27th Sunday of Ordinary Time year C

There have been some tremendous second readings in this cycle. A few weeks ago there was the celestial city in Hebrews remembering what we are all called to. And of late St Paul to Philemon and now to Timothy, constantly reminds us what we are about. What always strikes me about Paul is that he has faith. He constantly talks of Christ as someone he knows. It is the Risen Lord, after all, that Paul follows. The road to Damascus was post Resurrection. It is the same Christ we have come to know and love.

Over the last few days, we have had a Parish Mission here, preached by two Dominicans. The entire week was built around the presence of Jesus in the Sacraments and the Church. They both presented a God who saves and a God who is present in our midst. During one particular homily one of the preachers recounted a conversation he had with an old friend. This friend had been very successful in business, he was a real high flyer. And as things go, as he succeeded in his business life, he abandoned, or at least 'down graded' his spiritual life, and gave up on the Sacraments. One day the two friends were talking and religion came up. The priest's friend explained how he thought religion was a good idea, but that 'institutional' church was not something for him. He began to explain that he saw God as an energy, somewhere out there, a life force to be tapped into when you needed it. (A common enough idea, these days, by the way.) The learned Dominican retorted "How do you expect me to have a relationship with a battery?!"

The Gospel talks about faith; and all we need is the faith the size of a mustard seed. Our Christian faith is not a concept or a set of good ideas. Our faith is a relationship with God who is real and who has revealed himself completely in Jesus. Pope Benedict constantly refers to this in his writings. He talks of a profound and real friendship with Jesus Christ. We can have all the pastoral plans we want. We can devise the best schemes and attractions for people to come to the Church, but unless it is rooted in Jesus, it will not work. Simple as that; if it is not all about Jesus, it is a waste of time, money, effort and energy.

The Lord uses a mustard seed. I remember in school thinking this was the most awful thing in the world. The only person I knew who ate mustard was my grand father. I wanted to taste it one day and he put a spoonful on a piece of bread, and I, like a fool gobbled it up. My mouth was on fire for days! It is not mustard, English mustard in a jar that is, that the Gospel refers to. It is the seed. Mustard seeds are tiny, but produce a large bush type vegetation. They also have extensive root systems which make them very hard to up root. From something tiny comes something very enduring.

I am often like the disciples. "Lord, give me more faith." The Lord says, "You have me, you have enough." This Sunday let us really believe in God who saves us. Let us rejoice and be glad in the reality of our faith; friendship with Jesus Christ. He will look after the rest.

27th Sunday of Ordinary Time year C

Hab 1: 2-3; 2: 2-4


2 Tim 1: 6-8, 13-14


Lk 17: 5-10




If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. 
Jesus  came to serve and not to be served. He has given us an example to follow: faith is not only internal; it finds itself in the service of others. 

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lazarus: Why did Jesus use the name Lazarus when he was telling the parable? Why for that matter did he name Lazarus at all? Many Gospel characters are not named and are  simply called homo quidem - a certain man. If you ever read the Ireland's Own ( a popular folk magazine published in Ireland) you will notice toward the back of the publication a page called 'The lilt of Irish laughter'; it is a page full of short funny stories. The characters in these stories always have names like 'Mulcahy' or 'McMahon' - random surnames that name the protagonist of the joke. Was the Lord doing the same? Could "There was a poor man named Lazarus" have been "There was a poor man named Ben Shemal". Names have significance and meaning.  Lazarus comes from Hebrew which means "My God helps." And throughout the story we are confronted with reality of the meaning of the name, God did indeed help him; bringing him to the bosom of Abraham. Often times we think only of the present reality and forget of the life that awaits us. We profess this in the Creed every Sunday after all - we believe in life of the world to come.

I was just looking at the opening scene from Gladiator, a great film. Hard to believe its 10 years old. Maximus (played by Russell Crowe) is preparing his cavalry for battle. He tells them to fight bravely and reminds them that "what we do in life echoes in eternity". That is not far off Christian thought. If the rich man (who is not named, curiously) had been a little kinder to the poor man he saw every day, what side of the great gulf could he have found himself?

The dogs used to come and lick Lazarus' sores. Because they were good little dogs? Dogs were unclean and for a dog to lick a man's wound, I presume,  would have been as low as you could get. Still he is Lazarus: "My God helps". In hard times I think it is most appropriate to keep in mind that God is still on our side.

Et vitam venturi saeculi - and the life of the world to come.

26th Sunday in Ordinary time C

Am 6: 1a, 4-7

1 Tim 6: 11-16

Lk 16:19-31

Where Lazarus is poor no longer.

The funeral liturgy has many beautiful prayers. Over the ages most haunting and moving music has been employed to high-light words that give so much hope in the face of the ancient enemy. One of the main characters in the Gospel is there in the enchanting In Paradisum "where Lazarus is poor no longer".  When I read this Gospel the first thing that comes to mind is the complacency of the rich that Amos decries in the first reading. We see the rich man paying in eternity for his riches; or maybe for his lack of concern for the poor man at his very door step. But on a deeper reflection on the the reading, I am beginning to see something else. The dialogue between Abraham and the rich man is interesting. "Let me go and warn my brothers, so that they will not end up in this dreadful place". Abraham says if they do not listen to the Law and prophets they will not even listen to someone who comes back from the dead. 

But that is who we listen to, the One who has come back from the dead; Jesus, who is our Lord and God. 

There is much talk about boycotts this week in Ireland. There is a move next week, in some quarters, to boycott the Mass in protest over many issues; including the role of women in the Church. It would be tragic if people stayed at home when they had a chance to hear the words of the One who has come back from the dead. He tells us of the what is in store for us if we stay close to Him. He gives us the promise of  a world made new, a world "where there is no more tears, no more sadness" because "we shall see [Him] as he really is' and become like Him.  The only thing we should boycott is sin; but of course that is not headline stuff. 

Paul to Timothy puts it very clearly: we are to remember who it is we give witness to; Jesus Christ. In him do our hearts find joy.

25th Sunday of the Ordinary Time C

You cannot be a slave of two masters.

Its very easy to get down these days. It seems that at every hands turn there is bad news and depression. If it's not in politics, it's in the Church. If there is not a crisis in a bank somewhere, there is a strike somewhere else because workers are being forced to tighten their belts. It is if there is a gaseous tension in air; everyone appears to be worried and cross. There seems to be no green pastures where we can just sit and rest.

I remember preaching on the Gospel appointed for today the last time it came up. It was 2007 and even then there was a feeling that the 'good-old-days' of what we called the Celtic Tiger (a time of tremendous economic growth in the Irish Economy) were coming to an end. I do not believe anyone expected the fortunes of our country to go down the tubes so quickly. But I remember passionately decrying the fact that as a nation we seemed to have been all caught up in a frenzy of spending and ludicrous debt. I remember afterwards thinking to myself, what was I thinking? Wouldn't we always have have enough? Time has proven that an illusion of wealth had been created and when world economic forces turned, a whole society has been affected.

Now I am no economist. Nor am I a sociologist. But I am preacher, and the burning question is "what have we to say to our people, in the light of the Gospel, about the situation we find ourselves?"

The accusation is often made that there is no leadership in the country (Church and state). How can we provide leadership for a people that are at best disgruntled, at worst despairing? The bushel has been lowered, the shekel raised, and there seems to be no-one like the man in the Gospel to cancel the debts.

These times are hard, as the song says. Lord tell us what to tell your people..............

What are you going to say?

25th Sunday of the Ordinary Time C

Father of the poor, defender of the widow. 


Amos 8: 4-7
1 Tim 2: 1-8
Luke 16: 1-13


At  a glance, next Sundays readings remind us of justice as response to faith. My Bishop often makes an interesting comment on what has been called the Church's 'option for the poor', a key part of her social teaching in recent decades. He points out that the Church's option should always be for Christ, which finds its expression in care for and solidarity with the poor. I think this is a good observation. All our out-reach, care, collections, charity must be rooted in Christ. Christians are not nice to people just for the sake of it 'tax collectors and sinners do the same, do they not.' We reach out to the poor, because we too were once poor, but have been made really rich, by our salvation in Christ.  


"Gold and silver, I have not" said Peter to the lame beggar at gate of the Temple, "But what I have I give you, in the name of Jesus walk." 

24th Ordinary Time

Ex 32: 7-11, 13- 14


1 Tim 1: 12-17


Lk 15: 1-32 or 15: 1-10


Why did the woman get so excited about finding a drachma? I am no expert on the financial systems of the ancient world, but I cannot imagine that a drachma was worth so much as to call everyone you know to celebrate? Even if it were that same as a days wage, our culture of plenty and waste would not really encourage us to jump up and down. Likewise, its almost illogical that the shepherd would leave all the other sheep alone in the wilderness to find one sheep who had wondered off. But they celebrate. 


Lost and found, hidden and uncovered, dark and light. A typical Christian life is lead between these contrasts. One minute we are fine, riding high on grace, with no troubles, doubts or difficulties. In an instant that can all change and we can find ourselves  lost. 


Like the prodigal son and the lost sheep life can bring us to places that we do not want to go. It is often said 'where would we be without faith?'. A good question. When I preach, do people see and hear a disciple, or are they confronted with Paul's gong booming or empty noise on the wind? Faith in Christ gives us an anchor in the storms of life. No wonder the early Christians used the anchor as a symbol in the Catacombs.


But what of the sheep who do not want to be found? What of the sons and daughters who stay away from the loving Father? Is it enough to hope that they will come back? The Gospel always has an urgency about it. It has to be preached here and now. The Kingdom is in our very midst and the day of salvation is now. When we preach we have to constantly remind ourselves of this. We may never have the chance to proclaim it or hear it again.


There is more rejoicing over the return of one lost sheep. Will the sheep be feed this Sunday, or will the fare of the wild and dangerous places be more alluring?  'O that TODAY you would listen to his voice.'

Post pilgimage

I am back home after a very moving, if exerting, pilgrimage to some of the Shrines of France, culminating in Lourdes. I did not a chance to do much deep reflection, alas, on the readings for last Sunday, our Sunday Mass, however was notable for it beauty! It took place in the Poor Clare convent, across the bridge on the way to the town of Lourdes. There were about fifty of us. The Gospel spoke of leaving all to follow the Lord, which we had done, in a small way over the days of the pilgrimage, but I was struck by one thing in particular: those people who I was looking at have some faith!! It was an experience of the Catholic Church at its very best! Young and old, rich and poor, men and women, each with their own stories of joy and trouble, gathered as one with the priest to celebrate the wonders of God in Christ.

Preachers: encourage the brethren! Let them know that they are on to a good thing! I believe the fires of faith are far from extinguished, all that is needed is a little love to bandage the wounded and bring back the stray and a little energy help the weak. Christ is with us, he is all we need.