SacredSpace102fm was a weekly programme produced by "Come & See Inspirations" in West Limerick. The programme included inspirational music, chat, interviews, what’s on locally and not so locally and a reflection on the Sunday gospel reading of the day. It was presented by John Keily, regular panelists, contributors and invited guests. Programmes are available to be listened to online on our podcast pages.
On this weeks programme the full SS102fm team John, Shane, Anne and Lorraine return as we take a stroll down memory lane with our annual review of the year 2017 from a faith perspective. We have our regular reflection on this Sunday's gospel, select our 2018 patron saints, the blog patron saint for 2018 as well as our weekly celestial guides and other liturgical odds and ends. You can listen to the podcast of this weeks full programme HERE.
2017 Year in Review
SS102fm over the last few years about mid-January has had the custom of taking a look back at the year just gone from a faith perspective looking at things globally, papal related, nationally in Ireland and locally to Limerick diocese. We also do a bit of crystal ball gazing to see what might be the things to watch out for in 2018. You can listen to the year in review discussion excerpted from the main programme podcast HERE.
Patron Saints 2018
Some people like to seek a patron saint as part of their New Year resolutions and on the programme over the last few years we have each had a patron saint for the year and also a Blog Patron Saint. If you want to pick a patron saint for 2018 for your self head on over to the Saint's Name Generator HERE.
So for 2018 our blog patron saint is St Justin Martyr
Pagan philosopher who converted at age 30 by reading the Scriptures and witnessing the heroism and faith of martyrs. Used his philosophical and oratorical skills to dispute with pagans and explain the faith, becoming one of the first great Christian apologists. He opened a school of public debate in Rome, Italy. All this naturally brought him to the attention of the authorities, and he died a martyr.
Shane - St Lucy
John - St Pope John Paul II
Lorraine - St Catherine of Siena
Anne - St Thomas a Beckett
Gospel - Mark 1: 14-20
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’
As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
Statement of Bishop Brendan Leahy on the death of Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries:
“The death of Dolores O’Riordan is such a sad loss of a young and precious life. Millions across the world have been shocked by this sad news but first and foremost I think of her family. Way beyond anything else, this is the passing of a loving mother, daughter and sister. This is a family that will grieve deeply for Dolores in the same as others who lose loved ones. It starts and ends with them.
“Of course she was a superstar and an inspiration to so many people, not least from Limerick. She grew up in Ballybricken, which is actually in the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, but Limerick city, all of Limerick, held her very dear in its heart. Her rise to stardom gave a huge amount of belief to young people locally at the time. She was a true child of Limerick; talented, honest, full of soul and courageous. And she never lost sight of who she was and where she was from.
“She also often spoke about her spirituality and how important that was too her and, of course, she met Pope John Paull II. She spoke of taking a lot of influence for her music from her spirituality. Limerick and the world has lost a kind, soft-hearted, talented soul. May she rest in peace.”
Christmas has officially finished! Until next year that is. With the second Vespers of the Baptism of the Lord, tomorrow we return to Ordinary Time. We get back into the ordinary course of events. Through the period of Ordinary Time following Christmas, we become increasingly aware that this marvel of birth and growth will mature into something challenging. However we need time to focus on this and we are gifted with the time of Lent which culminates in the great event of the Resurrection, the battle of life over death, light over darkness. Lent greets us somewhat earlier this year and believe it or not, but Ash Wednesday is on the 14th of February, Valentine's Day! Just 5 weeks away.
With the way the calendar fell this year, it seemed that the time after New Year's and normal time just flew. Jokingly, I said that the shops will already have the Easter eggs in soon. I wasn't too far wrong, in fact, they are already in the shops since New Year's Eve (not impressed Tesco!). What is it with the commercial world continually projecting us into the future. Have we lost the capacity to live the present moment? Are we afraid to live the present? Are we afraid that the present is too 'ordinary.'
However, ordinary time can be misleading. It seems to suggest that life and faith carry on as usual and they do to an extent. The truth however is quite the contrary when the readings of the season are taken into account. In the Gospel which accompanies us into Ordinary Time, Jesus issues the invitation: " Follow me". Follow him a world which is both ordinarily extraordinary and extraordinarily ordinary.
A quote reads: “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” What is the little ‘extra’ which makes the difference in your life? For me, beauty continues to speak a language of its own which does not necessarily need words or vocabulary, precisely because it belongs to the sphere of the simple. My quest for ‘extra’ continues, or translated into biblical terms, the journey towards embracing Jesus’ invitation in John 10:10 ‘I have come that you may life in abundance.' That said, extraordinary things happen in Ordinary time too. People are born and people die. Wars begin and wars end, and wars go on and on. Tornados and earthquakes happen and end. Miracles come in silently, softly, transforming the lives of unsuspecting people. People shed the extraordinary because they have been wearied by life and settle for the ordinary. Ironically, when travel and the media have blown all horizons wide open, our own inner horizons seem to have become narrower and our vision contracted. How can we find again the seeing eye and the feeling touch? The reality of “time and eternity” is one that few people these days choose to contemplate, because we are so distracted. Technology and entertainment have become the things people chase when they are not fulfilling their obligations and taking up their responsibilities.
To follow Jesus, means to take up the Cross. Life is not easy as we all know. Taking up the cross means living at least in part in an alternative reality, one in which the freedom of love, forgiveness and grace prevails in place of the normal arrangements of domination, retribution and exchange. With the commercial hype of Christmas having passed, it is easy to get dragged into a sense of a mundane life, void of fairy lights, candy canes and gifts under the tree. January can be somewhat of an anti-climatic month. Yes, we are all human; we don't have absolute power over everything; there will be difficult times, there will depressing times; and nothing good comes easy. We may get tossed around by the storms of life like ordinary people except for the fact that we serve God, who is able to speak to our storms and say ‘Peace, be still!’ We think of Celtic spirituality where "Celtic spirituality was a practice in which ordinary people in their daily lives took the tasks that lay to hand but treated them sacramentally, as pointing to a greater reality which lay beyond them." (Esther de Waal). The Good News that God’s extraordinary life comes to us in seemingly ordinary ways is the ongoing lesson of Ordinary Time.
This said, no-one wants to be ‘ordinary’, we all want to feel special. We want to live exciting lives which give us interesting photos and bizarre statuses to post on Facebook or Twitter. We want people to think our lives are extraordinary. Easily we forget that every single person on earth is completely unique and not exactly like anyone else. Every single life is special and extraordinary. We don’t have to prove ourselves to God or to anyone for that matter. It can seem that even in church circles, we have to do ‘big’ things. There is so much importance placed on having a big ministry or having that “special calling” to bigger things yet we often fail to recognize that God can do extraordinary things when we’re doing the ordinary.
Holly Gerth writes: “Ordinary is the lie we tell ourselves when we look in the mirror and say the girl looking back is no one special. It’s the false feeling that tries to overwhelm us when we’re standing in the corner at a conference and everyone else seems cooler. It’s the whisper of the enemy of our hearts when we get ready to offer what we’ve tucked away inside for so long. You are not ordinary. You are extraordinary. The God who spoke the stars into being knit together your soul. Chose the color of your eyes. Numbered the hairs on your head. Placed gifts within you like presents for the world to open with joy.”
Yes, God does call some people to go out and do new and extraordinary things but that doesn’t mean that what we do is insignificant. For the vast majority of us, He’s called us to live an ordinary life but He desires that we live it in an extraordinary way. He wants us to give unconditionally without expecting return, to love in a way which the world doesn’t acknowledge, loving the poor, the weak, those whom the world deems ‘unlovable’. He wants us to be faithful in the little things, making the little sacrifices which no-one might even see. By giving time to someone in need of a kind word or gesture when you feel just like having your personal space. We don’t need a big “calling” to have an impact in this world. Maybe that is why I love the lives of the saints so much, they teach us that God does miracles in the lives of ordinary people. He changes sinners into saints. All we need to do is live our ordinary lives in an extraordinary way. So don’t be afraid to be ordinary!
