Ex-Athlone friar pens new book on quest for comfort and healing
During times of struggle, the mysterious power of music can be felt more deeply. This is something Franciscan priest Fr John O'Brien recognises and expands upon in his latest book, The Outsiders: God's Lonely People.
The book is a spiritual reflection on anxiety and loneliness, and the search for comfort and healing.
Throughout the book, Fr John wrestles with the Old Testament's Book of Ecclesiastes and writes about music by artists including Mozart, The Doors, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan.
"Music and song, in its words and in its rhythms, can express so much of what's in your own heart," Fr John told the Westmeath Independent.
"People are always saying to me that at this stage of my life I shouldn't be listening to the likes of The Rolling Stones, but I say, 'why not?'
"The (Stones') song, Gimme Shelter, especially, is one I always found very powerful."
Growing up, he recalled his grandparents turning on Radio Luxembourg at night, which gave him a chance to hear the likes of Elvis Presley and Ray Charles.
"I remember Wooden Heart by Elvis, and I Can't Stop Loving You by Ray Charles. It was much later in life when I realised how revolutionary that was.
"It was a black man playing country music, just around the beginning of the civil rights movement. I didn't realise it, but it was a breakthrough at the time."
Fr John is based in the Franciscan Abbey in Multyfarnham, having previously served for two decades in the Friary in Athlone. He is the author of more than fifteen books, and The Outsiders follows on from works inspired by the writers Fyodor Dostoevsky (last year) and TS Eliot (in 2021).
As with his previous books, The Outsiders is meticulously researched. While each part of the book contributes to an overall theme, the chapters can also be read and appreciated individually.
The book includes a C.S. Lewis quote - "We read to know we are not alone" - and Fr John writes about recent accounts of homeless people who said the worst thing about sleeping rough was the feeling that they were not being seen.
"People living on the street said the thing that hurt them most was being ignored and not really mattering to anybody," he explained. "That can happen not just on the street but in workplaces and groups, and in society in general."
It was the motivation to reach people who feel this way, and let them know they are not alone, which prompted him to write the book.
Fr John has a longstanding interest in rugby, and Ronan O'Gara is one of the people to whom the book is dedicated.
The former Munster and Ireland star, who recently guided La Rochelle to their second successive Champions Cup final win against Leinster, is someone Fr John first met while the friar was based in Cork.
At the time, O'Gara was a teenager attending Presentation Brothers College, and the pair ended up meeting again at a Wasps match years later.
"I followed his career, and the careers of the lads from the 'Pres', as they went through the levels from schoolboy to under-20, then Munster, then coming onto the Irish team.
"When I had cancer, before my operation, he phoned me to give me courage," said Fr John.
"He's a very nice lad, and very dedicated. He puts everything into what he does. I'm always hoping that he, and all of that group, will come back and someday manage Ireland."
Up until the Covid-19 pandemic, Bob Dylan had been touring continually for more than 30 years. Shortly after his return to the stage, in 2021, he started playing his 1981 ballad Every Grain of Sand as the final song at each concert.
Fr John describes the song as "a slow-burner, maybe, but very beautiful".
The Outsiders ends with a chapter about the song, and these lines from it:
"In the fury of the moment I can see the Master's hand / In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand."
* 'The Outsiders: God's Lonely People' can be ordered online, from Amazon. It's also available from Just Books in Mullingar and from the author directly at the Franciscan Abbey in Multyfarnham.