When Irish Eyes are Not Smiling

A few months back I joined an international group of Irish people on a social media site. This is international now, so you didn't have be an Irish citizen to belong. And I posted a sentiment of mine that I really hope the Irish people were not going to abandon Catholicism in Ireland because for me it was a huge part of the way I looked at Ireland. I also wrote briefly about things we have in the states that came from Europe that you can no longer find in Europe, etc. The idea was not to suggest that my opinion should somehow force the Irish to cower and mend their ways with the Church, it was just a personal expression of hope that the Irish would keep the faith--after all I had always looked to Ireland for faithful people--including many of the priest we had who were from Ireland. And I have seen a lot in the press including things directly from Ireland that suggest a loss of faith. 

Many of us here still love their priests. 

Well, what I got in return was a lot of vinegar--commenting on how incredibly rude I was and that I would have the gall to suggest anything to the Irish, etc. So I thanked the folks, closed the social media door and never went back. I'll keep my thoughts to my own blogs and if people don't like them, don't come knocking. 

Unlike many of my relatives, I have never been to Ireland, although I would have enjoyed it. I was raising 6 children and money was always tight. I didn't hang out in bars or taverns either, although a cold Harp every now and then was appreciated. I didn't play golf or bowl or go on long holidays. I've rarely seen professional sports live, gone to plays, eaten at fancy restaurants. But for me doing my best for the kids was always the priority and frankly it was what I enjoyed most in life. But certainly I failed plenty of times. Do I have regrets? Yes, plenty of them. Would I do things different? Yes, plenty of things. 

I grew up in an Irish neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago.  My relatives were terrible singers,  good drinkers, and most were church-goers. We were no meat on Friday and respect-the-priests and-nuns Irish Catholics. And being Irish for us was all wrapped up in our Catholic parish--although in those days we had a lot of people who looked down their noses at others. It wasn't always bright and sunny in the parish, although that had little to with God and more to do with his human creation.  

But, the parish and the Church was a potent force for us. In fact the South Side Irish Parade practically steps off from from my old Parish stoop. 

My childhood neighborhood has more Irish bars than ever, and has many Irish cultural organizations. I heard today that a local Irish Restaurant/Bar had a Irish Soda Bread baking contest and they had 151 entries. Down south of the city, they have a park that features Irish sports and they are regaling everything Irish.  

And likewise when the Irish are here from the island, they have their opinions and express them--much like any tourist. 

Here in the United States people often have their ancestry confirmed by taking one of those genetic tests. That gets a laugh from people from Ireland because they say they are so authentically Irish. No test needed. But the US is loaded with people who have bits and pieces of this and that, so the test tells you some things that you may have no way of knowing. In fact, a lot of people here have been lied to by relatives all their lives, they take one of these test and find that are something completely different. 

But for many people of faith in the United States who have come from other parts of the world, your home ground where the origins of your faith were born is important. German Catholics were concerned about their people who came over here and started up farms in places like Kansas and Missouri. They sent sisters and priests along with money to build schools and help manage monasteries and convents. It's painful for a faithful German American to go back and see beautiful churches empty that are more museums than places of worship. It must be especially painful when the German ancestors sent money over to help American Germans keep the faith and it turns out that the Germans are not keeping it themselves. Hitler could not totally kill off the faith, but modernism is doing it without the guns and terror.

The Irish came over and then many priests followed. After a while, they would be likely to look at a trip back to Ireland as a kind of a pilgrimage and a comfort. When you go back to your home country and find that the churches are empty, it's disconcerting especially for the Irish when they were fighting tooth and nail to retain their faith--some even when starving--remember "taking the soup." 

I wrote about a beautiful photograph of one of my sisters walking along the coast in Ireland: 

I can't speak for all Irish Americans, but it's views like this that bring me closer to God than a grand view of Rome or even a religious site in Bethlehem.  Jesus is everywhere, but for some strange reason I can feel him in Ireland best of all, where my ancestors first got down on their knees. 

For many modern Irish, faith seems to have replaced the English as the necessary vilain in Ireland. Here in the states we have so many victims of one thing or another, many of us have grown immune to complaints. And maybe that's the rub. But a country that rids itself of faith is not a place of pilgrimage, it's a place of regret. So I'll say it once more, I hope the Irish don't give up their faith. 

Brendan of Birr One of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland

Attribution: Andreas F. Borchert, Stained Glass Window at St. Brendan Church, Birr

In my book called The Brown and White the lead character Collin Callaghan is a high school boy from an Irish Catholic family. As an Irish Catholic American, you may not have all your i's dotted and your t's crossed on authentic Irish culture. It's funny  though because I have to wonder how many of us have it all together on our own culture.  In some ways we think we live in the culture and if that is not authentic enough, than what is? 

I am not so sure.  

I remember many years ago working in downtown Chicago.  I came from a family that included policemen, nurses, and teachers.  I thought my touch points with the culture were pretty strong. But a funny thing happened when I worked on Sundays at Kroch's and Brentano's bookstore. A very different group of Chicagoans would come out of their Lake Shore Drive apartments/condos, take a short cab ride  and shop. The young people would come with their parents and grandparents and come into the store.  The pace was very slow, none of them seemed to be in a hurry. I think many times there were making a day of it--and after shopping going for dinner and maybe a show or a play. Probably spending more on entertaining in one day than my family did in a month. 

While my family and many others in Chicago at the time had toiled with junky cars, old houses, and cheap meals--the Lake Shore Drive folks were remarkably different. Many of them never owned a car or had them stored away somewhere for the rare occasions when they needed them. A house with a yard wasn't part of their American dream. The kids went to private schools that I never heard about and when they shopped and ended with a hoard of parcels, they paid for some kind of delivery service. 

The North Shore residents would look out each morning on the lake.  Most city experiences that I might remember were not shared with these people--but certainly they were part of Chicago--contributing to the culture too--in fact today, many would suggest that they had a better grip on the city than me. They lived close to museums, the music halls, the theaters, downtown and the lake.

I remember later on in life reading O. Henry's stories of New Yorkers. They say O. Henry  loved all 4 Million New Yorkers and he wrote stories about many. At one time, he write a story a week. And his characters experiences were human and surprising. 

I guess the lesson for me was that it was not so easy to understand the culture of a city, because it has many elements and people come from many backgrounds. It also reminds me to keep my eyes open to learn about culture and different things it offers. 

And while I see our culture, I will also continue to look at Irish culture and enjoy doing it. 

St. Brendan of Birr 

Brendan of Birr is one of the twelve apostles of Ireland, twelve Irish monastic saints of the sixth century who studied under St Finnian at Clonard Abbey.  St. Brendan was born about 500 and the year of his death is not agreed upon by scholars, but most think he died about 572. Sometimes confused with the more well know, St Brendan of Clonfert (the Navigator), St. Brendan became a friend of St Columba (also known as Columkill) and St Brendan the Navigator. It was at this time the monks of Ireland began a period of 300 years of illuminated manuscript creation. The Book of Kells being the most famous is said to come from one of the monasteries of St. Columba—the Kells Monastery or perhaps created at Iona in whole or in part and then shipped to Kells for safety.

St. Brendan of Birr founded a monastery at Birr in central Ireland although everything we know about Brendan comes from the writings on other Irish Saints. After St. Columba was excommunicated, St. Brendan defended him and told others that Columba was held in high esteem by God and his excommunication was rescinded.  St. Columba would go on to found his celebrated monastery at Iona, an island in the Inner Hebrides off the coast of Scotland.

St. Brendan of Birr’s feast day is November 29^th. Brendan's monastery at Birr is said by some to have created the MacRegol Gospels (after Brendan’s death), which are now housed at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

Larry Norris is the publisher of Sports and Faith Book 2 and Pilgrimage by Patrick McCaskey. 

Father Burke Masters

Sports and Faith

 In our second Sports and Faith Series book, Sports and Faith: More Stories of the Devoted and the Devout, our author Patrick McCaskey discusses Father Burke Masters, who received Sports Faith International’s Father Smyth Award that recognizes an athlete who has left the sports world for a religious vocation.  Father Masters is the Vocation Director for the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois.

Father Masters has also been involved in “Spirit and Truth,” a young adult Eucharistic Adoration community program that has gatherings that include a talk, adoration, and then fellowship time.  The program has brought young adults of like minds together, fostered vocations, and also brought together people who have gotten married.  There are three groups now in the Diocese of Joliet. 

Father Masters is also the Chaplain for the Chicago Cubs.  He has a popular blog on which he posts his reflections on the daily readings that is followed by people from dozens of countries. There are a lot of negative things that we all get from the Internet whether we want them or not.  But Father Masters is someone you may want to subscribe to and get his message daily.

To subscribe, go to http://frburke23.wordpress.com and go to the right hand column.  Click on “Sign me up!” and start receiving these emails directly to your inbox.