Eucharistic Congress - Dublin 2012

The Holy Father has just announced that the next International Eucharistic Congress will be in Dublin in 2012. This will be the 80th anniversary of the 1932 Congress, also held in Dublin. I pray that we will use the next 4 years well in order to revive our country's zeal for this most Holy of Sacraments.

What I did this afternoon...

I dropped by the Gesù and saw the Pozzi altarpiece in action [video]. That's 17th century technology at work!

Fr Ragheed Ganni

The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep...

This Tuesday marks the 1st Anniversary of the killing of Fr Rageed Ganni and three sub-deacons of the Chaldean Church in Iraq after the celebration of the Eucharist at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul. The news came through to Rome on the evening of that Trinity Sunday, and I'll never forget being called over by an acquaintance to receive a phone-call for me on her mobile phone. At first I didn't understand... Ragheed shot? How seriously was he wounded? 'No, no,' I was told. 'He's dead. They've killed him.' I was attending a concert of sacred music when the news came through and had just had time to pass the news on to a few of Ragheed's friends before it started. Knowledge of the tragedy quietly percolated amongst Ragheed's friends as the choir got into place. Their first piece was a Te Deum - evoking memories of similar Te Deums sung in Rome as news reached the city of martyrdoms in the post-reformation period.
Those who knew Ragheed will remember his high spirits, his infectious laugh, and, above all his love for his people and his Church. There was very little nonsense with Ragheed - he had been called and he would serve his people without making a fuss about it. His very matter-of-factness may have made it difficult for us to understand what it was that he was getting in to as he returned to Iraq after his studies had ended and conflict was well underway in that unfortunate country. News filtered through of his church being attacked, of his sister being injured. He made his way back to Italy for some few short visits, and we noted how pale and thin he had become. Invited to speak at an Italian Eucharistic Congress in 2005, he said:

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.

Some few months before his killing, he was briefly back in Rome again, and presided at Vespers for us at the Pontifical Irish College. He made an impassioned appeal that the crucified Church in Iraq not be forgotten. He told us what things were like on the ground. He spoke of a gun and rocket attack near to his church whilst he was celebrating First Holy Communion for the children of his parish. The children were terrified, of course, but he calmed them down by explaining that the noises were fireworks marking their First Holy Communion, and kept them calm until the danger passed. He had the heart of a shepherd and always put his flock first.

In the year since his killing, little seems to have changed for the Christians of Iraq. To the death-toll, to the roll of honour has been added Fr Ragheed's Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho and his companions. As a sign of the Holy Father's closeness and affection for the Church in Iraq, the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Emmanuel III Delly has been made a Cardinal. The red of the Cardinal's robes symbolises willingness to shed blood for Christ. For Christians in Iraq, that's not an empty symbol.

Martyrdom challenges our utilitarian and superficial understanding of what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be part of the Church. Our regular complaints and dissatisfaction with ourselves, our neighbours, and our brothers and sisters both inside and outside the Church, mean so little when we consider those who have shed their blood for the faith. I am humbled by Ragheed. I am humbled to have known a martyr. It is a struggle to reconcile my outrage at those who slaughtered him, and my absolute conviction that by his death he has been conformed totally to the Christ who begged forgiveness for those who crucified him. I'll never truly understand what Ragheed thought while he was alive. I do know that he shared in and was drawn strongly enough by that Pure Love enough to put himself in harm's way in order that he might bring the Eucharist, and teach the logic of the Eucharist to his suffering people. I know that he is now totally conformed to that love, and is with Christ, praying that his brothers and sisters in this world might have some small idea what that Love truly is, and how powerful and sweet it is. His life and his death make him an icon of that Love, and a true alter Christus.

Farewell, Fr Ragheed! I beg your intercession to bring me to the home that you have found with the Father!

Listen to Fr Ragheed singing a hymn to Our Lady.

The Voyage of St Brendan

Evangelium Conference 2008 - for Young Adults

There aren't many opportunities like this available in Ireland, so I'm happy to be able to publicise this English event which is being organised by a couple of priests who were a few years ahead of me in seminary.

Young adults (18 to 35) are invited to attend this new weekend residential conference on ways of explaining the Catholic faith in the modern world. It is organised by Fr Marcus Holden and Fr Andrew Pinsent (authors of the Evangelium course on the Catholic faith published by CTS, who are sponsors of the event).

* dynamic talks by a number of excellent speakers
* mix with other young people who share your faith
* discuss and talk informally with our speakers
* daily Mass and eucharistic adoration in the shrine
* opportunities for confession
* relax in the beautiful grounds or walk by the river
* optional opportunities for sport, evening entertainment, cruising on the river, excursion to Stonor Park (the famous recusant country manor which held the printing press of St Edmund Campion)

Our Speakers:

* Roy Schoeman Jewish - convert, author of Salvation is from the Jews
* Fr Jerome Bertram CO - historian, spiritual writer, author of The People of the Gospel and other works
* Fr Thomas Crean OP -author of A Catholic Replies to Professor Dawkins
* Fr Reto Nay -top Scripture Scholar at the International Theological Institute at Gaming, founder of gloria.tv
* Fr John Saward -Oxford University theologian, writer, author The Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of Beauty
* Joanna Bogle -broadcaster, writer, author of Feasts and Seasons
* Walter Hooper -C.S. Lewis’s former secretary and biographer, editor of numerous editions of his works
The Venue:

Fawley Court is the home of the national shrine of the Divine Mercy. Set in beautiful grounds on the banks of the River Thames in Henley, Fawley Court is a listed building featuring stunning interiors. The venue is close to London and within easy reach of the M40, M4, M3, M25, and Heathrow Airport. Nearest railway station: Henley-on-Thames. For full details, visit Fawley Court.
Price:

Standard accommodation (full board): £85

Application form, etc. available at their website.

Another Wedding Homily

I celebrated my second wedding recently. Again, I've changed the name of the bride and groom. (I wonder if posting these homilies is 'keeping me honest' - it makes it less likely that I'll be tempted to recycle them.)
Jer 31:31-34 Ps 144:8-10.15.17-18 1 Jn 4:7-12 Matt 5:1-12

The Exchange of Hearts
After Jennifer and George exchange their vows, they will symbolise this new commitment to each other by the exchange of tokens. And when we were discussing the ceremony, and running through the various options in the rite they told me that they would be exchanging heart-shaped tokens, this brought to mind a few half-forgotten verses:

My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange one for the other given.
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss:
There never was a bargain better driven.
His heart in me keeps me and him in one;
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides:
He loves my heart, for once it was his own;
I cherish his because in me it bides.

In this prayer by the Elizabethan courtier Sir Philip Sidney, the dividing line between religious devotion and romantic poetry seems to fade away. And this is no surprise, because, as we heard in the second reading, God is love. This is the great truth which underpins all of Scripture. A German theologian called Joseph Ratzinger once described the Bible as being the great love story between God and humanity. Creation, the coming of Jesus Christ, his sacrifice for us, and his promises to us; they only makes sense in as much as we understand them as being an expression of love.

Something Ordinary and Extraordinary
Now, I don't want you to think that I’m ‘up in the clouds’ or talking about abstractions when I speak about God and love. Nothing could be further from the truth! When the Bible talks about God and love, it does so in order that we might understand the real meaning of the most basic and important things that we come up against everyday.

Love makes the Difference
You see, we are here to witness George and Jennifer exchange their vows – to commit themselves to life-long faithful companionship as husband and wife. On one level, this is the most natural thing in the world, on another it is an extraordinary act of trust and hope in the future. Because Jennifer and George are making a big commitment to each other. I’m sure they’re a little bit nervous… but they’re also happy, able and willing to make these promises to each other. Precisely because they have grown to love each other, they have come to make this big commitment and make it joyfully. When we speak about the power of love, we’re not speaking empty words… in George and Jennifer we see that this God-given power of love, has prepared them and made them capable of making a real commitment that we applaud them for.

The Meaning of the Marriage Vows
And when they make this commitment, they’ll be using some very realistic and down-to-earth words:

for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health

The future is unpredictable… and one might be tempted to take the negative point of view, and ask whether it’s possible for a couple to commit themselves

for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health

However, love comes first… and love prevails over all circumstances… and if we bear that in mind we realise that the vows that they make to each other come before these circumstances of better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness and health. It is because they have bound themselves to each other that they can faithfully face whatever life has in store for them knowing that because of the exchange of hearts they will have the other to rely upon. The bond of marriage is a binding-together that makes them both stronger. George, you will always have Jennifer to support you. Jennifer, you will always have George to rely on.

A Sacramental Writing on Each Other's Heart
Our first reading speaks of God writing on the hearts of the people he has chosen – a sign of love and closeness. When George and Jennifer exchange their vows, they write on each other’s heart. Their life together will be a communion of hearts. What they do today is the beginning of something which they will be continuing for the rest of their lives.

The Life-long Necessity to Renew this Sacrament
George and Jennifer – I encourage you to cherish this day. Keep the memories of this day alive to remind yourselves of where your priorities lie, and where joy is to be found in this life. Remember to keep giving your hearts to each other, and to always cherish the gift of the other’s heart.

The Vocation of Married Love
This is how you will continue to grow more deeply in love as a couple, how you will best face life with confidence, how you will learn to be good parents, friends, family-members and neighbours to those around you. The living-out of this day is where your joy and satisfaction are to be found. It will involve hard work, there will be ups and downs, but the important thing is to remember that from this day forth you will always have each other.

Our second reading ends with the following words:

As long as we love one another
God will live in us
And his love will be complete in us.

Take these words to heart, know that this congregation is with you and that you have a special place in the thoughts and prayers of those friends and family who cannot be here today.
Your family and friends support and encourage you, the Church blesses you with the blessing of Christ.
May the adventure of married love which you begin today, bring you joy and fulfilment, in this world and the world to come.

Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests

The Congregation for Clergy has issued a letter [PDF format] regarding the Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests on the Feast of the Sacred Heart this year.