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  PassionistsGlasgow

father frank's log...

31/7/2020

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FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 26th JULY – 1st AUGUST 2020
​

At the time of writing we are into the second week of the Glasgow Fair. I know the Glasgow Fair is not what it used to be but, until very recently, it was always the time, the last two weeks in July, when I would take my Summer Holidays. As a child I associate the Glasgow Fair with the excitement of getting a taxi to St. Enoch’s Station and boarding the steam train to Saltcoats. The Hogwarts Express was nothing by comparison. As a family, we would always stay in the same boarding house, where the proprietors had a huge Dalmatian which we simply called Spotty Dog. Every year we couldn’t wait to see that dog, and it was as if the dog was excited to see us as well. We would go to the beach every day, enjoy a paddle in the sea, build sandcastles, and eat ice-cream cones, even when it was raining, or when it felt as if the temperatures were sub-zero, our skin turning blue, and our teeth chattering. We were on our holidays! Apart from the beach, by day it was train spotting from the railway bridge and taking down the numbers. At night it was chips with hot peas and vinegar from the local chippie. The steam train back to St. Enoch’s was a sombre affair - holidays over.
 
In my working years with the Singer Sewing Machine Company in Clydebank, and the Olivetti Typewriter Company in Queenslie, that is, between the years of 1969 and 1975, I always took the Glasgow Fair for my annual holiday as well. I don’t think the factories actually closed at that time, as they used to do up until the 1960’s, but it just seemed the natural thing to do. Old habits die hard. Most of those Glasgow Fairs were spent on the Isle of Barra with some madcap friends, who continue to be friends to this day, and as mad as ever, even though married with children now, and even grandchildren. We meet up every now and again, when their wives will let them out, but that has all been curtailed during lockdown.
 
In 1975 I joined the Passionists. During student years the summers were different, we had pastoral placements of varying kinds, but I continued to take the Glasgow Fair as my summer period for going home to spend time with my family. I wouldn’t do a whole lot but I enjoyed catching up on some old haunts in Glasgow, and simply taking it easy. My younger brother, who worked for 46 years in National Savings until poor health forced his retirement last year, would always take the Glasgow Fair as his holiday, so it meant that he was home at the same time that I was there. That became more important after our mother died in 2001, after which the Glasgow Fair became a really restful, peaceful, catch-up time for both of us together. That lasted until I returned to Glasgow in October 2016 and, since then, it has been a bit different. In fact, despite what Father Gareth and Father Antony might tell you, and unlike them, between one thing and another, I haven’t actually managed a holiday of any kind for the past two years and, when it was pointed out to me, two Mondays ago, that it was fair Monday, it took me quite by surprise. But then, I suppose I’m not the only one as we can easily lose track of all kinds of things in these strange times we are living in.
 
As mentioned before, in this lockdown period, there have been quite a number of funerals, but now, during this next period, I am getting ready to celebrate a wedding, and also a baptism, still with all the protocols in place, so it will be interesting to see how those go. I will let you know. Father Justinian continues to do well and is enjoying his tidy room, although he says he can’t find where anything is. Father Antony keeps up his healthy routine of walking at night, dropping into his mum, and then popping into the Supermarket on the way home if we need any shopping. My mind still boggles with trying to respond personally to all the Mass booking requests, and I have recently been trying to finalise accounts with our auditor, so those early and leisurely lockdown days seem long gone at this stage. No word from Father Gareth after his long phone call last week when we discussed plans for his return when his mum’s shielding comes to an end on 16th August. We can’t wait. Can you?
As always, protect yourselves and your loved ones, and protect Christ in your lives.


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father frank's log...

23/7/2020

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FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 19th – 26th JULY 2020
​
At the time of writing we have completed our first schedule of Public Masses. We held two Sunday Masses at 10 o’clock and 12 o’clock, to which we will now add a 6.00 p.m. Vigil Mass on Saturday; and two weekday Masses on Tuesday and Thursday at 10 o’clock. We will also add an extra day for personal prayer, adoration and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. These are now available on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2.00-4.00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 3.00-5.00 p.m., but we have dropped the Sunday afternoon time as it wasn’t so well attended, and we now have the two morning Masses on the Sunday anyway. It’s all about feeling our way at the moment, but I have been struck by how we are very much creatures of habit. For example, we have had Confessions since 24th June, and until last week it was easily manageable for Father Antony and myself, but in the days leading up to churches opening again for Public Masses we were inundated with Confessions, and that’s what has led us to adding an extra day. I also wondered if the Sunday afternoons were quiet because people don’t associate Sunday with going to Confession. Also, despite the temporary lifting of the Sunday Mass obligation, and the encouragement to opt for a Weekday Mass if possible, so as to free up space on Sunday for those who can’t come to a Weekday Mass, the Sunday Masses both reached their 50 quota easily, while the weekday Masses have been only half-full.
 
Up to this point I have been responding to all the booking applications personally as we decided not to opt for Eventbrite or any other booking system. There is something jarring about seeing a notice saying that Masses are “sold out”, and so, despite the extra load, we have tried to operate through our own parish website. It certainly has a more personal feel about it, and I am gradually developing my own way of doing things, but I am asking people to be patient as I cannot always respond immediately because of other commitments – and I do need to eat and sleep now and again. A nice gentleman turned up for Mass on Tuesday morning and said he didn’t get confirmation of his booking. I asked him when he had booked, and he said it was 45 minutes previously. At that stage I was setting things up for Mass and preparing to open up for the volunteer stewards to arrive and set things in motion. There was no problem with him coming in though, once he was happy to give his contact details, because, as already stated, the midweek masses have been only half full. Another phoned while I was having my dinner and said they hadn’t received a reply to a booking request which was submitted only 15 minutes previously. Again, no problem, but please note, I am not on auto-response and, as we are asked to verify on PayPal and the like, I am not a robot.
 
The first Public Mass here in St. Mungo’s was at 10 o’clock last Sunday. As I came out to begin the Mass, I felt fine, but as soon as I began the Introductory Rites, and welcomed people back, I felt myself filling up and, unashamedly, tears began to flow. I was told by some people afterwards that I set them off too, and why not, it was an emotional occasion, and it meant so much more to people than those who put public worship at the end of the queue after pubs, restaurants, coffee shops, card shops, D.I.Y. stores, and the like, gave credit for. So, despite the limitations, it’s wonderful to be gathering, listening, receiving the Holy Eucharist, and being sent out together, to live the Gospel, once again. Praise God! The news from Bishopbriggs is that Father Justinian has had a major clean-up job done on his room. His niece and sister-in-law arrived last Tuesday at around 11.00 a.m. and left at 3.00 p.m., and what a fantastic job they did. It is a total transformation. Father Antony is still enjoying being an uncle again. He was playing it cool, but I could see his concern when wee Liam was taken back into hospital with a slight jaundice, but he was out again next day, and Uncle Antony was a happy bunny once again. The big news, of course, is that Father Gareth will be back to us around the 19th/20th of August. His mum finishes shielding on the 16th and, once he sees she is coping okay, he will head back to us, and we are really looking forward to that.
As always, protect yourselves and your loved ones, and protect Christ in your lives.


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father frank's log...

17/7/2020

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FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 12th – 19th JULY 2020
​
In the past couple of weeks both Father Antony and myself have celebrated funeral Masses for the first time since lockdown began, with the exception of the funeral of Father Lawrence, which I celebrated with eight of his family members, and with Father Antony concelebrating, right at the beginning of lockdown. Afterwards even that wasn’t possible, it has been either crematorium or graveside services with limited numbers and social distancing in place, until now. These were also the first Masses of any kind with a congregation in the church since the beginning of lockdown and, while it was good to be able to celebrate, it still felt very strange. Since then, of course, the announcement has come from the First Minister that public worship could resume from 15th July, a week or so earlier than was expected. From the time of that announcement we have been putting plans in place for the resumption of Public Masses in St. Mungo’s. This isn’t as straightforward as it seems, and so much of it depends on having sufficient volunteers for stewarding; ensuring safety measures are adhered to; seating people; candle lighting; cleaning before and after services, and perhaps even queue management. We have also had to put a booking system in place and ensure that we gather the necessary details required by the NHS in the event of a Covid 19 outbreak, but also to ensure that data protection controls are sufficiently in place. Our first Public Masses will be this coming Sunday, and you will find our revised schedule on the homepage of the Website and in the Parish Newsletter section. We will keep reviewing this as we go along.
 
The booking system went live on Wednesday night and, from the word go, bookings were flowing in, especially for the 12 o’clock Mass on Sunday, which is now fully booked. I had a late night on Wednesday trying to record and respond to those initial bookings. The booking system itself worked perfectly, thanks to our wonderful Website manager, Paul, but I only realised the following morning that, as part of the security involved, I couldn’t simply click Reply and confirm the bookings, which is what I had been doing, so I said Praise the Lord and set out to revisit them all again and implement a new method of confirming bookings. My head is melted, as this is all so new, and I’m a technophobe, but I think it’s all working now, please God. I hope, however, that we are never in the position of having to turn anyone away who hasn’t booked, that really goes against the grain, but that is exactly what we have been instructed to do. So, let’s see how this first week goes, and we will take it from there.
 
Father Gareth sends his best wishes from Merthyr Tydfil and says that he and his mum are doing well. He has had messages from people saying that they want to return to the church after many years away, so he is encouraged by that. Shielding ends in Wales on 16th August, so we would expect Father Gareth to be back to us soon after that. Father Justinian continues to get encouraging word from the carers and nurses who visit and he looks well. He is also enjoying increased family visits and has even ventured out to the homes of his two brothers and their wives on a couple of occasions. He and I both got our haircuts from Father Antony last Friday, so I am very happy to be able to see again through my eyebrows. The big news from Bishopbriggs, though, is that Father Antony is an uncle again. His wee sister Jill gave birth to her first child on Thursday. He had mentioned in his homily at the 12.15pm Mass that he was waiting on word, as the 1st reading that day mentioned a woman with child nearing her time, not realising that at 12.14pm, 8lb, 8oz, Liam had entered this world just as Mass was about to begin. (As a Celtic mad family, I can’t believe that the 88 is a coincidence) So, congratulations to the parents, Jill and Ryan, also to all of the family on both sides as they welcome a new member, and of course to Uncle Antony, who is absolutely delighted, as are we all. As I mentioned before, I am the only one in the Passionist Community who drinks, so it will be up to me to wet the baby’s head, which I will make the sacrifice to gladly do.
As always, protect yourselves and your loved ones, and protect Christ in your lives.

 
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July 11th, 2020

11/7/2020

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FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 5th – 12th JULY 2020
​
On the day of writing this log it is, in Scotland, the Feast of Our Lady of Aberdeen, but in our Passionist Calendar we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady, Mother of Holy Hope. It was on this day, 9th July, in 1857, that Father Charles Houben, now Saint Charles of Mount Argus, the Passionist saint noted for his ministry of healing, first set foot on Irish soil and came to reside in Mount Argus, the Passionist monastery in Dublin that was to become synonymous with him. The image of Our Lady, Mother of Holy Hope shows Mary holding the child Jesus who has a cross in his hand, reflecting the teaching of Saint Paul of the Cross, the founder of the Passionists, that ‘the whole life of Jesus was a cross’ and that “the life of a disciple of Jesus means remaining on the cross with Him”. The original picture came into the possession of Saint Paul of the Cross in 1773, two years before his death. His successor as Superior General of the Passionists had copies made and it became the custom for each Passionist religious to have one of these prints in his room. Interestingly, the image was first brought to the English-speaking Passionist world by Cardinal, now Saint John Henry Newman, who was visiting Rome in 1847 and, when he was returning to England, the Passionist Superior General at that time gave him copies to bring to Blessed Dominic Barberi, the Passionist priest who had received Saint John Henry Newman into the Catholic Church two years previously.
 
So, Father Charles already had a great devotion, and often prayed to Mary under that title, but the fact that he arrived in Ireland, from England, on that particular feast would have served to heighten his devotion, and intensify his prayer, as he tried to settle into a very new, difficult and lonely situation. He was, of course, from the Netherlands, where devotion to Mary, the Mother of Holy Hope is very strong among the Passionists, and indeed the Passionists in the Netherlands gather under the title of the Province of Our Lady, Mother of Holy Hope. When I was Master of Novices for North Europe, I used to love visiting the Passionists in the Netherlands, as I always found them very friendly and welcoming. The first time I visited them was at the Mother House in Haastrecht, (not to be confused with Maastricht which is further south, and famous for the treaty that established the European Union in 1992, and also as the birthplace of Andre Rieu, who holds fabulous concerts there every summer, not far from the birthplace of Father Charles at Munstergeleen). I was shown to my room and invited to join the community in the recreation at 5.30 p.m. where, I was told, they gathered every evening to pray for the Pope. I was mildly surprised at such prayerful devotion to the Pope who, at that time, was John Paul II. However, it turned out that praying for the Pope was a euphemism for having a pre-dinner drink and chat, which was very pleasant indeed.
 
The Netherlands, being very flat, is a great place for bicycles, although one member of the Passionist Community preferred roller skates for getting around and, in the winter, he would take to ice-skates, and travel by the frozen canals to wherever he had to go. Haastrecht is only 5 kilometres from Gouda, famous for its very nice cheese, and so, one day, I borrowed a bicycle to go into Gouda and have a look. As I picked up speed on the road I saw a set of traffic lights up ahead turning to red and suddenly realised that the bicycle had no brakes, and so I had to make a rather ungainly and undignified stop with the soles of my shoes, ending up curled up on my side, with the bicycle on top of me, so as not to be battered by traffic on the crossroads. I later discovered that peddling backwards was the way to engage the brakes. I never was much of a cyclist, and I certainly didn’t try the roller skates or ice skates. I made it to Gouda and calmed my nerves by enjoying some nice strong coffee and appelstrudel.
 
Not much to report from Bishopbriggs. We are all well and hoping to have Father Gareth back with us soon, as things return gradually to a new normal. In the days ahead we will try to assess today’s rather complex new guidelines from the Government on communal worship. As always, protect yourselves and your loved ones, and protect Christ in your lives.

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father frank's log...

4/7/2020

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FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 28th JUNE – 5th JULY 2020

Last week we should have been attending our Provincial Chapter, which is a gathering of the Passionists from Scotland, Ireland (North and South) and Paris who make up what we call St. Patrick’s Province. This gathering takes place every four years and, during the Chapter, we review the life of the Province, face into any difficulties and challenges, and plan our pastoral priorities for the following four years. We also elect, or re-elect, our Provincial and his Council (also known as the Curia) and one of the tasks that they have after the Chapter is to make the various appointments of personnel throughout the Province. That would have meant that, from this week onwards, we would have been waiting by the phone, or expecting a visit, to be consulted on our next move, or on our staying put, depending on the discernment and deliberations of the Curia. The Chapter was scheduled for the 22nd – 26th June in a Retreat and Conference Centre run by the Cross and Passion Sisters at Drumalis in Larne, in the North of Ireland, but, of course, because of the Coronavirus, our Chapter didn’t take place. At present we have re-scheduled for the end of October in a different venue, but it remains to be seen whether easing of lockdown has progressed enough for the Chapter to feasibly take place, even then. So, as in many other things, we are in a kind of in-between place.
 
Of course, it may have been that, instead of being at the end of a phone waiting for a call, at least one of we Passionists in Scotland would have been elected to the Curia and been part of the group entrusted with making the necessary appointments, and therefore making these calls. I have been in that position a number of times before. What usually happens is that, at the end of a Chapter, the new Curia have a diary meeting and set aside a block of days on which to come together and set things in motion. Prior to that the consultation process will take place. When the Curia eventually gets around the table, they will endeavour to put a plan in place to achieve the Chapter priorities, and pencil in a first draft of the men they wish to appoint to the various tasks and locations whom they feel can best bring that plan about. Then it comes time to phone around, and to ask people if they are willing to go here or go there, to do this or do that. If everyone says yes, then the process draws to a close with a huge sigh of relief, but, if even one person says no, there will be a knock-on effect and it’s back to the drawing board. For the most part our men are willing to do what is asked of them, and to accept that this is part and parcel of the life we have chosen, but there can also be good reasons for saying no, and those are listened to with compassion. In the times we live in, there are fewer pieces to move around on the board than there used to be. Our membership is diminishing, and many of those who remain are getting older and frailer. At present there are only 45 religious in the Province, with an average age of 71. There are 9 leadership positions to be filled. Of those in leadership at present, 4 of the 9 are aged 75 or over, while the other 5 are in their mid to late 60’s. There are 6 different communities, and so, providing leadership for the next few years and beyond will not be easy. Can all of our communities and all of our ministries be sustained? We have been blessed in recent years with a few good vocations, and two of those are based in St. Mungo’s. But oh, how we need more of those going forward. So, from this in-between place, I am asking you to pray very hard for Passionist Vocations.
 
Father Gareth has asked me to say how much he misses everyone. Being an Everton supporter, he is trying to be magnanimous about Liverpool winning the English Premiership, but he also likes the way Everton are progressing under Carlo Ancelotti. Father Justinian is improving remarkably since he came out of hospital, and is being well looked after by a plethora of carers and nurses. Father Antony continues to maintain his suntan, and to hone his pastoral skills, having been plunged in at the deep end in unexpected ways since ordination. I have to be nice because I need to ask him for another haircut soon, as I can’t see through my eyebrows at present. Partial church opening is going fine and we look forward to progressing it further soon. So, protect yourselves and your loved ones, and protect Christ in your lives.


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    FATHER FRANK KEEVINS C.P.

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