HEARTS BEAT AS ONE, UNITED IN HOPE
Hearts beat as one, united in hope
Christ the King parish priest Fr Kevin Mullan was prominent in the aftermath of the Omagh bombing, offering messages of support and condolence.
AS THE hours close in now on the anniversary days of Omagh's devastation, we are realising in a new and hopefully clearer way what these days and all the past year are about -people, human beings, those taken from us, those maimed, those deeply disturbed in mind and spirit, those left with an emptiness in their lives that nobody else can fill. People. We meet people every day, people like these, and our own family people, friends, neighbours, those we work with, play with, pass in the street. Some we treat well, some we ignore, some mean nothing to us, some we hurt -accidentally or because of a misunderstanding, others intentionally, deliberately - to punish or make a point or to use for a purpose of our own. But each person is a world of her or his own, special, with the dreams of a heart that hopes and loves, the gifts and talents of individual perceptions and abilities, the pains of being a living, growing creature, with an uncertain life-span, the scars that disappointment and damage do to us all.
On August 15 last year we knew deep in ourselves that we had lost part of ourselves in the death and maiming of so many. However they were, whatever their life story, they were our sisters and brothers. Whoever came to help was a sister and brother. Tragedy revealed the greatness of people's hearts, the goodness in the lives of those horribly taken, the courage of those who would not be conquered by injury, the struggles and dedication of helpers, the caring that came out of everyone
We have been planning to sit with family after family this week, to listen to one another's hearts and whatever words may or may not rise from them. We desperately want to hold on to that feeling, that vision, which tragedy has brought, that way of being gentle with one another, understanding, making room, seeing the person as well as the identifying tags of politics or religion or nationality or even the difficulties that are all of ours through human weakness.
But so many are not here. Some have sought the safety of distance from the pit of grief. Some are lost in the unreachable depths of agonising loss. Here is a name composed in flowers, beautiful flowers, a beautiful name, wrenching tears from us for a beautiful person and those who miss her most deeply. Here is a stone being set in place with a name newly carved on it, a stone that lies as it does on the dearest one they named and reared and lost. The aching wounds of grief are all around us this weekend. We have no place among them unless our hearts are naked before them in all our shared compassionate humanity.
We have lived through a great deal of that heartfelt sincerity in the past year. It has satisfied us and we must sustain it for the future. Where we have seen insincerity in those with leadership responsibilities and the mockery that has replaced respect and interest, it has hurt us all the more.
Christ the King parish priest Fr Kevin Mullan was prominent in the aftermath of the Omagh bombing, offering messages of support and condolence.
AS THE hours close in now on the anniversary days of Omagh's devastation, we are realising in a new and hopefully clearer way what these days and all the past year are about -people, human beings, those taken from us, those maimed, those deeply disturbed in mind and spirit, those left with an emptiness in their lives that nobody else can fill. People. We meet people every day, people like these, and our own family people, friends, neighbours, those we work with, play with, pass in the street. Some we treat well, some we ignore, some mean nothing to us, some we hurt -accidentally or because of a misunderstanding, others intentionally, deliberately - to punish or make a point or to use for a purpose of our own. But each person is a world of her or his own, special, with the dreams of a heart that hopes and loves, the gifts and talents of individual perceptions and abilities, the pains of being a living, growing creature, with an uncertain life-span, the scars that disappointment and damage do to us all.
On August 15 last year we knew deep in ourselves that we had lost part of ourselves in the death and maiming of so many. However they were, whatever their life story, they were our sisters and brothers. Whoever came to help was a sister and brother. Tragedy revealed the greatness of people's hearts, the goodness in the lives of those horribly taken, the courage of those who would not be conquered by injury, the struggles and dedication of helpers, the caring that came out of everyone
We have been planning to sit with family after family this week, to listen to one another's hearts and whatever words may or may not rise from them. We desperately want to hold on to that feeling, that vision, which tragedy has brought, that way of being gentle with one another, understanding, making room, seeing the person as well as the identifying tags of politics or religion or nationality or even the difficulties that are all of ours through human weakness.
But so many are not here. Some have sought the safety of distance from the pit of grief. Some are lost in the unreachable depths of agonising loss. Here is a name composed in flowers, beautiful flowers, a beautiful name, wrenching tears from us for a beautiful person and those who miss her most deeply. Here is a stone being set in place with a name newly carved on it, a stone that lies as it does on the dearest one they named and reared and lost. The aching wounds of grief are all around us this weekend. We have no place among them unless our hearts are naked before them in all our shared compassionate humanity.
We have lived through a great deal of that heartfelt sincerity in the past year. It has satisfied us and we must sustain it for the future. Where we have seen insincerity in those with leadership responsibilities and the mockery that has replaced respect and interest, it has hurt us all the more.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0310
Published Date: 14-Aug-99
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