Sermon 24 Jun 2018 Birth of St John the Baptist

Birth of St John the Baptist 24.6.18

The Church regards John the Baptist as important enough for two feast days, and for taking precedence over the normal Sunday.

This is because of his closeness to Our Lord. He came to announce the coming of Our Lord as the Messiah. He brings the first stirrings of Our Lord’s presence. If Christ is the midday sun, then John is the first light of the dawn.

John’s birth gives us certainty. He does not save us himself, but he assures us salvation is coming, and soon.

God likes to stretch our faith out further than we might regard as comfortable.

Imagine if you were looking at the newborn baby John: Could you believe all that would follow? That, from this baby a sequence of events would come which would change the world. The people around were amazed at some of the circumstances; but they would have had no idea of just how far-reaching this birth would be.

In stretching our faith God likes to act under cover of normality, generally not displaying His full glorious power. He wants us to be able to detect His actions even if not trumpeted forth.

If we love Him enough we will be able to do this. cf Simeon and Anna recognized the Messiah even though to normal appearances He was just another baby (Lk2,21-38).

In the same vein, God likes to work with humble and lowly people, and in little-known surroundings – this, to highlight how different His ways are to worldly ways.

There was no media frenzy to cover the birth of John; yet it was so important.

So we allow our faith to be stretched. For us, the story of John is easier to absorb because we know what happened later.

But we also face in our own time the same God working in hidden and indirect ways, probing us, leading us on, if only we will answer His promptings.

God has brought us this far – can we still doubt Him? A lot of people do doubt Him, for the same reason as every previous age – that they cannot see with their bodily eyes, and therefore will not believe.

John, by his birth, challenged the faith of the people. Then by his life. He was sent to awaken the faith of the people, to rekindle in them the desire and the belief that would make them thirst for God.

People can be so easily discouraged (as we know from our own time). John’s task was to put courage back in them, and call them all onto the right track.

His life was different from other men’s. In this he was signalling that the normal way the world does things is not right.

Men live as though there is no God above. They turn away from Him at every opportunity.

John demonstrated by contrast the absolute fidelity to God’s will that is required.

John was building up the expectation of the people by being such a striking figure himself; so much so that people thought he might himself be the messiah.

He was only the mirror reflecting the light, the bridegroom’s companion making way for the real bridegroom (Jn 3,29). If you think I am good, wait till you see who is coming!

Out of that expectancy faith is nurtured. John was teaching the people how to hope, after centuries of turmoil and disappointment.

Our generation also needs to learn how to hope. We too await the Messiah – to return in glory.

John the Baptist inspires us to look forward as he was able to do. He had faith that all would be fulfilled as it needed to be. May his faith strengthen ours.

If we read the signs and are sensitive to God’s way of operating we will have the necessary degree of faith, and hope.

We can see the dawn, if not yet the full light of day. Come, Lord Jesus!

4th Sunday after Pentecost 17 Jun 2018 Sermon

4^th Sunday after Pentecost 17.6.18 Co-creators with God

Our Lord delegates authority to His apostles. He brings forth a miracle to demonstrate His power. He does this to elicit from them a responsiveness to Him, a pattern which continues to our own time.

Our Lord could just drop food from heaven, ready-made, to save us the trouble of making it or gathering it. He did this for the Israelites, dropping manna from Heaven, but that was only a temporary move, not the norm.

Generally He gives us the way of creating or producing what we need. He provides the motivation and the wisdom; then we do our part. The combination of our labour with His power brings about the desired result.

Our cooperation is essential because unless we do our part, usually the result will not come.

If there is a poor man at my gate: I could pray that God provides the man some food, but clearly God would want me to give him the food myself.

It would be a lot easier for us if everything could be a miracle, but it is part of God's plan that we work with Him; to discover that we are stewards of His creation, or even co-creators with Him.

When it comes to spiritual work, we might protest that it will not succeed if we have to do it - for example, converting large numbers of people to faith. God could do that better than we could.

But He wants us to do it. In doing so we learn much, as we grow into the role.

We learn about spiritual realities which otherwise we might simply take for granted. We gain insights into God's mind and heart; we learn to see things as He does.

He asks us to act in His name, and to call upon His help. He will help us, but we will have to take some share of the work, and whatever suffering attends it.

We cannot do it on our own; we can and we must do it with His help.

Where does that leave us in the Church today? Faith is generally low, as is morale. Prayers are not made at all; or if they are made, it is often without much conviction.

The Church is supposed to be filled with disciples who are bubbling over with charity, generosity, and a desire to help; to be people of faith who expect their prayers to be heard, not in a demanding sense, but because they trust God's providence.

We pray for everything, large and small - conversion of sinners, forgiveness of sin, food for the hungry, peace for the war-torn. Whatever it is we bring it in prayer. We ask for it with great fervour. And it will come.

At the same time we never evade our responsibility to do what falls within our power to do.

We do not rely on miracles to do everything, but on the power of God to enable us to get things right.

We have to work, plant, build - a thousand different things, always with a recognition of God who makes it all possible, and seeking to please Him.

All this gets better with practice. We learn as we go.

It is part of our salvation to respond to God, and His promptings. We do not take Him for granted, or deny His power over us. We acknowledge totally His goodness, His generosity and our dependence on Him.

We grow in trust of Him. We welcome whatever He wants to tell us. Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening (I Kings (1 Samuel) 3,7-11)

In all things we obey exactly what He tells us to do. This is the formula for how to work a miracle! And how to make ordinary things run smoothly.

3rd Sunday after Pentecost 10 Jun 2018 Sermon

3^rd Sunday after Pentecost 10.6.18 Finding the Lost

Our Lord goes after the one who is lost. We have just celebrated the Feast of the Sacred Heart. This Sunday continues the same theme: that God has a burning desire to save the one who is lost.

If a family with several children goes on a picnic they would not leave one of the children behind at the end of the day.

Each child is valued, but on what basis? Not according to looks, or money or talent - simply because they are there, needing care.

So with the whole human race, as God looks upon it.

He will not leave without you; He will gather up all who let themselves be saved.

There are many people in the present world who feel very alone; their lives as meaningless; who have not coped in the race of life. It might be they are poor or homeless; or it might be that even if they are well off economically they lack connection with the society around them.

There is an abundance of suffering; is there any hope?

Yes, it is found in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who offers to people what they crave for – a sense of purpose, of direction; a reassurance that all their sufferings are noticed and cared for.

He assures each person that they do belong to someone (to Him). And from that they belong to the Church, His Body. Everyone is important to God.

We can think of people as just an anonymous mass. Yet see any crowd of people, and Our Lord knows every one of them.

Everyone has a tale to tell. We know so little about each other’s burdens, yet we know the general idea because we share in the same humanity.

Our Lord challenges us to see past the outer appearance of each person to the great need within. We are to love all our neighbours, whether attractive or not, because (as with the children on the picnic) they simply need care.

Our Lord can do what we cannot. He can come to every person; fill the void.

For ourselves we must not feel as though we are on the scrapheap of life. Whatever our circumstances or status may be, we have this direct relationship with God.

I am a disciple, a child of God. The least are as important as the great as St Paul explains in 1 Co 12, 22-23 (the different parts of the body).

The Sacred Heart can also help those who are dying or have died. There especially is a great need for mercy. So many people die in sudden and violent ways; we entrust them to the infinite mercy of God, that they may find in the next life what they may not have found here.

It is a harsh world certainly, this ‘real world’ as it is called.

The true reality, however, is greatly softened by the mercy of God and His desire to save.

The world itself can be healed of its hurts, as more people turn to God for mercy.

There is a right way for self-esteem; not that of vanity or selfishness, but that which comes from a proper relationship with God. We value ourselves because we are valuable to Him.

Only if people take the spiritual view will they see the true perspective of their lives.

This has to be the right God and the right Saviour. It cannot be what passes for religion today, a vague desire to be nice to others.

To take the picnic example the child has to get on the right bus. We must deal with the same God who creates and sustains us.

Once we know Him we must make a very definite commitment to Him. The sheep that was lost has to allow itself to be found, and then conform to the ways of the flock.

So we make our way carefully and with hope, to our promised home in Heaven.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

2nd Sunday after Pentecost 3 Jun 2018 Sermon

2^nd Sunday after Pentecost 3.6.18 Real Presence

If Our Lord were to come again and walk the streets He would be very popular, at least insofar as people would welcome His healing miracles.

Yet, He tells us that He has not left us. He is with us always until the end of time (Mt 28,20).

And He will not leave us orphans (Jn 14,18). It is just that He is not visible now as He was then.

And visibility counts for a lot with us, as we very much rely on our senses to determine what is true or not; even when there are surer ways of knowing than sense experience.

His primary presence with us is in the Eucharist. There we have Him, body, blood, soul and divinity. He is as fully present in a consecrated host as if He were to walk into the Church.

We can believe this, and we do believe, yet we probably still would prefer Him in the other way, where we could touch the hem of His garments, or He could lay hands upon us.

But the sacramental way is what He chooses, and it must be the best way accordingly.

We could infer that He wants us to develop our faith in Him. We need to cultivate faith as a way of arriving at knowledge. To the point that I can say a thing is true, whether or not I can see it or explain it.

What God’s Son has told me, take for truth I do (St Thomas Aquinas). We start with the revealed truth and then build our response around that; rather than starting with our feelings, and then checking whether revelation squares with them! People with limited perception and even more limited obedience then announce that they no longer believe.

We will perceive Our Lord if we come in the right way, which is the way of humility, docility, patience, submission and the like. Not too many questions, and no argument.

Thus we grow in faith, and having done that, we are then more likely to see miracles and have our prayers answered.

Perhaps the biggest miracle is when an otherwise doubting fearful complaining disciple can come to faith and take his place quietly in the ranks of believers.

Faith is worth more than physical healing, because it brings us closer to God’s inner life. But we might get the healing as well.

There have been many eucharistic miracles recorded. There would probably be a lot more if we had more faith. But then we would need the miracles less.

Others may go on doubting and mocking. It is up to us who do believe to atone for sins against the Eucharist; and, having been made stronger ourselves, to help others to believe.

Our Lord is challenging us to come to Him, and seek Him out; to submit our lives to Him so that He can do whatever He wants with us.

This is scary for us, but with growing trust it becomes easier.

He wants us to interact with Him. It may look like nothing is happening when a group of people are praying in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Is it nothing, or is it an intense exchange of ideas, of grace, of the motivating power of love, and the wisdom to apply that love in action?

The more people doing this, the more things are going to start moving. It is the same with prayer at Mass. We are not just sitting there, but interacting with God.

We are still so inexperienced at this. There is still so much reliance on the senses and the feelings, to overcome.

We let God be God, and take our places before Him, which is to be in humble worship.

It is all for our good that the Lord has set things up this way. It is a less direct approach than we would at first want, but it is good for us if we work with it.

O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.