About to shut down here but wanted to share a few words from this evening’s Mass in Urlaur Church to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of its opening. A packed church spoke volumes as people travelled from near and far to be together to mark this milestone in the Parish’s life. Thirteen priests concelebrated Mass:
- Monsignor Tommy Johnston
- Monsignor John Doherty
- Fr Farrell Cawley (former Parish Priest of Kilmovee)
- Fr Paddy Kilcoyne (former curate in the parish)
- Fr Tom Mulligan (former curate in the parish)
- Fr Padraig Costello (native of the parish)
- Fr Dan O’Mahony (native of the parish)
- Fr Stephen O’Mahony (native of the parish)
- Fr Padraig Hawkins (native of the parish)
- Fr Tommy Towey
- Fr Gerry Davey
- Fr Michael Quinn
- Fr Vincent Sherlock
and Rev Martin Lynch, one of our Permanent Deacons, proclaimed the Gospel. We had apologies from some other priests who could not be there and good wishes expressed by another native of the parish, Fr Dominic Towey (Motherwell Diocese) who could not attend either.
The Gallery was filled to capacity with both local and visiting choir members (from other churches in the parish) and the church had been most beautifully decorated with flowers, plants and looked totally amazing. It was impossible not to be proud of the local effort made and to feel a real sense of place. I’m so glad it all happened and so grateful to the very many people who were involved in the liturgy. Our Altar Servers, those who proclaimed the word of God, all who led us in the Prayer of The Faithful, those who brought forward gifts – including a prayer book belonging to Sr Mary of The Blessed Trinity (whose letter was very central to the building of the church), a candle, plant, hymn book, book of Eucharistic Adoration time sign-in sheets and bread and wine – carried in a Chalice most likely linked with Urlaur Abbey and dating from 1703. All was as it should be.
Chalice from 1703 – used at Mass of Thanksgiving
The readings were from the Mass of the 3rd Sunday of Easter and the gospel passage from John’s gospel:
A reading from the holy gospel according to John
Jesus showed himself again to the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberias, and it happened like this: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two more of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said, ‘I’m going fishing.’ They replied, ‘We’ll come with you.’ They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night.
It was light by now and there stood Jesus on the shore, though the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. Jesus called out, ‘Have you caught anything, friends?’ And when they answered, ‘No’, he said, ‘Throw the net out to starboard and you’ll find something.’ So they dropped the net, and there were so many fish that they could not haul it in. The disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord.’ At these words ‘It is the Lord’, Simon Peter, who had practically nothing on, wrapped his cloak round him and jumped into the water. The other disciples came on in the boat, towing the net and the fish; they were only about a hundred yards from land.
As soon as they came ashore they saw that there was some bread there, and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it. Jesus said, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore, full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them; and in spite of there being so many the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, ‘Who are you?’; they knew quite well it was the Lord. Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish. This was the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after rising from the dead.
The Gospel of The Lord
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
These are the words I shared around that gospel …
In today’s Gospel names are mentioned: Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee and two more …. it’s dangerous to mention names for fear some would be left out and yet these are listed – I think they total seven.
In the story around this church, many names could be mentioned. Many of them thankfully, are represented in flesh, blood and family line here this evening. Others have passed to their Eternal reward and some never really lived among us … Names like Arthur Sulsberger, Nat Goldstein, Pat Reynolds, Paul Scully, Joe DiDinato, Joseph Del Negro – that’s six – and there’s one more – Sr Mary of The Blessed Trinity (Margaret Cafferkey), a young woman from the parish who left when she was sixteen years of age and later became a Cloistered Nun of the Dominican Order.
“I’m going fishing”, Peter said. “We’ll come with you”, replied the rest. It seems Sr Mary had the same idea. Her pond was far removed though from Urlaur Lake and, I’m reminded of Seamus Heaney’s “Digging”:
“Between my finger and thumb/the squat pen rests./I’ll dig with it”
She may not have dug with the pen, but she fished with it! We know well the story of her letter to The New York Times and of that letter being passed on – its contents shared, so that the fullness of its message could be realised and find a generous response. Sulsberger passed it to Reynolds, who spoke to Goldstein and he asked Scully to get someone to meet with Sr Mary. DiDinato and Del Negro travelled to Newark and met a shy woman who spoke to them firstly about their own families, wondering if they had children and when one said he had three, she said “I hope they will be priests”. He told her two of them were girls and she laughed but didn’t give up – she encouraged the sisterhood!! They said this talk helped them all relax and then she spoke to them of home and of her priest wanting to help build a place where her people could worship. She told them something of history too and maybe, in fairness exaggerated a bit!! She talked, it seems of the Abbey being destroyed by the invaders some 600 years earlier and this led to Goldstein asking friends to help make an Irish fairytale come true and to bring to the people of Urlaur a church that was “600 years overdue”. Sr Mary told her visitors that she had not received a visitor in the room in which she met them in more than fifty years. One of the reporters recalled it was twenty minutes later the reality of that statement hit home with them. They thought of how easily they had called to make an appointment and how difficult it must have been for Sr Mary to walk into this room for the first time in fifty years.
We are lucky she did! The story was told. “Have you caught anything friends?” Jesus asked the fishermen “nothing”, they replied. “Throw out to starboard and you will catch something”. Were Sr Mary asked the same question, she could have answered with a very enthusiastic “yes” because both journalists agreed there was no way “you could say no” to this woman. Her net was cast to the starboard. They were caught.
The story took on a life of its own and $10,000 – more than half the price of the church – came from that letter and because of the interest of people of the Jewish faith – the same faith in which Jesus and his disciples had their roots. Goldstein later said the line that caught his attention in a letter from Fr Hunt was that he wanted to build a little church “where the people can pray and worship”. He said he firmly believed the world would be a better place if it had more places of worship.
There is, of course more to this story but there’s something very precious in that part of it. Tonight is about acknowledging the fullness of the story so all have a part to play and all are fully remembered and prayed for in our gathering.
There has been a great feeling of joy around the place in recent weeks and I have to say that has given me great hope. The three locals who cycled to meet Bishop Fergus in 1952 to see if they could have Mass celebrated in the local school because it was difficult to get to another church and people were deeply saddened if they could not attend Mass have a part in this story. So does Bishop Fergus who said yes to that request. Fr Hunt, Sr Mary of The Blessed Trinity, Nat Goldstein and all the many locals here who travelled to sell tickets, raised funds and witnessed the turning of the sod, more than a decade later, had one aim in common – to build a “place of worship”.
I was here yesterday, and just walked around the church – inside and outside – to get a sense of it. Sometimes when we see something every day, pass by it often, it can just “be there” without us really noticing and recognising it for what it is. It can be like the unrecognised Jesus on the shore in today’s Gospel. If this celebration is about anything this evening, I am convinced it is about recognising where we are as a “Place of Worship”. I looked at bricks in the interior walls and wondered if the entire church is built of brick but I don’t think it is. Let’s imagine for a moment that it is. Look at the bricks around you. Now imagine pulling out a few of them – maybe near the bottom, then a few rows up – gaps appearing, emptiness where there should be solid stone. Then the balance gets shifted and some of the bricks further up begin go lose their holding and slip. Is it possible the building would fall, were enough of its bricks removed? I’m inclined to think so and that’s where we are at maybe …….
Those bricks lower down might represent our youth … they are strong and supporting what rests above and what has gone before but if removed, there’s a glaring gap and an unsteady building. Urlaur Abbey, was destroyed by invaders. Its treasures were plundered and its voice was silenced. Sadly and truthfully today, the plundering is more subtle and the invaders don’t necessarily come from other places. The suppression can be more subtle and still there’s a desire to quieten the voice – I’m convinced we have to recognise that today as we give thanks for this church and all it has stood for. We must ensure that all the bricks are in place, lending support to each other and that gaps are, insofar as possible, avoided so that the structure remains solid and the place of worship remains just that.
Seven apostles mentioned in today’s Gospel. They thought they might “go fishing” – go back to where they had been before but that really wasn’t an option. Jesus had become part of their lives and, once they allowed that happen, they could not very go back to their old ways. Seven people mentioned in relation to Sr Mary’s letter – neither could any of them go back to their own ways once those words were read and once that meeting had taken place – the church, be it 600 or 300 years overdue had to be built. Fifty years on – recalling the fifty years Sr Mary waited to enter the “visitors’ room” in that Newark Convent we commit to visiting this place of worship and ensuring that it be a place of joy-filled faith, of untiring hope and unfailing love. We commit to the truth that, having encountered Christ here, we can never go back.
God bless all who made it possible and God guide all of us to raise our voices in thankful praise.
Amen!
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great story , history , most encouraging read today , thank you for sharing