FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 1st – 8th JUNE 2025
Last Monday, all four members of our Passionist community here in Glasgow set off for an assembly in Crossgar, Northern Ireland, as the final part of our preparations for our Passionist Provincial Chapter, which will take place from 16th-20th June in Larne. Father Gareth was the designated driver, and so, after the 10 o’clock Masses in both St Mungo’s and St Roch’s, we all piled into his 2012 Renault Clio to make our way to Cairnryan for the Stena Line ferry to Belfast. Claiming privilege of seniority and age, I claimed the front seat beside Father Gareth. As is our practice, we had left in plenty of time, just in case there were any delays en route. As is also our practice, if we were making good time, we stopped off in Girvan for a bit of lunch. We arrived at Cairnryan without any hitches. Being a bank holiday Monday, we could see that the ferry was going to be busy. When we were put into lane 11, I knew immediately that when we boarded, we would be directed down to deck one, into the very bowels of the boat, like Jonah in the belly of the whale. It’s a horrible place to be, with a very steep ramp to negotiate down and back up again. Climbing from there to deck 8, I found a corner seat, read my book, looked over some notes for the meeting, and then had a wee snooze. Before I knew it, we were in Belfast and, after coming out of the belly of the whale, on our road to Crossgar.
Monday night was more of a meeting up, catching up, socialising kind of night, with guys whom I hadn’t seen in quite a while. It was very pleasant. Tuesday was a serious work day but, all in all, it went well, carried out in a good spirit, and now we have to wait and see what the Chapter and its aftermath will bring. The journey home was without hitch as well. The ferry was quieter, and we were directed to park on deck 5, next to a couple of livestock trucks, one bringing chickens, and the other bringing sheep, to meet their final end. I know that the late Pope Francis said that we should get the smell of the sheep, which we certainly did, but I don’t think this is quite what he meant. Chicken and lamb is now off the menu.
We arrived back to Bishopbriggs about half an hour after midnight. My mind was still very active and so I read until around 1.30 a.m. before putting my head on the pillow to try to sleep, not very successfully. The next day I went off to collect some of the family, and together we went to St Kentigern’s Cemetery to bury Patrick’s ashes, and then to go off and have a bit of lunch together. As mentioned last week, Patrick was buried beside our mother and father. Our mother, to whom Patrick was incredibly close, had died on the Solemnity of the Ascension in 2001, and as this was the eve of the Ascension, I felt there was a certain serendipity about that. When I say that our mother died on the Solemnity of the Ascension, that was because I was based in Ireland at the time, where the Ascension had been moved to the nearest Sunday. While I see the reasoning behind moving Holydays of Obligation to the nearest Sunday, the two that I feel shouldn’t be touched are the Ascension and the Epiphany. The Ascension should certainly be a Thursday – 40 days after Easter; and the Epiphany should certainly be the 6th of January – 12 days after Christmas. The rest I can live with.
Of course, that brought to mind another Solemnity that was once always celebrated on a Thursday but has now been moved to the nearest Sunday, and that is Corpus Christi. Many of us will remember the Solemnity of Corpus Christi on 25th May 1967, with Celtic preparing to play in the European Cup Final in Lisbon, and many of the team going to Mass for the Holy Day in the morning, then later defeating Inter Milan 2-1 in the final. Perhaps, for that reason alone, Corpus Christi should have remained on a Thursday. Inter Milan are once again in the final this weekend, but sadly it’s against Paris Saint-Germain. May the best team win.
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
Last Monday, all four members of our Passionist community here in Glasgow set off for an assembly in Crossgar, Northern Ireland, as the final part of our preparations for our Passionist Provincial Chapter, which will take place from 16th-20th June in Larne. Father Gareth was the designated driver, and so, after the 10 o’clock Masses in both St Mungo’s and St Roch’s, we all piled into his 2012 Renault Clio to make our way to Cairnryan for the Stena Line ferry to Belfast. Claiming privilege of seniority and age, I claimed the front seat beside Father Gareth. As is our practice, we had left in plenty of time, just in case there were any delays en route. As is also our practice, if we were making good time, we stopped off in Girvan for a bit of lunch. We arrived at Cairnryan without any hitches. Being a bank holiday Monday, we could see that the ferry was going to be busy. When we were put into lane 11, I knew immediately that when we boarded, we would be directed down to deck one, into the very bowels of the boat, like Jonah in the belly of the whale. It’s a horrible place to be, with a very steep ramp to negotiate down and back up again. Climbing from there to deck 8, I found a corner seat, read my book, looked over some notes for the meeting, and then had a wee snooze. Before I knew it, we were in Belfast and, after coming out of the belly of the whale, on our road to Crossgar.
Monday night was more of a meeting up, catching up, socialising kind of night, with guys whom I hadn’t seen in quite a while. It was very pleasant. Tuesday was a serious work day but, all in all, it went well, carried out in a good spirit, and now we have to wait and see what the Chapter and its aftermath will bring. The journey home was without hitch as well. The ferry was quieter, and we were directed to park on deck 5, next to a couple of livestock trucks, one bringing chickens, and the other bringing sheep, to meet their final end. I know that the late Pope Francis said that we should get the smell of the sheep, which we certainly did, but I don’t think this is quite what he meant. Chicken and lamb is now off the menu.
We arrived back to Bishopbriggs about half an hour after midnight. My mind was still very active and so I read until around 1.30 a.m. before putting my head on the pillow to try to sleep, not very successfully. The next day I went off to collect some of the family, and together we went to St Kentigern’s Cemetery to bury Patrick’s ashes, and then to go off and have a bit of lunch together. As mentioned last week, Patrick was buried beside our mother and father. Our mother, to whom Patrick was incredibly close, had died on the Solemnity of the Ascension in 2001, and as this was the eve of the Ascension, I felt there was a certain serendipity about that. When I say that our mother died on the Solemnity of the Ascension, that was because I was based in Ireland at the time, where the Ascension had been moved to the nearest Sunday. While I see the reasoning behind moving Holydays of Obligation to the nearest Sunday, the two that I feel shouldn’t be touched are the Ascension and the Epiphany. The Ascension should certainly be a Thursday – 40 days after Easter; and the Epiphany should certainly be the 6th of January – 12 days after Christmas. The rest I can live with.
Of course, that brought to mind another Solemnity that was once always celebrated on a Thursday but has now been moved to the nearest Sunday, and that is Corpus Christi. Many of us will remember the Solemnity of Corpus Christi on 25th May 1967, with Celtic preparing to play in the European Cup Final in Lisbon, and many of the team going to Mass for the Holy Day in the morning, then later defeating Inter Milan 2-1 in the final. Perhaps, for that reason alone, Corpus Christi should have remained on a Thursday. Inter Milan are once again in the final this weekend, but sadly it’s against Paris Saint-Germain. May the best team win.
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
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