FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 19th – 26th JANUARY 2025
Welcome to the first log of 2025, after the usual Christmas and New Year break. It was a strange time for us as Passionists, really. A few days before Christmas Father Justinian, our 93-year-old community member, was taken into hospital, where he would remain for around three weeks, only returning to us last Thursday. Hospital visits became part of our daily routine, alongside all the other routines in preparation for the Christmas Masses and Services in both St Mungo’s and St Roch’s. It was more noticeable this year how different the traditions are in both parishes, in terms of, for example, when the crib goes up and when it comes down; when the tree goes up and when it comes down, and so on; and we were trying to respect the traditions of both parishes. However, the celebrations surrounding the Lord’s birth went fine, and were well enough attended in both places. For the first time since I returned to St Mungo’s, I didn’t celebrate the Midnight Mass. I chose instead to celebrate the Vigil Mass and to give the honours for the Midnight Mass to Father Gareth, with Father John celebrating the Mass of the Nativity at 9pm in St Roch’s. Father John and I did concelebrate with Father Gareth at midnight, but I must confess that, as the celebration was drawing to an end, I was beginning to seriously wilt, and looking forward so much to crawling into bed.
We each had a Christmas Day Mass to celebrate, two in St Mungo’s, one in St Roch’s, before we had a chance to catch breath. After visiting Father Justinian in hospital, I called up to my brother. I didn’t need to cook him a Christmas dinner as that would be brought round later by other family members. Eventually I got home to Bishopbriggs and had a rest, before we gathered for dinner at around 6pm. Brother Conor had offered to cook the dinner and it was very nice. It wasn’t traditional Christmas fayre, instead we had lamb, roast potatoes, and lots of other vegetables. We didn’t have starters, but there were cheeses and sweet things gifted to us that we were able to avail of afterwards for those who so wished, and who still had some tummy room. As we have tended to do for the last number of years, we went out locally for a meal on St Stephen’s Day, when the prices are much cheaper than on Christmas Day. We had initially booked for five of us but, unfortunately, we were down to four, being still minus Father Justinian. We had a very nice meal, and this time I did have the turkey and ham, as did Brother Conor, but Father Gareth and Father John opted for something different. At the end of the meal, we recalled a phrase that Father Lawrence, God rest him, would always have used at the end of the Boxing Day meal when, as he digested the last morsel of his dessert, he would say, “Ah well, that’s it over for another year”.
For myself, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day were even more strange. For reasons I won’t bore you with, we have no heating in the house at St Roch’s at present, and so, taking on board all the predictions of freezing weather, it became apparent that we would have to drain the system to protect the house from burst pipes. I therefore spent many hours on 31st December, and on 1st January, with a plumber, a true Godsend of a man, who managed to do that for us. Because of that, and with Masses to celebrate the next morning, I opted out of the usual family clan gathering at my niece’s house to bring in the New Year. I can’t tell you how many years it is since I missed that, apart from the Covid years. Father John and Brother Conor had both gone away by this stage and so, with Father Justinian still in hospital, there was only Father Gareth and I for dinner on New Year’s night. We had been gifted a beautiful steak pie that would have fed at least 5 people but, needless to say, between the two of us, there wasn’t much of it left at the end. and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We’re all back home again now, including Father Justinian, and doing our best to settle into 2025. We have just completed the Feast of St Mungo and the 40 Hours, and so, hopefully we can relax now into Ordinary Time. So, wishing you all a belated Happy New Year, in this Jubilee Year of Hope.
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
Welcome to the first log of 2025, after the usual Christmas and New Year break. It was a strange time for us as Passionists, really. A few days before Christmas Father Justinian, our 93-year-old community member, was taken into hospital, where he would remain for around three weeks, only returning to us last Thursday. Hospital visits became part of our daily routine, alongside all the other routines in preparation for the Christmas Masses and Services in both St Mungo’s and St Roch’s. It was more noticeable this year how different the traditions are in both parishes, in terms of, for example, when the crib goes up and when it comes down; when the tree goes up and when it comes down, and so on; and we were trying to respect the traditions of both parishes. However, the celebrations surrounding the Lord’s birth went fine, and were well enough attended in both places. For the first time since I returned to St Mungo’s, I didn’t celebrate the Midnight Mass. I chose instead to celebrate the Vigil Mass and to give the honours for the Midnight Mass to Father Gareth, with Father John celebrating the Mass of the Nativity at 9pm in St Roch’s. Father John and I did concelebrate with Father Gareth at midnight, but I must confess that, as the celebration was drawing to an end, I was beginning to seriously wilt, and looking forward so much to crawling into bed.
We each had a Christmas Day Mass to celebrate, two in St Mungo’s, one in St Roch’s, before we had a chance to catch breath. After visiting Father Justinian in hospital, I called up to my brother. I didn’t need to cook him a Christmas dinner as that would be brought round later by other family members. Eventually I got home to Bishopbriggs and had a rest, before we gathered for dinner at around 6pm. Brother Conor had offered to cook the dinner and it was very nice. It wasn’t traditional Christmas fayre, instead we had lamb, roast potatoes, and lots of other vegetables. We didn’t have starters, but there were cheeses and sweet things gifted to us that we were able to avail of afterwards for those who so wished, and who still had some tummy room. As we have tended to do for the last number of years, we went out locally for a meal on St Stephen’s Day, when the prices are much cheaper than on Christmas Day. We had initially booked for five of us but, unfortunately, we were down to four, being still minus Father Justinian. We had a very nice meal, and this time I did have the turkey and ham, as did Brother Conor, but Father Gareth and Father John opted for something different. At the end of the meal, we recalled a phrase that Father Lawrence, God rest him, would always have used at the end of the Boxing Day meal when, as he digested the last morsel of his dessert, he would say, “Ah well, that’s it over for another year”.
For myself, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day were even more strange. For reasons I won’t bore you with, we have no heating in the house at St Roch’s at present, and so, taking on board all the predictions of freezing weather, it became apparent that we would have to drain the system to protect the house from burst pipes. I therefore spent many hours on 31st December, and on 1st January, with a plumber, a true Godsend of a man, who managed to do that for us. Because of that, and with Masses to celebrate the next morning, I opted out of the usual family clan gathering at my niece’s house to bring in the New Year. I can’t tell you how many years it is since I missed that, apart from the Covid years. Father John and Brother Conor had both gone away by this stage and so, with Father Justinian still in hospital, there was only Father Gareth and I for dinner on New Year’s night. We had been gifted a beautiful steak pie that would have fed at least 5 people but, needless to say, between the two of us, there wasn’t much of it left at the end. and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We’re all back home again now, including Father Justinian, and doing our best to settle into 2025. We have just completed the Feast of St Mungo and the 40 Hours, and so, hopefully we can relax now into Ordinary Time. So, wishing you all a belated Happy New Year, in this Jubilee Year of Hope.
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
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