MV Matthew                     Word on the Week                     30^th September 2023.

The ship, under its new name, ‘Matthew’ sailed into Irish waters this week.   It had come from the Dutch island of Aruba in the South Caribbean as the MV Honmon to Willemstad in the Dutch protectorate of Curaçao on August 18th from where it sailed to Georgetown in Guyana on the north Atlantic coast of South America to collect a cargo.

The cargo was cocaine, procured by a Colombian drug cartel for sale in the European market.   So far 2.2 tonnes of cocaine have been recovered, partly hidden on deck in a ship’s life boat.   The vessel is 189 meters long and has a cargo capacity of 64,000 tonnes, so there is plenty of room for more of the stuff to be found!

The MV Matthew had failed to stop when requested by our Navy’s offshore patrol vessel the LE William Butler Yeats despite her firing a couple of shots across her bow.   It was left to a team from the army Ranger Wing to abseil down from a helicopter and secure the vessel.   She is now undergoing inspection in Cork harbour by the authorities.

Just prior to these events two men purchased a trawler in Castletownbere.   They were inexperienced sailors and with stormy seas ended up aground on a sandbank off Blackwater, in Co Wexford.   Their objective was to rendezvous with the MV Matthew and distribute the cocaine via harbours in these Isles.   The two men have now been rescued by helicopter and duly arrested.

The audaciousness of this enterprise is breath-taking.   And this is not by any means the first cargo ship to cross the Atlantic with a drug cargo.    The market continues to expand as addiction spreads and the resultant misery in terms of human suffering increases out of control.

What seems to be in control are the global gangs which locate in various places and control a portion of the drug trade.   In these locations the governing bodies cannot control them and with the purchasing power the drug money at their disposal buying ships becomes feasible.

The naming of the ship Matthew is interesting.  When Jesus called the tax-collector there was little doubt his reputation was in tatters (St Matthew 9 verses 9/11).   The ship’s Iranian captain appeared to have head and neck injuries, was air lifted to hospital, made a fast recovery and is now in Garda custody.   It will be interesting to see if the captain wishes to emulate the Apostle and transfer his allegiance from drug-smuggling to Christ.

Let us pray he may be the first of many.

Stardust Fire                    Word on the Week                     23^rd September 2023.

It was St Valentine’s night, February 14^th 1981 and the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, was packed to capacity.   A fire broke out which was to claim the lives of 48 young people and injure over 200.   It was tragic.   

Such was the scale of the disaster that initially it was attributed to arson or terrorism.   Gradually the investigation reached the conclusion that the fire developed from poor safety practices and building code violations.   The 5 exit doors were chained and locked to prevent access to the nightclub.   The toilet windows were barred with steel bars for the same purpose.

In 2009, four relatives of those who had died were successful in establishing an inquiry which duly found there to be no evidence to support the arson theory.   These findings enabled the owners, the Butterly family, to pursue a claim for compensation against the city because of the arson finding, and were eventually awarded IR£580,000.

This year, following multiple reports, a legal enquiry under Michael O’Higgins SC has been established and meetings began this week.   These have brought into the light the 5 locked exits and barred toilet windows which pertained while approx. 800 patrons were in the nightclub.

Initial pleadings have produced accusations and denials as to who instructed the locking of the doors.    The community, who lost loved ones and have had to live with the scars of that fateful night, want answers.  

Who instructed the exits to be locked?   As with any disaster there must be those who know the truth.   The owners and staff who were on duty that fateful night have had to live with their consciences for 42 years.   So far the problems of guilt and shame have silenced those who are guilty.

Michael O’Higgins has a mammoth task to elicit the truth.   In addition to the fatalities there have been about 25 attempted suicides in subsequent years all relating to the fire.   There needs to be some acknowledgement of wrong, some admission of guilt to ease the troubled conscience.

It is not as if all the rest of humanity is guiltless.   The Apostle James puts the bar at the highest notch.   He says to sin at all is to be guilty of breaking the entire law (St James 2 verse 10).   That is why we need a saviour.   And that is why Jesus came.   Noel Richards hymn says it clearly: –

You took all my guilt and shame,
When You died and rose again;
Now today You reign,
In heaven and earth exalted.                                                                                                

The relief of sins forgiven brings with it the peace of the Lord (St Luke 7 verses 48/50).

Rugby                               Word on the Week                     16^th September 2023.

In case there is someone who doesn’t know, the Rugby World Cup has got under way.   This is a world-wide event with Ireland lining out against Tonga tonight.   All games are being played in French Stadiums.    These are located in various cities culminating in the final in Paris on Saturday 28^th October.

The game was invented, so the legend has it, in the playing fields of Rugby school, England, when a player picked up the ball and ran with it!  A couple of years later in 1846 the students wrote down some laws which, with few changes, continue to this day.

The major rule prohibits passing forward which, in itself, requires considerable discipline.   I recall a friend from overseas, who was new to the game, marvelling that in order to progress forward you had to pass the ball back!  He was quite astonished that such an illogical game could have been invented!

Over the years the game has become faster and the players heavier.  It is said that a Mother’s heart misses a beat when her 7-year-old son announces “Ma, I am going to play rugby!”   However, the first few years it is touch rugby – a modified version of the game that is played, which is less likely to cause injury.

In fact, there has been a crackdown on cases of head injury in recent times.  We now have a mandatory sending off for examination by the medical staff.   They carry out a Head Injury Assessment (HIA).   The rules vary between Rugby Associations but GRTP (Graduated Return To Play) is strongly enforced.

Rugby is very much a team game.   Players rely on each other to assist them!   To do this team members must turn up extra fast and without hesitation join in the fray.   To play well one player must have faith in the other to be there when he is needed!    You should see what this looks like if you tune in at 8.00 pm tonight!

Since we are in France I was reading one of my favourite Frenchman’s works.   He is Blaise Pascal the scientist from the 17^th century.   His sensational conversion experience took place when he was age 31.   For his remaining few years he devoted himself to Christian writing including this analysis of faith.

He wrote with astounding clarity, “in faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.’ Blaise Pascal.

Or as Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.   Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (St John 8 verse 12).

Christian faith is itself a gift from God (Ephesians 2 verse 8).

Back to School                 Word on the Week                     9^th September 2023.

Here comes the sun – schools must have resumed!    What cruel fate has decreed that the resumption of schools and colleges would be marked by gloriously sunny weather!    It does not always occur – it just seems like it does!

School or college was once the place where life skills were taught, identities formed and eventually a world view gets constructed.   Among the many views in circulation today the Christian view is seldom present.   JB Philips saw this coming many years ago and in his Bible translation of Romans 12 verse 2 coined “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.”

The text comes after the most thorough working out of the Gospel in the previous 11 chapters of Romans.   The Apostle recognised from personal experience that the danger of silencing Christian witness was very real.

Isaiah put the Christian witness so well in Chapter 43 verse 1 But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.”    He is our creator, He formed us in the womb.   He is also our redeemer who saved us and gave us an identity as his sons and daughters.

Each of these aspects of the Christian faith is under attack in our contemporary Western World.   The chances are that the attack will start at school and certainly be present at college.   When it comes to the work scene the breakdown of morality is being fuelled by many things including the misuse of the smartphone which produces its own porn addicts.

It is into this culture that we are called to operate.   Some of us have found it hard and ceased from the work of witnessing for Christ.   All of us find it difficult to start a Christian conversation.    This world has never been a friend to the grace of God.

To assist at witnessing Andy Bannister has written ‘How to Talk about Jesus without Looking Like an Idiot: A Panic-Free Guide to Having Natural Conversations about Your Faith.’    Andy writes from a background of much experience.

The writer of Hebrews has a heavenly perspective.  Having quoted from the past sees the hero’s as encouraging us in the present to follow their lead (Hebrews 12 verses 1 to 3).

The Swallow          Word on the Week          2^nd September 2023.

In my daily pre breakfast excursions with Tess the Pugaleer we have been accompanied by the melodic twitter of the swallows who are massing on the other side of the hawthorn hedge.  The latter has been allowed to grow an extra two feet as part of the farm wilding so we can pass close to the roost un-noticed.

Using the binoculars, you can distinguish the metallic blue body and white front.   The tail has two streamers which extend its vee shape and distinguish it from the Martin as they seem to feed together on the abundance of insects that are blown out of the trees in the spinney.   The dark red throat is another feature although it is hard to see.

In fact, the swallow is best viewed in the evening sun light as it roosts on the electricity wires illuminated by the low sun revealing its beauty.  Perhaps their favourite resting place is the reed bed.   There both insects and water are available.    There is also mud with which they make their cup shaped nests on the stable rafters.   They use the same nest annually.

In the migration to South Africa the birds cover approximately 200 miles daily.   The chicks are required to grow up fast to stick the pace and those from a second brood have an extra hard task to get into shape for the flight.   Its vital piece of equipment is its beak.   This has a wide gape which when wide open, it uses to scoop up insects in flight or quench its thirst by skimming the surface of a pond.  

When God created the swallow he gave it a great GPS system!   To have such a small bird (7.5 inches in length) span the globe and find its way back to the exact location, in the stable it left, is truly astounding.   The Psalmist has the swallow nest in the temple where he teams up with the sparrow where they join in the singing and both appear to be welcome (Psalm 84 verses 3/4).

Jesus speaks of a broken world where the death of his followers through persecution is a present reality.   Then he says not to be afraid of those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul.   He teaches that we are to fear God not man.   To illustrate this Jesus cites the sparrow which is almost worthless yet not one of them fall to the ground without the will of God.

The lesson is brought home by the fact we are known so intimately that the hairs of our head are numbered!   So we are not to fear in the world but realise we are worth more than many sparrows! (St Matthew 10 verses 26 to 31).   This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.   So we know and rely on the love God has for us. (1 John 4 verses 10 to 16).

Triathlon Tragedy                 Word on the Week            26^th August 2023.

The recent drowning of two participants who were competing in the triathlon in the sea off Youghal brought a sombre note to the event.  The Ironman competition, as the name suggests, requires extremes of physical fitness in those who compete.   It is a mixture of three sports, Swimming, Cycling and Running over set distances in one race.  

The idea of a superman lies dear to the heart of most boys.   We had a number of weekly Boys Magazines where no challenge was too hard for the hero.    I cannot remember for sure but I think in one such magazine he has the common name of ‘Wilson’.   This was part of the idea that his achievements were within the grasp of any of us!

This was followed by the era of Superman where again the hero was an ordinary bloke who could transform into the extraordinary at will.   He performed acts of valour but took no credit for them, transforming back into his normal guy image.

At Youghal the sea was rough, especially near the shore.   This is caused by waves of seawater being forced upwards by the beach, forming crests which break making it difficult to get past them into deeper water.

Once into deeper water swimmers, buoyed up by their rubber wetsuits, had the tidal flow of the water to contend with.   The amateurs among the swimmers would have found the surface turbulence interfered with their breathing, some requiring assistance from the safety dinghies. 

It would have been brought home to them that ‘Iron’ does not float unless by miracle (2 Kings 6 Verse 6)!  Ironmen are also human and subject to the usual human constraints.    Our sympathy goes to those who mourn the loss of their loved ones.   They did however realise the dangers of the Triathlon having signed a disclaimer to the race organisers as part of their entry paperwork.

In Scripture the sea usually represents chaos.   The Gospels record Jesus with his disciples, caught in a storm in the sea of Galilee.   Jesus slept while the storm raged sufficiently to put the fear of death into the men, many of whom were experienced fishermen (Luke 8 verses 22 to 25).   The disciples woke Jesus who rebuked the wind and raging waters and the storm subsided.  

Jesus demonstrated his authority over creation and in his resurrection he showed his power over death (John 1 verses 19 to 22).   This the disciples recalled after he arose from the dead and they believed.   May it be so for those who mourn the loss of loved ones today.          

The 100,000 welcomes which Ireland is so famous for has suffered some reductions to its number in recent days!   It was brought to light when an elderly American tourist was randomly beaten up in Dublin city centre, receiving some life changing injuries.

This was followed by three teenage boys being hospitalised after an incident in Dublin’s Temple Bar area.   They had come from the UK to support their football team who were here to play a friendly match.    It seems the match lived up to its name but the ‘afters’ less so!

In both incidents the culprits were youths who were duly charged with the offences.   The difficulties of policing these crimes is exacerbated by the low numbers of Garda on the beat.  In addition, there has been an increase in the availability of drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

The attraction of crime is not limited to youth.   We had a computer clinch in the Bank of Ireland’s cash dispensers which enabled the withdrawal of €1,000 irrespective of how much money was in the account!   Thanks to the smartphone many were alerted as friends told each other where to obtain ‘free’ cash.   The Garda were required to control the crowds!

These were bank customers, wielding their bank cards to withdraw the maximum from the system.  Doubtless they had a background in fiddling their income tax and inflating their insurance claims.   This was just the latest opportunity to come their way! 

Where is moral rectitude to be found?   Many pursue it by way of self-reformation but it seldom lasts long.   It requires the total transformation that coming to faith in Jesus Christ brings.  It is a new relationship, entered into by a prayer of confession of sin and a genuine repentance, into a new life.

St Paul puts it well in Ephesians 4 verses 28 to 32: “Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.   Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

The Apostle made it plain to these new converts at Ephesus that life must match lip.   It is the same today.   The 100,000 welcomes will then be a reality.

Ode to Joy             Word on the Week                    12th August 2023.

I have borrowed the title of Schiller’s poem to pay tribute to Joy Cantwell-Moore who went to be with her Lord and was buried this week.   During her life she radiated joy.   She will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved her.

Sometimes when parents name their children the name they choose does not appear to be all that appropriate.   Not so with Joy!   It was an inspired name which she adorned with her Christian profession and shared with others.  In fact, the old acronym JOY – Jesus, Others, Yourself; reflecting the order of priorities in the Christian life, fitted well with her selfless life.

All this comes from the Bible.   In no other religion or literature is joy so conspicuous as in Christianity.   It is the measure of a healthy faith, enriching all our talents and affections and merging them together.  

On a wonderful occasion when the Israelites were restored to their land after years of exile they requested Ezra the priest to bring out the Book of Moses.   There had been a famine of the Word and when the people heard it read they realised their shortcomings and were sorrowful.  Nehemiah, the governor, proclaimed the day sacred to the Lord and there was to be no mourning or weeping.

Instead Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8 verse 10).

In Galatia the church had lapsed into legalism, away from the life of freedom they enjoyed when they first heard the Gospel. When the Apostle discovered this on his second visit, he asked the question, “What has happened to your joy” (Galatians 4 verse 15). 

Wonderfully they regained their joy in Jesus and the Apostle was able to write to them “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5 verse 6).

This love comes from the Lord and expresses itself as Joy, the second of the nine fruits of the Spirit – Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control (verses 22/3).

It was said of Jesus at the time of crucifixion, “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12 verse 2).   May it be that our lovely Joy is experiencing that joy now in heaven.

Fulmar – Wind Junkie                Word on the Week          5^th August 2023.

There is one bird for whom the yellow wind warning of the Met Office spells delight and that is the Fulmar.   A bird of sea and sky and cliff ledge nesting places where the one large white egg is incubated by both adults in turn.

In days long ago when wild bird egg collecting was not banned the Fulmar’s egg was coveted.   It required considerable rock climbing skills and an ability to withstand the evil smelling green fish oil the bird could eject at any would-be assailant.   Mother never could get the smell out of my clothes!

A more enjoyable pastime was to lie on the clifftop on a breezy day where the wind whipped the sea into ‘white horses’ and admire the Fulmars hovering a few feet away.   The bird would then inscribe a couple of circles and arrive back at the same spot without ever flapping a wing!

This performance continued for as long as you were prepared to remain.   It demonstrated effortless travel which enabled the bird to travel 1,500 miles to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to stock up on the dense planktonic life there.   It is an area the size of France which is currently being considered for conservation.

According to the Fulmars GPS this bird returned to Orkney via Galway a round journey of 3,900 miles in 2 weeks!    The winds were strong and the wing beats were few!   Not all go on such lengthy journeys between their turn at egg sitting but if the wind is right they seem to memorise routes to where food is to be found and distance is no problem!

After approximately six weeks the egg hatches and the birds take turns at gathering food for the chick.  The baby accesses the food by putting his beak into the adult’s mouth so that the parent bird vomits the oily, smelly fish oil to where it was intended, the chicks stomach and not my jersey!

It is part of the wonders of God’s creation that He has produced a bird which almost has the secret of perpetual motion.   The Fulmars mastery in the air, using its feet to steer and the upward thrust of the wind in the valleys created by roller waves enables flight with minimum of effort.

The Lord gives the promise of strength renewed to those who hope in him.  

^“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”           (Isaiah 40 verses 29 to 31)

Reader – may you get your wings!

Sinéad O’Connor             Word on the Week                     29^th July 2023.

It was on Wednesday morning that the police found her body in her London flat.   Sinéad O’Connor, the icon of the Irish music scene, was no more.   A huge groundswell of appreciation has poured from the media which shows no signs of stopping.

Songwriter, poet and singer where among her accomplishments but it will be largely for her singing that she will be remembered.    Her voice was unique.   Her singing was from the heart.   She put her whole soul into her songs and the audience entered into the full weight of their meaning.

She had a troubled childhood which resulted in her being treated in St Patrick’s mental health service over a period of six years.   What she experienced in the residential institution, An Grianan, where elderly Magdalene Laundry women went in their old age, was formative.

She was characterised by her honesty.   She did not do nuance!    This resulted in her outspoken-ness sometimes being misunderstood.   One occasion which lives on in the collective memory was her ripping up of the Pope’s photograph on stage.   This was part of her persona as a protest singer.   The protest was before its time as child abuse by the Catholic Church had not yet been revealed.

Her shaved head was in response to a record company’s executive wish to cash in on her beauty.   He wanted her in high heels and a short skirt!    She appeared in a dress and boots!

The death of her vulnerable son, Shane, last year at age 17 had a profound effect on her.    She was strongly protective of him so his suicide was doubly hard.   One of her last postings on social media spoke of her living as an “undead night creature since….he was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul.”

Sinéad had tried out the world’s major religions.   She went wholeheartedly into them, adopting their distinctive dress and attempting to copy their rituals.  It seems that she found comfort in ‘bardo’ latterly.   This is the state between death and rebirth that is practiced in Eastern religions.   

Perhaps she also knew that Jesus has said: – Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.   Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die (St John 11 verses 24 to 26).

May it be so for Sinéad.