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| The Irish College, Rome. |
As
a priest, I often find myself in a position which is very similar to what we hear about in the first reading from the prophet
Amos (7:12-15), even though this is 2000 years later. In modern
English it might sound something like this: ‘Look Fr. Murchadh go
and talk about God somewhere else. We don’t want to hear about it
here, we are important people and we are busy with our own lives.’
And I might say, ‘Why don’t you listen to me?! I didn’t choose
to do this. God ordered me to go and speak to you, and now you can
take it or leave it.’
In one way we
priests—and indeed anyone who teaches about the ways of God—are
still in the same position today. We are asked to pass on the same
message of Christ, regardless of whether people listen to us or not.
This is not an easy thing to do, as people often don’t want to hear
what we have to say, especially if it’s controversial. There is a
big temptation for us, for me, to try to say what people would like
to hear, so that people will think well of me, because like anyone
else, I want to be accepted by other people too. But that is not what
we are called to do by the Lord.
We are called
by the Lord to do a specific job, and that is to tell people about
him and his message; to tell people that Jesus is the way to the
Father and that because of his death and resurrection forgiveness is
offered to us; that He is the way for us to find happiness and that
God has made himself known to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
The message
that the Lord calls us to preach, often meets with opposition, as it
has since the first Prophets began speaking in his name, because that
same message challenges us when we are doing wrong and no one likes
to be told that they are doing wrong. Most of the Prophets were
murdered because of what they said. It is interesting that almost all
of them resisted when God called them to go and speak to the people.
For the most part their response was, ‘No Lord, please ask someone
else. I am not able to do that!’
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| Depiction of people going to John the Baptist |
For me, there
was a real sense of being called to be a priest, to be his messenger
and that call continues every day. Twice in the last twenty years, I
thought I could no longer continue, but again I had a distinct sense
of being called to keep going and God gave me the strength to
persevere. Many of the characters in the Bible were the same. The
prophet Elijah, after working an extraordinary miracle, then has a
death threat against him. He flees into the desert, sits down under a
tree and says, ‘Lord, take my life, I am no better than my
ancestors’ (1Kg 19:4). In other words, ‘I wish I was dead. I have
had enough of this!’ It says that he lay down and went to sleep,
but then an angel woke him and told him to eat the food that was
there, as he would need it for the journey. God doesn’t let him off
the hook, but pushes him to keep going.
The prophet
Jeremiah complains that all he is getting for his preaching is abuse.
He says that he tried to resist, but couldn’t.
But if I
say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am
weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot (Jer 20:9).
God’s response is not to say, ‘Poor
Jeremiah, you are having a bad day. Take some time off and you’ll
be ok.’ No, the Lord pushes him to be strong and keep going.
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| (Far right) Fr. Ragheed Ganni, martyr, killed in Iraq 2007 |
In the last six years in Mexico,
twenty-five priests were murdered. It’s not sure exactly why, but
it is probably because they were speaking out against the terrible
violence and corruption that exists, largely because of the drug
Cartels. Preaching God’s word is not always popular, but that is
what He asks us to do. I personally know two priests who were
murdered: Fr. Ragheed Ganni (1972-2007) in Iraq for continuing to keep the church open and
celebrate mass. He was continually warned by extremists to close the
church, but he wouldn’t and so they ambushed him after mass and
shot him along with three deacons. The other man I know, Bishop Michael Courtney (1945-2003), was
working in Burundi, Africa, to bring about peace between two warring tribes. He
was also ambushed and shot. That’s pretty-much what they did with
the prophets too. If they didn’t like what they were hearing, they
killed them.
So, pray for
us priests that we will have the courage to do what the Lord calls us
to do. Help us to be strong in our faith. It is not our place to
preach our opinions, but to preach the Word of God. Our opinions will
not help or nourish you, but the Word of God will. What we say should
challenge you, because the voice of the Lord is a very challenging
one. Hearing about all those priests and prophets who were killed
might seem bleak, but it is really a sign of how powerful God’s
word is and how much we need to listen to what God is saying to us.
Perhaps it
seems like I’m preaching to the converted, but I believe that if we
really want to grow in our faith, then we need to continually
re-decide to follow Jesus Christ. The world around us may not agree
with us, or like the way we live, but it has always been like that.
Many people today are deciding not to be Christian anymore, sometimes
consciously, sometimes through indifference. But the Lord is very
strong in the Gospels about indifference. He demands a decision from
us.
If
any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as
you walk away shake off the dust from under your feet as a sign to
them.
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