PENTECOST

The icon above comes from the Stavronikita Monastery on Mt. Athos. Look at it carefully. The Apostles are gathered in a horseshoe formation - the traditional plan of an assembly of equals. In the centre an old king emerges from a doorway bearing a scroll while from above heaven is open and the Spirit descends on them as tongues of fire. Just a typical image of Pentecost right?

Yet there is no Mother of God and only the Apostles are present, indeed Paul replaces one of the Twelve, Matthias! What is going on here? In this icon the Church is teaching us that Pentecost is not a day but an event. The Church is Pentecost.

As Fr. Barron explains in one of the videos on the sidebar only Christianity proclaims that "God is love". Other religions may say God loves but we say God is love. God is love implies that in God there is a Lover, a Beloved and Love between them. The Father is the Lover, the Son is the Beloved, and the Love of the Father for the Son is the Holy Spirit. This love was revealed by the Son on the cross. He needed no nails to hold Him on the cross. He willingly embraced the cross to give us as concrete an image of the Father's self-giving love for the Son and the Son's loving obedience as was possible and to make it possible not only to know of but experience that love here and in the world to come.

When we were baptised and confirmed we were immersed into the Son so that the Father loves each and every one of us, individually, as He loves the Son. The love He loves us with is the Holy Spirit. This is not one event but an eternal self-gift of the Father to the Son into Whom we have been incorporated.

So in the icon above we are reminded that the Church is a body, the body of Christ and it therefore has an organic nature, an order instituted by Christ, a sacred order or hierarchy. The Spirit is given to the Church through that sacred order. That is why the Gospels tell us of different 'givings' of the Spirit. Christ breathes on the Apostles and yet the Spirit descends on the Church assembled in the upper room and again on the gentiles. The Holy Spirit is eternally processing from the Father and returns to the Father through the Son. So the Spirit is always being poured out on the Church. It is He who conveys to us all and every gift of the Father. As it says in the Creed hE is the Lord and Giver of Life. Love is the Lord and the Giver of Life. The universe is no accident nor are we. Love is our origin and our destiny and, although fallen, the creation is recreated by the Father through His Son in the Holy Spirit and we are bathed in their Uncreated Light. Pentecost is about this New Creation, the Kingdom made manifest that is the Church.

A COMMENT ON THE INQUIRY INTO CHILD ABUSE IN IRISH INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS AND REFORMATORIES

With our sixth year students graduating I have not had much time or energy to blog. I am still busy but I'm taking a few moments to comment on the darkness revealed by the Inquiry into Child Abuse.

There is anger, hurt, embarassment, confusion, a sense of betrayal, a desire to deny, some 'blame-gaming' and a lot of pain around this. First two points I'd make is that the media are not a balanced or trustworthy source of information. They are too pressurized and eager for news to analyse or question their sources. Secondly is that those who can should read the report here. I doubt many will read all 3,000 pages.

A teacher in the school where I work asked "What kind of society allowed this to happen?". What kind of Church? In the 1850's, not long after the famine, there were 77,000 children in the Irish workhouses and unknown numbers living rough and running wild. The British Government eager to deal with the problem established the Reformatory and Industrial school systems through Britain and Ireland. In Ireland the Catholic Church was in the process of rebuilding itself after the Penal era and wanted to keep the Irish Catholic. The Government wanted to keep the costs low and the Religious Orders wanted to be involved, to make a difference. It worked but at what price?

The myth out there is of 'Clerical child abuse' and the 'paedophile priest'. I want to make it clear that I find it appalling that anyone, especially a priest or religious, should do such things to a child, one of the most vulnerable of people. This was not about sex, it was about power and abusing that power at the expense of the weakest. Yet when one reads the report, at least for the girls, the single biggest abusers of children were laymen, the fathers and sons of homes to which the girls were sent either to work or on holiday. Lay people were involved in abuse in other ways - often through working in the homes and were often as vicious as any others.

People claim ignorance, that they did not know. Some knew - Bishops, priests, religious sisters and brothers, police, doctors, nurses, care-workers etc. They knew and said nothing.

If you haven't seen the film Downfall you should. It's very good. It tells the story of Hitler's last days from the point of view of Traudl Junge his personal secretary. At the end of the film she speaks about her own involvement and her shock when she learned about the fate of the Jews. She talks about how she long denied she had any responsibility for what happened. Then one day she passed the plaque commemorating Sophie Scholl who, along with her brother and a friend, were executed for opposing the Nazi regime. She realised that Sophie had been the same age and that she could have found out but she chose not to. People in Ireland did not know because they did not ask. They did not ask because they did not want to know.

Irish society and the Irish Church forgot its ideals, became complacent, lacked not just the proper skills but the basic, genuine charity and compassion and failed to listen and to act. Indeed it penalised those who chose to do the right thing. It, we, were guilty of cowardice.

So we are all in need of God's mercy. We are, as Catholic Christians, part of the Body of Christ against whom these crimes have ultimately been committed. If one part sins all are affected. If one part is in pain and is hurting the rest cannot go on as normal. If one tries to isolate oneself from this and say "I am innocent, I was not involved" then one effectively cuts oneself off from the Body and from the Church.

People may object that it was a different time, a time when blind obedience was emphasized. Forgive me but that excuse was not accepted at Nuremberg so why should we accept it now? Sophie Scholl made it her business to find out. Sophie Scholl made it her business to speak out despite the Gestapo and informers. Where was Ireland's Sophie?

This Saturday the Gospel of the day invites us to hear Jesus' words "Whatever you ask of the Father in my Name He will give it to you." I say that we need to ask for the Holy Spirit and He bring with Him the gift of forgiveness. I say that we need to beg God for mercy and the grace of repentance and conversion of heart. I say we need the grace of taking the Gospel seriously and of making it the true measure in our lives not the mores of our society. I say we need to ask the Father for the courage to oppose evil and speak out.

BERNARDINE OF SIENA

"If you speak of God, speak with love. If you speak of yourself, speak with love. Take care that there is nothing in you but love, love, love."-St. Bernadine of Siena

Born in 1380 in a town near Siena, Italy, Bernardine was the son of an Italian governor. His parents died when he was seven. His relatives loved him as if he were their own and gave him a good education. Tall and handsome, he was a boy who was so much fun that his friends loved to be with him (teachers just love such students). Yet they knew better than to use any foul language when he was around. He would not put up with it. Twice when a man tried to lead him into sin, Bernardine punched him and sent him on his way.

Bernardine had a special love for the Blessed Virgin. She was the one who kept him pure. Even when he was a teenager, Bernardine would pray to her as a child talks with his mother. Bernardine was tender hearted and felt great pity for the poor. Once, his aunt had no extra food to give a beggar. The boy cried, "I'd rather go without food myself than leave that poor man with none." When a plague struck the area in 1400, Bernardine and his friends volunteered their services at the hospital. For six weeks they helped the sick and dying day and night until the plague had ended.

1402 Bernardine joined the Franciscan order. He was twenty-two. Evenutally he was ordained a priest. After several years, he was assigned to go to towns and cities to preach and reminded people about the love of Jesus. Urban life was not easy and vice, corruption and bad habits were ruining both young and old.

"How can I save these people by myself?" Bernardine asked the Lord in prayer. "With what weapons can I fight the devil?" And God answered, "My Holy Name will be enough for you." So Bernardine spread devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. He used this Name a great many times in every sermon. He asked people to print Jesus' Name over the gates of their cities and over their doorways-everywhere. Through devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus and devotion to the Blessed Mother, Bernardine brought thousands of people from all over Italy back to the Church. St. Bernardine spent forty-two years of his life as a Franciscan. He died at the age of sixty-four in Aquila, Italy on was May 20, 1444. He was declared a saint just six years later, in 1450, by Pope Nicholas V.

To this day the name of Jesus or 'IHS', the symbol of that name, abounds in Italy. Considering how often that name is taken and used without thought, without awareness of its significance, perhaps it is time to re-devote ourselves to the Holy Name before which every knee must bend. There could be no finer tribute to Bernardine than to follow in his footsteps.

SIXTH YEAR STUDENTS FINISH UP

Our sixth year students finished up today! Tomorrow night we have their Graduation service and off they go to enjoy themselves before settling down to study (yeah right).

ISLAMASIZATION

I came across an article via Insight Scoop from Sandro Magister. It's about the Islamisization of Rotterdam, a symptom of the de-Christianization of Europe. Read it here. It'll make you think.

Further to this question one could do worse than get the other side of the story by reading this article. It seems the video I have below is not the whole story. Even Homer nods and this friar fell off his seat!

CRISPIN OF VITERBO

One doesn't get to heaven in a carriage!

Let us love God who deserves it!

Crispin was born and baptised Peter Fioretti in 1668, at Viterbo, Italy. His twice-widowed mother dedicated him to the Blessed Virgin, an act he never forgot. Throughout his life he referred to the Mother of God as his "Momma". His paternal uncle, Francis, educated him and trained him as a cobbler.

At twenty-five he asked to join the Capuchins wanting to imitate Felix of Cantalice. Despite family opposition he joined the Order. The Novice Master was also concerned that Peter was too frail and advised that he leave but the Provincial intervened (only Provincials can accept men into the Order even over the objections of formators!). In 1693 Peter was received into the Roman Province and was given the name 'Crispin' after the patron saint of cobblers. After profession he served as cook for three years at Tolfa, then infirmarian at Rome, cook again, orchardkeeper, and lastly, for the next thirty-eight years, questor at Orvieto.

Like his role-model he was a friend to all and somehow managed to integrate his busy workday with a deep interior life. He begged not only for the friars (necessities only) but for all the poor and he would nurse the sick during plagues, visit prisoners, and go to the aid of anyone he thought was in need (foundlings especially). He once arranged for a preacher to hold his sermons under the window of a notoriously sinful woman bringing about her conversion.

Crispin's whole ministry was marked with joy and compassion. His insight and wisdom drew people to seek his counsel. Following Capuchin (and Franciscan) tradition he opposed injustice and upheld the rights of workers and opposed the injustices of the merchants. Among the crosses he had to carry was the opposition of his fellow Capuchins.

In the winter of 1747-48 he fell ill and was sent to Rome. He recovered temporarily but died on May 19th, 1750 at the age of eighty-two and is buried in the same church, the Immaculate Conception, as Felix of Cantalice. He was canonized in 1982.

Crispin's life can teach us that no life is so busy that there can be no room for God or our neighbour - if we think it is then we need to reconsider before its too late; joy rooted in God's love for us should season all we do; practical compassion for those in need is a prayer too (perhaps the best).

FELIX OF CANTALICE - "Brother Deo Gratias"

Can you believe it I forgot the feast of Felix of Cantalice? I can't find my Ordo and never checked this morning (got up late, in a rush) and so belatedly I pay my respects to this humble hero of the Capuchin reform. Born in 1515 he was the third of five brothers. Raised to be a farm labourer from the age of ten he worked in the fields. He was illiterate and a cousin had to read to him usually from the lives of the Desert Fathers. These stories inspired Felix.

One day an angel appeared to him and told him to go and join the Capuchins (O that the angels would send us a few more Felixs today!). The Capuchins had only just been founded and were still restricted to Italy. Three times he tried and it was 'third time lucky'.

The Guardian (superior) brought him to the church and told him to pray before the crucifix that he be enlightened. That evening, having completely forgotten about Felix, the Guardian returned only to find Felix still praying. Deeply impressed he accepted Felix telling him "Jesus will no longer be alone. You will help Him carry the cross".

So in 1543 the twenty-eight year old farm labourer set off for Rome to present himself to the Provincial Minister. At the Roman friary of St. Nicholas de Portis he was received by the saintly Bernardine d'Asti who introduced him to the Roman Provincial. Having completed his difficult novitiate Felix made vows on May 18, 1545.

His hopes of a secluded life in the woods were not to be. In 1547 he was sent to Rome where he would quest for the rest of his life. He would beg, eyes down cast, and accept every interaction with a humble 'Deo Gratias' - so much so that he became known as "Brother Deo Gratias". He could refuse no request for help and when he could not meet it from his own bag he would go to the rich. Felix also visited the sick in the hospitals and comforted them. He urged them to see their sickness as a gift from God (he was no stranger to sickness himself). His reputation as a healer spread too. He would bless people with the crucifix or give them some of the wine he had begged and they would be healed.

Coming from a poor background he had no airs and graces. He could be quite direct - even with Popes! He foretold that his friend the Franciscan Felice Peretti (whose father was a Slovene and a convert from Serbian Orthodoxy) would be Pope and later upon meeting him gave him a piece of stale black bread. "Excuse me, Holy Father, but you're still a friar" he told the Pope. I'm sure the Holy Father enjoyed that.

Being illiterate Felix had to memorize his prayers and other texts and would mull over them as he walked or prayed in the chapel. He was often lost in prayer spending many hours at night praying for all those who called on him for help. He was not ashamed to seek knowledge from the educated. Behind his rustic manners and speech there was an inquisitive intelligence and he used it, with God's help, to help the ordinary people of Rome. His talent for song appears in the spontaneous hymns he could compose. Felix must have had a beautiful voice for he was often invited to sing.

Everybody knew Felix. Even the children in the streets called him "Papa". He would give special attention to mothers and their babies and of course the sick. He quested until a few days before he died resisting attempts to take the task from him. On April 30, 1547 he became sick and he told his brothers "This little ass has dropped; it will not rise again". He saw the Virgin and the angels just before he died, his face radiant, and greeted the Blessed Sacrament with "O Sacrum Convivium". He died on May 18th, 1587. He was canonized in 1712 the first of the Capuchin saints.

His body is kept in the church of the Immaculate Conception on the Via Veneto, Rome above the more famous Capuchin cemetery or 'Bone yard'. (The Italians maintain it was a mad French friar who decorated the crypt with the bones of the dead) Sadly the church is in need of a complete overhaul and restoration. If you are nice to the sacristan he may bring you round, through the old choir, to see the cell where Felix lived.

What can we learn from Felix? I would suggest that being oneself, one's true self, is no bar to being holy; that love of one's neighbour is the best method of evangelisation; that prayer is the heart of life.