It is amazing what you see once you start looking. Recently on a trip back to Ireland I took my camera out to document for myself some the enormous changes that have taken place and are still going on in my home town of Naas. As I wandered around I was remembering the buildings that used to stand in various parts of the town and pondering what ones will disappear before I come back again and what new ones will appear.
In the midst of my wandering I saw a plaque on a wall up a side street that I had not seen before. I went closer to have a look. I was very surprised to find that it was in memory of a fellow Columban from the town, Fr. Tommy Murphy who died in Burma. He was related to the Fox family and Peter Fox was in my class at Naas CBS. When I was ordained in the parish church in Naas in 1974, the family gave me his chalice to use at my first mass. For this reason as well as the fact that he was from Naas, I always felt a sense of connection with him. But I did not know about the plaque until I started wandering around the town and looking at what is there.
As I continued my rambling I found myself wondering about the people behind the placing of the plaque. Even a small, simple act of remembrance like this suggests a dedicated and committed group of people who felt strongly enough about Fr. Tommy and his life as a missionary priest and his death far from his home place to make sure that this uncommon life would not be forgotten. As a Columban I felt a great sense of gratitude to them and felt a great lift in my spirit. At a time when much of the talk was of economic downturn, recession, the credit crunch, jobs losses, wage freezes, huge hikes in prices and general gloom and doom – it was like finding a ray of hope. It was a simple encounter yet one with hints and echoes of the encounter Moses had with God at the burning bush once he went closer to have a look. It is amazing what you see when you start looking.
Many of the forces shaping our world seem to be beyond our control but this simple plague was a reminder to me that there are many millions of simple acts of this kind happening in every area of life and in every part of the world. They are not often on the main street or in the public eye in a prominent way. They will not be on the evening news or the daily paper. But they are there. The impact of each one can be profound, to say nothing of their combined effect. Happy are those who have eyes to see.
Fr Pat O’Shea resides at St Columban's, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
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