IRELAND SAYS 'NO'

A lot of people are annoyed with the Irish! They’ve said “No” to the Treaty of Lisbon! “What is the Treaty of Lisbon?” you may ask, and the problem was that apparently the majority of people who were being asked to approve of it were asking the same question – what was it about? I can’t personally say whether I would have voted ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – in common with most of the population of Europe, I haven’t actually read the document. At a broad level I know that many adjustments need to be made to the constitution of the European Union in order to cater for the fact that many new countries have been, or will soon be, admitted. Ireland’s economy has benefitted greatly from its membership of the Union - although not solely for this reason – and certainly everyone would wish that other weaker economies would enjoy the same benefits. So what’s our problem?

The problem is that nobody translated the treaty for us! Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that everybody was prepared to translate it for us, and there were as many translations as there were people! Is it really promoting equality among Europeans to write such documents in a language that they all equally don’t understand? Except possibly lawyers! (Better be careful here, we have a lot of legal people in our Parish!)

It’s not like your Parish Bulletin to be getting so serious about stuff, but what I’m really trying to highlight is not any political stance, but the importance of being aware of the need to communicate clearly – no matter in what situation – at home, at work, even at prayer! Often it feels like it’s much easier to be misunderstood than to be understood correctly. The good communicators are those who are aware of what the people they are communicating with will take from what they say. One sympathises with the poor priest who was doing his best at the Baptism of baby Thomas, whose little 4 year-old brother was intently watching and listening to everything that was going on. As they were driving home afterwards, he sat very quietly and rather sadly in the back seat of the car, until his mother finally enquired as to what was the matter. “The priest said Thomas was blessed because his is going to be brought up in a Christian home - but I want him to stay with us”, was the unexpected reply.

Not surprisingly, Jesus was a master communicator. There is no jargon or remote terminology in his message. There is no mistaking the meaning of stories like the good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son; or of sayings like "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself." It’s only when we start introducing ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ and ‘maybe’s’ that we begin to confuse the simplicity of His teaching. No wonder our gospel today talks of Jesus feeling sorry for us – harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd – in other words, very prone to getting lost.