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father frank's log...

25/2/2023

FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 26th FEBRUARY – 5th MARCH

This past week, as you well know, Lent began, and for the first time in three years, because of Covid, we were able to distribute ashes in the traditional way on Ash Wednesday. Last year we were advised to sprinkle the ashes over people’s heads. In 2021 we were in full lockdown, and the best we could do was to follow the instruction from the liturgists, inviting people to creatively provide their own ashes, using dried out soil from their garden; ashes from the grate; charcoal from the barbecue, or whatever else would suffice, and then we blessed the ashes virtually during the streamed Mass from the Oratory, and asked those tuned in to sign themselves with their ashes, using whatever formula they felt drawn to, whether to remember being dust and returning to dust; or promising to turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel. It was good this Lent, once again, to be marking people with the cross.

We entrusted the task of preparing the ashes to Father John, and he made a good job of it. Once again, I was reminded of an incident back in 2014 when a number of parishioners in various churches in Galway, in the West of Ireland, were quite literally branded by the ashes, complaining of a burning sensation as the priest signed them on their foreheads and spoke the accompanying words. One priest had to actually stop the Mass and advise the people to go into the sacristy and wash the ashes off. He then sent the ashes to a public health laboratory for testing. It turned out that the parishes where this happened had painstakingly prepared their own ashes which, as you know, are produced by burning the branches of the leftover palms from the previous Palm Sunday. It emerged that the palms they burned were too dry, so that the ashes turned caustic when water was added and produced the chemical potassium hydroxide, which doesn’t mix well with human skin. Apparently, it’s best to burn the branches while they are still green. The priests involved lamented that in very many years of preparing their own ashes in such a way, this was the first time that there had ever been any problem. I’m not too sure if they continued doing it that way, I suspect they did, but here in St. Mungo’s we are happy to get our ashes already made up in Prinknash Abbey with just the water, and perhaps a little oil, requiring to be added.

It has been said that, since Covid and lockdown, church attendance in Scotland has dropped significantly, in some places by as much as fifty percent. However, as always there were good crowds at the Masses on Ash Wednesday, arguably the biggest crowds of the year, even more so than at Christmas and Easter, and it’s a bit of a mystery as to why that should be, although here in St. Mungo’s, as a Passionist Church, it may be that Good Friday has even bigger crowds. What both days have in common is powerful ritual – the signing with ashes and the veneration of the cross. What deep places within ourselves must such rituals touch into?

I recently read that the well know fairy tale, Cinderella, can be understood as a kind of parable for Lent. The name, Cinderella, means the little girl in the ashes (the cinders). The tale begins with her being humbled, but at the end she is lifted up in love to a joy beyond her wildest imaginings. We all start Lent being humbled. What could be more humbling than to be signed with ashes and reminded of our mortality, reminded that we came from dust and return to dust? But, by the end of Lent, we will be lifted up in love, the greatest expression of God’s love being found in the Passion and Death of Jesus, through which we then enter into the incredible joy of the Resurrection at Easter. Hopefully we can journey through Lent in such a way as to make this, not a fairy tale, but the greatest reality we can know. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will raise you up. (James 4:10)

As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.

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FATHer Frank's Log...

18/2/2023

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FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 19th – 26th FEBRUARY 2023

Just after the log was posted last week we heard of the sad death of my predecessor as parish priest here in St. Mungo’s, Father John Craven. Father John, who hailed from Newry, County Down, was a year ahead of me as a Passionist student. Father Lawrence was a year ahead of him. The three of us played in the combined Passionist/Discalced Carmelite football team that swept the boards of the seminary league in the late 1970’s. Father Lawrence was the goalkeeper, I was the right back, and Father John was the centre forward. As a late vocation, Father John was in his 30’s by then, and so he wasn’t inclined to do too much running around, but put the ball in front of him within sight of goal, and he would burst the net. His classmate, another John, was probably the best player on our team, and he knew how and when to get the best out of Father John. As part of a lovely tribute to Father John, the other John mentioned that he was constantly in trouble on the football pitch because Father John would be winding the opposition up, as only he could, and they would then take it out on him, probably because they were too scared to do it to Father John himself. Father John knew how to wind all of us up as students; he could discern our weak points, and he was usually spot-on, but behind it all there was a great wisdom, compassion, concern and kindness.

But there was much more to John than that. He came to the Passionists with a vast wealth of life’s experience behind him and he used that experience to help so many people. He was a man who knew he had to apply himself to his studies, and he did just that, and he also knew how dependent he was on God, and so he was a man of constant prayer. He was a Manchester United supporter and followed them fervently. He loved going out for a cup of coffee and watching the world go by, but, when he was a student, he would often say he was going out for a cup of coffee and a shirt. I can’t imagine he bought a new shirt with every cup of coffee, though, otherwise he would have needed a much bigger wardrobe. He also liked a regular batter burger, or two, from Borza’s chippie up the road from the monastery. Simple pleasures.

After ordination, he spent a number of years as a priest in South Africa and was well loved by the people. He was one of the curates in Mount Argus in the early noughties when I was parish priest. Near to Mount Argus monastery, there was a jeweller’s shop and a cobbler. If he needed a new watch battery, or a pair of shoes repaired, he would spend the time of day chatting with the proprietors, who enjoyed his company as a straightforward, no nonsense, down to earth priest, and a man of the people. Often, he would just drop into them for a chat for no particular reason and they missed him after he moved on. He was parish priest of St. Mungo’s from 2012-2016, and since then he has been in Holy Cross, Ardoyne, in Belfast. There is no doubt that the hallmark of Father John’s ministry was an extraordinary dedication to the sick, to the poor, and to those who were struggling in various ways. Much of his ministry was done quietly, behind the scenes, and there will have been countless people who benefitted from his wise counsel and generous self-giving throughout many years. I imagine we may hear stories now, after his death, of kindnesses we never even remotely knew about.

Over many years, Father John loved taking his holidays at our Passionist house in Paris. There too, he loved going out for his cups of coffee and people watching. He also loved relaxing, almost daily, on one of the boats that sailed up and down the Seine, puffing on a cigarette, and watching the sights of Paris pass by. Recently, in need of a rest, and not feeling too well, he had hoped he might go there for a break, but it never came to be. After struggling through the Monday night novena Mass in Holy Cross last week, he took unwell, and died in the City Hospital a couple of days later. These are only my scattered memories. Others will have more and better stories to tell. But he was a good man, and he will be greatly missed. Well done, good and faithful servant, you can take your rest now in the house of God.

As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.

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father frank's log...

10/2/2023

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FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 12th – 19th FEBRUARY 2023

Once a year, we Passionists have what’s called “Provincial Visitation”. This means that the Provincial visits all the communities in St. Patrick’s Province, takes time to pray with us, tries to enlighten us as to the current state of the province in general, initiates a community sharing on our life and ministry in the local community, and meets with each individual to listen to their thoughts and reflections on a personal, community and Province level. He also inspects what we call the Sacristy Mass books and signs them, as a check that we are fulfilling all our obligations in terms of celebrating the Masses that are requested, and the Masses that we are obliged to say on a regular basis, e.g. the Holy Souls; the Passionist Mass Guild; Masses for deceased and living Passionists; parents of Passionists and Passionist Benefactors; suffrages for Passionists who have died in the Province more recently, and the Mass for the People that is said at one of the Masses every Sunday, and to ensure we are keeping the proper records.

Here in St. Mungo’s, this visitation took place last Thursday and Friday, 2nd/ 3rd of February. Our Provincial at present is Father Jim Sweeney, a native of Glasgow, but living in our Provincial House at Mount Argus in Dublin. Thursday was the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which is also the World Day for Consecrated Life. We decided that he and I would meet and concelebrate the Mass hosted by the Archbishop in St. Andrew’s Cathedral for all those in Consecrated Life in the Archdiocese, and then join in the lunch afterwards. These men and women religious are very noticeably an elderly group now, but there are some amazing people among them, still ministering and doing fantastic work into their twilight years. Father Jim was delighted to meet old friends from his time as Rector at the Passionist Retreat Centre at Coodham in Ayrshire (sadly now no more) and from his time in what was called the Movement for a Better World. I found myself sharing a table with a number of sisters from the Carmelite contemplative convent in Dumbarton. I enjoyed their company very much. It was equally noticeable that most of what we might refer to as “younger” religious, tended to be African, Indian or Filippino. We are very grateful for their presence. I would have to say here that the lunch was very substantial and very tasty.

Afterwards, I brought Father Jim out to Bishopbriggs for the formal opening of the visitation, and for the first formal sessions. It had earlier been agreed, before Father Jim and I knew we were to get a lovely lunch at the cathedral, that we would all go out to a local restaurant to share a meal and chat together on a more informal level. We could hardly deprive Fathers Justinian; Gareth and John of a meal just because we had already eaten. They would have lynched us! With the best intentions in the world of eating sparsely, I ended up eating another substantial meal which, certainly at the time, I thoroughly enjoyed. I don’t know if any of you would remember a Christmas episode of the Vicar of Dibley, where the vicar has cornered herself into having to share Christmas dinner with a whole host of characters in about four different households. I will always remember her trying to squeeze the last Brussel Sprout into her mouth, and the tortuous look on her face. Well, I felt a it like that and, in my mind at least, I felt that I would never eat another thing again, ever, in my entire life. Of course, I was up eating breakfast the next day, when the visitation continued until the evening time. There was a formal closing in which the Provincial made a report and led us in a final prayer. He was then collected by his brother, a diocesan priest, and after a couple of days at home, he went on to continue his visitation, the next stop being Minsteracres, where Father Antony is.
This will be the first time to include houses in England, following on from the Passionists in England becoming a part of St. Patrick Province only recently. All in all, it was a very pleasant and fraternal experience for all of us, including Father Jim.

As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.

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father frank's log...

4/2/2023

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FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 5th – 12th FEBRUARY 2023

More and more, I feel as if Glasgow is a building site at the moment. My daily travels usually take me from Bishopbriggs to St. Mungo’s, my place of ministry; then from St. Mungo’s to Drumchapel, to do my daily caring duties for my brother, and then from Drumchapel back to Bishopbriggs, the home of my Passionist Community. Until recently, going home from Drumchapel to Bishopbriggs, I would head to Bearsden and take the Roman Road, then on to Balmore Road. I could do the journey home in about 20 minutes. Four weeks ago, the Roman Road was closed for works, not for the first time, and so I had to take the diversion, which was significantly longer, both in time and distance. Unfortunately, the diversion was through Milngavie, and as you will know, there was a major water-mains burst in Milngavie which, according to the photos, looks more like an earthquake, and so that route is going to be closed for some time. For a couple of days after the Milngavie closure, I was heading back into St. Mungo’s, and out again to Bishopbriggs, in peak time traffic. It was a nightmare. Since then, receiving good advice from one of our parish council members, I have been taking a new, even if somewhat circuitous route through Summerston. At least I am getting to know bits of my own city that I never knew before.

But the story doesn’t end there. A couple of Saturdays ago I arrived into the church to discover that, without any warning, Parson Street, where St. Mungo’s is located, was closed to traffic, and remained so for the next few days, Then, last Friday, it suddenly transpired that all the main roads leading to St. Mungo’s were going to close for re-surfacing. Now, this is necessary work, and I look forward to it being completed. It will make a difference. However, I only received a letter the day before, and when I came into the church on the Saturday morning, I found St. Mungo Avenue closed in both directions, with no access to the church. After a discussion with one of the workmen, I drove through the Road Closed signs and found my way in to open the church. Some people coming to Mass were able to do the same, but I later discovered that others had turned back. I phoned the council and requested that at least Local Access signs should be put up so that people knew they could get to church, as is their right. It hasn’t been quite so bad since, but it’s still very confusing, and we don’t know from day to day how we will get in. However, the work is supposed to be completed by this weekend, and I do look forward to a major, much needed improvement, in the road surfaces. Of course, out in Bishopbriggs, the Kirkintilloch Road seems to close a section every other week for road works, and has done for the past couple of years. There are other roads as well I regularly use that are closed; the High Street to get to the Cathedral, and the Kingston Bridge to get to the Clydeside Expressway, are but two, but all will be well!

The sad, but not unexpected news received this week, is that St. Simon’s in Partick has ceased to be and is now merged into St. Peter’s. From the time of the arson attack it has never looked likely that it would re-open, despite the many ribbons that were hung from the railings outside saying Save Our Church and Rise from the Ashes. Both churches have a special place in my memory, and it’s a very logical merger. St. Peter’s was the church we were always brought to from St. Peter’s Primary School which I attended from 1956-1961. However, St. Simon’s was the church I grew up with, being baptized there, making my 1st Confession; 1st Holy Communion and Confirmation; and serving on the altar. My father’s funeral was also from there in April, 1960, as well as other family funerals. I gave a mission there shortly after ordination. I married one of my nieces there, and baptized one of my grand-nieces. So many memories; and so sad to see it go because of a totally mindless act. Gone, but not forgotten.

As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.

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father frank's log...

FATHer Frank's Log...

father frank's log...

father frank's log...

FATHER FRANK KEEVINS C.P.

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