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  PassionistsGlasgow

Father Frank's log...

26/8/2023

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FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 27th AUGUST – 3rd SEPTEMBER 2023

Last Saturday morning I found myself, unusually, not having to come into the church. Father Gareth and Father John were looking after the Masses, and I was fairly up to date with office work, so I decided to chill out in Bishopbriggs, head out to Drumchapel in the afternoon to do my caring duties, and then make my way from there, into the church, in the evening, to celebrate the Vigil Mass. As it turned out, last Saturday was a lovely day, and I decided to set out for a long walk along the canal. It can be a pain at times to live so far from the church, but I have to admit that we are blessed with having a number of access points on to the Forth and Clyde Canal so near to us. On the way, I passed by the local fire station. I have passed by here many times before but, for the first time, it registered with me that there were big receptacles outside the fire station for donations of clothes and shoes. I filed this knowledge somewhere in the back of my mind for future use. I then continued my walk, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and the rest of the day went as planned.

Over the last few days, I thought I was picking up an unpleasant odour from the boot of my car, and so, last night, I took out everything I had in the boot to investigate. It seemed to be coming from a bag full of plastic boxes that once had food in them, but that I had never got round to washing out. They are now all washed out, you will be glad to hear. There was also a bag of clothing in the boot. It’s a bag I keep handy just in case. It contains hats for the sun, the rain, and the cold. It contains a scarf and gloves, and it contains 2 pairs of heavy socks, a pair of walking boots, and a pair of walking shoes, just in case I was ever out and took the notion to stop and have a walk somewhere. However, both the boots and shoes were lace-ups, and I’m afraid I can’t do lace-ups any more due to some back problems. I have reached that stage where I use one of those wonderful contraptions for putting on your socks without having to bend down, one of the greatest inventions ever; and I wear only slip-on shoes that I put on with a long-handled shoe horn. I even need a podiatrist to cut my toenails. The boots and shoes were in good condition, so I retrieved that file from the back of my mind, from my walk the previous Saturday, and decided to bring them down to the fire station. I then thought that there must be other stuff I could bring down. I then proceeded to do a trawl of my wardrobe and pick out the best of clothes that I have never, or hardly ever worn. These were then folded neatly into a bag and, along with the boots and shoes, deposited at the fire station.

On the day that I am writing this, I am aware that there is a big rally in George Square going on at which hundreds of Fire Brigades Union members are gathered in protest against an anticipated £36 million in cuts to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service over the next four years. I have great admiration for firefighters, for their selflessness and courage in a job that surely has a lot of emotional stress attached to it as well. So, I hope that their protests don’t fall on deaf ears. We need them so much. Thankfully, I have never had to call them out for a fire, although I have administered the Last Sacraments to people in the aftermath of fires that the fire service would have bravely attended. Also, I have never called them out because my cat was stuck up a tree. However, I have been grateful to them in the past for breaking down a door for me, to get to someone inside who had taken ill and was unable to get to the door, and, I would imagine, along with the paramedics, saving their life in the process.

At present, we are getting closer to introducing live-streaming in St. Mungo’s. We still have a couple of issues to resolve before the launch. Even so, some people have found a way to access it already, from across the world, but we have closed that off for now so as to resolve those issues, as we want the quality to be good from the outset. Keep an eye on the parish website for news of the official launch.

As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
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father frank's log...

19/8/2023

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FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 20th – 27th AUGUST 2023

A couple of weeks ago, we Passionists provided some extra cover for the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, while one of the usual daytime chaplains was on holiday. Until recently, the priests on the chaplaincy rota received a pager. If there was a call, we would be contacted by the hospital switchboard on the pager, and then phone the hospital to get the details we required, so as to visit and administer the Sacrament of the Sick. Now, however, the pager has been replaced by a dedicated mobile phone, so that we can be contacted directly. When we finished our cover, it was down to me to deliver the phone, together with its charger, to the next parish responsible. With the old pager, the simplest thing was just to put the pager, secure in its padded envelope, through the letter box of the next recipient. When I set out to do this on this occasion, however, the first obstacle was that the road to the church was closed for roadworks – no surprise there! I then had to return by the way I came, and, like the Magi, go by another route. On arriving at the church, now running late, I discovered that the new phone and its charger wouldn’t fit through the letter box. I rang the doorbell. No answer. I rang again. No answer. I then took the phone and charger out of its plastic wallet, to see if they would fit through the letter box separately. No joy. The problem was the charger. It was too chunky. I rang the bell again. No answer. What to do? I felt as if I was in a sitcom. It then occurred to me that it was daily Mass time in this parish, and so I sauntered round to the church to find Mass was just beginning. I had the choice of heading off and coming back later, or else waiting for Mass. I chose to wait for Mass, and I heard a nice homily for the Feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). After Mass I ventured into the sacristy to deliver the phone and pager directly into the priest’s hands. It was quite providential in that he had only been there for a week, and I was able to greet him and wish him well in his new assignment. Eventually I made it back to St. Mungo’s to catch up on my work there. I will now need to check with my brother priests on the hospital rota, and ask how big is their letter box. Happily, our letter box in St. Mungo’s is massive.

Tomorrow, we are having a camera installed in St. Mungo’s to pave the way for live streaming of services. 16 years ago, when I was rector and parish priest at Mount Argus in Dublin, we became one of the first churches in Ireland to instal live streaming. The catalyst was the impending canonization of St. Charles of Mount Argus, due to take place on Trinity Sunday, 3rd June 2007, in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. There would of course be a pilgrimage to Rome from the parish for the occasion, as indeed there was a pilgrimage from St. Mungo’s which many will remember. Many people, however, would not be able to go to Rome, so we planned a 3-day celebration at Mount Argus. I had a wonderful team of helpers, one of whom was a reader in the church, who was also involved in the setting up of Church Services, an organization which, while helping many parishes set up and administer their websites, was also just beginning to provide live streaming. We agreed it would be wonderful to be able to stream events from Mount Argus and reach people across the globe who had an affinity with this wonderful Passionist church, and a devotion to Father Charles. And that’s how it all began. For those 3 days Mount Argus was like Glastonbury. The church was packed, as was the car park, the hall, and the giant marquee we had installed. On the day of the canonization, it poured from the heavens, in Dublin and in Rome, and then we had two days of sunshine. It was all amazing, and many more people were able to share in it because of the streaming. I have dragged my feet a bit with regard to providing live streaming in St. Mungo’s but, more and more, post-Covid, when it has become almost a normal part of many people’s lives, even though never a substitute for coming to church and being with the worshipping community, the family of faith, still we felt the time was right, and so, here we come - watch this space!

As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
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father frank's log...

11/8/2023

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FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 13th – 20th AUGUST 2023

It’s time for Father Frank’s Log to return after a short summer break. I had a new experience during the month of July when I was asked to officiate at a wedding in the Glasgow University Memorial Chapel. The couple were both Catholics but, even though the University Chapel is non-denominational, it is permitted for Catholic weddings to take place there and, as the bride is a graduate of the university, that was a good enough reason to agree. As it turned out, during that time, much of the West End of Glasgow was closed off due to road works, and also in preparation for the UCI World Cycling Championships, which are still taking place as I write this log. For that reason, I intended to travel by public transport, as I had done for the rehearsal a few days before. However, as I had to bring with me absolutely everything that would be required for the wedding: altar linen, liturgical books, sacred vessels, bread and wine, real-ink pen for the civil documents, and vestments, I thought I’d best bring the car. I had been advised that the university would be open for parking on a Saturday, but I decided to get there early, just in case, knowing that I could easily pass the time wandering around the West End, which of course is where I was born and grew up. For whatever reason, when I arrived at the university, the barrier was down and there was no one around to open it. After frustratingly driving around in circles, confronting one road closure after another, I ended up driving to Drumchapel, leaving the car outside of my brother’s house, where I was intending to go to after the wedding anyway, and getting the bus back into Partick, carrying all my wedding stuff, and then getting the bus back out to Drumchapel after the wedding, still bearing the load. Talk about the best laid plans going astray! As I began to prepare for the wedding, I was well warned to mind the many steps, at different levels, leading to and from the altar area, which had no clearly defined separation. Even so, I managed to fall up one of the steps, having previously almost fallen down the same step. Thankfully, no damage was done, except to my dignity, and to the nerves of the few people who witnessed it. Eventually, everything was ready, and the wedding began, and, I have to say, everything went beautifully. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and so, it seemed, did everyone else. The groom’s family had come over from Ireland and fully appreciated the beautiful surroundings of the Kelvingrove Park which, as a Partick boy at heart, filled me with pride.
​
During the first week of August, I took a break from St. Mungo’s. It was a staycation in Bishopbriggs. Each day I would try and do something different. I had long walks along the Forth and Clyde Canal, and in the Campsies. I went to see the film Oppenheimer, which was a 3-hour marathon, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I took a train from Bishopbriggs to Stirling, a city I like very much, especially the Church of the Holy Rude next to the castle, a truly beautiful church that I think is particularly sensitive, and does justice, to its Catholic roots. In the middle of the week, I met up with some old friends whom I have known since the late 1960’s and early 1970’ s, when we all attended retreats at the Passionist Retreat House at Coodham in Ayrshire, now sadly closed. The five stalwarts whom I met up with all met their good lady wives at Coodham as well, while I entered the Passionists. I don’t meet up with them as often as I’d like but, as I keep telling them, they are all old retired men now, while I am still a full-time working man. We had a great catch-up and I resolved to make more of an effort to meet with them more often. As my time drew to a close, I took in the first match of the new football season, which had a happy ending. I also did a lot of enjoyable reading during that time, but then, in the blink of an eye, the week was over, and I was back at the church. All the brethren in Bishopbriggs are well. This weekend Father Gareth will travel to Ireland for the 1st Profession of Cian Hennessy, a young man from Cork, who has recently completed his Passionist Novitiate. We pray for him, and we welcome him into the family.

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

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    Picture

    FATHER FRANK KEEVINS C.P.

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