PassionistsGlasgow
  • Welcome To Saint Mungo's
  • Parish Newsletter
  • Parish Office / Visiting Saint Mungo's
  • Passionists Young Team
  • Universalis Mass Readings for Today
  • Website Links
  • St.Paul of the Cross
  • St. Paul of the Cross for Children
  • St.Charles of Mount Argus
  • St Mungo Patron Saint of Glasgow
  • St. Mungo's Parish
  • Photo Album
  • Safeguarding (Updated Oct 2022)
  • Archdiocese Privacy Notice
  • Father Franks Log
  • Fr Thomas Berry CP and the Environment
  • Synodal Path
  • Welcome To Saint Mungo's
  • Parish Newsletter
  • Parish Office / Visiting Saint Mungo's
  • Passionists Young Team
  • Universalis Mass Readings for Today
  • Website Links
  • St.Paul of the Cross
  • St. Paul of the Cross for Children
  • St.Charles of Mount Argus
  • St Mungo Patron Saint of Glasgow
  • St. Mungo's Parish
  • Photo Album
  • Safeguarding (Updated Oct 2022)
  • Archdiocese Privacy Notice
  • Father Franks Log
  • Fr Thomas Berry CP and the Environment
  • Synodal Path
  PassionistsGlasgow

FATHER FRANK'S LOG...

28/9/2017

0 Comments

 
FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 24th SEPTEMBER – 1st OCTOBER

My favourite Ad on television at the moment is the one where customers come into various cafes, just looking for a simple cup of coffee, but end up totally bemused at the vast array of options on offer, the bizarre ways in which they are presented, and of course, what they cost.
The Ad reminds me of a few years back, when I came over from Ireland to Scotland for a meeting. I was returning to Ireland the following afternoon from Prestwick Airport, along with two Passionist colleagues. We had planned to grab a bit of lunch at the airport before boarding the plane, which seemed straight forward enough, but I ended up bemused by the bewildering array of choices I was offered at the airport’s self-service restaurant, which was called
The Village Grill.

As I looked at the menu above the counter I took a fancy to the sausage and mash, something nice and simple – or so I thought!
“Butter mash, or cheese and chive mash?” I was asked. For a few seconds I froze but then “Butter”, says I. “What kind of sausages?” was the next question. “What kind are there?” I replied. “Apple and cider; vegetarian and herb, venison or pork” were tantalisingly placed before me. Ever the traditionalist, I opted for pork – they looked bigger and fatter anyway. “Would you like mushy peas or beans?” That was an easy one. “Beans”, says I.  “Would you like gravy?” she asked. “Just a little,” I replied. “Traditional gravy or onion gravy?” she offered. Once again, I went traditional.

By this time I was wishing I had ordered fish and chips, but there are so many fish in the sea that, just in case she decided to go through them all, I might have been there a lot longer. Eventually I got my sausage and mash, and a bottle of Irn Bru to wash it down, and joined my colleagues who by this stage were nearly finished their lunch. We live in an age of choice, sometimes too much choice for our own good, and we need great wisdom to be able to make the right choices.
The Gospel this Sunday is also about choices. The father in Jesus’ story invites his sons to go and work in the vineyard. Initially it would seem there are only two choices – yes or no; but even those get complicated as the son who says yes turns out to mean no, and the son who says no turns out to mean yes. In the Book of Deuteronomy God sets before His people life and death and says
“Choose life”. That would seem like a no-brainer, except that choosing life means loving and serving God, following His ways, and living by his commands, which isn’t always so easy.

Good choices require good discernment. Discernment is a decision-making process that honours the place of God's will in our lives. It is an interior search that seeks to align our own will with the will of God, in order to learn what God is calling us to. Every choice we make, no matter how small, is an opportunity to align ourselves with God's will.

Pope Francis has this to say about his own choices:
My choices, including those related to the day to day aspects of life, like my use of a modest car, are related to a spiritual discernment that responds to a need that arises from looking at things, at people, and from reading the signs of the times. Discernment in the Lord guides me in my way of governing.
0 Comments

FATHER FRANK'S LOG...

22/9/2017

0 Comments

 
FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 17th – 24th SEPTEMBER

Last Saturday we bade farewell to Father Pat Rogers CP, one of the preachers for our Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows. We enjoyed having him at the house in Bishopbriggs and we hope that people enjoyed him during the Novena. I’m sure Father Pat wouldn’t mind me saying that he falls into the realm of those we might describe as eccentric genius. There is no doubting his extraordinary intellect but he can also be a little unpredictable at times. In the early part of my diaconate year in Rome, back in 1982-83, Father Pat was there as a simultaneous translator for the Passionist General Chapter. He asked me if I would like to join him for an early morning run before proceedings began and I said yes. So, the next morning, we togged out and jogged down the hill from the Passionist Monastery of Saints John and Paul towards the Coliseum. We circled the perimeter of the Coliseum and then I realised that Father Pat was heading towards the
Roman Forum, a tourist attraction which contains the ruins of several important, ancient government buildings. A guard stepped out and blocked his path, hand held out for the admission fee. Neither of us had any money in our jogging gear and so Father Pat tried to convince him in his excellent Italian that we were only going to run through and not look at anything. The guard was unimpressed and turfed us out.

We had a bit more success when he took me along and bluffed his way into a press conference for the man for whom Maximilian Kolbe gave up his life in Auschwitz. This was the night before Maximilian Kolbe was due to be canonised. When we entered the small press room Father Pat put down a tape recorder on the table while Italian, and other journalists, looked at him and wondered who he was. When his credentials were questioned he offered to translate from Polish into English, a service that wasn’t really required, which was just as well as, despite being multi-lingual, Polish wasn’t one of the languages that Father Pat spoke. The upshot was that we were allowed to stay for the interview but not record it. A third incident does not concern me but it is frequently recounted by one of our Passionist colleagues who was invited out for a drive with Father Pat. On the way back, Father Pat suggested a cup of tea and, when our colleague agreed, he found himself being brought to a blood donor’s centre to get the cuppa for free, or at least in exchange for a pint of blood. So, all in all, I think the time he was with us was enjoyable, but peacefully uneventful.

We did not have to say farewell to our second Novena preacher. Brother Antony Connelly CP now moves into our home in Bishopbriggs as the 5th member of our Passionist community. He had to wait until Father Pat departed to be able to take ownership of his room, and he has spent the last few days arranging the space as he wants it, moving in his possessions, and putting up shelves for his books, so that he can start to get settled in. He is also gently easing himself into a chaplaincy role in the local universities and colleges, something to which he is well suited, being a graduate of both Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities. Like Father Pat, Brother Antony can also be described as an intellectual, but as to whether he is eccentric or not we will have to wait and see, but I don’t think he is. I have told him I am getting great sleep since he came because last thing at night I am reading his Undergraduate Dissertation from Heythrop College, which is entitled
Christian Ethical, Anthropological and Soteriological Considerations of Transhumanism. I don’t even understand the title, but I have no doubt that it is very good. If intellect can be compared with reason, then, as also men of Passion, Father Pat and Brother Antony might appreciate this thought from Kahlil Gibran:

Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul… For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction. Therefore, let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion; that it may sing; And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.
0 Comments

FATHER FRANK'S Log

14/9/2017

0 Comments

 
FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 10th – 17th SEPTEMBER

A few weeks ago, when we were preparing for a fundraising Quiz Night in St. Mungo’s to help towards the payment of a few big bills, a generous donor gave us the pledge of 2 tickets for the Celtic v Paris St. Germain game at Celtic Park to be used as a raffle prize. At the time, we thought this very generous offer was too good to just put into the raffle along with the boxes of chocolates, the cosmetics, and the bottles of wine and whisky, of which there were many. Indeed, during the raffle, I was lucky enough to win both a bottle of red wine and a bottle of whisky for which I, and the community, were duly grateful. Our newest member of the Passionist Community, Brother Antony, had three wins in a row and, so far as I remember, gave all his prizes away. Each time one of Brother Antony’s tickets was drawn out, Father Gareth let out a cry that it was all a fix, as he ended up winning nothing at all, despite the fact that there were loads of prizes to go around; although I have a funny feeling that Father Gareth never bought a ticket in the first place, so what could he expect?

With the donor’s permission, we decided to try something else with the Celtic tickets and so, once we had the tickets in hand on the Saturday before the game, I called my brother Hugh, the notorious football pundit on Radio Clyde. When I phoned he was out at an Indian restaurant near his house with his wife, the long-suffering Janet – he enjoys a Chicken Tikka Masala does our Hugh. He promised to call me back when he got home, which he duly did. I told him about the tickets and he said he would put it on Twitter and see if he got a response.
Within minutes Hugh had received a generous offer from the son of the late, great, Tommy Burns which I was happy to accept. Tommy’s son lives in Florida and he was waiting for Hurricane Irma to arrive, but he wanted the tickets for other family members at home, and he also wanted to help out St. Mungo’s. One of the reasons I accepted so quickly was that Tommy was a frequent visitor to St. Mungo’s and, in fact, people remember that one time he was so wrapped up in his prayers that he ended up locked into the church. When Tommy’s daughter arrived on the Sunday to collect the tickets she was delighted to hear that story.

Hugh and Tommy were good friends and, back in 1989, they had co-authored Tommy’s autobiography:
Twists and Turns – the Tommy Burns Story as told to Hugh Keevins. So, it seemed to me, there was a sense of providence that these tickets should go to Tommy Burns’ family. But also, in a gesture of good will, some others who had bid for tickets communicated to Hugh that in times past they had connections with Townhead and with St. Mungo’s and, even though they hadn’t been successful in their bids, wanted to know how they could help out St. Mungo’s anyway – so we will see where that goes, and thanks for the kind thoughts. It just goes to show what a special place St. Mungo’s is and the place it holds in people’s hearts, and of course Tommy was a special person too, may he rest in peace. (Pity about the score!)
​

In our church situation money is about stewardship, so here is a stewardship prayer to ponder:
Stewardship is rooted in the understanding that we live in a God-centred creation. It begins with the realization that everything we are and everything we own is a gift, freely given by a God who loves us, and who calls us into relationship with Him. We have nothing – not even life itself – which is not a gift from God. The Lord has given each one of us gifts, graces, talents, abilities and resources – all of which are to be shared responsibly and wisely with others. Faithful stewardship is a way of life that demands involvement and care. It can be equated with holiness – and God calls us all to holiness. Amen.
​
0 Comments

September 07th, 2017

7/9/2017

0 Comments

 
FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 3rd – 10th SEPTEMBER

In his epic poem “The Great Hunger”, the Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh talks about God being in the bits and pieces of every day, and I have no doubt that’s true. We don’t need to experience God in spectacular events, we just need to be attuned to God’s presence in the ordinariness of everyday life.

I was writing last week about my experience on retreat at Kinnoul in Perth. When I left Kinnoul, I went on to spend a week in North Berwick, and there were a few bits and pieces there where, even without being on retreat, God, I’m sure, was present in very ordinary events. The first was when I ascended North Berwick Law, an extinct volcano, many thousands of years’ old; taking the easier route that winds around the Law, rather than the quicker, but more difficult route, that demands a very steep climb. Even the easy route had me gasping for breath at the top, but the view, on a blessedly clear and sunny day, made it worth the while. I looked out over the Firth of Forth, with the Bass Rock, the Lamb, the Isle of May and Craiglieth in the distance, and God was present in his creation.

The next day, after a walk along the beach, I decided to go for lunch in the Lobster Shack, which is a very pleasant outdoor eatery down by the harbour. I put my order in for Scottish squid – eating lobster is too much like hard work – and I found a bench to sit at while my squid was being cooked. Suddenly I looked up and I could see someone at another table staring curiously at me. As I stared curiously back I realised it was someone whom I hadn’t seen for nearly 20 years. She was there with her husband and their son who had just returned home on holiday from America. They had decided to come to North Berwick for the day and took a notion to go to the Lobster Shack for lunch. I joined them at the table as they wrestled with a huge lobster that seemed intent on fighting back, and not giving up its meat too easily, and we had a great old laugh and chat, and a catch up about many things. The word for such an unexpected but happy encounter is
serendipity, and God is always present in serendipity.

Off and on during the week I walked sections of the
John Muir Way, John Muir being that extraordinary Scot who is revered in America as the founding father of national parks and conservationism and much more besides. He was born in Dunbar and, for the centenary of his death back in 2014, a walk from Helensburgh to Dunbar was created in his honour. The walk goes through the John Muir National Park in which is situated the Bridge to Nowhere. At low tide, it’s possible to walk over this bridge, crossing the Biel Waters and onto the sands at Belhaven Bay. But when the tide comes in, the bridge gets submerged and appears to be stranded in the middle of the sea, coming from nowhere and going nowhere. It comes as a bit of a surprise to see this, and God, of course, is the God of Surprises.

Today I have been looking through the many petitions that people have sent in for our Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows which is running from the 7th to 15th September. Reading these petitions is a poignant way of touching into people’s stories, and of being reminded that sufferings, sorrows and struggles are in the bits and pieces of every day as well. Heart rending as most of these petitions are, I have no doubt that God is in these bits and pieces too. Here is a beautiful prayer by Joyce Rupp, to the Mother of Sorrows at the foot of the cross.
​
Mary, you have been there before me, weary and worn out from the long vigil; saddened by the pain of your loved one, heartbroken over what you could not change. Your valiant stance beneath the cross tells me of your unceasing love. Long years of unfailing faith upheld you. Kind friends by your side sustained you. I too am standing with a loved one who hangs upon the cross of suffering. I too am powerless to help. Woman of Compassion; Mother of Sorrows, I draw inspiration from your journey. I too can move through the pain of my present situation. Your faith and courage lead me to my own.
0 Comments
    Picture

    FATHER FRANK KEEVINS C.P.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed