Homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity of Jesus Christ (Vigil), delivered at St Patrick's Church, Calliope, Qld.

"The people that walked in darkness has seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone. You have made their gladness greater, you have made their joy increase; they rejoice in your presence as men rejoice at harvest time, as men are happy when they are dividing the spoils." (cf. Is 9).

"Today is born our Saviour, Christ the Lord." (Ps 96).

"God’s grace has been revealed, and it has made salvation possible for the whole human race and taught us that what we have to do is to give up everything that does not lead to God, and all our worldly ambitions..." (cf. Tit 2).

"Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census of the whole world to be taken. This census – the first – took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria, and everyone went to his own town to be registered. So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and travelled up to Judaea, to the town of David called Bethlehem, since he was of David’s House and line, in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to a son, her first born." (cf. Lk 2).

Artwork: Sagrada  Família (?) by Franz von Defregger (c. 1835), retrieved from a post from the Thomistic Institute.

Homily for Wednesday in the Third Week of Advent (Mem. of Saint John of the Cross), delivered in the Church of Saint Saviour Monastery, Jerusalem, Israel.

"Apart from me, all is nothing. I am the Lord, unrivalled, I form the light and create the dark. I make good fortune and create calamity, it is I, the Lord, who do all this. Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down. Let the earth open for salvation to spring up. Let deliverance, too, bud forth which I, the Lord, shall create. Yes, thus says the Lord, creator of the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who set it firm, created it no chaos, but a place to be lived in..." (cf. Is 45).

"I will hear what the Lord God has to say, a voice that speaks of peace, peace for his people. His help is near for those who fear him and his glory will dwell in our land... Justice shall march before him and peace shall follow his steps." (Ps 85).

"Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them. ‘If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, “Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish.” Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace. So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.’" (cf. Lk 14, Gospel for the Memorial).

Artwork: "Christ of Saint John of the Cross" by Salvador Dali (c. 1951), inspired by Saint John's own 1550 sketch.

Homily for Saturday in the Second Week in Advent (with prayers for the Votive Mass of Saints Lazarus, Martha, and Mary), delivered in the Tomb of Lazarus Church, Bethany, West Bank.

"The prophet Elijah arose like a fire, his word flaring like a torch. It was he who brought famine on the people, and who decimated them in his zeal. By the word of the Lord, he shut up the heavens, he also, three times, brought down fire. How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah! Has anyone reason to boast as you have? Taken up in the whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses; designated in the prophecies of doom to allay God’s wrath before the fury breaks, to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children, and to restore the tribes of Jacob, happy shall they be who see you, and those who have fallen asleep in love." (Eccl 48:1-4,9-12).

"Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved." (Ps 80).

"As they came down from the mountain the disciples put this question to Jesus, ‘Why do the scribes say that Elijah has to come first?’ ‘True;’ he replied ‘Elijah is to come to see that everything is once more as it should be; however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands.’ The disciples understood then that he had been speaking of John the Baptist." (Mt 17:10-13).

Artwork: "The Marriage at Cana" by Paolo Veronese, (c. 1563).

Homily for the Friday in the Second Week of Advent (Feast of Saint Juan Diego), delivered aboard the Reuben on the Sea of Galilee, Israel.

"Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is good for you, I lead you in the way that you must go. If only you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river, your integrity like the waves of the sea." (cf. Is 48:17-19).

"Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life... like a tree that is planted beside the flowing waters, that yields its fruit in due season and whose leaves shall never fade; and all that he does shall prosper." (cf. Ps 1).

"Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘What description can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place: "We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges, and you wouldn’t be mourners." For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet wisdom has been proved right by her actions.’" (Mt 11:16-19).

Artwork: "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee" by Rembrandt, (c. 1633).

Homily for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, delivered in Duc in Altus Church, in Magdala's Chapel, Migdal, Israel.

"After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, be accursed beyond all cattle,
all wild beasts. You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust
every day of your life. I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel.’ The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live." (Gen 3:9-15,20).

"Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wonderful deeds." (cf. Ps 98).

"Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ. Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence, determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ for his own kind purposes, to make us praise the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved..." (cf. Eph 1:3-9).

"The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary." (cf. Lk 1:26-38).

Artwork: "Immaculate Conception with Saints" by Piero di Cosimo, (c. 1485-1505).

Homily for Friday in the Thirty-second Week of Ordinary Time (Feast of Saint Martin of Tours), with some of the St John the Baptist Primary School community, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld.

"It has given me great joy to find that your children have been living the life of truth as we were commanded by the Father... To love is to live according to his commandments: this is the commandment which you have heard since the beginning, to live a life of love. There are many deceivers about in the world, refusing to admit that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. They are the Deceiver; they are the Antichrist. Watch yourselves, or all our work will be lost and not get the reward it deserves. If anybody does not keep within the teaching of Christ but goes beyond it, he cannot have God with him: only those who keep to what he taught can have the Father and the Son with them." (cf. 2 Jn 4-9).

"Happy are they who follow the law of the Lord!" (cf. Ps 119).

"Jesus said to the disciples: ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It will be the same as it was in Lot’s day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed... Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.’" (cf. Lk 17).

Artwork: a reflection on the readings and homily generated using the Wonder app.

Homily for Wednesday in the Second Week of Advent (Feast of Saint Ambrose, Doctor of the Church), delivered in the Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth, Israel.

"‘To whom could you liken me
and who could be my equal?’ says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look. Who made these stars if not he who drills them like an army, calling each one by name? So mighty is his power, so great his strength, that not one fails to answer. How can you say, Jacob, how can you insist, Israel, ‘My destiny is hidden from the Lord, my rights are ignored by my God’? Did you not know? Had you not heard? The Lord is an everlasting God, he created the boundaries of the earth. He does not grow tired or weary, his understanding is beyond fathoming. He gives strength to the wearied, he strengthens the powerless. Young men may grow tired and weary, youths may stumble, but those who hope in the Lord renew their strength, they put out wings like eagles. They run and do not grow weary, walk and never tire." (cf. Is 40).

"My soul, give thanks to the Lord all my being, bless his holy name. My soul, give thanks to the Lord and never forget all his blessings." (cf. 103).

"Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’" (Mt 11:28-30).

Artwork: "The Annunciation" by Murillo, (c. 1655–1660).

Homily for some of the little children at St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School, delivered in the classroom.

"Now it happened that on the way to Jerusalem he was travelling in the borderlands of Samaria and Galilee. As he entered one of the villages, ten men suffering from a virulent skin-disease came to meet him. They stood some way off and called to him, 'Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.' When he saw them he said, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.' Now as they were going away they were cleansed. Finding himself cured, one of them turned back praising God at the top of his voice and threw himself prostrate at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan. This led Jesus to say, 'Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.' And he said to the man, 'Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.'" (cf. Lk 17).

Artwork: "Peace" by William Strutt, (1896).

Homily for the Feast of the Dedication of the John Lateran Basilica, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld.

"The angel brought me to the entrance of the Temple, where a stream came out from under the Temple threshold and flowed eastwards, since the Temple faced east. The water flowed from under the right side of the Temple, south of the altar. He took me out by the north gate and led me right round outside as far as the outer east gate where the water flowed out on the right-hand side. He said, ‘This water flows east down to the Arabah and to the sea; and flowing into the sea it makes its waters wholesome. Wherever the river flows, all living creatures teeming in it will live. Fish will be very plentiful, for wherever the water goes it brings health, and life teems wherever the river flows. Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal...'" (cf. Ez 47).

"You are God’s building. By the grace God gave me, I succeeded as an architect and laid the foundations, on which someone else is doing the building. Everyone doing the building must work carefully. For the foundation, nobody can lay any other than the one which has already been laid, that is Jesus Christ. Didn’t you realise that you were God’s temple and that the Spirit of God was living among you? If anybody should destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him, because the temple of God is sacred; and you are that temple." (cf. 1 Cor 3).

"Just before the Jewish Passover Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and in the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting at their counters there. Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well, scattered the money changers’ coins, knocked their tables over and said to the pigeon-sellers, ‘Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house into a market.’ Then his disciples remembered the words of scripture: Zeal for your house will devour me. The Jews intervened and said, ‘What sign can you show us to justify what you have done?’ Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.’..." (cf. Jn 2).

"'Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay with you today.’ He came down with great haste and received the Lord joyfully in his house. Today salvation has come from God to this house." (Benedictus Antiphon).

Artwork: a photograph of the choir and apse in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Vatican, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Reflection for some of the children at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School, delivered in St Peter Chanel Church, Tannum, Qld.

"In the beginning God created heaven and earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, with a divine wind sweeping over the waters. God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light..." (cf. Gen 1).

"That same day, Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the shore, and he told them many things in parables. He said, 'Listen, a sower went out to sow..." (cf. Mt 13).

Artwork: an image of Jesus amid creation, retrieved from Pintrest.