3rd Sunday after Easter 25 Apr 2021 Sermon

 

3^rd Sunday after Easter 25.4.21 Seeing God

A little while and you shall not see Me, and again a little while and you shall see Me (Jn 16,16)

Our Lord is preparing His apostles for the time when they must part, firstly the Crucifixion, and then His Ascension. They have to be strong to bear with separations, given how close they had been to Him for three years.

As for us, we never have seen Him in the normal sense of the term; but we can see Him with the eyes of faith; we can discern His presence and benefit from it.

It is vital that we take advantage of every possible way we can discern the presence of God and His holy will, and ask His help to fit in with that will.

Discouragement looms on all sides and in many ways, coming in the form of doubt, or fear, or disappointment, or any other negative factor.

We need to ‘see’ God, as in ‘perceive’ Him; to be aware of His closeness to us, and to have such trust in that closeness that we will prevail over all difficulties.

Generally, God wants us to know Him and makes Himself available to us to call upon in every circumstance.

However in one sense He does ‘hide’ from us. Godhead here in hiding … the words of a eucharistic hymn. He hides Himself under the appearance of bread.

We see Him there, but in a way that leaves us wishing for more. This is what He intends for us. We are the bride of the Song of Songs, looking for her Beloved. She spares no effort to find Him, because she knows all her  happiness is invested there. (Songs 3,1-4)

We also need His help for a hundred different problems, and we seek Him out in that sense also.

In another way it is hard for us to see Him.

Because of all the sin in the world there is a lot of darkness in a spiritual sense, making it hard to see good behind all the evil and the suffering it causes.

If we lived holier lives we would see more than we have so far. We would become more familiar with His ways, and not be so quick to panic if things appear to be going the wrong way.

Our Lord expects His disciples to be faithful to Him; to have enough faith to trust in  Him, even if we do not understand all that is happening.

This is the level of faith that we need. Our faith is in the person not in circumstances. The typical human reaction is that faith is higher when things are going well, and lower when  going badly.

Our Lord does not mean to be hidden from us in this second sense – the result of our sin.

He wants us to leave the sin behind and come to know Him better.

He could at any time make Himself more obvious, and He may yet do that through extra miracles. Mostly, however, He makes Himself obvious enough to those who love Him, and are prepared to seek Him.

This is so we can grow in faith and love at the same time.

Strong faith withstands all pressures and setbacks, and will influence others in the same direction. To teach others to find God is the best thing we can do for them.

Our Lord’s intention was that the Church would be a nucleus for spiritual renewal as it travelled to every corner of the word.

People would be persuaded - not forced - to join this Church.

The plan has worked partially, but not as well as intended.

Many have lost patience with God, demanding more direct answers from Him. We must let Him organise His own methods, and give a good example to the world.

In a ‘little while’ we shall see Him without shadow, in Heaven!

2nd Sunday after Easter 18 Apr 2021 Sermon

 

2^nd Sunday after Easter 18.4.21 Value of one 

Our Lord knows each person so completely. We are thinking we are on our own in a cruel impersonal universe and we find that the Creator of that world is vitally interested in what becomes of us.

The lost sheep, the one out of a hundred. Many would accept a one in a hundred wastage.

Even the ninety-nine might do that. But Not the Good Shepherd.

Today there is much emphasis on self-esteem. We generally think it is a good thing to affirm each other.

But such affirmation can become meaningless if we are just saying someone is good for the sake of saying it. If we call everyone good, whether they are or not, the term ‘good’ loses its meaning.

True affirmation requires balance. The chief point to remember is that God is at the source of all good.

If one is talented or holy, such a state is possible only by the grace of God.

There is merit in choosing to cooperate with that grace. Thus we honour the saints for doing that.

If we leave God out, as many would, our sense of the specialness of each person is a matter of shifting opinions.

Not everyone is equally special when it comes to secular opinion. A lot of people are expendable, eg babies in the womb, elderly people, other races, lower classes etc.

God has implanted a soul in each person. He has called each one into being from  nothingness. We cannot discard anyone that He holds important – and that is everyone.

With God firmly in our minds we regard people in the same light as He sees them - each one of great value, and needing to be saved.

To say that God loves someone is not to say that He approves of everything that person does.

He does not approve of sin, and nor should we.

However, if we should not praise people too much, we should not condemn them too much either.

Whereas we might simply want to punish the sinner, God desires repentance and restoring. Is it my will that a sinner should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways, and live? (Ez 18,23).

We seek the lost; we do not just write them off. In this we imitate God's own attitude.

We can encourage or correct each other as required, remembering that the ultimate goal is to bring everyone closer to Christ.

We share in Our Lord’s desire to gather people to Himself. We can help by our prayer, sacraments, sacrifices, good works etc.

This is by way of calling everyone to know God better, and all that flows from that, including belonging to His Church.

We may not know how to reach someone who is hardened against such approaches but we can help with our small bit, believing and hoping that change can happen.

We can help the Good Shepherd insofar as He wants our participation.

On our own account we look for Him. We do not want to make it hard for Him to find us.

We could say, in summary that no one is so good that he does not need God’s help.

And no one is so bad that he is beyond God’s help.

If we keep the proper perspective we will be able to ‘feel good’ about ourselves, knowing we are loved by God, yet not exploiting that love to do as we please.

Instead we will grow in our return love for God and be anxious to please Him in all things.

This will happen if we listen for the voice of the Shepherd.

Low Sunday 11 Apr 2021 Sermon

 

Low Sunday 11.4.21 Seeking mercy

St Peter preaches to the crowd on Pentecost morning that they should be sorry for what they have done, and many repented that day (Acts 2,37)

It is not always so easy to achieve large scale repentance. We find it hard enough to convert even one person at a time.

Yet that story proves people have an ability to be moved when confronted by guilt; and conversely when they realize the goodness of God, and how desirable it is to be one with Him.

Fortunately for us, God is very patient and generally gives people a lot of time to get themselves in order.

This is because He wants to save people, even if they do not want it, or even believe in it.

Consider the crucifix. He hangs on the Cross absorbing the malice and frivolity of the crowd.

He is passive and silent, while they can say whatever they like, mocking and jeering, thinking themselves to have the upper hand.

We know Our Lord could have silenced the crowd by any act of divine power, but He let them have their brief triumph.

God's apparent silence seems to goad some people into extra confidence in opposing Him. If He does not act immediately they assume He is incapable of acting. Very foolish.

He is giving them another chance to reconsider. It is comforting to reflect that some of the people gathered in mockery on Good Friday would have been in repentance on Pentecost morning.

The same possibilities still occur in our time, as people ignore and disobey God while He maintains silence.

It is Good Friday all over again. God is holding off, offering mercy, hoping people will look for that mercy, while the ‘crowd’ (much of the human race) has only contempt or indifference for Him.

God will not change His purpose. He will call a  halt on human history at some point, but will never lose His desire to save as many as possible.

People may or may not change. It depends on a thousand factors which way they will go.

For our part, we deepen our own response, accepting fully God's wisdom and forbearance, and cooperating with His will, rather than opposing it.

It is one thing to believe in the resurrection as a physical miracle. St Thomas leads us in that direction.

It is a bigger thing again to believe in the infinite patience of God as He holds out mercy in the face of such provocation.

We believe that anyone can be saved, with sufficient contrition and amendment of life. We want this as God wants it.

We might say we are behaving ourselves and therefore have nothing to be ashamed about as we contemplate the Cross.

We still commit sins, very likely, so we are ashamed of that.

But there is another obligation on existing disciples. We must desire mercy for others as God Himself desires it.

He wants us to pray for those who need His mercy, as we do in every Mass, Rosary, chaplet, novena etc. This attitude of mercy pervades all our coming and going.

Prayer for mercy will help us remember why Christ came, and what He is still trying to achieve. It will also give us a gentler disposition, and make us less harsh and critical.

We cannot have angry vengeful disciples giving a completely different message than that of their Master. Father , forgive them they know not what they do. (Lk23,34).

We see that everyone needs to change from previous attitudes. The wicked must repent; the ‘good’ must work on their attitude, so that they are totally free of malice and desire for revenge, having instead a pure desire for the good of all. Lord, have mercy!

Easter Sunday 4 Apr 2021 Sermon

 

Easter Sunday 4.4.21 Sharing in Christ’s victory

The news that Christ is risen is good for us. How so? it is because He rose from the dead in His humanity.

He is the new Adam starting a new humanity in terms of how people think and act.

We share in the humanity of Adam in terms of physical descent.

We share in the humanity of Christ by a spiritual identification.

We can look to the words of today’s epistle: Brethren, purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new paste, as you are unleavened: for Christ our Pasch is sacrificed. Therefore, let us feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wicked­ness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

This, and many similar passages, call us to identify with Christ in the way that we live. If we live out His kindness, compassion, mercy, goodwill etc then we become fit to be His companions, and to share in the new humanity which He represents.

Sharing in His humanity we share in whatever happens to Him, including His Resurrection.

We do not know exactly our degree of identification with Christ but we can do certain things that will move us in the right direction.

Prayer, Penance, Sacraments, Good works – they all help. Putting it all together in a consistent pattern we can be confident of becoming more united with Him and so sharing His final glory.

[Acknowledging at all times that it is only by His grace acting on us in advance that we can achieve any level of holiness.]

So when we hear about the Resurrection of Our Lord it is not some remote piece of news but something that concerns us immediately.

He wants us to give Him a full human response, not just treat him as a meal ticket or source of favours. We really come to want unity with Him, and this amounts to loving Him.

This is the real objective of God in arranging the whole course of events, from Adam to Abraham, to Moses, to Christ.

How much each person wants to be involved is the next issue. Each person must make that decision. It is easy to ignore Him, or - even if we believe in Him - to stop too soon in our quest to understand Him.

He will help us to know what He wants. If we are humble enough to ask His help we will certainly make progress.

It is often lamented that Adam and Eve committed the first sin, from which came so much trouble.

They made a big mistake, rejecting a very good deal; but they were not the only ones. The human race has largely rejected the best offer that could be imagined - that God Himself would come into our midst, offering eternal life, and inviting a response.

And this is an extended offer. It still applies and can be claimed at any time.

Why do we not go the obvious course? Christ stands before us beckoning. It is a standing offer, but there is a time limit.

The new humanity offers more than eternal life. It can apply in this life as well. We are commanded to live holy lives, but we will find that no burden, once sufficiently drawn into friendship through Our Lord.

We imitate Him effortlessly as did Our Lady and all the saints. If we love Him enough, of course we want to please Him.

If we do not love Him enough He can help us to reach that state.

This is where it gets difficult. Those who reject Him largely do not seek Him, certainly not as a high priority. We who do understand how important He is must work harder to help others see what they are missing.

We must give good example at all times, and in the process be advancing our own union with Our Lord.

Christ is Risen indeed  - it is good news, and massively relevant to all of us, and everyone else too.

Palm Sunday 28 Mar 2021 Sermon

 

Palm Sunday 28.3.21 Commitment

The people welcome Our Lord, which is right, but then call out for His crucifixion just a few days later. We want to maintain the welcome and leave out the betrayal!

Why did they betray him so quickly? It must mean that their welcome was rather thin.

They might have thought they meant it but experience exposed the limits of their loyalty.

They were suffering from ‘following the crowd’, a dangerous practice. They had not reached the solidity of faith required to hold firm.

Religion does lend itself to self-deception, and sometimes to being too glib about what that religion requires. To be a disciple of Christ is a serious business.

There are not supposed to be grades of disciples because all disciples should be good .

In reality we do have weak or mediocre disciples. This is what we have, but not how it is meant to be. All disciples should be red-hot in belief and commitment - centred on the person of Our Lord.

Each of us, as individuals, can make it so. It is not meant to be hard to be a disciple. There will be suffering but the reality itself is liberating. Set free from all that is false, we breathe the fresh air of Heaven.

We have a foretaste of heavenly joy as we recognize the true Saviour who can remove all the things that afflict us.

This is the miracle we have been looking for. He has come among us and we take the medicine.

It does require a response from us; we do need to be committed enough, at least to be within range of Calvary.

And in range of Christ Himself calling in His disciples. We might be a long way back from the front row but we are scrambling along and not straggling; certainly not abandoning our position.

We know people can be weak, but they can also improve.

For each of us, our present level of commitment can be increased - it needs to be, and it can be.

We drill it into our consciousness that Jesus Christ is our first loyalty. He is not an option or an extra, but the centre of our lives.

If we can keep the discipline we will hold on, carried by our prayers and sacraments etc.     

This is how to be strong and remain so, constantly reaffirming what we already have, we become ready to go to the Cross, and to stay there.