Teaching children how to pray...

Fr Tim Finigan gives a lovely answer to a a mother who asks how she should teach her child how to pray.

The place to start is with your own prayers. There are many good prayer books that will help you to say some simple morning and night prayers so that you are used to spending a little time with Our Lord each day. You can also spend some quiet moments thinking about the truths of the faith (again there are some quite simple summaries available in many prayer books) and then asking Our Lord in your own words how to live well as a Catholic.

[snip]
As soon as your child is able to walk and talk a little, that would be the time to kneel down and say some simple prayers, especially at bedtime. You can say prayers at your own choice; there are many good children’s prayer books that can help. It is also good if you say some traditional prayers such as the Our Father and the Hail Mary, and perhaps the Act of Contrition and the Prayer to the Guardian Angel. It doesn’t matter that your child doesn’t understand them fully as yet – he will start at school knowing these familiar prayers and will understand them better as he gets older.

 It's quite a common - and heart-breaking - thing these days for children to arrive into primary school aged 4 or 5 unable to bless themselves or not knowing the basic prayers such as the Our Father or the Hail Mary. I'm fortunate that the Primary School teachers in my parish schools are excellent and pray with the children throughout the day, but unless the habit of prayer is learned in the home, I fear that it will be something ultimately foreign to these children.
I know that when I was growing up, bedtime prayers were the most natural thing in the world and a regular part of the daily routine.  Prayer was as much a part of life as eating or breathing or brushing one's teeth. And that's as it should be. However, that tradition or habit seems to have been broken in most households these days.  I sometimes wonder how that came to happen - how people who had learned to pray from their parents didn't pass on the same habits to their children.  I suppose the most obvious answer is that they themselves had stopped praying, and therefore it wasn't part of their home-life when they had children. However, parents also want their children to grow up knowing God and receiving the sacraments, so they're not totally disengaged from a life of faith either.
I like that Fr Tim is so encouraging in his answer.  Personally, I try to be encouraging as well when preparing couples for the baptism of their children. I remind them that one of the final blessings of the Baptism ceremony contains the prayer that they should be the first and the best of teachers of the faith in their children's lives. It's important for parents to realise that Church teaching and practice empowers parents and encourages them in their roles as parents. They are told clearly that they have an irreplaceable role and importance in their children's lives and that they themselves have the right and duty to pass on the best of values and a belief in God to their children. So many other influences in society seem to take away or minimise the parents' role. Children's television and the media in general do not affirm or encourage parenthood. The cult of youth puts out the message that the next generation should be free to make their own mistakes, and by the time children reach their early teens, I get the impression that most parents simply no longer know how or have the confidence to be parents to their own children. Maybe I'm naive, but I genuinely think that the Church can do some good by being more forthright in encouraging and supporting parents to be parents when children are young.
I also love the fact that Fr Finigan encourages this mother to pray with her unborn child. When I'm going through the baptism ceremony with parents in our preparatory class, I tell them that making the sign of the cross on their child's forehead should remind them as parents they can always bestow a blessing on their children. They can also make a point of praying with their children, even before the child knows what prayer is. I was chuffed to bits to discover that one of the first words learned by the first-born of a dear friend was "amen!"  Tús maith, leath na hoibre!

A post to prove that I'm still alive...

Taps microphone
Is thing thing still on?

Apologies to the couple of people who still follow me.  I've not been very diligent about keeping it up to date.  A mixture of genuine busy-ness and a wretched dose of sloth has kept me away from my blog.  Anyway, I wanted to add a few links to my blogroll and draw my readers' attention to a few articles.

The Irish Blogosphere
Since my last post, I've added links to a couple of Catholic blogs which concern themselves with Irish issues.  First of all, the Lux Occulta blog has a mainly historical focus, with a wealth of articles and pamphlets painting a picture of the Irish Church in the first half of the 20th Century.  Need one say that this picture doesn't always square with the dominant narrative?
Even though he's based in England, The Thirsty Gargoyle seems to be the go-to blog for commentary on the media's treatment of Irish Church matters. When he takes Patsy McGarry to task like this, he does the Church and the truth a great service.  I wish that the Bishops' Conference were more pro-active in doing likewise.  There seems to be this assumption that it's unpastoral or counter-productive to challenge the mainstream media in this way or that because of the genuine failings of the Church that we must therefore sit in silence.  However, renewal and justice can only be served by truth, and a failure to challenge untruths does no service to the faithful.  When I read The Thirsty Gargoyle's blog-posts about the Irish Church, I usually wish that I had the time (and intellect) to write them first.

Further Afield
Amy Welborn is one of Catholic America's best known bloggers.  In her latest book, Wish You Were Here she writes about her experience of losing her husband (the late Michael Dubriel) and her path through grief as she takes her family on a trip to Sicily a few months after his death.  It's a very honest and faith-filled account of grief and healing, and is permeated with a sense of the sacramentality of this world for the believer - grace and healing by God's power gradually make themselves known to her, often through the most mundane and everyday of things.  This book is well worth a read and Amy's latest blog Booked is worth following.

To my mind, John Allen is one of the best religion reporters out there.  I'm not a fan of his newspaper, the National Catholic Reporter, but his work is rightly noted for its fairness and insight.  One of the reasons I like his work is the way in which he's able to school other journalists (and indeed many Catholics) with articles such as Three things about the church to give up for Lent.

General Absolution at Christmas

Fr Z's blog has a complaint from an Irish reader about a priest who is refusing to implement the corrected translation of the Roman Missal and who is offering General Absolution for Christmas:

Add to that our bi-ennial General Absolution is available after all Masses this weekend – he instructed parishioners that they don’t need to mention any specific sins, but will be absolved from all their sins on receiving his absolution. God help us! I’m a secular Carmelite so one aspect of our vocation is praying for priests – I’m praying very hard for him and offering up trials and suffering that his eyes will be opened, but wonder if I should be doing something more concrete? I’d be grateful for your advice.

Fr Z correctly points out that the worried parishioner should calmly write to his or her bishop about this. He also points out that repeated General Absolution is invalid.

This is a point that I wish was made more often and any time I'm asked about this, I always make the point that unless it's an emergency situation a priest cannot validly give general absolution. Additionally, when general absolution is given, penitents must be reminded that they should confess the sins which have been forgiven through general absolution the next time they make a proper one-on-one confession.

A Sacrament - not magic
I can only conclude that the priests who give general absolution willy-nilly either have some very strange ideas about their power to administer the Lord's forgiveness or don't believe in the forgiveness of sins at all. I mean, if I believed that I could forgive sins as a matter of routine by means of general absolution, I would walk up and down the Main Street of my parish every morning with a loud-hailer forgiving the sins of all my parishioners on a daily basis. I think the question should be asked of any priest who regularly gives general absolution why he doesn't do that.

The administration of general absolution as a matter of routine transforms the priest's power to grant absolution from a sacramental act into a magical act. As I administer the sacrament of confession, I believe that through my ordination and the power granted to Christ by the Church, I can make Christ's own forgiveness present to the penitent who approaches me with the desire to receive Christ's mercy. I believe that absolution given in this context is simultaneously an act of Christ, of the Church and of the Priest. The administration of general absolution - outside of the legitimate limits set by the Church for emergency situations - betrays a belief in magical thinking: the idea that forgiveness can be granted by the recitation of a formula by the priest - setting aside the role of the Church in the forgiveness of sins and depriving the faithful of a genuine encounter with Christ.

Homily for the 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Year A)

Readings here
A number of my parishioners said some kind things about my homily this morning and said it encouraged them. It's somewhat more 'personal' in tone than most of my homilies, but it seemed like an appropriate time to speak very personally about some of the challenges of priesthood these days.

It has been a tough week and a half to be a priest in Ireland. There is a storm raging around us at the moment, and it’s not always easy to know what to make of it. Because, some of what is happening these days is JUSTICE – hidden things being brought to light – evil, wrongdoing, incompetence, carelessness and neglect being dragged into the light of day. Sunlight is the best detergent – this kind of purification, even when it is painful, is something that we must accept, and even welcome.

Some of what is happening these days is INJUSTICE – some things have been said which are unfair. Hurtful and hate-filled things have been said. So much of the good work done by laity and clergy has been written off and ignored. Anger about Cloyne is justifiable. However, this same anger has blinded some people and led us to the day I never thought I’d never see – the day when the political leaders of our own country would be mounting an assault, trying to crack open the seal of confession. Priests have been willing to die for the sake of that seal.

Some of the criticism the Church has received has been justified. Some of it has not. But, I don’t think that a homily is the right time for me to work through in detail the rights and wrongs of the whole horrid situation. Good and sincere Catholics disagree about where these rights and wrongs and this is not the time for me address that particular controversy.

Because, I very much appreciate that all of you who have gathered here this morning have made your choice to come to Mass. Many of your friends and family, I am sure, take a different decision. Those of you who have come here have probably had a difficult week and a half as well. Some of you probably dread turning on the radio or looking at the newspaper.
Some of you have come to Mass with serious doubts about the Church, or about the clergy. Maybe your faith is battered and bruised. That is understandable. Some of you are here feeling that the Church is getting an unfair whipping and you’re angry with politicians or the media. Maybe you feel like digging in your heels in spite of them. That’s understandable as well. Some of you are probably somewhere between those two positions or don’t really know what to think. That’s understandable as well.

Whatever you feel about being here at Mass this morning, about being part of the Church, can I reassure you of one thing? The real reason that you are here this morning is because God wants you to be here. St Paul in our second reading assures us of this – God has a plan for us, and has chosen us to be the brothers and sisters of his Son. He wants to be at work in us so that we resemble ever more closely Jesus Christ. We must never lose sight of that. God has called us and continues to call us to know His mercy and his love; He invites us to know his friendship and His consolation and the healing power of Christ.

And it is because of that invitation, that call, that I am so upset about the situation in Ireland at the moment. I am upset, first of all at the damage and pain inflicted on victims of cruelty, abuse or neglect. That upsets me greatly.
And I am upset at the fact that this pain and damage and all the aftermath from it – both inside and outside the Church – is cutting people off from the healing power of Christ and His Gospel. Lord knows, we need that healing and that Gospel these days. As a priest, it’s the fact that Christ’s own healing and power is being blocked in so many ways that frustrates me.

I have been in this parish for the past X years and have been a priest for the past Y – I can’t really complain of ever being badly treated in any real way because I am a Catholic priest. I haven’t had to deal with people hassling me or insulting me because of my priesthood. I don’t feel threatened or put upon in the slightest in that way. Quite the opposite, in fact. People have been so good and supportive to me in my priesthood and have been keeping me in their prayers, so I don’t at all get the sense that people want to treat me badly. And I want to make it clear that I am as happy today to be a priest as I was the day I was ordained.

No, the thing that concerns me about the priesthood in the present day and about the future is that because of all the evil things that have happened in the past and because of the way we’re dealing with them today, it’s going to be more and more difficult to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people – and in a time when there is so much pain and confusion, that’s truly disheartening. There is so much out there blocking the Gospel and making it harder to hear the voice of Jesus Christ in our country. That, as I said, is truly disheartening.

Because, I genuinely believe in the ‘pearl of great price’. I believe in the Kingdom of God, I believe that knowing Jesus Christ and trying to do God’s will is worth more than anything else in the world. I believe that there is a greater beauty, a greater power, a greater healing, a greater wisdom and a greater consolation in the Gospel of Christ, the only-begotten Son of the Father, than in all other philosophies.
I believe that NOTHING compares with the fact that the Son of God has come among us as a man, has suffered for us, and invites us to be part of His family, the Church. I believe that there is nothing greater than knowing that we are His brothers and sisters. There is nothing more life-giving than to know Him in Word and Sacrament.

The fact that you too have gathered here in this church for Mass this morning shows that you too know the attraction and power and healing of Christ – and you will understand me when I say that the only healthy and sure way out of our current morass is in turning to Christ with courage and trust asking Him to give us the words and the understanding and the healing that He alone can bring. We won’t find it in our upset, or our anger or our frustration or our disquiet, unless He alone shows it to us. But if He grants it to us, we will find Him despite the darkness we have to face.

Solomon, in our first reading, prospered because he discerned well. He knew what he needed from God in order to rule justly and he asked for it. God heard him, God granted His desire and gave him even more than He asked for because He asked wisely.

We need the spirit of Solomon today – in our weakness, we need to turn to the Lord and ask him to guide us, to give us his wisdom. We need a spirit of prayer. We need a spirit of discernment. We need a spirit of understanding and right judgement to make sense of difficult times. Above all, we need a faith that binds us ever more closely to Christ. In this faith, we need to find a deep compassion for all who are called to be Christ’s brothers and sisters and to be our brothers and sisters as well. The Lord alone can grant that, and the Lord alone can cause his will to be done, even in times of confusion and chaos.

St Paul points us in the right direction – he reassures us, “by turning everything to their good God co-operates with all those who love him.” We see that most clearly of all in the Cross – when Christ brought salvation out of unadulterated evil. All that Christ has to give us comes out of that darkness. We ask Him to do the same for our Church, for our people in Ireland today – to bring His salvation and light out of the darkness and confusion of these days.

Prison Chaplaincy...

I'm not a fan of the Association of Catholic Priests, but I find this statement on their website very interesting.
It concerns a prison chaplain and a convicted rapist who is suspected of being responsible for the deaths of a number of young women. On his release from prison a number of months ago, the ex-prisoner was followed by a posse of journalists and camera men. I remember being disgusted by the voyeuristic tone of the coverage at the time. Anyway, the ACP statement is as follows:

The Association of Catholic Priests wishes to affirm its full support for the priestly work of Fr. Ciarán Enright, Chaplain Arbour Hill Prison, in the wake of the unjustified criticisms made against him in the Sunday World, 5th June. During the lengthy imprisonment of Larry Murphy in Arbour Hill, Fr. Ciarán ministered to him in a caring and compassionate manner. It is part of the Church’s role to break down the social barriers which society tries to erect, just as Jesus did. No-one, no matter what crimes they have committed, is excluded from the Church’s caring ministry or from the love of God.
The reprehensible manner in which Larry Murphy was released from Arbour Hill prison at the end of his sentence has already been severely criticised in the most recent Prison Chaplains’ Annual Report. The media coverage fuelled fear and anxiety amongst the general public, could only have added to the distress of his victim and indeed could have put his own life in danger. The only voice of protest came from Fr. Ciarán. Being faithful to the Gospel requires the Church to affirm the dignity of every human being, and to insist that this dignity be respected. This does not always sit easily with the attitudes of many in society.
The media witch hunt which, in the pursuit of profit, demonises some high profile offenders whose crimes are rightly abhorrent to the vast majority of society, only increases the risk of re-offending and consequently makes society less safe.
As prison chaplain, Fr. Ciarán has devoted many years to ministering to those whom society would prefer to shun. As Catholic priests, we stand firmly with him, and we are encouraged by his faithful witness to the values of the Gospel.

Amen to that! I've always had a huge regard for prison chaplains and the fact that Fr Enright's ministry is provoking howls of outrage from the gutter-press should be a reminder to us how the Gospel of reconciliation and the doctrine of the dignity of the human person is subversive of worldly values. The pastoral support and concern of the Church is not something which should or can be earned, but is something that is offered to all. Often those most in need of that support and concern are those who are 'least deserving' in the eyes of the world.

Readers might be interested in reading the text of the Sunday World article which prompted the above statement:

THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE
Priest pal of rapist Murphy in bizarre rant in support of sicko
THE priest who is predator Larry Murphy's best pal has claimed that the sick sex beast is the victim of a "shameful witch hunt".
Father Ciaran Enright says the rapist and attempted killer's life is in danger.
And in a stunning outburst he claims Murphy should have been given special treatment when he was released from prison last year.
The Sunday World has learned that the priest - Murphy's only friend in the world - is furious over the way that his sick sidekick Murphy is being pursued by the Press and blames the Irish Prison Service for "appalling and irresponsible" treatment of him.
The head chaplain at Dublin's Arbour Hill prison, where Murphy served a 10-year sentence for a vile rape and attempted murder, is in regular contact with the suspected serial killer and greeted him at Dublin Airport when he returned to the country 11 days ago.
Garda sources say that the holy man has been totally taken in by Murphy and believes that he is a reformed character.
Impulsive
However, senior gardai say that Murphy is an "impulsive psychopath" and could strike again at any time. He is now living in a safe house in rural Ireland and will not leave the country until at least the end of next week.
Fr Enright, in his position as head chaplain, said: "The hysteria that was generated by media coverage heightened the danger to his life and fuelled fear and anxiety among the general public.
"While current legislation may not have allowed for any curtailment of this appalling media coverage, senior management had not only the power, but also the responsibility, to be cognisant of such intense media intrusion when putting a discharge plan in place for a person who had spent over 10 years in the custodial care of the State.
"The failure to do so represents a clear failure of responsibility and duty of care that played into the hands of the media."
The devil's advocate went on to say that making Murphy walk out the front gates of Arbour Hill when he was released caused the pervert "unnecessary distress" and created a "witch hunt" that was "shameful and dangerous".
The 46-year-old psycho refused all offers of counselling and rehabilitation treatment during his decade behind bars.
Despite Murphy giving two fingers to the authorities, Fr Enright has stood up for him, saying the lack of special treatment "endangered his life and caused untold distress for many people".
"No amount of political spin or selective recalling of facts can justify this," Fr Enright said.
The priest has also accused the prison service of leaking "inaccurate and false" information about Murphy that Enright believes was "destructive, disturbing and unacceptable".
The Sunday World can exclusively reveal the background of Larry Murphy's controversial return to Ireland.
The 'Beast of Baltinglass' was enjoying a drink in an open-air bar in a square of Las Ramblas in Barcelona on Thursday, May 19, when his passport fell out of his back pocket. Contrary to reports, there was no prostitute involved in stealing it.
He only realised it was missing when he went back to his hostel and the following day he went to the Irish Consulate in the city and informed them of what happened and asked about how to get a replacement.

The Sunday World ignores previous press reports that show Fr Enright encouraging Larry Murphy to engage with the probation services after leaving prison. I'm glad that Fr Enright was at the airport to meet this man and I agree 100% with his criticisms of the media pursuit of Murphy following his release from prison. If you read what Fr Enright actually said, it's far from being the 'bizarre rant' implied by the journalist.

Now, if Larry Murphy is guilty of further crimes, then of course he should be prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned. However, failing that, I suspect that some sectors of the Irish media would be reasonably satisfied by his suicide. If, God forbid, that should come to pass, those journalists would have blood on their hands.

An interesting article...

Andrew O'Connell of the Irish Catholic is definitely worth reading on the latest child protection controversy in Ireland. His article puts together a very clear picture of the situation.

Media reports gave the impression that the Church had willingly placed legal obstacles in the way of the Board's review of current safeguarding practices in dioceses and religious congregations. The impression was also given that the Church was withholding information and starving the Board of funding to conduct training in best practice. Legal obstruction, financial strangulation and continuing hypocrisy; the hallmarks of an un-reformable institution, according to one journalist.
However, that is a gross misrepresentation. How that impression was created was due to three factors; the presentation of events in the Board's own report, the willingness of the media to provide the worst possible interpretation and the failure of the Church to provide a rapid response to a meltdown situation.

Why is it that Andrew seems to be able to explain what's going more clearly and more effectively than the hierarchy's own media office?

"Including three women..."

There's a rather predictable whiiiiiiine from the Association of Catholic Priests in response to the shocking (SHOCKING!) news that the improved English Translation of the Roman Missal will come into force in Ireland. They seem to be throwing their toys out of the crib in protest.

Anyway, I think it's all rather absurd and am looking forward to using the new texts. Yes, there will be teething difficulties and they will take time to get used to, but I will not miss the current translation. So much of the theological meat and substance were drained out of the prayers when they were initially translated that I look forward to finally praying them as they were meant to be prayed.

The ACP statement is puzzling in one respect. It contains following:

At a meeting in Maynooth on Monday, February 28th a delegation from the ACP met the Episcopal Commission of Worship, Pastoral Renewal and Faith Development. There were five members of the Bishop’s Conference and a number of others, including three women, present.

I'm scratching my head at why the clause 'including three women' was included. Is something sinister implied? Are we to suppose that they are the bishops' concubines? Vatican spies, perhaps? Are these women to be considered class-traitors for their connivance with the male hierarchical hegemony in linguistic impression?
Or are we to suppose that they are included for theological reasons - that they weren't literally present, but have been added in by the person drafting the statement in order to symbolise the thousands of women written out of the Bible when it was re-written by the Emperor Constantine? Do they represent the Myrrhbearing women at the tomb of the old translation?
Or, is it just the case that the ACP - despite all its protestations about respecting women in the Church - has some kind of difficulty in seeing women involved in these issues, especially when they're on the wrong side of the desk?