Best wishes to Bishop Seamus Freeman on his retirement as Bishop of Ossory
Click on the image below to view photos of the Mass of thanksgiving and the Closing of the Jubilee of Mercy Door which was celebrated on Sunday November 20th
Fr. Seamus Stapleton SAC with Bishop Richard Moth and Deacon Duncan Brown
Seamus Stapleton died suddenly of a heart attack in the presbytery at St. Mary Star of the Sea, Hastings, on Sunday morning, October 30, 2016. Seamus had celebrated 10am Mass in the parish, he greeted the parishioners after Mass, as was his custom, and went for a cup of tea with the parishioners in the parish hall. Seamus returned to the presbytery to get some extra milk for those preparing the tea and coffee and when he did not appear for the 11.30 Mass the Deacon, Duncan Browne, and some parishioners went to find him and he had collapsed in the kitchen. The emergency services were called and two nurses who were in the congregation for Mass immediately attempted to resuscitate him but in vain, he had already died.
Because of the sudden and unexpected nature of his death the coroner for the area requested a post-mortem examination and that did not take place until November 8. Seamus was received into the Church of St. Mary Star of the Sea on Wednesday November 9 at 7pm, there was concelebrated Mass to receive him and George Ranahan, the Provincial Delegate, was the main celebrant and homilist. The following morning the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, Mgr Richard Moth, was the main celebrant at the Requiem Mass and I as Provincial delivered the homily. Almost all of our men in England concelebrated along with the priests of the Deanery and other priests from the Diocese. A large contingent of parishioners from Greenford and Barking travelled down for the Requiem Mass as did friends and relatives of Seamus who are resident in the UK. Seamus’s mother Mary, his brothers John, Matthew and Liam, and his sister Anne-Marie travelled over to Hastings for the Masses and they were accompanied by cousins.
At both Masses in Hastings the parish church was filled to capacity as people gathered to pay their respects to Seamus, to mourn his passing and to pay tribute to his ministry as a priest in the English delegature.
The following is my homily in Hastings.
“This is a sad occasion for each of us gathered here this afternoon, we come to bid farewell to a beloved son, brother, confrere, friend, parish priest, pastor and shepherd, to a man whose untimely death has shaken us and saddened us. We gather as persons of faith, a vibrant Christian faith which strengthens us and allows us the hope of everlasting life with Christ in the midst of our sadness and grief.
Our requiem Mass is not the place, nor is today the time, to deliver a eulogy on the life of Fr. Seamus Stapleton, but it is the place and the time to simply thank God for Seamus, for all he was and for all he contributed to our lives and to the life of this parish community. Fr. Seamus began his life as a priest in the Parish of Our Lady of the Visitation in Greenford in late summer 2006, he spent six happy and fulfilled years in Greenford and the presence of so many parishioners and friends from Greenford here today is a testimony to his ministry there. Seamus ‘cut his teeth’ as a priest in Greenford and in a spirit of openness and service was happy to accept the appointment as Parish Priest, as Pastor, of this Parish Community of St. Mary Star of the Sea, on August 1st 2012. In the four years he spent here, Seamus blossomed into a mature and steady priest; the responsibility of guiding and leading the community sat well with him and he knew himself to be loved and supported by you all.
The reality of decline and death in all its forms and expressions is an in-built part of our human experience, be it in the realm of the natural world, as in the experience of our lives; in this month of November we observe the decline of the year and the approach of mid-winter, we see the signs of death in nature and we are accustomed to it; however, sudden and unexpected death is always disconcerting and shocking; we are never prepared for it. And so we turn to the Word of God for guidance and consolation; in the second reading of today’s Requiem Mass, St. Paul, wrote to the Corinthians who were experiencing trials in the apostolate. Paul reminded them that their bodies were ‘earthenware jars which carry a treasure’ and that as they were identified with Jesus in the effort, suffering and struggle of the apostolate they were to remember that the life of Jesus is shown in them; Paul then orients their vision to life with God and affirms that “he who raised up the Lord Jesus to life will raise us with Jesus in our turn, and put us by his side” and Paul provides them, and indeed us today, with a vision when he writes that our eyes will see invisible things that are eternal, in the house built by God for us, our everlasting home, made in the heavens. As Christians we know the sacred nature of life, we grow to realize all through life that we are made in the image and likeness of God, and so we strive to be the best version possible of what God has gifted us; but, we know that the gift will reach fullness and fulfilment in the complete and lasting vision of the eternal presence of God. This is our faith, our strength and our hope as we celebrate Seamus.
Fr. Seamus was the Parish Priest of this hallowed parish from August 1st 2012 up to his death; he followed in a long-time of Pallottines who have ministered here since November 1880, the first of whom was Fr. Emil Kirner who celebrated Mass in a room of the house bought by the Pallottines here in High Street. We Pallottines have a long tradition and are very much identified with this parish and its community. It is a part of the apostolate entrusted to our Community by the Church which in turn received her apostolate from Our Lord Jesus Christ. And a central role in the life of the Church is that played by Shepherds, Pastors, of the flock of Jesus Christ. In today’s First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, written in the sixth century before Christ, we heard of the promise made by God to his People, “I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding…” a promise that God has kept faithfully down through the centuries – to give his people shepherds after his own heart, shepherds who share the concerns, sentiments and desires of the heart of God. In the text of Jeremiah we catch a glimpse of the desire to the heart of God, to gather all his people together, to gather them into the presence, what we now know as the eternal presence, of the Lord.
One of the most memorable affirmations of Jesus in the Gospels is “I am the good shepherd”, the Gospel of St. John presents us with several such affirmations which indicate the identity of Jesus and his mission, affirmations such as ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life’, ‘I am the Bread of Life’ and so on. Jesus’ identification of himself as the good shepherd, the shepherd who knows each one of his sheep, who is constantly watching over his sheep, pasturing them, protecting them and leading them into green pastures, is deeply embedded in Christian spirituality and theology and provides inspiration for many. Jesus here reveals the desire of the heart of God to form one flock of all of humanity, a flock gathered in the good shepherd.
The figure of the shepherd, the pastor, is one which underpins the life of the priest, and is a role model for each one. The priest understands himself as called to cooperate with Jesus, the Good Shepherd, in the mission of service which is shepherding the people. Fr. Seamus saw himself as called to participate in this mission. His journey to priesthood was one which was marked by significant moments; as a young man he experienced serious illness which resulted in some years of medical treatment which was successful. He worked in the Civil Service in Ireland, participating actively in the life of the Church, and the voice of God made itself heard little by little calling him to priesthood. He prayed and discerned with the help of spiritual guides and was accepted into the Pallottine community in 1999 when he was 28 years of age, he then had the advantage of his life experience and knew who he was and what was being asked of him by God. The death of his father, Jim, in 2001, was a sadness to him, but did not deflect him from the path he had chosen; he made his first Pallottine consecration on September 29th 2002 and was ordained to the priesthood in his home parish of St. Michael’s, Tipperary, on June 11th 2006. Fr. Seamus was a priest for a little over 10 years, his ministry was here in England, in Greenford for six years, in Barking for a few months, and finally here in Hastings for the last four years. Fr. Seamus was a shepherd after the heart of God; he was committed to priesthood, committed to what is entailed in being a shepherd, committed to the people with whom he came in contact daily and committed to the Pallottine apostolate. Many tributes have been paid to him since his sudden death, tributes to his pastoral care of the sick, the house-bound, the bereaved and sorrowing, his ability to listen, to say little but with precision to go to the heart of the issue or topic in discussion; to some he appeared to be shy, initially, but when they came to know him they found a confident and friend. He was blessed with a sense of humour, and he was witty and entertaining in company. God blessed him with a good mind and he could analyse a situation and present his view with clarity and precision. He had a great love for Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his devotion was expressed in praying the rosary and engaging in the Marian Movement for Priests.
Fr. Seamus modelled himself on Jesus, our Rule of Life; he strove to be a shepherd, as Jesus was, with the heart of God; he was faithful, faith-filled, and committed. He died too soon, at least in our eyes, but he died in ministry here in the parish, with you the parish community. While his mortal remains are here in the coffin, Fr. Seamus himself is at the side of God, in the presence of the Blessed Trinity, together with Mary, his mother, looking at Jesus and rejoicing in the fullness of the vision which will be his eternal bliss.”
Seamus had requested that he be buried in the family plot in the graveyard in Tipperary Town, therefore he was brought back to his native Tipperary. The funeral Mass was celebrated on Sunday 13 November in St. Michael’s Church, the church where Seamus was baptised, made his First Communion, was Confirmed and where he was ordained by Archbishop Dermot Clifford on 11 June 2006. I was the main celebrant and homilist at the Mass, Archbishop Clifford and Bishop Seamus Freeman concelebrated along with over 50 priests, Pallottines, priests from the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and priest friends of Seamus from various congregations and dioceses. The parish church was full for the funeral Mass and from the church the funeral cortege walked to the cemetery where he was buried with his late father, Jim.
The following is an abridged version of my homily in St Michael’s:
“We are gathered here in St. Michael’s Church where Seamus was baptised on October 3rd 1971, where he made his First Holy Communion, where he was Confirmed on 21st May 1984, by Archbishop Thomas Morris, and where he was ordained to the priesthood on 11th June 2006, by Archbishop Dermot Clifford. This church building is important in the life story of Fr. Seamus for the milestones listed, but perhaps more importantly it was here that he participated actively in his progressive insertion into Jesus Christ as a committed Catholic. This is a beautiful church, a hallowed place and very dear to the people of the town, however in the Gospel reading today Jesus tells his hearers that the Jewish Temple, that ornate and imposing Holy Place, would be destroyed, would crumble away, and that what endures, what is lasting, what is everlasting, is the function of the building to lead God’s people into an ever-deeper relationship with him. And this hallowed place fulfilled this role in Seamus’s life and indeed in that of his family.
Today’s Gospel reading is that of the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Liturgical Year of the Church. In these final weeks of the Church’s Liturgical Year our attention is oriented to the end times, to the reality of death, eternal life, our definitive union with God and a rendition of accounts. The language of the readings may seem strange, even severe, and if understood correctly points us towards what is essential.
There are three main topics in today’s Gospel: 1) the prediction of the destruction of the Temple, a beautiful and ornate building to which the Jewish people had fervent attachment. It is necessary to have places of worship in which to gather and to celebrate faith and Christian life, but the building itself does not ensure eternal life; it is our own relationship with God that brings us to eternal life, while the building is the means. 2) Jesus then warned his hearers about seeking security in knowing when God will come and he urges them not to allow themselves to be led astray by those claiming to speak for God. 3) Jesus paints a grim picture of the end times, with natural disasters, political strife, warfare, illness, suffering, persecutions, even misunderstandings and divisions in families because of belief and values. Jesus, in this Gospel reading, points to two central attitudes and positions in the face of such things, the first of which is ‘endurance’ or perseverance, to persevere in deepening our relationship with God; and secondly, in knowing that our real security is God, it is in God that we grow to the fullness of life.
It is true to affirm that each person who is born in our world both lives and dies wrapped around in the stories and in the experiences that are part of their God-given uniqueness. We all knew Seamus and shared some of his stories and his experiences, in particular his journey of faith towards priesthood…. In reflecting on today’s Gospel reading we can see that Fr. Seamus understood that the very centre of his life was God and his relationship with him, and taking the words of Jesus to heart, he ‘endured’ or persevered to the end, he died “with his boots on”, he had celebrated the 10am Mass on Sunday 30th October and died a few minutes before the second Mass at 11.30. As Fr. John O’Brien, a concelebrant this morning, remarked “Seamus went from the pilgrim table of the Eucharist in the parish straight to the table of the heavenly banquet in a matter of minutes. What a wonderful way to die.” Perseverance in faith, perseverance in the apostolate and work of the Church is one of the specific promises that we Pallottines make and given to us by our Founder St. Vincent Pallotti; perseverance is a great value to be committed to and a support in the reality of being a consecrated Pallottine and priest today. In the office of readings there was a passage this week from an author of the 2nd Century Church which states “The faithful do not reap a quick harvest; they have to wait for it to ripen slowly because if God rewarded them quickly religion would be a career and not the worship of God. It would consist in the pursuit of self-interest, not piety.” Fr. Seamus understood the meaning of this and lived his promise of perseverance while all the while blossoming into a steady and committed priest…. This coffin here before us contains the mortal remains of Fr. Seamus, but we know that he is not here, what made Seamus unique in the image of God is now with God. This is the conviction expressed by St. John in the second reading today. He expresses his certainty that there is life, eternal life, after human death and his conviction is that it is to be in the eternal presence of God, seeing him, looking at him face to face, and in this state being transformed totally into the likeness of God. Seamus wore glasses, but now his vision is 20/20, looking on the face of God. He is in the company of Mary, the Mother of Jesus and of all those he knew and loved on earth.
Sincere sympathy to Fr. Seamus’s mother Mary, to his brothers John, Matthew and Liam and his sister Anne-Marie, to his sisters-in-law Tricia and Leila, his niece Maya, his aunts and uncles, cousins, extended family and many friends. Mary, I know that your grief and that of his immediate family is deep and I pray that the promise made by God, through the words of the Prophet Malachi in today’s First Reading be your experience, he said “For you who fear my name, that is, believe in me, the sun of righteousness will shine out with healing in its rays.” May the healing rays of God’s infinite love and mercy be your consolation and strength.”
Lord, have mercy on us.Christ, have mercy on us.Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.Christ, graciously hear us. God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.God the Holy Continue reading LITANY OF IRISH SAINTS→
Funeral Arrangements for Fr. Seamus Stapleton, SAC.
The funeral arrangements for Seamus, who died suddenly on Sunday 30th October, have been finalized.
He will be received into St. Mary Star of the Sea Church on Wednesday evening at 7pm, and Fr. George Ranahan, will be the celebrant at the Mass of Reception.
Bishop Richard Moth of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton will be the main celebrant at the concelebrated Requiem Mass on Thursday 10th at 12pm. There will be a buffet reception in the Parish Hall.
Seamus’s remains will be brought to Heathrow on Friday and will leave there at 15.20 on an Aer Lingus flight to Shannon. He will lie in repose at Whelan’s Funeral Home, Tipperary Town.
Viewing in the Funeral Home on Saturday 12th from 5 – 7.30pm followed by removal to St. Michael’s Parish Church.
Concelebrated Funeral Mass on Sunday 13th at 2pm followed by burial in the local cemetery on the Cashel road at the end of Tipperary Town.
The family have asked that all Pallottines be sure to go for lunch with them after the burial, it will be in Ballykisteen Hotel.
Very sad news from Hastings in England. Fr. Seamus Stapleton died suddenly in the presbytery this morning. May he rest in peace.
Seamus had celebrated 10am Mass in the parish of St. Mary Star of the Sea, Hastings, and went for a cup of tea with the parishioners, he returned to the presbytery and when he did not appear for the 11.30am Mass the Deacon and some parishioners went to find him and he had collapsed in the kitchen. The emergency services were called but he had already died.
Fr. Seamus Stapleton SAC (Centre)
Seamus was born on 14th September 1971, made his first consecration on 29th September 2002, and was ordained on 11th June 2006.
Seamus is mourned by his mother Mary, his brothers John, Matthew and Liam, by his sister Anne-Marie, and his extended family; he was predeceased by his father James.
Depression turnsPhysical Not content With breaking Heart and Soul and Mind It assaults Flesh and bone The very marrow Its dark heavy sadness Pressing down Upon the head Taking possession Of every single fibre Leaving the body Restlessly ill An Continue reading DEPRESSION (A Poem)→
Pope Francis meets with Pallotine Fathers
2016-10-10 Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday greeted members of the General Assembly of the Pallotine Fathers.
Pope Francis spoke of the charism of St. Vincent Pallotti, who founded the order in Rome in 1835, saying he was “blessed to recognize that Jesus is the Apostle of the Father – rich in mercy and full of mercy – [Christ] is the one who fulfills his mission by revealing to everyone the tender love and the infinite mercy of the Father.”
“Contemplating the life of Jesus and looking at our life as pilgrims in this world with its many challenges, we feel the necessity of a profound conversion and the urgency of reviving faith in Him,” – Pope Francis said – “This is the only way we can serve our neighbor in charity! Every day we are called to renew our
trust in Christ and from his life draw inspiration to fulfill our mission because ‘Jesus is the first and greatest evangelizer. In every activity of evangelization, the primacy always belongs to God, who has called us to cooperate with him and who leads us on by the power of his Spirit.’”
“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”
(Elie Wiesel)
The sin of the rich man in the Gospel (Luke 16:19-31) is not so much that he is rich or that he eats very well – though these insulate him from the harsher realities beyond him – his sin is that of indifference, his indifference to the agony being experienced by the poor man Lazarus outside his gate. He is indifferent, unmoved, does nothing to help.
It’s clear from the gospel that the rich man has to account for his indifference before God and that he has to bear the consequence of it for eternity, an eternity in which he is plunged into the agony that he ignored in Lazarus while the latter is lifted up into heaven.
The path of holiness, the path to eternal life is one of attentiveness to the one who is in need and this gospel forces me to ask myself if there is something, and more importantly someone, that I am ignoring at this time in my life – someone within my home or someone outside.
Pope Francis reminds us that this is an age in which we have become indifferent as a society. We are indifferent to the environment, to climate change and it’s negative impact on poorer countries; we are indifferent to the trafficking of women and children and other forms of modern enslavement; we are indifferent to the fate of the child in the womb; our government has a practical indifference to the plight of the homeless, the poorest and most vulnerable of our society. And our society has become indifferent to God which is the most fundamental indifference of all.
In Dublin we witnessed a march organized by the Abortion Rights Campaign calling for the repeal of the 8th Amendment. They say that 20,000 took part in it and some of the language used showed an aggressive indifference to the life of the child in the womb, an indifference that speaks of the child in the womb in inhuman terms, that seeks to take away the equal right to life of the child. That’s what we’re talking about – an equal right to life, not a superior right to life – and they want to take that right away. This is a society that went to great lengths to demonstrate its commitment to equality in last year’s marriage referendum. So where is the equality now?
This aggressive indifference to the equal rights of the child is accompanied by our own silent indifference. It’s likely that most people, most Catholics will go along with the campaign to repeal the 8th and if we do then we, like the rich man in the gospel, will have to account before God for our silent indifference and we will have to live out its consequences.
For Pope Francis the solution to indifference is mercy – mercy in the sense of developing that innate instinct of reaching out to do the right thing at the right time. Reaching out to feed the poor, clothe the naked, house the homeless, represent the voiceless.
Within the context of our relationships mercy is not just reaching out to help and sometimes the help we give can in fact be mercy-less because it’s not what the other needs. Sometimes I need you to just leave me alone, stop hassling me, stop crowding me or just stop talking.
Siblings get tangled in each other from time to time, sometimes very often – they can fight like a bag of cats as I did myself as a child. But in the moment of need they will stand up for each other.
An example of it happened with my two young nieces aged 7 and 5 at the time. I’m sitting in the house reading, while the older niece Katie is colouring, when the younger Laura comes to the back door to say that a bigger child outside has taken her doll and won’t give it back. With that Katie put down her pen went straight out the door, went up to the bigger child, took the doll off her, came back and gave it to her sister. And then simply resumed her colouring.
This was a display of mercy that is necessary, simple, direct and childlike. It has something to teach us adults who spend too much time thinking – or maybe not thinking at all – and not enough doing the thing that is necessary.
And it brings another question to mind – who is the bigger one, the power, who has taken my doll and what is the doll that needs to be retrieved?
“Fight the good fight of the faith and win for yourself the eternal life to which you were called when you made your profession and spoke up for the truth in front of many witnesses… before God the source of all life and before Christ, who spoke up as a witness for the truth in front of Pontius Pilate” (1 Timothy 6:11-16)
Blessed Elisabetta Sanna, member of the Union of Catholic Apostolate.
Susana , who was miraculously cured through the intercession of Elizabeth Sanna, carries the relic of Elizabeth during the Beatiification Ceremony
The Rite of Beatification of Elisabetta Sanna took place in the home parish of Elisabetta in the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, in Saccargia, Codrongianus, Sardinia, on Saturday 17 September. The Principal Celebrant at the out-door concelebrated Mass was Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints. Cardinal Amato was accompanied by the Archbishop of Sassari, other Bishops from Sardinia, Mgr Julio Ende Akamine, SAC, a Pallottine Bishop from Sao Paulo, and a very large number of priests. The Pallottine Family was well represented with almost 60 priests, brothers and seminarians from around the world, this number included Frs. John Kelly, Derry Murphy and Rory Hanly, General Secretary of the Union of Catholic Apostolate; and with Sr. Ivete Garlet, CSAC, General Superior of the Pallottine Sisters and the General Council; Sr. Izabela Swierad, SAC, General Superior of the Pallottine Missionary Sisters, and the General Council; Sr. Adalgisa Cammarata, of the Eucharistic Sisters of St. Vincent Pallotti and by many Pallottine Sisters of both Congregations; Ms. Donatella Acerbi, President of the UAC was there and was accompanied by members of the Quinta Dimensione Community of which she is a member, and there were lay members of the Union of Catholic Apostolate from Italy, Brazil, Australia and Poland and friends of the Pallottine Family present. It all it is estimated that almost 6,000 persons took part in the open-air Mass of Beatification.
Frs. John Kelly & Derry Murphy with Susana
In order to be a candidate for Beatification it is necessary to have a miracle attributed to the person in consideration; a miracle attributed to the intercession of Elisabetta Sanna occurred on 18 May 2008 in Niteroi, Brazil. A 31 year old woman, Suzana, had surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from her forearm in 2003, following the surgery the muscles in her forearm and right hand atrophied and she lost all mobility in the forearm and hand. Suzana frequented a Pallottine parish in Niteroi, close to Rio de Janeiro, and in 2007 she heard of Elisabetta Sanna and because Elisabetta also had suffered a disability in her arms she began to pray to her daily. On 18 May 2008 in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in the parish church in Niteroi, while praying, Suzana rested her right arm on the altar and after a while felt a tingling in the arm and gradually, over the course of an hour, recovered full use of the hand and arm. This healing was certified by a doctor on 4 June and further medical inspections confirmed this; the Holy See subsequently certified the miraculous nature of the healing through the intercession of Elisabetta Sanna. Suzana was present at the Beatification and it was a special joy to speak with her and listen to her recount the experience of a miraculous healing.
Derry Murphy, SAC.
Fr. Rory (centre) and members of the UAC General Secretariat, Rosa Colucci, Srs. Maria Landsberger, Bozena Olewska, with Fr. Francois Harelimina (General Consultor)
Blessed Mary, we pray for gentle hearts to welcome God into our lives.
