6th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C) 16 February 2025 Sermon

6th Sunday of year (C)  16 February 2025  Pursuit of happiness

Everyone looks for happiness, even if it be only a reduction of misery. We are built to pursue happiness, we could say.

Well, we are built to know, love and serve God, and that would be our greatest happiness, once we actually do that.

Not everyone knows they are meant to love God, and many do not love Him, especially if that love is understood as putting God first, ahead of all else.

There are many possible sources of happiness; some get further than others, but all will be inadequate if we are not properly grounded in God.

Even legitimate happiness is limited in where it can take us. We tire of things we had previously thought would be enough for our happiness; there is a certain flatness about achievement. I have climbed the mountain, swam the sea, but I still feel the need for more.

Our hearts are restless, Lord, until they rest in Thee. (St Augustine)

A lot of the time people are just grasping for whatever happiness they can find, be it moral or immoral. They do not have a clear objective; they are just flitting from one experience to another.

Live for today is one piece of advice. But sometimes we have to factor in tomorrow to make a good decision about today.

Take today’s Gospel, where we have Jesus turning things on their head as in presenting the negative side of things as the source of happiness.

So, happy are you who are hungry now, you shall be satisfied, or happy are you who are poor, yours is the kingdom of God. Or Happy are you when they persecute you on My account.

We can be happy even while undergoing hardships because any suffering we have in he service of Christ will be superseded by the greater consolation. I may be hungry and poor and friendless now, but I will be the opposite of those things for all eternity.

We come to see the pursuit of happiness not as an accumulation of one experience after another  but  a deepening experience of God Himself, leading us to union with Him.

This is a life-long project, therefore not to be abandoned because of apparent setbacks.

We must be careful not to fall into the same errors the unbelievers make. 

We learn to be patient in the workings of God's will. 

We live ordered lives, based on the calm certainty of God’s eternal and infinite goodness.

Then we are like trees drawing water (grace) from the stream (first reading and psalm). We never run dry and are always bearing fruit.

Sin, on the other hand, leads to desolation and desert-like conditions; holiness leads to greenery, and lots of it.

Yes, we have to make some sacrifices, but any serious pursuit of happiness requires that.

Even the secular world demands self-discipline (look at the athletes, for instance). 

We understand that the things that really matter are out of normal reach and require some effort to attain them.

We don’t mind the quest, as we see the great prize, coming ever closer.

Then we will be happy, and all the time and in all possible ways. It is worth striving for such an outcome.                                                    

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C) 9 February 2025 Sermon

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C) 9 February 2025 Conversion.

In all three of today's readings there is an encounter between God and a person God has chosen. Each person feels inadequate to the task, but God provides the necessary support.

Isaiah is given a vision of the majesty of God and says, Woe, I am a man of unclean lips. God sends an angel to cleanse his lips with a hot coal.

Paul is given the task of proclaiming the Gospel; acutely humbled by his experience, he considers himself the last and the least of apostles.

Peter is overwhelmed by the miraculous catch of fish as he senses the presence of divinity. Leave me, Lord, I am a sinful man.

Although for a time they were made uncomfortable from their brush with divinity, all three were greatly blessed by the experience and never the same again. And they all went on to do great things.

They had been converted by their encounter; they had changed direction. Having laid their hands on the plough they never looked back (Lk 9,62).

So it should be for all who have this same conversion – to be pointed towards the Lord, never again to look away.

To have an experience of God brings us to our knees, and a real shame for our sins; but there is also a joyful sense of hope, and we are quickly stood up again with new confidence.

God does this to people because He can see what each one needs, and how each person can be brought to his happiest state.

There are many stories of people being changed overnight by maybe a dream, or some strong sense that they have to do something.

God will not give up as He pursues each person - not to harm them but to open up a new life.

He can call more than one person at a time, for example, with the apparitions of Our Lady; especially the final apparition at Fatima (1917).

There are prophecies of a universal warning which will reveal to every person in the world the state of his soul before God.

If that happens, it will be a conversion experience for many. When sufficiently moved we are ready to promise anything. It just then becomes a matter of keeping the good resolutions in mind.

We will not usually have a strong emotional factor helping us. God expects us to walk in faith most of the time.

We cannot manufacture conversion experiences. We can do certain things that will make conversions more likely to happen  - simply draw closer to God, through prayer, through quiet, through the sacraments.

We can make the first move, give ourselves up voluntarily. Don't make Him look for us; don't be hiding in the first place. Seek Him confidently, and He will guide us gently to do whatever has to be done.

Conversion is not always sudden and dramatic. It can be  as gentle as the breeze, and steady as the growth of a plant.

If we are responsive to God's calling, and willing to obey we will then yield the fruit that God wants from each one of us - the fruit that Isaiah, Paul and Peter were able to yield.

May God reach us by whatever means necessary and bring us all to eternal life.

Presentation of the Lord 2 February 2025 Sermon

Presentation of the Lord 2 February 2025

The  Jews had to offer their first-born sons to God, as a sign of their gratitude for being set free from Egypt (Ex 22,28-29). That son could be called the ‘price’ of salvation.

Jesus was a first-born son, and He was the price of salvation, not only for His family, not only the Jews, but for all people.

We no longer offer our first-born sons, but Jesus Himself. We offer Him in gratitude for being set free (from sin and death), and in atonement for our sins.

All the while we maintain an attitude of humility towards God. We remember our smallness in relation to Him. 

We acknowledge our dependence on Him. He is the maker of all, and we must be prepared to give up anything we have, even our own life.

Mary and Joseph lived with these attitudes anyway, but for others there may be different points where we have to make changes.

We give back to God whatever He might ask of us. We can reach a point where we are glad to give back to Him, rather than clinging to what we have.

We see in the lives of the saints how they always wanted to do more for God. Many of the saints desired martyrdom. Why would anyone want that? 

When we love enough, we do not count the cost.

Abraham was ready to give up his son, Isaac (Gen 22,1-19).  He did not argue when told to sacrifice his son, even though it did  not seem to make much sense, given that the same son was promised by God.

Abraham’s faith was being tested. God does not always ask for the hardest possible option; but He does ask us to be willing to give whatever He asks, without complaint or resistance.

There is a story in the book of Maccabees about a mother who had seven sons, and they were all put to death before her eyes, one by one to increase the anguish. She encouraged the  sons to go through with their ordeal. She loved God more than she loved her own preferences (2 Macc, chapter 7).

This is where we must be. 

On the contrary, many people give up faith in God when stricken with some kind of loss, leaving them bewildered and grieving. Why would God do such a thing? We may not know. 

We can ask, but it should be in a respectful way, recalling that all things come from God and belong to Him. The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh. Blessed be the name of the Lord (Jb 1,21).

Mary felt the full force of Simeon’s prophesy but did not recoil from what lay ahead.

Not only should we accept the Lord’s wisdom we should rejoice in it, be thankful. We say thanks be to God regardless of circumstances.

He is the same God; he does not diminish, nor forget, nor go back on His word.

The human race has been very fickle with God. He is trying to help us to trust Him.

Mary was faithful all the way to Calvary, and beyond. She knew her Son was God's Son first, and she could live with that. She never doubted God or grumbled in her heart, for taking away what he had given.

Her faith was in God Himself, not for some particular set of events. 

The things He give us might disappear but God Himself never.

He tests our faith to make it stronger, knowing that our greatest happiness lies there.

He wants everyone to be like Our Lady having real faith, without bitterness.

How can we acquire such faith? Ask and you shall receive. (Keep asking!)

3rd Sunday Ordinary Time (C) 26 January 2025 Sermon

3rd Sunday ( C) 26 January 2025 Australia Day

The people were all in tears as they listened to the words of the Law (first reading  Neh 8,9).

They were tears of joy because they were realising through the words the love that God had for them.

And there was shame in those tears too as they realized how poorly they had responded to that love.

Then we go to the Gospel, where the response to the word of God is very different. Through a combination of pride, stubbornness, jealousy, hard-heartedness – the people of Jesus’ own town would not accept Him – mainly because He was from that town!

If they had listened carefully to the words and not pre-judged, they might have responded as the people in Nehemiah’s time.

Now we come to our time, our day. It is Australia Day and we are again called upon to respond. Do we believe these words that we hear in the Bible, and in the teachings of the Church? And if we believe them, do we then live them out in our lives.

First, the gratitude: what has God not done for us? In creating us, sparing us punishment, becoming one with us, enduring insults, dying for us, extending His time among us through the sacraments, offering us endless mercy.

Is that a good day’s work that deserves some gratitude?

Then we find Australia is richly blessed in peace,  space and sunshine, physical beauty, food and wine, sport, blending of many cultures in one place, and many more.

Should we be grateful for these things?  And then all the blessings that come from being human, and thus loved by God.

After gratitude we acknowledge our sins and ask for the pardon that will always be there.

Australians are mostly tolerant and will not try to throw Jesus off a cliff (Lk 4,29). We are rightly horrified at any violence of that sort.

But we might, as Australians, use that tolerance to avoid making any definite commitment ourselves – to treat all religions as the same, and therefore nothing to get excited about.

God does not agree with that policy,  however. He reminds all nations very strongly that there is one God and only one, and He is it!

For those who do believe, our job  is to make Australia look more like the kingdom of Heaven, where all is perfect.

For example, in business, instead of trying to exploit the other person, rather ‘ought you not let yourselves be cheated?’ (1 Co 6,7-8).  And that is very much in the ‘jubilee’ idea.

We are supposed to be like Israel was on its better days, under God’s laws and making progress. It worked for Israel when they obeyed, but still they did not remember.

Many people acknowledge God and the Church for generosity to the poor and needy.

However, there is another layer. We do not just hand out food and supplies, we hand out the gospel as well and this is where it can get tense.

Sometimes we agree with the surrounding culture (eg fighting bushfires, making the streets safe, justice for everyone).

Sometimes we disagree, like on life issues: (eg abortion, euthanasia, marriage).

We call freely on God’s mercy to hold us over till we can get it right. Thus we ask mercy for Australia for any false beliefs or wrong turnings.  We ask for mercy and we learn from it.

There is one more thing we must do and this is often missed. We must worship God, sing His praises. God is to be loved, not feared.

May we get all this right. We pray for a better tomorrow for Australia, and every nation.

Till His kingdom come!

2nd Sunday Odinary Time (C) 19 January 2025 Sermon

2nd Sunday Ordinary Time (C) 19 January 2025 God’s covenant with us

We know the sort of things they say in love songs:  I would swim any ocean, climb any mountain to be with you …

It’s just as well that such sacrifices are not usually required, but we sense in such words the workings of love, as they begin with God.

In the first reading we have God promising blessings on His ‘bride’, which means us. First it was Israel, then the Church, then individual souls. As the bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you cf Is 62, 1-5)

God has abundant, infinite love and He makes it available to us.

If it is a marriage, He brings everything. He makes the promises and keeps them. We make the same promises as He does, only we need His help to do even that much.

In the book of Hosea, we see the extent of Gods faithfulness. He will take back an adulterous wife, and repeatedly so.

For our part we are that wife as far as our response to God goes. When we sin, we are offending against God, like an unfaithful bride.

We can set things right with true repentance. God will always accept us as we return.

That his first miracle took place at a weeding, we can see that marriage is an important part of Gods dealings with us. If He is marrying us, we see that as the groom He will have abundant blessings for the bride. The quality and quantity of the wine tell us this much.

This is God’s way – we dare to ask Him for more than we can even think of (Ep 3,20)

At Cana, and many other times He does more than we would ask or expect.

They asked for healing and received forgiveness as well. Healing of soul as well as body.

They grieved for death; He restored to life. Widow’s son; Lazarus

They needed food; He multiplied it in abundance.

And now they need wine, and another multiplication.

Jesus wants us to approach Him with the same confidence. 

We put all our prayers before Him continuously. We will not get them all answered, but we will get many of them. And the Church will grow in confidence and become more daring in what it asks.

The marriage covenant is being repaired and restored.

This abundance is available to everyone all the time.

We are tempted to a kind of cynicism whereby we doubt that anything can be that good.

Jesus’ emphatic miracle at Cana says that it can be that good. Somehow, we come to believe Him.

We learn to grow in love and trust for God and become able to make changes in our lives as required.

Cana was just the beginning, we could say - the beginning of many more miracles, and the beginning of a more vigorous demonstration of God’s power and goodness. 

The adulterous wife can become faithful. We might take it for granted, so accustomed are we to hearing of God’s mercy. But the story is about us; we are forgiven and invited to take up our side of the marriage with God. It is not just something we receive, but something we become - faithful.

Our Lady says it all: Do whatever He tells you. And not just once.

Baptism of the Lord 12 January 2025 Sermon

Baptism of the Lord 12 January 2025 Sharing divine nature

It was necessary that Our Lord go into the water first – as one of us. He needed no improvement, but we do, and ever since He took on human nature, we have been capable of drawing from His sacred humanity.

[May] we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity. (Offertory prayer) That small bit of water is us, going into the ocean of God's goodness.

We share in the divinity of  Christ. We are not gods, but we share in what God has.

What would that be? We cannot share in all His attributes, such as power or authority or wisdom. 

What we can share in is His charity, an underrated quality of which we could use a lot more.

This is what God wants us to share in, most of all.

God is Love, is the best way of describing Him (1 Jn 4,16).  Of all the attributes of God that could be mentioned  – Love says the most.

Jesus wants us to learn  how to love as He does - which goes as far as being able to love those who do  not love us, one of the most striking features of God's approach to humanity. This love expresses itself in being merciful and sacrificial.

Jesus was willing to die for sinners. He loved us while we were still sinners (Rm 5,18), and was merciful to the end. Father, forgive them… (Lk 23,34).

We learn to be like that, and that is why we go into the chalice with that small bit of water.

We are immersed in the divine nature in all its infinity, absorbing as much as we can. A bit more each time, we hope.

We will become more like Our Lord, especially in charity, but with many other effects, such as wisdom, power, and faith.

Human nature is a mixed bag. It can often be called upon as an excuse for misbehaviour – I am only human, and therefore I am weak. 

Instead, it is a great privilege to possess human nature, now renewed in Christ. What He can do in His human nature opens the way for us to imitate.

We believe that we can be good; we can be better than we presently are, and to a degree that we might have thought impossible.

This is God's wish for us, and He gives us ways of achieving it – in Baptism and Eucharist, especially. 

When we reflect on a human life it is always the goodness of the person that we most value.

A person might have had many outstanding qualities – academic, athletic, good-looking, financial, cheerful… but what counts the most is simply how good he was. And how do we work that out? It is how much was he like Jesus Christ?

We stress ‘goodness’ in a person because it is the central part of our nature.

And what enables that goodness to come forth is being joined to the Heart of Christ.

His heart is large enough for the whole world. He knows the status of every single person. If we cooperate it will work much better, but the potential is there for everyone. Whenever they might turn to the Lord; whenever we call upon Him, we can bring His love to bear in whatever place we find ourselves.

And all this is forever. We live forever if we are united with the eternal God. His human nature is eternal; so is ours.

With renewed desire we make this prayer at each Mass: May we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled Himself to share in our humanity.

Epiphany 5 January 2025

Epiphany 5 January 2025  One God, one People

We are in what could be called the second phase of the Christmas story. First there was the birth of Jesus and all that led up to that.

Second, what are we going to do about it? It does require a response. We are not supposed just to look at the crib as though we were passing tourists. We are meant to make a response to such great love.

In the latter part of Christmas we have the Epiphany, a kind of sub-feast of Christmas.

Epiphany gives us a sense of the largeness of Christmas, that God has come for the whole world, not just Jews. 

There is only one God and one Saviour, and ideally one people, who all believe the same things and follow the same moral law.

Before Christ came, people thought it was natural that each race would have its own ‘god’ or ‘gods’, and those gods would guide the fortunes of their particular subjects. The Jews thought that their God hated Gentiles, the same as they did.

How can you love the other side? Well, this is what Christ is bringing among us. We love even our enemies, because God loves them.

Some would say that religions vary with races and places, and we should not try to ‘Christianise’ people, leaving them with whatever religion they have.

But this makes no sense if there is only one God - only one real God, meaning the others are all imaginary, or worse, some form of evil.

Epiphany means a revealing. God reveals Himself to the nations (symbolised by the wise men), and then helps the Church to continue the process.

We preach, teach, argue, explain, explore the word, and most important of all, we live it out.

We need the Lord’s help for this.

We ask Him to continue to make Himself known to us, and through us.

We do this not by cleverness or philosophy but by demonstrating the power of the Lord. (1 Co 2,1-5)

To respond to a heavenly mystery we must be constantly replenished with grace. We cannot be agents of Epiphany unless we have first taken nourishment from Christmas. 

As we contemplate the crib scene  we are seeking always a deeper faith and charity.

The wise men were at their wisest when they knelt before the Infant King. They were highest when lowest!

They had enough wisdom to bow before the King of the universe. 

Our place before God is down low, then to be exalted we hope. He may lift us up; we cannot do it ourselves.

To the world we simply say: Behold your God.

We are not judging others, or persecuting them, simply offering them the truth.

May the light of Christ continue to shine, and bring all nations to Him. 

Lift up your eyes round about and see; They all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, And your daughters will be carried  (Is 60).

In the kings we see the necessary humility, and also the wealth and power of the nations brought to the real King’s disposal.

He is Lord of all, and it makes sense to acknowledge that.

Many grasp power and wealth for themselves, but it will never bring the desired happiness.

What are we going to do about it?

Bring all we have to the King, then fortified, go out again in His name.