Pope Francis: Divorced people who remarry aren't excommunicated!

Weekend retreat for Consecrated Religious in All Hallows College, Dublin

I was part of a committee which arranged a weekend retreat in All Hallows College, Dublin for consecrated men and women for this Year of Consecrated Life. The idea came from Sr. Briege McKenna OSC and the key note speaker was Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa ofm.cap. Preacher to the Papal Household. 150 religious came along over the weekend and gave glory to God for the gift of religious life today.

"What attracts vocations is not propaganda, it is hope. People only join orders that are hope-filled." Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa.

 

 

 

On this day 18 years ago I was ordained to the priesthood in St. Kevin's Church, Kilnamanagh, Dublin... #DeoGratias

The Body and Blood of Christ...

Brennan Manning, an American Franciscan priest, tells this story about his mother, a lady in her mid-seventies in Brooklyn. Mrs. Manning’s day centred on her daily Eucharist. Because she began a voluntary stint at a drug detox centre each morning at 7.30 a.m. the only Mass she could go to each day was at 5.30 a.m.

Across the road from her lived a very successful lawyer, mid-thirties, married with children. The man had no religion and was particularly critical of daily church-goers. Driving home from a late night party at 5.00 a.m. one January morning, the roads were glassy with ice, he said to his wife; ‘I bet she won’t be out this morning’ referring to Mrs. Manning. But to his shock, there she was on hands and knees negotiating the hill up to the church.

He went home, tried to sleep but could not. Around 9.00 a.m. he got up, went to the local presbytery and asked to see the priest. ‘Padre,’ he said, ‘I am not one of yours. I have no religion. But can you tell me what do you have in there that can make an old woman crawl on hands and knees on an icy morning?’ Thus began his conversion along with his wife and family.

What do we have in here that makes people come to Mass each week or even each day? And I feel the Sunday Mass obligation or the threat of not going to Mass being a sin is not a runner anymore. I believe that most people who still come to Mass do so because they always did. But there is still some hidden pull or some hidden desire for connection. What is it? And sometimes we can’t find words to explain why.

In conversations about football or sport, I’ve met people who are lifelong supporters of teams that haven’t won a big tournament for years, but they still keep the faith. One day it will come good. The real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is something that can’t be seen with our physical sight. We need a different sense of vision to see Jesus Christ present on the altar and at Mass; we look at Him with the eyes of faith. We can all identify with someone like Mrs Manning we know who will show us, perhaps without even saying a word, a great example of their strength of faith. In the words of the old Benediction hymn ‘Tantum ergo Sacramentum;’ ‘Sight is blind before God’s glory, faith alone may see His face.

(Story taken from 'The Good News of Mark's Year' by Fr. Silvester O'Flynn. Columba Press, Dublin 1990) 

 

We are the Easter people...

The women of Jerusalem went to the tomb early on Sunday morning to anoint the badly damaged dead body of Jesus. They weren’t able to do this after he was taken down from the cross, as it was almost the Sabbath and therefore Jesus was buried in haste. When they reached the tomb, they found that the huge stone had been rolled back. In the different gospel translations we meet different angelic figures who tell the women and the disciples that they won’t find Jesus in the empty tomb.

From Luke’s Gospel we read;

On the first day of the week, at the first sign of dawn, they went to the tomb with the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, but on entering they could not find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled about this, two men in brilliant clothes suddenly appeared at their side. Terrified, the women bowed their heads to the ground. But the two said to them, 'Why look among the dead for someone who is alive? He is not here; he has risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee:

(Luke 24)

Jesus is risen, he is no longer in the tomb – it is empty; the tomb cannot contain him anymore. Behind him, Jesus has left death, darkness, fear, and sin. As Christians, as people of the resurrection, we have no business in the empty tomb looking for Jesus, we won’t find him there. We need to break free from the tomb too, and leave behind the darkness in our lives. We need to walk away from all that traps and binds us up in a suffocating grip. In the tomb we leave our fears, our phobias, our introspection, our prejudices, our anger, all violence, all rivalry, all darkness, and all sin. We run away from everything that takes our joy and stops us serving one another which is the key to contentment.  We need to leave all this behind as all of it holds us back. We are called to go to Jesus who has gone ahead of us into the light, for he alone has the message of eternal life.

“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.” Pope St. John Paul II

 

 

 

"There is no need for alarm"

There is no need for alarm…Do not be afraid (Mark 16:1-7)

Messages from God are invariably introduced with an encouragement to let go of all fear.

The sun is rising as the women are coming to the tomb in the early morning after the Sabbath. They were over-due to anoint the dead body of Jesus as it was forbidden over the Sabbath rest. Also, after a terrifying experience for all Jesus’ friends and followers, many who ran away, they buried his body in a borrowed tomb in haste. In a sense, they couldn’t wait for first light on Sunday morning so they could do for him what they could in all charity.  The body would no doubt be in a bad way after a brutal and savage scourging and a horrific execution by the Romans – humiliation for the entire world to see. They have brought with them herbs and spices to anoint the remains and fresh linen cloths because the shroud he was put in would be soaked. All they were concerned about was who would they get to roll away the large stone that was placed in front of the tomb. Their broken hearts thumping, they turned the corner and drew near to the tomb.

What greeted them was very strange. The stone had been rolled back. Now this was no small boulder. This was a large heavy circular rock which had been fashioned for the specific purpose of guarding the entrance to a burial tomb. They hurried in and were greeted by a young man in white who said “There is no need for alarm, you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified: he has risen, he is not here. See, here is the place where they laid him. But you must go and tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going before you to Galilee; it is there you will see him, just as he told you."

There is no need for alarm. Do not be afraid. These are words that have been ringing in my ears for a while now. As powerfully as the angel inside the empty tomb, the ‘man in white’ challenges the women to let go of all fear, we Christians are challenged by the fact that Jesus is alive to do the same in our time. So what scares us? What scares me? What are the fears I must let go of in order to be fully alive? Because have no doubt, fear locks up all of us with a power stronger than jail doors, high walls and prison bars.

In our own community here in the city centre, we need to shake off the shackles of the fears that imprison us in crime, in addiction, in hatred, in racism, in rivalry, in trafficking, and in violence. Speaking at the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday in The Pro Cathedral the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Diarmuid Martin said; “How many are there who feel that our culture offers them fulfilment and yet never seem to reach the happiness that they seek.  How many are frustrated into resorting to violence – just think of the brutal murders on our streets?  How many find themselves trapped into a culture of empty consumerism, of drugs or even of morbid depravity?”

It’s no secret that we have an epidemic addiction problem in this city and in Ireland. Many know the details far more than me.  I’m not qualified to speak with any authority on the horrors of addiction but these people, our sisters and brothers, are buried in a tomb as dark and foreboding as Christ’s tomb was. This is the vicious circle that has them tied up and restrained in bandages which are almost impossible to undo.  But all is not lost. Even though things seemed all was lost and gone for the women of Jerusalem and for the disciples of Jesus as he died on the cross, what was actually happening was a new beginning. There is no need to be afraid – there is always hope. I salute the members of NA, CA, AA, Soilse, and the SNUG counselling service in our Parish. You all are bearers of the light in what can be seen as a darkened tomb. The impossibly heavy rock will be thrown away.

When the women went to disciples, they all remembered what Jesus had often said about his passion, death, and resurrection. They came to faith in him and in his promises. They were fuelled by the power of the Holy Spirit to go out and witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and to preach the Gospel to all nations. From day one there was ridicule and even hostility to this new Christian movement. There were some who actively tried to oppose it and some again who have done so from the inside. Men and women were martyred because of their belief in Jesus Christ. Over and over again, across the centuries, the church of Christ has stood in the shadow of the cross of Christ. 

In our time, I would argue there seems to be very little appetite in Irish society for example, for the church, and by that I mean the Bishops or church spokespeople, to explain Church teaching.   The Archbishop of Armagh, Dr. Eamon Martin also spoke at the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday in Armagh about the challenges of being a Christian and holding Christian values in the Ireland of today; “Sometimes daring to witness openly to our sincerely held Christian convictions can bring upon us ridicule, condemnation or even persecution. I am thinking, for example, about our strong beliefs in the sacredness of human life from the first moment of conception until the moment of natural death; our Church’s understanding of marriage and the family; our Catholic social teaching about the fair distribution of goods, care for creation and concern for the weakest and most vulnerable.”

While I am aware that there can be over-zealous Catholic and Christian opinion out there, I wonder why our church which is simply stating its time-honored, centuries-old teaching of marriage being between a man and a woman, which is open to life, can be told to more or less get out of the way. Like I said earlier, again, I am not eminently qualified to speak as I am not married, but I feel I have some insights into it since I spent the first 18 years of my life living with a mother and a father in a family. And while I don’t live with them now, I am aware of their lives, and their struggles, and their highs and their lows, and I love them just the same. Many priests are married today in different places where the Church is and in Dublin we have married Permanent Deacons who preside at weddings, celebrate baptisms, and lead funeral liturgies, so that old argument of clergy not having a clue will disappear too.

Meeting us with the words, ‘There is no need for alarm,’ We are challenged by the ‘angel in white’ who sits in the tomb and announces that Christ is not there. We are asked who are we looking for? Ultimately we all seek Jesus. We want to be happy and he alone has the message of eternal life.

“I plead with you--never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.”

“The future starts today, not tomorrow.”  Pope St. John Paul II

 

 

 

 

St. Patty's Day

There’s no doubt about it, there’s a lot of love for the Irish and the spirit of Ireland today all around the world. If you look at the social media and the main stream media, you will see pictures of many world famous landmarks turned green for the day that’s in it. The great statue of Christ the King in Rio De Janeiro, the Coliseum in Rome, and the Sydney Opera House to name a few. McDonald’s are making green milk shakes these days, and green Guinness is served in many pubs to mark the occasion.  The whole world is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.  

I ask myself the question, how much has the modern celebration of St. Patrick’s day actually got to do his bringing the faith to Ireland? Today we see Patrick represented on Parade Floats in billowing green vestments, swinging a crozier around his head. Is there a danger that this will pass into the realm of fairy tale along the lines of the departure of the snakes from the coasts of Ireland to drown in the sea? I notice today that people are more inclined to say ‘Paddy’s Day’ or even ‘St. Patty’s Day’ and dress up in oversized green furry top hats and fake beards saying ‘Top o’ the morning.’ Here’s a secret… We Irish never say that!

After dinner yesterday, I noticed someone left in a box of Shamrock for us. It is told that St. Patrick used the petals of the Shamrock to illustrate the relationship of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It was a simple and ingenious way of explaining that there are three persons in the one God, like there are tree leaves on the one stem, the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Today in Ireland, the fact that March 17^th is the Religious Feast Day of our National Patron is not central to the minds of many people I would argue.

Historically, the story of the bringing of the Christian faith to Ireland began before Patrick. Pope Celestine III appointed Palladius to go on a mission to the people of the Western Isles. Bishop Patrick came later on in the year 462 and it had more success, in a sense the wind was at his back. He lit a flame of faith in the people which has been passed down from generation to generation. Over the centuries that flame was a fire and at other times it was just a flicker. During the Penal Laws when the Political System tried to extinguish the Catholic faith altogether, the flame still burned. When Daniel O’Connell secured Catholic Emancipation in 1829 there was a resurgence of the Catholic Faith in Ireland. Remember, Patrick just lit the candle as it were, ordinary people have passed it on down through their families. As powerfully as Patrick handed on the Christian faith, and as generously as Irish missionaries travelled overseas with that faith, ordinary men and women passed it on too. Mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers brought their children to the church and told the children about Jesus Christ and it continues to this day. I see parents come to ask for their children to be baptized and I see grandparents bring them to the church to light a candle and say a prayer.

To quote Archbishop Fulton Sheen speaking in 1974; “I believe that we are now living at the end of Christendom. It is the end of Christendom, but not of Christianity. What is Christendom? Christendom is the political, economic, moral, social, legal life of a nation as inspired by the gospel ethic.” If you look around at what is happening currently in modern Ireland, I believe this is happening now and any attempts to ask why are being met by some with dismay, disagreement and even ridicule.

St. Patrick brought the faith to Ireland. The Irish monks brought the faith all over Europe. For generations; Irish religious; nuns, brothers, and priests travelled to developing countries to make a difference to the lives of the people there armed not just with the gospels but with teaching, nursing, medical, and other professional skills. But fundamentally this wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the generosity of mothers and fathers telling the stories of Jesus Christ to the children.  The future of the faith in Ireland will be smaller perhaps, but people will choose to be part of it. The flame burns still.