21st Sunday A 23 August 2026 Sermon

21^st Sunday of Ordinary Time A  23 August 2026   Mysterious God

God is not easy for us to understand, as the second reading puts it: who can know the mind of the Lord, who can tell Him what to do?  (Rm 11,34-35)

And we have one such mystery right here in the Gospel reading - that Jesus would entrust the running of His Church to human means!

Why would God appoint someone to lead the Church when He could do it much better  Himself?

It is because He wants to involve us in our own salvation, so that we can be part of it, and experience  more of it than we would by just being onlookers.

We would probably be glad to be admitted to Heaven with no questions asked, but we will find that God’s way, though more indirect, will bring greater happiness.

As humans we have the privilege to reflect on our situation – why we are here, how we got here, what happens next? etc

It is a rare privilege when we consider that so many of God’s creations do not have the power of reason. They have to make the best of it, but they will never know why they are caught up in all this – the running of the world. It is really only humans and angels that qualify for this.

God apparently wants at least someone to understand what He is doing, at least the main idea.

As we were made to know, love and serve God it follows that we need to be able to reflect on Him, His nature, His plans etc.

Because we do not understand certain things about God we might take a wrong turning and impute blame to Him. This is what many do when they accuse God of killing their loved ones or allowing so much suffering in the world (death, disease etc)

If we are ever to fulfil the role that God asks of us, that is to work with Him on saving the world, then we have to accept that a lot of what happens will not be known to us in this life.

However, just because we do not understand something does not mean that the thing is wrong or senseless.

We are the inferior and God is very much the Superior. We have to expect a few foggy moments as we wrestle with so many questions.

Did Peter feel a bit foggy when he was appointed head of the Church? Peter had one quality very useful for the task.  He was not slow to spring into action, or speech. His general enthusiasm is something for us all to imitate.

His first pronouncement was a mistake – to which he received the rebuke, Get behind Me,  Satan. (Mt 16,23) He went on, as we know, to great heights of holiness eventually.

[So we take a moment to pray for the present Pope amid all the crises in Church and state.]

We pray for each other that we learn what God requires of us in participating in our own salvation.  It might be a wild ride!. We are not told much of what will happen tomorrow or any future time. We could have an easier time, or a harder one. We might die in peace or be put to death by persecutors.

Sufficient that we know we are not alone. The Lord assures us,  Behold I am with you always (Mt 28,20)

God is  mysterious but very clear sometimes, and the clarity in this case is that putting in our lot with Him is the best investment we ever will make.

Lord, keep us under the shadow of Thy wings.

 

    

20th Sunday A 16 August 2026 Sermon

20^th Sunday A 16 August 2026  Universal Church

A man in the gutter can still look at the stars. The foreign woman could still ask a favour of the Israelite God. And so she did.

We know by now that our God does not see foreigners when He looks at people; they are all His children. The hard part is getting them to realize it.

God's plan was to make the Jewish people the spearhead of His  programme to reclaim all humanity.

The plan did not work entirely well because of the disobedience of the Jews, but God had other ways of achieving His purpose.

He would gain the allegiance of the Gentiles and through them regain the Jews. This has been happening ever since the first Pentecost, and still goes on. Jews do convert, at least singly, and there will be more to come.

St Paul alludes to this in the second reading (see Rom chapters 9-11).  He is Jewish himself and wants so much to see the whole Jewish people be saved.

For us the Church takes over as the new Israel, so in that sense we share in the Jewish ancestry.

The main thing is that salvation is available to all who want it, and no one is excluded on the basis of race.

Our link is the Cross of Jesus Christ who offered Himself to make a new humanity in himself.

It has been a lot harder than it should have been and it is still hard, but it gives us hope to see the outlines of what God is planning.

A lot of the troubles comes from the devil, who hates to see anyone enjoying themselves.

As each person comes to faith that is one more worker in the vineyard, one more sheep regained, and the faith of that one person can be pooled with others and so the Church spreads its borders.

The stronger the Church becomes the more we can go out and baptize all nations (Mt 28,19-20)

Even if we shrink in numbers through persecution we are still the means by which God would claim His own.

Where did this Canaanite woman get such strong faith ? We are not told, but we see how it works.

She persists in asking and so becomes an example to the rest of us to do the same. There is a parable about that as well - the woman who stirs up the unjust judge until he comes to the right decision. (Lk 18,1-8)

God likes to hear from us. He does not grow tired like we do; He wants to see us coming up the driveway with more petitions.

The only stipulation is that we should be grateful for past blessing, and pray at all times, not just when we need something.

Instead of complaining about our lot, why not pray instead, and wait for the blessings to come rolling in?

This is why Our Lord drew this woman’s faith out, to show us what we should all be like.

We have just celebrated the feast of the Assumption, at which also we see the universal theme.

Mary is mother of all not just some. She shows in her body the extent of salvation which is possible. Our bodies will be glorified, no more pain or disability etc.

And no more black or white or any other way of dividing one person from another. All will be sharing in the same glory, one people  because one God.

A true mother will be prepared to take in a few strays. Ourt Lady is certainly so prepared and we derive the same readiness as we honour her and intercede to her.

19th Sunday A 9 August 2026 Sermon

19^th Sunday A  9 August 2026  God reveals Himself

When we studied poetry in school as part of the English course, the comment was sometimes made about poets, and why they made it so hard to understand their poems. Why could they not just say what they mean instead of putting it all in riddles, was the general complaint.

In the first reading today, we have Elijah looking for a message from God, and not finding Him where he expected – wind, earthquake, fire - found Him finally in a gentle breeze. (1 K 19,12-13)

That may not be what one would expect from the Almighty, who is capable of dealing in storms – either starting or stopping them.

A similar complaint goes up concerning God as for the poets – why does He  not make Himself clearer when He communicates with us?

It is because the more subtle messages have a way of getting through to the minds and hearts of  the receivers.

Our Lord used the parables for instance as a way of getting people to think. We start to see ourselves as directly involved in the story. Take the prodigal son parable. We could see ourselves as either the younger son coming back, or the older son feeling resentful.

We go from just hearing a story to being personally concerned in it.

A good story will absorb us to this extent. And there are many of these stories, and many other ways that God can make His presence felt – like a gentle breeze. (Lk 15,11-32)

God wants us to look more deeply at the bigger questions in life, and be transformed.

Jesus’ walking on the water is one such story. Why did He come this way to the apostles when He normally did such things under human limitations? He wanted to demonstrate His power to them, and show them - through Peter – that they could draw strength from Him to do the same type of  thing.

If we keep our gaze on Him we will  not sink. This could apply to the individual disciple, or the Church as a whole. We will come to a safe harbour eventually – if we hang on to the faith.

The message covers many topics – taking up one’s cross daily, following the Lord regardless of doubts one might have.

If it is He then we are with Him till the end. He says, Do not be afraid. Why not? ‘It is I’ is enough reason.

We see that God does give us signs of what He is thinking, and what He intends, but these signs are more like the gentle breeze than a loud storm.

He can demonstrate His power but more often He is speaking to us in quiet ways – keep the commandments, pray constantly, give generously etc,  and we will find God in the midst of those things.

We can do anything so long as it is according to His will.

Many reject God's  way of communicating, insisting on their own way that things should be done.

We cannot order God about. If we come before Him in a complaining demanding manner we will not likely make  much headway.

If we are humble and trusting we will receive a deeper faith, which will enable us to interpret more accurately what God is saying to us.

The mysterious element of God's  will, whereby He does not tell us everything straight out, will serve to draw us into His presence.

Some things cannot be said in a simple straight-out statement; they require time to sink in.

So we let them sink into us, immerse us in the deeper truth which we seek.

We give God all the time He wants, without telling Him what to do.

Instead we repeat, more or less permanently, the cry of Peter – ‘Lord, save me’ (Mt14,30)

18th Sunday A 2 August 2026 Sermon

18th Sunday A     2 August 2026      Eucharist as expectation

One of the things we learn when we are growing up is not to be greedy. If there are several cakes on the table we should not eat all of them; other people might want some.

This is a good lesson to learn, but there is one kind of food where the rules are different, where we should be ‘greedy’ but in a good way. This is the food that comes from Heaven, the bread of life.

Come to the water all you who are thirsty, buy corn without money and eat, and at no cost, wine and milk. The best things in life are free, as the saying goes, and it certainly applies here.

The miracle of the loaves showed the abundance of God’s blessing to us. There was a lot of bread left over. Everyone had enough to eat and there was still more available.

God is offering Himself to each person and the more of God we take into our lives, there is still an infinite amount left over for everyone else.

If I receive from God, I am not depriving anyone else of anything. This is the difference with this food.

God wants us to approach Him ‘greedily’, asking for every possible blessing.

Much of our prayer can be tentative. But God is infinite. We do not ask too much from Him, but too little.

We stop praying too soon. Not just in the number of things we ask for, but in the whole understanding of His blessings.

I do not say we should ask for millions of dollars; we can do better than that.

We should ask for God Himself. All the goodness, love, grace, happiness that God can provide – it is laid out for us like a feast on the table. Come and eat.

The more of God we take in to our hearts the more spiritual our understanding becomes and the less concerned for the physical and material.

This was Jesus’ message to the people. No, don’t see Me just as a bread-making machine, but see the miracle as leading you to something beyond.

Read the signs. He was showing the people there was more to life than they expected, and He was here to show them what it was.

If we follow His teachings, pray to Him, receive His grace in the Eucharist  - it would all come together.

Ask and you shall receive and it will be more than you ever imagined. Not millions of dollars but better still.

We are here now at a banquet. The Mass is a feast of God’s love and we can receive as much as we can take.

When we come to Holy Communion, ask for the sky. Material blessings, yes, but spiritual even more so.

Ask for God Himself. Ask that we will have the capacity to receive Him, that we will be open to all that He is offering us.

He is present in the host, but each person is a different encounter. Am I present for Him? Am I hungering for what He can give me?

We might hold back because we do not want to become too ‘spiritual’ or ‘holy’, but we will be glad if we do let Him take us to another level.

Holy Communion is such an important moment, but we can lose it in the short time that it takes, and we can block its full effect by our own limited expectations.

This is a time to ask for more.

There is enough, and more for everyone.