Building Your Jerusalem

BUILDING YOUR JERUSALEM
Thank U
Fr. Michael and Sally Baffour have donated all the proceeds of this e-book to the
Thank U Libraries project.
The main Reading Room at the Thank U Library in the Valley of a 1000 Hills in
Kwazulu Natal, South Africa, will be named in Fr. Michael Williams honour.
Thank U Libraries is a project that uses recycled materials to establish sustainable

Libraries, in destitute places, to help children lift themselves out of poverty.
Our hope, (at Thank U) is that the possibilities that reading exposes childrens minds
to, will inspire them to dream beyond their geographic limitations, to achieve their full
potential. Every child has a right to an education and we are committed to making
reading a joy for children in Africa.
We are building a community around the Thank U Libraries, to support their future
maintenance. We invite you to join us and become a Rainbow in the cloud for children
who need education, so do join us at: http://thankulibraries.org/
Thank U is a London-based community non-profit organization committed to

spreading literacy to alleviate poverty in young people.
Thank U, P. O. Box 34446, London W6 6ET, United Kingdom
FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 1
Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

Thank U
The Thank U Libraries website address is: www.thankulibraries.org/
First published in the UK by Thank U in 2016
Cover art by Filip Doneski
E-Book design by Sally Baffour
Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ

assert the moral right to be identified as the
authors of this work
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the publishers.

Dedication
Where literacy skills combat poverty, books are the necessary steps that lead to its
success.
So I dedicate this e-book:
To purpose-driven individuals determined to make a difference in life.
To the progressive minds, compassionate hearts, lovers of books and reading and all
the people who support the education of ALL children, no matter what.
To all those who offer their support, with generous monetary donations, in kind, by their
services, with their prayers and all the other ways that they see fit, to enhance the
success of the Thank U Libraries project.
To all members of the Thank U Libraries Community committed to spreading literacy

and becoming Rainbows in the Cloud for millions of children, who are without
education in many rural areas in developing countries.
To bring the joys of reading and literacy to all the children who get the opportunity to
use the Thank U Libraries.
To all the little minds whose lives will be enormously transformed by the great
possibilities that the exposure of reading will open their minds to.
Above all, I dedicate this e-book and the entire project to God, who has made all this
possible.
Thank U
Sally Baffour

This book is dedicated, with profound gratitude, to the Parishioners of the Church of Our
Lady of the Assumption and Saint Gregory, Warwick Street, London, UK, and to the
brothers of The Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, who have touched my heart and enriched
my life in so very many ways.
Rev. Michael Williams, SJ
My heart is stirred by a noble theme,

As I sing my ode to the King.
My tongue is the pen of a nimble scribe.
Psalm 45:2
Be, but for God.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
CHAPTER 1: Spiritual Road Building
CHAPTER 2: Sacrificial Love
CHAPTER 3: Missing The Mark
CHAPTER 4: The Gospel Of Selfishness
CHAPTER 5: Personal Ressurection
CHAPTER 6: Spirit of Power, Spirit of Life
CHAPTER 7: Forgiven Sinners
CHAPTER 8: The Lord Is My Shepherd
CHAPTER 9: What Price For Success?
CHAPTER 10: Humility
CHAPTER 11: What Churches Say To Us
CHAPTER 12: Personal Shipwreck
Final Thoughts

Preface
Fr. Michael had been a longstanding annual guest to our Parish Church, in the West End
of London, Our Lady of Assumption and St Gregory, on Warwick street, for some 30 years
before I joined that parish. The Parish priest, the late Canon Pat Davies, was an
exceptionally quiet but most extraordinary man, who was described at his funeral by the
Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, as the man whose life was the
sermon he never needed to preach from the pulpit. I am sure that someday this will also
be said of Fr Michael Williams, whose homilies I have compiled for this eBook.
Before becoming a priest, Fr. Pat had led a full and illustrious life as a Financial Director
of Shell in the Far East. At 45 years old, he got the calling and gave up his successful
career to become a Catholic priest, taking the vow of celibacy and poverty. At that point,
he was ready for his vocation as a priest and diligently discharged his duties with
thoughtfulness, great care, compassion and tremendous kindness to all.
It was in his church that I met Fr. Michael, in the summer of 2003. He had become very
good friends with Fr. Pat and came every summer as a visiting priest to our Parish Church.
He would stay for his entire summer break from Spring Hill College in Alabama, where he
was an English professor. In this atmosphere of love, kindness and warmth, I felt
completely at home among the congregation that was made up almost entirely of retired
English, Italian and Irish parishioners, who were all over 70 years old.
Apart from being the only African in the relatively small congregation, I was also a little
over half the age of most of the parishioners. My teenage children still loved the church
regardless, whenever they were back home in London on holidays.

They got on surprisingly well with the older members of the congregation who relived their
youth vicariously through my children and I, as we shared our youthful escapades with
them, thus bridging the generation gap.
Catholic churches are often known for homilies that are so steeped in theology, theory
and philosophy that much of it is lost on the congregation. Without the usual anecdotes
from contemporary life to illustrate the scriptures or real-life examples that engage
peoples interest, most people never remember the sermons once they leave the church.
Fr. Michaels preaching, however, was always memorable because he used simple
language. It was down to earth, practical, anecdotal and refreshing with simple, clear
messages and compelling real-life contemporary examples that made even the youngest
children sit still and listen.
I soon found out as I got to know Fr. Michael that he wasnt just one of those priests
whose preaching from the pulpit was the sum total of their vocation. Fr Michael is fully
engaged in parish life and proactive ministry, ready at the drop of a hat to be of service
whenever the need arose. Prepared to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty, he
would be in the police station as an appropriate adult to a young man who had been
arrested by the police, without judging. He looked out for the destitute members of the
parish and would go out of his way to help the elderly parishioners who needed support
because they were not coping. All of this was done quietly without fuss, publicity or drama.
Having clear moral values was the focus of much of Fr. Michaels sermons. He was of
the mind that they had to be taught to children from an early age and so he pitched his
sermons with appropriate language and simplicity to hold their attention and succeeded
in doing so in the church. His homily was so compelling that even some of the elderly
members who often nodded off, stayed awake to listen too.

His message is simply that teaching children clear moral values is fundamental to giving
them the solid foundation they need to make choices that will aid real progress in their
lives, devoid of unnecessary hindrances or deviation. Sticking with the right moral
values helps them not only to make the right choices, but it also keeps them out of
trouble as well as avoiding unnecessary distractions. It also enables them to avoid
conflict and situations that could lead them into potential danger. When they eventually
attain the spiritual maturity to desire Gods purpose for their lives/existence, their
understanding will be more open and their senses will be easily awakened to Gods will,
to enable the Holy Spirit to direct their path.
The extent to which having clear moral values plays a huge part in saving peoples lives
was recently brought home to me, when I came across a recent interview of Mike Tyson,
the once world heavyweight boxing champion, which perfectly illustrated this point. It was
about his struggle with addiction.
He said, "Ive learned that being sober is more than just avoiding drugs or alcohol. Its a
lifestyle focused on making positive moral choices and elevating the things that make life
worth living, to the forefront. Dont get me wrong. If I craved drugs or alcohol, Id still
give in. I could never fight those cravings. But when I am focused on doing good and
being good, and practice the day-to-day mechanics of a sober, healthy life, I dont get
those urges to do bad things to myself."
Born into a family with addicted parents, Mike Tyson had no chance of being taught any
moral values, so he grew up without any real parental guidance. A sobering reminder of
how expansively fortunate we are, if we come from homes where Christian moral values
are the bedrock on which we were brought up. Not just by what was taught to us, but by

the empirical examples set, practiced, and promoted by parents who lived by the same
tenets, moral values and ethics, without compromise.
My children were away attending an excellent boarding school in Ghana, my country of

origin, where I had sent them for 3 years after suffering terrible racism in their Primary
School in London. They loved it. Many Africans based in the UK, were beginning to find
that sending their children to boarding schools in their country of origin, where strict
adherence to moral values was enforced without compromise, was greatly beneficial to
the children. It helped the children to develop their full potential with more focus.
I also found that the good fortune of being exposed to the reality of poverty and its effect
on people around them in the developing countries, actually broadened our young
childrens understanding of life and gave them a purpose. It proved to be very helpful in
producing very disciplined young Black children who often came back to the UK ready to
grab life by the lapels (as Maya Angelou, the literary icon would put it) and work hard at
their education to become productive members of the society, wherever they ended up.
I wanted my children to hear Fr. Michaels homilies, so with his permission, I began to
record them by audio. I transcribed the homilies for my teenage children. Although they
heard Fr. Michaels homilies in Church when they came for their summer break, they still
took the audio recordings back to their school in Ghana, to share with their friends. That
was when I decided to compile Fr. Michaels homilies for publication because they are
simple truths in faith that will benefit everyone.
I am grateful to Fr. Michael who willingly agreed to my publishing his homilies and so
worked closely with me to produce these 12 chapters of some of his many sermons.

I thank Lawei and Arata Baffour, the twins God blessed me with through adoption, whose
brief absence inspired me to record Fr. Michaels homilies in the first place, just so I could
make the homilies available to them. I thank Stephen Humphrey who inspired the sub-
title of this e-book and Bill Edwards for his gentle reminders and encouragement to get
this ebook finished. I am also grateful to Springhill College and Fred Salancy for his
support with the College photos and to Maclin Horton who allowed us to use some of his
photos for our illustrations. Above all, I thank God for the serendipity that led us to Fr.
Pats Church in 2003, where we met Fr. Michael.
We are eternally grateful to Fr. Michael for joining with me to donate all the proceeds of
this e-book appropriately (as an English Professor) to spreading literacy to alleviate
poverty in children in rural areas of developing countries, through our Thank U Libraries
project.
Most significantly, all glory and honour goes to God for his direction in steering my
recording of Fr. Michaels homilies into this e-book. I hope and pray that the messages in
his homilies add as much value to the life of everyone who reads this e-book, as it has to
ours. Thank U.
Sally Baffour
Be, but for God.

Chapter 1
Spiritual Road Building
The Season of Advent
Photograph by Maclin Horton

Spring Hill College, Alabama, USA
Scripture Reading:
(Isaiah 40: 1-5)

Be comforted, be comforted, my people, says your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and
call to her: for her evil has come to an end, her iniquity is forgiven: she has received of the hand
of the Lord double for all her sins. The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of
the Lord, make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and
every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough
ways plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see, that the
mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Homily
When I was in the Jesuit seminary in New York, there was a Jesuit Professor of
American Literature who gave new meaning to the term eccentric. Father Joe Slattery
was an acknowledged expert on American Literature, but in his courses, he gave only
two grades, A and F and there was no rhyme or reason as to who got what grade!
After the course was finished, the Dean quietly changed all of the F grades to much
higher grades. Father Slattery also had a special project. In the dense woods behind the
seminary, he was building a road, a road that went straight into the dense underbrush,
but really was a road to nowhere.

Chapter 1: Spiritual Road Building
When Father Slattery came up to you in the dining room at lunch and invited to
you come get some exercise for the afternoon on his road, well, like an offer from The
Godfather, it was an offer you couldnt refuse!
The Advent season each year brings us readings from the prophet Isaiah, and
todays reading has the familiar image of road building: Prepare a way for the Lord, make
straight the path. Come to think of it, road building is a good image for the course of our
lives. Our individual life-road is constructed, not out of bricks and asphalt, but from our
values, attitudes, and daily decisions and choices. And so, the Advent season poses a
serious question to us: Are we building a road that leads to God, or a road to nowhere?
Every road has obstacles. Our obstacles to spiritual growth are our defects of
character, our sinful tendencies and attitudes. The main roadblocks for most people can
be boiled down to four: selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and fear. These sinful
tendencies are truly blind alleys, dead ends that lead us to spiritual death and a life of
profound unhappiness.
Selfishness is the gateway to every other sin. It is the worship of ourselves and
our own selfish priorities. It leads us to use and manipulate others for our own gain and
to confuse domination with love. Selfishness wrings all love and compassion from our
hearts and our lives. Although it might bring material rewards, a selfish life is a profoundly
lonely life, because a selfish person has no sense of community or care for others. A life
of ego means edging God out (E.G.O.) of our lives. Those who are wrapped up in
themselves, make small packages indeed.

Another major obstacle to our spiritual lives is dishonesty. As Christians we are

called to a life of humility. And humility is an often misunderstood virtue. Humility has
nothing at all to do with excessive guilt or self-hatred. Humility is basically honesty. It
means that we have a healthy sense of who we are, that we recognize and give thanks
to God for our gifts and talents, and resolve to use them, not selfishly, but for the benefit
of others. Humility also involves having a sense of our own sinfulness, our faults. We
must acknowledge our sinful tendencies and behaviour and allow ourselves to be healed
and transformed by Gods compassionate love.
It is, of course, easier to be dishonest and kid ourselves, but if we do this, we will
never grow. True humility leads us to see ourselves as basically good people, who have
flaws, but want to become better people. After all, thats why we come to church on
Sunday. We will never grow and progress spiritually unless we first recognize our
humanity and our need for Gods forgiving and guiding presence in our lives. The
opposite of selfishness, true humility, does not mean thinking less of ourselves, but
thinking of ourselves less.
Holding on to unresolved anger and resentment is particularly dangerous. Like

the proverbial elephant, we have long memories and often resurrect long-gone hurts,
failures, and betrayals. But why should we allow the past to poison the present?
Unresolved anger and resentments act like a spiritual form of cancer, eating us up from
within. We need to let go of the bad memories of the past and allow God to heal our
scarred minds and hearts. Gods compassionate and healing love can take away painful
memories and free us from anger and resentment. If we only have faith, God can and
will heal us.

Finally, there is fear. We are prey to all sorts of fears and anxieties. We worry
about losing our health, getting sick. We worry about losing our job. We worry about
what will happen to us when we are old. These are very understandable human fears.
But fear can also imprison us: we shy away from taking risks, from making ourselves
vulnerable to others, from the challenges of love and friendship. We stay in our shell
because we are afraid of failure or rejection and so we end up looking out at life from our
self-created prisons instead of enjoying life. The one thing Jesus said most often in the
Gospels is: Do not be afraid. Be confident in Gods deep love. Learn to trust God. The
Good Shepherd will never abandon us or lead us astray.
These negative attitudesselfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fearplace

us on a dead-end path, the road to nowhere, and a profoundly unhappy life. Just as
Jesus stood before the tomb of Lazarus, so Jesus stands outside our self-created prisons
and says Come out! Come out of the darkness and into the sunlight. Be healed. Be
free. If we accept Gods healing and forgiving love, we can then turn selfishness into
generosity, dishonesty into true humility, resentment into reconciliation, and fear into
courage. The road to God is paved simply with our faith. And so, we have to make a
choice. We can choose the road to nowhere or the road that leads to God and interior
peace and joy.
In St Pauls Cathedral in London is a beautiful painting, entitled, The Light of the

World. It depicts Jesus standing at a closed door, with the Scriptural quotation, Behold
I stand at the door and knock. If you look closely, the door in the painting has no doorknob
on the outside. It is only on the inside. This symbolizes the door to our hearts, our souls,
and our lives. The Lord knocks and offers us healing and hope, but only we can make
the decision to open the door from the inside to let God in. And if we do, wonderful things
can, and will, happen.

Footnote
Advent
The season of Advent in the Christian Calendar, is a 4-week period in which many Christians spiritually prepare
themselves for the birth of Christ or Christmas. Advent begins on the 4 th Sunday prior to Christmas, which falls closest
to November 30, and lasts through Christmas Eve, or December 24. This 4-week period of Advent is a time of peaceful
preparations in which Christians pray, fast, recognize their shortcomings, repent and cleanse themselves of their sins
in preparation for Christs birth. As a season of hope, the peaceful preparation of Advent, is followed by anticipation,
longing, and joyful expectation of the good News of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Scripture Reading Reference: http://www.newadvent.org/
Be, but for God.

Chapter 2
Sacrificial Love
The Epiphany
Scripture Reading:
(Matthew 2: 1-12)
When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of King Herod, behold, there came wise
men from the East to Jerusalem, saying: "Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the
East, and have come to adore him." And King Herod, hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with
him. Assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should
be born. But they said to him: "In Bethlehem of Judah. For so it is written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem the
land of Judah, are not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of you shall come forth the captain that shall rule
my people Israel.'"
Then Herod, privately calling the wise men, learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to
them; and sending them into Bethlehem, said: "Go and diligently inquire after the child, and when you have found
him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore him." Having heard the king they went their way. And
behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, until it came and stood over where the child
was. And seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering into the house, they found the child
with Mary his mother; and falling down they adored him. Opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold,
frankincense, and myrrh. And having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went
back another way into their country.

Chapter 2: Sacrificial Love
Homily
Today is the Feast of the Epiphany. It is the 12th of the traditional Twelve Days of
Christmas, also called Little Christmas, and on this day in many countries children
receive their gifts. It is also the formal close of the Churchs liturgical season of
Christmastide.
The meaning of todays feast and of the Christmas season is contained in a

beautiful story, written by the American author, O. Henry. The story is about a young
newly-married couple living in the city of Chicago. They are very much in love and also
very poor. Each has a treasured possession. The husband has a precious pocket watch,
handed down to him from his grandfather. The wife has long luxurious hair of which she
is justly proud. Christmas approaches and each spouse wants desperately to purchase
a special gift for the other. But there is no money. So, the young man goes to the
pawnbrokers and pawns his most prized possession, his pocket watch, and with the
money buys a pair of enameled brushes for his wifes hair. But, at the same time, the
young woman has gone to the wig makers and had her treasured long hair cut off, in
order to earn the money to buy a watch chain for her beloved husband. And so, on
Christmas morning, the young man with no watch receives a watch chain, and the young
woman with little hair receives a set of brushes. The story ends with these words: No
couple in the whole city of Chicago celebrated Christmas better than these young people.
They are the Magi. The story is titled, The Gift of the Magi.
This young couple are truly the Magithe wise onesalthough in the eyes of the
world they would seem to be foolish indeed. But Gods values are not our values. That
young couple understood the nature of all true lovenot just married love. True love, by
its very nature, is always sacrificial. True love is not concerned with the self, but with the

welfare of the other. True love is a reflection of Christs love who gave Himself for the
ransom of many, as Scripture tells us.
We see inspiring examples of sacrificial love all around us: the parent who
sacrifices his/her life to save the life of a child; the soldier who throws himself on a live
grenade to save the lives of his comrades; the bystanders who put themselves in danger
to rescue a stranger; the politician who jeopardizes re-election by telling constituents hard
truths; the student who risks rejection by saying to a friend, You drink too much and you
need to seek help; as well as all those who, in the words of The Beatitudes, suffer
persecution in the cause of right. These examples of true sacrificial love are the opposite
of narrow self-interest. It is only the recovery of the true understanding of love that can
help heal our broken society.
The Christmas season reminds us each year of Gods overwhelming love for
humanitytrue sacrificial loveas God became human in Christ to show us how to live
and teach us, through his Passion and death, how to love. This is the great lesson of the
Christmas season, and we, too, will be the Magithe wise onesif we understand the
lesson and then live it.
But the Christmas season is also a time for family. It is family-centered and child-
centered. And there is another important lesson for us here. We shower children with
gifts of all sorts, but are we giving our children what they really need? The most important
things are not material things. What our children need is, first of all, the gift of faith. Our
children should be brought up in a true faith-filled home with a vibrant Christian family life.
There should be family prayer and reading of Scripture.

There should be active engagement in parish life and ministry. There should be
regular Christian service - feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, collecting clothing for the
poor and homeless, supporting worthy charitable causes for the under-privileged so
that children might be set a good example. Children are very observant, especially of the
example set by their parents. If the Christian faith is not taken seriously and practiced in
the home, the message sent to the children is clear. Sunday-only Christians are poor
role models for the next generation. Indeed, the next generation of either fervent
Christians or lapsed Christians is being formed in families everywhere right now.
The second thing our children needand need desperatelyis clear moral
teaching, clear moral values. Children must be taught Christian values in the home from
their earliest age. The moral values taught to us by Jesus in the Gospels are the formula
for a truly meaningful life. These values will guide children all throughout their lives, just
as the star guided the Magi in the Epiphany story. Unfortunately, clear moral values are
not taught in most schools, and parents must not leave this critically important task to
others. So much of the educational establishment is infected with a false multiculturalism
and moral relativismi that denies the very nature of truth and views all ideas, preferences,
and attitudes as equally valid. This is deadly and is the recipe for moral chaos and moral
degeneration in our society.
If nothing is true, then anything goes. And so, at this close of the Christmas
season, we must ask ourselves a hard question: what kind of family life are we creating,
and are we giving our children what they truly need? The O. Henry story holds that young
married couple up to us as examples to be imitated. They are the Magi, as the story says.
Are we???

Footnote
Epiphany
Observed on January 6th, the Epiphany celebration remembers the three miracles that manifest the divinity of Christ.
The name "Epiphany" comes from the Greek word Epiphania, and means "to show, make known, or reveal." The three
miraculous signs which revealed Jesus glory were
1st - the visit of the three Magi (the three wise men who were led by a star to the stable where Jesus was born),
2nd - Christ's baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist who in recognizing Jesuss Deity, wondered why Jesus
asked to be baptized by him when in fact he believed it should have been the other way round. John the Baptist, was
God's appointed messenger who declared that though he would baptize people with water, Jesus Christ who was the
messiah, was the one who would baptize people with the Holy Spirit. John then consented and baptized Jesus. Indeed,
as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens opened, and the Spirit of God, like a dove, descended upon him.
Witnesses to the baptism heard a voice from heaven saying, "This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
3rd - Jesuss first miracle at the wedding in Cana when he turned water into wine.
These three events which were signs that revealed his glory, are central to the definition of Epiphany, and its meaning
is drawn from these occurrences.
Scripture Reading Reference: http://www.newadvent.org
Be, but for God

Chapter 3
Missing The Mark
Ash Wednesday
Spring Hill College, Alabama, USA
Scripture Reading:
(Joel 2: 12-18):
Now, therefore, says the Lord. Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping,
and mourning. And rend your hearts, and not your garments and turn to the Lord your God: for
He is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of
the evil. Who knows but He will return, and forgive, and leave a blessing behind Him, sacrifice
and libation to the Lord your God? Blow the trumpet in Sion, proclaim a fast, call a solemn
assembly, gather together the people, assemble the ancients, gather together the little ones, and
them that suck at the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth from his bed, and the bride out of her
bridal chamber. Between the porch and the altar the priests, the Lord's ministers, shall weep, and
shall say: Spare, O Lord, spare Your people: and give not Your inheritance to reproach, that
the heathens should rule over them. Why should they say among the nations: Where is their
God? The Lord has been zealous for his land, and has spared His people.

Chapter 3: Missing the Mark
Homily
In his book, Whatever Became of Sin, Karl Menninger relates the following story: On
a sunny day in September, 1972, a stern-faced, plainly dressed man could be seen
standing still on a street corner in the busy section of downtown Chicago called The Loop.
As pedestrians hurried by on their way to lunch dates or business appointments, he would
solemnly lift his right arm, and, pointing to the person nearest him, intone loudly the single
word, GUILTY!
Then, without any change of expression, he would resume his stiff stance for a few
minutes before picking out another passer-by for repeating the incident. He would raise
his arm, point at his startled victim, and solemnly pronounce the word, GUILTY! The
effect of this mysterious accusatory stranger on the passing pedestrians was
extraordinary, almost eerie.
Some would just stare at him, others would hesitate, and some would look away
sheepishly. And then they hurried on their way. One man turned to a spectator and
exclaimed, But how did he know? No doubt many others had the same thought: But
how could he know? Nobody saw me. The company wont miss what I took. Its not my
fault. Everyones doing it.
If that mysterious stranger appeared at any church and pointed at each one of the
congregation, he would be 100% correct. We are all guilty. Guilty of what? Guilty of sin.
Its as simple as that. We are all sinners. But, do we really know what that means? The
word sin is derived from an ancient Hebrew term from archery. It means missing the

Chapter 3 Missing the Mark
mark. It means our failure to live up to our Christian values and ideals. We find those
values and ideals spelled out for us in Holy Scripture. For example, the Ten
Commandments put things clearly; dont lie, dont steal, dont kill, be faithful in marriage,
honour God, your parents and your neighbour.
Sin is all around us. It is written large in our culture and society: corruption, materialism,
poverty, racism, violence, terrorism, and injustices of all sorts. But it is not this larger,
global dimension of sin that we are concerned with today, Ash Wednesday. It is sin as it
appears in our little corner of the world, our personal patch: gossip, lack of charity, holding
grudges, stealing, drunkenness, and foul language.
If we look at ourselves honestly, we will see sin. We will see ourselves as we really
are. This kind of honesty can make us uncomfortable, and maybe that is a good thing.
Gods love for us is a tough love: God rejoices in and affirms all of our good qualities but
God also makes us aware that we are not perfect, that we need to grow in our spiritual
lives. The truth about ourselves is that we are basically good people, but we are also
flawed people: human, weak, imperfect. Gods grace shows us the path to honesty as
well as personal growth. In Gods eyes, we are truly works in progress.
Therefore, if we see ourselves as we truly are, then we will have minds and hearts that
are open and ready to receive Gods healing and forgiving love. First, however, we must
knowledge our brokenness, our need for salvation. On the other hand, honesty and
humility are hard, and so we easily lapse into evasions and rationalizations of our sinful
behaviour. We do this primarily by denying the very concepts of truth and sin and
embracing the moral relativism that Pope Benedict so strenuously warned us about.

Relativism infects our culture from top to bottom with a false doctrine of non-
judgmentalism and diversity and the supremacy of individual values and attitudes.
Everything is just a matter of personal lifestyle choices.
If I feel it is right, it is right. Another evasion is making excuses: everyone is doing it,
nobody got hurt, so whats the big deal. But, if the individual is the supreme judge of what
is true and right, this is the recipe for moral chaos in our world, for then anything goes,
and anything can be justified in a world of do your own thing. Like the Pharisees in the
Gospels, we can be so full of ourselves that we are blind to what is right. There is no
deception like self-deception.
As Lent begins, we come forward to receive ashes on our heads. The ashes are a
reminder of our mortality and our human frailty and sinfulness. Christ calls us, in todays
Scripture, to honesty and repentance, and then to the spiritual growth and transformation
that honesty brings. The real meaning of Lent is not what we give up, but what we resolve
to become: better people, better Christians.
Think again about the story at the beginning of this Homily. Remember the man who
pointed the finger at passers-by. We all carry that man within us. It is our conscience,
the small voice of God that keeps us honest. It is that part of ourselves we cannot fool,
cannot bribe, and cannot shut out. During this holy season of Lent, listen to that voice
within you, for it is the voice of God, showing you the person you are and also the person
you can become. Oscar Wilde has said: Every saint has a past and every sinner has a
future. Thats a wonderful quote, for Gods greatest gift to us is precisely the gift of the
future: that we can grow and change, that tomorrow does not have to be like today, that
we can have a future that is bright with hope.

Footnote
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is a Christian Holy day and the first day of Lent. Lent is the six-week season of preparation
marked by services of penitence (fasting, praying, making sacrifices and giving alms) that symbolically anticipates
Good Friday and Easter. Early Christians who had been stuck in persistent sin, wore sackcloth and had
ashes sprinkled on their bodies, as a sign of repentance, just as Job repented in dust and ashes (Job
42:6).
Therefore, to mark the beginning of Lent, on Ash Wednesday, the Priest applies ashes in the sign of the
cross, to the foreheads of Christians, to signify their need for inner repentance of their sins during the
6 week Lenten fast. The words, "For dust you are and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19) said by
the priest during this ceremony, were spoken to Adam and Eve by God, after they had eaten of the
forbidden fruit and fallen into sin. In this context, it indicates the bitter fruit of peoples sin, which is
death and acts as a reminder of the sinfulness and mortality of mankind, thus, their need to repent and
get right with God, before it is too late.
Worship services on Ash Wednesday offer Christians a chance to openly acknowledge their frailty and
sinfulness. In a world that often expects people to be perfect, Ash Wednesday gives an opportunity to
freely confess our imperfections and let down our pretenses and be truly honest with each other about
who we are. As we all bear the mark of sin, from the youngest babies to the oldest seniors and all stand
guilty before a holy God as mortal beings who will someday experience bodily death, we all need a
Saviour.
Scripture Reading Reference: http://www.newadvent.org
Be but for God

Chapter 4
The Gospel of
Selfishness
Lenten Lessons
Scripture Reading:
(Luke 4: 13)
Full of The Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
for forty days to be tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were
ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him: If you are the Son of God, command this stone to
become bread. And Jesus answered him, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone And
then the devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time,
and said to him, To you I will give all this authority and all their glory; for it has been delivered
to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours. And Jesus
answered him, It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and only him shall you
serve. And then he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the Temple, and said
to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; for it is written, He will give
his angels charge over you, to guard you and On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike
your foot against a stone. And Jesus answered him, It is said, You shall not tempt the Lord
your God And when the devil had tried every temptation, he departed from him.

Chapter 4: The Gospel of Selfishness
Homily
In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer tells the story of three young men who
find a treasure buried in a field. They are rich beyond their wildest dreams. So they decide
to celebrate their good fortune and send their youngest comrade into the nearby town to
buy food and wine. While he is away, the remaining two say, Wouldnt it be better to
share this treasure among just the two of us instead of three? So, they decide to murder
their absent friend upon his return. But, unbeknownst to them, their young friend is
thinking on his way to town What if I could have this treasure all for myself? So, he buys
poison and adds it to the wine he has purchased. When the young man returns from his
errand, he is murdered by his two mates, who then settle down with the food and poisoned
wine to celebrate their newfound riches.
The moral of the tale, according to Chaucer, is the old proverb, The love of money is
the root of all evil. But this story is about what underlies greedselfishness. In fact, it is
selfishness that is the root cause of every sin. We put ourselves first, and we edge God
out of the center of our lives.
Todays Gospel is about selfishness. Christ is tempted to put his own needs and
desires ahead of his messianic mission. The devil tells Him, look out for yourself, be
comfortable, be powerful, be rich, and be popular and dont worry about all that cross
and suffering stuff. Selfishness is seductive, but destructive. It makes us see others as
threats; it makes use others as pawns; it isolates us from healthy involvement with our
neighbors. Its all me, me, me, and only me. And then we justify this bankrupt philosophy
by saying, its a dog-eat-dog world, its every man for himself, nice guys finish last.

We see the false gospel of selfishness at every level of our lives and culture today.
Here at college, it manifests itself in cliques and exclusion, using others, especially
sexually (hooking up), cheating and plagiarism. As one student put it, you do what you
need, to get what you want.
We see selfishness in our economic life, where businesses exploit workers and put
profits ahead of people, and evade the legitimate taxes they should pay by clever tricks.
We see selfishness in our cowardly politicians, whose only concern is keeping themselves
in office, instead of having the courage to address the critical problems our nation faces.
We see it in citizens who reject the social contract our nation is founded upon, which is
making personal sacrifices (ie. paying taxes) to promote the common good.
Instead of were in it together we hear Ive got mine, who cares about you. Some voters
reject tax rises that fund schools to promote the common good just because they havent
got children in school. Instead of were in it together we hear Ive got mine, who cares
about you. Young workers question why they have to put up with payroll taxes to support
all those old people. And who cares about health care reform as long as weve got our
personal insurance.
Nothing epitomizes the false gospel of selfishness better than the postmodern culture
of moral relativism, so strongly condemned by Pope Benedict, which questions and
denies the very notion of truth and sees everything as merely a matter of personal choice
and lifestyle. This is the sin of Adam and Eve, who, in their pride thought they themselves
determined right and wrong, good and evil. We commit the oldest sorts of sins in the
newest sorts of ways.

In his letters, St. Paul constantly reminds the early Christians that their faith and their
daily lives must be rooted in complete personal commitment to Jesus Christ. And what
Christ taught us are not theological abstractions. Christ has given us a complete set of
values and moral principles that will produce a happy and meaningful life. These values
and ideals are contained in The Ten Commandments and in The Beatitudes. This is the
formula for a successful life. But we have to make that choice. We have to make that
commitment to live as Christ has taught us.
As seen in Chaucers story, selfishness is destructive and deadly. It will suck all love,
compassion, and humanity out of our hearts. A selfish life is a profoundly lonely and
ultimately unhappy life. But so many people fail to realize this until it is too late. Why?
Because what the devil dangled before Jesus in the desert, and still dangles before us,
is so seductive and appealing. But so was that poisoned glass of wine.
The holy season of Lent is a time for spiritual growth. It is a time for honest reflection
on our lives and the attitudes that underlie our choices and actions. It is only through
rigorous honesty that there can be genuine spiritual growth. But this is hardfacing the
truth about our sinful natures. As one wag put it, the truth will set you free, but first it will
tick you off. But, during our Lenten prayer and reflections, if we ask the Lord to show us
how we can grow spiritually, the Lord will speak to our hearts. And what the Lord speaks
is compassion, healing, forgiveness, and love.
During the holy season of Lent, let God show you the person you are, but, more
importantly, let God show you the person you can be and should be.

Also applicable in this context, is the statement I love so much by Oscar Wilde, Every
saint has a past, and every sinner a future. Gods greatest gift to us is the gift of the
futurethat tomorrow does not have to be like today, that we can change, grow, and
become a better person. After all, thats why we come to church on Sunday: to thank
God for His blessings, and be taught by Gods word through the Scriptures so that we,
and our lives, might become, as Mother Teresa, put it something beautiful for God.
Footnote
Lent
The spirit of Lent is to do something more or something extra, to grow closer to Christ. The Church sets some guidelines
as a minimum, but we are free to do more. Traditionally, the penances of Lent are fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. Each
person, decides on what practices will best prepare him for Easter.
Lent denotes the forty days fast preceding Easter during which Friday is signalized as a day of fasting and abstinence,
in order to do homage to the memory of Christ suffering and dying on that day of the week.
Fasting is a means of escaping our self-preoccupation and entering into the mind of Christ. Abstinence Days are when
Catholics are not supposed to eat meat because meat is defined as the "flesh meat of warm-blooded animals." All
Fridays during the whole year used to be abstinence days. Now, the faithful in many regions may substitute a charitable
or penitential act in place of abstaining from meat. However, this is the bare minimum, and abstaining from meat is
beneficial to one's soul and body.
The traditional practices of Lent are fasting, prayer, reception of the Sacraments, and almsgiving. Fasting is a means
of escaping our self-preoccupation and entering into the mind of Christ. Through eating less, we feel some of the hunger
Jesus feels for souls, and we grasp our dependence on him for our very existence. Through prayer, we join in that
perfect union of the Trinity. Through the Sacraments (Catholic ceremonies), especially Eucharist and Penance, we are
drawn more closely into that union, and we obtain grace to overcome sin. Through giving away material goods, we
empty ourselves in a small way as Jesus emptied himself totally on the cross; we are sharply reminded of how attached
we are to trifles. All of these things make clear to us how desperately we need Gods redeeming grace.
The practice of denying ourselves some legitimate pleasure is also considered very healthy especially in a culture of
wanton self-gratification. As part of the principles of Christianity fasting gently instructs and reminds us about our own
weakness and the strength of surrendering to God.
Far from being a passive acceptance of trials, penance or Confession unites all our sufferings, large and small, with
those of Jesus. Everyone suffers in this life, so there is great merit in "offering it up to God as a fruitful use of that pain.
We can benefit spiritually by actively living our faith during Lent: performing physical and spiritual acts of mercy, going
out of our way to encourage and praise others and inviting non-Catholics to Mass.

Lent (Footnote cont.)
*There are Seven Sacraments of Catholicism. The seven sacraments are:
1. Baptism,
2. Confirmation,
3. Holy Communion or Eucharist,
4. Penance (commonly called Confession),
5. Marriage,
6. Holy Orders, and the
7. Anointing of the Sick
It is these Sacraments that form the life of the Catholic Church. Each sacrament is an outward sign of an inward
grace.
Be but for God

Chapter 5
Personal Resurrection
The Easter Message
Scripture Reading:
Acts 4: 8-12
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said: "Leaders of the people and elders: If we are being examined
today about a good deed done to a cripple, namely, by what means he was saved, then all of you
and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom
you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his name this man stands before you healed. He
is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. There is no salvation
through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which
we are to be saved."
Homily
In November of 1934, a broken-down alcoholic lay desperately ill in a hospital in New

York City. And then something wonderful happened. Here it is described in his own
words: My depression deepened unbearably, and finally it seemed to me as though I
was at the very bottom of the pit. For the moment, the last vestige of my proud obstinacy
was crushed. All at once I found myself crying out: If there is a God, let Him show Himself!
I am ready to do anything, anything, anything! Suddenly the room lit up with a great white
light. It seemed to me, in the minds eye, that I was on a mountain and that a wind, not
of air, but of spirit was blowing. And then it burst upon me that I was a free man. Slowly,

Chapter 5: Personal Resurrection
the ecstasy subsided. I lay on the bed, but now for a time I was in another world, a new
world of consciousness. All about me and through me there was a wonderful feeling of
Presence, and I thought to myself, So this is the God of the preachers!
The name of the person in that room was Bill Wilson. He was a transformed man, and
went on to become the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, a worldwide movement that
has healed and transformed the lives of millions of desperate people by offering them
help and healing through a new way of life based on living spiritual values.
In todays Scripture reading, we hear about the crippled man healed by the power of
the Risen Christ at the hands of St. Peter. During this Easter season, we reflect on the
meaning of the Resurrection of Jesus. What does it really mean for us?
For me, what the Resurrection means, is that it is a promise made to each one of us by
God our Father, that He will do to us exactly what He did to His Son, Jesusraise us up
and transform us into an entirely new dimension of life. And we sayyes, of course, I
know that. I know by my faith that I will be raised up on the last day to live with God
forever.
But, if we see our own Resurrection merely as an event in the far-away future, we are
missing something very important. Resurrection is NOW. Our Resurrection has already
begun. It is happening NOW. Do you not see it? Our transformation began on the day of
our Baptism when we were filled with Gods grace and became a member of Gods family.
But that healing and transforming power of GodResurrection poweris even now
continuing to transform us.

Gods life-giving and healing and transforming power is at work in us even now, right now.
It is all around us. The Risen Christ is with us every day. Resurrection power touches us
every day. Like Lazarus, it calls us out of the tombs we have created for ourselves
tombs of selfishness, tombs of discouragement, tombs of anger, tombs of fear. The
resurrected Christ says to us: Come out! Be healed! Be free!
In many ways, we are like that crippled man referred to in todays Scripture reading.
We can lose our happiness and our sense of Gods presence in our lives. We can be
crippled by anger and resentment, and carry around with us lifes hurts, rejections, and
betrayalsthose bitter memories of the past that poison the present. We can be crippled
by fearfear that prevents us from taking the risks of loving another person because we
dont want to be hurt or disappointed. So we live in loneliness.
We can be crippled by dishonesty, which prevents us from recognizing our faults and
learning from them. We can be crippled by selfishnessthat seduces us into making
ourselves the center of everything and drains love and compassion for others out of our
hearts and eats us away from inside like a spiritual form of cancer.
A selfish life is a lonely life, and too many people find that out too late. There are so
many things that cripple us, imprison us, and make us unfree. And, like Bill Wilson, we
cry out to God: Help me! Free me! Heal me! And God tells us: all you have to do is have
faith, and open your heart, and be ready to let go of those hurtful thingsand I will heal
you. I will lift your burdens. I will make you free. Butdo we really, really believe this?
Resurrection power was made clear to me many years ago when I was just a Jesuit
seminarian. I was in graduate school, living in the Jesuit Community in Los Angeles. In

our community was a priest named Ralph Tichenor. He was the meanest man I have
ever met. He was sour, unkind, nasty to everyone, and intensely disliked. Then one
summer, he went away to make his annual 8-day retreat. And a different man came back!
He was bubbling with joy, friendliness, and laughter. We were stunned, and asked him
Ralph, what happened? Youre so different. And I remember clearly what he said:
During my retreat God reached out and touched me, and I am not the same as I was.
Ralph encountered the Risen Christ. He experienced Resurrection powerthe healing
and transforming power of God that reached into his soul, into his heart, and healed and
transformed him.
And that is precisely what God can--and will--do for us. All we have to do, is ask for it
in faith and trust, and turn our wills and our lives over to the loving care of our God. Only
we can open the door and let Christ enter our hearts and our lives. It is only then that we
will experience Gods healing, forgiving, and transforming love, and Jesus will say to us,
as Peter said to that cripple, Arise and walk. Be healed. Be free.
May the Risen Lord bless you and keep you. May He lift up His face to you and be
gracious to you. May He look upon you with kindness, and give you His peace.
Footnote
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a real person who came to reside within Jesus Christ's true followers after Jesus rose from the dead
and ascended to heaven. Jesus told His apostles...
"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever; the Spirit of truth, whom the
world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you,
and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."2

Chapter 5: Personal Resurrection - Footnote
The Holy Spirit is not a vague, ethereal shadow, nor an impersonal force. He is a person equal in every way with God
the Father and God the Son. He is considered to be the third member of the Godhead. Jesus said to His apostles...
"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And all the divine attributes ascribed to the Father and the Son are equally ascribed
to the Holy Spirit. When a person is confirmed after baptism and they receive Jesus Christ into their lives, God resides
in that person through the Holy Spirit that has intellect, emotion, and will.6
A primary role of the Holy Spirit is that He bears "witness" of Jesus Christ. 7He tells people's hearts about the truth of
Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit also acts as a Christian's teacher and reveals God's will and God's truth to Christians.
As the 3rd person of the Blessed Trinity, The Holy Spirit is the one most active in the world today. The Bible says that:
- the Holy Spirit created the world (Genesis 1:2),
- led Jesus into the desert (Matthew 4:1),
- comes to us at Confirmation (Acts 8:18),
- and intercedes for us in sighs that we cannot understand (Romans 8:26).
Always remember that The Church teaches that The Holy Spirit is a person, like Jesus, and like God the Father.
Holy Spirit Gifts
According to Catholic Tradition, there are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit which are, heroic character traits that Jesus
Christ alone possesses in abundance but freely shares with the members of his mystical body, his Church. These traits
are infused into every Christian as a permanent endowment at baptism, nurtured by the practice of the seven virtues,
and sealed in the sacrament of confirmation. They are also known as the sanctifying gifts of the Spirit, because they
serve the purpose of rendering their recipients docile to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in their lives, helping them to
grow in holiness and making them fit for heaven.
The nature of the seven gifts has been debated by theologians since the mid-second century, but the standard
interpretation has been the one that St. Thomas Aquinas worked out in the thirteenth century in his Summa Theologiae:
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
1. Wisdom
2. Understanding
3. Counsel
4. Fortitude
5. Knowledge
6. Piety
7. Fear of the Lord.

The Holy Spirit (Footnote cont.)
Fruits of the Holy Spirit
1. Charity(Love)
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Generosity
8. Gentleness
9. Faithfulness
10. Modesty
11. Self-Control
12. Chastity
Be, but for God.

Chapter 6
Spirit of Power,
Spirit of Life.
Pentecost
Scripture Reading:
John 20: 19-23
Now when it was late the same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where
the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and
said to them: Peace be to you. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His
side. The disciples were glad, when they saw the Lord. He said to them again: Peace be to you.
As the Father has sent me, I also send you. When He had said this, He breathed on them; and He
said to them: Receive the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and
whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.

Chapter 6: Spirit of Power, Spirit of Life.
Homily
According to psychologists, one of the greatest human fears is that of being abandoned,
being left all alone. This is the stuff of which childhood nightmares are made. This
primordial fear is most likely what the Apostles felt after Jesus had ascended into heaven
in their sight. He was no longer with them, and they were left all alone. As the days
passed and the promised Paraclete (Holy Spirit) did not appear, fear and a sense of
abandonment must have so dominated their thoughts and emotions that they went and
hid themselves away, in the upper room, as the Scripture tells us.
At least, tucked away in their isolated hiding place, they felt safe from the Jews,
their enemies.
This kind of behaviour is very understandable to us, for fear so often overcomes us and
we feel all alone, or even abandoned. And so we then create our own upper rooms our
own personal hiding places so that we might feel secure and safe from whatever it is that
threatens or frightens us. These hiding places can be both physical as well as mental
and emotional. But, as someone wisely observed, hiding places can also become
prisons. To paraphrase the poet Robert Frost, before you build a wall, be sure to think
of what you are walling in, as well as what you are walling out.
So often when we retreat to our safe hiding places, we cut ourselves off from others,
from life around us, and from God. We can become dominated by our fears of being hurt
or rejected, fears of new persons and places, fears of different cultures and points of view.
And so, we isolate ourselves, only to be imprisoned by loneliness when we should be
experiencing love and friendship. We wall ourselves off from the excitement of being
challenged and enriched by new ideas, and new experiences. However much we

decorate those walls with apparent logic, sound reasoning and justifications, we still close
off our minds and our hearts. We cling to what is familiar, what is safe, but in so doing,
we also impoverish our lives.
On Pentecost, The Holy Spirit came to the Apostles in their upper room, their hiding place.
The Holy Spirit replaced fear with faith. And we must never forget that the opposite of
fear is not courage. It is faith. It is only faith, faith in Gods loving and healing and
encouraging presence in our lives, that enables us to let go of our fears and be healed
and renewed.
Just as He stood at the entrance of the tomb of His friend *Lazarus, so Jesus stands
before our self-created tombs, our hiding places, our upper rooms constructed out of fear
and doubt, and says to us Come out! Come out from the darkness of fear and remorse
into the sunlight of Gods love. Believe in goodness, believe in love, believe that you can
he healed of your wounds and fears, and live in joy and peace!
Gods greatest gift to us is the gift of the futurethat tomorrow does not have to be like
today, that we can change, be healed, and be different. All God asks of us is faith, an
open heart that is receptive to Gods healing and forgiving love. We are never left alone;
we are never abandoned by our loving God. Christ walks with us every day as our friend
and companion in our journey through life. What a reassuring thought that is! We never
have to give in to fear again.
And what a wonderful world is opened up to us: new friends, new experiences, new hopes
and dreams. As Scripture promises: They are transformed by the renewal of their

minds. And so, when we are tempted to give in to our fears, and to withdraw from life
into a hiding place, let us remember that every hiding place is really a prison, and fears
will vanish when faith comes to the centre of our lives.
Footnote
The Lazarus story takes place in John 11:1-44
The Raising of Lazarus or the Resurrection of Lazarus is a miracle of Jesus, in which Jesus brings Lazarus of Bethany
back to life four days after his burial. The raising of Lazarus is mentioned only in the Gospel of John (John 11:1-44).
Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, were friends of Jesus. When Lazarus fell ill, his sisters sent a message
to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." When Jesus heard the news, he waited two more days before going to
Lazarus' hometown of Bethany. Jesus knew that he would do a great miracle for God's glory and, therefore, he was
not in a hurry.
When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days. When Martha discovered
that Jesus was on his way, she went out to meet him. "Lord," she said, "if you had been here, my brother would not
have died." Jesus told Martha, "Your brother will rise again." But Martha thought he was talking about the final
resurrection of the dead. Then Jesus said these important words: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes
in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."
Martha then went and told Mary that Jesus wanted to see her. Jesus had not yet entered the village, most likely to
avoid stirring up the crowd and calling attention to himself. The town of Bethany was not far from Jerusalem where the
Jewish leaders were plotting against Jesus.
When Mary met Jesus she was grieving with strong emotion over her brother's death. The Jews with her were also
weeping and mourning. Deeply moved by their grief, Jesus wept with them.
Jesus then went to the tomb of Lazarus with Mary, Martha and the rest of the mourners. There he asked them to
remove the stone that covered the hillside burial place. Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed to his Father, closing
with these words: "Lazarus, come out!" When Lazarus came out of the tomb, Jesus told the people to remove his grave
clothes.
As a result of this incredible miracle, many people put their faith in Jesus.
Be, but for God.

Chapter 7
Forgiven Sinners
Scripture Reading:
John 20,1: 15-17

Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples by The Sea of Tiberius. When they had finished
breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He
replied to him, Yes, Lord. You know that I love you. He said to him, Feed my lambs. A
second time Jesus said to him, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He replied, Yes, Lord.
You know that I love you. He said to him, Tend my sheep. He then said to him a third time,
Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was upset that he said to him the third time, Do
you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. And
Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep.
Homily
There are many dramatic and powerful scenes in The New Testament, but the
encounter of Christ with Peter on the beach narrated at the end of Johns Gospel, is, I
think, the most beautiful and moving scene in the entire New Testament.

Chapter 7: Forgiven Sinners
Jesus prepares breakfast for the disciples and then he has a quiet word with Peter.
Look at how Jesus treats Peter. Jesus certainly knows that Peter denied him, not just
once, but three times on the night before the crucifixion. But what is significant, is what
Jesus doesnt say to Peter. He could have said: Well, Peter didnt I tell you so? Peter,
arent you ashamed of what you did? But what Jesus does is only to ask a simple
question to Peter: Do you love me? There is no mention of guilt or shame. What
Jesus is doing, according to many Biblical commentators, is giving Peter the chance to
cancel out those three denials by three affirmations of love.
And Peter gets ithe understands what Jesus is doingbecause he is literally in tears
by the third question. And there is a wonderful lesson for each of us in this scene.
Peter certainly sinned, but he also repented, as Scripture tells us. He learned from his
mistake, and was ready to accept Gods forgiveness, and become a wiser and better
man. Note also that another Apostle betrayed Jesus that same nightJudasbut
Judas couldnt admit his wrong and gave in to despair, and instead of repenting and
accepting forgiveness, he chose the noose.
The lesson for us is simple and beautiful. Our loving and compassionate God is not
interested in our sins, our guilt or what we have done in the past. God is only interested
in whether we are honest about our faults and failures, repent of them, and are willing to
learn from these mistakes and be a better person. God is interested in our future, not
our past. When we turn to God in honest acknowledgement of our sins and mistakes,
Gods abundant forgiveness washes away our sins. Indeed, Gods greatest gift to us is
precisely the gift of the futurethat tomorrow does not have to be like today, that we
can learn, change, and grow to become better persons. The point is not that we are

sinners, but that we are forgiven sinners. As Oscar Wilde observed, Every saint has a
past, and every sinner has a future. All of us are Peter on the beach.
In the aftermath of their Pentecost experience, we see the Apostles and disciples fan out
to proclaim the message of salvationa message of Gods healing and forgiving love
and a new commandment: love God and your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus said. What I command you is to love one another . This is the only time in the
Gospels that Jesus gives us a direct and clear commandfor each one of us to do
exactly what Jesus did: love God with all our heart, and then to live out and express that
love by loving and serving others. As Christians we are truly to become men and
women for others, with a special care for the poor, the marginalized, the suffering, and
the rejected. We are to become healers of others by our loving attention to their needs.
Our Christian vocation to be healers to others is dramatically illustrated by the

experience of one of my male students. He experienced a terribly personal tragedy just
before he came to college. He saw his two closest friends die in a car wreck; in fact, he
held his best friend in his arms as he died at the scene. And then, a week later, another
close friend took his own life. The student was devastated. In his grief and pain, he
resolved never to let himself be so hurt again, never to allow anyone to be close to him.
In his final year at our Jesuit college (Spring Hill College), the student told his story to a
group of us and added that it was the love and care of his friends at our College that
healed him and made him ready to love and care in return, to open his heart and to be
vulnerable again. There was not a dry eye in our group.

We Christians, healed and transformed by the touch of the Risen Christ, bring to the world
a vision that is positive and joyful. As the writer John Updike phrased it: the space we
live in is upward space. We look up in hope and faith, not down in discouragement and
despair. We know by personal experience the transforming power of Gods healing and
forgiving love in our lives. And we offer that hope to others. This is how we help to redeem
and transform humanity.
We might say, But what can I do? What difference can I make? How can I solve all those
problems and evils in our world? And God replies to us simply Yes you can. You help
transform the world simply by doing your bit on your own patch, living the values of the
Gospel every day, at home and at work. Never underestimate the power of the good
example you give to others. As St. Thomas More wisely said, Although you cant make
everything right, you can try to make things as little wrong as possible.
Each time we do an act of kindness, each time we reject selfishness, each time we
reach out to others in compassion and love, we prove that we indeed live in upward
space.
Be, but for God.

Chapter 8
The Lord Is My
Shepherd
Scripture Reading:
Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He has set me in a place of pasture. He leads me
beside still waters. He restores my soul. He has led me on the paths of justice, for his own name's
sake. For though I should walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for you
are with me. Your rod and your staff, they have comforted me. You have prepared a table before
me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil; and my cup
overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in
the house of the Lord forever.
Homily
Todays Scripture readingPsalm 23is one of the most beautiful and inspiring
passages in the Bible, with its serene affirmation of faith in Gods providence. Before we
reflect on this Psalm, a story. An old man was reviewing his life, and as he looked back,
he saw two sets of footsteps in the sand as he travelled along the path of his life, and he
knew that the other set of footprints belonged to God, his trusted companion and guide.
But then he noticed something disturbing. He noticed that at those times when he was in
crisis, when there were tragedies, fears, and difficulties, he could see only one set of
footprints.

Chapter 8: The Lord is my Shepherd
He turned to God in confusion and anger and asked, Where were you at the times my
life fell apart? I see only one set of footprints? And God replied, My precious, precious
child, those were the times I had to carry you.*
One of our deepest human fears is the fear of being abandoned, of being left all alone
and on our own. This is the stuff of which childhood nightmares are made. And at no time
do we feel more alone and frightened than at those times when our lives fall apart. We
are diagnosed with a serious disease. A loved one dies. We lose our job. These are
traumatic and truly frightful moments. We are filled with confusion, fear, and even anger.
We ask God: where are you? Please take this away! But then, when we turn to God in
prayer in our pain and fear, something begins to happen. The grace of The Holy Spirit
begins to lift us out of our self-pity, and gives us some perspective on what has happened.
We realize that I am not the only person who has to cope with cancer. I am not the only
person who has experienced the loss of a loved one. I am not the only person who has
lost a job. God gives us perspective, a context for our personal woes. And in that
perspective, God helps us to understand what I term the pattern of life.
Human life is a mixture of good and bad, joy and sorrow, success and failure, turmoil and
peace. As the fictional character, Forrest Gump, memorably put it, Life is like a box of
chocolates. You never know what youre going to get. It is this graced understanding of
the pattern of life that lifts us out of anger, bitterness, and self-pity, and moves us towards
acceptance of Gods will. This is exactly what happened to Jesus in the agony in the
garden. He moved from Take this away to Thy will be done.

This is not an easy process, but it is actually a grace and a growth in true wisdom. Out of
our suffering comes a deeper faith. Like the person in the footprints story, we come to
understand that we are never alone, that God never abandons us. God walks with us in
love and compassion, particularly in times of tragedy and distress. As one theologian puts
it, God weeps along with us when bad things happen to good people.
No one is exempt from the ordinary patterns of life. But what we have is a loving God
who gives us wisdom and insight, courage, and strength to walk through the difficult times
with faith in our hearts. God might not give us always what we want, but He will always
give us what we need. And that is a very important distinction.
The 23rd Psalm was written by David, a man who knew what it is to suffer tragedy.
This psalm is a ringing testament to the faith that looks through fear. It assures us that we
are never alone, and that God, the Good Shepherd, walks with us and gives us the
strength we need to live a happy and serene life in spite of the difficulties that life
sometimes brings. If we look at some of the other Psalms, we see fear and anguish as
David wrestled with his own personal fears and tragedies. But he emerged with his faith
intactindeed strongerto write that beautiful 23rd psalm. This is the voice of a person
who has suffered and emerged stronger and wiser and that is the lesson for us. The text
says Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You
are at my side.
A friend of mine always says that there is a gift in everything. But what gift can there
be in our suffering? It seems absurd. But, when we reflect on our experiences,

particularly those difficult times, I think we grow to be more understanding and

compassionate towards other people who suffer. And this is the special gift God gives us:
an understanding and compassionate heart. We can share our own experiences with
those who are in the grip of sorrow and fear, and reassure them that all will be well if they
only have faith in Gods constant love for them. In doing this, we share in the healing
ministry of Christ himself. We become wounded healers and out of our own sufferings,
we share the wisdom and deeper faith we have achieved.
Footnote
The Footprints in the Sand story has been the subject of controversy, with multiple individuals claiming authorship (cf.
Wikipedia).
Be, but for God.

Chapter 9
WHAT PRICE FOR
SUCCESS?
Scripture Reading:
John 15: 1-8

I am the true vine: and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that bears not
fruit, he will take away: and every one that bears fruit, he will purge it, that it may bring forth more
fruit. Now you are clean, by reason of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me: and I
in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you,
unless you abide in me. I am the vine: you the branches. He that abides in me, and I in him, bears
much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. If anyone abide not in me, he shall be cast forth
as a branch and shall wither.. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask
whatever you will and it shall be given you. In this is my Father glorified: that you bring forth
very much fruit and become my disciples.

Homily
The Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, wrote a powerful short story, titled The Death of Ivan
Ilyich. Its about a very clever and ambitious young man, Ivan Ilyich, who has figured out
exactly what he wants in life. He wants to be rich and powerful. He wants to have social
standing and to be admired by all. So, he sets out on a legal career.
Young Ivan carefully figures out who are the most influential and useful people and
snuggles up to them. He makes friends only with bright young professionals who can be
useful to him in his climb to the top. When they are no longer useful, he drops them. When
it comes time to marry, Ivan selects a rich young woman from a socially superior family.
There is no mention of love. And finally, Ivan makes it. He wins a seat on the Supreme
Court of Russia.
He has a beautiful house, powerful and rich friends, and the life he has dreamed of from
the beginning. But then, he is struck down by a painful and ultimately fatal illness. As he
lies all alone in his bedroom, ignored by his selfish wife and selfish children, deserted by
his so-called friends, Ivan has a terrifying moment of clarity. He sees how hollow and
meaningless his life had been, and that he is dying alone and unloved because he had
never taken the time to love or care for anyone but himself.
Tolstoys story is a warning to each of us, for Ivan Ilyich is everyman. He reflects what
every one of us wantsto be happy and successful in life. But Tolstoy asks us to consider
what we are willing to pay for success. Ivan centered his life completely around himself.
He was totally selfish. He thought that happiness was to be found in things outside of
himselfprofessional success, wealth, social prestige. He did not understand that

Chapter 9: What Price for Success
happiness is an inside jobthat happiness comes from the inside out, not from the
outside in. Happiness comes from finding true and lasting moral values that will result in
a meaningful and rewarding life. Pope Francis has said, Possessions, money, and
power can give a momentary thrill, the illusion of being happy, but they end up possessing
us, and making us always want to have more, never satisfied. And we end up full but not
nourished. We must be nourished by faith, not with other things.
Todays Scripture reading has the image of the vine and the branches. A branch
thrives only when it is connected to the vine because of the life-giving nourishment the
vine provides. Only joined to the source of the nourishment can the branch thrive. Cut
off, it withers and dies. So too with us. We thrive, blossom, and flourish by drawing
spiritual nourishment from Christ and from what Christ has taught us.
Mother Theresa said it so well: God is not calling you to be successful. God is calling
you to be faithful. God gives us the recipe for happiness and it is only by living as Christ
has taught us that we find it and then the deepest desires of our heart are satisfied. And
I would add to what Mother Tresa said, that if you are faithful, you will be successful in
everything that truly matters in life.
Be, But for God

Chapter 10
Humility
The Misunderstood Virtue
Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of Muslim,

Orthodox, Hindu and Catholic refugees in a moving ceremony
during Holy Thursday Mass in March 2016, at a refugee
Centre on the outskirts of Rome. *
Photograph by Reuters / Osservatore Romano
Scripture Reading:
Philippian 2: 1-5
If our life in Christ means anything to you, if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we have
in common, or any tenderness and sympathy, then be united in your convictions and united in your
love, with a common purpose and a common mind. That is one thing that would make me
completely happy. There must be no competition among you, no conceit; but everybody is to be
self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, so that nobody thinks
of his own interests first, but everybody thinks of others peoples interests instead. In your minds,
you must be the same as Christ Jesus.
Homily
In Lerner and Loewes great Broadway musical, Camelot, one of the characters
sings a cynical song that is a parody of basic Christian values, titled The Seven Deadly
Virtues and some of the lyrics are as follows: I think humility means to be hurt; its not
the earth the meek inherit, its the dirt. If charity means giving, I give it to you. Fidelity is
only for your mate. A prominent politician, is reputed to have explained in an interview
why he was not a Christian. He said that he couldnt accept Christian passivity in the face

Chapter 10: Humility
of evil, the idea of turning the other cheek. Both of these examples deal with humility,
and I call humility the misunderstood virtue. So, lets explore what true Christian humility
is and isnt.
First of all, lets deal with what Christian humility is not. It is not weakness and it is not
the passive acceptance of evil in society around us. The politician was wrong. What
Christ meant about turning the other cheek is that Christians must exhibit self-control and
not lash out at an enemy or aggressor simply as an angry animal. Before you return evil
for evil, Christ says turn the other cheek before you reduce yourself to that level. But that
does not mean that Christians should be doormats.
Christians should be active, articulate, and forceful in opposing evil in the world. But we
do that without making it personal, without resorting to settling scores or taking revenge
on those who have hurt us. As Gandhi said, An eye for an eye will only make the whole
world blind. We oppose the sin but love the sinner.
And also true Christian humility is not self-hatred, an excessive and exaggerated
sense of our sinfulness. This mistaken attitude makes us see God as a stern taskmaster
we can never ever please. It makes us feel totally unlovable and unworthy of Gods love.
It wrings all of the joy and gratitude we ought to have as Christians out of our lives, leaving
us to wallow in a grey world of perpetual guilt. Of course we all are sinners, but the point
of our faith is that we are redeemed sinners, washed clean in the blood of Christ. We are
Easter people and Alleluia is our song.

So, if true humility isnt weakness or self-hatred, what then is it??? My definition of
Christian Humility is that it is honesty coupled with gratitude. Lets talk about honesty
first. Honesty for us as Christians is a gift from The Holy Spirit that enables us to
recognize who and what we really are, followed by a sincere attempt to become what we
could and should be. True humility brings us freedom, not guilt. A true picture of
ourselves reveals that we are a mixed bagstrengths as well as weaknesses, virtues as
well as flaws. True humility calls us to acknowledge our virtues, strengths, and gifts, but
also to admit our shortcomings, our errors, our sins, and to recognize the obstacles to
spiritual growth that we create for ourselves by bad decisions. And so, real humility is
balance. It is accepting life on lifes terms. It is letting go of the desire to control everything
and everyone. It is acknowledging that we are basically good people who want to become
better people. It is being absolutely truthful with ourselves and with God.
Therefore, true Christian humility is the opposite of selfishness, ego, believing that the
world revolves around us. Real humility frees us from pride and those negative
characteristics that keep us wrapped up in ourselves. The English writer John Ruskin
insightfully observed that the person who is wrapped up in himself makes a very small
package indeed. True humility helps us find that fine balance between a healthy self-
respect and the ability to willingly put ourselves at the service of others.
The final component of true Christian humility is gratitude: gratitude for Gods
overwhelming, healing and compassionate love for us. Gratitude should be at the
very center of the spiritual life of every Christian. True gratitude is outward-looking,
not focused on the self. And so, our gratitude for all of Gods blessings sends us
outside of ourselves to do what Christ has commanded us: love our neighbour as

ourselves. Selfishness asks what can you do for me; true Christian love asks what
I can do for you. True humility does not consist of thinking less of ourselves, but in
thinking of ourselves less.
As we come to understand the true nature of Christian humility, we grow in the deep
faith that enables us to turn our wills and our lives over to the daily care of God, seeking
only knowledge of Gods will for us, and the power to carry it out. With our life in Gods
loving care, fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and anger are removed from our souls and are
replaced by a serenity, joy, and quiet confidence that the world cannot give or ever take
from us. God fills our emptiness with His overflowing love and peace.
Footnote
*On the photograph illustrating this chapter, by Reuters / Osservatore Romano
On 24th March 2016, Pope Francis celebrated the traditional Holy Thursday Mass of the Lords Supper and the foot-
washing ceremony, at a refugee shelter in Castelnuovo di Porto, outside Rome, inaugurating the most solemn period
of the Catholic Churchs Easter season
The Maundy (Holy) Thursday rite re-enacts the foot-washing ritual Jesus performed on his apostles on the eve of his
crucifixion and is meant as a gesture of service.
Vatican rules had long called for only men to participate in the ritual, and past popes and many priests traditionally
performed it on 12 Catholic men, recalling Jesus 12 apostles and further cementing the doctrine of an all-male
priesthood.
But after years of many reforms that he had made since becoming a Pope, He, changed the regulations in January
2016 to explicitly allow women and girls to participate in the ritual.
In the spirit of Easter, Pope Francis visited a Refugee Centre. In a powerful gesture of humility and interfaith
embrace, the Pontiff knelt down before group of eight men and four women of Muslim, Orthodox, Hindu and Catholic
refugees, and washed and kissed their feet. This was a sign of welcome, at a time when anti-Muslim and anti-
immigrant sentiment had risen after terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris by extremists.
His message to the crowds gathered was, "You, we, all of us together, of different religions, different cultures, but
children of the same Father, brothers and there, those poor people, who buy weapons to wreck fraternity," Francis
said Thursday. "Today, at this time, when I do the same act of Jesus washing the feet of twelve of you, let us all make

Photograph Illustrating Humility (Footnote (cont.)
a gesture of brotherhood, and let us all say: 'We are different, we are different, we have different cultures and
religions, but we are brothers and we want to live in peace.'"
The Vatican said eight men and four women took part in the ritual, AP reported, including an Italian Catholic; three
Eritrean Coptic Christians; four Catholics from Nigeria; three Muslims from Mali, Syria and Pakistan; and a Hindu man
from India.
The new norms said anyone from the people of God could be chosen to participate in the ceremony.
While the phrase people of God usually refers to baptised Christians, the decree also said that pastors should
instruct both the chosen faithful and others so that they may participate in the rite consciously, actively and fruitfully,
suggesting that the rite could be open to non-Catholics as well.
Source: Catholic Herald
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/03/24/pope-francis-washes-feet-of-refugees-on-holy-
thursday/
Be, But for God

Chapter 11
What Churches Say
To Us
Scripture Reading:
Revelation 8: 2-5
Next I saw seven trumpets being given to seven angels who stand in the presence of God.
Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. A large quantity of incense
was given to him to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that stood in front of
the throne. And so the smoke from the angels hand and the smoke of the incense went up in the
presence of God, and with it the prayers of the saints.
Homily
If you look at old eighteenth and nineteenth century prints of the skyline of London, you
notice a city of low buildings and rooftops punctuated all over by church steeples, like
fingers pointing up towards the sky. Also there is the massive bulk of Christopher Wrens
St. Pauls Cathedral towering above the city in beautiful splendour on Ludgate Hill.
London was indeed a city of churches. But what has it become now?
Church buildings in our communities, with their steeples pointing to the sky, say
something to us that is very important and they remind us of two things. By their very

Chapter 11: What Churches Say to Us
presence in our neighbourhoods, they remind us that God is dwelling is our midst. The
house of God is right there among our own houses. God indeed has pitched His tent
among us, as Scripture says. God lives with us and walks with us on our journey through
life. Our loving God is always present, and we are never alone.
And those church steeples pointing upwards to the sky remind us every day, every
time we see them, that our home is in Heaven, and that heavenly values, not earthly
values, lead us on the path to eternal salvation and to a meaningful and happy life. These
church buildings are living reminders in brick and stone of everything that Jesus has
taught us.
But, today, if you look at the skyline of London, as I did the other evening from the
terrace of The National Theatre, you will see a very different skyline. The steeples are
hidden by much taller buildings, and you can barely see St. Pauls because the churches
of London are overshadowed by those huge glass skyscrapers, those temples of
commerce, where our society worships the goddess of getting-on (to use a phrase from
art critic and cultural commentator John Ruskin). And the same holds true in every major
city.
But even though our churches are dwarfed and hidden by these monstrosities that
perfectly embody and express the materialistic values of our culture, they are still there,
nevertheless. The churches still stand as a daily rebuke to the selfish values of
materialism, and remind us, every time we pass them, that the goddess of getting-on
and the values of selfishness, greed, and social Darwinism will not lead us to fulfilment
and happiness.

Just steps from our Churches, even on Sunday, the opposing ritual of frantic shopping
goes on, as our culture tells us that our self-worth comes from what we own and what we
wear, where we live, and what we do. But this false doctrine mistakenly believes that
happiness comes from the outside in, from things outside of ourselves, when the exact
opposite is true.
The real source of happiness that will fulfil the deepest longings of our hearts is not to
be found in the temples of commerce. It is to be found in our churches. Our churches
proclaim that the Gospel is the road-map to happiness and salvation, that love rather than
selfishness, generosity rather than greed, compassion and forgiveness rather than cold
calculation and aggression, are the true source of fulfilment and happiness. I really think
that today it takes real courage to be a Christian.
We and our values are truly counterculturalgoing against the prevailing values of
our culture. Our cynical and morally bankrupt culture often mocks and ridicules these
values, and even persecutes those who hold them. Take, for example our entertainment
media. The model of life shown on nearly every television program is a world completely
without religion. Do we ever see the characters on the popular shows talking about faith
or moral values? No! Our popular media is giving a clear message to usand especially
to our young peoplethat religion is completely irrelevant in the modern world.
When the entertainment media do depict Christians, they are usually presented as
religious zealots and backward-looking fanatics who want to keep women subservient
and deprive them of their right to choose. What a wonderfully cynical euphemism that
isthere is no right to choose to kill an unborn human being, and the culture of abortion

will inevitably lead to the practice of euthanasia, and that is happening right before our
eyes.
And so, our churches stand as a living rebuke to the pagan values of our society, and
they fearlessly proclaim the unchanging moral values of the Gospel to a world that is
desperate for something to believe in. Like the prophets of old who fearlessly spoke up
about the power of truth, the Christian community is steadfast in proclaiming the life-
affirming moral values, that Jesus has taught us.
Be, But for God

Chapter 12
Personal Shipwreck
Photograph by Ivan Aivazovsky
Scripture Reading:
Matthew 14: 22-33
Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side of the lake while he
would send the crowds away. After sending the crowds away, he went up into the hills by himself
to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, while the boat, by now far out on the lake, was
battling with a heavy sea, for there was a headwind. In the fourth watch of the night, he went
toward them walking on the lake, and when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were
terrified. It is a ghost they said, and cried out in fear. But at once Jesus called out to them,
saying, Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid. It was Peter who answered, Lord, if it is you, tell
me to come to you across the water. Come, said Jesus. Then Peter got out of the boat and
started walking toward Jesus across the water, but as soon as he felt the force of the wind, he took
fright and began to sink. Lord, save me! he cried. Jesus put out his hand at once and held him.
Man of little faith, he said, why did you doubt? And as they got into the boat, the wind dropped.
The men bowed down before him and said, Truly, you are the Son of God.
Homily
I teach at a small Jesuit College in America. Every August, when the new first-year
students arrive, there is a special Convocationa ceremony of matriculation and

Chapter 12: Personal Shipwreck
welcome to the new members of our student community. The former President, Father
Gregory Lucey, S.J., always gave the same speech to the new students.
He talked about the fact that every student will experience, sometime during their four
years at the College, a personal shipwrecka time of crisis, fear, and turmoil when
everything will fall apart. But he also reminded the students that the time of shipwreck
is also a time for spiritual growth, as we will see later. Father Lucey ended his talk with
a promise that went something like this: If you dont have a personal shipwreck during
these four years, I will cheerfully refund all of your tuition fees. So far, there have been
no takers, although I suspect that, every August when Father Lucey said this, he had
his fingers crossed behind his back!
Todays Gospel story of Peter on the water tells us something very important about
our lives. Each one of us will definitely experience our own personal shipwreck at some
point in our lives. There will be a time when things fall apart. There will be a time when
we are filled with anger, confusion, fear, and anxiety, depression and panic, and we cry
out with Pater Lord save me! I am going under in this storm that has engulfed my life!
These personal shipwrecks can be anything from a serious illness, a diagnosis of cancer,
the death of a spouse or loved one, the loss of a job. These are truly times when the
bottom falls out and we are surrounded by darkness and confusion and consumed by
terrible fears. But notice what happens when Peter cries out to Jesus in fear and
desperation as his faith falters and he begins to sink beneath the waves. Jesus reaches
out to him immediately and lifts him up. He tells Peter to have faith, not fear. You know,
when we examine the New Testament, the most frequent thing Jesus says is Do not be

Chapter 12: Personal shipwreck
afraid. Jesus knows that we face so many fears and anxieties and crises in our lives as
well as moments of personal shipwreck. Jesus wants us to understand the simple fact
that we are never, ever alone. God always walks at our side on our life journey, and at
times of fear and crisis, God is especially close to us. God says to us: Dont be afraid.
In these times of personal crisis, God gives us two gifts: the gift of wisdom and the
gift of strength and courage. The gift of wisdom enables us to stand back and put
things in perspective. It teaches us that we are not unique, that the things we face
are part of everyones life experience. Its simply the pattern of life, and we have to
learn to accept the things in life that we cannot change. Human life is the proverbial
salad bowl of joy and sorrow, success and failure, good times and bad times. Life is
truly like a box of chocolates. We never know what were going to get.
And so, God teaches us to accept the realities of life, the pain as well as the joy.
And it is this perspective that enables us to move out of anger and maudlin self-pity
and towards acceptance and a deeper faith.
The second gift God gives us at these times of shipwreck is couragethe courage to
deal with things honestly and realistically. God gives us strength to walk through the
difficulties we face, along with understanding and wisdom. God also gives us the love and
support of family and friends to help us know that we walk through life together with God
and with our fellow humans. Our loving God walks with us every day and we are actually
never less alone than we are in times of crisis and suffering. Notice in todays Gospel
that it is only when Peter takes his eyes off Jesus and begins to focus on the waves and
water that he begins to experience fear and sink. And thats the lesson for us.

Chapter 12: Personal shipwreck
In times of trial, we must keep our eyes fixed on God in faith and trust. We must hold on
to our faith, sometimes with white knuckles, moment by moment. Remember that the
opposite of fear is not really courageit is faiththe faith that looks through fear and
brings the assurance that we never walk alone. God indeed loves and cares for us and
everything will eventually work out in our lives for the best. Faith will see us through.
Rogers and Hammersteins great musical, Carousel, ends with a very special song
entitled, "You'll Never Walk Alone"*. (Click on the link to listen to it carefully). Never
forget that this song, as well as the Gospel, tells you to walk on, walk on, with faith in
your heart, and youll never walk alone.
Footnote
Source for Rogers and Hammersteins Musical, Carousel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB7PGPg6b94&feature=youtu.be%20%20%20
The End
Be, But for God

Final Thoughts
Photograph by Filip Doneski
When Sally invited me to choose a title for this Ebook, I decided on is Building Your
Jerusalem. This title is taken from the concluding lines of English poet William Blakes
poem Jerusalem which state: till we have built Jerusalem in Englands green and
pleasant land. Jerusalem simply represents The Kingdom of our God, the Kingdom of
love, justice, compassion, and peace. We build Jerusalem in our world by living the
values of The Gospel every day in every way. Our faith assures us that good will
triumph over evil, love over hatred, justice over injustice, and we will reach that glorious
day when the lion lies down with the lamb, when there are no divisions, and we all are
Gods children, brothers and sisters.
But, first we must build our own personal Jerusalem within our own hearts. How do we
do this? Well, the foundation of our personal Jerusalem is our faith which must be
deeply rooted in gratitude. Each of us, when we review our lives, will see how many
blessings we have received from God, no matter how many difficulties we may have
experienced.

Final Thoughts
We are each truly blessed by our loving and compassionate God in so many ways.
The more conscious we become of our blessings, the more we begin to realize that God
loves each one of us unconditionally and this love will never be taken away from us.
Gods love wipes out our sins and failures and gives us the gift of a future bright with
hope. When this realization of Gods unlimited love for us really, really and truly
penetrates into our hearts, we experience a flood of gratitude. And this deep gratitude
becomes the foundation of our spiritual life. What can we give back to a God who has
given us so much?? We simply give ourselves, as the beautiful Prayer of Saint
Ignatius states: You have given all to me; now I return it. Give me only Your love and
Your grace. Thats enough for me.
The profound love and gratitude in our hearts then invites us to fully embrace The
Gospel and its values and live our Christian faith as deeply as we can every day. And
how do we do that? By asking ourselves in every situation, before every choice or
decision, What would Jesus do? And then we do it! Resting on the foundation of
gratitude, we continue to build our personal Jerusalem with good deeds done out of
love. Pope Francis has urged us to do at least one good deed every day. Each of us
can certainly do that! In each good deed we do, the love of Christ flows out through us
into the world to touch the lives of others. Never, never discount or underestimate the
power of the little good deeds you do. Remember that just as a magnificent cathedral is
built out of many thousands of individual little bricks, so too is the Kingdom of God built
up by the good deeds of Christians who live their faith and love their neighbour as
themselves, as Christ has commanded. And so, as we build our own personal
Jerusalem, we at the same time build up The Kingdom of God. What Jesus came to
teach us is not abstract theology. What Jesus taught the people of His own time, and
teaches you and me today, is how to livethe moral values that, lived out, will bring us
a full, happy, and meaningful life.

Final Thoughts
I hope these homilies have given you some thoughts on how The Gospels can be lived
out in your own life, in the various circumstances you deal with every day. And so, this
is my heartfelt prayer for each of you who reads this little book: May The Lord bless
you and keep you. May The Lord lift up His face to you and be gracious to you. May
The Lord look upon you with kindness, and give to His peace.
Fr. Michael A. Williams, S.J.
July, 2016
Jerusalem by William Blake (1757-1827)
And did those feet in ancient time Bring me my bow of burning gold!
walk upon England's mountains green? Bring me my arrows of desire!
And was the holy Lamb of God Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
on England's pleasant pastures seen? Bring me my chariot of fire!
And did the countenance divine I will not cease from mental fight,
shine forth upon our clouded hills? nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
And was Jerusalem builded here till we have built Jerusalem
among these dark satanic mills? in England's green and pleasant land.
Be but for God
The End

References:
Ch. 5: Some of the information from the footnote came from the following websites:
http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/the-seven-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit
http://www.ancient-future.net/catholiclists.html
https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-
8#safe=active&q=What+is+the+Holy+Spirit
http://www.everystudent.com/forum/hspirit.html
http://www.catholicbible101.com/theholyspirit.htm
Ch. 6: Some of the information from the footnote came from the following websites
http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/p/raisinglazarus.htm
Ch: 12: Links to information referred to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB7PGPg6b94&feature=youtu.be
Scripture Reading Reference:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06608a.htm
Photographs
Springhill College website: https://www.flickr.com/photos/springhillcollege/sets/72157603791161485/
Young Catholic Women - http://www.youngcatholicwomen.com/spirit-of-the-season
Maclin Horton:

Rev. Fr. Michael Williams, SJ.
Fr. Michael Williams was born in 1944 to a traditional Catholic family in Philadelphia and
is the eldest of three brothers. After winning a scholarship to the Jesuit high school in
Philadelphia, he realized that his vocation was to be both a priest and a teacher. He
entered The Society of Jesus (The Jesuits) in 1962 and was ordained in 1975.
Although trained as a specialist in medieval literature, Williams has developed a strong

interest in Irish literature, particularly modern Irish drama. He has recently presented
papers at regional and national meetings of The American Conference for Irish Studies
and The Conference on Christianity and Literature.
Williams received his bachelors degree, Magna Cum Laude, from Fordham University
with a triple major in English, Philosophy and Classics. He also holds an M.A. and Ph.D.
in English literature from The University of Southern California, as well as a Master of
Divinity degree from The Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. He served as assistant
and then associate dean of The College of Arts and Sciences at Gonzaga University in
Spokane, Wash., before coming to Spring Hill College in 1986. At Spring Hill College,
Williams has served as chair of the department of English and adviser to three student
organizations: The Knights of Columbus, The Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, and Alpha
Sigma Nu, the Jesuit honor society. He served on the National Board of Directors of
Alpha Sigma Nu as member and Board Secretary. He is currently an Emeritus
Professor of English at Spring Hill College.

Sally Baffour
Born in Ghana, Sally Baffour came to the UK in 1974 to study. After qualifying, she
worked in the field of commercial Interior Architecture for over 12 years before getting
married in her early 30s. After a few years of trying for a baby without success, they
discovered that the underlying problem was extensive fibroids that were causing Sally to
miscarry. They tried IVF but Sally was unable to carry the pregnancy full-term and so
they gave up. Finally, upon the advice of Sallys mother, the couple made the choice of
becoming parents through adoption. Sadly, 4 years later, the marriage broke down
leaving Sally to become a single parent of 6-year-old twins, a boy and girl, who had
suffered severe trauma even whilst in the care system, before their adoption placement.
The twins had been placed with them for adoption, at 2 and a half years of age.
Difficult as it was, Sally struggled through parenting the twins with support from her
mother, especially (until she died) as well as some of her family and friends, together
with a number of amazing priests she encountered along the way and some very
supportive members of her Catholic Church. Sally says she could not have done it
without the tremendous support of Parishioners and the clergy who serendipitously
materialized unexpectedly, in times of great need, to help out.
Now 26 years old, her son, who is 5 minutes older than his twin sister, is a songwriter
and music producer, and her daughter (his twin sister) who studied law, is now working
with a large UK Financial Institution in the City of London.

The pressure that single parenting brought to bear on Sally made her choose to be a
stay-at-home mum to enable her to apply herself more fully to this new and extremely
challenging, yet very rewarding role, as a mother.
The experience that Sally found herself in, opened up her world to a whole new reality
of children, in the care system. The complexity and challenges of their world when their
birth parents for various reasons were unable to care for them and the ultimate chaos
that resulted in their adult years, came as a complete shock to her. The devastating
results on the lives of children born into the life of depravity and neglect that led to
children being taken into care, was a wake-up call for Sally. Nothing in her life prior to
adopting her twins, had prepared her for this. Her world changed. Sally knew at this
point that she had found her Calling in life, ironically through her infertility.
She took an interest in children in the care system and committed her life to advocating
for adoption when she realized what a positive effect it had on the children who were
fortunate enough to be placed in appropriate homes that claimed them and especially
where the children felt a genuine sense of belonging.
Sally, now an adoption consultant and passionate promoter of adoption, sits on several
boards in the UK advocating for children in care and on several adoption panels in
London, that approve prospective adopters as well as matching children in care with
suitable approved adopters.
A miraculous recovery from an operation that should have been fatal, led to Sally setting
up a charity called Thank U, in eternal gratitude to God for saving her life when the
twins were only 10 years old and needed her most. The Charity which set up a feeding
Centre for elderly people in Ghana, and a cottage industry to enable ostracized women
living with HIV/Aids to earn their keep, in order to take care of their children among

other projects, now focuses on spreading literacy to alleviate poverty in children and
young people. This is done through a number of projects, including the Thank U
Libraries.
Thank U Libraries is a project that establishes sustainable Libraries, using recycled

materials in some of the most destitute places to help children lift themselves out of
poverty. The hope is that, the possibilities that reading exposes childrens minds to, will
inspire them to dream beyond their geographic limitations, to achieve their full potential.
Thank U Library is open to anyone who desires to have a library established in their
name and as the main donor, are willing to help with fundraising and book collections for
the project. All their helpers and supporters are also acknowledged on a plaque at the
library and in a book, to encourage the children (and all the other beneficiaries of the
library) to give back also, when they get the chance. in order that the cycle of giving
back continues.
This e-book, Building Your Jerusalem, is the first time attempt at fundraising for the
Thank U Libraries in this way and we hope that it generates a steady income to enable
Thank U to fulfil its ambition of ensuring that there is a Thank U Library in every Region
in Africa.
If you are reading this book now, then you are one of the special people helping us to
spread literacy to alleviate poverty. Your contribution is making a huge difference in the
lives of thousands of children, whose future will be greatly transformed (for the better) by
the ability to read. For the incredible support you have given, we Thank U with profound
gratitude. God Bless you.

Building Your Jerusalem

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Building Your Jerusalem

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BUILDING YOUR JERUSALEM

Thank U Libraries is a project that uses recycled materials to establish sustainable

Thank U is a London-based community non-profit organization committed to

Thank U, P. O. Box 34446, London W6 6ET, United Kingdom

FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 1

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

The Thank U Libraries website address is: www.thankulibraries.org/

First published in the UK by Thank U in 2016

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

Cover art by Filip Doneski

E-Book design by Sally Baffour

Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 2

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

So I dedicate this e-book:

To purpose-driven individuals determined to make a difference in life.

To all members of the Thank U Libraries Community committed to spreading literacy

FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 3

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

My heart is stirred by a noble theme,

Be, but for God.

FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 4

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

CHAPTER 1: Spiritual Road Building

CHAPTER 2: Sacrificial Love

CHAPTER 3: Missing The Mark

CHAPTER 4: The Gospel Of Selfishness

CHAPTER 5: Personal Ressurection

CHAPTER 6: Spirit of Power, Spirit of Life

CHAPTER 7: Forgiven Sinners

CHAPTER 8: The Lord Is My Shepherd

CHAPTER 9: What Price For Success?

CHAPTER 10: Humility

CHAPTER 11: What Churches Say To Us

CHAPTER 12: Personal Shipwreck

FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 5

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 6

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 7

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 8

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

My children were away attending an excellent boarding school in Ghana, my country of

FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 9

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

Be, but for God.

FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 10

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

Photograph by Maclin Horton

(Isaiah 40: 1-5)

FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 11

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

Chapter 1: Spiritual Road Building

FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 12

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

Chapter 1: Spiritual Road Building

Another major obstacle to our spiritual lives is dishonesty. As Christians we are

Holding on to unresolved anger and resentment is particularly dangerous. Like

FR MICHAELS SIMPLE TRUTHS IN FAITH COMPILED & EDITED BY SALLY BAFFOUR 13

Copyright Sally Baffour and Rev. Fr. Michael Williams SJ 2016

Chapter 1: Spiritual Road Building

These negative attitudesselfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fearplace