tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15280494425808596042024-03-24T23:32:34.742+00:00Fr. Murchadh's HomiliesMurchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.comBlogger663125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-5016119669034748672024-03-22T17:20:00.001+00:002024-03-22T17:20:17.017+00:00Palm Sunday. On the need to forgive<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRa5qL26BJ_M68IljGrhAa8NEZd6sfGgLiA14i5n5Mdg4v70VmPx6jnQFZqv9hTBfBD853pAwAov665rV1Ud_b-2adR3gsCX1tU1fPUTJlPd12eEhUQs7JGHU1TvN0TO6dGP0TRhxXZ6Dajp3BtoYblgpcKs365i1S3uLi48YlUdYUFrUVmBaMAsm_o84/s3175/IMG_4196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2246" data-original-width="3175" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRa5qL26BJ_M68IljGrhAa8NEZd6sfGgLiA14i5n5Mdg4v70VmPx6jnQFZqv9hTBfBD853pAwAov665rV1Ud_b-2adR3gsCX1tU1fPUTJlPd12eEhUQs7JGHU1TvN0TO6dGP0TRhxXZ6Dajp3BtoYblgpcKs365i1S3uLi48YlUdYUFrUVmBaMAsm_o84/w400-h283/IMG_4196.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">One
of the things that seems to cause the most division that people so
often tell me about in confession, is bitterness in families over
things like wills, where land or money has been left to someone and
others in the family feel hard done by; sometimes over children who
won’t forgive parents for their mistakes, or parents who won’t
forgive their children, but especially over wills. It is very sad,
but it is amazing how much of it exists. We decide that we can’t
forgive, or won’t forgive, because we have been hurt too deeply.
Unforgiveness is probably the single biggest obstacle to God’s
helping us in this life. If I refuse to forgive someone, I am
preventing the Lord from helping me, because this is one thing that
the Lord asks us to do. </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">No
doubt all of us here expect to be forgiven by God when we die. That’s
what our faith teaches us, but I wonder do all of us feel that we
also have to forgive those who have wronged us. This is exactly what
the Lord tells us we <i>must</i> do, if we hope to be forgiven
ourselves. We say it every time we pray the Our Father: ‘Forgive us
our sins <i>as we forgive</i> those who sin against us. Jesus used
many parables to emphasize this. The landlord who forgave one of his
debtors a large debt which he was unable to pay, when he asked for
mercy. But then that same man went out and refused to forgive one of
his debtors for a much smaller amount. The first landlord condemned
him for his lack of mercy and threw him in jail. And Jesus finishes
with the words, ‘And that is how my heavenly Father will treat you,
unless you forgive your brother from your heart’ (Matthew 18:35).</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
is also a common misunderstanding about forgiveness, and it is this:
many people have the idea that in order to forgive someone who has
hurt me, I must <i>feel</i> like forgiving them. In other words I
must have got to the stage where I no longer feel the hurt, and so
therefore I can forgive. That is not how it works. If most of us were
to wait until we actually felt like forgiving someone who has hurt
us, we would probably never forgive? This is where people get stuck:
forgiveness is not based on how you feel, but is a decision of our
will. I decide to forgive someone, because the Lord asks me to and by
doing that I then open the door to allow the Lord to begin to help me
get over the hurt. Or to put it the other way around: if I refuse to
forgive someone, I am preventing God from helping me to be healed of
the hurt. I will not begin to heal as long as the unforgiveness
remains.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDsPHxwZcbwqfUgeiq7s-4prMn4MOw9fGGMJdDwaTJBhq9iRI3Q5rWFYr4GhGLTaZgs13KYBm15F653z37zDMBuo-9IVXfhXkX8OKcSgIKYTDcw83f-pnyhRKHLQaKR89P7Rp_FhbFhFahVkecjtYScqmZVnW7pd9N3TluhNVmslVNVLV7cWIAxQz_xk/s3874/IMG_4198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2515" data-original-width="3874" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDsPHxwZcbwqfUgeiq7s-4prMn4MOw9fGGMJdDwaTJBhq9iRI3Q5rWFYr4GhGLTaZgs13KYBm15F653z37zDMBuo-9IVXfhXkX8OKcSgIKYTDcw83f-pnyhRKHLQaKR89P7Rp_FhbFhFahVkecjtYScqmZVnW7pd9N3TluhNVmslVNVLV7cWIAxQz_xk/w400-h260/IMG_4198.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="text-align: left;">‘</span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"><span lang="en-IE">Lord
I forgive John, please bless him and help me to heal.’ When we
decide to forgive, we are not saying that what happened no longer
matters, or that it wasn’t wrong, or that we no longer feel the
pain. We are choosing to forgive the person, so that we can heal. We
are letting go of the resentment. We may have to say those words many
more times throughout our life, but as long as we do, then we will
begin to heal. If I refuse to forgive someone, I become consumed with
the hurt, the resentment and anger. It eats away at me like a cancer.
I am the one who suffers. You may feel that by refusing to forgive,
you are punishing the other person. The truth is they may not even be
aware of the hurt they have caused. You are the one who is suffering
and the key to healing is in your hands.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
deeper the hurt, the harder it is to forgive and the Lord knows that.
That is why Jesus spoke about it so many times. When the Apostles
asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He gave them the Our Father.
The Our Father is a way of praying, not just a prayer and two whole
lines of it are to do with forgiveness. ‘Forgive us our sins as we
forgive those who sin against us.’ If we expect to be forgiven, we
too must forgive.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is a terrible thing to meet someone in the later years of their life
who has refused to forgive. You can see it in their face. They are
angry and bitter and they are not at peace. That is not what the Lord
wants for any of us and so He shows us the way out. The key is in our
own hands.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
you find yourself angry with someone, it usually means you need to
forgive them. I doubt if there is anyone who doesn’t need to
forgive someone and so many of the stories people tell me are about
serious injustices. The bigger the wrong we have experienced the
harder it is to forgive. But remind yourself, it is not about how you
feel. It is a decision.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoM4EluMiQXSBTIpOyRr3GP9pzpqSA6CKIgym7lj72DWbrO6giyCDu1qTj782UY0y0Cqzb47XVcrzzQXpRPPeSzTyA4OZpFVmfHvD0bOOxR8wFiBIH4dW0rqrGIR77J_VcYwhujfK92ebNyZeSjBeFm7FCOQqP7Y4w3XSEQ1E3zDz4-g_WSljG7s2fxN4/s5184/IMG_4241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoM4EluMiQXSBTIpOyRr3GP9pzpqSA6CKIgym7lj72DWbrO6giyCDu1qTj782UY0y0Cqzb47XVcrzzQXpRPPeSzTyA4OZpFVmfHvD0bOOxR8wFiBIH4dW0rqrGIR77J_VcYwhujfK92ebNyZeSjBeFm7FCOQqP7Y4w3XSEQ1E3zDz4-g_WSljG7s2fxN4/w400-h266/IMG_4241.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">St.
Maria Goretti died just before her 12<sup>th</sup> birthday, in 1902.
She was stabbed to death by a man called Alessandro Serenelli, who
tried to rape her. She wouldn’t give in to him and in a rage he
repeatedly stabbed her. Some years after he was imprisoned for her
murder, she appeared to him in a dream and gave him 15 lilies. He
realized that each one represented each of the times that he had
stabbed her and that she had forgiven him. From then on, he became
deeply repentant, so much so that he was eventually let out of jail
early (after 27 years) because of his exemplary behaviour. After he
was released he went to her mother to beg her forgiveness. His mother
said to him, ‘If Maria can forgive you, then I must forgive you
too.’ I can’t imagine the grief and anger that her mother must
have gone through, but she forgave Alessandro and I have no doubt
that will have brought her peace and set her free. </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
you are dying, will the injustices carried out against you still
matter? Will you still refuse to forgive? We will not get into heaven
until we forgive those who have wronged us and that is why it is so
important. The key to healing is in our own hands, but it is a
decision, not a feeling.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.26in;">‘<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE">Forgive
us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.’</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-89581705365990204822024-03-17T19:56:00.000+00:002024-03-17T19:56:20.838+00:005th Sunday of Lent Year B (Gospel: John 12:20-33) Unless a wheat grain falls to the ground and dies it remains just a single grain<p></p><p align="CENTER" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsG8_OlL_HlrV36vGiDIbTzHctXryLoHkNk3PJE1Udc-A1qrfQedctGWjdBPW3vLSKGbgCv-w3H86kGOWlzrAWegOVTKa4ayraDjgno05ysuS-2qJVFKhqDzX9xlobmazvNeSG6ThjjZ2TfyXlZrXp3_gmYPGpbw-PuEgASq5QQTtmp6F4e62b_Le5hCc/s3264/Bluebell%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsG8_OlL_HlrV36vGiDIbTzHctXryLoHkNk3PJE1Udc-A1qrfQedctGWjdBPW3vLSKGbgCv-w3H86kGOWlzrAWegOVTKa4ayraDjgno05ysuS-2qJVFKhqDzX9xlobmazvNeSG6ThjjZ2TfyXlZrXp3_gmYPGpbw-PuEgASq5QQTtmp6F4e62b_Le5hCc/w400-h300/Bluebell%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="CENTER" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p><p align="CENTER" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;">‘<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Unless
a wheat grain falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a single
grain. But if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.’</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
survey was done in America a few years ago to see who were the
happiest people and why. The survey found that the happiest people
were old African-American women. The second happiest people were old
Hispanic women. The third happiest group of people were old women in
general. Why? Because they had suffered so much throughout their
lives. They had grown so much through what they had suffered and now
they were generally quite content and very little would put them out.
And I notice the same thing with many of the older people in my work.
Most of them are quite happy and patient, much more patient that
young people. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
always wonder when we see people suffering, why they have to suffer
so much, especially at the end of their life. We feel they have had
enough suffering and they should be able to relax a bit now. Today,
euthanasia is presented to us as a way to avoid suffering, but that
goes against what God teaches us. Only God can give and take life.
Also, the suffering that people go through can be transformative.
Sometimes you can see how it changes people and families. If we
deliberately cut that out through euthanasia, we may be depriving
someone of a really important step in their journey, only we can’t
see it. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
you think of times of suffering that you have been through and people
go through the most horrendous ordeals. But when you look back, you
can often see that it helped us to grow, mature, become wiser, more
compassionate, even though we would rather not go through it.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
look at death as the end of the life we know and to us this life is
everything, because it is the only thing we know. When we are dying
we are coming to the end of all that we see as good and worthwhile.
But if you imagine what it would be like if we could step over that
threshold into the next life and look back. Then we wouldn’t see
death as the end of everything, rather as the final and most
important step of the journey to heaven. Then we would probably
realize how important it is to be ready for that very important step.
We would realize that this life is only a preparation for the next
life. You could call it a training ground, to learn the ways of God
and to choose to love him and follow in his steps, or not.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9l-xxso7t7d-fAX-kPN4vGYQTDvnrS2SluuNh4y52pZPzuE7V4KvtQHW132IMHHFzyY3sFUJgKHmKs2UT7LSMeXmVKtxqwQm1h1BUbjxg8OUdsr2p33Ojvds2Hd8Kq2VLFj8ICqQNoeNOpgRAdL6p1okc4oUbNdP7eqruLOySWK3ljXW14Kldd4fWRQ/s3264/IMG_0654.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9l-xxso7t7d-fAX-kPN4vGYQTDvnrS2SluuNh4y52pZPzuE7V4KvtQHW132IMHHFzyY3sFUJgKHmKs2UT7LSMeXmVKtxqwQm1h1BUbjxg8OUdsr2p33Ojvds2Hd8Kq2VLFj8ICqQNoeNOpgRAdL6p1okc4oUbNdP7eqruLOySWK3ljXW14Kldd4fWRQ/w400-h300/IMG_0654.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
the next life is forever, then the preparation that we make for it in
this life is extremely important. God knows this better than we do,
so He helps us to learn in the most effective way possible, which is
often through suffering. It’s not that God makes us suffer.
Suffering is part of this life, but God uses it to help us to learn
what is really important. And you can see in the hospitals, the
effect that suffering often has on people. People who sometimes come
in arrogant and full of themselves, are soon humbled and realize that
they are no better than anyone else, and that they too have to wait
their turn.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
remember visiting a man who had just been admitted to hospital. He
was there with his wife. His wife told me that he was a movie
producer and obviously wanted me to realize how important he was. She
kept emphasizing how important he was. A few days later he was still
there, but was just like all the other patients, having to wait his
turn. His earthly importance didn’t make him any more special when
it came to his mortality.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
says in the second reading, ‘Although he was Son, Christ learnt to
obey through suffering’ and that ‘He was made perfect through
suffering.’ Christ didn’t want to suffer any more than we do, but
he trusted in the Father’s will. If you think of Jesus in the
Garden of Gethsemane. He begged the Father if there was any way that
he could avoid going through what was facing him. ‘Father if it is
possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will, but
yours’ (Mt 26:39). We don’t want to suffer either, but we must
also learn to trust that God knows what He is doing. One of the
hardest parts of suffering is that we can’t see any point to it, or
any good outcome from it. If we knew that it would have a good
outcome, that would help us endure, but we can’t see anything.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
society that we live in tells us continually that we should have
everything as we want it and that we shouldn’t have to suffer.
Everything is for our pleasure and our fulfillment, but that’s not
what Jesus taught us. He said, ‘Try to enter by the narrow door’
(Lk 13.24). And he said, ‘Anyone who loves his life loses it’. In
other words, if you want to follow the ways of God, which lead to
heaven, then it will require change, humility and God will teach you
how to grow in your spirit, so that when we die, we will be more
ready to meet him. That means we won’t always be able to have
everything as we want it. We are called to sacrifice, rather than
seek self-fulfillment. This generally happens through the ongoing
challenges that we face through our life. You who have children know
how much sacrifice is involved in raising a family and in being
married and in religious life and in any way of life where we try to
follow the Lord.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is no wonder Satan offers us so much pleasure and temptation, because
he doesn’t want us to get to heaven and this world is the only one
in which he can destroy us, by trying to make us choose against God.
Jesus called him ‘The prince of this world, a liar and deceiver,’
because he tempts us through this world. He tells us, ‘God doesn’t
love you. See how He makes you suffer. God is unjust. If God were
really good, He would make your life happy.’ We are in the middle
of a spiritual battle and that’s why we need to arm ourselves with
the spiritual strength that God gives us. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS13ZLfBON1FhkwKd3A9Y8retV4mYh1ntLo9kRrO2A4Ct9SHQTaF8fP7kU2C9v7vUD-EZagNdfWcnDHYZAEyrr3GrcEgyK6hS-Sp8MbF6xfIkRO4A8rT-1-BszDEIa3Qh6fVMoKuBrOk-uNj-A03z0-AUUg-CyeBPk2KW3O2pbRNwudU82SUc3UpxNoLQ/s3264/IMG_1274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS13ZLfBON1FhkwKd3A9Y8retV4mYh1ntLo9kRrO2A4Ct9SHQTaF8fP7kU2C9v7vUD-EZagNdfWcnDHYZAEyrr3GrcEgyK6hS-Sp8MbF6xfIkRO4A8rT-1-BszDEIa3Qh6fVMoKuBrOk-uNj-A03z0-AUUg-CyeBPk2KW3O2pbRNwudU82SUc3UpxNoLQ/w400-h300/IMG_1274.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">St.
Paul writes, ‘Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of
this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the
heavenly places’ (Ephesians 6:12). How did he know this? Because
God revealed it to him. But if we live as though none of this is
real, as so many people do, then we leave ourselves wide open to the
workings of Satan and his minions, who are constantly trying to lead
us away from God, with worldly temptations and what seems to be the
easier way. </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">How
do we fight the dark spiritual powers? Through prayer, reading God’s
word, receiving the Eucharist at mass, going to confession and living
as the Lord shows us how to live. The Scriptures keep reminding us of
what is true and acceptable to God. They are usually the opposite of
worldly values and this is why we need to keep hearing them, so that
we are not deceived.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
I must ask myself, do I want to live what God shows me? It is the
narrow winding path, but it is also the path that leads to God. If we
allow him to, God will transform us through all that we go through
here on earth, the good and bad.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;">‘<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Unless
a wheat grain falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a single
grain, but if it dies it produces much fruit.’</span></span></p>
<h2 class="western" style="line-height: 115%;"> </h2>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p><br /><p></p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-9452506625707175952024-03-09T15:31:00.002+00:002024-03-09T15:31:52.328+00:004th Sunday of Lent Yr B (Gospel: John 3:14-21) Forgiveness and repentance<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_5XY0pZmpKgTrw0HWOeJ_4gqL0JcuIELuIvaVOrntrUDhhyH5qfGm334TdKrsawnGWZwcxBSfjtNwO8rQVGvwUDTwjRNQ39BN4Ue26jwuTxZhQBV25_c95UxfRhNY-kdiI1As4XH2U3QHXb6df1DX-FW9KMa_zTYTEGppK1PsjQ7lrSdYUgvF7rBxhw/s2400/confession.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1557" data-original-width="2400" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_5XY0pZmpKgTrw0HWOeJ_4gqL0JcuIELuIvaVOrntrUDhhyH5qfGm334TdKrsawnGWZwcxBSfjtNwO8rQVGvwUDTwjRNQ39BN4Ue26jwuTxZhQBV25_c95UxfRhNY-kdiI1As4XH2U3QHXb6df1DX-FW9KMa_zTYTEGppK1PsjQ7lrSdYUgvF7rBxhw/w400-h260/confession.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Every
time I celebrate the mass there is one line more than any other that
seems to stay in my mind. It is the last line of the prayer the
priest says over the chalice at the consecration: ‘This is the
chalice of my blood. It will be shed for you and for many <i>so that
sins may be forgiven</i>.’ That phrase, ‘so that sins may be
forgiven,’ is really what the whole mass is about, and indeed what
the whole of Jesus life was about: ‘So that sins may be forgiven.’</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jesus
came among us so that our sins could be taken away, so that we could
be healed. That fact alone should give us great courage, because it
means that God is totally for us, even when we have fallen into sin.
The Lord is not interested in our sin, He is interested in us. He
wants us to be healed, to be at peace, to be happy and to reach our
full potential. ‘I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord’
(Phil 4:4). And that is also why He challenges us to repent and to
keep coming back to God, no matter what happens, because God knows
much better than we do that sin is the one thing that can block us
from God and God is ultimately our happiness. If we lose God we will
also lose our happiness, because nothing else can fulfil us.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
is a great story in the Old Testament about King David. It would make
a great movie. David—who is now a very powerful king with
everything he could ask for—is walking one day on the roof of his
house and he sees a beautiful woman in a nearby garden taking a bath.
He asks who she is and he is told that she is Bathsheba, the <i>wife</i>
of Uriah the Hittite. She is married. Because he is king and used to
getting his own way, he has her brought to him and he sleeps with
her. Some time later she sends a message to him to tell him that she
is pregnant. Now he is afraid, because he knows he is going to be
found out. So he sends for her husband Uriah, who is away in battle,
fighting for him. When Uriah comes, David asks him how the war is
going, how the morale is among the men, etc. Later he invites him to
dine with him and then he sends him away and says, ‘Go home to your
wife and tomorrow I’ll let you return to the battle.’ But Uriah
doesn’t go to his house. Perhaps he is suspicious. Instead he
sleeps at the door of the palace with the servants. </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
next day when David finds out that he didn’t go home to his wife,
he invites him again to come and eat with him. This time he gets
Uriah drunk and then tells him to go home to his wife, but again
Uriah sleeps at the gate of the palace. Now David is getting
desperate, so the following day, David sends Uriah back to the battle
with a letter to his senior officer telling him to place Uriah in the
thick of the battle and then to pull back so that he is killed. So
Uriah goes back to the war carrying his own death warrant and he is
killed.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0JOCB-9Wxi441k7TgMWc7JcQqpR_EBSRZzf5nHCs_TaY6kr0hb9Ai1oZk9mOw71a4KOxYCeoc4hVY-Wt0q_uG21aUigXO0eOpEGkEZ2TizM5aswhKvOy2R2qz1YIURaqg9p_zQ8UVszXa4TuZCzPYeUkHBUqvEgcGkpnx0rIZ_JwpqDfpjfB7hxj-oaw/s500/Woman%20at%20the%20well.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0JOCB-9Wxi441k7TgMWc7JcQqpR_EBSRZzf5nHCs_TaY6kr0hb9Ai1oZk9mOw71a4KOxYCeoc4hVY-Wt0q_uG21aUigXO0eOpEGkEZ2TizM5aswhKvOy2R2qz1YIURaqg9p_zQ8UVszXa4TuZCzPYeUkHBUqvEgcGkpnx0rIZ_JwpqDfpjfB7hxj-oaw/w400-h266/Woman%20at%20the%20well.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
we have lust, adultery, lies, betrayal and murder, all committed by
the so-called ‘great’ King David. But because God loves David, He
doesn’t let him away with it and so he sends the prophet Nathan to
David, who tells him the following story.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nathan
says to David, ‘There was once a rich man who lived in a city. He
had all he wanted: huge farms, many servants etc. There was also a
poor man in the same city who had just one little lamb. And he loved
the lamb like one of his own children. One day a stranger came to the
rich man, but instead of taking one of his own flock for the meal,
the rich man took the poor man’s lamb and had it killed instead.’
When David heard this he jumped up in a rage and said, ‘As the Lord
lives, the man who did this deserves to die.’ And Nathan says to
David: ‘You are the man.’</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now
David is considered one of the greatest kings of ancient Israel and
the reason is because of what he does next. When David hears the
Prophet Nathan’s accusation he says, ‘I have sinned against the
Lord.’ David was powerful enough to be able to do anything he
wanted, but when God challenges him, he is also big enough to confess
that he has done wrong and he repents of the sin.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is because God loves us that He challenges us to acknowledge our
wrongdoing and repent of it, so that we can remain close to him. The
Lord doesn’t want our downfall. On the contrary, the Lord wants us
to be able to be at peace, which is why He offers us the
extraordinary gift of his mercy and forgiveness through confession
and we can have this gift as often as we ask for it, but we must ask
for it. Sadly, many have come to see confession as a burden, or as
something inflicted on us, a duty, an obligation; but this is to see
it completely backwards. Confession is a gift of healing that God has
given us, so that we can be free and live in peace, because that is
what God wants for us. God challenges us to confess, so that we can
be healed. It is for our benefit.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SWm2NDFLND1KWKhT_UkIXJiYAEjEMF9pdgYNWzbnRdPZhY658c7sOP9JkgLkL3XjdOJmfnPBEbYnq5vHDDfwVxynb788bpNEcWezrpqqFTd9ZPwE4fxxxiMB7fpYes2Up3_VKvH6ZywCivZCeDYp4psLqH8in0QdhwIqs58TAL_Gua6cxFN_LLZA7i0/s1000/Conversation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SWm2NDFLND1KWKhT_UkIXJiYAEjEMF9pdgYNWzbnRdPZhY658c7sOP9JkgLkL3XjdOJmfnPBEbYnq5vHDDfwVxynb788bpNEcWezrpqqFTd9ZPwE4fxxxiMB7fpYes2Up3_VKvH6ZywCivZCeDYp4psLqH8in0QdhwIqs58TAL_Gua6cxFN_LLZA7i0/w400-h266/Conversation.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="text-align: left;">The
greatest healing ministry of the Church is the forgiveness of sins.
‘You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church... Whoever’s
sins you forgive they are forgiven; whoever’s sins you retain, they
are retained’ (Mat 16:18ff.). And in St. John’s Gospel after the
resurrection Jesus appears to the Apostles and says, ‘Receive the
Holy Spirit. Those whose sins you forgive are forgiven. Those whose
sins you retain are retained.’ (Jn 20:22). And now the Lord
continues to offer us that forgiveness through the priesthood, which
is a wonderful thing because it is a very concrete way of knowing,
through another human being, that our sins are completely forgiven.
We need that concreteness and God knows that.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
we watch the chaos of our own society around us and the evil that
seems to continue to grow, the best way we can begin to bring about
change is by repenting ourselves. We ask God’s forgiveness for our
own sins. That is the way to get ready for the coming of Jesus.
There is no point in pointing out the sins of others if I am not
willing to begin by acknowledging and confessing my own sins. That is
the way to begin to improve life in our families, our workplaces and
our world. We must begin with ourselves.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why
do I have to confess to a priest?</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">God
in his wisdom, knows exactly what helps us most and He knows that we
need to be held accountable. And so He gave us the priesthood, so
that we can make ourselves accountable to one of his ministers and
that also takes humility on our part. Who wants to acknowledge to
another person that they have sinned? No one, because there is a
certain humility needed. But God also knows that that is the only way
we should come before him, in humility, acknowledging our own
sinfulness. There is no other way we should come before God. And if
you find yourself saying, ‘I don’t need to confess to a priest, I
can tell God I am sorry myself,’ then you are telling God that you
don’t need the gift that He gave us through the priesthood. ‘I
don’t need your gift. I can do it my own way.’</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
Matthew chapter 9, we have the account of a paralysed man being
brought to Jesus on a stretcher, in the hope that Jesus would heal
him. Jesus begins by saying, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven.’
And the Pharisees say, ‘Who is this man to say he can forgive
sins?’ And I’m sure the onlookers could care less about the
forgiveness of the man’s sins. They were hoping for his healing.
But then Jesus goes on to say, ‘“But to show you that the Son of
man has the power to forgive sins,” He said to the paralytic, “Get
up. Take up your mat and go home.”’ And the man was healed.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why
did Jesus start by saying, “Your sins are forgiven”? because He
is showing us that there is a direct connection between our begin
healed and the forgiveness of our sins. We tend to focus only on the
physical, but we are body and spirit. The two are intimately linked.
What happens to one affects the other.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.3in;">
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05WXhO4mL3SnDZzhegpQ8eUzbD0dQ29X1TMTsNSS7wF7stSrlEdOytb-Hx96ckBxxltsDoZvsI6MvdGNDKofHIKNj_bf_73-PNwEAFqB9FYw_sVoe9abOSI8xSpRoejCpvpNHy_EIeYXTxkinyPkacS-3xgjmzZFzpFY574LcYeGfS6OkOVUfJ2JQk5A/s1280/healing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05WXhO4mL3SnDZzhegpQ8eUzbD0dQ29X1TMTsNSS7wF7stSrlEdOytb-Hx96ckBxxltsDoZvsI6MvdGNDKofHIKNj_bf_73-PNwEAFqB9FYw_sVoe9abOSI8xSpRoejCpvpNHy_EIeYXTxkinyPkacS-3xgjmzZFzpFY574LcYeGfS6OkOVUfJ2JQk5A/w400-h225/healing.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.3in;">
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Receiving
God’s grace through confession, heals us. One of the privileges of
being a priest is to hear confession and to see the change that takes
place in people when they confess, especially when they confess
serious sins they have been carrying for a long time. You can see the
change in their face. A burden is lifted from them. They become more
at peace. That doesn’t happen when you tell God you are sorry by
yourself. That happens when you confess to a priest and I know
because I see it constantly and it is a beautiful thing to see.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
often I hear someone confessing a serious sin from their past, which
they have been too ashamed to confess up to that point. When they
confess it, they often cry and you can see the burden that has been
lifted from them. That is the grace of confession, the healing that
comes from confession. I’m sure they told God they were sorry for
that sin hundreds of times, but it is not the same. They weren’t
healed when they did, because they didn’t do it the way God asks us
to. God wants to heal us, but we need to listen to what God tells us
to do. In the letter of St. James (5:16) he says, ‘Confess your
sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be
healed.’</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">You
often hear me talk about apparitions, because they are important and
heaven speaks to us through them. One of the things that is always
said by Our Lady, is that we need to confess our sins to a priest;
not by ourselves, but to a priest, because this is what brings
healing and because this is what God asks us to do.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
have a psychological need to tell someone about our sins. When you
listen to these chat shows on TV or the radio, when people tell the
whole world about their infidelities, that is confession. Confessing
our sins is part of what sets us free. When we confess to a priest in
confession we also receive God’s grace, which you could call divine
strength, because God wants to heal us. It is his gift to us. So if
you can do one important thing this Lent, go to confession and don’t
let the devil tell you that you don’t need to. Satan does not want
you to confess, because he knows how powerful it is.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.3in;">
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 115%;">‘<span style="font-size: small;">This
is the chalice of my blood…It will be poured out for you and for
many, so that sins may be forgiven.’</span></p>
<p lang="en-US"> </p>
<p lang="en-US"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-39024167305153911212024-03-03T00:41:00.000+00:002024-03-03T00:41:34.654+00:003rd Sunday of Lent, Year B (John 2:13-25) The commandments are our freedom<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIIXGc23VMz9n9vDXaB3FJ3NCahos_FBSey1_l2U-1K3JvCZwiPn-7lcP2VT_UKI9iBqH8qe6f4oISk_AkGgM0M7Fgv-bZnDumrOmOBoOqSft1jTcybVMIzQvpz1Isi4OsdS1MIwHNLCivk0FRJ7y91lmjg8L6cslethv14rtTAutALqd3G1L7v3frTcc/s4993/IMG_7914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3329" data-original-width="4993" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIIXGc23VMz9n9vDXaB3FJ3NCahos_FBSey1_l2U-1K3JvCZwiPn-7lcP2VT_UKI9iBqH8qe6f4oISk_AkGgM0M7Fgv-bZnDumrOmOBoOqSft1jTcybVMIzQvpz1Isi4OsdS1MIwHNLCivk0FRJ7y91lmjg8L6cslethv14rtTAutALqd3G1L7v3frTcc/w400-h266/IMG_7914.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="CENTER" lang="en-IE"><br /></p><p align="CENTER" lang="en-IE"><br /></p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">I grew up in a
large family, with three brothers and three sisters. It was a
strict enough family and of course most of the time I resented the
various rules we were given. I wanted to have things my way, but
I wasn’t allowed to have them my way all the time, or there would
have been chaos. Now that I am older, I can see the wisdom of a
lot of the rules that we were given, but at the time they often
seemed unfair, or annoying at the very least. What we were
taught served its purpose and helped to form us as children. It
helped us to learn that there are basic guidelines that we all must
adhere to if a family is to work.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">A few years
ago a friend of mine was at a business conference in Dublin and one
of the speakers was saying that as a society we have forgotten some
of the basic principles of living, such as honesty and integrity,
respect for the human being. He was saying it was largely
because of that neglect that we ended up in the last financial crisis
we found ourselves in. Honesty and respect for the human being
should be the norm and not the exception. If these are the
principles out of which we operate, our society will be a lot
healthier. </span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">A young man
asked me was it wrong to lie? He was an intelligent man too. One
of the commandments tells us ‘You must not bear false witness’,
that also means, ‘You must not lie.’ That gives you an idea of
the kind of confusion that is around us.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">I know that in
the past many people have had bad experiences of an over-demanding
Church, which for a while seemed to focus too much on sin and
everything that was wrong. I heard an old priest in Ireland joking
that in the Church in Ireland of the 1950s, almost everything was a
mortal sin and everything else was forbidden! That is not
healthy. God wants us to be alive and to enjoy our life on earth. If
religion just becomes a series of laws, then something is wrong. The
teachings of our faith are meant to help us grow in our relationship
with God and grow as people. God’s teachings are there to help
us. The most basic of these are the Commandments and the 613
laws that God taught Moses to govern our whole society. </span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Everything God
gives us and asks of us, is to help us. God tells us that if we want
to do well as a society, if we want to flourish, then we need to
stick to these principles: It is wrong to murder, to commit adultery,
to steal, to lie, to cheat. We must honour God and keep God at
the center of all that we do. And that includes keeping Sunday as a
holy day, a day when God is worshiped because God deserves to be
worshiped. </span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSq5S3f_Ji2aGQ-6bTsqtX0AxYIriwhRZbJ5F3ldCAn_CWBA8qh4v3AXNsN2eWELgTtCf4gYXNuvwavECviCF5JloNdl80XLYmeEApzsPALRWcVYhRRKyReu3QbFhOoVLjjwKN5h3EKiTVpdlDczRR3mxqzkbGrpHTb_HO6SuA8lMj-f29XZOdYf2h2w/s5184/IMG_7929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSq5S3f_Ji2aGQ-6bTsqtX0AxYIriwhRZbJ5F3ldCAn_CWBA8qh4v3AXNsN2eWELgTtCf4gYXNuvwavECviCF5JloNdl80XLYmeEApzsPALRWcVYhRRKyReu3QbFhOoVLjjwKN5h3EKiTVpdlDczRR3mxqzkbGrpHTb_HO6SuA8lMj-f29XZOdYf2h2w/w400-h266/IMG_7929.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">When the
Jewish people remained faithful to God, their society flourished. The
Commandments gave them the direction they needed, so that things
would work for them as individuals and as a society and that included
all kinds of laws for day-to-day living (613 laws), even down to laws
as to how to conduct business fairly, so that everyone would benefit.
The wisdom in the Old Testament—especially the first five books of
the Old Testament which make up the Torah, or Law—is amazing, so
amazing that it could only have come from God.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Commandments are essentially a blueprint for living. If we
follow these commandments and do our best to live them, we will do
well as individuals and flourish as a society. God’s teachings
help us to grow closer to him and to become 'the best version of
ourselves’ that we can be. That is basically what God told the
people through Moses, some 4000 years ago and those principles have
not changed. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Throughout the
centuries the people continually strayed away from the Commandments
and worshipped false gods and when they did this their society began
to fall apart and their enemies began to gain the upper hand, like
what we see happening around us. Then they realised what they
had done and they asked forgiveness from God and tried to be faithful
again. The Bible is essentially a collection of stories showing
this. The people continually strayed away from God, get into
trouble, then realise their mistake and ask forgiveness and God
always helps them back on their feet, helping them that God must be
at the center. </span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Another thing
that has not changed is that we are still very good at coming up with
reasons why we don’t have to keep God’s Commandments. People
have always been good at coming up with excuses, but ultimately we
are going against the very thing that will help us. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">We talk a lot
about freedom in our country and all the people who have fought and
laid down their lives so that we can be free and thank God we do
enjoy great freedom. But true freedom comes about when we choose what
is good. Doing anything we want sounds like freedom, but if it is
without God given laws to guide us, then it usually means we lean
towards what is sinful. Living by the principles God gives us is
what leads us to true freedom. Choosing to live a life of sin
may seem like freedom, but in fact it is a kind of slavery, because
what is sinful will ultimately destroy us and it does not bring
happiness. Saying that we must abide by laws may sound like we are
not free, but in fact that is what leads us to the greatest interior
freedom. No laws lead to chaos, both in our society and as
individuals. </span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlO6aBrpAMurAvhnQy5e08TMIRjIrBgWs-5xW-uXV0wd5sFI6ohjvLu1HzJQWsMw5GU-Y19eadIj02N4iwLnyhxgLdw28ve4BB-kMcPAo_szmNZ7wpaojLgUj-cvtwH3IdKck7SrUyPCcfo_82Yhh9Q6hvvVLyaMcXolAiXU00lAQxqeW07UdvLchzOzk/s5184/IMG_7977.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlO6aBrpAMurAvhnQy5e08TMIRjIrBgWs-5xW-uXV0wd5sFI6ohjvLu1HzJQWsMw5GU-Y19eadIj02N4iwLnyhxgLdw28ve4BB-kMcPAo_szmNZ7wpaojLgUj-cvtwH3IdKck7SrUyPCcfo_82Yhh9Q6hvvVLyaMcXolAiXU00lAQxqeW07UdvLchzOzk/w400-h266/IMG_7977.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">God’s
creation has an order to it. We can see in nature that there are
certain natural laws that make everything work. The planets must
follow a particular order or they will crash into each other. Traffic
has to follow a particular order, or there is chaos. As human beings,
we also have to follow a particular order, or there is chaos. God is
the one who shows us exactly what that order is. When our society
decides that we no longer need God or the order that He gives us, it
leads to chaos. </span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">If God is
pushed out, something else will take its place. Communism is a
perfect example. Communism denies God and the state takes God’s
place. Everything must obey the state and the human being has no
worth or value, so it can be disposed of at will.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Adolph Hitler
based his new world order on replacing the Ten Commandments, with a
‘higher order,’ his order, a man-made order.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;">‘<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE">This
is what we are fighting against… the curse of so-called morals…
against the so-called ten commandments.’</span></span><a href="#_edn1" name="_ednref1"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE">[i]</span></span></span></a></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">This was why
he wanted to destroy the Jewish people, because the Ten Commandments
were given to the world through them. As long as they existed, they
were a threat to him, because they brought the Ten Commandments.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jesus spoke
about this in the parable about a demon being cast out:</span></p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">When an
unclean spirit goes out of a man, it roams through arid regions
searching for rest, but on finding none, it says, ‘I shall return
to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning it finds it swept
and clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other
spirits more wicked than itself, who move in and dwell there and the
last condition of that person is worse than the first. (Luke 11:
24-26)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYXHLz516XMkmuzctAI9d7SKJ6HC8fNDxf11Pr2WPl0RaHuKZyTI6P8-C01jGMnhUUkr4MrIFkym2DRd_u3Q0aeteO-vK5__yM0QJVtyxmper4F54rR7omVsKXYc6Ozgq7Purz8tUVqLYnJehoZ5u_GKbc9GIRuj-W7ssdRbpma1Yv50-QcG5gI_KPKw/s3480/IMG_7961.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="3480" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYXHLz516XMkmuzctAI9d7SKJ6HC8fNDxf11Pr2WPl0RaHuKZyTI6P8-C01jGMnhUUkr4MrIFkym2DRd_u3Q0aeteO-vK5__yM0QJVtyxmper4F54rR7omVsKXYc6Ozgq7Purz8tUVqLYnJehoZ5u_GKbc9GIRuj-W7ssdRbpma1Yv50-QcG5gI_KPKw/w400-h272/IMG_7961.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Notice how it
says when the spirit returns it finds things have been <i>put in
order</i>. What Jesus is saying is that if God is not there, there is
a void and something will fill that void.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">In an actual
exorcism, if a person who has been freed of any kind of evil does not
replace that evil—whether it is actually something demonic, or just
destructive behavior like an addiction—the evil will just return.
The various twelve-step programs show this. If someone is to overcome
an addiction, they have to replace that addiction with a healthier
behavior, or they will just relapse. The same thing happens on the
bigger scale too. If God is taken out of society, evil will take its
place. There won’t just remain a void.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE">This
will mean that I can’t have everything my way, but we must choose
who it is we wish to serve. If God asks us to keep Sunday holy,
what takes priority, worshipping God, or something else? If we
live by the Commandments it will make us different from many others,
but it has always been that way and that is where we must decide who
it is we wish to follow.</span> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is tempting
to say, ‘I’m sure God doesn’t mind,’ or ‘God will
understand.’ But if God doesn’t mind, then why did He give
us the commandments in the first place? Why did Jesus get angry
when he saw how the temple was being turned into a business instead
of a place of prayer? There is nowhere in Scripture where it
says God doesn’t mind and all that Jesus taught shows us that God
certainly does mind. </span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE">God
revealed himself to the Jewish people as a moral God, who will hold
us accountable for our actions. That was unique in ancient Israel.
Before this there was never an understanding of God being moral, or
interested in our well-being.</span> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">It keeps going
back to the same thing. God created us to share in his happiness. God
shows us how to live so that we will enjoy that happiness, but we
still have to choose who we will serve.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;">‘<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE">I am
the Lord your God, you shall not have strange gods before me.’</span> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<hr align="LEFT" size="1" width="257" />
<div dir="LTR" id="edn1">
<p style="background: #ffffff; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.06in; margin-left: 0.16in; margin-right: 0.16in;">
<a href="#_ednref1" name="_edn1"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-IE">[i]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Herman
Rauschning, "Preface," </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The
Ten Commandments: Ten Short Novels of Hitler's War Against the Moral
Code</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">,
ed. Armin L. Robinson (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1943), xiii.</span></span></span></p>
<p> </p>
</div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-81472952061280475692024-02-24T18:33:00.000+00:002024-02-24T18:33:07.855+00:002nd Sunday of Lent Year B (Gospel: Mark 9:2-10) God speaks in the cloud<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgreARnjhQ7dbEIdC3SBEfhoXrkZLpvZ1Pg8qo08pfJlNboR8ZcnfVEupEpyUzDSCR4JZK2XDqryZwb96sZFfAKsgcusrIc9uLRIS5s6u2-MZmxnkxBpHOyj7sqQRwSlck7wTTYf2PqssaneLmWpgFmAJWS3QY10ClhvXCYY9oaZaXGMxPpqPU47qLQQWw/s1280/Goat%20in%20tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1280" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgreARnjhQ7dbEIdC3SBEfhoXrkZLpvZ1Pg8qo08pfJlNboR8ZcnfVEupEpyUzDSCR4JZK2XDqryZwb96sZFfAKsgcusrIc9uLRIS5s6u2-MZmxnkxBpHOyj7sqQRwSlck7wTTYf2PqssaneLmWpgFmAJWS3QY10ClhvXCYY9oaZaXGMxPpqPU47qLQQWw/w400-h266/Goat%20in%20tree.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I
have often heard people say that the story of Abraham being asked to
sacrifice his son is so horrific that maybe it shouldn’t be read at
all. It is meant to be horrific. The point is that God asks the
unthinkable of Abraham, but more importantly Abraham trusts God even
though it makes no sense to him. Child sacrifice was common at that
time. Not only was it horrific that he should be asked to sacrifice
his child, but it was also through this only child that God had
promised him many offspring. So, nothing at all made sense. Not only
that, but it was a three-day journey to where he was to make the
sacrifice, so he had three days to think it over. It wasn’t a
spontaneous response. Abraham suddenly finds himself in a situation
of complete darkness, where nothing was right, nothing made sense,
but Abraham trusts God and then everything changes at the last
minute. God put Abraham ‘to the test’ not in the sense of seeing
if he was good enough—God knew how much faith Abraham had to begin
with—but because He wanted to stretch that faith to its full
capacity. It also shows that human sacrifice is not acceptable to
God.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">An
athlete won’t reach his or her full potential unless they are
pushed to their limit. A good trainer should see the potential in
them that they are probably unaware of themselves and if they are a
good trainer, they will push them so that they will reach their full
potential. Sometimes God does the same with us. He knows what we are
capable of, more than we do ourselves and sometimes He stretches, or
pushes us to the limit, because God wants us to reach our full
potential as human beings. The more we remain open to God, the more
He will draw us to himself, bringing us deeper and deeper in our
faith, but that always happens through times of crisis.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Did
you ever notice that sometimes when you pray for a situation to get
better, it gets worse first? There is a temptation to panic and not
pray any more, but if we believe that God is listening to us and
helping us—and Jesus tells us that God always hears and always
answer us (Matt 7:7-8)—then we persevere in prayer and we try to
trust that the Lord will bring the best out of the situation, even
though it often doesn’t make sense to us. That requires faith, and
it’s not easy, but that is how faith grows.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Abraham
was asked to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, but in the end he didn’t
have to go through with it. Because he was willing to do anything
that God asked him and because he showed his remarkable trust in God,
the Lord said that He would bless him greatly:</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I will shower blessings on you, I will make your
descendants as many as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on
the seashore.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzB1dXUU7ob4GpTtQ_DHTPSufK7oXAGgAIp_AdclEhGwLhyphenhyphenWoE9SZTMsFaz1di1dqogNUaZOEs6cdFJ4oitUXyF8S9RSUjpHH_N_F3w1IqV3Z5agYgPFApzuGVwMy7OL6xB8PWZv4fXU-hpGMlYfO8vbmrU6X4OTqff2eRaA3eqLCbMfrwiD4Xy7ufEg/s310/crucifion%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="310" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzB1dXUU7ob4GpTtQ_DHTPSufK7oXAGgAIp_AdclEhGwLhyphenhyphenWoE9SZTMsFaz1di1dqogNUaZOEs6cdFJ4oitUXyF8S9RSUjpHH_N_F3w1IqV3Z5agYgPFApzuGVwMy7OL6xB8PWZv4fXU-hpGMlYfO8vbmrU6X4OTqff2eRaA3eqLCbMfrwiD4Xy7ufEg/w400-h210/crucifion%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">2000
years later God sends his Son, who takes on human flesh and allows
him to be sacrificed for the human race. The Father allowed his Son
to be sacrificed. He did go through with it. It says in the second
reading that because Jesus went through with it, the Father would not
refuse him anything. That is why we can have such confidence when we
pray to Jesus. It says in the second reading that Jesus now
intercedes for us before the Father in heaven. If Jesus, the Son of
God, is interceding for us before the Father, then what could we be
afraid of as long as we remain open to God? Not only that, but we
also have Our Lady interceding for us. Is Jesus going to refuse his
mother anything? Is the Father going to refuse Jesus anything? And
these are the ones who are interceding for us. </span>
</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">In
the Gospel the three disciples Peter, James and John are granted this
wonderful and terrifying vision of Jesus, the Son of God, in all his
glory. Try and picture Jesus with his garments suddenly becoming
bright as light and his face like the sun. You can’t even look at
the sun, but this is what they saw. Moses and Elijah were also there.
How did they know it was them? Because they were given infused
knowledge at that moment. They symbolised everything in the Old
Testament, as we know it. Moses represented the Law, the Ten
Commandments and all the teachings that came with those Commandments
and Elijah represented all the prophets and all they taught. It was
showing that Jesus was the fulfilment of everything that had been
taught/revealed up to that point.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why
were they given this privilege when none of the others were? This
happened just before the Passion, when Jesus would be tortured and
killed before their eyes. Peter, James and John were also the three
who would be with him in the Garden of Gethsemane watching him fall
apart with fear. They were going to need great strength not to
despair themselves, but what is especially worth noting is that after
the vision was over they suddenly found themselves in a cloud where
they could not see anything. Only then did they hear the voice of the
Father speaking to them: </span>
</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.3in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">‘<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE">This
is my Son the Beloved. Listen to him.’</span></span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.3in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGLNX8MFYSSZgLHyQsIss0TAuE7WFPWAng-OCQwMZpfaj3iwzgKXf3KfKqiTYsdqda02QxpNBymc5ePADDoJQylQwz-QADPMQooHCvaXACb4UiLo_uHfCs4u8JloGAxs-dQUKwys2a-EbopziXLoo26oGz_96nruGHhctHllkrSMC3bTKQo5VYBn_OB8/s474/Mountain%20in%20cloud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGLNX8MFYSSZgLHyQsIss0TAuE7WFPWAng-OCQwMZpfaj3iwzgKXf3KfKqiTYsdqda02QxpNBymc5ePADDoJQylQwz-QADPMQooHCvaXACb4UiLo_uHfCs4u8JloGAxs-dQUKwys2a-EbopziXLoo26oGz_96nruGHhctHllkrSMC3bTKQo5VYBn_OB8/w400-h225/Mountain%20in%20cloud.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">God
spoke to them when they were in a cloud. Have you ever been on a
mountain when a cloud suddenly descended? It’s quite frightening
because you cannot see anything. You have to stop and wait. Sometimes
it is only when we are in a ‘cloud’ or darkness/confusion that
God will speak to us most powerfully. When we cannot see the way
forward, and we cannot get any clarity on what to do, then God will
show us what the next step is, but often He will only show us the
next step, not the whole path ahead. This brings us back to the need
to trust that God knows what God is doing when He leaves us in the
dark. We are often left in the dark, especially with regard to our
faith. That just seems to be how it works. Think of when someone
dies. We are left with so many questions and so few answers. We don’t
understand, but God asks us to trust. God asked Abraham to trust him,
because God knew he would be able to, even though He seemed to be
asking the impossible. We are only shown one step at a time, if even
that. If He doesn’t show us the path it is because we don’t
need to see it, only the next step.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">At
this time we are also hearing more and more voices pulling us in
different directions, even within the Church. It can be distressing
and give you the impression that everything is falling apart. It
isn’t. It is sad to see disunity, but we don’t need to listen to
those arguments, we only need to listen to what Jesus taught. That’s
why we keep going back to the Scriptures and the official teachings
of Jesus which come to us through our Church.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">‘<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE">This
is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’</span></span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.3in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-60207993454421916282024-02-18T00:27:00.000+00:002024-02-18T00:27:08.039+00:001st Sunday of Lent. (Gospel: Mark 1:12-15) The temptations of Christ <p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-ARGYKwORWxI7Y5EyE2DSdEAUt8KMBwVpdn4rHmHUUrie8TWbXerxSvkPEf2Pr7mP5GawK11OlrNF4PD3gl4fTcQGOFNQMHGO_E62fM-Kh7z9Ez3xDGm-2hoN-ceqdZ3LSqWV9Na8zfWPedBSZUIs9S2ZCpv4LbVIkhcoqjkm7XjyYjLd1Qs_i8kLok/s595/Judean%20wilderness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="595" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-ARGYKwORWxI7Y5EyE2DSdEAUt8KMBwVpdn4rHmHUUrie8TWbXerxSvkPEf2Pr7mP5GawK11OlrNF4PD3gl4fTcQGOFNQMHGO_E62fM-Kh7z9Ez3xDGm-2hoN-ceqdZ3LSqWV9Na8zfWPedBSZUIs9S2ZCpv4LbVIkhcoqjkm7XjyYjLd1Qs_i8kLok/w400-h225/Judean%20wilderness.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wilderness of Judea</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">Since I was ordained a priest almost 26
years ago, one of the temptations for me has been to wish that God would do
more spectacular things through me, which would convince people of the presence
of God. I believe that God does extraordinary things through the priesthood, most
of all by becoming present in each mass when the bread and wine becomes the
Body and Blood of Christ, but as you know it happens in a very humble and
hidden way. It is not spectacular and if you don’t believe in it, then it just
seems to be some kind of a strange religious ritual. So why doesn’t God do
something more spectacular to help us believe?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">The account of Jesus’ temptations in
the wilderness is an explanation as to why God doesn’t do more extraordinary
signs and wonders to convince us of his presence. This is an extraordinary
story because it must have come directly from Jesus himself, since no one was
with him during this time of temptation. At some stage he must have told his
apostles what happened there and what he had to go through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">Jesus was about to embark on his public
campaign to teach people about God and to win people over for God. For any
campaign you must choose the weapons you are going to use. Jesus must have been
aware that he had extraordinary powers, otherwise Satan wouldn’t have tempted
him to use them. There would be no point in tempting any of us to turn stones
into bread, because we know we couldn’t do it anyway. So this must have been a
very real temptation for Jesus, to misuse his power.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">The first thing Satan tempted him with,
was to turn stones into bread. ‘If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into
bread’ (Mat 4:3). Jesus was starving after having fasted for forty days. What
harm would there be in doing this? He was being tempted to find satisfaction in
material things. ‘Give people the material things that they want and they will
love you.’ But Jesus said, ‘No. Man does not live on bread alone.’ The human
being is not satisfied by material things alone. Jesus was saying, ‘I am not
going to try and win people over by offering them just what they want.’ We are
much deeper than that and we can only be fully satisfied by God because we are
spiritual and not just physical.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyPAJE4jZLNZuIL6uXbheajSkndOx7BLo5H9jTpjIr4_JEjs28qTMtt_XOX0ZTBQlHQlc_qo02PkznS0lDGz_w0qglEH33YqCn186NBuwggoL8c29WXsDJTz1Rz23ITiLBBVj1GtylvaQreJ-yGOqYJO-Cl2sPr7aLXl12VSREfrjW2dli6BN4QphRjdE/s500/Woman%20at%20the%20well.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyPAJE4jZLNZuIL6uXbheajSkndOx7BLo5H9jTpjIr4_JEjs28qTMtt_XOX0ZTBQlHQlc_qo02PkznS0lDGz_w0qglEH33YqCn186NBuwggoL8c29WXsDJTz1Rz23ITiLBBVj1GtylvaQreJ-yGOqYJO-Cl2sPr7aLXl12VSREfrjW2dli6BN4QphRjdE/w400-h266/Woman%20at%20the%20well.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">The second temptation that Jesus was
presented with, was to work signs and wonders for the people. Satan said to
Jesus, ‘Throw yourself down from the temple since God will save you’ and he
even quoted Scripture: ‘They will hold you upon their hands lest you hurt your
foot against a stone’ (Mat 4:6). If Jesus started doing this then no doubt he
would have thousands of followers in no time, as we are always intrigued by signs
and wonders, but Jesus also rejected this, because he knew that the way he had
to take was the way of service and the way of the cross, which would win people
over heart by heart. You cannot buy love and that is why Jesus chose the humbler
way, and left it open to us to see what God offers us and then to freely choose
to follow him or not.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">The third temptation was to
compromise with evil: Satan said to Jesus, ‘Worship me and I will give you all
this worldly power.’ This is a big temptation for most people. When you hear
people say, ‘The Church needs to get with the times,’ they usually mean, the
Church needs to ‘adapt’ (compromise) some of its teachings to meet the more
difficult moral demands of our age. It is always a temptation for me as a
priest to water down the teachings of God so that they are easier to hear. But
that is not what we are asked to do and when Jesus was tempted this way, He
rejected this too. He was being tempted to compromise with evil just a little
bit, so that it would be easier for people to be convinced. But right is right
and wrong is wrong. We must not compromise the ways of God. It is better to
struggle with the truth, than to try and change it to suit ourselves. The
teachings of God don’t need to change; we are the ones who need to change. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">You can see at this time how groups
within the Church are trying to compromise the Lord’s teaching, with accepting
and blessing gay marriage and other ideas and incredibly the justification is
that because of psychology and sociology ‘we know better now.’ To say we know
better now, is saying that God’s word is wrong and that is a contradiction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">A lot of this started in Germany
after many of the sexual abuse scandals, and they decided to look at what
needed to change in the Church to win people back. Sadly, they started to do
exactly what Jesus was tempted to do, that is, compromise with evil, change God’s
teaching, so that it would be more appealing to people. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBfothKxPdrxAbBFSYYq6EudU8Hzvi_nWlblQCqnnGDivJP-ozdXkZ6EkpQvhTIZhQKTkDm-nIgXANFaL0aCkP6VXK8C-opHGFAHojoD9WHL7RiQAHaV1vLmtLaaHmsavE9R5e_0kA_t1WAsIScaBfIYCCHpM7DFCLAynLL4V3E5Xq0zZv5RrGEY8OwY/s335/cardinals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="335" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBfothKxPdrxAbBFSYYq6EudU8Hzvi_nWlblQCqnnGDivJP-ozdXkZ6EkpQvhTIZhQKTkDm-nIgXANFaL0aCkP6VXK8C-opHGFAHojoD9WHL7RiQAHaV1vLmtLaaHmsavE9R5e_0kA_t1WAsIScaBfIYCCHpM7DFCLAynLL4V3E5Xq0zZv5RrGEY8OwY/w400-h280/cardinals.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">One of the reasons why it is so
important to keep reading Scripture each week, is to make sure we are not
straying from the Lord’s teaching. God’s voice may seem to be quiet, but it is
not, everything is spelt out for us in Scripture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">In St. John’s Gospel after Jesus worked
the miracle of feeding five thousand people with five loaves of bread, He then
gave the teaching on the Eucharist and said, ‘Unless you eat the flesh of the
Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have life within you’ (Jn 6:53-56).
It says that when He said this, many people stopped following him (Jn 6:66). What
is interesting is Jesus’ reaction to the people walking away. He didn’t do
anything. He let them walk away. He didn’t change anything He had said, because
this was truth. The only thing He did was to ask the disciples if they were
going to leave as well. No doubt the disciples didn’t understand it either, but
they believed He was speaking truth and so they remained, but Jesus did not
change anything He said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">At this time in history, we see so
much of our society turning away from God and as a result our morals are
slipping fast. This is the time for us to double down on what we believe is
right and not give in to the temptations of our time. God’s truth is eternal
and never changes. It does not need to change to make it easier for us to
accept. We need to change to accept his truth. There is no middle ground when
it comes to truth. We either accept it or reject it. Again and again Jesus said
you are either with me, or against me. ‘Choose today life or death, blessing or
curse.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">Moses said to the people, ‘This
day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you, that I have set
before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you
and your children may live’ (Deut 30:19).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 4.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgOn7B3eaAZ6BB_2SMZ0-f29bOZJnNTFuJTEJsYeDkkBDOkFGZouXf1Zd-8wLyItTXGC84w3OfaOdiOLV9e7Q0p8s2vq0hfXq8NCUikoHNj_QLrDKGayx99z5xsH97PpUT86uz6lwE9bFPytesKjOocaklIwakwFIsPOChkN9CGS-thJgHCn-PD8irt5s/s450/Eagle%20on%20perch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgOn7B3eaAZ6BB_2SMZ0-f29bOZJnNTFuJTEJsYeDkkBDOkFGZouXf1Zd-8wLyItTXGC84w3OfaOdiOLV9e7Q0p8s2vq0hfXq8NCUikoHNj_QLrDKGayx99z5xsH97PpUT86uz6lwE9bFPytesKjOocaklIwakwFIsPOChkN9CGS-thJgHCn-PD8irt5s/w266-h400/Eagle%20on%20perch.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">Recently I came across an article
about a lady by the name of Dennita Miskimen, a teacher in Virginnia. She was
just about to retire in 2022, having worked as a public school teacher for 23
years, when she once again met a drag queen walking down the corridor of her
school. That was the final straw. She quit her job, which meant losing her pension,
took out a loan and with great difficulty set up what is called the Little Red (Barn)
Schoolhouse. It is a private nondenominational school, where they teach reading,
writing and math. They say the pledge of allegiance, pray and teach the constitution
and there is no LGBTQ or Critical Race Theory taught. Already their reading and
writing standards are way ahead of public schools and there is a waiting list
to get in. She is hoping to make it a franchise throughout the country. She
felt God calling her to do this and she listened. (See the link below)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">It is people like her, who refuse to
give in to the immoral standards of so much of the public system, who will
rebuild this country. She is a woman of faith and took a stand at a great risk
to herself, just like all the people the Lord has called throughout the
centuries. I wrote to her to thank her and sent her a donation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">The Lord is calling us to do the
same. We must not compromise what we believe, or water down what God has taught
us. What God teaches us is truth<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and it
is what works and we have to choose for or against it, just as Jesus taught.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 4.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">Once again the devil took
him to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their
magnificence. “Everything there I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow
down and worship me.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;">“Away with you Satan,”
replied Jesus. “The scripture says, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and
him only you shall serve.’” (Mat 4:8-10).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 4.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/bright/teacher-opens-own-schoolhouse-teaches-bible-reading-math-on-seeing-drag-queen-in-public-school-5500073">Teacher
Opens Own Schoolhouse, Teaches Bible, Reading, Math on Seeing Drag Queen in
Public School | The Epoch Times</a></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-17834591023471006892024-02-08T19:07:00.004+00:002024-02-08T19:07:47.942+00:006th Sunday Year B (Gospel: Mark 1:40-45) Beethoven and the mystery of suffering<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX2BRHOOWUwIjSxz1LQcZ0eaA15MX5CGHBnIVSaKbCGtleX_Xk7PL3iVb2TLtcFxk_KWAyWuLe3-Mf6t_hMZ2uvvLsm2Gvdlf3YDhX8XqWBCIUbLZOpJzG6lCvyjop0i_s5BEMsUWhO4aZDxXNu8UREdEL9EaJ0eUXV5qJiIDHGjOMVB60dsmdg4UrAOA/s968/Doctors%20coping%20with%20Corona%20virus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="968" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX2BRHOOWUwIjSxz1LQcZ0eaA15MX5CGHBnIVSaKbCGtleX_Xk7PL3iVb2TLtcFxk_KWAyWuLe3-Mf6t_hMZ2uvvLsm2Gvdlf3YDhX8XqWBCIUbLZOpJzG6lCvyjop0i_s5BEMsUWhO4aZDxXNu8UREdEL9EaJ0eUXV5qJiIDHGjOMVB60dsmdg4UrAOA/s320/Doctors%20coping%20with%20Corona%20virus.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">One
of the most difficult things that all of us have to face is the
mystery of suffering. Why do people suffer? Why do good people, or
children suffer? If God is all good and all powerful, then there
shouldn’t be suffering. This is one of the most common arguments
that people use to dismiss the existence of God. It is a mysterious
thing and there is no simple answer, but there are different ways of
looking at it. </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Suffering
was not God’s original intention for us, but because of the Fall,
the initial rejection of God, suffering came into the world. But God
in his goodness also uses it to help us grow. It seems to be one of
the most powerful ways that we are purified, brought closer to God,
grow in our spirit. It was the path that Jesus took to win heaven for
us again, which means that it must have a value that we don’t
understand. Padre Pio used to say that if we understood the value of
suffering we would pray for it. Jesus says ‘Whoever wants to be my
disciple must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me’ (Matt
16:24).</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
ask, ‘What good could possibly come from suffering?’ What good
could possibly come from a man being illegally sentenced to death and
crucified? And yet the suffering He went through changed the course
of history forever.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
spiritual power that is in suffering is something that we can
constantly offer to God, in atonement for our sins, for the
conversion of others, for all the people we are praying for. Instead
of complaining, offer it to God and I think we will be astonished
what God did through the generosity of us offering our suffering.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq57P0xtUSGhOTgTc4DM6KAAhoxpi9MvHMSpjLG8JPNgelMs8N92LCHfpsCUhEVK7XV6TKl8JT1jpK3Rr40n2kCHcjYFP0I1DNmIWNAM12vVHjkxR9_Mu0foq62qL4B5aV6cYA-97OU16VGqfSWT4NlF0OA5I1kHrhyjZsbMcH5bAQou3WPYaIj7TOdhc/s400/leper-man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="298" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq57P0xtUSGhOTgTc4DM6KAAhoxpi9MvHMSpjLG8JPNgelMs8N92LCHfpsCUhEVK7XV6TKl8JT1jpK3Rr40n2kCHcjYFP0I1DNmIWNAM12vVHjkxR9_Mu0foq62qL4B5aV6cYA-97OU16VGqfSWT4NlF0OA5I1kHrhyjZsbMcH5bAQou3WPYaIj7TOdhc/s320/leper-man.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leprosy</td></tr></tbody></table><p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Today
we are given one of the many encounters of Jesus healing someone who
had the terrible disease of leprosy. Apart from the fact that
leprosy was physically so horrible, with a person’s flesh literally
rotting on their body, it also had the added pain of excluding them
from the community because of the fear of contamination. Anyone
who had leprosy had to live outside the community. Notice how it
says in the Gospel that when Jesus heals this man he ‘sternly
warned him not to tell anyone,’ but in the man’s enthusiasm he
couldn’t help himself and began talking about it everywhere.
Because of this people realised that Jesus had been in contact with a
leper and so he could now be infected himself. It says that then
Jesus had to stay outside the towns ‘in places where nobody lived.’
It’s possible this was because of the fear of infection, but
probably also because so many people were coming to him. </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">I’m
sure there were many thousands of people in Jesus’ time who also
needed healing, but who didn’t ever get to meet Jesus. Jesus
healed those people who came to him and asked for help, but that
would have been relatively few. Do you ever wonder why the Lord
allowed so many others to remain sick, or why He allows us to be
sick? Is it possible that any good can come out of the
sicknesses we have to go through?</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
is a beautiful story about the composer Ludvig Von Beethoven
(1770-1827). Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany and he had
quite a sad life. He suffered from a great lack of affection,
because his mother died when he was very young and his father was an
alcoholic who used to beat him. His father eventually died as a
drunk on the streets. His biological brother never helped him
either and on top of it all, symptoms of deafness started to disturb
him, leaving him nervous and irritable. There was however, a German
prince who became his benefactor and was like a second father to him,
but then the prince died and between his deafness and loneliness, he
went into a terrible depression and eventually began to wonder
whether there was any point in him going on living.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmaaaOg2TsIwoF0hccHgIKhajiEgABbMFz71ZLwYB7VP58OX2YVA24w_lmX4ef-WSADY4-ASEDyy_Hqh_Qz0I35KCLKQbXDazkRwBdTD9xsJPwKerT9ZWJMt5mEb3ApcO34lxW5ZIFwVQf8B2n614vAP146nI_uLWo1tC-UXQYESqX0gQw-quQR9IRG0/s800/Composer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="800" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmaaaOg2TsIwoF0hccHgIKhajiEgABbMFz71ZLwYB7VP58OX2YVA24w_lmX4ef-WSADY4-ASEDyy_Hqh_Qz0I35KCLKQbXDazkRwBdTD9xsJPwKerT9ZWJMt5mEb3ApcO34lxW5ZIFwVQf8B2n614vAP146nI_uLWo1tC-UXQYESqX0gQw-quQR9IRG0/s320/Composer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">At
that stage Beethoven could only hear using a kind of horn-shaped
trumpet in his ear. He always carried with him a notebook, so
that he could write and communicate with others, but many didn’t
have the patience for this and so he began to feel more isolated and
alone. Feeling that nobody understood him or wanted to help him,
Beethoven withdrew more and more into himself and avoided people. He
became so depressed that he prepared his will, saying that maybe it
was better for him to commit suicide, but then God’s providence
intervened. </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
young blind woman who lived in the same boarding house where
Beethoven had moved to, told him one night, shouting into his ears:
“I would give everything to see the moonlight.” Listening to
her, Beethoven was moved to tears because he realised that he could
see and he could compose music and write it on paper! A strong
will to live came back to him and led him to compose one of his most
beautiful pieces: “Mondscheinsonate” – “Moonlight Sonata”.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
its main theme, the melody imitates and resembles the slow steps of
people, possibly of Beethoven himself and others, carrying the coffin
of the German prince, his friend, patron and benefactor. Some
music scholars say that the notes that repeat themselves,
insistently, in the main theme of the 1<sup>st</sup> movement of the
Sonata, might be the syllables of the words “Warum? Warum”? (Why?
Why?) or another similar word. Years later, having overcome his
sorrow, Beethoven wrote the incomparable “Ode to Joy” from his
“Ninth Symphony”, Beethoven’s <i>magnum opus</i>, which crowned
the life work of this remarkable composer.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">He
conducted the first performance himself in 1824. By then because he
was totally deaf and he failed to hear the applause. One of the
soloists gently turned him around to see the hall full of a wildly
cheering crowd. It is said the “Ode to Joy” expresses Beethoven’s
gratitude to life and to God for not having committed suicide.
All this was thanks to that blind young woman, who inspired in him
the desire to translate into musical notes, a moonlit night. Using
his skill, Beethoven, the composer, who could not hear, portrayed
through this beautiful melody, the beauty of a night bathed by the
moonlight, for a girl who could not see it with her physical eyes.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFd8cHQp7YFDgXBFDfAKY9q73npcmp_Q0kEVxd1Ma902B8egwkcDHUM3gQxQyoBBwWXTh32_4iyDAMz1OwlrZHIhqL_sR58qLJDgYFSfP3syDZaHzuzpQVcBoiKEZeucMGWodj4i5l65N2NE5nwykOSQsn9AtbiviTFRFJWCj8LXbeQv4sWP0iA9VV0zA/s4581/moonlight-reflection-in-sea-cl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3054" data-original-width="4581" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFd8cHQp7YFDgXBFDfAKY9q73npcmp_Q0kEVxd1Ma902B8egwkcDHUM3gQxQyoBBwWXTh32_4iyDAMz1OwlrZHIhqL_sR58qLJDgYFSfP3syDZaHzuzpQVcBoiKEZeucMGWodj4i5l65N2NE5nwykOSQsn9AtbiviTFRFJWCj8LXbeQv4sWP0iA9VV0zA/w400-h266/moonlight-reflection-in-sea-cl.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
do not know why we have to suffer, but I have no doubt that more good
comes out of it than we realise. No doubt the blind girl who
inspired Beethoven could never have imagined that any good could have
come from her being blind and yet look what happened. She inspired
Beethoven not to give up and to go on to right some of his most
beautiful music. </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
am sure that when we get to heaven we will be amazed at how many
parts of our life that don’t seem to make any sense now, will all
fit together. </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.17in;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p><br />Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-55171187963663192252024-02-04T17:45:00.001+00:002024-02-04T17:45:40.009+00:005th Sunday Year B (Gospel: Mark 1:29-39) Teaching before healing<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRfEvU9yjFSWBD7qgpSPoZiREaj7hfo_-moNcwquZX3lVVCKOQx9i5tNkjGAzH_P3eQKWU4qq9Umwl7eRqK4DALnhme1Zfxbbjj6hJ76ja5cDWkD92n4eGzcdfSOb5d4oLDfr7ajSvCVao-nol64JrIRd8xtemN3ADdJW5KRU5hpY2XnhwXTfiW3xf7Ro/s1569/candles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1211" data-original-width="1569" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRfEvU9yjFSWBD7qgpSPoZiREaj7hfo_-moNcwquZX3lVVCKOQx9i5tNkjGAzH_P3eQKWU4qq9Umwl7eRqK4DALnhme1Zfxbbjj6hJ76ja5cDWkD92n4eGzcdfSOb5d4oLDfr7ajSvCVao-nol64JrIRd8xtemN3ADdJW5KRU5hpY2XnhwXTfiW3xf7Ro/w320-h247/candles.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is interesting that 2500 years ago when the first reading from Job
(7:1-4, 6-7) was written, they were asking the same questions that we
still ask today? ‘Why do we have to work so hard? What is the point
of it all? Why is our life often so difficult? Why is it that good
people often suffer so much for no apparent reason?’ Throughout the
centuries people continually ask the same questions. Sometimes it
takes a dramatic event like a tsunami or an earthquake, where
thousands are killed in an instant, to make people ask themselves
these questions. One minute all those people were just getting on
with their daily lives, the next minute the tsunami struck and they
were gone. If we can suddenly be snatched away like that, then what
is the purpose of our being here? Is there any purpose, or is
it all chance? The Lord teaches us that there most certainly is a
purpose to our being here and nothing is by chance.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">During
his life on earth Jesus continually worked extraordinary
miracles—just as we read in today’s Gospel—and as a result
thousands of people were drawn to him looking for healing, just like
we do today when we hear of someone who has been given a gift of
healing, but this was not the main purpose of Jesus’ being here.
Jesus was happy to heal people because he had great compassion for
people, but primarily he wanted to teach people, to teach us about
God and about the reason why we are here. When you think about it,
all the people he healed and even brought back to life from the dead,
they all eventually got sick again and died. So he wanted to teach us
that we are loved by God and we are not here by accident; that our
life has a purpose and is going somewhere; that it is worth keeping
going even when we are suffering, and above all the mission of his
life was to die for us so that we could get to heaven when we die.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
the disciples found him alone, praying, the first thing they told him
was that everyone was looking for him. There was so much work to do,
so many people to heal. But look how he responded: ‘Let us go
elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can preach
there too, because that is why I came.’ <i>That is why I came: to
preach and teach.</i> But why is it so important to teach us?
Wouldn’t it be much better just to heal us? Physical healing is
important and Jesus knew that, but he also knew that if we have
meaning, if we have purpose, that is much more valuable to us. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxVU5MLiHI9PB0D1CEi6waoVKhJa-avTn9wAWEGzNJRUXEKcIbkec_mpQ65Iff35HvyYw6LzMvsvBBzAJmbgSWlHE2x23zH8TAGsPvK37QDpAUhJrJtv_-9toCamMJR4ES-eIWLdNzrZ78FEN_l4Tqpjp3ds9ZAYJZWYbO-pzA_-hdWS6vGXKMYOSKzwE/s640/elderly%20woman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="640" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxVU5MLiHI9PB0D1CEi6waoVKhJa-avTn9wAWEGzNJRUXEKcIbkec_mpQ65Iff35HvyYw6LzMvsvBBzAJmbgSWlHE2x23zH8TAGsPvK37QDpAUhJrJtv_-9toCamMJR4ES-eIWLdNzrZ78FEN_l4Tqpjp3ds9ZAYJZWYbO-pzA_-hdWS6vGXKMYOSKzwE/w400-h301/elderly%20woman.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What
is also interesting is the way that He taught. He mostly used
parables. The reason why that is different is that a parable does not
always give you a obvious explanation. It points you in a particular
direction, but you must go on searching for the truth if you are to
discover the meaning. Why is that important? Because it engages us in
the work of searching for and discovering the truth. It makes us
think and also use our imagination. In other words, he didn’t just
shove a set of teachings down our throat and say ‘that’s it.’
He invites us to search for the truth.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
I began my ministry as a priest I worked as a hospital chaplain, I
remember meeting a man who had been suffering for most of his life.
He had had operation after operation and he was in pain most of the
time. But when I met him he was smiling and he said, ‘Father I have
so much to be grateful for.’ It was very humbling to hear this. Why
was he grateful? Because he had faith and he had purpose. He
understood that his life had meaning and that it was going somewhere.
He believed that this life was not everything and that it was worth
persevering, despite his difficulties. Having that purpose is what
makes all the difference and that is what our faith gives us. It
doesn’t take away the pain, but it helps to make sense of why we
are here. It reminds us that God does want us to be happy, that that
is what He created us for. It also reminds us that it is worth
putting up with the various struggles we have to go through, because
they are often what make us into better people. The suffering will
not last forever. Sooner or later we will cross over to the next
world where our happiness will be complete, unless we have rejected
God. Having that hope is what makes all the difference and that is
why Jesus kept moving around and teaching people, so that they would
have the strength to keep going especially when times were more
difficult.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnuRywJU6IE7JwlbdwrLGd_bjlZ6PShgq0pjPRfkM1-xE9c5ibDZxns0Oy7FXz6dXLcK2o6P5d1wQdA-I6K42_QY7ufRVNNvpcnxeBZwTD0WYX7bJ4aoE2Mr0yOTRq_HtWpkW88vOZmU7KnOMnBLdxWnDwaL9QM6Gn5CrXP2xKb8clbCAWXM1IEEPVJ8/s1600/patient-under-surgery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnuRywJU6IE7JwlbdwrLGd_bjlZ6PShgq0pjPRfkM1-xE9c5ibDZxns0Oy7FXz6dXLcK2o6P5d1wQdA-I6K42_QY7ufRVNNvpcnxeBZwTD0WYX7bJ4aoE2Mr0yOTRq_HtWpkW88vOZmU7KnOMnBLdxWnDwaL9QM6Gn5CrXP2xKb8clbCAWXM1IEEPVJ8/s320/patient-under-surgery.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
rate of suicide is increasing at a frightening rate at this time. The
reasons for it are often complicated, but I have no doubt that one of
the reasons is that people have lost faith. If you have no faith, no
sense of purpose, then where do you turn to when you are suffering,
or when everything seems to have gone wrong? When we do have faith,
it changes everything. We know that there is a reason why we were
created and there is a purpose to us being here. We have the strength
to keep going, even when we are struggling, because we know that no
matter how bad it gets, it is temporary. We also know from our faith
that suffering is part of the journey. We look to Jesus. His path was
the path of suffering. The struggles we go through have the potential
to make us into better people, depending on how we respond to it.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why
were we created? Just as our natural instinct is to share our joy
with other people—think of weddings, birthdays, the birth of a
child—in the same way God created us to share in his happiness. But
He also gave us this time on earth to learn to love or not, to choose
for God or not. We have the freedom to accept or reject God, just as
children have the freedom to love or reject their parents. It is
heartbreaking when they do, but sadly it happens quite often. You
cannot force someone to love you.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DQAQYQjM9c3_BIPGftwC7Q4zwJPcD1CDKdM6eg30QM1x5ryZ7p_ds63Xa8g6OsR-HMxCthZz-HiNGpgC_k02_PmOWKOTWr_zIYw1CLYQAXNpuOrBxt-9uFYQvdGzr3TFO3t1u2vZ1NtCYbmRTfgXikDUWmwr2lpJbcp4zaDWFsosz4hxq7ZEL5ZSoa8/s730/children-sunrise-730x350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="730" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DQAQYQjM9c3_BIPGftwC7Q4zwJPcD1CDKdM6eg30QM1x5ryZ7p_ds63Xa8g6OsR-HMxCthZz-HiNGpgC_k02_PmOWKOTWr_zIYw1CLYQAXNpuOrBxt-9uFYQvdGzr3TFO3t1u2vZ1NtCYbmRTfgXikDUWmwr2lpJbcp4zaDWFsosz4hxq7ZEL5ZSoa8/w400-h191/children-sunrise-730x350.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To
understand that we were created out of love and have a purpose, gives
us an inner strength that nothing else can replace. Our greatest
mission is to serve God and love the people around us, wherever we
are planted. Earthly honors are great and we should strive to use our
talents to the best of our ability, but loving people is more
important than anything else, because in doing that we imitate God.
Jesus’ life was a life of love, service and self-sacrifice. We are
called to the same.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
also says that Jesus continually went off to lonely places to pray.
He kept turning to the Father to receive the strength and direction
that He needed for his mission. It also says that before He chose the
Apostles, Jesus spent the whole night in prayer. That tells us that
that is where we need to turn too, that is, to God in prayer. Our
life may not be easy, but God offers us the strength and direction we
need to face it. And we can never say that we are on our own on this
journey. Jesus is present in the Holy Eucharist which we can receive
every day if we wish. All the guidance we could ask for is handed to
us in the Scriptures.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Meanwhile
we will continue to pray and look for healing and it is right that we
do, but it is also good to remember that the hope we have in God is
worth more than any physical healing, because that is what will keep
us going. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;">‘<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE">Rising
very early before dawn, He left and went off to a deserted place
where He prayed.’ (Mark 1:39)</span></span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-24552705326420186902024-01-28T18:09:00.003+00:002024-01-28T18:09:43.114+00:004th Sunday of Year B (Gospel: Mark 1:21-28) Power is made perfect in weakness.<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0tC9MSzp9aWj4GwClO3MbsDnck7pQeCjvPqps7al1PPq3JCwyUldteSu2J17gP-bwfDQq-ILZaxHs1YPRvm7FH8JCJyFIpzWesjfz7yehaCt3WYlSvS1NVYUwybu2m5S_A_DbCsYOm7SN9awwb7kS3ZdR9Or0oDVLQwkbgTA19_Jlnnyrp0S2qDEaJU/s4000/20230715_115804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0tC9MSzp9aWj4GwClO3MbsDnck7pQeCjvPqps7al1PPq3JCwyUldteSu2J17gP-bwfDQq-ILZaxHs1YPRvm7FH8JCJyFIpzWesjfz7yehaCt3WYlSvS1NVYUwybu2m5S_A_DbCsYOm7SN9awwb7kS3ZdR9Or0oDVLQwkbgTA19_Jlnnyrp0S2qDEaJU/w400-h300/20230715_115804.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you were asked to
choose someone for the priesthood or religious life, what kind of
person would you look for? Someone enthusiastic about their faith and
hopefully well grounded psychologically. Someone who had a good
background, preferably not a scandalous background. Definitely not
someone with extremist views. These are the kind of characteristics
we would usually look for. </span></span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then we turn to some
of the people God chose and continues to choose. Very often they were
the kind of people that would be turned away from priesthood, because
they were not well grounded, or psychologically unstable, or
extremists. I have often heard Franciscans joke that if St. Francis
applied to the Franciscan order today, he would be refused, as he
would be considered way too radical.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One person we read
about all the time, who was a religious extremist, was St. Paul. He
was a Jewish extremist, a Pharisee and an expert in the Law and bent
on destroying the Christians. He had permits to imprison Christians
and he oversaw the killing of at least one person, St. Stephen. It’s
quite likely he approved of other killings too. He was the equivalent
of one of the leaders of ISIS, or other extreme groups like them. He
was a dangerous man for Christians. </span></span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then out of the blue
Jesus appeared to him. He did not know who Jesus was. When he had
this vision and Jesus said, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting
me?’ He replied, ‘Who are you sir?’ He didn’t know who Jesus
was. It is interesting that Jesus didn’t say, ‘I am Jesus and you
are persecuting my followers.’ He said, ‘You are persecuting <i>me</i>.’
To persecute Christians is to persecute Jesus, because from our
baptism we are intimately linked to him, as we receive the gift of
God’s Spirit. We are part of his mystical body.</span></span></p>
<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCt-xXw8tVWdyKp-fk-crLbZhOpIIhpf30Old3r-i142aqdfdsfBBSVqzh52gOSwx353aTRBdyJcalW3FOiRUZbcSe3EDwIIgvhHO2QedKu6Iy0y5Omv9aAO0UKXEE9kctHdC1FDlgZBrlhvyp6Tw4il-enL7I1-nnxzSZGd9FGjoy2A2ox684aqlmkYU/s360/confession2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="360" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCt-xXw8tVWdyKp-fk-crLbZhOpIIhpf30Old3r-i142aqdfdsfBBSVqzh52gOSwx353aTRBdyJcalW3FOiRUZbcSe3EDwIIgvhHO2QedKu6Iy0y5Omv9aAO0UKXEE9kctHdC1FDlgZBrlhvyp6Tw4il-enL7I1-nnxzSZGd9FGjoy2A2ox684aqlmkYU/w400-h266/confession2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After this vision,
Paul went into Damascus and stayed there for three days. He was
completely blind after the vision. He remained there until a man
named Ananias was sent to him. Jesus also appeared to Ananias and
told him to go to Saul. But listen to his reaction to Jesus telling
him to go to Saul (who becomes Paul). </span></span>
</p>
<p>‘<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have heard many
reports about this man and all the harm he has done to all your holy
people. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to
arrest all who call on your name.’ (Acts 9:13-14).</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">He was basically
saying, ‘Are you crazy? Do you realize who this man is?!’ That
was the human response. In other words, no one in their right mind
would choose him. It says that some of the first times he went to
preach to the Christians they were afraid of him, because they didn’t
believe his conversion could be real. Who would blame them?</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Another man was king
David. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband
murdered, to cover his tracks. After he repented he eventually took
Bathsheba as his wife, but later the child they conceived was the
future king Solomon who brought peace to Israel and built the temple,
one of the most important events for the Jewish people.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Moses also murdered
a man when he was a young man. He then had to flee the country so
that he would not be killed himself. But fifty or so years later God
sent him to rescue the people of Israel.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqlsM03hcOT49-2Y8fcLfv0HbDDHzwcuefnolCD_2F6Geq8e-AwtyS0yF6d3Nk122O-ge_ipPc3zPInUGVsxNGXWEpaC9_5f6DAKwqd0ZHW-O2GluLnzYzsPGW1f7yCz6SkoKqX78Jes1dwl1NSCIqWa8EGve6qp8em15vHk1DEdZVIeOoqJ4CxB6X1M/s474/child%20with%20chocolate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="474" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqlsM03hcOT49-2Y8fcLfv0HbDDHzwcuefnolCD_2F6Geq8e-AwtyS0yF6d3Nk122O-ge_ipPc3zPInUGVsxNGXWEpaC9_5f6DAKwqd0ZHW-O2GluLnzYzsPGW1f7yCz6SkoKqX78Jes1dwl1NSCIqWa8EGve6qp8em15vHk1DEdZVIeOoqJ4CxB6X1M/w400-h300/child%20with%20chocolate.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What this tells us
is that our past does not disqualify us from being pleasing to God,
or even an instrument of God. I think we often have the impression
that our past sins leave us displeasing to God, or inadequate in some
way. But the Scriptures tell us the opposite. As long as we repent of
our sins, then we can be at peace.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After Paul came to
believe in Jesus, he went away for three years to Arabia and only
then did he go to check with the other Apostles if what Jesus had
revealed to him, was the same as what Jesus had taught the Apostles
and it was. Everything he learnt, was directly from Jesus appearing
to him. That is also a wonderful confirmation that what the Apostles
taught was also from Jesus and not in any way made up.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After Paul was
converted, many people are converted through his preaching and he
worked many extraordinary miracles and Jesus appeared to him several
other times as well. Now you would think that since he is now living
a holy life and no longer struggling with his own weaknesses. But
what he says about his own struggles is very comforting. He seems to
have struggled with some weakness in particular, although he doesn’t
say what it was, but this is what he writes about it:</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-left: 0.38in;">‘<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Because
of the abundance of these revelations. Therefore, that I might not
become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of
Satan to beat me, to keep me from becoming too elated. Three times I
begged the Lord about this that it might leave me, but He said to me,
‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in
weakness.’’</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-left: 0.38in;"> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(2
Cor 12:7-9).</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">God is not put off
by our weaknesses and in fact they serve a purpose. As long as we are
struggling, we are aware of how much we need God’s help and mercy
and so, frustrating as they are, the Lord allows us to have them, so
that He can go on working through us. We are more effective
instruments when we are aware of how weak we are. This should help us
never to become discouraged. God’s power is not hindered by the
fact that we are weak and in fact our struggles are the very things
that can help us to stay close to God.</span></span></p>
<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvl7wNAFT_V27O3KqLQa8blhYjC7ZxDnxi3h_COS2StdxIFKTiJRPiEwQYoUM44CzXnBHXpIWroFkVd2_93IZ1iEmgqD-8tQ7YtBxslUQr728KaCtz2Lxn1Yv4kNnrhsBdyzU42qgYU9f8Othh-2lEWT14s149LfcaQK3Qom8irB1BnypMc8pUgwpQCWo/s1000/boat%20in%20storm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="1000" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvl7wNAFT_V27O3KqLQa8blhYjC7ZxDnxi3h_COS2StdxIFKTiJRPiEwQYoUM44CzXnBHXpIWroFkVd2_93IZ1iEmgqD-8tQ7YtBxslUQr728KaCtz2Lxn1Yv4kNnrhsBdyzU42qgYU9f8Othh-2lEWT14s149LfcaQK3Qom8irB1BnypMc8pUgwpQCWo/w400-h323/boat%20in%20storm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In regard to his
struggling with sin, St. Paul also wrote this: ‘I do not understand
what I do. What I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.’
(Rom 7:14). You wouldn’t believe how many times I have heard people
say that, word for word, in confession. It means that the struggle
with sin, is also part of the journey and we shouldn’t be afraid of
it. All that matters is that we keep trying.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The devil tries to
discourage us and shame us. He accuses us: ‘You are a hypocrite,
you are a fraud, you could never be pleasing to God. How can you even
call yourself a Christian.’ Accusation after accusation. Jesus
called him ‘The Accuser.’ He tries to discourage us and pull us
away from God, but the Lord is always the one to encourage us. God
confronts us when we sin, because He loves us, so that we might
repent of sin. But God is always the one to encourage us.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So the next time you
think that you could not be pleasing to God because you are weak,
read what St. Paul struggled with and you will find we are in good
company. </span></span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>‘<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Three times I
begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but He said to
me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in
weakness.’’ </span></span>
</p>
<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(2 Cor 12:9).</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-91405450444417197922024-01-24T18:25:00.000+00:002024-01-24T18:25:10.119+00:003rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. (Gospel: Mark 1:14-20) The Eucharist and skepticism <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl_Vv9SCfuTG7OapXHhu963RqAZHsg6vd6zcOMwrk0Z_reu2vVEWzbDqPgGs8BSauBkcW7PwKVTtgpRRhVXp8pc5o8J4BfRBYHFlbehNTIto__rjR14FM1Q4xHLPNW_pIKxa45WDCnLwnF6DHPAKsezUoRXPkdSBqBQYepDzmBa3SwRD4tSg2FABFn9w0/s766/Pope%20Benedict%20at%20mass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="766" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl_Vv9SCfuTG7OapXHhu963RqAZHsg6vd6zcOMwrk0Z_reu2vVEWzbDqPgGs8BSauBkcW7PwKVTtgpRRhVXp8pc5o8J4BfRBYHFlbehNTIto__rjR14FM1Q4xHLPNW_pIKxa45WDCnLwnF6DHPAKsezUoRXPkdSBqBQYepDzmBa3SwRD4tSg2FABFn9w0/w400-h266/Pope%20Benedict%20at%20mass.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">An ‘In
Pew’ survey in 2019 said that of all Catholics who go to mass
regularly, only 63% believe that the bread and wine really and truly
become the body and blood of Christ. That means that 33% of
practicing Catholics don’t believe in the real presence, which is
very disturbing. It also said that 43% aren’t even aware that the
Church’s teaching is that during each mass, at the consecration,
when the priest says ‘This is my Body which will be given up for
you’… and ‘This is the chalice of my Blood…’ the bread and
wine really and truly become the Body and Blood of Christ. The
Church’s teaching is that in each mass, when the priest says the
words of consecration, the bread and wine are transformed into the
Body and Blood of Christ and it comes from what Christ said himself.
But from the beginning many people didn’t believe it and wouldn’t
accept it.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">In St.
John’s Gospel after working the miracle of multiplying the loaves
and feeding 5000 people, Jesus began to say something which many
people found impossible to accept. He said,</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">‘I am
the living bread which has come down from heaven. Whoever eats of
this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh, for
the life of the world.’ (Jn 6:51)</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">‘If you
do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you cannot
have life within you. (Jn 6:53). For my flesh is real food and my
blood is real drink’ (Jn 6:55).</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">After
Jesus gave this teaching it says, ‘After this, many disciples
withdrew and no longer followed him’ (Jn 6:66). It is interesting
that Jesus didn’t try to explain what he meant. He just let them
walk away. The only thing he did was to turn to the Apostles and say,
‘What about you? Are you going to leave too.’ (John 6:67)</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJjpfZTIOUrNBAO5CogQVmhyllvLHeKxC0IZyhCKUC0TKN64DtnTQzLNy9Rr5N1BSBkVpxqMDOXBDFt-Q6bLcXLwKGVn5SZAwCV5Z5Z5lPEnU-H7NOX1BILQR-MYYaFC4C8ZZSbg64V6-Q76u6AZ6EyGuLHosl1OpYtIDHT2-X1JrYadOOpVYKzoQtv9M/s1024/Mass%20rock,%20priest's%20chair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJjpfZTIOUrNBAO5CogQVmhyllvLHeKxC0IZyhCKUC0TKN64DtnTQzLNy9Rr5N1BSBkVpxqMDOXBDFt-Q6bLcXLwKGVn5SZAwCV5Z5Z5lPEnU-H7NOX1BILQR-MYYaFC4C8ZZSbg64V6-Q76u6AZ6EyGuLHosl1OpYtIDHT2-X1JrYadOOpVYKzoQtv9M/w400-h300/Mass%20rock,%20priest's%20chair.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 'Mass Rock' where mass was celebrated in secret during times of persecution</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="background: #ffffff;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">In
Matthew’s account of the last supper Jesus says, ‘This is my body
which will be given up for you. Do this in memory of me.’.. ‘This
cup is the new covenant in my blood which will be given for you.’
(Matthew 26:26-27)</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">In Mark’s
Gospel: ‘Take it; this is my body which will be given for you…
This is my blood of the covenant which will be shed for many.’
(Mark 14:22-24)</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">In Luke’s
Gospel, ‘This is my body which is given for you. Do this in
remembrance of me… This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood,
which is poured our for you.’ (Luke 22:19-20).</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">The
Eucharist isn’t just a symbol, but really and truly the Body and
Blood of Christ. </span></span>
</p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">A priest
friend of mine, who was also an exorcist, had to meet a lady one time
who was practicing witchcraft. He met her in a hotel lobby. As soon
as she approached him, she stopped and said, ‘There is something in
your pocket I don’t like.’ He was carrying the Eucharist and she
wouldn’t go near him until he left it in his car. Another lady who
was also practicing witchcraft was able to identify one host which
was consecrated, out of a pile of unconsecrated hosts. It is also
interesting that people who practice satanic worship, will try to
steal a consecrated host from a Catholic church. They know it is
real, even though many Catholics don’t believe it.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29IgWDlzOoevv7IZTwtJUiH9sg5BlG1iNhz1ip7YhwVIyIkt_Na39Y-HeJgzj5yl5wq-F-yJVDk73JPZx_T12FsIk3b7kiEy2Q39Ebe1nbr1M8Sv0zvj7_V_RSxb2MBDT7t-RDHeycQkaXIPOfGzA_c6GJJ26lIIyELHxRs9Vr13uXLHBaii17i07KoU/s2010/Carlo%20Acutis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2010" data-original-width="1918" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29IgWDlzOoevv7IZTwtJUiH9sg5BlG1iNhz1ip7YhwVIyIkt_Na39Y-HeJgzj5yl5wq-F-yJVDk73JPZx_T12FsIk3b7kiEy2Q39Ebe1nbr1M8Sv0zvj7_V_RSxb2MBDT7t-RDHeycQkaXIPOfGzA_c6GJJ26lIIyELHxRs9Vr13uXLHBaii17i07KoU/s320/Carlo%20Acutis.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carlo Acutis</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">To date
there have been over 140 confirmed Eucharistic miracles. A young
Italian man named Carlo Acutis put together a whole website just
about this. </span></span><a href="http://www.miracolieucaristici.org/en/Liste/list.html"><span lang="es-ES">MIRACOLI
EUCARISTICI - Mostra Internazionale Ideata e Realizzata da Carlo
Acutis e Nicola Gori</span></a></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">Many
continue to be skeptical, but this is the Lord’s teaching. </span></span>
</p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">I want to
tell you about one eucharistic miracle which happened to a lady
called Marthe Robin.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><b><span style="background: #ffffff;">Marthe
Robin (1902-81)</span></b></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">Marthe
Robin was born into a peasant farming family, the youngest of six, on
13 March 1902 in </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Châteauneuf-de-Galaure"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">Châteauneuf-de-Galaure</span></span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> (</span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drôme"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">Drôme</span></span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">, in
SE </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">France</span></span></span></a><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">).</span></span><span style="color: #202122;"><sup><span style="background: #ffffff;">
</span></sup></span><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">Interestingly
her parents were non-practicing Catholics, but from an early age she
had a great desire to pray. She only had elementary school education
and after that worked on the farm.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">In 1903
Marthe and her older sister Clemence, both contracted typhoid fever,
from which her sister died. Marthe came close to death but recovered,
however this left her very weak for the rest of her life.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDrOV_oEwr6psOgB2REP1YmEb5aqDRSiw_v0dm94hJm5RcbZHYmms2bI9K53-_9acS6-A4mH8InUuzeAAVLxPt6ye6HyHdr1nr3fG46oIY7NDKErR7fXRphYSJo1Sk3qAZRZmjhwWvtuWsvD4XZQxxW3XLHnAcNOkTUe1OGzejaDfKbmsJcI3mBqVtMI/s652/Marthe%20Robin.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="652" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDrOV_oEwr6psOgB2REP1YmEb5aqDRSiw_v0dm94hJm5RcbZHYmms2bI9K53-_9acS6-A4mH8InUuzeAAVLxPt6ye6HyHdr1nr3fG46oIY7NDKErR7fXRphYSJo1Sk3qAZRZmjhwWvtuWsvD4XZQxxW3XLHnAcNOkTUe1OGzejaDfKbmsJcI3mBqVtMI/w400-h246/Marthe%20Robin.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marthe Robin who often experienced the passion on Fridays</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">In 1918
she became very ill again and went into a coma for four days. She
eventually recovered from this, but in 1928 after developing
encephalitis, she became completely paralyzed from the waist down. It
also left her partly blind and unable to tolerate light, so she ended
up living bedridden in a dark room. The encephalitis also made it
almost impossible for her to swallow. </span></span>
</p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">From the
age of twenty on, she began to experience visitations from the Virgin
Mary and also from Jesus. </span></span>
</p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">From 1925
onwards she began to have mystical experiences, giving her a great
desire for the Eucharist. From 1930 onwards, no longer being able to
swallow, she ate no food except the Eucharist until the end of her
life 51 years later. During this time she also began to experience
the passion of Christ every Friday. It is believed that over 100,000
people visited her during her lifetime.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">For 51
years she lived on nothing but the Eucharist. This was witnessed by
many priests and bishops and believed to be genuine. When people
questioned her about this, she pointed to St. John’s Gospel where
Jesus said, </span></span>
</p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">‘I am
the living bread which has come down from heaven. Whoever eats of
this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh, for
the life of the world.’ (Jn 6:51)</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">‘If you
do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you cannot
have life within you. (Jn 6:53). For my flesh is real food and my
blood is real drink’ (Jn 6:55).</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">I think
it’s good to read up on some of these miracles as they are very
inspiring and the Lord has given them to us to help us believe. Also,
ask God to help you believe if you struggle with this teaching. </span></span>
</p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">‘This is
my Body which will be given up for you.’</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-33460791705164239332024-01-13T16:44:00.001+00:002024-01-26T15:38:48.301+00:002nd Sunday of Year B (Gospel: John 1:35-42) The body is not meant for immorality<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7HpFtDKZlEnfDBqjYTiQpaj9W3lKZ0TqdDIhT7WShWaDc9GOBM2zint_9NghSAAk8TpNb6ULubMAkGOQ-NEcQ29RkbT7qubpk_V-Iv3qI62Gdb7Bf-Fk-dpPdb8N4zUMPR6n1SDjQLKDnhzzyG5SqPznC9lkelpHLiRYAkeQ4X5L9WaVzBd25ZrA0EOo/s384/marino-restrepo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="384" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7HpFtDKZlEnfDBqjYTiQpaj9W3lKZ0TqdDIhT7WShWaDc9GOBM2zint_9NghSAAk8TpNb6ULubMAkGOQ-NEcQ29RkbT7qubpk_V-Iv3qI62Gdb7Bf-Fk-dpPdb8N4zUMPR6n1SDjQLKDnhzzyG5SqPznC9lkelpHLiRYAkeQ4X5L9WaVzBd25ZrA0EOo/w320-h274/marino-restrepo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marino Restrepo</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p>There is a man named Marino Restrepo who was born in 1950 in
Columbia. His family owned a large coffee planation and were quite
well off. Although he was brought up Catholic, he stopped practicing
at the age of fourteen. During his teens in the 60s he met up with
two different American girls from California, who introduced him to
the idea of ‘free love’, helping him to be sexually ‘liberated’
and to drugs. He eventually married the second girl when she became
pregnant. They moved to Germany and later to the US. He became a
successful producer, actor and song-writer in Hollywood. Gradually he
got into every kind of New Age and pagan practice and an increasingly
hedonistic lifestyle; a life of pleasure and drugs. Being promiscuous
was just part of his life-style and he said that this was the world
of Hollywood.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In December 1997, at the age of 47, he visited home for Christmas.
After partying with his family, he left to visit one of his uncles.
When he got to his house he found the gates locked, which was
unusual. Just then he was surrounded by armed, masked men. He was
kidnapped and after a couple of days found himself deep in one of the
jungles not far from where he grew up. He had been kidnapped by FARC
rebels, who were hoping to get ransom money from his family.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He spent the following six months bound, with a cover over his
face, lying in a cave. He almost died from malnutrition and the
psychological torture that he was put through. They were not able to
get the money they had hoped for from his family and he was sure they
were going to kill him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One night during this ordeal, he had a spiritual experience which
lasted about eight hours. He was given an illumination of conscience,
where God showed him his whole life up to that point and how far he
had separated himself from God. God allowed him to see the state of
his soul before God. He was able to see the exact moment when he
rejected God during his teens and began to live a sinful life. In the
world’s eyes he was becoming liberated and very successful in his
career, even though he was living a more and more sinful life. God
showed him that if he had died at that time, he would have gone to
hell, because of his total rejection of God by the way he was living.
He had been living in mortal sin for thirty-three years.</p>
<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDBE7o1YSxN8cowWNnzN1QxZpvm06akcLmT_FVhfRPyBuPCPk9ccHYpGsENFwsPggm6_Wr_-hGIhjs2wIVb1gyWtHNkjNfvss_xENTfsfEJg4623a62zeI0MN1lSmapXNFyuZ8YDvGzdA6bMIYWBmVVtXpb-xdNX-51X1LFpiKUWMw_I5kiQB9yOkEpKc/s768/Jungle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDBE7o1YSxN8cowWNnzN1QxZpvm06akcLmT_FVhfRPyBuPCPk9ccHYpGsENFwsPggm6_Wr_-hGIhjs2wIVb1gyWtHNkjNfvss_xENTfsfEJg4623a62zeI0MN1lSmapXNFyuZ8YDvGzdA6bMIYWBmVVtXpb-xdNX-51X1LFpiKUWMw_I5kiQB9yOkEpKc/w400-h266/Jungle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>As you can imagine this experience brought about his conversion.
After six months he was unexpectedly released and after a time of
readjustment from being so traumatized, he went to confession and
poured his heart out. Since then he gave up his career in Hollywood
and has spent the last 27 years of his life travelling around the
world giving his testimony.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>During his illumination of conscience God also revealed to him in
great depth, the nature and seriousness of sin, which he wrote about
in a book called <i>From Darkness into the Light</i>. One thing that
God showed him was especially how damaging sexual sin is. The
‘free-love’ movement of the sixties, which seemed to be progress
and liberation in the eyes of our world, was in fact demonic, as it
began to lead more and more people into serious sin and farther from
God. What was once considered sinful, sleeping with someone outside
of marriage—fornication—gradually came to be seen as normal. Sin
was normalized. But God showed him that sexual intimacy is only meant
for marriage, something that would almost be considered naïve today.
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God made marriage a sacred bond between a man and a woman, which
is meant to support them both and give them the security for new life
in the right environment. When a child is conceived outside of
marriage, it is usually seen as a problem. When a child is conceived
within marriage it is usually seen as a gift. Marriage provides the
right loving environment into which children can enter the world.
Marriage also has God’s blessing and grace to help the couple. I
know it does not always work out this way, but this is God’s plan
for us.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbzqi1SRqMlJPywvC3MDtgP2okudwFxSgv1UFesLbE6PI17awIC04TtZEFZgobiwpzhiPSfCWgSMNlf3t6gm09MXQEZxVLyX2jxxZE5Fm1URqDF8uN5-JjjMetfypJOM9yO9Mz1EU9Sn-SuNwTr3lW2-Fobu5zO06Gld-ynxyQo9z5tCgHbNBdF0USzHM/s702/Wedding%20in%20church.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="702" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbzqi1SRqMlJPywvC3MDtgP2okudwFxSgv1UFesLbE6PI17awIC04TtZEFZgobiwpzhiPSfCWgSMNlf3t6gm09MXQEZxVLyX2jxxZE5Fm1URqDF8uN5-JjjMetfypJOM9yO9Mz1EU9Sn-SuNwTr3lW2-Fobu5zO06Gld-ynxyQo9z5tCgHbNBdF0USzHM/w400-h268/Wedding%20in%20church.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><br /></p><p>Artificial contraception also encouraged fornication, which in
turn lead to more and more abortion. I have no doubt that abortion is
probably one of, if not the greatest sin against God, because it is
the destruction of life which comes from God, at its very beginning.
If sexual relations were kept within marriage, abortion would drop
drastically, as would sexually transmitted diseases. God in his
wisdom knows what works and keeps showing us what works, but we must
listen.</p>
<p><br /></p><p>The first step to ending abortion is to help our young people to
understand that it is not ok to sleep around before they are married;
that in fact this is serious sin in God’s eyes and every time it
happens we separate ourselves more and more from God.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Why is sexual sin more serious than other sin? God made us in his
image and God’s Spirit dwells within us from baptism, which means
our body is a sacred thing. When a child is conceived God also
creates a soul for that new life, which is immortal. The love between
a man and a woman has the potential to become another life, which is
imitating God. The love between the Father and the Son, is another
life, the Spirit. Human sexuality mirrors God, which is why it is so
sacred. That is also why Satan attacks it so much. Satan does
everything to try and lead us away from God, simply because he hates
God and hates God’s creation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Lord also showed this to the Apostles, which is why they wrote
about it. The second reading today is addressing exactly this:</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.38in;">“Avoid immorality. Every other sin a
person commits is outside the body. But the immoral person sins
against his own body.” (1 Cor 6:18)</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.38in;"> </p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.38in;">“Do you not know that neither the
sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who
practice homosexual acts… will inherit the kingdom of heaven.”
</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.38in;">(1 Cor 6:9)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Apostles didn’t just decide this. The Lord showed them this,
just as He showed Marino Restrepo the exact same thing in his
experience. It is easy to get the impression that these teachings
just applied to cultures centuries ago and that they are no longer
relevant, but that’s why the Lord continues to give people
different experiences, like Marino Restrepo and many others, so that
we will realize it is just the same today. What was sinful remains
sinful. What used to separate us from God will still separate us from
God and it is only in God we will find our happiness, which means
that anything sinful we need to take seriously.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgAMhBexydIo_hxw44Rn-kdBX3pKAZLAcENQbnNQ_ln-3NU23x6vs1A4F9PFxas7NpGSahFBV04cVR5pvAJAHVzzgE3Z_PUAxmM5GGkkekHZ6RnGMVtRhgYDHOrbN30bsQXbuQEpr6T_aEwwY2nlq_-tiKd791sU9tL8xgo7gWVJvpPoC7bxJiOj8QH8/s400/sunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="400" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgAMhBexydIo_hxw44Rn-kdBX3pKAZLAcENQbnNQ_ln-3NU23x6vs1A4F9PFxas7NpGSahFBV04cVR5pvAJAHVzzgE3Z_PUAxmM5GGkkekHZ6RnGMVtRhgYDHOrbN30bsQXbuQEpr6T_aEwwY2nlq_-tiKd791sU9tL8xgo7gWVJvpPoC7bxJiOj8QH8/w400-h268/sunset.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Marino Restrepo was not a bad person, but the life he was living
was extremely sinful before God and would have cost him losing heaven
forever if he had died then. The Lord does not want that for any of
us, but we must listen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One of the lines in Scripture which I believe we need to hear
often, is this:
</p>
<p>[Jesus said] “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.” (Matthew 7:21)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Everything that God shows us is to help us. God’s design works,
which is why He gave us the Scriptures, to show us in black and white
what to do and what to avoid.</p>
<p>“For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God
in your body.”</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-41464225704469913182024-01-11T21:33:00.003+00:002024-01-11T21:33:36.776+00:00 The Epiphany (Matthew 2:1-12) All peoples of all religions will recognise Jesus as God<p> </p>
<p align="CENTER" style="line-height: 115%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyjpfur_aZ1__bSI23e12m29PrpGfVZJB87Xh31UWAFA6wQ5f7Z-GhsxbltPVG3JoxJxwyexwiR7ZA1nCHZzTBUvM_W7yJ2V1ScKJzHGeKzyVjhVGsHcUNzoPcmf113GaxbRA5IROGabJ8L0c6i-LNY_2HwcSNi3j2T_Yg_a8PMwBhORxUxfWzi2e1Il0/s4032/20200112_093612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyjpfur_aZ1__bSI23e12m29PrpGfVZJB87Xh31UWAFA6wQ5f7Z-GhsxbltPVG3JoxJxwyexwiR7ZA1nCHZzTBUvM_W7yJ2V1ScKJzHGeKzyVjhVGsHcUNzoPcmf113GaxbRA5IROGabJ8L0c6i-LNY_2HwcSNi3j2T_Yg_a8PMwBhORxUxfWzi2e1Il0/w400-h225/20200112_093612.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
great 20<sup>th</sup> century theologian Karl Rahner (1904-84) wrote,
‘The Christian of the future will either be a mystic, or will not
exist at all.’ We are called to be mystics, that is, to continually
seek and be open to what is mysterious. Sometimes I think we can be
too inclined to ‘explain away’ everything in our faith, when in
fact it is very mysterious and should be. The truth is that God
continues to speak to us in unexpected and mystical ways. And God
will continue to draw us closer to himself, as long as we remain open
to that journey. St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), a 16<sup>th</sup>
century mystic, said that the Lord will bring us to the greatest
union with him in this life, as long as we remain open to it. She
said that the only thing that prevents us from reaching the deepest
union with God, is our own fear and unwillingness to go any farther.
God wants us to be as united with him as is possible in this life.
Why doesn’t that happen to more people? Because we become afraid
and want to put the brakes on. It is easier to settle for a basic
understanding and practice of our faith and not go any farther.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
feast of the Epiphany is the feast of Christ being revealed to the
world. The three wise men, or astrologers, were led to this
place where Christ was. They are supposed to have come from
different countries, pagan countries, who did not know the true
God. They were astrologers (those who study horoscopes!), which
is expressly forbidden in the Scriptures. </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0.38in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><sup><span lang="en-IE"><b><span style="background: #ffffff;">10 </span></b></span></sup></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-IE"><span style="background: #ffffff;">Let
no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0.38in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE">fire, who
practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages
in </span></span></span></span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0.38in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-IE"><span style="background: #ffffff;">witchcraft,</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><sup><span lang="en-IE"><b><span style="background: #ffffff;">11 </span></b></span></sup></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-IE"><span style="background: #ffffff;">or
casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who
consults the dead. </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><sup><span lang="en-IE"><b><span style="background: #ffffff;">12 </span></b></span></sup></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-IE"><span style="background: #ffffff;">Anyone
who does these things is detestable to the </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-IE"><span style="background: #ffffff;">Lord</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-IE"><span style="background: #ffffff;">.
(Deut 18:10-14)</span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0.38in;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbfuSHQhhXg4-PmWlZmGV-b-UI4P4hV8Gccl1mRDA-96C_YJRsD0LhE0_Qe5ZaZ_GoAvcvOBdHnjAmefV5J9XBGbN4BYJ8obajwSfdtIOJ0UUy_yv8eaqzrzWbS09slZCU1QzeVUJcUWHRXFxHJyaziL14-gnWUj7sJUI69pDBkQcweNoxR0rLfJTgzvg/s4032/20200118_110436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbfuSHQhhXg4-PmWlZmGV-b-UI4P4hV8Gccl1mRDA-96C_YJRsD0LhE0_Qe5ZaZ_GoAvcvOBdHnjAmefV5J9XBGbN4BYJ8obajwSfdtIOJ0UUy_yv8eaqzrzWbS09slZCU1QzeVUJcUWHRXFxHJyaziL14-gnWUj7sJUI69pDBkQcweNoxR0rLfJTgzvg/w400-h225/20200118_110436.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="text-align: left;">The
Magi (possibly ZoroAstrian priests) represent all the peoples of the
world since they were not Jewish, but came from pagan nations who did
not know the true God. It is a way of saying that Jesus’
coming is for all peoples of all religions and race. All people
will recognise that Jesus is the Son of God. God guided them
through what they were involved in, astrology, which was how they
were searching for God. It is a reminder to us that God can and does
use all and every means to speak to us and draw us closer to himself.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
three gifts are symbolic. Gold is the symbol of a king. Jesus
is a king, King of kings and the master of the whole universe. The
use of frankincense is a sign of recognising a divinity, or
God. Jesus is Son of God, the second person of the Godhead. And
myrrh is a perfume that represents the suffering He will go through
to win eternal life for the human race. </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
you think of most of the figures in the Bible to do with Christmas,
they all had mystical experiences which led them closer to God. The
angel Gabriel appeared to Mary; he also appeared to Joseph. Angels
appeared to the shepherds and a star guided the, or Magi.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Different
events and experiences often open people’s hearts to God. Sometimes
it is through a crisis, such as sickness, or the death of a loved
one, that gets us thinking differently. Many times I have seen people
deciding to come back to Church after the death of someone close to
them, because it has got them thinking about the more important
things and that is always good. The Spirit keeps calling us to search
for God. What is important is that we keep searching and remain open.
It is good that we ask questions about what we believe in. I believe
and accept that the Scriptures and the teachings of our Church are
from God and I submit to them, but I will continue to ask questions.
The more searching I do, the more my faith grows.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijdFH8NeznjADCpjExzfyKC3cUsZV0jfutiM4LaYK_nZgmnyH-a8qIKG8vMn0S34355awr_H4y_xyYqOA8-rbs3aeWqORFFzc2LyqFcrzBLIZ8JDap1kBxU2oWLPAQTXvbAgkwC-zmQbXdWt8CMMPKTQXx8-IM3ThRIvClaAnuJTZwOgemp0zRG1i36qg/s3989/20200118_171309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2244" data-original-width="3989" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijdFH8NeznjADCpjExzfyKC3cUsZV0jfutiM4LaYK_nZgmnyH-a8qIKG8vMn0S34355awr_H4y_xyYqOA8-rbs3aeWqORFFzc2LyqFcrzBLIZ8JDap1kBxU2oWLPAQTXvbAgkwC-zmQbXdWt8CMMPKTQXx8-IM3ThRIvClaAnuJTZwOgemp0zRG1i36qg/w400-h225/20200118_171309.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p><p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="text-align: left;">Each
week when we come to the mass, we come to an encounter with God which
Jesus revealed to us, which is why we never change it. That’s also
why the time before mass is not just the time for a social gathering,
but the time for us to prepare for this wonderful encounter with God
through the Scriptures and the Eucharist. God wants us to meet him
and hear him and this is one of the most wonderful ways that He helps
us to do that.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
might seem a bit arrogant of us to say that all people will recognise
that Jesus is the Son of God. That seems to imply that we are
right and that everyone else is wrong, but that is not the
case. People of different religions have very different
understandings of God and God speaks to all people through different
religions. Even for those who never come to know Jesus in this
lifetime, they still have eternal life won for them by the death and
resurrection of Christ and eternal life is still offered to them
through him, just as it is to us. When they die they will see
this at once. They will know immediately who Jesus is and what
He has done for us. </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Although
we lost the possibility of eternal life with God through what we call
Original Sin, God regained the possibility of eternal life for us
through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We can accept or
reject this gift individually and we do this through our faith. All
people are offered this possibility regardless of whether they come
to know of God in this life or not, but it is not as if there is a
kind of neutral ground for those who do not believe. We accept
life with God when we die which will be our total fulfilment, or we
lose it forever and that is the choice we must make. </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is also where our conscience is so important, because even if we
never hear of God during our life, God speaks to us through our
conscience, giving us a basic understanding of what is right and
wrong. Our faith and the teachings of Jesus through the Church,
give us a better understanding of what is right or wrong. All of
the decisions that we make throughout our life are bringing us closer
to, or driving us farther away, from God.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxGXQzqZm8a1r2uvxGm811p1tARanoIr7Q0o26aI0egz6gaerpEJTP37Rc6KeHfWNyJ-nwekf9WCjZL5AJ7OCT-KuNSvUQwRtCm0eQ7QV65MG0BYf6G4Rqd9X7_13uUDI0aRbAt14dtfbkNGind2QZxtavSip7AQ5yMG-ET2IjcSoWtcWujjBnKJ-g-c/s4032/20200115_155236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxGXQzqZm8a1r2uvxGm811p1tARanoIr7Q0o26aI0egz6gaerpEJTP37Rc6KeHfWNyJ-nwekf9WCjZL5AJ7OCT-KuNSvUQwRtCm0eQ7QV65MG0BYf6G4Rqd9X7_13uUDI0aRbAt14dtfbkNGind2QZxtavSip7AQ5yMG-ET2IjcSoWtcWujjBnKJ-g-c/w400-h225/20200115_155236.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
Christians are the people who recognise that Jesus is the Son of God
and has done all these things for us. We consider ourselves
blessed that God has made himself known to us in this way, but it
doesn’t mean that we have a better chance of going to heaven than
anyone else. That depends completely on how we live our life.
When we die we will realise that all this is really true. And
when other people of different religions die, they will also
recognise that Jesus Christ is Lord. What is important for them is to
live their faith as well as they can just as it is for us. If they do
this, God will also draw them closer to him and bring them to
holiness, just as He will with us if we remain open. </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Meanwhile
we pray that all peoples will begin to recognise that Jesus Christ is
Lord even in this life, because this is the truth which God has
revealed to us Either way we try to respect people who believe
differently to us and remember that they are also children of God.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="text-indent: 0.27in;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE">“<span style="font-size: small;">Every knee shall bow,
in heaven, on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians
2:10-11)</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-22033960819787266492023-12-29T16:03:00.003+00:002023-12-29T16:03:41.120+00:00Feast of the Holy Family (Gospel: Luke 2:22-40) Our imperfect families <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngeW_IhpGP4MqJb-sM3vZbPYgQZsNgoYNdUYk0e-qjJK-9LcF4mNgAid08T2d_nmSrwypCeluXF_7d2x4dheWpzuN7MgVd9EskPgwMFsJZxTYvbir8m3wKkKmzhF3T8dqtQ-Mvx2TqBSUXU_LZj0q4Iar31lqtplq01rJzECiqv_eOiaFpqbx2pJyuRY/s3257/IMG_0412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2524" data-original-width="3257" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngeW_IhpGP4MqJb-sM3vZbPYgQZsNgoYNdUYk0e-qjJK-9LcF4mNgAid08T2d_nmSrwypCeluXF_7d2x4dheWpzuN7MgVd9EskPgwMFsJZxTYvbir8m3wKkKmzhF3T8dqtQ-Mvx2TqBSUXU_LZj0q4Iar31lqtplq01rJzECiqv_eOiaFpqbx2pJyuRY/w400-h310/IMG_0412.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>My family lived in Dublin until I was six years old. One time when I was about five I was brought to a party of a school friend, but for some reason I decided that I didn’t like the party and that I wanted to go home. I figured that the best way to do this was secretly. So I told my friend that I would hide out in the garden and that he should come and try to find me after a few minutes. When I got outside I climbed over the wall, made my escape and headed home. The only problem was that I had no idea how to get home. So I headed off and asked a post-man how to get to ‘York Road’ in Dun Laoghaire, where we lived. He looked at me suspiciously but told me where to go. When I finally arrived home I found a big police motorbike in the front drive. Maybe that’s where my love of motorcycles began! Everyone was out looking for me. My poor parents were not the better for this experience. Family life is not easy.
</div><div><br /></div><div>This is a feast day which I think can often make us feel disappointed with our own families, although we don’t admit it, because it seems to tell us that our families are not what they should be. Things go wrong and we drive each other crazy. Someone gets into trouble and lets the family down. Marriages don’t always work out. We are afraid what others will think of us. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then we are presented with the holy family, who we imagine were living in bliss all the time. That is not reality. They were poor. When Jesus was born they were homeless. Then with a new baby they had to flee to Egypt to escape an attempt on the child’s life and became refugees. When Jesus was brought to the temple, Simeon told them he was destined to be a sign that would be rejected. He would not be a ‘success’. Later they lost him for three days. Can you imagine the stress of losing one of your children for three days? So why are they presented to us as a model? because they had their priorities right. God was at the center of this family. It was the right environment for the person of Jesus to grow and mature. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-H1a_mzBEgRVrIaiAU50FwOt8zScM6nsUyDipLePbAE9zGGmQiH2rXKc2n0ymMR9p0CLQmTrNkbvUQZ7aRscdgWlejLpvbLwxvw5Ciek4NkJV1DQLFHfAmXM6CopohY6FlbQIXVIqXIEGthxwoR42Q71Qw5oig05QQmcC-xhgpC88CJcYTw8B97BeSpY/s4252/IMG_3856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2217" data-original-width="4252" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-H1a_mzBEgRVrIaiAU50FwOt8zScM6nsUyDipLePbAE9zGGmQiH2rXKc2n0ymMR9p0CLQmTrNkbvUQZ7aRscdgWlejLpvbLwxvw5Ciek4NkJV1DQLFHfAmXM6CopohY6FlbQIXVIqXIEGthxwoR42Q71Qw5oig05QQmcC-xhgpC88CJcYTw8B97BeSpY/w400-h209/IMG_3856.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus had to grow up as a person, just as all of us do. He had to learn to be responsible, learn the Jewish traditions and that takes a long time. It involves a lot of learning for each of us, and a lot of patience and sacrifice on the part of our parents, but how we are formed is vital. There is an African proverb which says, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ We all have a part to play, even if that is just encouraging those who are struggling. If there are young families around you who are struggling financially, especially one parent families, look out for them. </div><div><br /></div><div>There is a couple I know who were telling me recently that at one stage, because one of their children was sick, they lost their home in order to pay hospital bills. The husband told me that for several months they lived on next to nothing, even though they both had jobs. We never know how people are struggling and we must look out for each other. </div><div><br /></div><div>We know almost nothing about the first thirty years of Jesus’ life, but no doubt it was very important for his growing and maturing as a person, and to help him be ready for the mission that He lived out for the last three years of his life, teaching people about God and sacrificing himself for us. </div><div><br /></div><div>The main role of our families is to provide a safe, loving environment for us to grow up in, so that we will blossom as people and learn how to deal with the world. None of us come from a perfect family, but that doesn’t matter. It is easy to become discouraged, thinking about how things might have been, or should be, but the bottom line is that we are the way we are. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidu4jqGUUbsR1YHgiS6bYI5XZFntSQq7Y6bDbMs2LlbRIaEtw2UoevwP2Av5SdOH7DPZfdcWIn28TikmPuJA38l1zBcrpSYtDE_lhxNk8zmz1TnD5X2upft5kl35F9RiWEYKG0IBjFo9GwVwnpjcEDQdkhtBsUZ4X3Xz9YrIijccT-DxzhNfr8lHltA7w/s3910/IMG_3689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2822" data-original-width="3910" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidu4jqGUUbsR1YHgiS6bYI5XZFntSQq7Y6bDbMs2LlbRIaEtw2UoevwP2Av5SdOH7DPZfdcWIn28TikmPuJA38l1zBcrpSYtDE_lhxNk8zmz1TnD5X2upft5kl35F9RiWEYKG0IBjFo9GwVwnpjcEDQdkhtBsUZ4X3Xz9YrIijccT-DxzhNfr8lHltA7w/w400-h289/IMG_3689.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The path through our lives often takes unexpected turns and things can work out a lot worse than we had intended. Does it matter? Not in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord is not the one to say, ‘You should be different’. That is what people will say, but that is not what the Lord says. He is always the one who encourages us, reassures us and gives us new strength to keep going. Think of all the people that Jesus came across in the Gospels. He took them exactly as they were, including many people who were causing public scandal. It didn’t matter what faith or cultural background they came from. He always showed great sensitivity to their dignity. Satan discourages, but God always encourages. Jesus called Satan ‘the Accuser.’ He continually accuses us and tries to shame us and make us give up. But Jesus does the opposite. He is always the one to encourage us and reassure us of his presence. What is important is not how we should be, but that we remain open to God. If we are listening and open, then the Lord can lead us forward. All God needs is our openness. </div><div><br /></div><div>Everything that we go through plays a part in forming us as people. The only thing that is important is that we are willing to get up again, to begin again and turn to the Lord for help as often as is necessary.
</div><div><br /></div><div>If God is not at the center of your family, maybe it’s time to bring him into your family. Is there a crucifix in your home? If not, why not? Are you ashamed or embarrassed to say who you belong to, who is Lord of your life? Apart from God our life is meaningless. Do you ever read the word of God with your family? If you think this seems a bit embarrassing, or over religious, think about how much time you spend watching TV, filling your mind with worldly and often sinful things. Why not read a chapter from one of the Gospels at the end of your main meal together? Pray grace together. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ABsFx07XNTrVYW37uN1wz8-DUd3AiMZhpNzWKJUkv3pVEtolo2gzWB4D0pA4w8MPXEN8JWpHOjrgNfwCjA_ctWhQZIyoeMQhIcOhhbXapeV2JeoTlutuboNFyTUa70QuVvnyyRVKttes40sPqIWnA_P2d4Eq3n6bBEEhNKr2yLcqeVXVmvNfGf4d_rA/s474/Couple%20at%20the%20altar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="474" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ABsFx07XNTrVYW37uN1wz8-DUd3AiMZhpNzWKJUkv3pVEtolo2gzWB4D0pA4w8MPXEN8JWpHOjrgNfwCjA_ctWhQZIyoeMQhIcOhhbXapeV2JeoTlutuboNFyTUa70QuVvnyyRVKttes40sPqIWnA_P2d4Eq3n6bBEEhNKr2yLcqeVXVmvNfGf4d_rA/w400-h266/Couple%20at%20the%20altar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>There is a wedding tradition which I came across many years ago, from Croatia, if I’m not mistaken. When a couple get married, they have a crucifix blessed at the wedding ceremony and bring it to their home. They place it in a prominent place to remind them that God is with them in their marriage. When they are struggling, they are to come before the crucifix to ask God for his help. This is the balance that God invites us to have. God must be at the center. Only in God will we find the strength we need to keep going. Without God our life is meaningless. </div><div><br /></div><div>God is well aware that family life is not easy, but that is also why He invites us to keep turning to him asking for his help. That is why the sacrament of marriage is so important, because it is inviting God to be part of that marriage, not just to bless the couple on their wedding day, but throughout the couple’s whole life. God wants to help us, but we must allow him to help us too. Our families may be far from perfect, but God can still work through them to help us come closer to him. </div><div><br /></div><div>'When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom and the favor of God was upon him.' (Luke 2:39-40)
</div>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-83661083335588739092023-12-24T21:01:00.000+00:002023-12-24T21:01:00.058+00:00Christmas: The Promise of Happiness<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjCD9F5G4PGClj9PUz1DRVAJakzJrIrMZ2vgfjhtInGvKZKsct6kRxnF4_CSUwOoHQrotOk2JXrW_3U_DrYhbkUOh8z30qJ3BfDf-WxaH1iRVa_pc6iI2KRNBnN012gRZwFoON7HZRkeFGwuFegcbKrHmbb0UY3k6S7IiddpshBUH1yUvFsNaQ-jeQdJU/s197/new%20baby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="131" data-original-width="197" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjCD9F5G4PGClj9PUz1DRVAJakzJrIrMZ2vgfjhtInGvKZKsct6kRxnF4_CSUwOoHQrotOk2JXrW_3U_DrYhbkUOh8z30qJ3BfDf-WxaH1iRVa_pc6iI2KRNBnN012gRZwFoON7HZRkeFGwuFegcbKrHmbb0UY3k6S7IiddpshBUH1yUvFsNaQ-jeQdJU/w320-h213/new%20baby.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p>Christmas is about what happens to us when we die. It is the feast
of the greatest hope imaginable, because it tells us two things:
First, that what all of us want—happiness—awaits us if we choose
it. Second, that we have great worth and value in God’s eyes,
regardless of how our life on earth turns out. That is what we
celebrate at Christmas.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We tend to see Christmas just as the birth of Christ, which is
part of it, but the birth of Christ is the beginning of a great event
that took place over 33 years. It has three parts.
</p>
<p>1. The Son of God comes among us, to live as one
of us and take on the human condition with all its difficulties.</p>
<p>2. To teach us about God and why we are here.
</p>
<p>3. To sacrifice himself for us,
so that we can reach the happiness that God originally created us
for.
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hopefully we will have times of happiness in this life, but it
will only be fulfilled in the world to come, but God has created us
for happiness. God wants us to find happiness because that’s what
He originally created us for. Why? Because God wanted us to share in
his joy, just like you want others to share in your joy when you are
celebrating something. Our instinct is to invite others to celebrate
with us.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If God wants us to be happy, why don’t we have it now? It always
seems to be just out of reach. We always think that if I could just
get this house, car, job, or have this relationship, then I would
find that fulfillment, but it always seems to be just out of reach.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God originally gave our first parents total fulfillment. The story
of Adam and Eve is a way of explaining this. It says in the garden of
Eden they had every delight. But God also warned them to respect
their limits as human beings. Don’t touch the tree of good and
evil. In other words, don’t play God, because you won’t be able
for it. Don’t be the ones to decide what is good and evil, who
lives and who dies, what male and female are. Only God can do this.
But they were deceived into thinking they could.</p>
<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgepZ44wI6m80clcxUN1Fgkcw4gF1HJLk0zV-cdikPCfdTB5uEYU6el3yERqKE_4zc1Xj384UuwOhd-96BftOZG14It8QS7ZGnJCZ8A-dmYXQIArBPmkSFK8kRL3sodFkVNW16dlHSvu4Ah54sdXH0GLWfJES8iiI1Jw6Y9UiJ9HSljz0tueDTBkfU2gLI/s310/crucifion%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="310" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgepZ44wI6m80clcxUN1Fgkcw4gF1HJLk0zV-cdikPCfdTB5uEYU6el3yERqKE_4zc1Xj384UuwOhd-96BftOZG14It8QS7ZGnJCZ8A-dmYXQIArBPmkSFK8kRL3sodFkVNW16dlHSvu4Ah54sdXH0GLWfJES8iiI1Jw6Y9UiJ9HSljz0tueDTBkfU2gLI/w400-h210/crucifion%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>
<p>Why did Satan want to deceive them? Because He hates God and He
hates God’s creation and he tries to destroy us in order to get at
God. We are nothing to him, except a way to get at God. And so he convinced them to take the
fruit, to do what God told them not to do and as a result they lost
the happiness they had been given. The problem was that they had no
way of winning back that happiness. But because God loves us He would
not allow things to remain that way. And so God the Son came among
us, taking on human flesh and shed his blood to atone for our sins, so
that when we die we could reach that original happiness that God
intended for us. It is now waiting for us if we choose it. But it is
not a given. We must choose it and we choose it by the way we live in
this life.
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It also tells us something that we find hard to grasp; that is,
that we have an infinite value and worth in God’s eye’s,
regardless of how our life turns out. It means that God will do
anything to get us to heaven. In fact God has done everything to make
it possible for us to get to heaven. We generally tend to think that
if we really get our act together and if we become holy enough, then
we will be acceptable to God. That is not what God teaches us. God
teaches us that He loves us totally and completely, as we are right
now. We may think of ourselves as failures, or disappointments in the
world’s eyes, but that is not how God sees us. We are never
failures in God’s eyes. Think of a little child. No matter how much
that child makes a mess of things, you don’t love them any less.
You love them just because they exist.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There is a Jesuit priest called Fr. Greg Boyle, who for over
thirty years has worked in the toughest gang-land areas of LA. He
wrote a book called, <i>Tattoos on the Heart: the Power of Boundless
Compassion</i>. Up to the time he published the book in 2010, he had
already buried 167 young people, from gangland shootings. In the
book, he talks about the fact that most of the young people who end
up in gangs, really have little else. Most of them have grown up in
homes with no parents, or with parents so wrecked by addiction that
they might as well not be there, or of such violence that they have
left and lived on the streets. They end up in gangs because the gangs
provide them with a sense of belonging; a family of sorts. He says
that they don’t plan their futures; they plan their funerals,
because they expect to die young. Young women often want to get
pregnant early, so that they will have the experience of having a
child before they get killed. Most of them don’t expect to make it
past 20.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNtYaSU28kRrz75Kux-xzJfwG8LJFBuxcsY0o1LTDQsmZzykrG7ffLhnLGZAnhDQAgg0LTSda3o562G5h-0fX3rrnRg88vRX6PfjvCXjh09jtaw0oTZb3TcR_w0SIhQinJlm-ePC_S42PiNOJ85VWEHFk9bsXLCugVi-EcKKkzBP2gIe0AeG3RhTZSKY/s1200/Tatoos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="834" data-original-width="1200" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNtYaSU28kRrz75Kux-xzJfwG8LJFBuxcsY0o1LTDQsmZzykrG7ffLhnLGZAnhDQAgg0LTSda3o562G5h-0fX3rrnRg88vRX6PfjvCXjh09jtaw0oTZb3TcR_w0SIhQinJlm-ePC_S42PiNOJ85VWEHFk9bsXLCugVi-EcKKkzBP2gIe0AeG3RhTZSKY/w400-h278/Tatoos.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Fr. Greg helps them to see that they are valued, that they have
worth and that they are not failures. He says that so many of them
have come into his office and just cried, saying that they are total
failures and they live in shame. But once he takes an interest in
them, learns their name, helps them to see that he has an interest in
them, they begin to change and many of them then leave the gangs and
even get jobs. Once they begin to feel loved and valued, their life
starts to turn around. He has now set up an organization called
Homeboy Industries.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He spoke about one instance where he remembered the name of one
young man and when he saw him on the street one time, he called out
his name, ‘Hey Mike, how are you doing?’ He said the young man
was astonished and kept turning back smiling. He couldn’t believe
that someone noticed him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Pope Francis, when he was a much younger priest was head of the
Jesuits in Argentina. During the military dictatorship in Argentina
he had to make some very difficult choices. One decision he made
resulted in at least two Jesuit priests being arrested and tortured
for several months. One forgave him the other did not and considered
him a traitor up to his death. He made bad decisions with very
serious consequences. Years later the Lord made him pope. Yes, I said
<i>the Lord</i> made him pope. Why would God choose someone who had
betrayed other priests, even if he didn’t intend to? Why would God
choose a <i>failure</i>? Because he was not a failure in God’s
eyes. He is a human being who made mistakes. Why did he choose St.
Peter who also betrayed him? because he saw the greatness in him,
just as He does in us. God sees the greatness in us. We are beautiful
in his eyes, regardless of the mistakes we have made. We are never a
failure in his eyes. And that is why He has made it possible for us
to have eternal happiness when we die, because He wants us to be with him. And that is what we are
celebrating at Christmas.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.’</p>
<p> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-7286471510499201262023-12-22T17:19:00.000+00:002023-12-22T17:19:46.613+00:004th Sunday Advent Yr B (Gospel: Luke:1-26-38) God's Church<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MKGQuofc7r3PKh3dBeC3M8ZhEiuVhIuPNC5HhdqWWplMcprpuM9ZfI8SsngNnh5ht9LxT-eMydYLzHAF6BhnwhYFll42_dMXq1nYI7eJZOOhM3xt-HVBaohEaHodMuh3Py-h_ifhKFG3-mn602Vk5KVx8l4fFppoxXlmlgNR-5eAICAflZL_0FdfeGA/s5184/IMG_2484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MKGQuofc7r3PKh3dBeC3M8ZhEiuVhIuPNC5HhdqWWplMcprpuM9ZfI8SsngNnh5ht9LxT-eMydYLzHAF6BhnwhYFll42_dMXq1nYI7eJZOOhM3xt-HVBaohEaHodMuh3Py-h_ifhKFG3-mn602Vk5KVx8l4fFppoxXlmlgNR-5eAICAflZL_0FdfeGA/w400-h266/IMG_2484.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p><p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
want to address Pope Francis’ announcement that priests can now
bless gay couples. The document called <i>Fiducia Supplicans</i>, has
caused a lot of upset and confusion and I would just like to explain
what it does and does not mean. </span>
</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p><p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">What
most people heard, was that priests can now bless gay marriage, which
is not what was said. In fact, in the same document the pope
expressly states that under no circumstances can a priest bless a gay
marriage, or union, since we believe that marriage is a life-long
commitment between a man and a woman, open to life. The Church’s
teaching has not changed on that, but that is what many people are
misunderstanding.</span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p><p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">What
it means is that if a couple spontaneously came to me and asked for a
blessing, I am allowed to give it to them. The thinking is, that I
shouldn’t have to know that their background is morally sound
before I give a blessing. It is the same if it is a couple in an
irregular union where they are waiting on annulments. However, I am
not allowed to do it if it gives the impression that I am blessing a
union, or marriage, so it would not be a formal blessing, or ritual.</span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p><p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
you think about what a blessing is. To ask for a blessing is to ask
for God’s help, strength and mercy, to live the right way and do
what is right before God. It makes sense that anyone should be able
to receive such a blessing, so long as it doesn’t give the
impression that it is condoning their union that we don’t believe
as right.</span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxPcJqMOu7dK1ocWYmfTavlfa9lafhN0lifEuXkeWiZOrF7IzUA96gU0L7zOmB8jstFd6BBFIfONvy2DoacAZ5JtaP25JAAxxwFV5hWqYHVHyebAfKJZofm5uHaB1Olk7WOtuZslfqjuwsgBK1oCmsZ5VPg0Xb-fS05Q6qZR7k-3gO9wX3Ax_SZDrhU8/s2942/IMG_3881.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1969" data-original-width="2942" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxPcJqMOu7dK1ocWYmfTavlfa9lafhN0lifEuXkeWiZOrF7IzUA96gU0L7zOmB8jstFd6BBFIfONvy2DoacAZ5JtaP25JAAxxwFV5hWqYHVHyebAfKJZofm5uHaB1Olk7WOtuZslfqjuwsgBK1oCmsZ5VPg0Xb-fS05Q6qZR7k-3gO9wX3Ax_SZDrhU8/w400-h268/IMG_3881.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Also
someone mentioned that Pope Francis invited some transgender people
to the Vatican. Jesus deliberately went to the homes of
tax-collectors and prostitutes and all the religious leaders of the
time complained and were scandalized. He was reaching out to them and
that is what the pope is doing too.</span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p><p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pope
Francis is certainly a very different kind of pope from Pope Benedict
XVI and John Paul II, but that doesn’t mean the Lord isn’t
working through him. Remember that it is the Lord’s Church. </span>
</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.38in;">
‘<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE">You are Peter and on this rock I
will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld shall never
prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom. Whatever
you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever you lose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven’ (Matt 16:18-19).</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p><p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
Napoleon was taking over Europe, he met the cardinal of Paris. He
told him that he was going to destroy the Vatican. The cardinal
replied, ‘You won’t be able. We priests have been trying to
destroy it for the last 1800 years and we haven’t been able.’</span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p><p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">Think
of all the scandals that have happened down through the centuries and
there have been many and serious ones, especially in recent years.
The Church would not have survived them if it were of human origin.
It is still here because it is the Lord’s Church and the Lord is
still guiding the Church. That doesn’t mean that people in the
Church can’t make mistakes, but the Lord still works through weak
human instruments. If I thought for a second that the Church was of
human origin, I wouldn’t be part of it, but I am convinced that it
is and that is why I am not afraid when we are presented with things
that are confusing. We are going through turbulent times, but don’t
be afraid of that. It never comes down to what one person says.</span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdkoLFACvfSdzuk5w-TYAzBHvmaZWwzX0MliMukdYWUDDkI86a7qMwxjRzD4MxonYjdVTiCZg9sRhToKGMnOQFIesxoGCef8DZgoDVRDrtUbPs5w3AJVkorG9qAZGe9L9gMFdBTtgKvxcqcHgAcwweh_hhkRpvu0siMKpf-JtF8hrNim_IBuHvjsYFz4/s3264/IMG_0123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdkoLFACvfSdzuk5w-TYAzBHvmaZWwzX0MliMukdYWUDDkI86a7qMwxjRzD4MxonYjdVTiCZg9sRhToKGMnOQFIesxoGCef8DZgoDVRDrtUbPs5w3AJVkorG9qAZGe9L9gMFdBTtgKvxcqcHgAcwweh_hhkRpvu0siMKpf-JtF8hrNim_IBuHvjsYFz4/w400-h300/IMG_0123.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">At
one point, St. Paul publicly challenged St. Peter, because he was
clearly in the wrong. He had been eating with the Gentiles, but then
when some Jews turned up, he stopped and only ate with them. He was
afraid of criticism, but what he did was wrong and Paul pointed this
out. Peter then realized his mistake and corrected what he was doing.
So human bishops and priests are not above reproach.</span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.38in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">2:</span><span style="color: black;"><sup><b>11 </b></sup></span><span style="color: black;">But
when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what
he did was very wrong. </span><span style="color: black;"><sup><b>12 </b></sup></span><span style="color: black;">When
he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not
circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter
wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism
from these people who insisted on the necessity of
circumcision. </span><span style="color: black;"><sup><b>13 </b></sup></span><span style="color: black;">As
a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and
even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. (Gal 2:11-13)</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">It
is easy to think of the Church as God’s Church, but that God is
just observing it from a distance. We forget that the Lord is
constantly working through his Church and will continue to. ‘The
gates of the underworld shall not prevail against it.’ Throughout
the world the Spirit continually inspires people to act. God doesn’t
just wait until we decide it is the right time to do something. The
Spirit acts when the time is right, not when we are ready. And so
people continue to be inspired.</span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">There
is the story of a young man who was interested in becoming a priest.
He was being guided by a local priest, but wanted to go Rome to see
the Vatican before he started his studies for the priesthood. When he
left for his trip, the priest said to himself that that was the end
of his vocation once he saw the Vatican and the corruption. When the
young man returned, he said ‘Now I am ready to start my studies.’
The priest asked him, ‘What did you think of the Vatican? He said
there was so much corruption, but that just affirmed to him that the
Church had to be from God.</span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">So
don’t be put off by things like this document. It is still the
Lord’s Church and always will be.</span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-size: small;">You
are Peter and on this rock I will build <i>my</i> Church…and the
gates of the underworld shall not prevail against it.’</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">You
can also find the US Bishop’s official statement on the Pope’s
decree here:</span></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://www.usccb.org/news/2023/doctrinal-dicastery-explains-how-when-gay-couples-can-be-blessed"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE">Doctrinal
dicastery explains how, when gay couples can be blessed | USCCB</span></span></a></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p><p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-77151466535288614062023-12-16T15:43:00.000+00:002023-12-16T15:43:25.765+00:003rd Sunday of Advent, Year A (Gospel: John 1:6-8; 19-28) What does the coming of Jesus mean?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiBjSOUYuivYBIbn0aldMuUb9y76U11NdagTDsra-99_UivF_4aI0ERveXZqEcaXN0_3th5Bk3ATfc4JS35CYavcRQk7WZk6r167VIF4J3203tHvEbWNZ9IRNMEQnE-3CaQsIX5tIML11Z-38fstcOaw7Sdew3FvPyBoGqbGUkflmJaHB1y6aC4F_VPjc/s3519/Galway%20in%20November%20002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2639" data-original-width="3519" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiBjSOUYuivYBIbn0aldMuUb9y76U11NdagTDsra-99_UivF_4aI0ERveXZqEcaXN0_3th5Bk3ATfc4JS35CYavcRQk7WZk6r167VIF4J3203tHvEbWNZ9IRNMEQnE-3CaQsIX5tIML11Z-38fstcOaw7Sdew3FvPyBoGqbGUkflmJaHB1y6aC4F_VPjc/w400-h300/Galway%20in%20November%20002.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why
was the coming of John the Baptist so important? Why is the coming of
Jesus at Christmas so important? What exactly does the coming of
Jesus at Christmas mean? We always talk about it being the good news,
a message of hope, but what exactly does that mean in practical
terms?</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Most
of us have been taught that as we grow up we should try to live the
right way, following God’s Commandments and hopefully when we die,
if we are good enough, we will be allowed get into heaven. We even
have all those jokes about meeting St. Peter at the gates and having
to answer questions <i>to see if we are good enough</i>, if we pass
the test. Would you agree with that? The second part of that
statement is not correct. The part that says, ‘<i>If we are good
enough</i> we will get into heaven.’ You might be surprised to know
that that is not the message of Christianity at all. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
truth is that we can never be good enough, or holy enough, to come
into God’s presence <i>by our own strength</i>. The reason we call
it good news is that it is Jesus who makes it possible. The Lord
knows that no matter how hard we try we cannot be good enough for God
by our own strength and so God comes among us in the person of Jesus
to make it possible. Through Jesus’ self-sacrifice on the cross,
our going to heaven was made possible. We can get to heaven because
of the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is Jesus who makes it
possible. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
says in Romans 3:23, ‘Since all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, they are redeemed by his grace… as a gift… to be
received by faith.’</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">All
fall short of the glory of God, but his grace makes it possible for
us and this is offered to us as a gift and the way we receive that
gift is through faith. We say, ‘Yes, I believe this and I accept
it.’</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAk-VQWx5PgeF3cteI5Nypz57faLbeSm4EUGvQsik-vPm-oqSw0HsOnFVg0nJAh7o1k4w8WPMj5s5OUxSiCy3C0dkl6WNJTZgDxNamLZHH1bcSDFIuL_Mvf1EmJlroeMOALRZ-R52kCN_hbOjHnV6e-KpIr1fCxVhmQHO2QiWuEkca2uOLUvCHBXNbeoc/s3648/Galway%20in%20November%20012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAk-VQWx5PgeF3cteI5Nypz57faLbeSm4EUGvQsik-vPm-oqSw0HsOnFVg0nJAh7o1k4w8WPMj5s5OUxSiCy3C0dkl6WNJTZgDxNamLZHH1bcSDFIuL_Mvf1EmJlroeMOALRZ-R52kCN_hbOjHnV6e-KpIr1fCxVhmQHO2QiWuEkca2uOLUvCHBXNbeoc/w400-h300/Galway%20in%20November%20012.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Think
of it this way. The holiness of the holiest people on earth, the
Mother Theresas and others like that, might bring them 80% of the way
to being good enough for God, but no one could ever be completely
holy enough by themselves. How could any human be holy enough to be
in God’s presence? </span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Think
of what Jesus said about John the Baptist: ‘No one greater than
John the Baptist has ever been born.’ That’s a pretty
extraordinary thing to say about someone. But Jesus goes on to say,
‘Yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he is.’ John
the Baptist is less than the least of those in heaven? So how are the
rest of us supposed to get to heaven? The answer is, because of what
God has done for us through Jesus. The death and resurrection of
Jesus means that God has done for us what we could not do for
ourselves. God has made us holy enough to be in his presence <i>if</i>
we accept it. Why do I say ‘if’? God shows us the path that we
must follow, living according to his Commandments as best we can, but
we have to choose to do that. We can choose not to and sadly some do.
We will never be perfect by our own strength no matter how hard we
try, but that doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we do try
and when we fall we come back and ask forgiveness and Jesus assures
us of his forgiveness and mercy for anyone who asks. Jesus does for
us what we cannot do for ourselves by his death and resurrection.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
one of the Gospels a rich man comes to Jesus asking him what he must
do to get to heaven and Jesus tells him to live the Commandments. But
the rich man presses him saying, ‘I do that already, what else to I
need to do?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, sell
what you own and come after me’ (Matt 19:21). It says that the rich
man went away sad because he knew he wouldn’t be able to do that.
Jesus knew he wouldn’t be able to do that too. Remember he said to
him ‘If you wish to be <i>perfect</i>’. None of us are perfect.
Then Jesus pointed out to his disciples how hard it is for a rich
person to enter the kingdom of heaven. The disciples were shocked and
said: ‘Then who can be saved?’ And Jesus’ answer is both
shocking and wonderful. He said, ‘For people it is impossible, but
not for God. Everything is possible for God.’ What we cannot do for
ourselves, God does for us. That is why we need never be afraid of
not being good enough for God when we die, so long as we keep trying.
</span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is easy to become discouraged by our own sinfulness and especially
when we feel are not overcoming our weaknesses. And people ask, ‘How
will I be able to go to heaven when I keep falling into sin? How
could I be pleasing to God?’ Again, the answer is, by the grace of
God. What is important is that we keep trying. The path to God is
about getting up again, and again and again, each time we fall.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxdx8q5ZKCjfJyrP8_pLYaG98GgwiWVEZDfEZa8uVpKRMKPewNgrBInscFt-hjuFtf9LFroqTSEbV-OxXMGs9MEd3pMy64MwU0UnvJqqlevc3xuWo6tFGwTWJaLV3xhuY_6UhzhyphenhyphenAJK2jI0OZpnw8lPVIkbs2pWNGl-SWEqpkOeDCgarlfs0Q7FcShAGk/s3648/IMG_0603.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxdx8q5ZKCjfJyrP8_pLYaG98GgwiWVEZDfEZa8uVpKRMKPewNgrBInscFt-hjuFtf9LFroqTSEbV-OxXMGs9MEd3pMy64MwU0UnvJqqlevc3xuWo6tFGwTWJaLV3xhuY_6UhzhyphenhyphenAJK2jI0OZpnw8lPVIkbs2pWNGl-SWEqpkOeDCgarlfs0Q7FcShAGk/w400-h300/IMG_0603.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Does
that mean that we can just relax and do whatever we want? No. St.
Paul writes, ‘Go on working out your salvation in fear and
trembling’ (Phil 2:2). It would be equally foolish to think that I
can live any way I want, since God forgives everything. We must never
be presumptuous about God’s grace, but if we are sincere, we have
nothing to be afraid of. This also gives us a great freedom. It means
there is nothing to be afraid of in regards to God, so long as we
try. God does everything else.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Think
also of when we are about to receive Holy Communion. We are unworthy
to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, but it is God who makes this
possible too. That is why we say this wonderful prayer: ‘Lord I am
not worthy that you should enter under my roof… but only say the
word and my soul shall be healed.’ ‘Only say the word!’ You can
make it possible Lord!</span></span></p>
<center>
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</center>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That
is why the coming of Christ among us is so important. That is why
Christmas and Easter are such great feasts, because they are not just
about Jesus, but they are also about us. God has won heaven for us.
That is why it is called good news, because it gives us the greatest
hope there is: the hope that heaven is there for us if we choose it.</span></span></p>
<p align="CENTER"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-16900131219929361102023-12-08T17:17:00.000+00:002023-12-08T17:17:13.234+00:002nd Sunday of Advent (Mark 1:1-8) No Christmas without repentance<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnY9rt2IDYsQe8K3iaM_jiT9uONdONcdMyX1nTJ1KWWiSWOHWf1riD_wA3tSn5k1Nit9iksZo-A5V8uZEbaLTPe5bgBgJnHXT81Bhs7K-QaZz39br_PvVTBkhuREFzI-7AZk8RwrDLp8GpA94CuykLOLmv-pgRKzguq-q8YJPLBm4ag7Arh8exP1ZhO_A/s352/galaxy%20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="352" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnY9rt2IDYsQe8K3iaM_jiT9uONdONcdMyX1nTJ1KWWiSWOHWf1riD_wA3tSn5k1Nit9iksZo-A5V8uZEbaLTPe5bgBgJnHXT81Bhs7K-QaZz39br_PvVTBkhuREFzI-7AZk8RwrDLp8GpA94CuykLOLmv-pgRKzguq-q8YJPLBm4ag7Arh8exP1ZhO_A/w400-h293/galaxy%20.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">How would you
feel if you got a Christmas card that read like this: </span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0.26in;"> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE"><i>Our thoughts of you this
Christmas are best expressed in the words of John the Baptist, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.</i></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span lang="en-IE"><i><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></i></span></span><span lang="en-IE"><i>Every tree that does
not bear good fruit will be thrown into the fire.” </i></span></span>
</p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0.26in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Merry
Christmas from Fr. Murchadh."</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
suppose we would add Fr. Murchadh, or whoever sent it, to our list of
x-friends!</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Advent
has really become the time of getting ready for Christmas in the
sense of buying the gifts we want to give, going to office parties,
etc, but this is quite different from the original message. John the
Baptist was sent by God to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus
and his message was very strong. ‘Repent, confess your sins, change
your lives and look for happiness in God.’ This is the part of
preparing for Christmas that is easy to overlook. We want the
celebration of Christmas, but we don’t necessarily want to have to
repent. Just leave us alone and let us celebrate. We want absolution,
but without having to confess. We want the love and blessing of God
without having to follow the commandments. We want faith on our
terms. That is called ‘cheap grace’. It is empty and it is not
the message of God.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo_guyIUmYjn_US4_y_yTghnLiPgZD3YLs4cbP37qXktVM962hPk6nGzbWFJkEjqQt0BN_l1LvohaFomV5vk-vUW7mSsCdPKeYTpNyNhftZPK2WrO3dtihwUiV8bGYBVYXrcPW8UkcQChcDJQ53ldxv5u05GsB3De6cM8xX-0sKm9t0q6E0Roby45xi5Y/s1280/Earliest%20galaxies.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo_guyIUmYjn_US4_y_yTghnLiPgZD3YLs4cbP37qXktVM962hPk6nGzbWFJkEjqQt0BN_l1LvohaFomV5vk-vUW7mSsCdPKeYTpNyNhftZPK2WrO3dtihwUiV8bGYBVYXrcPW8UkcQChcDJQ53ldxv5u05GsB3De6cM8xX-0sKm9t0q6E0Roby45xi5Y/w640-h360/Earliest%20galaxies.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First image from the James Webb telescope</td></tr></tbody></table></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="text-align: left;">The
message of God is a wonderful one, but is also a very demanding one.
We can not come and pick what we like. Instead we come and ask </span><i style="text-align: left;">what
is required of us</i><span style="text-align: left;">? That is what the people who came to John
asked: ‘What must we do?’ To be a disciple of Jesus is to be a
</span><i style="text-align: left;">follower</i><span style="text-align: left;">. We are not used to thinking this way, because our
world encourages us to make sure things are as </span><i style="text-align: left;">we </i><span style="text-align: left;">would like
them. If you’re not happy, move on; but this is not the message of
the Gospels. In the Gospel we listen to what it is that God asks of
us. We follow God on God’s terms and not our terms. </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's
the same mentality when people say the mass is boring. It may be
boring at times, but if it is it’s because I am looking to get
something out of it. What’s in it for me? No one every says a
funeral was boring, because they know why they are there: to honor
the dead, to pay our respect. The mass is about me giving of myself,
to worship God, to give him thanks and praise for all that we have.
If I understand that then the mass won’t be boring, because I am no
longer saying ‘What’s in it for me?’</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jesus
said that John the Baptist was the greatest man ever born of woman,
which is quite a statement. He was totally focused on God. He knew
what was important and he passed on the message he was told to pass
on and it cost him his life. When he said that what the king was
doing was immoral, he was arrested and imprisoned. They shut down his
ministry. Then he was beheaded by Herod for speaking the truth. We
don’t always want to hear the truth, because it is often demanding
and challenges us to change and sometimes it tells us we are wrong.
No one likes to hear that.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
we are serious about celebrating Christmas as a <i>Christian</i>
feast, then let us not forget the message of John the Baptist.
‘Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’ The term
‘repent’ means turn away from sin, but it can also mean ‘change
the direction in which you are looking for happiness.’ That is a
message many people need to hear. So many people are looking for
happiness in the world, but when the things of the world collapse,
they are left disappointed. Worldly things don’t fulfil us.
However, the Lord is telling us to turn to him for happiness. It is
only in God that we will find true happiness. The world will
disappoint us; God will not. People will let us down, but God will
not.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD1jCYcO96MVQHyRASfqLC4BX3Raug7Fia_0z-y4S_ol9aTydWZxNB1lrDiiN9nbc5l5x6BruVi5Pw6bKvEK_w6x_Que-TrudlMCftIIQvBgRGLBY9oR21fR7IZPLwt6aPhIc88yK6Gln9UMIEOr0ZjzD3mB_bP2iZXRsT3liq_0hxI6-aFhL9cCJ7QxE/s1280/Creation.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD1jCYcO96MVQHyRASfqLC4BX3Raug7Fia_0z-y4S_ol9aTydWZxNB1lrDiiN9nbc5l5x6BruVi5Pw6bKvEK_w6x_Que-TrudlMCftIIQvBgRGLBY9oR21fR7IZPLwt6aPhIc88yK6Gln9UMIEOr0ZjzD3mB_bP2iZXRsT3liq_0hxI6-aFhL9cCJ7QxE/w400-h225/Creation.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
sin of Adam and Eve was a very similar sin to what we see going on
today. It involved three things: (1) rejecting the idea that they had
to serve God, or listen to his commands; (2) that they could have
everything they wanted on <i>their</i> terms, (3) that they could be
like God themselves. That is very similar to what we see going on in
our world right now and it is a real temptation. Why should we have
to obey commandments? We don’t like being told we have to obey
anyone and yet the word obey literally means ‘to listen intently’
(from the Latin, ‘<i>ob audire</i>’). And if you think about it,
it says that Jesus was obedient to the Father. Jesus was equal to the
Father, but Jesus was also obedient to him. We are being called to
listen intently to what God tells us, to acknowledge that we are
God’s creation and that we must obey—listen intently—to what He
tells us if we are to find the path to happiness. </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
most important preparation we can make for Christmas is the interior
preparation, the change of heart, the confession of sins. And yes,
most of us don’t want to have to confess our sins. We think we
shouldn’t have to, but this is what God asks us to do and if God
asks us to do it, it is for our benefit. Deciding that I don’t need
to confess is saying, ‘God, I don’t need your gift and I don’t
need to listen to what you ask of me.’ God has given us the gift of
confession, through his priests, in order to help us and heal us. It
is one of the sacraments of healing.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">What
a shame it would be to die and come before God and then realize that
He had given us this gift of his forgiveness and we ignored it,
telling ourselves we knew better. When we die we will be shown the
good and bad we have done, except for the sins we have confessed,
which are blotted out by the power of the Holy Spirit in confession.
It is his gift to us.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
celebration of Christmas is meaningless if we skip the kind of
preparation that God asks us to make and sadly for many people it has
become meaningless. It doesn’t have to be meaningless, because it
is the celebration of something very wonderful, the coming of God
among us in the person of Jesus—the second person of the Holy
Trinity—taking on human flesh, in order to sacrifice himself in
atonement for our sins, so that we could go to heaven when we die.
God created us for paradise. We lost it, by rejecting God’s word,
but God won it back for us through the death and resurrection of
Jesus. No wonder the celebration of Christmas is such a great event.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQVCBIv7FjzoIbEuenHwotvfnuHx__I-zMjg_QbrWXcfjYqwwi6rtLgcM6eLiQTuet5anBLpVXGUiDVyv110Vc6jrzIQFwlH4j6EA6DcJ7LPsYxkW6lje1hyGqSwriHXujXn0RrcGua7r7Vg4qDsdRZyi2WYzkRzp1WXxuCdwUBuq5GmNaFT9pzBR6sQ/s1280/STScI-01G7DBCTRCGSFP6NWA1S9C6KBP.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQVCBIv7FjzoIbEuenHwotvfnuHx__I-zMjg_QbrWXcfjYqwwi6rtLgcM6eLiQTuet5anBLpVXGUiDVyv110Vc6jrzIQFwlH4j6EA6DcJ7LPsYxkW6lje1hyGqSwriHXujXn0RrcGua7r7Vg4qDsdRZyi2WYzkRzp1WXxuCdwUBuq5GmNaFT9pzBR6sQ/w640-h360/STScI-01G7DBCTRCGSFP6NWA1S9C6KBP.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
always, the Lord invites us to listen to him and follow him. He will
never force us: </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0.26in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice
and opens the door to me, I will come in and sit down to eat with
him, and he with me. (Rev 3:20) </span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0.26in;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Those
words are from the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible and
this message is repeated all through the Bible in different ways. The
Lord wants to be at the centre of what we do, but we are the only
ones who can allow that to happen.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.26in;">‘<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-IE">Repent,
for the kingdom of God is close at hand.’</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-49253461184798934092023-12-02T16:22:00.004+00:002023-12-03T03:18:43.275+00:001st Sunday of Advent, Year B (Gospel: Mk 13:33-37) Hope<p> </p><h4 align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br /></h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0mg6KEpllWtSAO2SVqqcGF9qKUDLP6RXIZ1JYlo32AGS32xyNxWms6uTs9xNRUYvTJo8oxaAWQeje-nHdFoRE6KBmlJvCMOCIbJx_qUD55b64xPTAGrTM4ZCIqBzZ9Fdkv0wUzDlDI__76C0ix2OOZIn-l69_smfm0h83tUMhmTraS_dOviWXVefg0J4/s1569/candles.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1211" data-original-width="1569" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0mg6KEpllWtSAO2SVqqcGF9qKUDLP6RXIZ1JYlo32AGS32xyNxWms6uTs9xNRUYvTJo8oxaAWQeje-nHdFoRE6KBmlJvCMOCIbJx_qUD55b64xPTAGrTM4ZCIqBzZ9Fdkv0wUzDlDI__76C0ix2OOZIn-l69_smfm0h83tUMhmTraS_dOviWXVefg0J4/w400-h309/candles.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">I
always like the fact that we celebrate Christmas in the middle of
winter when the evenings are short and it is usually cold (unless you
live in Florida!). Then we begin to light candles and put up
colored lights and decorations to remind us of the coming of our
King. It is a time of great hope and hopefully also a time that
will bring joy. ‘Advent’—which simply means ‘coming’—is
meant to be a time of preparing for two things: we are preparing for
the coming of Jesus at Christmas, and we are also remembering that
Christ will come again at the end of time. Each Sunday in the
Creed we say that, ‘He will come again to judge the living and the
dead.’ We don’t know when that will be, but we believe that
it will happen because He is the one who said it. The Lord asks
us to ‘stay awake’ and not to forget him, because none of us know
when we will die, but the important thing is that we do not forget
the Lord, who loves us and who created us. And so each Christmas we
remember that Jesus came among us, <i>for</i> <i>us</i>, to help us,
to teach us about God, about the world to come and above all to die
for us, so that we can join in the happiness of God when we die
ourselves.</span></span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">The
best way that we can prepare ourselves is in the heart, by trying to
give time to God and being open to what He wants to say to us. The
Lord is constantly speaking to us but often we are not listening
because we are too busy or distracted. People sometimes ask me
if God speaks to me. Yes, God speaks to me all the time, but not
through visions or voices. It's usually through other people or
through the Scriptures. It took me a while to learn how to listen, so
that I might hear what God is saying to me. Advent is a good time to
try and listen again and hear what the Lord has to say to us. That
is why the readings are about getting ready for the one who is
coming, and not being so distracted by the world around us that we
forget him.</span></span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">One
thing that is characteristic of the Gospels is that they are full of
hope. The message of God to us—the Good News—is always one
of hope and it is certainly something we need in a world where we are
constantly hearing of so many terrible things happening around us. We
don't hear of all the wonderful things that are constantly happening
around us: the many acts of kindness that people continually do for
each other, looking out for each other especially when we are
struggling. This is the Spirit at work in us and this is what
makes the world bearable, in spite of the awful things that happen. A
few years ago (Nov 2016) several serious fires were started in
different parts of Israel, just to cause suffering. Then, to
everyone’s amazement one group that came to help out were
firefighters from Palestine. As you know there is a lot of tension
and hatred between these two countries at the best of times, but
there is more goodness in people than evil. We just don’t usually
hear about it. </span></span></span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi897O0pLIegMp71pq4w2mb0v-qVyeRFOH_oD5hvuLWnJ7T1UiNQvfeByiedU13IwzkvoaOr53Gp0Nxc07uURElpSyhVSJ0LnhJjCQ9VKF_NZBMmmbWPbTEWlW1QRCjcYdjaw3tyXcQydIggkCJt6-4GxDSCAAd5LJmAtc7JnhcF75Vtm1GA6k0XfNV_A8/s1600/Bay.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi897O0pLIegMp71pq4w2mb0v-qVyeRFOH_oD5hvuLWnJ7T1UiNQvfeByiedU13IwzkvoaOr53Gp0Nxc07uURElpSyhVSJ0LnhJjCQ9VKF_NZBMmmbWPbTEWlW1QRCjcYdjaw3tyXcQydIggkCJt6-4GxDSCAAd5LJmAtc7JnhcF75Vtm1GA6k0XfNV_A8/w400-h266/Bay.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></span></div><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">One
of the first hostages to be released from Gaza a few weeks ago, was
an 85 year old woman from Israel. As she was being released by the
Hamas fighters she turned to one of them and extended her hand and
said, ‘shalom.’ Through the wisdom of her years, she was able to
rise above the hatred and cruelty. That’s what changes the world.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">Jesus
reminds us that while we get on with the ordinary things of everyday
life—eating, drinking, marrying, working—we must not forget the
eternal things. It is a warning to us never to become so immersed in
time and the things of the world, that we forget eternity. Even
though worldly affairs are important, we must not let them distract
us from the reality of God; the reality that we will die, that life
and death are in his hands, and that whenever He does come for us, He
must find us ready.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">In
one sense we can never be ready enough for God. How do you prepare to
meet God? And yet this is what God has created us for and we believe
it will be wonderful beyond our wildest dreams, if we have made any
effort to be ready.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">Jesus
says that when the Son of Man comes, of two people doing the same
thing, one will be taken the other left. What does this mean? It
means that although both people were doing the same ordinary things
that we all have to do, one of them had not forgotten about God and
had been living for God and according to his will, but the other had
not. The one who had forgotten got left behind. These are Jesus’
own teachings, not our speculation.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">If
we get totally immersed in the world, or in our families, or in our
work, then we may miss what it is about, because there is much more
to our life than this. It is not just about me and my family. Often
it is when a loved one becomes seriously ill, or dies, that we
suddenly start realizing how much we have become immersed in the
world. Our priorities change instantly. We do have to get on with the
day-to-day things of working and living, but we are being told to
make sure that we also make time for God. </span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2v8Loe_xsO_joccimP9MIPfnSLpSqXIDDbV3n7-jweTc56aGwJ0BSYKoIkvWKoMFGdcbmq8PXvLTGjQ51hAGN8OTnCLHmEVf5a45JziytiCOKJ8fPjjOCmGB1jrXOzF32uGkYjU7PHBTHYW0gUEMu1gkFsnDNav3nMp7Zo_Mcv-do6c31nz84XBz3Ukc/s474/happy%20people.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="237" data-original-width="474" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2v8Loe_xsO_joccimP9MIPfnSLpSqXIDDbV3n7-jweTc56aGwJ0BSYKoIkvWKoMFGdcbmq8PXvLTGjQ51hAGN8OTnCLHmEVf5a45JziytiCOKJ8fPjjOCmGB1jrXOzF32uGkYjU7PHBTHYW0gUEMu1gkFsnDNav3nMp7Zo_Mcv-do6c31nz84XBz3Ukc/w400-h200/happy%20people.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></span></span><p></p><p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">Put
God first in everything. We are called to love and serve each other,
not to find our own fulfillment. Our fulfillment will be in the world
to come. Listen to what the Word of God says. </span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.38in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Do
nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in
humility value others above yourselves,</span></span><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span><sup><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span></sup><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">not
looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the
others. (Phil 2: 3-4)</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-size: small;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">If
you want to change the world, go home and love your family.’ -St.
Teresa of Calcutta.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">I
think a good recipe for a ‘happy’ Christmas, is to keep it simple
and spend some time coming up to Christmas remembering what it is
about. Even go to mass once a week, or spend a few minutes in a
church every few days. That way we will remember what we are
celebrating.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Angel said to the shepherds: “do not be afraid. </span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">I
bring you news of great joy.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">Today
in the town of David </span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">a
Savior has been born for you;</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: small;">He
is Christ the Lord.”</span></span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-69971134539279268842023-11-25T17:03:00.001+00:002023-11-25T17:03:34.759+00:0034th Sunday, Feast of Christ the King (Gospel: Luke 23:35-43) Jesus Christ is Lord<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipcMSGJkuS7B-h3JFgJ-7ARjSjLQNpXXtkqx7L1vf1oAXOPLIlAL-32mXx6cbtZDio_xfV6zwufwaF9yZGv0M-epS2vJGnKXJ6h8_pP2C8EH060ar4dbYb4beX_YCjHwoX6uP547U1H1DUBEJYhH5_b6D_6dDvPj2xtGTMLaNNaIO0o5GQ186TZ_W5clI/s5184/IMG_1557.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipcMSGJkuS7B-h3JFgJ-7ARjSjLQNpXXtkqx7L1vf1oAXOPLIlAL-32mXx6cbtZDio_xfV6zwufwaF9yZGv0M-epS2vJGnKXJ6h8_pP2C8EH060ar4dbYb4beX_YCjHwoX6uP547U1H1DUBEJYhH5_b6D_6dDvPj2xtGTMLaNNaIO0o5GQ186TZ_W5clI/w400-h266/IMG_1557.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">You could sum up what I am about to say with four
words: Jesus Christ is Lord. That is really all that matters. Jesus
Christ is Lord.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Some time ago I was asked to visit a man in hospital.
He was probably in his 70s. When he saw me he must have felt
uncomfortable, as he began to tell me in so many words, how he didn’t
really need me there, as he had a close relationship with God. He
seemed to want to prove how tough he was. He then went on to talk
about how he was on a first name basis with the Holy Trinity,
describing how he related to the Father, Son and Spirit and the
Virgin Mary, as if they were buddies at the bar. I can’t remember
the exact words he used, but I remember finding myself being
disgusted at the way he spoke, as it was so disrespectful. I don’t
think he meant to be disrespectful, but it was. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">The only way we should come before God, is on our
knees with our face to the ground, in awe and reverence for who and
what God is. Yes, Jesus is our brother, having taken on human flesh,
but He is also the creator of the world, the one who will come to
judge the living and dead, the one before whom everyone will bow down
and tremble. It is so important that we don’t forget that. That is
also why we begin every mass by acknowledging that we are sinners and
asking for God’s mercy.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">In the Prophet Isaiah, Isaiah is given a vision of
heaven, where he sees God on his throne. His reaction? He is
terrified. Immediately he recognizes his sinfulness before God’s
holiness and he is afraid it will kill him.</span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.38in;">‘<span style="font-size: small;">Woe is me, for I am
lost. For I am a man of unclean lips, who dwell among a people of
unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.’
(Is 6:5)</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Then it says that an angel came down and touched him
on the lips with a hot coal, to purify him and reassure him he would
not die.</span></p>
<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkX_D-1UJ_uLO9SGjYfddeo5gQjwYPdd4mwOs52jEV3RQ7V6U7N4iQNUoH2CtimR4NP4QmIgVmmE_8lKWw8jWpY1-7JnE7vfS5b7q-tw0Bg2zkEvVYEYx7hx0zh8i9XHkA9JaNrrkue4b4rIx5RNYbW1RY73ZX8bFcZipRnQu3nV0yx3i2gWDsnWL83_g/s1600/fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkX_D-1UJ_uLO9SGjYfddeo5gQjwYPdd4mwOs52jEV3RQ7V6U7N4iQNUoH2CtimR4NP4QmIgVmmE_8lKWw8jWpY1-7JnE7vfS5b7q-tw0Bg2zkEvVYEYx7hx0zh8i9XHkA9JaNrrkue4b4rIx5RNYbW1RY73ZX8bFcZipRnQu3nV0yx3i2gWDsnWL83_g/w400-h225/fire.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><br /></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">The Prophet Ezekiel is also shown a vision of heaven:
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.38in;">‘<span style="font-size: small;">I then saw what looked
like a throne made of sapphire. And sitting on the throne was a
figure in the shape of a human. From the waist up it was glowing like
metal in a hot furnace and from the waist down it looked like the
flames of a fire. I realized I was seeing the brightness of God’s
glory, so I bowed my face to the ground.’ (Ezek 1:26-28)</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">In Revelations, St. John the Apostle had a similar
vision of Jesus in his glory. He said his face was shining like the
sun and a sword coming out of his mouth and his voice sounded like
roaring waters (See Rev. 1:14-16). He says he was so frightened that
he fainted, even though he had lived with Jesus for three years.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">It is very easy for us to become casual about our
faith, but it is so important that we don’t, that we remember who
and what God is, who Jesus is. It is a wonderful thing that Jesus
invites us to have a personal relationship with him and he speaks to
us as a friend, but we still have to be careful of how we approach
God. He is the Lord and master of all things, the King of Kings, the
judge of the living and the dead.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Think about when you receive the Eucharist. We are
receiving the Body of Christ, not a thing, not holy bread, but Jesus.
How do you dress? How do you hold it when it is put in your hand? Do
you flick it back into your mouth, or walk away with it? When was the
last time you confessed your sins, as the Lord asks us to, so that we
are not receiving his Body and Blood unworthily? St. Paul writes: </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.38in;">‘<span style="font-size: small;">Therefore, whoever
eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner,
will be guilty of sinning against the Body and Blood of the Lord.
Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks
of the cup. Anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body,
eats and drinks judgement on himself. That is why many among you are
weak and sick and some have fallen asleep’ (1 Cor 11: 27-30).</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtduNh-ViFNNeHExlYMDNkVwEwcAJ12LNiSYU6sUsITPHqri9VpmckoEX3JNHnQQQ3HglWpa6X3M3qGcgZuqIckqCl8lm20c3qCXbfom0UA8KPLbZvL6SZeM2ltwPeMsJgT44_DM1lQsBs8gXyyfPVPe_q0PMbgrXvi0xCNM46UKtzil0XZ2uB8LbK2Lg/s758/Sheep%20and%20goats.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="758" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtduNh-ViFNNeHExlYMDNkVwEwcAJ12LNiSYU6sUsITPHqri9VpmckoEX3JNHnQQQ3HglWpa6X3M3qGcgZuqIckqCl8lm20c3qCXbfom0UA8KPLbZvL6SZeM2ltwPeMsJgT44_DM1lQsBs8gXyyfPVPe_q0PMbgrXvi0xCNM46UKtzil0XZ2uB8LbK2Lg/w400-h300/Sheep%20and%20goats.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">Does that mean we should be afraid? No. It is the
Lord himself who wants us to receive him in the Eucharist. Pope
Francis puts it beautifully. He says, ‘The Eucharist is food for
sinners, not a reward for saints,’ but we must be careful how we go
about it. We can never be casual, or we may bring condemnation on
ourselves and that applies just as much to me. In fact, it is more
serious for me, because the Lord comes into my hands as a priest in
every mass. It is a great responsibility and one which often scares
me, because I too will be accountable as his priest.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Often you hear people talking about God and religion
as if it were something optional. You can take it or leave it, it’s
up to you. God is not the optional extra. We are the optional extra.
God exists, but we need not be here except that God created us and
keeps us in existence. God also entrusted his world to our care, not
to do what we like with it, but to look after it. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">On the last three Sundays of the year, including
today, we read Gospels that refer to God’s judgement of us. The
parable of the ten virgins, five of whom were left outside, because
they hadn’t bothered to prepare. There is also the parable of the
talents, where the one who did nothing with what he was given, was
condemned. He wasn’t condemned because he did something, but
because he <i>didn’t</i> do anything. He was indifferent. Jesus
mentioned so many times how there is no room for indifference. There
is also today’s Gospel where we have the separation of sheep and
goats.</span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.38in;">‘<span style="font-size: small;">When the Son of man
comes in his glory and all the angels with him… and all the nations
will be assembled before him. And He will separate them one from
another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.’</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">One group was condemned. Why? because they didn’t
do anything. They didn’t specifically carry out wrong actions, but
they didn’t do anything. They had been entrusted with the world and
the people around them and they ignored everything and did only what
they wanted, ignoring God and ignoring God’s creation. The Lord is
reminding us that it is his world, his creation and we have been
entrusted with his creation to take care of it. It’s not just about
us. It is about him. That is also why it is so sad when we get to the
stage where we feel we can go completely against God’s Commandments
and say that it is none of his business. We can do what we want. The
Lord gave us specific Commandments to follow and we will be
accountable.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">If you think of something like the border situation,
where there are so many people coming across illegally.
Understandably it is upsetting and every country has a right to
control its borders, but the very first thing is to take care of the
human being in front of you. If they are starving, or suffering, we
have an obligation to help them. The second thing is to deal with the
legal side of things. If you find yourself saying, ‘Why should we
help them? They are illegal.’ Remember this Gospel passage. To
ignore the basic needs of any human being is to ignore the Lord. He
didn’t say, ‘I was illegal and so it was ok not to help me.’ He
said, ‘I was in need, but you failed to help me.’ It is easy to
get caught up in the political, or legal side of it, forgetting the
needs of each person.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">A few years ago we had a man here by the name of Rami
Qumsieh, selling religious artifacts to support the Christians in the
Holy Land. He will be here again in February. Afterwards someone
emailed me to say that we shouldn’t have to support them as the
Church has lots of money. Think of this Gospel. If someone is in
need, we have an obligation to try and help them, regardless of their
background or legal status. We also have to be wise in trying to help
people, as giving people money on the street is not always helping
them, but we try and judge it as best we can.</span></p>
<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGz67Hw3N02kuTlFGZqYCRkpZQpsmgybQjOpcfTcdbadNHwf7bv88D2vpO1mahhssg0dkiVhEqr31Idl8j0cFOVjFS6Y73WvDApPzI5mYn5VOJP3d9_AgAsxcgamU9Sg91SYkzqLTX4om3zACNL_kmQR8aSMUcvUqFT6Eotq64Qw07TVTF7WeEY7cF9k/s2592/poorest%20of%20the%20poor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1944" data-original-width="2592" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGz67Hw3N02kuTlFGZqYCRkpZQpsmgybQjOpcfTcdbadNHwf7bv88D2vpO1mahhssg0dkiVhEqr31Idl8j0cFOVjFS6Y73WvDApPzI5mYn5VOJP3d9_AgAsxcgamU9Sg91SYkzqLTX4om3zACNL_kmQR8aSMUcvUqFT6Eotq64Qw07TVTF7WeEY7cF9k/w400-h300/poorest%20of%20the%20poor.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">For us to be faithful means we must make conscious
decisions to follow God’s law, continually looking to see if we are
living it. That’s why we keep reading the Scriptures, to remind
ourselves what God is saying to us. Often what God teaches us make us
uncomfortable, because He challenges us when we are going off track.
The irony is that it is those very laws that will lead us to the
greatest freedom and happiness, but we are free to follow them or
not. We will be different and it will cost us, because we will meet
resistance just as Jesus said we would. But what could be greater
than following the very path that God points out to us, the only one
that leads to happiness.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Much of our world has rejected the ways of God. In
Ireland in 2018, there was a referendum to change the constitution,
to allow abortion. It was passed and the night it was passed there
was singing and dancing in the streets of Dublin, quite literally.
There was a big gathering and a celebration with singing and dancing.
Our culture has chosen the way of death, where we decide what we do
with life and death. That is the tree of good and evil in the Garden
of Evil. God said to Adam and Eve you must not touch the fruit from
the tree of good and evil. In other words, don’t play God. Don’t
be the ones to decide what is ultimately good and evil. Only God can
do that.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">If we say that we believe Jesus Christ is Lord, then
we must also live as He tells us to live. ‘It is not those who say
“Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of God, but those who do
the will of my Father in heaven’ (Matt 7:21).</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">In the end all people of all nations, creeds and
backgrounds, will recognize Jesus Christ as Lord and that it is only
through him that heaven is made possible for us. Then we will also
realize how blessed we were in this life to know and believe this
same truth.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.38in;">‘…<span style="font-size: small;">At the name of
Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, in heaven on
earth and under the earth, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the father’ (Phil 2:10-11).</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-58875893656355602182023-11-19T22:25:00.003+00:002023-11-19T22:25:46.879+00:0033rd Sunday Year A (Gospel: Matt 25: 14-30) The teaching office of the pope and bishops<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLFXgb2DR1TNkOPURLaxirJEzmMFIU3_LIbrJ8vWTKoIxz6E5qTSqRus4FR2Bf8JjkUjb2_WXS1Y-XT2tzMxueVcofXzsEGbugb1SLdAZygybeMY-qEXZBIBmaALvylbOMkKorvF_IgPF0xes9BisyLFwNNYMz9I9epIWeFlM2223HqllMw7kThWMv0Jk/s3648/Romissima%20040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLFXgb2DR1TNkOPURLaxirJEzmMFIU3_LIbrJ8vWTKoIxz6E5qTSqRus4FR2Bf8JjkUjb2_WXS1Y-XT2tzMxueVcofXzsEGbugb1SLdAZygybeMY-qEXZBIBmaALvylbOMkKorvF_IgPF0xes9BisyLFwNNYMz9I9epIWeFlM2223HqllMw7kThWMv0Jk/w400-h300/Romissima%20040.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">An important part of my work as a priest, is to pass
on the Lord’s teaching as faithfully as possible; not my opinion,
but God’s teaching. My opinion is irrelevant, even if it might be
interesting. What will help us more than anything is what comes from
God, not human opinions. Part of the bishop’s job is to make sure
that his priests are being faithful in passing on that same teaching.
Sometimes people think of a priest as a kind of religious do-gooder.
I dedicate myself to God and then try to help people. That is part of
it, but bringing the Eucharist to people and passing on the Lord’s
teaching is the most important thing. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">When I was officially transferred (incardinated) to
this diocese five years ago, I had to recite the whole creed in front
of the bishop and a witness, promising to faithfully continue to
uphold that teaching, even though I was already 20 years a priest.
This really reminded me just how important it is. That is how
important it is. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">We believe that the teachings of the Church come from
God and are not just human opinion. We believe that certain things
were divinely revealed to the Apostles and have been passed on
throughout the ages. These teachings come from Scripture (the Bible)
and Tradition, which is the teaching of the Apostles. Our bishops are
the successors of the Apostles. For me to be a validly ordained
priest, it had to be by a bishop who was ordained by other bishops,
going all the way back to the Apostles. That’s what we call
Apostolic Succession. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">In St. Matthew’s Gospel we have one of the accounts
where Jesus gave his authority to St. Peter to lead his Church and
pass on this teaching. When Jesus asked the disciples who they
thought he was, Peter was the one to say, ‘You are the Christ, the
Son of the living God’ (Matt 16:17). And Jesus’ response to him
was to say, ‘Simon son of John, you are blessed, because it was not
flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.’
In other words, you didn’t come to this conclusion by yourself. The
Father in heaven revealed this to you. Then Jesus goes on to say,
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.38in;">‘<span style="font-size: small;">You are Peter and on
this rock I will build my Church and the gates of the underworld will
never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever
you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ (Matt 16:18-19).</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi94RSdzW8uUmiCYSeX88MyNJLllirCMQr8DWAB0bsdNQRNqG7olw3f4Qhl_FfrdndFCZ1sjxHzgsYVjiVrYBp1Fwc9VRYc6PG06jfxq38w86c-hJsQrToxIuBGKR4vBW1T0SPPUtDrd1-KjZKfsEBBlIz5LJt45oXZ3dgT0IwDCGLkf6USHo_7Ub8-ebs/s3648/Romissima%20069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi94RSdzW8uUmiCYSeX88MyNJLllirCMQr8DWAB0bsdNQRNqG7olw3f4Qhl_FfrdndFCZ1sjxHzgsYVjiVrYBp1Fwc9VRYc6PG06jfxq38w86c-hJsQrToxIuBGKR4vBW1T0SPPUtDrd1-KjZKfsEBBlIz5LJt45oXZ3dgT0IwDCGLkf6USHo_7Ub8-ebs/w400-h300/Romissima%20069.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">This is why we believe the teachings of the Church
are revealed by God and are not human teachings. That is also why we
can’t change them. Our understanding of them continually deepens as
the Holy Spirit teaches us, but the teachings themselves do not
change. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Every so often the Pope may come out with an official
statement which is then considered Church teaching, but this isn’t
done lightly, or by himself. It is teaching that will normally have
been discussed and then decided by the whole College of Bishops
throughout the world. In other words, the Pope doesn’t just decide
on a new teaching whenever he feels like it. He may give his opinion
on topics, but that doesn’t mean it is Church teaching.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">At one stage Pope Francis made the comment that he
believed homosexual unions should be protected by law, so that they
are not open to being exploited, which seems wise and fair. However,
in no way does that take from, or change, the teaching that we
believe marriage is a life-long commitment between a man and a woman.
We believe that teaching comes from God. That doesn’t disrespect
anyone who is homosexual, it just says that this is the teaching we
believe comes from God. I have many dear friends who are gay and I
love them as I love all my friends and see them no differently, but
that doesn’t mean I think God’s teaching should change. I suppose
it keeps coming back to the question we have to ask ourselves, ‘Do
I believe the Church’s teaching is from God or not?’ For me, I
totally believe that it is from God. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be a
priest. Sometimes it may be hard to understand, but who am I to say I
know better? The temptation is to change the teaching to accommodate
people, but it is the other way around. We are called to change and
repent, to live in accordance with what the Lord reveals to us. In
St. Matthew’s Gospel (7:21), Jesus says, </span>
</p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.38in;">‘<span style="font-size: small;">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.’</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Just saying that we believe in God and love him, is
not enough. We must try and do what He tells us to do.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9ddqMtZlyn1d865oIqJeVlTOpKhVHCfPQ0Nrc-bHibzDpKYj34DDPgEHWq4bG6b9UNjTuicLVjdfa5kNPDyOXyXGdnrMvYHVI3SgHyaxOJaSp-2uwbyG_0cd8OpLUJamZqx0munpCy-7YgysIr0iOnujEeCXoISMJ-yW2NGo4LjwIzz4FJjzN-kkgWo/s3648/Romissima%20041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9ddqMtZlyn1d865oIqJeVlTOpKhVHCfPQ0Nrc-bHibzDpKYj34DDPgEHWq4bG6b9UNjTuicLVjdfa5kNPDyOXyXGdnrMvYHVI3SgHyaxOJaSp-2uwbyG_0cd8OpLUJamZqx0munpCy-7YgysIr0iOnujEeCXoISMJ-yW2NGo4LjwIzz4FJjzN-kkgWo/w400-h300/Romissima%20041.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">In St. Matthew’s Gospel Jesus speaks these words:</span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.38in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><sup><b><span style="background: #ffffff;">24 </span></b></sup></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">“Everyone
then who hears these words of mine and does them, will be like a
wise man who built his house on the rock. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><sup><b><span style="background: #ffffff;">25 </span></b></sup></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">And
the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on
that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the
rock. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><sup><b><span style="background: #ffffff;">26 </span></b></sup></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">And
everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be
like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><sup><b><span style="background: #ffffff;">27 </span></b></sup></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">And
the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat
against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: black;"><sup><span style="background: #ffffff;"> </span></sup></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Our faith has to be built on a solid foundation, not
on opinions. There is no more solid teaching than what comes from
God. That’s why Jesus says, ‘Everyone who <i>hears my words and
does them</i>, will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.’
His house was secure and could not be knocked down. Jesus is telling
us to build our faith on his teaching, not on opinions. The house
built on sand is very typical of ‘feel good religion’. ‘I like
this teaching so I will hold on to it, but I disagree with that so I
will ignore it.’ That kind of faith will collapse, because it has
no foundation.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">The devil will try to convince us that we know
better. ‘It’s the modern world. You need to get with the times,
don’t be taken in by these old and out of date teachings by some
old men in the Vatican.’ Remember, the devil quoted scripture to
Jesus in the wilderness and twisted it. Jesus called him the liar and
the deceiver. He is the one who causes confusion. He will twist the
truth and try to convince us of what is not from God.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Remember in the creation story in Genesis, Satan asks
Adam and Eve, ‘Did God really say that you were not to touch any of
the trees in the garden?’ (Gen 3:1). That is not what God said. He
lied to them and confused and deceived them. He twisted God’s
words, just like at times the media will take words out of context
and twist the meaning.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">What about what we call papal infallibility? Can
there really be such a thing? Yes, we believe it is real, but it is
not what people think. When the Pope makes an official declaration
about a Church teaching about faith, or morals, in agreement with the
bishops throughout the world, we believe it is without error, because
we believe it comes from God. However, it is extremely rare. So far
it has only been used twice in history: once to define the dogma
(teaching) of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 and also to define
the teaching of the Assumption of Our Lady into heaven in 1950. These
were made official teachings because they had already been believed
in from the beginning. They were set in stone, as it were. How could
any teaching be infallible? Because we believe it has been revealed
by God. </span>
</p>
<p>‘<span style="font-size: small;">Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Again, we must ask, ‘Do I believe the teachings of
the Church are from God or not?’</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWhg-oaBcEuyrZvMpFbWQvHAvY7QgCK37ydiouyw2XTjI2j8rkmPDOyo7-SIApcR03xN4Ke65Z4iDlsGlOgKRB3S5OHSOuu7yrMcFCifH6V1OGCe13mIurZuXKmlH1k4Uqs5ho16CElG3_RyteVwSc4VJ0TEVnLinJfJYKbkPuIB0ZV86Hn4ogxlthykI/s3648/Romissima%20073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWhg-oaBcEuyrZvMpFbWQvHAvY7QgCK37ydiouyw2XTjI2j8rkmPDOyo7-SIApcR03xN4Ke65Z4iDlsGlOgKRB3S5OHSOuu7yrMcFCifH6V1OGCe13mIurZuXKmlH1k4Uqs5ho16CElG3_RyteVwSc4VJ0TEVnLinJfJYKbkPuIB0ZV86Hn4ogxlthykI/w400-h300/Romissima%20073.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">Popes can also give opinions which are wrong. I am
not referring to what Pope Francis said about homosexual unions, but
in general. In the letter to the Galatians, it says that St. Paul
challenged St. Peter publicly, because he was obviously in the wrong
(Gal 2:11-14). Peter had been eating with the Gentiles, until the
Jewish people turned up and then he felt that he shouldn’t. Paul
challenged him on this and Peter realized he was wrong. There is
nothing wrong with that. The Pope is human too, but because the Pope
is such an important figure, people often think that pretty much
anything he says must be Church teaching. He has opinions like anyone
else and they are often important opinions, but it doesn’t mean
that everything he says is official Church teaching.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">We are living in a time when our faith is being
challenged more and more. There is a lot of confusion within the
Church at this time, which is sad, so hold on tight to your faith. If
you are uncertain of something you hear, then look it up in the
Catechism and above all, come before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
and in the silence, ask him to help you see and understand what comes
from him. God wants us to know his teachings, because they are there
to help us. If our faith is to survive it has to be built on solid
rock, that is, on the Lord’s teachings. When it is built on God’s
teachings, then it will survive, even in the midst of confusion. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>‘<span style="font-size: small;">You are Peter and on this rock I will build my
Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.’</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-32323740671204769752023-11-12T22:01:00.002+00:002023-11-12T22:01:24.453+00:0032nd Sunday, Year A (Gospel: Matt 25:1-13) Are you ready to die?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEM9-gZNL7CKRJKya6oJTBheUTfeYzAH1ckinqngGJLzYJ-BLFRTXV0y9My8GPWKVQusDkoRYGXAQ3X4CTIiCxNh-g8bJK_tINprg0dGhGY8V3-lVGwmGv2nojZR1-xpAilB65BEY1F0mQDbzmntd-GSRKnLb79y2d5GX-yGLI6kYmI9cIs_s-2OLJC9U/s4000/car-accident.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2667" data-original-width="4000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEM9-gZNL7CKRJKya6oJTBheUTfeYzAH1ckinqngGJLzYJ-BLFRTXV0y9My8GPWKVQusDkoRYGXAQ3X4CTIiCxNh-g8bJK_tINprg0dGhGY8V3-lVGwmGv2nojZR1-xpAilB65BEY1F0mQDbzmntd-GSRKnLb79y2d5GX-yGLI6kYmI9cIs_s-2OLJC9U/w400-h266/car-accident.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>What would you do if you were told that you were going to die within 24 hours, or within the
week? 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. Probably the concern of what will happen at death and
after death would also come to the forefront of our thinking.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>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. 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 that
happens to people every day of the week.</p>
<p> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">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 meeting God, he said that he would plead
ignorance. That was the thing that struck me the most. He said,
“I’ll just plead ignorance.”
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCpbLMcWVQmwB4m4BUTrgiMCwUiPkX4LWYhdjwExnNqd11xS97602sDXWeDSDLQtzN7T7G5RQfSNxc6d1iS3QJ0S2BikaQNcMSAcZoRSSQU4P0Iigb6JUe1TI6nase8NaMXG9Uu4lI0XqscqwaybzgTOYPN67v6jEbo3_NWaLhfSG9j7B6MkXqhm7hE-M/s1840/Busker.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1227" data-original-width="1840" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCpbLMcWVQmwB4m4BUTrgiMCwUiPkX4LWYhdjwExnNqd11xS97602sDXWeDSDLQtzN7T7G5RQfSNxc6d1iS3QJ0S2BikaQNcMSAcZoRSSQU4P0Iigb6JUe1TI6nase8NaMXG9Uu4lI0XqscqwaybzgTOYPN67v6jEbo3_NWaLhfSG9j7B6MkXqhm7hE-M/w400-h266/Busker.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY"><br /></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><br /></p><p align="JUSTIFY">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.
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">In this Gospel passage, Jesus gives the parable of
the wise and unwise 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.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">This is the analogy Jesus used. It makes more sense
of the five wise and five foolish virgins. The wise ones kept enough
extra oil, so that they would be ready for the groom when he came,
even if it was later than they expected. They had taken the time to
prepare. The foolish ones did not prepare properly and were caught
off guard and left behind. I’m always struck by that line where it
says, ‘Then the door was locked.’ And when the foolish
bridesmaids arrive later and beg to be let in, the Lord says, ‘I do
not know you.’ There was no relationship there. They did not know
him and He did not know them.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">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.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">The Lord guides us in so many ways, especially
through the Scriptures, which is why we read them at every mass. He
is 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.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgit_GZQTXJGu2sAA5WN5KWWijH5wJNS7Kgoxv6wz9e2lejUvxwY7K8jeMxnxfbOSH_BNAY_fPl1bc9GU4KTr-SmPeyjZc1uhbIYmxip98SOKbPDsvJMj8jy0HSFL4JoBzXulzQZREfn8Rjmg8FSZ2XLlLjJnGSdRJ8c4CyvshQn8IoR-E2a_0UzI3JeRY/s5184/IMG_1348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgit_GZQTXJGu2sAA5WN5KWWijH5wJNS7Kgoxv6wz9e2lejUvxwY7K8jeMxnxfbOSH_BNAY_fPl1bc9GU4KTr-SmPeyjZc1uhbIYmxip98SOKbPDsvJMj8jy0HSFL4JoBzXulzQZREfn8Rjmg8FSZ2XLlLjJnGSdRJ8c4CyvshQn8IoR-E2a_0UzI3JeRY/w400-h266/IMG_1348.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY"><br /></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><br /></p><p align="JUSTIFY">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.’ <i>Exactly</i> 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.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">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.’</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">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.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">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:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“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.”</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">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.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“Therefore I tell you, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
</p>
<p> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-74527663970566804942023-11-04T16:21:00.002+00:002023-11-04T16:21:36.891+00:0031st Sunday, Year A (Gospel: Matt 23:1-12) The lives of the saints<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkhB1Uv7O8-_-sgi5vOx6joRo0gYIxn_sEsmvcMXqWsp5ohIn5Sv3LoKhpDIkFAnLcI5JzFJAxyBk665224ha-Wa0cVzNWiud8ACy69cLfJCJAIlx6hvSoGslt-E-3H9KohZr6WT62gSVNXcuw7slHvlZzV2aS88XFNC8MVAPBwxZtm8k1zE2ISWo9aM/s720/Ragheed%20Ganni%20Irish%20College.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkhB1Uv7O8-_-sgi5vOx6joRo0gYIxn_sEsmvcMXqWsp5ohIn5Sv3LoKhpDIkFAnLcI5JzFJAxyBk665224ha-Wa0cVzNWiud8ACy69cLfJCJAIlx6hvSoGslt-E-3H9KohZr6WT62gSVNXcuw7slHvlZzV2aS88XFNC8MVAPBwxZtm8k1zE2ISWo9aM/w400-h300/Ragheed%20Ganni%20Irish%20College.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;">On Wednesday we celebrated
the feast of All Saints, which is really our feast, as it is what we
are destined for. Everyone in heaven is a saint, which means that all
of our loved ones who are now in heaven are saints, but we also focus
on the canonized saints, as models of holiness for us to follow. The
lives of the saints are also a wonderful reminder of what God can do
through a human being. The saints became holy, not so much because
they were extraordinary people—although some of them were—but
because they were open to God and so God did extraordinary things
through them. It was God’s work, not theirs.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;">There are two things that
often come across from reading the lives of the saints. First, they
were mostly very ordinary people and not the kind of people you would
choose for an extraordinary mission. A bishop said about St. Theresa
of Calcutta, that he wouldn’t have put her in charge of the
sacristy! And yet look what God did through her. Second, all of them
suffered a great deal. This shows us that this is part of the path to
heaven.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;">I would like to talk about
one saint in particular, whom I believe is really a saint for our
times. St. Thérèse of Lisieux was a little-known woman until after
her death at the age of 24, in 1897. She grew up in a large family
with four older sisters, four younger ones having died, in the town
of Lisieux, in northern France. Her parents were very devout
Catholics and very protective of their children. Her older sister
Pauline wasn’t allowed to read the papers, even at the age of
eighteen. The whole family were very focused on God and their faith.
Her four older sisters all went into religious life. </span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;">At the age of 15 Thérèse
got special permission to enter the Carmelite convent in Lisieux,
where three of her older sisters already were. The normal starting
age was at least 16. </span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;">During her time there, she
was not considered anything special and said the same in her own
autobiography, </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Story of a Soul</i></span><span style="font-size: small;">.
When she was dying she accidentally overheard two of the other
sisters talking about her. One was saying to the other, “I wonder
what will mother Abbess say about Thérèse when she dies, as she
never really did anything!” Even among her own religious sisters,
she wasn’t considered anything special. </span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Mt2gfqTm72NhoTb7BLcVXKtNnF-wAHcUl6ClLpnKn9MAEencPbuFiG6vGKIMgfBW4umpL2Yb_BjBswUBw4hNHAM0zwy2oaA7LPBheFfndMW7xBcnK624zwSnTs8JgizJIPKzzTQ5RqP9u_1pcn6lGuZw7A_q7NLtOvdfZTfaLNd1csuGU1konGY8XR4/s758/Sheep%20and%20goats.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="758" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Mt2gfqTm72NhoTb7BLcVXKtNnF-wAHcUl6ClLpnKn9MAEencPbuFiG6vGKIMgfBW4umpL2Yb_BjBswUBw4hNHAM0zwy2oaA7LPBheFfndMW7xBcnK624zwSnTs8JgizJIPKzzTQ5RqP9u_1pcn6lGuZw7A_q7NLtOvdfZTfaLNd1csuGU1konGY8XR4/w400-h300/Sheep%20and%20goats.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;">She wrote that she would
love to have been a priest, or a martyr, a missionary, or apostle,
but here she was in a small Carmelite convent in the north of France,
hidden from the world. She also says that she was very much aware of
her own limitations. She knew she was not capable of doing great
fasts, or penances, just ordinary things. However God showed her
something very profound.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thérèse felt that she had
a vocation within a vocation, which is common for many people. She
read through the Scriptures searching for some guidance from the
Lord. She came to the piece in St. Paul’s first letter to the
Corinthians where he talks about love and the necessity for love to
be at the heart of everything. St. Paul concludes by saying, ‘In
the end there are three things that last: faith, hope and love. And
the greatest of these is love.’ (1 Cor 13:13). When she read this
she realized that love was the most important thing that had to be at
the heart of the Church. Everything must come from love, if it is to
be from God and pleasing to God. She felt that God was showing her
that her mission was to be love at the heart of the Church. In
practical terms this meant that she must live everything, down to the
smallest of actions, out of love. She called it the Little Way. It is
‘little’ because it comes down to the very ordinary small things
that everyone is faced with each day. The smallest annoyances and
sacrifices, if done out of love, become a great force within the
Church. She knew she wasn’t capable of doing great things, but she
realized that she could do all the small things with great love.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;">This may not seem like a
particularly extraordinary insight, but it is one that many people
miss. We tend to focus on the big achievements that everyone looks at
with admiration. But the smallest actions done with love are just as
important, if not more so. The fact that they are hidden makes them
more pleasing to God. And what is especially important is that
everyone is capable of doing small things with great love, regardless
of their life circumstances. The leader of a country and the man
living on the street, are both as capable of doing this and this is
what is truly pleasing to God.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thérèse also suffered
greatly both physically and spiritually. During the last eighteen
months of her life, she became very sick having contracted
tuberculosis. For the most part it was misdiagnosed and she wasn’t
treated for it properly. As a result she went through various
treatments which only caused her more suffering. To add to her
misery, she got little sympathy from the other sisters as several of
them thought she was faking it, in order to avoid work. Inside, the
TB was gradually eating away at her body until she was finally
reduced to half of one lung. She wrote that she never realized that
physical suffering could be so bad. She asked the sisters not to
leave any medication near her, as she was afraid she might try and
take her own life, as the pain was so bad.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1jNWw8RU_5R4CpXtPga-SQabb7_i5rOLlFQQw2J7sZ_uxRyMRYuKsCKCaHW68qQ2Fu-6TOKKvvTeXbgRJ7SogK1yelX58tDSZYzc8Ze-o9YkjdfRhbu9YC5DN5Bg37sh06zdpwTSjBcpjWHRkfJR_duihlJoaNC6qi1g2kUfUnc4QR0NVREWS71H7x8/s4032/Donkeys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1jNWw8RU_5R4CpXtPga-SQabb7_i5rOLlFQQw2J7sZ_uxRyMRYuKsCKCaHW68qQ2Fu-6TOKKvvTeXbgRJ7SogK1yelX58tDSZYzc8Ze-o9YkjdfRhbu9YC5DN5Bg37sh06zdpwTSjBcpjWHRkfJR_duihlJoaNC6qi1g2kUfUnc4QR0NVREWS71H7x8/w400-h300/Donkeys.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Around the same time as she
became very ill, she also began to suffer spiritually as her faith
seemed to disappear. She wrote that she had never believed that
atheists were being sincere when they said they didn’t believe in
God, but now she had the same experience herself. She clung on to
what she believed intellectually, which feeling nothing inside. God
seemed to disappear.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why would God do this to
someone who had had such a lively faith, especially when she was
suffering so much physically? She was going through what is often
called the dark night of the soul. This is a time of purification,
where God helps a person to grow in their faith to a much higher
degree. It is easy to be faithful when we experience consolations and
the Scriptures are alive and speaking to us. It is much harder to
believe and be faithful when we feel nothing. But persevering during
times of dryness is when our faith really grows. It is the same in a
relationship. It is easy to be faithful to your spouse when things
are sweet and you feel great love for each other. It is much harder
when you are going through times of dryness and tension, but this is
when love really grows. It is also one of the reasons why we take
marriage vows and religious vows. The vows we take help us to keep
going during the more difficult times.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;">God knows the potential
that each of us have and He wants us to reach our full potential.
That is why we go through so many trials of one kind or another. Each
time we are struggling we have the choice to persevere, or to give
up; to love God, or to curse God. Hopefully we will continually
choose the good and in turn we will grow as people, both spiritually
and emotionally.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Looking back at the lives
of the saints, we see this happening to all of them. The trials they
went through were what helped them to grow in their faith. God kept
bringing them forward as long as they remained open. God doesn’t
need our greatness, rather an open heart.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-41699585091919205462023-10-27T18:58:00.002+01:002023-10-27T18:58:55.884+01:0030th Sunday Yr A (Gospel: Matt 22: 32-40) Heaven, Hell and Purgatory<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcVg1JDP5Tv0uk00F91UH5BUqXmFYQq1VT-reCKnLT1dkgaMKjaRyJS0aQp_u7j_K3CVGwUmEzy8nl8mpvxEL6Sj5TLA0gJS5CMiyARwmhcrjfInBYlsHvEchY6dQCzGobRXikZO8onPiHi716NiPu3QZNbgtZj0glafrW4EF0Jg1cXPu0pW-4ks2w-TY/s3648/Aughrim%20Church%20in%20fog.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcVg1JDP5Tv0uk00F91UH5BUqXmFYQq1VT-reCKnLT1dkgaMKjaRyJS0aQp_u7j_K3CVGwUmEzy8nl8mpvxEL6Sj5TLA0gJS5CMiyARwmhcrjfInBYlsHvEchY6dQCzGobRXikZO8onPiHi716NiPu3QZNbgtZj0glafrW4EF0Jg1cXPu0pW-4ks2w-TY/w400-h300/Aughrim%20Church%20in%20fog.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At
this time of the year we focus on the dead and we pray especially for
them. The feast of All Saints reminds us of all our loved ones who
are in heaven. Everyone in heaven is a saint. We celebrate particular
saints, canonised saints, because of their witness and holiness of
life, but everyone in heaven is a saint. The day after All Saints, is
The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, also known as All
Souls day, when we remember those who have died, but are not yet in
heaven. I like this time of praying for the dead, because for me it
is a kind of healthy focus on reality. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
one thing all of us are sure of is that we will die and it is good to
be reminded of that every so often. Since we believe that we are
destined for heaven, then we have nothing to be afraid of if we try
to do what is right, but it is important not to take it for granted.
Jesus tells us many times in the Gospels that we can lose heaven, if
we are foolish. We must never take it for granted.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
we die, probably not many people are ready to come directly into the
intense holiness of God’s presence. It would be too much for us.
Think of when you wake up in the morning and you turn on the bed-side
light. You turn away your eyes because you are not used to the light
yet. Imagine getting the direct light of the sun? It would be
unbearable for us. We have to gradually get used to it. Purgatory is
something like this. It is the last stage of being made ready, before
we can come into God’s presence; a purgation, or purification. It
is also when we may have to atone for sins from our lives. People
often scoff at this idea, but think of it this way: imagine someone
who has lived a life of terrible evil, like Hitler, or Stalin.
Millions of people died because of their evil choices. Suppose that
shortly before they died, they looked back at their life and realized
how much evil they had done and repented of it. They begged God for
mercy. God promises his mercy to anyone who sincerely repents. So if
they died the following day, would they go straight to heaven? That
doesn’t make any sense. They would need to atone for their sin.
That is what purgatory is. It is a final stage of purification. </span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Lord has also taught us that we can help those who have died by
praying for them. That’s why we dedicate a whole month to
remembering them.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
was a lady from Austria by the name of Maria Simma (1915-2004). For
many years of her life she experienced a very unusual gift, that is,
she was visited by the Holy Souls (souls in purgatory), who asked her
for prayers. God granted her this gift of interceding for them, no
doubt also to help us to believe in the reality of what happens after
death. There is a short book about her called, ‘The Amazing Secret
of the Souls in Purgatory: An Interview with Maria Simma.’ I think
it is worth reading.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
first time it happened she was in her twenties. One night she woke to
find a man in her bedroom slowly pacing up and down. She said, ‘How
did you get in here? Go away!’ but he ignored her. She tried to
grab him, but there was only air. The following day she went to her
priest and told him what had happened and asked what she should do.
He told her that if it happened again she should ask him what he
wanted from her. It happened again the following night and when she
asked, What do you want from me?’ he said, ‘Have three masses
offered for me and I will be delivered.’ </span></span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS-WMxQcAmDmlbl_271WfxDTfwut_j6gyyC9-lyKCoc_81PW8ptz0D-JlyjyBBMgUY_h0buGwDxdfeV5Of9RlgRRO0VjuYV0WH1pFwGytacsdj7OwUcLgo7OMfI2-fkbaY9YM6z-tQahh6DH025XgZWdK_Suj75QxEoYdHweNEzdDZ-qtHWRAv7rRPi9E/s242/Maria%20Simma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="208" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS-WMxQcAmDmlbl_271WfxDTfwut_j6gyyC9-lyKCoc_81PW8ptz0D-JlyjyBBMgUY_h0buGwDxdfeV5Of9RlgRRO0VjuYV0WH1pFwGytacsdj7OwUcLgo7OMfI2-fkbaY9YM6z-tQahh6DH025XgZWdK_Suj75QxEoYdHweNEzdDZ-qtHWRAv7rRPi9E/w344-h400/Maria%20Simma.jpg" width="344" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maria Simma (1915-2004)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">When
the souls came to ask her for prayers, many of them would tell her
why they were in purgatory. What comes across more than anything else
is the mercy of God.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One
of the encounters that she had really struck me. She recalls that one
night a young man of 20 appeared to her, asking her to pray for him.
He told her why he was in purgatory. He had been quite a wild young
man, with a bad reputation. He lived in the Alps and one winter his
village was hit by a series of avalanches and many people were
killed. One night when another avalanche struck, he heard the screams
of people nearby for help and he ran down stairs to help them. His
mother tried to stop him from going outside, knowing there was a good
chance that he would be killed. When he went out he was in fact
killed, but God allowed him to die at this time, because he was in
the middle of doing something so good. In other words, God took him
when he was at his best. I think that this is a wonderful way to
understand what happens when people die. God does everything He can
to help us. Such is the mercy of God. God will always give us the
benefit of the doubt.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
she was asked to explain her understanding of purgatory, she said:</span></span></p>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Suppose
one day a splendid being appears, extremely beautiful, of a beauty
that has never been seen on earth. You are fascinated, overwhelmed by
this being of light and beauty, even more so that this being shows
that he is madly in love with you—you have never dreamed of being
loved so much. You sense too that he has a great desire to draw you
to him, to be one with you. And the fire of love which burns in your
heart impels you to throw yourself into his arms.</span></span></p><p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
wait—you realize at this moment that you haven’t washed for
months and months, that you smell bad; your nose is running, your
hair is greasy and matted, there are big dirty stains on your
clothes, etc. So you say to yourself, “No, I just can’t present
myself in this state. First I must go and wash: a good shower, then
straight away I’ll come back.”</span></span></p><p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
the love which has been born in your heart is so intense, so burning,
so strong, that this delay for the shower is absolutely unbearable.
And the pain of the absence, even if it only lasts for a couple of
minutes, is an atrocious wound in the heart, proportional to the
intensity of the revelation of the love – it is a “love wound.”</span></span></p></blockquote>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That
was her description of purgatory. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">St.
Pius of Pietrelcina, better known as Padre Pio, also experienced the
same gift and he said that more people came to him from Purgatory
asking for prayers, than pilgrims on earth. While it is natural to
shed tears for them, it is more important to pray for them. We can
help them by praying for them and offering the mass for them, which
is the most powerful prayer there is.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">How
do we atone for sins? First we must ask for forgiveness: confession.
Then we need to pray and perhaps to do penance of some kind. Also,
almsgiving atones for sins. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
the book of Tobit, the angel Rafael is sent by God to heal Tobit who
has gone blind, and to his son Tobias’ new wife who has been
tormented by a demon. At the end of the book Rafael reveals himself
to Tobit and Tobias. They had just thought he was a stranger who
helped them. This is what Rafael said to them: </span></span>
</p>
<p lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bless
God, return thanks to him, proclaim his glory and render him thanks
before all the living for all he has done for you. It is good to
praise God and exalt his name… Do not be slow in giving him thanks…
It is a good thing to accompany prayer with fasting, almsgiving and
justice… Almsgiving preserves from death. It purifies from all sin.
(Tobit 12:6 ff).</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
we die there can only be three things: heaven, hell, or purgatory. We
are created for heaven. The death and resurrection of Jesus happened
so that we could go to heaven when we die. If heaven is real and we
have free will, then we must be able to lose heaven too. If we had no
option but to go there, then we wouldn’t have free will. If heaven
is the total fulfilment of being in God’s presence, light, beauty,
happiness and the company of other people we love, then to lose it
would be to be left with the opposite, that is, darkness, pain,
isolation, hatred and the knowledge of knowing that we have lost the
possibility of eternal happiness. God does not send people to hell.
People choose hell by the way they live, rejecting God and everything
to do with God. God respects the choices we make. Many places where
Our Lady has appeared, she has shown the visionaries heaven, hell and
purgatory, to remind us they are real. It is not something we should
take lightly.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsauOCYj7yBZN9Nxy0BV6WjoQm5fU4Uyhbub_UNK6fT-XcdopXhV5QfHiVJRdzJpNfMwlKKRpfPAutEnN7iBcQII7tq1fbkeUc3jDDGbkx7mXrGGCrQxjA5qv7Bq6daqIjn7t_MWGWsfNe95BJwua9tw2MBj0FJ8w8eu6VvJ9-VmAUrKHzb44VObO1ycs/s3264/IMG_0459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsauOCYj7yBZN9Nxy0BV6WjoQm5fU4Uyhbub_UNK6fT-XcdopXhV5QfHiVJRdzJpNfMwlKKRpfPAutEnN7iBcQII7tq1fbkeUc3jDDGbkx7mXrGGCrQxjA5qv7Bq6daqIjn7t_MWGWsfNe95BJwua9tw2MBj0FJ8w8eu6VvJ9-VmAUrKHzb44VObO1ycs/w400-h300/IMG_0459.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What
about people who no longer go to Church, or no longer practice their
faith? Just because they don’t practice, doesn’t mean they don’t
believe in God or try to live the right way. It may mean that they
cannot relate to organised religion as we do, but we should pray for
them, because having a framework is a great help. Continually going
to church is going to help us stay tuned in to what is important, to
what God is asking us to do and reminding us of what is right and
wrong. It is not so easy to do this by yourself. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What
about people who have never known Jesus? People primarily accept or
reject God by the way they live. Just because they don’t understand
God as we do, doesn’t mean they don’t believe, or that they
reject God. Only God can judge us. Our job is to pray for those who
don’t know God and hopefully to help them come to know him, by they
way we live. Most of the people Mother Teresa’s sisters take in off
the streets in places like Calcutta, are not Christian, but they
don’t try to convert them. They simply love them and allow them to
die with dignity. They say more about what they believe by those
actions than by anything you could say.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
we make even the smallest effort to live for God, to live as God asks
us, then we have nothing to be afraid of. The Lord continually
assures us of his love and mercy for all who seek him. The important
thing is that we remember that our choices have consequences.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%; margin-left: 0.38in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">“</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-IE"><span style="background: #ffffff;">Do
not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in
me.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-IE"><span style="background: #ffffff;">My
Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have
told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I
go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be
with me that you also may be where I am.” (Jn 14:</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-73423302756785442132023-10-21T17:15:00.000+01:002023-10-21T17:15:25.498+01:0029th Sunday, Year A (Gospel: Mat 22:15-21) Confession and repentance<p> </p><h4 align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br /></h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQM_JeJmCAESVAkVGjSq2kFSdvoX5TUat_tnhue2ZvxPUGNVxvR3muUkcPTf2jnLljtjVsQRwNU7xJeCQnhpJGLlHkRbbvZAcff1b34nHU-QZkfQlwTnJNV4C3__Ycox63esPTQ9GVwOQRoaFsXE2ZW8VJ7O5BizH7SHoyrSBqKmdY_ZolZsfiEKaBWQ/s1200/presidential-palace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQM_JeJmCAESVAkVGjSq2kFSdvoX5TUat_tnhue2ZvxPUGNVxvR3muUkcPTf2jnLljtjVsQRwNU7xJeCQnhpJGLlHkRbbvZAcff1b34nHU-QZkfQlwTnJNV4C3__Ycox63esPTQ9GVwOQRoaFsXE2ZW8VJ7O5BizH7SHoyrSBqKmdY_ZolZsfiEKaBWQ/w400-h210/presidential-palace.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="CENTER" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
is a great story in the Old Testament about King David. David was
considered one of the greatest kings of ancient Israel. He conquered
all around him and gave the appropriate honor to God, but that is not
just why he was considered great. One day, when he was at the height
of his power, David was taking a walk on the roof of his palace when
he noticed a beautiful woman taking a bath in a nearby garden. He
enquired who she was and his servants told him, ‘She is Bathsheba,
the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’ David already had many wives, but
he decided that even though she was the wife of another, he wanted
her. So he ordered her to be brought to him and he slept with her.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Some
time later she sent him a note to say that she was expecting. Now
David realised that he would be found out. So he had her husband
Uriah sent for. Uriah was away fighting for David at the time. When
Uriah turned up David asked him how the battle was going and how the
men were faring, etc. Then he told him to go home and rest that night
and that he would send him back to the battle the next day. But Uriah
did not go to his wife, but slept at the door of the palace with the
servants. Maybe he smelt a rat.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
next day, realising that Uriah had not spent the night with his wife,
David invited him to have dinner with him in the evening and made
sure that he had plenty to drink. Again he told him to go and spend
the night in his house and that he could return to battle the next
day. However, even though he had plenty to drink, he did not spend
the night with his wife.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
following day, having realised that he did not go home, David is
beginning to panic. So he wrote a letter to Uriah’s commanding
officer and asked Uriah to take it back with him to the battle. In
the letter King David told his commanding officer to place Uriah at
the worst of the fighting and then to pull back, so that Uriah would
be killed. So Uriah took the letter—his own death warrant—and
returned to the battle and was killed. King David then took Bathsheba
as his own wife.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
now you have lust, jealousy, adultery, deceit and murder, what you
will find in a lot of modern movies, all committed by the so called
‘great’ King David. However, God in his goodness was not going to
allow David to get away with this, so he sends the prophet Nathan to
David who tells him a story. Nathan tells David that there was once a
very rich man in a town who had many sheep, cattle and all the wealth
he could want. There was also a poor man who had just one little
lamb. He and his family loved the lamb as one of their own family.
One day a visitor came to the rich man, but rather than taking one of
his own animals, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it for a
meal. When King David heard this he sprang to his feet and said,
‘Whoever has done this deserves to die for such a crime.’ And
then the prophet Nathan says to David, ‘You are the man.’</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ib26FwpObGHWDOrXB26EawtyGiHOkldm99gIW23J80Q0Bz3oLvktHgEU0zi3yTdgrpaz5ngEW6CeG3Mbmmze7kOeYgOwUcXWpVIa7OQz-lx0ykeXcK24LMXJ6ZY7EWiwDlEpR8tLbS13Q8zZCgxbFKZ28NVmkItR22V1AA_VA9rydHnE0vo_5Hcvgf0/s1600/Qasr_Al_Watan_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ib26FwpObGHWDOrXB26EawtyGiHOkldm99gIW23J80Q0Bz3oLvktHgEU0zi3yTdgrpaz5ngEW6CeG3Mbmmze7kOeYgOwUcXWpVIa7OQz-lx0ykeXcK24LMXJ6ZY7EWiwDlEpR8tLbS13Q8zZCgxbFKZ28NVmkItR22V1AA_VA9rydHnE0vo_5Hcvgf0/w400-h225/Qasr_Al_Watan_7.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">Now
here is the thing. What makes David such a great king is what
happened next. When Nathan points the finger at David and says, ‘you
are the man,’ instead of having Nathan killed for accusing him as
other kings might have done, David says, ‘I have sinned against the
Lord,’ and he repents. He confesses and he repents. That is why
David was considered a great king. He was big enough to repent and
acknowledge that he had done wrong. In his mercy, God confronted
David with his sin. When you love your children, you don’t let them
away with it, if they have done something wrong. Out of love for
them, you challenge them and discipline them, so that they will learn
right from wrong and that there are consequences for our actions.</span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jesus
did the same thing with St. Peter after denying Jesus three times
during his passion. After the resurrection and out of love for him,
He said to him, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ And Jesus
asked him this three times, addressing the three denials. He did this
out of love for Peter, to make Peter address his sin. He did this to
help Peter. Jesus does the same thing with us. He challenges us when
we sin and asks us to have the humility to confess our sins.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One
of the most beautiful gifts the Lord has given us is confession,
where through one of his priests, the Lord takes away our sins and
sets us free. He gives us this gift because He loves us. He asks us
to confess our sins, because He loves us and He wants to heal us.
Every time we sin, we do damage to ourselves and Jesus wants us to be
healed of that. So, through the sacrament of confession, whenever we
confess our sins, the Holy Spirit of God absolves us of our sins, so
that we can walk away in peace.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Satan
knows how powerful confession is and he does everything to convince
us that we don’t need it. He tells us that we don’t need to go to
a priest. We can tell God we are sorry ourselves. Look at how sinful
the priests are. Why would you confess to them? And yet this is what
God asks us to do.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After
the resurrection, when Jesus appeared to the Apostles in the upper
room, He said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive
they are forgiven. Whose sins you retain they are retained’ (Jn
20:23). If Jesus didn’t intend to give us the forgiveness of sins
through the priesthood, why would He say that?</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDjuapBcJtSOW4gp_l9c5TgOwODY8Xj4qeYGk3bEdcoinT0GId3aylP3JBxDYp_UUbxrrCwTcznRdMoa2rBWzfGUSXdPpYT06e6UaUn5Vl4MK64tKLsx8sdHJ-dQNGxjW5zk5XgwKb27s_ayk5SQ5xHBiDx39FBoVckhSmwA3zajPe9htC4kefzLqgO1o/s822/pope%20going%20to%20confession.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="822" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDjuapBcJtSOW4gp_l9c5TgOwODY8Xj4qeYGk3bEdcoinT0GId3aylP3JBxDYp_UUbxrrCwTcznRdMoa2rBWzfGUSXdPpYT06e6UaUn5Vl4MK64tKLsx8sdHJ-dQNGxjW5zk5XgwKb27s_ayk5SQ5xHBiDx39FBoVckhSmwA3zajPe9htC4kefzLqgO1o/w400-h226/pope%20going%20to%20confession.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Many
people will say that they can just tell God they are sorry for their
sins themselves. You can, but it is not the same. It doesn’t take
any humility to tell God you are sorry for your own sins. It does
take humility to come before another human being. And yes priests are
sinners too, but God has made this gift available through the
priesthood. If it is just the same to tell God you are sorry on your
own, then why is it that people often weep in confession after they
have confessed something serious like adultery, or abortion? Because
they have been healed. You can be sure they have already told God a
hundred times they are sorry, but it doesn’t have the same effect.
The power of the sacrament heals us and sets us free. That is why the
Lord gave it to us. Also, if the Lord asks us to do it this way, who
are we to tell him we don’t need to? That is Satan trying to stop
us, because he knows that every time we repent of sin, he has less
power over us.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
have a psychological need to tell someone when we have done something
wrong. God in his wisdom knows that and has made it possible for us
to do that in total secrecy through confession.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Going
back to king David. What God did to David after his repentance is
interesting. You might imagine that God would have struck David down,
or removed him as King, but no. David is punished, yes, and the
child that Bathsheba conceives dies. But in time Bathsheba has
another child by David and that child turns out to be Solomon, the
king who brings a reign of peace and also builds the temple. So God
is saying a lot to us through this story. First, the importance
of acknowledging our own wrongdoing. Second, that even when we
have done wrong, God can and does still work through us, bringing
good even out of the worst of mistakes we make. The important thing
is that we do acknowledge and confess our sins.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Do
you want to change the terrible things going on in the world? Start
by going to confession. The less we go to confession, the less we
have a sense of sin. The more we go to confession, the more we become
aware of what sin is and we are filled with God's grace. God's grace is what is needed in the world more than anything else. The greatest healing gift in the Church is the
forgiveness of sins.</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1528049442580859604.post-37653273132557497092023-10-08T22:40:00.001+01:002023-10-08T22:40:19.666+01:0027th Sunday, Year A, (Gospel: Matt 21:33-43) The healing presence of Jesus in the Eucharist<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2KFjKwvQe8ffWnDsJwvuoDHY6UirdvxNNlbkNAm39dhM53s-DCbdRiLLM2pSZGyN0fZnHWFbKgLPzvaq6GahlE3vVWpuvrY6n-BzU7OuhfqAq_A5fwt_pMMGVHuP-FwQKooAPWqcOGDID6fllyUIDUzAzh0PPU-t0CAZyGXWD3RuHRNVnP3iJkyHDRXM/s560/Missionaries%20of%20Charity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="560" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2KFjKwvQe8ffWnDsJwvuoDHY6UirdvxNNlbkNAm39dhM53s-DCbdRiLLM2pSZGyN0fZnHWFbKgLPzvaq6GahlE3vVWpuvrY6n-BzU7OuhfqAq_A5fwt_pMMGVHuP-FwQKooAPWqcOGDID6fllyUIDUzAzh0PPU-t0CAZyGXWD3RuHRNVnP3iJkyHDRXM/w400-h272/Missionaries%20of%20Charity.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p align="CENTER" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
read a very interesting story about Saint (Mother) Teresa of
Calcutta. When her work was just beginning there were just a few of
them. Before long they found that there were huge demands being made
on them because there were so many people to be helped, so many dying
in the streets, so many orphans. They were feeling overwhelmed and
didn’t know what to do. So they decided to ask the Lord, in prayer,
what they should do. The answer they got surprised them. They felt
the Lord telling them that He wanted them to give an extra hour of
their time, on top of their ordinary prayer time, to adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament. That is, an extra hour to him and an hour less to
work among the people. This didn’t make sense to them, but they
really believed that this was what the Lord was asking them to do. So
they did and soon they found that many more people began to join
their work and then they were able to do more of the work than
before. Mother Teresa attributed the success of her order to being
faithful to this holy hour every day. She said it was an important
lesson for them to learn, to always put God first, no matter what.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
more I thought about this, the more it made sense to me as well. If
we give our time to the Lord, is He not going to use us all the more
powerfully? God is never outdone in generosity and will always make
up any time we give to him. We can run around on our own and do a
certain amount of work, or we can spend more time with the Lord and
let him do far more work than we could possibly imagine. I have found
this in my own priesthood too. At different times I have felt the
Lord asking me to give more time to prayer. That meant getting up
earlier, which I wasn’t happy about(!), but I have to try and be
obedient to the Lord. I have always found that the more time I give
to prayer, the more happens around me and I don’t mean that I do
more, or that I get new ideas. Rather, people come to me and offer to
do work or start new ventures.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
doesn’t just apply to people in religious life, it applies to us
all. We are living in a very fast and very busy world. There is
always so much to do and so many places to go. This is one of the
tricks of the Devil too. He keeps us busy so that we seem to have no
time to stop and listen to the Lord speaking to us in our hearts. And
then we wonder why we seem to be so removed from God. Why isn’t He
speaking to me and helping me? He is, but we are often blocking him
out. If we don’t listen to him, how are we going to know what He is
saying to us. We have to learn to listen to the Lord. Where could be
a better place to do this than before the living presence of Jesus in
the Blessed Sacrament. In every tabernacle in every Catholic church
in the world, Jesus is there in the sacred host, available to all of
us to come and be with him.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
was a priests’ retreat a few years ago and they asked a Buddhist
monk, a woman, to direct it and she agreed. The first day of the
retreat she came in and went up to the place where she was to speak
from. She sat down and remained in complete silence for half an hour.
The priests weren’t too impressed, but since it was the first talk
they said nothing.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM6arTnsvcA867_TZ84y9c-rCk5BiWEUvjoHL4mHzmQNr64F8TbgOyZ3QY1TSu_1O00UmEOST6kH94NgCWe2-95BTw_V5ETnARGJHytXf9a7oNwnFv1w1aiIIC5x6MtfL4lQYk4Wjkzo_67lUaNUCZkbomsMd0zYAsU-cHyeaPJyouus9A9Nch8jrM9Dg/s640/buddhist%20monk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM6arTnsvcA867_TZ84y9c-rCk5BiWEUvjoHL4mHzmQNr64F8TbgOyZ3QY1TSu_1O00UmEOST6kH94NgCWe2-95BTw_V5ETnARGJHytXf9a7oNwnFv1w1aiIIC5x6MtfL4lQYk4Wjkzo_67lUaNUCZkbomsMd0zYAsU-cHyeaPJyouus9A9Nch8jrM9Dg/s320/buddhist%20monk.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p><p style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
second day she came in and sat down and began to meditate again.
After half an hour of silence, she got up and left again. Now the
priests were a little more agitated, and a few of them complained to
one another, but they decided to give her one more chance.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
third day she came in and sat down and remained in silence again. By
the end of the talk several of the priests decided to approach her.
So they did and they said that this was getting out of hand and why
wasn’t she speaking etc. So she finally spoke to them and said, ‘So
far all you have been doing is talking to each other and complaining
about me and wondering why I am not speaking. Yet you say that you’re
on retreat. How do you expect to listen to God if you can’t even
learn to be silent.’</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
is a lot we can learn from this. We pray that God will help us and
sort out all kinds of situations and give us the answers to different
problems, and yet we are slow to sit down and listen to him, adore
him, love him, be healed by him. We expect him to sort everything out
for us while we are running around doing things. We can be like
spoilt children at times. Once we begin to learn to listen to the
Lord, we will find that He is continually inviting us to spend time
in his presence. This is where real healing takes place. This is
where we learn to put things in the right order in our life.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">All
of us carry so much different psychological baggage, wounds from the
past and prejudices, etc., we hurt each other. We don’t mean to,
but we do. Where do we look to for healing? Well, there’s the
doctor and the psychologist, faith healers, places of pilgrimage,
religious articles and relics. Strangely enough, often the last
person that we turn to is the Master himself, the Creator of all that
exists, the One who can create life out of nothing. He is here in the
Blessed Sacrament, but He is often the very last one we go to. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">All
of us are in need of healing, whether physical or spiritual. Where
could be a better place to receive it than at the feet of Jesus
himself. There is no place in the whole world better than before
Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw4e48Yt1RZYeSbSK63VNkBe21gfy152pAoFrs_W8mdxErw9Z7aUOX7QcQB6eRRSB-AzTaiyG773sNlhDoWY_gYSthp5pHG_p-gbc8e9c1M06k_0pq2NzDPe48xmvKBW2kUlH534cK-4tWHCEiGM8iBcVaQzIGdP8J-FP0UzGOzHaT0jAYlrQUC6FOJmM/s1920/Adoration-Blessed-Sacrament%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1920" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw4e48Yt1RZYeSbSK63VNkBe21gfy152pAoFrs_W8mdxErw9Z7aUOX7QcQB6eRRSB-AzTaiyG773sNlhDoWY_gYSthp5pHG_p-gbc8e9c1M06k_0pq2NzDPe48xmvKBW2kUlH534cK-4tWHCEiGM8iBcVaQzIGdP8J-FP0UzGOzHaT0jAYlrQUC6FOJmM/w400-h209/Adoration-Blessed-Sacrament%20(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Sometimes
when people don’t receive physical cures, they get angry, or feel
disappointed, or disillusioned and sometimes give up on the Lord, but
spiritual healing is far more important than physical healing,
because our soul is immortal, our body is not. Sooner or later our
body will stop working, die and disintegrate. Only our soul will go
on to the next world. If there is anything that needs healing, it’s
our souls. The Lord knows this and I believe that far more spiritual
healing takes place than physical, because the Lord knows where we
need to be healed much better than we do.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
St. John’s Gospel, Jesus says, ‘I am the living bread come down
from heaven…Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink
his blood, you cannot have life within you, for my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.’ (See John 6)</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
we spend time before the Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, He is
healing us from the moment we sit down. Not only that but He will be
touching others through us. The more time we spend with him the more
he helps us to become harmonized, wholesome, holy. We learn to focus
on ourselves less and on Jesus more. That’s what Mother Teresa’s
sisters did at the beginning. They focused less on their own problems
and shortcomings and more on the Lord Jesus and look what happened,
they developed into probably the most successful Order of our times,
because they focused on Jesus. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
we spend our time worrying about our shortcomings and all the things
that are wrong with us and our world, we may feel overwhelmed and
depressed. If we focus on the Lord, He will help us overcome our
shortcomings, He will teach us to be more patient and to see what is
really important. No one else can heal us in this way. And if we are
healed by another, it is only because the Lord is working through
them. So why not go directly to the Lord and let him teach us his
ways and heal us of our ills? Let us have Christ at the center and
adore him as our God. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Often
when we come to the Lord and pray for a resolution to a problem, the
Lord will answer us by showing us what we need to do, rather than
fixing the problem. But we must listen, or we won’t hear what the
Lord is saying.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Remember,
God is never outdone in generosity and will always bless us for the
efforts we make to serve him. Whatever time we give to him, He will
give back to us. Whatever money we give to him, He will give back to
us.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;"> </p>
<p style="line-height: 115%;">‘<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Come
to me all you who labor and are overburdened and I will give you
rest.’</span></span></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" lang="en-IE" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>Murchadh O'Madagainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17596641854628888800noreply@blogger.com0