31st Sunday, Year C (Gospel: John 6:37-40) Are you ready to die?

 

 

If you were told that you were going to die today, or within the week, what would you do? One thing for sure is that all our priorities would change. Worldly things would suddenly become irrelevant. I’m sure for many people family would become very important. I’m sure the concern of what will happen at death and after death would also come to the forefront of your thinking.

 

Throughout Jesus’ public ministry, He used many stories and parables to remind us that we always need to be ready to die, because we never know when this will happen.

 

Every day on the roads approximately 107 people die in car wrecks, just in this country. That means that yesterday, over 100 people left their homes to go to work, or shopping, or to drop off their kids somewhere and one moment later they were standing before Jesus for judgement. One second you are in your car, the next second you are before Jesus. It’s pretty shocking when you think of it that way and yet it happens to people every day of the week.

 

A few years ago I was driving somewhere in Ireland and I came across a man who need a ride. He was a musician and made a living by busking on the streets. Not an easy way of life. He had practically all his possessions with him. He told me he knew over 350 songs, which was impressive. When he realized that I was a priest, he began asking me about religion. I can’t remember much of what he said except for one thing. He said that he wasn’t very religious but that he preferred to stay out of it and sit on the fence. When I asked him about death and coming before God, he said that he would just plead ignorance. That was the thing that struck me the most.  He said, “I’ll just plead ignorance.”

 

I suppose if God were just another human being, we might get away with pleading ignorance, but since God knows everything about us, including our motivations, all the things that have influenced us and how free or not we are to make choices, I don’t think that pleading ignorance will be much use! This is not to focus on the negative as if we should be afraid of God, but it is reality. On the contrary, the Lord loves us and wants to help us in every way possible. He knows our weaknesses and what we struggle with, but He also knows when we avoid responsibility. There is no pleading ignorance before God and this is what the Lord keeps reminding us.

 

Jesus taught parable after parable reminding us to be ready for death and never take it for granted that we can sort everything out at the last second.

 

In St. Matthew’s Gospel (Matt 25: 1-13), Jesus gives the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, also called bridesmaids in another version of the story. One of the traditions of the time was that after a man and a woman were betrothed to each other, when they were legally married, they remained apart for about another year, during which time they would both be able to make preparations for their wedding and new life together. The man would go and build an extension onto his father’s house, where they could live together. When the time was right, the father of the groom would announce to his son that it was time to go and collect his bride. This would happen in the middle of the night. They would then go to the bride’s house, where the bride and bridesmaids would be waiting. They would already be wearing their wedding garments, ready for when the groom would come, although they didn’t know exactly when that would happen. Since it was in the middle of the night, they would need to have lighted lamps. They would then leave the bride’s house and go for the wedding celebration. If you weren’t ready at that time, you would be left behind. The parable says that five of the bridesmaids were wise and brought enough oil for their lamps to last as long as needed. The foolish ones did not and when the groom arrived they were almost out of oil. They asked the wise bridesmaids to lend them some oil, but they said ‘no’ as there may not be enough for both of them. Then Jesus says those who were ready went into the feast. When the other bridesmaids came back having gotten enough oil, the wedding part had left and gone into the feast. And then there is the line that says, ‘And the door was locked.’ They were left behind. And when they ask to be let in, the groom says, ‘I do not know you.’ There was no relationship there. They were casual and presumptuous. Jesus finishes by saying, ‘So stay awake. You do not know the day or the hour when the bridegroom will come.’

 

This is a strong message for all of us. Leaving it until the last minute to prepare may be too late. In this parable Jesus says it was too late. Our life on earth is the time to prepare to be with the Lord. He gives us a whole lifetime to prepare, so we can’t say we didn’t have enough time. That is why we must not allow ourselves to become so immersed in the things of the world, that we forget the bigger picture. We have to be practical and provide for our families and attend to our work, but we also must not forget the things of God.

 

The Lord guides us in so many ways, especially through the Scriptures, which is why we read them at every mass. They are constantly teaching us what God expects of us and what is required of us. We cannot say I didn’t know what to do, as the Lord gives us very specific instructions as to how to live and always to be ready.

 

In the book of Exodus (40:16) when God had given Moses instructions as to how to build the tabernacle, it says ‘Moses did exactly what the Lord requested of him.’ Exactly as the Lord told him, not roughly. In Genesis (6:22), when God gave Noah instructions about the ark, it says that Noah did precisely as the Lord had told him.’ The Lord shows us exactly how to live in the way that will help us the most, so that we can enjoy our life on earth and so that we will be ready to meet him when our time comes.

 

I know many people of faith who have often told me that they long to meet the Lord. They are looking forward to that day more than anything else. If you have faith that makes total sense. If we are living in fear of this life coming to an end, then we are not hearing what the Lord is saying to us. It is not something to be afraid of. If we have made any effort to prepare for it, then it is something we can look forward to, but we don’t know when that day will come. It may be after 80 or more years, or it may be when we are young. ‘Therefore, stay awake, for you know not the day nor the hour.’

 

That is also why it is so important that we try and pass on our faith to the next generation. Think of all the things you do for your children to give them the best possible chance in the world. How much time do you take to teach them about the more important things: the reality of God, how God tells us to live, what is right and wrong and that we will all be held accountable? To ignore this is to do them a great disfavor. Being successful in a worldly career is good and we should develop our talents as the Lord has given them to us, but being prepared in the things of God is far more important.

 

As our relationship with God grows, we will become less and less afraid of death, because instead of seeing it as the end of our life, we will begin to see it as the beginning of the life we are called to. It will be a relief that our time of struggle is over. This is also what St. Paul is talking about in the second reading:

“We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest who have no hope.”

 

It is also so important that we pray for the dead. Often at funerals you will hear people say, ‘He is in heaven now.’ That may be true, but many people will die still with some sin on their soul. No sin can exist in God’s presence. It is a contradiction. So if we die with some sin on our soul, we need to be purged of it, which is what we call Purgatory. It is a mercy of God which allows us to go through any final purification we need before we can come into God’s presence. Unfortunately many people disregard the idea of Purgatory, but think of it this way: this is an extreme example, but it makes the point.

 

Imagine that Hitler hadn’t committed suicide, but that he was murdered. But the day before his death he had a moment of enlightenment and realized the terrible evil he had committed. He then repented and begged God’s mercy. God promises mercy to anyone who sincerely asks for it. If he died the next day, would he go straight to heaven? Somehow we know that that wouldn’t make sense. It would be a mockery of God’s justice. He would have to go through some kind of atonement or purification before he could come into God’s presence. That is what Purgatory is.

 

We believe that we can also help those who are in Purgatory by praying for them and having masses offered for them. That’s why we dedicate the month of November to praying for the holy souls and we pray for the dead in every mass. Through our prayers their purification can happen quicker, which is a gift of God responding to our efforts. So pray for those who have died.

 

When I die I would much rather people pray for me and have masses offered for me, than just say nice things about me.

 

The Lord wants us to have hope and not to be afraid, but we must listen to what He tells us, so that we are not caught off guard.

“Therefore I tell you, stay awake, for you neither know the day or the hour.”

 

29th Sunday Year C (Gospel: Luke 18:1-8) The deception of the Occult

 

There is a lot of confusion these days as to what comes from God and what does not. I am talking in particular about things come under the general heading of occult, such as going to fortune tellers, Tarot card readers, psychics, playing the Ouija board, or going to mediums and other similar practices. A lot of people just consider them harmless fun; besides what could possibly be wrong with them?

 

God expressly warns us in the Scriptures to stay away from such things. In the book of Deuteronomy it says:

You must not have in your midst anyone... who practices divination, or anyone who consults the stars, who is a sorcerer, or one who practices enchantments or who consults the spirits, no diviner, or one who asks questions of the dead. For the Lord abhors those who do these things (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).

 

In another book it says, ‘Do not have recourse to the spirits of the dead or to magicians; they will defile you. I, the Lord, am your God’ (Leviticus 19:31).

 

Why are these things a problem for us? The Lord doesn’t just give us rules for the sake of rules. If God tells us to stay away from something, there is a good reason, just like you will tell your children to stay away from the fire, or they’ll get burned. God does the same for us, telling us what to avoid if we want to stay healthy.

 

So why are these things, which are now available everywhere, a problem? The first and most important reason is that they interfere with our free will. Our free will is an extraordinary gift which the Lord has given us, because it means that we have the freedom to do anything we choose, be it good or evil, although real freedom is the freedom to choose what is good. We can even reject God if we choose. It is an amazing thing that the Lord who has created us respects us enough, even to giving us the freedom to reject him, and sadly some people do this by the way they live.

 

Anything occult is an attempt to gain knowledge, or control, of the future. The problem is that if we think we have any kind of knowledge of the future it is going to influence our freedom to choose, because we will probably start acting out of fear of what we think might be going to happen. The Lord does not want us to be afraid, but to be at peace. That is why God does not reveal the future to us. We don’t need to know it. If we did, He would show us, because He wants the very best for us.

 

When Jesus was talking to the Apostles about the end times and his return in glory, Jesus replied by saying, ‘See to it that no one deceives you’ (Matthew 24:4).

 

The second reason why these things are a problem, is that by dabbling in them we are going directly against something God has told us, which is a way of creating an obstacle between us and God. We sin when we do this. From a spiritual point of view, they can also have a hold or influence over us. If God does not reveal the future to us, then where is this information coming from? It is not coming from the Lord, even if the fortune teller starts off by praying the Hail Mary or Our Father, which I know some of them do. 

 

I worked with an exorcist priest friend of mine for a while and saw first-hand the mess that some people get themselves into by dabbling in these things that the Lord tells us specifically to keep away from. They are very real. Satan is cunning and will do anything to lead us away from God, because he hates us as God’s creation. Satan is real. If Satan is not real then Jesus is a liar, because Jesus frequently mentioned him in his teaching. Jesus called him a liar and a deceiver and that’s what he does.

 

‘[The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because the truth is not in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies’ (Jn 8:44).

 

Satan distorts God’s word, to confuse us and lead us away from God. In the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Satan twisted God’s word. He said to them, ‘Did God really say that you cannot eat of any of the trees in the garden.’ God had said they could eat of any tree, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan also lied to them and said if they did eat it, they would be like God themselves, knowing good from evil, but this is exactly what God warned them about. Remember that Satan wanted to be like God himself, but without needing God. So he was trying to get them to give in to the same temptation. He twisted God’s word to deceive them.

 

The former exorcist of this diocese told me about one encounter he had. He was called to a house where footsteps kept appearing across the couch! When he got there, he asked the family about themselves. It turned out that the woman was living with a man who was not her husband. She was practicing witchcraft and so was her daughter. So they had left themselves wide open to evil and the demonic. The priest told them that unless they were willing to change their ways, there was nothing he could do for them and they were not willing to change, so he was unable to help them.

 

I was called to a house one time where radios and lights kept turning on during the night. When I asked the people who lived there if they had been involved in any kind of Occult practice, they said no, but the lady who had lived in the house before them was a medium. She now lived next door. So that was the origin of what was happening. She had opened the door to the demonic. What we think of as harmless fun, is not harmless if God forbids us to do it. Getting involved in any kind of magic, witchcraft, or fortune telling, etc, is also opening up doors to what is not of God. Hence the cases I mentioned where things were happening in those houses. If we do what God forbids us to do, we can expect consequences.

 

We have to ask ourselves do I believe what Jesus said is true or not?  Either the Bible (the Scriptures) is the word of God, or it isn’t. If it is, we need to listen to it. If it’s not true, then what are we doing here?

 

God wants the very best for us and will continually guide us along the right path, the path that will help us to reach our full potential as human beings, the path that will lead us to heaven, but sometimes we get misled and go astray. That’s not a problem so long as we recognise it and come back again. I’m sure you want God’s blessing for your lives and for your families, just as I do, but if we mess with what God expressly tells us to stay away from, we will be blocking God’s help from us. 

 

If you have dabbled in any of these things at any stage, confess it, which is also what the Lord asks us to do. By confessing it you break any spiritual hold that it can have over you. By repenting of it you also open the door to God’s grace .

 

In the second reading it says, ‘Remain faithful to what you have known and believed, because you know from whom you learned it…’ You know what you have learned comes from Scripture, which means it is from God, so you can trust it. The Bible is God’s gift to us to guide us in every situation we face. If we listen to it, it will lead us to God. If we ignore it, or go against it, it will lead us away from God.

 

If God has assured us of his help, then we would be foolish to look for spiritual help from any other source, especially a source which God expressly tells us to stay away from. We know that God wants the very best for us and if we believe that then we must also listen to what He tells us to do and what He tells us to avoid.

 

Jesus said, ‘Anyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise person who their built his house on solid rock. Rain came down, streams rose, winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall because it had its foundation on solid rock.

 

But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice, is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. Rains fell, torrents raged, winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was its collapse.' (Mt 7: 24-27).

 

‘I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.’

 

 

 

 

28th Sunday Year C (Gospel: Luke 17: 11-19) Give thanks in all circumstances

 

 

As part of our formation in the seminary, we were appointed different kinds of pastoral work. One of my class-mates, Paschal Hanrahan, spent one summer working in the slums in one of the big south American cities. I forget which one. He shared some of his experiences with us. He said that one night he was sitting outside the hut of the family he was staying with and he was feeling very depressed about the terrible poverty that was there and how much the people were suffering and how there seemed to be no resolution to it. Then the father of the household came outside and sat with him. After a few minutes he said, ‘Paschal, we have so much to be thankful for. God has blessed us so much.’ My friend was taken completely off-guard by this comment. He could only see what was wrong and what they didn’t have, yet the man living there in this terrible poverty was full of gratitude. He could see what they had and was not concerned about what they didn’t have. This really opened his eyes and helped him to see things differently.

 

I have often come across people who have worked in some of the poorest parts of the world, where there is not only terrible poverty, but often terrible injustice as well, but they will always tell you that you will find more joy in people there than in any first world countries, where we have so much materially.

 

I was reading the account of a priest who worked in Sweden. He said that it was probably one of the wealthiest countries in the world, materially. The government takes care of everything you may need, but that there was so much hatred and despair there. They had a crucifix on the door of their apartment and he said that three times it was ripped off the door.

 

When we live in places where there is so much material wealth and where we have so much choice, it is very easy to become focused on what I want and no longer see what I already have. If I live in a place where most people don’t even have the basics, then I am more likely to be grateful for anything I can get. People in poor countries aren’t looking to material things to make them happy, because they don’t have them. So they tend to be more joyful.

 

The readings today are a reminder of how important it is to give thanks to God for everything. In the first reading, Naaman comes back to Elisha to give thanks to God for being healed. In the Gospel, one of the ten lepers goes back to Jesus to give thanks for his healing and note Jesus’ comment, ‘Where are the other nine?’ In other words, we should make a point of giving thanks, not just for when prayers are answered, but for everything we have in all situations.

 

One of the remedies for the anger and anxiety that so many people are feeling at this time, is to give thanks. Yes, the country is not in a good place right now, but we have so much to be thankful for. When you get up, give thanks for the gift of another day, for your health, for your faith, that you have enough food to eat, that you have a place to stay and people who love you. Give thanks to God that God has created you for eternal happiness. Give thanks to God for making that eternal happiness possible to you through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Give thanks to God for all the people you love and for those who have gone on to the next world, that we can be with them again when we die. Give thanks to God for all the people in your life, those you like and those you don’t like. Why should we only give thanks to God for what we like and nothing else?

 

The Scriptures always teach us what God expects of us. If you look at the accounts of the last supper, the most important meal in history, where Jesus gave us the gift of his Body and Blood, note the words Jesus spoke. In Matthew, Mark and Luke’s account of the last supper, they each say that Jesus took bread and after he had given thanks, He broke it…

St. Matthew: ‘Jesus took bread and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, “Take and eat. This is my body.” (Matt 26:26).

 

St. Mark: ‘While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and when He had given thanks, He broke it…’ (Mark 14:22)

St. Luke: ‘He took bread, gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them saying, “This is my Body.”

St. John’s account of the Eucharist is given in the account of feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fish in chapter 6. Note Jesus’ words: ‘Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.’ (Jn 6:11)

It also says that after everyone had eaten, Jesus tells the people to collect all the food that is left over so that nothing is wasted. That is also a way of showing gratitude.

 

When Jesus is about to raise Lazarus from the dead, He starts off praying to the Father saying, ‘Father I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me’ (Jn 11:41). Then He cries out, ‘Lazarus, come out.’

 

St. Paul writes, ‘Rejoice always, pray continually, in all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.’ (1 Thes 5:18).

Where it says, ‘In all circumstances give thanks…’ does that mean that we should give thanks even when things are going wrong? Yes it does. Why should we only give thanks to God when things are going our way, or when things suit us? Giving thanks to God when things are going wrong for us, is not thanking God for whatever it is that has gone wrong, rather it is giving thanks to God, because God is God. It is a way of acknowledging God’s greatness, his holiness and his providence.

 

Whenever you are feeling down, or disheartened with anything, our world our country, or any situation in your life, start by giving thanks to God for everything you can think of. It helps us to turn the focus outward toward God, instead of inward.

 

‘Rejoice always, pray continually, in all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.’ (1 Thes 5:18).

27th Sunday Year C The mustard seed (Gospel: Luke 17:5-10)

 

The Mulberry Tree

 

So many people I have met feel that they have very little faith, or they will tell me that they are not very religious. However, I think most people have far more faith than they give themselves credit for. Being ‘religious’ and having faith are not necessarily the same thing.

 

Today we are given the unusual image of something as tiny as a mustard seed, which is about the size of the tip of a pen. Jesus tells the Apostles that if their faith was even as big as that, they could move mountains, or in this case a mulberry tree! There are two ways to look at this. First we could say, if it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains I must have very little faith, since I could never do anything spectacular like that! But the other way to look at it is to say that with very little faith you can do an awful lot. Most of us do have faith and that faith grows as our relationship with Jesus grows. We often talk about God ‘testing our faith’ when we find ourselves going through a crisis. But by ‘testing’ what is meant is that God is stretching our faith to full capacity. It is not so much a test to see if we are up to standard, rather a time of growth. God knows what we are capable of and God is all the time helping us to reach our full potential, just like a good trainer will help an athlete reach his or her full potential. The athelete may not be aware of their ability, but a good trainer will see it and Remember how God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. God knew that Abraham had extraordinary faith, even though Abraham himself probably didn't realise it. But Abraham proved his faith by trusting in God even in this dire situation and God blessed him for it.

 

The Apostles had faith and must have seen extraordinary things when they were with Jesus. Peter even walked on water for a few seconds, but then he began to sink as he started to think in human terms that it couldn’t be happening. But even the Apostles had a lot to learn with regards faith. After the crucifixion of Jesus they hid themselves away in a room because they were afraid. It was only after they received the gift of the Spirit that they were transformed and began preaching fearlessly and working miracles and they were so convinced of what they believed in that they were willing to lay down their lives for it, and most of them did, but they also had to grow and I’m sure that as their life went on their faith continued to grow. No doubt their faith was very different at the end of their lives than it was when they were with Jesus. They then had a life-time of trying to serve God and seeing many extraordinary things. Faith grows gradually, but it does grow.

 

The second reading today speaks of how so many people are feeling at this time. All we see is violence and injustice around us. At times like these, God often seems to be very quiet, which can even make us question is God there at all.

 

In several of the recent mass shootings in schools and churches, people are often critical of and cynical towards those who say ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims.’ Being cynical towards such comments is really to misunderstand what it is to pray for people.

 

Prayer is not an insurance policy against violence, although sometimes God’s protection may well be there in different ways. Prayer is how we speak to God and express our faith, both in good times and in bad, asking for God’s strength and protection. God will not stop acts of evil, because God has given us freewill. If we choose to do evil, others will suffer. If the Lord kept intervening when someone was about to do something evil, then we wouldn’t have free will. Our actions have consequences.

 

If we believe that our true life is in heaven, then this will help us not to lose hope. Firstly, no matter what we suffer in this life, it is temporary. Also, if our true life is in heaven, then when those we love die, it means that they have gone ahead of us, sooner than we expected. Sooner or later we will catch up. Just believing that much colors how we see this life and helps us not to lose hope.

 

One of the most important things that we can do in this life is to bring the hope of our faith to other people. Our hope means that we don’t despair when everything goes wrong, because we know that it is temporary. People need that hope, more than ever at this time. The anger and rage that so many people are filled with, is a sign that they have lost hope and lost sight of our true purpose on earth. If we understand our purpose on earth, which is to love God and to love and serve the people around us, that will affect everyone around us. I can’t fix the war in the Ukraine, or in Palestine, but I can influence the world around me, for better or worse. If I am filled with the hope that our faith gives us, that in turn will be a light shining in the darkness of the times we are in. Bringing hope to people is so important, because all of us need hope.

 

I am often surprised at how many people smile at me, when they see me, because I am a priest. What they are smiling at is the hope that I represent. Seeing someone dedicated to God, gives hope to people, because we are bombarded with so much negativity. But in order to have that hope, I have to fill my mind and heart with the things of God, not the things of the world. If I immerse myself in all the negativity and hatred around me, I will be filled with it and I will bring it to others.

 

Recently I was picking up a pizza. There was a big man in front of me, also waiting. The guy who owned the pizza place, Alva Market, knows me to say hello to and he called out, ‘Hey Father, how is it going?’ and I responded, ‘Great. Thank God.’ The guy in front of me turned around and repeated, ‘Yes. Thank God.’ It was as if he was happy to hear someone say, ‘Thank God.’ What we bring to the world affects the people around us, for better or worse.

 

When we hear of all the terrible things that go on in our world, such as abortion, human trafficking, wars and so much hatre and injustice, we can feel very helpless. But going back to the mustard seed it is good to remember that even with very little faith we can do a lot. You could be cynical and ask, ‘What difference will my faith make?’ But if you remember in September 2013 when the US and France were threatening a military strike against Syria, Pope Francis asked everyone to pray and fast for one day. Just after this President Putin stepped in and offered to work out a deal with Syria over its chemical weapons and a possible war was averted. We never know what our faith can do, even if it is smaller than a mustard seed.

 

Let your light shine before all, so that seeing your good works they may glorify your Father in heaven. (Matt 5:16)