Provincial Corner

Funeral Homily: Fr. Maurice Rouleau: 1929 – 2009

Posted by on Sep 10, 2009 in Provincial Corner | 0 comments

Like the disciples in the Gospel we have just read, our hearts are troubled at the death of Fr. Maurice. We were stunned and saddened by the speed at which he succumbed to his illness – just a few weeks. But we can take consolation from Jesus’ words in the Gospel that he has gone to prepare a place for Maurice, the place set aside for him for all eternity. We are happy for him because he has achieved the goal of his life – adoration, the goal he set for himself all those years ago, sixty in fact, on the day of his First Profession. He joined the Congregation in order to see this blessed hour. He had already started to live in this heavenly presence here on earth through his fidelity to adoration. How often he must have prayed for this moment, read about it, reflected on it. Those words of Fr. Eymard must have filled him with a holy anticipation: “ Death is the lifting of the veil that allows Jesus to appear to the soul in all its tenderness” The second reading from Romans tells us that the life and death of each of us has its influence on others. Maurice had a deep influence on all who knew him. He belongs to that generation of generous American religious who left their homeland and went to the far corners of the world to promote the glory of the Eucharist – the Philippines, India, Australia – for him, it was Britain and Ireland. He served this province tirelessly for forty years, with total dedication and great ability as Superior, Provincial Treasurer and Provincial Consultor. He was Chaplain to Servitium Christi, a branch of Fr. Eymard’s family of consecrated people – he was devoted to them, and they loved and respected him. He was nothing less than a gift to this province from God and from the American province. He was a father-figure to all my generation of religious, having been Novice Master to most of us, the one who received us into the Congregation, and formed us for the religious life. We all remember those happy days with him – the outings, the picnics. We remember too the daily conferences, when his spirituality, his sincerity, his care for each one of us, and his deep love and knowledge of the Founder, which was contagious and rubbed off on us all and inspired us all. His loyalty to the Congregation was exemplary. He would have strong views about various aspects of our religious life, but if the leadership of the Congregation took a different stance on an issue, Fr. Maurice would be the first and most enthusiastic supporter of a decision he might have originally disagreed with, and would carry it out faithfully and enthusiastically. He spent the first forty years of his religious life under the old Rule, the Constitutions. But when the new Rule of Life replaced the Constitutions, controversially for many, Fr. Maurice gave it his total support – not only support, but as was so characteristic of him, he showed us all how to live it. He was a great letter-writer – no letter ever went unanswered – he would keep in touch with people for a long period of time, even all their lives. Maurice’s brother Marcel tells a little story – against himself, about the two of them when they were in the seminary together. They used to take turns every Sunday to write home to their mother. But Marcel did’nt like writing letters, so when it was his turn, he...

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Message on the Feast of St. Eymard

Posted by on Jul 31, 2009 in Provincial Corner | 0 comments

Dear Brothers, Greetings and best wishes on the Feast of our Holy Founder. We are now entering a time of opportunity for Eucharistic evangelisation,in the midst of a triple preparation: preparation for our Provincial Chapter in February 2010; preparation for our General Chapter in May 2011; and preparation for the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 2012, all linked through the Eucharist. This Eucharistic period was heralded by the theme that emerged from last September’s Amplified General Council in Madrid, which was based on Fr. E;ymard’s words: “ This is the beautiful and amiable mission of every religious of the Blessed Sacrament: disciple and apostle of Eucharistic love; this is his true name, his grace, his life.” Discipleship and apostleship, community and apostolate – the two aspects of mission. In his recent letter convoking the General Chapter, Fr. General speaks about the challenge to marry these dual elements of community and apostolate, if we are to carry out our Eucharistic mission effectively. This, he said, calls for a lifestyle oriented towards mission. Fr. General goes on to say that it is necessary to improve the quality of our community life if we are to relaunch our Eucharistic mission at the service of the Church. We must be good disciples before we can be good apostles. He tells us that the central theme of our life is the interaction between community and apostolate. The mission is never the expression of one individual, but arises from community – our mission is always a corporate activity – there is always a link between what we are, and what we do. When we are on mission, we are always religious. At the AGC, he told us: “ we exercise our ministry as members of a fraternal community, where the mission of each one finds support in common prayer and fraternal sharing …..the quality of our religious life, our consecration, deepens the quality of our mission.” The quality of our community life determines the effectiveness of our mission. That community life which supports our mission must be one of fraternity, prayer and service. We will find this theme of Eucharistic mission through community again in one of the principal themes of our Provincial Chapter, restructuration of the provinces of Europe, which is about deepening our Eucharistic mission at the level of community life, through collaboration between communities. Looking ahead to the Eucharistic Congress, again we find community identified as an essential aspect of Eucharist: “Communion with Christ and with one another”. This year, as well as honouring Fr. Eymard, we are also honouring another priest who was friends with the Founder, and who was also steeped in the Eucharist – St. John Vianney, the Cure of Ars. On this, the 150th anniversary of the death of this exemplary patron of parish priests, the Holy Father has proclaimed the Year of the Priest. Like Fr. Eymard, who said “I would give up everything for priests”, Fr. Vianney had a tremendous respect and love for the priesthood : “ O how great is the priest”, he would say, “ if he realised what he is, he would die”. This love of the priesthood was due above all to the intimate link between priesthood and Eucharist, which he believed to be the source and primary purpose of priesthood. He was convinced that the fervour of a priest’s life depended entirely on the Mass: “ The reason why a priest is lax” he said, “is because he does not pay attention to the Mass”. “ All good works taken together do not equal the Sacrifice of the Mass”...

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Discipleship

Posted by on Mar 4, 2009 in Provincial Corner | 0 comments

The dominant image which emerged from the AGC in Madrid last September was the image of the Disciple – Apostle. The inspiration for this image came from Fr. General’s quotation from Fr. Eymard: “This is the beautiful amiable mission of every religious of the Blessed Sacrament: disciple and apostle of Eucharistic love: this is his true name, his grace, his life. Pray that we may become true disciples of the love of Jesus Christ, in order to be one day worthy apostles” In this first session, I want to outline the elements of Discipleship, the following of Christ. One could argue that there are three forms of Christianity in our world today. First, membership of the Church is the predominant form of Christianity for many. And there is a sense of chaos caused by changes in the church. Secondly, for many, Christianity is a form of intellectualism, an –ism, religion, an ideology – how the Church deals with the problems of today. The third is intimate following of and relationship with Christ – Discipleship. Conversion to Christianity is primarily conversion to Jesus Christ. Discipleship is the more contemplative aspect, apostleship is the more active, taking the Gospel to the people. But they are both aspects of the mission. Discipleship is the start of apostleship: “That they might be with him, and that he might send them out( Mark 3:14)” Discipleship is the following of a Master, accompanying him, following him, imitating his way of life, learning from him. The apostle is a disciple who gives teaching to others. The word disciple appears two hundred and thirty times in the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Called by Christ: “ You have not chosen me. No, I have chosen you” In the Jewish Rabbinic tradition, at the time of Jesus, the pupil choose the rabbi. Not so with Jesus. His disciples were called by him: “ As he was walking by the Sea of Gallilee, he saw two brothers, Simon and his brother Andrew, and he said to them: Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men ( Matthew 4: 18,19 ………..He called his disciples( Mark 1:17/ 3:13) ………….he called those he wished”. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle ………we know brethren, beloved by God, that he has chosen you ……. To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints ( Romans 1:1, 1:7)” When a person is called, like an athlete who is chosen to represent his country at the Olympic Games, he feels privileged and honoured, more than if he decides himself. Many will say that they made a decision for Christ, but that is not so – it is always Christ who takes the initiative in some mysterious way. Called to the person of Jesus primarily, not just his teachings In the Rabbinic tradition, the disciple is a pupil who learns the rabbi’s teachings,and then when the Rabbi has nothing more to teach him, he leaves and becomes a teacher, a rabbi himself. Rabbi’s disciples were only required to have an openness to the Law and the teacher’s knowledge. Jesus looked for much more than that. Jesus calls his disciples primarily to himself personally, not just to his teachings. His disciples never leave him. “ Come and see” he said. “ And they stayed with hin that day. Forever. They never become rabbis themselves either. Christ forbade them to do so: “ You are not to allow yourselves to become rabbi. Only one person is your teacher, the Christ ( Matthew 23:8)” They become apostles,...

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Homily delivered at the Requiem Mass of Br. Paul Byrne, SSS

Posted by on Feb 19, 2009 in Provincial Corner | 0 comments

Like the disciples in the Gospel we have just heard, our hearts are troubled. Paul, our brother is gone from us. We mourn for him as Christ mourned for Lazarus outside the tomb. But there is hope, because like Christ, we know that Paul will rise again. Jesus tells us in the Gospel that he is going to prepare a place for us, so that where he is, we may be too. Paul is now in the place set aside for him by God for all eternity. In the Gospel, the disciples were bewildered and did not know where Jesus was going. But he told them that he was the Way, the Truth and the Life. He left his disciples to show the way to others. The first reading tells us that the life and death of each of us influences others. Paul showed us the way, and influenced us all. Paul was born in Cork city, and was baptised and confirmed in the Cathedral. He loved Cork, and loved going back there whenever he could. He used to say that that passagefrom the Old Testament “ a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart” was really about the Cork people! As one of his friends said, Paul had a wide, varied and checkered career. He started his working life as a messenger boy for the Cork Yeast Company. He was a religious for most of his adult life. He joined the Franciscans in Killarney in 1946 at the age of 23, and stayed for six years with them, until he became ill with tuberculosis. After that he worked for a few years here and there, and then joined the Blessed Sacrament Congregation in 1956. He was always insistent that he was called by God to make perpetual adoration, and for him, that was unchangeable, regardless of changes and updatings in the Constitution of the Congregation. He had a personal devotion to Little Nellie of God, a little seven-year old Cork girl who had an extraordinary devotion to Holy Communion at the beginning of the century – all who knew her considered her to be a saint – Pope Pius X knew about her. Paul was always ready and available to go wherever he was asked – he lived in eight different houses of the Congregation in his time with us. He generously agreed to go our province in the United States, to help in our houses there. When he came back he worked in Wareside, Leicester, Liverpool and Dublin. Paul loved people. He had numerous friends, many of whom knew him as Bobby – three of his best friends are here today – James and Noel Lynch and Christy Doyle. He befriended the less fortunate in particular – his heart would go out to them when he discovered their difficult circumstances. All the shops around here knew him – the paper shop, the chemist, and probably half of O’Connell Street, where he loved to walk. Paul was highly intelligent – he loved to engage in theological discussion, and he could hold his own with the best of them – as he would say himself “ he was so bright, he had to wear a lampshade”. He had an extraordinary capacity to play with words. He loved doing his crossword in the paper that Kathleen brought him every day without fail. All who knew would unanimously agree that his outstanding trait was his sense of humour.. It was the same sense of humour that the Lynch’s had – he grew up with them –...

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Message on the Feast of St. Peter Julian Eymard

Posted by on Aug 2, 2008 in Provincial Corner | 0 comments

2nd August 2008 Dear Brothers, Greetings on the Feast of Our Holy Founder, St. Peter Julian Eymard. I take this opportunity to reflect with you again, to remind ourselves again of some  of the insights of our recent Amplified Provincial Council in Penmaenmawr. Fr. Bong, in his reflections during the Parallel Eucharistic Congress in Bachelors  Walk, told us: “ We do not speak of the Eucharist as something, but as someone.  The Eucharist is Jesus himself. To acknowledge Jesus’ presence has consequences in our lives and societies. In the Scriptures, all encounters with Jesus produced an  effect” The main theme of the meeting offered by Fr. Jim Campbell and I was: “ Do people  recognise Jesus in the way we Break Bread in the Eucharist, in our prayer life and  in the daily witness of our lives – our physiognomy, as Jim liked to call it? Or to  put it another way, are we bringing the presence of Christ into people’s lives in the  way we Break Bread? Do our Eucharistic celebrations and lifestyle have an effect  on people’s lives. To do this effectively in our celebrations and our ministry, we must respond to  people’s deepest needs, relate to their deepest experiences – otherwise they will not  be touched by us. They must be able to find the image of Christ in our liturgies and ministries. So the challenge for us is to do better what we are already doing. We are not  looking for exciting new initiatives, but rather to sharpen, refocus, develop our  charism. Can we prepare better, celebrate more effectively, enhance the quality of our  Eucharistic celebrations? Can we build up community, so that people can see that the Eucharist is the centre  of our lives? Can we show greater compassion and understanding to the people we minister to?  Can our prayer life be a more effective part of our mission – by being more  communal, for example? One of the decisions of the APC was that each community would organise regular  communal adoration in accordance with their schedule. Again, Fr. Bong tells us in his reflections: “ One clearly cannot consider adoration  as a simple private devotion. It is a prolongation of a community act, its purpose is  to gather the whole community, even when, for a variety of reasons, others are unable to attend”. And he goes on: “Since it is quite impossible for one person, except Jesus Christ,  to manifest the totality of his divinity, he distributes his gifts among us. In the  differentiation of his gifts, he thus made possible his total manifestation through his multiplicity of peoples.” Communal adoration, on particular occasions and circumstances, can give a more  powerful and complete witness of the presence of Christ than individual adoration.  Rule of Life # 32 tells us: We are attentive in promoting communal prayer; it manifests the unity of the Church, fruit of the Eucharist. Let us finish with the words of Fr. Eymard himself in one of his reflections on  adoration:  “ Fix your mind on Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament and ponder on his  love. Let this thought take hold of you; let it enrapture you. ‘Is it really possible that Our Lord loves me to the point of always giving himself to me without ever  growing  tired?’ Your mind then adheres to Our Lord; all your thoughts seek and  study him; you want to fathom the reasons of his love; you are struck with  amazement and are enraptured; and your heart cries out spontaneously: How can I  respond to so much love” Wishing you a joyful...

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Homily: Funeral Mass of Bro. Francis Barker, SSS

Posted by on Jul 8, 2008 in Provincial Corner | 0 comments

Gospel of st. John 14: 1-7 Like the disciples in the Gospel, our hearts are troubled. We have lost the one we loved in death. Death seems cruel and beyond our understanding. There is only one in the world who can comfort and console us – Jesus Christ. He told us that if we believe in him we will never die, that we will all rise again. We can believe him, because He proved his words were true by overcoming death himself, when he rose from the dead. In today’s Gospel, just before his own death, he tells us that he is going to prepare a place for us. Although we are sad, we are happy for Francis because he has achieved the goal, the purpose of his life – the place prepared for him by God, the place set aside for him for all eternity – a place of eternal adoration. For us who mourn him, it is the end of his life here on earth, but for him it is the beginning of a new fuller life with the Lord. All his life he was a true Christian, as an Anglican, and as a Roman Catholic from the age of thirty-two. He never lost contact with his Anglican roots throughout his life – he was very ecumenical, and brought with him into our Church so much of what is great in the Anglican Church, and gave us a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Anglican tradition. Part of Francis’ own greatness was born out of his Anglican faith. He joined the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament thirty-three years ago to prepare for this hour, the hour of his entrance into glory and eternal adoration. He pursued this goal of eternal adoration with relentless determination. As a religious he appears as nothing if not exemplary in his prayer life. All his religious life he was faithful to daily adoration of the Blessed Sacrament – he had wide interests, but it was around this central practice that his life revolved. How often he prayed for this moment, read about it, looked forward to the day when the sacramental veil would be removed, and he would see his Lord face to face. He had that deep love of Scripture, which is a mark of the Anglican tradition – he would often sit in Church in the evenings in Winter or Summer, reading and then falling asleep. Again, in this critical hour for Christ, the disciples ask Jesus to show them the way, and Jesus tells them that he is himself the Way, the Truth and the Life. But once he had departed from this earth, he wanted his disciples to show the way to others. Bro. Francis showed us all the Way. He showed us how to live life here on earth, how to get the best out of it, and also how to prepare for eternal life. He showed us the Way in so many ways: Through the depth of his culture – his interests were wide and without limit. Through poetry – he always kept a book by his bedside, including Gray’s Elegy, which he once told me he considered to be the greatest poem in the English language. He had a passion for the fine arts, and his knowledge of them was truly learned. He loved classical music, especially Mozart – for him, listening to Mozart was a spiritual experience. But outside his religious concerns, his chief and most commanding passion, which at times took control of his personality, was his love of talking on the subject...

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