Mass with Arinze- The Homily

So yes, I have one more oral exam to go tomorrow before finishing the first year of medical school... oh the myths that are told about this...

But this blog is about some unfinished business of mine... about the visit of Francis Cardinal Arinze to Dublin... not that I was very impressed with him, but it's precisely the inverse which is why I'm am forcing myself to blog my experience despite the time delay...

This part is about his homily, or bits which have stayed in my mind, that would suggest that they were very powerful messages, considering the load of things I have studied in between... So here are snip-its of his homily, which just flow out of my brain... they are in no particular order

1. "The Catholic Church is not like a person selling bananas" (laughter erupts)
Why, you may ask?...
"If you have a basket of bananas and you want to sell it for 20 euro, the man wants to buy it for 10, you say ok, I give it to you for 18, the man says 12, you say 15, last price, and the man says no. You have two choices, either you sell the basket of bananas for 12 euro or you can sit there and eat the banana yourself and if you can't finish it, it will go to waste. The Catholic Church is not like this. It teaches 10 commandments, no discount! It has seven sacraments, no discount!"

2. "The Catholic Church is a big family, and there is no other family which is like it."
"The same things are proclaimed here in Dublin, and in Hong Kong, Japan, in Brazil (clearly referring to the Holy Fathers trip), in Toronto, in China, in Africa and in Rome. Everywhere you go, it is the same, and so you can go to any Catholic church in the world, and you will feel welcome. There are people there who do the same thing as you do here, there will be people in the same situation, facing the same problems, having the same sickness, and most of all, praying to the same God."

3. "Christian literature is widely available"
"There is so much literature being produced. I recommend you the best book- The Bible. Spend 5-10 minutes reading it a day. How much time do you spend eating or sleeping? why not give 5-10 minutes each day to read the Bible and pray? Another good book is the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it has xxx pages, and if you read 5 pages a day, you will finish it in xx days (amidst roars of laughter, hilarious and cynical). If you don't have money to buy it, sell your shirt or pants, and buy this book, or you can get the compendium. It is smaller an cheaper."

4. "Praying is important"
"How much time do you give to the Lord each day? Praying important. Praying as a family is even better. Have a set time for prayer, fix a time each day and prayer. If you have a visitor in the house at that time, invite him to prayer with you. If not, lock him in a room, and give him a glass of water, go out and prayer. When you have finished you can unlock the door and let him out. (Laughter erupts yet again)"

5. "The Catholic Church teaches truth, and not make beliefs"
" The Catholic Church has been here for so long. From the beginning when Jesus sent His apostles out "Go make disciples of all the nations", he gave them reassurance that He will send His advocate to help them, and told them that their reward in heaven will be great. The church is not made up of make-beliefs. It wasn't created yesterday or for a specific purpose. No one can add anything to it's teachings simply, the mass is the same yesterday, today and in the future. Jesus offered himself for our sins. This is clearly stated in the Bible, everything can be traced back to the same source, the Bible. And who were some of it's authors? The Apostles! None of what I preach is made up by myself or the Pope or any other priest, it is not make-belief."

6. "You are ambassadors for your country and for Christians"
"When you are in a foreign country, be on your best conduct. You are all ambassadors of your country in a special way. Yes, you have official ambassadors, but what you do will reflect on your country and your religion. When I am in the Vatican, and if I do something funny, people will say "Look at that African Cardinal from Nigeria, what is he doing?" (again, laughter) Thank your host for allowing to come here to seek a better life, and do not do anything bad."

As you can see, His Eminence was pretty hilarious, building a good rapport with his fellow Africans (which was the purpose of his visit, to see how they were doing). But his preaching was solid, somehting you would expect from the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Sacraments, but at the same time, he put things in ways which a Malaysian would never have thought of. I was pretty amused by his analogies...

This last piece of advice however, leads me to my third and last blog I will write regarding his visit. Stay tuned.