Masses Today

6.30: Tom Giblin, (Anniv)
11.00: Thomas Hynes, (Anniv)
6.30: Frank Barrett, (Anniv)

AS I WAS SAYING...

The minds of many will wander towards Ballybrit this weekend, but back to the Ballybrit of 25 years ago. The focus of that papal celebration was of course young people. The attendance far surpassed all expectations. It was a truly historic event. But what is the level of interest in Ballybrit (even as an historic event) today among young people?

I am sometimes amazed at the lack of a sense of history even among students of history. Events that lie outside their immediate experience seem almost irrelevant to them. Eamon Conway, from the University of Limerick, has written on this topic. "It is not as though they were afraid of history," Conway observes, "it is as if they lacked a category by which to consider past events." There is an overwhelming sense of disconnection from the past, and puzzlement as to why it should matter. (And, as far as they are concerned, the Church belongs to that past). This brings it own blessings, of course. We Irish have often been criticised for our obsessions with the past. Those familiar with the events north of the border will not find fault with that criticism.

At the same time, this lack of a sense of history represents a tremendous impoverishment. It means that the present generation must virtually reinvent itself. It has no background, no personal story to unite and inspire, nothing to locate it in a context wider and greater than itself. Conway has used the analogy of adopted children to explore the problem: "Children who are adopted sometimes find it hard to live without knowledge of their birth-parents and family background. Pieces of the jigsaw essential to their personal identity and self-worth are missing." In the same way, a generation that has become separated from its own personal history is cut off from an essential aspect of its identity and source of self-worth, and here too the result can be detrimental and destructive.

This sense of disconnectedness is not only from the past: it is also from many aspects of the present. I am amazed how, for example, the scandals in the Church have passed so many young people completely by. Young adults may be disaffected, but it is not because of outrage at the scandals. The outrage comes more from older people who feel let down by a Church they once looked up to. For many younger people the Church is not even a source of disappointment: it is simply not a part of their world at all. Their world is that of MTV and the Worldwide Web, and maybe the sports pages of the tabloids. Their level of interest in current affairs is appallingly low. Reality, whatever form it takes, simply does not sell. Anything which encourages fantasies is bound to be a success. Steadily the real world shrinks from view and a virtual world replaces it. Virtual reality is attractive because people can create these artificial worlds for themselves and therefore be gods in their own universe. They are in control and can feel secure. Many are truly 'disconnected' from what adults call 'reality'. Compared with 25 years ago, the challenge of Youth Ministry today is enormous. Yet, they are no better or no worse that their predecessors were in 1979!

-Dick Lyng.

EVENTS THIS WEEK AND LAST

HARVEST FESTIVAL

The group charged with organising the Harvest Festival for Sunday next, October 10th met on Monday night in the Priory. We will try to have the festival marked at all three weekend Masses. The idea behind the Harvest Festival is that this particular community will give thanks for " the fruit of the earth and the work of human hands" during our Sunday Masses. We will not confine our attentions to the respective harvests of 'the sea and the soil' alone. Anything which qualifies as 'work of human hands' will be welcome in decorating the Church for the occasion.

So we have two 'movements' to this Harvest Festival:
(a) The items brought to the church to decorate it for the Sunday Mass, and
(b) items brought along to the Sunday Masses as symbolic of your harvest. It could be vegetables, apples, a pot of jam, a baked cake, perhaps some knitting crochet or patchwork.

So bring this along on Sunday next and we will arrange to have it all presented at the Offertory of the Mass. We will arrange the distribution of the perishable items to the needy almost immediately. We will meet on Saturday next at 2.30 to begin our decoration of the Church for the occasion. If you are free, come along and give a hand.

JUBILEE COMMEMORATION BALLYBRIT MASS

The Jubilee Mass will begin at 3.00pm today. Bear in mind the following:

PAPAL MEMORIES

(This article appeared in The Irish Times on Monday last. Fr Billy FitzGerald recalls the pontiff's first and disastrous face-to-camera RTE television broadcast earlier that year. Unfortunately, Billy died suddenly on Tuesday.)

In April 1979, Irish missionaries had come from every corner of the globe to Knock for a great missionary congress. Their meeting was a celebration of more than a century of dedicated service. A message came through to me in my office at RTÉ while we were preparing extensive TV coverage of the event. The Holy Father would like, in his turn, to honour both the missionaries and the nation by sending a pre-recorded message to be broadcast during the congress.

A slot was booked with RTE and the papal message duly arrived. Because of the last minute arrival of the film I barely had time to hand it over to the transmission people before I set off for Knock. Transmission was arranged for the 10 minutes following the evening news on the final Friday of the mission congress. All over Ireland TV sets were tuned in for what was certainly a unique event.

The programme was announced and there was an anticipatory silence in the pub where our TV team had gathered to watch the transmission after their day's work.

And then, there he was. "My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ...." The bronzed face was smiling; the voice was strong and the personality engaging. But suddenly, within seconds of his beginning, he simply disappeared! What had happened was that he had picked up his script from the desk at which he was sitting and was holding it right in front of his face. From then on, all we saw was his white skull-cap, his hairline and his eyebrows. All eye contact was lost. Three-quarters of the screen was a blank, white paper. And it stayed that way. Within minutes all interest had gone. It was a total fiasco.

Within weeks, it was announced that the Holy Father was planning to visit Ireland. Within the religious programmes department at RTÉ it was all hands on deck. Then another message: the Holy Father wanted to go on-air during his visit, so that he could speak to those who could not attend any of the planned events. And he wanted to pre-record his message in Rome!

The prospect was daunting. I wrote to Rome saying that the previous effort was a disaster! "The Pope must agree to some training in the use of an autocue." Next day Father Magee (now Bishop of Cloyne) was on the phone. "Come out and let's discuss what can be done," he said.

For a week Pope John Paul became a student again. The equipment fascinated him and he quickly learned the tricks of the trade. By week's end, the skills had been mastered and the message was ready. We went for a take. It was not good. Seated beside the pontiff, I suggested that it would be worth a second try. He agreed and we took it from the top. Perfect. "There," he said, sitting back with a smile. "Now you have two bad ones!" He graciously chatted with my crew, thanked us and was gone.

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