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| The apparition at Knock, Ireland |
On
Thursday 21st Aug, 1879, at about 8.00pm an apparition was
seen at one end of the Church. What the people saw (about 15
people) was an altar in the centre, with a lamb on it and angels
floating around it in the background. To the left of the altar
was Our Lady accompanied by St. Joseph on one side and St. John the
Apostle on the other side. Apparently the light from the Lamb
was far brighter than that of Our Lady and the two others. It
lasted for about two hours in all and the people stood there in the
pouring rain praying. One
of the young men who studied with me in the seminary, a man by the name of Jarlath Trench, was the grandchild of one of the
witnesses who had been at Knock when the apparition happened. It makes it seem very recent with that connection.
We
usually think of this apparition as a Marian apparition, but the truth is
that the apparition was really an apparition of Jesus appearing as
the Lamb of God on the altar, accompanied by Our Lady, St.
Joseph and St. John. This might seem trivial, but it is
important because what it is telling us is that Jesus, the Lamb of
God is at the centre, and especially for us Catholics it speaks
powerfully with the vision of the Lamb on the altar: that is, Jesus
coming to us in the mass. As you know, during the mass the
priest holds up the Sacred Host at Communion and says ‘Behold the
Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, blessed are those
who are called to the supper of the Lamb.’ The reason the
priest does this is just to show us Jesus present in the Eucharist.
The priest does the same thing at the consecration so that the people
can see the host which is no longer bread but the Body of Christ.
The
apparition in Knock happened back at a time when the people were
desperately poor and just recovering from the great potato famine
(1845-52) which reduced the population by about 25%. The vision
was a beautiful message of hope from heaven, both to let the people
know that God was aware of their suffering and also to remind them of
the treasure that they had in their midst. They had almost
nothing materially, but God was with them and they had Jesus the Lamb
of God coming on the altar in each mass, just as we still have
today. Jesus was at the centre and the strongest light was
coming from him, as you would expect it to be. And where Jesus
is, Our Lady and the angels and saints are too.
In
the Gospel today John the Baptist, whose job was to get the people
ready for the coming of the Son of God in their midst, says: ‘There
is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.’
Then the disciples start following Jesus, which is exactly what was
meant to happen. These various accounts are there for us not
just for curiosity sake, but they are telling us something now as
well. God is still saying to us through the Scriptures, ‘Jesus
is the One to follow.’ He is the only One of importance.
Jesus is the Lamb of God who is given to us in each mass. When
we have him we have everything, because He is what makes sense of our
life and why we are here.
Just
before we receive Communion during the mass the priest says, ‘Behold
the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, blessed are
those who are called to the supper of the Lamb,’ we all say, ‘Lord
I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the
word and my soul shall be healed.’ That short prayer says so
much. So often when we become aware of our unworthiness we can
be tempted to think, ‘Maybe I should not receive Holy Communion
because I am a sinner,’ and people sometimes say this to me.
Yes we are sinners, and yes we certainly are not worthy to receive
the eternal God into our own bodies, but it is God himself who makes
this possible. ‘Lord I am not worthy [to receive you] that
you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul
shall be healed.’ If God is prepared to come to us, we should
not be afraid to receive God in Holy Communion.
Behold the Lamb of
God who takes away the sins of the world.
Lord I am not worthy
that you should enter under my roof,
but only say the
word and my soul shall be healed.
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