The Editor Regrets…
by James Good (Lettertec; copies from the author, Parkview, Church Street, Douglas, Cork)
Ah yes, what novice contributor to the press has not received one of those rejection slips that give Fr James Good of Cork the title of his collection of essays, largely unpublished? As his own publisher, Fr Good can present these pieces from over the years not just to his small circle of his many kinds friends, but to readers everywhere.
Fr Good was ordained in 1948 and followed a life of scholarship and teaching until 1975 when he departed to work among the proud local people of Turkana in Africa, where he laboured for two decades.
In general they are both thought provoking and entertaining. They are all very short and written to be understood by every kind of reader. There is very little theology-speak. All the pieces are interesting, one of the first Easter Sunday for instance, which discuses in a straight forward way the evidence for the resurrection.
A surprisingly little piece on Opus Dei, puts simply all the doubts and fears that its critics have of that organising. Fr Good suggests that members of Opus Dei should “come out” and rejoining the world and set to work about the real work of God, “helping the poor and the poor and the marginalised, of who there are many in our capital today”.
Praying to God Our Father
by Patrick Delargy (copies from the author; contact kirnriola@aol.com)
The author of this book is a parish priest in Ballymena. At first glance reminded me of those sermons that used to be given by Presbyterians and others in which a biblical reading was slowly parsed in the course of a long sermon. But here, though he does indeed parse the Lord’s Prayer, Paddy Delargy is inspired by the example of St Francis of Assisi. He remarks at the very beginning that “it was the profound achievement of St Francis to grasp that faith in God can be childlike without being childish”.
This very simplicity is perhaps paradoxically the most effective way of dealing with some very profound matters. Take for instance the phrase: “And deliver us from evil”.
Both the nature of evil and the question of just punishment absorb people; often in a way that must be damaging to them. But we cannot in any way limit the mercy of God: “Every one can be transformed. Perhaps that is why St Francis prayed ‘deliver us from evil: past present and to come?”
That the evil of the past continues to affect the living is something we have all seen.
The whole of this little book, which certainly ought to be read far beyond the bounds Ballymena, is informed by the prayer of the spirit of Assisi: There is a dimension to this book that may not be obvious: that the sentiments and insight of St Francis inspiring it are also those which inform the warmth and charity of the Pope himself.