Friday Thought with Fr Chris Ferguson

During the week we celebrated the feast day of Saint Philip Nery, who was noted for his great sense of humour. The Italian saint believed the lives of Christians should be characterised by joy and laugher. If we truly accepted that Jesus has conquered sin and death, if we were convinced that the Son of God remains present throughout our journey in life, as a reassurance that death, illness, violence and despair, do not have the final say then we should be witnesses of hope.

So, is the glass half empty or half full? Are we people who tend to see the positives or do we dwell on the negatives in life, can we rejoice with those who are celebrating, and be happy and content in their joy.

Are we a source of encouragement for those in pain and struggling, have we the generosity to see beyond our own struggles, by trying to empower and build up those people who are suffering? Or do we walk around inhabiting our own personal cloud, casting shadows over all those we meet, draining the life out of others due to our constant cynicism and snipping? These thoughts and emotions were brought to the fore as I stood in the queue for the supermarket on Friday.

Generally, I’m very forgetful, which means I rely on making lists in my mind as an aid to memory. Firstly, I had forgotten to phone my parents, to inquire whether they needed any shopping. This oversight might have been a blessing. I informed you two weeks ago how I had forgotten to buy soap and failed to bring home brussels sprouts. During the week my father informed me I had also forgotten to buy lemonade. This week with the good weather, I intended to buy food to barbeque. There was one problem, everyone had the same idea.

With the sun in the sky, the queue outside the supermarket snaked around the car park. I could have gotten annoyed with having to queue for twenty-five minutes, alternatively, it could have been half an hour in which to enjoy the sun. After all, I was prepared for the weather with my peaked cap, sunglasses and factor 50. It’s as well most people where sporting sunglasses because I was wearing shorts, and my white legs would have blinded any unsuspecting shopper.

Although for most men what I wore would have been described as shorts, for me, they were more like three-quarter lengths. I had remembered to bring a pound coin for the shopping trolley. Thus, life was good, until noticing how I had forgotten to bring my bags for life. Needless to say, the shelves in the supermarket were practically empty of burgers, sausages, rolls and baps. When I arrived back to the parochial house, I mentioned to Fr Gerard the possibility of a barbeque.

He cast his eyes over the burgers and sausages asking, could they be cooked in the slow cooker. In these days of Pentecost, are we truly open to the presence of the Holy Spirit, can we truly rejoice, confident the Risen Christ, dwells in our hearts and our homes? We have a choice between complaining about what’s missing, what we can’t do, or where we can’t go. Or we can celebrate the ways in which God is still present in our lives. God is only absent if we lock ourselves in our homes, close the doors of our hearts by lamenting, complaining and begrudging. When the Holy Spirit was gifted to the disciples, not only were the confines of closed room broken open but the bonds and limitations imposed by fear, jealously, meanness and small-mindedness.

Through Pentecost, the Church is born, and in the waters of baptism and through Confirmation, we share in the gift of the Holy Spirit. Born in the image of God, we are now confirmed as Temples of the Holy Spirit. God is never absent as long as we live out our baptismal calling. For Jesus came to bring God’s mercy; can we too make God’s forgiveness a daily reality in the world.