26th May 2009

Introduction

Philip Neri was born into in 1515 in Florence. He lived his life in Rome and he is described as a truly Renaissance man. One of his many gifts was the art of conversation and encouragement. In all our human relationships the ability to meet with others, to listen and to speak with them, to encourage and to celebrate life in mutual harmony with them, is indeed an art. It promotes affection, honesty and generosity in the human soul, and leads us in the ways of understanding and compassion.
Philip took a great interest in the sick, the poor and those in prison. Becoming a priest, he founded the Oratory, where people gathered for prayer, spiritual reading and singing. Philip’s own prayer life was especially devoted to the Blessed Sacrament. To be conscious of the presence of God leads to a deep respect for the presence of every human being.
We are God’s work of art. In an age of instant and constant entertainment, that calls us to perpetual distraction, it is good to be reminded that our deepest joy and happiness is to be found in genuine personal relationships. In a world of rush, when people have no time, it is important for us to learn to take our time with one another.
Philip Neri could be called the patron saint of happiness and encouragement. In his prayer and in his denial of selfishness the Lord poured joy into his soul and that joy he shared with others.

Homily

Not long before I came to Lourdes I had to go to the dentist for a check up. I don’t know what you are like in the dentist chair but I go into a sort of day dream state. My mind wanders everywhere and anywhere so that I don’t have to think about what is going on. I suddenly found myself thinking about “celebrity teeth”; you know what I mean – lots of stars and famous people spend thousands upon thousands of pounds just to get their teeth looking good. Some of them even insure their smile for hundreds of thousands, even millions of pounds. But does it make them happy I thought? I had this vision of a smiling mouth and gleaming teeth but a very sad person behind it all.
Happiness, contentment, joy – these are all so important in our lives. In fact, I suppose if you were to try and sum up life in a nutshell, it is the pursuit of all these things. We are all looking for joy and contentment; the purpose of most of the things we do is to find happiness. We, as Christians know that in the end there is only one source of permanent, real and lasting happiness. St Augustine tells us in that very famous saying of his, “You have made us for yourself O Lord, and our hearts will find no rest until they rest in you.”
It is one thing to say that God is the source of all our happiness, him and him alone, but it is another thing to live it out. We all know that we seek out many other ways and means of becoming happy and finding joy in our lives. Some of these are good and liberating and lead us to God, the source of all joy. Others can enslave us and lead us away from him and perhaps make us centre totally on ourselves. If we are honest, we know that self-centredness only leads to disappointment, frustration and even depression.
Treading the path of the gospel is not always easy; and at times we can become very unsure, even doubt that we are on the right path, or we find the effort just too much to continue. That is when we need encouragement; that is when we need others to come and stand alongside us to support us; that is when we need others to come and, with gentle humour, bring some joy and light into our lives.
As I said in the introduction to the Mass St Philip Neri was such a person. He would listen and encourage, he would genuinely engage in conversation with those whom he met and if he thought it good he would share a joke or a story with them to lift their spirits. St Bernadette whose, life and way we are thinking about while here in Lourdes was also very quick witted and amusing. She would often play tricks on her friends to make them laugh and when she entered the convent one of the sisters said that just a word from her would make the day brighter.
It is so easy to discourage, to put down, to become the acid drop in a conversation. We even think it very clever and sophisticated to do so. We live in a world where cynicism is seen as the wise educated way to live and converse. No, for us Christians, there has to be another way. St Paul demonstrates it in the first reading, he says, “I have not hesitated to do anything that would be helpful to you.” And Jesus in the gospel tells us comfortingly, “I pray for them, those you have given me, because they belong to you and in them I am glorified.”
A very famous Catholic writer of the early part of last century, GK Chesterton said, “Joy is the gigantic secret of the Christian.” While I am not putting myself on such a pedestal as history has placed him, I would say that if joy really is our secret, then the time has come to let the whole world know it. Let them know where our joy comes from. Let’s be people of encouragement and support to one another as we journey together. What we do here as pilgrims is a pattern for the rest of our lives. Here we take time to talk to one another, share one another’s sorrows and joys. We strengthen and encourage each other, we bring joy, contentment and happiness to each other because we are finding where our real joy lies, in the Lord, the source, the one in whom our souls will find rest. St Philip Neri once said, “A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one.” So like him, like, St Bernadette, like St Paul, let us be people of joy and encouragement, at least for today and then we will try again tomorrow.