Graduation Mass, Coola Post Primary School, 26 May 2011

I’m a fan of the singer “Jessie J”. My favourite song of hers at the moment is “Price Tag”. As you know it’s currently at 25 in the charts. “Price Tag” features B.O.B., also known as Bobby Ray Simmons Jr., whose father is a Pastor in Georgia. Bobby’s father didn’t like what his son was singing about until he realised that it was good for him, and that it was a really good form of expression.
Recently Jessie J tweeted: “Just came off stage at trinity ball. Probably one of the hardest gigs to date. To see so many people so drunk they couldnt even stand. Girls unconcious and them literally trampling on eachother. wasn't easy”

What does freedom really mean? Is freedom simply about ‘having a good time’? Or is there something more to it?

Almost a year ago the journalist John Watters spoke to a gathering of priests all about freedom. John is a most interesting character because like many of us he grew up as a Catholic but then went significantly off the rails as he became an adult. In speaking about freedom he told us that at the age of 19 he made the decision that freedom was drinking as much alcohol as he wanted. He went on to become an alcoholic and today is sober.

For John Waters, alcohol became a prison. It became the ultimate un-freedom. Needless to say, his views on drugs are similar, even though he is not a drug-addict.

Jessie J went on to tweet: “I'm not upset they werent all listening it upset me to see so many young people so not with it. Not used to it. Its hard to sing when i just wanted to go in the crowd and help all the crying girls being squashed.... Can i just clear up that last night was a UNIVERSITY BALL and it was students. I was just shocked at how intoxicated they were and i was genuinely worried for them. im not used to it thats all. And its not just in Ireland its everywhere. As a non drinker. I just wanna spread the msg that binge drinking is dangerous”

So, what is freedom? I think that freedom is to be found inside yourself, in that quiet place where only you and God dwell. The passage from the Gospel that we heard earlier told us that “A good person brings good out of the treasure of good things in his heart.” As Christians we understand that in every human heart, God is there.

I was in Lourdes recently with the IHCPT, the Irish Pilgrimage Trust. The Trust brings people with special needs to Lourdes every Easter for a week of what they call a pilgrimage holiday. There are about 1100 people who travel from Ireland for the week. It’s not a very serious pilgrimage, and the children and young adults with special needs really help us to get in touch with our ‘silly gene’ especially at the big Masses. When we are silly, then we are vulnerable, and when we are vulnerable then we can be deeply touched.
At one of those Masses, Fr Michael McGrath asked us to hold up our hands. He got us to repeat the words: “God Loves Me Very Much”. Maybe, as you step forward on the next step of life, it’s good to remember that: “God Loves Me Very Much”. It's the greatest freedom we have.