Our Lady of Knock and Marriage/Family

 

The Twentieth Century Republic of Ireland has often been presented as backward, in that contraceptives were illegal until 1979, while divorce was illegal until 1996.  Subsequent years have seen some monumental changes:

• "Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in Ireland, and one outreach group says the problem is even worse than official statistics show...The available statistics on their own show an alarming rise in the number of STDs reported in Ireland. Cases of herpes have jumped from 358 in 2002 to 1,226 in 2011. Syphilis reporting has more than doubled from 303 cases in 2002 to 653 last year, while gonorrhea cases jumped from 214 in 2002 to 834 last year.  Chlamydia presents the biggest STD problem in Ireland, with 1,922 reported cases in 2002, rising to 6,407 in 2011" (Irish Central, Major increase in sexually transmitted diseases in Ireland, 12/30/12).
• "THE last two decades have revealed a culture of abuse of children, by Church and State, in 20th-century Ireland. We are still coming to terms with that dark chapter of our history, as the survivors push for recognition and justice....[Yet] The closure of Ireland’s industrial schools and mother-and-baby homes has not heralded an end of the brutal abuse of children in this State.  Modern-day slavery exists here — almost half of the people trafficked in Ireland in 2012 were children. In 2013, 16 out of the 44 people formally identified as having been trafficked in the country were also children" (Irish Examiner, A History of Child Abuse in Ireland, 9/18/14). 
•  There has been a "sixfold increase in marital breakdown since 1986....[and a] huge increase in cohabitation....A third figure worth highlighting is the number of children being raised outside marriage.  In 1986 this was 12.8pc of all children.  By 2011 it had increased to over 28.1 percent....as 'family 'diversity' in Ireland increases overwhelmingly it will be the result of marriage and relationship breakdown and will go hand-in-hand with a rise in families without active, present fathers" (Iona Institute, Marriage Breakdown and Family Structure in Ireland: A Report Based on Census 2011).

Last year, "Catholic" Ireland took another step in its rejection of Our Lord's teaching on marriage/family: "Not only has Ireland has [sic] agreed to same-sex marriage, it has done so in a louder voice than many could have imagined, carried on the back of a remarkable turnout and an engagement by younger people not seen in years....this one was largely for the younger generation, which turned out in its droves. Stories of emigrants returning home to vote and huge increases in voter registration offered indications of what was to come but the final results were astonishing" (Fiach Kelly, the Irish Times, 5/23/15).  The author of the beautiful Lady of Knock hymn did NOT remain silent:

"It is universally accepted that the 'best practice' for the well-being of a child, its parents and society is for that child to be raised in a family with its biological parents. We know that this 'best practice' is not always attainable and we acknowledge the great care provided to children by adoptive and foster parents and by often heroic single parents. Nonetheless, the gift of a mother and a father to a child is something that should never be prejudiced or undermined by anyone and to do so cannot be in best interest of the child.

"In every other sphere of life - from medical care to the worlds of business, agriculture, finance and politics - 'best practice' is held up as the gold standard that we must not only aspire to, but do everything possible to achieve and maintain. Why then would we seek to discard the gold standard for marriage, the family and our society?

"Our Irish Constitution enshrines that 'The State pledges itself to guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded, and to protect it against attack' (Art 43.1.1.). This legal binding pledge is not made on religious grounds but because, 'The State recognises the Family as the natural primary and fundamental unit group of Society and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive law' (Art 41.1.1)

"The family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman, predates our state and religions. Throughout world history it has been recognised as the fundamental building block of society and that what happens to it, reverberates throughout society.

"As a dear friend, who happens to be homosexual, has said 'the marriage of a man and woman is a stand-alone institution which should not be interfered with or changed by anyone, for any reason'.

"In Ireland's great future we cannot forget its past. Marriage between a man and a woman has certainly served us well as a nation throughout our history and it deserves to be protected and maintained."

Dana Rosemary Scallon

Claregalway, Co Galway

Familiar to many from EWTN, Dana Rosemary Scallon has also served in Irish politics with brave positions on human life and marriage/family.

"....In so many ways we might situate ourselves in the minds of the 15 people who gazed in wonder at the Apparition on 21 August 1879.  Today our eyes are lifted towards this magnificent mosaic as we are drawn into what it depicts – Jesus the Lamb of Sacrifice, the cross by which He redeemed us, the altar of the Eucharist where He makes Himself present, His mother whom He has given to us on Calvary, Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist and the choirs of angels....

"at the time of the Apparition, Ireland, and particularly the West of Ireland, had been through the devastation of the famine.  People were demoralised; death and destruction was all around and perhaps a general sense of hopelessness.  And yet the people recognised the importance of the Eucharist, Mass, faith and something which was very much in keeping with Irish spirituality, a deep devotion to Our Lady.  While there were no words spoken at the Apparition yet the words of today’s first reading gives voice to the meaning of the silent Apparition.  The Apparition was God’s way of recognising the suffering of our people, identifying with them and promising to be supportive of them....

"The parable of the Fig Tree invites us to consider the gift of another year of life as an act of God’s mercy.  John the Baptist long declared that the axe lay at the root, poised to strike.  Any tree that did not bear fruit would be cut down.  In this parable, however, the gardener pleads for and is granted one more year.  The year that Jesus proclaimed, moreover, “the year of the Lord’s favour”, would be a year of forgiveness, restoration and second chances.

"What would you do if you had only a year left to live, only a short time in which to get things in order and establish true priorities?  How important that year might be!  The lesson of the Fig Tree is a challenge to live each day as a gift from God.  Live each day in such a way that you would have no fear of giving an account of how you have used God’s gifts...." (Archbishop Michael Neary, 2/28/16)

It is not too late to embrace God's loving plan for marriage/family.  Our Lord and Our Lady Still have not forgotten Ireland or her sons and her daughters - even those of us who live so far from the "Emerald Isle."  Our Lord and Our Lady have not forgotten anyone!