Traversing Emmaus

A talk with the Mercy Associates, tracing something of a graced history through stories and songs that I've written at some point over the last 10 years.

Outline:
Youthful priorities are a formin'
      Pins & Needles
      Unearthed
      Questions

 Into the dark of prey at prayer
     Magdalena
     Seek His Face

Divine Romance ever unravelling
     Let's Go (Slow)
     Resolutions
     Sunshine

Thank you, dear Mercy Associates, and all the Parish community. God's richest, choicest blessings on you all, always. 

Homily for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, delivered in St Mary's Catholic Church, Ubobo, Qld.

"Thus says the Lord: Have a care for justice, act with integrity, for soon my salvation will come and my integrity be manifest." (cf. Is 53:1-7).

"Let the nations be glad and exult for you rule the world with justice. With fairness you rule the peoples, you guide the nations on earth." (cf. Ps 67).

"Let me tell you pagans this: I have been sent to the pagans as their apostle, and I am proud of being sent, but the purpose of it is to make my own people envious of you, and in this way save some of them. Since their rejection meant the reconciliation of the world, do you know what their admission will mean? Nothing less than a resurrection from the dead! God never takes back his gifts or revokes his choice." (Rom 11:13-15).

"Jesus left Gennesaret and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Then out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, ‘Sir, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil...' Jesus answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel... It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’ She retorted, '... even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.’ And from that moment her daughter was well again." (Mt 15:21-28).

Artwork: "The Canaanite (or Syrophoenician) woman asks Christ to cure", by Pietro del Po, (c. 1650).

Homily for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, delivered in St Joseph's Catholic Church, Biloela, Qld.

"Thus says the Lord: [M]y salvation will come and my integrity be manifest [to] foreigners who have attached themselves to the Lord to serve him [and] love his name and [are] his servants..." (cf. Is 53).

"O God, be gracious and bless us and let your face shed its light upon us. So will your ways be known upon earth and all nations learn your saving help." (Ps 67:2-3).

"Jesus left Gennesaret and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Then out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, ‘Sir, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.’ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him. ‘Give her what she wants,’ they said ‘because she is shouting after us.’ He said in reply, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.’ But the woman had come up and was kneeling at his feet. ‘Lord,’ she said ‘help me.’ He replied, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’ She retorted, ‘Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.’ And from that moment her daughter was well again." (Mt 15:21-28).

Artwork:"The Canaanite Woman" from Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, (15th century).

Homily for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, delivered in St Peter Chanel's Catholic Church, Tannum Sands, Qld.

"Thus says the Lord: Have a care for justice, act with integrity, for soon my salvation will come and my integrity be manifest. Foreigners who have attached themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love his name and be his servants... these I will bring to my holy mountain. I will make them joyful in my house of prayer." (cf. Is 53:1-7).

"Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. May God still give us his blessing till the ends of the earth revere him." (cf. Ps 67).

"Jesus left Gennesaret and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Then out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, ‘Sir, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.’ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him. ‘Give her what she wants,’ they said ‘because she is shouting after us.’ He said in reply, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.’ But the woman had come up and was kneeling at his feet. ‘Lord,’ she said ‘help me.’ He replied, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’ She retorted, ‘Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.’ And from that moment her daughter was well again." (Mt 15:21-28).

Artwork: "Jesus and the Woman of Canaan" by Michael Angelo Immenrae, (c. 1673 - 78).

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

"Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem; then he called the elders, leaders, judges and scribes of Israel, and they presented themselves before God." (cf. Joshua 24).

"O give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love is everlasting! Give thanks to the God of gods. His love is everlasting! Give thanks to the Lord of lords. His love is everlasting!" (cf. Ps 135).

"Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and to test him they said, ‘Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that the creator from the beginning made them male and female and that he said: This is why a man must leave father and mother, and cling to his wife, and the two become one body? They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.’" (cf. Mt 19).

Artwork: Moses breaking the Ten Commandments inscribed by the Finger of God, from a woodcut Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, (c. 1860).

Homily for Thursday in the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time, delivered in the Chanel College Chapel, Gladstone, Qld.

"The Lord said to Joshua, ‘This very day I will begin to make you a great man in the eyes of all Israel, to let them be sure that I am going to be with you even as I was with Moses. As for you, give this order to the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: “When you have reached the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you are to stand still in the Jordan itself”.’ Then Joshua said to the Israelites, ‘Come closer and hear the words of the Lord... Look, the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, is about to cross the Jordan at your head. As soon as the priests with the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, have set their feet in the waters of the Jordan, the upper waters of the Jordan flowing down will be stopped in their course and stand still in one mass.’ Accordingly, when the people struck camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant in front of the people. As soon as the bearers of the ark reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests who carried it touched the waters... the upper waters stood still and made one heap over a wide space... [And] the people crossed opposite Jericho." (Joshua 3).

"Peter went up to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.'" (cf. Mt 18:21).

Artwork: an image of someone learning the art of forgiveness, generated using the Wonder app. 

Homily for a class at St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School, Gladstone.

Then he said, 'There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, "Father, let me have the share of the estate that will come to me." So the father divided the property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery. 'When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch; so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled himself with the husks the pigs were eating but no one would let him have them. Then he came to his senses and said, "How many of my father's hired men have all the food they want and more, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired men." So he left the place and went back to his father. 'While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him. Then his son said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we will celebrate by having a feast, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found." And they began to celebrate. (Lk 15:11-24).

Artwork: "Le retour de l'enfant prodigue" by Leonello Spada (1600s).

Homily for Wednesday in the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone.

"Leaving the plains of Moab, Moses went up Mount Nebo, the peak of Pisgah opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land; Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the stretch of the Valley of Jericho, city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. The Lord said to him, ‘This is the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your descendants. I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross into it.’ There in the land of Moab, Moses the servant of the Lord died as the Lord decreed; he buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but to this day no one has ever found his grave." (cf. Deut 34).

"Come and see the works of God, tremendous his deeds among men. Come and hear, all who fear God. I will tell what he did for my soul." (Ps 66).

"Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves... if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.'" (cf. Mt 18).

Artwork: an image of the baby Moses being drawn from among the reeds, retrieved from EcoPreacher's Blog.

Homily for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, delivered in St John's Catholic Primary School, Gladstone.

"Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown." (cf. Rev 11).

"The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold." (cf. Ps 45).

"Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’" (cf. Lk 1).

Artwork: "Mariä Himmelfahrt" by Peter Paul Rubens (16th Century).

Homily for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone.

"The sanctuary of God in heaven opened and the ark of the covenant could be seen inside it. Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown. She was pregnant, and in labour... the woman escaped into the desert, where God had made a place of safety ready. Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, ‘Victory and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ.’" (cf. Rev 11:19 - 12:10).

"The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold." (cf. Ps 45).

"... as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’" (cf. Lk 1).

Artwork: "Visitation" by Philippe de Champaigne, (c. 1621–1674).