Séamus Ahearne: The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child, into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm. Aldous Huxley.
“I HAD GOD ON MY SIDE.”
Leo Varadkar is 45. Simon Coveney is 52. Both are stepping out of frontline politics. Donald Trump is 78. Joe Biden is 81. Both are going forward for President of the United States. Pope Francis is 87. These old men are strange. Does wisdom come with age? Or does insight diminish in the fog of ageing? “I had God on my side.” That was Donald’s line. It may have been true at the moment of the bullet but God hasn’t been obviously present during much of the rest of his life. God does need to do better! Trump felt safe. He took 93 minutes to make his speech at the Convention. I admire the stamina of the audience. It is profoundly embarrassing that America can only produce these two men as candidates for the Presidency (if Joe continues). Trump announced – “I accept your nomination for President of the United States.” That is wrong. He accepted the nomination to be the Republican candidate in the election for President of the US.
The Euphoria in Milwaukee was frightening. Much of it was silly and stupid. Were they on something? I cannot grasp at all how the Republican Party could be so oblivious of what the Donald has done and what he says and how unsuitable he is for such an office. Vance has changed his mind. Haley has changed her mind. McConnell has changed his mind. ‘Sheep without a shepherd.’ Indeed. And then there is Joe. Why can’t he see that his time is up? Why can’t his family and his advisors let him know? His legacy is admirable. Why does he want to damage himself and his party, and the country? He should talk with Leo and Simon. Enoch Powell may be right: ‘All political lives end in failure.’ Joe. Pay heed.
THE OPEN TABLE:
I was thinking of the myth of the Sleeping Giant waking up. The episode of the non-reception of Communion appears to have exploded a loud alarm on the ACP Site. These incidents with our public representatives do cause a bother. Mary McAleese had difficulty. Joe Biden had big problems in the US. I think Roy Donovan did a fine job when he took the discussion into a broader understanding of Eucharist. The Repeal of the 8th Amendment was handled crudely in our country. It became conflated with other screams of the electorate. The issue of abortion is very serious. But caution and care needs to be uppermost in any discussion of Eucharist and what it means.
The accumulated dust and rust of history, has crept into our celebrations of the Eucharist. The passive nature of it. The avalanche of words. Sometimes the absence of song and music. The clericalisation of the Mass is very wrong. The words of the prayers are Latinised rubbish. Sometimes, I wonder if God is given any chance to be present. Too often it has all become formulaic. Does the Word speak to our experience? Are we provoked into a response?
Are we aware of community/communication/communion in this celebration? Do we say YES to each other? (Augustine –De catechizandis rudibus) Do we approach the Table with the gift of ourselves? (I recall during my time in Nigeria – the parade up at the Offertory which was very real and obvious.) Is our praying grounded in our own realities? Is there a Sharing? Do we include EVERYONE and exclude NO ONE? Is our celebration somewhat akin to Babette’s Feast? Does something of de Chardin’s ‘Mass on the world’ happen? Or R Voight’s words on Eucharist – ‘Gave her Eucharist’? Is the taking off of the shoes occurring – like Moses? We cannot limit or reduce or excommunicate. Ever. This Table of Plenty is for all. ‘Lord I am not worthy.’
GREAT SPORT:
Ciarán Frawley did the job with his last minute drop-goal in South Africa last Saturday. The Irish Team was happy. England didn’t ‘Bring it Home.’ Gareth Southgate resigned. He was an impressive character. Some are wondering will our man – Lee Carsley step up? Our admiration was for the Spanish team as the proper winners in the Euros. They won the matches and had style. Novak Djokovic was beaten by Carlos Alcaraz for the second year in a row at the Wimbledon Final.
What really impressed me were the words spoken by Novak after the match. (He had done something similar before the match). They were full of dignity; full of admiration for his opponent; full of humour. What an example of a leader showing off the best in winning and in defeat? Tadej Pogacar is fighting hard with extraordinary power and ability. The Tour reminds me of times past, and our man, who went to school in Crehana, near Carrick on Suir – Seán Kelly. He is still on the scene as a commentator. We also remember Stephen Roche winning the Tour in 1987. Now we know that it is Galway who will play Armagh in the All-Ireland and we are ready to see Clare and Cork meet in the hurling game. There are surprises all around. Some of us can’t adjust to the All-Irelands happening other than in September (1st and 3rd). Sport is the poetry of life. Some express the wonders of humanity in words or in music or in art. Athletes do it differently. But it is always a celebration of giftedness. Faith has to do it too. In Liturgy. In how we live. In the beauty and wonder of life. We are poets of the Gospel.
Seamus Ahearne osa
19th July 2024.
Séamus, a wonderful piece of writing that has occupied my thoughts and led to much reflection over the weekend – before attending the great event of Sunday!
What a privilege for you. I have never been to the continent of Africa and my only access to the culture of Nigeria has been through the writings of its great authors. I was still bringing my half-a-crown to school for ‘black-babies’ and seeing the child kneeling on the mission mite-box on the sweet-shop counter bowing his head every time I dropped in a penny when, in 1958, Chinua Achebe published his ‘Things Fall Apart’. And it was Akwaeke Emezi’s novel ‘The Death of Vivek Oji’, described as an ‘achingly beautiful portrayal of the boundaries of personal, gender and societal identities’; and Travis Alabanza’s memoir of growing up black and gay in the UK ‘None of the Above’ that also got me thinking again so much about how the thoughtless use and misuse of language and ‘actions’ can denigrate and fracture a person. Alabanza wrote ‘Burgerz’ after a burger was thrown at him in broad daylight by someone ‘whilst they were yelling a transphobic slur.’
Like you, all that has been said this week about peoples’ actions makes me wonder if we reflect enough on the fraction of breaking the bread at Mass. In was in John Healy’s (Bishop of Clonfert), in his ‘Insula Sanctorum Et Doctorum’ or Ireland’s Ancient School and Scholars’ that I first heard of the Stowe Missal. It has, as you know, a tract on the Mass in which the division of the bread ‘the confraction’ is of seven kinds’, that is of 5, 7,8,9,11, 12 & 13, adding up to a total of sixty-five pieces of bread and all is set on the paten in the form of a cross’ – before communion.
It all sounds a bit Lotto-like but the pieces from the cross-piece downward are for ‘anchorites and penitents’. I was wondering, if the Stowe Missal and an old paten (not a ciborium) like the one found at the monastic site Doire na bhFlann in 1980, was on the altar, free of ‘the accumulated dust and rust of history’ which piece I would stretch out my hand for today – and invite others to take the ‘morsel’ they believed was theirs.
John Healy appends to the Preface page of his work of 1870 the phrase:
“Go mBadh Buan Béarla Saoi agus Naoimh – May the tongue of Sage and Saint be lasting.”
Séamus, keep writing and inspiring the ‘elders’.