God really does love us (a homily on today's Gospel from the late Bishop Joe Grech)

Fifteen months ago, the death occurred of the Most Rev'd Joe Grech, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst in rural Victoria, Australia. He was a Spirit-filled preacher of the Gospel and a real pastor to his people, especially the young. Go HERE to find out more about him. 

What follows is his homily for this Fourth Sunday of Lent, preached back in 2009. It is from the Diocese of Sandhurst website.

About two weeks ago I had a very difficult funeral. A young man, thirty seven years of age died as a consequence of a suspected suicide. He left behind a wife and a beautiful eight year old daughter. As I was facing the large congregation I kept saying to myself “What can I say to these people today?” From a human point of view there was nothing good about what had occurred. People were stunned and perplexed. I am sure that many, especially those closest to him could not understand why this thing had to happen. I am sure that they had many questions lurking in their minds for which answers were very difficult to find. Definitely my intention was not to judge but somehow to read that situation from a very different angle, the angle of faith. 

As I was thinking this way, the words that Jesus said to Nicodemus in today’s gospel suddenly flashed in my mind. “Yes God loved the world so much that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not be lost but may have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). Yes, it was a tragedy. Yes it would have been better if that young man was still alive. Yes it would have been great for his wife and child to keep enjoying the company and the presence of a husband and a father. Yet the reality was different. However, even though what happened was tragic, God because of his amazing care and affection, was still saying to that young man and to all of us “Hey not all is lost. I still care. Irrespective of whatever happened this is still my beloved son. I care about him. Trust me”. Our God indeed can turn what seems to be tragedies into triumphs. 

There is another addition to this situation. When I was sharing these thoughts with those present, I also challenged myself and everybody present to think about where our life is going. Whether we are walking close with our God or whether God is distant. I asked everyone including myself to make a decision while we still can reason a bit clearly to draw closer to our God because after all, at the end of our lives what matters is our relationship with Jesus Christ who is passionately in love with us. I am still today receiving emails from those who were present at this funeral sharing about their life situations and asking how they can move into a closer relationship with our God. Yes indeed many were touched that day by the mercy and the constant love of our God. 

True, sometimes we are caught in a situation of darkness. It is very difficult at times to break from our own circles of sadness and difficulties on our own. We long for the light to live in peace and tranquillity yet we very often find ourselves caught in situations where we cannot even see the possibility of how we can move forward. This is where Jesus comes in. 

There is a reading from the gospel of St John that we often hear proclaimed during funerals. “There are many rooms in my Father’s house; if there were not, I would have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am you may be too” (Jn 14:2-3). I have often stopped and reflected where is the Father’s house which Jesus was referring too? Yes we have always been told that this refers to heaven. That is correct. However, there is also another place where we can find the Father’s house and that is in our hearts. We believe that the life giving presence of our God is also found in our hearts because of our baptism and confirmation. 

In our hearts, there are indeed many rooms. We are happy with many of these rooms. We do not find it difficult to enter some of these rooms. We feel at home. The doors are wide open, the blinds are up, the windows are open and we feel quite contented in these rooms. 

However, there are other rooms in our hearts where the doors are closed; where we are very uncomfortable as we approach these rooms. The doors to these rooms are locked very tightly. The blinds are down, the windows are closed and darkness pervades. At times we pretend that these rooms do not exist. However, it only takes a simple incident, or meeting with someone whom we have not seen for a long time or a word that someone says to us to make us realise very vividly that these closed rooms are very much real. 

What are we going to do? Once again this is where Jesus comes in. “Jesus here I am. You know the situation that I am in. I cannot continue to live in the midst of these locked rooms because I need to live in peace and tranquillity. So Lord take my hand and you help me to put my hand on the door handle and you help me turn that handle and you help me open these doors. I cannot do it on my own. Help me to put on the lights. Help me to draw these blinds up. Help me top open the windows, help me to let the fresh air in. Help me to overcome my fear. Help me to be at peace in whatever situation I find myself in because I know that you are always with me”. 

Even if our faith is very small and minute it does not matter. Let us use whatever faith we possess and it will grow. The real tragedy is not that we have to face at times difficult and agonizing moments in our lives. The tragedy is when we think or when we decide that we can face these situations on our own. With Jesus there is always a way forward. Thank God for our faith. Amen.

Bishop Joe Grech (1948 - 2010) - an anointed servant of the Lord

I have only just heard from Australia that the Most Reverend Joe Grech, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst, died in Melbourne on Tuesday (28th December) after the recurrence of a blood disorder. He was aged 62. Bishop Joe was an amazing man with whom I was privileged to share a number of times many years ago in the context of charismatic renewal. His ministry was one which brought countless young people to the Lord, and the means by which people of all ages experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Joseph Angelo Grech was born in Malta on December 10 1948. He began his studies for the priesthood in Malta, and then arrived in Australia in 1971. At the completion of his theological studies in Melbourne he was ordained a priest and served a number of parishes. The Archbishop of Melbourne sent him to study Spirituality at the Gregorian University, Rome, and on his return to Australia he became full time chaplain to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and then spiritual director to Corpus Christi College (the Victorian provincial seminary).

Father Joe was appointed Auxiliary Bishop in Melbourne by Pope John Paul II. He was consecrated in Patrick's Cathedral on 10 February 1999 by Archbishop George Pell, and served in the western suburbs of the Archdiocese. In 2001 he became Bishop of Sandhurst - based in Bendigo.

"Passionate" is an adjective that occurs often in the various obituaries published so far. And he was. Whether he was preaching to a large charismatic rally, celebrating Mass, conducting retreats for priests and religious, evangelizing and nurturing the faith of young people, or advocating justice and proper care for refugees and migrants, his personal warmth and enthusiasm was a means of drawing many closer to the Lord.

As a tribute to Bishop Joe, here is the last Pentecost homily he preached, taken from the diocesan website.

BISHOP JOE GRECH ON 
THE MIRACLE OF PENTECOST

The Greek word "pente" means fifty. This helps us to understand what the word "Pentecost" means. It is an important event which happened fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus. This feast has important significance for the Jewish people. They saw Pentecost as the feast of the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. For us as Christians, this feast marks the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus when he promised to send his Holy Spirit on his disciples so that they would continue their mission.

Something very dramatic happened on this day. We are very well aware that the twelve with others which also included Mary, our Blessed Mother were enclosed in this room. There were one hundred and twenty present. They were very much in a confused state of mind. Jesus was gone. They invested so much time and hope in him and now it seemed that everything was evaporating in the air. It is true that he made many promises to them. Yet they could not fathom how these promises were going to become a reality. Moreover they were very scared. They were afraid that what happened to Jesus on the cross could easily happen to them. In the midst of this state of uncertainty and deep anxiety, they experienced the power of the Holy Spirit and they were literally transformed. It is enough to have a look at what happened to Peter. Peter was so scared during the passion of Jesus that he denied Jesus three times. However as a result of what happened on this day, he became courageous enough to speak boldly about Jesus and this resulted in many becoming believers. This is how the missionary activity of the church started. Moreover the other disciples continued the mission of Jesus with a certain confidence reaching far distant lands and many of them died as martyrs.

This is all wonderful. However what does all of this have to do with us today? All of us as baptized and confirmed, have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within us. We are totally immersed in the life giving Spirit of the Resurrected Jesus. What does this entail? St. Paul gives us a comprehensive explanation. In his first letter to the Christian community in Corinth a city which still exists today in Greece, he speaks about the variety of the gifts of the Spirit. In chapter twelve, he says that the Holy Spirit gives to us wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy and tongues. Wow . . . we are indeed powerful people. However St Paul also insists that all these gifts are for the benefit of helping others, for building the community of the church.

I would like to speak briefly about two of these gifts, wisdom and healing. The gift of wisdom does not mean that we would be able to know everything and have a solution for everything. It rather means to evaluate the situations which we are facing with the mind and heart of God. My grandma had ten children. During the Second World War, Malta was one of the most bombed places in the world. Some protection was made available to the population by building shelters under the main streets and each family was allotted a bit of space. One can only imagine the fear and anxiety of the people in these dire situations. One day I asked my grandma, "How did you survive all of this day after day with all those children crammed into this little space?" She said to me, "I did my best and God did the rest". What wisdom. I always remember these words especially when I have to face tough decisions. I am sure that many of us can relate to similar situations when we found courage to face difficult situations or when we were able to find the right words for the benefit of others.

The same thing can be said regarding the gift of healing. All of us need healing. Some of us need physical healing while others need emotional or spiritual healing. We are all called and gifted to bring healing to one another. This can be done in various ways. We can pray for the person concerned with the conviction that God desires to do the best for all of us. However there are also other ways. This week I came across these wonderful experiences.

In the Diocese we have the beautiful custom of having prayer partners to the children who will be receiving the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion. Members of the parish community are assigned to pray for a young person as they prepare themselves to receive these sacraments. The wife of one of the parish people involved died recently and as you would imagine he was feeling terrible down. He was finding it very hard to cope with life in general. There was always this great void in his heart after losing a great companion, friend and wife. One day he received a little note from the young boy who he was praying for. In this note the young boy wrote this "Thanks for your prayers, I pray for you too especially I pray for peace". That little note brought great joy and hope to the person concerned. Moreover he also felt the tangible presence of our God in this moment of great need.

Not so long ago, I heard someone telling this story. I was on a weekend of prayer and reflection and I met this person who shared with me her difficult life having gone through the experience of a broken marriage and the death of a son. Moreover, she spoke about forgiveness. She said that when we forgive, sometimes things get better while at other times they do not. However, the main thing is to forgive. While I was thinking and reflecting on this I realised that I have been paralysed by a very damaging situation for forty years. I found the necessary courage after all these years to be able to face squarely that situation and also to forgive. That woman by sharing her brokenness was able to help someone else to find life, to find peace. Indeed we can do a lot of good because of the presence of the Holy Spirit within us. Let us today thank God for these gifts and take every opportunity to do good knowing that even the smallest gesture of kindness can be the moment of grace to others.