Passport to Paradise

by Michael Shackleton · February 12, 2008

PASSPORT TO PARADISE, by Fr Gabriel Finnegan. Melrose Books, 2007. 86pp.

Reviewed by Michael Shackleton

Deceptively simple and easy-going at first, this little book takes us from spiritual reflections to the hardships of the author�s working under apartheid and later under the ANC government which, he suggests, has not been an improvement and is equally unjust and rampant with corruption, to the detriment of the people.

The spiritual reflections reveal a man with a huge love of God and the Church. He provides practical suggestions on how to appreciate what we are in the divine scheme of things and how we can really get to love and know God. We cannot love anyone we don�t know.

He describes his Catholic background, growing up in County Monaghan, Ireland. This rooted him in his faith and devotion to the Church, and his subsequent ordination as a priest for the diocese of Port Elizabeth. But he is critical of the Church and clericalism and has some rather pointed barbs aimed at clerical celibacy, which, he says, did nothing to bring him closer to God or his people.

Because of ill-health and his advancing years, Fr Finnegan is now in retirement in Ireland. And the passport to Paradise? It is using the present moment to do God�s will and to forget about tomorrow. Hold your passport in your hand today and you will gain entry into Paradise.