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.

 

 

6th Sunday A 15 February 2026 Sermon

6^th Sunday A  15 February 2026 Choices

From Sirach - you have a choice fire or water. One will burn, one will refresh. Which will you take?  (Sirach 15,16) One will do  you good; one will do you harm, which shall it be?

Adam and Eve had a similar choice. They could eat from any tree in the garden, except that one. That should have been easy to decide, but we know we do not always want the most appropriate thing. So it has ever been since with the human family. How to make the right decision?

It is all part of the ongoing battle between good and evil. Good is the right way of looking at a question; evil the wrong.

Many would say that it is impossible to choose the good every time. It can be hard certainly, but never impossible with God's grace assisting.

We choose water over fire, right over wrong. If we do this in small everyday things it will strengthen us for big decisions when they come.

We become more accurate in our decisions, complying more often with what God Himself would decide.

Some things are easy to decide. The evil in these cases does not appeal to us. For example we are not going to burn down the town  hall, or steal the crown jewels.

We will always choose rightly in such cases.

But when it comes to something I want to do, like talk unkindly of my neighbour, or tell lies to gain some kind of advantage, or perform an action I would rather avoid - then I have to work on my response.

As with any difficult thing we face, we can get better with practice. So we ‘practise’ our faith in doing or refraining from whatever is required.

As we do this the probability of getting it right will increase.

We eventually reach the point where we prefer the right action to the wrong one., so it is no big deal.

As this right-choosing increases we come more and more into the light of Christ.

We are coming to see things the way God sees them.

When He says , Come follow Me it means follow Him in the way that He thinks, He desires, He decides.

The Church proclaims this to the world. We point out the right choice. Fire or water, happiness or misery.

We are not just trying to stop everyone have a good time. We are offering the word of life.

Some human desires can be very entrenched, turning into addictions, compulsions, bad habits. They might need more work. With the Lenten season approaching we resolve to work on these deeper faults. We will come to prefer the good.

We call on Our Lady, who never committed a single sin, because she always saw the will of God as preferable to anything else.

We seek from God all the wisdom  that He can grant to us.

This will give us a foretaste of Heaven. The reason Adam and Eve chose the forbidden fruit is that it was  that it looked good to eat. Heaven will contain a lot more than one tree, and more beautiful than anything we have seen so far.

In the second reading we heard that the Holy Spirit reveals the depths of everything, even the depths of God (1 Co 2,10).

These are deep waters, and we need help to get all this right, and that help is available.

5th Sunday A 8 February 2026 Sermon

5th Sunday A   8 February 2026 Good Works                                                                                                                                                                                                                              There is a practical side of the faith, as expressed in the first reading, Share your bread with the hungry…(Is 58, 7-10 Treat well those under your power, and you will see good things happening.

Your prayers are more likely to be heard and generally everything will run better, because we are grounded firmly in the love of God, and He will make His presence felt.

Think of the world as like a finely tuned machine which might or might not run well.

Sin brings discord and the machine does not run well, and we have seen a great deal of that in human history.

Then, on the bright side, consider the saving presence of Jesus Christ and that presence is in Him and permeates among us, as we place all our actions under His patronage.

His presence is healing itself  and cannot but do good when properly invoked.

It is no great mystery. It comes to saying, Do the right thing and other right things will follow.

Do not hide your light under a bushel (today’s Gospel, Mt 5,15)  We show  by our example the power of Christ to do good in every kind of way.

This is a medicine for every  illness, a light for every path, food for the journey - whatever is not going well can be lifted to higher things.

We might think we would not be much good at giving Christian example to people around us, but such example can take many forms.

The key is how much we love God, how close we are to Him.  We offer all our actions to God's glory, and let Him do what He will with our offerings.

We want to behave as well as possible, for our own sake (it feels good to be good); and for others wherever they may be in the faith world.

A  chance word or action from us may set off other things, and then other things again.

It is all co-ordinated by the Holy Spirit who can use anything good for a good purpose.

Some will do good deeds but ignore God, thinking that they can work out for themselves what needs to be done.

‘Religion’ to them is just an impediment.

But it gets back to the question of union with God. If we are close to God things will  happen for the better. If away from God we are a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal  (1 Co 13,1-3)

Many would be impatient with prayer, thinking that this time could be spent elsewhere.

But we need time to immerse ourselves in God's view of the world.

God wants us to identify with His Body, the Church. He wants us to look after each other. He could do it Himself - feed the hungry, rescue the lost etc, but He wants us to activate His power, to benefit ourselves as we help others benefit.

We need to be both Mary  and Martha (Lk 10,38-42).

Good deeds do not displace prayer but blend in with them, and everything gets better..

We seek to please God for his own sake. Good works - as good as they are - are not the best thing. The best thing is to please God.

The Church attracted early converts of that time (Ac 5,12-14).

And  the Church has seen various renewals, eg monastic life, religious orders, scholarship of popes,  teachers,  saints in great number.

At any point we can pick up the pieces, and resume the great quest for finding Heaven. We help each other by word and example, prayer and practice.

4th Sunday Ordinary Time A 1 February 2026 Sermon

4^th Sunday A  1 February 2026 Humility

A privilege of being human as distinct from say, being an animal, is that we have the power to reflect on abstract matters, such as the meaning of life.

A dog cannot do that. He cannot say, Why did God make me a dog? I would rather be something else!

For all that, sometimes we might wish God had not given us so much capacity to think, in our wishing for a simple life, without too many pressures.

It is doubtful, however, that many people would trade their human identity for an animal’s life.

It is not only about complaining. Humans can glorify God, and that is a great thing. We can praise God for works of nature, such as a sunset, a mountain range, a raging sea. We can praise God also for spiritual works such as listed in the Beatitudes (today’s Gospel) – humility, gentleness, being peacemakers…(Mt 5,3-12)

It is a great privilege to have this ability to admire the works of God, to have an increasingly clear grasp of who God is, and what He is wanting from us.

It is easy to take wrong turnings here, as we see from our own lives and the general history of humanity.

Any way in which a person defies God in rejecting His laws, or refusing to bow down before Him, or even to deny His existence. These are an abuse of the privilege that He has entrusted to us – to know, love and serve Him.

Some will dare to criticise God, to put His judgments to scrutiny  and say, Lord why is it so? To which we can reply, Does the pot say to the potter why have you made me thus. (Rom 9,20-21)

We can question God's ways as long as we do it respectfully and always ready to see that Hs is going to be right.

Accepting God's will does not mean that we have to be pleased about everything that happens. It means that we put our trust in God to make whatever is wrong come right. And we can hasten that process of coming right if we are humble, Especially, humble because that means we will not oppose God's will making everything a lot harder.

We humans can get it right or wrong, and that is our privilege and burden.

Our prayer, sacraments and good works will help us be grateful for the privilege, and not to succumb under the burden.

It is a good thing to be alive. I did not ask to be born, but I am glad I was.

We should all be able to say that.

The humans have not used their privilege of understanding as faithfully as they should have.

The loss of so much potential goodness can be recovered if we repent and start again.

We are already basically happy but would  like to be a lot more happy, in our own lives and in the world in general.

The privilege of being human enables us to become more aware of the closeness of God, and His good intentions towards us.

We seek God. Other creatures cannot do that.

God did not make a mistake when He made me, or us.

Do I seek to be more than I am now, or less? On getting to Heaven we will have an expanding awareness of these things.

Then we shall know as we already are known. (1 Cor 13,12)

 

 

 

3rd Sunday A 25 January 2026 Sermon

3^rd Sunday A  25 January 2026 Come follow me.  (Mt 4,19-20). How ordinary it must have looked. Just two men by the sea, and then another man comes, and all three walk off. Nothing so unusual about that?

Yet, it is an  historic moment that changes the world, being the beginning of the Church, and all that follows from that.

God's actions are sometimes dramatic, like the Transfiguration, the parting of the Red Sea, the raising of Lazarus.

Sometimes quiet and to the bodily eyes nothing out of the ordinary.

Like the call of the apostles, or the call of Samuel (who gives us the best response).

The ordinary interventions by God remind us how close He is, and how easily He can reach us. We  have to say, like Samuel, speak Lord your servant is listening  (1 Sam 3,9). Or (like Mary) Be it done unto me according to your word.

One can be ready for such interventions without knowing where they will come from.

There is potential in all of us to respond to God. After all, He created us and formed us in His image, so we can resonate with Him.

He can bring out the best in us, and that is what He is seeking to do.

If God calls me I will go. We do not respond to every invitation nor listen to every ‘messiah’, but this one is different. He speaks with authority (Lk 4,32) and He does actions to demonstrate, such as His many miracles.

We follow Him either from an initial recognition, that here is something special; or from the accumulation of experiences. Peter did both. He left his nets and then also said, somewhat later, to whom shall we go, Lord. You have the words of eternal life. (Jn 6,68).

We think of young people being called, and that makes sense as they have years to give to the Lord’s service, but it is not age-restricted. An older person can be called too, such as Simeon and Anna, Abraham - patient waiting, keeping the hope alive (Lk 2,25-38)

The spirit is willing, and also young. We can respond to God's call as though it were always today.

Each person has the potential to be holy, Christ-like, and willing to ‘go’ with Him.

We pray for each other to find the right response.

Why would Jesus make it less easy to see the way forward? To bring out in us more virtues such as humility, patience, trust.. He wants an ongoing partnership not just an occasional checking-in.

We can learn from our own mistakes and those of others, not to do what they did eg the rich young man, (Mt 19,16-22)  or Judas.

God needs people who will not resist eg St Joseph.

Thy will be done. He knows what He wants from each person. He can communicate with each one in a unique way.

So we should not be too quick to say that nothing is happening, that God does not hear our prayers.  It is just that we do not see most things.

God can surprise us, and probably enjoys doing that. We, meanwhile are learning the ways of the Lord. We will be there when needed.

To Come follow Me. we say Amen, or similar.

Any delay of time on God's answers to our prayer can be understood as an exercise in  hope. We are charged with hope, not giving in to defeat.

There is potential in all of us, and in all situations. God can take any time or place to show His hand.

The people have seen a great light.

Back at the lakeside, it begins with one or two…

 

 

2nd Sunday A 18 January 2026 Sermon

2^nd Sunday of year  18 January 2026  Lamb of sacrifice

St Maximilian Kolbe is known for his death, which was a heroic self-sacrifice for the sake of giving another prisoner the chance to live, that other prisoner having a family.

Christ Himself sets the pace: ‘God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. ⁹ (Rm 5,8)

Christ not only took up human life but laid it down also, sharing our pain to make it bearable for us.

There is the Lamb, says St John the Baptist. (Jn 1,29). Look at  him, not just with the eyes, but with the heart and mind, taking on His nature and being formed to be the same.

No more animal lambs to be sacrificed, from now on one Lamb, perfect and sufficient for atonement with God.

Christ died only once but His death is enacted all over the world, and every day.

We do that to enter the experience and be transformed as we do so.

At each Mass we contemplate the death of Christ taking the place of sinners.

Imagine if every disciple of Christ were as ready as He was to do this?

What about us? We pray for increase of generosity, compassion, courage etc. We just want to know God better, to be willing and able to do as He did, to have enough charity in our hearts to make sacrifices for others.

St John puts it very clearly: 1Jn 3,16 and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. He makes it sound easy! And it will become easy once we get into the right channel.

He who loves his life will lose it, while anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life  (Jn 12,25)

That Christ loved us first gives us hope that we can master this point. The love He generates has saved many people and inspired many others, including us.

God the Son took on human nature with the view of improving it, of bringing forth more saints.

He takes away sin, as in St John the Baptist’s phrase, the sin of the world.

Sin is selfish and closed in on self, trying to save physical life, the sinner will lose the lot (most of all, the soul).

Offering sacrifice for sin requires all the opposite good qualities - generous, concerned for others, trusting in God, spiritually minded.

Sacrifice removes sin by taking away the guilt of the sinner. Better still there is another level whereby sacrifice restores the love that sin has removed.

The perfect sacrifice of Christ makes a new reality, and is pleasing to God who lavishes graces on the world

The sin is forgiven and then is replaced as the normal way of conducting this life.

We no longer want to sin  nor have any inclination for it; this is why sin can be said to be ‘taken away’.

The Mass is offered primarily to continue the sacrifice of the Lamb in every place and time.

We are asking that God will give us the necessary graces to become like the Lamb we offer.

Baptism of the Lord 11 January 2026 Sermon

Baptism of the Lord 11 January 2026  Identification

God takes the initiative in saving us. He comes without asking our consent, proposing to do certain things which would benefit the world, even it that world is not asking for it.

Of course the world asks for things that it needs, like peace, food, safety, but our Lord wanted to take it further than just meeting material needs.

He wants to save people by enabling them to become like Him: That we may come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled Himself to share in our humanity (Offertory).

God the Son would present those He could capture to God the Father, and that is how the great divide between divinity and humanity would be healed.

Our true nature restored, we would be able to share in the inner life of the Trinity.

The Father will accept whomever the Son brings. The Father welcomes the Son because He is at one with Him.

We welcome someone we love if we see them coming up the path. If they have other people with them those other people will be welcome too, because of their identification with us .

Complete strangers you might reject, but if you see the Beloved in there the whole group  takes on a more favourable note

The Son gathers as many as He can, and wants to take them home to the Father. Whether or not they will let  themselves be taken is the whole issue that we have been struggling about ever since the Fall.

Jesus leads the way, and some will follow. People can change positions. One initially agreeing can be lost; one initially resisting can come to accept.

We are caught up in this huge struggle, for our own individual souls, and for the human race as a whole.

The issue comes to our degree of identification with Jesus Christ.

Seeking to gather a people to Himself He leads the way into the water, indicating baptism in water will be part of the process.

Christ has no need to be washed clean from sin, but the people He is gathering will need it.

Jesus shows the way. This is what we will have to do.

When we come to be baptised it is to express our identifying with Our Lord, at the same time seeking to deepen that identity.

We are saved by being changed into the likeness of God the Son, approved as we do that by God the Father.

This means we act like Jesus Christ, not in the way of working miracles but in terms of charity and mercy.

We learn to see things as Jesus sees them and respond accordingly.

This way the Body of Christ becomes bigger, with more members yet no loss of fraternal union.

God wants to save as many as possible, and this is how it happens, individuals joining themselves to Christ as the centre of all life. Tree and branches (Jn 15,1-8)

The word ‘baptism’ means ‘immersion’. To be immersed means to be covered in whatever the substance is, in this case, the charity of Jesus Christ. To be as much like Him as we can be, this is all foreshadowed in Our Lord’s Baptism.

Baptism is a dying and a rising (Rom 6, 3-4). If we die in Christ we shall rise with him. The passing through the Red Sea is evoked as we travel from one state to another, to a much better state as we become more Christ-like.

Water cleanses and gives nourishment – a strong image of what awaits us in the spiritual world, cleansed from sin, enabled to live well.