Up until about four decades ago the Irish were a very superstitious people.
Their faith was rooted in Holy Water, rosaries, statues, relics, holy wells, fairy thorns etc.
My granny believed that touching a priest’s hat would cure headaches and dinking the tea left in the bottom of a priest’s cup was prevention from colds and sore throats.
That generation believed that priests could cure illness and even raise from the dead
They also believed that a priest’s curse was the end.
A relative of mine, a lorry driver, crashed into the local PP and killed him. Three weeks later a gas tank blew up in front of him and blew off his two hands. He saw tgat as a punishment for killing the priest.
There is nothing all all wrong with a certain amount of emotional devotionionalism. But it cannot be the all.
Is Phonsie hankering for the past when the clergy were the mega wizards?
I believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
I believe in the possibility of Eucharistic miracles.
But the Eucharist is not a magic wand.
And the Eucharist is a symbol of faith and love. It inspires, especially in times of trouble.
But what does carrying the Eucharist around the streets of Waterford achieve – a city in which the majority do not attend Mass?
Maybe it FORCES THEM to see are still here.
Is that not a sign of a not knowing what to do?
The answer being: “Lets have a Eucharistic Procession”.
Is it not a time for Catholics, inspired by their faith, to open food banks, set up neighbourhood schemes for the old and infirm, obey Covid rules.
As well as to say their prayers and worship.
Jesus did seem to favour praying in your own private room?
Is Phonsie lost, I wonder, in post Catholic Ireland?
BISHOP PAT BUCKLEY 