Give to whoever asks and you will have gifts in return

Jesus taught His followers; ‘Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap; because the standard you use willbe the standard used for you.'  Luke 6:36-38

A certain pastor was telling his pastor mates about how he decided how much of the collection plate he used for God’s work and how much he used for Church renovations etc. One of the fellow pastors said, “This is how I calculate it. I throw the whole collection up in the air and what God wants, He takes. What falls to ground is mine!”

It’s a very generous offer God makes to us in the above Gospel excerpt: Gifts without limit will be given to those who are generous to others. I thought about this as I saw the collection plate heading towards me on Sunday during Mass. I hesitated. I had some money in my pocket. Despite what you may think, I have not been paid a cent from the Diocese since I left priesthood and I didn’t get any money for speaking with the media. Also, I don’t make a lot of money in this new role I have undertaken and the uncertainty of my tenure means I count my money carefully before I think of spending any of it.

I had recently heard a Christian woman telling me about her tithing (giving 10% of her income to God). I wanted to argue with this good person who was attending one of the franchises of the Assemblies of God (of which Hillsong is part) that giving money to Pastor Houston’s empire was not actually giving money to God. In fact, I don’t even believe giving money to priests is giving money to God because I remember being a little wasteful with some of the funds people gave me in another parish. Anyway, I felt compelled to give ten percent of what I made last week and put it in the collection plate. I felt happy with myself after that and certain that it would come back to me in multiples of ten.

Of course giving with the expectation that it’s going to come back tenfold is not really a good motive for giving.   I do believe that Jesus was instructing us to not hold back when we are asked for help from others. He was explaining how God can never be outdone in generosity.

I know it for a fact as I have told you before, I am never without finances even though I do give to whoever asks. Many times in the Philippines I am confronted by beggars who put out their hand pitifully and ask for food. I never refuse if I have money with me. Jesus told us, “Give to anyone who asks” (Luke 6:30) and He never qualified it with advice like, “only if they are not going to spend it on alcohol or cigarettes” or “only if you trust them”. He just flat out ordered us to give to anyone who asks us for something.

It is hard and it sometimes takes some effort but I believe it to be God’s demand. Everything we have is from Him indirectly anyway, so it is His, so He can tell us what to do with it. When we start to think “this is mine, I can do what I like with it” is when we begin to become selfish.

I give to whoever asks and never have empty pockets. I never deplete my resources completely because God gives it back to me. I can’t explain it. Its miraculous.

Now in case you are tempted to think “That’s because you beg for money yourself! I saw your GoFundMe appeals!” Well have a look how much I got from those appeals. Its not a lot! And I have not taken it out. (I didn’t initiate those appeals by the way. It was suggested to me as a way of measuring my support base. I found out from those appeals how few people among my Facebook friends support my cause.)

But I go on undeterred because my mission is not to help my friends. My mission is to assist those who have no one to help them. I am helping some people who don’t even recognise they need my help. It is a mission of love and not of seeking wealth or prosperity however I am sure those will follow because I can’t outdo God in generosity.

I also know it’s impossible for me to fail in my mission because I am motivated by Jesus’ command to give to those who ask.

So try it for yourself. Give to that beggar you see in the park near your work. Give to that dude who looks like he is going to spend your money on smokes. How do you know he is not “Jesus in Disguise” testing you on your Christian authenticity?  Think about the quote from Hebrews 13:2: “Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! “

 Be generous. I guarantee you will get that money back ten-fold.

But this passage is not limited to giving money or material support. What Jesus was actually talking about if you read the section earlier, was not setting limits on your forgiveness. He was also instructing His followers about giving to enemies. He was telling them not to restrict their generosity only to their friends but even to those who are your enemy.

Jesus’ demands are hard and that is why there are so few real Christians sitting on the pews of churches.  But just like exercise is hard if you do it only sporadically, it can become a routine and it does get easier.

Is government and society failing our kids?

Pondering the Second Book of Kings as it relates to today

I know this starts to read like a religious sermon but please stick with my thought process and tell me if I am wrong?

There is a mysterious story in 2 Kings that can help us to grow in courage as we face future uncertainty. Israel is at war with Aram. Elisha the man of God is using his prophetic powers to reveal to the Israelites the strategic plans of the Aramean army. At first the King of Aram thinks that one of his officers is playing the spy. But when he learns the truth, he dispatches troops to go and capture Elisha who is residing in Dothan.

The Aramean troops move in under cover of darkness and surround the city. In the morning Elisha's servant is the first to discover that they are trapped and he fears for his master's safety. He runs to Elisha and says, "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" The prophet answers "Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

But who would believe that when the surrounding mountainside is covered with advancing enemy troops? So Elisha prays, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then the Lord opens the servant's eyes, and he looks and sees the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:8-23).

This vision was all that Elisha's disciple needed to reassure him. At the end of the story, not only was the prophet of God safe but the invading army was totally humiliated.  

The enemies of God are far more numerous than those who gave up their time this morning to worship Him at their local church. Sure, not everyone who did not attend Church this morning is an enemy of God. But they are not doing much to help His Cause.

I was prompted by Tweets from a few optimistic supporters to put up my hand and offer to take the vacant seat of Pope Benedict. I smile at their naivety. Some think that we can circumnavigate the conclave process and force the sort of Pope that the world genuinely needs and wrestle the Church away from the aging and inept Cardinals. Although it did happen in past generations and the time is perfect for it to happen this year, it’s not going to happen!

The reason is, most Catholics don’t care. The Catholic Church is populated with apathy. I see it every week. People strolling into Mass behind the priest and right up to the Gospel time you still see the tardy mostly Filipinos looking for a seat or standing outside the doors. Throughout the service everyone is shifting uneasily in their seats, looking at their Iphones or just looking around. The priest is waxing on about something irrelevant and boredom looms over everyone like a cloud you can feel. And these are the ones who bothered to go to Church!

But do many of them feel motivated to enliven the experience themselves by their participation? Does anyone want to be moved by the Spirit of God that is in the place? I doubt it.

See, here I am on a Sunday morning, pondering the social and spiritual problems that impact on the world while the rest of the Church membership read their secular Sunday papers wondering how they will spend the day: whether to do that nagging household repair, ponder decisions that relate to their out-of-control mortgage, prepare themselves to face a difficult working week or hesitate to correct that erring child who just go home as the sun rose.

The problems of life impede us from reflecting on the real issues that prevail upon our rapidly destabilizing society. We don’t want to think about the future more than the day or week ahead.

In the reading from 2 Kings, God causes Elisha to turn his eyes not to the magnitude of the advancing enemy but to the grace and power of God whom he had at his disposal.

Maybe that is what I need to do more of. Trust in God, like I keep telling Josefina who sees our rising debt and failing fortunes.

Josefina often criticizes me for being too focused on the Church’s ills and not investing more of my time and energy into making a future for us.

“If we don’t fix the errors in the Church and in society Josefina, what is the point of even bothering to give birth to children who will live in the future?” I counter.

I see so many approaching catastrophes that it sometimes causes me to lose optimism about the future. Maybe you see them too?

The rising debt which our country is being plunged deeper into by a Government desperate to cling to power. The tide of illegal asylum seekers who are of largely unknown origins are like a cancer we invite into our body. We do not know how much damage they pose to our national security and they continue to be placed in populated areas and have been given free access to the internet and radical Islamic websites.

The enormous increase in availability of illegal drugs and the attractiveness that they seem to offer our youth. The massive problem of mental illness and those whose family are suffering with nowhere to turn for support, whom we turn our backs on. The sheer volume of weapons on the streets and in the hands of dangerous people that the police seem incapable of stemming. Outlawed motorcycle gangs who flaunt the law and the criminals that our courts keep returning to the streets. Growing ghettos of ethnic people displaying foreign language signs turning Australian towns and cities into cultural exclusion zones.  

The number of legal and illegal sex shops springing up in every town bringing with them all of the above!

Not many people seem concerned about these elements of our society that no longer resemble the country I grew up in.

We joke about the fact that we used to leave our houses unlocked at night and the windows of our car wound down when we parked on streets in our home town but I think it’s a crying shame that we can no longer do that.

Why can’t we have those times again? Why can’t we have neighbourhoods where people talk to each other and know each other’s names?
It’s not too much to expect that people have the confidence to allow their kids to walk the streets and play with the neighbour’s kids.

I feel we fail as a culture if we allow the erosion of all that we hold dear. Family, job security, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and willingness to trust the very people whom society suggests we ought to: politicians, police and priests!

in response to the man who calls himself John Smithson..

I have been assailed recently by ranting responses to my blog commentaries by a coward who calls himself John Smithson (as he does not have the courage of his convictions to go by his real name). He has been ably assisted by his offsider a palliative care doctor who calls herself Alisha D.
 This is my response to the most recent barrage of abuse which includes among other judgements that I am destined for eternal damnation because I have chosen to marry a woman:

More than twenty years ago I did not make my ordination promises lightly John but I did have niggling doubts at the time that I would not be able to go the distance. That didn't stop me giving it my best shot. But I did tell some friends and family that I was dubious. Those admissions have been the basis of my claim for dispensation from celibacy which should come in due course. BUT I was ordained and by the action of the Bishop laying his hands on my head he continued that unbroken line of succession from the first Pope and I was made a priest forever.
But when I got married and broke my celibate promises, that will not mean that I am not a priest.
I will be technically a married priest.
Being married means I am no longer good enough for the Catholic Church to use me as a priest. When I concluded that chastity was impossible for me and I actively prayed for God to show me a life partner I met Josefina, fell in love and married her. As many know, I decided not to declare my marriage publicly but chose to use my secret marriage as leverage to prove the fallacy of clerical celibacy. No one in the Church hierarchy knew I was married yet they claim to be monitoring the life of priests and know what they are up to. But when I declared that I was married, they immediately punted me from the priesthood. 
They would rather employ men who are homosexual or child abusers who have confessed their waywardness than utilise a man who loves a woman and wants to have children.
For the aging hierarchy its all or nothing. It is the ridiculous rule of the Catholic church that says I can no longer minister as a priest just because I have fallen in love (not lust, as some of your judgemental like-minded people think who have condemned me to eternal hell fire) and decided to commit myself to that woman I love with all my earthly heart.
The Church however is not as judgemental as yourself. I sat quite peacefully with my bishop when he encouraged me to seek laicisation. I do not choose laicisation. It is imposed upon me by the closed-minded ecclesiastics who don't want a church member they can't order around.
They will allow me to receive a sacramental marriage after I get my dispensation and authorise me to receive Holy Communion again after the new Pope gets around to sending me a little piece of paper. You see John how easily ridiculed the man-made rules of the Catholic Church become? I was told in theology that once ordained, I am a priest forever regardless of my inability to live celibately. I am however no longer permitted (by the men who currently run the church) to celebrate the sacraments because of that inability to be asexual. The Church has a distored view of sex. You must either refrain from it totally or you must have as much of it as possible. You are only allowed to have NO CHILDREN or A LOT. Isn't that strange? Haven't you ever wondered why there are so few maried people who are canonised. So that kind of implies that all those people who don't have sex are more likely to become saints. But having sex makes you less likely to become a saint. The same sexless men who make these rules are the ones whom you listen to for advice on how to live your life.
For many years I was giving marital education to couples preparing for a life time of sexual intimacy and I had never lived in a loving relationship. I was such a fool making justifying platitudes such as "you don't have to be divorced to know that divorce hurts. You don't have to kill someone to know about murder.." but its not true. I never knew about relationship until I was in a relationship. Most of the priests I met who told me, "I have given up family, love, career etc" have never really given up love and career because they never had either. You can't give up something you don't have. Its purely hypothetical sacrifice.
So, I do understand priesthood, celibacy,love and relationship because I have lived all these. I believe to understand humanity you should be living a human life. Anyway these are my thoughts and justifications for what I have done John. I don't believe God is going to condemn me to hell for making an adult decision to follow my human calling to love.
God is very real to me John and as I receive His presence each day in the Holy Eucharist, I know He is gracing my day with many blessings. Should the priest deprive me of His Presence by refusing me Holy Communion as Dr Alisha D wants to happen, I simply go home and celebrate the Eucharist for myself.
I know that Jesus will come down from Heaven when I celebrate the Eucharist regardless of whether or not the "church" gives me permission. And I feel His Presence with me which proves to me that He does not agree with "the church" that says I should not be celebrating the Mass.
Did you know that even if I am 'laicised' I am still allowed to anoint or give the sacrament of confession to a person in danger of death. Isn't that weird? Why would they say, "we are depriving you of your sacramental powers because you are having sex.. but if someone really, really, really needs them, then you are allowed to be a priest".
Don't you think the incredible shortage of priests in the world right now means we should be keeping the ones we have? Regardless of whether they can be celibate or not..   

Gospel reflection for Friday of first week in Lent

Meditation: Are you hungry for God? 
Today's short extract from the gospel of Matthew 9:14-15 has people condemning Jesus' disciples because they were not fasting. Jesus retaliates by explaining how stupid it is to give up food if it makes you a worse person. It is much better to give up the parts of our personality that offend others.
People have commented that some of my posts are sounding angry & bitter. Some people express this reason for "unfriending" me on Facebook.
(Which worked against a certain friend because when I wanted to refer her business to another person, to my surprise her name had disappeared from my friends list! Bad luck for her as she missed out on some very easy money!)
But even Jesus' hearers thought He sounded judgmental as He condemned their dishonest motives or religious performance.
Sometimes you just have to tell it as it is.
The truth is Jesus made people feel guilty that they were not what they made people think they were. Jesus condemned the hypocrites (which literally means "those who wear masks") In fact it means an actor, as in those days before make-up the actors wore masks, hence the symbol for acting is two masks, the origin of the expression to be two-faced).
Jesus doesn't want His followers to be two-faced but instead authentic witnesses, hungering for justice.
Hungering for God and fasting for His kingdom go hand in hand. When asked why He and His disciples did not fast Jesus used the vivid picture of a wedding celebration.
In Jesus' time the newly wed celebrated their honeymoon at home for a whole week with all the guests!
This was a time of great feasting and celebrating.
Jesus points to himself as the bridegroom and his disciples as the bridegroom's friends. He alludes to the fact that God takes delight in His people as a groom delights in his bride (Isaiah 62:5).
To be in God's presence is pure delight and happiness (as I feel sitting in the church typing this). But Jesus also reminds His followers that there is a time for fasting and for humbling oneself in preparation for the coming of God's kingdom and for the return of the Messianic King.
The Lord's disciples must also bear the cross of human rejection and purification.
For the disciple there is both a time for rejoicing in the Lord's presence and celebrating His goodness and a time for seeking the Lord with humility fasting, and mourning for sin. If we hunger for our Lord, He will not disappoint us. His grace draws us to his throne of mercy and favor.
Do you seek our Lord with confident trust and allow His Holy Spirit to transform your life with His power and grace?
What kind of fasting is pleasing to God? Fasting can be done for a variety of reasons: to gain freedom from some bad habit, addiction, or vice, to share in the suffering of those who go without, or to grow in our hunger for God and for the things of heaven.
Basil the Great wrote: "Take heed that you do not make fasting to consists only in abstinence from meats.True fasting is to refrain from vice. Shred to pieces all your unjust contracts. Pardon your neighbors. Forgive them their trespasses".
Do you hunger to know God more, to grow in His holiness, and to live the abundant life of grace he offers you?
"Come Lord, work upon us, set us on fire and clasp us close, be fragrant to us, draw us to your loveliness, let us love, let us run to you." (Prayerof St. Augustine)
The following reflection is courtesy of Presentation Ministries (c) 2013. Their website is located at presentationministries.com      
             
FAST IMPRESSIONS
      
"Your disciples do not fast". Matthew 9:14
      
Jesus said that when we fast, we should freshen up so no one can see we are fasting (Mt 6:17-18). He meant that we should fast so as to please God, not man. In one sense, however, people should be able to tell we are fasting no matter how nice our complexion is. Fasting causes drastic changes which are visible to those around us. Fasting, along with prayer, is the most effective weapon to bring down the strongholds of the evil one (Gospel of Life, Pope John Paul II, 100). Fasting sets free the oppressed, the captive, the depressed, the addicted, and the homeless (Is 58:6-7). Our fasting from food causes more of our money to be available to feed and clothe the hungry and poor (Is 58:7). Immovable, mountainous problems are overcome by fasting and prayer (Mt 17:21). Fasting is accompanied by humility, selflessness, and a lack of strife with those around us (Is 58:3-4). In summary, true fasting pierces the clouds and causes our prayers to be heard and answered by God (Is 58:4).
True fasting brings undeniable results. Judge your own fasting by the above Scriptural results of true fasting. Are you fasting in such a way that your world is changing? Could others tell you are fasting simply by observing the life-changing and world-changing power emanating from your life?
     
Prayer: Father, pour out Your love in our hearts (Rm 5:5) so that we will desire to fast as You wish (Is 58:6) and so change the world.
Promise: "Your vindication shall go before you." Isaiah 58:8
         

Readings & Reflection for Mass

Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Reading 1 
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Moses said to the people:
“Today I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom.
If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.
If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen,
but are led astray and adore and serve other gods, I tell you now that you will certainly perish;  you will not have a long life on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.
I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:
I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.
Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to Him.
For that will mean life for you,
a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore
he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 1:1-2
Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Gospel Lk 9:22-25
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Then he said to all,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit his soul?”

Meditation: Do you know the healing, transforming power of the cross?
When Jesus predicted his passion his disciples were dismayed. Rejection
and crucifixion meant defeat and condemnation, not victory and freedom.
How could Jesus' self-denial, suffering and death lead to victory and life?
Through his obedience to his Father's will, Jesus reversed the curse of
Adam's disobedience. His death on the cross won pardon for the guilty,
freedom for the oppressed, healing for the afflicted, and new life for
those condemned to death. His death makes possible our freedom to live
as sons and daughters of God. There's a certain paradox in God's economy.
We lose what we gain, and we gain what we lose. When we try run our life
our own way, we end up losing it to futility. Only God can free us from
our ignorance and sinful ways. When we surrender our lives to God, he gives
us new life in his Spirit and the pledge of eternal life. God wants us
to be spiritually fit to serve him at all times. When the body is very
weak or ill, we make every effort to nurse it back to health. How much
more effort and attention should we give to the spiritual health of our
hearts and minds!
What will you give to God in exchange for freedom and eternal life?
Are you ready to part with anything that might keep you from following
him and his perfect plan for your life? Jesus poses these questions to
challenge our assumptions about what is most profitable and worthwhile
in life. In every decision of life we are making ourselves a certain kind
of person. It is possible that some can gain all the things they
set their heart on, only to wake up suddenly and discover that they missed
the most important things of all. A true disciple is ready to give up all
that he or she has in exchange for happiness and life with God. The life
which God offers is abundant, everlasting life. And the joy which God places
in our hearts no sadness or loss can diminish.
The cross of Jesus Christ leads to freedom and victory over sin and
death. What is the cross which Christ commands me to take up each day as
his disciple? When my will crosses with his will, then his
will must be done. The way of the cross involves sacrifice, the sacrifice
of laying down my life each and every day for Jesus' sake.  What makes
such sacrifice possible and "sweet" is the love of God poured out for us
in the blood of Jesus Christ. Paul the Apostle reminds us that "God's
love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit" (Romans 5:5). We can never outgive God. He always gives us more than we can
expect or imagine. Are you ready to lose all for Christ in order to gain
all with Christ?
"Lord Jesus, I give you my hands to do your work. I give you my feet
to go your way. I give you my eyes to see as you do. I give you my tongue
to speak your words.  I give you my mind that you may think in me.
I give you my spirit that you may pray in me. Above all, I give you
my heart that you may love in me, your Father, and all mankind. I give
you my whole self that you may grow in me, so that it is you, Lord Jesus,
who live and work and pray in me." (Prayer from The Grail)
The following reflection is courtesy of Presentation Ministries (c) 2013.
      
       LOVE-LIFE
      
       "Whoever wishes to be My follower must deny his very self." Luke 9:23
      
In a cartoon, the patient said to the psychiatrist: "Do I have to do my own thing? Do I have to do what feels good?" Living for self and pleasure gets old. We like this kind of life at first, but after a while we suspect we're destroying ourselves and wasting our lives. Jesus said as much: "Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. What profit does he show who gains the whole world and destroys himself in the process?" (Lk 9:24-25) Those who live to do their own thing are to be pitied. They have traded their birthright for trifles (see Gn 25:31ff), and have given up life and love for a shadow of human existence. The only way to escape slavery to self, the emptiness of pleasure-seeking, and the boredom of doing your own thing is to love Jesus with all your heart. Only Christ's love makes life worth living, gives meaning to everyday existence, and provides sure hope for the future. What joy there is in not being enslaved to self! What freedom is to be found in not reducing life to mere pleasure-seeking! What sweetness in carrying the daily cross, for Jesus' yoke is easy and His burden light! (Mt 11:30)
      
            Prayer: Father, I accept the power of the cross and reject the futility of doing my own thing. And please help me this day to accept the people who hurt me & pray for them because they obviously don't know You & there is a strong possibility that they might lose their soul.

            Promise: "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding His voice, and holding fast to Him." Dt 30:19-20
  

Thinking about death.

You may not be too surprised if I tell you that I didn’t earn many friends among priests with my recent disclosures. In fact I didn’t really have many to lose. I didn’t warm to many of them over the years so I didn’t feel a great loss when I found I was removed from the annual directory of Catholic Clergy.

A number of years back, I am not sure how long ago, I got an unexpected call from a priest who was very ill with cancer. He asked me if I was interested in having his library. Yes he had quite a lot of books he had acquired over his nearly fifty years of priesthood. I had already inherited his furniture (well at least the parish did) when he was moved into an aged care facility a few years earlier so probably in his mind it seemed logical to give me everything else he owned.

I was flattered by the “gift” and when I came to pick them up he mentioned that he had left me “a little something else” in his will. I often wonder why so many people promise me stuff "after they die". What good is that going to be? It like saying, you can have the stuff I don't need anymore. I never say "thank you" to those kind of empty promises because I am certain I will never see them actualised. Just like all the people who have promised me a million dollars if they win the Lotto. Why don't you just promise me the lot? You are never going to win it!

Anyway I was contacted by this priest's lawyers when he did in fact depart the world, just to advise me of his funeral arrangements and nothing was ever mentioned about that “little something else” in his will.

I didn’t want to ask either in case I seemed only interested in material things. He was the second priest who had told me (the first was Fr Richard Davey who promise me his silver chalice) that there was something in their will for me. Actually now I remember, I was supposed to be the executor for another Parramatta Diocesan priest who has already instructed me what he wants done with his unnecessary worldly assets (give to some poor parishes in Vietnam and Philippines - the reason he selected me as his executor) but I doubt I will be entrusted with that task now.

Come to think of it, I have also been told by an elderly gentleman I used to visit regularly after his wife died that he has “a little something” in his will for me too. I have not been in contact with him for a while and I guess he could have died already but I didn’t hear from his lawyer either.

Now I am not telling you this to give you the impression that I am eager for the deaths of people who might leave me “a little something”. I am just assuming that if I have been offered so many benefices then its logical to assume that other priests have similarly been offered material things by people they got to know in ministry.
I do know personally of a few priests who have been given houses or land by dead parishioners and for a time it was terribly tempting to befriend widows or widowers with living dependents but I did avoid that temptation (and besides I had no time to encourage those sorts of “particular friendships”.
Anyway what sparked this reminiscing today was the fact that I was unpacking a box of books that were sent me by the new parish priest of Glenmore Park, books I had even forgot I owned, and I came across one with the catchy title “Images of Jesus”. I couldn’t remember buying it and assumed it was either one given me by someone for Christmas (I always got religious books for gifts that I would seldom read) or the parish priest of Glenmore Park had inadvertently given me one of his own books. I looked inside the cover and read the dedication “Congratulations Jim for 40 years of priesthood. May the Lord bless you on your anniversary. L Whoolahan & Catherine Mary RSJ”.

It was obviously one of the late Father Jim Dooley’s books.  I was feeling a little bit spiritually starved (as the local priest’s Sunday’s homily time was dedicated to a plug for more Catechists) so I decided to read a bit of it. I took it where I do most of my reading, the place I know I won’t be disturbed, in the toilet. I opened the book somewhere in the middle, always a good place to determine whether a book is worth reading from the start and to my surprise I found a new and quite interesting analogy of God’s action or intervention in human lives. The author speaks about God being like an archer and we are an arrow which He sends towards His Son Jesus.

I did find another section which I feel particularly encouraged by that I thought I would share it with you - hoping I am not infringing any copyrights. All I need is another letter from a lawyer this week (not!):

The section is entitled, Fear of Death.

“Closely related to the fear of pain is the primordial fear of death. The deepest of all human feelings is the love for life, to desire to keep on living even when a sea of trouble besieges us. The will to live is a powerful force. This accounts for the very human fear of dying and death. Such fear takes the form of the denial of death.

Denial of death prevents us from benefiting from the positive values of facing the reality of our own death. Courageously meditating on our own death can help us become alive to the possibilities of living. When done with faith, this reflection draws us to think of eternal life. Performed with wisdom, this thoughtful look at death motivates us to fill our days with love, care and moral concern for others. The record of Jesus, the martyrs and the saints is of people who released themselves from the fear of death.”

From Images of Jesus by Alfred McBride, O.Praem.

Now I find that helpful, do you? I was always unafraid of death prior to meeting Josefina. Now I am afraid of what impact my death would have on her. Now that we are expecting a baby, my desire to stay alive increases (although I do believe that if I died right now they would be better off financially).

I think it is people in our lives that give us less confidence in the future which is why I think priests and celibate people with no dependents and no real attachment to people are so able to espouse the hope of eternal life so realistically at a funeral.

Why I go to Church

So I am off to Mass again today to thank God for my life, my wife, my baby, my friends & my health. I think its sad that so many people make excuses for why they don't belong to or attend a Church. I mostly feel its out of ignorance, laziness or pure apathy.

People tell me they don't go to church because they dont believe in the Church or the priests or ministers. I dont go to Church FOR the priests or the minister or even the people at Church.
I go for GOD.
I attended Mass last night in Melbourne. There would have been no more than forty people at Mass and no one under fifty except me and some young man next to me who looks like a teacher in the school who appeared to be there by obligation (not participating in the prayers or hymns, constantly looking at his watch) and the Vietnamese priest was hardly intelligible and looked about 80.
But when the priest said the prayers of consecration (when he prays over the bread and wine & it becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus), I felt tingles down my spine & a warm feeling in my body.
I knew then for certain that it doesn't matter who the priest is, GOD is still in His Church.
Despite all my dramas I have had with the hierarchy and the imposters wearing priests' clothing, I know Jesus is still in the Eucharist & giving His Spirit to those who bother to get out of their own way to worship Him.