On Saturday last, as we gathered for Evening Mass in Glann Church, there was a major downpour nearing Biblical proportion! It rained as if there were no tomorrow and Noah was just around the corner:) Despite this a fine congregation gathered and, as I began Mass, I jokingly welcomed them and added “You will get double green shield stamps for this!” People laughed but then I wondered how many there had no idea what I meant. The thought stayed with me and I came back to it in the homily.
I asked if anybody there who did not know what I meant when I mentioned “Green Shield Stamps” would mind holding up a hand. I had targeted, in saying that, a few of the younger adults and children there and, yes, sure enough, a number of hands went up. They had no idea what I meant.
I remember Green Shield Stamps very well. My mother used to collect them and paste them into “stamp books”. They were issued when someone bought petrol, food, various products. There was a bonus in making a purchase and an interest in collecting the stamps. A sort of hobby, a pastime, in many ways. Each stamp had a value (looking at Google just now, I realise the value was something in the region of 5c – if even that) and the stamps could be traded in for products in a catalogue. Interestingly I now discover that these stamps and catalogue were the precursor to today’s Argos. There was fun in collecting them, looking at the catalogue and setting your mind on something therein. I remember, for example, my mother getting a step ladder at one stage. The idea was that the stamps were put towards the overall cost and the balance was paid in cash. Some smaller items could be purchased entirely by the use of the stamps.
In any case, what struck me was how quickly something can pass from memory and slip from our vocabulary. We need to keep reminding ourselves of things, speaking about the more important things or they too could, in time, slip from memory.
I think the Faith and our prayers could all too easily slip into this category and much has, could and will be lost in the passing of the generations unless we keep reminding, keep wondering and keep praying and handing on the story – the truth of our faith, with its struggles and blessings, joys and sorrows, questions and answers.
Today we celebrate the Feast of The Presentation in the Temple. I think it’s a lovely Feast Day that sees a young couple responding to tradition whereby their forty day old baby is presented to The Lord. When in Hounduras towards the end of last year with Trocaire, I witnessed something of this at a Sunday Mass when a young couple presented their baby at the Offertory of the Mass and the priest received the baby into his arms, turned towards the Altar and raised the baby on high. The congregation applauded the moment and the parents beamed with happiness. Later we were told the baby was forty days old and that this is tradition too for families there.
Little boy with his parents and the priest after Sunday Mass in Honduras (November 2016)
We bless candles in the churches today. These will be used in our churches during the coming year. People bring candles for blessing too. Some they leave in the church for use there and others they bring home so that there will be “blessed” candles in their homes. Again a lovely tradition.
“Candlemus Day” Kilmovee Parish Church
One of the things I like about this Feast Day is the coming together of generations for that is very much at the heart of the Gospel account. The baby carried by Joseph and Mary, a young couple, are approached by Simeon and Anna, two of the oldest people in the Temple at that moment and a conversation begins. It is a conversation rooted in faith for the old man, Simeon, had been told he’d not die without laying his eyes on “The Christ”. He knew his moment had come and felt drawn to this little family grouping. So too, Anna, who at the age of eighty-four spent all her waking hours in the Temple at prayer. It’s lovely the way they can blend as one around Christ. It always strikes me that the church on any given Sunday is a place where the generations meet under one roof to be together, gathered in faith.
Yesterday we had something of this in our schools when grandparents came along to spend time with their children’s children during Catholic Schools Week. Again, a lovely and memorable moment for all.
Part of “Grandparents’ Gathering” in Kilmovee N.S. Catholic Schools Week 2017
Today we value the generations, respect them, learn from them and, in all that, seek to come to know and recognise Christ.
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