Trinity Sunday 27 May 2018 Sermon

Trinity Sunday 27.5.18 Knowledge of God

This feast gives us a chance to deepen our knowledge of God, to give Him a more specific focus.

Many are vague about God. They are not sure if God even exists or not, let alone the finer points.

To an extent He hides from us. He does this to induce us to search for Him.

We will not get onto His wavelength unless we are prepared to deal with Him on His terms.

He wants us to learn to be like Him, as in generous, humble, kind, forgiving etc. Meanwhile we are telling Him unless He works this or that miracle we will not believe in Him!

We have to learn absolute humility before God. We put no conditions or demands on Him.

We can ask for things, certainly, but in no sense do we hold Him to ransom.

If we would obey and do it His way we would have a much clearer notion of God than we otherwise have.

Many would believe He exists but would not trouble to find out anything about Him.

They see God more in the deistic sense, just someone out there somewhere… but no detail, nor do they think there needs to be.

This is not how it is meant to work. Yes, He is out there and a long way away, and no amount of distance or numbers can confine Him.

We talk of stars being bigger than another, or further away than another. God is bigger than all of them. He made them all. And the universe itself.

This could leave us with a sense of vagueness. We might be grateful, or admiring, but not feel the personal element.

Yet from another angle we know God is very personal. He cares about us in the most minute degree. He knows when a sparrow falls to the ground (Mt 10,29). He knows all our needs, our moods, our desires and hopes.

There is still a lot we do not know about Him, but it is not the ignorance caused by neglect.

We can keep the awareness of His absolute otherness to us, but at the same time a recognition of His intimacy with us; of His desire to do us good, to save us, to heal us, to bring us to eternal life.

It is an insult to Him if we are vague only through laziness, through never thinking of Him. We treat those we love better than that.

We do not always know what His will is, or what He is going to do next, but we can trust Him in every situation; and that much He expects from us.

We have a workable trusting relationship with Him, where we pray constantly through any sort of difficulty. I do not know how this is going to be solved but somehow He will sort it out.

This works for short and long term, personal and global problems. God is far bigger than any problem or situation.

His grace would work much more smoothly if more people obeyed and trusted.

Sin will obstruct the progress. It could be so easy if only enough would humble themselves.

God is not hiding Himself here; we have created our own darkness by sinning against Him.

The more we humble ourselves the more we will see into the inner nature of God, the three Persons and their mutual love. The beauty that we presently see is just a glimpse of much greater glory. Remove the sin, and the light gets brighter.

We are capable of knowing God, in a way most of His creation cannot. We have the privilege of being able to draw into conscious unity with Him.

Let us adore Him, as we draw closer to Him.

All glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost Sunday 20 May 2018 Sermon

Pentecost Sunday 20.5.18 Renewal

Mary leads us in prayer as she led the first disciples.

She was open to the Holy Spirit far more than they were, and receiving Him already, it was easier for her to help them.

She must have been a great source of strength to them; now, invisibly she can influence us as well.

We turn to her and ask her - ‘full of grace’ - to send some of that grace our way.

Grace means the love of God working in us, establishing a oneness with Him; helping us to correct sinful and false ways, gradually coming to see things in a different light; then to grow in virtue.

This can work for an individual and for large numbers.

There is enormous untapped potential, so many sleeping lizards who could be fierce lions.

So much to unlock on our part. She helps to create atmosphere of expectancy and we join in with that.

We are too easily discouraged, and ease off on the prayer when we should be intensifying it.

It is all there if we have hands to take it. Between people not wanting it, and not believing it is there, and not thinking they can have it - there is a lot of nothing-happening!

As the Church we have to get two things right at the same time: the internal and the external. Internal – we have to live as one, loving one another. External - that we can bring those presently outside the Church to accept the gift of the Holy Spirit, with all that follows from that.

The Holy Spirit can help us on both fronts. Whatever is wrong can be reversed: Cleanse our souls from sinful stain, Lave our dryness with Your rain, Heal our wounds and mend our way. Bend the stubborn heart and will, Melt the frozen, warm the chill, Guide the steps that go astray. 

What is wrong with us? Many will say Nothing, but that is itself a blindness, caused by sin.

If we compare ourselves with Jesus Christ we will very quickly find things wrong.

There is always need for improvement; and it is always possible for everyone to advance from wherever one is on the holiness spectrum.

People operate at a much-reduced level if they do not see the need to remove sin.

The Holy Spirit, being God, and essentially kind, does not want to hurt us anymore than necessary. Like a good doctor: this may sting a little… but then you will be much happier.

A lot of this is just realizing we can be better than up till now. People sign off too early in the quest for holiness. This is as good as you are going to get - but they do that too soon.

We can find all sorts of ways of improving, with a little initiative. Such as less pursuit of pleasure, better reading/viewing habits, volunteer work, praying more etc etc. Our spiritual sensitivity will increase, thus leading to deeper contrition, and then stronger virtue.

We just need a bit of a shake-up, like a rushing wind blowing upon us.

Not everyone has to be doing big things, like the apostles. Most of it is just attention to daily duty.

We believe that the Holy Spirit can make a difference, and we pray with more fervour. Any lack of faith or hope on our part is itself part of the prayer.

Come, Holy Ghost!

Changes to Weekday Mass at St Monica's

Due to renovations, St Monica’s will be unavailable for weekday Mass from:

Monday 28 May to Saturday 16 June inclusive.

During this time Mass will be at 7am Monday to Friday, 8am Saturday, at Hindmarsh.

Sunday Mass will be as normal: 8am St Monica’s, and 5pm Sacred Heart Hindmarsh.

Sunday after Ascension 13 May 2018 Sermon

Sunday after Ascension 13.5.18 Oneness

At the Last Supper Our Lord prayed especially for His disciples. He did not wish to exclude others, but He could see that to get His disciples into the right state, they would then go out to bring others into the light.

They would be the leaven in the bread, the light on the hill, the flock where the sheep are gathered. And this would in turn attract people to join.

The Church has to look inwards first, and then outwards. Inwards to make sure we have the right beliefs and behaviour. Outwards to share the reality of salvation with the rest of the world.

The ‘inwards’ part requires constant prayer and reflection. The ‘outwards’ part will succeed only if we have the inwards right.

The Church offers people eternal life; it is a precious possession, but not usually valued by those to whom it is offered. It is a gift that takes a certain amount of absorbing before we appreciate it fully.

We offer the gift on two fronts: true teaching, and charity in action. The right theory and the right practice.

The teaching is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit, who makes known to us all the essential points of faith and morals.

The Church alone has the authority to teach in God's name, a useful thing to know in a world of so much confusion and falsehood.

As to charity, this is always the most important quality to get right. We get along together, as in today’s epistle: But before all things have a constant mutual charity among yourselves: for charity covereth a multitude of sins. (1 P 4,8).

This is necessary for its own sake, that we should love one another regardless of any other circumstance, because God loved us first. If we refuse to love someone we are disagreeing with God, who does love that person. (Love does not mean sentimental attachment, but a desire for the other person to receive whatever God wants them to have.)

And charity is necessary if we are going to attract people to the Church. They must see in the life of the Church something they do not see anywhere else. If they see us fighting it will make it harder for them to be convinced that they should join us.

The early Church did show a strong face to the world and won many converts. People wanted to get in, as they always do when they can perceive an improvement in their situation.

United in faith and charity, belief and action. This is what we need and what we seek.

People will say I believe in Jesus but not the Church… this does not work.

We cannot have the head without the body. We must accept all that the Church believes and teaches.

If we are separate from the Church it must mean there is something in one’s thinking or behaviour which is not submissive to the Holy Spirit; to that extent the person needs correction, healing and purifying. They are not necessarily bad people but they are not yet fully arrived at where they need to be.

So the word goes out. Individuals will come, or not, as they respond to the graces offered them. We have to help them to make the right choice, by our prayer and example.

Our prayer in this Pentecost week is that people everywhere will become disciples of Christ, and join us in the one Church.

May the Holy Spirit make us truly one, and effective in helping all those outside find their way inside.

5th Sunday after Easter 6 May 2018 Sermon

5^th Sunday after Easter 6.5.18 God became Man

In a noisy and busy world there are many claims on our attention.

We gather here each week and affirm that the most important reality in the world for us is God. Or if He is not the most important we know that He should be!

Our Lord tells us today of His exalted status with God the Father. To pray in Jesus’ name is as acceptable as asking the Father directly.

This is the same Lord who was dismissed by some as the ‘carpenter’s son’, or one who comes from ‘Nazareth’. What could he know? How does he come to have this authority he claims?

We believe what He Himself tells us, that He is God. How can a mere man be God? He is not a mere man. He is the Word made Flesh, God made Man. He was God first, then took on human nature as well, without ceasing to be God.

There are men who act like they are God, but that is just arrogance. This Man really is God, and is worth knowing, beyond any other person or thing in our lives.

So, as to being busy we must always find time for Him. (As we can see, from the way people treat the Sabbath, most people do not get this point.) We must bring ourselves into union with Him. If we do that all else will fall into place; if not then chaos reigns.

By refusing to acknowledge the divinity of Christ people reduce Him to just a philosopher, or a do-gooder, just one among many others that have tried to change the world.

To worship Him as God is another dimension altogether. Every knee shall bow before Him, every tongue confess (Ph 2, 10-11) There are qualities about Him that no other figure can equal. Others have some of His characteristics, but He has everything.

It is to worship we are called. We ask Him for what we need, but this presumes that we are prepared to give Him total obedience and allegiance.

We can dare to ask Him only if we are on proper terms to be able to do that. We cannot ask for things if we are not prepared to acknowledge His divinity.

It is up to us to give Him due attention, to fill the gaps that others have left.

Our asking really comes to how can we serve Him better.

In no way do we assert ourselves to be apart from Him, or reserving our obedience on some points.

He can save only those who are united with Him. As in a rescue operation we cannot pull people out of the sea if they are not within reach, or if they resist.

Salvation is like that. People have to want to be saved, then to let whatever process is necessary take effect.

So we converge on Him, plead with Him to save us, gather us, keep us close.

We cling to Him like branches to the vine, sheep to the shepherd.

We express gratitude for saving us; we seek to please Him; to fit in totally with His plans for us.

To achieve all this we need to pray very often, and meditate on the absolute importance of Jesus Christ; lest we fall into thinking He has somehow become remote.

He took our humanity so that we could share in His divinity. We are called to greatness here; may we have the grace to see it.

4th Sunday after Easter 29 Apr 2018 Sermon

4^th Sunday after Easter 29.4.18 Recognition

The Holy Spirit will make all things clear, Our Lord promises, especially on matters of right and wrong.

There are moments in life when we have an unpleasant realization that something we have done in the past was in fact wrong, and more wrong than we realized at the time.

So we have a kind of delayed contrition. At such points we feel the need to say sorry to someone, to God certainly, if the action was sinful. In which case we have the reassuring sacrament of Penance, whereby we can clear the decks of past sins, and resume life with a certain freshness.

These moments of realization could refer to just one particular action, or they could refer to the whole direction of one’s life.

Many people, for instance, spend most of their lives in denial of God, His existence, His importance, the fact that they will have to face Him in judgment one day.

What fear and shame will come upon these people when their death approaches, or has already happened?

Or, if they are fortunate, the realization will occur well before death and they will have a chance to correct their course.

One case of people making a major wrong turning was the action of the Jews in demanding the death of Our Lord.

He was their Saviour, their Messiah, and God as well; and they went and had Him crucified.

This is picking the wrong side of the argument if ever there was.

Peter rebukes them at Pentecost, and the people are ‘cut to the heart’. Fortunately there is mercy available to them, and many of them take that chance to get it right from then on.

We cannot smile at the folly of the Jews. We have done the same thing any time we have rejected Christ, going so far as to commit a mortal sin.

Mercy is available to us too; and we take advantage of any moment of shame about past behaviour to set the record straight, and live lives of holiness from now on.

We can do this, availing ourselves of the range of things the Church puts before us.

We are constantly re-setting the compass as we go through life.

God gives us chance after chance. Every single day could be seen as another chance to get back in union with Him, or increase it if already there.

We grasp His mercy right here and now.

Take the shock now; don’t wait till we are dying, or until there is some Fatima-like miracle, and we start crying out ‘Lord, Lord’ (Mt 7,21).

We take a grip on our lives, for life.

Many would have an idea they will straighten out one day. But it is an insult to God to delay repentance, and is risking a severe chastisement by way of warning.

Instead, come now and find out what He wants from you and for you. It will be a j oy.

It will be a relief to be ready, and it will bring much peace in this life as well.

We can also learn from the positive experiences, seeing God’s goodness all around. This will help also. Generally being aware of God is the key.

We just want to take the surprise element out of things, nasty surprises at least.

The Holy Spirit has come, as Our Lord said. He has shown the world how wrong it has been about rejecting Christ. He has told us individually that we need to clean up our desk, get all the loose ends in the proper place, and see our lives as coherent in response to this grand message.

We must not be depressed about the continual rejection of this message. The concerted response of a few will generate graces for the many. We will hold the line until the ‘many’ realize what they have done: crucified the Saviour, again and again.

But no more ‘agains’; from now on we live in union with Him.