Séamus Ahearne – SPORT AND JASON SHERLOCK:
Jason Sherlock was interviewed on RTÉ last Sunday afternoon (c. 1700). Jason is from Finglas South. His mother Alice is a regular at Mass here. His grandmother Kathleen was a very special character. She lived to 101. One memory we have of her is her coming to Mass for Christmas in the midst of all the snow many years ago. She got Brian (her son) and Dominic (her neighbour) to link her up the hill. She was touching a 100 then and had to be here. She exhausted the two men but she was determined. Mass mattered. And it was Christmas.
And now back to Jason: His earlier life centred around sport. He played soccer, hurling, football, tennis, cricket, basketball. He starred on the Dublin team as a youngster and got his All-Ireland medal. Some years ago, he was one of the coaches on the Dublin team. More recently, he was coaching on the Westmeath team. It was great to hear of his enthusiasm for sports. He was so busy playing all the games that he didn’t have time to train. He did rather well. We were glad to celebrate our local boy. He did talk of looking different and how that sometimes, it was difficult for him. That problem has not gone away now as so many are claiming the Irish Flag as the banner for being Irish and excluding others, which is bad. The misuse of the Flag is almost blasphemy. The misuse of people is definitely blasphemy.
NARCISSUS:
The Phalanx formed. (European Leaders). To protect Zelensky from the ‘cowboy Trump’ who has no manners and no sense of the occasion or respect for anyone. Donald only believes in himself. Such a belief is unwarranted by the fact of his total ineptness. Did those leaders come grovelling? It is rather difficult to have faith in those leaders. Had anyone the gumption to tell it as it is? I doubt if Putin had a sleepless night hearing of what those so called leaders, were doing. He knows that Trump is a wind bag with no substance.
That emperor (King Donald) definitely has no clothes. (Hans Christian Anderson and all predecessors on the story). Such a story gets it right and it applies. What a sad pathetic man Trump is. (But he was put there by the American voters and is kept there by the chorus of yes people). He appears to be surrounded by Flunkies and Flatterers and Lackies. What might be a collective name for such sycophants? They listen and cheer his inanities. And then there is Karoline Leavitt. She is very articulate, very fluent. A puppet on a string. Obviously she can speak much better than her master. She claims that her Catholic education has given her the spiritual values that drive her. I think JD Vance claims something similar. How can so many be so blind or indifferent to what truth is? Oh my God… I worry. This is our world at present. We had better pray.
NICOLA:
Nicola Sturgeon was interviewed on BBC last Sunday evening (17th August.) ‘Frankly’ her recent book, led to the interview. Nicola attracts attention. She is a magnet for ridicule. As well for praise. She led the SNP to great success. She never achieved the main ambition of her life, which was Independence for Scotland. She got close. She ran into severe difficulty when SNP proposed self-identity for gender at 16. She was the star performer when the leaders of the parties met for debates at Election time. She was most articulate and most polished. The same was true during this interview.
She was personal. She seemed very honest. She spoke of hurt over the behaviour of Alex Salmond and his final blame and contempt of the party (SNP), where he once was such a powerful leader. His treatment of women scandalised her. She spoke of her own mistakes as leader. She spoke of her ambivalence at being pregnant and the sense of guilt that she hadn’t been sure of wanting to have a child. She spoke of the menopause and how at that time words failed her. She could hardly speak in the Scottish parliament. She spoke of being at the Inquiry on Covid and breaking down in tears at the implication of some of the questions that she had been party political in her decisions. She spoke of needing therapy. She spoke of being driven as a politician and not being able to develop as a human being. She came across as a struggling human being, trying to discover herself, and to let the Nicola free… It was admirable. We too do need to be more caring of our politicians.
CIVILITY AND COURTESY:
We are blitzed daily with the vicious language on Social Media. Yes. The internet is a wonderful way of communicating except when it is used to hurl insults and hateful language at anyone, where the truth doesn’t matter. Some feel free to say anything when there is no need to identify the person who saying it. It is a free for all. There is a problem in society with language. Again poor limited Trump is crude in how he lambastes any and everyone who differs from him. That debases society and humanity. It coarsens life. The old words of civility and courtesy taught us to say Please and Thank You. We can’t ever lose that simple way of living. To think of others. To appreciate what we have. To be grateful. To look at the gift of life. To see how we need each other. To praise and encourage. To be able to accept that others see things differently. To admire goodness in every way we see it. To keep our streets clean. To do something rather than expect others to do things for us. The basic Christian outlook on life is more needed than ever. The Eucharist makes sense of everything if we could celebrate it properly. Gratitude and a deep realisation of God’s presence. The Burning Bush. The Holy Ground.
OASIS AND COLDPLAY:
Oasis played Dublin for two nights. Croke Park shared the music with many of us in the surrounding area. I asked Liam and Noel if they would play/sing at Mass last Sunday morning. However, they felt too embarrassed. They were very shy. Some at Mass had been to Croke Park. I see Coldplay is sold out at Wembley. (Ten nights – all tickets gone). Some of my family have gone across. I wasn’t asked. Why? When all these geriatric groups are taking over the music world.
THE HAND OF GOD:
Interesting: Matthew Syed (of the London Times) was upset. It was Hannah Hampton who troubled him. She was the Goalie for the England girls who won the European title. The English girls got through on penalties. Matthew’s problem was that Hannah Hampton thought it was great to share with the public that she had thrown away the Spanish goalie’s bottle on which might be written instructions on how to deal with the penalty takers. He was shocked that no one expressed horror. Now many of us could recall that ‘hand of God’ Maradona. (1986). The Media never forgot it. In Ireland, Thierry Henry’s handball for William Gallas’ goal in 2009 hasn’t been forgiven. I was interviewing a chap from the West (a footballer) for a teaching post. He was nervous. He was shy. I reminded him that those rough girls from Galway (All-Ireland winners) might have shown a ruggedness that would be unacceptable in this gentle place. I told him that our children were quiet and delicate and kind. Might he bring some of that Western roughness to our gentle community? He stirred himself and the shyness went! Overall we do have to be careful that the best values in sport are highlighted always. Children have to see it in adults.
100 DAYS:
Last thought: Mary McAleese is marking Pope Leo. After all he has had a hundred days! Mary. Don’t get too excited. Give him time. Have patience. Those years of restraint in the Áras have made her very noisy. We badly need Mary in Church life. Patience. Patience. Calmness. Gentleness. But like all of us – we need to listen to Bing Crosby:
You’ve got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive
E-lim-i-nate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don’t mess with Mr. In-Between
Seamus Ahearne osa
21st August 2025.