Reflections from Fr Kieran

Speaking the truth

In his reflection for this week of Christmas, Fr Kieran takes the reading from the Acts of the Apostles on the feast of St Stephen, December 26, as his theme. In Acts, we read the account of the martyrdom of St Stephen. And what terrible thing did he do that led to his death? He spoke the truth, the truth given to him by the Holy Spirit. But some didn’t want to hear the truth!

In Kieran’s reflection, he points out that there are so many times and places where the truth of the Gospel is either not being heard, or perhaps, heard but not followed. St Stephen paid for this with his life and while the stakes might not be as high, we must always have the courage to be open to the truth, when we hear it spoken, and to speak the truth.

“Mere” – “Just” – “Only” – watch your language!

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” These words, from “Through the Looking Glass” by Lewis Carroll, might seem an unusual way to introduce a reflection by Fr Kieran. However, read on!

When we read the Gospels, it can be easy to look past some of the smaller words, those that seem less important and almost throwaway. However, in his exploration of the Gospel of Tuesday (Lk 10:21-24), Kieran asks us to stop and look more closely, this time at the expression concerning, “mere” children. How could so innocuous a word carry such a deep meaning and a deep message?

As Kieran shows us, words can indeed, as in Alice’s observation, “mean so many different things” and Kieran’s analysis of the words of Tuesday’s Gospel shows us how the words of St Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 4:4) should be taken very much to heart – “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Practising and preaching!

In his reflection on the Gospel reading for the thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) (Mt 23:1-12), Fr Kieran focuses on verse three of that Gospel: “You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say, but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practise what they preach.”

The advice, to “practise what you preach” is one that is commonly and frequently given and heard. In his reflection, Kieran considers another sense, the positive sense, in which the word “practise” is used in everyday language and points to the musicians, artists, actors, and sportspeople who daily “practise” what they do, so as to improve.

Therefore to “practise” in this context, is to seek to remove the imperfections, to accept that one has work to do in order to get better.

Good advice for all of us!

Beware of the Blame Game

Fr Kieran reflects on the Gospel of the 28th Sunday of the Year (Matt 22:1-14), about the invitation from the King to the Wedding Feast for his son. This is one of the passages from the Gospels that have been ‘used’ from time to time to target the Jewish people. However, Kieran challenges such an interpretation.

At the time of writing, the Israel – Hamas war is happening, taking place following the horrific attacks by Hamas on innocent Israeli citizens, enjoying themselves or just going about their business, and murdering over one thousand of them.

And Israel’s government and military are retaliating with massive force and in the process, killing thousands of civilians – men, women, and children. And so the blame game begins, in the media, on the streets, in parliaments.

Kieran challenges this instant blame game that emerges from equating the word, “some” with the word, “all.”

“What do you do?”

What’s in a question? A chance encounter in the cark park at the friary and an unexpected question asked of Fr Kieran is the context for his sharing this week. In a place where there is so much history and so much beauty to be seen whether within the church building itself or in the grounds of the friary, most of the friers are well-versed enough to tell people about the ‘place’ when asked and indeed, they are asked this frequently. However, last Sunday, the question asked of Kieran was to enquire of what Franciscans in Multyfarnham ‘do’ – what is Franciscan life?

Buildings, gardens, decoration, surroundings – all of these are the canvas for the picture of life that is led in Multyfarnham but what is it that gives the picture its life? It is, of course, the friars and here in his reflection this week, Kieran opens the door, inviting us in as he answers the question put to him in the car park.

A thank you, perhaps, to the anonymous woman whose question lies at the source of Kieran’s words!

Post-Chapter thoughts

Fr Kieran, along with most of the other Franciscans throughout the Irish Province, and joined by Friars from England and Scotland, was in Dromantine, outside Newry, for their tri-annual Provincial Chapter.

As well as dealing with a busy agenda that is always the work of a Chapter, this year’s Chapter marked a unique event when the Province of Ireland was united with that of England and Scotland to create the new United Province of Ireland and Britain. To mark this event, the Minister General of the Order travelled from Rome to be with the Friars during their deliberations.

Here, Kieran tells us a little about their days away.

Transfiguration – God’s divinity and its connection with His humanity

In his reflection this week, which was also his homily last Sunday, Fr Kieran invites us to think about the duality of Jesus, His humanity, and His divinity, and consider how the Transfiguration that we have just celebrated, fits in our understanding of Jesus as God and man.

For the Jewish people at the time of Jesus, the “scandal” was not the death of Jesus on the Cross – after all, the sight of criminals condemned to an horrific death on a cross was not an uncommon sight. However, to speak of resurrection, not at the end of time, (or for some, at all) was a concept for very many that might be considered scandalous.

Kieran weaves these two aspects of Jesus, His humanity and His divinity, and leads us to see this feast of the Transfiguration – Jesus in his divine state – as intrinsically linked with the human Jesus, whose death on the cross, a death that brought with it indescribable suffering and horror, as the divine expression of His love for us.

The Pardon of Assisi

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week (August 1 and 2), we once again celebrated the Portiuncula, the Pardon of Assisi, here in Multyfarnham.

There is a huge tradition of this feast being observed in Multy; people come from far and near from the start of hte feast, at midday on August 1, until the closing Mass at 6:00pm on August 2. During that time, Mass was available every one and a half hours during the daytime, confessions were available throughout this time, and the Friary Office was open for people to make Mass offerings for the living and deceased.

In his reflection today, Fr Kieran tells us a litle more about this feast that is so important to Franciscans throughout the world. And in his reflection, he considers the idea of ‘home.’ Just as the Portuncula chapel was a dear and beloved home to St Francis, home is a place where we should always finds acceptance, even when not always accepted in other places.

As in the story of the Prodigal Son, coming home can be filled with unconditional forgiveness. And so it is with all of us when we seek the pardon of God. It is a loving embrace, when our Father wants only the best for each one of us

Appreciating Grandparents

Love sits at the very centre of our faith and the Gospels themselves tell us that the greatest command of all is to love. Indeed, in St John’s Gospel, we are recognised as God’s children by how we love.

And isn’t it the case for most of us, especially those of us who know or knew our grandparents, that the overriding context of our relationship with them is on their expression of love? Fr Kieran, while reflecting on the Gospel for the Feast of Sts Joachim and Anne, observes that we hear much about parents and children in our readings at Mass but never about grandparents! We read of Joachim and Anne as the parents of Mary, the Mother of God, but not of Joachim and Anne, as the grandparents of Jesus.

Today, we are more aware of the extended family, parents, as well as uncles and aunts, and of grandparents, not least because we are all living a lot longer than in biblical times. And so, we encounter, in a deeper way, the intergenerational love that passes up and down from children and grandparents, much like the imagery of Jacob’s Ladder!

As Kieran suggests: “Ideally, each relationship should provide a firm stepping point as we climb higher and higher to approach God’s love at the very top.”

A new Heaven AND a new Earth!

This week, Fr Kieran explores a very significant text in the second reading of last Sunday’s Mass, the reading from St Paul to the Romans (8:12-23). We would not be human if, from time to time, we don’t wonder about the next life. There will be as many ideas and images as there are people. In his reflection, Kieran goes back to the words of St Paul, to the Book of Revelation, and to reminding us of God’s promise to each and every one of us, an eternal life where there is no more death, no more tears, no more fear, no loss, just blissful, timeless, perfect life.

Kieran reminds us of the words that we hear, but perhaps don’t fully take in, viz. that it is a promise of a new heaven and a new earth.

St Francis, in his Canticle of the Sun, gives praise for all of creation; does God intend that we abandon all of His wonder in our eternal life with Him?

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