The 17th January is the date in 1945 when Auschwitz was liberated. It has become the Memorial Date to remember the greatest genocide the world has known. It is so necessary as in every generation since then there have been Holocaust deniers. People who continue to hate the Jews and would prefer to believe that the whole event was a figment of the imagination.
There are survivors of the death camps alive and able to testify to the truth of the slaughter but soon there will be no eyewitnesses. It is important that their stories are retained. Elie Wiesel himself a survivor, who got the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for his writings, died in 2016. He saw the struggle against indifference to the Holocaust as a struggle for peace.
If we do not remember we will not learn the lessons of history and the mistakes of the past recur in the present. It was in 1933 when Hitler came to power he set about winning the popular vote. His country was slowly emerging from the 1st World War and his vow was “to make Germany great again”. This he would do by getting rid of Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, communists and minorities that got in his way of producing the “Master Race”.
It was in January 1942 that Adolf Eichmann compiled the record of the Conference at Lake Wannsee where Hitler introduced his policy for the extermination of Jews and “unworthy” people. These were the handicapped, or sick, or had an inherited disease. At his trial in 1960 Eichmann showed no remorse and went to his grave in 1962 unrepentant. He likened himself to Pilate, washed his hands of wrongdoing as he was simply carrying out orders and felt “innocent of any guilt”.
This caused Billy Graham, the evangelist, to remark at the time, “People say Eichmann is finished” but they are wrong. Eichmann has gone to face judgement before a God who knows everything about him and who has the means of carrying out the ultimate sanction in hell. Indeed it is not for nothing that the key verse in Proverbs is “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” Chapter 1 verse 7.
This fear is not the cringing of a coward but is reverend, respectful and humble before our Maker and Redeemer. It is the filial regard which pays respect to the Father not the fear of the criminal before his judge. This is the birthright of all who are born into the family of God. Those who have recognised the perfect love of God which drives out fear and replaces it with faith in Jesus, “God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the Day of Judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. (1 John Chapter 4 verse 17/19).
Holocaust reminders illustrate the depravity of man (of which we are all part) but Jesus died in our place and rose again that he might grant a place in his family to all who see their need of his forgiveness and put their trust in him following him in this life and into the next (1 Timothy Chapter 2 verse 15/16).

This blog could better be called “Word on the Inauguration” as the Word of God was quoted throughout. We have grown accustomed to secular ceremonies when politicians take office. In yesterday’s event a welcome preponderance of scripture was used in the inauguration of Donald J Trump.
Perhaps it was because of the cavalier nature of his campaign that we scrutinise him the more carefully but I do not recall any of the other presidents attending church before the ceremony. Trump took the family with him to a service. Perhaps the text was Ps. 133 verse 1, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity” which he quoted in his speech when he appealed to the country to unite behind him.
Before introducing the religious figures a powerful reminder was given of the peaceful transference of power 58 times since 1789 when George Washington became the first President. It was he who remarked that the second inauguration would be more important than the first as one group of politicians was handing over the reins of government to another with whom they would not necessarily have much in common. A lesson in democracy to the watching world!
Cardinal Dolan led off with King Solomon’s prayer from the book of Wisdom for that wisdom which comes from above, “Send her from the holy heavens, down from your glorious throne, so that she may work at my side, and I may learn what pleases you” (Chapter 9 verse 10).
This was followed by readings from the Gospel – St Matthew Chapter 5 verses 3 – 16. Then we had Chuck Schumer, the only Democrat to speak, deliver a couple of political points before reaching a patriotic conclusion when the last letter of Sgt Sullivan Ballou was read. It was written to his wife Sarah on the 14th July 1861. In it he put his love of country first and expressed his readiness to die for its liberty. Indeed his words were prophetic as he was mortally wounded in the First Battle of Bull Run.
Franklin Graham (Billy’s son) read from 1st Timothy Chapter 2 Verses 1 – 6 “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in very way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all – the testimony given in its proper time.”
With the example of the sacrifice of Sgt Ballou and the ransom of Christ ringing in his ears President Trump concluded his address with the affirmation the “we (the nation) will be protected by God”.
Let us pray for our leaders including those whose policies may well adversely affect our lives.

Future generations will marvel that we have thrown away morality in such a short space of time. Where we are now is a place our forebears could not have imagined. If it was not so serious the oft repeated phrase from the Laurel and Hardy films “That’s a fine mess you have got me into” could be the epitaph written over this generation.
It all started with neglect. Birth control was seen as a Catholic thing. We largely ignored the separation of sex from childbearing (1 Thessalonians Chapter 4 verses 3/8). Then along came the pill! The biological check on sex outside of marriage disappeared.
We neglected to apply the costly love of Church discipline in cases of adultery (St Matthew Chapter 19 verses 8/9). Divorce, with its allocation of guilt and cumbersome legal procedures, was there for a purpose. The dissolution of marriage is always a disaster (Malachi Chapter 2 verse 16). The increasing frequency produced a revolution in law to accommodate the demand.
Co-habitation has always existed but seldom met with approval and usually was turned into marriage. It was the tail that wagged the dog – now it has become the dog and marriage the tail! From marriage being the mark of adulthood, the God given arrangement for the good of society and the procreation of children, it has been driven to the margins.
The church finds itself also at the margin while the field has been left open to alter marriage. Same-sex marriage found its way smoothed to orthodoxy. Other permutations will soon follow. All this removes marriage from its place as one of the foundation blocks of society and replaces it with a societal soup.
It cannot be easy to be a person of marriageable age today. And for those who live by the Word of God, praying friends and a strong church are essential.
Christian men have an obligation to protect and look out for their women counterparts. The speed with which society has shed its morals has been fast and looks like getting faster as the numbers of amoral people grow. The advice the writer of Proverbs (4 v’s23/7) gave three millennial ago still applies:
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.
Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you.
Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you.
Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.

Brexit may mean Brexit for Theresa May, the UK Prime Minister, but her failure to move from her “no going back on the decision to leave” slogan has created misgivings among many people.
The British ambassador to the EU, Ivan Rogers, is one of them. He handed in his resignation this week. In demitting office a year before he was due to retire he was highlighting his concern about “ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking” in government quarters. His previous warnings that some of the treaties may take 10 years to re-negotiate have been largely ignored. Someone needs to wake-up!
Ireland appears to have taken on the role of a spectator, a luxury we cannot afford when our largest trading partner has voted to leave the current trading agreements behind. The Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, appears to be filling the role of ‘Minister Responsible’ himself. This would seem foolhardy in view of his own precarious position as head of an unstable coalition Government which is unlikely to outlast Brexit.
Of course there are the voices of common sense pointing out that the vote was only advisory. The legislation setting up the Referendum did not specify how a leave vote could be implemented. It does not have to take place. The Irish solution (acted upon twice) to have a second Referendum would require a good deal of humble pie to be eaten – something the Brits have little stomach for! If later this month the UK Supreme Court rules on the need for parliament’s approval the entire assembly will have an opportunity for mature reflection! But I fear the die is cast.
In addition to economic factors the inability to control the flow of immigrants was the trigger to leave the EU. The dangers of ISIS inspired people, both home-grown and immigrant, created genuine fears of attacks as seen in France and Germany. We are involved having the only border the UK has with the EU. The spectre of a return to the bad old days of border patrols, check-points, barriers and customs should deepen our interest in finding a better solution.
The rush to obtain Irish or UK passports underlines the uncertainty of the present situation. Freedom of travel, so much taken for granted, will get harder. Visas required to visit the UK perhaps? And what good is my UK passport in Ireland?
In this uncertain world, those who would believe in Jesus need to repent of their fears and realise that their citizenship is in heaven (Philippians Chapter 3 verse 20). It was procured at the Cross of Calvary by the death of Jesus on our behalf. The trouble with Brexit is that it can take our eyes of the Lord and onto our selves. The realisation that he has finished the work of salvation – our passport is secure (St John Chapter 19 verse 30)! All other passports have an expiry date. Turn and trust Jesus every day and all the days of your life on earth. Let’s hear it from Charles Wesley: –
Accepted in the Well-beloved, And clothed in righteousness divine,
I see the bar to heaven removed; And all Thy merits, Lord, are mine.

Going into a New Year is in some ways no different from any other Monday morning but it is a landmark. It may not be the most accurate way of numbering our days but there is no doubt it creates a new start, a blank page on which to write another chapter of your life story.
We don’t know what lies ahead any more that Abraham when he left home. “He went out not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews Chapter 11 verse 8). God said to go and he obeyed. No doubt he would have like a bit more information (as we would like to know in advance what is to happen in 2017) but it was enough for Abraham that God was in the driving seat.
As we move into another year of grace we need to check where God is sitting. Perhaps he is in the passenger seat of your car being listened to but not very often obeyed! Or, perish the thought, perhaps he is the spare tyre – only required in emergencies.
Abraham not only knew who was driving but he had faith in the driver. It is one thing to say that God is your driver but if the future scares you spitless then you don’t have much faith in his driving! What would faith in God look like for you as you motor through 2017 with all its frightening unknowns?
We go out into 2017 without knowing what it may hold for us. Some will have successes, others failures. There will be those in prefect health and others who have bodies that don’t do so well. There will be some who marry and have children and others who leave this scene of time. All will be older but will we be wiser?
St Peter says God has chosen us and enabled us to know him which has the effect of enabling us to escape much of the corruption of the world. He asks us to add to our faith goodness, and to goodness, knowledge and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter Chapter 1 verses 5/8).
A Happy and Faithful New Year to all.

“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down” was the heart-cry of the Prophet Isaiah as he echoed the cry of David. But their desire was for the conquest of their enemies. The assumption was that their enemies were God’s enemies and that their destruction would be in line with His will.
When that prayer was answered and God came down the contrast could scarcely have been greater

The angel said to the shepherds, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.” The virgin had given birth. The family were homeless. The King wanted to kill him. A higher degree of vulnerability at his birth is hard to imagine.

And so it was in his ministry.

As Isaiah foretold: –
“I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory, and in his name the Gentiles will hope” (St Matthew Chapter 12 verses 18 – 21).

This contrast in our thinking championed by Isaiah and David (and most of us), with the will of God, is hard to imagine. And yet Isaiah should have remembered for he had taught: – “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord (Chapter 55 verse 8).

The different way of thinking showed itself when Peter cut off the High Priests’ servant’s ear, Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. All who take the sword will perish by the sword (St Matthew Chapter 26 verse 52).

In this world of many conflicts we need to see the vast difference in thinking between the “Military Solution” of the majority and the Christian way of the cross.
The promise “Behold I am coming soon” (Revelation Chapter 22 verse 12) is reinforced at the conclusion of the Book “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

It is always sad when death robs you of a friend and more so at this time of year. With the passing of Tony Curtis Grace has lost one of its more colourful characters. He was our nearest member living in the Markievicz Flats a couple of hundred metres from the Hall.

Like many of us Tony was his own worst enemy and latterly gave himself a lot of hardship. His health deteriorated and he was no longer to be found in his seat on the back row of the old hall. From there he would greet the children as they arrived and usually had some sweets for them. In addition he got sponsors for the Dublin Christian Mission’s annual children camps.

It was relatively late in life when Tony became active in United Beach Missions working on both the South and West coasts of Ireland. This earned him many friends and he enjoyed the Easter Speak-outs at Grace. There he was able to renew his acquaintance with many who he has met on Mission.
When he was in good health he seldom missed being in Church and would join the lunchtime prayer group on Wednesdays. He got to know many in Christian circles where he will be missed.
He lived his whole life in Dublin 2. His father had manned the barricades during the rising in 1916 gave him an interest in the history of the place. Driving back from our Home Group through the old streets he would give a running commentary of all the events that took place there in his childhood.
He could have written a book on the place but someone else beat him to it and the book that was in his head never got written.
Instead he wrote a Christian Tract which was his testimony and penned this biographical sketch of what was essentially a lonely life. But his claim was that he had Jesus for a companion!
Lonely, But not on my own.
May, June, July and August gone again but not memorable;
Save that I saw them go past the empty quays the rivers flow.
Look at the old house, outmoded, dignified, dark and untended;
With grass growing instead of the footsteps of life, the friendliness, the strife
In its beds have lain youth, love, age and pain.
I am something like that – lonely?
But not on my own.
There was a deep sadness there but he did not dwell on it. He read a lot of Christian books, had a good library and was probably unique in the Flats in reading the Irish Times! But Tony was an alcoholic. It had robbed him of family life early on and, although through Christ he claimed to have conquered, and he had many years of sobriety, it overtook him coming back with a vengeance in the end. Tony’s favourite verse was “Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you 1 Peter Chapter 5 verse 7. May this now have come true for Tony.

Pens are being sharpened and word processors cranked up this week to alert the Citizens Assembly that there are people in Ireland who view the baby in the womb as a proper child. Sadly this has become necessary as there are journalists who refer to the child in the womb as a zygote – a collection of cells – in an effort to make more palatable the horrendous slaughter of the innocents should abortion be legalised.
The 8th amendment to our Constitution was passed in order to grant the unborn child equal rights to life as the mother. The removal or dilution of this right is being sought by those who see Ireland as a “modern State”.
Having recently introduces same-sex marriage legislation they are now trying to make abortion as available as contraception. The UK who have had legalised abortion for some time now have 1 in 5 babies aborted. In Sweden, often held up as an example of a modern State, the ratio is 1 in 4 babies aborted.
These statistics should send a shiver down our spines but the fact is that they don’t. We have been conditioned by the experience of abortion in places such as the USA or the Netherlands. In the latter there now is a culture of death established with euthanasia becoming an accepted way to go. This moves society away from the idea of caring to killing in a relatively short time.
The fruit of the womb has an honoured place in the Bible. From earliest times if a pregnant woman got caught up in a fight and as a result gave birth prematurely there was to be restitution. The child in the womb had rights (Exodus chapter 21 verse 22). In Isaiah God speaks of Israel as a child made by him and formed in the womb (Chapter 44 verses 2 & 24).
This theme punctuates Scripture but perhaps arises most plainly in the Psalms. “You created my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Chapter 139 verses 15 & 16).
In the New Testament prior to the birth of Jesus his earthly cousin, John the Baptist, was active in his mother’s womb! (St Luke chapter 1 verse 41).
“When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”
It is perhaps a reflection of how far we have strayed from Christian values when we use the terms of ‘foetus’ and ‘embryo’ in place of ‘fruit of the womb’.
And that fruit, like every other fruit, is a gift…but Mary’s is a gift par excellence – God’s love gift to a world that is chronically opposed to Him “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (St John Chapter 3 verse 16).
Let’s make sure that the view from the wombs of Irish mothers is one that reflects the love of God and not the selfishness of man.

Net shopping is becoming popular. It has not taken long for drug dealers to catch on to this method of trading. It provides vendors with a relatively safe distribution system with few of the usual problems of gang warfare.

In fact the dark-net, as it has been named, caters for other commodities. There is a whole inventory of items to be purchased. In addition to drugs and chemicals some of the headings are weapons, gold and digital products both in the software and malware categories. If you click on a heading the drop-down box reveals a wide choice and price range.
Traders have their own recommendations received from satisfied clients all of whom remain anonymous thanks to layers of protection and encryption. Of course the address for delivery must be known but it need not be the client’s home. The parcel can be delivered to a PO Box No. or to a locker in a “Parcel Hotel” which cater for this trade.

Payment is made in Bitcoin, the virtual on-line currency. Bitcoin can be bought on the web with a credit card. You can avoid having your purchase of Bitcoin linked to you by another procedure which is on offer.
With all these possibilities we can expect to see an uptake of computer courses specialising on the internet by those looking for a safer alternative than the street corner trader.
Laptops and tablets will be popular items for the junkie’s stockings this Christmas!

The Garda will have to up their level of computer literacy if they are to keep abreast of their felons. At present their best detection weapon is the sniffer dog! She will need to produce lots of sniffer puppies to keep up with the demand!!

There have always been secret societies operating out of sight and destabilising society. It was no different in Jesus day. There was a guerrilla band operating around Jerusalem one of whose number called Barabbas had been captured. He was sentenced to death at the same time as Jesus and Pilot, the Roman Governor, in a crowd pleasing tactic offered one of the two prisoners’ release. Only one could live. The other would die instead.

The crowd chose Barabbas’s release! (St Matthew chapter 27 verses 15 – 18.
Barabbas was the first man who could say Jesus died in my place!
His name is distinctive. It translates as “son of the father”. But we are all sons or daughters of our father. We might call him “Mr Everyman”. And Mr Everyman could say with the hymn-writer “In my place condemned He stood”.

But the hymn-writer had a deeper meaning which becomes true for every repentant sinner.
It comes out in the next line of the hymn “Sealed my pardon with his blood”. Jesus death purchased redemption by his death and resurrection (Romans chapter 4 verse 25).

You don’t need the dark-net. Salvation is preached openly and received freely by every believing junkie today as it was for me many years ago.