22nd Sunday (C) 31 August 2025 Sermon

22^nd Sunday C  31August 2025 Humility

There  are layers of meaning in this parable (the dinner guests Lk 14,7-14).

At the simplest level we would exercise good manners and not push in above our status. And if in doubt, yes we would take the lower place. Much like we let someone else go through the door ahead of us. After you!

At another level we could see the seating model as a more general expression of how we deal with life and other people.

The arrogant and the bullying will see everything in selfish terms and use other people as seems expedient.

The humble of heart will be prepared to give way to others, even if they (the humble) have higher claims. Other factors may have to be considered but the essence of humility will always be present.

Christians should not be afraid to use their talents, but always with deference to God, His wisdom and power.

The follower of Christ must have a share in His humility, never forgetting the communal nature of the Church. We seek the benefit of all, including ourselves, but always aware of belonging to something bigger than just ourselves. This is ‘loving one another’(Jn 13,34).

Then we can take things to a wider level still, applying this image of the dinner guests to our overall relationship with Almighty God.

God has made many different types of creatures, but only to angels and humans has He given the privilege of communicating directly with Him.

All other creation is irrational, not having the power to reflect on things, to praise God, to ask for favours etc.

Having this privilege of communication with God means that we have the ability to reject Him. This is what many of the angels did, turning into demons instead.

And it means for us humans that we can commit sin, something which the animals cannot do.

Why would we want to pit ourselves against God? Well, we do not usually put it in such plain terms, but when we sin we are putting our own will ahead of God's will. Whatever we call it, or think we are doing, we are not being humble at that point!

Pride is at the root of all sinful behaviour; it is trying to take the highest place from God Himself.

If we really humble ourselves before God, we will be prepared to trust His holy will over our own.

If God wants things a certain way, and I want them another way, who is more likely to be right?

Of course, it will always be God who knows best, both as to my interests and for the overall situation, how others are affected. This applies to everything, large or small. God knows what needs to happen.

We place ourselves at the lowest point of His table and wait for further instructions.

The humblest person to have ever lived was also the best person, Our Lady.

God was able to work through her because she offered Him no resistance. Be it done unto me according to thy word (Lk 1,38)

Imagine if there were more people like that. Imagine if most people were like that!. With less resistance to the will of God the world would start to be unrecognisable. It would start to look like the kingdom of God.

By the grace of God we can be part of that humble response. If we are humble enough to obey God readily, we can then be entrusted with more (Mt 25,21 the faithful servant).

We thank God for giving us the power to choose, but we also ask Him for the wisdom to choose the right way, hoping to hear the words from today’s Gospel, Friend, come up higher (Lk 14,10).

 

21st Sunday C 24 August 2025 Sermon

 21^st Sunday C   24 August 2025 Regrets

Regrets I’ve had a few, says Frank Sinatra. As we reach adult years we can recall probably more than a few regrets.

We regret that we cannot change the past; however, we can ‘change’ the future, insofar as we make better decisions as to how we live. 

So we become unlikely to repeat the same mistakes of the past. This is why there is a constant call to repentance in our faith. And why we have penitential rites, and seasons like Lent; and call for mercy in our prayers (especially the Mass).

A lot of people do not pray, it seems, yet Jesus is so welcoming - like the generous father who welcomed back the prodigal son. The  son did not like his chances of being forgiven, but gave it a try. So should anyone do who feels alienated from God. Approach Him and see what happens  (Lk 15,11-32) 

Yet the Gospel today (Lk 13,22-30) sounds uninviting. To be saved you have to get through a narrow door. Even calling on God may not be enough. Yet God will never ignore a cry of true repentance. Jesus uses this image to stress the need for sincere repentance, not just pretending.

Peace of soul comes with repentance, and we feel put back together, re-integrated - all parts working together.

We can have that peace. One could be a dropout, never making it in the eyes of the world.

But with a sincere act of repentance there is mercy and new life. Lord, have mercy on a sinner (The publican Lk 18,9-13).

We can all do this and converge on Heaven, having been transformed by the love of God.

Jesus is putting things in such urgent terms, to give the Jews of His time a wake-up. He tells them that others will get there before them. There is no pre-determined limit to Heaven. We can all get in. but we must all be busy about it, not growing complacent or cynical.

For those who have not needed a dramatic conversion because they have been living a good and orderly life so far – there is an urgency to pray for others who are not so well placed. And as we learn from sport – don’t declare victory until it is over.

We pray for  others, that they will find the narrow door and the path that leads to it. Our prayer can generate grace, which will make it easier for others to repent.

Whatever we have been or have done, we can call down the mercy of God in the present moment.

Some deal with guilt by trying to deny it. But if the guilt is real it has to be addressed. Like with a disorder in the body, we cannot just talk it away.

Complete repentance requires that we change our behaviour, but once we taste the mercy of God we are glad to do that. There is joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents (Lk 15,7); and that joy can be anticipated on earth too, cf Zacchaeus Lk 19,1-10).

The  door to which Our Lord refers is narrow because there is so much falsehood around it. It is harder to stay on course when there are many alternatives on offer. We make the door wider by our personal choices for good. It is not meant to be so hard as it is to live a good life,

It is just that many make the wrong turn-offs in their particular pathway. Then the destination can seem a long way off. And the whole society can get muddled, as much of ours is now.

Some correct turns will make all the difference.

20th Sunday C 17 August 2025 Sermon

20^th Sunday (C)  17 August 2025 Union with Christ

Our Lord does not really want anyone fighting – such as mother and daughter, as put in today’s Gospel (Lk 12,51).

He has indeed come to bring peace, but it has to be first peace with Himself, then with each other.

If we are all looking to be at one with Him then we will automatically become one with each other. (Like converging on the same place, we all meet there).

He did not want division between people, but He knew His coming would have that effect. Some would accept Him; some would reject Him.

Jesus knew that people could be changeable, spiteful, vengeful, and the like. They could rebel against God and each other. He came to set up a renewed humanity that would not be like that.

Humanity could not be fully saved unless the healing go deep down in the heart, the centre of all desires.

Only those who would allow Him to take over their minds and wills would learn what the peace of Christ really meant.

We are made for God and cannot change that. The best idea is to accept that status and find out where it leads.

Christ dwells in us and guides the way we think, the way we love, what we pursue.

It does not lead to peace at first because there is resistance.

1 ) When missionaries would take the gospel to new places they would meet persecution  (cf first reading, the mistreatment of Jeremiah). It is easier to kill the messenger than to heed the message.

2) Or there is a kind of diluted acceptance, whereby people will accept the Gospel but not as the central driving force of their lives, more as an add-on, a contributing factor but not the main event.

3) Or they will resolve to keep the new doctrines, but keep the old ones as well. So there is always the temptation to worship false gods, in whatever form they come.

No, there is only one God, and one Saviour. Union with Him is like being married; fidelity is essential.

4) Or they will say that we should not preach the Gospel anyway; better to leave everyone as they are. That would bring a measure of peace, but not with Christ. It is good if we do not kill each other, but we still need Christ front and centre.

And where we express this unity with Christ and each other most fully is here in the Church, the people of God.

5) Or they will try to be ‘Christian’ but without Christ. This is when Christianity is reduced to a set of ethics. Jesus was a teacher, nothing more.

No, we cannot have the body without the head. It is one unit, one person who unites all others.

Ethics are essential but they do not stir the soul. We need supernatural help, and we get that from prayer and sacraments.

Let Him be the head and we will learn a lot faster.

Jesus is more than teacher; He is the source of all mercy and grace. He enables all who want to live the new life He demonstrates.

In His personhood He can gather in all who want to be gathered.

We come to love Him, not just obey.

We pray that the mercy of Christ will reach every heart, and thus there would be the peace that Jesus came to bring. This is the fire that He was anxious to light.

If He divides us it is only to reunite us with something better. No less than Himself.

19th Sunday Ordinary Time (C) 10 August 2025 Sermon

19^th Sunday (C )  10  August 2025 Security

When we talk about faith, there are two meanings. Faith is an intellectual assent to what is stated in the creeds. And faith is trust, trusting in God not to let us down.

It is this sense of trust that Jesus is asking of us in today’s Gospel. Faith is the opposite of fear or doubt.  I cannot be afraid if I am on trusting terms with God.

Though ten thousand rise against me (Ps 3,6).

 Though the stalls stand empty of cattle (Hab 3,17). Though the mountains may fall (Is 54,10) – yet will I trust in the Lord, and I will not fear.

In all these texts our security is found in God, not in the lesser things we are inclined to rely on - such as money, physical protection, locked doors.

In all trials I will stand firm. We have many saints, especially the  martyrs, to inspire us by their example.

We have direct access to God's grace and power through prayer and sacraments.

How can we lose? The only way we can lose all this is if we neglect the sources of help which are provided. If we do not pray, nor meditate on these things, and put them into practice, we will be fearful always, unless we change direction.

Jesus tells us not to trust things of earth which thieves or moths can destroy (Lk 12,33-34) Better to build up one’s treasure in Heaven where we will collect it one day.

It is like having shares in a company - we have a share in God. We cannot possess Him but we can share in His life.

We do what we can to stay safe, to stay alive. We are careful what we eat, careful crossing the road, careful going out alone, wearing  seat belts, locking the house, and  money in the bank etc.

These things are all good in their way, but our real security, the one that cannot be taken from us is to be in a state of union with God.

This union is the basis of our trusting God. He will not let us down. Either He will give us what we ask, or something different, at least equally good.

Filled with trust in Him we can then be like the servants who will be found being active when the Master returns. (Lk 12,42-48)

We will do things He wants us to do, whether great or small, from choosing a career to helping a stranger.

We will not grow slack with the passing of time, but use all the time remaining to us to make known the kingdom of God.

The word ‘security’ might convey that we are hiding in shelters, just trying to survive. The stronger disciples are proactive, seeking out ways of serving the Lord.

In our way of looking at things, even to die for Christ can be seen as the work of an active servant.

Our concept of success and failure is different from the world’s. Look at Our Lord Himself. To die on the Cross seemed a very strange way of spreading the kingdom but that is what happened.

We might face unexpected challenges, but we trust that God will bring a good result from it all.

We face many difficulties, but God is bigger than all of them. And to the extent that we ourselves might doubt His power or goodness, He can help with that too.

Many despair but not us. For us it is hope and faith, all the way to the gates of Heaven.

We thank God for His faithfulness to us!

18th Sunday of Year (C) 3 August 2025 Sermon

 18^th Sunday of year (C)     3 August 2025 Pilgrims

God gives us a world full of beauty and then tells us not to become too attached to it!

This we might perceive to be somewhat cruel on His part, but He has our wellbeing in mind.

It is something like you get a box of chocolates for your birthday but you know you should not eat them all at once.

Life is like that. We are tempted to throw off restraint and indulge ourselves with various passions, either wrong in themselves, or taken out of their proper balance. Eg too much computer use or social media. 

What is God doing to us? He is training us, forcing us to go through certain exercises to become more sharply focused. 

See how you go at being generous with  your time and possessions. 

See how you go at being ready to give things up, if required. 

These are areas where we can learn and improve. We do it for other areas of life, why not the spiritual life? 

The rich man forgot that he was on a journey, that he was not in his final home. He became too attached to his surroundings. 

We should get ready for Heaven. It is coming closer in time, and in our readiness to enter there. 

By a combination of sorrow for past sin, and making new resolution we can make progress, and this is the idea. 

I am going to heaven means union with God and all the other heavenly citizens. It is not just a place of pleasures, but of deep union with God, for which we were created. 

God expects us to go through this life aspiring to be with Him not allowing ourselves to be too immersed in this life. If there is any immersing it is with God, not the things God has given us. 

To be totally immersed in God's will and so grow in stature spiritually. 

It just takes a bit of discipline. And perseverance. 

And coming back again and again to the main point. Do not make the same mistake as the rich man. He forgot he was going anywhere. He did not consider his immortality. He forgot to consider the end of his life – end in ‘time’, and end in ‘purpose’. 

We need to know the end before setting out. We take provisions for the journey insofar as we equip ourselves like the wise virgins (Mt 25,1-13). 

Our prayers and sacraments help us to get back on the road.

Many lose faith in God when they are deprived of something or someone they love.

We entrust those we have loved to God's mercy. We hope to see them again, but even that will not be the main point. First we will be in union with God.

We could see this life as a training ground, like a camp. We gradually catch on.

Whatever we use or have in this life we express gratitude and detachment.

The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh. Blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1,21).

And what joy when our journey is complete; then there is no more giving up or taking away.

We grasp all this and then we explain it to our neighbours, if they will listen!

Every situation, every experience can be a winner, a chance for correction and growth.

We encourage each other as we are all in the same boat, trying to bring that boat to the eternal shore.

It is all a matter of directing our desires to the right place. If we love this world too much we love Heaven not enough.

Think of whatever we love here as a preview of Heaven. To stimulate our appetite.

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is thirsting for You, my God (Ps 42,1).

17th Sunday (C) 27 July 2025 Sermon

17th Sunday (C )  27 July 2025 United with God

God will give you what ask though it might take a while.

It sounds easy the way it is put in the Gospel. Just ask and you will receive.

But it takes a long time, or never, in some cases.

If we ask something that is not God's will it cannot happen, no matter how much we ask, or how well.

If we do not get what we want we can be discouraged and even angry. Still, prayer is never wasted; we hope for other benefits to come from the prayer.

It is not so simple to ask and receive when there are multiple factors involved. So many things are out of place in the surrounding culture.

We would get a lot more prayers answered if we behaved better, the ‘we’ being the whole Church or whole human race.

We have to pray for the surrounding factors as well; see the whole context of the prayer objective.

For example, to pray for peace requires that everyone has to have peace in their hearts. And that is a big operation. Much more than stopping a particular conflict somewhere.

Praying for things to happen should flow from the closeness of our relationship with God, rather than only when there is a  crisis - which would suggest we do not have a strong connection with God.

Our Lady had the desirable link with God, and so was able to pray for a miracle at Cana, without making any song and dance, but simply calling on her union with her Son. It was like taking heat from the sun, without affecting what remains with the sun.

This is how God wants us to approach Him, and how He can offer so much success in our prayer.

Our prayer can help sort out the surrounding issues as well as the one on which we are focused.

For example, vocations. If we want vocations we have to pray another prayer for conversion of the young to the true faith.

The idea of drawing from the source, the sun, leads to a need for perseverance. We cannot simply name a prayer and then walk off as though we had done enough. We have to stay connected like a plug, ready to be switched on anytime.

We pray all the time in the sense that we are needing to maintain that constant union with God.

If we have that closeness to Him we can pray anytime and always achieve at least some improvement in the outcome.

If we slacken off with the prayer we will have that much more ground to recover each time.

Seeing God as only a provider of miracles is not going to work. We need to be in relationship with God?

So we find ourselves praying for particular goals, while seeking a general movement towards Him.

We seek to restore the order of God’s kingdom, where there is no opposition to God's will.

Stability is needed. Today we honour grandparents for their special role in the Church and wider society.

For those families fortunate enough to have grandparents, and a basic unity, we see in the older generations a foundation for the younger ones to build upon.

Grandparents represent order, stability, wisdom etc. Something like the stability we have in going back to Gd and His kingdom.

For fractured families we pray for as much order as can be retrieved. We need lots of reassurance in today’s world.

For the young, listen to the elders, and avoid a lot of the self-destructive behaviour  that otherwise might follow.

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).