Trinity Sunday 15 June 2025 Sermon

Trinity Sunday 15 June 2025 Divine Love

It is difficult for a lesser being to explain the greater one,  and that is where we are with reference to Almighty God.

We can at least, however, talk to each other and pool our knowledge, seeking some clarity.

God is eternal, very hard to conceptualise, without beginning or end.

He is outside of time, and that is also hard to grasp, but it makes sense. The Creator has authority over all aspects of His creation, including time.

God had no need of us but chose to make us so that we could share in His glory.

We are invited to choose. Are we with God or against Him? Do we love Him or not?

Many see God as too far away to matter, but it is He alone who keeps us in being.

A life of sin will lead to false perceptions. Our present culture carries on as though there were no God. We cannot unmake Him by anything we may do. Nor can we make Him irrelevant. He is not easy to remove!

We who believe in Him have a duty to atone for the blasphemies and sacrileges committed against Him. As far as we can.

And we give Him the glory that He deserves from us, again the best we can do. This is a relatively straightforward obligation, but how many do not do it! Nor have they done it through all the centuries of time.

On this feast day we make God Himself our main focus. We could call this God's feast day, as we have days for the saints - this one is for God.

We atone for insults to Him; we offer Him praise and thanksgiving; we seek to live in union with His holy will.

And we share our knowledge of Him.

God is mysterious but He has told us certain things about Himself. Such as that He loves us, and desires to save us; that He can forgive our sins, that He will reward the good we do in His name.

He has told us something about His inner life, the interactions between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Church has studied the nature of the Trinity and comes up with this summary: The Father gives of Himself; the Son receives the Father’s giving, and returns it. The love between the Father and the Son is itself a divine Person, the Holy Spirit.

The love between the divine Persons is much stronger than merely human love.

We are beginners at love, compared with God. Still, our capacity to love can increase as we contemplate divine love.

Many would settle with human love thinking that is all they need.

Human love is an important part of proceedings but is not the end of the journey. God wants us to search for Him, like a deer for running streams (Ps 42,1), like the watchman who longs for the dawn (Ps 130,6). The more we look for Him the more apparent His blessings become.

It does us good to praise God. We are caught up in the divine fire of giving and receiving. When born we received love from those around us. As we grew older we learned to return love. And we might even be capable of giving more love than we receive. If so, this is progress in sharing the life of the Blessed Trinity.

As we grow in love for God we desire to be part of His saving plan for the world. We want what He wants, as we lock into union with His will. Once we do that we have achieved the main purpose of our lives – to know, love and serve God. All praise to the Blessed Trinity!

Pentecost Sunday 8 June 2025 Sermon

Pentecost Sunday 8 June 2025 Forever young

We can think of Pentecost as like a nuclear explosion but with good effects instead of destruction.

All that energy flowing out from one room, a new beginning for the human race.

And in this case the explosion is still happening, as waves of love and peace, and all good qualities go out over the world. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Hab 2,14)

When this force meets its target something dramatic happens. Instead of death there is life. All the negative elements are turned into the corresponding good. So despair becomes hope, fear becomes courage, hate becomes love etc.

Unlike a bomb which destroys all in its path the Spirit will go usually where He is welcomed. People can resist but He remains available to be called upon.

Today we express our desire to grow in personal renewal, on one hand, and to facilitate the spread of such a good influence on others, as many as we can reach.

It has never been as straightforward as we would have wished, but still it has been impressive.

Millions have been reached and still at least one billion people claim a link with the Church.

Pentecost has changed history and will greatly influence the future as well.

It will happen a lot more strongly the more people line up on the right side. Good v Evil, we need to know which side we are on.

We cannot have all the enthusiasm we need for the rest of our lives all at once.

We can guarantee, however, that we can always replenish the necessary strength.

 [T]there came in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was wearied, not being able to bear it. Jer 20,9)  We need that fire always.

We could liken each church to an ‘upper room’; we continue what began back there.

Here, once again, we can make contact with the powerful goodness of God.

God never depreciates or grows old. We could say we grow younger when we interact with God, because we are being reborn all the time.

It is not so easy even to organize ourselves, but we have to conquer or re-conquer the whole world.

The explosion can be resisted in this case. Love invites but does not force.

The new order will remain in place, however, as God seeks to claim the lost sheep.

It is a struggle to regain the lost and claim those never reached, while holding those we have.

God has no borders. He regards the whole world as His – a reasonable position insofar as He created it all! Every nation, every person is His.

The world sees so much suffering; now we see that there is a ray of hope. Pentecost reminds us of all the reasons we are still hoping.

The more we hope, the more we leave room to the Holy Spirit to work His wonders. The greatest wonder is when a person takes God at His word and comes to life.

Every year, every day we pray, at least by implication: Come, Holy Ghost. On each and all of us, and all others besides.

Ascension of the Lord 1 June 2025 Sermon

Ascension of the Lord 1 June 2025 Our true home

In a little while you shall not see Me, and again a little while and you shall see Me  (Jn 16,16-22).

Our Lord was referring to His crucifixion as the first separation, and then His Ascension as the second time, anticipating a glorious reunion in each case.

For us it is still a time of separation, to be resolved individually at death, and overall at His second coming.

One good thing about separations is they can increase our desire to see one whom we love. Our Lord wants us to use this present time of our lives, increasing our desire for Him, longing for reunion with Him, and then eternal union.

He leads us on as He offers us something better, our true home.

In the meantime, our waiting is not just idle; we should do good in every way possible (For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people 1 P 2,15).

We might think God is being cruel keeping us at such distance from Him and not ending our exile quickly.

He is never cruel, just firm. Whatever He does is aimed at giving us the best possible outcome. If we learn to wait for our fulfilment in Him, we will be a lot happier overall than if we expect instant delights at every turn.

He will give us all the qualities we need to serve out our time of separation. All our prayer has a certain longing quality about it. The Advent prayer, Come, Lord Jesus says it all.

He offers Himself in sacramental form to keep us on track. There is great power in the sacraments if we let them take full effect.

We are generally too much absorbed in this life and not really trusting God to provide.

We cannot guarantee that we will always be comfortable physically, but we can ensure that we always have spiritual aid, helping us to keep everything in balance.

We learn to keep always one eye on eternity, the long view.

We learn to live each moment for God, without useless worry or futile distractions.

We worry about many things; we have many deadlines to meet, recurring tasks to fulfil. Always there is something to claim our attention.

We can take all that in our stride if we are sufficiently grounded in Christ.

We will find the wisdom and the energy to deal with each problem as it arises.

We have the benefit of God's power and love at every moment. We cannot lose on that basis.

The future is very strange to us;  even as to this life the future is a complete blur. We have no idea what will happen even tomorrow, let alone the rest of our time on earth.

What happens after death is more mysterious still.

Not fully knowing something does not make it untrue.

The atheists and the agnostics ridicule Heaven and the whole spiritual world because they do not see with the physical eyes.

We trust that whatever God tells us is true, whether we understand it or not, whether we have experienced it or not. It is a joy for us waiting to find out what Heaven is like.

The future and the past are all one to God, and so it should be to us as far as faith is concerned. We should be able to believe in future events as surely as those in the past.

And this earth, weighed down by so much suffering as it is, can be enjoyed on the same principle, that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rm 8,39).

He is testing us to see if we are capable of trusting Him to such an extent, at the same time enabling us to do so.

So, the daily grind goes on – for now - but not forever.

In a little while….

6th Sunday of Easter C 25 May 2025 Sermon

 6^th Sunday of Easter 25.May 2025 Peace of Christ

 Peace I leave you, says the Lord, a peace the world cannot give.

 It is said that peace is more than the absence of conflict. It is great if there is no war going on, but even in peacetime we can experience many types of pressure, and there are forms of war such as anger, quarrels, bitterness, spite, accusations, and so on.

 Think of the peace of Eden, that first place we possessed, where everything was as it should be. Peace and order reigned.

 What made Eden so pleasant was that all was according to the mind of God. That is where true peace begins, and there can be  no true peace unless deriving from God.

 When all is in union with Him there will be order in all creation as well. What we had in Eden we still have in Heaven, only better still.

 We might think it unlikely that such order can exist, but it is natural enough if we consider that created being should be in full concord with the Creator Himself.

How could it be otherwise? And we can ask that question of the human race – where have you been all this time? Why did you not seek out the One who has all wisdom, power and goodness to help you find  your way? If you want peace, why did you not look to the One who is the source of peace?

That would be the normal thing to do, where normal means according to the ‘norm’.

It is not normal to go around speaking unkindly to or about others. Like Israel we have been set free from slavery, in our case the slavery of sin. We do not return to Egypt.

The freedom from slavery means, in our case, that our thoughts and words, as well as our actions, are in accord with God.

As to fighting with another, if we are both filled with Christ how can we be hostile to each other? It is like the left hand and the right hand having a civil war.

Many would never have tried very hard to live in this freedom, because they would have judged it to be impossible.

But it is not so hard if we think of it as a matter of union with God. We can call directly on God to give us the peace that flows from being in union with Him. If He is at peace so are we.

The peace of Christ permeates our souls, and our communities, so it blesses us at both levels, the individual and the communal. We acquire a larger vision, and find we can respond to all emergencies in a more ordered way.

We pray for peace in the world, but we realize that first there must be peace in our hearts.

Unless we can bring the disordered passions into shape we cannot have much hope of peace on the world scale.

We work on our own personal level. We restrain from uncharitable speech, raised voices, malicious gossip etc.

And we replace these things with the good things from Heaven. We offload the vices and take up the virtues instead - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Ga 5,22)

Jesus wants to transform us from within, so we are not just keeping commands but actually changing into images of Him. We speak and act as He would, at least as far as charity is concerned. The abiding presence of God is found in us. And that enables us to live in peace.

This is the peace we wish upon each other at every Mass. 

5th Sunday of Easter 18 May 2025 Sermon

5^th Sunday of Easter 18 May 2025  Love one another

Jesus prepares to leave His Church, as we move from Easter to Pentecost. We, meanwhile, adapt to having faith but not the actual sight of Christ. In a little while you will see Me again Jn 16,16.

We see Him with the eyes of faith, or we could say, with the eyes of love.

Love is God's main language, - and if we enact that language we will be on the same wavelength as God and each other.

This is how the Church keeps unity, when it does. It is love that makes it possible for us to perceive the presence of God - if we love one another, as Jesus teaches today (Jn 13,34).  We will be transformed as we do that, better people in a better world.

The Church has buildings and all the latest technology, but those things are just to make possible the main work, which is to love – God and neighbour.

The Church makes present the love of God, through teaching, through works of mercy, through the sacraments. We have to act out this charity, not just have it there in theory.

We have to be active in seeking this divine element. We look for God in all the circumstances we encounter. We try to learn to interpret His will, to be ready to obey Him.

This is hard if we are not used to prayer, or do not have a lot of faith It is something we have to try first, to see if it ‘works’.

Many will say prayer is useless, so they do not pray. But if they did pray – continuously – they would find that it does indeed make a difference.

In the meantime, God wants us to become fluent in His language – Love one another …

And once we have mastered this we can build on to it, reaching a stronger awareness of God, and ways of dealing with every situation.

We can have heaven on earth (second reading) if we do this from the heart, seeking to please God first, knowing that other people will benefit also.

If we really love God we will have a much warmer view of other people.

Big occasions can bring out a stronger sense of solidarity. For example, the recent Pope’s election. This is a small glimpse of the kingdom of God in our midst. A lot of people all sharing the one faith and seeking the same outcomes.

Or pilgrimages to holy places, where people seek higher things.

We derive that extra warmth from the heart of Christ. On the Cross Jesus has His arms outstretched. When I am lifted from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself. Jn 12,32

Loving one another means in practice many different things according to the need. But at the heart of the matter, it means having respect for the dignity of each person, helping those in need – drawing heavily from God's mercy and charity.

God gives us the ability to be merciful as He is merciful. This will come with repeated exposure to His grace.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Cor 13,4-7)

This is how Our Lord keeps us within reach while He is physically away from us. We will hardly miss Him if we take His word seriously and put it into practice. Always with His help.

4th Sunday of Easter C 11 May 2025 Sermon

4^th Sunday of Easter 11 May 2025  Mother Mary

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, World Vocations day, and Mothers Day.

And the first Sunday of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV

Unifying all these points we could say the Love of God is at work, variously looking after us on one hand, and inspiring us to go out to look after others on the other.

Jesus gives us Himself as the Good Shepherd, rounding up His flock, which consists of those who already belong to Him, and those who do not identify but should. He loves them all and seeks to draw them into His heart.

And working alongside the Good Shepherd, we have the Mother of us all influencing us in all the right ways. As mothers do, and Mary especially.

Our mothers helped us to come into this life, and then how to live it. They fed us and taught us many things about life; they gave us what they could. When we reached adulthood they supported us there as well.

We thank them for what they have done or are still doing.

Our heavenly Mother is also there at every step. She will nourish us with truth, and charity and wisdom and a host of other good qualities.

She has so much goodness herself, that she can share it with others, and that is what she does.

She communicates with us in various ways, not usually with audible speech but with ideas, principles, suggestions – various ways that thoughts come to us, and we process them as best we can.

If we say the devil tempts us we can say that God or Mary give us the opposite of a temptation – an urge to something good, to believe more clearly what we should, to respond generously to whatever is expected - such as to respond to the various calls God makes upon us, especially that of priestly or religious vocations.

We pray that the inspiration will be accepted and acted upon. With vocations there may be more than one stage – first, conversion to the faith, then a more particular call such as priesthood.  As with St Augustine, who needed to come to belief and then later was a great bishop.

Mary has a gentle presence and way of communicating with us. She is firm, however, and without overruling our free will, draws us to better things.

She wants only to help people connect with her Son. Woman, this is your son. And so she has been helping ever since. Being mother.

It is good to have her around. In recent years many Catholics have been reluctant to give much attention to Mary.

There is a fear that attention given to her will somehow subtract from attention given to God.

Love is expansive, meaning that we can love more than one person without detracting from anyone else. So for example if you have one child or three or seven it is possible to love all of them.

So we can talk to Mary without in any way lessening our love for Jesus. In fact, her prayer will help us to love Jesus more.

She will help us to know Him better and be more comfortable with His will.

She is mother to many who do not know her, or believe her. She will pray for them anyway, and many will come to conversion through her.

We can always pray directly to God but if we call upon Mary she will add her prayer, and things will go faster and better.

So we pray to her today for all those things going on. Mothers Day, Vocations, The Pope.

3rd Sunday of Easter C 4 May 2025 Sermon

3^rd Sunday of Easter (C ) 4 May 2025 Love at the source

Our dealings with God are personal; to us they can seem impersonal. We tend to see love as human to human, and that is the stuff of love stories. Imagine a film ending with the couple going to church to worship God!

We keep the commands and that goes some way. For example, I do not steal.

But if I do good and avoid evil, not just because it is a command, but because I value the person who would be hurt – that is more like how it is supposed to work.

I would not hurt you because I value you  as a person. Most people we don’t know personally, but we respect their human dignity. Therefore we treat people with kindness, courtesy etc.

This all comes from God, the giver of all that is good. We love people because God loved us first. He loves me and the other person. We return some of that love to him, we hope increasingly. We learn to love one another as an extension of God's love for us.

This makes it easier to keep the commands, so they are not just seemingly random interruptions. The sourcing of these commands from God indicates their meaning and power.

Christ is risen is good, but better still if we love Him. Take Mary Magdalene who loved Our Lord more than the other disciples did, and so experienced more fully the sorrow of the Crucifixion and the joy of the Resurrection.

We might say I don’t want to love that much, but this is the way forward, to be discovered. We will be much happier if we go this way than not. A life of sin is a life of misery, slavery and possibly even damnation. If we can cultivate the personal sense of God we are dealing with goodness itself.

We learn to love goodness itself; no longer abstract, but part of us.

This is better than human to human love, which is limited. With God at the source we can love another person in the love of God for us. It becomes a community of love, all the better.

When Jesus asks Peter, do you love me, it is to probe Peter, and get him to take a longer look at his motives

Feed my sheep means go out in the strength of my love and bring it to others.

Many would see God as a kind of remote presence, having some influence but not much.

Our world with all its buying and selling is the real world, they will say, and talk of heaven etc is vague and abstract, therefor less real.

In fact it is the other way round. The things of heaven are stronger and firmer than the things of earth.

In heaven we find the fulness of love and most of all its reliability; it does not betray or disappoint as mere earthly love will do.

Peter betrayed Jesus although he did not want to, but his earthly nature was too strong at that point. When fortified by deeper exposure to real love Peter was much stronger at Pentecost.

To love many others is also challenging but Paul shows how he could do this. He was so immersed in the love of Christ that he had enough left over for the anonymous communities. He really did love the people that he did not personally know.

God does know us by name and every detail about us, so He also can include everyone at once.

Love is making oneself vulnerable to another. God does that in His own nature, the Trinity, and helps us to do the same as far as we can, and with the largest possible vision of what is at stake.

Yes, Lord, You know I love You…

 

 

 

 

 

 

2nd Sunday of Easter 27 April 2025 Sermon

2nd Sunday of Easter 27 April 2025 The Pope

We are preparing for the election of a new Pope.

We pray for the whole process - especially that the man chosen to be Pope will be the one whom God wills for that position.

Once we have a new Pope we have to maintain the prayer. The prayer has to be constant because the burden is constant. Imagine being pastor of the whole Church. 1.3 billion out of eight billion. He is pastor for the Catholics and has some influence on the others

We pray for him because he is a man doing God’s work. Ever since Our Lord entrusted the leadership of the Church to Peter there has been this curious partnership of divine and human authority. Men are called to do what God would do far better. 

It might seem to us a better idea if Christ had stayed on the earth and run the Church Himself. But He entrusted the task to flesh and blood, earthen vessels as St Paul spoke of himself and companions.

A man doing God’s work, even if he be a most remarkable man, is out of his depth unless sustained by God’s grace. It is to obtain God’s grace for the Pope that we pray, at every available occasion.

We pray that God will carry the Pope, and with him the whole Church, to the fulfilment of His will.

The Pope suffers from being in such an exposed position. Everyone wants to tell him what to do. His role is often interpreted (even within the Church) in purely political terms. He should do this; he should do that - much as we would say of a temporal ruler, such as a prime minister.

But the Pope is more than just someone who does things or makes certain decisions.

He is the Vicar of Christ, standing in His place. The Pope does what Christ would do. He reproduces in himself the pattern of Christ’s death and resurrection.

It is not a role that can be easily interpreted in normal political terms. It is a role which goes more into the mystical realm of deep suffering and self-offering.

He has to be prepared as a matter of course to go against public opinion, to hold firm to the light of Catholic Tradition. The world wants novelty but the Pope is not there to provide that, rather to defend the deposit of faith. It is, however, always possible to present old teachings in new ways – as long as the teaching is intact. For example, creative use of the internet.

While he is defending the true faith he also shows pastoral zeal. In the name of Jesus Christ he seeks to gather the stray sheep into one flock. 

We express loyalty in advance to the new Pope and willingness for ourselves to be part of the pastoral outreach of the Church. 

May the Lord preserve him, and defend him and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

Pope Francis was strong on mercy, specially relevant on Divine Mercy Sunday. He reminded us of God's willingness to forgive and how central that is to our whole understanding as the Church.

To quote two of his many statements: ‘Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy … Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love.’ 

‘Mercy is this concrete action of love that, by forgiving, transforms and changes our lives… From generation to generation, it embraces all those who trust in him and it changes them, by bestowing a share in his very life.’

Under Christ’s influence we become merciful ourselves, expressing charity to all. Instead of resenting enemies, we hope that they find the best way forward, just as we would want for ourselves.

Lord, have mercy!

Easter Sunday 20 April 2025 Sermon

Easter Sunday 20 April 2025 Two ways of rising

The rising of Jesus was a matter of fact; it really did happen. 

His body was physical; it could be touched (cf St Thomas) as anyone else could be. There was nothing shadowy or cloudy about His being. As you see, a ghost does not have flesh and bones like I have (Lk 24,39)

Some will say Jesus lived on only in memory, an inspirational presence;  but it was much more than that.

Jesus, as head of the human race was setting new territory for us to follow. We are accustomed to death followed by burial, and then decomposition of the body.

He went through death and burial, but more to demonstrate His power over them, than any necessity of nature. There was certainly no decomposing. He was in control.

We still have death but only temporarily. Our bodies will rise again on the Last Day. 

No more to die, and from then on free from pain and suffering, able to do various things we cannot do now – like travel at the speed of light, pass through solid barriers, feel no pain, have complete control over thoughts and feelings.

Is this too good to be true? It is good, certainly, but also true. We have not seen it yet, but we can believe that God is capable of it; having already created us once, He can re-create or put back together what has been broken.

Before we experience our own resurrection of the body we have another kind of rising – of holiness over sin. Sin degrades and enslaves us; there is a better way.

Through faith we are joined with Christ in His glory. His rising is our rising, insofar as we are one with Him. In Him we can throw off the burdens of sin and discover an inner joy that nothing can take from us.

We feel the order returning where disorder has been. We rise above sin. 

We can merit this outcome even though it is beyond our level of worthiness.

Jesus will pass onto us what He has, and we will benefit, without any loss to Him.

Stand close to a fire and we feel warmth. Stand close to Jesus Christ and we start to think like He does, to want what He wants. He radiates goodness, and some of that heat and light will come onto us, especially if we are looking for it.

It is sin which has cast darkness and disorder on the world, bringing death and leading people to conclude that there is nothing more.

We learn to live in Christ, always with His help making the right choices, developing our virtues and eliminating our vices.

In this way we are ready to move on to other stages of our journey. Having come to life in Christ we then live each day according to His will.

This in turn will mean we are ready to negotiate death whenever it comes. If we are in union with Christ we continue life in our souls, either in Heaven or Purgatory, awaiting the final resurrection.

This is the path we are on. We remind ourselves of this hope and it will strengthen us in time of doubt.

If we look at the world, we might conclude that good and evil are in a contest and neither is the winner. Some things are good, some things are bad. It is just the way of things.

No, it does all come to an end; the good will break free and become dominant. 

We can be part of making that happen, and of benefitting from it.

We will taste more of this final victory in advance as we increase our union with Jesus Christ.

He is Risen, and increasingly so are we! 

Palm Sunday 13 April 2025 Sermon

 Palm Sunday 13 April 2025 Greeting the Lord

Our waving of the palms signifies our joy at seeing Our Lord  enter our domain. We are glad to see Him.

In the original Palm Sunday the people turned quickly from welcoming Jesus to calling out for His death.

We learn from this that to welcome the Saviour it has to come from the heart.

We are glad to see Him because of who He is, and not just in response to prevailing circumstances, where we might be glad one day, but not the next.

Our gladness will require a certain amount of faith insofar as we do not know what is coming, certainly not in detail.

But whatever our problems we are saved from them by the Saviour.

Having the Saviour on hand is like having the key to all locks.

The Jews were happy with Our Lord’s healing miracles, but not so keen on His demands – such as to take up their crosses daily.

They wanted life to be easy, free from sickness and struggle. 

People today still see God as a fixer of problems - like a secretary.

They do not want to know Him beyond that point.

He wants to know us, however, and to bring us to a level of trust and obedience to Him. Joyfully not grudgingly.

So our welcome stays at the same pitch all the way through. Our Palm Sunday does not turn into Good Friday; it stays at Hosanna to the King.

But if we should get this wrong, God can still work things to our advantage. As He did on that first Holy Week. The infidelity of the Jews led to the Crucifixion and that led to the New Covenant in the Blood of Christ. 

The more we reject, the more He offers us mercy. 

The one who has been forgiven more will be more grateful (Lk 7,43). This is our position, today and through this Holy Week.

We marvel at God's reversal of the usual way things are done. Injuries usually bring hatred and the desire for revenge - not in this case.

Our Lord does not hate the people for what they are doing; He does not forget why He came – to save sinners, to save the world. Hosanna to the King!

5th Sunday of Lent (C) 6 April 2025 Sermon

5th Sunday of Lent (C) 6 April 2025 Cast the first stone

There are two things wrong here, the adultery and the self-righteousness.

The adultery is the more obvious sin and attracts everyone’s attention. But the self-righteousness is a serious problem.

If the pharisees had been anxious about the matter simply because they wanted God's  order restored, or the commands of God to be honoured, it might have been alright.

But they did not really care about God’s order, or the spiritual welfare of the woman. Or the sanctity of marriage. They only wanted to trap Jesus.

He exposed their hypocrisy. He was not saying that adultery is alright, but pointing out the less obvious sin, which may be more deadly.

At least the adulterer can repent of his sin; while the self-righteous may not realize he even has a sin.

If their hearts were free of malice the pharisees would have seen things as Jesus saw them.

He was interested in the state of souls, and wanted to lead souls to repentance, while still upholding God's commandments.

In this world we are so far from the original innocence that we have many types of sins compounding each other. To repair one sin will require that we have to change other factors as well.

Sin leads to more sin. Lust might lead to gluttony or sloth. Then pride, because we think someone else is worse than we are. Then angry if we are corrected. And so on.

A simple and humble appeal to God's mercy will bring it all into alignment. If sin leads to sin then so does repentance lead to repentance. And we can repair the damage - not only the damage to an individual soul, but the damage a whole society suffers when it turns away from God.

True upholding of the commands requires a deeper understanding of the need for mercy.

We learn through mercy what is false about the sinful behaviour;  we come to be repelled by that behaviour, and thus do not repeat the sin.

What do we do with sinners now? We don’t stone them to death, which is some advance. But we might pardon them more through apathy than through a genuine mercy.

Apathy, insofar as we may not care whether or not adultery is committed, or more generally God's  laws are kept.

Nor are we much advanced when it comes to our reaction to the sins of others. We might feel superior to others instead of seeking to uproot the sin in ourselves (cf plank in one’s eye Mt 7,3-5). 

As St Paul put it: Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins… but rejoices in the truth etc (1 Cor 13).

True charity is that we help each other to get these things right. We want other people to be saved, and we want God's kingdom on earth. Both goals can be worked on at the same time.

This is what Our Lord was trying to demonstrate to the people. It was hard, even for Him. It is not much easier today.  We are tempted to overplay one thing while ignoring the other. Too severe in our judgments of others; too lenient in dismissing serious sin.

Let us cultivate in prayer the mercy of God, acting within us and in the wider society.  

4th Sunday of Lent (C) 30 March 2025 Sermon

4th Sunday of Lent (C ) 30 March 2025    Contrition

The Prodigal son returns home, expecting to be scolded for his wastefulness, but in fact is lavishly welcomed.

Thus we learn of  the sinner’s need to repent; of the sinner’s hope of receiving mercy; of God's eternal desire to give mercy, and to restore the sinner to full status.

The process begins with the son realizing his degraded position. The move to repentance begins with an awareness of the damage that sin can do.

This is not yet full repentance but inclines one to that position. It may be only a kind of self-awareness. How could I have been so foolish as to get into this mess?

The son addressed his first problem: how do I get to a better place than where I am?

He was not yet seeing things from the father’s point of view. He felt only his own pain, not that of his father.

This parallels what the Church calls Imperfect Contrition. Our sorrow for sin is real but not yet complete. We are sorry mainly because we have put ourselves in trouble and are afraid of what consequences might follow.

It is a start, however, and one which enables further progress to be made.

The son, having got himself home, then experienced the welcome he did not expect. He was not even sure that he would get a position as a servant. Instead, he was treated like a prince - which we all are, insofar as we are God's children, and He is King.

Was the son grateful? We can hope that his experience of mercy would compel him to stay on the right path for the rest of his life. When we realize how much we have been rescued from, we can promise God we will never forget His blessings (eg The Lord remembered us in our low estate, for His mercy endures forever; Freed us from our foes, for His mercy endures forever; And gives bread to all flesh, for His mercy endures forever. Praise the God of heaven,for His mercy endures forever.” — Psalm 135 (136) and many other psalms).

We foster the gratitude which God deserves, and which we need to express. We are grateful to God, and grateful also for those who prayed for us while we were ‘away’, or while our consciousness of these matters was very hazy.

Eventually we can come to Perfect Contrition, whereby we are sorry for our sins, now for the extra reason that we have caused pain to our Father. We have offended His infinite majesty. We are more concerned for Him than for our own plight. That is a more generous position to hold. 

This is what Our Lord wants us to become -  sorry for all sin, and for the grief it causes to Almighty God (and all the company of Heaven).

We become more loving towards God as we interact constantly with His goodness.

This is what we are called to - not just ‘keeping the rules’ but learning to love the One who is  the source of all blessings.

God has programmed us to be receivers and givers of His charity, directed outwards to others.

We can renew our sorrow for past sins. We do not have to re-confess them, but we can express our gratitude to God for past mercies, and for the grace not to offend Him again.

We say it all the time; let us say it especially today – Lord, have mercy!

3rd Sunday of Lent (C) 23 March 2025 Sermon

3rd Sunday of Lent (C ) 23 March 2025 Relevance of God

Moses encounters the bush which burns but is not consumed by the fire. This puts us in mind of sacred realities which are beyond time and, as it is usually put - last forever. I am who am (Ex 3,14). 

Some think that God is irrelevant because He does  not always make Himself obvious. They live busy lives and then hide behind that busy-ness to say there is no God.

We can make our own world without God,  but it can unravel very quickly. Sooner or later it  must be seen for its shallowness.

A man once said of his adult children: They don’t need religion at the moment. He meant that  because they are in good health, and very busy with their lives, they have no time for God, nor even need of Him.

But where does this lead? Every man must stand before the judgment seat of  Christ  (2 Co 5,10).

Younger people as well, take note. Time is given to us to express our service of God. Whatever our age or circumstances we need to be right with Him at all times.

This is not meant to be a burden, but a liberation. If in step with Christ we have the key to all happiness.

God claims all seven days, and every minute of them; as He claims also all the other places besides churches. He claims the shops the squares, the ovals, the workplaces - everywhere.

Of course He gives a large amount of autonomy to our activities. He does not normally intervene in every detail. He lets us decide what we are going to do and will normally let things follow their logical course (which is why we are in so much trouble!)

For example:  Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen. (Rm 1,24-25)

God has the last say. He expects us to understand that it is all from Him. We have to refer back constantly, in thanksgiving, in sorrow, in petition, always orientating ourselves to His abiding and overall will.

He is not an oppressive ruler by any means, being ready to give us more than we dare to ask (see the Gospel where He is willing to give more time to the repentant. (Lk 13,8-9)

We can help get the message out by being faithful and persevering in all weathers; keeping the lights on so that people can see where they can find peace.

We keep the spiritual perspective foremost. We still do all the necessary mundane things, but never to the point of forgetting the spiritual.

Part of our prayer needs to be atonement for the fact that God is so widely ignored and denied. Father, forgive them, they know not what they do (Lk 23,34). They are a stiff-necked people. (Ex 32,9)

It is a fight to the death for relevance. Our opponents want us to be irrelevant, and they will use any sort of attack against us, honest or not.

We have the same message as Isaiah and Jeremiah, as Elijah and Ezekiel: Behold your God! (eg Is 40,9). Come to terms with Him, or reap the consequences. In short, Repent.

The people either laughed at the prophets, or tried to kill them. It is much the same today.

It becomes a bit draughty for the faithful disciples. We can spend a lot of time standing apart from the majority. This has to be done until better times come. We stand with a crucified Saviour.

2nd Sunday of Lent (C) 16 March 2025 Sermon

2nd Sunday of Lent 16 March 2025 Supernatural

Our Lord reveals His glory to three of His apostles on the mountain.

It was not all His glory because that would have killed them; but enough to make a lasting memory.

One of the purposes of the Transfiguration was to give to those apostles courage for the coming ordeal of seeing Jesus crucified.

On that score the apostles were not outstanding in their courage because they all fled when Jesus was arrested, though Peter and John did come back to be within range.

However, the Transfiguration is for all disciples of every age. We need reassurance too as we encounter many difficulties in our earthly pilgrimage.

We tend to go too much by our sense experience – especially sight. I will believe it when I see it, is a common response to religious matters.

Yet we know our eyes can be deceived (mirages, etc) but we put more trust in them than in the testimony of holy men and women of two thousand years.

We can know things without seeing them. Nobody would deny there is a place called London. We can know that whether we have been there or not. We accept what others tell us.

On any non-religious subject there is that same calm acceptance, but when it comes to religion suddenly everything has to be visible.

Even the religiously minded suffer from the same problem. A very close apostle of Our Lord said the same phrase: Unless I see it I will not believe it (the Resurrection). Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe.

We should not insist on seeing to believe, but sometimes God lets us see it anyway, at least through the eyes of others.

Once seen, never forgotten, we could hope, but there is another difficulty. The experience of certainty can lose its grip on us over time.

If I saw Jesus on the mountain yesterday that would count for more than if I saw Him fifty years ago. For no reason except that we let that happen. We let our faith cool off and we cannot afford to do that.

We need to be wide awake and on the ball; be like servants who are ready for their Master’s return. He may come when least expected. (Mt 24,50)

To keep on the boil, we must pray every day and keep our faith front and centre, working on it like people keeping fit or learning a new skill.

We live in two worlds, the natural and the supernatural.

The natural world is where we have to make money and deal with a host of problems.

The supernatural world is above all that, as its residents contemplate the glory of God as a  matter of course. No one in heaven doubts whether God exists or not!

Freed from the cares of this life they dwell in heavenly light.

Heaven is another one of those places where people might say they will believe it when they see it. We believe there is such a place, because other people have seen it, and they tell us; or they tell others who keep the faith alive.

We have never seen an angel or a glorified saint or experienced the delights of heaven, but we can believe those things are real. God has willed them into existence, the same as He has done for us.

God wants us to trust Him, to come to Him with the pure faith of children, not insisting and demanding all the time, but humbly accepting.

All this we can learn from the Transfiguration, a momentary blast of glory, glory which is usually invisible but always there.

1st Sunday of Lent (C) 9 March 2025 Sermon

 

1st Sunday of Lent 9 March 2025 Temptation

We can look more closely today at Temptation, and how it works ,and how we might improve our response to being tempted.

The Devil has many ways to tempt us. There are two ways in particular that he can ensnare us into sin.  Flattery and Intimidation.

By flattery the devil tells us how good we are and how entitled we are to take things easy, so why don't we just indulge in one or two things which may not be quite by the book, but what harm can it do? Flattery appeals to our pride, laziness, lustfulness, gluttony. Why not take a bit more? You deserve it.

People will say: I am a good person, so it is ok if I do this thing.

This is self-flattery but it comes from the devil.

By intimidation the devil puts fear into us with the idea of paralysing our response. Intimidation is seen most brutally in time of persecution. eg Deny Jesus Christ, or we will shoot you… 

Intimidation would be seen also in peer pressure where others challenge us to follow their example, which might often be the wrong direction. Peter was intimidated when challenged about his association with Jesus.  

At various times we will be tempted to deny our faith or some aspect of our faith, which goes against the common opinion   eg to be pro-life, pro traditional family.

Satan tried flattery with Jesus this first time, working on Jesus’ closeness to God. You can do whatever you want… (Later at Calvary, it was intimidation. Come down from the Cross and we will believe you).

If one of us had been in that position and subjected to those temptations we would not have lasted as long, but Jesus was made of sterner stuff.

He had come as the new Adam, the leader of the new humanity.  He would save us from the Devil by exposing the latter's tricks and lies for what they were and giving us more substance to look for instead.

When tempted, Jesus shows us what to do by referring back to certain basic truths.

Man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

You shall not put the Lord to the test. 

You shall worship the Lord and Him alone.

He was thus not deflected. He was still walking that straight path before Him – the path to Calvary, and then to Heaven.

The devil works on our weak points, so that we come around eventually to what he wants us to think.

Like the Israelites we forget the Lord who brought us out of Egypt (Deut 6,12).

This is why we need Lent, as a season of re-thinking and  self-denial; a time to straighten out what has become crooked. A time to assert where we stand and resolve not to be moved.

Not only to give up sin, but in a way give up temptation too. Well, we cannot stop temptations coming, but at least we can send them where they belong. In the light of day we see them for the distortions that they are.

Hold firm against the devil’s flattery and intimidation, and we will come through the dark into light – a light that cannot be overcome.

Lord, lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil.

8th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C) 2 March 2025 Sermon

8th Sunday Ordinary Time (C ) 2 March 3 February 2025 Mind  your language

If we were visiting the King or the President or other such important people, we would be careful to guard our language and pick the right words when called upon to speak.

As Jesus points out in the Gospel, the quality of the tree’s fruit will be according to the internal health of the tree. Good tree, good fruit (Lk 6, 43).

If we have our thoughts and attitudes in the right place, then that will mean we speak words which edify, which build up and not destroy.

Anyone can act the part if only for a short time. If something would startle us we might lapse into ‘normal’ speech. This is what we have to change – what we call  normal.

The test of  a man is in  his conversation (first reading -  Sirach 27,5).

What we say will come from within. We need the charity and wisdom that come from Christ . It can be alright to speak words of anger, provided the anger is justified and moderated by charity.

Imagine what Our Lady would have said. Or count to three and then say nothing!

We have to get all the malice out of the system, not just out of the language, but all through, what we think, what we desire.

So, for example, it is good to be honest and not to steal, but we must not even want to steal. The same goes for all moral obligations. 

Regarding language we not only avoid uncharitable speech but develop a preference for the  speech which edifies.

There are different aspects of speech we need to get right.

1) No obscenities or crude language.

2)  No harm done to others. No detraction or calumny. Whoever thinks that he is able,  to nibble at the life of absent friends, must know that he’s unworthy of this table. St Augustine)

It is easy to drag others down, but it lowers the whole standard for everyone.

If we are in a situation where we cannot escape gossip we can at least not contribute to it. And we can set a better tone.

People in Heaven might have fought while on earth but not now. There is no malice in heaven; no desire to talk others down.

Whatever would we talk about if we cannot talk about each other? We will have to find more useful topics!

3) In all things praise and thanksgiving to God. We use the same tongue to praise God and to curse our neighbours (cf James 3,9).

It might be argued that we are only human and therefore cannot comply with such exacting rules. God wants to make us copies of Himself, an ambitious goal, but it must be achievable

*********

Speaking of which we come to Lent this week. In Lent everything is magnified by way of giving us ways of concentrating on holiness.

The days of Lent have this effect if we let it take full course.

We are supposed to be good all year round, but Lent is a focal point, a more intense quest for getting all the details right.

It is something like Sunday where we take one day to summarise all seven.

We cannot give God anything that is not already His, (cf Ps 50,10-12). But He does appreciate the effort to get right with him.

And we don’t go back to old ways when the season is over. We might ease off on the penances but not the quest for holiness of life.  Good trees, good fruit.

7th Sunday Ordinary Time 23 February 2025 Sermon

7th Sunday Ordinary Time (C ) 23 February 2025  Generous Love

David spares Saul from death showing a merciful attitude and Saul is impressed ( I Samuel 26, first reading.)

This story suggests another one, in which we are involved. God could kill us but instead gives us time to repent and serve Him. Saul was impressed with David’s attitude; so should we be impressed with God's manner of dealing with us.

This kind of event (as in Saul and David) should bring out the best in us and that will make us generous to our enemies. [also story of St John Gualbert, 11th century – meeting his enemy on Good Friday and forgiving him]

I will treat others well even if they mistreat me. This applies to forgiveness and general charity. It is the way Jesus treats us in His crucifixion. We mistreated Him; He forgives us and intercedes for us.

The Golden rule: treat others as you would like them to treat you, not as they do, but as you would like (Lk 6,31).

We hope that others will do the same, but we do not let their behaviour derail ours. 

We pray for others to come closer to God, wherever they stand with Him now.

We desire the salvation of all, even enemies.

In today’s Gospel (Lk 6,27-38) the same theme  continues – that we love those who do not love us; we give without counting the cost; we bless those who curse us – and much more to that effect.

Why should we do this? Because it does a great deal of good, not least that we are thus learning to share in the charitable and merciful heart of God.

What was the good of Jesus’ forbearance on Good Friday? He could have broken free but He was trying to convince the crowd (there, and all other crowds) that this was the way forward. 

He had some success with the people who were there, but the real value of His action has come through to all generations.

What is happening to us? The potential of love in our hearts is being released. We feel a gentler disposition; we are being healed by the merciful love of Christ, and it is changing us.

We need this changing and we can ask for it. We need to get rid of the impurities in our hearts and minds. It may take a while, but it can happen.

This is better than violence. Sometimes violence is required as a last resort: for example going to war to reject an unjust aggressor. Or physically restraining a prisoner.

But this is not the best way; it is only to be used in emergencies.

We can achieve a kind of peace by mutual deterrence, and that is usually the best we can achieve. 

But far better if we could convert our neighbours, albeit that it is much harder. This is what God has taken on Himself to do, in calling us to live in union with Him and one another.

Each one becomes a Christ- like person having a merciful disposition towards others. 

We never sell short what one person can do in this field  because God will recognize a sympathetic heart and reward it greatly.

We are aiming for something that we often mention in prayer – that God's kingdom come among us, with all the associated blessings. No more hate, killing etc, only kindness.

In the meantime, if we cannot have the kingdom in the wider society we can have it in our hearts and minds. Lk 17,20-21

This teaching has never really been accepted. We have had saints, who live like this. Many would simply say it is too hard.

Not so hard if we have Jesus with us, enlightening and empowering us.

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 omniscience. 

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.

Christmas Day 2024 Sermon

 Christmas Day 2024 Levels of  salvation

Jesus Christ is born among us. A Saviour has come. To rescue us from sin and death, to bring us from darkness to light. To make right all that was wrong, and to enrich further whatever  is right.

Jesus has come among us. He wants to console us with the knowledge of his coming and also to change us as people to be like Himself in His perfect humanity; to become better people than we were before. So we have much to celebrate at Christmas.

There are different levels to the feast. There is the feasting, the gathering of families and friends, the presents, the holiday element. We are for a short while free from our usual cares.

But the good news goes further than these things. This story we enact of the Bethlehem scene is not just make-believe. It is a true story; these things did happen.

It is not just a story from a long time ago or far away. It is happening around us and to us. 

Jesus is Saviour of the whole world and all time. He came to rescue everyone  not just the people of some places and some times. No one has to accept Him but everyone can - and should. 

People have always had an idea that their god would give them what they need. So they pray for their crops, their battles, to be free of natural disasters etc.

Our God (the only one who actually exists) grants us those things, especially if we ask for them in faith.

But He also brings us into unity with Himself and promises us eternal life. We might have started out just praying for rain and we get eternal life. That is God's way of showing us what He is like.

We pray for health in the body and He forgives our sins (health in the soul).

He not only forgives the guilt of the sin but gives us a new desire for what is right.

We pray for our nation and  He gives us the Kingdom of God, which goes beyond national borders and unites all who enter it.

We are conscious that many people are experiencing poverty at present. God wants us to give to the poor, and also to correct any injustices which make it difficult for people to receive sufficient income.

Christmas inspires us to see that everyone has enough of the things of this world. In giving we are receiving from Christ and building up a better world (Kingdom).

 We are conscious of the wars going on around the world, and pray that people will learn from the Saviour how to treat enemies (preferably turn them into friends).

There is always this double element. Physical material help is vital, but in Christ it always points to spiritual benefits.

If we ask for the spiritual gift that will always motivate us to material help. The generosity of God will awaken generosity in us.

The Christmas story always gives us a sense of peace, but it is more than a nice story. It really can change those who take it seriously.

Can a baby in an unknown town have that much influence on world history? He has influenced many but as we see He can be resisted. But He cannot be made to go away, and under another title (Good Shepherd or Sacred Heart) He will continue to search for lost sheep.

As to ourselves if we let Him enter our lives we will experience constant blessings and might even see a change in our surrounding society, the Kingdom of God coming among us.