The Sisters of the Gospel of Life, based in Glasgow, are some of the most encouraging and upbeat people I've ever had the pleasure to come across. I'm therefore delighted to see that they've started a blog. It's terrific to see the Holy Spirit at work in the Church, by raising up a new congregation of active religious whose devotion to the Gospel of Life represents a charism sorely needed today.
Sr Roseann explains their origin and work in this video and Sr Andrea explains the vision of the sisters in this Podcast.
Any young woman in Britain or Ireland who is considering a call to the active religious life should give the Sisters serious consideration.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
A Homily to be Preached on Sunday 29th July 2007
Homily – 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C) Luke 11:1-13
28th July 2007
Have you ever wondered about the smirk on a camel’s face? Well, the Arabs have a story to explain it. You see, Muslims speak about the 99 Names of God. They talk about God the Merciful, God the Creator, God the All-knowing, God the Wise and so on. But, they say, these 99 names are not enough and that He has a hundredth name which men don’t know. However, the camel does know, and that is why he has a smug self-satisfied look on his face.
However, despite having 99 Names for God – speaking of His Power, His Mercy and His Goodness, nowhere amongst them is found the name Father. Maybe this is a surprise to us, because we’re so used to calling Him Father, but it is something uniquely Christian. Indeed, for the Christian, Father is the most important name we use when we talk about God, and when we talk to God. It says more about Him and our relationship with Him than any other name we can give Him.
God the Father - A Uniquely Christian Doctrine
It is from Christ Himself that we learned to call God Father. We read in the Gospels that God the Son invites us to share in His Sonship, and make our relationship with God the Father the centre of our lives. We read today that the disciples were fascinated by Christ’s prayer. They must have seen Him spend many hours in conversation with the Heavenly Father, and finally worked up the courage to ask Him to teach them to pray.
Being taught how to pray is no small thing. The disciples are asking Jesus what to say to God one-to-one. In prayer before God, there is no room for pretence or falsehood, and so the prayer that Jesus gives us tells us who God really is, and what kind of people He wants us to be.
And so, He tells us to call God “Our Father.” What a revelation this is! It’s one thing believing that God created us and the entire universe; that He is Good and All-Powerful. It is quite another to learn that He wants us to call Him Father. He wants us to know that He has a Father’s love for us, and that we should not be frightened to consider ourselves His sons and daughters.
Growing as a Child of God - The Centrality of Trust
In the words of the Our Father, there is a whole course in Christian living. Whole books have been written about this prayer, but perhaps one of the most important things that the Our Father teaches us is the great virtue of trusting in God the Father. After all, the relationship between parent and child is marked by the fact that a child flourishes by trusting his parents. A child thrives and grows into a well-balanced adult by knowing that his parents want the best for him, and that whatever goes wrong, home is a place where they can return for comfort and even forgiveness.
If this is true of earthly parents, how much more is it true of Our Heavenly Father. By inviting us to call Him Father, He is reassuring us that we can trust Him and rely on Him. He asks us to trust Him for our daily bread, and to know that He is a God of forgiveness. Like the father of the prodigal Son, we are reassured that He will be quick with His forgiveness if we stray.
As a Father, we can also trust that God wants us, His children, to grow; and so He gives us a way of life. We are called to imitate Him in our forgiveness of others and in our concern that His Kingdom should prevail on Earth, as well as in Heaven. This, however, is only possible if we learn to trust Him first. We can only have the courage to put our own interests aside and be forgiving, if we know that we too are forgiven when we fall. We can only live a life of Christian love, if we first realise that God loves us first.
The Adult Faith of a Child of God
We must also have an adult understanding of what it means to be a father. I’m sure that the parents here know that being a good father or a good mother means sometimes saying ‘no’ to their children, and that to grow, sometimes children have to learn some difficult lessons. So, as God’s children we will face trials that seem to make no sense to us and may even cause us to doubt the existence of a loving God. This is why we need to cultivate a keen awareness of God as Our Father. We can only face the genuine difficulties, and struggles and sorrows and set-backs of life, if we know that God is our loving Father, and that whatever happens to us will be for the best and will lead us to the happiness of His Kingdom. He does not give us scorpions instead of eggs.
This trust is not always easy, but the Father has made known His goodness in many ways. Above all, He has sent us His Only Begotten Son to show us the path of Sonship and to encourage and strengthen us, and has poured God the Holy Spirit into our hearts to guide us along that path, and to fill us with the Divine Love that makes it possible to grow as His sons and daughters.
Blessed be the name of the Lord – Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
28th July 2007
Have you ever wondered about the smirk on a camel’s face? Well, the Arabs have a story to explain it. You see, Muslims speak about the 99 Names of God. They talk about God the Merciful, God the Creator, God the All-knowing, God the Wise and so on. But, they say, these 99 names are not enough and that He has a hundredth name which men don’t know. However, the camel does know, and that is why he has a smug self-satisfied look on his face.
However, despite having 99 Names for God – speaking of His Power, His Mercy and His Goodness, nowhere amongst them is found the name Father. Maybe this is a surprise to us, because we’re so used to calling Him Father, but it is something uniquely Christian. Indeed, for the Christian, Father is the most important name we use when we talk about God, and when we talk to God. It says more about Him and our relationship with Him than any other name we can give Him.
God the Father - A Uniquely Christian Doctrine
It is from Christ Himself that we learned to call God Father. We read in the Gospels that God the Son invites us to share in His Sonship, and make our relationship with God the Father the centre of our lives. We read today that the disciples were fascinated by Christ’s prayer. They must have seen Him spend many hours in conversation with the Heavenly Father, and finally worked up the courage to ask Him to teach them to pray.
Being taught how to pray is no small thing. The disciples are asking Jesus what to say to God one-to-one. In prayer before God, there is no room for pretence or falsehood, and so the prayer that Jesus gives us tells us who God really is, and what kind of people He wants us to be.
And so, He tells us to call God “Our Father.” What a revelation this is! It’s one thing believing that God created us and the entire universe; that He is Good and All-Powerful. It is quite another to learn that He wants us to call Him Father. He wants us to know that He has a Father’s love for us, and that we should not be frightened to consider ourselves His sons and daughters.
Growing as a Child of God - The Centrality of Trust
In the words of the Our Father, there is a whole course in Christian living. Whole books have been written about this prayer, but perhaps one of the most important things that the Our Father teaches us is the great virtue of trusting in God the Father. After all, the relationship between parent and child is marked by the fact that a child flourishes by trusting his parents. A child thrives and grows into a well-balanced adult by knowing that his parents want the best for him, and that whatever goes wrong, home is a place where they can return for comfort and even forgiveness.
If this is true of earthly parents, how much more is it true of Our Heavenly Father. By inviting us to call Him Father, He is reassuring us that we can trust Him and rely on Him. He asks us to trust Him for our daily bread, and to know that He is a God of forgiveness. Like the father of the prodigal Son, we are reassured that He will be quick with His forgiveness if we stray.
As a Father, we can also trust that God wants us, His children, to grow; and so He gives us a way of life. We are called to imitate Him in our forgiveness of others and in our concern that His Kingdom should prevail on Earth, as well as in Heaven. This, however, is only possible if we learn to trust Him first. We can only have the courage to put our own interests aside and be forgiving, if we know that we too are forgiven when we fall. We can only live a life of Christian love, if we first realise that God loves us first.
The Adult Faith of a Child of God
We must also have an adult understanding of what it means to be a father. I’m sure that the parents here know that being a good father or a good mother means sometimes saying ‘no’ to their children, and that to grow, sometimes children have to learn some difficult lessons. So, as God’s children we will face trials that seem to make no sense to us and may even cause us to doubt the existence of a loving God. This is why we need to cultivate a keen awareness of God as Our Father. We can only face the genuine difficulties, and struggles and sorrows and set-backs of life, if we know that God is our loving Father, and that whatever happens to us will be for the best and will lead us to the happiness of His Kingdom. He does not give us scorpions instead of eggs.
This trust is not always easy, but the Father has made known His goodness in many ways. Above all, He has sent us His Only Begotten Son to show us the path of Sonship and to encourage and strengthen us, and has poured God the Holy Spirit into our hearts to guide us along that path, and to fill us with the Divine Love that makes it possible to grow as His sons and daughters.
Blessed be the name of the Lord – Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
Friday, July 20, 2007
A Homily Preached at a Cemetery Mass
As we gather here for this graveyard Mass, it is well for us to remember what it is we are doing when we gather in a cemetery and when we care for a graveyard. The monuments and crosses scattered about us remind us that this is a place of memories. Indeed, many of them bear the inscription In Loving Memory. Buried all around us are our departed ancestors, relations and friends. From them we have received so much and it is only right and just that we continue to be grateful to them and show our respect by caring for their graves. Rememberance of the dead is a mark of basic human decency.
Maybe we honour parents or grandparents who did so much for us when we were young, passing on their wisdom, their values and their faith. Perhaps we remember the kindness of departed friends and relations. Perhaps we’re here as a mark of respect to ancestors that we have no personal memory of, but about whom we’ve heard from our elders. We should also remember the many unknown and forgotten people here in this graveyard, many of whom lived lives of hardship and struggle that we today cannot fully understand. Our remembrance of the dead bears witness to the fact that a person’s good deeds and the memories of a life well-lived are of lasting value.
As Christians, however, a place like this is not simply about memories. It is not only about remembering with affection those who have gone before us. We also remember them with hope. Christ promises us that those the Father has given Him will be raised up on the last day. At every Sunday Mass we finish the Creed by saying We believe in the Resurrection of the dead, and life everlasting, Amen. We remember the Risen Christ appearing to His disciples in His glorified flesh and we believe that His victory over death is such that not only do our souls survive but that at the end of time, both body and soul will be re-united and restored in an extraordinary way that we cannot comprehend on this side of the grave. However, the respect we show to the remains of the deceased and out visits to the graves of our departed loved ones is a very concrete way of expressing our faith in this mysterious resurrection of the body. By coming to the very place where a loved one’s mortal remains were laid to rest, we are saying that we trust that some day both body and soul will be glorified, and the relationships which have been interrupted by death, will be restored in the paradise that Christ Himself has promised to those who die in His peace.
Finally, we remember the words of scripture that it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be released from their sins. Above all, an occasion like this is an opportunity to pray for our dead, and assist them in their final purification. Perhaps we don’t hear enough about purgatory and the importance of praying for the dead any more. Perhaps we make the mistake of thinking of the idea of purgatory as being a gloomy kind of idea. It is no such thing. It is one of the most merciful doctrines in the Catechism. To those who die in a state of grace, but have some residual imperfection or some outstanding reparation for a sin is given the chance of a final purification, so that they are totally happy when they meet their Maker in His glory. Were they not to receive this time of preparation, their joy in the presence of God would be marred by their shame at their imperfection and unworthiness. They would be like guests who found themselves at a wedding wearing the dirty old clothes they use for work about the farm. Purgatory is like the chance to clean up and get changed, so that they are ready for the great wedding-feast of heaven. Lord knows, we might all be grateful for the opportunity. I remember once hearing of a distinguished theologian who told his students that the Holy Souls are happy souls. They know that they are on the threshold of seeing God face-to-face, and it is a great mercy to speed them through this last period of preparation, so that they can worthily and joyfully see God face-to-face.
We therefore pray here for our dead – not in sorrow, but in anticipation. We also pray that this cemetery will continue to be a worthy place of remembrance and a place of prayer. Whether we are going to end up buried here or somewhere else, let us also ask the Lord to bless those who care for graveyards and ask Him that future generations will not neglect to care for our resting places and will not forget to assist us with their prayers for the dead when will have need of them.
Maybe we honour parents or grandparents who did so much for us when we were young, passing on their wisdom, their values and their faith. Perhaps we remember the kindness of departed friends and relations. Perhaps we’re here as a mark of respect to ancestors that we have no personal memory of, but about whom we’ve heard from our elders. We should also remember the many unknown and forgotten people here in this graveyard, many of whom lived lives of hardship and struggle that we today cannot fully understand. Our remembrance of the dead bears witness to the fact that a person’s good deeds and the memories of a life well-lived are of lasting value.
As Christians, however, a place like this is not simply about memories. It is not only about remembering with affection those who have gone before us. We also remember them with hope. Christ promises us that those the Father has given Him will be raised up on the last day. At every Sunday Mass we finish the Creed by saying We believe in the Resurrection of the dead, and life everlasting, Amen. We remember the Risen Christ appearing to His disciples in His glorified flesh and we believe that His victory over death is such that not only do our souls survive but that at the end of time, both body and soul will be re-united and restored in an extraordinary way that we cannot comprehend on this side of the grave. However, the respect we show to the remains of the deceased and out visits to the graves of our departed loved ones is a very concrete way of expressing our faith in this mysterious resurrection of the body. By coming to the very place where a loved one’s mortal remains were laid to rest, we are saying that we trust that some day both body and soul will be glorified, and the relationships which have been interrupted by death, will be restored in the paradise that Christ Himself has promised to those who die in His peace.
Finally, we remember the words of scripture that it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be released from their sins. Above all, an occasion like this is an opportunity to pray for our dead, and assist them in their final purification. Perhaps we don’t hear enough about purgatory and the importance of praying for the dead any more. Perhaps we make the mistake of thinking of the idea of purgatory as being a gloomy kind of idea. It is no such thing. It is one of the most merciful doctrines in the Catechism. To those who die in a state of grace, but have some residual imperfection or some outstanding reparation for a sin is given the chance of a final purification, so that they are totally happy when they meet their Maker in His glory. Were they not to receive this time of preparation, their joy in the presence of God would be marred by their shame at their imperfection and unworthiness. They would be like guests who found themselves at a wedding wearing the dirty old clothes they use for work about the farm. Purgatory is like the chance to clean up and get changed, so that they are ready for the great wedding-feast of heaven. Lord knows, we might all be grateful for the opportunity. I remember once hearing of a distinguished theologian who told his students that the Holy Souls are happy souls. They know that they are on the threshold of seeing God face-to-face, and it is a great mercy to speed them through this last period of preparation, so that they can worthily and joyfully see God face-to-face.
We therefore pray here for our dead – not in sorrow, but in anticipation. We also pray that this cemetery will continue to be a worthy place of remembrance and a place of prayer. Whether we are going to end up buried here or somewhere else, let us also ask the Lord to bless those who care for graveyards and ask Him that future generations will not neglect to care for our resting places and will not forget to assist us with their prayers for the dead when will have need of them.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Homily - First Mass of Thanksgiving (9th July 2007)
The word Eucharist means thanksgiving and this is, for me, a particularly special moment of thanksgiving for all the goodness the Lord has shown to me, especially in the support and goodness of so many of His servants as I prepared for ordination. And, whilst we give praise and thanks to God in every Mass for all the many gifts he has given us, this Mass of Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest, gives particular thanksgiving to God the Father for the great mystery of His sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our one and only Eternal High Priest.
We hear in this evening’s Gospel of the piercing of Christ’s heart. This heart should be very dear to us. This heart is a human heart that burns with divine love for each and every one of us. And from the Gospels we learn that Jesus Christ, is the Son of God who became man for us and who lived a life of perfect love. Because of the love that burned within that Sacred Heart, Christ’s earthly life was a life of perpetual worship, a life of transparent love for God the Father and for all mankind. His heart was moved by compassion by the suffering of those around him. His heart knew moments of rejoicing and sorrow. But above all, His heart loved.
May we never forget that the Sacred Heart is the heart of the Son of God who became man for our salvation. And how was that salvation accomplished? The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, became a helpless child, grew up, lived a fully and perfectly human life and finally, offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins on the Cross. The whole life of Jesus Christ was one of sacrifice and obedience to God the Father. His whole life was lived for the reconciliation of God and man. As perfect God and perfect man, and He was the only One who could offer a life of perfect sacrifice to God the Father for our sake. With his death on the Cross this life of self-emptying reached its consummation and fulfilment. The sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is the completion of the only perfect act of human worship, and is the greatest revelation of God’s love for us.
And so we read in the Gospel according to St John that having completed His sacrifice, and giving up His spirit, the side of Christ is pierced and out flowed blood and water. It is as if this heart of Christ, having spent itself totally in compassion for sinful man, has one last treasure to give in death. This is the final act, the completion of Christ’s total gift to us and to the Father.
The Fathers of the Church saw a great mystical significance in this. They saw that just as Eve came forth from the side of Adam, so the Church was born out of the side of Christ on the Cross. But what does this mean? They saw the Blood and Water as symbolising the Sacraments – Eucharist and Baptism in particular. By Baptism we become part of the One Body of Christ, and in the Eucharist, we are joined to Christ Himself and his great sacrificial priestly action. Because of the Cross and because of the Sacraments, we are granted salvation, made into God’s own chosen people and allowed to share in Christ’s divine life.
The Letter to the Hebrews teaches us that Christ is the One Eternal High Priest, who has offered this saving sacrifice for us, and who continues to plead for us at the right hand of the Father. And from all of this – His Incarnation, His sacrifice and His Eternal life with the Father – we have the great mystery of Christ’s priesthood. This priesthood is something that Christ alone accomplished. Only he could and did offer the reconciling sacrifice that enables man to overcome his sins and live in harmony with God.
And, not only does He win our salvation, but He also shows us God’s love. His love for us is God’s love for us and by his example we are shown how to respond to this love. What is more, by the grace he continues to grant, we have the strength to follow this example. He offers each and every Christian a share in His Priesthood.
His saving sacrifice is more than just a dead example for us. It is not something trapped in the past or between the pages of a book. The Lord of History does not allow the distance in time and space to cut us off from his redeeming work. His great priesthood does not leave us untouched. As St Augustine teaches, the God who made us without our help does not save us without our cooperation. Christ offers us a share in his saving priesthood. He is our example of humble obedience. He is our assurance of God’s love. And He is the way in which we can find the strength to follow the example of His loving heart. He offers us the chance to be transformed, if we are willing to welcome his sacrifice and his example into our lives. This is especially true when we consider the Eucharist.
The night before he died, Christ instituted the Eucharist. This is my body given up for you, this is my blood poured out for you he told his disciples, reassuring him that what would happen on Good Friday was not some brutal accident of history, but was the Lord of Heaven freely giving His life for His brothers and sisters. Do this as a memorial of me he told them. In the celebration of the Eucharist, His example and His strength, His very presence would be present to the Church until the end of time. By learning from the Eucharist and receiving Christ’s Body and Blood, we are transformed. God himself teaches us how to love as He does, and how to make all the joys and sorrows a form of worship.
Remember! The whole life of Christ was a priestly offering – and that life had moments of joy, sorrow, laughter, tears, frustration, success, and disappointment. And so, everything that happens in our life can be offered to the Father. Our joys, our sorrows, our laughter, our tears, our successes and our disappointments – they can all be offered to the Father in union with Christ. The One High Priest shares his priesthood with the whole Church and gives each and every one of us the possibility of living our ordinary lives in the extraordinary way of Christian love and sacrifice.
This was made very clear to me just 5 weeks ago. On Trinity Sunday, Fr Ragheed Ganni was celebrating evening Mass for his parishioners in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul. Extremists has already bombed his Church and injured his sister. He had been threatened by sectarian terrorists, narrowly escaped kidnapping and had seen his church attacked on several occasions. As he left the Church, he and his subdeacons were stopped by Muslim extremists. Separating them from a number of women who were travelling with them, these men killed Fr Ganni and Companions out of hatred for the Christian faith.
Fr Ganni was studying in the Irish College when I started there in 2001. In 2003, he returned to Iraq despite the dangers. How was such a decision possible? He continued to minister to his people despite receiving several threats. Where could he find the strength to do that? He knew his life was in danger, but he continued to do his duty despite his fears. How can this be explained? He answered this question himself in 2005:
This is the power of the priesthood of Christ – something we all share in by our baptism, and which is renewed in us each time we participate in the Eucharist.
And so we give thanks for the priesthood of Christ. In offering Himself to the Father he offers Himself to us. He invites us to join in His offering of love and gives us the strength to follow Him. He shows us God’s love by His priesthood and asks us to unite our sacrifices, and all we have to Him.
May Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest be praised, now and forever.
We hear in this evening’s Gospel of the piercing of Christ’s heart. This heart should be very dear to us. This heart is a human heart that burns with divine love for each and every one of us. And from the Gospels we learn that Jesus Christ, is the Son of God who became man for us and who lived a life of perfect love. Because of the love that burned within that Sacred Heart, Christ’s earthly life was a life of perpetual worship, a life of transparent love for God the Father and for all mankind. His heart was moved by compassion by the suffering of those around him. His heart knew moments of rejoicing and sorrow. But above all, His heart loved.
May we never forget that the Sacred Heart is the heart of the Son of God who became man for our salvation. And how was that salvation accomplished? The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, became a helpless child, grew up, lived a fully and perfectly human life and finally, offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins on the Cross. The whole life of Jesus Christ was one of sacrifice and obedience to God the Father. His whole life was lived for the reconciliation of God and man. As perfect God and perfect man, and He was the only One who could offer a life of perfect sacrifice to God the Father for our sake. With his death on the Cross this life of self-emptying reached its consummation and fulfilment. The sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is the completion of the only perfect act of human worship, and is the greatest revelation of God’s love for us.
And so we read in the Gospel according to St John that having completed His sacrifice, and giving up His spirit, the side of Christ is pierced and out flowed blood and water. It is as if this heart of Christ, having spent itself totally in compassion for sinful man, has one last treasure to give in death. This is the final act, the completion of Christ’s total gift to us and to the Father.
The Fathers of the Church saw a great mystical significance in this. They saw that just as Eve came forth from the side of Adam, so the Church was born out of the side of Christ on the Cross. But what does this mean? They saw the Blood and Water as symbolising the Sacraments – Eucharist and Baptism in particular. By Baptism we become part of the One Body of Christ, and in the Eucharist, we are joined to Christ Himself and his great sacrificial priestly action. Because of the Cross and because of the Sacraments, we are granted salvation, made into God’s own chosen people and allowed to share in Christ’s divine life.
The Letter to the Hebrews teaches us that Christ is the One Eternal High Priest, who has offered this saving sacrifice for us, and who continues to plead for us at the right hand of the Father. And from all of this – His Incarnation, His sacrifice and His Eternal life with the Father – we have the great mystery of Christ’s priesthood. This priesthood is something that Christ alone accomplished. Only he could and did offer the reconciling sacrifice that enables man to overcome his sins and live in harmony with God.
And, not only does He win our salvation, but He also shows us God’s love. His love for us is God’s love for us and by his example we are shown how to respond to this love. What is more, by the grace he continues to grant, we have the strength to follow this example. He offers each and every Christian a share in His Priesthood.
His saving sacrifice is more than just a dead example for us. It is not something trapped in the past or between the pages of a book. The Lord of History does not allow the distance in time and space to cut us off from his redeeming work. His great priesthood does not leave us untouched. As St Augustine teaches, the God who made us without our help does not save us without our cooperation. Christ offers us a share in his saving priesthood. He is our example of humble obedience. He is our assurance of God’s love. And He is the way in which we can find the strength to follow the example of His loving heart. He offers us the chance to be transformed, if we are willing to welcome his sacrifice and his example into our lives. This is especially true when we consider the Eucharist.
The night before he died, Christ instituted the Eucharist. This is my body given up for you, this is my blood poured out for you he told his disciples, reassuring him that what would happen on Good Friday was not some brutal accident of history, but was the Lord of Heaven freely giving His life for His brothers and sisters. Do this as a memorial of me he told them. In the celebration of the Eucharist, His example and His strength, His very presence would be present to the Church until the end of time. By learning from the Eucharist and receiving Christ’s Body and Blood, we are transformed. God himself teaches us how to love as He does, and how to make all the joys and sorrows a form of worship.
Remember! The whole life of Christ was a priestly offering – and that life had moments of joy, sorrow, laughter, tears, frustration, success, and disappointment. And so, everything that happens in our life can be offered to the Father. Our joys, our sorrows, our laughter, our tears, our successes and our disappointments – they can all be offered to the Father in union with Christ. The One High Priest shares his priesthood with the whole Church and gives each and every one of us the possibility of living our ordinary lives in the extraordinary way of Christian love and sacrifice.
This was made very clear to me just 5 weeks ago. On Trinity Sunday, Fr Ragheed Ganni was celebrating evening Mass for his parishioners in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul. Extremists has already bombed his Church and injured his sister. He had been threatened by sectarian terrorists, narrowly escaped kidnapping and had seen his church attacked on several occasions. As he left the Church, he and his subdeacons were stopped by Muslim extremists. Separating them from a number of women who were travelling with them, these men killed Fr Ganni and Companions out of hatred for the Christian faith.
Fr Ganni was studying in the Irish College when I started there in 2001. In 2003, he returned to Iraq despite the dangers. How was such a decision possible? He continued to minister to his people despite receiving several threats. Where could he find the strength to do that? He knew his life was in danger, but he continued to do his duty despite his fears. How can this be explained? He answered this question himself in 2005:
“There are days when I feel frail and full of fear. But when, holding the Eucharist, I say ‘Behold the Lamb of God Behold, who takes away the sin of the world’, I feel His strength in me. When I hold the Host in my hands, it is really He who is holding me and all of us, challenging the terrorists and keeping us united in His boundless love.”
This is the power of the priesthood of Christ – something we all share in by our baptism, and which is renewed in us each time we participate in the Eucharist.
And so we give thanks for the priesthood of Christ. In offering Himself to the Father he offers Himself to us. He invites us to join in His offering of love and gives us the strength to follow Him. He shows us God’s love by His priesthood and asks us to unite our sacrifices, and all we have to Him.
May Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest be praised, now and forever.
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