Mass with the African Community
Mass with the African Community
St. Saviour’s, August 9th, 2026
I am pleased to be here today for this first African Mass. I want straightaway to say “thank” to you for your witness to faith. Many Irish missionaries brought faith to your lands, now you are renewing it here in Ireland. Though I know you now go regularly to your own local churches, it is good for you to come together now to support and encourage one another as you have similar backgrounds and homelands which should never be forgotten.
Pope Francis referred a few times to the story in the Bible of the mother of the seven Maccabean brothers who were being persecuted for their faith. She encouraged them to be strong and not give in. In the Bible, it says that the mother preserved the faith and memory of her people by speaking to her sons in “the language of their ancestors”. As I said this is a detail that Pope Francis liked to highlight because it reminded him that a people's identity, memory, and faith are preserved through keeping in contact with their language, traditions and culture. And that is true also in the Church. By coming together in this African context, even if I appreciate you come from different African countries, you get new energy to go back then to your home parishes in the Diocese to share the joy and freshness of your experience of faith which is a gift for the Church in Ireland.
Now a few words about today’s Gospel. It presents us with one of the stories from the life of Jesus that intrigues people: Jesus walking on the water. What is the message of this Gospel? What are we to make of it? If we enter into the scene, we see what’s happening. There’s a storm. The waters are turbulent. It’s a dangerous and worrying situation. But then Jesus comes walking, as it were, above all that. He is not directly caught up in the danger. In fact, the opposite, he is the one who is coming to give a hand, to help Peter and the apostles. So we hear his wonderful words: “Courage, it is I, do not be afraid”. We know that it is said that in the Bible the phrase “do no be afraid” is used 365 times. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but it’s a way of saying that the Bible wants us to remember every day that we are in God’s hands, that he is with us, no matter what storm we might be experiencing. And when we welcome him into our lives, just like the apostles welcomed him into the boat, we receive the gift of peace. With Jesus in the boat, the Gospel tells us, the wind dropped.
But we need to keep believing. We see what happened Peter. He stopped believing and trusting, he hesitated, and suddenly he felt he was sinking. He cried out “Lord, save me” and Jesus did. It’s true that we too can difficulty believing and trusting. We too have to shout out to Jesus, “Lord, save me” and he will. I like the story of the child and the boat that you may have already heard. But it always bears retelling! A child is on a boat one day. A fierce storm suddenly weeps across the sea. Dark clouds fill the sky, and huge waves rock the boat from side to side. The passengers are terrified. Some cry, some pray, and others hold on tightly to the rails. Everyone is afraid that the boat might sink. Among them is the little child. Unlike the others, however, the child sits quietly and calmly, watching the waves. One passenger asks him: “Aren’t you afraid? The storm is so strong!” The child smile and shakes his head, indicating he isn’t afraid. "But why are you so calm?" the passenger asks. The child replies: “Because my father is the captain of the boat”! In other words, the child believes and trusts that his father loves him, and that he will do everything he can to bring them safely home. It’s a little story that tells us that there can be storms in life but we are trust in God the Father.
A man I knew died a few days ago, but I was very struck by how he faced death. Facing a diagnosis of stage-four cancer after years of living with pulmonary fibrosis, his first thoughts were, of course, for his wife and daughters, who would have to carry the burden of the news. Alongside this came a painful awareness of past failures and relationships he felt he had not fully healed. Yet, rather than allowing fear or regret to overwhelm him, he gradually discovered a deeper trust in God.
A turning point came during a Mass one day. During the consecration, he realized that he could place not only himself but also all those he had hurt into the hands of Jesus. He entrusted to God what he could no longer repair himself. This act of surrender brought him profound peace and became a source of strength throughout his illness.
What this said to me when we chatted was that his life is already held in the Father’s hands. Trust, he said, means saying “yes” to God, even when the road ahead is uncertain. He had experienced how much suffering is not something to observe from a distance but as a place to encounter Christ personally. And his experience was that Christ took him by the hand to lead him to God the Father. This faith then enabled him to face illness without despair. Not only that, he began to see that his suffering and vulnerability became a source of sharing and people helping each other, encouraging others to share their own struggles. In short, his point was that rather than trying to understand or control everything, he had to choose to live each day with gratitude, confidence and trust in God the Father who never abandons His children.
I think this man was living today’s Gospel in his life: “Courage, do not be afraid, it is I”. “Have faith, do not doubt”.