PP Fr Kevin: ‘Moyvane/ Knockanure is magnificent in dealing with crisis’
IT is a statement of gratitude that has become like a mantra for one parish priest as he concludes his own personal rituals after each night’s Mass: ‘ Thank God we haven’t had a C-19 Funeral here.’
The ‘ here’ is the parish of Moyvane and Knockanure, as well as the greater area – mercifully spared by the responsible actions of the people in lock-down.
The parish priest is Fr Kevin McNamara, who led the parish in a symbolic gesture of light on Friday as the Church and homes lit up in thanks to frontline workers.
That gratitude was not least in response for what medics achieved for 96-year-old local woman Betty Moody, whose recovery from COVID-19 and release from hospital less than a fortnight ago came as a massive boost for the parish.
“The people of Moyvane and Knockanure have been magnificent in dealing with the crisis and adhering to the restrictions. I live next to a playground, and it is silent now, the only creatures there are the small little birds,” Fr Kevin told The Kerryman.
“We’re very fortunate here as well that we have a beautiful little supermarket in Holly’s Gala, where the staff are working extremely hard, while maintaining social distancing, to get deliveries out to all those elderly and vulnerable cocooning in the area,” Fr Kevin said.
Life can be lonely for Catholic priests at the best of times, but COVID has put paid to so much human contact for the clergy.
As a self-described ‘people’s person’, Fr Kevin has found it difficult, but the celebration of Mass on a nightly basis is helping him get through this period a great deal, he said. The Mass goes out on Parish radio link, with Sunday Masses streaming live on YouTube thanks to IT help from Tarbert Comprehensive fifth-year student Conor Hogan and his dad, Brendan.
“At 7.15pm I get the bells ringing to advise people that this is a time of prayer, and I begin Mass at 7.30pm, in a church entirely on my own before empty pews. I hope I am giving a sense of hope and encouragement to people and that the message from Scripture does too. At the end of Mass, I finish with the concluding hymn and put on the jubilee bells.
“After that I have my own little personal ritual where I light candles at Our Lady’s shrine. I keep finding myself just saying in gratitude ‘ thank God here in Moyvane, Knockanure and this part of North Kerry that we haven’t had any C-19 Funerals.’”
Fr Kevin said the few Funerals he has said since the restrictions came into being have been ‘ heartbreaking’. “It is heartbreaking not to be able to give people Communion. I give them a blessing instead.”
The parish is in itself no small dispenser of physical as much as spiritual sustenance locally through its meals on wheels service, run by chefs Paul and Gerry out of the newly-installed modern kitchen at the Knockanure Community Centre. “We have around 35 to 40 dinners leaving the centre everyday from Monday to Friday, and at the weekends we have a team of parishioners generously cooking hot meals at home for the service.”
The generosity props up the parish in every way. “Even with no Mass collections, people are still asking how they can financially support their parish in lock-down... It’s so hard being apart. I love conversation and being in people’s company, but I have to remind myself that by staying apart there is a beautiful victory to be won.”