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Homily on the Prodigal Son Reconciliation Service – John Regan SAC

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Every time I hear this gospel, I always think of the wonderful image of the father welcoming his son back and embracing him with his love and mercy. The son had lived a life away from God, had squandered his freedom and indulged in the pleasures of the world, he had made a total mess of his life.

 Yet his father never gave up on him, always watching out from afar, hoping and praying that he would return home someday. So too is the way with God our loving father, he never gives up on any one of us no matter what we have done in life, he knows that we are weak and fragile and that we will stumble and fall many times on our journey of life, after all, we are human. The most important thing is that we get up again quickly and embrace God’s mercy and forgiveness. God takes us just as we are in our human raw state with all our imperfections. He calls us to a relationship of love even if we are in the depths of sin, he doesn’t love us any less, he waits. Always. And it is never too late. Thats what he is like, that’s how he is, he is a father. A father waiting at the doorway who sees us when we are still far off who is moved and who comes running towards us, embraces us and kisses us tenderly. His heart rejoices over every child who returns to him.

Pope Francis reminds us, bring to the confessional, the sins that bring the greatest shame. To confess ones sins to the Priest is to come face to face with the infinite mercy of Jesus who forgives. God never writes anybody off. No human sin no matter how serious it is can limit God’s love and mercy, so tonight, don’t hold back, give to Jesus what is really troubling you and weighing you down, off load everything and he will set you free.

 

PALLOTTINE PILGRIMAGE TO KNOCK

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knock-mosaic_1000The annual Pallottine Pilgrimage to Knock will take place on Saturday June 3rd, 2017 gathering at 12 noon in St. John’s Centre. Mass will be celebrated at 3.00 pm in the old parish church.

Memories of Blessing: 4th Sunday of Lent – Eamonn Monson sac

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hand-on-headGod does not see as we see. We look at appearances but God looks at the heart, the interior. (1 Samuel 16:6-7). In the healing of the blind man God seeks to lead us to the opening of the eyes of our mind, heart and soul so that we learn to see as God sees, that we come to see the presence of God in every circumstance of life, to recognize the blessings that flow from the presence of God, “that the works of God might be displayed” (John 9).

A central purpose of the miracles of Jesus is to lead us to faith, a deepening of faith which in turn leads us to worship God. That was the purpose of the Exodus from slavery in Egypt – that the people of Israel could be free to worship God. The man cured of his blindness arrived at a point faith, “The man said, ‘Lord, I believe’, and worshipped him” (John 9:38). The miracles are also of course expressions of the compassionate love that God has for us all, especially anyone in distress.

Blessings come to us in many ways – the formal blessing of the Church given through a priest; the blessing given by parents and godparents in the liturgy of baptism; the general blessing we give to each other when we say, “God bless!” There is also the blessing of a dying parent such as in the case of Isaac blessing Jacob, a blessing that is permanent and cannot be revoked. I was blessed by my mother before she died. I have also been blessed by children.

A couple of days ago, I went to anoint a man who is soon to die. We celebrated the sacraments of absolution, anointing and Eucharist and it was a very peace filled encounter. As I was leaving I asked him to bless me and he held my face in his hands, a gesture that sent a tingling sensation through me and brought tears to my eyes. And it feels to me like a blessing that cannot be revoked, a blessing that is true because it is given at that moment in life when pretending has ceased.

That same gesture happened to me many years ago, in Tanzania where I encountered a woman who had been blind for many years. She lived in a remote village and never went anywhere. She was an extremely happy woman who found the blessings of God in her blindness.

After Mass, she would welcome us into her home where she fed us. I wondered if something could be done for her at the Medical Missionaries of Mary hospital 60km away, so I asked her if she would be interested in exploring the possibilities.

An appointment was made and we managed to get the pick-up truck through a rocky track in and out of the village. There was no road. I was driving, with woman and her brother in the front seat beside. It was a slow laborious journey with the truck bouncing up and down and from side to side.

For the woman who could not see, it was hilarious and she shouted out, “there must be a God! Who else would send a priest on such a bad road to take me to hospital?”

BlindIn hospital, they discovered she simply had cataracts which the doctor removed. For us in Ireland cataracts are not a big deal but in Tanzania it usually meant a life of blindness for anyone living in a remote place.

I was there the day the day the bandages came were taken off her eyes. The nurse put glasses on her. I was the first person she saw. She held my face in her hands laughing, thanking God and everyone. It was such a feeling of honour to witness the opening of eyes that were blind, a feeling that can’t be described, a joy that can’t be expressed in words. But I was blessed by that joy.

The experience strengthened the faith she already had; for her community, it awakened a faith they had lost. It wasn’t a miracle but for all of us it was a sign of God’s compassionate presence in our lives, a sign of how he uses us as instruments of healing.

What I pray for is the inner vision to see people and life with the eyes of God so that every experience – good or bad – will lead us to see Him, to enter into a deeper relationship with Him, a life in which I worship Him in spirit and truth.

Fr. Eamonn Monson SAC

Remembering Cardinal Connell at San Silvestro – Fr. John Fitzpatrick SAC

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Desmond Cardinal Connell R.I.P.  (1926 – 2017)

The Basilica of San Silvestro in Capite, Rome was entrusted to our Society of the Catholic Apostolate by Pope Leo XIII in 1885 and our Pallottine priests and brothers have served here since 1887. It was during a General Chapter held at San Silvestro in 1909 that the Society was divided into Provinces, including the Irish Province. This Church dates back to 761 when Paul 1 was Pope. Titular Cardinals have been appointed to the Basilica since 1517. The late Cardinal Basil Hume former Archbishop of Westminster, London was Cardinal Priest of San Silvestro from 1976 until his death in 1999. In 2001 Pope John Paul 11 appointed Archbishop Desmond Connell as Cardinal with the title of Cardinal Priest of San Silvestro. In taking possession of his Titular Church a Cardinal celebrates a profoundly symbolic act that expresses his special communion with the Pope as the Bishop of Rome.

During his homily at the Mass on the occasion of his taking possession of San Silvestro he stated: “The centuries – long presence here of a Poor Clare community has particular significance for me because the first appointment I received as a young priest was a Chaplaincy with the Poor Clare community in Donnybrook”. We were privileged as the Pallottine community of San Silvestro to have had the late Cardinal as our Titular Cardinal. He was absolutely delighted to be assigned San Silvestro since we Pallottines were ministering in two Parishes in the Archdiocese of Dublin, namely St. Patrick’s Corduff in Blanchardstown and St. Anne’s in Shankill.  He paid many visits to San Silvestro over the past 16 years. He took a great interest in the Church and its long history and shortly after his appointment as Cardinal he commissioned a history of the Church to be written and entrusted the project to Dr. Eileen Kane, the distinguished historian of art, who published the first edition in 2005. Dr. Kane had the opportunity of presenting the second edition in person to the Cardinal in February of last year.  It was appropriate that Dr. Eileen led the prayers of intercession at his funeral Mass in the Pro Cathedral on February 25th.

He loved meeting the immigrant communities from the Philippines, Sri Lanka and other countries who frequent San Silvestro …the Link Community as they are called. He loved their music and song and they loved him and made him feel very welcome and at home among them.

His last visit to Rome was for the canonization of Pope John XXII and Pope John Paul 11 three years ago. We shared a meal with him at that time. He wrote to me on his return to Ireland to say that he would not be able to visit Rome again due to his declining health. On March 24th of last year, we phoned him on his 90thBirthday and sang ‘Happy Birthday to you’ over the phone. He appreciated this very much. He never failed to call us each year on 31st. December, the Feast of St. Sylvester to wish us a joyful celebration and to assure us of his closeness to us and his love for San Silvestro.

I posted a card and letter to him on the day he died which was the Anniversary of his nomination as Titular Cardinal, 22nd. February. His motto was ‘Secundum Verbum Tuum’ – according to your Word. He was always faithful to that Word and to the Eucharist in the humble, sincere and compassionate way in which he lived his priestly life. My predecessor as Rector, Fr. Denis O’Brien, who was Rector when Archbishop Connell was nominated Cardinal, on learning of his death wrote: ‘It was a great privilege to have known him’.

We will celebrate the Month’s Mind Mass here at San Silvestro on Wednesday 22nd. March at 7 p.m.

Fr. John Fitzpatrick sac

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dilis. Requiescat in Pace.

Fr. John Fitzpatrick SAC

Rector, Basilica di San Silvestro in Capite

PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH

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Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God. I place in you all my interests and desires. Oh, St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from your divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers. Continue reading →

TORMENTED BY THIRST – The Woman at the Well

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God be with you in all your undertakings (St. Vincent Pallotti)

Third Sunday of Lent – John 4:5-42 

“Jesus, tired by the journey, sat straight down by the well.” Here we witness one of the most human moments in the life of Jesus. In His tiredness and His thirst, He is one with us and represents all the weariness and thirst of our lives.

The first word that He speaks in this gospel reading is, “give me a drink!” So, before we go looking for anything from Him, we focus on what we can give Him. In what way, can you quench the thirst of Jesus? What does His thirst mean to you?

Later in Lent we will hear Him cry from the Cross, “I thirst!” It’s not just water He needs. He thirsts for you, longs for you to come closer to Him.

You want to come close to Jesus but there are obstacles in the way and His desire is to remove the obstacles, to bring you through them and beyond them.

In the first reading the people were “tormented by thirst”, a very strong expression that also is not just about the thirst for water; it is about the deepest yearnings of the human person, our deepest desires.

We are often tormented by our desire, tempted by the longings that stir in our bodies and souls, and we can be made utterly helpless in the face of these desires. There are temptations that we are able to resist or overcome but there are also temptations that lead us into sin time and time again.

The only thing to do with them is bring them to Jesus in prayer, to speak honestly about them, allow Him to address them in the way He addresses the sin in the life of the Samaritan woman.

What is interesting about Jesus is how He can tell a person the truth about their life – how He can do this without hurting the person but does it in a way that sets them free.

The Samaritan woman is delighted and liberated by the way Jesus speaks to her. “The woman put down her water jar and hurried back to the town to tell the people. ‘Come and see a man who has told me everything I ever did; I wonder if he is the Christ?’”

This is the joy and freedom He offers to us when we allow Him to speak truthfully, lovingly to the sin in our lives. The liberation does not always take place at once or completely because it is a journey, a life-long process in many cases. But it begins when we honestly place our desires and our sins at the feet of His truth and Love and the outpouring of His Mercy that is without limit.

Eamonn Monson SAC

Divine Brightness And A Cloud – Second Sunday of Lent

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Gospel Matthew 17:1-9

the-transfigurationA thing to remember when we read a passage from the gospel is that we are meant to apply it to our own lives in the present, to let the Word of God become a personal spiritual experience. So, when Jesus takes Peter, James and John, he also takes you and me with Him up the high mountain.

The first thing is to realize what it means for you to be chosen by Jesus for this experience; how important and precious an invitation this is. It means that we you are chosen for an especially close and intimate relationship with Jesus.

Do you accept the invitation and allow yourself to be taken by Jesus on this journey? It means being alone with Him in the company of others. It means being totally alone with him in the solitude of prayer, a solitude that can be found in various ways and places.

It’s a demanding experience, a high and, at times, difficult climb – something you cannot achieve on your own or by your own strength. You need the companionship and strength of Jesus and you need the companionship of other believers. At times, you might even need others to carry you, just as others may need to be carried by you.

The Transfiguration is real and not just a story. The amazing, astonishing brightness of God shines through Jesus and it is the promise given to us that we too will one day shine with the same brightness. The brightness is already within us, within you from your baptism.

Two things are necessary to make it grow stronger – prayer and mercy, both of which are expressions of Love. By feeding the hungry, looking after the poor, by being kind to others God says “Then your light shall break forth like the morning!” (Isaiah 58:8). And in Adoration we meet the brightness of Jesus in a most special way.

It is there too that we are called to hear what Jesus hears from His Father – “This my Son the beloved; He enjoys my favour. Listen to Him!”

What is said to Jesus is said to you – you are God’s beloved and favoured daughter or son. It’s worth sitting in silence with that thought. If you listen to Jesus, listen to the Gospel then you will come to accept and understand this beautiful reality – that you are God’s beloved, favoured one.

It does not mean that we must spend all our time either doing works of mercy or being in Adoration. All the other responsibilities of life must be fulfilled – such as participating in family, developing our good friendships, being involved in the things we are talented at, study, sport etc. These too when connected to the life of prayer and mercy help increase the divine brightness within us.

HUMILITY AND HOPE -First Sunday of Lent

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Lent is a time for being real, when we let go of pretence, see things as they really are in our life and seek to allow our entire being to be changed from within. I emphasise our “entire being” because often we come at Lent in bits and pieces – give things up, take things on and do our best but our efforts are often fragmented and external rather than a truly internal conversion of the whole self into the image of Jesus.

Jesus goes into the desert led by the Holy Spirit to confront the temptations that are part of human life, to make the choices that are the choices of His Father. The desert is the place where there can be no pretending. It is a time when we clarify what are our real hungers and desires in life; a time to move from self-centred desire to God-centred desire. Don’t be afraid or shy to tell God your actual desires and, if they are sinful, ask Him to replace them with Godly desires. Keep asking even if it takes years for it to happen!

The first three words of the first reading are not about me or us but God – “the Lord God” – telling me that the first focus of Lent is God Himself. He is the beginning and the centre of everything. From Him everything else flows. Most of the time we are at the centre of our own lives and even our Lenten exercises can be about ourselves – proving to ourselves what we are capable of; making ourselves feel more worthy and virtuous.

“You must worship the Lord your God!” is the final word of Jesus to Satan at the end of His 40 days in the desert. He is putting God His Father at the centre. This is the way to begin, continue and finish Lent – worship God. Live it for the sake of God, for the Love of God.

Worshiping God also means being faithful to what God does! He formed man from the dust of the earth reminding us to keep our feet on the ground, to be down to earth in the way we live our faith. The words we hear on Ash Wednesday, “remember that you are dust” – reminds us not to lose the run of ourselves, not to have our heads in unrealistic clouds. It keeps us humble. Humility comes from the word “humus” which means “earth” or “soil.”

Worshipping God also means remembering that man became a living being because God breathed the breath of life into him. It is the breath of God’s own life that sustains us and keeps us connected with our divine nature. And so, when we are weighed down by our earthiness, discouraged by the struggle of temptation, then the Spirit of God in us is our source of hope. Jesus himself is our hope, it is He who wins the victory for us.

Fr. Eamonn Monson SAC