4th Sunday of Advent 23 Dec 2018 Sermon

4^th Sunday of Advent 23.12.18 Fighting for life

We have images of Christmas which evoke peace, such as the Crib scene, the general feeling of goodwill that goes with Christmas, the carols.

Unfortunately, however, there is a more violent aspect to Christmas. There are the wars, and acts of terrorism, and crime in general; but another kind of violence as well, that which results when good meets evil. That sets off at least a spiritual violence, which has been going on since Lucifer was cast out of heaven.

We, as Christians, are caught up in this battle. We are battling for the Truth and the Light, to prevail against the deceptions of the evil one

It is a life-and-death struggle, not always physical, but always spiritual. Victory means eternal life; defeat means mortal, death-dealing sin.

We fight over moral matters, things which concern whether or not we obey Almighty God, or we think we can do better ourselves – things to do with marriage, and family, and life; beliefs which have been in place for millennia, are now being challenged and in danger of being overturned.

So a fairly average person now thinks it is alright to have an abortion, to end life through assisted suicide, to marry someone of the same sex, to say that gender has no meaning, to create babies outside of the womb, to blaspheme God in works of ‘art’, to restrict the Church from being allowed to proclaim or operate on its own beliefs, claiming we ‘discriminate’.

We can feel the rug being pulled from under us. Many of our own number have lost confidence and direction, and gone over to the other side. They have adopted secular views in place of the Christian position, allowing themselves to be deceived by cunning falsehood.

The Church’s authority comes directly from God, so an attack on the Church is an attack on God Himself. This is how serious it is.

We need to reaffirm our identity and mission. We are here to serve God and to save as many souls as we can.

The truth does not change as God does not change. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. (Ep 6,14-17)

You might find yourself the only person in your family or workplace that still believes these things, but they are still true. It is harder when one is in the minority but, Lord, to whom shall we go? (Jn 6, 68)

If there are fewer standing with us, it is all the more necessary that we stand and fight. There is work to be done.

We fight, but not as the other side does. We bless when they curse (Rm 12,14); we seek to win them over rather than kill them. This is the way of Christ Himself. He does not use force; He seeks to persuade.

Today’s Gospel: Make straight the way of the Lord. We are giving His own world back to Him.

If we had obeyed Him from the start we would not be in all this trouble. We are re-establishing the foundation of truth on which to rebuild.

We will win eventually insofar as Our Lord will come again in glory, and all His enemies will be under His feet.

But we want a happier ending than that. We want Him to be welcomed as Saviour and not feared as Judge.

We want everyone to be saved, as He Himself does.

But for now the battle rages on. We will have some peace over Christmas in terms of relaxing, but the urgency of the overall battle will soon press in on us again. The fight will not last forever, but the result will.

Save us, [Lord], from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to Heaven…

3rd Sunday of Advent 16 Dec 2018 Sermon

3^rd Sunday of Advent 16.12.18 Christ within or Spiritual strength.

We are told to rejoice always, but we immediately wonder: how can I rejoice if there is so much wrong in the world?

From a prayer attributed to St Patrick: Christ be with me, Christ be before me, Christ be behind me, Christ be in me, Christ be beneath me, Christ be above me, Christ be on my right, Christ be on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I arise…

All these different places Christ can be, and all very close to me.

Here I am thinking I am all alone in an impersonal universe, and then I find the Creator of that universe is next to me wherever I go! Suddenly life looks a lot better.

He is close, and always has been, only it is not the way we normally think.

We think too much according to our physical senses. If we can see something it is there; if we cannot see it is not there, or so we let ourselves think.

We have to develop a more spiritual understanding of reality. We are surrounded by heavenly beings - angels, saints, and God Himself

We might feel lonely and unloved if there are no other people around. There are always heavenly people.

In moments of anguish and anxiety we can call on their help. Any angel or saint, any one of the Three Divine Persons – we will be heard.

Nothing can happen to us unknown to God. Every problem we ever had, have, or will have, He will be there close by.

This is our faith, though it may be very fragile. We can nurture it by constant reaffirming and renewal; to the point that what we perceive spiritually really is central to our life and daily behaviour.

God wants us to be strong in our confidence in Him. He will teach us on the job. It is like an apprentice relationship. We have to start acting like true disciples and then we find the faith will come. The faith emerges as we go along.

It takes practice and discipline to overturn bad habits we have developed (such as complaining, panicking…)

If we keep up all the recommended practices we will see progress: daily prayer, weekly Mass, frequent Confession; penance, good works, etc

At any moment we will act in the best way, according to His will – this is the goal.

Never again self-pity, and thinking we are all alone and washed up.

He leads us to a deeper faith. We are told to be child-like, insofar as we trust in Him. We also need to be mature in that we are able to take a few blows without losing balance.

We are in one sense like sheep that He comes looking for; in another sense we are like the bride in the Song of Songs, who goes looking for her Beloved (Song 3,1-2).

We look for Him in the sense that we are seeking this deeper grasp of His closeness to us.

It is good for us to have to work towards this deeper faith. We reach a point that Christ acts through us, instead of simply solving the problem Himself.

We would prefer it if He just dealt with everything, but this way benefits us more; we become better people, conformed to Christ, not just admiring Him but living out His presence in us, letting His grace bring forth the best in us.

The more this happens, the less we worry. Perfect love casts out fear (I Jn 4,18).

2nd Sunday of Advent 9 Dec 2018 Sermon

Second Sunday of Advent 9.12.18 Repent

If St John the Baptist were to stand before us today, what would he say?

Our Lord makes reference to John’s clothing: did you expect to see a man dressed in soft clothing (Mt 11,8)?

John’s clothing was not soft, nor was his preaching. He spoke the hard truth, that his listeners were sinners and needed to repent.

Much of present-day language is softened: people today make ‘inappropriate choices’ or ‘mistakes’ or ‘errors of judgment’ (these are all euphemisms for plain old sin!)  The use of such terms can make the sin seem less serious and therefore not as urgent a matter as it really is.

John addressed some Pharisees present at one of his talks - You brood of vipers (Mt 3,7).

Not very nice, many would say today. Yet his words were true, and spoken without malice. He cared for the wellbeing of others, and that is why he served up truth – necessary for them to know, so they could make the necessary changes in their lives.

So the Church has ever since been preaching, Repent, Repent.

That is what John would be telling us today. In any century, in any country, the same tune, the same words, the same urgency.

Having absorbed the hard language, repentance is hard in another sense insofar as it requires us to give up certain things, to which we may be attached, or even addicted.

But it leads to joy as we feel the weight of sin lifted from us. The Lamb of God takes that sin on Himself. We feel liberated. The pain is worth it.

We cannot cling to our sin and still expect to be admitted into the kingdom of God. Know you not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of God? Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers (1 Co 6,9).

Many would argue today that God will admit them to Heaven because He loves them. But do they love Him? That part is also necessary. We must have genuine contrition for our sins, not just rely on God's love to carry the day.

He will help us to reach the required state, if we let Him go to work on us. We approach Him in sacraments and prayer, and we gradually improve.

Ancient Israel was always learning the painful lesson that if they disobeyed God they would pay for it in other ways. They would lose their battles, suffer plagues and diseases, be divided from each other.

Sound familiar? The same problem applies now. The human race as a whole suffers all these things, because people do not come to terms with God.

And many within the Church have abandoned confessing their sins, preferring to be more ‘positive’ in their outlook, emphasising their achievements rather than their failures.

We must, whoever we are, confess our sins and, like the Publican, begin with asking for mercy (Lk 18,13). This we do in every Mass, and should do every day, at least once, an Act of Contrition.

We have to do all the other things: go out and evangelise the world, relieve poverty, and contribute to the social and moral welfare of our societies.

We cannot wait until we are perfect before we embark on these courses, otherwise we would never be able to do anything.

But implicit in all our projects is an acknowledgment that we are always in need of God's mercy.

If we are humble before Him He will bless our undertakings and there will be much good fruit.

St John the Baptist and all holy prophets will tell us so, in plain language. May we hear the truth and live by it.

1st Sunday of Advent 2 Dec 2018 Sermon

1^st Sunday of Advent 2.12.18 Justice restored

In films the hero and heroine go against the odds and manage to survive all sorts of dangers, outwit the villains of the story. And usually manage to marry each other as well. And all this in 90 minutes!

Real life is not so easy. We might have 90 years instead of 90 minutes, yet not see things wrapped up so neatly. We have known trouble all our lives, and we may have a lot more of it to come.

We know that the good will be rewarded and the evil punished, but we may not live to see it; or it may happen in ways that we cannot recognize.

Here we have to trust in Almighty God who sees all things and has all time in His hands.

He knows who committed all the murders, who stole the money, who told which lies, who set others on the wrong path etc. Nothing is hidden from His sight, or lost to His memory.

We would like to see it all sorted out in our time, but God has His time. He can see a lot further than we can, and He is working to a very definite plan.

God seeks to save as many people as possible. This requires time. As in the parable of the wheat and the tares (Mt 13,24-30), He does not punish all evil immediately or to its full extent.

He has given the human race at least twenty centuries to come right with Him; and maybe more centuries to come.

We should not be distressed by that large sweep of time. We ourselves benefit from God's mercy, so we should not be too hasty in demanding justice, or we might get more than we want!

We are firmly promised that it will all be sorted out. The good will be rewarded and also compensated for any innocent suffering they have endured. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh (Lk 6,21). He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and raised up the lowly (Lk 1, 52). For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. (Ps 9,18)

Many people have been grievously mistreated, such as in torture, murders, genocide, concentration camps, all manner of injustice.  God will see that the poor and the oppressed will be restored. If not in this life, then the next.

This is the thrust of many of our Advent readings; that the displaced people will once again find a home; that a lost paradise will be restored.

The evildoers can be forgiven if they have genuine sorrow; otherwise only Hell remains for them. We should want them to be forgiven because that is what God Himself wants.

On the Last Day all will be made clear, everything said in secret will be proclaimed from the housetop (Lk 12,3) - not literally, but in the sense that truth will prevail over all deception, a time for all the loose ends to be tidied up.

We have the chance now, while still alive, and not yet the Last Day - to tidy up our lives as far as we can. We can tie up as many of those loose ends as we can, to prepare the way; to take the fear out of the final judgment. We will not be afraid if we have built up our union with Our Lord.

We thank God for who and what He is. We thank Him in advance for what is still to come, the Second Coming of Christ.

This event will satisfy our thirst for justice, promised to the pure of heart (Mt 5,6 and 5,8).

It will also satisfy our desire for mercy, as we see the sin of all ages removed, and the contrite of heart rewarded.

We can hasten this event by our expectant hope (2 P 3,12); so let us hasten.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Last Sunday after Pentecost 25 Nov 2018 Sermon

Last Sunday after Pentecost 25.11.18 Trust

Imagine being on a rocket in space, and how insecure one might feel in such a place.

We would be hurtling through space, not knowing if our protective machine will survive, or will land safely.

If we had a choice we would probably refuse such a trip.

But we are on a journey anyway, one more exciting still, and this journey is the one to eternal life. We had no choice with this one. God created us; He did not ask us first. And He created the world we live in, and the terms on which we do so.

We are hurtling through time, if not space. We are heading towards the end of this phase of our journey. It could be in death, or it could be in the Second Coming of Christ.

But we will not go on forever like we have been.

We can fear change, especially sudden change. But these endings are not meant to be unpleasant experiences for us.

In the space capsule we would pray to God to bring us down safely. He knows how this thing flies even if we do not.

We do exactly the same thing with our lives. Lord, save us, preserve us. Bring us safely into Thy presence.

He will bring us through the trials and troubles, the moment of death and all that happens afterwards.

It is all in His hands, and the central message is, Do not be afraid. If we are in union with Him, we have everything we need. Why were you so frightened, you men of little faith (Mt 8,26)?

Being ready for the end is something we should be working towards all our lives. We have to get the ending right.

The threats of major disturbances in nature are because of sin in our world. If we stop sinning these things will not need to happen.

It is not likely everyone is going to stop sinning at the same time, but at least we the believers can stop, or at least sharply reduce the sin we commit.

We can take advantage of the time we still have to set matters straight, to build up spiritual strength.

We will be ready. We may be surprised physically by death or destruction, but not spiritually. If we are in a state of grace all the time, we must be ready for the end at any time.

All the time - the beginning, middle and end - the required state is to be in union with Jesus Christ.

So we confess our sins, repent of them, resolve to overcome our faults by the help of His grace.

The world at large does not worry about any of these things. They may be worried about the idea of physical disaster, but they do not think they need to repent of anything.

We pray for mercy for those who do not think they need mercy. They need it more than anyone.

We can help move towards this if we would increase our own belief and familiarity with these things..

If the believers would believe! That would help a lot. We should have these things in our minds as though they are just a normal part of everyday life. They may be more dramatic than most things we encounter, but they are as much a part of life as something we see every day.

And we should want the last times to come. We do not dread them, because they will make things better than they ever would be otherwise.

It is merely Christ collecting His own. He will gather up those who have put their trust in Him.

Lord, bring us safely to land, in Thy presence.

2nd Last Sunday after Pentecost 18 Nov 2018 Sermon

2^nd Last Sunday after Pentecost 18.11.18 Hazards to the faith. (Readings 6th Sunday after Epiphany)

Our Lord gave the image of the Kingdom of Heaven as being like a seed that becomes a great tree.

Its branches spread out over the whole world, and the birds rest in its branches (Mt 13,32).

The Church certainly has grown a long way from its beginnings, with twelve apostles and sundry disciples.

Yet we know we should have more of a grip on the world by now, after two thousand years.

We have not penetrated some places, eg much of Asia; and we have lost much of what we had gained, eg Turkey, North Africa – to Islam; and Europe to secularism.

Then there is at the personal level, for each disciple, the battle to hold on to the faith we have received, and make it more real in terms of how we live.

The seed becomes a tree. Trees have their difficulties in growing; but not as many as the Church has faced over 2000 years.

Persecution: many kingdoms have tried to destroy the Church, and prevent the Kingdom of Heaven from taking root.

The earthly kings and empires feel threatened so they try to stamp out the new religion. Many Christians have lost their lives as a result.

Christians are intimidated as to holding the faith. If we express our faith too readily we will be punished in some way, if not by death, then maybe demotion, ridicule, expulsion from the circle.

At the opposite end we have Seduction. We are promised rewards if we follow the world’s way of thinking. Don’t be too particular about right and wrong; just go with the system and you will rise far.

Speak out and we will punish you; keep quiet and we will reward you. Either way or both we are tempted to abandon the fight.

Then there is the challenge to each individual simply to cope with life and its daily troubles.

It is hard for us to be holy each day, and all day.

We are tempted on a smaller scale in the same way as the whole Church is tempted.

Keep the commandments and suffer the pain of restraint and discipline.

Break the commandments and experience how easy it is to live if we submerge the conscience.

How do we find the right course and the courage to stay on it?

We learn and re-learn the words of Our Lord and follow His way. Our trust in Him becomes great enough that we will make light of the world’s promises and its threats.

They cannot do as much good or harm to us as Our Lord.

As much good because He promises an eternal reward. As much harm because He can cast the soul into Hell (Mt 10,28),

The tree has to battle its way through the undergrowth to emerge taller than all else around it.

So for the Church; so for the individual disciple.

We have to do some work to get to the right place in this life. Grace will be available to help us overcome all difficulties.

We become stronger at recognising the smoke screens and seeing through them.

We prefer the truth, and anchor ourselves in it.

Is it really possible? Yes, to the serious disciple. We see the falsehoods all around and we grasp the one solid reality – divine Truth. This is what it means to take shelter in the branches.

In the Church we are secure, not from persecution, but from falling into error and sin. Living in the Church we are fortified in truth and virtue. To take another tree image from the Gospels, we are attached to the tree and draw life from it (Jn 15,1-8); and we bear fruit.

Third Last Sunday after Pentecost 11 Nov 2018 Sermon

Third Last Sunday after Pentecost 11.11.18 Providence (5th after Epiphany)

Today is Remembrance Day for the end of World War I, one hundred years ago.

We pray for an end of wars, for true peace among nations, realizing that such can never happen unless Man declares peace with Almighty God!

It is the rebellion in the human heart which leads to all the conflict; not only wars but every kind of discord between people.

To make peace with God means that we accept His holy will, that we express gratitude for His providence, that we live in partnership with Him on all points.

He wills above all else that we come to understand the special role He has for us.

Most of God's creation has no choice but to obey Him. The inanimate objects, such as the sun and the stars – they are impressive, and in their way they give glory to God; but they have no knowledge of what they do. The sun had to rise this morning; we had a choice!

We are blessed with the ability to reason, to decide what we are going to do; in short, we have free will. We can obey or disobey, build up or tear down.

This gives us the opportunity and the obligation to give full honour to God in our hearts, minds, bodies.

We are stewards of creation, but this means more than looking after the environment. It extends to every matter where there is an element of right and wrong involved, where good and evil are opposed, and good must be chosen.

When we choose the good we are sharing in the creative and saving will of God.

We talk of God's providence. This goes further than sending us rain and sunshine etc. His providence includes that He enables us to take our place with Him, as sharers in His authority over the universe.

It would be easier if God simply did everything for us, but it is to our glory that He entrusts us with a more difficult role. It is clearly God's will that we bring ourselves, brains and all, into union with Him.

Which gets back to the War, and we are reminded of how poorly the human race has taken up the special role entrusted to it.

Logically, each generation should be wiser and better than the one before. Every generation of children thinks it knows better than their parents, and also better than their children; yet there is a depressing sameness about human history, always plagued by wars and other forms of hatred.

They could actually be better by calling on the grace of God; it is just that not enough people are requesting it.

God provides this grace, and provides also that we would understand our need for it. He wants us to wake up to this.

We can be strong, confident, trusting children of the Father, and disciples of Our Lord.

If we face difficulties - and there are many – they also can be provided for. Divine grace will make us bold, and selfless, once we have enough of it.

God's ways can be mysterious to us. We wonder, as in today’s Gospel, how He lets evildoers do so much evil.

We come to see that it is mainly to give those same evildoers the chance to repent.

When a sinner repents the angels rejoice (Lk 15,10). In terms of God's providence this is the best thing yet. This is what He wants, above all else. This is what He ‘provides’ for.

When will they ever learn? As we contemplate a hundred years of not-learning-much, we can resolve to do better with the next hundred years. We take our place as sharers in God's creative and saving plans.

Fourth Last Sunday after Pentecost 4 Nov 2018 Sermon

4^th Last Sunday after Pentecost 4.11.18 All Saints

How does one become a saint? By the mercy of God obtained through the saving death of Our Lord.

He loved us first. If we manage to love Him in return it is because we have responded to His grace.

This the saints have done. Sinners like us, they have asked for and received the mercy of God; and they have been purified of all trace of sin

It sounds so easy - why is not everyone a saint? Not everyone recognizes their sin or their need for correcting their lives.

In each person a battle is being fought for correct spiritual sight. If we can see that life lived in Christ is better than life in the world alone, then we are a long way towards becoming a saint.

On All Saints Day we acknowledge the ‘ordinary’ saints, people like our own parents or family or parishioners.

We hope that all the people we love and pray for either have reached, or will reach Heaven.

What they lacked in merit may the mercy of God supply.

Sainthood can be achieved by indirect means. It is better of course to grasp the nettle, to pitch in fully and be a zealous disciple of the Lord. But if we are hesitant, fearful, habitual sinners – it is still possible to be a saint, by sincere sorrow for what is lacking. We can at least achieve that much; to be sorry for all that we should have done or should have been, but did not achieve.

His mercy purifies us so that we are actually changed by the experience. We become perfect by receiving the cleansing grace of Christ (washed in His Blood). We are then able to put into practice the charity that comes from God.

If we are not perfected in this life, it will happen in Purgatory. No one can enter Heaven unless cleansed of every sort of blemish. This means that everyone in Heaven is perfect (each to his respective capacity).

It is not as though God simply overlooks our faults and lets us into Heaven anyway; He removes the faults – either before or after death. As long as we can at least be sorry for our sins and willing to make amends.

But we can at least reduce the sin we commit and transform vices to virtues. We don't just sit back and say, Well, I am a sinner so here goes. We make every possible effort to cooperate with the mercy of God and let Him transform us.

It is better of course to be purified of sin before we die rather than after. This, because it is easier to do while still alive; and more importantly because it gives greater honour to God.

Why waste another day before we resolve to belong to Him entirely?

We know what it is to regret lost opportunity. We do not want to face a great sadness at the end of our lives. Rather we strive to be like the good and faithful servants who were found at their work when the Master returned (Mt 24,46).

His mercy forgives, primarily, but has other good effects too: such as motivating us to good; to being merciful ourselves; to evangelising, helping others to see the way forward.

We hope to be part of the ‘All’ in All Saints. It is not so hard to reach Heaven if we observe the basic requirements. But we will not give any room to complacency or idling. Let us do good while we have the chance (Ga 6,10).

Christ the King 28 Oct 2018 Sermon

Christ the King 28.10.18 Imitating the King

We can think of Our Lord as King in two different ways.

He is King in the sense of glory. He is seated at the right hand of the Father; He will come again to judge the living and the dead. He has been exalted far above all else: God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow —in heaven and on earth and under the earth— and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Ph 2,9-11)

He is worthy of all praise and adoration. No words we can say would ever be enough.

Yet this is the same Person who is seen kneeling down to wash the feet of His disciples at the Last Supper.

He is the same who is gentle with the poor and disadvantaged, the sick, and sinners.

He has all authority as God, but holds back on the use of His power. He seeks to persuade by love, to lead people rather than impose upon them.

He shows great humility, especially on the way to Calvary and on the Cross.

This is not what we would normally expect of kings; they are not usually so humble.

What king would be born in a stable? Or allow himself to be crucified, if he had the means of getting away? What king would be generous enough to give his life for his subjects?

Our Lord did all these things, thus showing another kind of power.

In His glory He can make universes, create great wonders with just a word.

In His humility He can show great capacity to love and to give.

In both ways He shows great strength - the strength of glorious power with the strength of perfect self-control, every thought word and deed in perfect harmony.

Either way He deserves to be worshipped – Worthy is the Lamb (Rev 5,12).

If we worshipped with the angels all day we would never reach the end. All His perfections are infinite, therefore unending.

We honour heroes. A hero could be someone who saved one life once. What about someone who saves billions and is saving all the time?

On this feast we honour Him in both lights - Glory and Humility.

The praise that we can give is just a drop in the ocean, but valuable to Him all the same.

We praise Him and we imitate Him, at least on the humility side.

We can wash each other’s feet, taking that to mean mutual service, and humility as regards each other; always happy to take the lowest place (Lk 14,10); forgiving one another (Ep 4,32); to lay down our lives if required (1 Jn 3,16).

We hope by this imitation to be glorified by Him, sharing in His glorification as Man.

We hope also to give Him a Kingdom on earth, as He has in Heaven.

He is King anyway, but if we let Him be King over us (instead of resisting at every turn) this will serve to give Him glory.

We glorify Him in our prayer, but better still in our obedience and trust.

If we let His royal power work in and through us we then we will see better days.

It is in our power to live in imitation of Him, and to make that way of living the norm, insofar as we can.

When people forget God they do a great deal of damage. When they kneel before Him there will be peace. When people realize they belong to the same King they lose the desire to fight. Swords are turned into ploughshares (Is 2,4).

Better still, they lose the desire to sin. Sin is rebellion against the perfect King, and perfect society. Why do we want to do that?

Far better if we learn from His humanity how to manage our own.

If we humble ourselves as He did, we will be exalted as He was.

22nd Sunday after Pentecost 21 October 2018 Sermon

22^nd Sunday after Pentecost 21.10.18 Relevance of religion

Give to God what is God's. And that turns out to be everything.

Is our religion something that is just on the edge of our lives, only for Sundays, with fish on Fridays… no, but even that has gone. As has the restful sabbath, now much like any other day, maybe even busier; and not used for its primary intention: to give glory and thanks to the Creator and Saviour.

In fact God claims all seven days, and every minute of them; as He claims also all the other places besides churches. He claims the shops the squares, the ovals, the workplaces - everywhere.

Of course He gives a large amount of autonomy to our activities. He does not normally intervene in every detail. He lets us decide what we are going to do and will normally let things follow their logical course (which is why we are in so much trouble!)

For example:  Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen. (Rm 1,24-25)

He has the last say. He expects us to understand that it is all from Him. We have to refer back constantly, in thanksgiving, in sorrow, in petition, always orientating ourselves to His abiding and overall will.

He is not an oppressive ruler by any means, being ready to give us more than we dare to ask (Ep 3,20).

If we keep our religion in a separate compartment we will find ourselves living exactly like non-religious people – making money, seeking a good time, with no thought for an eternal tomorrow.

This is why Our Lord came to save us – to save us from our own folly; to reinforce for us the relevance of our faith; of true religion.

We can help get the message out by being faithful and persevering in all weathers; keeping the lights on so that people can see there are still some believers about.

We keep the spiritual perspective foremost. We still do all the necessary mundane things, but never to the point of forgetting the spiritual.

Part of our prayer needs to be atonement for the fact that God is so widely ignored and denied.

Father, forgive them, they know not what they do (Lk 23,34). They are a stiff-necked people. (Ex 32,9)

As regards worldly attitudes we are often sold out by our own side, that is, Catholics who are so keen to embrace the world they surrender their own beliefs. They uncritically adopt popular causes, and then expect the Church to fit in with them.

It is a fight to the death between light and dark; a battle for relevance. Our opponents want us to be irrelevant, and they will use any sort of attack against us, honest or not.

We have the same message as Isaiah and Jeremiah, as Elijah and Ezekiel: Behold your God!  Come to terms with Him, or reap the consequences. In short, Repent.

The people either laughed at the prophets, or tried to kill them. It is much the same today.

It becomes a bit draughty for the faithful disciples. We can spend a lot of time standing apart from the majority. This has to be done until better times come. We stand with a crucified Saviour.

Today the Church prays for Propagation of the Faith. Through teaching, convincing, persuading, we seek to bring people to see the absolute blinding importance of God, of His relevance, His centrality, His uniqueness. One God, one Saviour, one Hope.

21st Sunday after Pentecost 14 Oct 2018 Sermon

21^st Sunday after Pentecost 14.10.18 Spiritual war

St Paul refers to the spiritual battle in which we are all engaged. We are fighting against demons and their influence; helped all the while by angels.

It is hard to imagine, as we go through or daily lives, where most of the time there is no visible drama – that these powerful beings are concerned with us.

We do not see them, nor the battle that is raging, but we can feel the effects.

We feel it in the form of thoughts, attitudes, moods, and contrasting inclinations at different times, towards both good and evil.

We are tempted to sin in various ways; and we are also inspired towards good. Go, and help that person, be honest, be humble etc.

Both these things will happen many times each day. We are not sure ourselves which way we will react. We do know, however, that we have a choice each time we are confronted with good or evil; and we are further encouraged that we are never tempted beyond our strength (1 Co 10,13). There will always be enough grace for any good that we need to do.

Like soldiers in a battle we have to do certain things which go against our first inclination. To get up early to pray, or go to an extra Mass, or to do spiritual reading, or visit the sick, or anything that is a bit harder. Or to avoid watching immoral entertainment, or to suppress an irritable comment, and a hundred other things.

Just as in a war we face battle on many fronts at the same time - the army, the navy and the air force are all involved.

We have to deal with matters both personal and communal, involving the Church and the wider society. We address everything from irritable thoughts to genocide.

We fight off temptations affecting our own behaviour, at the same time battling to preserve Christian values: for life, justice, in general establishing God’s kingdom in our world.

Victory at one level will help the other levels. If individuals could be less selfish that would fix social problems (eg drug addiction). If the society would follow God’s ways that would help individuals to live good lives.

We seek to convert people who are presently on the wrong side of the battle - in favour of the wrong things, eg abortion, euthanasia.

This is seeking to establish the Kingdom of God, where all is in order, individually and communally.

We feel all this, and this is our share in the spiritual warfare, alluded to by St Paul.

The angels and demons fight around us. They do not fight with swords or guns, but with the push and pull of ideas, concepts, thoughts and attitudes.

It is helpful when we come together to pray, because we need encouragement. Discouragement is a major player on the side of evil. The devil wins a lot of battles because the people are not sufficiently armed – going into battle without armour, without the defence of being in a state of grace; in many cases not even knowing there is a battle raging.

St Paul is telling us to be aware of all this, but also confident of victory. If Christ is for us, who can be against us? (Rm 8,31)

It is vital that we maintain hope, realizing that being uncomfortable is not the same as losing.

If we stay alert, remembering the nature of the battle, we can make certain that we will achieve the personal victory of salvation, and do much to help others to the same goal.

We will win the battles, and the war.

20th Sunday after Pentecost 7 Oct 2018 Sermon

20^th Sunday after Pentecost 7.10.18 The Rosary

Today we acknowledge the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

There is prayer, and then there is the Rosary.

The Rosary has long occupied a special place in our treasury of prayer. It is likely to be a standard part of any serious Catholic’s prayer. There are all manner of other prayers, but everyone prays the Rosary.

It has so much endorsement from saints, and also so many miracles associated with it.

The essence of the prayer is that we accompany Mary in her relation to Our Lord, as He goes through the various stages of His saving work.

First she longs for Him to come, then He comes, amidst a combination of joys and sorrows.

Then he suffers for the sins of the world. Then He rises in triumph and pours out graces on those who look to Him.

In all these stages, there is found Mary, giving her perfect assent to all that He wishes to achieve.

She is the one, and only one, who is fully in sympathy with Him. Through the Rosary we can join her, expressing such faith as we have, and asking for more.

As we go with her, she like a teacher will say: let us go over the same ground until you know it.

It started with God's promise to save His people; then he came among us. He lived, died and rose, and ascended, and will come again.

Have you got that yet?  It sinks in a little deeper each time, we hope.

We go with Mary as she travels the path from obscurity to Queen of the whole universe.

She loved God perfectly at every moment of her life, but as she took part in these mysteries her love increased. She grew into the role at each stage. First Joy, then Sorrow, then Glory.

She grew ever deeper into love of Him and her role.

The Rosary transforms us as we pray it. One of the prayers implicit in all intercessory prayer is that of the distraught father: I do believe, help my unbelief (Mk 9,24).

With that will come faith, and other virtues, especially the charity to persevere through difficulties.

We are moving a few stones at least, in terms of breaking through strongholds of evil. If nothing else we make reparation for evils done.

We can go as far as we dare in our own pathway from Joyful to Glorious, our own rags-to- riches story.

All the time we try to help others to see the same vision. Most people would have no clue about the Rosary or related matters. We can shed some light where possible.

And we will be helping to make things happen. At certain times in Church history there have been special public and communal praying of the Rosary to avert particular crises. Lepanto 1571, Vienna 1683 (against Muslims); Austria 1950s (against the Soviets). This coming 13^th October there will be international public rosaries pleading with Our Lady of Fatima, to address our present-day needs.

Some things take more prayer than others. It takes more prayer to change the mind and will of another person, for instance. That is why our prayer for conversion of sinners does not always have instant success.

But it can be done; just about anything can be done, if enough people are praying as one, and continuously. We should not give up too easily.

Nor should we ever feel we are praying on our own. The Rosary would be in progress somewhere in the world at any given moment. When we start to pray we are joining in with others, with the same general intention that God's will be done.

The chain reaction goes on - obtaining graces for the world, for a host of intentions.

But only if we Pray the Rosary.

19th Sunday after Pentecost 30 Sep 2018 Sermon

19th Sunday after Pentecost 30.9.18 Anger

Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. (Epistle)

The sin of Anger has to be one of the most frequently committed sins, and one that just about everyone would commit.

Some express anger more overtly than others, but it can be quiet and seething as well.

There is a righteous anger, which Our Lord manifested when He cleared out the traders from the Temple, or when He roasted the Pharisees on occasions. Just anger is when the basis for the anger is just. We perceive that certain actions are against the proper order of things and we can be rightly angry about that, for example if we see someone lighting a bushfire, or bashing someone in the street.

In such cases we ‘hate the sin and love the sinner’, not usually knowing the motives or state of mind of the offender but the action itself brings on a just anger. We want the proper order of things to be restored. This is what God wants too.

In Our Lord’s case we must understand that He did not ‘lose His temper’. All His actions, thoughts, words were in perfect harmony at all times. There would always be sufficient reason for anything that He did.

For the rest of us mortals, there is usually an element of sin in our anger, even if the anger is justified. We tend to overreact, to lose self-control or commit some injustice of our own in reply.

It is very hard for us to get all the elements right at the same time. To correct a wrongdoer without oneself doing wrong is demanding.

We have to fortify ourselves with the right habits, to build up the virtues, and then we are more likely to handle things the right way, even when under pressure of temptation.

Our Lord was always ready for any temptation or emergency. He could not be caught off guard, or having a bad day etc, such as happens to us. We are so unpredictable, even to ourselves. We do not know what we are likely to say or do next.

Not to be unjustly angry comes under the higher command of Charity. Charity requires that we have a due moderation in all our thoughts, words and actions. We look for to the best in them. We want the best even if it is not there.

We do not want to crush the bruised reed. We do not want to hurt anyone more than is necessary for their good, and the common good.

We take no delight in revenge, or the misfortunes of others.

This does not mean we are naïve. We can see the evil; we just wish it were not there.

For any wrong done to us, humility comes into play. Any wrong done to us, we can deal with by remembering our own sinfulness, and not making too much of our own importance.

Thus we are less upset for self (cf Christ and saints); and more concerned for the evildoer; and this is where correction and punishment come in.

In some cases not to correct could be a sin, eg someone in authority with care for others. Sometimes we need to say less; sometimes more.

We pray for the wisdom and charity to get all these things in the right place. We have to practise restraint in the quiet times.

With sufficient grace we will become better people, more like Our Lord and thus more able to do as He would have done - always ready for anyone or anything.

What comes out of us is simply an expression of what is inside. It is all light in there, no malice or poison.

The light comes from Our Lord; may He dwell within us and guide all our thoughts.

18th Sunday after Pentecost 23 Sep 2018 Sermon

18^th Sunday after Pentecost 23.9.18 Purpose of Amendment

The man healed in today’s Gospel was lying on a stretcher, a good place from which to reflect on what is really important in life.

Our Lord knew where to go first as far as providing help. He started with the man’s sins. Most people would have started with the physical sickness.

We can see ourselves ‘on a stretcher’ as far as coming into the Lord’s presence. We may be physically well, but if we are still sinning we are laid low until we receive the Lord’s forgiveness.

We receive this forgiveness primarily in the Sacrament of Penance. We are healed spiritually, though we realize there is much more to be done.

Can we achieve a sinless life?

We have the saints to inspire us, especially Our Lady. In her we find perfect harmony with the will of God, every desire in the right place and the right amount.

Sin could find no place in her. She was lost in adoration of God. As we contemplate her we make the same transition. Our desires, where we look, what we look for… all these will be purified.

One prayer we make in Confession, and other times, is the Act of Contrition. It comes in various forms, but part of its content is a promise not to sin again... and I promise with the help of Thy grace never more to offend Thee and to amend my life, Amen.

When we realize the goodness of God and the ugliness of sin we want to make an absolute break with sin once and for all, and embark on new life in union with Christ.

We are aware of our human weakness and realize that a certain amount of sin is highly likely. Even if we do love God it seems impossible to avoid a few slip-ups.

So we are saying: I will not sin again; but also saying: I probably will sin again. How can we make sense of this?

My intention is not to sin again. While it is highly likely I will sin again, I cannot rest with that as though because sin is common, it is somehow acceptable.

We are never tested beyond our strength, as St Paul says elsewhere (1 Co 10,13). And think how hard we work on other areas of our lives to keep things clean: tolerating no weeds in the garden, or dirt on the floor... Yet we accept stain on the soul.

We need to detest sin.

If we set ourselves for the total removal of sin we will sin a lot less, and that is worth something. Ten sins is better than twenty etc.

We learn from our falls (like a football team... we lapsed in the third quarter etc). We can bounce back from defeat.

We take the moral life seriously enough to adjust our behaviour where necessary; but not so downcast at our failures that we give in to despair.

We can get better at meaning that act of contrition. We can at least reduce the number and severity of the sins we commit.

I am a better person today than yesterday; tomorrow better still.

Even if there is a sudden lapse, I pick up and overall make progress.

It is all made possible by His grace. If we ask we will find what we need. His grace will heal us as well as forgive us; will give us a new understanding of what happens when we sin; of how the evil one tricks us; of how we will be happier if we take God’s way; always remaining vigilant.

That vigilance means lots of prayer and meditation. We will close the gaps on temptation, giving it less ways of getting at us.

We become stronger and better people – moving from darkness to light; able to get off that stretcher.

17th Sunday after Pentecost 16 Sep 2018 Sermon

17^th Sunday after Pentecost 16.9.18 Love from the heart

We are to love God with our whole heart, and soul, and mind. This is the greatest commandment encompassing all the others. Any breach of any commandment must be a failure to love God.

We can have various problems with loving God.

We might see love as simply a matter of obedience. If we keep God's commands should that not satisfy Him? Certainly we should obey Him, but He wants more than that.

He does not want us to serve Him as slaves or servants, but as sons (Ga 4,7), or friends (Jn 15,15).

He does not want us to keep Him at arm’s length, or regard Him as a business partner with whom we do transactions.

He does not want us to fear Him. There is ‘Fear of the Lord’ but that means reverence and awe. Certainly we should be reverent before Almighty God, but He does not want us to be quaking with fear. He wishes only to bless us, not harm us.

It has to be love from the heart – something we actually want to do. As we do for the people we love, so we want to please God, for His sake.

It has to be love in action; so that it is not just a matter of theory, or a concept.

God can seem remote. We are so busy just keeping our heads above water, we may think we cannot give much time to contemplation. We cannot simply click into higher levels of prayer, but God can lift us to higher things, to a deeper communion with Him.

As we draw closer to Him we grow in trust and understanding. We no longer want to argue with Him, or complain about His treatment of us. We no longer think He is remote, beyond the clouds, impersonally watching us.

We can do certain things to become more familiar with Him, to make our way towards Him. There is always prayer, the Mass, the Sacraments, good spiritual reading/viewing; and of course good works, acts of charity.

But the real momentum comes from God. The way for us to love Him is to let Him love us.

We do not resist. Like a flower opening up to the sun, we let God's love work on us.

Our hearts are changed as we are exposed to the love of God. We lose the rough edges, the hardness of heart, any and all of the negative qualities we may have accumulated so far.

If we stand in the sun long enough there has to be an effect.

Some are called further than others, according to how God has designed each person.

We still obey Him in the practical everyday things. This is where we can find whether we really love God or not.

But it should get easier to obey and to trust. That would indicate our hearts are developing in the right direction.

I want to be whatever God wants me to be. I don’t care if I am higher or lower than others, as long as I am in the right place with Him.

For each one of us: Be as good as you can be; love as much as you can; and, for others, pray that each of them find where he is supposed to be.

It is much easier to deal with obligations if we have an overall sense of how it all holds together. Our faith is not just an arbitrary collection of rules, outdated ones at that!

Everything that comes from God is perfectly coordinated and harmonious, including His commands. It is all designed to purify us of sin and bind us to Him in everlasting joy.

16th Sunday after Pentecost 9 Sep 2018 Sermon

16^th Sunday after Pentecost 9.9.18 Humility

St Paul prays that people grasp the greatness of Christ, the full extent of His goodness and glory (epistle); and in doing that they will find everything else fall into place.

For many, even to acknowledge Christ as having any importance at all would be a step forward. How much ignored, denied, blasphemed against He is. And this is the Saviour of the world. It is a strange way to treat someone who has come to rescue us!

How should we regard Him? In the Gospel image today, we should take the lowest place before Him. This will mean that we do not ‘exalt’ ourselves to tell Him what to do; but rather humble ourselves to listen to Him; to trust Him; to obey without question whatever He asks of us.

Then He can call us up higher, as in the parable. Only if we are truly humble before Him can we make progress.

We are tempted to seek our security in the things of this world. Christ is too far away, it might seem.

But all earthly things are fragile and can disappear in a moment: money, friends, success, status…

We can find security only in Jesus Christ, the one true God. This is what St Paul is always telling us.

We will find security in Him, and also great happiness.

It is happiness to be healed of sickness, to be free of demons, to be raised from the dead.

Would you kill someone who can do all that?

They did already. But our present generation would do it again.

He has total goodwill towards us; He wants to heal, bless, save, guide us. He can provide everything we could ever dream of (more than we can desire or understand – today’s epistle Ep 3,20).

All we have to do is receive what He is giving; humble ourselves to the point of letting Him do what He wants. We concede defeat as far as any battle of wills is concerned.

Thus we are ‘exalted’. We find, if we are silent before the Lord, no longer complaining or arguing, we will actually get more of a say. The Holy Spirit will fill us with His gifts, and we will be able to speak, to rule, to be creative – all in due proportion.

This is how it is meant to work.

We are admitted into a share of Christ’s authority if we have first learned to obey.

In the world people grasp power, and often kill, lie and cheat to get there.

They are not obeying Christ first; they are bypassing Him completely.

What does frail mortal man think he is doing, trying to take over the whole world?

The devil has tricked us into turning things upside down.

We look in the wrong places for security, for happiness, and all the while there stands God Himself, waiting for a response.

We respond in humility and so we are exalted. Exalted through having greater security, greater happiness, and share more fully in Christ’s own saving work.

Thus we come to know the breadth and the length etc, of His greatness; or at least more than we knew before; enough to know there is more to know.

Faith in Christ is central, not peripheral, not optional, not a matter of minor importance. He is the All.

Believing this will not make us religious fanatics. It just means we become well-balanced people, able to deal with any sort of reality.

May Christ Himself forgive us all our past neglect, exalting us as high as Heaven.

15th Sunday after Pentecost 2 Sep 2018 Sermon

15^th Sunday after Pentecost 2.9.18 Conversion of sinners

There are parallels between the widow of Naim, and the Church, both having lost children.

Not many families are free of the sadness of losing members to the world. Look at a First Communion photo, and see how many of those faces would not be receiving Holy Communion now.

Some will return, but it is not something that happens automatically with the passing of time.

Conversion can take two senses - From error to the truth; from false religion to Catholic, where one’s beliefs were wrong, and now they are right.

Then there is conversion from bad to good - behaving badly to behaving well.

Conversion therefore encompasses belief and practice. One will help the other.

The clearer our thoughts are the more likely the behaviour will correspond. The better the behaviour the more chance the light has to get through to the intellect.

Existing Catholics need converting too. Many have false or mistaken beliefs. And everyone still commits sin of one kind or another, meaning that our behaviour needs to change.

It becomes clear that we all need mercy, and need it all the time - to be cleansed from past sins, to strengthen present resolve, and to make right choices for future action.

We never give up hope of conversion of any or every person; never write someone off. God can work miracles to the last, miracles of grace

And we do not want the devil to win.

So we keep the drum beating, in terms of maintaining awareness of this crucial matter of Conversion.

We hope that all will answer the promptings that God sends them.

God's mercy never runs dry but the time for receiving it might run out – we might die first.

Then there is the danger that one habitually living in sin could become too hard of heart to be able to convert; too much in darkness to climb out.

Conversion has to come from within, in the sense that each of us has a conscience and only I can operate my own conscience. I cannot be saved unless I want to be.

The young man had no say about being brought back to life. But we all have a say about being forgiven.

Do you want to be forgiven? Everyone would want that if it is free, and no strings attached.

But we need to have true contrition, and firm purpose of amendment. These are not so easy to come by. They will come, by the grace of God, but only by the sinner’s consent, which God will never force. He works only by the force of persuasion.

The Church as Mother, in the aggregate faith and charity of all her members will make a ceaseless prayer for conversion of sinners.

We surround the wavering sinners with our prayer, calling on the subtlety of the Holy Spirit to exploit some weakness in their resistance, leading them to conversion.

And for ourselves, we know we still have a lot to do, to cement the permanence of our own conversion, and to chip away at remaining areas of sin.

We never declare ourselves to be ‘good enough’, to be saved already. We have a cunning and vicious enemy and we have to be vigilant, as we are warned constantly in the New Testament (eg the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 P 5,8)

At the same time we develop a concern for other sinners. It affects us personally whether or not another person accepts the mercy of God. We share the joy of Mother Church when a son is restored

We come to see others as Our Lord sees them, lost children needing rescue; dead, needing to be brought back to life.

14th Sunday after Pentecost 26 Aug 2018 Sermon

14^th Sunday after Pentecost 26.8.18 Covenant of Trust

God asks us to trust in Him, and we are not very good at doing that generally. We like to control our own destiny, to make sure we have enough of everything; and become extremely anxious when something is out of place.

Rather than focus on a particular need which might distress us, we learn to take a wider view, reflecting on the goodness of God - which never changes, nor can change.

Our trust is in Him rather than this or that situation.

We know He can work things to their proper conclusion, having much greater power and insight than we have.

For our part we negotiate the path as we go. If I need something I can mention it in prayer, and He will grant it or not, according to a host of factors.

He sums it all up by saying: Seek first the kingdom of God. This means seeking that absolute sense of trust in Him; such that we no more doubt His desire for our good than our own desire.

It is better if we let Him decide what happens to us, rather than decide for ourselves. This is the level of trust which can be reached, and needs to be.

It will not come all at once. It is the end result of a lot of prayer, reflection, and experience.

God asks this of us: He will provide what we need, but we have to let Him be in charge.

He wants a covenant relationship with us, where we are the junior partners.

He wants us to see prayer as not just when we have a special need, but part of a continuous relationship. We do not do drive thru prayer.

We communicate constantly with Him. There will be much we may not understand, but seeing our whole lives as in His keeping makes it all simpler.

We do not arrow in too much on particular requests, which may or not be granted, but it is more a case of saying I put my life in God's hands, and remembering His fidelity over the years. Fidelity in my life, and in the whole history of His people.

We pray at all times and in all weathers. We give thanks even when things are going against us. Why? Because God is still working for us at those times. So we still need to thank Him.

We keep the communication going, and it all runs much more smoothly.

The discipline of regular prayer helps us to get into a spiritual way of thinking.

Most people have not much time for religion; they are serving the wrong master (Gospel).

God allows people a lot of freedom to decide their course in life. This means a lot of sins are committed, and this in turn makes everyone’s life more difficult.

We suffer from that, but can work back in the other direction by simple trust.

We never turn our back on God as if to blame Him. We express our trust, routinely, every day of our lives.

The good fruits referred to in the epistle have a harmony about them, going beyond instant gratification. They give us a sense of order and peace; we start to feel we are coming back to life.

People say God failed them. It is highly likely they were taking short cuts with Him. We have to get to know Him.

We are in an everlasting covenant. If we obey Him He will bless us. If we disobey the result will be one or other form of chaos.

We serve one Master only; everything else will sort itself accordingly.