SÉAMUS AHEARNE: ‘ALL TOGETHER NOW’ IN CURRAGHMORE: 

• ATN stands for something that many won’t know. I just about do. This weekend has a major show/concert’ in Curraghmore Estate, near Portlaw, Co Waterford. It is the Estate of Lord Waterford. It is where I grew up. I could never have imagined Curraghmore being taken over   by music/art/food/wellness and all the paraphernalia associated with such Concerts. ‘All Together Now’ is the overall lead banner  for everything. It seems good. I have heard from many attendees over the years and it appears to be splendid for such fans. 

• This year (as usual)  I only recognize a few of the Bands/Singers, performing. Christy Moore. Kneecap. Pulp. The rest of the Artistes I have never even heard of. But then again, how would I know? An auld fella like me. The Boomtown Rats appeared last year. I amuse myself wondering what Kneecap – Mo Chara, Moglaí, Bap, DJ Provaí, might have to say. Will they be aware that the Venue is the Estate of Lord Waterford? Will they know the history of this Estate and other such Estates?  

• However, I am steeped in memories and nostalgia. I almost feel that all these people are plodding on my memories. That place was my stage, my inheritance, my formation, my education. My mother, my father, my uncle and I worked on that Estate. The Estate was my playground. I felt that I was ‘monarch of all I surveyed.’ We had the woods. The fields. The river. The felling of trees. The horse drawing in the trees. The cutting up of wood. The Church. The Tower.  But above all we had the people. The Community. We lived the slogan:  ‘All Together Now.’ We did. It was a scattered Village and a Community. We were all poor, but poor together. It was a good past. Even if the Republican in me was offended ! 

PRIESTHOOD, MINISTRY, KINGDOM: 

My niece sent me something my sister Helen had written some years back. Helen is not well these times. So it was very moving to read her words. She has read some of my Reflections on life as an Augustinian and as a priest. I was thinking then of our four men – Paddy, Flor, Kieran and Tony who recently celebrated their Golden Jubilee of priesthood. I was thinking of Martin Hogan here in our Parish. We celebrated Martin’s Golden Jubilee. I had suggested to him that he would do a longer reflection on his life in ministry. He did it and it was very evocative and very inspirational. Too many priests are shy, and are not inclined to tell the story.   But the story is not one of self-publicity, but rather of how God has worked in us and through us. I rather think we should be quite forceful and audacious in telling the story. 

• During the last few weeks, we had the scatter of examples of what the ‘Kingdom of God’ could be like. If we are as practical as Jesus appears to have been in telling the stories I think our own life of Faith and Godliness and Grace would be illustrative of that Kingdom. Bishop Michael Router did say that we don’t occupy a prominent place in the life of the Country now. But that isn’t important. We can talk of what we see, and meet, and hear. And then we can truly be aware of Peter Berger’s book: ‘A Rumour of Angels.’ We live it. 

• In the Church of the past we were the Writers and the Readers. We were the Educators and the Social Workers. We were the Carers and the Health people. We were the Counsellors. We were the predominant culture creators. What we said, went. That is no more. That is fine. ,However our own Story continues. It now depends on flexibility of mind and heart. The new Mission has its own challenges. 

• The truth still remains – we are forever on duty. Our door is always open at all hours. Our phone; our text reception, and our email inbox, are always alive. The Counselling goes on. The Listening goes on. We are never off duty. We are there at Birth, at Death. And death is now a very big part of our business. It is the privilege of being there, in those moments of need. We listen. We hear. We go to the homes. We hear all the pain. We are entrusted with the innermost secrets. It is always humbling. We hear too much, and we don’t offer answers, but we are there. We are privy to the most hidden secrets of life. The professionals will never make the time, or have the time, or be there immediately.   

• The Kingdom is there in the listening. In the hearing. In the supporting role we play. Oh yes. We pray. And our praying isn’t the formal stuff. It is the stretch of our minds and imaginations to make sense of today, and to make sense of the cravings and needs of those among us. To weave the fabric of life, where God isn’t important or thought about by many. The Godliness of the everyday is that Burning Bush; is that Ladder to Heaven (‘God was in this place and I never knew it’ Gen 28.16). It is 1 Kings 19 and the Gentle Breeze. It is the Transfiguration moments of the everyday. 

• People will never know the weight of worry, (and the hours it takes) as we try to ready another Funeral; as we try to prepare another Homily; as we are called to another home in crisis; as we cope with the Schools and all their issues; or how we manage calmly to be so accepting of people at Baptisms, or at Weddings,  or at First Communions and Confirmations,  where there is no understanding of Faith. And almost casualness and flippancy! However, every day and every person is the Kingdom for us. Ministry is such a privilege. And we are amazed and humbled every day of our lives. And there is much more to say. My poetic friend is right. “I have only to stand where I am,  to be blessed.” (Mary Oliver). Almost at 80, I can still say that every day is a blessing and very different. But too I can say, I am humbled and very blessed in being on such a team as our Ministry Team here at the Greater Finglas Parish. 

Seamus Ahearne osa     1August 2026.