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October 29th, 2022

29/10/2022

FR. FRANK’S LOG: 30th OCTOBER – 6th NOVEMBER 2022

Last Saturday, after the 10am and 12.15pm Masses, I headed up to my brothers to perform my usual caring duties. Father John and Father Gareth were on the duty list for the evening Confessions, and Father John kindly looked after a group of American visitors who had asked to celebrate Mass in the church. They had their own priest and two permanent deacons with them. As they had promised to be finished in time for the Adoration and Confessions, due to begin at 3pm, there was no problem, and we were happy to welcome them. It was unfortunate that Saturday wasn’t the most pleasant day, weather-wise, and this was to be their only day in Glasgow before moving on to Edinburgh, having arrived to Glasgow from a tour of Ireland. I arrived back to the church in time to prepare for the Vigil Mass at 6pm. After parking the car in the yard, I went to get my rucksack out of the boot. The car wasn’t the car I normally drive and, somehow, I managed to bring the boot crashing down on my forehead with quite a bang. After praising the Lord profusely, I went up to the office where we have a refrigerator. In the freezer box there, I keep some things for my brother, as he only has a tiny little freezer box in his fridge. The advice on such occasions always seems to concern making an ice-pack out of frozen peas. Vegetables of any kind aren’t my brother’s strong suit, so I had to make do with a pack of frozen sausages, and I think they worked just as well, as now, a number of days later, no bump has developed. Apart from the initial shock, and the shedding of blood, it was never particularly sore, but I was left with a nice scar that made me look like a cross between Harry Potter and Frankenstein. If I was so inclined, I would have been all set for Halloween.

This was the third occasion in recent times that I had banged my head in a similar place. The first was when Connor, the Passionist student who spent some time with us in St. Mungo’s recently, collected me at George Best Belfast City airport to go to a meeting in Crossgar. This time, as I placed my bag into the boot, he managed to bring the boot crashing down on my head, with a similar outcome. This time, there were no frozen sausages, or frozen peas, quickly to hand, and so I ended up with a nice bump on my forehead that took a little while to disappear. The second occasion was after one of our Friday night Passionist Community take-aways in Bishopbriggs. Having bagged up the debris, I carried the bag out to the bin. It was a stormy night and, no sooner had a lifted up the lid of the bin, than the wind caught it and brought it crashing back down on my head, leaving me with another nice wound to show off, and with which to try to elicit some sympathy and TLC. Not that there was much of that forthcoming from the other Passionists, who seemed to find it all rather amusing. Reflecting on these experiences I am inclined to draw one or two conclusions. The first is that I may be getting a bit dithery and doo-lally in my old age and need to be more careful. The second is that I must have a hard head as not too much damage has ever accrued from these episodes.

Speaking of meetings in Crossgar, I have been attending yet another one this week. Unable to get a flight on the Wednesday, I am imagining because of people returning to Ireland from the Celtic match the night before, I had to drive, but that was okay. Always around this time of year we have a gathering of community superiors to review how things are going. It also gives me a chance, as Provincial Bursar, to update the men on our present financial situation, and to invite the leaders to get their communities together, and to begin preparing budgets for the coming year. As you can imagine, budgeting for the coming year will not be an easy task in the present climate, but it has to be done. Once again, it was good to meet some of the brethren I hadn’t seen for a while. Father Antony was there and is doing fine. So too, back in Bishopbriggs we continue to get on with things, and everyone is well enough at this time.

As always, protect yourselves, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.

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October 22nd, 2022

22/10/2022

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FR. FRANK’S LOG: 23rd – 30th OCTOBER 2022

I spent the first few days of this week in Dublin. Regular readers of the Log may remember that, after our Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows mid-September, I had postponed a planned trip to Dublin for meetings, on the basis of being a bit bunched, and having to put too much in place to be able to get away – the story of my life. The meetings were rearranged by our Provincial Secretary, and another meeting added, and so, this was the reason for my trip. The meetings were with our accountants, auditors and investment managers, in my capacity as Provincial Bursar for the Passionists in St. Patrick’s Province. Needless to say, in the present financial climate, none of them were coming with any good news. There’s a song called the Rocky Road to Dublin, by the High Kings, and, certainly, not just for the Passionists, but for all of us, there is a rocky road ahead, financially, for the foreseeable future.

There were no big dramas on my travels. I have a reputation for being a harbinger of disaster when I travel; planes break down and have to turn back; luggage goes missing, I forget where I parked my car in the long-term car park on my return; but, apart from one-hour delays on my flights, both going and returning, which just seems to be par for the course at present, everything went reasonably smoothly. It’s always good on these trips to meet up with the brethren, some of whom would be well known here at St. Mungo’s. Father Paul Francis has just returned from Rome where he was facilitating the Passionist General Synod, attended by our Scottish Provincial, Father Jim Sweeney. At that Synod it was formally agreed that the Passionists in England would be formally integrated with Passionists in Scotland and Ireland. Father Jim is proposing to our Superior General that the date of the formal integration of our two Provinces into one Province take place on the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, 21st November, which is an important feast for the Passionists. On that day we will have a Zoom Gathering of all the members of the new Province to mark the event in a fraternal way. On that day Father Justinian will no longer be the oldest man in St. Patrick’s Province as there are three members in England who are older, so he will need to develop a new chat-up line as he always begins conversations with people he is only meeting by saying that he is the oldest man in our Province. It’s a bit like Father Gareth beginning conversations by saying that he comes from the same part of Wales as Tom Jones, followed by saying he can’t sing, and then finishing by saying that you can’t be gorgeous and a good singer at the same time. If only I had a pound for every occasion I’ve heard that! I also met Father Augustine who seemed to be in great form and wanted to be remembered to the people of St. Mungo’s, so I am passing that on. Father Dermot was convalescing after knee surgery which seems to have gone well.

I returned in time to celebrate, on Wednesday, the Feast of St. Paul of the Cross, the founder of the Passionists. As some of you may have followed on social media, Father Antony is only
just returning to Minsteracres from a gathering of recently-ordained Passionists in Rome. As part of the gathering they had a tour of a number of places associated with our founder: Ovada where he was born; Castellazo where he made his 40-day Retreat during which he wrote the first Passionist Rule; Monte Argentario where St. Paul of the Cross established the first Passionist monastery; Vetralla which was the founder’s own favourite house, before then returning to Saints John & Paul’s in Rome where our founder ended his days. I remember making those trips 40 years ago and returning with a much deeper sense of what it means to be a Passionist. I’ve no doubt it will do the same thing for Father Antony. Meantime Father Gareth is making great strides with his chaplaincy ministry; Father John is still pursuing his driving test, and Father Justinian, no longer our oldest member, may be one of the healthiest.

As always, protect yourselves, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.

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father frank's log...

15/10/2022

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FR. FRANK’S LOG: 16th – 23rd OCTOBER 2022

There can be little doubt that the highlight of my week was the 21st birthday party of my grand-nephew Michael, the second oldest grandchild of my older brother, the undoubted doyen of Scottish sports journalism. Michael is quite severely autistic and his parents, my niece and her husband, are at the top of the list of people I admire for their extraordinary commitment and dedication, but most of all for their tremendous love and care for Michael and for their daughter, Maria, the oldest of the doyen’s grandchildren. In her teaching career my niece has specialised in autism and is well thought of in the field. She is also a relentless fundraiser for the cause, aided and abetted by her father, and with the kind support of some of his sporting contacts. The big birthday was last Friday, but the party was on the Saturday night. People gathered from both our family and my niece’s husband’s family, which also numbers a priest from among its members. We had to wait for Michael though, because one of his unbreakable routines is that his dad brings him out for a take-away treat on a Saturday night. There are a number of places where he likes to go, but he never decides until they are in the car and on the road, so, for his dad, it’s always a magical mystery tour where Michael calls the shots. The rest of us enjoyed a potluck meal with a variety of homemade dishes that were all equally delicious. I had rice with a portion of vegetable curry, chilli con carne, and some kind of chicken dish. I then went back for seconds and threw a mini pizza on top of it as well. For some strange reason I didn’t sleep great that night. Once Michael had also enjoyed his take-away the high point of the evening was when, not one, but two magnificent birthday cakes were brought in for Michael to blow out the candles, to rousing choruses of Happy Birthday to You, and For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow. We can never be sure how Michael might react to such attention, but last Saturday he just seemed to be in his element. He reigned supreme from his personal recliner, with a great smile on his face, a smile that grew even bigger when there was a huge round of applause at his puffing out of the candles. At that stage I was beginning to excuse myself as I had Masses and Baptisms next day, but it was a great celebration and one which will be long remembered.

I was in good form for a celebration as a couple of things that had been causing me a bit of minor anxiety and stress had been resolved in the days before. One was an electrical inspection of my younger brother’s house, the brother for whom I am the primary carer. The letter had requested access to the control panel, and to all the sockets and switches in the house. My brother, being a hoarder over many, many years, of books, comics, CD’s, video cassettes, DVD’s and magazines, had given me quite a task creating a clear path to everything, which I, more or less, managed to do, but, when the day came, the inspector did everything from the control panel in the hall, together with his handheld computer, and it transpired that everything was fine. All the hard work I had done, for which I think I’m getting too old, seemed to be in vain, but it was good exercise, and I lost a bit of weight, which was no harm. The other anxiety was around the Accounts programmes for the Parish and the Passionists that a glaring message on the dedicated laptop informed us needed to be upgraded, but which was showing some resistance to being upgraded. As many people know, I am a luddite when it comes to such things and I put out a few cries for help in various directions. In the end, it was our own parish webmaster who, with great patience and determination, resolved the issue, much to my relief and sincere gratitude.

Out at Bishopbriggs we are all doing fine, Father John enjoyed his few days in Minsteracres last weekend; Father Gareth is getting his teeth into his new chaplaincy role; Father Justinian remains well and content. I have just had my flu jab and Covid booster with no ill effects.

So,
as always, protect yourselves, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.

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father frank's

8/10/2022

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FR. FRANK’S LOG: 9th – 16th OCTOBER 2022

We had quite a celebration here in St. Mungo’s last Monday for the centenary celebration of Stella Maris, formerly known as the Apostleship of the Sea. It was founded in Glasgow in 1920, and so the centenary celebrations should have been two years ago, but of course, at that time, we were in the throes of Covid and everything was postponed until now. The centenary Mass was also supposed to have taken place in St. Aloysius in Garnethill, as there was a connection between the Jesuits in Garnethill and the origins of Stella Maris. St. Aloysius would have been available in 2020, but at present it is closed for some restoration work, and so we were asked here in St. Mungo’s if we would be willing to host the event. As we ourselves have a strong link with Stella Maris at the present time, we were happy to oblige.

I must confess, though, that I hadn’t quite grasped the extent of the celebrations. Earlier in the evening I greeted Deacon Joe and Robert, two of our parishioners who are involved in Stella Maris. I knew they were bringing a bishop with them who was to be the main celebrant for the Mass, but I didn’t know who, and so, not for the first time, and I’m sure it won’t be the last, I embarrassed myself by welcoming him and asking him who he was and where he was based. It turned out he was one of our Scottish bishops, the Benedictine monk, Hugh Gilbert, who currently serves as the Bishop of Aberdeen, having previously served as the Abbot of Pluscarden Abbey. I should have recognised him, but thankfully he was a lovely and humble man who, it seems, would not expect anyone to recognise him anyway. As it turned out we had four bishops at the Mass, the other three being from India; Taiwan and Ukraine. We also had 35 concelebrating Stella Maris priests on the old sanctuary, from all over the world, as well as six deacons, one of whom, an American, made a powerful job of proclaiming the Gospel. There was a bit of consternation before the Mass as, when the booklets arrived, the first reading was seen to be in Portuguese, and we didn’t have a Portuguese reader in attendance. Neither was the reading in any of the three volumes of the Lectionary. Fortunately, I had a Jerusalem Bible in the sacristy; and so, we found the particular, and very appropriate reading in the Book of Wisdom, and commandeered someone to proclaim it in English. Later on, the Universal Prayers were in a multitude of languages, some of which I didn’t even recognise.

Before the Mass had even begun, and just as we were lining up for the Entrance Procession, I was informed by one the organizing priests that there were people in the congregation, which was also multi-national, who were asking who St. Mungo was. I was thrust forward to say a few words, which indeed were few, but seemed to be satisfactory enough. I also pointed out the statue of St. Mungo in the church, as well as the statue of his mother, St. Enoch, opposite. After the Mass there were many photographs being taken of both. All in all, I felt it went very well, very peacefully, and very prayerfully, and my new friend, Bishop Hugh Gilbert, spoke very nicely in his homily too. Afterwards, buses arrived to bring people to the City Chambers for a civic reception. The following night they would be going through it all again with a Mass in St. Andrew’s Cathedral, followed by a meal and a specially commissioned play on the story of the Stella Maris origins. Unfortunately, I was unable to join them.

Out at Bishopbriggs we are all well. Quite remarkably, Father Gareth had all his unpacking done, and his room more or less organized, before he went to bed on the night of his arrival. He made his return to the church at the weekend and it was as if he had never been away. Not even the jokes had changed. Father John continues preparing for his driving test which we all hope he passes first time and gets back on the road again. Having acquired a bicycle he now realises that there is a chance that it might rain now and again in Scotland, and so the appeal of cycling seems to have waned a bit. Father Justinian is, as ever, unbelievably well
As always, protect yourselves, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.

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father frank's log...

1/10/2022

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FR. FRANK’S LOG: 2nd – 9th OCTOBER 2022

On Tuesday of this week, as I was preparing for the 10 o’clock Mass, I heard the sound of a Welsh tenor outside the Sacristy, and there was Father Gareth, large as life, en route to Bishopbriggs with his luggage. He was accompanied by Father Frank Trias and two parishioners from Holy Cross, Ardoyne, who had kindly agreed to bring all Father Gareth’s possessions over in their mini-bus, as they had done in the other direction just 10 months ago. For some reason, best kept to themselves, they had decided to travel on the 3.30am ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan. They then made their way up to Glasgow, stopping on the way, not too far from St. Mungo’s, at one of Father Gareth’s favourite haunts for a Big Breakfast, no doubt with his usual request of “no tomatoes, extra beans”. I am wondering if he is just delighted to be returning because a Full Scottish is better than an Ulster Fry. After reviving themselves with a breakfast, they decided to attend the 10am Mass, at which they were warmly greeted by that morning’s congregation. The minibus drivers had a guided tour of St. Mungo’s church and were mightily impressed, before continuing on their way. After depositing the luggage, and having a cuppa with Father Justinian, they made a detour so that Father Frank could visit his mammy, and then headed for an evening ferry home. It was a long day for them. At the time of writing, after another couple of nights in Belfast, Father Gareth is now on his way back, bringing over his own car, and then his work can begin. It will be so good to have him back.

Last night was another of those occasions when you feel that hours of your life have been wasted, or taken from you, that you will never get back again. The night before, my computer had carried out another series of what seems like endless updates. Why can’t things ever be left the same for a while? In the process they managed to disable the integrated webcam that I use for Zoom meetings, Skype calls and the like. Apparently, this is often likely to happen when updates are carried out. I then went into the helpline, but no matter what I did the webcam still couldn’t be found. I then resorted to an online chat helpline, at the end of which I was told all was sorted, and that the webcam would return when I restarted the computer. Needless to say, it didn’t. I went back into the online chat helpline and got somebody else. They tried a different route, at the end of which they said I was well sorted now. I had such confidence in this helper that I even answered the satisfaction questions that they impose on you before I logged out. Once again, the issue is unresolved, the webcam remains hidden, and I went to bed lamenting those lost hours. I will wait till I have the energy before I try again.

Today I am heading to a Deanery meeting, the first for a while, and certainly the first since the new Archbishop was installed. I think it will be an interesting meeting as there is quite a lot going on just now throughout the Archdiocese and it will be good to sit down with fellow priests and see where we all are, and how we all are. I’ve no doubt that Archbishop Nolan will have instructed the deans as to some of the issues he would like us to discuss as we try to move forward together, especially as regards the Synodal Path, which calls priests and people to work together towards a renewed, humbler, holier, and more Christ-like church.

I spoke to Father Antony recently. He is settling in well, but is at present attending lots of meetings. He is going to Rome for a gathering of recently ordained Passionists and he was wondering if we could help him out with Masses on Sunday 9th October. We are happy to help out, when possible, and Father John will take the train down to Minsteracres and spend the weekend. Father Gareth and I will be okay here. Father Justinian continues to keep remarkably well, and is looking forward to another new chapter in the life of our community.

As always, protect yourselves, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.

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October 29th, 2022

October 22nd, 2022

father frank's log...

father frank's

father frank's log...

FATHER FRANK KEEVINS C.P.

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