Category: The Word on the Week

This is the 25th Anniversary of the moving statue of the Blessed Virgin at Ballinspittle. That was a year when we had many moving statues but few, if any, interpretations. Sightings and messages from the Blessed Virgin are not uncommon – indeed they are to be expected by Marian devotees at the various Marian shrines. One of these places, our own Knock got a bit of publicity recently when Dublin faith healer, Joe Coleman claimed that Mary would appear at Knock and named the day and the hour. After several of these predictions, all of which attract crowds, RTE did a programme this week entitled “Apparitions”. This explored, in a somewhat sceptical way, the events at Knock with contributions from journalists, medical people, priests and devotees. Apparently Mary appears in the sun which makes her hard to see and she is also hard to hear. However Joe both sees and hears her and many of his followers confirm that the sun “danced” in the sky. There is a hunger for the supernatural and Joe is meeting this need to the best of his ability. Folk Catholicism provides a fertile ground for the paranormal to flourish. Knock shrine itself was founded on such activities. What has the Bible to say about all this? It’s hard to find in it any supernatural appearance which did not say something sensible. The prophets prophesied and their prophesies were fulfilled mainly with the coming of Christ. Those surrounding his birth involve Mary, a virgin from the remnant of the peasant stock of Israel and were very explicit and clearly understood. Indeed they had been predicted in the past and were eagerly expected. References to Mary in Scripture are rather sparse but this is more than made up for by the body of theology built around her over the centuries. This in turn has created something of a parallel universe to that of the life and work of Christ. Out of it has come a climate for “folk driven” experiences and this partly explains the popularity of Joe’s channelling of Mary. People without the Bible want an authoritative word and one way or another they get it. The existing authorities are caught in a bind. If they say Mary has not spoken the people will react against them. If they say Mary has spoken, Joe would be perfectly entitled to ask why they do not support him. As Jesus would say it’s all a matter of where the authority comes from. (See Saint Matthew Chapter 21 verses 24 to 27.) I think it best to follow the One who has the authority. “Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Saint Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 to 20.

So the figures don’t add up! The ace Banker and “brains” of the Irish financial world ran out of options this week. Just when we thought he would never be caught he declared himself bankrupt. His liabilities exceeded his assets by a cool €96.7 million. Such was his confidence in his abilities during the “good times” that he not only loaned generously the banks money but took a stake in many of these investments himself. How did he do it? One financial source quaintly put it that he had a “piggy bank” within the bank with which he indulged himself. In fact it seems that he had become a “deal junkie” drawing down funding from four other financial institutions in addition to his activities in Anglo-Irish. As one developer put it, you could put a proposition to him in the morning and get an acceptance by the afternoon! Sadly competition drew our other banks into the lending spree as they tried to retain their clients and in an environment of lax supervision and a government which was enjoying the ride, the bubble burst. Now in damage limitation mode Seanie has been able to tap into his very considerable pension and reinvest in joint names of himself and his wife. Indeed his six homes have also joint ownership so he had better be good to Triona as his half share (in both pension and houses) has now gone to his creditors. The Bible puts it simply, But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1Timothy ch.6 verses 6/10. Sadly there may not be much faith around to wander away from. St Paul sums up the scene in his day by concluding, “There is no fear of God before their eyes”. Romans Ch.3 verse 18. This fear is healthy as it recognises the fact of judgement to come. St Paul goes on to write that we are all debtors and cannot meet the demands of God’s bankruptcy court. The good news of the Gospel is not that I can pay my way but that God has provided a perfect surety in Jesus Christ. This is the news we need to hear whether it is Seanie or you or me! Listen to it again! “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this….so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” Put your faith in Jesus.

After many months of drought (we had lambs this year that never got wet) the rain came yesterday right on cue for the Oxygen Music Festival. There must be something about the name O₂ which attracts the rain! Its not just rain but real Irish rain – the wetting, fine droplet variety that penetrates the best of raingear in a matter of minutes.

The sound blasters got going yesterday at Punchestown some 3 miles away and as I write the drums are still pounding away impervious to the weather. Of course the only dry people there are the performers but even they must find their guitars slippery in the humid conditions.

An addition to the cacophony this year has been the invasive South African horn – the vuvuzela! The one note horn makes up for its lack of versatility by being easy to play!

Designer wellies are all the rage. About the only one not wearing them was the hip hop superstar Jay Z. The Brooklyn man did not disappoint with a performance that featured hits Run This Town, 99 Problems and Encore.

The tent town created on the racecourse gave some brightness to the scene. The tents could be embellished by spray painting artists from the Art College who, for a reasonable fee, could add their designs to the waterproofing of the fabric!

It brings to mind the great Festival of Tabernacles observed by Israel to commemorate their 40 year journey through the wilderness from Egypt to the Promised Land. The building of Tabernacles or Booths reminded the Jewish people of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. It was also a thanksgiving for the harvest with numerous sacrifices being offered over the 7 days of the celebration.

On the 7^th day the ritual of pouring a pitcher of water seven times onto the ground took place. This libation was prophet and messianic in its hope. It looked towards the outpouring of the Holy Spirit not only upon Israel but also on believers under the reign of Messiah, Jesus. Jesus now directs the ritual to Himself as its fulfillment.

The Bible records, on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”. (St John Ch 7 V 37/38).

No longer do we build Booths (unless we are at a wet Oxygen Festival) as the prophecy has been fulfilled in Jesus who now offers us this living water.

Come in faith to the living Jesus today.

The men of Issachar were commended because they understood the times and knew what Israel ought to do” 1 Chronicles ch.12 v 32. We could do with some of these men today to show us what Ireland ought to do!

An attempt was made this week by a letter writer to a National newspaper. His letter quoted Archbishop Fulton J Sheen who wrote the following some 50 years ago.

“It is a characteristic of any decaying civilisation that the great masses of the people are unaware of the tragedy. Humanity in a crisis is generally insensitive to the gravity of the times in which it lives. Men do not want to believe their own times are wicked, partly because they have no standard outside of themselves by which to measure their times.

If there is no fixed concept of justice, how shall men know it is violated? Only those who live by faith really know what is happening in the world; the great masses without faith are unconscious of the destructive processes going on, because they have lost the vision of the heights from which they have fallen.”

Predictably, the next day, a letter was printed aimed at silencing churchmen on the basis that the abuse, which was concealed within their ranks, had removed their right to make critical comment. The Archbishop’s comments were said to be more appropriately applied to the church. The “Liberal agenda”, it was claimed, had rescued Ireland from such people and to prove it the law is being changed along liberal lines.

We are back into Biblical territory; the Word versus the World. The problem is that few understand the Word. As the Archbishop said; “only those who live by faith know what is happening”. His final sentence goes on to quote from The Revelation to John ch.2 v 4/5 writing to the church at Ephesus; “But I have this against you that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first”.

What were these works? They heard the Gospel, were converted to Jesus and destroyed their idols. It’s all in Acts ch.19. If the men of Issachar were here today they might well be saying, repent, turn to Jesus and burn the liberal agenda!

It is only as people come to faith in Christ that they can see the idols that they had been blindly following. May the Spirit of the living God open eyes in Ireland in these times.

I think it was Winston Churchill who said “Democracy is the worst form of government with the exception of all the others”! It is founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, who vote for them on the basis of their stated views.

We have been able to avoid the grosser sins of widespread vote rigging, or the more brutal treatment of the military regime in Myanmar where Aug San Su Kyi has to be kept under house arrest to prevent her party getting into government. However the power vested in our representatives, once elected, can be engineered to ensure their continuing in office, irrespective of the people’s wishes.

Shades of this were seen in the Banking Reports where, over a lengthy period, government appointed watch-dogs forgot to bark. The environment in which they were kept was not conducive to the sound of barking!

The leader of the “Greens” barked at the Catholic Church to be quiet about the Civil Partnership Bill and advocated they stick to “spiritual matters”. Perhaps he forgot that most people get married in church taking their vows before God. In fact the Bill he is promoting is designed to get gays to the altar although that’s the last place most of them would have in mind.

His colleague in Cabinet, Dermot Ahern, on the same subject is reported to have said “he would not allow his religious beliefs to cloud his judgement”. Clearly he is not influenced by the Bible which prohibits the practice he is legislating for.

It may seem strange to some to find that democracy is not in the Bible! Stranger still for our government to find it written, “there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God”. (Romans ch.13V1). This does not mean that they are to act like God but that their authority comes from God. This in turn makes them accountable to God and for this good reason we are called to pray for them.

The problem today is unbelief. Rulers do not behave as those who have to give an account to God. Therefore there is no fear of judgement from a heavenly court but only an earthly one – and they think they can handle that! The Psalmist put it so well,

“If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared”.

And that healthy fear of the Lord is indeed the beginning of wisdom for all who believe both leaders and those they lead.

The host nation for the soccer World Cup, South Africa, has introduced us to the modern horn of Africa – the vuvuzela. This instrument, blown with vigour, is responsible for the incessant noise which has blighted the opening matches of the competition. Heard on the telly, it resembles a swarm of bees in the room. Experienced in the stadium, each horn producing up to 135 decibels, the noise must be mind numbing.

At least that is the only explanation I can offer for the miserable standard of football being played on the pitch. The players are cut off from each other so that familiar calls at key moments in the game go unheard. Encouragement or advice from supporters, for so long an integral component in the enjoyment of the game, has been neutralised. Communication, by radio between the referee and his officials, has been rendered impossible so that yellow cards have been substituted for the referees “word of advice”!

Broadcasters like BBC have turned to technology to tune out the vuvuzela from interfering with reception. The unfortunate supporters have had to purchase earplugs, being sold at stalls by opportunistic vendors, on their way to the games!

What has the Bible to say about horns? Quite a lot!

The word is used with a range of meanings. There is the ram’s horn blown at the destruction of the walls of Jericho. Then we hear of the Prophet Samuel anointing young David with a horn of oil. In the Book of Daniel the horn represents the might of nations as he prophesies their rise and fall. It is this `mighty` aspect of the horn, applied to salvation which John the Baptist’s father Zechariah prophesied at the birth of his son, that characterised King David and now applies to King Jesus.

Zechariah used the expression in St Luke’s Gospel chapter 1 verse 69 – “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David….and you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God.

That salvation is available today to all who look to the risen Jesus – even to those who blow the vuvuzela!

This week, the first of the dozen funerals which must take place to bury Derrick Bird’s victims provided a focus for a grieving Cumbrian community, still raw from the shock of last week’s tragic events.  Bird was normal taxi driver, a sociable man. He lived a simple life, a regular at his local pub where he enjoyed a pint days before he turned his gun on neighbours, colleagues and his twin. What made his crime so chilling was the lust for blood which seemed to take over after the original premeditated killings of brother, colleagues and solicitor took place. Bird, a divorced father of two who had recently become a grandfather, had been a man of hidden anger – an anger fuelled, it seems, by worries about a tax bill on €72,000 of undeclared income, his mother’s cancer and breaches of taxi-rank rules. Crucially, he was also bitter and paranoid about what would happen to the estate of his mother, after her death, believing that his twin brother, David, had gained unfair advantage with the help of Commons the solicitor. It has emerged that Bird, who murdered 12 people before taking his own life, watched Steven Seagal’s movie “On Deadly Ground” the night before launching his murderous spree. The violence in this 1994 film is considerably less that many more recent movies but the ease with which lives are taken makes killing seem normal in the fantasy world of cinema. What has the Bible to say about such a tragedy? The best know premeditated murder in scripture was as St Matthew records, “all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death”. Here was premeditated murder by those who had a vested interest in taking out someone who threatened their corrupt way of life. Did they know who this Jesus was? Did their hatred blind them to His identity? Had they any idea that He was the fulfillment of all that their law and prophets spoke of?  Even in his death the common criminal next to Him recognised Jesus as the King about to come into His kingdom and at that moment the thief became a citizen of it. Sadly the death of Derrick Bird is more akin to Judas who, having betrayed Jesus, hung himself.  Two deaths, two destinies. The fate of the 12 victims only reinforces the need to be prepared. Recognise Jesus for who He is and put your trust in Him.

Following the failure of the flotilla of 9 Turkish ships sailing out of Istanbul for Gaza came the Motor Vessel Rachel Corrie to add an Irish dimension to the humanitarian aid effort. The result was as predictable as the fate of the flotilla with the exception that those on board were not of the Islamic jihadists’ frame of mind and actually assisted the boarders to come onto the ship. Its cargo will be checked out at the Israeli port of Ashdod before being sent into Gaza to ensure that it does not contain material which could be used in the Hamas war effort against Israel. Apparently in a bizarre development Hamas have not permitted the flotilla’s cargo to proceed into Gaza overland so the Israelis’ have asked Nobel Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire, who was on the “Rachel Corrie”, to head up its cargo into Gaza! It is hard not to view the whole episode as a massive game of brinkmanship. Public relations people on both sides work on the events to gain the sympathetic ear of the world’s press and perhaps obtain some advantage for their cause. The deaths which occurred on the flotilla and which are to be condemned, provide Hamas with somewhat higher moral ground which they do not wish to lose by the easy transportation of the cargoes overland into Gaza. The latest news from Cyprus is that four more boats are being prepared to test the blockade. There has to be a better way! The Bible has plenty to say about the fate of Israel and the two lines of descendants – the Jews through Jacob and the Arabs through Esau. Their implacable animosity was predicted in God’s sovereign purposes and copper-fastened in their two opposing religious systems of Judaism and Islam. Their desire to see the destruction of the other finds credence in Jesus words referring to the last days; “when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that its desolation has come near”. St Luke ch.21:20. In the meantime we are still in the day of God’s grace. Judgement has not yet fallen. Whilst some may laud the efforts of the “Rachel Corrie” God has provided a Man to stand in the gap between those who perpetuate division. Writing about Jesus to the church at Ephesus he says; Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. Jesus has done the work. The Holy Spirit is applying it today to every repentant heart. Blockades are lifted at Calvary!

For those following, even sporadically, the TV series Lost over its 6 years of existence right up to its finale this week, when it almost dominated the airwaves as US channels released it early in an effort to win rival audiences, the end was surprisingly reconciliation not slaughter. It started well with flight Oceanic 815 crash-landing on a tropical island but neither the passengers nor the island were what they seemed. The island was inhabited by scientists and brigands. It had a labyrinth of underground passages and caverns that housed equipment which operated the islands electromagnetic system. The passengers on the flight were all interconnected. The relationships were not at first apparent but their earlier lives were unfolded in a series of flashbacks. To spice up the series flash-forwards were introduced and if that was not confusing enough, parallel episodes were shown where the characters were both on the island and back in their home country. To complete the intrigue the theme of death stalked the series since 2004. However there were random resurrections and in the later scenes distinctions were blurred as to who were dead and who were alive as both behaved in a similar fashion! Included in the mix was a satanic character who appeared as black smoke and was connected to a blazing inferno in the centre of the island. In order to overcome this evil, the hero Jack had to drink water from a stream which emanated from a bright shining light. The liquid made him “fireproof” and he was able to plug the opening, extinguish the fire, save the island and possibly all of humankind. If you are still with me you will appreciate the person who said the series should be re-named “Totally Lost”! The Authors of the tale claim to be Christians and the entire series can be thought of as a six-year meditation on how human beings approach death. There were plenty of burials on the beach but those who made it to the finale appeared to be reconciled at least to each other in a church type of building called “home”. God only came into the picture in the symbolism on the stained glass window, which showed Christian as well as occultist imagery. This was where Jack Shepherd’s father (now resurrected) helped his son to find his way “home”. Jack’s number was 23 hinting at Psalm 23 – the Shepherd psalm – but that was as good as it got! In the Bible death is the product of sin. It is not “natural” but an aberration resulting from the fall. To attempt to sanitise death is to ignore the work of Christ in dying for lost sinners. His salvation is God’s gift: – the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans Ch.6 verse 23. It’s the receiving of this gift that brings the sinner into God’s family: – to all who did receive him, (Jesus) who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. St John Ch.1 verse 12. It is through faith in Jesus that the lost are reconciled to God and to one another and are brought “home” to heaven.

57 “Summertime and the living is easy” as the words of the lullaby from the cotton plantations in the US goes. Well summertime has arrived and for the last 24hours we have experienced what for us is a heat-wave. “Fish are jumping and the cotton is high.” I haven’t heard if the mayfly have hatched but the grass is growing high. “Your daddy’s rich and your mamma’s good looking”. Nothing like some reassuring words to lull a baby to sleep – the reality may be somewhat different! “One of these mornings you’re gonna rise up singing, you spread your wings and take to the sky.” The future is beautiful from the perspective of the innocence of youth. “But until that morning there is nothing can harm you with your daddy and mommy standing by – they are standing by, I know, don’t cry.” Safe and secure in a parents love. It’s only a lullaby but it captures a lot of our dreams of a world where the harshness of reality often feels more like wintertime! The Bible promises us the seasons: – “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8 verse 22) The writer of Ecclesiastes reckons there is a time for every human event or activity: –

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” And in his famous poem in Chapter 3 ranges widely over human activity. From the pen of Jeremiah we have his lament over the faithlessness of Judah: – “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” On the mission of Jesus to earth the Apostle Paul writes: – “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4 verse 4) Redemption completed! Security in God’s family – not in a lullaby but in real time. I am reminded of the words of the dying Highland crofter, who was asked concerning his salvation replied, “I thatched my roof in the summertime”! There is no better time to prepare than now. Trust Jesus.