15th Sunday A 12 July 2026 Sermon

15^th Sunday A 12 July 2026 The Word goes out

Almighty God created heaven and earth with a word, no ordinary achievement! If we humans were to make something we need material to turn into a different material object. We cannot create out of thin air, but God has done so.

All creation rightly give Him praise, except humanity, and fallen angels.

God wills that some of His creation understand what He has done, so that they can give proper thanksgiving – which we are hoping we can give. We lift up our hearts to the Lord  (Mass)

God wants us to participate in His creation, to make beautiful things, even more to help create a moral environment where love and peace would predominate.

And we could help bring God’s mercy into the world, also a kind of re-creation. What was not there is here now, and can grow in its influence.

The first reading (Is 55,11) speaks of God sending out His word and it would not return to Him empty, because His word has the ability to create from nothing, or to restore what has been damaged to be fully operational (such as a soul overcome with sin).

Which brings us to the Gospel, where we hear that there are different levels of response from the human family.

The word of God will get through but not before it has been ignored, disobeyed, watered down and otherwise resisted. All these things can interrupt the flow of God's healing power, and make matters much worse than they needed to be.

We think the world looks like it does because that is what it has always been. Not so. For a time there was Eden, where there was no pain or death, no accidents or disasters – everything was in perfect order with God and with everything else.

But then sin came into the world and all that harmony was lost, not completely but it was a major loss.

God became Man to rescue us from the damage our sin had caused, and this is where we find ourselves.

Every day in every place a battle goes on between good and evil, the good seeking to restore the links with God's creation, and the evil trying to make matters even worse.

We see the evil at work in people who try to persuade us that there is no God, no greater intelligence ruling the universe, but only we humans have to run it ourselves.

It comes to us to listen for God's word and help to put it into practice.

If we pray to Him for mercy, guidance, grace and all related qualities we will be doing ourselves a lot of good and also helping to set creation free (second reading, (Rm 8,19-23))

Thus we come to our true dignity as sons of God, and achieve the status of the fourth group in the Sower parable – those who hear the word of God and keep it, and bear a harvest, some thirty, some sixty and some a hundred.

Then we go on yielding fruit, with no limit of time or capacity. In Heaven we not only contemplate God in His glory but we do this in increasing amounts.

God shares some of His infinity with us and we continue even after death to create with Him. Maybe we make things in Heaven, but primarily the sharing with God’s creation would be manly concerned with salvation. We seek to save as many souls as possible, by intercession, in Heaven and on earth. 

14th Sunday A 5 July 2026 Sermon

14th Sunday A   5 July 2026    Gentle Jesus?

I heard a report some years ago that women in the black American population were encouraging their husbands to become Muslims. The women perceived that the men might find Christianity too weak a religion, with its insistence on turning the other cheek, on forgiving the offender etc.

But was Christ a weakling? And it is He that Christians follow.

Jesus did on one occasion, certainly, use physical force (expelling traders from the Temple (Jn  2,13-16). And on several occasions He spoke sharply to the Pharisees (Mt 23). He was not afraid of people, not afraid to speak His mind.

In fact He showed extraordinary courage in facing death so calmly. Even more so, when it was a death He could have avoided, either by human prudence or divine intervention.

Jesus was always in control of Himself, and of the situation. He was certainly not weak in terms of lacking influence or control.

What then is the perceived weakness in our religion, and how can we understand it?

We understand that Christians should not use physical force to achieve their ends unless the force is necessary, as for example, to repel an unjust aggressor, or to inflict a just punishment.

This is not weakness, but strength. To be able to control our passions to this extent shows strength of character.

It means that we (with Christ as our model) can find the right response in every situation.

Not every situation requires the same treatment. Christ was severe with the Pharisees and gentle with the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8, 1-11). It was not that He was in a bad mood one day and a good mood the next. He was dealing with each situation in the best possible way.

Our attitude to every other person is one of good will. We desire what is best for each person. Ultimately this means their eternal salvation. In the short term it may mean a whole range of things, but always with the other person’s good in mind.

It is not just in our actions that we are moderate, but in our attitude as well.

We do not hurt people physically, nor do we want to hurt them. This is another level of gentleness.

We do not hate, do not resent, do not seek revenge. All of this we learn from Christ.

Father, forgive them; they know not what they do. (Lk 23,34)

Is this weakness then? No, even more so this proves strength of character and self-control. If we can control our thoughts and feelings we can control anything.

Jesus could control His thoughts and feelings and He is teaching us how to do likewise.

He was gentle, but not weak. He was fiercely attached to the right and good. He always did what was right. He always sought the ultimate good for all concerned.

He was a far stronger and far better person than anyone else around.

If that is weakness then let’s have some more of it!

We do not have to let people walk all over us. We are entitled to defend ourselves and to restrain aggressors. We are entitled to put our case in a dispute.

But at all times we act with self-control, and with a view to the welfare of the other parties.

Certain saints have been robbed and been more sorry for the robbers’ souls than for the damage done to themselves.

So if we find robbers have been in our house, are we more worried for the soul of the thief than for the value of the goods. Can we rise to that occasion?

In any case it is not weak to aspire to that level of charity. And Jesus was like that all the time.

Let us be Christ-ian, Christ-like and take up a really strong religion.

13th Sunday A 28 June 2026 Sermon

13^th Sunday A  28 June 2026  Detachment

The woman in the first reading is rewarded for her simple act of charity.  For offering hospitality to Elisha she is rewarded by being able to conceive a child, for which she had been hoping. (2 K, 4,10)

If we are generous then God is more so again. He appreciates all that we give Him, provided we give with sincerity.

Welcome a prophet and receive a prophet’s reward (Gospel) (Mt 10,41)

To be generous we first need to be grateful. We are glad to give to others out of the abundance of what God has given us.

Freely you have received, freely you must give (Mt 10,8)

God gives us many things for our use, our enjoyment, for serving Him.

All that we would claim to be our own is really His more than it is ours.

We can become attached to things very easily and forget the higher loyalty which is expected of us.

The whole history of the human race shows us how diffiucult it is for people to be detached from their favourite things. Wars and rebellions are plentiful.

People fight to keep or acquire some asset rather than sort it out by Christian  means.

God give us things to use to serve our purposes but also to serve Him.

So we use houses, clothes, cars,  computers -  all manner of gadgets. Then there are more abstract things like our own personal talents – brains, ability to work with the hands, musicians, writers. Just about everything is from God, directly or indirectly.   These can all be used to serve God.

He lets us enjoy various things, music, wine, adventure, friendship … expecting in return not much, at least thanksgiving. How great are the works of the Lord.(Ps 111.2)

God is probing our hearts to see if we really love Him or not. Even this is generosity on His part as He knows we will be happiest when we are serving Him.

Do we then love Him more than all these things? We are working on it!

We even have to love the people we love less than we love God. Anyone who prefers father or mother to Me is not worthy of Me. (Mt 10,37).

He can look after the people we love better than we can.

It is not wrong to love our possessions, provided we love God more. We give it all to Him, in advance, should we lose it.

The temptation is to say this is mine, and Where does God come into it?

If so, we are forgetting that all of life is a pilgrimage.

We remember John the Baptist who lived in the desert as a reminder to us all that we need to keep our lives simple.

Grateful for what we have, humble in our demands, capable of ‘going without’..

The only way we can keep all this in balance is to keep in contact with God Himself. Once we get a taste of His glory we are more able to see earthly goods as very minor by comparison.

Every good thing we encounter can be seen as a taste of God's glory. Taste and see that the lord is good.(Ps 34,8)

We come to see how desirable God is.; we would rather spend a day in his courts than a thousand years elsewhere. (Ps 84,10)

We are ready even to part with life itself, as so many have done.

God values generosity so much because it is a sign of His way of operating. It is in His nature to give more than receive.

So may it be our way.