1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:06,400 My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that 2 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:12,200 you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound 3 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:16,520 reverence. I ask you for pardon of my sins 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:20,360 and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. 5 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:27,640 My mother, Immaculate St Joseph, my father and Lord, my guardian 6 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:43,560 Angel and deceit. Well, as we moved through Lent, 7 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:51,960 the Sundays of Lent are kind of milestones along the way and the 8 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,560 Gospel of of each Sunday is kind of important. 9 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:59,160 So we're going to look at the Gospel of next Sunday's Mass, 10 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:05,480 the third Sunday of Lent, which is that encounter between the 11 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:11,480 Samaritan woman and Jesus. And just one particular aspect 12 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:16,760 of it is that and everybody there involved, the main 13 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:24,080 characters, they really are all pretty much witnesses beginning 14 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,680 with Jesus himself and speaking with this woman when our Lord 15 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,280 speaks about, she asked him, give me a drink. 16 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,720 And the dialogue goes on and and Jesus really says to her, if if 17 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:41,240 you only knew what God is offering and who it is that is 18 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,080 saying to you, give me a drink, you would have been the one to 19 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,840 ask and he would have given you living water. 20 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:53,040 Our Lord is talking about in right through the Gospel with 21 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,000 this woman reading his own experience of the Father. 22 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:04,720 Jesus is invariably talking about this his personal his 23 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:09,360 personal testimony is a war and in in dialoguing with this 24 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,480 woman. It's there's no theory, nothing 25 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:19,080 wrong with theory, but it is it his, his personal testimony as 26 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:24,720 where in the Gospel of Saint John, Jesus says we speak of 27 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:29,480 what we know and we testify to what we have seen. 28 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,680 And that's so true in the very first place of you, Lord, that 29 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,040 everything that you're speaking about in the Gospel is your 30 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,920 personal experience of your father. 31 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,040 I mean, from all eternity, which is really quite amazing. 32 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:49,080 From all eternity, the experience of the Son with the 33 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,160 Father. There's nothing like the Father 34 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:56,920 is, is what Jesus is saying again and again and again. 35 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:02,240 I want you to have the same relationship with the Father as 36 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:07,160 I have and kind of culminates then after the resurrection with 37 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,640 our Lord giving that instruction to Mary maiden and go to the 38 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:19,280 brethren and tell them I'm going to my Father and your father. 39 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,160 And so we're thinking of ourselves also and and our own 40 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:28,480 apostolate and our own apostolate is is no different 41 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:34,040 from this that it is We speak of what we know and we testify to 42 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:38,600 what we have seen. Ultimately our apostolate is 43 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,320 really very personal and it's very much in one way or another. 44 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:49,200 Testimony is not theory and we see it in in this woman. 45 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:55,720 Then after her, it's a long dialogue and it's a it's, it's a 46 00:03:55,720 --> 00:04:00,040 little bit tortuous in places because this woman is not, is 47 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:04,920 not very open at the beginning to what what you'd order saying. 48 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,640 And then with the whole theme of her little collection of 49 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:14,000 husbands comes up, she she backs off and she gets she gets all 50 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:16,560 theoretical at that point. Actually, she kind of quick 51 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,680 kicks to touch, then she starts talking theory, liturgical 52 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:27,160 theory I suppose, but it ends up with her completely won over by 53 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,920 Jesus and running off then to the local den, leaving her jar 54 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,080 of watery. Significantly, there's just one 55 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:40,080 thing now that's on her mind and that is to give testimony and 56 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:46,320 she goes off and to the villagers come and see a man who 57 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:49,040 told me everything I have ever done. 58 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:55,880 Could he be the Christ? She's amazed and they can see 59 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,680 it. They can see it in her also the 60 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:01,840 the very fact that this woman who was a little bit of a social 61 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,320 outcast to get the impression for various reasons in the in 62 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:06,920 the dialogue. And there she is kind of kind of 63 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,560 humbly as well, saying to them, you know, he told me everything 64 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,680 I ever did. And we all know what that is, as 65 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:18,200 if she's saying that we all know what I kind of that, that you 66 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:22,280 guys probably talk about nothing else and everything that I'm up 67 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:26,040 to. But this guy knew it all and he 68 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,080 told me everything. And they, of course, they, 69 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:33,360 they're, they're won over by her testimony. 70 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:38,360 Many of the Samaritans from that town began to believe in him 71 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:42,520 because of the word of the woman who testified. 72 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:44,760 He told me everything I have done. 73 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,280 So they see they see the genuineness of her testimony. 74 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:55,760 They see the you know, there's this is something they know her 75 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:58,560 well. This is something very real. 76 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:03,360 This lady is not crazy and and the testimony is very powerful. 77 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,200 And so it does actually lead them to believe in our Lord and 78 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,200 of course then to go out to encounter you Jesus directly. 79 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:14,320 And I was going to think about this whole business of come, 80 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:22,160 come and think about this was in, in Sweden last last Friday. 81 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:28,120 I, I was giving a talk in Malmo to a bunch of, you know, a 82 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:33,920 lovely big bunch actually of, of young guys and girls in their 83 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:39,280 20s to 30s with someone younger. And this guy was one of these 84 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:45,720 younger ones, he's 17. And and amongst them, this guy 85 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:49,400 guy, Swedish guy also the, the several Swedish fellows who are, 86 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:54,080 who are converting. And I was talking to several of 87 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,000 them and hearing their, their stories. 88 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:00,840 Why, why are they converting? But this kind of story was that 89 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:07,520 maybe when he was 14 or 15, he began to have, sorry, he was 90 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,720 brought up in atheists, completely atheistic background 91 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:17,280 parents, which are just 100% atheists and never very bohemian 92 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,320 of bringing the sense of, well, there's nothing. 93 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:22,480 And we're not worried about any of that kind of stuff. 94 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:29,920 And around the age of 1415, he began to have panic attacks and 95 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:35,760 and his panic attacks were essentially around the question 96 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,920 of what is the meaning of all this? 97 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:43,600 Why am I here? What happened to me after I die? 98 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,680 Amazing. And, and this really, these 99 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:50,600 questions were so powerful that they were producing in him these 100 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:54,280 panic attacks and the kind of funny kind of thing, you know, 101 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:59,400 there is a, a teenage Swede atheist background and 102 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:03,040 completely, and you're kind of kind of might think, well, I 103 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:05,000 forgot about that. He couldn't care less. 104 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:09,600 He couldn't care less about all these kind of spiritual topics. 105 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:13,120 Well, he could he, he, he cared an awful lot. 106 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:17,080 And so much so that it was producing in him this tremendous 107 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:19,920 sense of panic, which is very valid. 108 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,560 In fact, you know, if we're just, if our life is completely 109 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,880 meaningless, well start panicking because what a, what a 110 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,120 disaster. And anyway, then he decided he 111 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:35,840 had to, he had to kind of get a religious solution to what this 112 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,039 was all about. And it was very like 2 of the 113 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:42,840 others that I was talking to. In fact, after that, the talk I 114 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:46,840 gave, they were kind of systematically going through the 115 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:50,400 religions and, and very in a, in a very serious way as well. 116 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,680 And because the others were saying they'd gone through the 117 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:57,480 the various religions and they were they were kind of now as 118 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:00,000 Orthodox Catholicism and Roman Catholicism. 119 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,680 That kind of boiled it down to it must be one of these two. 120 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:04,800 Like there was kind of the phase they were in. 121 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:09,680 But this guy began studying Islam and he quickly discarded 122 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:13,080 that because of all the violence he'd have to Judaism. 123 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,080 He wasn't impressed by all the infighting that he kind of 124 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:23,040 interesting to really kind of detached study just online or 125 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:24,760 whatever. But but I mean, he thought there 126 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:28,520 was a lot of infighting and maybe that kind of brought him 127 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,880 to Lutheranism and the local, the local Lutheran Church. 128 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:38,400 And well, he was able to pop in to visit a church and, and it 129 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:42,560 was sent me. There was something there and he 130 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:44,400 got talking. Then he started studying the 131 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:52,240 Bible, got talking to the Lutheran pastor, a lady with a 132 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:54,360 view to getting baptised. But he had a number of questions 133 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:58,640 because then he from his studies, he said, what you, you, 134 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,600 you, you here in the Lutheran Church, you allow a gay 135 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:06,640 marriage, but that's that's really non that's really con 136 00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:09,480 That kind of thing is condemned in in in the New Testament. 137 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:12,840 And she was saying, well, you know, we've kind of moved with 138 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:15,480 the times. And there was another thing. 139 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,080 Similarly, whatever, whatever it was another thing. 140 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:25,400 And and again he was saying, well, you know, that's, that's 141 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:27,320 not really, it's kind of countered by the Bible. 142 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:29,280 And, and she was saying the same thing. 143 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:33,040 But anyway, he got, he decided to get baptised and, and so she 144 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:35,000 just baptised him there and then. 145 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:38,880 But in fact, he said to her, I want the proper words. 146 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:41,280 I want you to say baptised in the name of the Father Son. 147 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:44,120 He knew that, you know, there could be an Evan of baptism. 148 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:48,280 He wanted Evan of baptism, but he wasn't completely happy. 149 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:52,640 And then he popped into a Catholic Church and I don't know 150 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:54,760 if he went several times to Mass or the Catholic Church, but 151 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:56,800 anywhere one of the girls who goes along with these Friday 152 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:01,960 evening talks that I was at, she saw him at Mass and she, she 153 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:03,880 realised she hadn't seen him there before. 154 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:08,000 When he was leaving Mass. She basically grabbed him. 155 00:11:08,560 --> 00:11:13,120 Hey, haven't seen you before. Are you a Catholic? 156 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:16,240 Yeah. So anyway, so she basically took 157 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:21,160 him under her wing and and now he's getting certainly in 158 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:24,200 preparation for baptism. But what really struck me about 159 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:30,440 this fan of was when he when he studies these things, he's not 160 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:36,040 keeping it under his hat. So he's very, he's he, he with 161 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:38,720 his friends, he shares all these things. 162 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,040 So one of the things he recently was studying was the Eucharistic 163 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:48,200 miracles. And, and he, he was saying to, 164 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:49,680 well, somebody was telling me about him. 165 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:51,960 He was saying the Eucharistic miracles. 166 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:54,640 This is insane. Or was this lying? 167 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,880 This is insane. In other words, this is just so 168 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,360 incredible. And so he's going to his friends 169 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:04,960 and saying, you have to look at this, look at these miracles. 170 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,600 And not only that, but also his atheistic parents. 171 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:11,040 I don't know what how much impact he's in my could could be 172 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:13,080 having a tremendous impact. I'm sure he sure he is. 173 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:15,880 And his siblings as well, older, older siblings. 174 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:18,720 And he's going and he's telling them, look at all this. 175 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:22,680 And I was kind of strict with that because I think, gosh, 176 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:26,040 that's really testimony. That's really testimony. 177 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:30,560 Do I give testimony like that and do I share, you know, when I 178 00:12:30,560 --> 00:12:33,280 see these things and like the Eucharistic miracles? 179 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:37,040 This is insane in a good sense. This is insane. 180 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,280 This is incredible. And he's, and he and he's not 181 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:47,640 shy then about going along and sharing this with friends, 182 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,000 siblings and his own parents. This is insane. 183 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:58,640 So what about us? In a sense, we may, I'm sure 184 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,720 this guy, and he's obviously living in a very atheistic 185 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:04,040 milieu. There wouldn't be any Catholics, 186 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:07,200 I'm sure, in his school, certainly in his whole family, 187 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:09,520 family circle, he's the only one. 188 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:15,200 He's the only one. And an awful lot could depend on 189 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:17,960 a guy like that. And it depend on his witness, a 190 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:20,440 bit like the smart woman going to the village. 191 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:23,560 She is the cause of the conversion of the village 192 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:28,360 because of her testimony. And so a guy like this, you who 193 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:34,200 who knows how much depends on his testimony of this 17 year 194 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:40,600 old Swedish boy and his discovery and his his lack of 195 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,120 human respect. He just and kind of you get the 196 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,400 impression he's saying, how could you not share this? 197 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,000 This is the answer to all my panic attacks. 198 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:54,840 It's all here. You know, it's a whole world 199 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:59,080 and, and, and we, on the other hand, might not, might be very, 200 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:04,000 kind of very standoffish about giving testimony. 201 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:10,200 OK, It's not that we have to be stupid about it, but but neither 202 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,800 can we be too clever about it. And, and, and, and therefore not 203 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,560 give testimony and just, Oh well, no, people don't, they're 204 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:22,320 not ready for that and all that kind of stuff To these the, the, 205 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:27,120 the, the, the men and women in her village are totally taken by 206 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:29,960 her testimony, even though this woman is the woman with no great 207 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:32,920 reputation in the town. And they're totally taken. 208 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:39,080 And then they go off and for themselves, they find you, Lord, 209 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:42,920 and they say to her, we no longer believe because of your 210 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,760 word. For we have heard for ourselves, 211 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,040 we know that this is truly the saviour of the world. 212 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,760 Maybe there's a way of thanking her, in fact, for our testimony 213 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:58,040 and saying you're dead right, you're dead right, and thank you 214 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:02,400 for giving us your testimony 'cause if you didn't, where 215 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:07,680 would we be? And so for ourselves, this 216 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:12,200 wanting to bring people to our Lord and even, you know, in the 217 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:18,760 sense of wanting not to bring people to ourselves, I think of 218 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:21,440 our friendships. You know, I love great to have 219 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:27,600 friends, but in a certain sense, we could be a little bit, you 220 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:29,880 know, kind of feel well, they're a friend now that's great. 221 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:32,720 But we don't we don't bring them to our Lord. 222 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:35,520 We don't pass them on to our Lord. 223 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:39,400 We're kind of happy that they they're just my friend and that 224 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:45,560 we don't, we don't as this woman does, kind of bring them along 225 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,680 to Jesus or this this Swedish fellow, the 17 year old's doing. 226 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,000 You know, you're not happy that well, my friends like me. 227 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:57,200 No, I want them to like Jesus. I want them to discover Jesus. 228 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:04,040 Saint Jose Maria hearing confessions. 229 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:08,280 You'll be very careful about people getting kind of attached 230 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:11,840 to him because obviously with his his personality, it would be 231 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:13,880 very easy to get attached to Santos and Maria. 232 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,120 But this thing that he used to say from time to time with, with 233 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:22,240 people going to him for confession, today you don't come 234 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:24,440 to confession with me, go to somebody else. 235 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,640 We won't get a kind of hard thing to say, maybe kind of hard 236 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:30,520 to hear. But just him realising not that 237 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:35,280 this is this is from they're coming to me for me, not for 238 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,520 Christ. And so tremendous firmness of 239 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:40,120 Saint Joseph. I'm sure he did it in a very 240 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:42,640 nice way. I kind of twinkled in his eye. 241 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:47,680 But still, you know, it's not about coming to me. 242 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:53,280 And I think we could maybe apply that again to ourselves about, 243 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:56,680 you know, thinking of, of, of not confession, but thinking of 244 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:02,080 our friendships. And, and because it's true, you 245 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,160 know, we're, we know that the friendship gives us a tremendous 246 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:15,720 capacity to, to say things to people And, and you know, you 247 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,920 can do anything with friendship, but our friendship shouldn't 248 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,400 stop with us in principle. Obviously we do. 249 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:27,359 We can't determine what, what people will will think or do, 250 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:31,680 But there is this kind of, there is a bit of a danger for us of 251 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,240 well, well, as long as they're a friend of mine, that's it. 252 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:39,000 No, we Lord, we want to bring them to you. 253 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,520 Saint John, this Gospel we're looking at, He's the one who is 254 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:51,840 in who gives probably the the most beautiful account of 255 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:57,960 testimony in his letter, first letter, the very beginning, that 256 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:03,360 which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we 257 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:09,920 have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched 258 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,600 with our hands concerning the word of life. 259 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,840 We proclaim also to you the very beautiful, particularly coming 260 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:22,240 from Saint, Saint John, who's the most, you could almost say 261 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:29,280 hands on of all the apostles, The one who lays his hand on 262 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:34,360 your breast, Jesus during the Last Supper, the one who all the 263 00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:39,400 other apostles know is so close to Jesus that Jesus has a 264 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:43,600 particular affection for you. And he looks at Jesus and he 265 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:50,960 hears him and touches him with his hands and him saying, this 266 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,680 is what we're talking about. There's no theory. 267 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:56,560 There's a tremendous theology in St. 268 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:00,440 John's Gospel, obviously. And and he's the eagle. 269 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:02,760 I mean, he soars up to the heights. 270 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:08,920 And yet it all begins with him, what he's heard personally, the 271 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:14,600 tone of voice of Jesus, what he's seen with in you, Lord 272 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:18,680 touching, touching you. And so again, thinking of 273 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:22,920 ourselves in the testimony, and you could say, you know, our 274 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:26,440 testimony can't really be any richer than our personal 275 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,200 experience. And maybe that's why, you know, 276 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:33,640 Saint John's Gospel is precisely the gospel that soars above the 277 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,000 other three, with all due respect to the other three 278 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,040 gospels. But you know, he's really soars. 279 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,000 And maybe that's precisely because his experience of Christ 280 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,920 is the most profound, perhaps of all the apostles. 281 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:52,600 His experience is so intense, so personal, and his reflection on 282 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,760 it. And so, again, ourselves, you 283 00:19:55,760 --> 00:20:00,200 know, that the depth of our experience of Christ would be 284 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,800 the measure of our apostle. I'm sure you have the feeling 285 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:08,360 sometimes, you know, you head off into the morning traffic, 286 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:13,400 you know, Azure Brekki. You've also had mass. 287 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:15,400 You've also had 1/2 an hour of prayer. 288 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,480 And again, I presume we all have the same kind of sensation. 289 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:26,200 I have been with Jesus for a good solid hour this morning. 290 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:31,040 He's been in my body as we head off. 291 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,920 You know, a bit like a feel. I don't know. 292 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:38,560 You just had an amazing, an amazing experience. 293 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:44,120 I don't know if, if, if you met the Pope, I met John Paul too. 294 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:46,400 And, and certainly afterwards you kind of feel you're kind of 295 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:48,840 radioactive. Hey, I, you know, I've met the 296 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,640 Pope. I've been with the Pope as you 297 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:54,440 head off back into, you know, in that case with Rome, you know, 298 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:58,920 I, I've been with the Pope and, and I kind of think perhaps we 299 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:03,920 should, that should be maybe even a stronger sensation with 300 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:09,800 this as we're surrounded by all these people who, well, some of 301 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,720 them might have had this, this experience, but very, very, very 302 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:15,720 few as you're heading by by people and you're walking by 303 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:20,000 them, none of this kind of superior thing, but just this 304 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:24,880 kind of encounter. I have been with Jesus for this 305 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,120 time this morning. I've received him. 306 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,880 I've I've conversed with him this hour and I'm heading over 307 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,000 never in the traffic. I'm not with you. 308 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:40,240 And that should, I don't know, I don't know that we can, you 309 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:44,280 know, stop people on on the bus. You know, you know something. 310 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,360 I've just been with Jesus, you know, for an hour this morning. 311 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,800 That might raise eyebrows for sure. 312 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,440 But still, you know, maybe some people would be capable of doing 313 00:21:54,440 --> 00:22:00,000 it, speaking those terms. But certainly at least it gives 314 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,840 us the sensation. I have something to really give 315 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:08,000 witness about. This is not normal as that 316 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:10,600 Swedish fellow would say. This is insane. 317 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:14,280 This is insane. I've been with the Lord, I've 318 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:20,840 been speaking to him and that is our hands on personal 319 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:23,800 experience. Which in one way, again, the 320 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:27,360 more intense that is, the more real it is, I think then the 321 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:34,760 more real the desire to give testimony, to speak about this 322 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:40,480 in one way or another that we, we, that we, we have to share 323 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:43,400 this with people. The, the intensity, the 324 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:45,800 amazement. Again, this is insane. 325 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:49,240 Is, is a lovely line because you can see it really sums up in a 326 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:53,600 very teenage way the intensity of the amazement. 327 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:58,040 This is insane. And we're just gonna a kind of 328 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:00,200 lovely phrase in a way, this is insane. 329 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:04,440 This is so amazing. And that if we perhaps await a 330 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:10,560 more intense experience of that, we too then would be like this 331 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:16,360 guy with his parents, with his friends, with his siblings. 332 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:19,480 We just think you have to, you have to hear this. 333 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:24,600 Remember once being the recipient a little bit of that. 334 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:27,640 A friend of mine who'd gone to confession, he's in in Rockbrook 335 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,040 School. I hadn't been in quite in quite 336 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:33,800 some time and he comes out. He comes out and and and I was 337 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:35,800 waiting for him. No intention, but he comes out 338 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:39,920 and he's so impressed by it. So impressed partly he used to 339 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,760 confess was Father Hanan, who was a real St but he's so 340 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,400 impressed. He pushed me into the box and 341 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,120 physically got me in. You're going in. 342 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,760 No, I'm not, you're going in and that and that was kind of a 343 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:53,800 similar kind of thing. Testament. 344 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:56,360 If I was to go in first, though, that wouldn't have happened. 345 00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:01,400 He was coming out and he had, you know, he'd been there for 5 346 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:06,720 minutes, whatever it was, and he was saying you are going in a 347 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,800 very, very beautiful in a way, and a very, you know, real and 348 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:17,400 true friendship in, at least for Paul, the 6th Evangelion 349 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,520 Nunciandi is this famous line which John Paul too quoted an 350 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,000 awful lot. Modern man listens more 351 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,400 willingly to witnesses than to teachers. 352 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:33,280 And if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are 353 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:35,760 witnesses. You're amazing. 354 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,360 Just an observation. People teaching. 355 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:39,880 Yeah. But witnesses. 356 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:44,080 And you have that, you know, a lot of kind of Catholic events 357 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:46,320 or maybe of Christian events in general, you know, you get a lot 358 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:47,880 of witness. This guy is giving his 359 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:49,760 testimony. This girl is giving her witness. 360 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:54,160 And some of them are really, I suppose most of them are really 361 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,880 impressive. And people do listen, you know, 362 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,440 maybe somebody giving a talk, a theological lecture, well, 363 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,520 boring. And then the guy gets up and 364 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:07,000 gives testimony. Well, this is my story. 365 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:09,640 And people sit on it was very nice. 366 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:15,920 And I suppose we have to have this sense also that people are 367 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:18,560 waiting. They're observing again, like 368 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:23,640 these Swedes that I was talking to on Friday night that that 369 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,800 they, they too, anyway, that I was talking to in more detail 370 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:31,080 were saying, umm, you know how they'd gone through the 371 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:34,440 different religions very like this other fellow and that now 372 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:37,960 they were kind of working out, you know, orthodox Catholic, but 373 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:39,200 they were, and they were observing everything. 374 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:41,600 You can see that they were observing this Friday night, uh, 375 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,520 group that, that was there in the Paris, Paris in Malibu. 376 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:52,160 Umm, somebody spoke about somebody in Villa Terry. 377 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:55,520 It was a couple of years ago. They spoke about a visit of a 378 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:59,200 number of Japanese diplomats. I think they were who living, 379 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,160 who were living in Rome. They've been there quite a while 380 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,920 and there were, there were friends and they were coming to 381 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:10,640 visit Villa Terry and the crypt and they were down. 382 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:12,040 I don't know if they'd heard about it. 383 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:13,400 They were not, they were not Christians. 384 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:18,280 And this person who was showing them around asked them, were 385 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,520 they, were they interested in the faith in Catholicism? 386 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:26,240 And one of them said in a very maybe Japanese way, we are in 387 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:30,440 the observation phase. So and you could kind of think, 388 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:34,560 well, maybe some friends of ours are in the observation phase 389 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:37,920 with us. They're working it out. 390 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:41,520 Is this, is this the, is this what I'm looking for? 391 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:46,960 Is this the truth, this person, what she lives out? 392 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:50,120 Is she happy? Number one, is she happy? 393 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:53,040 And what does she say? And can I speak to her? 394 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:54,640 I suppose, can I speak to her about these things? 395 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:56,040 Is she happy to speak about her faith? 396 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:03,200 Well, we are, we are plunk in the middle of Lent and and I 397 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,440 kind of think when we look at prayer, fasting almsgiving, that 398 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:16,920 the most real and practical almsgiving we have to do is the 399 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:21,520 alms giving of apostolate. I think that that's not just to 400 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:24,040 save ourselves money and Oh no, I'm giving faith. 401 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:27,760 I don't have to give money. It is the greatest alms we have. 402 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:32,200 And because in this we're kind of we are, we are hyper wealthy 403 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,880 in in terms of our experience again, an hour with you this 404 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:41,080 morning. Jesus, we are, you know, in the 405 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:45,480 palace, we are the Super wealthy and this is what we have to give 406 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:47,920 very like Saint Peter in the Acts of the Apostles to that 407 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:52,600 beggar sitting beside one of the gates into the temple begging 408 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:56,280 for money, the blind beggar and, and Peter says to him, I have no 409 00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:01,880 silver and gold, but what I have I give you in the name of Jesus 410 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:03,880 Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk. 411 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:08,360 What I have I give you. And I and I think that's our 412 00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:12,760 real, that's our arms. What I have, I give you and the 413 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:18,320 great arms that I have is my personal experience of Jesus 414 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:23,360 Christ, my personal experience of the faith of the church in 415 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:27,720 its, you know, multitude of dimensions, all kinds of, and 416 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:31,040 some people, you know, more interested in one domain of the 417 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,600 artistic dimension or others theological dimension or others, 418 00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:40,000 I don't know, experiencing fraternity dimension, whatever 419 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:44,120 it might be. But we are certainly, we're 420 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:50,200 certainly so wealthy and this is something which is the arms 421 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:53,360 really that we have to give. And as it was more overlent, it 422 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:55,800 should be something in our mind more overlent. 423 00:28:55,800 --> 00:29:00,800 And perhaps also because this is a period when when people, young 424 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:04,600 people maybe in particular, kind of more thinking more the grace 425 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:06,240 is there. This is the time of intense 426 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:08,160 grace. There's more grace that God is 427 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,200 moving souls, maybe like this young fellow having his panic 428 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:13,400 attacks. What is it all about? 429 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:19,960 What is the meaning of all this? And, and, and furthermore, in 430 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:25,640 giving these arms, as Pope John Paul 2 says, the faith is 431 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:27,840 strengthened when it is given to others. 432 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:32,640 The more we give these arms, the more we have, the more we give 433 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:35,280 our faith away, the more we have it, which is very nice. 434 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:39,360 So it's, it's, there's no diminishing returns. 435 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:43,760 This is the more you give the more you have anyway. 436 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:48,720 So let's be asking our our Lord these days of Lent to help us 437 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:53,960 maybe to breakthrough whatever these barriers are that stop us 438 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,920 giving witness to stop us giving testimony of our faith. 439 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:03,280 OK, maybe we're a experience or whatever we think people are not 440 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:04,920 interested. I think people certainly of a 441 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:08,320 Swedish 17 year old is interested and and the other 442 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:13,720 guys were just as way out and they were there and and an 443 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:16,960 Albanian Muslim was another guy who's getting baptised at at 444 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:20,680 Easter. Also Malmo amazing stories. 445 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:25,520 I say, well, Lord, that I would be ready to give my witness to 446 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:30,640 whoever it is and we can turn to Our Lady Queen of Apostles and 447 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:34,240 and help us to be, especially over this land, particularly 448 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:43,760 Apostolic. I give you thanks to my God for 449 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:47,560 the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations you 450 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,040 have communicated to me in this meditation. 451 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:52,720 I ask you for help to put them into effect. 452 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:58,120 My mother, Immaculate St Joseph, my father, Lord, my guardian 453 00:30:58,120 --> 00:30:59,560 Angel, intercede.