers is The Freeman and for a number of years I wrote a weekly column for it, Under the Acacia. Yesterday's issue had a fine editorial about the low pay of health workers while the government gives dole-outs to people who are poor. I think a more accurate term would be 'politicians' rather than 'government' giving these. Politics here is basically a form of feudalism with wealthy families holding power, sharing out offices between relatives and being 'generous' to people who have nothing but who will vote for them when they get something. No doubt, the editorial is trying to make a political point but it raises a basic issue, one of social justice. the Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks about that here. Recently one of the dailies where I live featured an article about Operation Smile. The article was uplifting until it informed the readers that a woman who had had an operation courtesy of Operation Smile when she was a child was able to fulfil her ambition to become a nurse. But this 30-year-old fully qualified nurse is now working as a 'volunteer', ie an unpaid professional worker, in a government hospital in her local town. I wrote a letter to the paper pointing out that the many such 'volunteers' are basically slaves. The paper didn't publish my letter. It is this kind of terrible injustice that The Freeman editorial is about. The video above - thanks to Jane Frances on the Association of Catholic Women Bloggers - is related to the topic of the editorial. Meanwhile, countless Filipino nurses are enabling people in such places as Ireland and Britain to have health services that they and their families back home can only dream of. I know that the Irish and British have legitimate criticisms about these services but they are far superior to those available to most Filipinos. The reality is that the poor of the Philippines are subsidising the health services in many Western and Middle Eastern countries. the vast majority of nurses come from families of very modest means, families that sacrifice much to put their sons and daughters through school.
Former senator Ernesto Maceda is right in his Philippine Star
column of November 29. If the Aquino administration can give billions of pesos
in cash doleouts to the poor, why can it not give meaningful and beneficial
salaries to the health workers who serve them?
Philippine government health workers — doctors, nurses,
midwives, and health aides — receive among the most ridiculously low salaries in
the world. Their monthly salaries cannot even pay for one dinner at some fine
restaurant that high government officials frequent.
So negligent and cavalier has government been toward workers in
the public health sector that there was a time when nurses worked without pay as
volunteers, with government accepting the practice until it became such a hot
issue in media.
But when it comes to the poor who do not even pay taxes,
government is very liberal in giving cash doleouts, for reasons that are purely
political — the poor are not likely to bite the hand that feeds them.
So ridiculous has the situation become that the monthly cash
doleouts given to the poor who do not pay taxes are even higher than the monthly
allowances barangay health workers receive before taxes. [Note: the barangay is the basic unit of local administration in the Philippines and may be a village or a district in a city or town.]
After taxes, government health workers are left with virtually
no means to keep body and soul together. And yet this negligent, unconscionable
and politically-motivated government keeps constant pressure on the public
health sector to perform and deliver above-par.
How this government appreciates the value of its health workers
speaks a million times louder than the motherhood statements it pays about
straight and narrow leadership and ethical governance.
Neglecting health workers in favor of the poor from whom
political favors can be curried during election time is a far worse form of
corruption than stealing or taking money. Crippling the dignity of people steals
the most basic sense of humanity from them.
Despite whatever hardships come their way, low pay or none, being far away from home or whatever, Filipinos have a remarkably hopeful disposition, rooted, I believe, in the Catholic faith of the majority, a belief in God's love for them. Here is a group of Filipino nurses doing a traditional dance at a programme in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law tested him by asking,
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"
He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
Sister Perpetua was Mercy Sister from County Down, Northern Ireland, who died earlier this years. A nurse by profession, she spent some years in Iceland, working in a Catholic hospital there. She had a great love for those who were sick and especially for those who were bereaved.
A few years ago when I visited her in her convent in Downpatrick, where St Patrick is buried, she took me to St Comgall's Church in Donaghadee, probably the most Protestant town in the whole of Ireland. St Comgall's Catholic Church is on a side-sreet. It is part of the parish of Bangor, about the kilometres further north, also on the coast. The parish church there is also St Comgall's.
This saint founded the famous monastery in Bangor in 555. Some years later, during the lifetime of St Comgall, St Columbanus (Columban) entered there. Later he and twelve companions left for Continental Europe as Peregrini pro Christo, 'Pilgrims for Christ'.St Columban, the patron of the Missionary Society of St Columban to which I belong, founded a number of monasterieson the European mainland,preaching the gospel wherever they went. The saint's last monastery was in Bobbio, in northern Italy, where he died in 615.
St Columban set out from Bangor as a missionary. More than thirteen centuries later an Italian ice-cream seller, whose name I do not know but will call 'Luigi, found his way to the area from which St Columban had set out on his long journey. This Italian, to earn a living, opened an ice-cream parlour in Donaghadee, where he spent the rest of his life.
On another occasion when I went to visit Sister Perpetua she had just come back from the funeral of Luigi. She told me she had been afraid that very few would attend. But the church was packed and Sister Perpetua found herself sitting beside a Protestant man who had probably never entered a Catholic church before in his life. He told Sister why he was there.
He was one of a large family that never had money to spare. Occasionally during the summer his father would bring the children to Luigi's for ice-cream, even though he never had enough to buy for them all. 'Luigi never let us go', he told Sister,'without making sure that each of us had ice-cream, no matter how little money my father had. That is why I am here'.
St Columban left Ireland to be a missionary and died in Italy. Luigi left Italy to make a living in the area from which St Columban had set out and died in Ireland. He probably never thought of himself as a missionary but he crossed the religious barrier in Ireland by his simple love for poor children.
I am posting this early because I probably won't have access to the internet for the next eight days as I give a retreat to some Missionaries of Charity in Tagaytay City, an elevated and pleasantly cooler area south of Manila. Please keep the Sisters and me in your prayers. Perhaps you can invoke St Columban and Blessed Mother Teresa.
I learned recently of the death of a dear friend of mine, Sister Perpetua, a Mercy Sister form Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland. My first contact with her was around 1979 when I read about her in a Catholic newspaper. She and some other Mercy Sisters had gone to work in Iceland, a country I had always been interested in. I wrote her a letter and, many months later, received a reply. This led to the first of three visits to that beautiful country. She was there from 1977 till 1987. My last visit was in 2000 when I gave a weekend retreat to Filipinos living in Reykjavík followed by a pastoral visit to Filipinos living in the coastal towns around the country. (I think there's only one town that's not on the coast).
'Harbour', Kilkeel, painting by Lucia Peka. Sr Perpetua grew up in Kilkeel
St Joseph's Church, Hafnarfjörður
Sister Perpetua worked in the Catholic hospital in Hafnarfjörður, near Reykjavík. The Sisters often went to Mass in the Carmelite Monastery in Hafnarfjörður. At the time of my first visit in 1981 the nuns were Dutch. They have since been replaced by Polish Carmelites. I celebrated the 'new' Mass, now called the Ordinary Form, in Latin with the Dutch Carmelites and they sang the Gregorian chants.
Blessed John Paul visits the Polish Carmelites in Hafnarfjörður in 1989
When Sister Perpetua went to Iceland in 1977 there were about 1,500 Catholics out of a population of 220,000. In 2004 there were more than 5,500 out of 290,000 or so. The majority of Catholics are foreigners and include significant numbers of Filipinos and Poles. The Diocese of Reykjavík covers the whole country which is slightly larger than Mindanao, Philippines, and larger than Ireland.
Downpatrick, with Convent of Mercy slightly to the left of St Patrick's church
Sister Perpetua, who had legions of friends, two of whom came from Iceland to visit her shortly before she died, loved to drive. Her eight-year-old grandniece caught this perfectly in the letter she wrote when her 'Little Auntie P' died.
I have two Auntie P’s in my life, one I call ‘Big P’ who lives in Manchester, and the other one I call ‘Little P’ who lives in the Convent of Mercy, Downpatrick. As you know, she was very special and I loved her very much. Recently she gave me a beautiful handmade doll of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which were attached to the front of her apron and when you turned her upside down and unfolded all her clothes there was the Wicked Witch on one side and the Handsome Prince on the other.
That I will cherish for ever and ever. No more little cards in the post or phone calls with a voice saying ‘Hello my little darling’. That’s gone too. But even though we loved her very much God loved her more and decided it was time to call her home.
Because she loved to drive the car so much during her life, I especially asked God to please tax and insure the biggest most expensive Mercedes car he can find and let Auntie P drive around the Kingdom of Heaven in style so that she can visit all her friends and relations. That would make her very happy.
So Auntie P, don’t break the speed limit up there. Cause you’ll only get three points on your licence and then you would have to wear wings like all the other Angels.
God bless Little P
Love you always
Megan ♥
[Note: Driving licences in both parts of Ireland carry points and there are deductions for various offences, which can lead to your losing your licence.]
One glorious summer when I was at home Sister Perpetua drove me along a road I had always wanted to see, the Antrim Coast Road. We also visited one of the Glens of Antrim. Unfortunately, it was the one rainy day during my holiday.
County Down is one of the most beautiful parts of Ireland. There is a famous song by Percy French, Where the Mountains of Mourne Sweep Down to the Sea. It is a favourite of mine but, for some reason, Sister Perpetua didn't like it so I won't include it here!
I was in the middle of preparing this post on Thursday afternoon when the Blogspot system broke down, making it impossible to upload anything. The problem, which lasted for more than 24 hours, has now been fixed.
Fr Pat McCaffrey, 1944-2010. Photo by Fr Gary Walker, April 2010
This account of the funeral of Fr Pat McCaffrey is by Fr Tomás King, ordained in Ireland in 1992 and the current Coordinator of the Columban Mission Unit, Pakistan.
The funeral Mass took place in Sacred Heart, Cathedral, Lahore, on Thursday, 20 May at 3.00pm. Concurrently, a Mass was being celebrated in his home parish of Tempo, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, his classmate Fr Pat Raleigh being the main celebrant. The body arrived in the cathedral from the morgue at 2.30 for viewing. The 'Last Look' is an important custom in Pakistani culture. While people were filing past the coffin the rosary was recited.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Lahore
Archbishop Lawrence Saldana of Lahore was the main celebrant assisted by Auxiliary Bishop Sebastian Shah OFM and Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad, formerly of Hyderabad, and a friend of Father Pat and of the Columbans since their arrival in Pakistan in 1979. More than 50 priests from the diocese and beyond attended.
Interior of Sacred Heart Cathedral, Lahore
In the introduction to the Mass Aquif Shazad from the Columban JPIC (Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation) team gave a brief biography of Father Pat's life, after which symbols from the various countries that he had lived and worked in were placed on the coffin. The choir sang some of his favorite Urdu and Punjabi hymns. I gave the homily. The cathedral was packed. It was a moving liturgy and many tears were shed.
Bishop Joseph Coutts
Afterwards the body was taken to St Columban's Parish, Greentown, on the outskirts of Lahore city. Here he was welcomed by roughly 2,000 people from all corners of the parish who were unable to make it to the cathedral. The body was placed in the small church and people lined up and filed past for the 'Last Look.' Again, many tears were shed and prayers said. The graveyard is just at the back of the church and high school. The grave itself is literally a minute’s walk from the church through the church compound entrance. But the people preferred to carry the coffin the long route around to the main entrance, giving as many men as possible an opportunity to carry the coffin.
The grave chosen was under a mature 'people' tree. Prayers at the graveside were led by Fr Joe Joyce, a classmate from Ireland, and Fr Gabriel Rojas, a Columban from Peru. After it was laid in the grave, as is the custom, all present threw a fistful of clay over the coffin. As many women as men were present. While it is changing in Christian circles, it's still uncommon for women to go to cemeteries for burials. Darkness had fallen by the time the grave had been covered in, after which it was covered in rose petals and flowers. Incense sticks and candles were lit.
English Columban Father Denis Carter with friends in Pakistan
Father Pat had been laid to rest under the Lahore sky as the light from the many candles pushed back the darkness and the smoke from the incense sticks carried the prayers of those present, prayers that expressed a hope and belief that he continues to be among us. It was very difficult to walk away.
Rest in peace good and faithful servant.
All proceedings were recorded at the request of Father Pat's family. It was also recorded by a new Catholic TV station which broadcasts within certain parts of Lahore city.
+++
Father Patrick McCaffrey is the second Columban missionary to die in Pakistan. Pilar Tilos, a public school teacher from Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental, Philippines, on her second three-year term as a Columban lay missionary, died suddenly there on 4 January 1996 at the age of 55. She too is buried in Pakistan. We opened our mission there in 1979.
Pilar Tilos (right) with Emma Pabera from Candoni, Negros Occidental (in blue) and Gloria Canama from Tangub City, Misamis Occidental (in white) in Pakistan in the early 1990s. These three were the first group of Filipino Columban Lay Missionaries to be assigned overseas and were known as 'RP1', 'RP' meaning 'Republic of the Philippines'. Gloria is still in Pakistan while Emma was a staff member of the formation team for our lay missionaries in the Philippines for many years after leaving Pakistan.
This account of Father Patrick McCaffrey’s last few hours were written by Srs Patricia, Eilish and Gretta Gill, Presentation Sisters, Murree, Pakistan. Murree, which could be called 'The Baguio of Pakistan' is at an elevation of 2,291 metres (7,517 feet) while Baguio, in the northern Philippines, is at 1,500 metres (5,100 feet). Wikipedia says 'The name Murree is derived from "marhi", "high place" although there is a popular belief it is named after the Virgin Mary'. Father Pat was my classmate. We entered St Columban's, Dalgan Park, Navan, Ireland, together in September 1961 and were ordained on 21 December 1967, he in St Eugene's Cathedral, Derry, and I in St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Dublin.
Murree, Pakistan
The reading of the day on which our good friend Fr Pat McCaffrey unexpectedly left us for his eternal abode was very apt indeed. With St Paul, Father Pat could truly address those very words to us all: ‘You know what my way of life has been ever since the first day I set foot among you in Asia. How I have served the Lord in all humility, with all the sorrows and trials that came to me.’ Fr Pat McCaffrey arrived in Presentation Convent Murree on the 17 May in the afternoon. He was visiting three Columban lay missionaries, Paula Matakiviwa, Pita Qolikivikivi, two men recently arrived from Fiji, and Carmela Capistrano, a Filipina on her second term, studying Urdu there. After school at 2:00pm he joined us for a bowl of soup.
Then he went out for lunch with the students but offered to celebrate Holy Mass for us in the evening at 6.30. We were delighted because, not having a resident priest here in Murree, we have Mass only on Sundays. We informed the Jesus and Mary Sisters too and they joined us for Holy Mass. Father Pat was in the chapel praying away on his own long before Mass time. When the Sisters arrived he came to the front where they were seated and shook hands with each one, welcoming the Jesus and Mary Sisters and asking if they wouldn’t mind waiting for the lay missionaries who would soon be there. During the Mass he spoke beautifully about the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus being with us always and the importance of the oft repeated words of Jesus, ‘Be not afraid’. He pointed out that we were eleven people present from five different nationalities. Wasn’t that wonderful? At the end of his sermon he wished us all a happy feast of the Holy Spirit and said he wouldn’t be with us to celebrate but encouraged us to enjoy this great feast of the Church.
After Mass we all stood outside the chapel chatting. He was the last to come out and we teased him saying we were all waiting for the Spirit to come. He started breathing on us saying ‘Here comes the spirit’. He was in great form. Early the following morning, 18 May, at 5:45 we heard a big bang at our small school gate and the man cleaning the road, named Latief, told our watchman that Father Pat had fallen on the road. Sister Eilish and two of our workers rushed out to see what had happened to him and Sister Patricia ran to call Sister Gretta. The other workers brought out the charpai (bed) to put him on it. All our workers and Sister Eilish and Gretta were out in no time. As Sister Gretta blessed him there with holy water and a very special Irish cross handed to her by Sister Patricia. The workers and Sister Gretta rushed him to the Combine Military Hospital (CMH), which is just beside us, on the same charpai. He was attended by Dr Kamran and the staff of CMH without any delay but it was too late to do anything for him. He had already reached his heavenly Father for his reward. At the same time Sisters Eilish and Patricia, who were in the convent, had contacted some people on the phone and three Sisters of Jesus and Mary had also joined Sister Gretta at the hospital. By then we were in the process of getting the doctor to make his death certificate and were calling a few friends to make the arrangements to bring his body down to Pindi and from there to Lahore ,where Father Pat had been working.
Father Pat was brought to the same Chapel where he had celebrated Holy Mass only a few hours before and was now laid out to rest. Prayers were offered by both Christian and Muslim staff members, while all the teaching staff and students of Presentation Convent were stunned, sadly wondering what had happened as they turned the students’ vehicles homewards.
The ambulance was taking time to come so we decided to remove the seats of the big wagon of the Jesus and Mary Convent and take his body down to Pindi in it as soon as possible. Sisters Eilish and Gretta, some workers from the Presentation Convent and some from the Joseph and Mary Convent, as well as Mr Zaffar, Mr Ayub and the Columban lay missionaries travelled down with the body, praying on the way for the soul of this great priest. On our arrival at St Catherine’s Convent, Pindi, we were met by many Sisters from different congregations and Bishop Rufin Anthony of Islamabad-Rawalpindi. The prayers were led by Bishop Rufin in the compound. After the prayers we transferred the body to the ambulance to be taken to Lahore in the company of the three lay missionaries and Mr Zaffar. We very sadly said good bye to him in tears but it was so symbolic to see two Pakistani men, two men from Fiji and a woman from the Philippines travelling with him on his last journey to Lahore. This was to acknowledge him as a great missionary in the true sense. May his soul rest in peace and may the love he had for God and His people continue in many parts of the world. Amen.
Fr Patrick McCaffrey (3rd from right) 18 March 1944 - 18 May 2010
Yesterday afternoon the Columban superior in Manila, Fr Patrick O’Donoghue, very thoughtfully phoned me to tell me of the sudden death of a classmate in Pakistan, Fr Patrick McCaffrey, before he sent the news by email to all of us. Fr McCaffrey, who was from County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, was only 66.
We Columbans have as our patron a man driven by the Latin motto 'Peregrinari pro Christo', 'To be a pilgrim for Christ', St Columban (also known as 'Columbanus'). Father Pat McCaffrey pilgrimage took him from the lakes of County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, to Fiji, Pakistan, England, back to Fiji and, finally, to Pakistan.
River Erne, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
Father Pat’s first assignment was to Fiji and he spent all of his ten years there in Labasa, which has many Indian-Fijians. In 1978 he was assigned to Pakistan as one of our pioneering group there. From 1998 till 2005 he worked in Britain, based in Bradford which has a very large population of people with their origins in Pakistan. He was involved in inter-faith work and also celebrated Mass regularly with Pakistani Catholics in the area. Between 2000 and 2002 I sometimes celebrated Mass in the parish where he lived with the Filipinos in the Bradford.
In 2008 Father Pat returned to Fiji but was moved once again back to Pakistan early last year. He had just been visiting two newly-arrived Fijian Columban lay missionaries when he had what seems to have been a heart attack. He always felt close to those who were poor and the first person to go to his aid was a streetsweeper.
Catholic church, Hyderabad, Pakistan
Here is something he wrote in 2006 after his return to Fiji telling the extraordinary story of the baptism of five siblings at the request of their parents, both of them Hindus. One of those children is based now in General Santos City, Mindanao, Sr Sr Pushpa Wati Arjun SMSM.
Return to Fiji after 26 Years
Fr Pat McCaffrey ('67). Fiji
When I left Fiji in 1978 to go to Pakistan I did not think that I would ever be reassigned back to Fiji. I had the unique record of having had only one assignment during my 10 years in Fiji, viz. Holy Family Parish, Labasa. That was my first and only love in Fiji. It is where I cut my teeth in the pastoral field. While in Pakistan and later in Britain I used to look back in nostalgia to the good old days in the seventies in Labasa.
Flooded street, Labasa, Fiji
I vividly recall the day in 1971 when Aijun said to me in Naleba, ‘I want you to baptise all my children.’ ‘And what about you and your wife’ I asked him. They were both Hindus. ‘No’ he said, ‘we will not be baptised. We were born Hindus and we will die Hindus. But I want my children to become Christian and I am asking you now to baptise them and teach them how to be good people’. I was reluctant to baptise the children when the parents were not willing to be baptised. However, the children, Victor William (12), Lingam (10), Sog Lingam (8), Pushpa (6) and Sakuntula (5) were coming to church every week and were the brightest in our CCD class. I finally baptised all five of them in 1972 and hoped for the best for them.
Fifteen years later I was delighted to hear that both Pushpa and Sakuntula had joined the SMSM Sisters. Pushpa has now completed ten years as a missionary in the Phillipines. Sakuntula is now a missionary in Bangladesh. At present Pushpa is back in Fiji. Next month she will go to C.T.U. for studies.
Rural scene in Vanua Levu, the island where Labasa is situated
After twenty eight years I am back in Fiji. My present assignment is working among the Hindi-speaking community in the eight parishes in Suva. This assignment has two aspects; pastoral work among the 150 Catholic Indian families scattered over these eight parishes and interfaith work among the large Hindu and Muslim population.
Names of first Indian Catholic families in the area where the parish of Labasa was formed in 1965
Both these aspects are of course intertwined. Both also demand that I keep in close contact with the parish communities in all of these parishes to ensure that work among the Hindi-speaking community be not seen as being in any way separate from the work of each parish community. Over the past three months Sister Pushpa and I have been working together as she awaits her visa to travel to the USA.
The main programme that we use for instructing people who want to become Christians is the RCIA course. This course was pioneered in the eighties by Fr Frank Hoare and Sr Frances Hardiman SMSM. Later Miss Rosema Dass and Miss Elizabeth Krishna built on these solid foundations. It is an excellent course. During the eighties and nineties over 300 people participated in these courses and were baptised. Those taking part were mostly Indians from a Hindu background who wished to become disciples of Jesus.
The courses were conducted for the most part in Hindi. The ongoing challenge was how to involve the indigenous Fijian community in this work and how to ensure that the parish communities were involved in this work.
This year Mika, Lusi, Sisi and James have undertaken to conduct the course in the parish of Nadera. Sister Pushpa and I have been assisting them. Mika, Lusi and Sisi are ethnic Fijians. They do not speak or understand Hindi. James is Indian. He does. not understand or speak Fijian. We all speak and understand English. We are now conducting the course in English, Fijian and Hindi, trying to cross boundaries of language, culture and faith. It is a challenging task.
We meet every Friday evening to prepare the class for the following Sunday. We were a little late in getting the course started this year and we wondered if the candidates would be ready for baptism next Easter. When we asked them last Sunday whether they wished to be baptised at Easter 2006 or Easter 2007, there was a unanimous request for Easter 2006. We acceded to their request and hopefully they will be baptised next Easter.
A similar RCIA programme is underway in the parish of Raiwaqa where Columban, Frs Gerry McNicholas, and Kieran Moloney and Lay Missionary Rowena Cuanico (from the Philippines) are working. At present Rowena is working with her parish team of two Fijians in conducting the course for six Indian catechumens. They too will be baptised next Easter.
That is a snapshot of missionary life in Fiji. The missionary task continues. It is good to be back here in Fiji to see the progress of the past thirty years. It is inspiring to see people like Sister Pushpa who have answered the missionary call to leave Fiji. It is inspiring to see people like Lusi, Mika and Sisi now taking up the challenge of sharing their faith with people of a different language and culture here in Fiji. It is inspiring to see Rowena, a Filipina lay missionary at work here in Fiji - all crossing boundaries of language, culture and faith.
We journey in faith, knowing that it is one who sows, another waters, but it is God who gives the increase.
