Among the greetings from the East this Christmas came one from someone who was to be in Cebu (in the Philippines) during the early days of January. He was lamenting the influx of Filipinos to worship the effigy of Santo Nino - a representation of the baby Jesus – dating back to 1521. The feast day on 14^th January deflects attention from Christmas and contravenes the second commandment.

In Ireland we are not unfamiliar with relics or statues and recently there has been renewed interest in the Marian shrine at Knock. This occurred when a local “faith healer” prophesied that the Virgin Mary would appear and on the first occasion drew a large crowd which he asked to stare at the sun. Apart from some eye damage nothing miraculous appears to have happened and on the second occasion few turned up. It is not anticipated that there will be a third!

What the Bible says about these things has been helpfully analysed for me recently by James R Edwards in his book “Is Jesu ... Read More »

This week a friend sent me a homily recounting the martyrdom of Bishop Fisher for opposing Henry Vlll’s divorce. He wrote, “in defending the King’s first marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Fisher noted how John the Baptist, as Friend of the Bridegroom, Christ, had laid down his life in defence of marriage, “since,” he said, “the violation of marriage is no little insult to Him who is called the Bridegroom.”

The Pope of the day got involved; “Shortly afterwards, news reached England that Fisher had been created a cardinal by Pope Paul III. The king's reaction was that the Pope could send Fisher the red hat whenever he liked, but he’d make sure by the time it arrived that Fisher would have to wear it on his shoulder, 'for head he shall not have to set it on.’ &l ... Read More »

Carol services all over these islands will take a hit as millions stay glued to the telly as Olly and Joey battle it out in the final of the X factor. From an alleged 200,000 entrants the numbers are whittled down by a combination of judges’ decisions and the volume of calls from the fans in favour of their chosen performer. Tonight its either Olly or Joey.

The programme to tap into the latent desire of people to achieve fame and fortune. The lure of a fast ascent to stardom, coupled with the chance that it could be your favourite who succeeds, draws in both contestants and viewers. So far show was spawned six number one winner's singles, two number one charity singles and in total 14 number one singles by contestants including winners and runners up.

In Sunday night’s final, multiple advertising breaks will bombard the 20,000,000 viewers netting multi-million revenues from companies wishing to reach the largely young audience with the ... Read More »

There seems to be no end to the story of Thierry Henry’s foul deed on the playing fields of Paris. He was caught, red handed so to speak, by the ever watchful TV cameraman. The referee was unsighted and the linesmen were no help to him. The goal that put us out of the world cup was allowed and the injustice fixed indelibly in the Irish psyche.

Henry is a professional and knew what he had done. After a brief celebration he told the referee that he had handled the ball, a kind of confessional statement which helped his conscience but not the result.

The referee’s reaction, assisted by the jubilation of the home crowd, was to tell Henry that his job was to referee and Thierry’s was to play football. A somewhat ironic reply as the referee had just learned that Thierry had been playing handball!

In some respects a Church leader is like a referee. He has to know the rules in the Bible and how to interpret them. He will try to get into the best position to make a decision, taking ... Read More »

When St Peter was promised the Keys to heaven at Caesarea Philippi it was never imagined that his successors would use them to lock up so many childhoods as has been revealed in the Dublin diocesan report on clerical child abuse. The devastation caused to so many young lives by an organisation alleging to control the toll road to heaven reveals again the corruption that stems from a flawed theology.

The inability to accept that one may be wrong is fairly universal but when an organisation claims to have a handle on the moral authority in the land it becomes doubly difficult to make amends. Looking into the abyss of ones self-righteousness is not a pretty sight and it is not surprising that people recoil in denial at what they see.

After all St Peter reacted in denial to the accusation that he was a follower of Jesus. It needs the grace of God to produce the repentance which he showed when in reply to Jesus he said, “You know everything, you know that I love you”. St Peter’s reinstat ... Read More »

Rural Ireland descended on the Ploughing Championships at Athy in large numbers making the event the largest outdoor agricultural show in Europe.    Aided by the dry weather and numerous cups of tea, business was brisk in the Baptist Associations Marquee which was our “home” for the 3 days.

Some things never change and again we found the almost universal view that you will get to heaven by being good. Of course there are religious observations, mass going and pilgrimages but these seem to be more the props in the theatre of salvation.    Basically you get there by being and doing good, of that there was a general air of certainty.    Here was solid ground.    It was bred into us.    If we are going to be saved it will be on our record – and that record, we were told, was not all that bad.

The Bible cuts a furrow through this type of thinking.&nbs ... Read More »

There is an old joke of the Australian lad who asked his father where he came from. His father sat him down and tried to explain about the birds and the bees. When he was finished the lad said, “that’s interesting Dad but my mate Patrick says he is from Ireland and I was wondering where I came from!”

We all want to know where we came from, so much so that the RTE TV is running a popular series called “Who do you think you are?” In it celebrities are assisted in the task of tracing their forebears on both sides of the family. The uncovering of family secrets under the eye of the camera makes the unscripted show compelling viewing.

Last year we gave a lift to a young American student who had fallen asleep on the bus and ended up a few miles from her hostel. She had come from South America where she traced her father’s roots and now she was in Ireland to see where her mother came from. The fact that her parents had separated in no way lessened her desire to know where her family origin ... Read More »

This was the week when the sun began to shine!

It had had a couple of months off and so the Met office’s announcement of stable areas of high pressure was greeted by a mixture of relief and jubilation.

The land, so long soaked in rain, began to firm up. Drains that had been blocked were now accessible and cleared to hasten the departure of the surface water. The sound of the combine harvesters could be heard as they gingerly made their way into the soft ground of the grain fields. The heads of the grain, threatening to sprout if left any longer, were speedily carted off in high sided trailers to be checked out for quality, moisture content, etc at the mill.

In the meadows, where hopes of a late crop of hay had looked unlikely, the mowers were out and the hay bobs were spinning the wet grass in the autumn sunlight in an effort to have it dried for the bailer before the fine weather ended.

Not that there is any sign of it ending as I write. The swallows, who were li ... Read More »

In an earlier era Castor Oil was deemed to be the panacea for all ills – at least those of the sore stomach variety. It tasted foul! But in those days this was evidence that it would do you good. “If it’s not hurting it’s not working” was the notion. The Castor Oil bottle was the most dreaded item in the medicine cupboard but it had one virtue – it worked!

Following our years of profligacy, the Government has prescribed a dose of NAMA as the cure for our financial ills. It will not taste good. “No gain without pain” appears to be the appropriate slogan. The anticipation of it has sent the Government ratings down to an all time low and the naive media men wonder how this could be!

The balancing act is due to begin in the middle of the month. On the one hand there has to be a realistic valuation of the loans made on foot of grossly overvalued assets; a valuation which will not put the taxpayer in hock for generations to come.

On the other hand if the value of these assets is ... Read More »

There can be few examples of the misuse of power that exceed that of an adult kidnapping and abusing a child.   The helplessness of the victim illustrated by Jaycee Dugard, kidnapped at age 11 on her way to school, contrasts strongly with the power of the kidnapper, Philip Garrido and his wife Nancy.  

Philip Garrido was first charged with kidnap and rape at the age of 20.   He was convicted and appears to have been imprisoned from 1976 to1988 when he was released on parole.   This did not deter him from kidnapping Jaycee in 1991, 3 years later.

The case bears some resemblance to that of Josef Fritzel who went to elaborate lengths to imprison his captive in specially constructed cells under his house.    Garrido appears to have relied less on incarceration and more on creating a physiological prison for his victim.   Comparatively speaking Jaycee was permitted some l ... Read More »