A few years ago I had to go to our national seminary
Maynooth for a meeting. Before the meeting began I met three young men who
were studying to be priests for our diocese and they invited me to
stay on after the meeting for Evening Prayer and supper; so I did.
In the evening I found myself in the chapel praying along side 80 young men who are studying to be priests and it was
wonderful to hear all these men singing to God and praying the
Psalms, knowing that they were dedicating their lives to serve God.
I was thinking that in one way you would want to be insane to study
to be a priest at the moment, so what on earth could draw them?
The answer of course is God. The Spirit of God inspires people
and moves people when we don’t expect it and often in ways we don’t
expect either. But the Spirit doesn’t shout aloud like the
news-papers do. The Spirit works quietly, but very powerfully.
I am often asked, especially by younger people, how
come I didn’t want to get married and instead that I went on for
the priesthood? Actually the way they usually put it is to say,
‘Didn’t you like girls?’ And I always say, ‘Of course I
was drawn to get married, but the call of God was the stronger one.’
The year I began religious life was the year the
first major scandal in our Church broke. The bishop of my own diocese, who lived just down the road from where I grew up, had fathered
a child. That was 21 years ago and there have basically been
scandals ever since and most of them were much more serious. During my time in the seminary it was very
disheartening with all the stories about child abuse in the papers
for the first time. But it made all of us think carefully about
why we were becoming priests and it still makes me think about why I
continue as a priest. The reason more or less remains the same:
I believe God called me and continues to call me to serve him in this
way. Most of the time I’m not even sure I understand the
calling or even what exactly the Lord wants me to do, but the ongoing
call is unmistakable.
When I was nineteen I was invited to go to a prayer
meeting here in Galway. At the time I wasn’t practicing my
faith, but I was searching. At this prayer meeting I met 50 or
60 young people praying the rosary, singing hymns and reading
Scripture. This was completely new to me and I was drawn to
it. I could see that their faith was real and I was intrigued
by it. These young people basically taught me how to pray and
taught me that it was good to start the day by giving 10-15 minutes
to God in prayer. So I began to do the same. Shortly after I began
attending this prayer meeting they held what is known as a ‘Life in
the Spirit’ seminar. This is a series of about 8 talks on the
reality of the power of God’s Spirit—the Holy Spirit—and how
that same Spirit is just waiting for us to be open to him so that He
can set fire to our faith, so to speak. So I began doing this
seminar and was curious to know what, if anything, would happen.
On the fifth night the people there prayed with each of us—just
like the Apostles did—that we would receive a fresh outpouring of
the Spirit. I remember being a bit disappointed at the time,
because nothing particularly amazing seemed to happen to me. I
felt peaceful, but not unduly so. However, in the days and
weeks that followed I suddenly noticed all kinds of things
happening. It was as though someone had flicked a switch and
turned on the power. Suddenly my faith became alive in a way
that it had never been before. The Scriptures began to speak to
me in a profound way and I had a great desire to spend time in
prayer. I also noticed that I began to hear the words of the
mass as though I had never heard them before and I was completely
blown away with it. Other people who did this Life in the
Spirit seminar had similar experiences, the most common being that
their faith became alive as never before. That was 25 years ago
and the experience really changed the course of my life.
A few years after that I began studying to be a priest.
Today when I look around and see all the apparent
chaos in our Church, which is very disturbing, I think back on what
the Lord has led me through and I am reminded that our Church is in
good hands, because it is not in the hands of human beings but in the
hands of the Most High God. If the Church was purely in the hands of human beings, we would be in big trouble. The Spirit continues to move and
cleanse and purify, which is what we are seeing at the moment. Although it is difficult for us, it is not something that we need be afraid of. On the
contrary it is a sign that the power of God is very much at work in
the Church; and this makes total sense since it is the Lord’s
Church. Those of us who try to serve in it are only
instruments, and often not very good instruments, but it doesn’t
matter as God does not depend on us to get everything right.
The Lord is the One who is in charge and who will continue to lead
us, his people, in the direction we need to go.
As we celebrate the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, when the disciples were 'switched on' you could say, we turn once again to God's Spirit and pray that He will help us never to lose heart, never to become discouraged, but to remember that God knows what God is doing. When we have the gift of the Spirit, which we have since our Baptism and Confirmation, we have everything. The guidance, wisdom and courage we need are there for the asking. It is for us to try and remain open to the promptings of God's Spirit. If we begin to rely only on our own expertise, our own ability, we will soon find that we come up short. If, on the other hand, we continue to seek the guidance of the Spirit, then we have nothing to fear, even though we may not know exactly what we are to do. God shows us what we need to do, as we need to know it. Most of the time we are not allowed to see very far ahead, but neither were the Apostles. They were just told to go and preach the Gospel, and that is what they did. Remembering this, let us be encouraged, knowing that God's Spirit will show us the way.
The
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name
will
teach you everything
and remind you of all that I have said to you (John 14:26).
No comments:
Post a Comment