Time for pleasant distractions to go viral

Anything that provides calm, relative normality or even distraction in these troubling times is welcome.

Gardening surely ticks all these boxes, so I was glad to watch Gardeners’ World (BBC2) on Friday. Recently returned for a new season, presenter Monty Don exuded calm and enthusiasm and it was almost a virus-free zone – he did mention how important gardening was for wellbeing at the moment and how they’d concentrate on just one main garden per week for now.

On Wednesday nights TG 4 is repeating another marvellous show, Garraí Glas. The emphasis here is on herbs, ancient natural cures, and home produce. We get to meet impressive enthusiasts – last week there was Nancy Murray from West Cork who was a lady of many talents – she grew vegetables for shows though  wasn’t that keen on  eating some of them.

We saw her excellent craftwork along with stacks of trophies and pictures of the Sacred Heart. In her impish way she warned against telling lies – that would land you in Purgatory, she said, and you’d want to avoid that “at all costs”!  Presenter Síle Ní Chonaonaigh is an engaging presenter and the background music, the best of acoustic folk, has me reaching for my Shazam App.

New streaming service Disney Plus was launched last week, rather timely considering the situation. I love the range of Pixar shorts, some featuring characters from films like Toy Story, The Incredibles and Up, while other are very funny one-offs, many with a gentle message of accepting difference and avoiding bullying – check out the likes of Float, Bao, For the Birds and Doug’s Special Mission.

All the major Disney films are there. I particularly loved Mary Poppins Returns which exceeded my expectations. It was faithful to the spirit of the original, featured beautiful cinematography and some fine new music, with snatches of the original score at key moments. Check out the songs The Place Where Lost Things Go and Lovely London Sky.

While there’s a huge range of family-friendly material on the service, it can’t always be assumed that everything is suitable for younger children. Some of their modern films can be edgier than in the past and there can be politically correct agendas that Christian parents might not be happy with.

Expedition

Back on regular TV, the three-part  Pilgrimage: Road to Istanbul (BBC2) started last Friday night. Like the previous expedition to Rome, this features a group of celebrities (of course!) following an ancient military trail that originally went from Istanbul to Vienna. Around 10 years ago it was developed as a peace walk to promote tolerance between faiths and cultures.

The celebrities, travelling sections of the route from Belgrade to Istanbul, were the usual gender/race/religion balanced group. Pauline McLynn (Mrs Doyle from Father Ted) was brought up Catholic and now identified as “a secular person”. Journalist Adrian Chiles was a Catholic convert, drawn to the Church, after a friend asked him to come to Mass with him.

Former politician Edwina Currie came from a Jewish family, her heritage was important to her but she wasn’t a person of much religious faith.

Broadcaster Mim Shaikh was a young Muslim with “an undeniable belief in God” and critical of extremism. Fatima Whitbread, former javelin champion, was brought up in care homes, was brought regularly to Sunday School and continued to value her religious faith.

It is a challenging walk but for TV presenter Amar Latif it was particularly so as he was blind and he was graciously guided by the others.

Finally Dom Joly, the inevitable comedian, who described himself as a “rebel idiot”, was the most avowedly atheistic of the group. He respected those with a religious faith, was even jealous of them and seemed to dislike religion in general but found he got on well with religious people when he met them.

Programmes like this are becoming a bit formulaic but, while there were bland moments, it was amiable enough. I particularly liked the theological discussions at meal times – the table fellowship was mighty!

The Serbian scenery was beautiful and the sacred places visited were striking, especially the Manasija monastery with the protective fortress and the distinctive Orthodox ceremony for the feast day of the birth of Our Lady.

For some participants in the show this is a religious pilgrimage, for some it’s more of a secular pilgrimage – or is that a contradiction in terms?

Pick of the Week

Mass for Psalm Sunday

RTÉ1, Palm Sunday, April 4, 11am

The Rev. Prof. Michael Mullaney, President of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, celebrates Mass in the Kairos chapel studio, Maynooth, with music from Celine Byrne, accompanied by Ronan Murray.

Mass of the Lord’s Supper

RTÉ1 and RTÉ Radio 1 Extra/LW252/Digital Radio (radio at 7 pm), Holy Thursday, April 9, 4.40pm   

Fr Ray Kelly, parish priest of Oldcastle, Co. Meath, celebrates Mass of the Last Supper in the Kairos chapel studio, Maynooth, Co. Kildare.

The Leap of Faith

RTÉ Radio 1, Good Friday, April 10, 10pm   

Michael Comyn asks whether and how the Easter story continues to resonate with people in today’s Ireland.