Posted by George Morrison

“An Bord Snip Nua” has spoken! Apparently we cannot continue to borrow €400 million a week indefinitely! The Report deals with reality. Our Celtic tiger is dead and her cubs are running for court protection from overseas lenders. Our own banks, paralysed by debts and supported by the government’s life-line, can only hope and pray that things will get better through time. The Report reveals the astonishing growth of the Public Sector with its multiple Agencies, Boards and Commissions. Many of these will be destined to close or merge and for others the terms and conditions of work will be snipped. A painful procedure for all concerned which is sure to sharpen the focus of those contemplating early retirement. All this has taken the spotlight from our most heinous rapist who has just been sentenced to prison for 21 years. The man first achieved notoriety in what became known as the “C” case where the 13 year old girl was permitted by the court to travel to the UK for an abortion. She is now 25 and attended the court to hear sentence being passed on the same man, this time for the rape of an 86 year old woman. She said, on hearing the sentence “It kind of gave me a bit of relief when he got 21 years”. Relief has been in short supply over the last 12 years as she has tried to commit suicide on a number of occasions and still gets telephone death threats in the night. What does the Bible have to say to a man who has destroyed women’s lives? In Muslim countries rapists get short shift. The offender gets the snip or summary execution. The Bible sometimes used figurative language but does not sanction mutilation. The Good News of the Gospel is that Christ was mutilated for sinners – not the righteous. St Paul couldn’t have put it any more plainly when he wrote that “God justifies the wicked” Romans chapter 4 verse 5. But how?  When they repent is the answer. What does repentance look like for us caught up in the collective greed of the Celtic tiger or the rapist? The same as for any other sinner – a heartfelt grief leading to a 180 degree change of direction. It starts with an admission of guilt something which was absent from our rapist and probably from you reading this blog! It ends with a personal decision to renounce sin and to put your faith in God. Its not penance, which is man’s attempt to balance the books by making amends. 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. St Paul’s 1st letter to the church at Corinth had rebuked them for their sins and in his 2nd letter he rejoiced in their repentance; “I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. Snips may be necessary in the short term but salvation is forever.