16th Sunday Year A (Gospel: Matthew 13:24-43) The problem of evil

 

 One of the most difficult questions in religion is about the problem of evil. If God is all good and all powerful, then why does evil exist? Many people use it as an argument to discard the existence of God. They will say that God could not exist if there is evil in the world. The answer to it comes down to one thing: Free will.

 

A knife is a very useful tool. I can use it to cut bread or meat, but I can also use it to kill someone. If I have free will, I can choose to do good or evil. I would not be free if God continually stepped in when I decided to do wrong. If God did this then I would not be free. We are free to do right or wrong, but our actions also have consequences, both in this world and the next, the next life being much more serious as they are eternal consequences.

 

What about so many innocent people suffering because of the evil choices of others? The example that is probably most in our minds today is religious extremists, who believe they are doing a holy thing in wiping out those who see differently to them. They feel they have the right to do this, but all they are doing is causing suffering.

Jesus mentioned this: ‘A time will come when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy thing for God.’ (Jn 16:2b)

 

In 2015 we saw the dreadful image of 21 Coptic Christians about to be executed on a beach in Libya, because they would not deny Christ. They were all on their knees and wearing orange jump suits. Their killers stood over them wearing black and masked. What was amazing was the calm and dignity of those men. Right after their execution, the head of their Church, Archbishop Angaelos, was interviewed by many media groups. What most of the interviews picked up on was the fact that he finished his first message about the killings with the words, ‘Father forgive.’ The reaction of one person which affected so many who were listening to him.

We are called to be like this: to remain calm, focused on the Lord, so that we can quietly continue on our path, but with hope and joy, the hope that changes the world, because it is the hope that the world is looking for.

 

Why should children suffer because of the evil choices of others? Shouldn’t God step in? There is no easy answer and it makes us angry, because we know it’s wrong. The free choices of some people have consequences and sometimes those consequences do terrible things to others. Political leaders can make choices which are wrong and may cause immense suffering for people. Think of Putin invading the Ukraine and all the misery that has caused so many people. Should God step in every time someone chooses to do wrong? If God did, then would we really have free will?

 

Another side of it is this: Evil was involved in the death of Jesus. Jesus was given up to the authorities because Judas chose to betray him, even though he regretted it afterwards. The religious authorities of the time had Jesus convicted through a trial which was illegal according to their own law. They chose to do what was wrong and yet the mysterious thing is that even though Jesus was betrayed, tried, tortured and killed by the deliberate choices of men who decided to do evil, yet look what God brought about through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The course of history was changed forever because of his death and resurrection. Eternal happiness was won for us. What does that tell us? It tells us that God can and will bring great good even out of the worst of evil. We often hear of people working so hard to correct injustice, where someone is falsely accused and imprisoned. People will fight for years to bring about justice and they also inspire others to do the same. Think of people like Nelson Mandela, Gandhi and Martin Luther King. They suffered greatly because of the evil choices of others and yet they brought about great things and also inspired so many, because they were prepared to fight on, in spite of the evil brought about by other’s free will. ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.’

 

In times of war we don’t always hear about the many heroic acts of justice and kindness that people do, in order to help others who are suffering. A few years ago I remember hearing the account of a BBC journalist called Fergal Keane, who has covered areas of conflict for years. He told one story about two women in their seventies he came across in the Ukraine living in a conflict zone. This was before the current war. They had lost everything, including their pension and they were now living in a basement. They didn’t know how they were going to survive. Sometime later many people wrote to Fergal asking him if he knew what had happened to them. So he went back to try and find them. He discovered that they were now living in another tiny room together, but they were also cooking food for many people fleeing the war. They were using what little they had to bring about relief for others, even though they had hardly anything themselves. When Fergal was asked how he was able to keep working amid so much suffering, he said it was because of stories like that which inspired him so much. People can also choose to do good despite the suffering caused by others.

 

Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) was asked about the problem of corruption and scandal within the Church. In his response he pointed to today’s Gospel and the parable about the wheat and the weed. He said that Jesus is teaching us that there will always be a certain amount of evil in the world. We try and deal with as much of it as possible, but there will always be a certain amount we can do nothing about and we have to learn to live with this. But Jesus also teaches us that it will ultimately be dealt with, because all of us will have to give an account of our actions. There will be justice when we come before God. Does that mean we should be afraid? Of course not. Jesus reassures us of his infinite mercy if we make even the smallest effort to ask for forgiveness, but we must not take it for granted either. I actually find it reassuring to know that all of us will be accountable for our actions, because when you think of people who choose to do terrible evil and cause so much suffering for others seems to escape justice in this world. I find it comforting to know that they will not escape God’s justice. Everyone will be accountable for their actions.

Does God ever intervene? Sometimes God does intervene and people are miraculously cured or saved. I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit continually whispers to us to help us make good choices, but we are free to listen or ignore those suggestions, just as we are free to listen to the whisperings of temptations.  

Pope Benedict XVI

Jesus also uses the two parables of the yeast and the mustard seed. A tiny mustard seed can turn into something big and wonderful. Yeast will cause a whole loaf of bread to rise. What that is saying is that what we do has an effect on the world around us. The smallest acts of goodness and kindness affect other people, who in turn affect other people. Our actions have a ripple effect. At times like these, people need inspiration and hope more than ever. How we live can change the world. The choices I make every day will affect each person I meet, for good or for evil.

Our faith gives us the greatest hope there is: the promise of eternal happiness. If we believe that and live in a way that reflects that belief, it will affect the people we meet. They will recognize our hope which in turn will affect them.

“The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect out of his kingdom
all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

 

 

 

14th Sunday Year A (Gospel: Matthew 11:25-30) Come to me all you who are overburdened

 

 

My grandfather, Kenneth Kennedy, used to have a brush-factory in Dublin, which later turned into an art store and gallery, which is still going today. At one stage he employed a man as a kind of messenger boy and general dog’s body. He was a very simple man and was probably more of a burden from a business point of view, than anything else. Once, a friend of my grandfather’s was visiting the shop and he said to him, ‘Kenneth, why are you still holding on to that guy?’ And my grandfather just said, ‘I can’t throw him out, he has nowhere else to go.’ His friend said, ‘Kenneth, you’ll never make a good business man,’ and he was probably right.

 

Most people I know have to work hard to make a living and most businesses I know—and I worked for several before I became a priest—can be quite ruthless when it comes to letting people go, if they feel they could make more money without them. I heard the CEO of one of the big pharmaceutical companies say, ‘We are not in the business of helping people. We are in the business of making money for our shareholders.’ And a few years ago a director who had been hired to make one of the big auto companies in France more efficient said that those they didn’t need would either leave through the door or the window, referring to suicide. In order to force people to quit many employees had been given humiliating tasks in the company. The result of all this is that it causes a lot of stress at work. Financial pressure is one of the biggest burdens people carry. It is also one of the biggest causes of marriage problems.

 

Where do you turn to when you feel that you can not keep going?  Who do you turn to for compassion and support? Hopefully friends and family, but not always. In the readings today Jesus tells us to turn to him, because He knows the pressures we are under, the burdens we carry. God is aware of how difficult it can be and He offers to help us.

 

Jesus used the image of the yoke. The yoke was the wooden brace that linked two animals together around the neck, in order to split the load between them. The Lord is telling us that He wants to help us carry the load, to take some of the burden, but we also have to allow him to do this. It can be tempting to leave God to Sundays, or to ‘religious things’, but from all that God teaches us through the Bible, one thing that is very clear is that God is interested in everything we do, down to the most ordinary things and down to the most intimate details. 'Every hair on your head has been counted.' (Luke 12:7).

 

One of the great tragedies of our time is the high number of suicides, especially among our young people. No doubt there are probably many reasons for it, but I am sure that one of the biggest reasons is because people have lost faith and so they have lost hope, because they don’t know what to turn to. How do you keep going when everything seems impossible? We need a source of strength, something, or someone we can continually turn to, in order to give us renewed strength and purpose. If we believe that this life is just passing and that there is something wonderful waiting for us in the next life, then this gives us strength to keep going during difficult times. What we suffer here is only temporary, so we are prepared to put up with a lot, but if you don’t have any faith, what do you turn to? That is also why it is so important that we pass on our faith to the next generation, so that they too will have the hope that comes from faith.

 

Jesus also says, ‘No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’ If you have faith in God—and being here would suggest you do—it is because Jesus has chosen to reveal the Father to you. Jesus decided to make the Father known to you, which is why you are drawn here. You didn’t just stumble upon God. Jesus revealed himself specifically to you. Even if you were brought up Catholic, just because you learnt about the faith, doesn’t mean that you have faith. It still has to be revealed to us in some way. Otherwise it is just another subject.

 

Remember when Jesus asked the Apostles who people thought He was and Peter said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus then said to Peter, ‘You are blessed, because you didn’t come to this conclusion by yourself. God the Father revealed it to you.’ (Matt 16:17). Jesus chose to reveal the Father to each of us, individually and He will continue to reveal more and more of himself to us if we remain open. The more our faith grows, the more it will make sense of what our life on earth is about. Then as our faith grows, we pass it on to others by bearing witness to what we believe in, by the way we live.

 

Three things in particular that God has given us to help us are the

1.     Word of God, to guide and direct us. Everything we need to know to guid and direct us in this life is found in the Scriptures.

2.     Confession, so that we can get up again as often as we fall, so that we never become discouraged.

3.     And above all, the Eucharist, where we can receive Jesus himself, every day if we wish.

Do you want to know what God has to say to you? Read the Scriptures, because that is one of the primary ways that God speaks to us. Think of all the information we take in each day: advertising, news programs, chat shows, social media. What could possibly be more important than what God has to say to us. What do I fill my mind with?

 

Jesus said, ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be filled with darkness.’ (Matt 6:22-23). Whatever I fill my mind with is what I will also bring to the world. If I fill myself with angry arguments and nothing but negative thoughts about the world, then that is what I will bring to the world. We don’t need more angry people, we need people filled with light and only God can fill us with that light.

 

Think also of the opportunity Jesus gives us to receive him each day. What could possibly be more important than this? What greater strength could we ask for than Jesus himself in the Eucharist.

 

The burdens that we are faced with each day, can be difficult, but the Lord assures us that He is with us and wants to share the load with us, if only we will allow him to. They are his words in Scripture.

 

“Seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness and these things will be given to you as well. ‘Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

 

“Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.”

 

 

13th Sunday Year A (Gospel: Matt 10:37-42) Death, judgement, heaven and hell.

 

 

An average of 625 people die every day in Florida. That’s 228,000 per year. Of the 625 who died in the last 24 hours, where are they now? They are somewhere. Do you ever think about that? We generally don’t think about death unless it’s someone we know, but hundreds of people are dying around us every day. The body dies, but the spirit rises out of the body and goes wherever it goes, hopefully to be with God, or else to be separated from God.

 

With the age we live in, we have more and more scientific knowledge, which is a wonderful thing. We have greater understanding about our universe and how it evolved. But what often seems to accompany more knowledge, is skepticism, especially about religious, or supernatural things. The Lord knows this is difficult for us, which is why He continually gives us all kinds of signs to help us to believe. It says that when the Apostles began preaching, after Jesus ascended to heaven, their work was accompanied by ‘signs and wonders.’ In other words, there were miracles happening continually and these miracles confirmed what they were preaching, which helped people to believe in their message.

 

After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the Apostles and others, many times, to convince them of the reality of what had happened. Then He deliberately allowed the Apostles to see him ascend to heaven, to help them to believe in the reality of heaven, but what He said to them before He ascended is also important. “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” Tell people what? That God is real, that our life has a purpose, that heaven and hell are real, that our actions have eternal consequences, that we can only go to heaven because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. People need to know this, so that they will have an understanding of what their life is about. And He also said this: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Whoever does not believe will be condemned.” In other words, there is a choice and we can also lose heaven if we reject God.

 

In 1917 Our Lady appeared in Fatima, Portugal, to three young children: Lucia (10), Franciso (9) and Jacinta (7). One of the things that Our Lady showed them was a terrifying vision of hell. Visions of heaven and hell have also been shown to many other saints and visionaries. You might wonder why Our Lady would show such young children such a frightening thing. Because it is a reality. You don’t hide dangers from your children. You allow them to see the dangers and you teach them about the dangers, so that they can avoid them.

 

Today, as you know, many people scoff at the idea of hell and the devil, as if they were some sort of medieval idea which we no longer need to believe; after all, everyone goes to heaven, right? That is not what Jesus taught.

‘Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and only a few find it’ (Matt 7:13-14).

 

In Matthew’s gospel (25: 31-46), Jesus uses the parable of the sheep and the goats, who are divided on judgement day. ‘Whatever you did to the least of these, you did to me… Whatever you did not do for the least of these brothers of mine, you did not do for me. Then they will go away to eternal punishment and the righteous to eternal life.’ Jesus is telling us that there is a choice and there is a judgement. How we choose to live in this life, has eternal consequences and we must take them seriously.

 

Our time on earth is not just about trying to find total fulfilment and pleasure, it is a time of love and service to God. If our life is focused only on trying to make ourselves as comfortable and fulfilled as possible, then we will miss the point of our life. When we die, we do not want to come before God with empty hands. By serving and worshipping God, we will find fulfillment, and that is our primary role, not our secondary role.

 

Heaven and hell are real and we should not be naïve to the idea. Jesus spoke of this multiple times. If this is the case, should we be afraid? I think the answer is both yes and no. Fire is dangerous, so we have a healthy respect for it, but without living in fear of it. Hell is also real and we should have a healthy respect for it.

 

If heaven is real and we have free will, then it is completely logical that there must be something else, or else we would be forced to go to heaven, which is a contradiction. If heaven is real, hell must be real too. To lose all that God wants to give us, God’s destiny for us, is to be left with the opposite, which is hell. If heaven is total fulfillment in God, light, beauty, happiness, peace, joy, the love of God and being with our loved ones again, then to lose or reject that, would mean to be left with the opposite: the loss of God, darkness, hatred, isolation, pain and the eternal pain of knowing we have rejected the one thing that could bring us happiness.

 

Since we have never experienced heaven, it is hard for us to grasp that such a place could exist. Images of fire are often used for hell, as this is an image we can easily understand, but the reality is that the eternal loss of God would be far worse, as God is the only thing that can fulfill us. If we have the free will to accept God and all that He offers us, then we must also have the free will to reject it, or otherwise it would not be free will. The vision of hell that Our Lady granted the children at Fatima and so many others, is a reminder to us that hell is real and we should not presume that all of us will go to heaven regardless of how we live. Our actions have consequences and we must take them seriously.

 

Does that mean that those who do not go to church will go to hell? Not necessarily. People who do not go to church have just as much hope of eternal life as we do, depending on how they live. Many people who do not go to church cannot understand or relate to formal religion. If I grew up in a family that never practiced religion, or where I was constantly told that the Church is corrupt and evil, then I cannot be blamed for not wanting to be part of the Church. What is important is that I do my best to live a life where I continue to choose what is right. God guides us through our conscience, so that even those who have never heard of God still have the chance to live as God calls us to. We have an instinctive understanding of what is good and what is evil, through our conscience.

 

In the Acts of the Apostles, it says that Peter had a vision (Acts 10:9-16). He saw what looked like a sheet being let down from heaven. On the sheet were all kinds of birds and animals. Then he heard a voice say, ‘Take Peter, kill and eat.’ And he replied, ‘Certainly not Lord, I have never eaten anything unclean.’ The voice then said, ‘What God has called clean, you have no right to call profane.’ Peter understood what God was telling him and later he said it this way, ‘And so I have come to believe that God has no favorites, but that anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.’

 

Just because we do go to church doesn’t mean that we are guaranteed to go to heaven. It depends completely on how we live from day to day. I have two good friends who are in the Poor Clares convent in my hometown. They dedicate their lives to God through prayer. People often say to me that they must be so holy and they probably are, but just because they are in a convent, is no guarantee of them being holy. It depends completely on how they live. It is the same for me. Just because I am a priest is no guarantee of me going to heaven. It depends on how I live from day to day.

 

So is there any advantage to being a Catholic? Of course there is! We are privileged to have been shown the way that God himself has revealed to us through Jesus. Jesus is the path to heaven and God has made this known to us. He has given us the gift of his Body and Blood in each mass and the Scriptures to guide us. This is a great blessing for us, which helps us to be faithful to the path that leads to God as we have already been shown it. So we are truly blessed, but it doesn’t mean that we have a better chance than anyone else, because it still depends on how we live from day to day. Going to mass each Sunday will not help me if I spend the rest of my week cheating, stealing and exploiting other people. Jesus says, ‘It is not those who say, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my Father in heaven’ (Matt 7:21).

 

What about those who die and have chosen God, but are still have sin that they have not repented of? This is where purgatory comes in, which is also logical. If Hitler, or someone who lived a life of evil repented at the end of their life before they died, would they go to heaven? God promises his infinite mercy to anyone who asks for it. If they went to heaven right after repenting at their death, it wouldn’t make any sense that they would go straight to heaven. That would make a mockery of God’s justice. God is infinitely merciful, but God is also perfectly just. No sin can exist in God’s presence, so there must be some way for them to atone for what they have done. That is what we call purgatory, a final cleansing or ‘purgation’ of our soul if we are not yet ready to go directly to heaven. Purgatory is a mercy of God, because anyone who has to go through it knows that they will go to heaven when they are ready for it.

 

Should we be afraid? No, but we should be realistic. We have a healthy respect for fire, because it is dangerous, but we need not be afraid of it if we are wise and listen to what the Lord has taught us. God gives us every possible help we could ask for and assures us of his mercy if we are sincere and repent when we fall into sin. But it would also be a mistake to presume on God’s mercy. ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter. God will forgive everyone in the end.’ That is not Jesus’ teaching. ‘Do not be deceived. God will not be mocked.’ (Gal 6:7)

 

God has created us all to be with him in heaven. That is what God wants for us and God has done everything to make that possible. That is what will happen unless we consciously and deliberately reject God.

 

‘It is not those who say, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my Father in heaven’ (Matt 7:21).

 

 

 

 

 

 

12th Sunday of Year A (Gospel: Matthew 10:26-33) Fear no one

 

 

A few years ago I gave a homily on the fact that God doesn’t want us to be afraid, no matter what is going on. After the mass the deacon told me he overheard an elderly lady say to another, ‘I ain’t afraid; kill ‘em all!’ That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind!

 

There is a story told of an old man who lived between two villages. He used to sit out on his porch watching the world go by. One day a young man was walking up the road and asked him, ‘What are the people in the next village like?’ He said, ‘How did you find the people in the last village?’ The young man replied, ‘They were horrible people, so rude and unhelpful.’ The old man said, ‘You will probably find the people in the next village the same.’

 

Some time later another man came walking up the road, stopped and asked the old man, ‘What are the people like in the next village.’ The old man asked, ‘How did you find the people in the previous village?’ He said, ‘They were great. Very kind and very helpful.’ The old man said, ‘You will probably find the people in the next village the same.’ What we fill our minds with, colors how we see the world.

 

The first line in today’s Gospel has only three words: ‘Fear no one’. God never wants us to be afraid. Three hundred and sixty-six times in the Bible are the words ‘Do not be afraid.’ God is constantly reassuring us that He is there to help us and his only desire for us is our happiness. Jesus says, ‘Every hair on your head has been counted.’ God is intimately interested in us, even down to the smallest things, not just in a general way.

 

At this time there are so many people living in fear for all kinds of reasons: fear because of the unrest in our country, because of plagues, because of wars in different parts of the world. What is happening? For one thing, I think God is telling us to wake up. If we feel our life is in danger—through sickness, or from someone else—we begin to think in a different way. I always find it interesting in hospitals how open people are to me as a priest. Many people will talk to me there, who wouldn’t normally and the reason is because their focus has changed. Their priorities have changed. They are suddenly seeing what is really important. If we or someone we love is in danger of death, our priorities change. Times like that make us think of the eternal things and that is a good thing. In a country where we have so much materially, it is easy to get distracted and absorbed in what is not important and forget about what is truly important.

 

Think of all the time and effort we put into training for a career, often tens of thousands of dollars and years of study and yet that career will probably end in forty years or so. Sooner or later, we will cross over into the next world, which is for all eternity. How much time do we spend preparing for that one, which is eternal?

 

In this Gospel passage, Jesus says: ‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy body and soul in Gehenna.’ Don’t be afraid of what can happen to you while on earth. Be aware of what can happen to you after you die. ‘Fear’ God, in that sense. It is interesting how people who love God are often described as God-fearing people, as opposed to God loving people. When we have a relationship with him, we know that we have nothing to be afraid of, but the closer we come to God, the more we also develop what you might call a loving fear of God.

 

If God is part of my world view, then even when events around us are disturbing, or even frightening, we can have a quiet confidence. Whenever our own death comes, we will go to be with the God, whom we have hopefully made part of our lives on earth. People who have ignored God for years, are the ones who will panic, because they don’t know what to turn to.

 

It makes me sad when I hear young parents say that they are not going to teach their children about God, because they want them to be free to choose for themselves when they get older. So they won’t have their children’s minds formed in the ways of God, but they will have them formed by the violence in video games and the immorality on tv. One way or another, our children’s minds will be formed.

 

I read an interesting article by an Irish priest called Fr. Peter McVerry. He is a Jesuit priest, who worked with the homeless in Dublin for over 30 years. He talks about the fact that we have lost our sense of outrage at things like homelessness. He says that the homeless he works with have a very good sense of God as compassionate, merciful and loving of them as they are, in spite of the fact they feel completely rejected by society. They are in tune with what is really important. They are not lost in material things, because they don’t have any. It is the same in poorer countries, where people have nothing. They are much more in tune with the eternal things.

 

If we are only focused on worldly things, our mind will have a worldly outlook. But if we remember the bigger picture, how short our time on earth is, then our whole focus will be different and we will not carry the fear that so many people have.

 

Jesus says, ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light.’ In other words, we will reflect what we fill our minds with. If I fill my mind only with worldly things and worldly worries, that is what will affect my whole outlook. If I am totally focused on the news and especially on the dialogues about the news, which are often so toxic, then that is how I will see the world. If I fill myself with fear and anxiety, then I will just become another anxious angry person in the world. We don’t need more angry people in the world. We need people who are filled with the things of God, who bring hope and light to people. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t keep up with what is going on. I watch the news all the time, but I refuse to get caught up in the toxic side of it. Be aware of what is going on, but keep your focus on Godly things. If God is not in our view, we will only reflect worldly anxieties and fears to other people.

 

The Lord is assuring us that all God wants for us is our happiness and that happens more and more as we keep God at the center. That means developing our relationship with him. Jesus is telling us not to be afraid of anyone, even someone who can kill us physically. The only one to fear is God who determines our ultimate destiny.

 

‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul, rather be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.’

11th Sun Ordinary Time, Year A (Gospel: Matt 9:36-10:8) On the priesthood

 

 

Perhaps one of the strangest things that Jesus did before he ascended to heaven at the end of his earthly life, was to entrust his Church to priests: ordinary, sinful, weak human beings. Through the gift of the priesthood He gave us the most extraordinary gift of all, the gift of the Eucharist, which is the gift of Jesus himself, really and truly present in the form of bread and wine. There is no gift greater than this, but the fact that he made it depend on priests is what is so strange.

 

I am sure that one reason in particular why he did this was to make it obvious that it is God who is at work and that the Lord is in no way dependent on the gifts or skills of human beings alone, especially not us priests. Whenever I get together with other priests, it often strikes me at what a strange collection of people we are, from all kinds of backgrounds, with all kinds of talents and dysfunction. We used to joke in the seminary that it always seemed to be the holiest men who left.

 

St. Thérèse of Lisieux, also known as The Little Flower, said that she could never understand why they were always being told to pray for priests. Then she went on a pilgrimage to Rome, by train, with a group of priests. By the end of the pilgrimage she understood why we need to pray for priests!

 

There is a story in the Old Testament which explains this; it is the story of Gideon. Gideon and his people were being wiped out by the Midianites and it was a time of great suffering for them. Then one day the angel of the Lord appears to this man Gideon and says, ‘Hail valiant warrior. The Lord is with you.’ In reply Gideon says, ‘If God is with us, why are we being wiped out?’ A fair question! The angel goes on to tell Gideon that God has specially chosen him to lead his people to freedom from their enemies. But Gideon asks an interesting question. He says, ‘Why would God pick me, since I am the weakest member of my family and my family is the least important family in my tribe?’ In other words, why would God pick the weakest of the weak to lead his people to freedom? It doesn’t make any sense by our way of thinking, but the angel assures him that God has chosen him and he will be alright.

 

Gideon is then told to raise an army and so he gets together 30,000 men, but then to his astonishment God tells him that the army is too big and he is to reduce the number of men to only 300 and he tells him why, and this is the crucial bit: ‘Lest the people think that it is by their own strength that they have won victory over their enemies.’ God chooses the weakest man around, with only a handful of men to conquer the enemy, so that it will be totally obvious that it was the power of God that made this happen. 

 

If Gideon had been a great warrior and he conquered his enemies with a huge army, then no one would be surprised. But when the most unexpected person leads a handful of men and conquers a huge army, then everyone says ‘Look what God did! What a miracle!’

 

I believe that God picks various men to be priests for the same reason, so that it will be obvious that it is God who is at work. So He chooses ordinary, weak men, to make it all the more obvious that the Church is still here because of him and not because of priests.

 

St. Paul also speaks about this in one of his letters. He writes, ‘We are only the earthenware jars that hold this treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us’ (2 Cor 4:7). God uses ordinary cracked pots  (‘cracked-pots’) to carry his message, to make it obvious that it is his power at work.

 

When the priest says the words of consecration at each mass the Holy Spirit immediately and humbly obeys the priest and changes the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus. God acts on the words of a human being! I don’t understand it, but I believe it. And when the priest says, ‘I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,’ the Holy Spirit immediately wipes away those sins.  God is so humble that He will act on the words of a human being.

 

What if the priest is not a very good or holy man? Is God any less present in the mass if the priest is not a holy man? Of course not. God would never allow his power to depend on the goodness of a human being, because none of us are good enough or holy enough. Even if the priest is a terrible sinner, God is just as powerfully present in the mass, in confession, and wherever He calls the priest to work. It is a great help for our faith if the priest is a holy man, but either way God is just as much present, because God gives himself completely to all of us in this extraordinary way, through the priesthood and it doesn’t depend on the priest being good enough and thank God for that!

 

I think one of the greatest proofs that the Church is from God is simply the fact that it is still here, in spite of the fact that there have been centuries of bad example, bad preaching, scandals, etc, and yet it is still here. Think of all the great empires and dynasties that have come and gone and they were much better organised and impressive, but they are gone, and yet the Church is still here.

 

Why don’t we have women priests? We believe that Jesus established a male priesthood with the Apostles on Holy Thursday, at the last supper. Any teachings we believe are from God, we cannot change. If it was a man-made decision it could be changed, but we believe this is from God. It is a question of different roles within the Church. Different people are called to different roles, just as men cannot become Poor Clare nuns. Some people disagree with it, but that is the understanding behind it.

 

Why can’t priests be married? At some stage priests began to live celibate lives and eventually it became the rule. It is a rule that could be changed, because it is a man-made decision. Sometimes, celibacy is blamed for sexual abuse in the Church, but that is not true, as a far higher percentage of abuse happens by married men. What might surprise you is that most of the people who will argue for celibacy, are priests. It is just like monks or nuns, who dedicate their whole life to serving God in this way.

 

Finally, if you find yourself becoming disheartened by the bad example of priests, or indeed anyone in the Church, remember these words of Jesus:

‘The priests occupy the chair of Moses, so you must listen to what they say but do not be guided by what they do, since they do not practice what they preach.’

 

In other words, we must try and listen to the teaching of Jesus passed on through the Church and through his priests, but don’t be put off if we don’t always live the way we should. What is important is the teaching of Christ and not the example of the priest. The teaching of Jesus is what we hold on to.

 

I have to confess that it always scares me a little when God warns his priests about the responsibility we have been given. The Scriptures are full of very stern warnings to the priests to live as they should and not abuse their position.

 

“

'Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves… I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable.' (Ez 34:2, 10)

 

'Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture… Behold I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds.' (Jer 23:1-2)

 

We will be accountable as God’s priests for what God has entrusted to us. It is a great gift, but it is also a great responsibility.

 

We are only the earthenware jars that hold this treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us (2 Cor 4:7).

 

 

 

 

Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ ‘Corpus Christi’ (John 6:51-58)

If you were invited to climb a very high and dangerous mountain and told you would be given all the advice and equipment you needed, maybe you would take the challenge. It would be scary, but possible. But if you were told that one of the world’s greatest climbers would go with you step by step, that would probably take away any fears that you had, or certainly most of them, because you would know that you are going to get expert step-by-step guidance, encouragement and strength.   

Sometimes when I think of some of the different things that people of different faiths believe, and how strange they seem to me, it also makes me think of the Eucharist. For those who do not believe as we do, it must seem like the craziest notion of all; that God makes himself present through the hands of a priest, in a tiny piece of bread and some wine. What could be more bizarre than that? And we don’t just believe that it is a reminder of Jesus, or that it represents Jesus, but that it really and truly is the body and blood of Christ. I think that it is a teaching so extreme that only God could come up with it and get away with it, so to speak. What human being would try to convince others that a piece of bread actually becomes the body of Christ, when a priest says certain prayers over it?   

Our life on earth is not easy and sometimes very difficult. We go through trial after trial, which can seem overwhelming. I am continually amazed at things that happen to people when they tell me about their lives. We need all the help and encouragement we can get. God knows what we need more than anyone and God offers us the greatest gift we could ask for, the Eucharist, which is really and truly the body and blood of Christ, to give us the help, direction and encouragement that we need. God is saying, ‘Not only will I guide you, but I will be with you every step of the way, so that no challenge it too big. If we really believe that, then like being accompanied by an expert mountain climber, it would take away our fears, because we know that we have Jesus himself accompanying us, every step of the way, not just guiding us, but giving us his very own strength.   

To help us believe, the Lord has also given a great number of Eucharistic miracles, to date over 200 miracles all over the world and they are the ones that have been officially recognized. In many of those miracles, the host has miraculously turned into a piece of bloody flesh. And with modern technology many have been studied by scientists and it has always shown that is the real flesh and blood of a man’s heart.   

The first time that Jesus gave the people this teaching— “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you cannot have life within you”—it says that many of the people who had followed him up to that point left him. They said “This is madness. Who could accept it?” It is interesting how Jesus responded to them. He didn’t say anything. He just let them walk away. He then turned to the disciples and said, “What about you, are you going to go away too?” In other words, “This is my teaching. Take it or leave it.”   

In his first letter to the Christians in Corinth (1 Cor 11:23-26)—which is the oldest account of the mass that we have, written about 54 or 55AD—St. Paul says, “This is what I received from the Lord and in turn passed on to you, that on the night He was betrayed” He doesn’t say that he received it from the other Apostles, but from the Lord himself. Jesus, as you probably remember, appeared to St. Paul while he was persecuting Christians and the event turned his life around. Jesus appeared to him several other times as well and Paul was so affected by what happened to him that he dedicated the rest of his life to preaching about this man Jesus, but the line that always strikes me is where he says, “This is what I received from the Lord…” He is saying, “I didn’t make this up and neither did any other person. Jesus himself taught us this and taught us to do this in his memory.” 

So, every time an ordained priest says the words of consecration at mass, “This is my Body… This is the chalice of my Blood…” Jesus becomes present in the form of bread and wine. How are we supposed to understand this?  We aren’t!  I do not understand it at all, but I believe it. That is why we are meant to fast for an hour before receiving Holy Communion and why we don’t eat or drink, or smoke in the church, to remind us that this is something unlike anything else in the world. It is also a beautiful sign of how close God is to us, that He would continually come to us in the middle of our lives, each week, each day, to help and encourage us. He comes to us as we are, not as we should be, but as we are.   

It is also God himself who makes it possible to receive him, because we could never be ready or worthy enough to even come close to the divine presence, not to mention receive him. That is also why we always say the prayer: “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed” (just as the Roman soldier said when Jesus offered to come to his house to heal his servant). It is also why we begin every mass by acknowledging that we are sinners and asking God’s forgiveness.   

There are two extremes that I come across with regard to the Eucharist. One is where someone will say to me, “Father, I don’t receive the Eucharist because I really am not worthy enough.” Correct! No one is worthy enough, nor ever could be, but since the Lord himself is happy to come to us this way, we should not be afraid to receive him. 

The other extreme is where people feel they have a ‘right’ to receive the Eucharist without any kind of repentance, or need to confess their sins, or change a lifestyle that is sinful. That is also wrong. There is no question of this being a ‘right’ on our part. The Eucharist is pure gift from God and for our part we must try to approach it as worthily as we can, especially by confessing our sins every so often. But the most important thing to remember is that Jesus wants to give himself to us, and so we should not be afraid to come to him. Remember that ultimately it is God himself who makes it possible for us to receive him. “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”   

St. Paul also warns us to be careful not to receive unworthily, or we will bring condemnation on ourselves. Each person 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 condemnation on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick and some have fallen asleep (1 Cor 11:28-30).   

If we are living in any way that is not in line with God’s teachings, we need to address it. Several years ago, after I spoke about this, a couple came to me who were 48 years married. They said they had both been previously married, but never got an annulment, so they were never married in the Church. They realized that since they wanted to receive Communion, they really needed to put this right. So, after 48 years, they both applied for annulments, got them and were then married here in the church. I found that so inspiring. And that is the right approach. 

If you find yourself in a second union, without having got an annulment, then you should try and put it right. Come and talk to me and I will help you sort it out. All of us need to make every effort to do what the Lord asks. Receiving the Eucharist casually is a big mistake and it is sacrilegious, that is, a sin against what is holy.   

Eucharistic Miracle in Buenos Aires. 

At seven o’clock in the evening on August 18, 1996, Fr. Alejandro Pezet was saying Holy Mass at a Catholic church in the commercial center of Buenos Aires. As he was finishing distributing Holy Communion, a woman came up to tell him that she had found a discarded host on a candleholder at the back of the church. On going to the spot indicated, Fr. Alejandro saw the defiled Host. Since he was unable to consume it, he placed it in a container of water and put it away in the tabernacle of the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. On Monday, August 26, upon opening the tabernacle, he saw to his amazement that the Host had turned into a bloody substance. He informed Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (Auxiliary Bishop at that time, later Pope Francis), who gave instructions that the Host be professionally photographed. The photos were taken on September 6, 1996. They clearly show that the Host, which had become a fragment of bloodied flesh, had grown significantly in size. 

For three years the Host remained in the tabernacle, the whole affair being kept a strict secret. Since the Host suffered no visible decomposition, Cardinal Bergoglio decided to have it scientifically analyzed. On October 5, 1999, in the presence of the Cardinal’s representatives, Dr. Castanon took a sample of the bloody fragment and sent it to New York for analysis. Since he did not wish to prejudice the study, he purposely did not inform the team of scientists of its provenance. 

One of these scientists was Dr. Frederic Zugiba, the well-known cardiologist and forensic pathologist. He determined that the analyzed substance was real flesh and blood containing human DNA. ‘For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.’ (John 6:55). Zugiba testified that, “The analyzed material is a fragment of the heart muscle found in the wall of the left ventricle close to the valves. This muscle is responsible for the contraction of the heart. It should be borne in mind that the left cardiac ventricle pumps blood to all parts of the body. In other words, it is the action that keeps the body alive. ‘Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have life within you’ (John 6:53). 

Dr. Zugiba also said that the heart muscle was in an inflammatory condition and contained a large number of white blood cells. This indicates that the heart was alive at the time the sample was taken. "It is my contention that the heart was alive, since white blood cells die outside a living organism. They require a living organism to sustain them. Thus, their presence indicates that the heart was alive when the sample was taken. What is more, these white blood cells had penetrated the tissue, which further indicates that the heart had been under severe stress, as if the owner had been beaten severely about the chest.” ‘I am the living bread, that comes down from heaven.’ (John 6:51) 

Two Australians, journalist Mike Willesee and lawyer Ron Tesoriero, witnessed these tests. Knowing where the sample had come from, they were dumbfounded by Dr. Zugiba’s testimony. Mike Willesee asked the scientist how long the white blood cells would have remained alive if they had come from a piece of human tissue, which had been kept in water. They would have ceased to exist in a matter of minutes, Dr. Zugiba replied. The journalist then told the doctor that the source of the sample had first been kept in ordinary water for a month and then for another three years in a container of distilled water; only then had the sample been taken for analysis. Dr. Zugiba’s was at a loss to account for this fact. There was no way of explaining it scientifically, he stated. Only then did Mike Willesee inform Dr. Zugiba that the analyzed sample came from a consecrated Host (white, unleavened bread) that had mysteriously turned into bloody human flesh. Amazed by this information, Dr. Zugiba replied, “How and why a consecrated Host would change its character and become living human flesh and blood will remain an inexplicable mystery to science—a mystery totally beyond her competence.” 

Dr.  Zugiba

Only faith in the extraordinary action of a God provides the reasonable answer—faith in a God, who wants to make us aware that He is truly present in the mystery of the Eucharist. The Eucharistic miracle in Buenos Aires is an extraordinary sign attested to by science. Through it Jesus desires to arouse in us a lively faith in His real presence in the Eucharist. He reminds us that His presence is real, and not symbolic. Only with the eyes of faith do we see Him under appearance of the consecrated bread and wine. We do not see Him with our bodily eyes, since He is present in His glorified humanity. In the Eucharist Jesus sees and loves us and desires to save us. 

In collaboration with Ron Tesoriero, Mike Willesee, one of Australia’s best-known journalists (he converted to Catholicism after working on the documents of another Eucharistic miracle) wrote a book entitled Reason to Believe. In it they present documented facts of Eucharistic miracles and other signs calling people to faith in Christ who abides and teaches in the Catholic Church. They have also made a documentary film on the Eucharist—based largely on the scientific discoveries associated with the miraculous Host in Buenos Aires. Their aim was to give a clear presentation of the Catholic Church’s teaching on the subject of the Eucharist. 

They screened the film in numerous Australian cities. The showing at Adelaide drew a crowd of two thousand viewers. During the commentary and question period that followed a visibly moved man stood up announcing that he was blind. Having learned that this was an exceptional film, he had very much wanted to see it. Just before the screening, he prayed fervently to Jesus for the grace to see the film. At once his sight was restored to him, but only for the thirty-minute duration of the film. Upon its conclusion, he again lost the ability to see. He confirmed this by describing in minute detail certain scenes of the film. It was an incredible event that moved those present to the core of their being. 

‘I am the living bread come down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh’ (John 6:51)        

Feast of the Holy Trinity (Gospel: John 3:16-18) Made in God’s image

 

The Cathedral in Galway, my hometown

We believe that God was completely fulfilled, perfectly happy and content, not in need of anything, before God created the universe and the human race. Wouldn’t it make you wonder why God created us at all, since we have proved to be so much trouble?  And God would have known about all the trouble we were going to cause. So why did God create us?

Think for a moment of some time when you were very happy about something: the birth of a child, a wedding, or graduation. Usually our instinct is to share our joy. We want someone else to be a part of that happiness. That’s why most people have a big party at to celebrate these occasions, because they want others to share in their happiness. That is one of the reasons why God created us, simply because in his goodness he wanted others to share in his own happiness. And so He created the spirit world, that we understand as the angels and then He created the human race, in order that we could share in his own happiness. The book of Genesis says that we were the last thing that God created which is a biblical way of saying that we were the most important thing, the masterpiece of God’s creation. We are God’s greatest creation! God also created us to be like him, with the ability to love and reason and free choice.

However, there was one ‘catch’ as it were. In order for us to be able to love God we had to be free, so that we could freely choose to love God, otherwise it wouldn’t be real love at all. Real love has to be free, since you can never force someone to love you. You can encourage them, but you certainly can’t force them. Love has to be free or it isn’t love. So God made us with free will, which meant that we would have the freedom to love God and gradually find our way to happiness, or to reject God, which would ultimately mean we would lose the happiness that God had intended for us. It’s a strange paradox. God created us and gave us freedom, even though He knew that some of his own creatures would reject him.  

A friend of mine, a very devout Catholic, after he was married and had children, said to me one time that when he looks at his children, he couldn’t believe that God who is so loving would let people go to hell, that God would create hell? How could any parent allow their children deliberately to suffer? But the paradox is that no matter how much you love your children, you cannot force them to love you in return. You know the pain of falling in love with someone who doesn’t love you back, or pushes you away. Hell is the pain that people who reject God end up with, because they reject the only One who can give us total fulfillment. If you push away total happiness, you get total misery. If you reject all joy, then you end up with all pain. That’s what hell is: losing all that can fulfill us and bring us joy. God doesn’t send anyone to hell. We choose it if we reject God. If we have real freedom and heaven is real, then hell must also be real. If heaven was guaranteed for everyone, then we would not be truly free, because to be truly free means we have the choice to love or not to love to accept God or reject God.

I think the most beautiful image we are given of how God loves us, is in the story of the prodigal son. In this story, a father has two sons. One of them demands his inheritance before the father has died, which is the equivalent of wishing him dead to his face. He then goes off, wastes all the family’s hard-earned money and finally comes back to his father ashamed. While the Son has been away, his father is constantly waiting and hoping that he will return and when he does finally return the father just celebrates. There is no giving out, no warning that ‘This must not happen again,’ just celebration and rejoicing. Through the story of the prodigal son Jesus is teaching us how God sees us. No condemnation, only God’s desire for us to find happiness. God only wants us to come to him, to be with him. That is why He created us. God has created us to be with him for eternity and God will make that happen unless we reject God. We accept or reject God by the way we live, by the ongoing choices we make. Jesus says, ‘If you love me you will keep my commandments. (Jn:14-15)

The Lord knows how difficult it can be for us to make the right choices and so He gives us many different ways to guide us: the holy Eucharist, which is the gift of Jesus himself, the Commandments, the teaching of his Church, his own Word in the Scriptures and many other things to help us along the way, so that we won’t be short of the direction and encouragement that we need. God also sends us holy people every so often, like Francis of Assisi, Padre Pio, Therese of Lisieux, Mother Theresa and many others, sometimes people we know, because they radiate God and they are a real sign to us of the Lord’s presence among us. These people seem to radiate God and so many people are drawn to them because they sense that presence. I know of several people who worked with Mother Theresa and it completely changed their life, because they experienced God through her.

The feast of the Holy Trinity is a celebration of divine love. The Holy Trinity is a community of Persons who share total love and joy between them, and this Holy Trinity reaches out to us with that same love and invites us to join them. If we respond to the Father, the Son and the Spirit, then we are gradually drawn more and more into that love. It starts in this world and it will be fulfilled in the next. The greatest way that we imitate God is by loving the people around us, sacrificing ourselves for others. That is what God did for us and that is what God invites us to do for each other.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,

So that everyone who believes in him might not perish

but might have eternal life. (John 3:16)

 

A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

 

I often come across people who are afraid that they cannot, or will not be forgiven, because of a sinful past, or mistakes in their past. That is why Jesus used so many stories of forgiveness and mercy, to encourage us and so that we won’t lose heart. God’s mercy is something that we don’t experience from other people, which makes it all the harder for us to grasp. If you think of it this way. God’s only desire for him is to be with him in eternity. That is what God created us for and that is what will happen, unless we reject God. God has done everything possible to make that happen, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, so there is no need for us to be afraid, no matter what we have done.

 

It is also worth remembering that God is always the one to encourage us, to reassure us and to help us back on our feet no matter what has happened. Satan tries to discourage us. He shames us and accuses us. He says, ‘You are no good, you are a hypocrite, God can never forgive you. There is no hope for you.’ Jesus called him the accuser and it is good to recognize the voices when we are feeling discouraged. Jesus always encourages us.

 

Yet Jesus also said, ‘Every kind of sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven.’ (Mt 12:31).

 

What does that mean? He said this when the Pharisees were claiming Jesus was healing people by the power of Satan. In other words they were calling God’s love evil.

The Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son. To blaspheme against the Spirit is to reject God’s love. If we reject God’s love, we ourselves are cutting ourselves off from God and God respects the choices that we make. It doesn’t come down to one instance of calling God evil, but a continual rejection of God. But it keeps going back to the same thing: God has created us to be with him and that is what will happen unless we deliberately reject God.

 

God so loved the world that He gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him may not perish,

but may have eternal life. (John 3:16)