Homilies by Revd George Kingsnorth (Deacon)

We can be the light in the darkness.

Homily
5th Sunday of Ordinary Time
4th February 2023
Isaiah 58:7-10
Psalm 111(112):4-9
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Matthew 5:13-16
As part of my studies, I'm reading a book called Everyday with Jesus, which provides an Old Testament reading a psalm, a proverb, and the New Testament reading for each day so that you can read the Bible in a year. So far, I've done over 318 days of reading as I prepare myself to write this week's homily. I was struck by the theme in today's readings about how to follow Jesus.
Having faith and doing the good asks of us. We can be the light in the darkness to help guide others. In my daily readings, as he talks about the Word of God coming to him to say an end, the end has come on the four corners of the earth. God is angry with what humans are doing on the Earth, especially in Jerusalem at that time.
The people in this city were practicing various evil rites in secret and assuming God didn't know they were in the darkness. But the light reveals all. God says humans deceive themselves into thinking they can get away with praying and worshiping other gods. I think God has done for them. They turned away from and rebelled to do things God considered to be perverse and profane.
Time and time again, God had tried to bring them to what is good, but many turned away and did what was bad by going their own way, doing their will, not God's will. When we humans go our own way, we always get it wrong and become destructive. However, even when God's patience has run out and it takes a lot for his patience to run out and he becomes angry, he is still prepared to save those who struggle with what they see as detestable to God.
So before God sent out his punishment to those who have abandoned him, he sent the man clothed in linen, carrying writing equipment to pass through the city of Jerusalem and to put a mark on the foreheads of the people who signed and groaned over the detestable practices being committed in that city. Then, when God orders those standing by to punish the rebels, he told them to spare those with the mark so they could be saved.
This reminds me of Passover when the Israelites painted their door frames with the blood of lambs so that God would pass over those houses when He punished the Egyptians. As described in the Book of Exodus, both in Exodus and Ezekiel, the people who put their faith and trust in God had nothing to fear. They were saved. In Paul's letter to the Hebrews, he encourages us to endure and be confident that by following God's will, we will receive what he has promised.
Paul tells us that Enoch was taken up into heaven because he pleased God. So Enoch did not suffer death. As Catholics, we believe our lady, who was full of grace, was rewarded the same as Enoch and did not die through faith. Noah built an ark that saved a chosen few. Abraham was promised a nation would be born from his line.
And his wife, Sarah, though old and barren, received God's gift to conceive a child. Abraham and Sarah's children would, through the generations, produce offspring as numerous as the stars. Through our own actions, Isaiah tells us that the light within us will shine through the darkness, especially when we share with struggling strangers our food and provide them with shelter and clothing.
This is how we glorify the Lord with our lives. This is echoed in this week's Psalm. Some pause letter to the Corinthians encourages us not to rely on human philosophy, but to be guided by the Holy Spirit in all we do. By learning about Jesus, his life, his death on the cross and resurrection, we have all we need to defend ourselves against the persecutions of this world.
We can proclaim the mystery of faith by saying, Save us savior of the world for by your cross and resurrection. You have set us free. Jesus tells us in Matthew's Gospel, we are the salt of the earth, but must not lose our faith. Otherwise we become tasteless, good for nothing, and can only be thrown away. He also reminds us We are the light of the world and nothing can be hidden When we turn our lights on at home at night time.
We do so to see everything around us. It would be nonsense to cover the light because then no one could see. No, We are to be the light of the world so that other people can see what good works are through our faith in the Lord and how this motivates us to work for the good of others. We are giving praise to our father in Heaven.
Through our actions, we proclaim our faith in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Through baptism, we have been given God's indelible mark of salvation, and we are encouraged to keep the light within us bright. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have been born again. What the Scripture tells us is that because of our faith and trust in God, we have been saved.
We have nothing to worry about. When the day of judgment comes, if your mind is in doubt and you have questions, put your trust in Jesus as he says, repent and be saved. Go to Him and tell him your troubles. No. That where two or more are gathered in his name, he will be there with you. So in confession, by talking to a priest, you are guaranteed that Jesus is there with you.
And we have a forgiving God who loves us. He will keep you safe. Amen.
 

We are struggling in a world that seems bleak and dark.

Homily for 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time
29th January 2023
Zephaniah 2:3,3:12-13
Psalm  145(146):6-10
1 Corinthians  1:26-31
Matthew 5:1-12a
The theme this week in the readings is about who our God's chosen. Many of us listening to the readings will probably say that we are poor in spirit. We are struggling in a world that seems bleak and dark. But Jesus said to those gathered around him, How happy are the poor of spirit? For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
I was born in 1962, and those of you who remember your history well know on the 13th of October 1962, everybody was in a state of fear due to the Cuban Missile Crisis. A U-2 spy plane had flown over Cuba, taking photographs showing the Soviets were building nuclear missiles on the island. The US President, John F Kennedy placed a naval blockade around Cuba and demanded any missiles on the island to be removed.
It was quite tense as the planet waited to see how Nikita Khrushchev would respond. Negotiations went on and secretly the Americans agreed to remove missiles they had in Turkey, and Khrushchev had the Cuban missiles removed. But this was the beginning of the nuclear arms race. That was scary. I remember parents were worried about bringing children up into a world like this.
The population of the planet in 1962 was 3.1 billion. Today, there are over 8 billion people living on this planet. You may be surprised to know, according to the United Nations projections, the peak of human population will reach 10.34 billion people by 2086, and then the numbers will start to decline. If I reach that point, I will be 126 years old and would be four years older than Jean Clement, who was 122 when she died in 1997.
The eldest person on record. However, being a man, the odds are against me living anywhere near that. But you can dream. In our world, it seems to be all about the numbers. Who has the most can influence what happens. At least that is worldly thinking. How many billionaires do you think there are in the world? According to Forbes, last year, there was just 2668.
That is around just 0.00003% of the current global population. Currently, they own $12.7 trillion. That is 12 with 18 zeroes after it. In 2021, the world gross domestic product was $96.1 trillion, of which the United States GDP was $19.5 trillion and China's was $12.2 trillion. So the richest people on the planet own more than China can produce in a year.
Wow. Amazing. Yes. In the eyes of the world. However simple asks how many of us, when we were called by God, were influences or came from noble families? And he would expect us to say none. Those who consider themselves to be wise using human reckoning are not the ones God is looking for. They have their price from God's perspective.
This small group of people have nothing to boast about. The ones that God has chosen to be made members of Christ Jesus. Are you. God has made Jesus our wisdom, our virtue, our holiness and our freedom. Zephaniah tells us to seek the Lord. All of us who are humble on Earth, who obey God's commands, to be honest, to have strong moral principles and see ourselves as being less important.
Because those God finds to be this way will find shelter on the day the Lord is angry. Last Friday was Holocaust Memorial Day 2023, and the theme was Ordinary People. What was being highlighted was that ordinary people turned a blind eye and believe the propaganda and facilitated other ordinary people being murdered by influential regimes that have at various times dominated not only the Nazis in the 20th century, but places such as Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and even today in Ukraine, the Middle East and other hotspots throughout the Bible.
There are many similar stories where when the Israelites followed their own path and turned from God, similar atrocities occurred. Those who stood up against the perpetrators were often in prison or lost their lives. The same as Paul Saint Peter and Saint Stephen. It is not hard to look about the world we live in from a Christian perspective to see how harsh things appear and why God might be angry.
The influences encourage us to think only of ourselves, but God wants us to think of others and how we can help as ordinary people. We can take extraordinary actions by being honest, merciful, to challenge abuses and perpetrators. We can be kind to others and help seek justice and satisfaction for those who are less able. We should not judge, especially when we do not have the whole picture.
We all need help at some point or other. Those of us who are faithful in confessing Christ Jesus as our Lord are often ridiculed, abused and persecuted for having such faith. But Jesus tells us to be happy and to rejoice because we will be given a great reward in heaven.
 

In the darkness, once the light comes on we can see more clearly.

Homily for 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
22nd January 2023
First Reading:      Isaiah 8:23-9:3
Psalm                    26(27):1,4,13-14
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:10-13,17
Gospel:                 Matthew 4:12-23
The theme for this week is “the people who lived in darkness have seen a great light”. Isaiah talks about this, and his words are read by Jesus in the synagogue before he begins to preach the message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand”.
We live in a time where there seems to be much darkness. Doom and gloom. Our phones keep on pinging with notifications demanding our urgent attention and like drug addicts, we hastily drop everything to get our latest fix. Then, before we know it, we have lost track of time in our distraction forgetting what it was we were doing in the first place. Ding. Another notification draws us back into that cycle once more. It is hard to break the habit.
But that’s the point. This technology has been designed for the psychological behaviours associated with drug abuse and gambling addiction. It is deliberate. I know of many people who have taken themselves off social media because they found themselves becoming anti-social. One of the appeals of becoming a Deacon was it gave me an opportunity to get away from the computer, and now away from the mobile. It gave me a break to meet real people. Much more fun.
YouTube allows me to publish my work. It is a platform I can enjoy searching for full-length documentaries to watch. Yet, if you believe the hype around social media, we have an attention span of about 3 seconds. One thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand. That’s three seconds.
In journalism, you are taught three words equals one second. You have just nine words to express yourself. That’s because if this was a video that comes in your social media stream, that’s about as much time I would get before the Mighty Thumb would scroll past, onto the next blur of information. That quickly. If you think about how much data you have flicked through in the last week can you remember what you saw or who it was from?
A big issue currently is people forgetting things. It is not just those who have seen a few score years behind us, multiples of twenty. Even teenagers are struggling to concentrate and retain information because of constant distractions. Ding, another notification draws us away from what is important.
A recent video I watched was of an artist. She developed her skills as an illustrator using traditional techniques. It takes a lot of time to build up such skills, years of practice and experimentation.
She had been encouraged to set up her business to use social media. She found she had less time to develop her art. In fact, she was being encouraged to constantly produce content to feed the social media streams to make her presence known.
The problem was, the more she did social media the less money she got producing free content. She also met fewer people, real people she could talk to, person to person. She felt quite isolated.
About three years ago, she decided to stop using social media and put all her effort into her illustrations. Her art got better. She went out more and met real people because she had time to do so, helping with her mental and physical well-being. Through word-of-mouth, people got to know her, and her social skills developed. She had come out of the darkness and into the light.
My job in television was as a video editor. What people got to see on television was about 1/10th of the material that had been filmed for the programme. Social Media Content is the same. It is the best part of people’s lives. Just moments in their life. Not everything. The problem is that if we get hooked on constantly watching such content we can very quickly become disillusioned with our own lives. The reality is that our own lives are just as amazing as all those around us. We do not have to constantly get approval.
In the darkness, we grope around aimlessly trying to find our way but once the light comes on, we can see more clearly. This is where we need to let the light of Jesus come into our lives as he accepts us for who we are just as we are. He wants to get to know us, especially when we can find the time to be still in prayer or simply to be still and listen. We need to stop looking inwards at the darkness and start looking outwards at the light. We must simplify things and make life easier for ourselves.
Perhaps we need to look at our lives and see what harm is being done to us in the way we think, and what we do with all the things we have around us. Perhaps once we recognise, we have more to give by being with other people and not constantly worrying about what they think of us, we can have a happier life.
It is only when we can accept that there is something wrong in our lives that we can focus and put in the effort needed to make things right. And we do not need to do this on our own. In fact, we are encouraged not to but to be more social and interact with people in person and to drop the media part out of it. It’s time to remember: “The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light”. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand”.

God’s Chosen One

Homily for 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday 15th January 2023
First Reading:      Isaiah 49:3,5-6 Psalm  39(40):2,4,7-10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
Gospel:                 John 1:29-34
Last week for the feast of The Baptism of the Lord, we were told the story of Jesus’s Baptism from the Gospel of Matthew. Today, we are presented with the Gospel of John, where John the Baptist sees Jesus coming towards him from far off. He is excited to see the Lamb of God approaching. John exclaims that though he came to baptise with water he had been told, by the one who sent him, he would see the Spirit come down and rest on the Lamb of God, and this man, Jesus, would baptise with the Holy Spirit. John knew from this point onwards he would need to step aside, because the one who was greater than he had arrived, God’s Chosen One.
There is a sense from the way John expresses himself on seeing Jesus approaching that he is relieved. His responsibilities are coming to an end. The following day, when John saw Jesus passing, he again declared “Look, there is the lamb of God”. Two of John’s disciples straight away follow Jesus to see where he lived. Jesus told them to “Come and see”, so they did and stayed with him until late that night. One of them was Andrew, brother of Simon Peter.
Today, if you were an adult wishing to become part of the Catholic Church you would need to go through a programme of instruction which allows you to see what Church life is about and the responsibilities you are taking onboard to become a member of the Church. Depending on whether you are from another Christian denomination or a non-Christian, you may find the programme takes up to a year or so. Quite a commitment.
As a young man, I found myself on such a journey. It required patience but it also gave me a chance to explore what the Catholic Church was and what the Church, the Body of Christ, believed. Much of what was covered I was very familiar with, coming from the Church of England. But for many concepts of Christianity maybe quite alien to them. Part of the journey is to discover why you want to be a Catholic Christian? The other is to ensure you are not being coerced into a decision against your will. This is like the journey of formation undertaken to become a Deacon and a Priest.
As a Deacon, I now have the privilege of Baptising Children. In many ways, it is important that parents and godparents know the responsibilities they are taking on. They are promising to bring the child up in the faith, to keep God’s commandments as taught by Jesus, to love God and our neighbours. And before they get to say ‘We do’, I have to clarify that they clearly understand what they are undertaking, both the parents and the godparents.
There are then some prayers on intercession, followed by prayer of Exorcism and anointing before baptism. A blessing and invocation of God over the Baptismal water is said.
Before the baptism takes place both parents and godparents must renounce sin and profess their faith. They are asked to be constant in their care of the child so that he or she will practice the faith and be kept away from the poison of sin, so their faith will grow strong in their heart. Then the parents and godparent as ask if their Faith is strong to renew the Vow made during their own Baptism and again at Confirmation. Then they are asked if the reject Satan, all his empty works and all his empty promises. Once they say I do, they are asked if they believe in the creed of our Church, usually the Apostle’s Creed.
At this point the parents, godparents and celebrant move to the font. Again, the child’s parents and godparents are asked if they would like the child Baptised into the Faith of the Church? By responding “It is”, the baptism ceremony is performed with running water poured onto the child’s forehead, as the priest or deacon says these exact words, “I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”.
In this simple act, the indelible mark of baptism has been placed on the child, who has become one of God’s Chosen Ones. The Holy Spirit descends on them, and they become sharers in God’s life. Like their parents and godparent, the child will be asked to take on the responsibilities assigned to us by God. These tasks include removing sin from our world, to be apostles of light to all nations and to bring salvation to the entire world.
Quite a lot of responsibility, which many might want to run away from or pass on to those we believe to be more qualified. The point is, we are not to think we must do this alone. We are a Church, a body of people who equally have responsibility to help one another, so the burden becomes lighter, not heavier. We will get things wrong but if we share our experiences as they have been taught to each other of us, we can help make the vision clearer, especially in how we have experienced forgiveness of ourselves and to others. We can share how we have received the Good News and help bring others into the presence of the living God.

New opportunities seemed to be ahead.

Homily
The Baptism of Our Lord
8th January 2023
34 years ago today, our first child was baptized. He had only been born about Christmas. It has seemed a bright time for us as a family, finding ourselves moving to England the summer before to a city full of churches. New opportunities seemed to be ahead. Then we discovered that a lot of churches have been turned into carpet shops and only facades remained.
I found the city to be quite strange. Whereas in Ireland, everyone had been most welcoming and would quite often call my name way off down the road to see how I was doing. I make me feel extremely welcome. This city seemed a bit cold. People working with me in the office ignored me in the street, even if I was passing them on the same path.
It was a different culture and I'd become used to another way of thinking. Thankfully, it wasn't long before we found the opportunity to move back to Belfast, where we found ourselves feeling more comfortable. I though telling people in England back then this story would consider me to be mad. How on earth could you feel safe in a place that seemed to be pulling itself apart?
The reality was that everyone outside the Troubles of Belfast were being influenced by a very dark picture, the worst possible because that is all they saw on their televisions or heard on the radios. To be truthful, so did I. I worked in television and the news was shooting a funeral, A shooting, a funeral. A bombing and so on.
It was constant. But what I also experience was some amazing people who always looked after me and made me feel welcome. These were not the media folk, although they were good, but people in the black taxi going up the Falls Road or people in the shops or visiting families of friends and relatives. My wife always made a pot of tea and gave me a plate of scones with thick layer of butter and jam and another packed full of sandwiches.
You could not say no because you would offend them. These people, ordinary people from both sides of the community, always made me feel at home no matter what they were doing. They stopped and gave me their time. Some of the longest friendships in my life have come from back then. I might return from that English trip. I no longer worked in television but did more freelancing and again experienced the warmth of the people and how they welcomed me.
Yes, I still witnessed the hardship people went through with the troubles and with life in general, but it seemed to be easier to see where the hotspots might be or then again, perhaps the truth is that as my faith as a Catholic was developing, the Holy Spirit was guiding me out of the darkness and towards the light. I had made a conscious effort to practice as a Christian.
I don't mean just going to church every Sunday, but to see if I could live what the Gospel asked us to do. As it tells us that the law calls us to serve the cause of light, that he will open the eyes of the blind, free the captives from their prisons, and those who find themselves living in dark dungeons.
We all have to discover what we are blind to so we can be brought into the light. What are our dungeons or prisons as we each have one in some form or another? They could simply be finding ourselves trapped in a job that does not allow us to see our full capabilities. Often this is due to relationships that have developed.
Perhaps a relationship that is not working properly is the one we have with Jesus. Perhaps we have gone astray and do not realize we have done so. And this is why our lives seem strained in some way. Only we ourselves know the truth about that. And it's worth finding out for our own peace of mind. We live in a world that wants to take the words of Jesus out of the picture.
When we see this happening. We know that is when we need to find out more about what Jesus actually said by turning to our Bibles. Most of what people think is in the Bible is not quite right, and so it is worth exploring on a regular basis. In fact, the stories can be quite a page-turner, but many popular fiction would be hard-pressed to rival.
The Bible. Is a book worth getting to know. And as you read it, let the Holy Spirit guide you. Your world will be brighter for it. John was reluctant to baptize Jesus feeling he was not worthy. But Jesus encouraged his cousin to carry on as normal as it was fitting that they should. When John saw Jesus come up out of the River Jordan after being baptized, John's eyes were open to see the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus like a dove.
And he heard a voice from heaven say, This is my son, the beloved. My favour rests on him. Let our eyes open so the light can come in and push out the darkness in our lives to allow us to see things from a new perspective.
 

Helping to atone for our sins.

Homily for New Year’s Day
Mary, Mother of God -Solemnity
Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. I had to look up the word solemnity to check I understood its meaning. In the Catholic Church, solemnity means a high-ranking celebration of a mystery of faith. Such feast days include the Trinity, important moments in Jesus’s life; Mary, his mother; Joseph his earthly father and various important saints.[i]
Last Friday was the Feast of The Holy Family. The theme in Ecclesiasticus is about respecting our parents and helping to atone for our sins. Respecting our mother is like amassing a fortune and by putting our mother at ease we are being obedient to God.[ii] Matthew’s Gospel shows how Joseph obeyed what God’s angel had said to him in a dream, and on waking he took his family and escaped to Egypt, only returning to the land of Israel when instructed to do so by God’s messenger in a second dream.
Today’s Gospel of Luke, tells us that Mary treasured all the shepherds had say about the way the Angels had visited them, telling them that Christ the Lord, their saviour had been born in Bethlehem. How a choir of angels had sung ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours.’
With her baby in her arms wrapped in swaddling clothes. She pondered on all these things. Eight days later, Mary and Joseph took their son to be circumcised, calling him Jesus as the Angel Gabriel had instructed before the child was conceived.
Over the last few days, many of us have been with our families to celebrate this festive season. For some, this will have been a hard year, having lost a loved one. It might even seem impossible to see where the light would come in to break up the darkness. Yet, as I found myself with our extended family, I too pondered on the marvel that was before me.
On one occasion, I was in the presence of six mothers and potentially four more. The eldest, now hard of hearing and often tired was my mother, and grandmother to my son, who was also present. His wife was there too, along with his mother and my wife.
An awkward teenager was struggling to fit in, still searching to find out who she is and not yet having the confidence to embrace the moment. Her mother was making sure all those in the room were fed well, checking on everyone, supported by other mothers, my wife, her sister, and sister-in-law.
The youngest in the room was two, enjoying the company of all around, especially as she was the centre of attention. There was a recently married couple, still waiting for their honeymoon which was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID, now three years ago. All mothers were smiling, all enjoying being with their husbands, and more so with their own children. My own wife’s face lights up every time she sees one of her sons. There is nothing in the world she would not do to ensure they were happy.
Back home my wife and I talked about today’s homily, as I tried several times to sit down and write something out. She asked me about my thoughts. I talked about the gathering we attended and was reminded of how nervous we had been when our first son was due. Would we be good parents? Could we cope? Then when the child was born, it was as though there was never a time when he had not been with us. When the second son was due, we wondered how we were going to be able to give even more love to this child and less to the first. Yet, when our second son was born, we found we had equal love for him too.
At that point, my wife took a taper next to a lit candle and lit it. When the flame separated into two, neither was diminished, both had equal shape and form. “That’s what love is,” my wife told me. “The flame remains bright for each of them. There are no favourites.”
This is the love God has for all of us. He has no favourites; he loves us equally. In the book of Numbers, the Lord tells us to ask for his blessing and keep us, to allow his face to shine on us, to be gracious with us, and to bring us peace.
Today we honour Mary, Mother of God, and are reminded of the words Angel Gabriel said to her, which forms one of our important prayers. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus. Holy Queen, Mother of God, prayer for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
 
[i] Wikipedia. (2022). Solemnity. [Online]. Wikipedia The Free Encyclopaedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solemnity [Accessed 30 December 2022].
[ii] Ecclesiasticus 3:2-6,12-14

‘God is with us’.

Homily
4th Sunday of Advent & Christmas Day
24th & 25th December 2023
The night before writing this homily, my mind was very active going over ideas for what to write. What came into my head were thoughts of how we humans have a voice and how prayers need to be spoken as part of a group to give praise to God the Father. I was thinking of how stories in the Bible often foreshadowed various situations to set up prophecy for future events, such as Isaiah telling King Ahaz that a virgin would give birth to a child who would be called Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us’. In the reading from Luke for Christmas Eve, the Angel Gabriel visits the Virgin Mary to tell her she will conceive a child, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and that she must name him Jesus – which means ‘God saves’. Christmas Day's gospel is from the start of John which says, ‘in the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God. Everything was created through him and without him, nothing could be’. We are also told about Jesus’s cousin John and how he was a voice in the wilderness preparing the way. In the early hours, my mind churned over how words are so important in our lives. They can be used for good or bad. Words can cut through someone like a sword straight to the heart. We can be injured by words just as easily as we can be raised up and encouraged. Why do we always fall towards the negative, by either putting other people down or ourselves? In counselling this is called automatic negative thoughts but where do they come from? What is the influence that makes us see catastrophes everywhere? These are important questions because they inform us that we all have these thoughts and if we follow science with cause and effect or that energy cannot be created or lost so it is always there just transforming from one thing to another, we should be able to track where it came from and where it is going. Biblically we talk about temptation. From the Lord’s prayer, we ask God to guide us away from temptation. Temptation is the desire to do something, especially something wrong and unwise. Jesus was tempted by the devil in the desert but resisted. Unfortunately, in everyday life we are tempted, especially through the media, and we are bombarded by adverts to spend our money on one thing or another. We are encouraged to get the latest thing, even if we have no real use for it. In Ian Fleming’s book The Spy Who Loved Me, the story is about a young woman called Vivianne Mitchell, a runaway who is given a job at a hotel far away from her family, owned by two dubious characters who are about to carry out an insurance fraud to claim money by having the hotel burnt down. Vivianne is being set up to get the blame but also would die in the arson attack. It is James Bond who saves her by chance. He has a small role in the story. Some of the details in the story include how honeymooners staying at the hotel would rob the furniture in their rooms, because they could not afford to buy it themselves and this was why the hotel was failing. Nowadays, young couples expect to have everything in their homes right from the start, putting themselves into debt. Whereas the previous generations would have spent a lifetime building up their homes into what they had dreamed of when young. All this leads to us desiring a life that often is beyond our means because of the way we are being influenced by society around us. Proverbs 23: 4 to 5 says don't wear yourself out to get rich; because you know better, stop! As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky. What are we being tempted away from? The answer is God. Why? Because the devil was jealous that God chose Mary to be the mother of his son Jesus and her beauty shone his own, as the Angel of Light. For this reason, in the Book of Revelations, the dragon waited for the woman, crowned with twelve stars and the moon at her feet, to give birth to her son, but the child, who would be the shepherd of all nations was taken to heaven and the angels took the woman to safety. What we today are encouraged to do is to give praise to God the Father for all our blessings and to turn away from our selfish ways. Jesus came into the world to surrender all to God the Father, to take on our sins, even though we are not worthy. Jesus was judged in our stead so that we could be saved. This is why in these dark days of winter the glory of our God shines through the darkness and cannot be extinguished. This is why we should use our voices to shout out our praise to God, to sing like the angels, hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord for today our saviour was born. Amen.

Repent, and Believe in the Gospel

Homily
Palm Sunday
24th March 2024
At the beginning of lent, Ash Wednesday, we had the sign of the cross marked across our forehead, and the words said were, “Repent, and Believe in the Gospel”.
Today, in the first Gospel, Jesus arrives in Jerusalem riding a donkey’s colt. He did not arrive with the splendour of an earthly king, with an entourage. He came in a simple way, humble and meek. Jesus is equal to God the Father, yet he took on the condition of a slave like all humans are in this world. He wanted to share our experiences and suffer the same temptations that we do.
Jesus is the pure sacrifice, one without sin, who became the sacrificial Lamb of God. Just a week after the crowds had shouted “Hozanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” the same people were shouting for him to be crucified. They had been led astray by the Pharisees, who feared the Romans would take away their power and authority.
Jesus humbled himself even to death of a cross, sacrificing himself for all our sins, in order that by our repentance, we can be forgiven. All we must do is trust in Jesus, have faith in him and follow him and his way.
When our hearts tell us we have done wrong, we should not hide in fear of being punished, we should not hide in the darkness expecting the one with authority to pass us by. God’s love reaches into the depths of darkness. Everything about us is revealed and cannot be hidden. God knows us, every heartbeat, every hair on our head counted. He knows us intimately. He created us, knowing us before we were conceived.
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, he will have the light of life”. He also said, “Whoever, loves me, loves my Father. If we believe in him, we know he is speaking the truth, but if we do not, we are believing deceived, and are following the father of lie, the devil, because we prefer to do as he wants.
In our hearts we know the truth. If anything is holding us back, now is the time to confess and let it go. Let nothing hold you back from the love of God.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies her will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
Do we believe this?
“Hozanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hozanna in the highest!”
Amen.
 

Will we make it to the end?

Homily for 4th Sunday in Advent
Sunday 18th December 2022
We have reached the 4th Sunday in Advent, with just one week to go to Christmas. Most people are rushing around trying to find gifts or finish up projects at work for the holidays.
For me this has been a week of memories of a person who journeyed with me and my brother deacons, through doubts, frustrations, and laughter and then, a band of brothers, seeing the pandemic through weekly get-togethers on Zoom to boost each other’s morale.
At times none of us knew whether we would make it to the end. Of the 14 who started in the propaedeutic year, only six began the diaconate studies. For one reason or another, the journey had come to an end for 8 of us.
For the following two years, things were as normal as could be. Brendan often arrived late but had good reason. Unlike most of us who only travelled a few miles to be in Dromintine, Brendan’s journey often started several continents away with multiple flights. He could have been in Afghanistan or from New York, where he may have been involved in some kind of mediation to bring two warring sides together.
Brendan always brought a fresh perspective to our conversations and challenged our perspectives, making us think differently. Yet, he was always humble, uncertain of his capabilities of study as his own academic ventures, to him, seemed so far away, when he studied for an honour’s degree at Queens University in Belfast some forty years ago.
I heard recently that while at Queens he was involved in setting up a counselling service for students, with a colleague who became a lifetime friend of his. The same person mentored Brendan through the diaconate having previously travelled the same path a few years before.
Brendan had a rich fascination for monastic chant and music. Arranging a weekend for his cohort of diaconate students up to Portglenone, where we all rose early, as in 2 pm and 4 pm, to join the monks of Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey, part of the Cistercian Order under the Rule of St. Benedict. A journey of seclusion with communal intercession and contemplative prayer. This way of life is supported by manual labour and craftwork. The chants were of interest to some but not to everyone’s taste. However, through gentle persuasion, Brendan managed to nurture within us all as sense of this form of spirituality in our prayer life.
We all felt our journey to become deacons could end at any time. During the pandemic one in our group felt his path lay elsewhere. He had retired and needed to be involved with others, so became a porter in a local hospital. Very much of service to the community and he thrives in that role. He also continues to support the rest of us, being present at our ordination last January. He still is very much part of our brotherhood.
Five of us were ordained. Three from Armagh Diocese and two from Dromore Diocese. We were thankful we were able to be ordained together as none of us saw ourselves as being separate but as one group.
Over the past eleven months, we have each been designated parishes to serve. Brendan was in Rostrevor. Formation weekends were set up for us and Brendan was at all but the last one. He had come off his bicycle and complications ensued. I only found out because when I found myself in the hospital and was telling the lads through WhatsApp, it turned out he was just two floors below where I was. He was in good spirits, telling us the ‘craic’ in his ward.
I went home and a few days later so did Brendan. Over the last weekend, I had gone to the formation weekend at Dromintine with others who were ordained deacons. We had heard Brendan was back in hospital so kept him in our prayers. We all believed it would be a short stay and he would be home, as before. Sadly, last Tuesday, 13th December, we were sent a message to say he had passed away.
For those of us who journeyed with Brendan into the diaconate, it is still hard to take in. He is with us. He is in our thoughts. I see his smile. Images of him with his puppets used to entertain his grandchildren. He is part of us, as a brother.
On Saturday we will all be in Newry Cathedral at his funeral mass to say goodbye.
Though we are just a week away from Christmas, the stark realities of life are ever present, just as they were for St. Joseph as he pondered divorcing Mary, knowing she was carrying someone else’s child. He didn’t want to disgrace her, so he intended to do it informally. But it was an angel who encouraged Joseph to stay the course and see things through because the child was special, conceived through the Holy Spirit and Joseph had been chosen to be Mary’s spouse.
We must all remember, in difficult times, when we don’t know how to go on, ‘God is with us’  and will help us get through. When Joseph woke, he took his wife, Mary home. What we who remain are encouraged to remember is that Our Lord Jesus Christ has taken our friend home. Brendan’s journey is complete, and it is time for him to rest in peace.

Making steady progress.

Homily for Sunday 11th December 2022
Third Week of Advent.
Rev. George Kingsnorth (Deacon)
This week’s theme is to be patient and rejoice as the Lord is coming.
My work colleague and I have been working on a film workshop for several years. We are making steady progress. There has been fun and some disappointments. We were planning a film shoot. Everything was going well. We had crew, actors, equipment, and locations. All was going great.
Then as the production dates drew near, I started feeling dizzy and tired. I contacted my doctor, and was prescribed new medication but still feeling rough. Nevertheless, I ploughed on with the project, not wanting to let anyone down.
The week prior to the shoot, I had to call my doctor again. I was worse but was hoping it would all be over by Thursday. Instead, my doctor told me to go to casualty. I thought I would get checked out and be sent home. But no, the initial problem was sorted but the doctors noticed my heart was running slow.
This was the day the system nearly broke. One hospital shut it doors and sent ambulances to others across the province. Nearly 100 patients waited in my local casualty. I believed my probably was minor and would be sent home. An overnight stay wasn’t on my radar. I had a meeting with the actors. With a bit of rescheduling, I managed to organise something online the next day. I was certain I would be home.
But no. The doctors needed me monitored for a second day. My partner contacted me to say several members of the crew had family issues and could not make it. Then, my backup went down with COVID.
As I tried to find another solution to keeping the film shoot on track a nurse said “Mister Kingsnorth, your health comes first. If you’re not here, what would everyone do?” My heart sank. At 38 beats a minute it couldn’t do anything else. I realised what I must do.
What was this all about? How had things got to this stage?
John the Baptist is in prison. About to lose his head because of a promise King Herod had made to his niece, his brother’s daughter to Herodias, who just so happened to be living with Herod. A complicated affair that John told Herod was against the Law.
John had heard about what Jesus was doing. His disciples worried him. In last week’s Gospel John had been sent to prepare the way for the one who would Baptise with the Holy Spirit and a fire that would never go out. Following this Jesus appeared to be baptised and John felt unworthy knowing who was before him. However, Jesus encouraged him to baptise him, and when he did, John saw the Spirit of God descend on Jesus in the form of a dove.
John knew who Jesus was. John’s mother was Elizabeth, kinswoman to Mary, whom Angel Gabriel announced would bear Jesus as her son and that her cousin was six months pregnant with John. Therefore, Jesus and John were cousins. So why did John say to his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one to come?”
Some say it was because John was having doubts, but others comment on how John was pointing his own disciples toward Jesus. John having prepared the way knew his time was coming to an end. After his death, John’s disciples buried him and went straight to Jesus to tell him the news.
Jesus grieved his cousin. He had recognised him as the one that the scriptures said was the messenger preparing a way for him. Jesus told his disciples John was the greatest of all children born of women, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven.
In our world, we can easily lose heart. We see our systems breaking. More and more people suffer hardship and uncertainty. There is war, failing crops, global warming with extremely cold winters and devasting fires then torrential rains in the summers.
Our second reading tells us to be patient. Not to complain about one another in case we bring judgment upon ourselves. We are encouraged to be patient. Remember a way has been prepared and the Lord is coming. If we put our trust in God, he will save us. This is the time for rejoicing, as Angel Gabriel told Mary.
Often, we find ourselves planning for the future and not living in the present. Restricting the possibilities. As I sat in the hospital bed, knowing the time had come to step back, to stop being in the future but to accept where I was in the present, knowing that I was not the one in control and had to hand everything over to the Lord, there was a great release. I could be present with those around me, to listen to what they had to say. I could see how hard the nursing staff were working to care for others. The sooner, I let go, the sooner I could go.
What I thought was a disaster, turned out to be a blessing. I wasn’t really prepared for the shoot when planned. Being forced to postpone the project, gave me a chance to rethink things and see the blind spots. I just had to trust in Jesus that he knew what was best for me. Most of the time it is not what we are doing that matters, but how we are being especially to others that really counts.
Now is the time to rejoice in being with Jesus, especially today on the Third Sunday of Advent, and to giving our time to him.