2nd Sunday after Easter 26 Apr 2020 Sermon

2^nd Sunday after Easter 26.4.20 Adversaries

There is an adversarial element to our faith. We are opposed to something, and something to us.

Who or what is the adversary? He might be like a wolf, or a snake, or a roaring lion but it is the same Evil One who seeks to destroy us.

From such cunning and ferocious malice we are protected. We need protection more than real sheep need it from their enemies.

That protection comes from the Good Shepherd. Our Lord Himself.

The fact that we have an enemy trying to destroy us would be missed by many in today’s Church, where there is a determination to see only the positive side of things. We ascribe only good motives to what others do; we refuse to condemn anyone or anything. We are ‘inclusive’ and ‘non-judgmental’.

In this approach we do not need protecting, as there is nothing worse to encounter than human frailty.

Unfortunately, this approach does not match reality. Evil does still exist, with the Devil himself and all his followers, spiritual and human.

We need protecting from that evil – the wisdom to distinguish good from evil; the strength of will to follow always the good.

We are positive when we can be. Indeed we seek to include others, to be reconciled with them, as long as we are first in union with Christ.

Human unity is greatly to be desired, but it can be achieved only if we each have unity with Christ. (One could be united in evildoing, for instance.)

We must not forget the most important person around, which is God.

There is a battle raging around us – light versus dark, good versus evil; Christ versus Satan.

The modern mind seeks always to balance out the two views. Maybe we can have a little of both – good and evil! Not to be too extreme, you know.

There is no middle ground here: we are either for Christ or against Him (Lk 11,23).

We cannot just average out good and evil; we must choose which side we are on.

We learn to see through falsehood even when it presents itself as something good. For example when people advocate for abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage etc.

We gather close to the Good Shepherd. This means, in practice, that we believe Him, we  obey Him, we trust  Him.

Christians must be as wise as serpents (Mt 10,16) without actually being serpents. We believe in the good; but we also recognize evil.

Safety is much emphasized at present with the Corona virus. This is physical safety only.

Who is worried about safety of the soul? Sadly, many Christians think that is no longer an issue.

We need to sharpen our awareness of crucial distinctions. We call a spade a spade, and continue to do that.

Even if everyone around seems to be losing their grip, we hold on tight (to the Good Shepherd)

Faithful Christians today are likely to experience isolation from others around them – family, friends, work colleagues. You might be the only person in your family, circle of friends, workplace who thinks as you do.

If you are holding to the Catholic faith do not give way, do not despair.

Your endurance will gain you your lives (Lk 21,19).

God does not change, nor His holy will for us. He keeps a steady course, and so do we.

We choose the right side, and push that as far as it needs to go.

We will not be too harsh with others - which is the great fear - because we will be Christ-like, and give others every possible chance to join the right side.

And if we here now can be strong it will bring others in.

At the very least let us be aware of what is going on. And of the adversity we face.

Like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5,8). No dialogue there!

But He that is in us is stronger than he that is in the world (1 Jn 4,4).

Our side is winning; His will be done.

Low Sunday 19 Apr 2020 Sermon

Low Sunday 19.4.20 Reassurance

Thomas wanted more proof of all that was being said. We are not supposed to ask for more proof all the time, but many of us would still identify with Thomas.

We always seem to need reassurance. The Lord has delivered us in the past, but will He deliver us this time? It is alright to ask for reassurance but not to demand it.

We cannot put conditions on God or give Him ultimatums. Unless He come and work a miracle right now I will not believe – that sort of approach.

Our Lord says: Blessed are those who have not seen. That must include us: we have not seen Him in the flesh; we did not have the chance to touch Him as Thomas did.

But we have ‘seen’ Him in other ways; we have perceived His presence and His activity.

Our Lord has other ways of making His presence felt than in spectacular miracles.

As with His childhood and private life in Nazareth, a large of part of His life was spent doing ordinary things; so ordinary that His neighbours did not think He had any particular outstanding qualities (Is not this the carpenter’s son – Mt 13,55)

By spending so much time on the ordinary, Our Lord is teaching us that in doing ordinary things well we are going to find Him, or ‘see’ Him.

He reveals Himself progressively. If we show that we are capable of recognizing Him in this more subtle way, He will make Himself better known to us.

His post-resurrection appearances had this quality. He did not burst in on the apostles and say, Look, I am risen.

He appeared to them quietly and left it to them to find their way to belief.

In this He gave the apostles the chance to grow in faith, and so He has been doing ever since for us.

He draws out the faith that lives in us, but we may not have known it was there.

Some things we know; other things we trust. We are dealing with the same Person who is always reliable.

Thus we can base our course on that certainty.

If we could add another beatitude it might be: Blessed are those who know where to look! Those, who are accustomed to the Lord’s voice; His manner; His ways.

We are blessed if we can do this because it puts us in the way of receiving a lot more grace, of being able to understand and to explain the ways of the Lord.

We can never completely fathom God's reasons for doing certain things, but we can still proceed with a trusting and compliant attitude – what a disciple should have been all along.

If we are ever flagging in faith, we have a great many miracles to call upon.

We should not need miracles to believe but they are there all the same.

God has intervened many times in human history to make a point.

We draw comfort from these times, but most of all it is the Person of Christ we possess. My Lord and My God, said St Thomas.

He is Lord and God; He is always in control. Therefore we take refuge in Him, not the wisdom of the world, or its celebrities – but only in God.

We give Him each moment, and the waters will part in the middle to let us through.

Easter Sunday 12 Apr 2020 Sermon

Easter Sunday 12.4.20 Certainty

This is our greatest feast and the greatest event in human history – at least along with the Incarnation and the Crucifixion.

The Resurrection is of massive importance to us. If we read the signs right we have great hope of victory during this life, and the promise of eternal happiness in the next.

We live in a world where there is a great deal of misery; and there always has been, ever since the first sin.

And each of us carries the crosses of daily life. We feel the pressure of adversity, disappointment, tragedy - really sapping our strength, eating away at our sense of wellbeing.

So it often happens that from a position of extreme difficulty we proclaim that we believe in the Resurrection of the Lord. We might believe it in our heads, but do not always register it in our emotions. We have much to be happy about, but somehow we do not always connect with it.

Yet that head knowledge is not to be dismissed, because there we find objective reality.

Objective reality is where a thing exists independently of whether we know it, believe it, or feel it.

The Resurrection is one such reality. We know it to be true, and what a truth it is.

Our Lord rose from the tomb on Sunday morning, so soon after dying.

No one saw Him rise, but they saw Him risen. This is the proof of the objective reality.

The event cannot lose its reality. People may fall away from the belief, or refuse to embrace it, but it remains as real as ever.

Our hope rests in this objectivity. It has a solid foundation. This is the Good News, and the best part of that News is the Resurrection.

Our Lord rose in His human nature. He was bringing humanity through to the other side of the grave.

A lot of things flow from that.

The objective stabilises the subjective. We have a strong foundation from which we can confidently negotiate all the twists and turns we encounter.

We feel our mortality, our vulnerability. The more we draw upon Our Lord the more we see His Resurrection as our own. We go with Him to Heaven.

We become one with Him through faith and baptism; then sustain that union through the Sacraments and holy living (aided by repentance). To this extent we are already risen:

‘So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.’ (Col 3,1-3)

On this logic Easter Sunday is our resurrection too, at least partially. What we do not have yet is coming, and you can bet the house on that.

Our Lord is assuring us that we will rise with Him. We will be raised again, not just a resuscitation to the present life, but something much fuller and richer.

There will no more death or sickness or pain. Every tear will be wiped away (Rev 21,4).

And this is just the physical dimension.

Better still is that we are being transformed spiritually, to be Christ-like in all things.

While we are still slogging it out, we could say that our hope also is being raised; our hope which is not just optimism but a certainty based on very solid foundations.

Happy Easter! – means more than have a nice two or three days. It means: enjoy the happiness that flows from Our Lord’s complete triumph over sin and death.

Palm Sunday 5 Apr 2020 Sermon

Palm Sunday 5.4.20 Welcoming the Saviour

We hold the palms in welcome of Our Lord; we wave them in jubilation.

This expresses our gladness that the Saviour has come.

We are glad to see Him at whatever stage of  His life: whether He is the Baby at Bethlehem; or the Saviour coming into Jerusalem; or the Lord returning at the end of time.

We are glad to see Him because He saves us, and how could we not want that?

There may be an element of fear possible at the idea of Christ coming to us, especially as regards the Last coming.

If we are afraid to see Him we can rectify that by bringing ourselves into union with Him.

He will not punish us if we are sincerely contrite, and resolving to live better lives.

We want to get everything right with Him. This is what salvation means - that we are transformed from fearful selfish creatures walking in darkness - to children joyfully confident, basking in the presence of God; totally in union with His holy will.

For all sorts of strange reasons we might resist salvation, preferring darkness to light.

Instead we wave that palm, welcoming the Saviour into our hearts, our world, the world.

The original crowd went from Hosanna to Crucify. We go from Hosanna to Miserere – Have Mercy.  Forgive our blindness, our stupidity, and give us instead true wisdom and gratitude.

We will take a different line from previous generations. The story of Our Lord’s passion and death reminds us how foolish and evil the human race can be. We learn from that, and we change it. We let the Saviour save us.

Confessions

For locals in Adelaide, I can hear Confessions by appointment.

Send me an email first

dthorgood@hotmail.com 

and we can go from there.

May God sustain us all and give us the abundant graces we need.

Passion Sunday 29 Mar 2020 Sermon

Passion Sunday 29.3.20 Disposition

Our Lord had great difficulty convincing the Jewish leaders of His identity as Messiah – even more so as to His divinity.

The people (especially the leaders) were very resistant to His message. They just did not want to know Him, whether He was right or wrong.

Their passions aroused, they were no longer capable of reason. Hatred took hold of them  – led by the devil himself, and followed by many others in every generation.

For the sake of those who would still listen, Our Lord revealed Himself gradually and carefully.

First he points out the absurdity of those who objected to His healing on the sabbath. The Jews would circumcise on the sabbath, for the benefit of the one circumcised. Our Lord would heal the whole man. Is that so bad?

Our Lord reveals Himself to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear (Mt 13,9-16). If we have the right disposition we will see as much as we need to; otherwise we will stay in our blindness (Jn 9,41).

We could say that those who want to believe will believe, and those who do not want will not believe.

This is not to say that belief is merely subjective. The objective truth will not change, but to receive that objective truth we need to have the right disposition.

If we are prepared to take Our Lord at His word (bolstered by countless miracles) we will believe.

If we are going to argue every point and let spite take over from reason, then we will join all the others who have rejected Him over 2000 years.

Faith can be blocked, and it often is. Our Lord still tries to get through to such people but it is hard, even for Him, when pure goodness is rejected simply out of hatred or indifference.

This is where we come in. We pray constantly for conversion of sinners - enough prayer to compensate for all the blasphemies and sacrileges committed since Our Lord appeared.

Prayer is needed. We do not have to pray that people go to the football, or eat plenty of food, or anything else that appeals to them; but we do have to pray they go to church!

What is the difference? Inclination.

People are inclined to do what they want, and basic appetites are strong – the pleasures of the flesh: be it food or drink, or sexual indulgence, or idleness. These things come easily; but people are not so inclined to obey God, or to worship Him.

This is where we come in again. We have got as far as believing in God, and understanding His immense importance.

So we express and increase our confidence in Him, on every matter large or small.

We maintain always a respectful disposition. We are disposed by His grace to trust His ways.

We do not dispute every point or demand that God act in a certain way. That is what the unbelievers do; it is not for us.

Our belief, tested over time, eventually becomes complete certainty, never again to give way to doubt.

We cannot convert others by our own efforts, not even if we were perfect in all things.

Only the grace of God can do that, cutting more finely than any double-edged sword (Heb 4,12); penetrating the defences of those who are resisting faith, for whatever reason.

We can help in the conversion process, however, by holding to the truths that we have received; maintaining the humility essential to be able to see and hear the ways of God

Our constant prayer, penance, almsgiving, and good works will help to shift the balance in the right direction.

There are always some people converting. We see some miracles; we can make a lot more happen.