9th Sunday after Pentecost 22 Jul 2018 Sermon

9^th Sunday after Pentecost 22.7.18 Humanae Vitae

July 25^th marks a significant anniversary in the life of the Church. It is 50 years since Pope Paul VI published the document Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life).

1968 was one of those years in a decade of turbulence and unrest, when a lot of things happened and attitudes changed.

It was thought that the Catholic Church might change her teaching on birth control. The teaching had always been that any kind of artificial birth control was against God's will. Perhaps, it was reasoned by some, with problems caused by overpopulation, and by unhappy marriages, and the solutions offered by the advances of science, in particular the invention of the contraceptive pill - the Church would change this teaching.

It did not happen. Paul VI reiterated what the Church had always believed - that 'the direct interruption of the generative process and, above all, direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means of controlling the birth of children...

'Equally to be condemned, as the Magisterium of the Church has affirmed on various occasions, is direct sterilization, whether of the man or of the woman, whether permanent or temporary’. (n14)

Paul VI explained that although there are sometimes very good reasons why a couple might not want to have another child just at this time, it is never allowable to do evil that good may come of it(n14)

And artificial interference with the sexual act is 'doing evil' because it is depriving the act of its lifegiving power, what is in fact its main point. It is interfering with something the Creator Himself has put in place. It is an unnatural act, against nature. The marriage act '... brings into operation laws written into the actual nature of man and of woman for the generation of new life.'

The unitive and procreative purposes of the marriage act must be kept together or else we have just changed one of God's most important creations. Love and Life must be kept together. It is written into our nature. We are not our own; we are ministers not masters (n13).

The general point that the Pope is making throughout is that obedience to God in small matters, in family matters, will enable things to work better on the national and international scale. As Jesus said: the man who can be trusted in small things can be trusted in great..

The readings of today’s Mass (9^th Sunday after Pentecost) speak of divine punishment.

The punishment for contraception was rightly predicted by Paul VI.

a)  more likelihood of conjugal infidelity

b) a general lowering of morality

c) greater opportunity for people (especially the young) to elude the moral law

d)  Loss of respect for women, in that a woman might become an instrument of enjoyment rather than a respected and beloved companion

e) the providing of a dangerous weapon to unscrupulous governments, opening the way to compulsory sterilisation and unwarranted intrusion into the privacy of marriage.

He also rightly noted that if families could not be relied on to see these things properly what was to stop governments from making use of contraceptives and sterilisations and even enforced abortions?  All this is happening.

Instead, if we obey God and His laws and the way He has established nature, then the solutions will emerge.

His grace is available to everyone who asks. We are never tested beyond our strength (today’s epistle, 1 Co 10,13).

We can ignore a document, and we can even ignore God, but not forever. Truth will find its way out of the cupboard and the consequences of this large-scale breaking of God's laws are now upon us... as the Pope predicted

We must do our part in restoring the values enshrined in Humanae Vitae.  Married people, those about to be married, but all of us, because we are one. There is a lot of truth here still under the bushel. We must do what we can to live by it, and make it plain to others.                                                                                                                                                                                              

8th Sunday after Pentecost 15 Jul 2018 Sermon

8^th Sunday after Pentecost 15.7.18 Wisdom

Our Lord praises the astuteness of the steward, not because of his shady business practices, but for the way he used his brain.

Evildoers can be smart (and the devil certainly is) but their smartness is an abuse of the great gift of intelligence.

God has endowed us with the ability to think, to reason, to decide things; to be able to appreciate His wonders – something non-rational creatures are unable to do.

In giving us this gift He is expecting us to rise to the occasion and use that gift of being able to think to the fullest possible degree.

We let His wisdom act on us, the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, to fill our minds with light so that all we think, say, or do will be also wise.

We must be as smart as the evildoers and smarter still. The very fact of choosing goodness over evil is itself a major step.

There are various ways in which we can use our minds wisely:

1) We can grow in our understanding of the Faith. All the various things we have learned over the years, we can grow in understanding them, and how they all fit together.

The more we know the more likely we are to hold on to our faith. Knowledge is important - it can be obtained, and retained, so that we do not just rely on our feelings which, as we know, are very unreliable.

Our faith should go up, and never down.

2) We can train our minds to keep the essential things in view: matters of salvation and eternal life. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Col 3,3)

We do not forget what we started out to do. We do not allow ourselves to be side-tracked or distracted. We press on to our true home (Ph 3,20).

3) Wisdom tells us who are our friends and who our enemies. This is not always obvious to the casual observer.

Our world is filled with words, with arguments, points of view. Who is right? We can work it out, when to agree and when to disagree. There is a truth underneath all that argument; we can discern it.  The word of God shines forth for those who seek it.

4) With wisdom we can be strengthened to cope with adversity of any kind, and not let sudden shocks damage our faith. We are the houses built on rock (Mt 7,24-27). We stand our ground, not being swept along by popular opinion.

We are to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves (Mt 10,16); able to see and resist the opposing cunning of the devil and his ministers.

5) While knowledge is important we avoid becoming too rational to the point of losing the need for practical and charitable action. Not too much theory, but enough to move us to action, and it will be the right action.

6) Wisdom does not require that we have to be intellectuals. Some are called to more academic pursuits, but anyone, no matter of what degree of education can respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Everyone can have at least a basic workable knowledge of the Faith, and, with humility can grasp what to do or say in situations as they arise.

The more humble we are the better. Then we are receptive to higher wisdom, instead of just going off on a tangent.

May the Holy Spirit continue to fill us with wisdom, knowledge, understanding and counsel. May we glorify God with our minds as with all else we possess.

7th Sunday after Pentecost 8 Jul 2018 Sermon

7^th Sunday after Pentecost 8.7.18 Pursuit of happiness

We make decisions all the time about what is the best option to take. If we are buying something we weigh up the various factors. It comes to this: what will give me the greatest satisfaction? It is not always easy to decide.

The same principle holds for life itself. How should I live my life for the greatest possible happiness?

We know that the answer must involve reference to Almighty God, and His will.

If I walk in His way, I will bear fruit, like the tree planted by the water’s edge (Ps 1,3).

Happiness, contentment, peace, will all be found with that approach; at least insofar as having a serene conscience, whatever else may be happening.

What is the alternative? To seek the happiness of this world only, without reference to God's will or His commands, is the way to chaos.

The wages of sin are death as St Paul puts it (Rm 6,23).

Sin is taking the forbidden fruit. It looks good to eat, but then it turns sour. We may feel good for a while, but then comes bitterness.

Even legitimate pleasures will exhaust themselves if we do not bring all our lives under God's providence.

We have to make wise decisions, to plan the direction of our lives. We plan everything else, like our finances, organising a party, planning a holiday, or the extension on the house.

When it comes to the conduct of life itself, somehow that can be left to chance, or just how we feel at the time.

More than any other topic we need to plan what we do with our lives.

So where do we look for guidance? To the Church, appointed by God to speak for Him until He comes again.

Many are leaving the Church at this time, due to disappointment at the behaviour of some of its members.

We may share that disappointment but we cannot leave the Church because ‘to whom else can we go?’ (Jn 6,68)

But there is another reason it can be hard to stay in the Church – it requires discipline to avoid sin and choose always the good; to turn away from worldly pleasures for the sake of higher and later rewards.

Well, they say you don’t have to get drunk to have a good time. Likewise you don’t have to sin to have a good time.

Such negatives as there are in our teaching are to enhance the happiness of the person, not to restrict or deny it. If we don’t steal, lie, commit adultery etc, we will be happier than if we do. So the negative becomes a positive source of happiness.

The best way to get to Heaven is to live in a heavenly way on earth, observing purity, kindness, gentleness etc.

Breaking the laws of God will always tend towards chaos.

So we resolve to be good from now on. It will mean giving up whatever leads to sin. It could be painful but will bring greater rewards, even in this life.

We will discover new joys that come from a closeness to God, new depths and dimensions we did not know were there. And still Heaven to come.

It takes constant renewal otherwise we will fall away through neglect, and will surely sink into a worldly life.

It takes effort, but then people do not mind making an effort if they believe in the cause. Look at what people do for physical fitness, getting up early, running and swimming. But when it comes to something religious, like early morning Mass: Oh no, I couldn’t do that!

May God give us all the wisdom and the courage to decide rightly what to do with the rest of our lives.

Everlasting life awaits us if we choose rightly.

Most Precious Blood 1 Jul 2018 Sermon

Most Precious Blood 1.7.18 Sacrifice

Christ replaces the animals of the old testament. The animal sacrifices did not take away sin of themselves, only indicating a desire of the people to be forgiven.

Our Lord makes Himself the Lamb of sacrifice, a sacrifice exceeding all others because His Blood has infinite value. His blood really cleanses from sin.

He offers Himself. He is both Priest and Victim.

But He did not kill Himself. We (the whole human race) killed Him, by our sin. Some did the physical tasks of killing Him but all of us contributed.

This is not to our credit, yet it works in our favour. We shed His blood and that blood saves us!

It should have increased our punishment but it actually makes us better off; it opens the way for us to be forgiven for all our sins, and finally to enter Heaven.

God blesses us further by giving us the Mass, wherein we can be present at Our Lord’s saving sacrifice, and benefit from it.

This is the cup of My blood… it will be shed for you and for many so that sins may be forgiven.

At Mass we unite ourselves with Our Lord as He offers himself to God the Father, in atonement for sin. He offers Himself; and we join with His sacrifice to make it our own as well. We ask Our Lord to take us before the throne of mercy, so we can be forgiven. The Father will accept us in the fragrance of His Son’s offering.

(We need to go to Confession to gain full forgiveness, but the Mass serves to establish a general climate of Mercy, whereby God is willing to forgive all who approach Him).

It all hinges on our response to God's generosity, the human response to the divine initiative.

Each person is invited to apply for this Mercy, to seek the Precious Blood of Christ to take effect, purifying from sin, enriching in virtue.

How many people will do this, we do not know. We hope the ‘many’ will be very many.

For all sorts of reasons people today may not connect with this saving sacrifice.

Some do not believe in God at all. Some think they have no sin to be forgiven. Some think forgiveness is automatic, not requiring repentance. Some think they can be forgiven in their own way and do not need Sacraments. Some might want to be forgiven but are too attached to their sins.

It is tragic when His blood is spilled in vain; when someone persists in sin even to death.

But while there is life, there is hope. Our Lord will forgive any outrage against Himself as long as there is serious contrition on the part of the offender.

How to bring about such contrition is not easy, but it does happen that people do convert, and this is something for us to pursue with all our energy.

For our part we not only have contrition but we try to help the situation along, doing all in our power to assist the workings of the Precious Blood in saving sinners.

We revere the Precious Blood because it is Christ Himself, actually present; and that would be reason enough; but even further, out of gratitude to Him for doing this on our behalf. We make atonement for the sins of indifference and sacrilege towards Our Lord. We worship Him, thank Him, and accept the mercy He offers us.

This, we hope, will reduce the punishments the world is heaping up for itself, and help to save ‘many’ souls.