A reading of the holy gospel according to John. Jesus said to his disciples, he who obeys the commandments he has from me is the man who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my father. I too will love him and reveal myself to him. Judas, not Judas Iscariot, said to Jesus, Lord, why is it that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus replied, anyone who loves me will be true to my word, and my father will love him.
We will come to him and make our dwelling place with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words, yet the word that you hear is not mine. It comes from the father who sent me. This much have I told you while I was still with you. The paraclete, the holy spirit whom the father will send in my name, will instruct you in everything and remind you of all that I have told you.
And this is the gospel of the lord. In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, amen. For various reasons, some of them obvious, others not so apparent, we today have lost sight of an extremely important point about the holy Catholic church. There has been of late a, a return, to the bible, to the word of the lord, to the good news as it has been written down and transmitted, and that's all to the good. All to the good.
There's a however, a grievous error can slip in here that we begin to think of the church of Jesus Christ as a religion of the book. Now that was stated just a just this past week in a in a serious article by a very serious person and very sincere person. But the church of Jesus Christ does not rest upon a book. You see, the great religions of the world all have books. But the Catholic the the the church of Jesus Christ, I don't care what name you give it, doesn't rest upon a book.
Christ didn't write a single paragraph. As far as we know, he didn't write a single sentence. He did not leave to a posterity any written testimony. Not a word. Not a single word.
So let's not forget this. It's being forgotten today. It's being ignored and maybe, in some instances, explicitly rejected. If you can't find it in the bible, it ain't so. Where does this come from?
We are not Mohammedans. We are not Jews of the ancient of the Old Testament. We if we are anything, we're Christians, which means we're following Jesus Christ, trying to. And if there's anything perfectly clear about Jesus Christ is that he did not write a book. What did he do?
He did something. Here in the twentieth century, two thousand years after this unknown, absolutely unknown, underprivileged man who came up from the far boondocks and from time to time appeared in Jerusalem, something happened. There no one can deny that. We have today what is called the religion founded by Jesus Christ. Well, what is it founded upon?
See, this is an extremely basic question. You call yourself a Christian, where do you go to get the truth of Christianity if you think there's such a thing as truth? Which is a big question today. This passage is overlooked. Listen to what our lord says.
This much I have told you. He didn't say I wrote it. You'll find it in my remains after I pass on. He said, this much I have told you while I am with you. It's word-of-mouth, meaning tradition.
Then our lord says, the paraclete, the holy spirit, whom the father will send in future tense, in my name, will instruct you in everything. He didn't write a book either. So if this if you take this as having some semblance of truth, what does it mean? Where are going to find this message that came from the holy spirit that our lord promised would come? Where is it?
If it if it is not some place where we can get a hold of it, forget it. It's no what what good does it do us? And if there's such a thing as salvation, and salvation involves the truth, then it's pretty important that we get a hold of it. Where do you get a hold of it? In a book?
See, it you just just think, in the second Vatican Council, how much came out of that council on dogma, on truth, on faith? Practically nothing. Practically nothing. Let me give you another very pertinent example. All the what's going on in Northern Ireland with these hunger strikes.
Now I can remember very well when the Lord Mayor of Cork, I think it was Terrence McSweeney. I know it because I just looked it up. My memory isn't that good, you know. Terrence McSweenan was, I forget the year, about 1918 was it? Well, when he went on the hunger strike, he was lord mayor of court or someplace over there, The papers were full of this question, is this suicide or isn't it?
And they were being was being argued pro and con because people were interested in answering the question. That has to do with faith, with truth. Now we've had Bobby Sands, we've had Francis Hughes, and there may be others. I have yet to see this question raised except in a little tiny en passant statement coming from the Irish hierarchy. You see the difference in the attitude.
Say it was about '19 it was after the first World War and 1981. You see, people today are not concerned with truth. Let's let's face it. We're concerned with emotion, with feeling, with consequences. Does it work?
What are it do I feel good when I pray? Am I fulfilled when I go to mass? What do I get out of going to mass? What do I get out of praying? What do I get out of this so called religion?
These are the questions people want. Look how some of these movements, the charismatics and things like this, and fundamentalist religion, how they're flourishing today. No. I'm not downgrading these things. I'm only saying that you don't get truth in any of them.
Not if you believe Jesus Christ. You see, the the the way today we have minimized, almost to the point of obliterating, the necessity of belonging to the church of Jesus Christ. We have become so enthusiastic about ecumenism that we have the have soft pedal differences. See, we we talk about, well, after all, we are all brothers in Christ. What difference does it make if you believe in the trinity and I don't?
After all, you believe in Jesus Christ as the son of god? Well, I don't. But after all, we are brothers. Sure. And let's go in the bar and have a drink.
You see, this is rightfully important that we get a get a hold of this thing, that that that Jesus Christ did not leave us a book, he left us an ecclesia. Well, what shall we call it? A community. I the only word that comes, of course, is the word church, and I don't want to use it. See, didn't use it because it has so many connotations.
But Christ dealt with a few a handful, a pitiful handful, or a bunch of ignoramuses. Not one of them was it was anybody. Not one of the disciples was a person of any account, and Jesus of course wasn't anything himself. And he wound up on the cross. That's how it started.
But that's how it started. It didn't started with it didn't start with a book or with a bunch of theologians or a bunch of scripture scholars. It started with Jesus Christ and a handful of people of men that he called apostles. And he gave he gave them by word-of-mouth, and he says, you're going to get more than I've given you. Did they get it?
And if they did, where is it? Because he said upon you, Peter, I'm gonna build my church. I'm gonna build it on a rock, Patris, and that this body of truth. How is it to be transmitted? Not on a Xerox machine.
And so, you see, let us let these no one can can can dispute what I'm saying. You whether you agree or disagree, you have to agree with the facts of the case. Well, what do you make of them? What do you make of them in your own life? What in other words, what is your conception of the Church of Jesus Christ and your participation in it?
Yesterday, we read about how we are all part of a royal priesthood. Does that mean anything to you, or is it just so many words? When I read that from twice yesterday, I wondered how many people in those pews that that registered. You are a royal priesthood. Did it mean anything to how many?
I don't know. It should mean everything. In the name of the father and of the son and the holy spirit. Amen.