Wings and free-will: Fr Paddy O’Kane

“Has Fr Paddy ‘lost the run of myself?”many may have asked as I used a large parrot-like bird at the start of my homily last weekend.

Now, before you come to the conclusion that I have become ‘discombobulated’ – I love that word-since my fall from the roof several months ago there was a method in my madness.

They say we only retain a tenth of what we hear but two thirds of what we see so a visual aid can last in the mind much longer.

The children especially enjoyed seeing this large puppet as I pull his strings to make him walk.

I was using him to explain ‘free will,’ how we are not pre-programmed or robots but have the ability make decisions.

We are not controlled by an outside force.

The power comes from within. It was the gift God gave to Adam and Eve in the garden which they abused. It’s God’s gift to us. Of course if we had no free will there would be no such thing as sin, nor would there be virtue either.

In the Gospel Christ gave his disciples the freedom to walk away or to stay.

In the parable of the Prodigal Son the father gives his son the freedom to leave home even if it is breaking his heart. Parents give their children ‘roots’ and ‘wings’ and sometimes they fly away but real love is not possessive.

Yes, parents can and should give advice; they can try to protect but they must also let their children learn from their own mistakes, as the father in the parable did – it could be the friends they mix with or the partner they find.

There is a story about the young man who wrote home, “I am bringing my girlfriend home this weekend. Please remember you are part of the welcoming committee, not the selection one.”

Getting back to last Sunday’s Gospel it must have saddened Jesus to see some walk away because they could not stomach the message he gave, a promise of himself to us as bread and wine, a promise he kept at the Last Supper, a promise kept everywhere Holy Mass is offered again as we obey his command ‘Do this in Memory of Me’.