BISHOP CELEBRATES GOLDEN JUBILEE
BISHOP DENIS BRENNAN returned home to his native Rathnure at the weekend to celebrate his golden jubilee in the priesthood.
On Sunday, he attended St Anne’s Church, where he was ordained 50 years ago alongside eight other seminarians; four for Ferns and five for different parts of the world including Scotland, England, Florida, Texas and Ecuador.
In his Homily on Sunday, Bishop Brennan remembered five of his colleagues that day who had since passed away.
‘I remember them in a special way in my Mass this morning,’ he said.
The priests included Fr Frank Barron, Fr Declan Jordan, Msgr Morgan Rowsome, Fr Matt Wallace and Fr Jim Shaughnessy.
‘I also remember my parents, Denis and Bridget, and all the deceased members of my family, some of whom are buried just outside the church door here,’ said Bishop Brennan from the pulpit.
He said that ‘on that sunny day 50 years ago’ he could not have imagined where his priesthood would take him – including all around Ireland on missions and retreats, and across the large Irish centres in England ‘in the footsteps of our emigrants’.
He also travelled to different parts of the USA to carry out holiday work for friends in the priesthood to allow them time to come home for a break.
He also went to the Gambia and Kenya, in Africa, to see the different that Ferns’ missionary priests and Trócaire are making in the developing world.
Bishop Brennan’s spiritual journey also saw him travel to places of conflict such as the Golan Heights, where he visited Irish soldiers serving with the United Nations.
On Sunday he said it was to view ‘their presence keeping the peace in a very volatile and dangerous part of the world, accompanied by their chaplain, Fr Pat Mernagh from Davidstown’.
Recalling his first Mass in St Anne’s Church, he said on Sunday that one of the things he remembered most about it was who attended, including members of the Church of Ireland, friends and neighbours of his family.
He said it was ‘an indication that ecumenism was alive and well on the ground at that time’.
‘Now, 50 years later, I look back over the intervening years in a spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving, thanking God for the many ways in which I have been blessed,’ said Bishop Brennan.
His anniversary mass took place on Pentecost Sunday, the coming of the Holy Spirit to the apostles and the early church.
However, the bishop also commented on the fact that it was also Confirmation time in the Ferns diocese.
‘In normal times we would be marking the coming of the Holy Spirit into the lives of our young people but these are not normal times,’ he said.
‘This year we had 54 Confirmations on the books but we only managed to do 12 when the virus struck, the last one as it happens was here in Rathnure,’ he added.
Bishop Brennan said the logistics of trying to complete the cycle [of Confirmation] is an evolving situation.
‘We have to be mindful of the public health guidelines, but we do intend to celebrate the remaining Confirmations when it is possible and safe to do so,’ he said.
He highlighted the words that are associated with Confirmation and how the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the qualities the Spirit gave to the Apostles, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, courage, right judgement, reverence, wonder and awe are all qualities that are very important during ‘these pandemic days’: ‘The unprecedented nature of the threat the virus has brought into our lives has called for these qualities in abundance, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, courage and right judgement.’
‘In the spirit that it’s an ill wind that doesn’t blow some good the lockdown has given us the opportunity to reflect on the gift of our lives and to be more aware of the mystery and beauty of God’s creation,’ said Bishop Brennan.
He also spoke of the poet, Evan Boland, who passed away a few weeks ago and how she was known for celebrating the ordinary.
He said that in her poetry she tried to ‘bless the ordinary and sanctify the common’.
‘Until the virus stopped us in our tracks, we had been inclined to seek out the spectacular and the extraordinary and take the ordinary for granted,’ said Bishop Brennan.
He added that Covid 19 had, perhaps, served to remind people of the value of the ordinary and the common.
He outlined some of the list or ordinary things that are ‘so common yet so precious’ including: a cup of coffee with friends; dropping in to see a neighbour; going to a match; attending a family wedding; going to church; shopping; getting the hair done; a neighbour’s wake and a funeral; hearing the birds singing; a walk on the beach.
He also quoted another Irish poet, Patrick Kavanagh, who, he said, had really captured the essence of living when he said: ‘God is in the bits and pieces of life, a laugh, a kiss and sometimes tears.’
‘The virus has subdued our laughter, postponed our hugs and kisses, and given many people reasons for tears, but the time will come when those ordinary, everyday things will come back,’ said Bishop Brennan.
‘When they do, I think we will appreciate them a little more and perhaps not take them quite so much for granted,’ he added.
He spoke of an email he received from one of is classmates, Fr Des Dalton, who is ministering in Ecuador, in which he described the South American country as being one of the worst affected by the coronavirus in Latin America.
‘He said that thousands had died and many were buried in plastic bags in common graves and 43 people died in his parish alone so, despite our difficulties, we have much for which to be thankful,’ said Bishop Brennan.
With regard to Pentecost he said that the Holy Spirit took from the apostles as well.
‘He swept away all their fears and anxiety about the future,’ he said.
‘My prayer in this Pentecost time is that Holy Spirit will do that for us too, take away the fears and anxieties that we may harbour about what people are referring to a lot nowadays as ‘the new normal’,’ he added.
Bishop Brennan concluded his Homily with the Diocesan Prayer for Vocations: ‘God our Father, we trust in your loving kindness. Bless our diocese of Ferns with many priestly and religious vocations. Give the men and women you call the light to understand your gift and the love to follow always in the footsteps of your Son.’
The jubilee occasion was marked by a special letter from Pope Francis to Bishop Brennan in which he praised him for his devotion to spiritual life and his work in the community.