16th Sunday Ordinary Time C 20 July 2025 Sermon

16^th Sunday Ordinary Time C 20 July 2025 Union with God

You are watching your child compete and he comes last. Do you cease from loving him?

When we love people it is for ‘who’ they are, not ‘what’ they can do. ‘Being’ rather than ‘doing’.

You don’t love someone who is a good cook or a handyman who can fix anything. It is good if others have talents, but there has to be more to love than abilities.

Think of a baby who can do nothing at all but is much loved.

We are encouraged in today’s Gospel to pray. Prayer has a lot to do with love.

Prayer can be seen as impractical, as not getting the job done. There is a temptation to skip the prayer and just do whatever work is required. See a problem, fix it.

It is good to have a work ethic, but necessary that we pray also.

Prayer is a communication in love, a communing. God wants us to be one with Him, to have a union of hearts and minds.

Martha was impatient to get the job done; Mary had the better part. She had a deeper love and was happy just to be with Our Lord (Lk 10,42).

You would not have to convince Romeo that he needs to see Juliet once a week! He would want to do that more than anything else, and this is where God wants to see us heading – that we learn to love Him, to seek Him out, and be happy to rest in His presence.

We can find prayer hard work, not always enjoyable and not always obviously fruitful. Many dismiss it as a waste of time. But remember Romeo or Mary of Bethany.

Then there is the temptation to cut corners. I don’t go to mass because I am out helping people. But if you go to Mass you will help them more effectively.

And growing from one week to the next we get more and more ‘practical’.

And the work we do will be better guided. Setting the right objectives, better time management - these will come from prayer.

As one Christian said: if I have more work than usual to do, I pray more so that I can do it!

Prayer is practical, after all. It gets things done and it can also be seen as itself a kind of ‘job’.

To worship God is one of our main ‘jobs’. God does not need our praise, but we need to praise Him.

This desire is planted in us; it is part of our nature. We need to be loved, but we also need to love. Many stop with human love, but we have to go one stage further – to love God.

Loving God for what reason? Certainly we thank Him, but we do not see him just as provider or organizer.

It is again ‘who’ rather than ‘what’.

We identify with mind and heart. We think the same thoughts and want the same things as God does – always allowing for our inferior status.

When two hearts beat as one. Think of Mass as being with someone you love, and therefore enjoyable and fruitful.

‘All we can do is pray’ is often said in a tone of resignation. It actually means more than it sounds.  Prayer makes things happen.

We pray that others will join us, will lift their hands to God; that churches will be overflowing.

For what we have not been getting right, there is a prayer for that too - Contrition restores things at any time by humbly seeking God's mercy.  Lord, teach us to pray (Lk 11,1).

15th Sunday Ordinary Time C 13 July 2025 Sermon

15th Sunday Ordinary Time (C) 13 July 2025 Good Samaritan 

This parable can be understood from different points of view. We can see Christ as the good Samaritan. We can see ourselves being that Samaritan in imitation of Christ. Or we can see ourselves as the victim, the one who is bashed.

To take the second view, we wonder with the lawyer who is my neighbour, hoping for less responsibility; but it turns out to be everyone is my neighbour.

We can prove this by imagining a person lying bashed on the road. Whom can we refuse to help? Someone of a different colour, religion, social standing? We see at such times that we must disregard any prejudice, and do something to help.

What unites us here is our common humanity. Everyone is a child of God.

We are tempted to restrict our responsibility to lesser numbers or lesser commitment.  Lesser numbers, meaning people like us, people we know.

Lesser commitment meaning we do what we have to do to help, but we do not want to get involved in anyone else’s problems. The Good Samaritan, as we see, took far more trouble than the minimum, and that is Our Lord’s way.

And we are tempted to exclude from our love those who are unlovable, or worse still, they could be our enemies, even people deliberately setting out to harm us. Surely not them too? Yes we have to do good to them if we can (Ga 6,10).

St Paul says: while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rm 5,8).  God can love those who have nothing to recommend them. And we must follow the same line.

Whatever practical action may have to be taken, we are always praying for the wellbeing of others; praying for each and every person that they find their true place with God. Praying that they will be saved, eventually entering Heaven.

We want them to achieve their full potential – not necessarily in worldly terms but in spiritual. This means that we want others to know, love and serve God.

We want everyone to know Jesus Christ. Anyone can change. Some will need more prayer than others. Some may be beyond reach but we do what we can. We must want it (salvation) to happen even if we do not think it is likely.

Some people do not want to be helped, especially if it is a religious-based solution!

We do not force anyone, neither does God. The most we do is offer a way out of their troubles. We wish them well, and pray they will see the light.

People who have been changed through an encounter with God's grace and mercy are grateful for the experience. Those who reject God would be happier if they accepted Him instead.

It is like realising after years how good our parents were, or certain teachers at school etc. It can take a while to sink in. The same extends to God as well; we can complain and argue at first, but later we see how He was helping us.

God creates all of us and all of them, and wants to draw all people to Himself (Jn 12,32).

He will hear the prayer of any repentant sinner. And all the more so if others are praying for that same sinner. Our combined prayer makes a stronger assault for good.

This is the way that divine love works. It breaks down the barriers that people put up to resist God, and wins their assent (still voluntary).

While we broaden our own outlook on charity we are being set free ourselves from lack of charity, a more urgent problem than from being bashed and robbed!

14th Sunday Ordinary Time 6 July 2025 Sermon

14^th Sunday Ordinary Time C  6 July 2025 Harvest

Our Lord issues instructions to the 72 disciples. There is a tone of urgency to the whole matter. Take no provisions; we have a world to save, we must get to it.

Gathering in the harvest is a symbol of salvation, as people who walk in the dark see a great light (Is 9,2). The harvest is rich and must be gathered. The labourers are few.

The harvest refers primarily to people, individual souls. We draw them in from all over the world.

The sooner we can gather them in the more quickly we can gather those who are still resisting in some way. We hope to gain momentum in the task.

There are walls of resistance which we need to get around.

We say to the doubters: turn to God and obey Him. Cast your sins before Him and He will forgive. Serve Him and you will find the key that opens ever door.

To come from death to life is our reward when we do this. Thie behavior to which we are called equals the reward that is offered. Once you are working in the kingdom of God you are happy. To know His ways is to live in the kingdom.

We come to understand that what we believe in is better than all the alternatives.  False religions, no religion – they all lead to darkness.

We believe that we possess the truth, but we do not think ourselves superior. We marvel at God's goodness in a respectful way, not thinking ourselves better than others.

It is hard to sell a truth which repels as it attracts. People would come here for free food or drink etc, but heavenly truth makes certain demands, such as discipline and self–restraint.

Worldly pleasure can be more attractive, at first. Would you prefer a free meal or some gradual growth in virtue?

The physical lays strong claim on us, being more instantaneous. But the spiritual wins out over time. If we do things God's  way we experience great joy. Can we believe it? Try it and see!

This could be seen as another meaning of the harvest.

We have such richness around us in terms of the word of God to teach us, and the grace of God to enable us.

It is as easy as reaching out and taking. When we make any sort of movement towards God we cannot fail to gain something from the operation. We are harvesting God’s goodness.

We are offering Heaven and the way to Heaven, as both happy states.

The idea of  harvesting people would arouse some objection as to individual liberty etc.

But we are talking about voluntary submission to captivity, to become a slave for love of God (Rm 6,22). There is no harm in this, in fact joy.

And for us too, though we already possess the faith. We continuously reach out for more, and are refreshed. More of God, more of goodness. Our faith is rekindled and grows stronger.

It is just a matter of seeing what is there and always has been, but can be missed.

It will often require self-discipline or sacrifice of some kind. St Paul say: I am crucified to the world (Ga 6,14).

Whatever we give up will come back in greater amounts.

Is St Paul too intense? He is just expressing what we find if we take this path.

We are supposed to be intense, not with a wild-eyed manner, but simply pursuing the logic of one good decision after another.

We move into these truths. They are bigger than we are. And we know they are worth having even if we do not have them yet.

Thus the urgency of the disciples’ mission. We need all  this to sort out as soon as possible. The harvest is rich and waiting for us!

Feast of Sts Peter and Paul 29 June 2025 Sermon

Feast of St Peter and Paul 29 June 2025 

We can consider Peter and Paul at the personal level, and also for what they symbolise.

At the personal level we see that both men had transforming experiences. Peter probably would have been happy to end his days as a fisherman and would not have expected to go down in history in such a famous role.

But he was called to greatness, and with some hesitation, fulfilled his destiny.

Many identify with Peter as a person who speaks before he thinks, yet who has an admirable warmth and sincerity. Peter needed his honesty and directness harnessed for a higher cause.

Paul had great zeal for the things of God. But he had the wrong belief. He did not believe that Jesus was the one to be following. He saw the new Christian religion as a heresy, to be stamped out.

But as soon as he met the Risen Lord he accepted correction humbly. Then, without missing a beat, he applied the same zeal in the right cause.

Both men convey a quickness to grasp an ideal and immediately apply it.

They had passionate natures, enabling them to keep to the difficult course which lay before them.

It is good to be passionate when the cause is right. Passionate means we are convinced of the right cause and confident that the necessary help will be there.

So we believe in Jesus Christ, convinced that He is the true Messiah, Son of God. To whom else can we go ( Jn 6,68)

If we give Him our allegiance, we will be open to receive any call or command and have the necessary grace to carry out the task.

At Mass, among other things, we are here for repairs, to be made ready for whatever may come.

This much we learn from Sts Peter and Paul at the human level.

At the more symbolic level: Peter, we could say, represents the fixed nature of the Church and Paul the mobile.

What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? The Church needs to be both these things.

Immovable, insofar as we possess the core truth. We stand as a house of rock which will not fall over no matter how strongly the winds of adversity blow.

Immovable object? We cannot change the basic teaching we have received from the Lord, and passed down to us. We can change our behaviour (for the better) and we agree we should do that, but not the teachings, the sacraments, or the mission. The Church is like a rock,  not obstructing but enabling, giving security. Stand on the rock of Peter and we know we have the true faith.

Irresistible force: is represented by Paul, the great evangeliser and missionary. He understood that the Gospel is meant for the whole world, all nations.

The Gospel can be resisted for a time, but eventually prevails. My word does  not return to Me empty (Is 55,11). The Gospel is truth and charity, bringing healing to all who are open to receive it.

Importantly, St Paul understood that the Church was the new Israel, no longer confined to the Jewish people, but meant for the whole world. There is no racial discrimination in the Church. And the Jews are not excluded. Paul, himself a Jew, understood this very clearly.

(cf Romans, chapters 9-11)

Why does the Church canonise certain people and not others? The canonised ones took it to the limit; they pursued the logic of the Gospel, that demands personal commitment, and expands outwards. Those who believe and live on that belief are likely to stand out as worthy of imitation The two passionate men we honour today are certainly worthy of that.

Sts Peter and Paul, pray for us.

 

 

 

Corpus Christi 22 June 2025 Sermon

Corpus Christi 22 June 2025 One with Christ

When we prepare to receive Holy Communion we are expressing a desire to be one with Christ.

The Eucharist makes us one with Christ, and with all others who are receiving Him.

What is the attraction? God, perfect Man, Healer, Miracle-worker, Teacher, Prophet, Lamb of sacrifice, King of kings and so on…perfect in holiness.

To be near Him is to derive some of the goodness which radiates from Him.

People crowd to see celebrities. No one could rival this celebrity!

Even just to be in the same place is something. But to receive Him as food, that is another level again.

And this is what He wants us to do – to take and eat, for this is My Body.

To eat His body is to eat goodness, with all that could mean.

Jesus wants us to be hungry for Hiim, and all His many good qualities.

This is spiritual nutrition, better than any earthly food. When we eat this ‘bread’ we are eating food that comes directly from Heaven. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

It will do us good, in proportion to how much we desire it. The food is perfect; now we can work on how perfectly we receive it.

We want to come before Him with pure hearts, free from sin. Then we want to benefit as much as possible from the encounter. We have expectant faith. We do not know what exactly each Communion may bring, but we expect something good each time.

We want him to meet our temporal needs – health, family, jobs, etc. He will help with those, but better still to be able to learn to love, as He does. To be people who can make sacrifices for the good of others. This is charity and the greatest gift of all.

We should grow into a little more of charity each time we receive our Lord.

And more wisdom, and courage, and all the various gifts and grace which come from Himself, the source and embodiment of all that is good.

The Eucharist is a means of communicating between God and us, to our benefit and His glory.

It is a simple procedure calling us to a simple response of love to God.

It is a mysterious event, calling us to search for deeper meanings.

Jesus expected the people who witnessed His multiplication of the loaves to look deeper at what they wanted from Him.

When we eat this bread we are unlocking the mystery, connecting with Jesus Christ, being drawn into a life previously unknown. We take on His character, His ways. Not to the same degree but at least the same idea.

Unfortunately, not everyone pursues the search for deeper truth. Not seeing instant results they stop coming to Mass and so deprive themselves of many blessings.

But if we stay on course and keep coming, we will discover this whole new dimension.

It is in the form of food for a reason. We cannot get by with once a year. That leads to spiritual malnutrition. We need this heavenly food, and we need it often.

The Lamb of God wants to be food for all. Everyone is a potential Christian and called to the banquet.

This is the deepest level of understanding. When we take the Eucharist we are seeking this level of unity, with Him and one another.

Trinity Sunday 15 June 2025 Sermon

Trinity Sunday 15 June 2025 Divine Love

It is difficult for a lesser being to explain the greater one,  and that is where we are with reference to Almighty God.

We can at least, however, talk to each other and pool our knowledge, seeking some clarity.

God is eternal, very hard to conceptualise, without beginning or end.

He is outside of time, and that is also hard to grasp, but it makes sense. The Creator has authority over all aspects of His creation, including time.

God had no need of us but chose to make us so that we could share in His glory.

We are invited to choose. Are we with God or against Him? Do we love Him or not?

Many see God as too far away to matter, but it is He alone who keeps us in being.

A life of sin will lead to false perceptions. Our present culture carries on as though there were no God. We cannot unmake Him by anything we may do. Nor can we make Him irrelevant. He is not easy to remove!

We who believe in Him have a duty to atone for the blasphemies and sacrileges committed against Him. As far as we can.

And we give Him the glory that He deserves from us, again the best we can do. This is a relatively straightforward obligation, but how many do not do it! Nor have they done it through all the centuries of time.

On this feast day we make God Himself our main focus. We could call this God's feast day, as we have days for the saints - this one is for God.

We atone for insults to Him; we offer Him praise and thanksgiving; we seek to live in union with His holy will.

And we share our knowledge of Him.

God is mysterious but He has told us certain things about Himself. Such as that He loves us, and desires to save us; that He can forgive our sins, that He will reward the good we do in His name.

He has told us something about His inner life, the interactions between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Church has studied the nature of the Trinity and comes up with this summary: The Father gives of Himself; the Son receives the Father’s giving, and returns it. The love between the Father and the Son is itself a divine Person, the Holy Spirit.

The love between the divine Persons is much stronger than merely human love.

We are beginners at love, compared with God. Still, our capacity to love can increase as we contemplate divine love.

Many would settle with human love thinking that is all they need.

Human love is an important part of proceedings but is not the end of the journey. God wants us to search for Him, like a deer for running streams (Ps 42,1), like the watchman who longs for the dawn (Ps 130,6). The more we look for Him the more apparent His blessings become.

It does us good to praise God. We are caught up in the divine fire of giving and receiving. When born we received love from those around us. As we grew older we learned to return love. And we might even be capable of giving more love than we receive. If so, this is progress in sharing the life of the Blessed Trinity.

As we grow in love for God we desire to be part of His saving plan for the world. We want what He wants, as we lock into union with His will. Once we do that we have achieved the main purpose of our lives – to know, love and serve God. All praise to the Blessed Trinity!

Pentecost Sunday 8 June 2025 Sermon

Pentecost Sunday 8 June 2025 Forever young

We can think of Pentecost as like a nuclear explosion but with good effects instead of destruction.

All that energy flowing out from one room, a new beginning for the human race.

And in this case the explosion is still happening, as waves of love and peace, and all good qualities go out over the world. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Hab 2,14)

When this force meets its target something dramatic happens. Instead of death there is life. All the negative elements are turned into the corresponding good. So despair becomes hope, fear becomes courage, hate becomes love etc.

Unlike a bomb which destroys all in its path the Spirit will go usually where He is welcomed. People can resist but He remains available to be called upon.

Today we express our desire to grow in personal renewal, on one hand, and to facilitate the spread of such a good influence on others, as many as we can reach.

It has never been as straightforward as we would have wished, but still it has been impressive.

Millions have been reached and still at least one billion people claim a link with the Church.

Pentecost has changed history and will greatly influence the future as well.

It will happen a lot more strongly the more people line up on the right side. Good v Evil, we need to know which side we are on.

We cannot have all the enthusiasm we need for the rest of our lives all at once.

We can guarantee, however, that we can always replenish the necessary strength.

 [T]there came in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was wearied, not being able to bear it. Jer 20,9)  We need that fire always.

We could liken each church to an ‘upper room’; we continue what began back there.

Here, once again, we can make contact with the powerful goodness of God.

God never depreciates or grows old. We could say we grow younger when we interact with God, because we are being reborn all the time.

It is not so easy even to organize ourselves, but we have to conquer or re-conquer the whole world.

The explosion can be resisted in this case. Love invites but does not force.

The new order will remain in place, however, as God seeks to claim the lost sheep.

It is a struggle to regain the lost and claim those never reached, while holding those we have.

God has no borders. He regards the whole world as His – a reasonable position insofar as He created it all! Every nation, every person is His.

The world sees so much suffering; now we see that there is a ray of hope. Pentecost reminds us of all the reasons we are still hoping.

The more we hope, the more we leave room to the Holy Spirit to work His wonders. The greatest wonder is when a person takes God at His word and comes to life.

Every year, every day we pray, at least by implication: Come, Holy Ghost. On each and all of us, and all others besides.