20th Sunday C 17 August 2025 Sermon

20^th Sunday (C)  17 August 2025 Union with Christ

Our Lord does not really want anyone fighting – such as mother and daughter, as put in today’s Gospel (Lk 12,51).

He has indeed come to bring peace, but it has to be first peace with Himself, then with each other.

If we are all looking to be at one with Him then we will automatically become one with each other. (Like converging on the same place, we all meet there).

He did not want division between people, but He knew His coming would have that effect. Some would accept Him; some would reject Him.

Jesus knew that people could be changeable, spiteful, vengeful, and the like. They could rebel against God and each other. He came to set up a renewed humanity that would not be like that.

Humanity could not be fully saved unless the healing go deep down in the heart, the centre of all desires.

Only those who would allow Him to take over their minds and wills would learn what the peace of Christ really meant.

We are made for God and cannot change that. The best idea is to accept that status and find out where it leads.

Christ dwells in us and guides the way we think, the way we love, what we pursue.

It does not lead to peace at first because there is resistance.

1 ) When missionaries would take the gospel to new places they would meet persecution  (cf first reading, the mistreatment of Jeremiah). It is easier to kill the messenger than to heed the message.

2) Or there is a kind of diluted acceptance, whereby people will accept the Gospel but not as the central driving force of their lives, more as an add-on, a contributing factor but not the main event.

3) Or they will resolve to keep the new doctrines, but keep the old ones as well. So there is always the temptation to worship false gods, in whatever form they come.

No, there is only one God, and one Saviour. Union with Him is like being married; fidelity is essential.

4) Or they will say that we should not preach the Gospel anyway; better to leave everyone as they are. That would bring a measure of peace, but not with Christ. It is good if we do not kill each other, but we still need Christ front and centre.

And where we express this unity with Christ and each other most fully is here in the Church, the people of God.

5) Or they will try to be ‘Christian’ but without Christ. This is when Christianity is reduced to a set of ethics. Jesus was a teacher, nothing more.

No, we cannot have the body without the head. It is one unit, one person who unites all others.

Ethics are essential but they do not stir the soul. We need supernatural help, and we get that from prayer and sacraments.

Let Him be the head and we will learn a lot faster.

Jesus is more than teacher; He is the source of all mercy and grace. He enables all who want to live the new life He demonstrates.

In His personhood He can gather in all who want to be gathered.

We come to love Him, not just obey.

We pray that the mercy of Christ will reach every heart, and thus there would be the peace that Jesus came to bring. This is the fire that He was anxious to light.

If He divides us it is only to reunite us with something better. No less than Himself.

19th Sunday Ordinary Time (C) 10 August 2025 Sermon

19^th Sunday (C )  10  August 2025 Security

When we talk about faith, there are two meanings. Faith is an intellectual assent to what is stated in the creeds. And faith is trust, trusting in God not to let us down.

It is this sense of trust that Jesus is asking of us in today’s Gospel. Faith is the opposite of fear or doubt.  I cannot be afraid if I am on trusting terms with God.

Though ten thousand rise against me (Ps 3,6).

 Though the stalls stand empty of cattle (Hab 3,17). Though the mountains may fall (Is 54,10) – yet will I trust in the Lord, and I will not fear.

In all these texts our security is found in God, not in the lesser things we are inclined to rely on - such as money, physical protection, locked doors.

In all trials I will stand firm. We have many saints, especially the  martyrs, to inspire us by their example.

We have direct access to God's grace and power through prayer and sacraments.

How can we lose? The only way we can lose all this is if we neglect the sources of help which are provided. If we do not pray, nor meditate on these things, and put them into practice, we will be fearful always, unless we change direction.

Jesus tells us not to trust things of earth which thieves or moths can destroy (Lk 12,33-34) Better to build up one’s treasure in Heaven where we will collect it one day.

It is like having shares in a company - we have a share in God. We cannot possess Him but we can share in His life.

We do what we can to stay safe, to stay alive. We are careful what we eat, careful crossing the road, careful going out alone, wearing  seat belts, locking the house, and  money in the bank etc.

These things are all good in their way, but our real security, the one that cannot be taken from us is to be in a state of union with God.

This union is the basis of our trusting God. He will not let us down. Either He will give us what we ask, or something different, at least equally good.

Filled with trust in Him we can then be like the servants who will be found being active when the Master returns. (Lk 12,42-48)

We will do things He wants us to do, whether great or small, from choosing a career to helping a stranger.

We will not grow slack with the passing of time, but use all the time remaining to us to make known the kingdom of God.

The word ‘security’ might convey that we are hiding in shelters, just trying to survive. The stronger disciples are proactive, seeking out ways of serving the Lord.

In our way of looking at things, even to die for Christ can be seen as the work of an active servant.

Our concept of success and failure is different from the world’s. Look at Our Lord Himself. To die on the Cross seemed a very strange way of spreading the kingdom but that is what happened.

We might face unexpected challenges, but we trust that God will bring a good result from it all.

We face many difficulties, but God is bigger than all of them. And to the extent that we ourselves might doubt His power or goodness, He can help with that too.

Many despair but not us. For us it is hope and faith, all the way to the gates of Heaven.

We thank God for His faithfulness to us!

18th Sunday of Year (C) 3 August 2025 Sermon

 18^th Sunday of year (C)     3 August 2025 Pilgrims

God gives us a world full of beauty and then tells us not to become too attached to it!

This we might perceive to be somewhat cruel on His part, but He has our wellbeing in mind.

It is something like you get a box of chocolates for your birthday but you know you should not eat them all at once.

Life is like that. We are tempted to throw off restraint and indulge ourselves with various passions, either wrong in themselves, or taken out of their proper balance. Eg too much computer use or social media. 

What is God doing to us? He is training us, forcing us to go through certain exercises to become more sharply focused. 

See how you go at being generous with  your time and possessions. 

See how you go at being ready to give things up, if required. 

These are areas where we can learn and improve. We do it for other areas of life, why not the spiritual life? 

The rich man forgot that he was on a journey, that he was not in his final home. He became too attached to his surroundings. 

We should get ready for Heaven. It is coming closer in time, and in our readiness to enter there. 

By a combination of sorrow for past sin, and making new resolution we can make progress, and this is the idea. 

I am going to heaven means union with God and all the other heavenly citizens. It is not just a place of pleasures, but of deep union with God, for which we were created. 

God expects us to go through this life aspiring to be with Him not allowing ourselves to be too immersed in this life. If there is any immersing it is with God, not the things God has given us. 

To be totally immersed in God's will and so grow in stature spiritually. 

It just takes a bit of discipline. And perseverance. 

And coming back again and again to the main point. Do not make the same mistake as the rich man. He forgot he was going anywhere. He did not consider his immortality. He forgot to consider the end of his life – end in ‘time’, and end in ‘purpose’. 

We need to know the end before setting out. We take provisions for the journey insofar as we equip ourselves like the wise virgins (Mt 25,1-13). 

Our prayers and sacraments help us to get back on the road.

Many lose faith in God when they are deprived of something or someone they love.

We entrust those we have loved to God's mercy. We hope to see them again, but even that will not be the main point. First we will be in union with God.

We could see this life as a training ground, like a camp. We gradually catch on.

Whatever we use or have in this life we express gratitude and detachment.

The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh. Blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1,21).

And what joy when our journey is complete; then there is no more giving up or taking away.

We grasp all this and then we explain it to our neighbours, if they will listen!

Every situation, every experience can be a winner, a chance for correction and growth.

We encourage each other as we are all in the same boat, trying to bring that boat to the eternal shore.

It is all a matter of directing our desires to the right place. If we love this world too much we love Heaven not enough.

Think of whatever we love here as a preview of Heaven. To stimulate our appetite.

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is thirsting for You, my God (Ps 42,1).

17th Sunday (C) 27 July 2025 Sermon

17th Sunday (C )  27 July 2025 United with God

God will give you what ask though it might take a while.

It sounds easy the way it is put in the Gospel. Just ask and you will receive.

But it takes a long time, or never, in some cases.

If we ask something that is not God's will it cannot happen, no matter how much we ask, or how well.

If we do not get what we want we can be discouraged and even angry. Still, prayer is never wasted; we hope for other benefits to come from the prayer.

It is not so simple to ask and receive when there are multiple factors involved. So many things are out of place in the surrounding culture.

We would get a lot more prayers answered if we behaved better, the ‘we’ being the whole Church or whole human race.

We have to pray for the surrounding factors as well; see the whole context of the prayer objective.

For example, to pray for peace requires that everyone has to have peace in their hearts. And that is a big operation. Much more than stopping a particular conflict somewhere.

Praying for things to happen should flow from the closeness of our relationship with God, rather than only when there is a  crisis - which would suggest we do not have a strong connection with God.

Our Lady had the desirable link with God, and so was able to pray for a miracle at Cana, without making any song and dance, but simply calling on her union with her Son. It was like taking heat from the sun, without affecting what remains with the sun.

This is how God wants us to approach Him, and how He can offer so much success in our prayer.

Our prayer can help sort out the surrounding issues as well as the one on which we are focused.

For example, vocations. If we want vocations we have to pray another prayer for conversion of the young to the true faith.

The idea of drawing from the source, the sun, leads to a need for perseverance. We cannot simply name a prayer and then walk off as though we had done enough. We have to stay connected like a plug, ready to be switched on anytime.

We pray all the time in the sense that we are needing to maintain that constant union with God.

If we have that closeness to Him we can pray anytime and always achieve at least some improvement in the outcome.

If we slacken off with the prayer we will have that much more ground to recover each time.

Seeing God as only a provider of miracles is not going to work. We need to be in relationship with God?

So we find ourselves praying for particular goals, while seeking a general movement towards Him.

We seek to restore the order of God’s kingdom, where there is no opposition to God's will.

Stability is needed. Today we honour grandparents for their special role in the Church and wider society.

For those families fortunate enough to have grandparents, and a basic unity, we see in the older generations a foundation for the younger ones to build upon.

Grandparents represent order, stability, wisdom etc. Something like the stability we have in going back to Gd and His kingdom.

For fractured families we pray for as much order as can be retrieved. We need lots of reassurance in today’s world.

For the young, listen to the elders, and avoid a lot of the self-destructive behaviour  that otherwise might follow.

16th Sunday Ordinary Time C 20 July 2025 Sermon

16^th Sunday Ordinary Time C 20 July 2025 Union with God

You are watching your child compete and he comes last. Do you cease from loving him?

When we love people it is for ‘who’ they are, not ‘what’ they can do. ‘Being’ rather than ‘doing’.

You don’t love someone who is a good cook or a handyman who can fix anything. It is good if others have talents, but there has to be more to love than abilities.

Think of a baby who can do nothing at all but is much loved.

We are encouraged in today’s Gospel to pray. Prayer has a lot to do with love.

Prayer can be seen as impractical, as not getting the job done. There is a temptation to skip the prayer and just do whatever work is required. See a problem, fix it.

It is good to have a work ethic, but necessary that we pray also.

Prayer is a communication in love, a communing. God wants us to be one with Him, to have a union of hearts and minds.

Martha was impatient to get the job done; Mary had the better part. She had a deeper love and was happy just to be with Our Lord (Lk 10,42).

You would not have to convince Romeo that he needs to see Juliet once a week! He would want to do that more than anything else, and this is where God wants to see us heading – that we learn to love Him, to seek Him out, and be happy to rest in His presence.

We can find prayer hard work, not always enjoyable and not always obviously fruitful. Many dismiss it as a waste of time. But remember Romeo or Mary of Bethany.

Then there is the temptation to cut corners. I don’t go to mass because I am out helping people. But if you go to Mass you will help them more effectively.

And growing from one week to the next we get more and more ‘practical’.

And the work we do will be better guided. Setting the right objectives, better time management - these will come from prayer.

As one Christian said: if I have more work than usual to do, I pray more so that I can do it!

Prayer is practical, after all. It gets things done and it can also be seen as itself a kind of ‘job’.

To worship God is one of our main ‘jobs’. God does not need our praise, but we need to praise Him.

This desire is planted in us; it is part of our nature. We need to be loved, but we also need to love. Many stop with human love, but we have to go one stage further – to love God.

Loving God for what reason? Certainly we thank Him, but we do not see him just as provider or organizer.

It is again ‘who’ rather than ‘what’.

We identify with mind and heart. We think the same thoughts and want the same things as God does – always allowing for our inferior status.

When two hearts beat as one. Think of Mass as being with someone you love, and therefore enjoyable and fruitful.

‘All we can do is pray’ is often said in a tone of resignation. It actually means more than it sounds.  Prayer makes things happen.

We pray that others will join us, will lift their hands to God; that churches will be overflowing.

For what we have not been getting right, there is a prayer for that too - Contrition restores things at any time by humbly seeking God's mercy.  Lord, teach us to pray (Lk 11,1).

15th Sunday Ordinary Time C 13 July 2025 Sermon

15th Sunday Ordinary Time (C) 13 July 2025 Good Samaritan 

This parable can be understood from different points of view. We can see Christ as the good Samaritan. We can see ourselves being that Samaritan in imitation of Christ. Or we can see ourselves as the victim, the one who is bashed.

To take the second view, we wonder with the lawyer who is my neighbour, hoping for less responsibility; but it turns out to be everyone is my neighbour.

We can prove this by imagining a person lying bashed on the road. Whom can we refuse to help? Someone of a different colour, religion, social standing? We see at such times that we must disregard any prejudice, and do something to help.

What unites us here is our common humanity. Everyone is a child of God.

We are tempted to restrict our responsibility to lesser numbers or lesser commitment.  Lesser numbers, meaning people like us, people we know.

Lesser commitment meaning we do what we have to do to help, but we do not want to get involved in anyone else’s problems. The Good Samaritan, as we see, took far more trouble than the minimum, and that is Our Lord’s way.

And we are tempted to exclude from our love those who are unlovable, or worse still, they could be our enemies, even people deliberately setting out to harm us. Surely not them too? Yes we have to do good to them if we can (Ga 6,10).

St Paul says: while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rm 5,8).  God can love those who have nothing to recommend them. And we must follow the same line.

Whatever practical action may have to be taken, we are always praying for the wellbeing of others; praying for each and every person that they find their true place with God. Praying that they will be saved, eventually entering Heaven.

We want them to achieve their full potential – not necessarily in worldly terms but in spiritual. This means that we want others to know, love and serve God.

We want everyone to know Jesus Christ. Anyone can change. Some will need more prayer than others. Some may be beyond reach but we do what we can. We must want it (salvation) to happen even if we do not think it is likely.

Some people do not want to be helped, especially if it is a religious-based solution!

We do not force anyone, neither does God. The most we do is offer a way out of their troubles. We wish them well, and pray they will see the light.

People who have been changed through an encounter with God's grace and mercy are grateful for the experience. Those who reject God would be happier if they accepted Him instead.

It is like realising after years how good our parents were, or certain teachers at school etc. It can take a while to sink in. The same extends to God as well; we can complain and argue at first, but later we see how He was helping us.

God creates all of us and all of them, and wants to draw all people to Himself (Jn 12,32).

He will hear the prayer of any repentant sinner. And all the more so if others are praying for that same sinner. Our combined prayer makes a stronger assault for good.

This is the way that divine love works. It breaks down the barriers that people put up to resist God, and wins their assent (still voluntary).

While we broaden our own outlook on charity we are being set free ourselves from lack of charity, a more urgent problem than from being bashed and robbed!

14th Sunday Ordinary Time 6 July 2025 Sermon

14^th Sunday Ordinary Time C  6 July 2025 Harvest

Our Lord issues instructions to the 72 disciples. There is a tone of urgency to the whole matter. Take no provisions; we have a world to save, we must get to it.

Gathering in the harvest is a symbol of salvation, as people who walk in the dark see a great light (Is 9,2). The harvest is rich and must be gathered. The labourers are few.

The harvest refers primarily to people, individual souls. We draw them in from all over the world.

The sooner we can gather them in the more quickly we can gather those who are still resisting in some way. We hope to gain momentum in the task.

There are walls of resistance which we need to get around.

We say to the doubters: turn to God and obey Him. Cast your sins before Him and He will forgive. Serve Him and you will find the key that opens ever door.

To come from death to life is our reward when we do this. Thie behavior to which we are called equals the reward that is offered. Once you are working in the kingdom of God you are happy. To know His ways is to live in the kingdom.

We come to understand that what we believe in is better than all the alternatives.  False religions, no religion – they all lead to darkness.

We believe that we possess the truth, but we do not think ourselves superior. We marvel at God's goodness in a respectful way, not thinking ourselves better than others.

It is hard to sell a truth which repels as it attracts. People would come here for free food or drink etc, but heavenly truth makes certain demands, such as discipline and self–restraint.

Worldly pleasure can be more attractive, at first. Would you prefer a free meal or some gradual growth in virtue?

The physical lays strong claim on us, being more instantaneous. But the spiritual wins out over time. If we do things God's  way we experience great joy. Can we believe it? Try it and see!

This could be seen as another meaning of the harvest.

We have such richness around us in terms of the word of God to teach us, and the grace of God to enable us.

It is as easy as reaching out and taking. When we make any sort of movement towards God we cannot fail to gain something from the operation. We are harvesting God’s goodness.

We are offering Heaven and the way to Heaven, as both happy states.

The idea of  harvesting people would arouse some objection as to individual liberty etc.

But we are talking about voluntary submission to captivity, to become a slave for love of God (Rm 6,22). There is no harm in this, in fact joy.

And for us too, though we already possess the faith. We continuously reach out for more, and are refreshed. More of God, more of goodness. Our faith is rekindled and grows stronger.

It is just a matter of seeing what is there and always has been, but can be missed.

It will often require self-discipline or sacrifice of some kind. St Paul say: I am crucified to the world (Ga 6,14).

Whatever we give up will come back in greater amounts.

Is St Paul too intense? He is just expressing what we find if we take this path.

We are supposed to be intense, not with a wild-eyed manner, but simply pursuing the logic of one good decision after another.

We move into these truths. They are bigger than we are. And we know they are worth having even if we do not have them yet.

Thus the urgency of the disciples’ mission. We need all  this to sort out as soon as possible. The harvest is rich and waiting for us!

Feast of Sts Peter and Paul 29 June 2025 Sermon

Feast of St Peter and Paul 29 June 2025 

We can consider Peter and Paul at the personal level, and also for what they symbolise.

At the personal level we see that both men had transforming experiences. Peter probably would have been happy to end his days as a fisherman and would not have expected to go down in history in such a famous role.

But he was called to greatness, and with some hesitation, fulfilled his destiny.

Many identify with Peter as a person who speaks before he thinks, yet who has an admirable warmth and sincerity. Peter needed his honesty and directness harnessed for a higher cause.

Paul had great zeal for the things of God. But he had the wrong belief. He did not believe that Jesus was the one to be following. He saw the new Christian religion as a heresy, to be stamped out.

But as soon as he met the Risen Lord he accepted correction humbly. Then, without missing a beat, he applied the same zeal in the right cause.

Both men convey a quickness to grasp an ideal and immediately apply it.

They had passionate natures, enabling them to keep to the difficult course which lay before them.

It is good to be passionate when the cause is right. Passionate means we are convinced of the right cause and confident that the necessary help will be there.

So we believe in Jesus Christ, convinced that He is the true Messiah, Son of God. To whom else can we go ( Jn 6,68)

If we give Him our allegiance, we will be open to receive any call or command and have the necessary grace to carry out the task.

At Mass, among other things, we are here for repairs, to be made ready for whatever may come.

This much we learn from Sts Peter and Paul at the human level.

At the more symbolic level: Peter, we could say, represents the fixed nature of the Church and Paul the mobile.

What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? The Church needs to be both these things.

Immovable, insofar as we possess the core truth. We stand as a house of rock which will not fall over no matter how strongly the winds of adversity blow.

Immovable object? We cannot change the basic teaching we have received from the Lord, and passed down to us. We can change our behaviour (for the better) and we agree we should do that, but not the teachings, the sacraments, or the mission. The Church is like a rock,  not obstructing but enabling, giving security. Stand on the rock of Peter and we know we have the true faith.

Irresistible force: is represented by Paul, the great evangeliser and missionary. He understood that the Gospel is meant for the whole world, all nations.

The Gospel can be resisted for a time, but eventually prevails. My word does  not return to Me empty (Is 55,11). The Gospel is truth and charity, bringing healing to all who are open to receive it.

Importantly, St Paul understood that the Church was the new Israel, no longer confined to the Jewish people, but meant for the whole world. There is no racial discrimination in the Church. And the Jews are not excluded. Paul, himself a Jew, understood this very clearly.

(cf Romans, chapters 9-11)

Why does the Church canonise certain people and not others? The canonised ones took it to the limit; they pursued the logic of the Gospel, that demands personal commitment, and expands outwards. Those who believe and live on that belief are likely to stand out as worthy of imitation The two passionate men we honour today are certainly worthy of that.

Sts Peter and Paul, pray for us.

 

 

 

Corpus Christi 22 June 2025 Sermon

Corpus Christi 22 June 2025 One with Christ

When we prepare to receive Holy Communion we are expressing a desire to be one with Christ.

The Eucharist makes us one with Christ, and with all others who are receiving Him.

What is the attraction? God, perfect Man, Healer, Miracle-worker, Teacher, Prophet, Lamb of sacrifice, King of kings and so on…perfect in holiness.

To be near Him is to derive some of the goodness which radiates from Him.

People crowd to see celebrities. No one could rival this celebrity!

Even just to be in the same place is something. But to receive Him as food, that is another level again.

And this is what He wants us to do – to take and eat, for this is My Body.

To eat His body is to eat goodness, with all that could mean.

Jesus wants us to be hungry for Hiim, and all His many good qualities.

This is spiritual nutrition, better than any earthly food. When we eat this ‘bread’ we are eating food that comes directly from Heaven. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

It will do us good, in proportion to how much we desire it. The food is perfect; now we can work on how perfectly we receive it.

We want to come before Him with pure hearts, free from sin. Then we want to benefit as much as possible from the encounter. We have expectant faith. We do not know what exactly each Communion may bring, but we expect something good each time.

We want him to meet our temporal needs – health, family, jobs, etc. He will help with those, but better still to be able to learn to love, as He does. To be people who can make sacrifices for the good of others. This is charity and the greatest gift of all.

We should grow into a little more of charity each time we receive our Lord.

And more wisdom, and courage, and all the various gifts and grace which come from Himself, the source and embodiment of all that is good.

The Eucharist is a means of communicating between God and us, to our benefit and His glory.

It is a simple procedure calling us to a simple response of love to God.

It is a mysterious event, calling us to search for deeper meanings.

Jesus expected the people who witnessed His multiplication of the loaves to look deeper at what they wanted from Him.

When we eat this bread we are unlocking the mystery, connecting with Jesus Christ, being drawn into a life previously unknown. We take on His character, His ways. Not to the same degree but at least the same idea.

Unfortunately, not everyone pursues the search for deeper truth. Not seeing instant results they stop coming to Mass and so deprive themselves of many blessings.

But if we stay on course and keep coming, we will discover this whole new dimension.

It is in the form of food for a reason. We cannot get by with once a year. That leads to spiritual malnutrition. We need this heavenly food, and we need it often.

The Lamb of God wants to be food for all. Everyone is a potential Christian and called to the banquet.

This is the deepest level of understanding. When we take the Eucharist we are seeking this level of unity, with Him and one another.

Trinity Sunday 15 June 2025 Sermon

Trinity Sunday 15 June 2025 Divine Love

It is difficult for a lesser being to explain the greater one,  and that is where we are with reference to Almighty God.

We can at least, however, talk to each other and pool our knowledge, seeking some clarity.

God is eternal, very hard to conceptualise, without beginning or end.

He is outside of time, and that is also hard to grasp, but it makes sense. The Creator has authority over all aspects of His creation, including time.

God had no need of us but chose to make us so that we could share in His glory.

We are invited to choose. Are we with God or against Him? Do we love Him or not?

Many see God as too far away to matter, but it is He alone who keeps us in being.

A life of sin will lead to false perceptions. Our present culture carries on as though there were no God. We cannot unmake Him by anything we may do. Nor can we make Him irrelevant. He is not easy to remove!

We who believe in Him have a duty to atone for the blasphemies and sacrileges committed against Him. As far as we can.

And we give Him the glory that He deserves from us, again the best we can do. This is a relatively straightforward obligation, but how many do not do it! Nor have they done it through all the centuries of time.

On this feast day we make God Himself our main focus. We could call this God's feast day, as we have days for the saints - this one is for God.

We atone for insults to Him; we offer Him praise and thanksgiving; we seek to live in union with His holy will.

And we share our knowledge of Him.

God is mysterious but He has told us certain things about Himself. Such as that He loves us, and desires to save us; that He can forgive our sins, that He will reward the good we do in His name.

He has told us something about His inner life, the interactions between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Church has studied the nature of the Trinity and comes up with this summary: The Father gives of Himself; the Son receives the Father’s giving, and returns it. The love between the Father and the Son is itself a divine Person, the Holy Spirit.

The love between the divine Persons is much stronger than merely human love.

We are beginners at love, compared with God. Still, our capacity to love can increase as we contemplate divine love.

Many would settle with human love thinking that is all they need.

Human love is an important part of proceedings but is not the end of the journey. God wants us to search for Him, like a deer for running streams (Ps 42,1), like the watchman who longs for the dawn (Ps 130,6). The more we look for Him the more apparent His blessings become.

It does us good to praise God. We are caught up in the divine fire of giving and receiving. When born we received love from those around us. As we grew older we learned to return love. And we might even be capable of giving more love than we receive. If so, this is progress in sharing the life of the Blessed Trinity.

As we grow in love for God we desire to be part of His saving plan for the world. We want what He wants, as we lock into union with His will. Once we do that we have achieved the main purpose of our lives – to know, love and serve God. All praise to the Blessed Trinity!

Pentecost Sunday 8 June 2025 Sermon

Pentecost Sunday 8 June 2025 Forever young

We can think of Pentecost as like a nuclear explosion but with good effects instead of destruction.

All that energy flowing out from one room, a new beginning for the human race.

And in this case the explosion is still happening, as waves of love and peace, and all good qualities go out over the world. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Hab 2,14)

When this force meets its target something dramatic happens. Instead of death there is life. All the negative elements are turned into the corresponding good. So despair becomes hope, fear becomes courage, hate becomes love etc.

Unlike a bomb which destroys all in its path the Spirit will go usually where He is welcomed. People can resist but He remains available to be called upon.

Today we express our desire to grow in personal renewal, on one hand, and to facilitate the spread of such a good influence on others, as many as we can reach.

It has never been as straightforward as we would have wished, but still it has been impressive.

Millions have been reached and still at least one billion people claim a link with the Church.

Pentecost has changed history and will greatly influence the future as well.

It will happen a lot more strongly the more people line up on the right side. Good v Evil, we need to know which side we are on.

We cannot have all the enthusiasm we need for the rest of our lives all at once.

We can guarantee, however, that we can always replenish the necessary strength.

 [T]there came in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was wearied, not being able to bear it. Jer 20,9)  We need that fire always.

We could liken each church to an ‘upper room’; we continue what began back there.

Here, once again, we can make contact with the powerful goodness of God.

God never depreciates or grows old. We could say we grow younger when we interact with God, because we are being reborn all the time.

It is not so easy even to organize ourselves, but we have to conquer or re-conquer the whole world.

The explosion can be resisted in this case. Love invites but does not force.

The new order will remain in place, however, as God seeks to claim the lost sheep.

It is a struggle to regain the lost and claim those never reached, while holding those we have.

God has no borders. He regards the whole world as His – a reasonable position insofar as He created it all! Every nation, every person is His.

The world sees so much suffering; now we see that there is a ray of hope. Pentecost reminds us of all the reasons we are still hoping.

The more we hope, the more we leave room to the Holy Spirit to work His wonders. The greatest wonder is when a person takes God at His word and comes to life.

Every year, every day we pray, at least by implication: Come, Holy Ghost. On each and all of us, and all others besides.

Ascension of the Lord 1 June 2025 Sermon

Ascension of the Lord 1 June 2025 Our true home

In a little while you shall not see Me, and again a little while and you shall see Me  (Jn 16,16-22).

Our Lord was referring to His crucifixion as the first separation, and then His Ascension as the second time, anticipating a glorious reunion in each case.

For us it is still a time of separation, to be resolved individually at death, and overall at His second coming.

One good thing about separations is they can increase our desire to see one whom we love. Our Lord wants us to use this present time of our lives, increasing our desire for Him, longing for reunion with Him, and then eternal union.

He leads us on as He offers us something better, our true home.

In the meantime, our waiting is not just idle; we should do good in every way possible (For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people 1 P 2,15).

We might think God is being cruel keeping us at such distance from Him and not ending our exile quickly.

He is never cruel, just firm. Whatever He does is aimed at giving us the best possible outcome. If we learn to wait for our fulfilment in Him, we will be a lot happier overall than if we expect instant delights at every turn.

He will give us all the qualities we need to serve out our time of separation. All our prayer has a certain longing quality about it. The Advent prayer, Come, Lord Jesus says it all.

He offers Himself in sacramental form to keep us on track. There is great power in the sacraments if we let them take full effect.

We are generally too much absorbed in this life and not really trusting God to provide.

We cannot guarantee that we will always be comfortable physically, but we can ensure that we always have spiritual aid, helping us to keep everything in balance.

We learn to keep always one eye on eternity, the long view.

We learn to live each moment for God, without useless worry or futile distractions.

We worry about many things; we have many deadlines to meet, recurring tasks to fulfil. Always there is something to claim our attention.

We can take all that in our stride if we are sufficiently grounded in Christ.

We will find the wisdom and the energy to deal with each problem as it arises.

We have the benefit of God's power and love at every moment. We cannot lose on that basis.

The future is very strange to us;  even as to this life the future is a complete blur. We have no idea what will happen even tomorrow, let alone the rest of our time on earth.

What happens after death is more mysterious still.

Not fully knowing something does not make it untrue.

The atheists and the agnostics ridicule Heaven and the whole spiritual world because they do not see with the physical eyes.

We trust that whatever God tells us is true, whether we understand it or not, whether we have experienced it or not. It is a joy for us waiting to find out what Heaven is like.

The future and the past are all one to God, and so it should be to us as far as faith is concerned. We should be able to believe in future events as surely as those in the past.

And this earth, weighed down by so much suffering as it is, can be enjoyed on the same principle, that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rm 8,39).

He is testing us to see if we are capable of trusting Him to such an extent, at the same time enabling us to do so.

So, the daily grind goes on – for now - but not forever.

In a little while….

6th Sunday of Easter C 25 May 2025 Sermon

 6^th Sunday of Easter 25.May 2025 Peace of Christ

 Peace I leave you, says the Lord, a peace the world cannot give.

 It is said that peace is more than the absence of conflict. It is great if there is no war going on, but even in peacetime we can experience many types of pressure, and there are forms of war such as anger, quarrels, bitterness, spite, accusations, and so on.

 Think of the peace of Eden, that first place we possessed, where everything was as it should be. Peace and order reigned.

 What made Eden so pleasant was that all was according to the mind of God. That is where true peace begins, and there can be  no true peace unless deriving from God.

 When all is in union with Him there will be order in all creation as well. What we had in Eden we still have in Heaven, only better still.

 We might think it unlikely that such order can exist, but it is natural enough if we consider that created being should be in full concord with the Creator Himself.

How could it be otherwise? And we can ask that question of the human race – where have you been all this time? Why did you not seek out the One who has all wisdom, power and goodness to help you find  your way? If you want peace, why did you not look to the One who is the source of peace?

That would be the normal thing to do, where normal means according to the ‘norm’.

It is not normal to go around speaking unkindly to or about others. Like Israel we have been set free from slavery, in our case the slavery of sin. We do not return to Egypt.

The freedom from slavery means, in our case, that our thoughts and words, as well as our actions, are in accord with God.

As to fighting with another, if we are both filled with Christ how can we be hostile to each other? It is like the left hand and the right hand having a civil war.

Many would never have tried very hard to live in this freedom, because they would have judged it to be impossible.

But it is not so hard if we think of it as a matter of union with God. We can call directly on God to give us the peace that flows from being in union with Him. If He is at peace so are we.

The peace of Christ permeates our souls, and our communities, so it blesses us at both levels, the individual and the communal. We acquire a larger vision, and find we can respond to all emergencies in a more ordered way.

We pray for peace in the world, but we realize that first there must be peace in our hearts.

Unless we can bring the disordered passions into shape we cannot have much hope of peace on the world scale.

We work on our own personal level. We restrain from uncharitable speech, raised voices, malicious gossip etc.

And we replace these things with the good things from Heaven. We offload the vices and take up the virtues instead - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Ga 5,22)

Jesus wants to transform us from within, so we are not just keeping commands but actually changing into images of Him. We speak and act as He would, at least as far as charity is concerned. The abiding presence of God is found in us. And that enables us to live in peace.

This is the peace we wish upon each other at every Mass. 

5th Sunday of Easter 18 May 2025 Sermon

5^th Sunday of Easter 18 May 2025  Love one another

Jesus prepares to leave His Church, as we move from Easter to Pentecost. We, meanwhile, adapt to having faith but not the actual sight of Christ. In a little while you will see Me again Jn 16,16.

We see Him with the eyes of faith, or we could say, with the eyes of love.

Love is God's main language, - and if we enact that language we will be on the same wavelength as God and each other.

This is how the Church keeps unity, when it does. It is love that makes it possible for us to perceive the presence of God - if we love one another, as Jesus teaches today (Jn 13,34).  We will be transformed as we do that, better people in a better world.

The Church has buildings and all the latest technology, but those things are just to make possible the main work, which is to love – God and neighbour.

The Church makes present the love of God, through teaching, through works of mercy, through the sacraments. We have to act out this charity, not just have it there in theory.

We have to be active in seeking this divine element. We look for God in all the circumstances we encounter. We try to learn to interpret His will, to be ready to obey Him.

This is hard if we are not used to prayer, or do not have a lot of faith It is something we have to try first, to see if it ‘works’.

Many will say prayer is useless, so they do not pray. But if they did pray – continuously – they would find that it does indeed make a difference.

In the meantime, God wants us to become fluent in His language – Love one another …

And once we have mastered this we can build on to it, reaching a stronger awareness of God, and ways of dealing with every situation.

We can have heaven on earth (second reading) if we do this from the heart, seeking to please God first, knowing that other people will benefit also.

If we really love God we will have a much warmer view of other people.

Big occasions can bring out a stronger sense of solidarity. For example, the recent Pope’s election. This is a small glimpse of the kingdom of God in our midst. A lot of people all sharing the one faith and seeking the same outcomes.

Or pilgrimages to holy places, where people seek higher things.

We derive that extra warmth from the heart of Christ. On the Cross Jesus has His arms outstretched. When I am lifted from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself. Jn 12,32

Loving one another means in practice many different things according to the need. But at the heart of the matter, it means having respect for the dignity of each person, helping those in need – drawing heavily from God's mercy and charity.

God gives us the ability to be merciful as He is merciful. This will come with repeated exposure to His grace.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Cor 13,4-7)

This is how Our Lord keeps us within reach while He is physically away from us. We will hardly miss Him if we take His word seriously and put it into practice. Always with His help.

4th Sunday of Easter C 11 May 2025 Sermon

4^th Sunday of Easter 11 May 2025  Mother Mary

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, World Vocations day, and Mothers Day.

And the first Sunday of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV

Unifying all these points we could say the Love of God is at work, variously looking after us on one hand, and inspiring us to go out to look after others on the other.

Jesus gives us Himself as the Good Shepherd, rounding up His flock, which consists of those who already belong to Him, and those who do not identify but should. He loves them all and seeks to draw them into His heart.

And working alongside the Good Shepherd, we have the Mother of us all influencing us in all the right ways. As mothers do, and Mary especially.

Our mothers helped us to come into this life, and then how to live it. They fed us and taught us many things about life; they gave us what they could. When we reached adulthood they supported us there as well.

We thank them for what they have done or are still doing.

Our heavenly Mother is also there at every step. She will nourish us with truth, and charity and wisdom and a host of other good qualities.

She has so much goodness herself, that she can share it with others, and that is what she does.

She communicates with us in various ways, not usually with audible speech but with ideas, principles, suggestions – various ways that thoughts come to us, and we process them as best we can.

If we say the devil tempts us we can say that God or Mary give us the opposite of a temptation – an urge to something good, to believe more clearly what we should, to respond generously to whatever is expected - such as to respond to the various calls God makes upon us, especially that of priestly or religious vocations.

We pray that the inspiration will be accepted and acted upon. With vocations there may be more than one stage – first, conversion to the faith, then a more particular call such as priesthood.  As with St Augustine, who needed to come to belief and then later was a great bishop.

Mary has a gentle presence and way of communicating with us. She is firm, however, and without overruling our free will, draws us to better things.

She wants only to help people connect with her Son. Woman, this is your son. And so she has been helping ever since. Being mother.

It is good to have her around. In recent years many Catholics have been reluctant to give much attention to Mary.

There is a fear that attention given to her will somehow subtract from attention given to God.

Love is expansive, meaning that we can love more than one person without detracting from anyone else. So for example if you have one child or three or seven it is possible to love all of them.

So we can talk to Mary without in any way lessening our love for Jesus. In fact, her prayer will help us to love Jesus more.

She will help us to know Him better and be more comfortable with His will.

She is mother to many who do not know her, or believe her. She will pray for them anyway, and many will come to conversion through her.

We can always pray directly to God but if we call upon Mary she will add her prayer, and things will go faster and better.

So we pray to her today for all those things going on. Mothers Day, Vocations, The Pope.

3rd Sunday of Easter C 4 May 2025 Sermon

3^rd Sunday of Easter (C ) 4 May 2025 Love at the source

Our dealings with God are personal; to us they can seem impersonal. We tend to see love as human to human, and that is the stuff of love stories. Imagine a film ending with the couple going to church to worship God!

We keep the commands and that goes some way. For example, I do not steal.

But if I do good and avoid evil, not just because it is a command, but because I value the person who would be hurt – that is more like how it is supposed to work.

I would not hurt you because I value you  as a person. Most people we don’t know personally, but we respect their human dignity. Therefore we treat people with kindness, courtesy etc.

This all comes from God, the giver of all that is good. We love people because God loved us first. He loves me and the other person. We return some of that love to him, we hope increasingly. We learn to love one another as an extension of God's love for us.

This makes it easier to keep the commands, so they are not just seemingly random interruptions. The sourcing of these commands from God indicates their meaning and power.

Christ is risen is good, but better still if we love Him. Take Mary Magdalene who loved Our Lord more than the other disciples did, and so experienced more fully the sorrow of the Crucifixion and the joy of the Resurrection.

We might say I don’t want to love that much, but this is the way forward, to be discovered. We will be much happier if we go this way than not. A life of sin is a life of misery, slavery and possibly even damnation. If we can cultivate the personal sense of God we are dealing with goodness itself.

We learn to love goodness itself; no longer abstract, but part of us.

This is better than human to human love, which is limited. With God at the source we can love another person in the love of God for us. It becomes a community of love, all the better.

When Jesus asks Peter, do you love me, it is to probe Peter, and get him to take a longer look at his motives

Feed my sheep means go out in the strength of my love and bring it to others.

Many would see God as a kind of remote presence, having some influence but not much.

Our world with all its buying and selling is the real world, they will say, and talk of heaven etc is vague and abstract, therefor less real.

In fact it is the other way round. The things of heaven are stronger and firmer than the things of earth.

In heaven we find the fulness of love and most of all its reliability; it does not betray or disappoint as mere earthly love will do.

Peter betrayed Jesus although he did not want to, but his earthly nature was too strong at that point. When fortified by deeper exposure to real love Peter was much stronger at Pentecost.

To love many others is also challenging but Paul shows how he could do this. He was so immersed in the love of Christ that he had enough left over for the anonymous communities. He really did love the people that he did not personally know.

God does know us by name and every detail about us, so He also can include everyone at once.

Love is making oneself vulnerable to another. God does that in His own nature, the Trinity, and helps us to do the same as far as we can, and with the largest possible vision of what is at stake.

Yes, Lord, You know I love You…

 

 

 

 

 

 

2nd Sunday of Easter 27 April 2025 Sermon

2nd Sunday of Easter 27 April 2025 The Pope

We are preparing for the election of a new Pope.

We pray for the whole process - especially that the man chosen to be Pope will be the one whom God wills for that position.

Once we have a new Pope we have to maintain the prayer. The prayer has to be constant because the burden is constant. Imagine being pastor of the whole Church. 1.3 billion out of eight billion. He is pastor for the Catholics and has some influence on the others

We pray for him because he is a man doing God’s work. Ever since Our Lord entrusted the leadership of the Church to Peter there has been this curious partnership of divine and human authority. Men are called to do what God would do far better. 

It might seem to us a better idea if Christ had stayed on the earth and run the Church Himself. But He entrusted the task to flesh and blood, earthen vessels as St Paul spoke of himself and companions.

A man doing God’s work, even if he be a most remarkable man, is out of his depth unless sustained by God’s grace. It is to obtain God’s grace for the Pope that we pray, at every available occasion.

We pray that God will carry the Pope, and with him the whole Church, to the fulfilment of His will.

The Pope suffers from being in such an exposed position. Everyone wants to tell him what to do. His role is often interpreted (even within the Church) in purely political terms. He should do this; he should do that - much as we would say of a temporal ruler, such as a prime minister.

But the Pope is more than just someone who does things or makes certain decisions.

He is the Vicar of Christ, standing in His place. The Pope does what Christ would do. He reproduces in himself the pattern of Christ’s death and resurrection.

It is not a role that can be easily interpreted in normal political terms. It is a role which goes more into the mystical realm of deep suffering and self-offering.

He has to be prepared as a matter of course to go against public opinion, to hold firm to the light of Catholic Tradition. The world wants novelty but the Pope is not there to provide that, rather to defend the deposit of faith. It is, however, always possible to present old teachings in new ways – as long as the teaching is intact. For example, creative use of the internet.

While he is defending the true faith he also shows pastoral zeal. In the name of Jesus Christ he seeks to gather the stray sheep into one flock. 

We express loyalty in advance to the new Pope and willingness for ourselves to be part of the pastoral outreach of the Church. 

May the Lord preserve him, and defend him and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

Pope Francis was strong on mercy, specially relevant on Divine Mercy Sunday. He reminded us of God's willingness to forgive and how central that is to our whole understanding as the Church.

To quote two of his many statements: ‘Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy … Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love.’ 

‘Mercy is this concrete action of love that, by forgiving, transforms and changes our lives… From generation to generation, it embraces all those who trust in him and it changes them, by bestowing a share in his very life.’

Under Christ’s influence we become merciful ourselves, expressing charity to all. Instead of resenting enemies, we hope that they find the best way forward, just as we would want for ourselves.

Lord, have mercy!

Easter Sunday 20 April 2025 Sermon

Easter Sunday 20 April 2025 Two ways of rising

The rising of Jesus was a matter of fact; it really did happen. 

His body was physical; it could be touched (cf St Thomas) as anyone else could be. There was nothing shadowy or cloudy about His being. As you see, a ghost does not have flesh and bones like I have (Lk 24,39)

Some will say Jesus lived on only in memory, an inspirational presence;  but it was much more than that.

Jesus, as head of the human race was setting new territory for us to follow. We are accustomed to death followed by burial, and then decomposition of the body.

He went through death and burial, but more to demonstrate His power over them, than any necessity of nature. There was certainly no decomposing. He was in control.

We still have death but only temporarily. Our bodies will rise again on the Last Day. 

No more to die, and from then on free from pain and suffering, able to do various things we cannot do now – like travel at the speed of light, pass through solid barriers, feel no pain, have complete control over thoughts and feelings.

Is this too good to be true? It is good, certainly, but also true. We have not seen it yet, but we can believe that God is capable of it; having already created us once, He can re-create or put back together what has been broken.

Before we experience our own resurrection of the body we have another kind of rising – of holiness over sin. Sin degrades and enslaves us; there is a better way.

Through faith we are joined with Christ in His glory. His rising is our rising, insofar as we are one with Him. In Him we can throw off the burdens of sin and discover an inner joy that nothing can take from us.

We feel the order returning where disorder has been. We rise above sin. 

We can merit this outcome even though it is beyond our level of worthiness.

Jesus will pass onto us what He has, and we will benefit, without any loss to Him.

Stand close to a fire and we feel warmth. Stand close to Jesus Christ and we start to think like He does, to want what He wants. He radiates goodness, and some of that heat and light will come onto us, especially if we are looking for it.

It is sin which has cast darkness and disorder on the world, bringing death and leading people to conclude that there is nothing more.

We learn to live in Christ, always with His help making the right choices, developing our virtues and eliminating our vices.

In this way we are ready to move on to other stages of our journey. Having come to life in Christ we then live each day according to His will.

This in turn will mean we are ready to negotiate death whenever it comes. If we are in union with Christ we continue life in our souls, either in Heaven or Purgatory, awaiting the final resurrection.

This is the path we are on. We remind ourselves of this hope and it will strengthen us in time of doubt.

If we look at the world, we might conclude that good and evil are in a contest and neither is the winner. Some things are good, some things are bad. It is just the way of things.

No, it does all come to an end; the good will break free and become dominant. 

We can be part of making that happen, and of benefitting from it.

We will taste more of this final victory in advance as we increase our union with Jesus Christ.

He is Risen, and increasingly so are we! 

Palm Sunday 13 April 2025 Sermon

 Palm Sunday 13 April 2025 Greeting the Lord

Our waving of the palms signifies our joy at seeing Our Lord  enter our domain. We are glad to see Him.

In the original Palm Sunday the people turned quickly from welcoming Jesus to calling out for His death.

We learn from this that to welcome the Saviour it has to come from the heart.

We are glad to see Him because of who He is, and not just in response to prevailing circumstances, where we might be glad one day, but not the next.

Our gladness will require a certain amount of faith insofar as we do not know what is coming, certainly not in detail.

But whatever our problems we are saved from them by the Saviour.

Having the Saviour on hand is like having the key to all locks.

The Jews were happy with Our Lord’s healing miracles, but not so keen on His demands – such as to take up their crosses daily.

They wanted life to be easy, free from sickness and struggle. 

People today still see God as a fixer of problems - like a secretary.

They do not want to know Him beyond that point.

He wants to know us, however, and to bring us to a level of trust and obedience to Him. Joyfully not grudgingly.

So our welcome stays at the same pitch all the way through. Our Palm Sunday does not turn into Good Friday; it stays at Hosanna to the King.

But if we should get this wrong, God can still work things to our advantage. As He did on that first Holy Week. The infidelity of the Jews led to the Crucifixion and that led to the New Covenant in the Blood of Christ. 

The more we reject, the more He offers us mercy. 

The one who has been forgiven more will be more grateful (Lk 7,43). This is our position, today and through this Holy Week.

We marvel at God's reversal of the usual way things are done. Injuries usually bring hatred and the desire for revenge - not in this case.

Our Lord does not hate the people for what they are doing; He does not forget why He came – to save sinners, to save the world. Hosanna to the King!

5th Sunday of Lent (C) 6 April 2025 Sermon

5th Sunday of Lent (C) 6 April 2025 Cast the first stone

There are two things wrong here, the adultery and the self-righteousness.

The adultery is the more obvious sin and attracts everyone’s attention. But the self-righteousness is a serious problem.

If the pharisees had been anxious about the matter simply because they wanted God's  order restored, or the commands of God to be honoured, it might have been alright.

But they did not really care about God’s order, or the spiritual welfare of the woman. Or the sanctity of marriage. They only wanted to trap Jesus.

He exposed their hypocrisy. He was not saying that adultery is alright, but pointing out the less obvious sin, which may be more deadly.

At least the adulterer can repent of his sin; while the self-righteous may not realize he even has a sin.

If their hearts were free of malice the pharisees would have seen things as Jesus saw them.

He was interested in the state of souls, and wanted to lead souls to repentance, while still upholding God's commandments.

In this world we are so far from the original innocence that we have many types of sins compounding each other. To repair one sin will require that we have to change other factors as well.

Sin leads to more sin. Lust might lead to gluttony or sloth. Then pride, because we think someone else is worse than we are. Then angry if we are corrected. And so on.

A simple and humble appeal to God's mercy will bring it all into alignment. If sin leads to sin then so does repentance lead to repentance. And we can repair the damage - not only the damage to an individual soul, but the damage a whole society suffers when it turns away from God.

True upholding of the commands requires a deeper understanding of the need for mercy.

We learn through mercy what is false about the sinful behaviour;  we come to be repelled by that behaviour, and thus do not repeat the sin.

What do we do with sinners now? We don’t stone them to death, which is some advance. But we might pardon them more through apathy than through a genuine mercy.

Apathy, insofar as we may not care whether or not adultery is committed, or more generally God's  laws are kept.

Nor are we much advanced when it comes to our reaction to the sins of others. We might feel superior to others instead of seeking to uproot the sin in ourselves (cf plank in one’s eye Mt 7,3-5). 

As St Paul put it: Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins… but rejoices in the truth etc (1 Cor 13).

True charity is that we help each other to get these things right. We want other people to be saved, and we want God's kingdom on earth. Both goals can be worked on at the same time.

This is what Our Lord was trying to demonstrate to the people. It was hard, even for Him. It is not much easier today.  We are tempted to overplay one thing while ignoring the other. Too severe in our judgments of others; too lenient in dismissing serious sin.

Let us cultivate in prayer the mercy of God, acting within us and in the wider society.  

4th Sunday of Lent (C) 30 March 2025 Sermon

4th Sunday of Lent (C ) 30 March 2025    Contrition

The Prodigal son returns home, expecting to be scolded for his wastefulness, but in fact is lavishly welcomed.

Thus we learn of  the sinner’s need to repent; of the sinner’s hope of receiving mercy; of God's eternal desire to give mercy, and to restore the sinner to full status.

The process begins with the son realizing his degraded position. The move to repentance begins with an awareness of the damage that sin can do.

This is not yet full repentance but inclines one to that position. It may be only a kind of self-awareness. How could I have been so foolish as to get into this mess?

The son addressed his first problem: how do I get to a better place than where I am?

He was not yet seeing things from the father’s point of view. He felt only his own pain, not that of his father.

This parallels what the Church calls Imperfect Contrition. Our sorrow for sin is real but not yet complete. We are sorry mainly because we have put ourselves in trouble and are afraid of what consequences might follow.

It is a start, however, and one which enables further progress to be made.

The son, having got himself home, then experienced the welcome he did not expect. He was not even sure that he would get a position as a servant. Instead, he was treated like a prince - which we all are, insofar as we are God's children, and He is King.

Was the son grateful? We can hope that his experience of mercy would compel him to stay on the right path for the rest of his life. When we realize how much we have been rescued from, we can promise God we will never forget His blessings (eg The Lord remembered us in our low estate, for His mercy endures forever; Freed us from our foes, for His mercy endures forever; And gives bread to all flesh, for His mercy endures forever. Praise the God of heaven,for His mercy endures forever.” — Psalm 135 (136) and many other psalms).

We foster the gratitude which God deserves, and which we need to express. We are grateful to God, and grateful also for those who prayed for us while we were ‘away’, or while our consciousness of these matters was very hazy.

Eventually we can come to Perfect Contrition, whereby we are sorry for our sins, now for the extra reason that we have caused pain to our Father. We have offended His infinite majesty. We are more concerned for Him than for our own plight. That is a more generous position to hold. 

This is what Our Lord wants us to become -  sorry for all sin, and for the grief it causes to Almighty God (and all the company of Heaven).

We become more loving towards God as we interact constantly with His goodness.

This is what we are called to - not just ‘keeping the rules’ but learning to love the One who is  the source of all blessings.

God has programmed us to be receivers and givers of His charity, directed outwards to others.

We can renew our sorrow for past sins. We do not have to re-confess them, but we can express our gratitude to God for past mercies, and for the grace not to offend Him again.

We say it all the time; let us say it especially today – Lord, have mercy!

3rd Sunday of Lent (C) 23 March 2025 Sermon

3rd Sunday of Lent (C ) 23 March 2025 Relevance of God

Moses encounters the bush which burns but is not consumed by the fire. This puts us in mind of sacred realities which are beyond time and, as it is usually put - last forever. I am who am (Ex 3,14). 

Some think that God is irrelevant because He does  not always make Himself obvious. They live busy lives and then hide behind that busy-ness to say there is no God.

We can make our own world without God,  but it can unravel very quickly. Sooner or later it  must be seen for its shallowness.

A man once said of his adult children: They don’t need religion at the moment. He meant that  because they are in good health, and very busy with their lives, they have no time for God, nor even need of Him.

But where does this lead? Every man must stand before the judgment seat of  Christ  (2 Co 5,10).

Younger people as well, take note. Time is given to us to express our service of God. Whatever our age or circumstances we need to be right with Him at all times.

This is not meant to be a burden, but a liberation. If in step with Christ we have the key to all happiness.

God claims all seven days, and every minute of them; as He claims also all the other places besides churches. He claims the shops the squares, the ovals, the workplaces - everywhere.

Of course He gives a large amount of autonomy to our activities. He does not normally intervene in every detail. He lets us decide what we are going to do and will normally let things follow their logical course (which is why we are in so much trouble!)

For example:  Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen. (Rm 1,24-25)

God has the last say. He expects us to understand that it is all from Him. We have to refer back constantly, in thanksgiving, in sorrow, in petition, always orientating ourselves to His abiding and overall will.

He is not an oppressive ruler by any means, being ready to give us more than we dare to ask (see the Gospel where He is willing to give more time to the repentant. (Lk 13,8-9)

We can help get the message out by being faithful and persevering in all weathers; keeping the lights on so that people can see where they can find peace.

We keep the spiritual perspective foremost. We still do all the necessary mundane things, but never to the point of forgetting the spiritual.

Part of our prayer needs to be atonement for the fact that God is so widely ignored and denied. Father, forgive them, they know not what they do (Lk 23,34). They are a stiff-necked people. (Ex 32,9)

It is a fight to the death for relevance. Our opponents want us to be irrelevant, and they will use any sort of attack against us, honest or not.

We have the same message as Isaiah and Jeremiah, as Elijah and Ezekiel: Behold your God! (eg Is 40,9). Come to terms with Him, or reap the consequences. In short, Repent.

The people either laughed at the prophets, or tried to kill them. It is much the same today.

It becomes a bit draughty for the faithful disciples. We can spend a lot of time standing apart from the majority. This has to be done until better times come. We stand with a crucified Saviour.

2nd Sunday of Lent (C) 16 March 2025 Sermon

2nd Sunday of Lent 16 March 2025 Supernatural

Our Lord reveals His glory to three of His apostles on the mountain.

It was not all His glory because that would have killed them; but enough to make a lasting memory.

One of the purposes of the Transfiguration was to give to those apostles courage for the coming ordeal of seeing Jesus crucified.

On that score the apostles were not outstanding in their courage because they all fled when Jesus was arrested, though Peter and John did come back to be within range.

However, the Transfiguration is for all disciples of every age. We need reassurance too as we encounter many difficulties in our earthly pilgrimage.

We tend to go too much by our sense experience – especially sight. I will believe it when I see it, is a common response to religious matters.

Yet we know our eyes can be deceived (mirages, etc) but we put more trust in them than in the testimony of holy men and women of two thousand years.

We can know things without seeing them. Nobody would deny there is a place called London. We can know that whether we have been there or not. We accept what others tell us.

On any non-religious subject there is that same calm acceptance, but when it comes to religion suddenly everything has to be visible.

Even the religiously minded suffer from the same problem. A very close apostle of Our Lord said the same phrase: Unless I see it I will not believe it (the Resurrection). Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe.

We should not insist on seeing to believe, but sometimes God lets us see it anyway, at least through the eyes of others.

Once seen, never forgotten, we could hope, but there is another difficulty. The experience of certainty can lose its grip on us over time.

If I saw Jesus on the mountain yesterday that would count for more than if I saw Him fifty years ago. For no reason except that we let that happen. We let our faith cool off and we cannot afford to do that.

We need to be wide awake and on the ball; be like servants who are ready for their Master’s return. He may come when least expected. (Mt 24,50)

To keep on the boil, we must pray every day and keep our faith front and centre, working on it like people keeping fit or learning a new skill.

We live in two worlds, the natural and the supernatural.

The natural world is where we have to make money and deal with a host of problems.

The supernatural world is above all that, as its residents contemplate the glory of God as a  matter of course. No one in heaven doubts whether God exists or not!

Freed from the cares of this life they dwell in heavenly light.

Heaven is another one of those places where people might say they will believe it when they see it. We believe there is such a place, because other people have seen it, and they tell us; or they tell others who keep the faith alive.

We have never seen an angel or a glorified saint or experienced the delights of heaven, but we can believe those things are real. God has willed them into existence, the same as He has done for us.

God wants us to trust Him, to come to Him with the pure faith of children, not insisting and demanding all the time, but humbly accepting.

All this we can learn from the Transfiguration, a momentary blast of glory, glory which is usually invisible but always there.

1st Sunday of Lent (C) 9 March 2025 Sermon

 

1st Sunday of Lent 9 March 2025 Temptation

We can look more closely today at Temptation, and how it works ,and how we might improve our response to being tempted.

The Devil has many ways to tempt us. There are two ways in particular that he can ensnare us into sin.  Flattery and Intimidation.

By flattery the devil tells us how good we are and how entitled we are to take things easy, so why don't we just indulge in one or two things which may not be quite by the book, but what harm can it do? Flattery appeals to our pride, laziness, lustfulness, gluttony. Why not take a bit more? You deserve it.

People will say: I am a good person, so it is ok if I do this thing.

This is self-flattery but it comes from the devil.

By intimidation the devil puts fear into us with the idea of paralysing our response. Intimidation is seen most brutally in time of persecution. eg Deny Jesus Christ, or we will shoot you… 

Intimidation would be seen also in peer pressure where others challenge us to follow their example, which might often be the wrong direction. Peter was intimidated when challenged about his association with Jesus.  

At various times we will be tempted to deny our faith or some aspect of our faith, which goes against the common opinion   eg to be pro-life, pro traditional family.

Satan tried flattery with Jesus this first time, working on Jesus’ closeness to God. You can do whatever you want… (Later at Calvary, it was intimidation. Come down from the Cross and we will believe you).

If one of us had been in that position and subjected to those temptations we would not have lasted as long, but Jesus was made of sterner stuff.

He had come as the new Adam, the leader of the new humanity.  He would save us from the Devil by exposing the latter's tricks and lies for what they were and giving us more substance to look for instead.

When tempted, Jesus shows us what to do by referring back to certain basic truths.

Man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

You shall not put the Lord to the test. 

You shall worship the Lord and Him alone.

He was thus not deflected. He was still walking that straight path before Him – the path to Calvary, and then to Heaven.

The devil works on our weak points, so that we come around eventually to what he wants us to think.

Like the Israelites we forget the Lord who brought us out of Egypt (Deut 6,12).

This is why we need Lent, as a season of re-thinking and  self-denial; a time to straighten out what has become crooked. A time to assert where we stand and resolve not to be moved.

Not only to give up sin, but in a way give up temptation too. Well, we cannot stop temptations coming, but at least we can send them where they belong. In the light of day we see them for the distortions that they are.

Hold firm against the devil’s flattery and intimidation, and we will come through the dark into light – a light that cannot be overcome.

Lord, lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil.

8th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C) 2 March 2025 Sermon

8th Sunday Ordinary Time (C ) 2 March 3 February 2025 Mind  your language

If we were visiting the King or the President or other such important people, we would be careful to guard our language and pick the right words when called upon to speak.

As Jesus points out in the Gospel, the quality of the tree’s fruit will be according to the internal health of the tree. Good tree, good fruit (Lk 6, 43).

If we have our thoughts and attitudes in the right place, then that will mean we speak words which edify, which build up and not destroy.

Anyone can act the part if only for a short time. If something would startle us we might lapse into ‘normal’ speech. This is what we have to change – what we call  normal.

The test of  a man is in  his conversation (first reading -  Sirach 27,5).

What we say will come from within. We need the charity and wisdom that come from Christ . It can be alright to speak words of anger, provided the anger is justified and moderated by charity.

Imagine what Our Lady would have said. Or count to three and then say nothing!

We have to get all the malice out of the system, not just out of the language, but all through, what we think, what we desire.

So, for example, it is good to be honest and not to steal, but we must not even want to steal. The same goes for all moral obligations. 

Regarding language we not only avoid uncharitable speech but develop a preference for the  speech which edifies.

There are different aspects of speech we need to get right.

1) No obscenities or crude language.

2)  No harm done to others. No detraction or calumny. Whoever thinks that he is able,  to nibble at the life of absent friends, must know that he’s unworthy of this table. St Augustine)

It is easy to drag others down, but it lowers the whole standard for everyone.

If we are in a situation where we cannot escape gossip we can at least not contribute to it. And we can set a better tone.

People in Heaven might have fought while on earth but not now. There is no malice in heaven; no desire to talk others down.

Whatever would we talk about if we cannot talk about each other? We will have to find more useful topics!

3) In all things praise and thanksgiving to God. We use the same tongue to praise God and to curse our neighbours (cf James 3,9).

It might be argued that we are only human and therefore cannot comply with such exacting rules. God wants to make us copies of Himself, an ambitious goal, but it must be achievable

*********

Speaking of which we come to Lent this week. In Lent everything is magnified by way of giving us ways of concentrating on holiness.

The days of Lent have this effect if we let it take full course.

We are supposed to be good all year round, but Lent is a focal point, a more intense quest for getting all the details right.

It is something like Sunday where we take one day to summarise all seven.

We cannot give God anything that is not already His, (cf Ps 50,10-12). But He does appreciate the effort to get right with him.

And we don’t go back to old ways when the season is over. We might ease off on the penances but not the quest for holiness of life.  Good trees, good fruit.

7th Sunday Ordinary Time 23 February 2025 Sermon

7th Sunday Ordinary Time (C ) 23 February 2025  Generous Love

David spares Saul from death showing a merciful attitude and Saul is impressed ( I Samuel 26, first reading.)

This story suggests another one, in which we are involved. God could kill us but instead gives us time to repent and serve Him. Saul was impressed with David’s attitude; so should we be impressed with God's manner of dealing with us.

This kind of event (as in Saul and David) should bring out the best in us and that will make us generous to our enemies. [also story of St John Gualbert, 11th century – meeting his enemy on Good Friday and forgiving him]

I will treat others well even if they mistreat me. This applies to forgiveness and general charity. It is the way Jesus treats us in His crucifixion. We mistreated Him; He forgives us and intercedes for us.

The Golden rule: treat others as you would like them to treat you, not as they do, but as you would like (Lk 6,31).

We hope that others will do the same, but we do not let their behaviour derail ours. 

We pray for others to come closer to God, wherever they stand with Him now.

We desire the salvation of all, even enemies.

In today’s Gospel (Lk 6,27-38) the same theme  continues – that we love those who do not love us; we give without counting the cost; we bless those who curse us – and much more to that effect.

Why should we do this? Because it does a great deal of good, not least that we are thus learning to share in the charitable and merciful heart of God.

What was the good of Jesus’ forbearance on Good Friday? He could have broken free but He was trying to convince the crowd (there, and all other crowds) that this was the way forward. 

He had some success with the people who were there, but the real value of His action has come through to all generations.

What is happening to us? The potential of love in our hearts is being released. We feel a gentler disposition; we are being healed by the merciful love of Christ, and it is changing us.

We need this changing and we can ask for it. We need to get rid of the impurities in our hearts and minds. It may take a while, but it can happen.

This is better than violence. Sometimes violence is required as a last resort: for example going to war to reject an unjust aggressor. Or physically restraining a prisoner.

But this is not the best way; it is only to be used in emergencies.

We can achieve a kind of peace by mutual deterrence, and that is usually the best we can achieve. 

But far better if we could convert our neighbours, albeit that it is much harder. This is what God has taken on Himself to do, in calling us to live in union with Him and one another.

Each one becomes a Christ- like person having a merciful disposition towards others. 

We never sell short what one person can do in this field  because God will recognize a sympathetic heart and reward it greatly.

We are aiming for something that we often mention in prayer – that God's kingdom come among us, with all the associated blessings. No more hate, killing etc, only kindness.

In the meantime, if we cannot have the kingdom in the wider society we can have it in our hearts and minds. Lk 17,20-21

This teaching has never really been accepted. We have had saints, who live like this. Many would simply say it is too hard.

Not so hard if we have Jesus with us, enlightening and empowering us.