The Ascension of the Lord (Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20) He continued to appear to them and tell them about the Kingdom

 

 In my work as a priest, people often tell me about spiritual experiences they have had. Sometimes they are experiences of the Lord in some way, sometimes of someone who has died, asking for prayers, or something like that. A lot of people do in fact have spiritual experiences. However, often after a time, people begin to wonder whether they really did have these experiences, or was it all in their imagination. It is impossible to know and in one way it is not even important. Usually the experience will have helped them at that time and that was its purpose. Often the mistake people make is to try and figure out what it means and are they supposed to do something.

 

A man came to me early one Saturday morning. Initially I thought he was going to ask me for money, which is often the case, but in fact he wanted to go to confession. He told me that the previous night a friend of his who had died some time before, had appeared to him. He was obviously quite shaken by the experience and he realized that he needed to go to confession himself. It was a wake-up call for him.

 

There is a good friend of mine in Ireland who is a mystic, that is to say, all through her life she has had various mystical experiences. Very few people know about it. She has had the Holy Souls come to her at different times, asking for prayers. She would suffer for them and they would be delivered to heaven. God would give her some kind of suffering which she accepted for them. I asked her if she ever knew any of the people who appeared to her. She said sometimes she did. Once when she was praying in the cathedral, she saw a man she knew farther up near the altar. He was just standing there looking at her. He had died some time before, but she didn’t know it. She was being asked to pray for him.

 

On another occasion over some time, she would meet people and instantly know that they were dying, or had cancer, or something like that. The was being asked to pray for them. This experience upset her a lot, as she didn’t want to know these things, but the Lord was asking her to accept it and she did. I came to her house one time when I was visiting home. She greeted me, gave me a hug and then walked away. I was in a very dark place at that time and she knew it right away and was too upset to talk to me initially, which is why she walked away. She only told me that some time later.

 

Then you also have more famous people such as Padre Pio, who had the stigmata, the five wounds of Christ, in his body for 50 years. He also had the Holy Souls come to him asking him to pray for them. There are also numerous accounts of him bi-locating. These things are more common than you might think.

 

Different spiritual experiences help us to be aware of just how real the spirit world is. It is easy to become sceptical. We will say, ‘Yes, I believe in God, but don’t expect me to believe in angels, or the devil, or hell.’ Why are these any more extraordinary to believe in? If God is real, then the spiritual world is real. That means there is an awful lot we haven’t seen and don’t understand, but the Lord tells us that these things are real and so we should believe in them. Jesus often spoke about the reality of heaven, hell, Satan, angels, sin and so many other things and yet we doubt. It’s amazing how many people doubt the existence of hell, or Satan and yet Jesus often spoke about both. If they are not real, then the crucifixion was meaningless, because the whole point of the death and resurrection was to make it possible for us to be able to go to heaven, which means we could lose it, which means hell must be real. If we lose heaven, we are left with the opposite, which is hell.

 

In the first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, Luke tells us how after Jesus rose from the dead, He continued to appear to the Apostles. Not just once, but many times. Why? No doubt to convince them that they had not imagined it. One thing that He did on at least two occasions was to eat something with them. The first time when he appeared to them in the room, they were all standing there speechless, and He said, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ So they gave him a piece of fish and He ate it in front of them. Then they knew it was not just a vision, but a real person, the same real person they had known before. It was not even food that He had brought with him, which could also have been part of a vision, but it was something they gave him and then they watched him chew it and swallow it. This was a beautiful and very human thing to do; something that we could completely relate to.  

 

Luke also says that he not only appeared to them, but He continued to tell them about ‘the Kingdom.’ What is ‘the Kingdom?’ He was telling them about the reality of heaven: life with God, which He has created us for; that it is real and that we could also lose it if we are foolish. There we can be reunited with the people we love and we will experience happiness there, in a way that we can not even begin to imagine now. He was probably also explaining to them what the purpose of his life on earth was, why He had to suffer and die the way He did, what all this meant for the human race; God’s plan for his people. Also He probably told them that He had a lot of work for them to do and that they must remember that their life here on earth was a time of service and not to worry if things were not easy, because when their work here was done he would bring them home to be with him again. What awaited them would be worth all the struggles they had to go through.

 

Notice too, how they still didn’t understand about the kingdom of God, even though Jesus had risen from the dead. It says that they asked Jesus, ‘Now are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ It was only after they received the gift of the Holy Spirit that they began to see the bigger picture. Until then they were still thinking in earthly terms, political power, Israel being dominant.

 

Why were they suddenly able to go out and start preaching to everyone about a man that most people had never heard of and not only preach about him for a while, but for the rest of their lives with passion? I think all of them apart from St. John, ended up being martyred, but they didn’t care, because they knew that the only thing that was important was to be faithful to Jesus as best they could.

 

Why am I telling you all this? Because the same thing applies to us. The Apostles were real people and these are real experiences that we are reading about. Our life on earth is just as short as theirs was and it is also a time of service, just as theirs was. For most of you it will be serving by looking after your families and the people you work with. For single people and also for priests and religious it will be in a different way, but that is why we are here, to learn to love, to serve, to freely choose for or against God.

 

We are living in a time when people are often very cynical about religion and they point to the scandals as being ‘proof’ of just how hypocritical the whole thing is. We must not let that put us off. It has always been difficult to believe and probably always will be, but we ask the Lord himself to help us to persevere and not become negative, or cynical. In this Gospel it says that when Jesus appeared to them and was about to ascend to heaven, they worshipped, ‘but they doubted.’ Even after all they had seen, some of them still had doubts. It is normal to have doubts, but that is why we keep feeding ourselves with the things that will keep us close to God. If we fill our minds with only earthly things—think of all that you watch on TV—then the things of heaven can seem to be unreal. I have often noticed in Hollywood movies, if the hero or heroine is asked if they believe in God, they will nearly always say no. What does that tell you about Hollywood? It is saying that only foolish people believe in God. Cool people don’t believe in God.

 

If we truly believe that what awaits us is worth the sacrifice of anything, then it doesn’t really matter what happens to us in this life. It is only temporary. And when our time here is complete God will come and bring us home. I have no doubt that this is probably what Jesus was telling the Apostles about for those forty days. He wanted them to have no doubt about why they were here, so that we also could have a good understanding of our purpose here, through their teaching.

 

God has given us every possible help that we could ask for. If it seems too difficult it is only because we are not using the help that He has given us. What help? Above all, the Eucharist, which is the gift of Jesus himself; not a symbol, but really and truly the Body and Blood of Jesus. Also, the word of God, where God keeps speaking to us, guiding and teaching us; confession where we experience God’s healing, etc. It is all there waiting for us. The clearer a picture we have in our own head as to what our life is about, the easier it is to keep going. That is also why we needn’t be afraid of anything in this world. If we offer ourselves to God, then why should we be afraid? All things are in his hands.

 

‘I have told you these things so that in me you will have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world.’ (Jn 16:33)

 

It often surprises me how fearful people are of death. So often I hear from people who are very sick, ‘At least I am still here.’ If we truly believe in heaven, why would we be afraid of death? Death is just the doorway to what we all long for. Unless we have rejected God, what awaits us is only joy. This is what Jesus taught the Apostles to pass on to us. If we have that hope, it changes everything that we face on earth.

 

May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,

that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call.

 

 

6th Sunday of Easter Yr A (Gospel: Jn 14:15-21) Harvard atheist becomes Catholic

 

Dr. Roy Shoeman

 

Today I would like to share with you an amazing conversion story about a man by the name of Roy Shoeman, who was a Harvard professor and atheist and became Catholic. If you can watch the video of his story I would highly recommend it, as it is one of the most inspiring stories I have heard in a long time.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWDevlijGUI&t=4s

 

Roy Shoeman was born and raised in a very Jewish family, the son of Jewish German holocaust refugees. He received a very Jewish upbringing and education. He then went to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), which is a very a technical and scientific institute. He says that in college he lost his faith and became an atheist. Having graduated from MIT, he went on to Harvard business school, and completed his degree in marketing. When he graduated at the age of 29, he was invited back to work on the faculty as professor of marketing. He was obviously a very clever man.

 

When he was a child he always believed there must be a God and purpose to life. When he made his Bar Mitzva, which is similar to Confirmation, he hoped that it would be the beginning of a personal relationship with God, but it was not. He said that in fact it was one of the saddest days of his life. He then got caught up with worldly living and went on through high school and college. When he was in college he eventually lost his faith and became an atheist. But having become a Harvard professor at the age of 29 and more successful than he ever dreamed of, he fell into a terrible despair. He had everything, except meaning and purpose; in other words, he had nothing.

 

One day he was out walking in nature and he had the most extraordinary experience of his life. He said that suddenly the veil between earth and heaven disappeared and he could see the spirit world. He was intensely aware that he was in the presence of God and he could also see back over his life. In an instant he saw most of what is taught in the Catholic faith, although he didn’t realize that at the time. He saw that we live for all eternity, that every action has a moral content which is recorded for all eternity; that everything that had ever happened to him was perfect and in the hands of an all-knowing, all-loving God, not only including the things which had caused him the most suffering, but especially those things, that they all fitted together perfectly in God’s plan. In other words, the sufferings we go through serve a higher purpose, which we are not aware of now.

 

He was also shown the two greatest regrets he would have when he died. The first was all the time he had spent thinking he was not loved, when in fact he was held in perfect love, all his life by God. The second regret was all the time he had wasted doing things of no value in the eyes of heaven. While he felt that life had no meaning, he was shown that in fact life has an infinitely deep meaning and value. He was also shown that every moment of our life has the possibility of doing something of value in the eyes of heaven and that each valued action we do, will be rewarded for all eternity.

 

He says that the most transformative part of this experience was being shown that not only was God with him all throughout his life and held him in the deepest love, but that God was with him through every joy and sorrow he ever experienced. What made him happy, made God happy and what made him sad, made God sad. He realized that we are created to worship and serve God for all eternity. He says he began praying and asking God what his name was. He didn’t care if it was the Buddha and he had to become Buddhist, or Krishna and he had to become Hindu, just so long as it wasn’t Christ and he would have to become Christian. He says he felt that way because coming from a Jewish background, he felt that if he became Christian he would be being unfaithful to his Jewish heritage. However, God respected this and did not reveal any name to him.

 

He then went home, happier than he had ever been in his life and began looking into various mystical ideas to try and find out who God was. Initially he tried New Age ideas, but he soon realized this was going in the wrong direction. He prayed every night that God might show him who He is.

 

A year to the day after this experience, he went asleep and was awakened and led to a room where he found himself in the presence of the most beautiful young woman he had ever seen. Without being told, he knew immediately that this was Our Lady. She spoke to him and said, ‘Are there any questions you would like me to answer for you?’ He says that he wished he knew the Hail Mary so as to show her honor and respect, but he didn’t. So, hoping to learn the Hail Mary, but being too embarrassed to admit he didn’t know it, he asked her what her favorite prayer was. She recited a prayer in Portuguese, which he didn’t understand, but he remembered it phonetically and later asked a Portuguese Catholic woman what it meant. She said it was the prayer, ‘O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.’ In the dream he found himself asking her how it was that she was so profoundly glorious and majestic. In response, she looked at him with pity and said, ‘Oh no. You don’t understand. I am nothing. I am only a creature. He is everything.’ When he woke the next morning he knew immediately that the God who had revealed himself to him was Christ and that he wanted to become Christian.

 

Straight away he found himself going to a phone book, looking up the nearest Christian Church. He knew nothing about Christianity and the difference between Protestants and Catholics, but he found himself talking to a Protestant pastor. When he shyly asked him about Our Lady, the pastor was not respectful in how he referred to her and this made him realize that he was in the wrong place. In the days and weeks that followed he found himself visiting Marian shrines and realizing that they were all part of the Catholic Church. He also found himself going to mass at times. When he did this, he felt a profound desire, almost lust, to receive the Eucharist, even though he had no idea what the Eucharist was. Within a short time, this led him to becoming a Catholic.

 

He says that not only did he not find himself being unfaithful to Judaism, but in fact he realized he was more Jewish than ever, because he was a Jew who had recognized the Messiah and was now following him. That’s exactly what the Apostles did. As Jews, they recognized Jesus as the Messiah and followed him. One leads directly to the other, which is what we believe.

 

After he became a Catholic, he says he still struggled with some of the teachings of the Church and it was about 18 months before he fully realized that all the teachings of the Church were true, because they are from God. The one he struggled with most was the teaching that people could be condemned to hell for all eternity. Talking to a priest that was guiding him, he expressed his doubt about this teaching. But the priest said to him, 'But it is a dogma (official teaching) of our faith.' In other words, we are obliged to accept and believe it as part of our faith, because it comes from God. He realized that he had been deciding what he should and should not believe, as opposed to accepting the teachings of the Church, because we believe they come from God. Who was he to decide what should and should not be believed. If God had revealed them, then they must be true. From then on he was able to accept what was taught by the Church as coming from God, even when he found it difficult to understand. This can be a challenge for all of us. It is a temptation to think that if a teaching doesn’t make sense to me, then I need not believe or accept it. But if we really believe what the Church teaches is God's teaching, then who are we to decide whether we will believe certain parts of it or not?

 

God gives us the experiences of people like Roy Shoeman, to help us believe. We all need help and encouragement, but testimonies like his are ongoing reminders of God’s wonderful providence among us, guiding us and encouraging us. He is constantly pointing us in the right direction, but always giving us the freedom to accept or reject him.

 

I want to finish with this quotation from the book of Joshua which I love and which expresses how I feel and hopefully what more and more people will embrace.

 

‘Joshua said to the people, “If you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve… As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”’ (Joshua 24:15)

 

‘Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.’

 

5th Sunday of Easter, Year A (Gospel: John 14:1-12) 'Trust in God and trust in me’

 

 

“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.” St. Pope John Paul II

 

All of us are looking for happiness and Jesus reminds us that we will only find that happiness and fulfillment in him. Things of earth will never fulfill us, no matter how wonderful they may seem. Not even the person we love most in the whole world is capable of completely fulfilling us, but once we realize that, it makes it easier, because then we are not expecting earthly things to fulfill us and in fact then we will be able to enjoy our world and our loved ones even more, because we are not asking the impossible from them. God has given us a beautiful world and many wonderful things to enjoy. Have fun. He wants us to.

 

Jesus also says that the path that leads us to him, to our fulfillment, is not an easy one. Why is that?

 

Great athletes, or musicians, are not that way when they are born. They are born with gifts in those areas, but it is only after years of training and guidance that they reach their full potential, even extraordinary people like Mozart. He still had to learn how to play the piano and how to write music.

 

God sees our full potential as human beings and He wants us to reach our full potential, because we will give him the greatest glory by becoming our best selves. ‘The glory of God is man fully alive.’ – St. Irenaeus. The more we develop our gifts and talents, the more glory we give to God, because we are then reflecting God’s goodness. But as with any great artist or musician, it takes years of training, in fact a lifetime of training and that is a big part of what our life on earth is about. The daily trials we go through are the main part of our training, of our being formed and that’s why Jesus says it is a narrow winding path.

 

God calls us to be faithful to his Commandments in the middle of things going wrong, family members becoming sick, or dying at a young age, marriage breakdown, being attacked or exploited by other people. Each time we are faced with difficulties we have a choice as to how to respond to them. We can seek revenge and turn to evil, or we can try and sort it out justly, with the least damage all round. We always have the choice to bless or to curse. Each time we are willing to keep going, without wishing evil, or seeking revenge, we grow another bit.

 

When we become demoralized by our own weaknesses, we have the choice to give up, or to get up again and again and again. That is the narrow winding path. Being faithful and persevering is one of the biggest challenges. Being faithful to God’s Commandments and teachings when the world around us calls us to take the easier way, that is the narrow winding path.

 

What we see as things going wrong in our life, are part of the narrow winding path. They play a crucial part in how we are formed. We don’t see that at the time, but that is what is happening.

 

You may remember the story of Roy Shoeman, a Harvard professor and atheist who became a Catholic. We had him here to give his testimony. He grew up in a very devout Jewish family, but while going through college he lost his faith. At the age of 29 he had become a Harvard professor and reached the top of his career, but then he began to fall into a deep depression. He felt he had achieved all he could, but that he didn’t have any purpose. One day when he was out walking in nature, God granted him an extraordinary experience and pulled back the veil between heaven and earth, allowing him to see the whole spiritual world. He saw his whole life and how God had been with him through everything. He saw how every part of his life played its part, especially the most difficult times. He saw that God was with him through everything and that his purpose was primarily to serve and worship God, as it is for all of us. Needless to mention this experience brought about his conversion. But I thought it was interesting how God showed him that the times of suffering he went through were some of the most important times in his journey. We tend to see them as failures, or things not working out. From God’s perspective they play a vital part in our journey. The most difficult experiences we go through, are the ones where we have the potential to grow the most. That was one of the things that God showed him.

 

Our relationship with Jesus, is what gives us the strength to keep going on the winding path that leads us to heaven. We often think that we are on our own, but we are not. That is why it is so important that we keep coming back to the mass to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, to listen to his teachings, to repent of our sins through confession. Every time we do that, we are staying close to him, so that He can help us, which is all He wants to do.

 

Many people are afraid they won’t be good enough to get to heaven. I think it is a very normal fear. The truth is none of us are good enough by ourselves, but God isn’t asking us to follow this narrow winding path by ourselves. God is with us and even though we don’t always feel his presence, that doesn’t mean He is not there. If God really wasn’t with us, we would cease to exist. The sad thing is seeing so many people turning to everything except Jesus, to find happiness and of course they don’t find happiness.

 

Jesus says, ‘Not everyone is strong enough.’ The strength we need is the willingness to keep getting up each time we fall and that strength itself comes from God. It doesn’t matter if you fall six times, so long as you get up seven times.

 

Jesus also says here that not everyone will go to heaven. There is a point where the door will be closed and waiting to the last minute to put things right, is too late. ‘But I love God and I’m a good person.’ This is something you hear a lot, and what it implies is that that is enough. But Jesus says that is not enough. ‘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’ (Mt 7:21). To say I know God, or believe in God, is not enough. That is what Jesus is saying in this Gospel. We are called to do as God asks us, not just say that we know him. To love God is to keep his Commandments. ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments’ (Jn 14:15).

 

Jesus says, ‘Strive to enter by the narrow door.’ He doesn’t say, ‘You must enter by the narrow door,’ but strive to, or ‘Try your best,’ in another translation. What is important is our effort, not our success. It is God himself who makes up the difference.

 

The narrow winding path is not an easy one, but it is the only one worth while, because it is the one that leads to our happiness.

 

“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted.” St. Pope John Paul II.

4th Sunday of Easter, Year A (Gospel: John 10:1-10) They have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb

 

Pontifical Irish College, Rome

 As you probably know, I got to study in Rome for three years, from 2002-05. While I was there I lived in the Irish College, which is both a seminary and post-graduate college. There are not enough Irish students to fill the college, so 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 was there studying and living with other young men from all over the world. We came from many very different cultures, but we all shared the same faith and the same enthusiasm to make it known to other people. When we finished there, some of us went back to wealthier countries, some to parishes in dire poverty and others to war zones. 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 priest I got to know was from Serbia. He had been in the Serbian communist army and was an atheist. Eventually he converted and became a Catholic priest. He was also trained by the military as a computer hacker. He used often come to me offering me a program for different things, but they were illegal and I wouldn’t take them. Eventually he came to me and said, ‘Murchadh, I have this excellent program for you. It is just slightly illegal…’

 

People’s stories are fascinating. Another man I met several times, was an Irish archbishop called Michael Courtney. He was the papal nuncio to Burundi. In 2003 he was ambushed and shot dead as he worked to try and bring about peace between two warring tribes.

 

One of my neighbours for a year and a half, was a priest by the name of Ragheed Ganni. He was from Iraq. I didn’t even know there were Catholics in Iraq until I met him. He was a young, very talented and very likable priest. He was from the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, which is the modern-day city of Nineveh (Remember the prophet Jonah was sent to the people of Nineveh). Ragheed did all his studies for priesthood in Rome, since if he had 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 he spent several summers in Ireland.

 

During our time there the Iraq war 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 thrown into chaos, while wondering daily 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 he thought would happen. He said that the problem was not so much when the American forces took over, as when they later pulled out. He said that there would be civil war between the Shiite and Sunny Muslims and then the Christians would be wiped, as the Muslim extremists would not have any tolerance for them. Sadly, 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. He wanted to remain with his people so that they could have the mass. 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.  Despite this, Ragheed and the other priests continued to minister to their people.

 

Fr. Ragheed Ganni

On 3^nd 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 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 only 35 when he was shot dead and had been a priest for 6 years. 

 

In the book of the Apocalypse (7:14) we hear of the great numbers of people who stand before the Lamb holding palms in their hands. The palm is a symbol of martyrdom.  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 with a beautiful mosaic. Behind the altar there is a mosaic with Christ the Good Shepherd at the centre and several saints on either side including Fr. Ragheed to the far right holding the martyr’s palm. I always find it very moving to see this image having known Ragheed myself.

 

Pontifical Irish College Chapel, Rome

Icon of Ragheed Ganni to the right with the martyr's palm

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 paid with their lives. Although it is sad for me to think of Ragheed’s death, it is also a great source of strength and inspiration. Jesus told us we would be persecuted for following him, but He also told us that He is our 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 only one who makes sense of why we are here. Without Christ we are nothing. Our time on earth is temporary and we need to stay faithful to the only One who can give us eternal life.

 

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

 

Third Sunday of Easter, Year A (Gospel: Luke 24:13-35) “Were not our hearts burning within us…?

 

Shanghai, China

 Friends of mine were telling me recently that they had been on a visit to China. As you probably know, even visiting China, what you can and cannot do, is carefully controlled. When they were saying goodbye to their guide, he said, ‘Go enjoy your freedom.’ They were very struck by that. We often forget what it means to be in a land where we are free to do whatever we choose.

 

Today we talk a lot about freedom, protecting our freedom at all costs. ‘The land of the free, because of the brave.’ Thank God that we do live in a country where we are able to choose what we do and don’t want to do, and to go wherever we want to go. Real freedom is not just doing whatever you want. Choosing what is good is what leads to real freedom. If we choose what is evil, it doesn’t lead to true freedom, but to sin, which brings suffering. If we choose what is good as God shows us, it will lead to true freedom, which brings interior peace and joy. If we choose what is evil. it will lead to suffering.

 

What is true freedom? Real freedom is living in God’s kingdom, living by the teachings of God. If you back to the story of Adam and Eve. God told them they could eat of any tree in the garden, except for the tree of good and evil. He was telling them not to step beyond their limitations—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Recognize and respect your limitations as human beings. They experienced fulfillment and happiness because they were living in the realm of God, as He asked them to. As long as they didn’t try to play God they were fine. But they were tempted to disobey God and they gave in to the temptation. They didn’t listen to what God told them. They gave in to the temptation that ‘they could be like gods’, in other words, to choose whatever they wanted, respecting no limitations and look at what happened. It brought sin into the world, which lead to suffering. They were free to choose, but their choices did not lead to freedom, but to sin. With freedom comes responsibility.

 

It says that they suddenly experienced, shame, guilt, fear. They were no longer at peace with God, with each other, or within themselves, because they went against what God told them. Listening and being obedient to what God told them, led to their fulfillment. Rejecting it caused them to lose the happiness God wanted for them.

 

In documentaries on drug smuggling, I have often heard the reporters ask the drug dealers, or smugglers, ‘Are you not concerned about all the deaths that these drugs cause?’ and they nearly always give the same answer: ‘I just supply the drug. It’s up to the people to do whatever they want with it.’ In other words, I take no responsibility for my actions. We tell our young women that they can dress whatever way want, no matter how provocative and if it causes men to sin, that is their problem. I take no responsibility for my actions. Our society tells us that it is ok to sleep around and you don’t have to take responsibility for the consequences. If a young woman gets pregnant, we tell her that she can have an abortion. I take no responsibility for my actions.

 

Today, many people have abandoned the ways of God, refuse to listen to God, even deny God and sin continues to multiply. We see more and more evil. What is good is often called evil—‘Everyone should be able to do whatever they want, regardless of the consequences’—and evil is called good: abortion, euthanasia, telling children to choose their own gender. These things go against God’s commandments, and they lead to destruction and suffering. And if you criticize what God tells us is evil, then you are called evil and hateful. People are being accused of hate speech, just for quoting Scripture.

 

It says in the prophet Isaiah, ‘Woe to those who call evil good evil and good evil… Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.’ (Is 5:20a-21)

 

Recently you heard me talk about the Church in Germany, where many of the bishops have decided they now know better [than God’s word] and so can go away from Church teaching. They have now decided that it is ok to bless gay marriage, even though this goes against Church teaching. ‘Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes.’

 

Throughout history God continually offered the Jewish people the chance to enjoy true freedom, by living his Commandments, but they continually rejected it. Moses said to the people:

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.  For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. (Deut 30:15-16)

 

True freedom is to live under God’s commandments, but it comes with responsibility. We have free will, but we are also responsible for our actions. So God points out specifically what we need to do, by giving us the Commandments. This is the path for us to find freedom.

 

I remember seeing one of those programs called Super-nanny, where they bring a psychologist into a family where they are having a lot of problems with their kids. In this particular case, two young children were becoming wilder and wilder and the parents didn’t know what to do. The psychologist pointed out that they needed definite rules and guidelines as to what they could and could not do. As soon as the parents began to do this, the children began to settle down. The parents initially had been afraid to enforce any rules, or guidelines, but in fact that is exactly what was needed. The children were happier once they knew and lived by their boundaries.

 

The Lord does the same with us. He gives us the guidelines that we need to follow and as long as we follow them, we will find inner peace. God’s commandments lead to inner freedom. It might seem like a contradiction to say that we will be free if we submit ourselves to a set of Commandments, but that is exactly what happens. It brings inner freedom.

 

In the Gospel today when the two disciples are downcast and can only see what has gone wrong, it says that Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. Only in God everything makes sense. He showed them that despite the human evil that led to the betrayal and death of an innocent man, God brought the greatest good out of it; not only a man rising from the dead, but opening the way for us to return to the original happiness we had lost through disobedience. Even though we sin and cause suffering, God can still bring great good out of any situation, but we will only recognize that in God. That is why it is so important that we keep going back to listen to what God is saying to us in the Scriptures, so that we can see things from God’s perspectives and not just from human perspectives. Our life on earth only makes sense in God.

 

The two disciples were thinking only in human terms and could only see what had gone wrong and that it hadn’t turned out as they had hoped. ‘Our own hope had been that he would be the one to free Israel…’ ‘We are so disappointed.’ But Jesus helped them to see that God has a much higher purpose that goes beyond what we can see. His plan for us is happiness and freedom, but not in the way we think. He shows us what we need to do—follow his teaching; be responsible for our actions—and that will lead to the greatest freedom, but we must listen to what He says.

 

‘If you live in my word, you will be my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.’ (John 8:31-32)

 

Palm Sunday Year A (Gospel: Matt 26:14-27:66) God in the midst of chaos

 

I don’t know about you, but something I find very disturbing in our modern world, is the amount of corruption everywhere. Lying and cheating seem to be accepted as normal practice by many. We read about corruption in just about every government and every organisation, including the Church. Struggles for power, people being tortured. It is horrible to read about these things, and we often seem to be so helpless. Where is the loving God we speak about, who brings justice?

 

The readings today paint a similar picture. The only man who was completely innocent and who only did good throughout his life, is betrayed by a close friend, arrested, tortured, given an illegal trial—it was illegal according to their own law—and on the basis of false evidence is put to death. Where is the justice in that? Where is our just and loving God? How could God allow such a terrible miscarriage of justice?

 

And yet out of all this chaos and terrible injustice, God brings about the most extraordinary good for the whole human race, something no one could ever have foreseen, but it happens by means of his suffering. Jesus makes it possible for us to go to heaven when we die. Because of this terrible evil, brought about by human hands, God does something unimaginably wonderful.

 

There is a line in the Exultet—the hymn sung at the beginning of the Easter Vigil—which says, ‘Oh necessary sin of Adam, which won for us so great a redeemer.’ ‘Oh necessary sin...’ If Adam and Eve hadn’t sinned, there would have been no need for the Incarnation and so we wouldn’t have Jesus. This event changed the whole course of history. Everything was different after this, but what was really going on at that time was not obvious. In fact no one knew what was really happening. It was only afterwards, when Jesus himself began to reveal it to the disciples, only then did they begin to understand what it all meant and even then it took a while for them to grasp it.

 

So is there a message in all of this for us today, apart from remembering what happened? Can these events still speak to us now? In many ways our modern, so called ‘civilised’ society sounds remarkably like the one Jesus lived in. There was great corruption then and there still is. But there is above all else, a message of hope in all this, that even though there is a lot of evil around us and there always has been, it doesn’t stop God from being present to us, and guiding us through the chaos, as it were. Not only that, but the very difficult events that we come up against, God can and does bring extraordinary good out of, even the worst of situations, but we don’t always see that good. All these events took place for our benefit and that is a reminder that God is just as much with us now as He was then. That is why we go over all these events each year, to remind ourselves what has happened, what God has done for us and that God is still with us, even in the midst of chaos.

 

Having the hope that our faith gives us, makes all the difference in the world. You can see in the faces of so many people, fear and anxiety, because they have nothing to put their hope in except other human beings. That is a sad way to live your life, because people will let us down. God is the only one who will not let us down, even though we may not see that until afterwards.

 

‘Oh necessary sin of Adam, which won for us so great a redeemer.’

5th Sunday of Lent Year A (Gospel: John 11:1-45) Our hope is in the Lord

 

Stephen Hawking (1942-2018)

A few years ago I saw a program about Stephen Hawking (1942-2018), the English physicist who was confined to a wheelchair most of his life because of Lou Gehrig’s disease, but whose brain was working perfectly. He was one of the world’s most brilliant minds. He wrote A brief history of time, attempting to explain the origins of the universe. Apparently it is one of the most bought, but least read books. I bought it and gave up after about 3 pages. At the age of 21 he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease and he was told he had at best two years to live. Up until his death in 2018 he was still doing ground-breaking work in physics, although the only muscle he could still move was one of his cheeks. There was a small sensor beside his cheek, which was attached to a computer. By moving his cheek he was able to speak to people and continue working through his computer. No doubt one of the reasons why he was still alive was his will to live. He had a great determination to keep going.

 

There is so much more to being alive than just physical health, although that is what we all wish for. Many people would consider that life would not be worth living if you were in the physical state that Stephen Hawking was and yet look at what he did.

 

When visiting hospitals I have often seen people who, having lost the will to live, would go down-hill very quickly and die. I also saw people who were told that they would probably not recover, but because they were absolutely determined to keep going, they would recover, often completely against the odds. One of the key differences between those who keep going and those who don’t is something spiritual: hope. If we have hope we can keep going even against the odds. If we have no hope, we may not survive even the ordinary.

 

Several years ago in a housing subdivision called Moyross, in Limerick city, which is an hour south of where I grew up—one of the toughest and most troubled areas of that city—a new group of Religious moved in. They are called the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, which were started by Fr. Benedict Goreschel in the Bronx, New York. They live very like the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s order) in poverty and great simplicity. Apparently, the area has been transformed since they moved in, for the simple reason that they have given the people there new hope. By moving in there, they have shown those people that they are worth something and that in itself has given them new hope.

We believe that God wants us to be happy, to live life in all its fullness and that gives us hope, which we to pass on to others, though often we are unaware of it. ‘I came that you may have life and have it to the full’ (Jn 10:10). One of the early Christian writers called Tertullian wrote, ‘The glory of God is man fully alive.’ The more alive we are in every sense, the more we develop our talents and abilities, the more we give glory to God and hope is a big part of being fully alive.

 

I always thought that one of my professors in the seminary was the best teacher. But later I realized that from an academic point of view he wasn’t particularly good, but he was so passionate about his faith, that it got everyone enthusiastic. He had a great passion for God and for life and that was inspiring.

 

When we have hope we are able to work to promote and strengthen married life even when it goes wrong; we continue to work with young people and encourage them not to give up, even when they have messed up through drugs, or alcohol; we continue to work for justice and peace often in very difficult circumstances. Our faith in God gives us hope, which in turn inspires others to keep going. Think also of the hope that Pope Francis has given people by the way he lives. He reached out to many people on the margins, showing them that they were not forgotten. That is exactly what Jesus did.

 

In this beautiful Gospel we hear how Jesus deliberately waited when he heard that Lazarus was sick, in order to work this miracle before everyone’s eyes. He wanted to show them something. He wanted to show them that God has power even over death and that when He allows people to die that it is not the end. Just as Jesus called Lazarus out of death, so Jesus will also call us out of death when we die and we will begin a new and wonderful life with him, unless we have rejected God. We make that choice by the way we live, the everyday decisions that we make. 

 

In bringing Lazarus back to life, Jesus was helping people to believe in him. He is the one who has power over life and death. He is master of all things. He will judge the living and the dead. He was also giving the people hope, showing them that there is a bigger picture that we do not understand. Death is not the end. Physical health is not the end, but a doorway to what we are created for. But having hope is essential if we are to keep going through the many difficulties that we continue to face. Our hope in God and the world to come, gives us strength to keep going even when we are suffering, or struggling, or when everything is going wrong.

 

If we lose hope we may despair. When people believe there is nothing else apart from this world, then when faced with some of the difficulties we face here on earth, sickness, suffering, in justice, sometimes people despair, because they don’t know what to turn to. Sadly that is one of the reasons why there is such a high rate of suicide at this time, because so many people have lost faith and so have no hope.

 

In one of his letters to the Christians in Corinth in modern day Greece, St. Paul wrote the following: “If our faith in Christ has been for this life only, then of all people we are the most to be pitied” (1 Cor 15:9). If we think that this life is everything, then we have completely missed the point. But our faith tells us that this life is only a small part of the picture and it is so important that we don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. He also said, ‘Keep your eyes on the things that are above, not on the things below’ (Col 3:2).

 

So often you will hear people say, every day I am still alive is a good day, even when their bodies are old and in pain. I guess it would make you wonder what they believe happens after death. Clinging desperately to life, is a sign of not being convinced of what awaits us after death. If we are convinced that what awaits us is something unimaginably wonderful, then we will long for it, or at least look forward to it. Would you rather be clinging to life in pain and in a world of suffering, than in a world of joy where there is no more pain, or evil, or sorrow? Jesus’ dying and rising was to make sure that we could reach that happiness which awaits us. What greater hope is there than to believe that we will be with our loved ones again, in a place where there is only joy. That’s what all of us want and that is what our faith promises us.

 

Jesus deliberately waited until Lazarus was dead, so that he could bring him back to life before everyone and show us that He is Lord of all things and that He has power to bring people back from death. Jesus is the doorway to heaven and Jesus is the only One who makes sense of our life on earth. That is why we must keep our eyes on him. Make sure that he is at the center of all that we do. When we are confused, or suffering, He is always the One to turn to. He is the only one who can makes sense of our life.

 

‘I have come that you may have life and have it to the full’ (John 10:10)