The drug war clocks up 20 years since the murder of ace journalist Veronica Guerin. She gave the drug barons no respite with her reporting on them and eventually paid for it with her life.
Recently feuds between two rival gangs have produced seven murders since last September, the most recent occurring this week.
The area the crimes have taken place is the Northside of Dublin, more recently narrowing down to an area within Dublin 1. Considerable numbers of armed Garda patrol the area and there are numerous checkpoints on the roads.
Despite this high level of security the most recent murder took place under the noses of the patrols.
Those involved are the Kinahan and Hutch families. The likely victims are known to the Garda and one of the suspect gang members recently handed himself in for his own safety.

There was a time when the Criminal Assets Bureau were successfully confiscating the proceeds of drug money but it has been getting progressively more difficult as the drug money has been used to buy businesses. Sales of luxury motor cars have been a popular way to spend drug income. The proceeds from the businesses are paid out as salaries but the tell-tale signs of very expensive cars being driven by unlikely people indicate where the money trail is.
Arrests are being made but getting witnesses to testify in the existing climate of fear is difficult.
The organisers of drug crime have moved to places like Spain where there are many international mafia groups. They control the Irish trade through family members’ resident here. Their assets are safer in Spain where CAB cannot reach them and, unless there is a Spanish conviction, their assets cannot be seized.
It is well known that drugs create addictions which destroy the body and confuse the mind. The short term relief they give is a poor exchange for the craving for more which they inflict on the body.

Jesus equated his body with the temple; the place where God dwells. He also realised it was but a temporary dwelling and that it would be destroyed. Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews misunderstood him and said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken (St John Chapter 2 verses 19 to 22).
St Paul writing his first letter to the church at Corinth reminded them that believers have God living in them. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple (Chapter 3 verses 16/17).

The good news for the drug user is that by trusting his body to Jesus he can be delivered from his addictions and have his mental and physical health restored.
The invitation Jesus gave is still open to anyone who sees their need. “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (St Matthew Chapter 11 verse 28).

Egypt Air Flight 804 disappeared this week over the Mediterranean Sea whilst on a routine domestic flight from Paris to Cairo. The plane had touched down in a number of North African countries before its 50 minute stopover in Paris. The question on everyone’s minds was, “Is it sabotage”?

All the 59 passengers and crew of the Air Bus 320 are missing presumed dead. Some wreckage has been spotted near the place where radio contact was lost. Radar tracking of the flight showed a 90 degree turn to the right then a 90 degree turn to the left and finally a 360 degree turn as it lost height before it disappeared off the screen. Monitoring devices recorded smoke alarms going off immediately before contact was lost.

First reaction has been to call the disaster a terrorist attack. A bomb could have been placed on board at any of the airports where the plane touched down prior to arriving at Paris. Because of the brief 50 minute stopover in Paris the plane’s crew were responsible for checking security there.

The passenger list showed 15 French and 30 Egyptians were on board. These represent two countries which ISIS has shown particular hostility. Recently there has been a shift in the preferred method of violence from gun attacks to placing bombs in heavily populated places. The resultant fear has a destabilising effect on the population and with major tournaments scheduled for this summer there will be plenty of opportunities for disruption.

Whether or not any terrorist organisation is involved the crash will make people think twice before flying. The empty beaches in Tunisia and the Red Sea testify to the fear factor bringing about the outcome the terrorist desires.

Jesus was aware of the fear factor. The land was occupied by Roman armies. Their brutal law was added to the largely man-made religious laws so there were plenty of things to worry about.
It was against this background that Jesus revealed a God who cared.
“Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (St Matthew Chapter 6 verses 31-33).

In other words if we put first what God sees as important – God’s rule and righteousness in our lives – then we can confidently leave the rest of our needs to him.

For those apprehensive about boarding that plane or attending that football match and are not sure how much God cares listen to St John “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Chapter 3 verse 16-17).

Let faith in Jesus drive out fear.

The rather tranquil world of motor insurance in Ireland has had a few wake-up calls recently. When Setanta, who had artificially driven down premiums, went to the wall, instead of the Government going down the usual track of imposing a levy on the industry to pay the outstanding claims the job was assigned to the Motor Insurance Bureau.
The Bureau, which was designed to pay the uninsured driver or unidentified car (hit and run) claims, was in the limelight again this week when six blokes came out of The Ref Pub and into John McGinley’s taxi which was to be involved in a staged ‘accident’.
While driving through a housing estate McGinley was directed to take a left turn upon which his taxi was hit in the rear by a red Toyota Aventis. The car limped away from the ‘accident’ but not before McGinley noted its registration number.
Surprisingly none of the passengers saw the car and none had a mobile phone. All claimed injuries and in due course the scene was attended by ambulances, fire engine and Garda who took the men’s particulars although they were well known.
At hospital there were the usual thorough examination, ex-rays etc. but all were later allowed to go home. Subsequently they visited their doctors with back and neck complaints and were given pain-killers. They also visited their solicitors O’Hanrahan & Co situated next door to the pub and each filed claims for €60,000 damages arising, it was alleged, from pain and suffering as a result of the ‘accident’.
As the ‘accident’ was caused by an ‘unidentified’ car the claim was dealt with by the Motor Insurance Bureau. The Bureau decided to fight the case and a team of insurance investigator interviewed the six men whose recollection of the ‘accident’ was very vague. McGinley, the taxi driver, was very clear. He had even gone the day after the event into the estate, found the Toyota and photographed it.
In court under cross-examination the case fell apart and the men withdrew it.
The Judge commented that “there was a set-up”! The men walked away!
A fraudulent claim had been thwarted. There were however considerable costs to the State, the Court and the MIB. It is hoped that the Garda may prosecute but with staffing shortages it is unlikely.
There is a culture which looks upon Insurers as ‘fair game’! They have large reserves and, in a good year, make substantial profits. The temptation to inflate the value of one’s loss can prove irresistible. Unearned money, lotto, dogs, horses or insurance claims seems sweeter! Winnings are celebrated wages are not!
The Bible is very basic here. Its commands are “Thou shall not steal” and “give us this day our daily bread” (Exodus Chapter 20 verse 15 and St Matthew Chapter 6 verse 11). Keeping your hands off what is not yours and looking to God to supply your needs a radical change of heart.
Jesus would agree. He said “You must be born again” (St John Chapter 3 verse 3). A day in a Court of Law will not do it. Six months in the slammer will not do it. Only hearing and obeying the message that gives life will have the desired effect.

The Bible says there is no difference between them and us – It’s the same Lord over all who richly blesses all who call upon him – Everyone who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved (Romans Chapter 10 verses 12-13). Your record does not stand against you as Jesus has expunged it. Have faith in Him.

When a global pop-star produces an album with a name I can understand it becomes intriguing. The singer, songwriter, record producer and actress Beyoncé did just that last week. The album sold 485,000 copies in its first week so, look out, she is coming to Croke Park, Dublin in July!
The inspiration for the title “Lemonade” has been attributed to her granny and her husband, Jay Z’s granny. On the latter’s 90th birthday she recalled that in her life she was served lemons but she made lemonade!

The album is accompanied by the release of an hour long film which is divided into eleven segments. These are named Intuition, Denial, Anger, Apathy, Emptiness, Accountability, Reformation, Forgiveness and Reconciliation. There are probably quite a few lemons to be found in there!

The visuals provoke complex and at times cryptic ideas about race, gender, power, marriage, infidelity, parenthood, and the experience of black women in America. The group “Black Lives Matter” are represented by three mothers holding pictures of their deceased sons who had been gunned down by the authorities.

The Washington Post called the album a “surprisingly furious song-cycle about infidelity and revenge”, comparing it to the classical genre defined in German lieder by Schumann, Schubert and Brahms.

The artists comment is simply that those who have been served a lemon in life need “lemonade”! “I am about faith and spirituality more so than religion. Doing right by others and not judging. The thing that keeps me grounded is knowing that I’m always protected and that God is in control of things. Even the name of our group, Destiny’s Child, we got out of the Bible,” she said.

The influence of the Bible can be seen and is acknowledged in the artist’s life.
Her physical beauty and very considerable talents need to be dedicated to Jesus in order that they may be multiplied for His glory. In this life talents, used for their own ends, bring diminishing returns!

We cannot sing with any conviction of forgiveness unless we ourselves have had our sins forgiven by Jesus coming from the pardon for sin which He purchased on the cross (Ephesians Chapter 1 verse 7). Then we can sing forgiveness out of our forgiven-ness (Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 32).

When by faith we see the mountain of our sin removed we can truly make peace and reconciliation out of the lemons we have been given by others because the living and reigning Jesus has done so much more for us. Just as Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana (St John Chapter 2) we can take the lemons which were meant for our harm and see the Lord make them into something good – better than lemonade….the finest of wine!

The semi-final of the FA Cup between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest took place in Sheffield on Saturday 15 April, 1989. The Liverpool fans were allocated an inadequate portion of the ground in an effort to keep them away from Nots Forest supporters both inside and outside the stadium.
In the ensuing crush 96 died and 766 were injured.
The police, in the most monumental cover-up in their history, blamed drunken fans.
A number of enquiries failed to get to the facts until 2014 when after 300 days of evidence the verdict of “Unlawful Killing” was handed down this week.

The enquiry revealed 164 police statements had been altered and 55 Officers changed their statements in an effort to exonerate themselves and incriminate the fans.
The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police has been suspended. The Chief Superintendent, a novice in policing Football Stadiums at the time, admitted he had lied.

The “Sun” who vilified the fans on their front page in 1989 published an apology this week on page 10. The paper’s circulation in Liverpool never recovered and it seems never will!
The Independent Police Complaints Commission were thorough. They interviewed 1,444 serving and former police officers in their efforts to uncover the truth. It is now over to the Crown Prosecution Service to see what remains to be done by way of justice for those who have suffered.

“Woman, I do not know him.” Peter’s retort to the servant girl who recognised he was a follower of Jesus St Luke chapter 22 verse 57). He had been courageous enough to enter the High Priest’s courtyard where Jesus was being tried. He had prepared himself for that ordeal. But he was not prepared for the accusation that he was guilty by association to his Master.
The default mode of our lives is so often denial. Confession does not come easy.
When faced with the evidence of our guilt we look around for someone else to pin it on.
You ask the child why his sister is crying and he will tell you she must have hit herself!
When we do something wrong we point to something or someone outside ourselves as the reason for our lapse in behaviour…the traffic was brutal…she knows how to rub me up the wrong way…the boss brings out the worst in me!
The cause is always outside of me, whether it’s burning the toast (who turned up the toaster?) or creating a calamity at a football stadium (it was the drunken fans) we pass the buck!
So if the problem is not outside of us it must be inside. Someone has said “the heart of the problem is the problem of the human heart”!
King David, who was no slouch when it came to guilt-shifting, after being confronted with his crime, saw his desperate need of God’s grace, repented and prayed “create in me a clean heart” (psalm 51 verse 10). It’s the heart that needs to be changed and that is what the gospel is about – “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel Chapter 36 verse 26).
Twenty-seven years is a long time but hearts are hard (we should know) and man’s justice is slow. God’s justice is not so slow that it is certain. King David models well for us and we have an advocate in King Jesus – go to him (1 John Chapter 2 verse 1).

When a figure bursts through the bubble in which each of us live and reveals an amazing talent, which a large section of the music world appreciated, it becomes necessary to belatedly engage in a crash course! Fortunately Prince’s music is available on every waveband. The sad part is that Prince is dead.

It is quite possible to have lived through the last 35 years of his prolific output and never heard one of the 39 albums he released. An exception is his famous 1984 film “Purple Rain” which Steve gives an airing at our Christmas karaoke session! “Purple Rain”is widely considered one of the best and most influential music films ever. The accompanying soundtrack spawned the No. 1 hits “Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry.”
Sinead O’Connor became famous with his song “Nothing compares 2 U”.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

During his colourful career he had one or two changes of identity. In 1993 he changed his stage name to a combination of the male and female symbols. His agents had to send copies of the correct font to every media outlet which wanted to mention his name!

His life knew sadness. He was twice married and both marriages ended in divorce. His only son, by his first wife, died in infancy back in 1996.

Unlike Michael Jackson, a contemporary of his who also died recently, Prince was a very private person. He was something of a workaholic and was performing on tour up to last week. His sales exceeded 100 million records and his annual income of $56 million made him the highest music earner in the world.

We don’t know how tragedy struck at the young age of 57 but he had been in hospital with the flu earlier this week and that may have weakened him. Sadly he died alone in a lift. Many will mourn his passing. The ‘Purple Reign’ has ended.

It is early in the Bible that we are introduced to the reality of what has been called the ultimate statistic – one out of one dies! In the Genesis account of the first inhabitants we read of their lifespan in years then comes the refrain “and then he died”. Apart from Enoch who was the exception (the text reads “God took him”) all had a funeral. Interestingly Enoch and sometime later Elijah were the only two who did not pass through death.

When Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life” he was attending her brother’s Lazarus funeral. Jesus does not merely say that he will bring about the resurrection or that he will be the cause of the resurrection (both of which are true), but something much stronger. “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (St John Chapter 11 verse 25/6). Resurrection from the dead and genuine eternal life in fellowship with God are so closely tied to Jesus that they are embodied in him and can be found only in relationship to him. Therefore “believes in me” implies personal trust in Christ. “Yet shall he live” is the confident expectation of the believer.
In Christ Prince may yet live.

Our friends the swallows arrived on the farm this week. At least six of them constituting the advance guard. They remember where their old nests were located and will set about repairing them. With all the rain we have had, finding mud for the repairs will not be a problem!

These swallows have come from sunny Africa where they spent the winter enjoying the warmth. This in turn produces an abundance of insects, their food supply, which they catch in flight. Their mouths are wide enabling them to pick their food out of the air. Their wings are narrow and pointed giving great manoeuvrability. On a warm summer’s evening, when there has been a large hatch of insects, a flock of birds can produce an amazing aerial display.

Right now the food supply here is scarce. I expect it may be a week or two before it gets warmer and more swallows join the six that are here. When they arrive they congregate on the electricity wires which cross the fields. Their short legs make them ungainly on the road so they prefer perching at rooftop level.
All over the farm the wild primroses are growing in larger numbers than usual. Their yellow colour lends a freshness to spring and adds to the daffodils brightening up the farm road. The grass too is growing after a slow start but the softness of the land due to the large amount of rain means that we have still around half the herd of cattle in the sheds.
The lambs are stronger now and enjoying the fresh grass to augment their mother’s milk. The new born calves are perhaps less adventuresome keeping closer to their mothers.
So the recurring cycles of nature synchronise programmed by the Creator, each at the right time and in the way that its Maker intended.

Isaiah, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, wrote to comfort God’s people as they returned from exile and incredibly encapsulated in one verse the thoughts that God is the Creator with a filial relationship to his people whom he has redeemed!
“Your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.” Chapter 54 verse 5.

We are more familiar with St Paul’s development of this thought in the Ephesian letter as it is often referred to at weddings (Chapter 5 verses 22-33). There he states that the marriage relationship between a husband and a wife portrays Christ’s relationship to the people of God now called the Church. The picture of redemption also comes more sharply into focus, post cross and resurrection because it was at the cross that Christ accomplished redemption. The price was paid in Christ’s lifeblood.
Writing to the church at Colossae, and using language more familiar to Old Testament Jews, St Paul extends the promised inheritance to his Gentile readers “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Chapter 1 verses 12-13).

The God who guides and provides for the swallow will provide and guide his trusting people until they have accomplished all that he wants them to do for him on earth.

Those of us fortunate enough to receive a tax form will recognise that its completion poses both a threat and a challenge. The threat is that it will take away some of our hard gotten gains and the challenge is to complete the document honestly.

This week is was revealed by an International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that 323 Irish firms took the Panama route for their clients (who need not be Irish) and dealt with the Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca.
This firm specialises in providing a home for money whilst concealing the name of the real owner. Apparently the usual practice is for the money to follow a circuitous route using various names eventually ending up in a bank in another jurisdiction such as the Channel Isles. Access to the money by the ultimate beneficial owner (the real owner) is possible when the bank receives the documentation prepared by Mossack Fonseca.

This ploy has proved attractive to many people not least heads of States!
The fact that what they are doing is quite legal (something that may or may not be said of how the monies were originally earned) lures people into the network.
The Panama based law firm leaked 11.5 million files some going back as far as 1977. These are being picked over by 376 journalists from 76 countries so we may expect to hear much more of the secret activities of the money launderers, sanction dodgers, tax evaders and their friends.

We live in a broken world where the top 60 wealthy people have assets equal to the bottom 3.5 billion. Little wonder there is a market for those who want to squirrel away their wealth concealing it from everyone else!

But what about us? Are we simply to say “I am not like other people” (St Luke Chapter 18 verse 11). “I am the honest one and my honesty must commend itself to God. I don’t fiddle my tax in fact I may pay more than is strictly required!” Or do we take the easier moralism road that is prepared to stake everything on having done our best.

Whichever it is we fall so easily into the mind-set of the Pharisee who added up his assets and, although he would not say it publicly, reckoned he was a cut above his contemporaries especially those who are so dishonest with money.

The only way is via a repentance which avoids the charade of outward grief and inward turmoil but casts itself on the mercy of a loving God who accepts us for Jesus sake.
“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his son as a propitiation for our sins” (1 John Chapter 4 verse 10).

The believer’s wealth is not on earth but in heaven (St Matthew Chapter 6 verse 20).
We brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world. Our need is godliness with contentment (1 Timothy Chapter 6 verses 7 to 9).

May it be so with you.

I am afraid the “Risen People” all but extinguished witness to the “Risen Saviour” over the Easter weekend. At least that was true of the city centre churches which were inaccessible but it afforded us the joy of meeting with our friends in the suburbs.
Of course the staging of the rising at Easter 1916 with its inevitable shedding of blood and overtones of martyrdom stoked the flame of latent nationalism to a religious intensity in some minds. It happened in 1916 and, but for the proceedings being carefully choreographed in 2016, it could have happened again.
Whilst commemorating Easter is not of fundamental importance – Jesus rose on the first day (Sunday) of the week so his rising is tacitly remembered weekly – the very regularity produces a familiarity which dulls its impact. So it is left to Easter to refresh believer’s understanding of the amazing fact that he who was dead is now alive.

The triumphant shout “Tetelestai” (meaning finished, paid in full, accomplished) rang out from the cross indicating the removal of the sin barrier (Isaiah Chapter 59 verse 2) once for all by the atoning blood of the Lamb of God (St John Chapter 19 verses 28 & 30 and chapter 1 verse 29).
Then came the jarring effect of the empty tomb “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have put him” St John Chapter 20 verse 2). A typical reaction, fearing the worst and forgetting the promise “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in 3 days” referring to his body then he when on to teach that believer’s bodies would be the new home of the Holy Spirit (St John Chapter 2 verse 19-22 and 14 verse 17).

It took the resurrection appearances of Jesus to his disciples to allay their doubts and fears (St John Chapter 20 verses 19-29 and Chapter 21). It is the same today in many parts of the world where there is no open proclamation of the Good News. Doubts are turned to belief by dreams or visions of Jesus appearing to people who were struggling with their faith. China is a good example. For many years it excluded Missionaries and Bibles but the impact of the risen Jesus has produced a thriving church today.
Such was the impact of the empty tomb on St Paul that in his preaching at Athens his hearers thought he was referring to two gods – Jesus and the Resurrection (Acts 17 verse 18). Later he staked the veracity of the Christian faith on the fact of Christ’s rising from the dead (1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 12-19).
Something of this is caught in Robert Lowry’s hymn: –
Death cannot keep its prey
Jesus, my Saviour!
He tore the bars away
Jesus, my Lord!

The glorious reality is that Christ has risen from the dead. The tomb is empty. The body is gone. The resurrection body has come. Christ is alive – hallelujah!
No monuments exist to a dead Christ. No pilgrimages to his grave. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. He existed before all things and lives after the power of an endless life (Revelation Chapter 22 verse 13).

He has spoken his Word was recorded in the Bible and now his Word continues to speak to us. In the words of Keith and Kristyn Getty’s song: –
This voice that spans the years
Speaking life, stirring hope, bring peace to us
Will sound till he appears
For he lives Christ has risen from the dead.

Was there ever a battle that wasn’t a botched affair? Was there ever a military campaign that didn’t have its origins in disagreement?
As children we thought General Wolfe’s victory at Quebec in 1759 was as good as it gets until we learned of the indecision that plagued the General.
The 1916 Irish Rising, which is being lavishly commemorated this weekend, is no exception. From the outset there were countermanding orders which prevented the main Volunteer force, recruited in the country districts, from taking part. Communications were difficult between the various units. The General Post Office provided a good Head Quarters until it was blown to bits by a gunboat which sailed up the Liffey.
The absence of any plan B left the outcome never in doubt. Nor was the fate of the leaders. The additional piece of provocation, written in the Proclamation, referred to “gallant allies in Europe” namely the Germans, who were at that time slaughtering the British in large numbers, ensured a charge of treason.
The victory that the Proclamation was assured of came at the cost of many lives and introduced the gun into Irish political life in a way that recurred through most of last century. The gun does settle some disputes but leaves an aftermath of distrust which decades have not eradicated.

This weekend Dublin is again in lockdown! This time to commemorate the events of that week at Easter 1916. The city is preparing for 350,000 visitors.
There will be the largest parade ever to take place on Irish soil. 2,500 personnel of the armed forces with all the machinery of war will take part. The newspapers have printed their April 1916 front page in great detail so we have it as they saw it through their Unionist tinted spectacles of the day!
The final death roll amounted to 485 of whom about 60 were rebels and 130 British military or police. About 295 were civilians including women and children. Around another 865 were wounded.
But it was with the execution of 16 rebel leaders that public opinion turned in favour of the Rising. In particular the shooting of James Connelly. He was injured and could not stand for the firing squad so was shot strapped to a chair.
Unlike the 50th anniversary which was attended by a great number of priests and religious orders the current event seems to have overlooked them. Indeed access to the city centre cathedrals on Easter Sunday was only granted after protest and other city centre churches will have to remain closed.
It’s a far cry from the armed struggle for national independence to Jesus teaching, “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles” (St Matthew Chapter 5 verse 41).
Jesus exemplified the call for non-resistance. He did not protest his innocence instead he was led like a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah Chapter 53 verse 7). He even prayed for those who nailed him to the cross and that prayer was for their forgiveness. Their sins would have been laid on Jesus along with every repentant sinners’ since then.
Some of the executed leaders shook hands with their firing squad and forgave them but a much greater forgiveness, encompassing all our sins, is available from the one who died for our sins and was raised to make us right with God (Romans Chapter 4 verse 25