St Patrick

Readings: 1 Peter 4:7-11; Psalm 96:1- 10; Luke 5:1-11

St Patrick, a pioneer missionary from Britain to pagan Ireland in the early fifth century, played a major part in the initial evangelisation of the Irish people. Today we face the challenge of what is called re-evangelisation or new evangelisation in Ireland and Britain. This means reaching out with the Gospel to people who have heard and accepted the Gospel in previous generations, and even in this one, but are now turning their backs on it. The situation requires us to preach the gospel again, but aware of the new attitudes and issues and making use of new technologies as well.

Is there anything for this new situation that we can learn from St Patrick in his original situation? A lot, I expect, but I will focus on just one thing. Patrick spent about 6 years as a slave in Ireland after being captured around age 16. He had to face and come to terms with an awareness of the problems and poverty of being human and of how limited he was in determining his future. He persisted in prayer during those years and encountered God in a deep way. Rather than make him bitter this experience of slavery made him humble; rather than make him want to cut himself off from his oppressors, it drew him close to them and gave him a great love for them, and a desire to share the Gospel, sensitive to their culture. In a condensed, or more intense, form this is the process that Peter also went through in today’s Gospel. 

Why is this relevant? People in our islands sense that the church has failed people and is arrogant and out of touch, not willing to admit its mistakes or limitations. Rather than withdraw, or act as though we are ‘holier than thou’, or even feel that everything depends on us living perfect lives, let us admit our faults both to God and to others. If the Church is genuinely honest, humble and, where necessary, contrite, it will probably establish a point of contact with wider society, and give space for a better acknowledgment of our common humanity with its limits, fragility and vulnerability. 

This may mean we can enter into such solidarity with the people around us that we will be better placed to listen and learn a language in which to effectively express the hope and mercy and grace that the Gospel still offers us, precisely as broken people. Some, perhaps many, of those with whom we have come into a solidarity of human frailty might well then want to come into a solidarity with us of faith, hope and love for, and in, Jesus. 

In short, we may need to begin our new or re-evangelisation by meeting and sharing with people at the level of brokenness. This means facing and learning to live with human limits and brokenness, as St Patrick and St Peter did. Lent is a good time to do this, beginning with ourselves.

Lent Week 1: Wednesday

Today's readings: Jonah 3:1-10; Psalm 50(51); Luke 11:29-32


In today's gospel according to St. Luke we hear Jesus condemn his own 'evil generation' for seeking 'signs' or miracles. The people wanted absolute proof of Jesus' authority before they were prepared to accept his good news. Jesus disappoints them declaring: 'no sign shall be given except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation' (Luke 11: 29-30).

In contrast to St. Matthew's gospel, then, which draws attention to the parallel between Jonah's three days and nights in the belly of the whale and Jesus' time in the tomb (Matthew 38-42), Luke's gospel emphasises instead that both Jonah and Jesus are preaching a message of repentance. Both are calling on their contemporaries to change their ways. Hence the men of Nineveh 'will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah' (Luke 11: 32). Jesus, on the other hand, was handed over to the Romans and crucified.

Yet the repentance of the people of Nineveh seems to have been short lived. In the book of Jonah we read that God decided to spare the city from the destruction he had threatened (Jonah 3:10). Yet in fact Nineveh was destroyed in 612BC by the Babylonians, and Jesus' contemporaries would have known this. This suggests that the conversion of Nineveh in response to Jonah's preaching was a superficial one: after their fast the people returned to their old ways. The city made outward gestures of sorrow for their sins, but did nothing to correct the injustice at the heart of their society and so eventually their sin destroyed them. True repentance, then, is not primarily about outward rituals but, as we read in today's psalm, a change of heart: 'my sacrifice a contrite spirit, a humbled contrite heart you will not spurn' (Psalm 50(51):19).

Yet if Nineveh's conversion was only superficial, why then will its people rise up and condemn Jesus' generation? The answer offered by Jesus is simple: 'something greater than Jonah is here' (Luke 11:32). Unlike Jonah, Jesus offers more than just a message of repentance or change, he also offers himself as the agent of that change. To be made just, to be justified, is to move away from sin and into a right relation with God. This is not something we can do by our own strength. The people of Nineveh could not 'earn' their salvation. Only God can heal the wounds of our sin. Justification comes, then, when we accept God's free gift of salvation. This free gift is offered to us in Christ. We use our Lenten observances, then, to remind ourselves that we depend on Christ alone: we must never fall into the trap of thinking that the observances themselves will save us.

Vocations day in Edinburgh

Those of you from the North of England and Scotland who follow Godzdogz may be interested to know that a day about the vocation of the Dominican Friar will be be held at the Priory of St. Albert the Great, Edinburgh on Saturday 2nd April, from 10.30am to 4.00pm.

The day is aimed at men aged 18-35, and will introduce the Dominican Order and give a snapshot of what life is like as a Dominican Friar. As you have seen from Godzdogz, the English Province is a vibrant and increasingly youthful group of men who live a common life of prayer and study, preaching the Gospel in many different ways. Come and see if God might be calling you to join in this work!

To find out more, or to book a place, email the vocations promoter (vocations.promoter@english.op.org). The closing date for booking a place is the 28th March.

Lent Week 1: Tuesday

Today's readings: Isaiah 55: 10-11; Psalm 34; Matthew 6: 7-15

We hear a lot at the beginning of Lent about fasting, almsgiving and prayer as the three practices which should mark this season. In the case of fasting and almsgiving, at least, it’s fairly obvious what they involve, though that doesn’t mean we don’t struggle to do them in the right way and with the right spirit. With prayer in particular, however, it can be very difficult to know if you’re doing it right, and thus very easy to get downhearted and give up trying.

Today’s readings, though, bring us right to the heart of the question. In the Gospel, Jesus himself says quite simply, ‘This is how you are to pray’ (Matthew 6:9) as he gives to the Church, through the Apostles, the Our Father. As St Augustine says, ‘if we pray rightly and fittingly, we can say nothing other than that which is found in the Lord’s Prayer.’

As we seek during this Lenten season to grow in prayer, let us ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to give us an ever greater insight into the prayer which Jesus taught us. Thus may we be ever more closely united with the prayer of Christ, which reached its consummation on the Cross. So united, we can be sure our prayer will “work”, for Christ is the word that goes forth from the mouth of the Lord, who ‘shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it’ (Isaiah 55:11).

Lent Week 1: Monday

Today's readings: Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18; Psalm 19:8-10, 15; Matthew 25:31-46

At times it can be hard to see the point of some of the commandments and exhortations within the Torah. It can seem strange to us that God would not want the people of Israel to wear mixed fibres, that wives had to stop their husbands fighting in a certain way (or else lose her hand), or that you could eat a locust but not a beetle. However in today's reading from Leviticus, God's commandments seem to be certainly within the realm of common sense. In fact it seems rather shocking that God would have to tell people not to bear false witness, to be honest in financial transactions or not to be frightful to the disabled. In the 18th-century Immanuel Kant would argue that this sort of behaviour was not only moral but reasonable. As we all know, however, humanity's fallen nature is inclined toward the sort of conduct forbidden by the laws in Leviticus.

This self-knowledge of the short-comings of fallen humanity make the prophecy of the final judgement given by Jesus in the Gospel of Mathew rather terrifying. As God is the source of justice, the verdict of Christ at the Second Coming will be perfectly fair. It will not be characterised by vengeance or hatred. It will be truly impartial. Nevertheless, we are fearful of God's judgement because we feel that we will fall short of the divine commands to visit the sick and the prisoner, to feed the hungry and to clothe the naked. We worry that our sinful inclinations will keep us below the bar, but that is the beauty and glory of the paschal mystery. Christ's death and resurrection allow us to go beyond the limitations of the Fall. Whilst our Jewish forebears were guided by the Law, we have the New Law of freedom written on our hearts. The season of Lent gives us time to examine ourselves and deepen our relationship with this true and perfect Law. When we do this we glimpse the face of Christ in all our brothers and sisters.

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First Sunday of Lent

Today's Readings: Genesis 2:7-9. 3:1-7; Psalm 50(51); Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11

“Support us, Lord, as with this Lenten fast we begin our Christian warfare, so that in doing battle against the spirit of evil we may be armed with the weapon of self-denial”. With this prayer on Ash Wednesday we began the holy season of Lent. Its military imagery is striking, and it is good to be reminded that we are all engaged in spiritual warfare. In fact, we are engaged in this every day of our Christian lives. The best tactic of the Enemy is to lull us into complacency so that we don’t even believe the war is on-going. But the Church stirs our souls, and strengthens us for battle during Lent, and she arms us with the weapons of prayer and self-denial.

The Enemy is not some vague notion of evil, or just our own weakness, or a psychological construct. Rather, the Devil is a real creature, his will fixed on evil and on thwarting God’s plan. As the Pope said in his Lenten Message this year, “the devil is at work and never tires – even today – of tempting whoever wishes to draw close to the Lord”. We can be sure that if he dares to tempt Christ that he will be even bolder in tempting us, but as the first reading says, Satan is “more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made”. So, we have to be vigilant. It’s also important to note that Satan is a creature, and therefore, subject to God. God allows us to be tempted - but never beyond our strength - so that we will be strengthened through temptation, and shame the Devil by showing him what victory grace can accomplish. In fact, Satan ordinarily only tempts us, and he can only succeed if we let him.

The first reading shows us how Satan works. He sows doubt about God’s command, making it seem unreasonable. He then lies, and directly contradicts God’s Word. Satan appeals to Man's pride, and makes God appear to be oppressive to the human spirit, an obstacle to Man’s greater good. All this is a lie, and contrary to the truth of who God is, and what he desires for us - our final good and salvation. Man then falls for the lie because the Devil has exploited some weakness in us: our desire for power, carnal pleasure, creature comforts; or pride, sense of dignity, or what we think we’re entitled to; rights without duties. Satan’s temptation only works if it is parasitic on some good; it has to be attractive to us in itself, and the Devil perverts whatever good we perceive to his own end, which is that we should rebel against God just as he did. So, Eve actually saw the forbidden fruit to be desirable, and thus she was seduced into believing that her desires overrode the wisdom of God. She stopped trusting in Him. Often Man believes that he knows better than God what is truly good for him. And moreover, having sinned, Man then leads others to sin; Eve shares the fruit with Adam. And then, they blame the Devil for their sin. But we can’t do that. Because although the Devil tempts us, he does not make us sin. Only we can choose to follow our misplaced desires, so the blame falls on us, and the Devil then becomes our Accuser, as he’s called in the book of the Apocalypse.

But Christ does not leave us accused and guilty. His Spirit pleads for us, as our advocate, and his grace is poured into our hearts to protect and strengthen us. So Lent is called a joyful time as we take up the weapons of prayer and self-denial so that we can turn towards God, and so be liberated from guilt and sin.

But first we have to be awakened to see what is happening, and today’s readings spell it out. There is a battle for our souls, and the Devil wants us to believe his lies, and follow whatever we desire. “Just indulge yourself”, we’re told, and there are so many ways to rationalize and justify giving in to our emotions and desires. Jesus was hungry and exhausted by the time the Devil tempted him in the desert, but he set his will on obeying God to the end. And that meant denying himself even what was his due; sacrificing genuinely good things, and mastering the will for the love of God. By his grace - and only through a humble reliance on God’s grace - we too can shame the Devil, and mortify the desires of the flesh and our proud willfulness. Then, having died with Christ, we can be certain on Easter day that God will raise us up with him too.