Published: Thursday, 31st December, 2009 12:00pm

Dark passages and bright days

Two thousand and nine was a horrible year. Recession, referenda, scandals, flooding... you name it and we got it. It is not a year on which we will look back on with great fondness.

But, having said that, 2009 will be remembered as an important year. A year that may prove to have been significant. As a society the consequences of the recession and the banking scandals has forced us to reflect on the sort of society we are and the sort of society that we would like to be.

The flooding helps us realise that climate change is not an abstract theory but a devastating reality that has been compounded by bad planning at a local authority level. The changes in our environment can no longer be ignored but has to be addressed urgently.

Ryan and Murphy Reports

The publication of the Ryan report into the Industrial schools and the Murphy report into the handling of incidents of child abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin was a cathartic event. These reports unveiled a valley of suffering that had been hidden from view.

The immediate focus of attention has been on the religious orders concerned and on the bishops mentioned in the Murphy report. But beyond those two groups and with due acknowledgement of the pain felt by the survivors of abuse, the whole Catholic community has been left wounded, stunned, bewildered and angry.

There is a sense that we have reached a crossroads. We are faced with the challenge of making Catholicism Christian again. There is a recognition that the old ways will no longer do and that our Church and our way of being a Church and of living our Christian lives needs a radical overhaul.

There is now a sense of urgency that has been absent up to now. We are faced with a stark choice: change or perish. The Pope is due to write to us in the new year. He faces an impossible task.

I am sure it will not be possible for him to say all that needs to be said and his letter will inevitably disappoint some. We hope that he will be well advised and that he will say something new and something real that will inspire us and help us to hope again.

Not all bad

Of course for many of us 2009 will have left happy personal memories. It was the year when new babies first saw the light of day. It was the year when people met the man or the woman that will eventually become their spouse. People got engaged, were married, got promoted at work, started a new job, mastered a new skill, recovered from sickness, had wonderful new experiences, travelled, passed exams and fulfilled cherished dreams. It was a year of light and shade, an extraordinary year and it was great to be alive.

A final thought

As we cross the threshold into 2010, I offer you the words of Minnie Louise Haskins: I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year; 'Give me a light that I may tread softly into the unknown.' And he replied; 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.'

Happy new year!