Séamus Ahearne: Little Thoughts, Little Words, Little Ideas…

LITTLE OBSERVATIONS ON DEATH:

This is only one example of daily life in a Parish: We had a funeral yesterday as we do every day, except Sundays. Ann (and there are many Anns) and myself, had been to the home five times. (As we usually try to do.) She finds it very difficult to be involved in a Funeral, unless she has been to the Home. She wants to make the family feel comfortable and at ease around the organisation of the Funeral. We cannot dare take refuge or hide away in formal Church words for the Funeral. Flexibility is essential. We work rather well together. Usually she is recognised by some of the visitors to the Home. (As a local lady of many years). When the family comes to Church then, it is easy for them to relax a little. They know, that we know, what we are doing. They are welcomed. (Most people nowadays are not used to being in Church). They are made to feel at ease. The familiar faces are there. We don’t keep on giving orders – Sit down. Stand up. Kneel down. All that rigmarole does nothing for the reverence of the occasion. Our job is to coordinate everything. To call out the names. To stand beside the readers. To make things somewhat simpler for all. To make the Funeral personal and about the story of a life and a family. To let God loose among the people. And then for the Final Prayers, Ann leads those.

LITTLE THOUGHTS ON MINISTRY:

We go to the Crematorium or to the Grave, and once more, our familiar faces are there. We aren’t imprisoned in the Ritual for Praying. Everything has to be adapted into the language of the people, and personalised for them. Only then, can it be true:  That the Word becomes Flesh. Ann is not a deacon. But she is forever living the deaconate. She Leads the Baptismal Team. She is there for everything. Why on earth is deaconate excluded for women? And/or Priesthood? Ministry is ministering with and to.

LITTLE COMMENTS ON ‘THE BOB’ EFFECT:

Ministry shouldn’t be gender decisive. How many ‘ordained deacons’ are in fact puppets on the Sanctuary and not living the deaconate? How many priests are comfortable only in their own world of the Rituals? Ministry needs the experience of real life, for the essential relatable and flexibility that’s needed. (The above is only a glimpse – that story can be multiplied by many others, and by the everyday.) By the way, Ann is besotted with Pope Leo. She is enraptured by Bob. She feels that he exudes goodness, kindness, calmness, holiness. I tell her that she glows when his name is mentioned. That can’t be right! 

LITTLE WORDS ON THE CLUTTER OF LITURGY:

Increasingly, I wonder about our Church Services. The ministers get old. The congregation gets old. We get a little upset when those who come occasionally don’t seem to understand how to behave. They don’t know the Responses. They don’t stand up when they should. They talk when the bustle of Communion begins. They don’t join in the Singing, or don’t know the songs. Many don’t contribute financially, but expect the ‘Church’ to be there when a baby is ready for Baptism or for First Communion or for Confirmation or Anniversaries or for a Month’s mind or for sick call or for counselling or for letter writing or in a crisis, and definitely for a Funeral, when they want it. But the language of Mass is High Liturgy even if most of the ‘prayers’ (Collects/Prayer over the Gifts/Post Communion) are anything but prayerful. They are strangulated Latinised English. Mass has become very cluttered too with those inappropriate Prayers. With too many Readings. With archaic language. They don’t connect with the ordinary lives of ordinary people.

LITTLE WORDS ON REVERENCE:

The culture has changed. The Religious language and Services are in a foreign language even if in English. There is a need for a total revamp of Liturgy. We need spaces for quiet. We need less Readings. We need to help each other to be quiet and peaceful. We need relatable participation. We need to convey the message that this Celebration is about those present. Their concerns. Their gifts. Their Communion with God; with their history; with their awareness of those around them. It has to become real. We have to again examine what is Mystery; What is Wisdom; What is Grace; What is Sacred; What is Reverence; What is Holy; What is Prayer; What is Wonder; What is Beauty.

LITTLE IDEAS A SPIRITUAL EXPEREINCE:

Overheard on Radio last week was this comment: ‘Being present for Katie Taylor’s Fight in Croke Park was a Spiritual Experience!’ Now that is a very strange mixture – Psalm 18, her prayer before a fight; the song of God’s kingship on the journey to the ring. And then battering the life out of the opponent. Others expressed something similar when the eclipse took place. The challenge is – to tap into any such moments, where something of God is evoked. The job of the minister is to reveal something of the Godliness of life in the world of the attendees and never to be an isolated person exuding sanctity. The Priest is not a stand-alone personality. Now it is demanding to make that connection with the homes and the lives. And Mass is still too rushed here in Ireland. The quick Mass is expected. It should become the norm that Mass lasts for an hour!!!! To give some small chance for proper pacing and quietness.

A LITTLE RECALL ON ONE MAN’S FEAR OF PREACHING:

I recall Tom Broder osa in Hammersmith. Tom was on the first team who went out to Nigeria 1938 and began the Augustinian mission in Northern Nigeria in January 1940. I often saw Tom pacing up and down outside St Augustine’s Church, Hammersmith, London, nervously, on a Sunday morning. He was in a state of panic and fear, as he was about to face the congregation for Mass. The ‘preaching’ unnerved him completely. He was a man full of peace and happiness when that Mass was over. That image of Tom has always stayed with me. (I think now of many priests facing up to three Masses at the weekend and often in different churches). And the challenge: Never take the occasion or the moment for granted. Prepare as thoroughly as possible. And be very humble, seriously ‘fearful,’ and very careful,  approaching that Altar, and that Lectern, and that Congregation.

A LITTLE SUGGESTION ON WHAT THE ‘BREAKING OF BREAD’ COULD MEAN.

It is a daunting prospect for anyone and everyone, to prepare for Mass; to lead people in prayer; to touch the Sacred; to be immersed in the Mystery; to say something that is real, and linked to the lives of those present; to create an atmosphere where God can grace the moment. Moreover, the constant demand to do this on every such occasion is both exhausting and can be exhilarating. But we need more ‘input’ than the story of one ‘man’ standing up there. We need to move from the passive Congregation to a fully involved and participating Community.

Seamus Ahearne osa

23^rd September 2026.