Notebook
During almost 34 years of priesthood I have had many memorable experiences, some of them very sad and heart-breaking, many very joyful and inspirational. Two weeks ago, I had one of the most memorable and certainly most uplifting ‘pastoral assignments’ ever!
Over a year ago, I was approached by a lady in the US called Gertrude Byrne and asked if I would be willing to be a chaplain on a cruise she was organising in February 2020 from San Diego California down the Mexican Riviera. Wow! How could I refuse? She must have known that my friends, and indeed some who are not, sometimes call me Martin of Tours!
Stars
Gertrude has been operating this Irish charter cruise for almost 30 years and the unique feature is that the entertainment on the ship is provided by the current stars of Irish country music. This year’s line-up included household names like the gas boiler consultant from Kincasslagh, Nathan, the young heartthrob from Ireland’s biggest city, Liverpool (!), Michael English, Mike Denver, Declan from Drumlish, Jimmy Buckley, Brendan Shine, Dominic Kirwan, John McNichol, Mark Roberts and a host of other veteran and upcoming stars.
One of the other unique features of Gertrude’s cruise is that there is Mass every day hence the need for not just one chaplain but two. And if you can cope with any more name dropping, my colleague on this floating assignment was fresh in from Buckingham Palace where he had just received an OBE from the Queen – Fr Brian Darcy. To be honest, when I first realised that I would be working alongside Brian I felt a little intimidated. These musicians and entertainers are his people, his parishioners. And yes he has a unique connection and genuine bond with so many in the Irish entertainment and media industry after more than 40 years of ministering to them and their families.
By the end of the week I felt I had been on a retreat in the most unique setting imaginable”
But I need not have worried – Brian and I worked very well together. The daily Mass on the ship was quite memorable. Upwards of 800 people came each morning and so many turned up on Sunday and Ash Wednesday that we ran out of Communion hosts.
Speaking of Ash Wednesday, what a way to begin Lent surrounded by every food imaginable. I had been tasked with bringing the ashes from home. When they arrived from the supplier they were all in little plastic sachets just like packs of cocaine except black. Fearing an interrogation at US customs I emptied all the ash into a plastic container and it passed through multiple checkpoints without a question.
Many of the entertainers turned up to sing at Mass despite having been on some stage into the early hours. I met extraordinary people from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere, many of whom had left Ireland in difficult times and had made successful lives for themselves and their families. Their stories were sometimes sad, sometimes happy but always inspirational.
By the end of the week I felt I had been on a retreat in the most unique setting imaginable. As we flew home from San Diego word was breaking of Covid 19 hitting Ireland and also on another cruise ship off the coast of California.
A week later and my memory of this unusual ‘working’ holiday might have been very different.
A timely blessing
A blessing of healing hands for all our healthcare workers:
Yours are the hands full of experience and skill.
Yours are the hands reaching out with compassion,
Taking time to show care, swiftly taking action.
Yours are the hands gently touching your patients.
You touch families, too.
Yours are the hands that show you care.
You lift the hearts of those who suffer.
Your hands celebrate the joy of healing.
Your hands bless all they touch with the spirit of compassion,
Thank you for sharing your abundance and gifts,
For touching lives and lifting spirits.
Blessings and thanks for the many works of your hands.
Humour in a crisis
Irish people have an innate ability to create humour even in the most serious times of national crisis. Here is one of the recent messages on my phone: “This morning at the post office. While I was in line two people with masks entered. There was TOTAL PANIC. Then they said: ‘This is a robbery’…and we all calmed down.”
