Don’t let the gospel message go in one ear and out the other

2024 4^th Sunday of the Year (B)

When I was at school I didn’t really listen to my teachers. It must have become obvious because teachers would say, “McGowan what I say goes in one ear and out the other”.  If the teacher was particularly sarcastic, he would add: “… in one ear, through the vacuum and out the other!”  Why I didn’t listen I don’t know; maybe I had an attention deficit. A lot depended on the teacher; those who were clearly interested in their subject I would listen to more. And maybe too there was the problem of relevancy. We studied philosophy in my last year. I wondered what this has got to do with my life. It just didn’t seem relevant.  So, I suppose it was true what was constantly written in my school-journal: ‘could try harder.’  But it wasn’t till years later, when I got a second chance to learn, in seminary, that I did try harder.  What had changed?  I had changed. 

In seminary I couldn’t learn enough. I was all ears. No vacuums anymore. I now realised how important it was to listen, because when I listened, I learned, and when I learned I grew. What I was learning was so relevant to my life.  From not focussing and being disinterested I became focused and fascinated.  The change in me was due to my faith. My faith had come alive.  I was training to be a priest and I knew that one day I would have to preach. So, the more I learned the more authority I could speak with.  This is what they said about Jesus: “here is a teaching that is new…and with authority behind it.”

When someone teaches as Christ taught they are speaking with authority.  But not everyone listened to Christ. The scribes and pharisees heard what he said, but it went in one ear and out the other. However, the poor and the lame, the sinners and the needy, did listen to him. The scribes and pharisees were full of pride: “who does this upstart think he is talking to!  We’re from the great city of Jerusalem, he’s from God-forsaken place in the north. We were educated in the best of schools. How dare he try to teach us. They wouldn’t listen; they had become deaf. 

Human nature doesn’t change much in two thousand years. In each one of us there is a scribe and pharisee, waiting to come out.  We can listen to the gospel, but it can go in one ear and out the other. You will know that Pope Francis has his critics; there are people in the church, including cardinals and bishops who no longer listen to him.  Which goes to prove that the spirit of the scribes and pharisees is alive and kicking in the church today.  Pope Francis preaches the gospel message of Christ, but these people do not hear it; they don’t want to hear it. Because to really listen to what Pope Francis is saying would require a change of mind and heart; these people do not want to change. But we need to change; all of us. All of us are called to grow in faith and if we are to do this then it will require change. Didn’t Cardinal, now Saint, John Henry Newman say: “to change is to grow.”   Is this message relevant to you, or is it going in one ear and out the other?  

To be loved sets you free

2024 3^rd Sunday of the Year (B)

‘Repent and believe the Good News’, Jesus says.  We have to do both: repent and believe; it’s a package. You can’t choose one and not the other. In other words, you can’t decide to repent but not believe; but nor can you believe the Good News and not repent; the two go together. Repentance prepares your heart and mind and even soul to receive the good news. 

This isn’t any old news. It’s not like the news we read in our newspapers or on the television.  That news changes every day. We speak of “yesterday’s news.” No, the news that Jesus Christ has come to tell us about is not gone the next day. On the contrary, it lasts for a life and it is life-changing.  But we have to believe it. 

There is nothing more freeing than to be forgiven. Those who repent are forgiven.  Many people walk around with guilt; guilt for sins of the past, sometimes the distant past. Why didn’t they confess at the time?  “Too ashamed” or “frightened at what the priest might say”; and then the days and weeks and months and even years past, and well, they say “I’ll live with it.”  But guilt is hard to live with.  But Jesus never meant us to live this way; burdened by guilt.  He has come to set us free.  Hence, his call to repent. 

Repentance is something we can all do, whether we are weighed down by guilt or not. We can all acknowledge that we’re not perfect; that we have faults and failings; weaknesses we wish we didn’t have. To repent of these things is to prepare the way for God’s grace. It is to prepare us to be able to hear the good news and believe it. Because unless we are free the good news will go in one ear and out the other.  Jesus tells us to repent so that we can really listen to what he is offering us, which is freedom and peace of mind.   There are so many people who would love to have peace of mind. 

That is part of the good news. The news that we are forgiven. But there is more to the Good News than forgiveness and mercy.  Jesus also wants to tell us that we are both loved and lovable.  Think of that: to know that you are loved. This kind of news you will never see in the media. Our newspapers are filled with bad news about people; about betrayal, lies, deceit, anger, greed, lust, indeed, all the deadly sins. Such news brings people down, it’s oppressive. But the good news of Jesus Christ is uplifting, liberating.  And if you are blessed to believe this Good News then it is your duty, as a Christian, to tell others. You won’t have to open your mouth; you won’t have to preach; you just have to be yourself. Someone who knows they are loved is a different person. Full of confidence, generous, kind and caring. People are attracted to you like flies to honey. And if, by chance, one day, someone asks you the reason for your contentment, it will be your God given opportunity to share your faith.  Don’t tell them to repent but do tell them that they are loved. The repentance will come later. 

We are all equal in the church

2024 2^nd Sunday of the Year (B)

I used to be vocation director for our Order. It was my job to recruit as many young men to the Order as I could. I was director for about five or six years. To do this I would visit anyone who showed interest. Then invite them to our place. I visited several universities throughout the country, north south, east and west, including both Oxford and Cambridge. I made promotional videos and got into social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter. I also went into schools, attended courses on vocational discernment here and in Ireland.  I don’t like to boast but I was good at what I did.  The only problem was that for all my hard work I didn’t get a single vocation. 

Did I care?  Yes, of course I did. But one other thing I did, that I didn’t mention, was to pray. I prayed a lot. I learned in prayer that a vocation is a calling from God; that no matter how hard you work if God does not call then there will be no vocations, or at least fewer.   That first reading today is a classical text for vocations: the young Samuel hears the voice of God calling him.  And responds by saying, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”  It is often used when the Church is praying for vocations.  We Carmelites haven’t had a vocation from the UK for at least 15 years. But there is no need to be depressed because it is all God’s doing. One thing I have learned is that God still calls, only not just priests; He is calling you, each and every one of you. Every baptised person is called to share in the mission of the Church. We can all respond: “Speak Lord you servant is listening.” 

Am I saying this because we are short of priests?  We are, but even if we had lots of priests you, the laity, are still being called by God to work in and for the Church.  Obviously, we can’t all be priests. But we all are called to fulfil a task which only we can fulfil. God has a mission for each and every one of us. On the day of your baptism God anointed you to take the gospel message to the world. It wasn’t the priest, he was just God’s instrument.  This truth is awesome but for too long it has been overlooked. For too long the Church has been considered to be priests and nuns, the laity had no role other than to turn up for mass. The recent Synod in Rome is the beginning of a new era in the life of the Church. When lay people, like yourselves, come to realize your dignity and role as baptised Christians. The other day I read the report from that Synod, and this jumped out at me: ‘The sacraments of Christian initiation (ie., baptism and confirmation) give all disciples of Jesus responsibility for the mission of the Church. Lay men and women, consecrated men and women, ordained ministers have equal dignity.” Notice that: we have equal dignity. Elsewhere I read: ‘…each one is a bearer of a dignity derived from baptism and called to co-responsibility for the common mission of evangelization.’  

All this sounds good, but will it work? The biggest obstacle to what I am saying will be a sense of unworthiness; in other words, “who am I to be a missionary for Christ, I’m not really such a nice person.” But do you think priests are always nice?  Who did Jesus chose as the first Pope? Peter.  Peter who would betray him. Peter let down his best friend at the very moment he needed him most. He left Jesus alone into the hands of the Romans. What sort of loyal friend was that?  But did Jesus say he’d made a mistake?  Did he choose someone else to lead his church? No. There is no need to feel inadequate. God doesn’t choose us because we are perfect.  If He waited till we were there would be no church. Just say, like Samuel, “speak Lord you servant is listening.”