Due to 2008 being a leap year July 1st is the last day of the first half of the year not the first day of the last half of the year!! - bet you didn't know that! And now that you do it won't make you any richer.

For us Irish Catholics this is the feast day of one of our great saints and martyrs, St. Oliver Plunkett. Oliver was born into a wealthy family in Loughcrew, Co. Meath in 1629. His education was entrusted to his cousin Patrick Plunkett, Abbot of St. Mary's, Dublin a man who later became bishop successively of Ardagh and Meath. In 1645 Oliver set out for Rome to study for the priesthood, he entered the Irish College in 1646 and was ordained priest in 1654. During his seminary days Ireland was subjected to the cruel Cromwellian conquest (are we not to mention that these days!), the public practice of Catholicism was banned and Catholic clergy were executed.

On receiving ordination Oliver could not return to Ireland and was appointed professor of moral theology at the College of Propagation of the Faith in Rome, he worked behind the scenes to alleviate the plight of his oppressed countrymen. On July 9th 1669 he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh and was consecrated in Ghent on November 30th of that year, the bishop of Ferns was one of the co-consecrators.

Oliver eventually returned to Ireland in 1670. He immediately set about restoring and reorganising the ravaged Church. He built schools for young and mature students alike. He also devoted much of his energy to the formation of young clergy, he tackled drunkenness among laity and clergy, even then alcoholism was the curse of our nation. He wrote "let us remove this defect from an Irish priest and he will be a saint". (can't see him if he was alive today applying for a licence for a parish hall). On a more serious vein he was firm in his faith, not bowing to Protestant pressure in matters relating to Faith and Justice.

He went on the run travelling in many disguises; some say he used the disguise of being 'Bold Phelim Brady' a noted harpist celebrated in the beautiful ballad of that name. He was eventually captured in Dublin in 1679 and implicated in the so called 'Popish Plot' concocted here in England by Titus Oates. He was tried in Dundalk but Lord Shaftesbury knew he would not get a conviction on Irish soil and had him moved to Newgate Prison in London. His trial there was a mockery, Sir Francis Pemberton in the style of the much later Lord Widgery (of Bloody Sunday fame) found him guilty among other things of 'promoting the Catholic Faith' and condemned him to the gruesome death of being hanged, drawn and quartered, a sentence carried out in Tyburn on July 1st 1681. He was the last one to be publicly executed for his faith in Britain. His body is buried in Downside Abbey; his head is venerated in St. Peter's Church in Drogheda, built on the site of one of his colleges.

Oliver was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1975. He became patron saint of those campaigning for peace and reconciliation in the North East of Ireland. It was also on this day in 1981 that the late Cardinal O'Fee was rebuffed by the 'Iron Lady' Thatcher in his plea for settlement to the hunger strike. "Sir" she is reported to have said, "I don't need lessons in Irish History from you". Things like this will more than likely be airbrushed from history in the interest of the revisionists
But as the peace and reconciliation group in Peru teach us the horrors of the past should be recounted 'para que no se repitan' so that they may not be repeated - 'what is, is born from what was'.

Lovely Celebrations
In June we had one or two beautiful events to celebrate here in St. Mary's and St. Bernard's, Burnage; we had lovely First Communion celebrations. The children as always were a credit to their parents and teachers, in both places the ceremonies were dignified, prayerful and enjoyable. Let us hope that the children will be fortified by word and example of parents and communities as they journey on in life. Unfortunately, there are other forces out there preying on our youth. Recent newspaper reports have zoomed in on the unscrupulous who target children as young as 14 to sell heroin and other harmful drugs such as alcohol to them. This and the spate of vicarious violence against the person highlighted by the stabbing of Ben Kinsella in London are indicators of how horribly society has cheapened the lives of our young people. We need the old and timeless values to be spoken for again. Parents you have the power.

Lourdes
Our pilgrimage to Lourdes was everything we had hoped for minus the weather! 52 of us spent eight wonderful days at Mary's Shrine. It was great to see the huge crowds present at all the events throughout the week. We were fortunate to have met up with the pilgrimage from the diocese of Cloyne in Cork. One thousand five hundred strong they invited us to join them for their Anointing of the Sick Mass, what an experience!
Rarely have I heard music as nice in a Liturgy, wonderful musicians and singers enhanced the celebration. A whole host of young people were involved in helping the sick, again it was encouraging to see this, there is an amount of goodness to be harnessed; young people are looking for channels through which to direct that goodness, we have to provide them.

World Youth Day
As I write this eight young people from this area Levenshulme, Burnage and Fallowfield are packing their bags in preparation for a trip of a lifetime to Sydney to participate in World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI. 125,000 foreign visitors are expected; more than went to the Olympics in 2004. The theme of the event is 'Witness', the young people of the world are called on to stand up for what is right and true, to be masters of their own destinies. No doubt all who participate will come back bouyed up by the experience and will go on to be leaders within their peer groups. We wish our young ones a safe journey and a fulfilling time.

The Historic 'No'
Since last posting an article the people of Ireland have said NO to the Lisbon Treaty. The best comment prior to the vote came from an honest Brian Cowan who admitted not to have read it. Without knowing the details my own feeling was it was a good thing that the 'No' vote won purely to prove that people are mature enough to say 'No' to being railroaded by political parties or institutions, the Church included. The most subtle form of dictatorship exists when a franchised people are led to believe that there is no alternative.

Economic Downturn - Celtic Tiger's Funeral!
What was widely predicted has come to pass; we are in recession and only at the beginning of it, if we are to believe the experts. It was evident that the madness we had bought into would not or could not last. The extravagant living 'aping' the so called celebrities, 'big bashes', 'hen dos', 'stag dos' 'all night drinking dos', 4x4's to ferry children to school etc., was a life style which had to implode. Hopefully people will begin to learn the lesson, vulgar shows of wealth spell economic disaster. God provides for our needs not for our greed.

90th Birthday of a Legend
Nelson Mandela who in the 70's and 80's was considered to be a terrorist by none other than the Lady Prime Minister of this country celebrated his 90th birthday amidst international acclaim. A living proof of how the human spirit can triumph over 'dungeon, fire and sword'. Mandela was demonised and criminalised by sectors of the international community who were interested only in South Africa's diamonds and gold, while supremacy beloved their aims. The courageous and selfless stance of people like Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko changed the course of history. It is also good to remember the contribution of the 12 Dunne's Stores workers from Dublin who back in the 80's refused to handle South African goods. They were the first people Mandela visited on his release from prison. It shows how what seems to be an insignificant action carried out for the right motives can reverberate around the world. South Africa still has a long way to go and needs the support of the 'free world'.

America's Moment
So it looks like we might have Obama chasing Osama! It is nice to see a fresh face on the political world spectrum. Bush, Clinton - Bush, Clinton would have been a little hard to swallow. No doubt the extreme right will target Obama in their dirty tricks campaign and possibly will win. It is interesting to see that as Bush and Cheney are about to vacate the corridors of power the big oil companies are busy in Iraq tying up the remainder of the regions oil rights, Exxon, Shell, Total and Globe are all involved. Who said the immoral war was about anything other than oil and the control of it? Weapons of Mass Destruction now what were they? Innocent Iraqis, Afghanistan's and squaddies are still paying the price for the oil magnates' indulgence. The day the oil deposits are drained is the day we will say goodbye to the region and then we might fight for oranges!

Pride of Eireann Awards
I was delighted to be a recipient of one of the awards. I have never been a 'fan' of individual recognition, 'man of the match' 'player of the tournament' always seem a negation of community and team to me. Having said that it is nice to be recognized and I thank Variety Club of Great Britain and the Irish Community for nominating me.
The evening's event was most enjoyable and it was great to hear the testimony of people such as Keith Duffy, Sr. Lucy and Gloria Hunniford.
During the course of the evening I mentioned the 'Ronaldo saga' to Lou Macari, he replied "Father we were in the real world for the past two hours, don't spoil it by mentioning greed and selfishness".
To Joe Casserly, Eamonn O'Neal and Martin Logan a big thank you for a great evening and yes I will cherish the award.

'There's Gold in them 'thar hills'
Someone told me that rich gold deposits have been discovered in the Farney county hills. I am surprised that Fr. Mac had not exhausted all the gold before he left! It is good to know he is back to his ebullient self again. The sad news is that Fr. Pat Keane has decided to retire from St. Bernard's, Burnage. We wish Fr. Pat well in his retirement as he recuperates with his family in the seaside haven of Ballybunnion, Co. Kerry.

Sport
Si si si la copa esta aqui European Championship
"Yes yes yes we now have the cup" a delirious Spanish throng chanted in Madrid as Spain won their first trophy in 44 years (2 longer than England and 12 longer than Manchester City!)They were deserving and worthy winners, playing the most attractive football throughout the tournament, que viva Espana.

The Ronaldo saga is sickening, yes he is an outrageous talent, but the focus on him did nothing for the game. If some of what he said is true, making allowance for the misinformation of the media, then his heart is not at Old Trafford and if the heart is not there take the rest away as well. Manchester United is bigger than the individual.

G.A.A. World: It's now down to the serious stuff. Provincial finals and the All Ireland series properly begin this Sunday. In hurling Kilkenny still stand supreme. Galway and Tipperary are their only viable challenges, look out for Richie Hogan, D.J. Carey's cousin, he is on the march. Galway has Joe Canning and Tipperary Eoin Kelly so it should be exciting times ahead.

In the football Kerry's invincibility will be tested due to the absence of Paul Galvin and Declan O'Sullivan, who were two of last years stalwarts. Kerryman as I am I do not excuse what Paul Galvin did but I deem 6 months suspension for the offence to be excessive.

The fare served, up to date has been uninspiring, Westmeath were the better team against Dublin, Wexford played well to dispose of Laois, Armagh look good in Ulster. Fermanagh are in the final on merit. Mayo would seem to have the edge in Connacht.

So in the provinces I go for Kerry (tentatively), Dublin, Mayo and Armagh and I take Derry, Kildare and Tyrone to come through the qualifiers. We will wait until next posting to go for eventual winners.

Was Aidan O'Brien's Irish Derby triumph 'tactical'? trial by Fire!.

Footnote
Well done City on acquiring the services of a United legend to steer your fortunes. Is it journey's end for 'Hughsie' or is it his final exam paper before entering the Theatre of Dreams as gaffer on the eventual retirement of the great one? Derby days should be interesting to say the least!

Until next month.
Bain taithneamh as an t -saoil
Slan tamall
Fr. John Ahern
July 2008