30th Sunday Ordinary Time (B) 27 October 2024 Sermon

 

30^th Sunday Ordinary Time (B) 27 October 2024 Perseverance in Prayer

The blind man called out loudly - which indicates to us that we should exert ourselves  when asking for heavenly favour.

The story is for our benefit so that we will have more confidence in God, and present our needs to Him more boldly. We don’t have to shout, but we do have to believe, and the stronger our belief the more effective the prayer is going to be.

(See also the Canaanite woman, the nobleman who petitioned for his son, the ten lepers, the friends lowering a man through the roof.)  

1) Jesus wants us to approach Him: Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened (Mt 11,28)

And He give us parables to reinforce this. The importunate widow and the troublesome friend. (Lk 18,1-8; Lk 11,5-13) God does not get annoyed like we would do. He is always awake, always listening.

2) He wants us to trust in Him, that He has both the power and the will to heal us.

The blind man believed both of these.

So we cry out to Him when we are in any kind of trouble. Our cry is heard. The Lord hears the cry of the poor. Ps 34,17)

There are things we can do to build up our faith.

One thing is to keep our contact with God always current. We do not allow our faith to cool off. We thank him for past blessings and ask for current needs non-stop. This way we will not be discouraged. In this pattern of prayer we unite ourselves with the whole Church, which is always praying.

Perseverance in prayer is itself an expression of faith. We believe just the same whether the prayer is answered immediately or with a delay. Because we are dealing with the same God, who never changes one time to the next.

We are tempted to think we are alone and so stop praying, stop expecting any change for the better.

We are never alone. Praying will enable us to have a stronger sense of God’s presence. It is that sense of being alone that probably impedes us, a kind of ‘what’s the use’ feeling.

So when we are in trouble we pray more not less. Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! (Ps 126,5)

The more prayer, and the more people praying the better.

But if we are all discouraged we will stop too soon.

3) Pray like the saints. It does make a difference who is praying. Mt 11,28)

A saint will pray with more love of God, and therefore more trust and more power will come from that.

The more we ‘agree’ with God the more smoothly everything will run.

This is what makes things give way, when we love God enough we can make a request without fear. We fit ourselves into His plans and whatever He is doing or not will be ok with us. Son, they have no wine is the ultimate prayer. Mary understood her Son and was at one with His will. (Jn 2,1-11)

God wants us to be absorbed in His will and take comfort there. Whatever difficulties we have with prayer will always stem from a certain distance on our part, whereby we do not fully trust God, or do not know Him well enough.

We learn from the blind man to be uninhibited in the face of divine power and love. Call out to him without fear and we will be heard.

[Universal prayer for universal need. We pitch in here as well, with the whole Church.]

29th Sunday Ordinary Time B 20 October 2024 Sermon

29^th Sunday Ordinary Time  (B)  20 October 2024 Saved by the Cross

Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? My servant justified many …

Why could he not have just come from heaven and wish us a happy time and work a few miracles with a bit of advice?

He took a very different course. He did spread some sunshine  with his many miracles, but there was a much darker element involved as well.

Why was that necessary? It was part of the age-old battle between good and evil.

Satan is a malignant and powerful foe requiring much shifting on our part. Saving a person, or saving the human race needs a lot of interior work – that is, work on the hearts and minds of people in terms of what they love, what is most important to them.

Just having goodwill is  not enough. Something was needed beyond the normal or average response.

A new order of power had to be found because the grip of sin and death had become too strong for mere human resistance. Drastic measures were needed.

The measure that God adopted was to send His Son to become Man, and as Man, to make a sacrificial offering to the Father, which offering is renewed in every Mass.

When the Father sees the Son He looks with approval, and also looks on those whom the Son brings with Him. The Father will accept whomever His Son brings. Your friends are My friends, so to speak.

When we take part in Mass we are asking Jesus to take us with Him as He goes to the Father; our sins already forgiven we travel in humility and thanksgiving.

God does not force salvation so when we say humanity is reconciled with God that is ‘in potential’. Every person has an opportunity to be saved in this way, being identified with the Son.

We cannot overcome past evil by being good from now on, though that will help. What really works for us is simply being sorry for past sins.

The good deeds will help put us into the right mood to receive mercy.

We are grateful that we can get in the door, and we promise sincerely that we will be on our best behaviour from now on.

Meanwhile I will change what I can to be free of sin, to be full of good deeds generosity and humility etc.

The good that we do will help by keeping us in the right framework of seeking to please God.

It will not be enough in itself to save us but will make salvation more likely as we are constantly reminded of our dependence on God.

Unless I am humble I will not value what Christ has done for me and therefore not benefit. If I am humble that is the key that unlocks the door to Heaven.

Whenever we see a Cross we are reminded of how it all works, and we are invited to renew our desire to be fully reconciled with God.

Then we really can do business – when we admit to being nothing without Him.

This is why Christ was crucified and why the mysterious ‘servant’ from Isaiah had to suffer.

We might think something simpler would have done it, but God knows what is necessary. It has to be something good enough to counteract the evil which has been committed, thus the necessity of the Cross.

Salvation is not only for when we die, but should express itself in the way we organize our societies, where justice and peace etc should prevail.

We need to keep the Cross in view, and what it means, and what it requires from us.

Then we share in the glory of the servant: His soul’s anguish over he shall see the light and be content. First reading, Is 53,10-11)

 

 

 

28th Sunday Ordinary Time 13 October 2024 Sermon

28^th Sunday Ordinary Time (B) 13 October 2024  Challenge

I prayed and wisdom was given me (Wis 7,7). Wisdom to know what to do with everything else.

If wisdom is sorting out desires, then God must be our first desire.

God may be hard to know but He is the deepest object of our desire.

If we get a taste of the Lord (Taste and see Ps 34 (33),8) we will find it a delight to discover Him.

There are two false trails we could take.

One is to doubt God's promises to us, of such things as heavenly reward, and from today’s Gospel, manifold return on what we give up for the Kingdom.

The other is to doubt that God asks any more of us than a general compliance with a few commands here and there, not exerting ourselves in the pursuit of a holy life.

The rich young man of today’s Gospel was succumbing to the second temptation, a watering down of what true discipleship requires.

He was too attached to his riches, when he should have been attached to Jesus Christ.

So it can be for us, that we fear losing what we have, and are not sure if there is compensation for that. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Not with God.

Remember those quiz shows where you could either take the prize and go, or come back next time to get bigger prizes – but if you come back you might lose the lot!

As disciples of Our Lord we are very much in the category of ‘coming back next week’, always striving for more – more knowledge of God, more compliance with His will, more expectation of a joyful result.

We risk loss of some earthly securities, but we have the main treasure, the central point of the whole operation – the gaining of Heaven.

We can settle too easily for too little. We might settle for just a few earthly possessions, like money, health, friends, career etc, length of life, and say that is enough.

If we have those things, thanks be to God, but we do not stop there. We strive for higher things.

We need more belief in what we believe! We doubt God, not His existence, but His providence.

Jeus came to give us so much more than a few earthly assets. And He came for a lot more than telling us to be just more or less the same as everyone else.

It is easier to go along with the flow, but rarely the right course.

We take the path of serious resistance (not least resistance). We do not follow the ways of the world.

We take the demands of the faith seriously, eg if your eye should cause you to sin, pluck it out  (Mt 18,9). If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. (Lk 14,26).

We don’t have to be a St Paul with shipwrecks and floggings etc (2 Cor 11,23ff).

God knows what we are capable of, each one to his own capacity.

We can take it with small steps; we gradually grow in faith and readiness to commit. If we read the signs as we go, we will grow in confidence and understanding – this is what wisdom does. We start to see things the right way up.

We do the small things but we don’t think that either the promises or the demands are small-scale. There is a great deal more, and we are discovering it.

We must  ‘come back next week’… to seek bigger prizes!

27th Sunday Ordinary Time (B) 6 October 2024 Sermon

27^th Sunday Ordinary Time (B) 6 October 2024  Marriage

When God created Adam and then Eve, He joined them together in marriage. It was the first marriage, and the first thing that happened in what was now a society.

Why was marriage so important to God and why is it still so important, that God and His Church have detailed so much about it?

Marriage is given to the human race by God as a way of sharing in His life and love, and of coming to understand Him more deeply.

We can see this from different aspects of marriage.

1) Covenant love. As God gave Himself for the human race (most notably with Jesus dying for us) - husband and wife give themselves to and for each other.

There is a dying to self in marriage as each partner gives to the other.

Whenever this happens the love of Christ for His Church is activated and many blessings follow.

2) Fidelity. As God is faithful to His people, even if they are not faithful to Him, so husband and wife promise to be true to each other. Ideally, this promise is made regardless of the other partner’s attitude.

I will be faithful to you even if you are not faithful to me (imitating and drawing upon God’s fidelity, cf Hosea, and other passages.) God loves and forgives, far in excess of what we can give to Him. Mercy is a strong illustration of this.

3) Permanence. God is faithful forever. His fidelity lasts not only till death but beyond. It stretches across millennia. Compared with that a life together of 50-60 years is not so demanding. That is all that is asked of married couples. True love endures. The promise to be together till death is a reminder of God’s greater promise to be with us always.

4) Children. God loves to create, to give life, to share what He has with His children.

Parents have the power, the privilege, and the joy of  sharing in the creation of their own children. As they freely decide to have children they share in both the power to create and the love which makes that creation desirable.

All of these elements reveal and enable humans to participate in God’s love.

True, they are not always achieved in every marriage. Love can be lacking. We can take rather than give.

Fidelity and Permanence can be sacrificed if there is too much of a self-seeking attitude at work.

Children can be seen as a burden not a gift.

But the best outcomes are worth striving for, as they carry so much good effect.

God never fails from His side of the covenant, and His covenant love keeps married people and all people going. He will provide help for all who need it.

We all benefit from God’s great love for us, and need to participate in that love.

It canot be just my marriage; it all comes under the light of Christ’s marriage to the Church.

Fortunately, wrong attitudes can be forgiven, as God is merciful. We ask that mercy for all who need it, and for the good effects which will follow.

Jesus calls the people of His time back to one husband and one wife. And they protest, How come people of Moses’ time were allowed to have more than one spouse?

Jesus says, because you were so unteachable (Mt 19,8). God tolerated polygmaous marriages for a time, but now it is time to get serious again!

We are still trying to get this right. It is an area where there is so much resistance to trusting in God's way.

Married or not we pray for  a deeper understanding of marriage itself and for all who face difficulties.

26th Sunday Ordinary Time (B) 29 September 2024 Sermon

26^th Sunday Ordinary Time (B) 29 September 2024 One in Christ

Today is Migrant and Refugee Sunday throughout the Church.  We recall our pilgrim status as we journey through the ‘desert’ of this life striving to reach the Promised Land of Heaven.

We are right to be proud of our nation, of who we are and where we come from,  but our identifying with Christ is our strongest point of identity.

I could be other than Australian but I cannot be other than Christ-ian.

As St  Paul puts it: There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Ga 3,28). He has broken down the barriers between us.

We do not have to be the same in every way. Different cultures have different ways of doing things. But on certain fundamental points we are the same – such as striving for Heaven, trying to make this earth a slice of the heavenly Kingdom, where everyone is treated with justice and charity.

Whatever is different between us cannot be allowed to change the basic beliefs of our faith, and our identification with Christ.

Some have tried to do that with certain questions of morality, suggesting that what is forbidden in one culture might be allowable in another. For example, whether it is reasonable to insist on celibacy or chastity for people of all cultures.

With the major commands and creeds it has to be the same across the board.

This is no great difficulty if we unite ourselves with Christ. Whatever He wants we must want it too.

We find our peace in Him, and every other good quality, such as creativity, which we celebrate today.

Our cultural expressions should reflect God's goodness. Art, music and Literature sport, education, scientific research, medical care – all areas of importance would be purified and enriched by drawing from the infinite goodness of Jesus Christ.

God never stops helping us to get it right. Let us recall what He has done, as regards nationality.

God has been teaching us about all this since the day He called Abraham to begin a new race. Israel was supposed to be the vanguard, the cutting edge, showing forth what happens when people obey the one true God.

It worked sometimes but the Jews were too disobedient overall to be able to teach the other nations. So God adjusted the plan to go to the Gentiles instead - with the idea that the Jews would come back afterwards and all could be one (Rom 11,23).

Moses says (first reading): if only the whole people of the Lord were prophets… (Num 11,29)

Foreshadowing a new era when it will be normal for people to interpret events in a religious framework, not just political and economic as we have now.

As we discover God we acquire more of His gifts, and can use them to help each other.

God lets people find Him in various ways, always calling them to a deeper level.

How can we achieve justice and peace if  others do not?  There are many things we can do, but most of all if we live the way of Christ ourselves; that will at least give some direction to the surrounding society.

We have set our course for Heaven and will not be deflected from that straight course.

There is only one race of people in Heaven – the Redeemed, the People of God.

In the meantime we do everything we can to be like Christ as He opens His arms to all in need.

We pray for the day when all the people of the world are crossing the desert and no one is chasing them, because the ‘chasers’ are seeking salvation too!

 

 

25th Sunday Ordinary Time (B) 22 September 2024 Sermon

25^th Sunday Ordinary Time (B) 22 September 2024 Jealousy

Abel and Cain were brothers. They offered gifts to God. God preferred Abel’s gift to Cain’s, and Cain was jealous, from that moment resolving to take revenge on Abel.

And so the first murder is recorded in the Bible (Gen 4,1-18).

Even further back in the angelic world there was a major breach in the ranks because Lucifer was jealous that God had decided to become Man, and Lucifer saw that as a slight to himself, considering himself more deserving of God's favour than mortal man.

‘Wherever you find jealousy and ambition, you find disharmony and wicked things of every kind being done.’ (second reading, James 3,16)

Jealousy is considered bad enough to be included in two of the ten Commandments: thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife…. And goods.

Coveting means wanting something too much, and it’s the wrong thing as well.

We have many desires and ambitions; some are good, some not.

The Gospel today speaks of the apostles arguing among themselves which one is the greatest (Mk 9,34) – not likely to be the right topic. And they are suitably chastised by Our Lord

If we want to be first we must make ourselves last and servant of all Jesus teaches (Mk 9,35).

Jesus Himself lived this way. He came to serve and not be served.

He is King and Lord, but always looking out for others and their needs, not like many kings just piling up riches.

We probably have all suffered jealousy at some point. Whenever we compare our lot with another person. He has a better car, or house, or more chocolates than I have… It can rear its head in many places. The green-eyed monster of Shakespeare.

One cure for jealousy would be to develop a team approach which rejoices in the gifts of another disciple. If someone can do something which I cannot, so much the better. If someone else is growing in faith and good works, so much the better for him and me too.

It is better, after all, to be surrounded by saints than by sinners.

This is how the Church is meant to run – that all of us, striving for holiness and for the final prize of eternal life – will encourage each other in holy competition to be and do better.

We are not worried about who is better than whom, but each one trying to improve in virtue and eliminating vices.

If jealousy is based in a fear of missing out we can reflect that God is generous with us, in creating us and then being merciful to us, despite our lapses.

It is in His nature to be generous as that is a major characteristic of charity.

He therefore asks the same from us – freely you have received, freely give (Mt 10,8).

Given that God's supply of everything is abundant we have nothing to lose by directing His blessings to others.

Heaven is big enough for all, and no one has to miss out.

A cynical man once said: it is not enough that I succeed, others must fail!

In God's order we can all succeed, and without any sense of resentment at others doing well.

And if we would stop killing each other we could find a lot more productive things to be doing.

So let us expel jealousy for ever, remembering how lucky we already are, receiving so much more than we deserve.

Thanks be to God who has created us and the whole universe to share and would give us much more besides if we demonstrated trust in Him.

24th Sunday Ordinary Time B 15 September 2024 Sermon

24^th Sunday Ordinary Time (B) 15 September 2024 Taking up the Cross

There is an Easter flavour to the readings today. And yesterday was the Feast of the Holy Cross, reminding us that the things we talk about at Easter are relevant all year.

The Cross is such a central part of our faith, that we refer to it again and again.

It is also a very mysterious reality which always invites more reflection.

Jesus did not come just to give inspiring teaching and to work miracles. These things did much good but more was needed. There had to be Sacrifice.

He had to take up His cross and make an offering of Himself, as Man, in atonement for the sins of humanity, past, present and future.

He made Himself the Lamb of God, who would replace as victims the animals that had been offered in past times. Our Lord would make a more effective sacrifice because He understood what He was doing, and could will it with all His heart and mind.

The offering thus becomes more perfect because it involves a higher degree of giving.

Jesus thus defeats the devil and loosens his hold on the world.

To give oneself into the hands of the enemy seems a strange beginning, but we see that it leads to ultimate victory.

The love Jesus showed by giving up His life was so strong as to atone for all the sins of all time. It was a perfect sacrifice.

And it has released an infinite supply of grace and mercy into the world. He has given us all a new chance to live.

Then Jesus takes things to a new level. Now we have to take up our Cross and follow Him.

At first it looks easy to be a disciple of Jesus, just follow Him across the beach into the future; it all looks very promising. When we are inspired enough we can do great things and Our Lord was inspiring to be around.

But we come to realize that it takes a certain effort to follow Him. To follow Him does not just mean that we walk behind him, but that we imitate Him.

We do not imitate His masterful teaching or miracle-working but we can imitate Him in virtues such as kindness, mercy, compassion, generosity etc

Jesus had them all; we have them in some degree. We have to lock those things into our character so it is our first instinct to bring forth those qualities.

Our human nature will be changed for the better by contact with Jesus’ divine nature.

The radical newness of the call is in the interior transformation that takes place.

We have to renew every day our commitment to follow Jesus, with whatever that means according to what the day brings.

We refine it and work on it each day, like an artist touching up the picture – until we get it right; and then we keep it right.

We are not afraid of the suffering that goes with the Cross. It will be manageable and it will be brief (relatively).

Each cross is specially designed for each person.

We are willing to suffer whatever he sends; it will be manageable and we will come out much better for the experience.

We did not ask for any of this but we are glad, or will be glad that it is so arranged.

We keep doing this until He comes for us. We straggle along behind Him hoping to grow in stature as his disciples.

If we have died with Him then we shall live with Him (2 Tm 2,11). It will take longer than three days, but it will happen.

All glory to the Crucified and Risen Lord