Clonskeagh Parish RCN:20016166

A Few Words from Fr Joe…………………..

My older brother and his wife celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary during the week. His wife is American and as it happens she is away in the States this month, where their daughter lives, while he stayed home. She has written a very thoughtful reflection and shared it on the family WhatsApp, stimulating a lot of memories of that time as you might imagine. Karen noted how many of the places that were at the centre of their lives in the Belfast of the 1970’s are long since gone, demolished, closed or redeveloped. Even hearing her speak about them draws me back to those very troubled times in the North, Belfast was burning, troops on the streets, riots, bombs and paramilitary activities constantly on the news. The H-Blocks were full, walls were built to separate communities and a terrible fear pervaded the city. My sister in law had come to Northern Ireland as a tourist, decided to stay for the summer and got involved volunteering at a church run project for children. It was in this most of unlikely of circumstances that they met, fell in love and developed the relationship that led to their marriage in 1976. He qualified as an architect and she as a social worker and contributed with so many of their peer group to rebuilding the devastated city, block by block and community by community.

When I look today at the destruction of Lebanon, Gaza, Iran and other places where conflict has shattered entire communities I see in them similar images to how Belfast looked back then. I can only hope and pray that there will be a generation of idealistic, principled, courageous young people, from many nations, drawn into the rebuilding that has to happen. Churches, community groups and local leadership united in Belfast to forge a better future for the children of the troubles. As we have seen recently that stability which was so hard won can’t be taken for granted, racism can creep into the space where sectarianism once thrived. So once again strong voices of reason need to speak against violence and lead people on the path to protect peace and promote integration.