2nd Sunday of Easter A 12 April 2026 Sermon

2^nd Sunday of Easter A  12 April 2026 Expectant faith 

It was one thing to rise from the dead. Jesus then had another task to perform, and that was  harder – to convince people, including even His disciples that He had indeed risen!

The last chapters of each of the four gospels give accounts of the kind of resistance He met. The apostles just could not believe it; they were not used to things going that right.

We are so accustomed to bad news that when we hear the good we are inclined to doubt it. What’s the catch, we might say.

Our world is in many ways hostile to the faith, and this can affect us. We still have the faith but it is harder to flourish when surrounded by negative factors, such as ridicule, scepticism, denial, persecution etc.

Even those who had been with Jesus for years still had trouble believing His word, though they had seen so many miracles.

Jesus told His disciples He would rise (Mk 8,31),  so why did they not believe it?

The disciples believed, but not yet enough. They were too much accustomed to the world of death to be ready for resurrection.

Now they had more life in their midst than they could handle. They were joyful, but needed a new way of grasping things.

For our part, are we thinking resurrection? We are in the same position as those first disciples.  We need to build up our faith, our expectancy of  God's marvellous actions in our midst.

And as always when we need something big it is from God that our help will come.

Jesus gave His followers a necessary lift. He appeared to them over and over until it finally sank in.

He does the same for us, not with appearances, but evidence of His goodness in our midst.

Much of it comes through the saints, canonised or not, who have given witness by their lives of the truth of the Resurrection. They have gone out into the cold wind of resistance in all its forms, and kept the flame alight.

We share in the Resurrection of Christ, firstly by coming to faith in Him, then by acting according to His teaching, then also by receiving Him sacramentally.

The apostles reached a level of identification with Christ such that even the shadow of  Peter would heal the sick (Ac 5, 15-16) or contact (Ac 19,11-12) with handkerchiefs, aprons,  of Paul.

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One thing the apostles had to do was organize the Church, sending people here and there, esgtablishing new dioceses and parishes (as we would call them now). All one Church, just getting bigger.

It means that disciples come and go from different necessities, which means sometimes sad farewells, as more and more varied needs musdt be attended to.

Thus, in this parish we have reached a need for some re-positioning, and this always means some sadness, but of course some new friendships can be made, and life goes on. In our case resurrection life.

We are destined to meet again, in Heaven if not before.

In our particular case the moves are not so dramatic, all being in the same city.

But near or far, we are always bound by our link with Christ. We are at one with all who are at one with Him.

1 Th 5, 11 Therefore  encourage one another, and build each other up. Just as in fact you are doing.’  That’s what we will do, by God's grace.

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Vigil 2026 Sermon

Holy Saturday 4 April 2026  Keeping vigil

When we keep vigil it means we are waiting for something to happen which has not happened yet, but we greatly hope it will happen.

It can be associated with anxiety, like attending to a sickness; or with joy, as in welcoming a returning traveller.

We have both anxiety and joy in our dealings with God.

We are anxious if  certain problems we face seem larger than we are and might be too much. But we continue to wait and pray for a happy resolution of the problem.  In  our anxiety we reaffirm our trust in God.

We are joyful in our vigil as we sense the power of God  coming through, like the first light of dawn breaking up the darkness.

Our Easter vigil is of the joyful kind, as vigils go. We know that whatever anguish we feel at Christ’s death, the certainty of  His resurrection will be stronger.

This is why we have a Saturday Mass for the Resurrection, and not just go straight to the Sunday. The Saturday Mass forces us to express trust in God to bring events to their best conclusion. Expectant waiting is something we get used to in our faith life.

On Sunday morning we allow ourselves to feel the full force of Jesus’s resurrection. That is more straightforward. He is risen and will never go back to the tomb.

Fortunately the joyful side will eventually be the whole reality and not have to share the stage with anxiety and other negative factors.

Jesus spent only three days in the tomb and every other day outside of it, and He certainly will not be going back there.

This is ‘keeping vigil’ - the more we expect things to go the right way the more joyful we are in anticipation.

And the better we will behave, because we learn a divine patience, God is always acting for good. We know that even if we cannot detect the precise way He is doing that.

We  have just heard many readings, shedding light on various aspects of our faith. Whenever we mention the past, it is to remind us how much trouble we have seen, but gradually we will emerge from the rubble and have only joy!

We reclaim the past not ignoring it, but drawing wisdom from it.

Then finally tonight we go into the Mass as the crowning event , still anticipating, because other things need to happen – but we are more secure because we have come so far. Those readings are our own story, which is still being written.

After it all, we express gratitude for what has been and what will be.

We do not become jaded or cynical, thinking that talk of a better future is just wishing on a star.

We will not become cynical if we pray consistently. We do  not accept that the world can never change.

Worlds can change if people change. And that much any person can achieve.

5th Sunday of Lent A 22 March 2026 Sermon

5th Sunday of Lent 22 March 2026  Life triumphs

We have desire for two things, somewhat opposed but both valid.

One is to go to Heaven, the other one is to stay here. We are happy to die if it is somewhere out there, a remote event, but not if it is today or tomorrow!

If we die at an unwanted time and it means we go to Heaven, we can come to like that.

We are supposed to trust the will of God. He knows His timing and He may have different ways of dealing with each person. For example, a short life or a long life, who can tell?

We try to cure sickness, of course, but we give way to the inevitable. Much is beyond us.

God is not as worried about death as we tend to be, because He is Lord of the living and the dead. (Rom 14,9). He knows both sides.

We know that God is concerned more with the state of the soul than that of the body, so He works for a closer union with each person. He wants people to know and love  Him; to come to a life that cannot die, and which will  bear much fruit in doing Gods will.

My greatest aim is to please God, we can say, but in practice it is more likely we please ourselves while trying not to offend God.

If God created us and designed the whole universe, and how everything works, we can trust in His being able to handle our life and death.

What Jesus did with Lazarus was unusual, but entirely within His power.

We ask the Lord to give us the right balance in dealing with these things.

Ph 1,20-26 :I am happy to live happy to die, whatever God wants, I want.

We see this with Jesus himself. He died to please the Father, while also fulfilling His own will, over which He had perfect control.

We should take reasonable care of our health and try to live as long as possible, but not clinging to life through fear.  The martyrs show us the way. They could see Heaven more than earth as they gave up their lives.

It is alright to want these things, which are really different stages of the same reality.

So it is natural if I pray for a safe trip, or a good result to the medical test, but we will be able to cope with whatever happens.

I want to be as good a disciple as I can be. And that is the basis for a happy death.

We will not resent dying but will see it as primarily a joyful thing,  as we go to a better state.

We wish this for others whom we love, that each person will come to the full spiritual understanding of his own death and what is involved.

The miracle of Lazarus was just God’s way of  demonstrating the power that he has, and the goodwill He has towards us.

Who can raise the dead by a word? He whose voice will bring forth the dead (Jn 5,25).

He is teaching us two things. Let go of those you love, and do not doubt that there is enough Life there to receive them.

We are now in the last two weeks  of Lent and we will have deeper thoughts on these matters at this time.

The Crucifixion looks like the end of the road and the crushing of all  hope; yet so quickly is that position reversed.

Life overpowers death, and we must get used to that idea. Only three days in the tomb, a great many more days outside!

More generally this is how God deals with us. We  think He has forgotten us etc, but then He reveals His hand and we realize He has never left us.  How slow we are to adopt that message; can we go a little faster this final stage of Lent?

 

 

4th Sunday of Lent A 15 March 2026 Sermon

4^th Sunday of Lent  A  15 March 2026 Live in the light

If we had to form a visual concept of heaven, I don’t think many people would  think of heaven as ever being in the dark. No dark, not even shadow.

By the time we get to Heaven we will have finished with darkness. You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord… have nothing to do with the futile works of darkness. (Ep 5 ,8-14  second reading)

Our Lord gives the man sight, for the first time. It was an exercise of that same power by which He created all things.

He was showing how powerfully and how rightly God can intervene.

And the man would have received perfect vision too. God does all things well!

What does this miracle mean for us?

Jesus is restoring our spiritual sight, so that we can tell night from day when it comes to right living, making right decisions.

We see with the eyes of faith, and things previously strange suddenly seem to make more sense (like the need for the sacrifices we make, for instance.)

If we had perfect spiritual sight we would never sin; our judgment would be accurate at all times and in all matters.

This is how it would have been for Our Lady, the perfect eyes of faith leading to the best possible way of living this life.

Our adherence to moral truth would work the same as with physical sight we keep to a well-defined path and do not go toppling off to the side

Somehow it is different when we get to moral sight; we wander off the path quite freely and do not seem to consider that a bad thing.

Due to there being so much sin in the world there is much distortion when it comes to perceiving reality. Wrong judgments are made, and many wrong turnings, leading to much disorder.

Jesus shows us the difference between good and evil, leading us to choose the good which eventually becomes obvious.

In Lent especially we are looking for the light which is eternal and infinite, to be ‘children of light, so that our deeds are good’ (Ep 5,8)

How can we acquire so much clarity?  Different elements come together - . prayer, good works, sacraments, study, discipline etc.

All these things will restore our sight, and make it easier for us to take the obvious right course.

We break free from all distortions and come to see our need for grace and mercy from God.

Whatever truth we grasp we can build upon and habitually make better choices.

We will have eyes to see the glory of God, as much as our nature can absorb.

It is the light that God Himself emanates. It will have a beauty beyond anything we can see or imagine here.

The city lights will lose their appeal -  the passing and often false lights of our world. We will seek instead the purer light of Heaven.

Heavenly light inspires us with its beauty, greater than any earthly light.

Lord, that I may see (Mk 10,51)- the blind man by the side of the road.

3rd Sunday of Lent 8 March 2026 Sermon

3rd Sunday of Lent  8 March 2026 The right God

We worship in spirit and in truth, Our Lord says to the woman at the well (Jn 4,23-24).

The Samaritans had a hazy idea of God, other nations even hazier still; but the Jews had the real God and the right God.

Their response to God was not brilliant but it does help, if we are having a conversation, to know whom we are addressing.

People have formed all sorts of notions about God – that there is more than one god, that gods are not much different from humans when it comes to faults and passions; they plot murder and revenge etc They were likely to get angry and demand obedience from the people.

In the absence of revelation from the real God mankind would struggle, though some of it was their own fault for not obeying. St Paul has put it that all people should be able to work out at least basic truths about God, from the signs around them. (Romans 1,19-20)

Coming to our own time, by now we know a lot about God because He has come down from Heaven to tell us!

We know this many things about God: because He has told us, shown us, or taught us through the Church, the wisdom and example of many saints.

1) God created us to share in His life. He is not cruel as past ages often thought. He wants us to be happy, always happy, and intervenes to help us towards Heaven, with as much Heaven as can be had in the present world.

When we say, God loves us, that is what it translates to – He seeks to maximise our happiness, take away all sorrow.

2) God has revealed Himself carefully as humans have only limited capacity, can only take in so much at a time. So Our Lord clarified much of the Old Testament teaching, not to abolish it, but to fulfil it (Mt 5,17).

3) There is only one God, who is eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing; has no beginning or ending. There cannot be any other god, because the one we worship is infinite. We cannot have half of infinity; it has to be all.

There is no part of time or place outside of the reach of God's knowledge and power.

4) God was not just for the Jews; the kingdom of God was not a political kingdom. It was spiritual and meant for all people, of whatever tribe or race.

The battle for clarity, for truth in worship has been going on ever since.

There is only one real God, and here He is, in this church, with us who profess union with Him. We become one with Him in filial obedience, trust and love.

And then the matter of loving others, what God does so much better than we do, but we learn as we go. We hate no one, reject no one, while we do insist on truth in worship and all dealings with God.  If we seek Him in humility of heart, we will get to know God better and eventually claim Him in Heaven.

Meanwhile, the woman went and fetched her neighbours to see this remarkable man (Jn 4,28-30). We must do the same insofar as we want everyone to know what we have experienced.

Plus we need those neighbours to take their place here with us, and supplement the Church’s presence and activity in such urgent times.

2nd Sunday of Lent 1 March 2026 Sermon

2nd Sunday of Lent 1 March 2026 Consolations 

God expects us to believe and trust Him even when there is not a lot of direct evidence of His closeness.

He expects us to believe and trust Him when the chips are down, when adversity seems to be winning over prosperity.

He wants us to get beyond a faith which rises with good fortune and sinks with ill fortune.

We are tempted to declare there is no God, especially when a number of things go wrong about the same time.

What should we do under adversity? Not condemn God, but rather seek His will, both as understanding it and living it.

We are never tempted beyond our strength, we are told (1 Co 10,13).

It might seem like we are so tempted, but God is ever true to His word, and His arm is not shortened’ (Is 59,1)

Today’s Gospel speaks of the Transfiguration. This event is understood as strengthening the faith of the apostles, so that they would be able to cope with future adversity, especially Good Friday.

Jesus had told them He would rise again, and they should have believed Him by now, but not quite.

The crucifixion looked like a defeat, but it was a victory over sin and death.

We spend too much time doubting when we could be believing. We need lots more faith spread through the Body of Christ. We can encourage each other, and that is one reason why we come here to Mass.

We don’t look for special consolations but we are glad to take them when they come. The Transfiguration is one of those, for the whole Church.

Much of the gospels convey the sense of the tables being turned: those who weep now shall laugh, the last shall be first, the humble shall be exalted, he who loses his life will save it  etc.

We can be happy in this life, by living in this deeper level of trust. We will be able to negotiate any difficulty if we focus on the sameness of God, rather than the changeable tides of present circumstance.

We do  not make light of genuine sufferings but call down the power and goodness of God to make what is wrong right and what is right better still!

Lack of faith leads people to want ‘results’ all the time. If they see no result they will stop praying, and that makes for a weaker aggregate faith throughout the whole Church.

We repeat Easter in particular  to focus on the most important build-up of faith, that of life over death. We drive the point home a little more each time.  Those realities are fixed but our response needs bolstering.

God stays His hand. He could bring events to a head very easily, but He is working to His own time scale. We are glad just to be part of the process.

One of these days it will be Easter every day, in the full glory of being one with God.

Lack of understanding does not mean it is not real. People will say that there cannot be a God given the suffering in the world. We don’t have to understand God's exact purposes  to know He is there.

But if everyone turned to that one God there would be no wars, or similar troubles, because many would come to belief, and there would be no wars started.

God wants us to know him better, such that we are familiar with His ways; and if we do not know everything we know enough as to the course of events.

Such faith as we have, put it in storage, and do not lose it. It will be there when we need it. We reaffirm our stock of faith  every day and build on it.

1st Sunday of Lent A 22nd February 2026 Sermon

 1^st Sunday of Lent  22 February 2026 Temptations

When Jesus began His public ministry the devil was aware of Him but did not know that Jesus was God.

Accordingly the devil launched an attack on Jesus, presuming that he would overcome any merely human opposition, as he usually did.

He put three temptations before Jesus, temptations which contain all the essential points of the conflict between good and evil.

He tempts Jesus to seeking pleasure above all other considerations. Turn these stones into bread.

He tempts Him to put all His trust in Himself, and not God. Be resourceful, use whatever is available to get what you want.

He tempts Jesus to accept Satan’s patronage; it would be rewarding, again appealing to the short-term, immediate fulfilment.

There is no need for God in such a world. If I can do it myself why bother with God?

To all of which Jesus replies simply with a direct rejection, and then pointing to what we should be doing instead: live on the word of God, bow down before Him alone; do not try to tell Him what to do (put Him to the test)

The battle between good and evil comes down to a matter of assertion. Do we regard ourselves to be gods, or are we happy to deflect all the glory to the real God?

Humility will enable the right response. If we are humble we can see ourselves in the right perspective.

This is what Lucifer and the fallen angels were unable to do. They saw their own beauty and concluded that such beauty was enough for them. They could not give praise to any other – such as God, nor to humans as it turned out.

The angels, like the humans, were created to give praise to God. To share His life and the beauty of creation, but most of all to praise God.

They were so distorted in their self-love that they could not defer to God. As they breached their own nature in rejecting the true God they were cast out of Heaven and condemned to an eternity of rejection, of God and from God. Ugly deformity.

In a spirit of revenge they have come back to attack the human race in every way possible, and we certainly feel the effects of that.

However, if we are led by Jesus and His example we will resist the devil’s cunning and take refuge in humble compliance with the will of God.

Jesus as Man gave us the path to follow. Listen to God's word, take instruction from Him.

Repent of our sin, always a major theme of Lent.

Obey at all times and without dispute.

Worship the Lord (which means stating God's worth, which is infinite.)

Doing these things and doing them over and over will keep us spiritually sane.

When the creatures obey the  Creator then we have success and nothing to detract from it.

The devil can tempt but he has been deprived of most of his influence, with the coming of Christ.

Doing penance is one more part of our response. We voluntarily and freely offer to God something of what He has given us, such as food, pleasure, games etc

We thereby show that we value Him more than what we have given up.

We outgrow those first desires, distorted by sin. We embrace instead the balanced, reasoned, controlled  divine alternatives.

It is as simple as this statement: You shall worship the one God and Him alone.