Easter Sunday 21 Apr 2019 Sermon

Easter Sunday 21.4.19 Double consolation

The Resurrection of Jesus is an actual historical event, which had witnesses and has been recorded for all future generations. It was a physical resurrection, not just an illusion or image. Our Lord could be seen and touched. A ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have (Lk 24,39).

It is an event that offers us  consolation and hope on two levels.

1) It give us the prospect of living in happiness forever – simply, going to Heaven.

Nobody would mind that as an outcome, even if Heaven is hard to imagine or picture.

We should not let that worry us. Things which are bigger than we are will always be difficult to imagine. That does not stop them from existing.

We cannot fathom the size of the universe, for example; but we still believe it is there! So with Heaven. We have barely started as far as our experience of God's goodness is concerned.

We believe that the infinite Creator can produce more things than we have seen so far, or can imagine.

The prospect of going to Heaven may not console us much at certain times because it can seem so far off in the future. Still, it is a lot better than Nothing, or Hell!

2) The Resurrection offers us another consolation closer to the present. It is not only when we die that we feel better, but right now.

We hear certain things on the news, and we might think most of it has no great bearing on our lives.

The news of the Resurrection, however, is as relevant a piece of news as there could possibly be.

This is because Our Lord has done this for our sake as well as His. It was not just His body coming back to life, as one person. Due to His divine status, and His role as Second Adam, He is re-creating the human race. If He comes to life, everyone else comes to life with Him, or at least has that possibility.

When we pray to Him, or receive one of the sacraments, we are drawing on His life to activate our own lives. He can, simply, make us good.

The life of grace, that mysterious power which God can exercise on us, moves our wills to be more in tune with His own will, seeing things as He does.

This is what being alive comes to; we are fully in union with the life of God.

His life is not just biological but spiritual. It transforms us within, makes us joyful; glad to be alive, full of hope and purpose; no longer drifting aimlessly, or living in despair.

There are many reasons why a person might not receive this message, or apply it fully.

We can be weighed down by the negativity around us.

Our Lord is saying: Over here, look at Me. Draw life from Me.

It is not only today that He is Risen. We choose one day to emphasize the point, but the reality lasts all year.

On any day at any time we can claim an infusion of life from the Risen Christ.

He will give us that infusion which will express itself as some form of help to us – protection from evil, courage to do good, generosity to forgive, hope for the future – whatever it may be.

Between these two consolations we have to be happy: we will rise again at some future date to eternal happiness; but even now we rise above sin and darkness, calling on the life of Christ.

Palm Sunday 14 Apr 2019 Sermon

Palm Sunday 14.4.19 Continuity

The palms we held today can be seen as having two meanings.

The first is simply the jubilation we feel at the coming of the Saviour. We welcome Our Lord, whether it be His birth at Bethlehem, His Second Coming in glory; or any stage along the way.

His entry into Jerusalem we welcome because it means the moment of our liberation is coming closer.

There is an irony about His welcome to Jerusalem. He was cheered by the crowds, yet many of those same people would have been calling for His Blood a short time later.

We do the first but not the second. We cheer His coming, but we do not turn against Him.

For us the palms represent a continuity; there is no change of direction for us. No about face, no desertion.

The palm now serves as a mark of identity. We are not afraid to be known as His disciples. We will take any abuse which comes our way because we are His disciples. We will even go to the Cross with Him if required.

In any event we will use every moment of life remaining to us in His service.

The story of His Passion and death is a sad tale of human malice and weakness.

There are points in that story where we can say: I would not do that – such as Peter’s denial, or Judas’ betrayal.

And points where we would do that - such as the women who lamented for Him, or who stood near the Cross.

The Passion story is in one way fixed, and we have heard it many times. In another way it is still happening, insofar as we are the present players on the stage, and it is up to each one of us to determine how the story goes.

We can follow either the good or bad example the story provides for us.

We can always choose for the good, even if we have been on the wrong side previously.

The bad can come right; the good can get better still.

May this coming Holy Week be a time of profound reflection for each of us, leading us to a firmer than ever decision to follow Our Lord and Saviour, keeping that palm as a reminder of our jubilation and loyalty.

Passion Sunday 7 Apr 2019 Sermon

Passion Sunday 7.4.19 Suffering

We prepare to travel the next two weeks culminating in the Easter Triduum.

We hope to learn as we go, growing in our understanding of all that Our Lord went through, receiving His mercy and grace as we do that.

They say a drop of Our Lord’s blood would have been enough to save us - His blood being of infinite value. He wanted to do more than the minimum, however. He gave all His blood for us. He endured unspeakable suffering, from His arrest to the moment of His death.

We speak of His Passion and Death - the Passion meaning His suffering.

Our Lord experienced pain in His humanity. We must never say He does not understand our troubles. He has been through far more than we ever have, or will endure.

Suffering is the index of love. The more we love someone the more we are prepared to put ourselves out for that person.

It can be love for more than one person. What about everyone in the world - past, present and future? This is what Our Lord had - enough love to be willing to suffer for each and every person; including the undeserving and ungrateful. He died for us while we were still sinners (Rm 5,8)

He demonstrates the depths of divine love. He gives us not just words but deeds, as in the miracles He worked. He shows us not just theory but practice, as in putting His words into action.

Love thy neighbour – He says, and He does. Greater love than this has no man than to lay down his life (Jn 15.13)… He does lay down His life. He is leading from the front.

His suffering is even more to be wondered at insofar as it was voluntary, and at any point He could have escaped.

He could have come down from the Cross; or simply switched off the pain – but He allowed Himself to go through the whole thing, pain and all.

This has to make some impression on us – hard-hearted though we may be.

To help us be influenced by this event, the Church gives us two weeks to retrace Our Lord’s steps. We can go through the time with Him, especially from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday.

We express sorrow for contributing to His pain, because of our sin.

We express gratitude for what His suffering has enabled – our forgiveness and eternal life.

We resolve to imitate His example; to take on His way of looking at people, to be willing to suffer with Him in His desire to save them.

Our love becomes more than just words; it becomes real in its application.

We learn with Simon the Cyrenian, and Veronica, and the women of Jerusalem in consoling Our Lord in  His pain. The mob cries out for His blood; all the more do we stand with Him.

He suffered to set us free from sin and death. It is an act of love on His part which will move at least some people to a change of heart - like the Good Thief (Lk 23,39-43), or the Centurion (Mk 15,39).

We hope each Holy Week goes some way to enflaming us into understanding our Lord’s suffering and adopting it. Our Lord knows what each is capable of and will allow it accordingly.

We pray for our capacity to love to increase, so that we can suffer without complaining.

We leave it to Our Lord to know what to ask of each disciple. If we comply with His wishes, and do not resist Him, it will be better for all.

By His holy Cross may He continue to redeem the world.

4th Sunday of Lent 31 Mar 2019 Sermon

4^th Sunday of Lent 31.3.19 The Eucharist

Today’s Gospel describes Our Lord’s multiplication of bread, and this we take to indicate further the even greater miracle of turning bread into His Body – which happens at every Mass.

His Body can still be referred to as ‘bread’ in a poetic sense. It is the bread from Heaven, the bread of life. Those who eat of it will never die (spiritually).

This special bread can be further multiplied to reach every corner of the world, and every person potentially has the chance to receive it.

This is bread which meets our deepest needs. It does not just take away hunger as ordinary bread does, but goes to our souls and feeds the hunger there.

It makes us better people, stronger spiritually, happier; more able to cope with life’s troubles; more motivated to help others and overcome selfishness.

All this is free gift from God, who once rained bread from the sky on His people, and now treats us even more generously.

We are enabled through this bread to commune with Almighty God. We call it Holy Communion. We do not normally get to dine with famous people, but we can dine with God Himself.

We might think God is remote from us. He is a long way away certainly, with all those galaxies in between.

But He is also prepared to wash our feet; to forgive our sins; to take an interest in our lives, no matter how lowly we may be.

He does this without losing any of His grandeur. He is the highest possible being, yet He humbles Himself to share our lives and help us along.

We could say that He treats us a great deal better than we treat Him!

With so much going for us how do we not derive the full benefits of the Eucharist, or more generally of God's willingness to take notice of us?

He is offering; we may not be receiving. Many people have only a hazy notion of God. They do not see Him as the distinct figure revealed by Jesus Christ, but just as some sort of cosmic presence.

Many Catholics believe in the true God but they are confused about His identity and nature.

They do not think they need to come closer to Him. They make light of the Sacraments, neglecting them for long periods of time. If they do receive Holy Communion it will often be sacrilegiously.

All the while God remains patient with His people; calling them back to a proper understanding.

Any sin can be forgiven, including that of a disrespectful attitude to the Eucharist.

We ask for His mercy, and the grace to present ourselves properly before Him.

Great humility is required here, else we take the Eucharist just on appearance and fail to value it.

God has made Himself visible for our benefit. It is a disguised presence, but no less important.

What it does for us will depend on how much of ourselves we bring along.

Be prepared to be surprised, as He can do all sorts of things in and around us.

We need to expect, and want good things to happen.

As our own faith increases we are likely to see more good fruits.

We can help each other with this. The more people take their proper place before the Lord the better the whole Church can function. Everyone must play his role and fit in with Our Lord. The Eucharist has a communal dimension as well as individual.

Swords would become ploughshares (Is 2,4), if enough people would take the Bread from Heaven in the way that God intends it.

Take and eat, but do not argue. Just receive it and let it take effect.