Sexagesima Sunday 24 Feb 2019 Sermon

Sexagesima Sunday 24.2.19 The Call

There is cost to being a disciple. We cannot be entirely passive before God; He expects us to do some work, to carry some part of His Cross.

God has taken the initiative in creating us, and then in saving us. We are required to respond – in body and soul; all that we have.

One disciple who responded very fully was St Paul. We have his story in the epistle today. He is not your normal disciple; a great deal better than ‘normal’. He does certainly rattle our complacency, if we are suffering from any.

There is a paradox here in our faith, that the more we commit to following Our Lord the more trouble we are likely to see.

We might expect that as the great Healer and Miracle Worker He would give us an easier life, if we stick close to Him.

But look at St Paul and countless other saints. They suffered all sorts of things. Yet they did not consider themselves to have been cheated by Our Lord, as though He had lured them into some kind of false hope.

The saints did not mind the suffering because they did not dwell on it. They were more interested in expressing love for God. When we love enough we do not count the cost (Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as You deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do Your will. (St Ignatius of Loyola)

The saints teach us detachment. We are a bit afraid of the path they took. We may be happy with the miracles but not the suffering.

God never tests us beyond our capacity, we are assured. What He will do, however, is  stretch our capacity to love, and with that our willingness to suffer. We look for the love not the suffering. We forget ourselves, as the saints did.

Being Christian is not just theory; we really have to put ourselves on the line.

It is a specific transaction between Him and us, Him and me. He speaks directly to each potential disciple, and asks them to Come, Follow Me.

If we were one of the Twelve Apostles it would be easier to see. They were mending their nets and Our Lord approached them. They must have felt special at being part of such a small band, and able to share so closely in all that He was doing. But we come along after millions of others have been called, and we might feel somewhat less important as a result.

It may look to us that we are just part of a large crowd, but He knows each one of us inside out.

And each call is on the same basis as the original Twelve. See yourself on the seashore, mending your nets, and He comes along. What will you answer?

He wants you, and you in particular.

We discount ourselves in a kind of false humility. He  would not want me, etc.

If we respond as He wants it will be like a St Paul, with maybe less drama. But the principle is the same: Do with me what Thou wilt.

You have created me, saved me, and now called me. I accept that call; please help me to do that, and with full commitment. We can ask Him to be gentle with us at first; He will know what we can take, and will arrange things mercifully.

Anyway there is nowhere else to go (cf Jn 6, 68).

Septuagesima Sunday 17 Feb 2019 Sermon

Septuagesima Sunday 17.2.19 Perseverance

With the season of Septuagesima we come to the edges of Lent. Sunday remains always a day of joy, but we prepare for a more sombre reflection of Our Lord’s saving passion and death.

We see the contrast of the sad with the glad, the difficulties with the triumphs.

We seem always to be negotiating troubles, but it can be done.

St Paul, in today’s epistle, portrays himself as running like an athlete, meaning to win. He will make whatever sacrifice is required to achieve the desired goal.

He brings his body into subjection. A disciple must be disciplined. The runner does not forget he is running the race; nor can we forget what path we are on. We must run all the way to the end.

The Gospel presents a different image – that of working all day in the heat. We work hard, and only at the end do we receive a reward.

Discipline enables us to put business before pleasure; again to persevere to the end.

What is the urgency? Salvation, eternal life is at stake. What about the others? Why should we work all day if they are going to sneak in at the end?

If there was a disaster, such as an earthquake, we would help if we could. Common humanity would bring out the best in us.

How much more should we want to help when eternal life is at stake.

There are times we feel like giving up. We are subject to distractions, discouragements, temptations. We have to hold on through it all.

We are called to serve God all the time. Most of the time not much is required – just steady attention to duty. But we are on call, ready for anything. We stay in fighting trim.

It is much easier if we keep the overall picture in view. That way our sufferings do not seem to fill the whole horizon. We can see the joy beyond, at any point.

Holiness is much harder when we are surrounded by other people who are not interested at all.

The whole environment becomes difficult, and there is a lack of inspiration.

Often we run on our own, without support, and often directly against the wind - the prevailing opinion.

We are subject to a lot of ridicule, even persecution..

This makes it all harder, but when we understand what is at stake we have a new energy to keep at the task.

Are we going to let the devil get away with this deception, ruining millions of lives?

At the same time we can make it easier to ‘run’ day-by-day, and make it more likely that we will finish the race, by applying the basic principles we know, till these become second nature to us.

We avoid sins; we do penance; we pray; we study our faith; we do good deeds; we cheerfully accept difficulties, knowing they are no more than flies at a picnic, momentary distractions.

Why does it have to be so hard? It is because of sin, which confuses people, and hardens their hearts.

Every task becomes a major operation. People do this when it comes to God, or any matter of religion.

This is another difficulty factor. We can take them all in our path. The more others resist, the more we exert ourselves in the spiritual struggle.

We can enjoy work, and we can enjoy running. The Christian life, while demanding, has at root a joyous aspect. We come to enjoy working with the mind of God, and seeing His providence at work in our midst.

We enjoy the struggle, and even more the final peace.

5th Sunday after Epiphany 10 Feb 2019 Sermon

5^th Sunday after Epiphany 10.2.19 Time

Many would say that religion in any form is not relevant to them. They have their lives to lead and do not need anything extra that religion might offer them, they might say.

But they do not really have a choice. Every person on the face of the earth, of whatever religion, or no religion, will stand before the judgment seat of Christ when their life is over (2 Cor 5.10). When all the curtains are pulled aside there is He, and no other.

Yes, there is  a choice insofar as to how we prepare for that event, but no choice as to whether or not it will happen. In the end whatever we do, wherever we may roam, it comes back to that.

From that judgment we will then spend eternity in Heaven or in Hell. There is no third place for the neutral! There is no Neutral with God. We are either for Him or against Him (Mt 12,30).

So we reaffirm our desire to be with Him, to make certain that our own judgment will be favourable. If we do not know the exact state of our souls we can still do certain things that will be to our advantage.

This is our day in the sun; our time to shine forth.

Consider that we spend a lot of time not being alive on this earth. There were thousands of years before we came along; and who knows how long we may have to lie in a cemetery before we rise again.

God give us the gift of time; as well as the gift of free choice. Here it is: make what you will of it. We can make it go in certain channels.

We cannot control the future in many ways, but this one yes. We can spend every moment in service of God, in advancing His kingdom.

And the past too. We have certain disappointments we cannot reclaim. We see many wrong turnings we have taken. We cannot reverse the events themselves but we can reverse the attitude, where needed.

If I did something through selfishness back then, I can reverse the attitude in my mind, reverse the selfishness.

Anyone at any time can say, I am sorry, in such a way as to set off in a genuine new direction.

This is what it comes to: we are either repenting for our past life or - if we have already done that – we press on with whatever time remains, doing things for God.

This much we can get right. One could have a broken marriage, be bankrupt, spent time in gaol, have committed multiple sins… it can all be fixed in a moment, as we set a new direction.

Don’t delay. The sooner the better. Don’t make it harder than it is; as in raising objections, arguing over technicalities etc.

We go on our knees and ask for mercy for what has been, and grace to make it different in the future.

With a little extra effort we can rise above the normal standard. Each moment in time can be transformed by the grace of God; especially if we ask for it to be so.

Thus the good and bad crop live together and share the same space. God allows the time for the bad to repent, and the good to get better; for both bad and good to make repairs, and then to flourish, in readiness for the final harvest at the end of time.

4th Sunday after Epiphany 3 Feb 2019 Sermon

4^th Sunday after Epiphany 3.2.19 The Church

The Church is sometimes called the Barque of Peter, a boat sailing in turbulent waters; as in today’s Gospel, where the boat does not sink because Our Lord is in it.

And so He is always ‘in’ the Church. No matter how many enemies she has Our Lord protects the Church from all that would harm her.

There are external persecutions -whether it be Jews, Romans, Barbarians, Muslims, Protestants, Nazis, Communists, Secularists, Satanists – all of these have wanted to finish the Church, but have not succeeded.

Certainly, God does allow persecutions - to keep us fighting fit; but He will not let the Church be wiped out.

Then there are internal troubles, such as division, caused by different beliefs, heresies, schisms, and just plain old sin.

With so many difficulties people raise the question: is there any need for the Church. Can we not just do business with Jesus Himself and leave the Church to sink?

It is certainly the Master’s wish that there be a Church, as He has been to so much trouble to establish and protect her.

For one thing, the Church is a necessary communion of disciples. The epistle today calls us to charity, as do so many places in the New Testament.

The Church is the Body of Christ, and must be One. If we are seeking union with Him we must all converge on Him. We do not have to be identical on all points, but must agree on the main ones.

There is also the point that just as with a human body all the parts need each other. No one has all the gifts, or enough to get by alone (cf 1 Cor 12,14-27).

The Church is in one way the end purpose of Christ’s coming. He forms us into one body, by which time we will have discovered perfect charity, which is the final state we need to reach.

In another way the Church is a working body; she has a job to do, and that is to baptize all nations. Ideally all people would belong to the Church. Why not, when they were all created by God, and saved by His Cross?

So we can never close down the Church, nor leave her.

These days we spend a lot of time apologizing for sins and scandals. It is necessary to recognise these things and deal with them.

But here again it is no solution to close down or abandon ship. In the face of sin all the more must we be  holy.

Our confidence is in Christ not ourselves.

We say, Save us Lord we are going down or, we would be going down if we take our eyes off You (cf Mt 8,25).

And He hears us. He keeps supplying us with the necessary grace, and redirecting us.

It takes a lot of maintenance, but the help is always there, on request.

We pray constantly for the Church and everyone in her, that we be kept afloat, and steered in the right direction.

We do stay afloat because Our Lord is in the boat with us. He is the Head of His own body. He protects us from sinking, from external threats, and internal chaos, especially from sin, which is the greatest enemy.

We will not sink if we keep our eyes fixed on Him, cf Peter walking on water (Mt 14,22-23).

We discover our own role in all this, maintaining both personal holiness, and a true sense of what the Church is, and attempting to do.

We are rarely completely comfortable, because to use another image, the Church is on a pilgrimage, and that involves many sufferings; but the hope of reaching a better land sustains us.