Page 2050 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 21 June 2011
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Recently we were talking about some developments that were happening around town, and he said: “They’re going to let this competitor in. But I’ve got a lease in my clause that says I’m the only person that can sell alcohol in that area.” I said: “What will you do? Will you stop them?” He said, “No, that’s not fair.” To his own detriment and to the detriment of his business, he understood that what he might do would be unfair. And that is interesting. I think people get their reward for that.
There is a lot of criticism of those who like to attack religion for all the poor things that have happened in whatever religion. Let us face it, a lot of faiths have not covered themselves in glory and the glory of God that God calls us to be. But in many ways Jim Murphy was the poster boy for Catholicism. Laugh at me—I am sure Jim would laugh at me for saying that—but this is a guy who understood faith, who understood the power of prayer and who understood that it is not something you do on Sundays at 11 o’clock. But there was a call to action and there was a call to humility. Jim Murphy in many ways encompassed that call.
For those of you who did not know him, you only have to look at the way that he operated. He would often ring and we would be discussing something and he would say: “Do you know what time mass is? I have got to get to mass before I go to the meeting.” So he would work out where and when mass was on and what he would do. He had a great affection for St Benedict’s. I know he loved the cathedral, his own parish. But central to everything he did was his obligations to his faith. He was a Catholic through and through. He chose to be a Catholic. He chose to live as a Catholic and he tried to make it work, so the obligations to mass and to prayer. But then he just did not see it as a Sunday morning activity.
As to his charitable work, I do not think any of us will ever know the extent of his charitable work. I am not sure that you three know. You should. I hope you do. I doubt you do, because he just did not tell people. On the Saturday night before his operation—what would that be, 21 May?—there was the Oakton-Jim Murphy wine dinner for Marymead. He put on the grog, the staff came, they talked it up. At the start the MC mentioned that Jim could not be there for the night due to the operation and we would all wish him well. There was this amazing round of applause, sort of community adulation, community acknowledgement of the greatness of the man. You should carry that with you forever. They gave him that great round of applause that he deserved.
But the extent of his charitable work will never be known—the number of Sunday lunchtime dinners that I and others went to at Murphy station where Jim would put them on. He would be there, he would host them, he would cover a lot of the cost, to raise money for everything from Marymead to Open Family and everything in between. It was extraordinary. I am sure those charitable organisations that received his assistance will always be grateful. But it was real.
He lived what he believed in. He lived his Catholic faith. And for all those who would seek to condemn particularly the Catholic Church, yes, the church has made mistakes and I think we all acknowledge that. But you need to look at ordinary people like Jim Murphy who are the true Catholic Church, who lived their faith, who acted on their faith and who were not spoilt by their faith. He was not spoilt by his success. He kept
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