Song:

 ‘When I was just a little boy,
 I asked my mother,
What will I be?
Will I be handsome?
 Will I be rich?
Here’s what she said to me

 (Que) sera, sera,
 What ever will be will be,
The future’s not ours to see.
Que sera, sera, what will be will be’

And what will Donie be? What was his passion? My dream was to be a farmer like my dad. True! I loved the land and I remember looking at our farm at home and in my creative mind planning the changes I would make when I took over from my dad and mom.

But my plan was not to be. Why? Because in Irish tradition it is the eldest son who gets the family farm, so my brother Christopher got the farm.

What to do next!!!So I went job searching at the age of 19. I had no second choice in mind so I wandered into retail marketing by accident in my local town, Killarney. I grew to love the work. The challenge of relating with people and pre planning for the seasons, what design or colour would be in vogue: for soft furnishing, carpets, drapes etc. There was a high risk here, buy in the wrong merchandise for the retail outlets and they may not sell.

However my take always was to meet the needs of the customer not my own self created ones. It worked.

I still do this where ever I go! After 10 years of ordination I am still a people person, an ordinary guy. Fully human and passionately alive, thank God. I still do what I always did before ordination. You will find me jogging with beads of sweat rolling down my forehead on the trail. Biking through Pleasant Hill, singing the latest pop song.

You will find me soaking in the sun in my shorts, walking my dog, Jamie. Doing my laundry, ironing, emptying the garbage bin, shopping at Walgreen’s and having coffee at Pete’s.  I love to celebrate life: and a glass of good wine is never refused.

I never saw priesthood as a step up! A power tool. Or an occasion to get a new black suit.

I saw it as a wonderful opportunity to make a difference. To step into the ordinary, into the bits and pieces of peoples lives. To discover what energizes or drags them, what gives life and what sapped it? To relieve suffering, what ever that suffering may be. In Africa I lived with the people, so as to identify in some way with their plight. I learned their native language, traditions and culture.

I prayed, eat, laughed and cried with them. I listened to their stories and got to know their everyday struggles. I got my hands dirty, helped build clinics in the village, got feeding projects up and running. After all, God can only come to the hungry in a piece of bread.

I gathered people around the nearest tree for Sunday mass. I danced to the beat of the drum and got dam angry when I felt powerless in the face of brutal suffering.

When tragedy struck, I tried to be there. I piled people into the jeep in times of death. Tying the dead body on top, we made the long and dangerous journey back to the home land, for the burial.

After 11 years, a serious car jacking scare and endless struggles with malaria, my health began to decline. I decided some self care was needed, so I took a break from Africa.

Here I am in CTK!!!In many ways I drifted in your door, a stranger. Again the pattern is the same. I listen to the peoples needs. Your needs are very different to Africa. However, equally as urgent and as serious.

The most difficult part of my ministry is the emotional drain and stress I feel at times. As Priests we meet very fragile and vulnerable people, especially at times of sickness and death. I am a very personable person so I invest a lot of myself in each situation. That costs!  

I love the parish because Brian listens to me, he affirms me, gives me support, care and hope. He allows my gifts and creativity flourish and come alive. He welcomes and accommodates change.

Brian walks with his people and even at one time when unable to do so, he amazed me when he got on his Brian mobile to be with you.

To conclude: I am learning amazing new things here about ministry from all of you. To me a priest without the friendship and support of his people is a lost soul. A singer with out a song. That I am not!

My rallying cry is the same as JFK ‘Look not for what your priesthood can do for you, but what you can do for your priesthood’

And what next for Donie?

‘(Que) sera sera,
What ever will be will be,
The future’s not ours to see,
 Que sera sera,
What will be will be…’