Fare Thee Well

(From 2 July 2013)

We have spent the entire week saying goodbye. Saturday evening, we celebrated a beautiful and emotional Mass: it was Fr. Martin Doyle’s last Mass as curate of Clonard Parish. He has served here for 14 years, and is taking a sabbatical to study in California before his next assignment. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for him to leave after 14 years, when I look at how much 2 years has meant to me! All of the choirs joined together to sing for the Mass. Not only did they sound absolutely gorgeous together, but they also sang music that really lifted us all up in prayer. The Mass was followed, of course, by tea in the hall! But not before the Folk Group paused to give us each a gift and sing “An Irish Blessing.” (It was our last weekend Mass at Clonard, too.) We were the last ones in the hall at the end of the night, where many of our friends from different ministries or daily Mass caught us to say goodbye. We are going to miss them all SO MUCH!

Parish Team and Teach Bhride after Fr. Martin’s last Mass

Choir for Fr. Martin’s last Mass

Teach Bhride 4 and Jesus (Patrik) after Fr. Martin’s last Mass

On Sunday, Fr. Denis brought the year full circle with an outing to Kelly’s in Rosslare with the Parish Team. After one last evening prayer in the house, a few friends stopped by to say the very last possible goodbyes before we went our separate ways. Then it was time for one last pint at The Sky & the Ground (okay, two last pints) and some last-minute packing. Last year I thought it was strange being the one who stayed; this year, it is far stranger to think of leaving. (I realize that I used the word “last” eight times in the last four sentences. It’s appropriate.)

Out for a last pint at the Sky & the Ground with our friend Pauline (and Carmel, who took the picture!)

Each of us in the Teach has come into our own in many ways this year. I can’t thank Emily, Nick, and Nicole enough for all their work and the gift of themselves in community! It will be exciting to see where each of us is led in the next chapters of our lives. Emily will begin a ministry position with St. John XXIII parish in Geneva, Switzerland this fall. Nicole will be living just over the border from Geneva, as she begins a year as an au pair in France. Nick is heading back to the States, where he will join many Teach Bhríde alums living near the Great Lakes. As for me, I will jump into my new position as the Director of Music Ministry at Creighton University / St. John’s Parish in Omaha, Nebraska.

In preparing to write this post, I read Jess’ and Carolyn’s last posts (click on their names to read them). We are a lucky few, to have spent two years here, and we have similar sentiments about leaving. Like Jess, I am very excited for the next Teach Bhríde volunteer community to live here, make great memories, and continue with their own creative energy the ministry about which I care so much! I can’t wait for them to come to this time in the year and realize what a difference their presence has made to Clonard, and what a difference the people of Clonard have made in their lives. Like Carolyn, I am now sitting alone in our house, watching the rain. (To clarify, it is that kind of misty blowing rain that can soak right through your jeans in a minute, even though it looks like nothing when you step into it. A soft day.) For Carolyn and Jess and me, two years seem to have passed far too quickly, and like them I am overwhelmed by gratitude for the hospitality of our friends here and for the multitude of blessings I’ve received over the last two years. I think we all feel that our cups overfloweth as we leave this beautiful community.

From Ireland’s folk song tradition, one could get the impression that nobody ever lives here except they leave, and they are always, always sad to leave. Here’s part of one of my favorites, “Paddy’s Green Shamrock Shore.” I’ve altered the words just slightly:

O fare thee well, Ireland, my own dear beloved home.
It grieves my heart to see friends part, for it’s then that the teardrops will fall.
I’m on my way to Amerikay, will I e’er see our homeland once more?
For now I leave so many dear friends on Brigid’s green shamrock shore.

So fare thee well, beloved friends, I’ll think of you night and day.
A place in my mind you surely will find, although we’ll be far, far away.
Though I’ll be alone far away from my home, I’ll think of the good times once more,
Until the day I make my way back home to the shamrock shore.

So my friends, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

One last picture of the gorgeous sunset out my window