25th Sunday C 21 September 2025 Sermon

 25 C 25 Taking part   21 September 2025

When I was at school they would say to sporting teams, it is not whether you win or lose but whether you take part.

I don’t think anyone believed that very strongly. But it did make a  valid point.

To do something well for its own sake regardless of other results, must have a place in human wisdom. Better to finish second in a strong field than to win in a weak field.

We might understand that God values our ‘taking part’ more than the result of what we do.

Mother Teresa said once that the important thing is not whether we have succeeded in life, but whether we have loved.

God would agree. He can make things happen at will; He does not need our input. But He wants that input from us so we can give Him something.

God could make a road, build a bridge, rain down food from heaven, much better than we could do it, but if we do those things with a desire to please Him, that is what He wants from us.

The second reading: I want the men to lift their hands up reverently in prayer, with no anger or argument. It is not so much the achievements of the governing body but whether or not they responded to prayer.

We pray that they do respond, and this is the Kingdom of Heaven coming into operation.

What does a government have to do but keep good order, enabling God's will to come into operation?

Many earthly governments forget that they are answerable to a higher  authority and so they try to ‘win’ rather than ‘take part’. They  have forgotten the God who made them, who has made the whole of reality.

God says that He does not require any more bullocks or sacrifices. He owns all the bullocks anyway! (Ps 50,11)

What He wants from us is our sincere worship, to express our humble dependence upon Him, and let whatever society emerges from that.

We do our best, but always submitting to God's greatness over us.

We give everything to God in trust that He will know what to do.

Or as Jesus said to Peter : do you love Me? (Jn 21,15) After all the miracles, all the sermons, all the healings the question that remained : do you love Me? This is what God wants from us.

We may be talented, or clever, but do we love God? Again it comes back to a very simple matter.

We are like children before God.

Sometimes people expect God to intervene and make everything go right. He does not have to do that. Things are already going right if people are seeking to please God.

The universe has a direction after all. It is not a random meaningless process, but watched over by God at all times, intervening to teach us what matters most to Him.

This understanding should help us handle all the different parts of our lives . such as the pursuit of money alluded to in the other readings.

We don’t need so much money if we have trust in God.

God would have us use all our resources for the collective good of all, so that everyone has enough to eat, and other necessities.

Again the simplicity is evident. If we seek to pile up so much money that we do not need God, then we come to grief like the rich man who built bigger barns (Lk 12,16-21)

So that we may be able to live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet (Second reading, 1 Tim 2,2)

Exaltation of the Holy Cross 14 September 2025 Sermon

Exaltation of the Cross 14.9.25

God can do things differently than we would have expected. And the Cross is at the forefront of those things.

In the Cross of Jesus Christ God is giving us a lesson for which we probably did not ask.

In human wisdom we usually look for the shortest way to get from the problem to the solution.

If we are to try to understand God's ways, we need to know His main objectives. With regard to us (humans) God seeks to save and sanctify. To save means to rescue from all forms of evil and sin. To sanctify means to cleanse at the deepest level of a person – the heart and the will.

We might settle for feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless  - treating the exterior, not worrying what the person is like.. (Much like governments do; they do not explore the spiritual element.) But God does get into that element, and wants to take us there too.

And strangest of all is that God has sent His Son. Why would you send you son from the peace of heaven to a barbaric tribe, knowing that he will be tortured humiliated killed etc… and the people did not ask for it, and would be content to settle for just the external matters, like food and health.

God is fixed in His purpose. He comes among us, is taken for a slave and put to death, offering eternal life to any who will express gratitude and loyalty to Him. He will not push away anyone who sincerely seeks Him.

He seeks to waken in us a level that we may not know we had, a level of charity which comes direct from the heart of God, and comes through to those who are joined to Him.

We can imitate something of the style of Jesus’ actions, if not the same intensity.

Thus we become people of the cross. Willing to lay down our lives, or at least to endure ridicule and persecution, for the motive of saving and sanctifying others (not excluding ourselves).

This is our glory as spiritual beings; that we share in heavenly ways.

People wonder why does God not make it easier, more obvious, but He leads them instead to something deeper.

If we can hold off from trying to kill the Son (Mt 21,38) we will discover great joy in expressing the charity of Christ to those around us.

The Cross is a frequent reminder to us of all that is going on here. What sort of a god would do that? The one who actually exists. It is a surprise but we can get used to it.

God could  have done differently, and done things more in line with worldly wisdom.

He could have come off the cross; could have risen sooner; could have performed non- stop miracles in front of everyone.

Instead He gives us a way of pondering and seeing where His actions apply to us.

We need to remember that we have been sent and we will be called in to give an account of  ourselves. (Rom 14,12) We can forget this because it is not usually a visible part of our lives.

Today’s feast restores us to the proper vision. It is harder to take the spiritual view, but much more rewarding.

1 O cross of Christ, immortal tree on which our Saviour died,
the world is sheltered by your arms that bore the crucified.

2 From bitter death and barren wood the tree of life is made;
its branches bear unfailing fruit and leaves that never fade.

3 O faithful cross, you stand unmoved while ages run their course:
foundation of the universe, creation's binding force.

4 Give glory to the risen Christ and to his cross give praise,
the sign of God's unfathomed love, the hope of all our days.

(Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal)

The Sorrows of Mary (a reflection)

 The Sorrows of Mary (feast 15 September) 

 The prophecy of Simeon. (St. Luke 2:34, 35)

The flight into Egypt. (St. Matthew 2:13, 14)

The loss of the Child Jesus in the temple. (St. Luke 2: 43-45)

The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross.

The Crucifixion.

The taking down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross.

The burial of Jesus.

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The last four of the sorrows deal with Our Lord's death, the first three with the earlier years.

The last three sorrows coincide with the last three stations.

All mothers feel the pain that their children feel. Mary felt the pain a million times more – having more capacity to love, and having more to weep about, given that Christ is more important than any other child.

The invitation/challenge for us is to see how much we can identify with her sorrow: Is there one who would not weep, whelmed in miseries so deep, Christ’s dear Mother to behold?

We are aware of the sensation we can have in following a story about other people, where there is suffering involved. It actually does us good, because it opens our hearts to a greater compassion. It takes us out of ourselves, for a while at least. We are less worried than usual about ourselves and what happens next.

This is especially so with this story of Mary and Jesus. The more fully we enter it the more we are going to be transformed, not just in how we feel, but actually becoming more charitable, better people.

Is there one who would not weep? Can the human heart refrain from partaking in her pain, in that Mother’s pain untold?

We would need to have hearts of stone not to be affected by the sight.

We can be very stony in our disregard of other people’s sufferings, because we think we have already enough for ourselves.

We can even be indignant at our own troubles, declaring life to be unfair. We can break free from these attitudes with enough contemplation of higher things, such as the sorrows of Mary.

We can do ourselves a lot of good, but we can also help Mary and Jesus, by helping them carry the load. And also help them to convey their love out to the world.

We might think we cannot do much good, but each person that comes onside is changing the overall balance.

We become more willing to help others in need, and less likely to cause harm ourselves.

Through sorrow we learn the pain that is caused by sin, and the need that we have to overcome sin, and transform it by love.

This is the key: we do not want to kill sinners but turn them into good people. This, at least, is what God wants, and He wants us to take on His view of others.

This is something good that comes from the Cross, even though it is an event that should not have happened.

The love of Jesus and Mary, called into action by the cruelty of man - then comes to help man stop being cruel!

We share in this transforming, ourselves becoming less ‘cruel’ (generally nasty), and more useful in extending the power of the cross to the world around us.

The world is still crucifying Him, or would do so again if He let them. They do not care about Him now for the same reasons as then.

We have to go against the tide and be with Mary - eyes fixed on the cross. If there are tears they are tears of hope not despair; hope that all this suffering will turn to joy.

Our Lady of Sorrows, help us to take our part in these great matters.

22nd Sunday (C) 31 August 2025 Sermon

22^nd Sunday C  31August 2025 Humility

There  are layers of meaning in this parable (the dinner guests Lk 14,7-14).

At the simplest level we would exercise good manners and not push in above our status. And if in doubt, yes we would take the lower place. Much like we let someone else go through the door ahead of us. After you!

At another level we could see the seating model as a more general expression of how we deal with life and other people.

The arrogant and the bullying will see everything in selfish terms and use other people as seems expedient.

The humble of heart will be prepared to give way to others, even if they (the humble) have higher claims. Other factors may have to be considered but the essence of humility will always be present.

Christians should not be afraid to use their talents, but always with deference to God, His wisdom and power.

The follower of Christ must have a share in His humility, never forgetting the communal nature of the Church. We seek the benefit of all, including ourselves, but always aware of belonging to something bigger than just ourselves. This is ‘loving one another’(Jn 13,34).

Then we can take things to a wider level still, applying this image of the dinner guests to our overall relationship with Almighty God.

God has made many different types of creatures, but only to angels and humans has He given the privilege of communicating directly with Him.

All other creation is irrational, not having the power to reflect on things, to praise God, to ask for favours etc.

Having this privilege of communication with God means that we have the ability to reject Him. This is what many of the angels did, turning into demons instead.

And it means for us humans that we can commit sin, something which the animals cannot do.

Why would we want to pit ourselves against God? Well, we do not usually put it in such plain terms, but when we sin we are putting our own will ahead of God's will. Whatever we call it, or think we are doing, we are not being humble at that point!

Pride is at the root of all sinful behaviour; it is trying to take the highest place from God Himself.

If we really humble ourselves before God, we will be prepared to trust His holy will over our own.

If God wants things a certain way, and I want them another way, who is more likely to be right?

Of course, it will always be God who knows best, both as to my interests and for the overall situation, how others are affected. This applies to everything, large or small. God knows what needs to happen.

We place ourselves at the lowest point of His table and wait for further instructions.

The humblest person to have ever lived was also the best person, Our Lady.

God was able to work through her because she offered Him no resistance. Be it done unto me according to thy word (Lk 1,38)

Imagine if there were more people like that. Imagine if most people were like that!. With less resistance to the will of God the world would start to be unrecognisable. It would start to look like the kingdom of God.

By the grace of God we can be part of that humble response. If we are humble enough to obey God readily, we can then be entrusted with more (Mt 25,21 the faithful servant).

We thank God for giving us the power to choose, but we also ask Him for the wisdom to choose the right way, hoping to hear the words from today’s Gospel, Friend, come up higher (Lk 14,10).