The power of worship

It is two hundred and seventeen days into 2018. We have just come through a year that saw a number of natural and man-made disasters affect us. It is not the end of it. There are those who have lost homes and property, and it is a year they will never forget. 2017 has been a difficult year for everyone, and it is a year we will continue to remember as it comes to an end, like the movies have taught us. Today we are taking a quick look at how we have stayed focused during such trying times. "I guess it is because it was always supposed to be a better year. We have been preparing for this year. We made our plans; we were so excited about this year. It was going to be our year. How do we know? We had a new president who was giving us hope that we would finally experience the fruits of this journey towards being a great nation. You would expect it to be a good year. It is all about expectations. It would be better. There is no evil spirit in the world that can stop you from being a better person. The greatest power in the world, for good or for bad, is God. If you believe, you can turn anything you want to happen to be a blessing to yourself. Life is all about what you believe in, and that is why we worship; to be closer to God. "Prayer is a lot of us, because it is what brings us together. It is the foundation that binds us together as a society, as a nation and as a continent. Religion means different things to different people. I believe God is in every single person, because that is how I live my life. I have come to realize that he can do anything. God works through all the people of the world, in their different ways, in the same ways and according to their own personalities. Life is not about you and I; it is about God and everyone else in the world. Everyone in the world has their own contribution to make towards making the world a better place. What is worship? When people talk about worship, they usually mean prayer, and that is how I view it. The word 'worship' means 'to be together and to commune together.' In our area, we have seven different churches, and we have made it a custom to give thanks for our lives each year. It is an all-night prayer gathering, and we spend the night worshiping God. We need to take time to worship. I have seen so many people do a lot of things wrong, but they still say their prayers. It is so disappointing that some people actually look for trouble, and never seek the peace that prayer brings. But prayer can solve a lot of things. There is a verse in the Bible which says that if you seek peace you will not find it, if you want prosperity you will not find it, and if you want health you will not find it. "We have an almighty God, and he loves all of us. Everyone of us is in the world for a purpose. Everyone of us is supposed to go to school and get educated. No one of us is supposed to kill anyone. We are all God's children and we all have a responsibility to make life better. "I have learnt that we are always so busy doing things that we forget about the very things that make us happy. Some people have forgotten to pray and spend time with God, and that is sad. We are living in the world. What makes us happy? We should find things to look forward to and do things that make us happy. The next thing we should do is make sure we care for others and give to the poor. After that, we should tell those people who have money that they are not doing enough. They should stop wasting their money on things they do not need, and we should be happy with what we have. "Yes, things are hard these days, but we have to understand that there is a reason. God says he is testing us, and we must be patient with him. We must be ready to be persecuted for doing what God tells us to do. We all know that God always protects his children, but sometimes we must also do what God tells us to do. Even Jesus did not hesitate to suffer for the sake of the love he had for the children of God. "To show that God is in the world, we are working with many young people in our community, and I am so proud of them. They are carrying on the work that my grandfather started back in the 1960s, but we are helping them to be better, to be more determined, and to be more focussed. We have a good bunch of young people working for us, and it is wonderful to be able to help them develop. "I am proud of my community, and I believe in the strength of the family. We have raised our own children here, and they are our legacy. We believe in educating our children. Some children have gone to school for a long time, but we cannot continue to educate them all. We must not neglect the young people who have dropped out of school. We must do what we can to encourage them to go back. We must help them to get a second chance, to go back to school, to find out what it is that they want to do with their lives. "We must all be careful, and we must live in a way that helps others. I have been to India twice now, and I have seen how the world is at war. There is so much violence, and many people are starving. I know that we do not have to do that to survive, but there is still a lot of poverty in the world, and a lot of suffering. We must not do things that make others suffer. I will never forget the beauty of India, but I can also see that there are a lot of problems here in Ireland. We must live in the best way we can, because if we do not care for others, then the whole world will suffer." "Worship is a good thing in our lives. I have been to many places where I have witnessed amazing scenes, such as Jesus walking on water, and things like that. We need to worship God as well as celebrate all the wonderful things he has given us. I love to sing in church and I love to be in the pews. I was brought up as a Roman Catholic, and I will always believe in that faith. At St John the Baptist, we work to teach our young people about Jesus. Many people are very busy these days, and church services are often on a Saturday or a Sunday. We try to fit it into our schedule, and our church is a central part of our lives. In fact, we can't live without a church. It is a part of our lives. "I am not very good at public speaking, but I believe that our young people need to have a relationship with God, and they need to see that he is there. If he is real, then it is good to be with him, to talk to him, and to enjoy his company. I know that they often come to church because it is the one place where they feel safe and secure. I often preach to young people about God, and when we pray, we pray that God will help us. We try to teach our young people to respect each other and to behave like good citizens. When I am at home, I look after my wife and my children. I believe that it is very important to have a good relationship with your family, especially when you are a family priest. "We live in a very wonderful country, and we have a beautiful island. I enjoy going out with my family, and I have spent some time on our small island in Donegal. I have always liked to travel, and so it has been good to get out to different places. I love to have fun and make people laugh. The most important thing in life is to have fun, and you must learn to enjoy your life. If you want to be happy, then you must also do the things that you enjoy doing. I sometimes give talks at school, and I have given talks at the Catholic Faith Festival. I try to explain to the children what the Catholic faith is all about, and why we believe in God and Jesus Christ. I try to teach them about the love of God, the God who created us all, and the God who loves us so much. They are the two things that matter to me, and they are the most important things to teach children.