16 Mar 2019
Gospel Reflection
Reflection & Dialogue:
We preach the Gospel not to please mortals, but to please God.
The Gospel (Luke 10:1-12, 17-20):
Eternal voices: Christ, Peter, Patrick.
Messages for St Patrick’s Day.
On this feast of our national apostle, there are many voices inviting us to listen. It is Christ himself who speaks when Holy Scripture is read in the church, and this voice is addressing Church authorities and all of us through the prophet Amos: “Go and preach to my people,” preaching to all to be faithful to the covenant, to the teaching of Christ and his Church. The voice of Paul reminds us that there will always be accusations (not all of them true), difficulties and obstacles to the preaching of the Gospel message. The voice of Paul also reminds us of the need of honesty and transparency for all involved in teaching the Christian message. Then we are reminded of the “voice of the Irish” to Patrick to return to Ireland and walk again among its people. His voice and his prayer for our fidelity are still with us. Then we have the voice of Jesus concerning Peter to have confidence, since his Saviour has prayed for him that his faith may not fail, but that he might confirm his brothers and sisters in this faith.
And now, as we have a call for a new evangelization, we have the successors of Peter, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, gently, but firmly, calling on the Church to return to her true self. Shortly before he retired, Pope Benedict XVI reminded the Church that while she was in this world she was not of this world. In his very first days in office, Pope Francis has called on the Church to be faithful to her true self, and called on believers help facilitate a spiritual renewal or face the possibility of the Church being considered a compassionate, pitiful, NGO. Of course, it is not that the Church is not concerned about such work; it is central to her mission. But her fundamental call is her relation to Christ her founder, and participation in his sufferings and resurrection.
It is hoped that reflections such as these may help on this feast of our national patron, to revive the fervour of the faith he preached and lived. As he tells us in his Confession, St Patrick prayed that God may grant that he may never lose the Irish people which God possessed for himself at the ends of the earth. In this time of great danger for the faith in Ireland, let us pray to God, through the intercession of our National Apostles, that this may be so.
Fr Martin McNamara MSC