On the Island of Birds

The Navigatio or Voyage of St Brendan is filled with fabulous tales which cannot be taken as history. This extract from chapter 11 beautifully illustrates the spirituality of the people Brendan inspired. Notice their attention to creation, which they relate to scripture, in this case the familiar psalms which they would chant every day - the words the birds chant are verses from different psalms.

On the approach of the hour of vespers, all the birds, in unison, clapping their wings, began to sing ‘A hymn, O Lord, becometh Thee in Sion, and a vow shall be paid to Thee in Jerusalem’ (Ps 65:1); and they alternately chanted the same psalm for an hour; and the melody of their warbling and the accompanying clapping of their wings, sounded like unto a delightful harmony of great sweetness. When supper was ended, and the divine office discharged, Brendan and his companions retired to rest until the third watch of the night, when he aroused them all from sleep, chanting the verse: ‘Thou, O Lord, wilt open my lips’ (Ps 51:16), whereupon all the birds, with voice and wing, warbled in response: ‘Praise the Lord, all His angels, praise Him all His virtues’ (Ps 103:21). Thus they sang for an hour every night; and when morning dawned, they chanted: ‘May the splendour of the Lord God be upon us’ (Ps 90:17) in the same melody and rhythm as their matins praises of God. Again, at tierce, they sang the verse: ‘Sing to our God, sing; sing to our King, sing wisely’ (Ps 47:6); at sext: ‘The Lord hath caused the light of His countenance to shine upon us, and may He have mercy on us’ (Ps 67:1); and at nones they sang ‘Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity’ (Ps 133:1). Thus day and night those birds gave praise to God. St Brendan, seeing all this, made thanksgiving to the Lord for all His wonderful works; and the brethren were thus regaled with such spiritual viands until the octave of the Easter festival.

Our God-given world is full of real life wonders too - watch this amazing video of a murmuration of starlings on Lough Derg, just a few miles up the lake from my home.

Weather & Climate

This editorial appeared in the September 2018 issue of Newslink, the diocesan magazine for the United Dioceses of Limerick & Killaloe.

What extraordinary summer weather we’ve been having. Many will have enjoyed the hot, dry, almost Mediterranean conditions, even though it brought hose-pipe bans. But farmers are in despair: grass has stopped growing, and crops have withered in the fields.

Those with animals have been feeding fodder intended for next winter, since the pastures are bare and the late, wet spring depleted reserves. They fear that without a good autumn grass crop they will not have enough fodder for the winter. High prices for scarce bought-in fodder threaten losses that could bankrupt them, and I hear tales of farmers selling stock at low prices.

Will there be enough fodder for the winter?

Some tillage farmers have been selling poor standing crops for silage. Yields are down, though a neighbour says he is compensated by a high price for his barley straw to use as feed.

Is this all down to climate change? Climate is about statistics - a single hot, dry summer doesn’t prove anything. But it is consistent with what the climate modelers are telling us is the likely future here in Ireland – more frequent hotter, dryer summers and wetter winters.

One canny retired farmer tells me he thinks this year will cause farmers to change their behaviour to reduce the business risks posed by climate change. He suggests the higher stocking levels promoted by Government policy such as Food Harvest 2020 are unsustainable – the probabilities of long, wet winters and hot, dry summers in a warming world causing fodder shortages are just too high. We can expect to see many farmers go to the wall, he says, as lower stocking levels will not provide the income they need to service the loans they took out to intensify their businesses.

Farmers need our prayers at this time of crisis. Let us pray that they may receive a fair return for their labour, and that in the providence of God the sun will shine, the rain will fall, the grass will grow, and all God’s creatures will be fed.

God bless, Joc Sanders