There
is always a lot of talk of the need for change in the Church and how we need to
make things more relevant. Of course this is good and true, but I often think
that one thing that we also need to do is to rediscover what we already have. I
have always found that when someone has an experience of renewal in their
faith, they are astonished at all the treasures they discover already waiting
for them. They never noticed them before, but then suddenly they find
themselves saying ‘Look at all that God has given to us!’ God has already given
us everything we need. Above all He has given us the gift of himself in the
Eucharist, so that we are never alone. We can receive him every day if we wish
in the most intimate way possible. We can receive his body into our body. What
could be more intimate than this? It is given to us as a gift, purely to help
us; for no other reason. No obligation, just pure gift for our benefit. The
only thing that the Lord asks us to do every so often, is to confess our sins,
because we are receiving something so sacred. It is not right to receive often
if we don’t confess every so often. Saint Paul speaks specifically about this
in one letter:
Everyone is to examine himself and only then eat of the bread or drink
from the cup; because a person who eats and drinks without recognising the body
is eating and drinking his own condemnation. That is why many of you are weak
and ill and a good number have died (1 Cor 11:28-30).
What would we see on the altar during the mass if God pulled back the veil and allowed us to see the spiritual world? When the priest says the words ‘This is My Body... This is the cup of My Blood’ we would see the crucifixion: God the Son being offered to God the Father. It is not being repeated again, but we become present to it. Time stands still and we are there. This is the single most important event in the history of the world, because it is the moment when we were re-united to God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is what happens before us in each mass. Our sin is atoned for and the way to heaven is reopened for us. For now it is all hidden from us. All we can see is a priest, wearing strange clothes and reciting various prayers, then holding up a piece of bread and a chalice.
So why doesn’t God allow us to see what is really going on? If He even allowed us once to see this, or if there was a blinding light when we open the tabernacle and take out the Eucharist, wouldn’t it be so much easier for us? However, it is all hidden from us and the reason for this is because God wants us to freely choose to believe or not. If it was clearly put before us, we wouldn’t have to believe any more; we would simply know. But God deliberately keeps it hidden to push us forward in our faith and so that we have a choice to believe in this or not.
I heard an inspiring story about a
wealthy lawyer in New York who had no time at all for religion. Every day when
he’d be heading off for work in the morning at about 6.30 he’d pass an old woman
who was on her way to mass. And he used to laugh at her in his mind and think
how stupid she was wasting her time with such religious nonsense. Now there was
a very steep hill on the way to the church, where he would usually pass her. One
day in winter there was a lot of frost and ice and he was on his way to work
not expecting to see her because of the ice, but then he saw her on her hands
and knees going up the hill, so that she could get to mass. He was so
astonished that this brought about his conversion and he said ‘There must be
something in this’. We will never know how we are speaking to the people around
us, by the way we live.
At the moment especially, it is easy
to become discouraged and to think that we’re wasting our time. Where’s the
point anyway in trying to live our faith, what difference does it make, after
all, look at the world around us! This is Satan talking, trying to discourage
us and make us think that we are wasting our time. Jesus himself has told us
that we are not wasting our time and never to be discouraged with the evil of
the world around us. He used many stories and parables to remind people of
this.
The readings today are saying don’t give up. Look at all the people down through the centuries who had to struggle too. They had faith in the promises God made to them, and they stuck at it. This is what Jesus is saying to us. Don’t give up on me. Don’t be afraid to struggle, even though it is hard. Believe that what I have told you is true. It is worth it and we are on the right track.
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| What the people saw at Knock, Ireland. |
About an hour north of where I grew up in Ireland there is a place called Knock. On 21st of Aug, 1879 a group of 15 people saw an apparition at the outside wall of the church. In the apparition they saw the Lamb of God on the altar, surrounded by the angels, and to one side Our Lady, St. Joseph and St. John. The brightest light was coming from the Lamb on the altar. No word was spoken and the apparition lasted for about 2 hours. This happened at a time when the people had just come through terrible suffering and religious persecution, but they had been faithful. What did it mean? The apparition seemed to be heaven’s way of saying ‘You are on the right track. What you believe in is true, so don’t give up.’ The Lamb of God represented the mass. Think of when the priest holds up the host and says, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.’ The apparition was encouraging the people to persevere and that message is the same for us today. God has given us this extraordinary gift of himself in each mass, purely because He loves us and so that we can know He is constantly with us.
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