In former times bank robberies were conducted from outside the bank. The attackers were easily identifiable by their clothing and weapons. Now it seems that robbers can also come from the inside, be well dressed and have their password to the computer system!

In fact our banking system seems to have supported quite a few of the latter variety whose annual bonus would have made the old style of armed robber green with envy. Their protests of innocence chime badly against the fact that these bonuses were being awarded while their banks were sinking beneath a mountain of dodgy loans.

But that was yesterday. In the real world of today it was encouraging to learn from one Bank CEO that he was taking a pay cut of €900,000. This praiseworthy act was tempered by the knowledge that he still had an income of €2,000,000 to get by on!

The culture which says its OK for one bank to window-dress the balance sheet of another bank by a temporary loan of multi-billions, but the way it was done i.e. disguising it as a deposit from a client, was wrong, needs a beginners course in ethics. The claim that it was in the national interest to shuffle the cash around, to create a false impression of growth, can only come out of a society which believes the only crime is in being caught.

You don’t need a bloodhound to sniff out self-interest of a high order.

The Bible has never had much time for greed. Jesus said: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” St Paul draws out the meaning further in his letter to the Church at Colosse when he likens greed to the sin of idolatry.

Those in our society who follow our culture instead of Christ need a radical conversion to Christ. Only when He opens their eyes can modern idol worshippers see the enormity of their sin and turn to Him for mercy. If they do then they, like the robber Zacchaeus in Luke’s gospel, will find pardon and acceptance. In their delight they too may be led to get rid of the possessions that have possessed them for so long.

Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The speech this week to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce given by our Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, has been hailed as the first signs of leadership since the recession began. One journalist likened it to Pilot Chesley Sullenberger’s crash landing of US Airways Airbus A320 Flight 1549 on the Hudson River on the 15th January. The black box flight recorder revealed, in excerpts played by the media yesterday, a cool Captain gliding his plane to a safe landing on the river. In the background was a cacophony of voices as various air controllers tried to understand what was happening and offer advice to the stricken craft. Captain Chesley’s voice was clear and concise as he explained that he did not have much time and the alternative airfields were outside his gliding range. As a country we do not have much time either. The cruel joke; “What is the difference between Iceland and Ireland?” The answer; “One letter and 6 months” is far too near the bone for comfort. In Iceland the top bankers are found today in the dole queues. In Ireland the suggestion has been put to their counterparts here that a salary decrease in the order of 25% would not be inappropriate. Banking is not difficult to understand. You simply have to ensure that you lend at a few % points higher than you pay for the money and that the borrowers can repay in the agreed timeframe. Alas defaulting on repayments has become the order of the day to such an extent that the banks have not been able to get the supply of new money to fund their operations and few want to lend to them. Our Government has granted a €7,000,000,000 re-capitalisation to the two main banks so that they can continue trading but no one knows how much of it will be written off against bad debts. As C S Lewis has pointed out that in the Bible and the Koran it is forbidden to use money to make money, i.e. to take interest — and that our entire modern western economy, and now more or less the global economy, is built on that system and nothing else. If we add in a liberal portion of greed whereby the rich get richer and the poor get poorer we have a situation where we need to change. As John Piper puts it, we need to rely on God…in his grace, not our goods, in his mercy, not our money, in his worth, not our wealth. St Paul knew something of this when he wrote to the church at Philippi, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” And it was Christ who enabled him so to live. May we recognise our need of Him in the months and years ahead.

With the 1st February, the Celtic feast day of Imbolc is upon us. The light is returning and the snowdrops are blooming. Let us escape from the current financial crises and turn our thoughts to St Brigid whose day it is. It is interesting that there seems to have been a Brigit (the old spelling) before there was a Brigid. She was said to be a pagan goddess of fire, smith-craft, healing, childbirth and poetry. One of the customs associated with her is the Bridie Doll. This is a sheaf of oats, dressed in women’s clothing and placed in the earth as part of a fertility rite. History is silent as to whether the pagan Brigit was converted to Christ and became St Brigid but the latter is renowned in Kildare for her negotiating skills. In dealing with the High King of Leinster for a place to build her monastery he said, dismissively, she could have the area covered by her cloak. This she readily agreed to and the deal was done. To the King’s dismay the cloak grew and grew until it covered an area of 5,000 acres in Co Kildare known today as the Curragh. Another feature of the times was the conversion of the old pagan wells, which were associated with fertility rites to holy wells, many called after St Brigid. Some of them were used to baptise converts to Christianity. It is perhaps for the St Brigid’s cross that the Saint is best remembered. This is a plaited four pronged cross made from reeds and is often fixed to the wall of a house in honour of the Saint. Legend has it she made the cross from rushes she found on the ground beside a dying man in order to convert him. I wonder if she used St Paul’s words from Colossians chapter 2, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.” The cross was where Christ carried our sins. Did St Brigid use her cross to get the gospel message across to the dying man? There is probably no better use for it today.

This is the Saviour of the world said the shop assistant referring to Obama as the radio brought the Presidential inauguration in Washington into the local chemist’s shop. For a moment I found myself agreeing! Such has been the momentum generated by the rhetoric and the welcome distraction it afforded from the chill economic winds that are blowing that there was a strong temptation to buy into it – lock, stock and barrel. Barack Hussein Obama carries with him into the Presidential office the hopes of a fairer society in the US and justice for the rest of the world. Perhaps never has one man had had so much expectation placed upon his shoulders. Perhaps never have such flimsy shoulders appeared to carry the burden so lightly. But then this is only the first week in office! The traditional oath of allegiance, taken in God’s name and sworn on the Bible, demonstrates the dependence the founding fathers had on God, his word and the solemnity of the task being undertaken. Indeed the wording is so crucial that in order to ensure its accuracy following a slip-up the first time, the oath was taken again the next day. Conceivably, no President has faced a more daunting task and never has the wisdom of Solomon been more necessary. The choice of Gene Robinson and Rick Warren to offer the inaugural prayers was no doubt symbolic, the first representing the gay community and the second evangelicals. Robinson was an unfortunate choice as he announced in advance that he was shocked by the Christian prayers offered at past inaugurations and that he would not offer a Christian prayer. Instead he prayed to a “god of many understandings” making it impossible to know which god he was talking to. Fortunately Warren prayed along the lines St Paul commanded Timothy. “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 every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour” 1 Timothy Chapter 2 verses 1-3. The shop assistant got mixed up on who is the real Saviour of the world. I trust that Obama and all who support him will not make the same mistake.

It is easier, Jesus said, for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God could be updated and how hard, we respond, for the Religious to show humility to the Laity. The rich? They have got it made. Their security is in their riches. The Religious? They have an “in” with God. Their security is in the establishment. As events unfolded of negligence in handling child abuse cases in the Diocese of Cloyne the hierarchical ranks closed this week with the oft repeated statement that lessons have been learned and the sense of denial was palpable. The sight of a lone Priest doing his walk of atonement from Cork to Dublin spoke volumes of the solitary walk of those who would like to speak out but are trapped within the system. I wrote the undernoted Blog in Nov.05 following the publication of the Report on Child Abuse in the Ferns Dioceses catalogued something of the horror many young people experienced at the hands of those they trusted. The broken lives of the victims and the unbearable guilt of the perpetrators when added to the anger and shame of their extended families constitute a colossal cry of pain. The veil of secrecy that has clouded these most clandestine of sins turns the perpetuators into addicts and the victims, although innocent, paralysed by guilt. Jesus is quoted in all three synoptic Gospels as recommending drowning with a millstone tied to the neck of these evil people. This seems to spellout a drastic remedy to rid society of such persons. Do millstones become tombstones? What else does the Bible teach? The Good News of the Gospel is that Christ died for sinners – not the righteous! St Paul couldn’t have put it any more plainly when he wrote that “God justifies the wicked” Romans ch. 4 verse 5. But how? When they repent is the answer. What does repentance look like for the child sexual abuser? The same as for any other sinner – a separation from the sin. This required boundaries to be put in place. Jesus said if your hand offends you cut it off. Clearly a change of behaviour and a change of career are required to remove the sinner from the temptation. It’s interesting that after the financial cheat Matthew was converted Jesus did not make him the treasurer! However forgiveness does not come through our repentance – 100 lifetimes wouldn’t be long enough. Its not penance, which is man’s attempt to balance the books, that the Bible has in view. It’s seeing God place your sins on Christ and He willingly bearing them. Christ’s blood then cleansing the repentant sinner and presenting him faultless before God – a forgiven person. Oh the inexpressible joy of the Good News! In the final analysis the sinners boast is not that he has renounced sin but that Christ has saved him from its consequences. There is a way back to God From the dark paths of sin, There is a door that is open And you may go in; At cavalry’s cross is where you begin When you come as a sinner to Jesus.

There is nothing like a deadline to focus the mind and for Israel the 20th January could be it! The change in the US administration may well close the “window of opportunity” for their equivalent of a fatwa on Hamas. The rain of rockets had to be halted. You cannot live in a bomb shelter for ever. With an election looming, Israel had to do what Israel had to do. Hamas, with a little help from Iran, has been increasing her rocket range, now reaching Ashkelon with Jerusalem next stop. The last Palestinian election saw Hamas elected signalling that the majority agreed with its 1988 charter. This states, among other things, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it”. With such sentiments it must be difficult to “love your neighbour”! Territorial disputes and Israel have a long history. They go back four millennium! In fact Israel has been surrounded by enemies for as long as she has occupied the land. Outstanding among these were the Philistines whose territory ironically was in Gaza. It seems that the old adage applies here, that history repeats itself – it has to because nobody listens! The Bible looks forward to a day when there will be a turning of the Jews to Jesus Christ. St Paul writing his letter to the Church at Rome in the 11th chapter verse 26 says, “Israel has experienced a partial hardening until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will banish ungodliness…. The Deliverer will come from Zion (Jerusalem) not Washington and we need to pray that He will come soon.

I have never heard of anyone making a resolution to be converted to Jesus Christ. In fact I have never heard of anyone resolving to feed the hungry or heal the sick. Usually what I hear is focussed on “low fat diet” or to stay “off the drink”. Our resolutions tend to have a self-centered aspect! The good intentions of 1st January usually end up in tatters by 1st February. Even on those occasions where we seriously intend to keep our resolution we find that “old habits die hard” and we are forced to join the others and make a joke of our efforts to mask the disappointment. When it comes to following Jesus many of us have been led down the religious route where church baptism provides an entry point to the church and subsequent renewal of these vows at a later date are said to establish one in membership of the church. Others use a similar formulae involving presumptive regeneration of the child in anticipation of a confession of faith coming from the adolescent when he or she comes to an age of understanding. The Bible steers clear of these procedures and simply says we must be born from above if we are to enter God’s kingdom. The Holy Spirit is at work in the world convicting people of sin and revealing the remedy in Christ. He works on our hearts and minds inclining our wills so that instead of living for self we are to live for Christ. We are given a different direction with a different Master to whom we are now accountable. This conversion is simply the name given to turning away from the old life and entering into the new with Jesus. So what part do I play, should I have this change in mind, for my New Year’s resolution? Jesus just says “ask” so we begin with prayer. He then says we are to trust in himself. The living God will confirm it to you and speak to you through his word. There will be a whole new way of looking at things that differs radically from the past. May I encourage you to go with Jesus Christ into 2009? He will equip you for a life that will glorify God both here and in the hereafter.

“They’re bringing religion into Christmas Cards” she said to her neighbour as they looked at a card with the nativity scene! The comment is probably apocryphal but the cards of winter scenes, Robins and berries to say nothing of Santa far outweigh the “religious” cards. So what does the Bible say about the “religious” bit? It has become popular to speak about Jesus birthday on the 25th December but there was never a time when Jesus did not exist. He was with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the councils of eternity when Creation and Redemption of humankind was planned. True he did have a birth day when he took flesh and entered our universe via the womb of a virgin and was made in all respects like us except he was without sin. Athanasius in the 4th century put it clearly when he said that “Jesus became what he was not without ever ceasing to be what he always was”. He was, is and always will be God. Isaiah put it prophetically 700 years before his birth, “You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Behold your God!” What was new was his enfleshment. He became man. Billy Graham the evangelist of last century illustrated this by quoting the time he clumsily trod on an ant-hill destroying the side of it. He would have liked to repair the damage but his efforts only added to its destruction. He realised that if he were to be of any use he had to become an ant in order to communicate and help in undoing the damage. Like all illustrations it has its limitations but it does reflect the love of God in giving Jesus that believers in him should not perish but have eternal life. Pilot was blind to the spiritual dimension and could only see a man, “So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” Who is he in yonder stall At whose feet the shepherds fall? ‘Tis the Lord O wondrous story! ‘Tis the Lord the king of glory! At his feet we humbly fall – Crown Him, crown Him Lord of all.

Last week, Sky’s digital channel, Real Lives, showed the Oscar-winning documentary, “Right to Die” featuring Craig Ewert’s assisted suicide in a Swiss clinic. Craig had been suffering from motor neurone disease and died in the presence of his wife following a lethal doze of barbiturates. As film directors take their craft into increasingly sensitive areas of human existence we are asked to confront matters previous generations were only vaguely aware of. The Hippocratic Oath bound the medical profession to heal not harm. The crucial clause states, “I will use treatment to help the sick according to my judgement and ability, but I will never use it to injure or wrong them”. With advances in medical science comes the ability to sustain the life of the dying until the problem becomes an ethical rather than a medical one. The poet has written; Thou shalt not kill But need’st not strive, Officiously, to keep alive (“The Latest Decalogue” in Selected Poems, Penguin) There is a distinction between causing someone to die and allowing death to take its course. This is illustrated by Dr Martin Lloyd-Jones, the famous Christian preacher who, during his final illness refused further treatment, complaining to his doctor, “You are keeping me from the glory!” Where did Lloyd-Jones assurance come from? It came from a living relationship with Jesus Christ and a confirmation from the Bible. In 1970 he concluded one of his books with the following: “I say it with reverence, go even into the presence of God with “holy boldness” and in “full assurance of faith”; not boldness in yourself, but in your Mediator, in your great High priest, in the One whom God raised from the dead in order to let you know that your sins were dealt with at the Cross once and for ever, and that He looks upon you as His dear child.” I don’t know anything of Craig Ewert’s beliefs but for those who share Lloyd-Jones faith in saving love of Jesus Christ, the future is glorious. As St Paul put it; “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”— but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. 1 Corinthians Chapter 2 verse 9.

News of food contamination in the developed world travels fast. Sophisticated food testing in a number of European countries detected dioxins in pork fat as far back as September. Towards the end of November the source was traced to an animal food recycling plant in Ireland. When confirmation of high levels of contamination was obtained from the UK laboratory last Saturday the Government acted swiftly to recall all Irish pork products produced from pigs slaughtered in the State. Consumers emptied their fridges, retailers emptied their shelves and the process was repeated in our export markets as far away as Japan. There have been reassurances from “experts” that there is unlikely to be any health issues occurring to those whose diet contained pork since September but they sound hollow in the face of total product recall. The fear factor where food is concerned becomes paramount. By contrast we had a report yesterday from a missionary from N-W Cameroon. There food testing does not feature in the vocabulary. Water is the major concern. Its quality is so poor that you would hesitate to use it to water your garden. Yet this is the normal drinking supply used even for patients in the local clinic! Are the people in N-W Cameroon disinterested in health issues? Are they less interested in remaining alive than those of us in the developed world? Hardly! What does the Bible have to say about this “fear factor”? There is one incident when the Prophet Elisha was feeding his students with some contaminated stew (and there he quickly corrected the problem 2 Kings Ch.4v’s38/41) but not before the cry went up “O man of God there is death in the pot”! The resurrection of Jesus from the dead does, for those who trust him, put a different complexion on longevity. This difference is seen most plainly in the Apostle Paul’s declaration that “Death is swallowed up in victory”. Jesus removed its sting. Jesus makes fearful lives new as in the case of the man who lived among the tombs in the region of Gadarenes. He was cured at the expense of the local pig stock; St. Mark Ch.5v’s 11/20. In that case the people preferred their pigs to Jesus and sent him away. Reader, do not be like them!