34th Sunday, Feast of Christ the King (Gospel: Jn 18:33b-37) Jesus Christ is Lord

 

 

You could sum up what I am about to say with four words: Jesus Christ is Lord. That is really all that matters. Jesus Christ is Lord.

 

Some time ago I was asked to visit a man in hospital. He was probably in his 70s. When he saw me he must have felt uncomfortable, as he began to tell me in so many words, how he didn’t really need me there, as he had a close relationship with God. He seemed to want to prove how tough he was. He then went on to talk about how he was on a first name basis with the Holy Trinity, describing how he related to the Father, Son and Spirit and the Virgin Mary, as if they were buddies at the bar. I can’t remember the exact words he used, but I remember finding myself being disgusted at the way he spoke, as it was so disrespectful. I don’t think he meant to be disrespectful, but it was.

 

The only way we should come before God, is on our knees with our face to the ground, in awe and reverence for who and what God is. Yes, Jesus is our brother, having taken on human flesh, but He is also the creator of the world, the one who will come to judge the living and dead, the one before whom everyone will bow down and tremble. It is so important that we don’t forget that. That is also why we begin every mass by acknowledging that we are sinners and asking for God’s mercy.

 

In the Prophet Isaiah, Isaiah is given a vision of heaven, where he sees God on his throne. His reaction? He is terrified. Immediately he recognizes his sinfulness before God’s holiness and he is afraid it will kill him.

‘Woe is me, for I am lost. For I am a man of unclean lips, who dwell among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.’ (Is 6:5)

 

Then it says that an angel came down and touched him on the lips with a hot coal, to purify him and reassure him he would not die.

 

The Prophet Ezekiel is also shown a vision of heaven:

‘I then saw what looked like a throne made of sapphire. And sitting on the throne was a figure in the shape of a human. From the waist up it was glowing like metal in a hot furnace and from the waist down it looked like the flames of a fire. I realized I was seeing the brightness of God’s glory, so I bowed my face to the ground.’ (Ezek 1:26-28)

 

In Revelations, St. John the Apostle saw a similar vision of Jesus in his glory, except that Jesus comes towards him. He says he was so frightened that he fainted, even though he had lived with Jesus for three years.

 

It is very easy to become casual about our faith, but it is so important that we don’t, that we remember who and what God is, who Jesus is. It is a wonderful thing that Jesus invites us to have a personal relationship with him and he speaks to us as a friend, but we still have to be careful of how we approach God. He is the Lord and master of all things, the King of Kings, the judge of the living and the dead.

 

Think about when you receive the Eucharist. We are receiving the Body of Christ, not a thing, not holy bread, not a symbol, but Jesus, the Son of God. How do you dress? How do you hold it when it is put in your hand? Do you flick it back into your mouth, or walk away with it? When was the last time you confessed your sins, as the Lord asks us to, so that we are not receiving his Body and Blood unworthily? St. Paul writes:

‘Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, will be guilty of sinning against the Body and Blood of the Lord. Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. Anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgement on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick and some have fallen asleep’ (1 Cor 11: 27-30).

 

Recently a deacon friend of mine was talking to a Muslim friend. He was explaining the mass to him and how the bread and wine really and truly become the body and blood of Jesus? It is really God? And my friend said yes. His friend thought for a minute and then said, ‘And this is how they dress?!’ It says it all.

 

If you were given a chance to have a personal meeting with the pope, how would you dress? We receive the Son of God in each mass, but how do we dress.

 

Does that mean we should be afraid? No. It is Jesus himself who wants us to receive him in the Eucharist. Pope Francis put it beautifully. He says, ‘The Eucharist is food for sinners, not a reward for saints,’ but we must be careful how we go about it. We can never be casual, or we may bring condemnation on ourselves and that applies just as much to me. In fact, it is more serious for me, because the Lord comes into my hands as a priest in every mass. It is a great responsibility and one which often scares me, because I too will be accountable as his priest.

 

Often you hear people talking about God and religion as if it were something optional. You can take it or leave it, it’s up to you. God is not the optional extra. We are the optional extra. God exists, but we need not be here except that God created us and keeps us in existence. God also entrusted his world to our care, not to do what we like with it, but to look after it. Our world and our gifts and talents have been entrusted to us to use for his glory. When we die we will have to show God what we did with those gifts.

 

On the last three Sundays of the year, including today, we read Gospels that refer to God’s judgement of us. The parable of the ten virgins, five of whom were left outside, because they hadn’t bothered to prepare. They were casual about their role and they were left behind. There is also the parable of the talents, where the king gives different amounts of money to three servants according to their ability. Two of them invested it and he commends them and rewards them. But he condemns the one who did nothing with what he was given. He wasn’t condemned because he did something, but because he didn’t do anything. He was indifferent. Jesus mentioned so many times how there is no room for indifference. God has entrusted us with various gifts and talents and He expects us to use them.

 

There is also the Gospel where at the judgement the sheep are separated from the goats.

‘When the Son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him… and all the nations will be assembled before him. And He will separate them one from another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.’ (See Matt 25:31-45)

 

One group was condemned. Why? because they didn’t do anything. They didn’t specifically carry out wrong actions, but they didn’t do anything. They had been entrusted with the world and the people around them and they ignored everything and did only what they wanted, ignoring God and ignoring God’s creation. And when they say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and not feed you, or naked and not clothe you…’ And God says, ‘Whatever you neglected to do to one of these little ones, you neglected to do it to me.’ (Matt 25:45).

 

The Lord is reminding us that it is his world, his creation and we have been entrusted with his creation to take care of it. It’s not just about us. It is about God. That is also why it is so sad when we get to the stage where we feel we can go completely against God’s Commandments and say that it is none of his business. We can do what we want. The Lord gave us specific Commandments to follow and we will be accountable.

If you think of something like the border situation, where there are so many people coming across illegally. Understandably it is upsetting and every country has a right to control its borders, but the very first thing, is to take care of the human being in front of you. If here is a person in front of you and they are starving, or suffering, we have an obligation to help them. The second thing is to deal with the political side of things. If you find yourself saying, ‘Why should we help them? They are illegal,’ remember this Gospel passage. To ignore the basic needs of any human being is to ignore the Lord. He didn’t say, ‘I was illegal and so it was ok not to help me.’ He said, ‘I was in need, but you failed to help me.’ It is easy to get caught up in the political, or legal side of it, forgetting the needs of each person.

 

As you probably recall a man by the name of Rami Qumsieh has been here a few times, selling religious artifacts to support the Christians in the Holy Land. Afterwards someone emailed me to say that we shouldn’t have to support them as the Church has lots of money. Think of this Gospel.

 

For us to be faithful means we must make conscious decisions to follow God’s law, continually looking to see if we are living it. That’s why we keep reading the Scriptures. Often God’s laws make us uncomfortable, because they challenge us when we are going off track. The irony is that it is God’s very laws that will lead us to the greatest freedom and happiness, but we must choose. We will be different and it will cost us, because we will meet resistance, just as Jesus said we would. But what could be greater than following the very path that God points out to us, the only one that leads to happiness.

 

Much of our world has rejected the ways of God and we must decide who we follow. But we cannot be casual about it. In Revelations the angel says to one of the communities, ‘I know your deeds, how you are neither hot nor cold, but only lukewarm. I wish you were one or the other. But since you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth.’ (Rev 3:15-17). There is no room for indifference. We must choose whom we belong to.

 

‘…At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, in heaven on earth and under the earth, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father’ (Phil 2:10-11).

 

33rd Sunday Year C (Gospel: Luke 21:5-19) "If my people will humble themselves..."

 

Not too long ago while I was sitting in traffic, I noticed a Scripture reference on the back window of another car. It just read, 2 Chron. 7:14. I wasn’t familiar with that reference, so when I got home I looked it up. The quotation it was referring to is in the second book of Chronicles, which reads:

‘If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’

 

I thought it was so perfect, so prophetic for the times we are in. The Lord is reminding us that although we are living in a time of great evil, our only hope is to turn back to him, to acknowledge our sinfulness and to ask for his forgiveness.

‘If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’

 

The message of Christianity is very simple: God created us out of love, to live in his presence and share in his joy and that is what our first parents had. But then they rejected what God told them and lost what God had given them. That sin was passed on to us. So the human race was no longer in the state that God had originally intended for us.

 

It says in the creation account in Genesis that before the Fall, Adam and Eve walked in the garden with God. They were in God’s presence, totally fulfilled. But because of the devil’s envy, he tricked them into rejecting God’s word and as a result they lost what God had given them. They lost paradise, which is what God wanted for them, for us. God’s desire for us is that we would be completely happy and fulfilled in every way.

 

The worst part of the Fall, was that they had no way of undoing the damage by themselves. But because God loves us, He would not leave his creation in that fallen state and so God the Son took on human nature in the person of Jesus and through his self-sacrifice, He atoned for that sin and reopened the possibility of heaven for us. Now God offers that possibility to us once again.

When the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would conceive, she also told her that she must name the child, Jesus (See Luke 1:31). The name means, ‘Who Saves.’ He would save his people from their sins.

 

Imagine a project that you worked on for years, maybe a dream home, or a company that you built up, or a great tapestry, or work of art. It took years of meticulous work to create. Then someone came along and wrecked it. Would you just leave it in its ruined state, or would you try and rebuild it? More than likely you would try and rebuild it. This is what God did with his creation. He reopened for us the possibility of life with God, which would mean total happiness and fulfillment in every possible way. This is what God has done for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus and now God offers that life to us, but we must choose it. It is not a given and it is possible to lose it. It is only through Jesus that this happens.

 

“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14:6)

“I am the Gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved…” (Jn 10:9)  

“I am the Good Shepherd…”

“I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger. Whoever believes in me will never thirst.” (Jn 6:35)

 

Heaven is real and it is where we want to go when our time on earth is complete, but hell is also real. In the Gospels Jesus speaks of hell 23 times. The loss of God is a real possibility and one we must take seriously. Heaven doesn’t just happen. We must choose it and we choose it primarily by the way we live. If we say we love God then we must do what He commands us to do and not just in a vague kind of way, but exactly as He asks us to. God tells us what to do, but we have to choose to do it or not. God has given us that freedom and we will have that freedom right up until the day we die. But now is the time of choice. What you are doing with you life right now, is what you are choosing for eternity. Am I living by the ways of God, or by my own desires only. If you presume everyone goes to heaven when they die, then you should read the Gospels. Not everyone will go to heaven, which in itself is a very frightening thought.

 

It is sad to see so many people today who are obviously lost, in the sense of not knowing what the purpose of their life is. And so they are pulled in different directions by the different voices of the world. There is only one place we will find fulfillment and that is in Jesus. He is the doorway to heaven, the doorway to what all of us long for. We will only be fulfilled in God. No human being and no earthly thing is going to fulfill us. Only God can do that. That’s why it is so important to listen to what God tells us to do, because God is telling us how to reach that happiness. He shows us the path, but we must decide to follow it or not.

 

I think many people have a sense that we are in a time of decision. Our world and country are becoming more polarized all the time. We need to choose which side we are on. If we are to choose God, then we must be careful about how we live, because God tells us exactly what we must and must not do. ‘If you love me you will keep my commandments.’ And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth. (Jn 14:15-16). God doesn’t just leave us to our own devices, but constantly guides us and shows us what we need to do. The turning back to God that is needed begins with me. We must also pray for our country, for all the people around us, that they will have the grace to turn back to God as well.

 

‘If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’

 

31st Sunday, Year C (Gospel: John 6:37-40) Are you ready to die?

 

 

If you were told that you were going to die today, or within the week, what would you do? One thing for sure is that all our priorities would change. Worldly things would suddenly become irrelevant. I’m sure for many people family would become very important. I’m sure the concern of what will happen at death and after death would also come to the forefront of your thinking.

 

Throughout Jesus’ public ministry, He used many stories and parables to remind us that we always need to be ready to die, because we never know when this will happen.

 

Every day on the roads approximately 107 people die in car wrecks, just in this country. That means that yesterday, over 100 people left their homes to go to work, or shopping, or to drop off their kids somewhere and one moment later they were standing before Jesus for judgement. One second you are in your car, the next second you are before Jesus. It’s pretty shocking when you think of it that way and yet it happens to people every day of the week.

 

A few years ago I was driving somewhere in Ireland and I came across a man who need a ride. He was a musician and made a living by busking on the streets. Not an easy way of life. He had practically all his possessions with him. He told me he knew over 350 songs, which was impressive. When he realized that I was a priest, he began asking me about religion. I can’t remember much of what he said except for one thing. He said that he wasn’t very religious but that he preferred to stay out of it and sit on the fence. When I asked him about death and coming before God, he said that he would just plead ignorance. That was the thing that struck me the most.  He said, “I’ll just plead ignorance.”

 

I suppose if God were just another human being, we might get away with pleading ignorance, but since God knows everything about us, including our motivations, all the things that have influenced us and how free or not we are to make choices, I don’t think that pleading ignorance will be much use! This is not to focus on the negative as if we should be afraid of God, but it is reality. On the contrary, the Lord loves us and wants to help us in every way possible. He knows our weaknesses and what we struggle with, but He also knows when we avoid responsibility. There is no pleading ignorance before God and this is what the Lord keeps reminding us.

 

Jesus taught parable after parable reminding us to be ready for death and never take it for granted that we can sort everything out at the last second.

 

In St. Matthew’s Gospel (Matt 25: 1-13), Jesus gives the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, also called bridesmaids in another version of the story. One of the traditions of the time was that after a man and a woman were betrothed to each other, when they were legally married, they remained apart for about another year, during which time they would both be able to make preparations for their wedding and new life together. The man would go and build an extension onto his father’s house, where they could live together. When the time was right, the father of the groom would announce to his son that it was time to go and collect his bride. This would happen in the middle of the night. They would then go to the bride’s house, where the bride and bridesmaids would be waiting. They would already be wearing their wedding garments, ready for when the groom would come, although they didn’t know exactly when that would happen. Since it was in the middle of the night, they would need to have lighted lamps. They would then leave the bride’s house and go for the wedding celebration. If you weren’t ready at that time, you would be left behind. The parable says that five of the bridesmaids were wise and brought enough oil for their lamps to last as long as needed. The foolish ones did not and when the groom arrived they were almost out of oil. They asked the wise bridesmaids to lend them some oil, but they said ‘no’ as there may not be enough for both of them. Then Jesus says those who were ready went into the feast. When the other bridesmaids came back having gotten enough oil, the wedding part had left and gone into the feast. And then there is the line that says, ‘And the door was locked.’ They were left behind. And when they ask to be let in, the groom says, ‘I do not know you.’ There was no relationship there. They were casual and presumptuous. Jesus finishes by saying, ‘So stay awake. You do not know the day or the hour when the bridegroom will come.’

 

This is a strong message for all of us. Leaving it until the last minute to prepare may be too late. In this parable Jesus says it was too late. Our life on earth is the time to prepare to be with the Lord. He gives us a whole lifetime to prepare, so we can’t say we didn’t have enough time. That is why we must not allow ourselves to become so immersed in the things of the world, that we forget the bigger picture. We have to be practical and provide for our families and attend to our work, but we also must not forget the things of God.

 

The Lord guides us in so many ways, especially through the Scriptures, which is why we read them at every mass. They are constantly teaching us what God expects of us and what is required of us. We cannot say I didn’t know what to do, as the Lord gives us very specific instructions as to how to live and always to be ready.

 

In the book of Exodus (40:16) when God had given Moses instructions as to how to build the tabernacle, it says ‘Moses did exactly what the Lord requested of him.’ Exactly as the Lord told him, not roughly. In Genesis (6:22), when God gave Noah instructions about the ark, it says that Noah did precisely as the Lord had told him.’ The Lord shows us exactly how to live in the way that will help us the most, so that we can enjoy our life on earth and so that we will be ready to meet him when our time comes.

 

I know many people of faith who have often told me that they long to meet the Lord. They are looking forward to that day more than anything else. If you have faith that makes total sense. If we are living in fear of this life coming to an end, then we are not hearing what the Lord is saying to us. It is not something to be afraid of. If we have made any effort to prepare for it, then it is something we can look forward to, but we don’t know when that day will come. It may be after 80 or more years, or it may be when we are young. ‘Therefore, stay awake, for you know not the day nor the hour.’

 

That is also why it is so important that we try and pass on our faith to the next generation. Think of all the things you do for your children to give them the best possible chance in the world. How much time do you take to teach them about the more important things: the reality of God, how God tells us to live, what is right and wrong and that we will all be held accountable? To ignore this is to do them a great disfavor. Being successful in a worldly career is good and we should develop our talents as the Lord has given them to us, but being prepared in the things of God is far more important.

 

As our relationship with God grows, we will become less and less afraid of death, because instead of seeing it as the end of our life, we will begin to see it as the beginning of the life we are called to. It will be a relief that our time of struggle is over. This is also what St. Paul is talking about in the second reading:

“We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest who have no hope.”

 

It is also so important that we pray for the dead. Often at funerals you will hear people say, ‘He is in heaven now.’ That may be true, but many people will die still with some sin on their soul. No sin can exist in God’s presence. It is a contradiction. So if we die with some sin on our soul, we need to be purged of it, which is what we call Purgatory. It is a mercy of God which allows us to go through any final purification we need before we can come into God’s presence. Unfortunately many people disregard the idea of Purgatory, but think of it this way: this is an extreme example, but it makes the point.

 

Imagine that Hitler hadn’t committed suicide, but that he was murdered. But the day before his death he had a moment of enlightenment and realized the terrible evil he had committed. He then repented and begged God’s mercy. God promises mercy to anyone who sincerely asks for it. If he died the next day, would he go straight to heaven? Somehow we know that that wouldn’t make sense. It would be a mockery of God’s justice. He would have to go through some kind of atonement or purification before he could come into God’s presence. That is what Purgatory is.

 

We believe that we can also help those who are in Purgatory by praying for them and having masses offered for them. That’s why we dedicate the month of November to praying for the holy souls and we pray for the dead in every mass. Through our prayers their purification can happen quicker, which is a gift of God responding to our efforts. So pray for those who have died.

 

When I die I would much rather people pray for me and have masses offered for me, than just say nice things about me.

 

The Lord wants us to have hope and not to be afraid, but we must listen to what He tells us, so that we are not caught off guard.

“Therefore I tell you, stay awake, for you neither know the day or the hour.”

 

29th Sunday Year C (Gospel: Luke 18:1-8) The deception of the Occult

 

There is a lot of confusion these days as to what comes from God and what does not. I am talking in particular about things come under the general heading of occult, such as going to fortune tellers, Tarot card readers, psychics, playing the Ouija board, or going to mediums and other similar practices. A lot of people just consider them harmless fun; besides what could possibly be wrong with them?

 

God expressly warns us in the Scriptures to stay away from such things. In the book of Deuteronomy it says:

You must not have in your midst anyone... who practices divination, or anyone who consults the stars, who is a sorcerer, or one who practices enchantments or who consults the spirits, no diviner, or one who asks questions of the dead. For the Lord abhors those who do these things (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).

 

In another book it says, ‘Do not have recourse to the spirits of the dead or to magicians; they will defile you. I, the Lord, am your God’ (Leviticus 19:31).

 

Why are these things a problem for us? The Lord doesn’t just give us rules for the sake of rules. If God tells us to stay away from something, there is a good reason, just like you will tell your children to stay away from the fire, or they’ll get burned. God does the same for us, telling us what to avoid if we want to stay healthy.

 

So why are these things, which are now available everywhere, a problem? The first and most important reason is that they interfere with our free will. Our free will is an extraordinary gift which the Lord has given us, because it means that we have the freedom to do anything we choose, be it good or evil, although real freedom is the freedom to choose what is good. We can even reject God if we choose. It is an amazing thing that the Lord who has created us respects us enough, even to giving us the freedom to reject him, and sadly some people do this by the way they live.

 

Anything occult is an attempt to gain knowledge, or control, of the future. The problem is that if we think we have any kind of knowledge of the future it is going to influence our freedom to choose, because we will probably start acting out of fear of what we think might be going to happen. The Lord does not want us to be afraid, but to be at peace. That is why God does not reveal the future to us. We don’t need to know it. If we did, He would show us, because He wants the very best for us.

 

When Jesus was talking to the Apostles about the end times and his return in glory, Jesus replied by saying, ‘See to it that no one deceives you’ (Matthew 24:4).

 

The second reason why these things are a problem, is that by dabbling in them we are going directly against something God has told us, which is a way of creating an obstacle between us and God. We sin when we do this. From a spiritual point of view, they can also have a hold or influence over us. If God does not reveal the future to us, then where is this information coming from? It is not coming from the Lord, even if the fortune teller starts off by praying the Hail Mary or Our Father, which I know some of them do. 

 

I worked with an exorcist priest friend of mine for a while and saw first-hand the mess that some people get themselves into by dabbling in these things that the Lord tells us specifically to keep away from. They are very real. Satan is cunning and will do anything to lead us away from God, because he hates us as God’s creation. Satan is real. If Satan is not real then Jesus is a liar, because Jesus frequently mentioned him in his teaching. Jesus called him a liar and a deceiver and that’s what he does.

 

‘[The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because the truth is not in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies’ (Jn 8:44).

 

Satan distorts God’s word, to confuse us and lead us away from God. In the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Satan twisted God’s word. He said to them, ‘Did God really say that you cannot eat of any of the trees in the garden.’ God had said they could eat of any tree, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan also lied to them and said if they did eat it, they would be like God themselves, knowing good from evil, but this is exactly what God warned them about. Remember that Satan wanted to be like God himself, but without needing God. So he was trying to get them to give in to the same temptation. He twisted God’s word to deceive them.

 

The former exorcist of this diocese told me about one encounter he had. He was called to a house where footsteps kept appearing across the couch! When he got there, he asked the family about themselves. It turned out that the woman was living with a man who was not her husband. She was practicing witchcraft and so was her daughter. So they had left themselves wide open to evil and the demonic. The priest told them that unless they were willing to change their ways, there was nothing he could do for them and they were not willing to change, so he was unable to help them.

 

I was called to a house one time where radios and lights kept turning on during the night. When I asked the people who lived there if they had been involved in any kind of Occult practice, they said no, but the lady who had lived in the house before them was a medium. She now lived next door. So that was the origin of what was happening. She had opened the door to the demonic. What we think of as harmless fun, is not harmless if God forbids us to do it. Getting involved in any kind of magic, witchcraft, or fortune telling, etc, is also opening up doors to what is not of God. Hence the cases I mentioned where things were happening in those houses. If we do what God forbids us to do, we can expect consequences.

 

We have to ask ourselves do I believe what Jesus said is true or not?  Either the Bible (the Scriptures) is the word of God, or it isn’t. If it is, we need to listen to it. If it’s not true, then what are we doing here?

 

God wants the very best for us and will continually guide us along the right path, the path that will help us to reach our full potential as human beings, the path that will lead us to heaven, but sometimes we get misled and go astray. That’s not a problem so long as we recognise it and come back again. I’m sure you want God’s blessing for your lives and for your families, just as I do, but if we mess with what God expressly tells us to stay away from, we will be blocking God’s help from us. 

 

If you have dabbled in any of these things at any stage, confess it, which is also what the Lord asks us to do. By confessing it you break any spiritual hold that it can have over you. By repenting of it you also open the door to God’s grace .

 

In the second reading it says, ‘Remain faithful to what you have known and believed, because you know from whom you learned it…’ You know what you have learned comes from Scripture, which means it is from God, so you can trust it. The Bible is God’s gift to us to guide us in every situation we face. If we listen to it, it will lead us to God. If we ignore it, or go against it, it will lead us away from God.

 

If God has assured us of his help, then we would be foolish to look for spiritual help from any other source, especially a source which God expressly tells us to stay away from. We know that God wants the very best for us and if we believe that then we must also listen to what He tells us to do and what He tells us to avoid.

 

Jesus said, ‘Anyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise person who their built his house on solid rock. Rain came down, streams rose, winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall because it had its foundation on solid rock.

 

But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice, is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. Rains fell, torrents raged, winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was its collapse.' (Mt 7: 24-27).

 

‘I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.’

 

 

 

 

28th Sunday Year C (Gospel: Luke 17: 11-19) Give thanks in all circumstances

 

 

As part of our formation in the seminary, we were appointed different kinds of pastoral work. One of my class-mates, Paschal Hanrahan, spent one summer working in the slums in one of the big south American cities. I forget which one. He shared some of his experiences with us. He said that one night he was sitting outside the hut of the family he was staying with and he was feeling very depressed about the terrible poverty that was there and how much the people were suffering and how there seemed to be no resolution to it. Then the father of the household came outside and sat with him. After a few minutes he said, ‘Paschal, we have so much to be thankful for. God has blessed us so much.’ My friend was taken completely off-guard by this comment. He could only see what was wrong and what they didn’t have, yet the man living there in this terrible poverty was full of gratitude. He could see what they had and was not concerned about what they didn’t have. This really opened his eyes and helped him to see things differently.

 

I have often come across people who have worked in some of the poorest parts of the world, where there is not only terrible poverty, but often terrible injustice as well, but they will always tell you that you will find more joy in people there than in any first world countries, where we have so much materially.

 

I was reading the account of a priest who worked in Sweden. He said that it was probably one of the wealthiest countries in the world, materially. The government takes care of everything you may need, but that there was so much hatred and despair there. They had a crucifix on the door of their apartment and he said that three times it was ripped off the door.

 

When we live in places where there is so much material wealth and where we have so much choice, it is very easy to become focused on what I want and no longer see what I already have. If I live in a place where most people don’t even have the basics, then I am more likely to be grateful for anything I can get. People in poor countries aren’t looking to material things to make them happy, because they don’t have them. So they tend to be more joyful.

 

The readings today are a reminder of how important it is to give thanks to God for everything. In the first reading, Naaman comes back to Elisha to give thanks to God for being healed. In the Gospel, one of the ten lepers goes back to Jesus to give thanks for his healing and note Jesus’ comment, ‘Where are the other nine?’ In other words, we should make a point of giving thanks, not just for when prayers are answered, but for everything we have in all situations.

 

One of the remedies for the anger and anxiety that so many people are feeling at this time, is to give thanks. Yes, the country is not in a good place right now, but we have so much to be thankful for. When you get up, give thanks for the gift of another day, for your health, for your faith, that you have enough food to eat, that you have a place to stay and people who love you. Give thanks to God that God has created you for eternal happiness. Give thanks to God for making that eternal happiness possible to you through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Give thanks to God for all the people you love and for those who have gone on to the next world, that we can be with them again when we die. Give thanks to God for all the people in your life, those you like and those you don’t like. Why should we only give thanks to God for what we like and nothing else?

 

The Scriptures always teach us what God expects of us. If you look at the accounts of the last supper, the most important meal in history, where Jesus gave us the gift of his Body and Blood, note the words Jesus spoke. In Matthew, Mark and Luke’s account of the last supper, they each say that Jesus took bread and after he had given thanks, He broke it…

St. Matthew: ‘Jesus took bread and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, “Take and eat. This is my body.” (Matt 26:26).

 

St. Mark: ‘While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and when He had given thanks, He broke it…’ (Mark 14:22)

St. Luke: ‘He took bread, gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them saying, “This is my Body.”

St. John’s account of the Eucharist is given in the account of feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fish in chapter 6. Note Jesus’ words: ‘Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.’ (Jn 6:11)

It also says that after everyone had eaten, Jesus tells the people to collect all the food that is left over so that nothing is wasted. That is also a way of showing gratitude.

 

When Jesus is about to raise Lazarus from the dead, He starts off praying to the Father saying, ‘Father I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me’ (Jn 11:41). Then He cries out, ‘Lazarus, come out.’

 

St. Paul writes, ‘Rejoice always, pray continually, in all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.’ (1 Thes 5:18).

Where it says, ‘In all circumstances give thanks…’ does that mean that we should give thanks even when things are going wrong? Yes it does. Why should we only give thanks to God when things are going our way, or when things suit us? Giving thanks to God when things are going wrong for us, is not thanking God for whatever it is that has gone wrong, rather it is giving thanks to God, because God is God. It is a way of acknowledging God’s greatness, his holiness and his providence.

 

Whenever you are feeling down, or disheartened with anything, our world our country, or any situation in your life, start by giving thanks to God for everything you can think of. It helps us to turn the focus outward toward God, instead of inward.

 

‘Rejoice always, pray continually, in all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.’ (1 Thes 5:18).

27th Sunday Year C The mustard seed (Gospel: Luke 17:5-10)

 

The Mulberry Tree

 

So many people I have met feel that they have very little faith, or they will tell me that they are not very religious. However, I think most people have far more faith than they give themselves credit for. Being ‘religious’ and having faith are not necessarily the same thing.

 

Today we are given the unusual image of something as tiny as a mustard seed, which is about the size of the tip of a pen. Jesus tells the Apostles that if their faith was even as big as that, they could move mountains, or in this case a mulberry tree! There are two ways to look at this. First we could say, if it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains I must have very little faith, since I could never do anything spectacular like that! But the other way to look at it is to say that with very little faith you can do an awful lot. Most of us do have faith and that faith grows as our relationship with Jesus grows. We often talk about God ‘testing our faith’ when we find ourselves going through a crisis. But by ‘testing’ what is meant is that God is stretching our faith to full capacity. It is not so much a test to see if we are up to standard, rather a time of growth. God knows what we are capable of and God is all the time helping us to reach our full potential, just like a good trainer will help an athlete reach his or her full potential. The athelete may not be aware of their ability, but a good trainer will see it and Remember how God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. God knew that Abraham had extraordinary faith, even though Abraham himself probably didn't realise it. But Abraham proved his faith by trusting in God even in this dire situation and God blessed him for it.

 

The Apostles had faith and must have seen extraordinary things when they were with Jesus. Peter even walked on water for a few seconds, but then he began to sink as he started to think in human terms that it couldn’t be happening. But even the Apostles had a lot to learn with regards faith. After the crucifixion of Jesus they hid themselves away in a room because they were afraid. It was only after they received the gift of the Spirit that they were transformed and began preaching fearlessly and working miracles and they were so convinced of what they believed in that they were willing to lay down their lives for it, and most of them did, but they also had to grow and I’m sure that as their life went on their faith continued to grow. No doubt their faith was very different at the end of their lives than it was when they were with Jesus. They then had a life-time of trying to serve God and seeing many extraordinary things. Faith grows gradually, but it does grow.

 

The second reading today speaks of how so many people are feeling at this time. All we see is violence and injustice around us. At times like these, God often seems to be very quiet, which can even make us question is God there at all.

 

In several of the recent mass shootings in schools and churches, people are often critical of and cynical towards those who say ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims.’ Being cynical towards such comments is really to misunderstand what it is to pray for people.

 

Prayer is not an insurance policy against violence, although sometimes God’s protection may well be there in different ways. Prayer is how we speak to God and express our faith, both in good times and in bad, asking for God’s strength and protection. God will not stop acts of evil, because God has given us freewill. If we choose to do evil, others will suffer. If the Lord kept intervening when someone was about to do something evil, then we wouldn’t have free will. Our actions have consequences.

 

If we believe that our true life is in heaven, then this will help us not to lose hope. Firstly, no matter what we suffer in this life, it is temporary. Also, if our true life is in heaven, then when those we love die, it means that they have gone ahead of us, sooner than we expected. Sooner or later we will catch up. Just believing that much colors how we see this life and helps us not to lose hope.

 

One of the most important things that we can do in this life is to bring the hope of our faith to other people. Our hope means that we don’t despair when everything goes wrong, because we know that it is temporary. People need that hope, more than ever at this time. The anger and rage that so many people are filled with, is a sign that they have lost hope and lost sight of our true purpose on earth. If we understand our purpose on earth, which is to love God and to love and serve the people around us, that will affect everyone around us. I can’t fix the war in the Ukraine, or in Palestine, but I can influence the world around me, for better or worse. If I am filled with the hope that our faith gives us, that in turn will be a light shining in the darkness of the times we are in. Bringing hope to people is so important, because all of us need hope.

 

I am often surprised at how many people smile at me, when they see me, because I am a priest. What they are smiling at is the hope that I represent. Seeing someone dedicated to God, gives hope to people, because we are bombarded with so much negativity. But in order to have that hope, I have to fill my mind and heart with the things of God, not the things of the world. If I immerse myself in all the negativity and hatred around me, I will be filled with it and I will bring it to others.

 

Recently I was picking up a pizza. There was a big man in front of me, also waiting. The guy who owned the pizza place, Alva Market, knows me to say hello to and he called out, ‘Hey Father, how is it going?’ and I responded, ‘Great. Thank God.’ The guy in front of me turned around and repeated, ‘Yes. Thank God.’ It was as if he was happy to hear someone say, ‘Thank God.’ What we bring to the world affects the people around us, for better or worse.

 

When we hear of all the terrible things that go on in our world, such as abortion, human trafficking, wars and so much hatre and injustice, we can feel very helpless. But going back to the mustard seed it is good to remember that even with very little faith we can do a lot. You could be cynical and ask, ‘What difference will my faith make?’ But if you remember in September 2013 when the US and France were threatening a military strike against Syria, Pope Francis asked everyone to pray and fast for one day. Just after this President Putin stepped in and offered to work out a deal with Syria over its chemical weapons and a possible war was averted. We never know what our faith can do, even if it is smaller than a mustard seed.

 

Let your light shine before all, so that seeing your good works they may glorify your Father in heaven. (Matt 5:16)

 

25th Sunday, Year C (Gospel: Luke 16:1-13) Justice or revenge?

 

When terrible crimes have been committed, like the assassination of Charlie Kirk and all the appalling shootings of the children in schools, there is always a lot of talk about the killers and how they should be dealt with: life in prison, the death sentence? When we are outraged by some terrible crime, it is normal to want to lash out and seek revenge. We should always seek justice, but that often becomes revenge, rather than justice.

 

In the Old Testament, from the law given to Moses, it says, ‘Whoever takes a human life, shall surely be put to death… an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth…whatever injury a man has given a person, shall be given to him.’ (Lev 24:17, 20, 21). That may seem like a call for revenge, but it is actually calling for a proportionate response, as opposed to revenge.

 

Then Jesus quotes that same law and takes it to a deeper level. He said, ‘You have heard how it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ but I say to you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.’

 

Jesus is bringing that teaching to a deeper level, calling for mercy.

 

There is a friend of mine in Ireland who is a paramedic. One of the calls that he got was to a house where there had been a domestic dispute between a husband and wife. Something had happened and the father had snapped. He ended up stabbing his wife and accidentally killing his nine-year-old daughter. My friend didn’t realize what he was being called to and then found himself faced with a nine-year-old bleeding to death. She died from her injuries. That is the kind of scene that you never forget. When he was telling me about it he said, ‘That man should never be forgiven.’ I could understand his anger.

 

There is another perspective to it that we don’t usually think about. We usually think of someone’s death as being the end, their life is over. However, from a faith point of view, their life on earth is over, but now they have gone on to what we call heaven, where they are no longer suffering, but experiencing a joy that we have never had. Presuming they are in heaven, I wonder what the person killed would say. Would they demand justice, or revenge, or mercy?

 

I want to share with you the life of one of the youngest saints, Maria Goretti, which speaks for itself and can make us think differently.

 

St. Maria Goretti was born in Corinaldo, Italy, in 1890. She died just before her 12^th birthday, in 1902. Her family were farmers, but her father died when she was young and so they ended up selling the farm and working as farm hands. Eventually they had to share a house with another family, the Serenellis, a father and two sons. The sons were into bad living and one of them, Alessandro, continually tried to seduce Maria. He tried to rape her twice, but she wouldn’t give in to him. Maria normally stayed at the house during the day, taking care of the younger children.

 

One day Alessandro arranged that he would be on his own with her in the house and he then tried to rape her. She refused and wouldn’t give in to him. She kept shouting that it was a sin and would offend God and that he could go to hell for it. In a fit of rage he stabbed her fourteen times and then fled the scene.

 

When Maria was found she was rushed to hospital but died two days later from her injuries. The surgeons were unable to give her anaesthesia as her body was too weak. During the surgery she woke up and told her mother what had happened and that Alessandro had tried to rape her two other times as well, but she was afraid to mention it as he had threatened to kill her if she did. While she was awake she also said that she forgave Alessandro and wanted him to go to heaven too. She died the next day from her wounds.

 

When the locals found out what had happened they tried to get Alessandro and would have killed him, but the police got there first. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

 

The only known photograph of St. Maria Goretti

Initially when Alessandro was imprisoned, he was unrepentant and bragged about what he had done. However, several years later she appeared to him in a dream and gave him fourteen lilies. As he took each one it burned his fingers and disappeared. He realized that each flower represented each of the times that he had stabbed her and that she had forgiven him. From then on his life changed completely. He became deeply repentant and changed his behavior so much, that he was eventually let out of jail early (after 27 years) because of his exemplary behaviour.

 

After he was released he went to Maria’s mother Assunta and begged her forgiveness. He explained how she had come to him in a dream and had forgiven him. His mother said to him, ‘If Maria can forgive you, then I must forgive you too.’ They ended up going to mass and receiving Communion together on Christmas Eve.

 

Alessandro spent the rest of his life working as a layman in a Capuchin monastery as a receptionist and gardener.

 

Maria was canonised in 1950 and her mother and some of her siblings were present.

 

God is perfectly just and infinitely merciful. Even if people escape justice on earth, they will always be held accountable before God as we all will be. But God is also infinitely merciful, in a way that is hard for us to understand. That is one of the reasons why the Church teaches against the death penalty, as people can change, but being merciful doesn’t mean there is no justice.

 

'When they came to the place called the skull, they crucified him there along with two criminals… Jesus said, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”'