Pentecost Year C (Gospel: John 7:37-39) The Holy Spirit will teach you everything

A few years ago I had to go to our national seminary Maynooth for a meeting.  Before the meeting began I met three young men who were studying to be priests for our diocese and they invited me to stay on after the meeting for Evening Prayer and supper; so I did.  In the evening I found myself in the chapel praying along side 80 young men who are studying to be priests and it was wonderful to hear all these men singing to God and praying the Psalms, knowing that they were dedicating their lives to serve God.  I was thinking that in one way you would want to be insane to study to be a priest at the moment, so what on earth could draw them?  The answer of course is God.  The Spirit of God inspires people and moves people when we don’t expect it and often in ways we don’t expect either.  But the Spirit doesn’t shout aloud like the news-papers do.  The Spirit works quietly, but very powerfully.

I am often asked, especially by younger people, how come I didn’t want to get married and instead that I went on for the priesthood?  Actually the way they usually put it is to say, ‘Didn’t you like girls?’  And I always say, ‘Of course I was drawn to get married, but the call of God was the stronger one.’ 

The year I began religious life was the year the first major scandal in our Church broke.  The bishop of my own diocese, who lived just down the road from where I grew up, had fathered a child.  That was 21 years ago and there have basically been scandals ever since and most of them were much more serious.  During my time in the seminary it was very disheartening with all the stories about child abuse in the papers for the first time.  But it made all of us think carefully about why we were becoming priests and it still makes me think about why I continue as a priest.  The reason more or less remains the same: I believe God called me and continues to call me to serve him in this way.  Most of the time I’m not even sure I understand the calling or even what exactly the Lord wants me to do, but the ongoing call is unmistakable.

When I was nineteen I was invited to go to a prayer meeting here in Galway.  At the time I wasn’t practicing my faith, but I was searching.  At this prayer meeting I met 50 or 60 young people praying the rosary, singing hymns and reading Scripture.  This was completely new to me and I was drawn to it.  I could see that their faith was real and I was intrigued by it.  These young people basically taught me how to pray and taught me that it was good to start the day by giving 10-15 minutes to God in prayer.  So I began to do the same.  Shortly after I began attending this prayer meeting they held what is known as a ‘Life in the Spirit’ seminar.  This is a series of about 8 talks on the reality of the power of God’s Spirit—the Holy Spirit—and how that same Spirit is just waiting for us to be open to him so that He can set fire to our faith, so to speak.  So I began doing this seminar and was curious to know what, if anything, would happen.  On the fifth night the people there prayed with each of us—just like the Apostles did—that we would receive a fresh outpouring of the Spirit.  I remember being a bit disappointed at the time, because nothing particularly amazing seemed to happen to me.  I felt peaceful, but not unduly so.  However, in the days and weeks that followed I suddenly noticed all kinds of things happening.  It was as though someone had flicked a switch and turned on the power.  Suddenly my faith became alive in a way that it had never been before.  The Scriptures began to speak to me in a profound way and I had a great desire to spend time in prayer.  I also noticed that I began to hear the words of the mass as though I had never heard them before and I was completely blown away with it.  Other people who did this Life in the Spirit seminar had similar experiences, the most common being that their faith became alive as never before.  That was 25 years ago and the experience really changed the course of my life.   A few years after that I began studying to be a priest.

Today when I look around and see all the apparent chaos in our Church, which is very disturbing, I think back on what the Lord has led me through and I am reminded that our Church is in good hands, because it is not in the hands of human beings but in the hands of the Most High God.  If the Church was purely in the hands of human beings, we would be in big trouble.  The Spirit continues to move and cleanse and purify, which is what we are seeing at the moment.  Although it is difficult for us, it is not something that we need be afraid of.  On the contrary it is a sign that the power of God is very much at work in the Church; and this makes total sense since it is the Lord’s Church.  Those of us who try to serve in it are only instruments, and often not very good instruments, but it doesn’t matter as God does not depend on us to get everything right.  The Lord is the One who is in charge and who will continue to lead us, his people, in the direction we need to go.  

As we celebrate the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, when the disciples were 'switched on' you could say, we turn once again to God's Spirit and pray that He will help us never to lose heart, never to become discouraged, but to remember that God knows what God is doing.  When we have the gift of the Spirit, which we have since our Baptism and Confirmation, we have everything.  The guidance, wisdom and courage we need are there for the asking.  It is for us to try and remain open to the promptings of God's Spirit.  If we begin to rely only on our own expertise, our own ability, we will soon find that we come up short.  If, on the other hand, we continue to seek the guidance of the Spirit, then we have nothing to fear, even though we may not know exactly what we are to do.  God shows us what we need to do, as we need to know it.  Most of the time we are not allowed to see very far ahead, but neither were the Apostles.  They were just told to go and preach the Gospel, and that is what they did.  Remembering this, let us be encouraged, knowing that God's Spirit will show us the way.

The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name

will teach you everything 

and remind you of all that I have said to you (John 14:26).

The Ascension to Heaven, Year C (Gospel: Luke 24:46-53) Jesus is Lord

Several years ago I had the privilege of being at one of the ‘Interession for Priests’ retreats, given in Dublin every summer by Sr. Briege McKenna and Fr. Kevin Scallon. This particular year they were celebrating 25 years and the retreat I was at was given by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa.  Fr. Cantalamessa is a Capuchin priest and the preacher to the Papal Household (to the Pope).  He is an extraordinary preacher and it was a very inspiring few days.

One of the themes that he kept coming back to is that ‘Jesus is Lord’; just that.  The essence of our faith is really very simple and this is one of the key elements of it.  Jesus is Lord and if we believe in him and ask forgiveness for our sins, then we have eternal life with him.  ‘If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved’ (Rom 10:9).  Some months later when Cantalamessa was visiting the national seminary of Maynooth, he gave one talk and again he kept coming back to this fact: Jesus is Lord.  One of the professors sitting beside me said quietly, ‘It seems a bit too simple really!’  I know what he meant, but the truth is that it is very simple.  We tend to make it more complicated.

In today’s first reading from the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, Luke recalls the Lord’s ascension into heaven.  Just before Jesus ascended the Apostles asked again, ‘Lord has the time come?  Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’  In spite of all the time with Jesus and the extraordinary things they had seen, they still had a very earthly way of thinking.  ‘When will we have the power and glory?  When will our nation be properly reestablished?’  Yet Jesus was showing them that this was not important at all.  Worldly ways and worldly thinking are not important.  Preaching about Jesus and our eternal life in him was the only thing that mattered.  They were to receive power, but not worldly political power where everyone would acknowledge their greatness.  Instead they were to receive the power of the Spirit, which would enable them to preach about Jesus, what He has done for us, what our life is about and how we have life in him if we choose it.  That was the only thing that mattered.  All of them were to suffer for their preaching too, but that also was secondary.  They would be misunderstood by the world, as so many who preach the Gospel still are, but that message must be proclaimed all the same.

Why was it so important that they proclaim this message?  Because God is the only one who makes sense of why we are here in the first place and God wants his people to know this.  And so Jesus came among us to teach us about God and to offer his life in atonement for our sins, so that we might have eternal life with God; or to put it another way, so that we might reach ultimate happiness and the total fulfilment that all of us long for.  That message is just as important today as all of us look for happiness and fulfilment.  In spite of the great advances of humanity, most people are still very much aware that although we have achieved great things, something far deeper in us looks beyond human achievement and we know that we will never be totally fulfilled by human accomplishments.  So the Spirit gently encourages us to look to the things of God, the only place where we can find fulfilment.

In modern missionary work it is sometimes argued that we should not be talking about God, but only helping those who are in need.  While it is true that we must do all we can to help those who are in need, the message of the Gospel should also be preached to people because they have a right to hear it.  People have a right to know what God has done for them.  It is up to each person whether they choose to believe it or not, but they have a right to hear the message that we have eternal life in God through the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Our material needs are important, but if we neglect the spiritual needs, we may lose any sense of purpose and what our life is about.  This is just as bad as being without food as it can cause people to despair.  So we try to continue to pass on the message that the Lord Jesus asked us to: Jesus is Lord and in him we have eternal life with God.

Jesus ascending to heaven before the Apostles’ eyes was also a confirmation to them and to us, that something wonderful awaits us when we die.  This life is not everything, but only a preparation for the world to come.  Hopefully we will enjoy it and find some contentment in it, but we must not lose sight of what also awaits us.  Life after death is real and this is what God wants for us.  If we believe that, then it makes the harder times here on earth a lot more bearable.  Our life here can be difficult, but it is worthwhile because something unimaginably wonderful awaits us.

Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven.  They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy and they were continually in the Temple praising God (Lk 24:51-53).

6th Sunday of Easter, Year C (Gospel: John 14:23-29) Focusing on the basics

Once a year I usually manage to go on a pilgrimage.  It is often to somewhere like Medjugorje, Lourdes, or another well-known shrine.  In 2011 I made a pilgrimage by motorcycle across northern Spain and then up through France stopping at various shrines: over 2000 miles on a Honda NT700 (the one in the picture above).  No matter which way I do it, the time apart to pray always helps me to remember what is important.  Going somewhere different for a time of prayer always seems to have the same effect; it simplifies things and helps me to see how much junk I’ve collected since the last time, most of which is totally unnecessary.  Staying in simple hotel rooms, or religious houses, with little more than a book has a wonderful way of freeing the mind.  Initially I find that I crave for the distractions that I’m used to, the TV, calling friends, noise of one kind or another.  But after a day or two I begin to settle into the quiet and I realise how much I need it.  I believe that we need to keep going back to the basics and to remind ourselves of what is important.

In the second reading from the Acts of the Apostles, controversy is being stirred up with talk of whether the pagans should have to follow the Jewish law of being circumcised or not.  The basics of the faith were still being worked out.  What is interesting is the Apostles response.  First of all they agree to discuss the matter further, but they want their brothers and sisters to be at peace and so they recommend them to keep to the essentials as they understood them at that time.

We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds.

It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials…

There is great wisdom in their decision to keep to the essentials.  They didn’t want the people to be burdened with more than was necessary.  This is a common theme that I hear people express when they come back from pilgrimage.  We are reminded of what is important. 

What God calls us to do is very simple: to love God and to keep his commandments.  In the Gospel Jesus says, ‘If you love me you will keep my commandments.’  ‘If you love me…’  The Lord does not want us to live out of fear, or to obey out of fear, but out of love.  At one stage in Matthews Gospel when Jesus was questioned about what the most important commandment was, He said that the greatest and most important commandment is to love the Lord God with all our heart, our mind and our soul.  He added that the second is like it, ‘To love your neighbour as yourself’ (See Matthew 22:37-39).  He concluded by saying that everything (the whole Law and the Prophets) hangs on this.  These are, you might say, the key things on the path to heaven.

Jesus also adds in the Gospel that his Spirit will teach us everything we need to know as we go along.  ‘But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.’

The simpler we keep things, the easier it is to remember what is important.  And so we try to love God and we try and love the people around us, by respecting them, putting up with them, treating them as equals and trying to see the good in them.  If we keep it simple it remains manageable.

4th Sunday of Easter, Year C (Gospel: John 10:27-30) They have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb

 

Several years ago I had the privilege of being able to study in Rome for three years.  While I was there I lived in the Pontifical Irish College, which is both a seminary and post-graduate college.  As there are not enough Irish students to fill the college, it is now an international college.  For one of my years there we had students from 23 different countries.  This makes for a great cultural experience and it gave me a great sense of the universal Church.  I found myself studying and living with other young men from all parts of the world.  We came from many very different cultures, but we all shared the same faith and the same enthusiasm to make Jesus Christ known to other people.  It was very inspiring to live in such an environment, although of course it also had its moments as we had very different ways of doing things.

One man who was my next door neighbour for a year and a half, was Fr. Ragheed Ganni from Iraq.  I didn’t even know there were Catholics in Iraq until I met him.  He was a young, highly talented and very likable priest.  He was from the city of Nineveh in northern Iraq, which is the modern day city of Nineveh (Remember the prophet Jonah was sent to the people of Nineveh).  Ragheed completed all his studies for priesthood in Rome, since if he returned to Iraq during his studies he may not have been able to leave again to complete them.  So he studied in Rome, living in the Irish College and spent many summers in Ireland.

During our time there the American invasion of Iraq took place and the over-throwing of Sadam Hussein.  This was a very difficult and stressful time for Ragheed as he watched his country being torn apart, while daily wondering if his family were safe or not.  Having someone in the room next to me who was going through this made the war very real.  Just before the war started I asked him as an Iraqi what were his fears about what would happen.  He said that the problem was not so much when the Americans took over, as when they later pulled out.  He said that then there would be civil war between the different Muslim factions and the Christians would be wiped out.  That is exactly what happened.

In 2003 Ragheed returned to Iraq.  It was now a very different country to the one he had left.  To get into the country he told me that he had to fly into Syria and then take a bus across the border.  I received a few emails from him after he returned.  He said that there was a curfew almost every night and that it was becoming more and more difficult for the Christian community there.  One day he sent me an email with photos of his church on fire.  He said that gunmen had come in and taken him out at gunpoint.  He thought he was going to be shot, but instead they blew up the church.  Ragheed was able to return to Rome at least twice over the next three years, and I met him on one of those visits.  He had put on some weight, and he said that this was because he could not go outside to exercise, as it was too dangerous.  As time passed more and more of his parishioners began to leave and those of us who knew him worried for his safety.  Whoever could afford to leave the parish got out.  

Ragheed knew that staying on in Iraq was becoming increasingly dangerous, but he believed that that was where God was asking him to be.  In spite of death threats and the obvious danger, he continued to minister to his people and they continued to come to pray and celebrate Mass.  One of the neighbouring churches was hit by a car bomb killing two people and injuring many.  The bishop’s house was blown up and Ragheed’s sister was injured by a grenade which was thrown at her while she was going to clean the church in preparation for Sunday mass.  In spite of this Ragheed and the other priests continued to minister to their people.

On 3^rd June, 2007 I received a phone call from a friend to tell me the terrible news that Ragheed along with three others, had been shot dead the day before.  He had just finished celebrating the Mass and was leaving the church with another sub-deacon.  Two other sub-deacons and the wife of one of them were in the car behind.  One year later the woman and only survivor, Bayan Adam Bella, had the courage to speak out.  Here are some excerpts from an interview she gave to Ankawa.com. 

‘At a certain point the car was stopped by armed men.  Fr. Ragheed could have fled but he did not want to, because he knew they were looking for him.  They forced us to get out of the car and led me away.  Then one of the killers screamed at Ragheed,

“I told you to close the church.  Why didn’t you do it?  Why are you still here?”  And he simply responded,

“How can I close the house of God?” 

They immediately pushed him to the ground, and Ragheed had only enough time to gesture to me with his head that I should run away.  Then they opened fire and killed all four of them.’  At this point Bayan fainted.

Ragheed Ganni was 35 when he was shot dead and had been a priest for just 6 years. 

In the second reading from this Sunday’s mass (Apocalypse 7:9, 14-17) we hear of the great numbers of people who stand before the Lamb holding palms in their hands.  When the writer asks who they are he is told,

‘These are the people who have been through the great persecution and because they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb, they now stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his sanctuary; and the One who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.’

A few years after Ragheed’s death the chapel in the Irish College in Rome was redecorated by the artist Fr. Marko Rupnik (see the photo above).  Behind the altar there is a breath-taking mosaic with Christ the Good Shepherd at the centre with several saints on either side including Fr. Ragheed Ganni to the far right holding the martyr’s palm.  I always find it very moving to see this image having known Ragheed myself.

In different parts of the world many people continue to put their lives at risk in order to pass on the teachings of Christ as he asked us to.  Many, including Ragheed, have payed with their lives.  Although it is painful for me to think of Ragheed’s death, it is also a great source of strength and encouragement.  ‘The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians’ -Tertullian.  Jesus told us we would be persecuted for following him, but he also told us that he is the Good Shepherd who continues to guide and look after us.  That doesn’t mean that we won’t suffer, but it does mean that he is always with us.  Even though none of us want to have to suffer for our faith, what could be more important than to be faithful to Jesus?  He is the one who makes sense of why we are here.  Without him we are nothing. 

‘The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice.  I know them and they follow me.’

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year C (Gospel: John 21:1-19) Our weakness is not an obstacle for God

I always find it both amazing and amusing how in the American presidential election they will go through the history of each candidate with a fine-tooth comb in the hope of finding some small thing to discredit him or her.  I simply mention the American one as it’s generally more publicised than most.  It’s as if they are looking for the perfect person who is not allowed to have any defects.  If they do find anything in their past such as smoking dope when they were a teenager, or something similar, they present this as a reason for him or her to be unsuitable for president now, as if you could find someone who didn’t have defects.  Modern day media tends to do the same, gloating over the sins of an individual while showing absolutely no mercy whatsoever to that person for the mistakes they have made.

In contrast to that we have almost the opposite presented to us in today’s Gospel.  Peter is confronted by Jesus in a loving but painful way, when Jesus asks him three times ‘Do you love me?’  Why did Jesus do this since he knew well that Peter loved him?  Jesus was making Peter face his own weakness, the weakness that caused him to publicly swear that he never knew Jesus.  This happened during Jesus’ trial when Peter tried to stay close to Jesus, but he was overcome with fear when individuals realised he was one of Jesus’ followers and then he denied ever knowing Jesus.  After this happened it says that Peter went outside and wept bitterly, because of course he didn’t want to deny Jesus, but he was overcome by fear. 

In asking Peter three times ‘Do you love me,’ Jesus was helping him to heal, but also making him face his weakness.  Jesus wasn’t going to just pretend that this never happened, because if he did it would have continued to haunt Peter for the rest of his life.  Instead, Jesus confronts Peter with it and makes him face it.  And then Jesus makes this same Peter the first pope.  Jesus was saying, ‘I know you let me down because of your own weakness/fear; but that is not an obstacle for me.  Now face it and then I can really work through you.’  It is an extraordinary thought that Jesus wasn’t afraid to make Peter the first pope even when he knew that Peter had denied him.  Our weakness is not an obstacle for God.

It is because the Lord loves us that he challenges us with our weaknesses.  We want to just gloss over them and pretend that mistakes never happened, but that doesn’t really help us.  If we are to heal and grow then we must face up to our weakness, which is difficult and painful but it’s also what helps us to grow. 

In the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous the first step to recovery is to acknowledge your weakness and that you are powerless over it.  Only then can you begin to continue in the right direction.  This is also one of the reasons the Lord gives us the facility to confess what we have done in total secrecy, so that we can heal.  The idea that all our sins are totally forgiven by God if we ask for forgiveness is a hard thing to grasp, and many of us struggle to believe that this could really be so.  And yet that is what the death of Jesus on the cross is all about: the forgiveness of sins.  That forgiveness has already been won for us; we just have to ask for it.

There is a lot more freedom in admitting that we are weak when we come before God, than in trying to prove we are perfect.  If we had to be perfect it would put enormous pressure on us.  Part of the freedom that our faith gives us is to realise that it’s ok to be weak, to have made mistakes.   Ultimately we rely on the power of God and not on ourselves and that certainly is a relief.

Can you imagine if Jesus hadn’t challenged Peter in this way and then made him the first leader anyway?  Peter would have continued to live in fear wondering whether his denials would come to light or not.  Instead Jesus brings everything out into the open and basically says, ‘I know what happened, but now you have repented, so don’t be afraid anymore.’  This is why the Lord keeps inviting us to come back to him, to confess what we have done wrong, so that we can be free and so that we can live in peace.  Everything God does is to help us.

‘Peter do you love me?’  ‘Lord you know everything, you know that I love you.’

2nd Sunday of Easter, Year B (Gospel: John 20:19-31) Do not be afraid

As a child—I think it was because I had such a vivid imagination—I seemed to be afraid of almost everything.  Maybe it’s because of that, but today I hate to see anyone afraid.  Sadly at the moment there are many people living in fear, especially fear of not being able to cope or provide for their families because of all that is happening.  It is very understandable and yet it is also one thing that God does not want for us.  365 times in the Scriptures are the words ‘Do not be afraid.’  God wants us to be at peace.

2000 years ago on Holy Thursday night, out of fear the Apostles all abandoned Jesus, even though they believed He was the Son of God.  Judas betrayed him for money.  Peter tried to be faithful, but ended up publicly swearing that he never knew Jesus.  They all betrayed him.  Now after Easter they are locked in the upper room in fear.  They were afraid first because they knew they could face the same punishment as Jesus since they were his associates.  Perhaps they were also afraid of what God might do to them because they had betrayed Jesus, the Son of God.  It is a very human response to be afraid of God when we feel we have betrayed him in some way either by the way we live, or by something we have done.

Then something beautiful happens.  Jesus is suddenly standing with them in the room and he says: ‘Peace be with you.’  The first thing he does is take away their fear.  There are no words of condemnation for having abandoned him a few days before.  There are no words of judgement on how they were unable to be faithful.  Instead: ‘Peace be with you.’  ‘It’s alright.’

I don’t know about you, but I can certainly say that I have often felt that I have betrayed the Lord by my actions.  Sometimes I even wish I was not a priest, because then I would not have to deal with what is sacred.  It is difficult to have to deal with the sacred when you are aware that you are a sinner.  It is easier to run and hide.  Think of Peter when Jesus worked the miracle of the great catch of fish.  Peter’s reaction was, ‘Leave me Lord I am a sinful man.’  Yet when Jesus appears to the Apostles, the first thing He does is to put them at ease.  ‘Peace be with you.’ 

Each time in the mass when we recall this wish of Jesus to give us his peace—which is not just a universal prayer for peace, but a reminder of what Jesus said to his followers—He is saying, ‘do not be afraid, because I am not here to condemn you, even if you deserve to be condemned.  Peace be with you.’  God only wants us to come closer to him and to know that He is not going to act as we do to each other, with frowns or giving out.  He knows what we are like.  He knows that we betray him, but He still tells us to be at peace.  I for one, find that very comforting.

Think too of Thomas who in his grief at the death of Jesus would not believe the words of others that Jesus was alive.  When you are grieving you don’t want someone else to give you false hope, because it is too painful.  And then when Jesus did appear to him He was so kind in helping him to believe.  No giving out, no words of recrimination, but instead Jesus invites Thomas to put his finger into his wounds, so that he would believe.  No condemnation for not being good enough; only encouragement.

In this gospel Jesus also gives his disciples the authority to forgive sins in his name.  Why? So that we need not ever be living in fear of God.  Through the priesthood we have the concrete reassurance of God’s mercy and forgiveness, so that we can move on when we have done wrong; so that we need not live in fear.  No condemnation, only encouragement and love.

‘Peace be with you.  It is I, do not be afraid.’

Easter Vigil, Year C (Gospel: Luke 24:1-12) ‘Where is your faith in the risen Christ?’

A few years ago a priest friend of mine was working in Rome.  At one stage he had a few minutes talking to Cardinal Ratzinger (Later Pope Benedict XVI).  Ratzinger asked him how things were in the Church in Ireland.  My friend John said, ‘Things are terrible.  The bishops are useless. All the young people have stopped going to mass.  It’s all over!’  Ratzinger said to him, ‘Father, that is not the talk of a Christian.  Where is your faith in the risen Christ?’  This completely took him aback and he knew that the cardinal was quite right.  When he recalled this story to me I could hear the power of that question in me as well: ‘Where is your faith in the risen Christ?’  If what we celebrate today is really true, that Jesus rose from the dead and conquered the power of sin and death, then what could we possibly fear?  Even if our Church seems to be in a mess—which it certainly does!—the power of Christ is greater than all of this and it is Christ who is among us and it is Christ who is guiding the Church, even if that is not always clear to us.  What is key is that we remain focused on Jesus who is Lord, and not on the mess, or on the human side of the Church.  Jesus the Son of God is the head of the Church.  The only reason the Church still exists is because this is so.

For the Easter Vigil we have several readings which recall the history of salvation.  We begin with one of the accounts of creation.  The two key points in this account are that it was God who created and what God created was good.  God’s creation is fundamentally good.  The fact that the human being was created last, is a biblical way of saying that this was the high-point of God’s creation.  We are God’s masterpiece, the greatest thing He created.  But then somewhere back along the way we rebelled and lost the harmony that was there.  Throughout history even though we continually strayed away from God, the Lord continually brought us back to himself.  He continued to show us that the path which leads us to fulfilment and happiness is the path that is leading towards him. 

When God rescues the people of Israel and leads them out of Egpyt and leads them across the Red Sea, they cannot go to the left or to the right.  They can only go straight on towards God, or back to the ones who enslaved them.  In the reading from Isaiah (55:1-11) we hear the words,

‘Listen, listen to me and you will have good things to eat and rich food to enjoy.  Pay attention, come to me; listen and your soul will live.  With you I will make and everlasting covenant.’

In the reading from Baruch (3:9-15, 32-4:4) we hear the words:

‘Listen, Israel to commands that bring life: hear and learn what knowledge means.’  ‘Israel, blessed are we: what pleases God has been revealed to us.’ 

What pleases God is that we continue to walk in his way because that is the only way that will lead us to fulfilment.  It is so simple and yet we can so easily miss it.

In the New Testament reading from Romans (6:3-11) which we read after the Gloria, we are reminded that we now have a new life with God, because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Since we are joined to Jesus through our baptism we now enjoy the new life He has won for us. What is his is also ours, if we accept it. How could something so enormous be given to us? Simply because that is the generosity of God. In blessing the Easter water and renewing our own vows of baptism we remind ourselves that we totally belong to God. What God has done through the death and resurrection of Jesus is extraordinary, but what is even more extraordinary is that He has done all of this for us, so that we may have life in it's fullness. It is ours if we accept it.

So now going back to what Cardinal Ratzinger said to my friend: ‘Father, where is your faith in the risen Christ?’  I think God is saying the same thing to us today as we celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the dead.  Jesus is Lord and He is among us.  He is the one we focus on.  It is only in him we will find the fullness of life and if we remain focused on him then there is nothing for us to be afraid of.

 A happy and blessed Easter to everyone.