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
  • Safeguarding (Updated Oct 24)
  • Photo Album
  • Archdiocese Privacy Notice
  • Father Franks Log
  • Fr Justinian CP (RIP)
  • Synodal Path
  • Pope Francis
  • 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
  • Safeguarding (Updated Oct 24)
  • Photo Album
  • Archdiocese Privacy Notice
  • Father Franks Log
  • Fr Justinian CP (RIP)
  • Synodal Path
  • Pope Francis
  PassionistsGlasgow

September 26th, 2020

26/9/2020

0 Comments

 
FATHER FRANK’S LOG:20th – 27th SEPTEMBER 2020
​

Sadly, to report, even Saint Anthony has been confounded by my lost or stolen mobile phone; but, as I am discovering in today’s 1st Reading from Chapter 3 of the Book of Ecclesiastes, within the context of a time for every purpose under heaven, there is a time also for searching and a time for losing, and I have to accept now that the time for searching is over, and that this is a time for losing, and that there is some purpose to the losing under heaven. I have now procured a new mobile phone, retaining the same number, but everything else was wiped, so I have to start building up all my contacts again, and start from scratch for everything else that was on the phone. It’s a bit of a pain, but it has to be done.
 
I think one purpose under heaven was to try and teach me a very important lesson. I rush around far too much doing far too many things. Like Martha of Bethany, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, who was concerned about so many things, and sometimes forgot the essential things, things that require a certain amount of stillness, and hush, and pause in the day to dayness of life. At the beginning of lockdown, I was enjoying that stillness, and hush, and pause to the usual hustle and bustle; but now, all that has gone, and I find that my mind, my body, and even my spirit, are being pulled in too many directions and that I am not very focussed on anything. I should have learned my lesson from a few weeks ago when I lost a rather distinctive, blue and white speckled spectacle case, containing a pair of spectacles that I had wanted to try and get repaired for my brother. I knew the spectacles weren’t that important as I had arranged for new spectacles for him anyway, and he had an old pair that were keeping him going in the meantime. But, the mystery of where I had put this spectacle case consumed myself, and others, as well as Saint Anthony, for days on end. We searched high and low, but to no avail. I thought I was losing my marbles. To this day, it still hasn’t been found, and I can only assume it has disappeared down the same black hole as my mobile phone. I didn’t learn the lesson then of slowing down, but hopefully I will now.
 
Moving on, I can report that last Sunday I celebrated another Sacrament that had been paused during lockdown. There had already been many funerals, whether here in the church, or at gravesides, or at crematoriums; I had celebrated one wedding and there is another wedding coming soon; but last Sunday I had the first celebration of Baptism, delighting to welcome two children from the one family into the community of the church. The Baptisms had originally been scheduled for last May, but obviously had to be postponed, but the mother of the children kept watching for the First Minister to give the green light and then immediately made contact to rearrange. It was a very happy event and all the necessary protocols were observed meticulously. In the weeks to come, presuming no greater restrictions are imposed, we hope also to celebrate the First Holy Communions for our local Primary Schools, also postponed from last May; and then the Confirmations of the children who were scheduled to be confirmed last March, on the very day that the churches were closed, which was on the Feast of St. Joseph. These children have now moved on to Secondary School, so there will be the task now of contacting and preparing them, and then organizing the service to confer the fullness of the Holy Spirit on their young lives.
 
Out in Bishopbriggs, myself and Father Antony keep holding the fort as best we can. The inevitable happened in that Father Gareth went down to Wales to support his mum through some medical procedures. He intended to be away for a week, but now there is a lockdown in Merthyr Tydfil, and God knows when he will be back this time. Father Justinian is still doing well. We appreciate your continual expressions of concern and support, and please be assured that we remember you always in our prayers and are thankful for your goodness towards us. So, as always: protect yourselves and your loved ones, and protect Christ in your lives.

0 Comments

father frank's log...

18/9/2020

1 Comment

 
FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 13th – 20th SEPTEMBER 2020
​

It’s been, for me, a week of highs and lows. Our Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows came to an end with the great Passionist Feasts of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on Monday and Our Lady of Sorrows on Tuesday. Going by the feedback we received, it was well worth holding the Novena this year, even with all the Covid-19 restrictions, and hopefully it will have been a very blessed time for anyone who took part in any way. Father Antony worked incredibly hard and it struck me yet again what an extraordinary introduction he has had to priestly life since his ordination last December. Even for experienced old timers like myself, such an intense experience of preparing liturgies and homilies as we have had, not just for the Novena, but since lockdown began last March, is not easy. Since we began the streaming of Masses from the Oratory from that time, the intention was always to provide something of substance that could support and nourish people during this difficult time, but little did we think that, six months on, we would still be doing it, and no sign of it coming to an end. It was great to have Father Gareth back with us to play his part too, and, even though he has had to return to Merthyr Tydfil for a short time, he should be back with us more permanently by the end of next week. Throughout it all, we were supported by the prayers of Father Justinian who continues to do well since his stay in hospital at the early stages of lockdown.
 
I was also very aware, as the Novena drew to a close, that this marked the occasion last year of the closure of St. Mungo’s for the refurbishment work to be done, especially the provision of a much-needed new floor. At that stage, Masses moved to St. Paul’s Hall, and that’s where we remained from then until the middle of December. Much as we longed to be back in the church, our time there was actually quite enjoyable, with a much more intimate atmosphere being created in the much smaller space, people sitting beside people they had never sat beside before, and getting to know people they had never spoken to before, and, certainly, there wasn’t even a hint, or even the remotest possibility of social distancing. In the church, though, almost from day one, issues cropped up requiring additional works to what had been originally planned, such as the requirement to replace the 70-year old heating pipes, and the necessity of rebuilding collapsed dwarf walls, holding up the timber, which had crumbled over the years; and there were times when I looked in at the gaping hole in the floor, that looked as if it might soon reach Australia, and wondered if it had been wise to ever set out on this journey at all. Thankfully, it all ended well, the church is more beautiful than ever, and it has become a symbol for me, that we will eventually get through this present Covid-19 crisis as well, and that, at the end of it, something worthwhile will have been gained, and learned.
 
The low point came for me the day after the Novena ended. I was catching up on some administration at the church, and doing some post-Novena clear-up. Then I had to walk into town to attend to some business. I came back to the church, then drove out to the house to join Father Antony for the Mass of St. Ninian from the oratory, remembering my visits to Ninian’s cave over the years, a special place. I returned to the church for the Wednesday Prayer, Adoration and Reconciliation. It was only then that I realised that I didn’t have my mobile phone. Extensive searches took place, and continue to take place, in and around the church, out at the house in Bishopbriggs, inside the car I was driving, but all to no avail. When I ring the number it just goes dead. Were it just a phone I wouldn’t be worried, phones can easily be replaced, but, despite the fact that I am not a social media person in the slightest, mobile phones these days carry a lot of information, professional and personal, and I feel it’s a bit like having your house broken into, a sense of having been invaded, personally intruded upon, as I wonder who might have it, and what might they do with it. Also, my driving license was tucked inside, so there has been a nightmare of reporting and trying to limit any damage that might be done, and seeking to replace what was lost. Even St. Antony seems lost. So, protect yourselves and your loved ones, and protect Christ in your lives.

1 Comment

September 11th, 2020

11/9/2020

0 Comments

 
FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 6th – 13th SEPTEMBER 2020
As I write, it’s day 4 of our Annual Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows. Father Antony, Father Gareth and myself are taking a day about, and today is one my days, which means I have celebrated the morning Mass in the church, and tonight I will present a period of prayer and reflection, incorporating our Novena Prayers, which will be streamed from the Oratory in Bishopbriggs. The day didn’t start very well, though. There was an influx of early morning bookings for today’s Mass when I checked in on my laptop before breakfast. By the time I responded to those I was running late. In the ensuing rush I left the house without my mobile phone. On arriving at St. Mungo’s, I asked Father Antony to ring Father Gareth and ask him to fetch my phone and bring it in with him, as he was coming in a bit later to celebrate a Funeral Mass after the Novena. This meant revealing my secret hiding place, where I kept the spare key to my room for emergencies, which, to be honest, I have had to use more often than I would like, as I have a habit of forgetting keys, even more than I forget my mobile phone.
 
I then came up to the parish office and turned on my desktop computer, intending to print out an up-to-date list of bookings to give to the volunteers for the 10 o’clock Mass, so that they could check people in. The document seemed to be taking a very long time to open. I decided to close it and try to open it again, but I ended up freezing the computer. I had to turn it off and restart. When I restarted the computer, I was offered all kinds of diagnostic solutions, which I declined, and had to restart it once again. By the time I got the list printed off half the people were already in the church and we had to conduct some remedial registration. Eventually, we got sorted, and I was able to snatch a few minutes of deep breathing and invocation of the Holy Spirit before Mass, as by this stage I was not at all recollected.
 
After Mass I managed to mislay an intention request, with a donation inside, which I had read out along with some of the petitions during the Mass. Having searched the altar area, and the sacristy, I then discovered I had brought it up to the office after all, with no memory whatsoever of having done so. I had a quick mug of tea and then attended to some administrative duties before rushing up to Drumchapel to bring my brother for an appointment I had made for him with the optician. I had noticed him peering at the menu on the television, and also struggling to read, which he loves to do. I discovered it had been 13 years since he last had his eyes tested, so it was well long overdue. Before leaving St. Mungo’s, I thought I had put the pen I was using in the office into a pen jar that I keep on my desk. I was later informed that I had actually put the pen into my half-drunk mug of tea.
 
The day took an upturn when, after my brother’s eye test, and the choosing of two frames, one for distance glasses, and one for reading glasses, the assistant asked if she should size the frames there and then, so that I could just pick them up when they were ready, or did I want to bring my father back in again. I looked at him, and he looked at me, and he said to her, “Actually, I’m his younger brother”. She looked aghast and apologetic. “I know from your form you are 66”, she said to my brother, “so what age are you?”, she said to me. “69”, says I. “Oh no”, says she, “I thought you were only in your 40’s”. What had begun as a pretty awful day had just ended on a high note. I thanked her profusely and couldn’t wait to get back and tell the rest of the community who, no doubt, would not believe me”.
 
The latest news from Bishopbriggs is that, with East Dunbartonshire now on lockdown again, Father Justinian has had to curtail his social life, which far exceeds that of the rest of us; Father Antony returned safely from his classmate’s ordination; Father Gareth is getting ready to go to Merthyr Tydfil again, just for a week, to support his mum through some medical appointments; while I get quietly more forgetful and confused, despite being only in my 40’s.
So, as always, protect yourselves and your loved ones, and protect Christ in your lives.

0 Comments

FATHER FRANK's LOG...

5/9/2020

1 Comment

 
FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 29th AUGUST – 6th SEPTEMBER 2020

As I write, Father Antony is getting ready to travel to Northern Ireland for a few days. On Saturday 5th September his classmate, Aidan, will be ordained in the Passionist Church of Holy Cross in Ardoyne, Belfast. I don’t know if any of you will remember Aidan as one of the deacons at Father Antony’s ordination last December. Aidan was due to be ordained last May, in time for our Provincial Chapter in June, but the ordination was postponed due to Covid-19 lockdown, as was the Chapter. Continuing restrictions mean that attendance at the Ordination Mass will be limited to close and immediate family members only. A handful of Passionists will attend but only our Provincial, Father Jim Sweeney, and Father Antony, will be able to concelebrate with the ordaining bishop. Fellow priests will not be able to lay hands on him, or offer him the kiss of peace, as is normally part of the Ordination ceremony. The following day, Father Aidan will celebrate his first Mass in his home parish of Carnlough, County Antrim, (which is also the home parish of Brendan Rogers). His first Mass will also be restricted to close and immediate family members. Father Antony will preach at that Mass, after which Father Aidan will go and say a prayer at the grave of his parents, and then return to give his first blessing. As with all things these days, it will be a very different experience from that which was first anticipated by Aidan and his family but, at the end of the day, we will have a new Passionist priest, and that’s the most important thing. Father Aidan will then move from Mount Argus in Dublin, where he is based at present, to take up his first official posting at the Passionist Retreat Centre at Tobar Mhuire in Crossgar, County Down.   

Last Saturday morning I was out walking, and I happened to be passing St. Matthew’s Church in Bishopbriggs just before 11 a.m. Like St. Mungo’s, the church there has been undergoing quite extensive refurbishment. The work was just about finished when lockdown came last March, and the builders had to down tools. The intention had been to try and open for Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion on 10th April, but obviously that didn’t happen. Now that the builders are back working, and the tail end jobs are almost complete, the church will happily re-open very soon. As I passed the church I wondered if Canon Hill, the parish priest, might still be around after the 10 a.m. Mass in the hall. It turned out that he was, and he kindly gave me a guided tour of the newly refurbished church, which is beautiful. New aisles have been added and the church furnishings are all bespoke. There is a lovely brightness about the place and I’m sure that the parishioners will be very happy with all that has been achieved. St. Matthew’s was Father Antony’s parish, and is still his mum’s parish. With the refurbishment work going on, and then the Coronavirus, Father Antony hasn’t yet had the opportunity to celebrate Mass in his home parish, which he would love to do, but hopefully we can look forward to that happening in the near future.

Father Gareth has been settling back as if he has never been away, although he will need to leave us again during the Novena to bring his mum to some important medical appointments, but that will only be for a week and then he can come back and settle in properly. The house in Bishopbriggs, the church, and the parish office, have quickly become noisy again as Father Gareth brings his own unique presence to bear. However, while Father Antony and myself have gotten used to working within the new protocols for public worship, Father Gareth has been finding it all very strange and, being such a big man, celebrating the streamed Masses, from such a small space in our community oratory at home, is very much a challenge for him. 
So, now we get ready to begin the Novena next Monday. Just to remind you that the full programme has been published on the website and, if you’re reading this, then you clearly have access to that. On the programme page you will also see a link to a page where you can make out a petition for the Novena, if you wish, and submit it to me. We will pray for all of the intentions we receive at every Novena Mass, or Service. Let’s pray for many blessings.
So, as always, protect yourselves and your loved ones, and protect Christ in your lives.

1 Comment
    Picture

    FATHER FRANK KEEVINS C.P.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    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

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.