Fr. Bryan Shortall hails from Kilnamanagh, in West Dublin. He joined the Capuchins in 1987 and was ordained to the Priesthood in 1997. Bryan has also served in different ministries in the Order and the Archdiocese of Dublin. He is currently serving on the Chaplaincy Team in Beaumont Hospital. Bryan has a warm and energetic presence and gets on very easily with people from every walk of life. He has a gift for communicating with young people
Speaking notes at Conference 13th February 2010
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Theme: Getting back to Jesus?
The Father and I are one.
Getting back to Jesus is a task that shouldn’t be difficult. In fact it ought to be a labour of love. In the homily for the Inauguration of his Pontificate on October 22nd 1978, Pope John Paul the Great said; “Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power.” (See; Homily of His Holiness of Pope John Paul li for the Inauguration of his Pontificate. 22nd of October 1978. Online ) To me, this implies that the person of Jesus Christ is there. He is waiting for us to do just that. He never goes away; he never takes a holiday; he never takes a coffee break. When we feel far away from Jesus Christ, guess who moved!
So there is a constant invitation from Jesus Christ to come closer, closer still. The invitation spans through the centuries because Jesus wants to take us to the Father. During his public ministry Jesus is passionate about his relationship with the Father. In the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 14, Jesus spells out the intimate relationship that he has with the Father. This text may be familiar to you because it is often read at Funeral Masses;
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house there are many places to live in; I am going now to prepare a place for you. You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus said: I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.
Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? ‘ Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father, so how can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I say to you I do not speak of my own accord: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his works. You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe it on the evidence of these works. Whatever you ask in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth whom the world can never accept since it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he is with you, he is in you. ( See John 14 . Jerusalem Bible online)
The Holy Spirit
There is of course the reference to the Holy Spirit, and this is very important. God is a family. God is a Trinity of Persons. To draw close to Jesus, to get back to Jesus is to draw ourselves into the heart of God. The Holy Spirit is the greatest power on earth. The power of the Spirit is awesome. The power of the Holy Spirit is Love. The Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son made alive and living.
The Promised Saviour
Historically, we know that the Old Testament is the story of how God the Father enters into relationship with his people. It is the accounts of God’s covenant-deals with great figures like Abraham and his descendants and his pledge that; “I shall maintain my covenant between myself and you, and your descendants after you, generation after generation, as a covenant in perpetuity, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” (See Genesis 17: 7 Jerusalem Bible online ) Genesis 17:7. God gave his commandments to Moses in the book of Exodus Chapter 20. Time and again the people displayed their weakness in great and small ways and broke the covenants. It was necessary for God to enter directly into the lives of his people in a new and definitive way. The prophet Isaiah spoke of this in Isaiah Chapter 9: The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; on the inhabitants of a country in shadow dark as death, light has blazed forth. For a son has been born for us, a son has been given to us, and dominion has been laid on his shoulders; and this is the name he has been given, ‘Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace’ (ibid. Isaiah 9)
As we read the beginnings of the New Testament, especially in the Gospel of St. Luke we see how the time has come for the fulfilment of the promise and for the Messiah to come of Earth. God comes into the human story as a little baby and is born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem in fulfilment of the prophesies. Each of the Gospel accounts of Jesus is significant and opens our hearts to the Father’s love for us, and how he plays his part ultimately in this by being born to suffer and to die. From the very beginnings of the Gospel we see the life of Jesus as being a life which causes a stir. The promised Messiah is not going to be born in palatial surroundings but in poverty in a stable in Bethlehem because there is no room in the Inn.
The first people to hear about the birth and to come and worship him are those marginalised from the established Church; the shepherds and those who were way outside the pale of the orthodox Jewish family, foreigners from the East. Old Simeon says as much when Jesus is presented in the Temple; Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to the restoration of Israel and the Holy Spirit rested on him. He took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said: Now, Master, you are letting your servant go in peace as you promised; for my eyes have seen the salvation which you have made ready in the sight of the nations; a light of revelation for the gentiles and glory for your people Israel. As the child’s father and mother were wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Look, he is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is opposed- and a sword will pierce your soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare. Luke 2:25-32
Jesus – A Sign of Contradiction
In 1976, before he became Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow was asked by the then Pope, Paul VI to preach the annual Lenten Retreat to the Roman Curia. The sermons he preached before the elderly Paul VI and his closest collaborators were a reflection on the person of Jesus Christ The Light’ as Simeon pointed out. The Cardinal directs attention at Simeon who looked at this Jesus who was to be a sign to be rejected or a ‘sign of contradiction’ for the world.
He says;“Don’t these words, spoken at the sight of the little child, bring together in a wonderful synthesis all that has the most profound impact on us and unceasingly perturbs us? Are they not the sign of our own times, or at least the key to understanding the various symptoms displayed by modern life?” ( Sign of Contradiction. Karol Wojtyla. St. Pauls Publications. Middle green, Slough, U.K. 1979)
Wojtyla continues to reflect that as soon as Simeon finishes his prayer if you like he turns to Mary and Joseph and further prophesises that ‘A Sword will pierce your own Soul.’ ‘Mary will later understand the full implications of this prophesy.” For our time, this is saying that the choice for Christ is no soft option and that the living out of a life close to Christ is not without its demands and even pain.
All through the Gospels and the Act of the Apostles as they attempted to preach the Good News to all nations there are difficulties and pitfalls. Jesus comes up against the Jewish leaders who time and again try to catch him out. They seem to be lying in wait behind every corner hoping to snare him in the headlights. The thing is they don’t know him and they don’t want to know him. Their hearts are hard and they are filled up with jealousies that here is someone whose preaching is new because he preaches with authority. Jesus sets the people on fire with what he has to say. The message he preaches heals and gives dignity back. To the marginalised there are words of love and encouragement, to those in sorrow, joy. To the sick there is healing, to the blind, there is new sight. To the lame, there is power to walk again, to the sinner; there is forgiveness, not judgement. To the leper, there is cleansing, and to the dead, there is new life. The mission of Jesus Christ is opening up to all who all who want to accept it and this invitation is especially for the sinners and for those who regular society has written off.
Looking towards Jerusalem
The fulfilment of the mission and ministry of Jesus is in Jerusalem. It is in Jerusalem where Jesus gives his disciples his body and blood and where he is betrayed, arrested, tried, sentenced, scourged, and dies as a criminal a most grotesque and horrific way. All through his public ministry Jesus refers to the goal of his ministry; “The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes and to be put to death.” Luke 9: 22 “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me…” Luke 9: 23 “The son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men.” Luke 9: 44. His disciples don’t understand this. They need to be reminded, and their faith needs to be affirmed. They become afraid and they lose heart but there is a constant call to faith and to “Do not be afraid.”
The suffering and death of Jesus was also supposed to kill this new Christian movement. It was designed in such a way that the Jews wanted the Romans to believe that Jesus was a trouble maker and one who was bent on freeing Judea and Galilee from the grip of Rome and Caesar. Instead, the opposite happened. There was talk of Jesus being raised. The disciples found the tomb empty and they remembered what Jesus had said; “…and three days after he has been put to death he will rise again.” Mark 9: 31s He also promised an advocate, the Holy Spirit of truth to fill them full of power for the great mission they were to continue. (John 16: 5- 15)
The Business of the Gospel today
Two thousand years later, the mission of the disciples continues and the prophesies of Jesus Christ on the difficulties to be faced are more relevant in today’s Church. The vocation to follow Jesus Christ is no soft option and there is a cost for all of us. In the church of the twenty-first century we see how Jesus Christ and the message of the gospel continues to be a sign of contradiction for our time. The message of Jesus Christ is at variance with so many messages the world has to offer. When the world says you have to look pretty on the outside like the beautiful people in OK, Hello, and Vogue magazines, Jesus says No, It’s what is on the inside of the person that matters. When the world says become as powerful as possible, Jesus Christ says there’s strength in weakness. When the world says get rich quick, make millions, Jesus calls on us to offer our coat to the poor, and to be in solidarity with those who have nothing. When there is so much in the world and in Ireland about pro-death and ultra violence, gangland killings, and drugs related crime, Jesus Christ says life is precious and put down that gun, that bomb, that weapon! Pope John Paul II told us all his life about the dignity of the human person from conception to natural death. He wrote about a Gospel of Life, and the Splendour of Truth. As an old man, who couldn’t walk, and eventually couldn’t even talk, he showed us. And in 1981 after the attempt on his life, he spoke of the ‘brother’ who attacked him who he said he “sincerely pardoned.” This is the sign of contradiction and this is getting back to Jesus.
Sin
The task of getting back to Jesus implies that as a society, as a human race, and as a person, I have moved away. I have moved away from Jesus because I am a sinner. The very reason why Jesus came on earth at all was because I can’t do this thing by myself. I need Jesus to save me. I am selfish and therefore prone to sin, to turning away from God’s love in great and small ways.
All we have to do is look around today and we can see evidence of the fallout from sin. The train wreck that it has left behind. No need to labour on this for too long but north, south, east and west there we see the result of the selfishness of humankind. Two areas stand out in Ireland today more than ever before. While a part of Ireland has always been synonymous with violence for over thirty years, and people have died and suffered, thank God, this is over thanks to the political process. I’m not justifying murder for a moment but the violence that was done in the North primarily had at its heart a cause. The Good Friday agreement acknowledged this. Today, the violence, gun crime and murders on our streets have no cause. It is dreadful. Didn’t our hearts sink when we wake up and hear on the radio that someone else has been murdered?
The other area is Child Sexual Abuse. My God! What a mess! All right thinking people are sickened and angered by this most mortal of mortal sins. And this too has had a huge fall out spreading out over many years. Abusers are masters of disguise who seek to manipulate and to fool people. Any Bishop or Religious Superior could tell you horror stories of how they have had their hears broken by these men as they try to impose restrictions on them and remove them from ministry and send them for treatment. And so many lives have been ruined from an early age by these people. Jesus Christ is all loving and merciful but he is also a just God. And he warned those who seek to rob the innocence of a little child. Now we seem to see bishop against bishop in the confusion of how child protection principles are implemented.
It reminds me of the words Jesus spoke to Peter; ‘Simon, Simon! Look, Satan has got his wish to sift you all like wheat; but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail, and once you have recovered, you in your turn must strengthen your brothers.’ ‘Lord,’ he answered, I would be ready to go to prison with you, and to death.’ Jesus replied, ‘I tell you, Peter, by the time the cock crows today you will have denied three times that you know me.’ Luke 22: 31-34 Proof that even the bishops are only human and are fallible human beings. Trouble is, some of them don’t always see it this way. We pray for them this weekend as they gather with the Holy Father in Rome. I believe that Peter’s successor, Benedict XVI will ‘strengthen the brothers’
Mary – Who draws us to her Son.
We Irish have a special affection for our Blessed Lady. We love her under her many titles, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Our Lady of The Miraculous Medal, Our Lady, Mother of Mount Carmel, Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Knock. We go to her places of Pilgrimage. She has come to these places to bring people hope and consolation. She comes to us most importantly to bring us to her Son. This is the main task of Our Blessed Lady, to intercede for us with her Son.
Mary always said yes to God. And to great personal cost. While her Son hung on the cross on Good Friday, she was crucified with him every step of the way. At Cana at the famous wedding, she it was who urged her son to help to save the embarrassment of the bride and bridegroom when they ran out of wine. She said “Do whatever he tells you.” She says that to you and me today.
In the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, “Lumen Gentium” The Council Fathers at the Second Vatican Council wrote the last Chapter of that document about Mary. Some wondered why Mary should not have a document of her own. This was an act of the Holy Spirit. Mary’s rightful place is at the heart of her Son’s Church. She is the one who brings us to him. She knows him best. She works hand in hand with her son in our journey to heaven and our salvation. “In an utterly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Saviour’s work of restoring supernatural life to souls.” (The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. Chapter VIII, Section 3, Paragraph 61. The Documents of Vatican II. Walter M.Abbotts, SJ General Editor. Geoffrey Chapman, London, 1966,1972.)
Mary foresaw all this as she greeted her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country of Judah. Elizabeth, personally blessed at her own exciting news, was overjoyed to hear Mary’s greeting. Her unborn Son, John, pre-natally anticipated a role he would fulfil 30 years later also. Mary prayed that now world-famous Magnificat. “All generations will call me blessed.” “Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with Thee. Pray for us, sinners”.
The call to holiness
I remember hearing two people talking about what they wish for in a religious context; to be a good Christian was one answer. A good answer in fairness. The other said, don’t you wish to become a saint? Brilliant! We’re all called to sanctity. We’re all called to take our place among the communion of saints. In our time I believe that we have no one better to thank for this than Pope John Paul II. He beatified and canonized more saints than any of his predecessors. He did this because he felt strongly that all of humanity is called to sainthood and therefore it’s not an impossible dream.
In George Weigel’s book Witness to Hope -The Biography of Pope John Paul II we read;
The most visible expression of John Paul ll’s determination to remind the Church of the universal call to holiness has been his numerous beatifications and canonizations; 805 men and women were declared “Blessed” and 205 were declared saints in the first twenty years of the pontificate… The Church does not “make” saints nor does the pope. Through the teaching office of the papacy, the Chruch recognises the saints God has made. Karol Wojtyla had long been convinced that God is wonderfully profligate in making saints and that God’s saint making touches every vocation in the Church. Holiness in not the preserve of the clergy not is it reserved for monks and nuns…Holiness is every Christian’s baptismal vocation. (See Witness to Hope – The Biography of Pope John Paul II. HarperCollins, New York. Chapter 13, p446)
So there’s the call again. We’re all meant to be saints. You might say ‘me – a saint?’ No way, you must be joking. Sure I’m not worthy or I’m not like that. Thanks to John Paul II who knows, you could be looking at St. Bryan of Tallaght. Saints are not just the Little Flowers, or the St. Anthony’s or the St. Patrick’s or the St. Padre Pios. No, saints are people from the factory, or the fields, the fishing boats, and the professions. Saints are Gardai, teachers, bank managers, and bishops. The woman in the queue at the checkout at Dunnes could be a saint or the man having a pint in the local pub could be one too. You could be someone somebody calls a saint and you don’t even realise it, but then the famous saints didn’t realise it either.
The business of sanctity is everyone’s business. Especially in a world in bad need of healing. Particularly in a world where we’re rediscovering the need for excellence and a new professionalism in all we do. Where new guidelines are being drawn up and where we’re all called to account more and more. And it’s hard work, but the saint is just the sinner who never stopped trying. That all Jesus Christ wants from me and you, to keep at it. And if all of us made a sincere effort to be more saintly, not pious or ‘holy Joe’ but holy, day by day the world would be a better place.
The presence of Jesus in our lives today
At the top of this paper, I mentioned that Jesus is very near and accessible for all who wish to draw close to him. He reminds us that “No one can come to the Father, except by me.” (John 14: 6) There is an open invitation into the heart of Jesus. As a Church we have a way par excellence in which to draw close to the Lord Jesus.
The Mass. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we come right into the presence of Jesus Christ in the Gospels and in the Holy Eucharist. In the Gospel, Jesus is alive in his Word. Pope John Paul II speaking to the Seminarians in Maynooth on October 1st 1979 says; “The Word of God is the great treasure of your lives. Through the word of God you will come to a deep knowledge of the mystery of Jesus Christ, Son of God and son of Mary…. The word of God is worthy of all your efforts.” (A Priest Forever. Pope John Paul II. St. Paul Publications. Dublin (Address to Seminarians, Maynooth. 1979.)
The Scriptures, the Gospels are the written word of God. What comes down to us is given life by the Holy Spirit. It is not dead words. It is alive. It inspires, it teaches, it consoles, it heals, it cheers us up. It Challenges. It is that alive and living that as Archbishop Fulton Sheen said; if you cut the page, blood will flow, not ink. That is why the Book of the Gospels is reserved on the Ambo and open. It is brought up in the procession and it is incensed, reverenced and kissed because it is the presence of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Eucharist is the living, breathing, and life giving Real Presence of Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus is actually present in the Tabernacle. His body is reserved there and it is a living body. At Mass, when the bread and wine, simple gifts are consecrated, they are changed. It is no longer bread and wine. It is the living presence of Jesus. Live and in colour as they say. It is the mystery of Faith. It is not holy bread. It is holy, sure. But it is not Bread. It is not wine. The priest does not drink wine at Mass. He drinks blood. Jesus promised that he would never leave us. At the Last Supper he promised that; “I shall not leave you orphans; I shall come to you.” John 14: 18 at the end of the Gospel of St. Matthew he said; “And Look, I am with you always, yes, to the end of time.” Matt. 28:20
John Paul II writes in his 1986 Encyclical “Dominium ET Vivicantem”;
” This new coming of Christ by the Power of the Holy Spirit and his constant presence are accomplished sacramentally. The departure and the coming of Christ are most completely expressed in the Eucharist. It is through the Eucharist that individuals and communities are strengthened.” (See John Paul II. The Encyclicals in Everyday Language. Joseph G.Donders. Editor. Orbis Books, Mary knoll. New York. 1996, 2001)
Having all the above as part of our lives are strong ways of getting back to Jesus. Praying to the Lord through the Saints is getting back to Jesus. By living good lives, and living by good example is getting back to Jesus. Coming to Jesus through Mary is getting back to Jesus. And drawing close to him through the Sacraments is the best way. Getting back to Jesus isn’t hard. By and large we’re all doing well. We’re probably doing better spiritually than we’d admit. We’re the apples of Jesus’s eye. He loves us. Most of us love our neighbour, or at least we’d be there for them. That’s the most important thing. Loving our neighbour, and loving ourselves, because we’re made in God’s image and likeness and therefore we deserve respect and to respect ourselvesThe Golden rule common to all major religions; Treat others as you would like them to treat you.
And thats it, thats getting back to Jesus. Course, if you feel far away from Jesus, guess who moved!!!!!
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Questions Set by Father Shorthall and Answers made with the Audience