Mane nobiscum Domine

Reflection for Radio Maria England ‘Word for Today’ - 'Live' at 1:15pm on June 23rd, 2025.

At least in my corner of the social media world, there has been much reportage on the revival of Christianity in France, Ireland, and even in England. In fact, it’s not only social media buzz – which is often not so reliable – but even newspapers and diocesan statistics have reported an upsurge of adult baptisms in these countries recently. And perhaps anecdotally, Radio Maria listeners might have noticed that churches were quite full this year during the Easter Triduum. As I am sure you’ve heard, we Dominicans in England are also preparing to receive one of our largest intakes of novices in living memory this coming September. So, for England at large – at least in the cathedrals and well-known parishes around the country – and for me personally, I have noticed that there is factual evidence behind these initial reports about a rise in numbers for Catholics in England (and elsewhere in Europe). So for the good that is happening, as always, we give thanks to God and we praise him for his mercies. 

But even as I was pondering over these numbers and pictures online, in the back of my mind I wondered what the “push-back” might be. Let me explain. A number of years ago, when I was doing my graduate degree at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington DC, I had the chance to take classes about Exorcism with an experienced exorcist. These classes were put on for the priests of the diocese and for those who applied to audit the class. One of the very interesting exercises we had was to read the Gospels through the lens of the demons, ie the enemies of God. So, everytime we saw a victory for God and his grace, we noticed some “push-back”, a kind of retaliation – not that the Devil could ever win, of course, but like a child, he has tantrums and tried to show his limited powers. And so, the exorcist who taught this course trained us to be aware of “push-back”, of the way the Devil might try and retaliate and win little battles against God, even though even he knows that, in the final reckoning, Christ is victorious. As Pope Benedict XVI once said in a tweet: “The Lord wins in the end.”

So, last week in England, we saw the “push-back” of the Culture of Death, already warned about by Pope St John Paul II. Last week, while we were focussed on the Third Reading of the Assisted Suicide bill, and while we were responding to the Bishops’ call to fight against the State-sponsored killing of our elderly and chronically ill, which would necessitate the closure of Catholic care homes, suddenly we heard that an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill would  decriminalise abortion up to birth. On Tuesday last week this bill was passed,  which, as Bishop Sherrington said, “effectively decriminalises abortion in England and Wales… This decision significantly reduces the protection of unborn lives and will result in grave harm for pregnant women. Women will be even more vulnerable to manipulation, coerced and forced abortions. This legal change will also discourage medical consultation and make the use of abortion pills for dangerous late-term, at-home abortions more likely.” 

I have heard from many women about the pressure they already feel from the NHS to have an abortion for purported potential medical problems with their babies, problems which don’t in fact materialise. I have even heard of mothers being advised to terminate because they have supposedly “too many” children! This new proposed legislation will only make things worse. As the Bishop said: “Abortion is often chosen because of the personal challenges that a woman faces, as well as the lack of proper suitable guidance and support. The enacting of New Clause 1 will result in women being more alone, vulnerable, and isolated.” 

During the Spring, I was on a Lenten preaching tour in Louisville (Kentucky), and near our Dominican parish in that city I had the tremendous joy of visiting a facility for supporting mothers that was set-up and funded and staffed by professional lay women of the parish. They had bought property and built a bright, modern, well-equipped facility to offer professional support, counselling, medical care, and listening for any women who dropped in or were referred to them. The goal was to care for women in a safe, non-judgemental space, and although the place was staffed by many Catholics, they made the place inviting and non-religious, with only a Rose as their emblem, to refer to Our Lady and to St Therese of Lisieux; there was also a small prayer room with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Next door to this clinic, they had just bought another house, beautifully decorated, and staffed with a team of female volunteers to provide a place for young mothers to drop in for coffee and cakes, chats and talks, and just to hang out and have some help with caring for their new babies. They also provided food, diapers, cots, prams – all donated by benefactors – and everything that a mother might need if they couldn’t afford it themselves. I was greatly edified by what I saw, and above all by the vision and passion of the women who set it up. They loved deeply the young mothers whom they served, and they loved unconditionally, without any pressure on the women to keep their babies. But they wanted the mothers to know that they were loved and would be supported to give their baby a chance on life. Because Life is what we’re about as Christians. As our Lord Jesus said: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (Jn 10:10)

And so, last week in the UK Parliament, we saw the thief, acting through the misplaced compassion of a majority of our Parliamentarians, to kill and destroy, for after the Pro-Abortion vote on Tuesday, we saw the passage of the Assisted Suicide bill on Friday, with the NHS now having its mission as not merely the saving of lives but the taking of life in the name of compassion. 

Now, please don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe that the people who voted for these two pieces of anti-Life legislation are evil per se. As St Thomas Aquinas would say, no rational human person chooses that which they know to be evil. Rather, evil acts are always masked by a perceived good, and when we myopically focus on this perceived good, without due consideration for the final good, then evil can be done. Sin, after all, is always parasitic on the good, and the Devil is rightly called “the Father of Lies” by Jesus. It is a shame that we continue to buy into the Devil’s half-truths, and thus some politicians have made decisions that masquerade as compassion, but which fail to recognise that the broader more fundamental issue. This is the fact that Life is always worth living, as Venerable Fulton Sheen said, and this becomes obvious when we recognise that our days on this earth are but a preparation for life in communion with God. Life, therefore, is about learning to love, and indeed, to love sacrificially, as Jesus has shown us. As Bishop Sheen said: “Life is Worth Living when we live each day to become closer to God.” And this is never more apparent than when, in our final days on this earth, we undergo suffering and pain. But with hope in God and with faith in Christ, we undergo the Cross with Jesus, and so we grow closer to him, the Crucified Lord; we undergo death with him, confident that we shall then rise and reign with him, as Scripture tells us. Suffering, therefore, conforms us more closely to Jesus – and this is the transcendent purpose of life. 

This is why we Catholics have long proclaimed the immeasureable worth of redemptive suffering, and Our Lady of the Rosary even appeared at Fatima to remind us of this, asking the little child-saints of Fatima to “offer yourselves to God and bear all the sufferings He wills to send you, as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and of supplication for the conversion of sinners”. We have much need in our days to remember this, and to give witness to this, especially as Christians; to offer up our sufferings for the conversion of our nation.

And all this happened on the cusp of the feast of Corpus Christi. Truly, as the Sequence hymn for Easter says: Mors et Vita duello, Death and Life have contended. For while the Devil pushes back and offers only death, we Christians gave witness to the One who is the “Living Bread”, the true Life, who gives us life in abundance – not only now in this passing world, but eternal life, Life in God the Blessed Trinity, sharers in God’s divine Life. Our nation needs to know this truth, and the revival must continue, we must take this truth into the streets and our daily lives, as our Eucharistic processions yesterday symbolised. For the truth is that, as Pope Leo XIV said yesterday, “Christ is God’s answer to our human hunger, because his Body is the bread of eternal life: Take this and eat of it, all of you! Jesus’ invitation reflects our daily experience: in order to remain alive, we need to nourish ourselves with life, drawing it from plants and animals. Yet eating something dead reminds us that we too, no matter how much we eat, will one day die. On the other hand, when we partake of Jesus, the living and true Bread, we live for him. By offering himself completely, the crucified and risen Lord delivers himself into our hands, and we realize that we were made to partake of God.” 

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"For Jesus Christ, I am prepared to suffer still more." - #SaintMaximilianKolbe

When my daughter was little, we lived on a busy street.

One day, the ball that we were playing with got away from us and bounced off towards the street. She took off after the ball. And I took off after her.

As the ball rolled into traffic, I scooped her up into my arms.

I hugged her close and told her I loved her – while she fussed and squirmed and struggled to get down. The whole time, she kept looking for the ball. Which we never saw again.

As I saw things, I had kept her from running into traffic. I could breathe again. My daughter was safe.

But as she saw things, I had made her lose her ball. She was not happy about it.

I tried to tell her why I did what I did. But she was too young, too upset (maybe both) for it to make any sense to her.

When she finally gave up looking for the ball, she relaxed and snuggled into my shoulder.

If I had to do it all again, I would. Without a moment’s hesitation. Just like any other parent.

I bring this up, because I think it shows us what’s behind this passage in Isaiah (in today’s first reading),

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,” says the Lord. “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”

I did what I did with the very best of intentions. I could not love her more. But it made no sense to my three-year-old daughter.

Why? Because of the difference between what we as human beings understand when we’re three and what we understand when we’re adults.

If a difference like that can cause trouble understanding another human being, then it’s no surprise that we as human beings (no matter how old we are) don’t always understand what God is doing.

And that’s okay.

Because God does what He does with the very best of intentions. God could not love you more.

The next time it doesn’t work out the way you thought it would, the next time God keeps you from running into traffic?

Instead of getting lost in a “why God” moment, let it go. Quit looking for the ball.

Trust that the One who loves you, the One who is holding you close, is keeping you safe. And snuggle in.