The other day, an Austrian court granted a car-driver permission to wear a strainer — the kind used in preparing pasta– on his head for his licence photo.

Niko Alm said he must wear the strainer because he belongs to the “Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM)”.

His gesture was a protest against letting Muslim women be licence-photoed wearing a hijab on religious grounds.

The FSM movement, founded in 2005, now has members in several countries – all committed to undermining religion by mocking it.

* * *

Various people, atheists, scientologists, satanists etc., want to be recognised as religions, despite common sense suggesting that they are no such thing.

The question arises as to what is “religion”.

Would a fair definition of religion be acceptance of there being a God . . . plus willingness to conform to a God-imposed moral code . . . ?

Whatever your definition, somebody will disagree with it.

* * *

Many of us want to be Christians, recognising it as the human race’s best (only?) serious attempt to confront every question that life throws up – including the hard ones about pain, sin and evil.

Yet we experience trouble believing some Church doctrines.

For example, that Jesus, the historical human being, was/is actually God . . . and his having resurrected from the dead.

Others dislike the teachings about purity, marriage, sexuality etc. . . .

* * *

The secret is to remember that, although active doubt is disobedience and therefore a sin – having difficulties of belief is not a sin. It is simply being human.

What God wants above all is our goodwill.

We must try to believe as much as we can of what he has revealed.

The rest may come later, if/when he gives us the grace.

Meanwhile, remember Our Lord’s words in St John’s Gospel, ‘Any man who is willing to do the will of God; he shall know the doctrine, whether it be from God . . . .”

Obedience is the key.

Sunday June 5 is called the “Sunday after the Ascension”.

During the 40 days after Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared repeatedly to his disciples.

Saint Mark, in his gospel, records what happened on the fortieth day.

“Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptised shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned.’

“After speaking to them, the Lord was taken up into heaven and sits at the right hand of God.

“They went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the preaching by the signs that followed.”

* * *

It’s hard for us to visualise what it means when Saint Mark writes that he “was taken up into heaven”.

Whatever they saw, that was the closest they could come to describing it in human words.

They certainly saw something amazing. It left them fully convinced that Christ was in heaven watching over them.

So convinced that they were willing to be persecuted and killed rather than disobey his command to preach and to baptise converts.

* * *

That is what the Church was and is for – to make converts by preaching.

The most important aspect of preaching the faith is to live in such a way that anybody can see that the faith makes a person holy.

“Holy” means living purely and exclusively devoted to obedience to God.

This applies to all Christians — especially priests.

* * *

If priests live contrary to God’s way, it is a shocking setback to proclaiming the gospel.

The bad news about certain wayward priests molesting children is not a reason for others to walk away from the Church.

It is now that the Church needs us to redouble our determination to be loyal – now more than ever, not less.

Saint Mark’s Gospel:

When the Sabbath day was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices with which to go and anoint Jesus.

Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb, the sun being now risen.

They were saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’

But when they looked, they saw the stone – it was very big – already rolled back.

On entering the tomb, they saw a young man in a white robe seated at the right-hand side, and they were astonished.

He said to them, ‘No need to be amazed. You are seeking Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Look, here is the place where they laid him.

‘But you must go and tell his disciples, and Peter, “He is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will find him.”’

* * *

So that is why Easter is celebrated . . . .

Because of that unique, one-off, historical event.

Some people find it hard to believe that it really happened.

Did it?

* * *

Or was the story invented by his disciples for reasons of their own?

Not likely. All the disciples gained — humanly speaking – by teaching the Resurrection, was persecution . . . .

Like being fed to the lions.

If the Resurrection really happened, it is the pre-eminent, supreme event of history.

Without it, the Gospel record is nonsense.

With it, Jesus Christ is God.

Jesus my Saviour,

I have tried to use this pre-Easter season to meditate on who you are.

And on how you died.

Your crucifixion was unjust. You did not deserve it. It was a bad thing.

Yet your death is dear to me.

Meditating on your Cross reduces me to tears.

But when I remember how you accepted that death out of love for God . . . .

And for sinners like me . . . .

Suddenly it fills me with joy, and I cry a different kind of tears.

There is no sacrifice and no humiliation I would not accept for love of you.

Help me not just to say all this, but to believe it and to do it.

On a Thursday evening about 2000 years ago, events of cosmic importance took place.

Saint Luke’s gospel:

As his custom was, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives with the disciples following.

Reaching the place, he said, “Pray, so that you may not enter into temptation.”

Then he withdrew from them, about a stone’s throw, and kneeling down, prayed, saying, “Father if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.”

There appeared to him an angel from heaven to strengthen him. In his agony he prayed the more earnestly, and his sweat, like great drops of blood, fell to the ground.

Rising again, he came to the disciples, and found them sleeping for sorrow. He said, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you do not enter into temptation.”

While he was speaking, a crowd came. At the head of them was the man called Judas, one of the Twelve, who went up to Jesus to kiss him.

Jesus said, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

To the chief priests, captains of the Temple and elders, he said, “Am I a robber, that you come with swords and clubs?  When I was daily with you in the Temple, you never tried to lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

Having seized him, they led him away to the high priest’s house . . . .

* * *

Jesus suffered, not only on the Cross, but also in the act consenting to undergo crucifixion.

We can never suffer like he suffered. We would have to be infinitely better people to share in the fullness of it.

However, to be his followers we must be willing to set out along that same road.

We must gladly accept every suffering in life as something God has given us .

Not to go looking for it — we must be humbler than that — but to accept what comes, and offer that suffering to him as an act of obedience.

From the Gospel of Saint Luke:

Jesus went ahead on his journey to Jerusalem.

They brought him a colt and threw their cloaks over it and helped him to mount.

They began to praise God with joy for the great things they had seen, “Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.”

Some Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

He answered, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!”

Drawing near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for your peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes.

“The days are coming when your enemies will rise up and smash you to the ground, and your children with you.

“They will not leave one stone standing upon another, because you did not recognise the time of your visitation.”

Then Jesus entered the Temple, driving out those who traded there, saying, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.’”

Every day he preached in the Temple area.

The chief priests, scribes and leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death.

* * *

The hostilty to Jesus that we see today is nothing new.

The next seven days are known as Holy Week — an opportunity to focus on God and his “visitation”.

And to recover our sense of proportion.

And to thank God for his love as revealed by his Son.