A two-page feature on Youghal, Co Cork, in the October 2021 edition of the ‘Church Review’
Patrick Comerford
The October edition of the Church Review, the Dublin and Glendalough diocesan magazine edited by the Revd Nigel Waugh, Rector of Delgany, Co Wicklow, was distributed in parishes and churches throughout Dublin and Wicklow this morning [3 October 2021].
My monthly feature in the Church Review this month is a two-page spread (pp 12-13) looking at the charms of Youghal, Co Cork, including the mediaeval parish church, Saint Mary’s Collegiate Church, the Clock Tower, the legends about Sir Walter Raleigh, including the introduction of potatoes and tobacco to Ireland, the election of the first Jewish mayor in any town on these islands, and recollections of the writer and journalist Claud Cockburn.
I have happy but blurred memories of visiting Youghal from Cappoquin during my childhood years, and so it was a pleasure to rediscover Youghal during this year’s summer ‘road trip.’
Many people are familiar with the charms of West Cork, but the attractions of this part of East Cork are often overlooked.
But – more about Youghal on this blog tomorrow [4 October 2021].
Harvest fields on the banks of the River Blackwater at Lismore, Co Waterford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)
Let us pray:
God of the universe,
we thank you for your many good gifts.
For the beauty of creation
and its rich and varied fruits,
for clean water and fresh air,
for food and shelter,
animals and plants.
Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.
Forgive us for the times
we have taken the earth’s resources
for granted, and wasted what you have given us.
Transform our hearts and minds,
so that we would learn to care and share,
to touch the earth with gentleness and love,
respecting all living things.
Christ have mercy. Christ have mercy.
We pray for all those who suffer as a result of
our waste, greed and indifference, and we pray that
the day would come when everyone
has enough food and clean water.
Help us to respect the rights of all people and all species
and help us to willingly share your gifts,
today and always.
Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.
The Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) in its Prayer Diary this morning, the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, invites us to pray:
Creator Father,
May we remember that
We are all children of God.
Let us pray for young people,
For they are both the present
And future of the Church.
Merciful Father …
(The ‘Prayer of Gratitude for Creation’ by Fiona Murdoch, Eco Congregation Ireland, was found at the Slate Quarries on Valentia Island)
An autumn crop of apples in the orchard at Cappoquin House, Co Waterford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Harvest themes in windows by Johnny Murphy and Reiltín Murphy (1982) in the Bishop O’Brien Memorial Chapel in Saint Saviour’s Dominican Church, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)
Patrick Comerford
Sunday 3 October 2021, (Trinity XVIII)
9.30 a.m.: The Harvest Eucharist, Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, Co Limerick
11.30 a.m.: Morning Prayer (Harvest), Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin (Tarbert), Co Kerry
Readings: Joel 2: 21-27; Psalm 126; I Timothy 2: 1-7; Matthew 6: 25-33 (Harvest, Year B)
‘The tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and the vine their full yield’ (Joel 2: 22) … grapes ripening on the vines in Platanias, near Rethymon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)
May I speak to you in the name of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
Autumn seems a good time to take stock in so many ways. The summer holidays are over, the children are back at school, colleges and universities have reopened, and there is a new sense of freedom – freedom tempered with caution – with the easing of pandemic restrictions.
Before the clocks go back and the winter evenings close in, our Harvest Thanksgiving Services this week and next week offer us time to take a few steps back and just see where we are going.
Harvest time is a time to take stock of the riches we have been blessed with, to realise what we have and what we no longer need, what we have been blessed with and what we can bless others with, what is there and what is missing.
We have had a year when the weather has sometimes given us too much – or not enough – rain in Ireland. But in many parts of the world, climate change has brought forest fires and winds that have destroyed not just forests, but farms, vineyards, crops, animals and homesteads too.
In contrast to the experiences of people in parts of Greece, Spain, Australia and California, we might be glad in Ireland this morning to echo the Prophet Joel in our first reading (Joel 2: 21-27), when he gives thanks for the ‘abundant rain, the early and the later rain’ (Joel 2: 23).
Both the rain and the sunshine are necessary for the growth of fruit, vegetables, grass and feed for animals.
Sometimes it is good to count our blessings. As Joel says, ‘Be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things’ (Joel 2: 21).
Our Psalm (Psalm 126) is a liturgical song and part of public worship. When the people first returned from exile in Babylon, they hardly believed their good fortune, and they were ‘like those who dream.’ So great was their success that other nations recognised God’s mighty works on their behalf, and the people rejoiced.
But after the initial euphoria, they realise that ordinary, daily life is difficult. They ask God to restore our fortunes, and that the land be refreshed and be made fruitful with the waters of free-flowing rivers.
They may be sorrowful as they sow, but they still hope to gather the harvest in joyfulness, as God once more acts on our behalf.
All creation gives praise to God, and good times and bad times should both remind us not just of each season, but of the needs of others:
Those who sowed with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
Those who went out weeping, carrying the seed,
will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves (Psalm 126: 6).
In our Epistle reading (I Timothy 2: 1-7), Saint Paul writes from prison in Rome to his disciple Saint Timothy, urging him to pray and to give thanks for everyone, including those who are in government and who hold power.
This is not an endorsement of any government or its policies. Nor is it passive or accepting. At a time when governments are slow to take the speedy measures needed to combat climate change, we are to pray for those in authority, as Saint Paul reminds us, so that all may live ‘a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity’ (verse 2).
What things, what unmet needs, are preventing people living among us this harvest time from living ‘a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity’? What global failures to respond to climate change are going to deny future generations the gifts God wants them to share in future harvests? And how might we pray this harvest season so that this is rectified?
The Gospel reading (Matthew 6: 25-33) is part of the Sermon on the Mount. Christ has spoken of the impossibility of serving two masters. One cannot love both: ‘You cannot serve God and wealth’ (verse 24).
A key word in this passage is ‘worry.’ The Greek word used here (μεριμνάω, merimnao) is repeated three times (verses 25, 27, 31). It means to be anxious, to be troubled with cares, to care for, to look out for, to seek to promote one’s own personal demands or interests, to be preoccupied with or to be absorbed by my own needs.
But that does not exclude caring for the needs of others.
To be preoccupied with food and appearances is to view life far too narrowly. Christ is using hyperbole when he gives birds as an example of a proper attitude towards food (verse 26). They work hard to find it, but they do not store it for possible future shortages, still less for hoarding or personal pleasure.
Of course, we should plan prudently for the future. But worrying excessively and being preoccupied with our own future needs are futile – and prevent us from responding to the needs of people today. Yes, of course I desire a long life, but worrying is not going to do anything about it.
I have a pension plan, I have plans for how to enjoy future years. But being preoccupied with my possible future needs can stop me from living in the present – which is a present – and stop me from responding to the needs of others in the present.
And being too preoccupied with my own future as I advance in age is in danger of muting my response to the future needs of the world: global warming, food security, the looming conflicts over global water supplies.
Sometimes when I worry about some of the speciality foods that I enjoy as luxuries are not available when I am shopping, someone close to me gently reminds me that these are ‘First World’ problems. She chides me to consider whether many people in Damascus or Kabul share these minor irritations.
Once again, we are warned against being over-ambitious about what we should eat, drink or wear. It is not that we do not need these things. But it seems that all too often we define ourselves by the food we like others to see in our shopping trolleys or we prepare for our guests, the reputations of the wine we drink or serve, or the branding provided by the labels on the clothes we wear to give us social status or acceptability.
But life is more than food and the body is more than clothing (verse 25). Sometimes, we too easily set silly if not wrong ‘standards’ to maintain, that insult families faced with not being able to pay their heating and electricity bills this winter, families facing mounting rent bills and homelessness.
As Christ tells us in this Gospel reading, ‘Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’ (verse 33).
And so, may all we think, say and do be to the praise, honour and glory of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ (Matthew 6: 31) … harvest bread in a shop (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Matthew 6: 25-33 (NRSVA):
[Jesus said:] 25 ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’
‘You crown the year with your goodness and give us the fruits of the earth in their season’ … harvest scenes in a stained glass window in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)
Liturgical colour: Green
Collect:
Eternal God,
you crown the year with your goodness
and give us the fruits of the earth in their season:
Grant that we may use them to your glory,
for the relief of those in need
and for our own well-being;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Preface:
And now we give you thanks
because you make us stewards of your creation,
to praise you day by day
for the marvels of your wisdom and power.
Post Communion Prayer:
Lord of the harvest,
with joy we have offered thanksgiving for your love in creation
and have shared in the bread and wine of the kingdom.
By your grace plant within us such reverence
for all that you give us
that will make us wise stewards the of the good things we enjoy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Blessing:
God the Father, who created the world,
give you grace to be wise stewards of his creation. Amen.
God the Son, who redeemed the world,
inspire you to go out as labourers into his harvest. Amen.
God the Holy Spirit, whose breath fills the whole of creation,
help you to bear his fruits of love, joy and peace. Amen.
And the blessing …
‘For the fruits of his creation’ (Hymn 39) … blackberries ripening near Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin, Tarbert, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Hymns:
37: Come, ye thankful people, come (CD 3) 39: For the fruits of his creation (CD 3) 47: We plough the fields and scatter (CD 3)
The USPG Harvest Appeal this year focusses on Zimbabwe with the theme ‘Gardens of Hope’ (Photograph: USPG)
Saint Anthony’s Church is in an almost-hidden corner of Mitropolis Square in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)
Patrick Comerford
Today is the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVIII). We are celebrating the Harvest Festival this Sunday (3 October 2021) and next Sunday, with the Harvest Eucharist this morning in Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, Co Limerick, and a harvest theme at Morning Prayer in Saint Brendan’s Church, Tarbert, Co Kerry.
But, before the day gets busy, I am taking a little time this morning for prayer, reflection and reading. Each morning in the time in the Church Calendar known as Ordinary Time, I am reflecting in these ways:
1, photographs of a church or place of worship;
2, the day’s Gospel reading;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
My theme for these few weeks is churches in Rethymnon on the island of Crete, where I spent two weeks last month.
My photographs this morning (3 October 2021) are from the Church of Saint Anthony in a corner of Mitropolis Square, close to the Cathedral in Rethymnon.
Inside Saint Anthony’s Church, a tiny, single-aisle church built in 1863 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)
The Church of Saint Anthony is tucked into a corner of Mitropolis Square, close to the Cathedral. The church is set back from the street by a small courtyard, and is almost hidden by the awnings of the taverna next door. It is noticed by few of tourists who pass by, seldom seeing the steps down into the courtyard.
This tiny, single-aisle church was built in 1863 but looks much older and is decorated simply inside.
The church is dedicated to Saint Anthony or Saint Antony the Great (Ἀντώνιος) who lived from ca 251 to 356, was a monk in Egypt, and should not be confused with the Franciscan Saint Anthony of Padua, who gives his name to the only Roman Catholic church in Rethymnon.
Saint Anthony of Egypt is important among the Desert Fathers and a key figure in the development of Christian monasticism. Because of this, he is also known as the Father of All Monks. His feast day is celebrated on 17 January.
The biography of Saint Anthony by Saint Athanasius of Alexandria helped to spread monasticism, particularly in Western Europe through Latin translations.
He is often considered the first Christian monk, although his biography and other sources make it clear that there were many ascetics before him. Saint Anthony, however, was among the first known ascetics to go into the wilderness, ca 270.
Accounts of Saint Anthony’s life and his temptations during in the Desert have inspired many works in Western art and literature.
Close to Saint Anthony’s Church, in nearby Mousoúrou Street, off the square, is the Bishop’s Palace, an impressive, symmetrical, palatial white neoclassical building renovated in 1900 at the expense of General Thedore de Chiostak, the commander of Russian troops in the town.
Behind the Bishop’s Palace, the Diocesan Church Museum is usually open for two hours some days during the summer weeks.
An image of Saint Anthony above the entrance to the church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)
Mark 10: 2-16 (NRSVA):
2 Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ 3 He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ 4 They said, ‘Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.’ 5 But Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, “God made them male and female.” 7 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’
10 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’
13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
Votive candles burning inside the church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)
The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (3 October 2021, Trinity XVIII) invites us to pray:
Creator Father,
May we remember that
We are all children of God.
Let us pray for young people,
For they are both the present
And future of the Church.
