Traversing Emmaus

Homily for the Friday in the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld.

"People must think of us as Christ’s servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God. What is expected of stewards is that each one should be found worthy of his trust... [and] the Lord alone is [our] judge; he will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the secret intentions of men’s hearts. Then will be the time for each one to have whatever praise he deserves, from God." (cf. 1 Cor 4:1-5).

"The salvation of the just comes from the Lord. If you trust in the Lord and do good, then you will live in the land and be secure. If you find your delight in the Lord, he will grant your heart’s desire; Commit your life to the Lord, trust in him and he will act, so that your justice breaks forth like the light, your cause like the noon-day sun." (cf. Ps 37:3-29).

"The Pharisees and the scribes said to Jesus, ‘John’s disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees too, but yours go on eating and drinking.’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely you cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them...? No one tears a piece from a new cloak to put it on an old cloak... and nobody puts new wine into old skins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and then run out, and the skins will be lost. No; new wine must be put into fresh skins. And nobody who has been drinking old wine wants new. “The old is good” he says.’" cf. Lk 5:33-39).

Artwork: "Marriage at Cana" by Giotto (c.1303).

A miniseries for the Season of Creation, which commences today, 1st September, and continues until the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi on 4th October.

This is an ecumenical season that annually unites all Christians around the world to pray and act for our common home. To make the most of this time, why not prayerfully sit with the Holy Father's 2015 encyclical Laudato Si, and consider how we might each join the efforts now set in motion for the sake of all, especially those who are most disadvantaged, with whom we share this earth, our common home? Let us pray.

A prayer for our earth

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.

A Christian prayer in union with creation

Father, we praise you with all your creatures.
They came forth from your all-powerful hand;
they are yours, filled with your presence and your tender love.
Praise be to you!
Son of God, Jesus,
through you all things were made.
You were formed in the womb of Mary our Mother,
you became part of this earth,
and you gazed upon this world with human eyes.
Today you are alive in every creature
in your risen glory.
Praise be to you!
Holy Spirit, by your light
you guide this world towards the Father’s love
and accompany creation as it groans in travail.
You also dwell in our hearts
and you inspire us to do what is good.
Praise be to you!
Triune Lord, wondrous community of infinite love,
teach us to contemplate you
in the beauty of the universe,
for all things speak of you.
Awaken our praise and thankfulness
for every being that you have made.
Give us the grace to feel profoundly joined
to everything that is.
God of love, show us our place in this world
as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth,
for not one of them is forgotten in your sight.
Enlighten those who possess power and money
that they may avoid the sin of indifference,
that they may love the common good, advance the weak,
and care for this world in which we live.
The poor and the earth are crying out.
O Lord, seize us with your power and light,
help us to protect all life,
to prepare for a better future,
for the coming of your Kingdom
of justice, peace, love and beauty.
Praise be to you!
Amen.

See the Pope Francis' Message at: https://bit.ly/3AL59Dk

See information on COP27 here: https://bit.ly/3KGvOpt , and a video on the Catholic Church's position on COP15 here: https://youtu.be/s8MP3UgJEAY

If you would like to view the entire Laudato Si document, you can do so on the Vatican website. The document is available here: https://bit.ly/3q0IBda

You can see the ACBC's JEP Office publications, such as the Social Justice Statement 'Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor', prayers and other resources here: https://bit.ly/3Ro2XZb

You can follow the international Laudato Si Movement here: https://bit.ly/3eeE7wR

Please do consider how all of this may lead to a deep and lasting ecological conversion for you wherever you are, with whomever you live and work. Days and seasons like this are to mark our cultures, not just our calendars. God bless!

Artwork "Das Paradies" by Jan Brueghel the Elder, (c.1620).

Homily for Wednesday in the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld.

"Brothers, I myself was unable to speak to you as people of the Spirit: I treated you as sensual men, still infants in Christ. What I fed you with was milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it; and indeed, you are still not ready... Isn’t that obvious from all the jealousy and wrangling that there is among you, from the way that you go on behaving like ordinary people? What could be more unspiritual than your slogans, ‘I am for Paul’ and ‘I am for Apollos’? After all, what is Apollos and what is Paul? They are servants who brought the faith to you. Even the different ways in which they brought it were assigned to them by the Lord. I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow. Neither the planter nor the waterer matters: only God, who makes things grow. It is all one who does the planting and who does the watering, and each will duly be paid according to his share in the work. We are fellow workers with God; you are God’s farm, God’s building." (cf. 1 Cor 3:1-9).

"Happy the people the Lord has chosen to be his own." (cf. Ps 33).

"Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Leaning over her he rebuked the fever and it left her... At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them. Devils too came out of many people, howling, ‘You are the Son of God.’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ. When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.’ And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of Judaea." (cf. Lk 4:38-44).

Artwork: A mediæval illustration of Jesus healing the Gerasene, (1640).

Homily for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladston, Qld.

"My son, be gentle in carrying out your business, and you will be better loved than a lavish giver. The greater you are, the more you should behave humbly, and then you will find favour with the Lord; for great though the power of the Lord is, he accepts the homage of the humble. There is no cure for the proud man’s malady, since an evil growth has taken root in him. The heart of a sensible man will reflect on parables, an attentive ear is the sage’s dream." (cf. Eccl 3:19-31).

"God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor; the just shall rejoice at the presence of God, they shall exult and dance for joy. O sing to the Lord, make music to his name; rejoice in the Lord, exult at his presence. Father of the orphan, defender of the widow, such is God in his holy place. God gives the lonely a home to live in; he leads the prisoners forth into freedom; You poured down, O God, a generous rain: when your people were starved you gave them new life. It was there that your people found a home, prepared in your goodness, O God, for the poor." (cf. Ps 68).

"What you have come to is nothing known to the senses: not a blazing fire, or a gloom turning to total darkness, or a storm; or trumpeting thunder or the great voice speaking which made everyone that heard it beg that no more should be said to them. But what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads more insistently than Abel’s." (cf. Heb 12:18-24).

"On a sabbath day Jesus had gone for a meal to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely. '... everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.’ Then he said to his host, ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not ask your friends, brothers, relations or rich neighbours, for fear they repay your courtesy by inviting you in return. No; when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay you back means that you are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise again.’" (cf. Lk 14:1-14).

Artwork: "The Kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind." (n.d.).

Homily for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, delivered in St Agnes Church, Agnes Waters, Qld.

"My son, be gentle in carrying out your business; for great though the power of the Lord is, he accepts the homage of the humble. There is no cure for the proud man’s malady..." (cf. Eccl 3:19-31).

"God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor." (cf. Ps 68).

"What you have come to is nothing known to the senses... what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings a new covenant..." (Heb 12:18-24).

"On a sabbath day Jesus had gone for a meal to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely. He then told the guests a parable, because he had noticed how they picked the places of honour. He said this, ‘When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take your seat in the place of honour. A more distinguished person than you may have been invited, and the person who invited you both may come and say, "Give up your place to this man.” And then, to your embarrassment, you would have to go and take the lowest place. No; when you are a guest, make your way to the lowest place and sit there, so that, when your host comes, he may say, “My friend, move up higher.” In that way, everyone with you at the table will see you honoured. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.’" (cf. Lk 14:1-14).

Artwork: "The Ascension" in Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, (15th C.).

Homily for the Friday in the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld.

"Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the Good News, and not to preach that in the terms of philosophy in which the crucifixion of Christ cannot be expressed. The language of the cross may be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation, but those of us who are on the way see it as God’s power to save... Where are the philosophers now? Where are the scribes? Where are any of our thinkers today? while the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, here are we preaching a crucified Christ — Christ who is the power and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength." (cf. 1 Cor 1:17-25).

"Jesus told this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps... Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed. The other bridesmaids arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said “open the door for us.” But he replied, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you.” So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.’..." (cf. Mt 25:1-13).

Artwork: "Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins" by Hieronymus Francken the Younger, (c. 1616).

Homily delivered Wednesday 24th August 2022, for a year level at St John the Baptist Primary School, Gladstone, Qld.

"For Christ himself has brought us peace by making Jews and Gentiles one people. With his own body he broke down the wall that separated them and kept them enemies... By his death on the cross Christ destroyed their enmity; by means of the cross he united both races into one body and brought them back to God — Good News of peace to all – [brought by the] one Spirit into the presence of the Father." (cf. Eph 2:14-18).

"Jesus went into Jericho and was passing through. There was a chief tax collector there named Zacchaeus, who was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was a little man and could not see Jesus because of the crowd. So he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus who was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to Zacchaeus, 'Hurry down Zacchaeus, because I must stay in your house today...' Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, 'Listen, sir! I will give half my belongings to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much.' Jesus said to him, "Salvation has come to this house today." (cf. Lk 19:1-9).

Artwork: "What Our Lord Saw from the Cross" by James Tissot, (1886-94).

Homily for the Feast of Saint Bartholomew,  Apostle,  Martyr (Wednesday in the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time), delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld.

"The angel came to speak to me, and said, ‘Come here and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has married.’ In the spirit, he took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a great height, and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." (Ap 21:9-14).

"Your friends tell the glory of your kingship, Lord. All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord, and your friends shall repeat their blessing. They shall speak of the glory of your reign and declare your might, O God. They make known to men your mighty deeds and the glorious splendour of your reign. Yours is an everlasting kingdom; your rule lasts from age to age. The Lord is just in all his ways and loving in all his deeds. He is close to all who call him, who call on him from their hearts. Your friends tell the glory of your kingship, Lord." (cf. Ps 145:10-18).

"Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote: he is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’ ‘From Nazareth?’ said Nathanael ‘Can anything good come from that place?’ ‘Come and see’ replied Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, ‘There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit.’ ‘How do you know me?’ said Nathanael. ‘Before Philip came to call you,’ said Jesus ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ Nathanael answered, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.’ Jesus replied, ‘You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.’ And then he added ‘I tell you most solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending.’" (Jn 1:45-53).

Artwork: St Bartholomew Manuscript Leaf with the Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, from a ‘Laudario’, (c.1340, Florence).

Homily for Tuesday in the Twenty-first Week of Ordinary Time (Feast of Saint Rose of Lima), delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld.

"To turn, brothers, to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we shall all be gathered round him: please do not get excited too soon or alarmed by any prediction or rumour or any letter claiming to come from us, implying that the Day of the Lord has already arrived. Never let anyone deceive you in this way. Through the Good News that we brought God called you to this so that you should share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Stand firm, then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has given us his love and, through his grace, such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope, comfort you and strengthen you in everything good that you do or say." (cf. 2 Thes 2:1-17).

"The Lord comes to judge the earth." (cf. Ps 96).

"The word of God is living and active: it probes the thoughts and motives of our heart." (Heb 4:12).

"Jesus said: ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who pay your tithe of mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, good faith! These you should have practised, without neglecting the others. You blind guides! Straining out gnats and swallowing camels! Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance. Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well.’" (Mt 23:23-26).

Artwork: "Christ and Mary Magdalene in the House of Simon the Pharisee" by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, (1752).

Homily for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, delivered in St Mary's Church, Ubobo, Qld.

"The Lord says this: I am coming to gather the nations of every language. They shall come to witness my glory. I will give them a sign and send some of their survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Put, Lud, Moshech, Rosh, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant islands that have never heard of me or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory to the nations. As an offering to the Lord they will bring all your brothers, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, on dromedaries, from all the nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem, says the Lord..." (cf. Is 66:18-21).

"Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News." (cf. Ps 117).

"Suffering is part of your training; God is treating you as his sons... Of course, any punishment is most painful at the time, and far from pleasant; but later, in those on whom it has been used, it bears fruit in peace and goodness. So hold up your limp arms and steady your trembling knees and smooth out the path you tread; then the injured limb will not be wrenched, it will grow strong again." (cf. Heb 12:5-13).

"Through towns and villages Jesus went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him, ‘Sir, will there be only a few saved?’ He said to them, ‘Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed. ‘Once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not know where you come from.” Then you will find yourself saying, “We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets” but he will reply, “I do not know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!” Then there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned outside. And men from east and west, from north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.’..." (cf. Lk 13:22-30).
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"O Lord, who gained for yourself a people by adoption through the one sacrifice offered once for all, bestow graciously on us, we pray, the gifts of unity and peace in your Church." (Prayer over the Offerings).

Artwork: "The Reconciliation of Esau and Jacob" by Rubens (1624).