Little John
John Curry was part of my spiritual focus for this
past Lent. I have mostly given up on giving things up for Lent. The primary reason
that I don’t is that, at least in my experience, when I have sacrificed
something for Lent, as soon as Easter arrives I always return to it. For example, I remember in my younger years
that a common sacrifice was to give up chocolate for Lent. However, as soon as I located my basket on
Ester Sunday morning, I pulled out the chocolate bunny that was always in the center
and promptly chomped off both of his ears in a single bite. I am quite ambidextrous when it comes to
chocolate; I like them all – white, dark, milk or whatever. I have tried some chocolate varieties that I
would admit aren’t my favorite, but they will all do well enough should they be
at hand.
As I grew, and hopefully matured, I reflected on the
fact that unless I was prepared to give something up on an ongoing basis it was
at best a practice of temporary discipline.
That’s not in itself bad, but it began to occur to me that I would perhaps spiritually benefit more by either subtracting or adding a holy habit if you will. Seeing no inherent evil in chocolate, and honestly
admitting that I really didn’t feel called to permanently remove chocolate from
my diet, I moved past my Lenten abstinence from it.
I am fascinated by those who have had a
Church-approved vision of the Virgin Mary, especially the younger children. My “seers” are part of my daily prayers. Recalling their names ensures they are real
and present to me. When it came to Our
Lady of Knock, for years I have simply referred to them as the ‘seers of Knock’. That, at times, didn’t seem personal enough,
especially because I knew that their names are a matter of public record. So, this Lent I promised that I would select
one eyewitness from Knock to represent the group, and commit his or her
name to memory and my daily prayers.
My favorite seer, I think that it is fine to have a
favorite, has been little Jacinta, one of the three seers at Fatima. I am attracted to her because she showed spiritual
understanding of the salvation of souls, far beyond her seven years of age. I find the innocence of children endearing. That’s why, when I have the opportunity to
celebrate the sacrament of baptism for a child, I always invite the other children
present to come up to the font to help me bless the water that we will use in
the baptism. They are usually enthralled
at holding their little hands outstretched over the water as I read
the blessing prayer. Then, I ask them to
put their hands right down in the water.
It not only keeps them quiet and occupied, they see up close that
something important is happening and they share the experience. I have
yet to have a child who has helped to bless the water return to their seats without
a smile on their faces and their eyes a little bigger and brighter.
I think that is why when I read and re-read the
statements of all of the seers of Knock, it didn’t surprise me that it was John Curry
who stood out. In 1879 little John Curry
was only five when he was one of fifteen people in the tiny village of Knock in
Ireland, who stood in a steady rain to gaze at a vision of Mary and others on
the side of their village church. All of
the witnesses gave statements of what they saw.
While other statements, especially from the adults, are more detailed, John’s is the shortest and, I think, the sweetest. His official statement reads: “The child
says he saw images, beautiful images, the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph. He
could state no more than that he saw the fine images and the light, and heard
the people talk of them, and went upon the wall to see the nice things and the
lights.”
Now, when I recall John Curry’s name in my daily
prayers, I can picture him, eyes wide-open and smiling at “the nice things
and the lights”.
His Peace <><
Deacon Dan
Photo by Els Lavina on Unsplash
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