I was down in the “Thatch Cottage” at Kilmovee Community Centre a while ago. Some of my old friends from St Aiden’s N.S., Monasteraden were there filming their most recent “movie” for FÍS. They have become so good at this over the years. I look forward to seeing the new production in due course. I was reminded of the film they made last year – it centred on “GRACE”, the story of Joseph Mary Plunkett’s marriage on the day of his execution to Grace Gilford. I just watched it now and thought I’d share. Well done to all involved.
For more of the work done in St Aiden’s Click here
Saw this yesterday but looked at it on my phone and the internet connection was poor. It sounded so good, to my shame, I thought it was dubbed but when I watched it later on the computer, there’s no doubt! This is the genuine article. What a gift to be able to share and what a joy to see that gift given back so freely. On my way to a talk with parents of a Confirmation class and won’t be using a computer but, if I was, this clip could be as good as it gets! Parents handing on talent (FAITH) to their children. Well done Claire and Dad …..
It’s been a terrible week – violence, death, destruction and fear. Heartbreaking times on a worldwide scale. People plotting murder and destruction and it’s all so SO wrong. Then, in parishes all over the world, children gather with their schoolmates, teachers and families to entertain and tell a-new the Christmas story and then you come across something like this ….
Kaylee Rogers, aged ten, sings with her school one of the best known melodies on the earth’s face but with words re-worked. In song, with joy and pure delight she reminds us of the way things are meant to be. Kaylee sings ….
God Bless you Kaylee, God bless your school friends in Killard House School (Co. Down) and your familiy and may God continue to bless and develop your wonderful voice.
Thanks!
As for the rest of us, enjoy this …. it’s the way things are meant to be.
In the past few days people have received calls from Donald Trump, inviting them to Trump Towers and they went in the expectation of receiving an appointment to his administration. He’s now in “power” and will gather around him people who seek power. He’s no different to many others in similar situations. For more than two years he has sought power, as did those who campaigned against him, for there is something in power that attracts people. That’s the way it’s always been and is certain to continue.
On the last Sunday of the Church’s Year we are given the image of Christ The King. There is little that speaks more to power than “KING” – from our childhood days we heard stories of Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses and their lifestyle. We imagined their castles, thrones, kingdoms and rejoiced with the good ones who did well by their people and hissed disapproval at the evil and warped ones who sought to make life difficult for others “Look out, he’s behind you”, was the pantomime roar. “Oh no he’s not” – “Oh yes, he is”!
Christ the King is found neither in castle or on throne. He’s crucified between two thieves. He’s mocked, jeered, spat at and offered vinegar to drink. A sign says he is “king of the Jews” but those gathered around have no regard for him or his “kingship”. It’s total humiliation. It’s awful. He is at his lowest moment and begins to doubt even the Father’s love “why have you abandoned me?”.
In the midst of all this awfulness there is a moment of light. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”. How those words must have lifted his fallen spirit. In the absence of pomp and ceremony, robes and crown, someone was still able to grasp the truth. “There’s more going on here deeper than meets the eye”. What was it that sparked that moment of recognition in the “good thief”? Where did he find those words? Where did he unwrap that gift of faith that allowed him see beneath the lashes and bruising, the nails and the blood to the one beneath and above it all? Somehow he managed it! Hands tied and in undoubted pain, he realised the man beside him was more than man. He was KING! Some kings had the name of being merciful and surely he’d be numbered among them – “Jesus”, he said, “remember me when you come into your kingdom”.
His words, far from falling on deaf ears, gave hope to a dying man and helped him realise his words had not fallen unheeded to the ground. In the midst of all this hostility and hatred, there was sill hope – still faith and a desire for something better.
“Indeed”, replied the King “this day you will be with me in Paradise”.
Trump Towers or Calvary? Power is at its best in fragility and weakness for it is from these it can draw and transform people. Power, when recognised where you’d least expect it, is a special and life-altering gift.
Remember!
Later today we will have a Remembrance Service in our parish for all who died in the past year. The words of Christie Hennessy’s “Remember Me” come to mind yet again and maybe they have a place in your day too.
“Remember me whenever you are blue, remember me when there’s no one holding you, anytime you feel like you can’t make it through, remember me and I will be with you.”
Last night I put a few words here when I heard that Leonard Cohen had died. Somehow I managed to delete them. Not the biggest loss in the history of writing for sure! I was sorry to hear he had died. About ten minutes before I heard this news I had mentioned him in conversation with some people. I was saying how much I admired him.
He was a wonderful weaver of words and so gracious in their sharing and maybe even openness to interpretation. I can’t pretend to know everything he ever wrote, or anything close, but the bits I got to know and love made a huge difference to me. For many years I have used his words in various settings as I tried to shape some of my own around them. I felt he had a wonderful gift and I am a firm believer in the power of tune and lyric when brought together.
Certainly his music and words will continue to be part of my own journey and wondering about life. Leonard said of himself one time that, as a child he had buried something in the garden at his family home and that he felt he had spent the rest of his life trying to find what was buried. I have no idea what he referenced there but the journey sits well with the man. In the coming days, I will link again to some of my favourite YouTube videos (many of them already on the blog – just put Leonard Cohen in the search bar) and bring a few of them and some of the thoughts around them together.
I travelled from Dublin airport tonight, having spent the past days in Honduras, and remembering some of what I met there, I coupled these memories with many of Leonard’s songs that are in my music collection. Words like “The sprinters that we carry and the cross we left behind, come healing of the spirit come healing of the mind” and “Going home without my sorrow, going home sometime tomorrow, going home to where it’s better than before, going without my burden, going home behind the curatain, going home without the costume that I wore” – these, with some of the songs from his most recent album, speak of a man searching, trusting, doubting, wondering, dismissing, finding, believing …. in short, a man living.
He brought many sides of life with him, and travelled many roads of exploration but my prayer for him now is that in response to his lyrics in the first track of his new album (You Want It Darker) “I’m ready My Lord!”, the Lord smiles and says, “Leonard, I know ….”
Ring the bell that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in
I can’t say this is my favourite piece but I like it because it’s Leonard making something of another’s words – respecting the author and keeping him centre stage, whilst allowing the message reach other ears and take the hearer to a place of wonder. He does it well.
You’d wonder what his speech would have been like, had he received the Nobel Prize (which I think he should have received) given the graciousness of these words. If you’ve heard them before, listen again and, if not, prepare to be touched by a man’s gratitude.
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