Clonskeagh Parish RCN:20016166

A few words from Fr Joe………………….

Don’t you just love the blue skies, warm breeze and sunny days, bright and dry! The weather shouldn’t really matter but when there is a little summery spell, unexpected but oh so welcome, life just seems better. Yet with the warm weather this week also came some thick, cold and discomforting fog on Wednesday morning. Thankfully it didn’t last long, but the fog changes everything. We can’t see the familiar landmarks, oncoming traffic, or what direction we are travelling in. It is so very easy to lose your way in the fog.

I was enjoying the lovely weather when the news came to me that the body of Margaret Barber had been found. It was a bitter sweet moment, confirming our worst fears that Margaret had died when she went missing and also giving some sense of relief that she wasn’t lost anymore. Almost everyone I spoke to thought first of her family and hoped that there would be some comfort for them in getting the clarity that this news brought. Yet there was also in every conversation such a deep sense of loss, pondering how could this wonderful woman leave us all in this way.

I remember using the analogy of the fog at the funeral of my cousin who died by suicide, he became detached from all the normal loving relationships in this life, lost his bearings and went from us so suddenly and unexpectedly. It’s so hard to understand depression, the invisible condition that envelopes a person and can lead them to act in such an extreme way, with devastating consequences for everyone left behind. I guess it’s like the fog, blocking out all that is close by, a supportive and loving family and friends and it brings a despair which can lead to great loss.

I pray that Margaret is at peace, that some comfort will come to her family and that we can all honour her memory in a spirit of gratitude for all the many blessings in her life. I think too of everyone who is affected by depression and hope they find their way through the fog to the embrace of those who love them so much. I hope that all the organisations that support those who suffer in this way will always be there to help.

Fr Joe Mullan