Pentecost 2009

What a weekend! On Saturday afternoon the First Communions were celebrated with devotion and prayer. It brought such joy to us all and to the heart of God to see His Son received for the first time by these girls and boys. May each of them grow in love for the Mass and the Eucharist every day. We must do all we can to let these young people know that they are precious in the sight of God and of us.

Today is Confirmation Day at St Joseph’s. The Holy Spirit came on the early Church and we will see the same occur when Mgr Fleischmann invokes the Spirit to come upon the girls and boys this Sunday afternoon. May each of these great young people go on growing in the Spirit and His gifts received today.

The formation of those receiving First Communion and Confirmation started at Baptism in the domestic church which is the Family. There they learned of the ways of Faith. Some went on to schools where this seed was cultivated. Others were solidly formed in the ways of Faith by the dedication and excellence of the St Joseph’s CCD programme for Sacraments. Without this key ministry of the parish we would have a doubtful future as a believing community. The months given to this Christian Formation of the young has impressed me beyond words since coming to St Joseph’s eight months ago. May God bless all families and teachers who have shared their own faith to lead the young to God.

Today my joy for all this goodness is tinged with deep shame and revulsion at what has emerged in an Irish Government Report of 2,575 pages setting out the most horrific physical and sexual abuse along with neglect over more than 60 years. Some of these children had been sent to these care homes run by religious congregations by the Courts and others because of their family situation. Instead of the love and protection that these little ones should have received they were brutally and systematically abused and mistreated. Not all the members of these religious congregations did these sinful and heinous deeds. But because of a culture of silence and denial this continued until some brave survivors of this barbaric treatment spoke out as adults and kept talking until their voices were heard by the State and the Church in Ireland.

The Passionists, among whom I have spent 45 years, never had care homes for children. But some in the Irish Church have grievously damaged the little ones especially beloved by Jesus. Because of the Vine and Branches (Gospel 3 Sundays ago) we are affected by this poison. In the parish where I was previously I defended the rights of children to education and protection from physical and psychological abuse during a 3 month blockade of their school. I did what any human being would do. I didn’t seek or expect thanks for what had to be done. Church leaders should listen more intently to the Holy Spirit speaking through all the People of God. My sad experience, even in recent times, is that the voices of the laity are not always heard sufficiently clearly by those serving as leaders in our Church. With more listening, Pentecost can truly become the wonder of God’s Spirit amongst His People and especially for His lovely children.

Aidan Troy (Aodahán, C.P.)