16th Sunday after Pentecost 24 Sep 2017 Sermon

16^th Sunday after Pentecost 24.9.17 Pharisees

The Pharisees were among the leaders in the Jewish religion at the time of Our Lord.

They generally rejected Our Lord, and His claims to be Messiah and God.

There are countless times where they tried to obstruct Our Lord in His work, as in today’s Gospel, where He heals a man on the sabbath.

They are more concerned about what day of the week it is, than about the wonder of a healing miracle right before their eyes!

The word ‘Pharisee’ has come down to our time for one who misses the point of Our Lord’s teaching; missing the main point while making too much of details.

People like us, who go to Mass, and who hold certain moral opinions are accused of being Pharisees because we think we are better than others; or that we are hypocrites.

We do admit to human fault, and if we do not practise what we preach, we resolve to do so -  not, however, changing the message, because that comes from God.

Those who attack the Church have a little of the ‘Pharisee’ in them insofar as they can miss the obvious message from God, trying to manipulate it to suit themselves. The Pharisees were not afraid of a little dishonesty, for example, steering the whole process of Our Lord’s crucifixion.

There are many today who want to crucify Him again – and His followers.

Why is He so much hated? For the same reason as then – that He represents the truth, and truth requires a change of heart; requires humility and chastity; trust in God; surrender of one’s will to God - and other things along these lines.

And we are tempted to the opposite of all these things – to be our own god, to set our own objectives. In short to build our own kingdom, instead of letting God be King.

The real problem is in the will (heart). People will say they do not believe in God, making it an intellectual exercise. But really it is more they do not want to believe in Him.

They do not want to be under His authority, so they pretend He is not there.

Religion, particularly the Catholic religion, is seen as too demanding. People like the idea of Heaven but not the idea of self-denial. They want it all now.

It just needs humility (also in today’s gospel), to make peace with God, to listen without arguing back.

The positive side of the argument. Just look around and see the bounty of God and respond with gratitude and obedience.

It’s a beautiful world. Or it would be if more people came into proper relationship with God.

You can have anything in the garden except the forbidden fruit. Much the same applies to us as Adam and Eve, except there are more than one forbidden tree. But the idea is the same, that if we do not sin we will have everything we want.

Agreement and obedience are the best response.

If the positive argument does not work there is a negative one too. Rejecting God means rejecting the source of all happiness, and that leads to extreme unhappiness, summarised in the word Hell. Hell as a final destination, and as a description of this life as well.

It is not so hard as we have made it. The Pharisees teach us what not to do. Let us take a different course. Let Our Lord heal us on any day of the week, meaning, let Him pour out His blessings on us, without telling Him what He should be doing instead!

We will not be Pharisees. We get the main point, which is union with God, and we hold on to it with great tenacity.

He will save us, if we let Him.

15th Sunday after Pentecost 17 Sep 2017 Sermon

15^th Sunday after Pentecost 17.9.17 Battle for souls

We can find ourselves becoming absorbed with interest in the lives of other people, whether real or fictional. Films, books, and documentaries can draw us in, and we take a certain sympathy with the people portrayed.

Most people do not have a book written about them, yet they would be interesting all the same; even if they have not done anything spectacular.

We could see someone at random, and say - he is just like anyone else. But we do not see the raging battles that might be going on inside, his hopes, fears, joys and sorrows.

The interior is more interesting than the exterior. The visible raising of the widow’s son caused great excitement. Yet still greater is the invisible forgiveness of sins. We tend to make too much of the physical and too little of the spiritual.

Forgiveness of sin is a more remarkable event, because it is God pardoning sins against Himself. If we were to throw fruit at some royal figure we would not get off so easily!

Forgiveness is more remarkable too, insofar as it pertains to eternity, whereas the physical rising is only a temporary reprieve from death.

What is most interesting about each person’s life is the battle going on for the soul.

This battle goes on between God and the devil, each trying to claim the soul, for heaven or hell.

The battle is fought over every person in the world. We do not see it, because it is interior and mysterious. We do not know what is going on in each person, but we know it is intense.

Many today would have little or no idea of all this - that they even have a soul, or that they could go to hell, for instance.

For many it is not a major issue. Yet it is major, and it is urgent. How to convey that urgency is our problem. Even many within the Church no longer regard this as important, vaguely presuming that everyone goes to heaven.

This indifference to the question makes it harder to save people.

When there is a health scare people will be careful what they eat, or how long they spend in the sun etc.

Packages have warnings on them about health risks. You will never see a warning about mortal sin on the side of a container!

We need to have a kind of do-it-yourself urgency which we carry with us. No one is going to tell us. We have to keep our own awareness of these ultimate questions.

Urgency on our own account, and for others – we have to pray for them because they are not praying for themselves.

They might receive mercy and be saved, and that is what we are asking for; but we cannot just presume it will happen. Someone has to shed some tears, and put in some work.

We know from many stories that the prayers of one can help save another, eg a mother praying for her son.

God wants us to step in and take part in this process, praying day and night - for those who have the faith, to keep it; and for those without faith to discover it.

Then they can take part in their own salvation, and shape their own destiny; making a serious decision for God.

This is also more in keeping with human dignity, that they can participate actively in their own salvation, not just being oblivious to it all; not just living in pursuit of pleasure.

It is a heavy responsibility for us to help in this process, but a joy to know that we can.

May the story of our lives, in every case, have a happy ending – the raising of both body and soul.

14th Sunday after Pentecost 10 Sep 2017 Sermon

14^th Sunday after Pentecost 10.9.17 Holiness

Seek first the Kingdom and all these other things will be given to you.

Our Lord is exhorting us to get things in the right perspective. Are we right with Him?  This is the main question to be addressed.

Am I ready to meet Him if I were to die today? Is my soul in a fit state to go before Him?

This is more urgent than whether or not I have enough to eat, or to wear.

The soul is more important than the body; eternal life more important than food and clothing.

So we set about being right with Him. If we are living good lives we continue with that, and still seek to improve.

If we are living lives of sin then we repent, the sooner the better.

We need mercy if we are bad, and grace if we are good. In either state we cannot do it without God.

Grace will enable us to live good lives, helping us to want goodness for its own sake; and seeing through the temptations of the devil.

We will see that the rules God places on us are not burdensome restrictions, but actually a source of joy.

We generally distrust rules and laws when they come from human authority.

But when they come from God it is another matter.

He is always going to be right. If He says thou shalt not something we had better shalt not!

This is not widely known. Many are trying to be happy by getting around God's laws.

No, it is holiness that leads to happiness. Holiness is the new thing. Purity, truth, kindness, gentleness; these are the qualities everyone is looking for. Sin is obsolete!

We can dismiss it all as ‘religious’ language, just the right thing to say, but it is meant to be lived out; waiting to be discovered.

See also the epistle: the fruits of good and evil (Ga 5,19-23).

When we keep God's commands everything falls into place. Like a machine where every part is doing its job.

We can discover this for ourselves individually; and even better if it becomes communal – the kingdom of Heaven, where there is no angry word, no violence, no theft, no impurity, no evil of any kind.

If we do not enjoy such a state it must mean we still need mercy. Mercy will restore us to a state of grace, if we sincerely seek it.

The truths of our faith should be obvious, but we still manage to miss them. The devil obscures the truth and we can miss it.

The present world is filled with confusion as to right and wrong.

We have to clean out the sin, not just partially but completely. Flesh v Spirt, we must decide. Realise there is more to this than most people think about.

To get into Heaven we have to be purified of any and every trace of sin.

We claim the present moment: this moment, and from now on. I will not delay any further.

Either we have lived a good life, or we are sorry we have not. But if we have not, we will keep that firmly in the past, and make a new start at this moment.

It is not just saying ‘Sorry’, but changing attitudes and behaviour.

If motivated by fear (eg on a sinking boat) it may be difficult to generate heartfelt sorrow at that point. We may be too hardened to turn back.

We have to cultivate a spirit of contrition now.

Such that if we did survive a shipwreck we would live differently for the rest of our lives. God knows if we are sincere or not, but if not, He can help us to be so.

13th Sunday after Pentecost 6 Sep 2017 Sermon

13^th Sunday after Pentecost 3.9.17 Thanksgiving

In these troubled times… where is God? People ask this from different angles. The unbelievers are mocking… where is this God of yours?  The believers are pleading with God to show His hand (maybe not too much all at once!).

We can find God in the midst of all the smoke and confusion.

We can follow the example of the one leper who returned (today’s Gospel), loudly glorifying God. This is what we are doing at each Mass, and in general throughout our lives.

We praise God for His goodness, a goodness which is infinite and unchanging. If He hides His hand it is never because of any malice or weakness on His part.  He is supreme at all times, supreme in goodness and in power.

 Every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration (Jm 1,17)

He is never arbitrary. He does not push a button, saying, I think I will give so-and-so an extra rough time today.

He does let things go to some extent. He does not intervene at every point where we might think He should. We tend to want a quick fix, like instant coffee. Fix it, Lord, don’t make me work through all the hard stuff.

He does offer us other ways out of trouble, such as obeying Him, trusting and praying, and doing penance.

Much as we are inclined to throw down tools and have a tantrum with God, we must resist such a course. We can express anguish with Him, tell Him how hurt we are, shed tears before Him. We can do all that, but in a respectful way that affirms our ultimate trust in Him.

Constantly we realign ourselves with Him, reaffirming His reality, His goodness; recalling that He did not have to make us, or save us, and does not have to take an interest in us. But He does all that simply because He wants to.

Then He pays us the further compliment of expecting us to be active disciples in His service. He is giving us a position of responsibility, not given to all His creatures.

We can thank Him for that too, even though it makes life harder.

Our thanksgiving is not an awkward add-on but an expression of trust so that thanking and asking are woven together and go with each other

Just to see the trouble in the world makes us immediately turn to prayer of petition.

At the same time we thank Him, in advance, because we know He hears us. Our Lord put this in His own words, praying through His humanity: Father, I know that You always hear Me (Jn 11,42).

If we complain, it is like tramping in with muddy boots, when we need to be very quiet and still, if we want to find out what is happening. Be still and know that I am God. (Ps 45 (46), 10).

If we sin (worse still) we are breaking this vital connection, cutting the rope to which we cling, biting the hand that feeds us.

If we have union with God, all else falls into place. If we give Him the time we would see that He does prove Himself, with a lot more to come.

Like the leper, we come before Him extolling His goodness. We would extol Him even if we are not healed, because He is who He is. If He does not give us one kind of blessing He will give us another. Always good, because that is His nature.

All glory be to Him.