Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea, Gladstone, Qld.

"Thus says the Lord: ‘As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.’" (cf. Is 55).

"The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest." (cf. Ps 65).

"I think that what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory, as yet unrevealed, which is waiting for us." (cf. Rom 8).

"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 beach, and he told them many things in parables." (cf. Mt 13).

Artwork: "The Mass at Bolsena" by Raphael, (c. 1512-14).

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

"Israel left Canaan with his possessions, and reached Beersheba. There he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to Israel in a vision at night, ‘Jacob, Jacob’, he said. ‘I am here’, he replied. ‘I am God, the God of your father’, he continued. ‘Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. I myself will go down to Egypt with you. I myself will bring you back again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.’ Then Jacob left Beersheba..." (cf. Gen 46).

"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. He protects the lives of the upright, their heritage will last for ever. They shall not be put to shame in evil days, in time of famine their food shall not fail." (cf. Ps 37).

"Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves. Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.'..." (cf. Mt 10).

Artwork: "Footprints in the Same", retrieved from John the Baptist Artworks. 

Homily for Thursday in the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Saint Henry), delivered in the Chanel College Chapel, Gladstone, Qld.

"Judah went up to Joseph and said, ‘May it please my lord, let your servant have a word privately with my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself... Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father really still alive?’ His brothers could not answer him, they were so dismayed at the sight of him. Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come closer to me.’ When they had come closer to him he said, ‘I am your brother Joseph whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not grieve, do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here, since God sent me before you to preserve your lives.’" (cf. Gen 44-45).

"The Lord called down a famine on the land; he broke the staff that supported them. He had sent a man before them, Joseph, sold as a slave." (cf. Ps 105).

"Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘As you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge... And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet. I tell you solemnly, on the day of Judgement it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom and Gomorrah as with that town.’" (cf. Mt 10).

Artwork: "The Reconciliation of Joseph and His Brothers" by Peter Cornelius, (1817).

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

"When the whole country of Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread. But Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.’" (cf. Gen 41).

"Jesus summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness." (cf. Mt 10).

Artwork: "Joseph the Carpenter" by Georges de La Tour, (c. 1643).

Homily for the Feast of Saint Benedict, Tuesday in the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld.

"Jacob rose, and taking his two wives and his two slave-girls and his eleven children he crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream and sent all his possessions over too. And Jacob was left alone." (cf. Gen 32).

"Display your great love, you whose right hand saves, your friends from those who rebel against them." (cf. Ps 17).

"Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness." (cf. Mt 9).

Artwork: "Jacob Wrestling with an Angel" by Eugène Delacroix,  (c. 1861).

A conversation with some of the High school kids about what they've been learning, and some of why it all matters.

Artwork: an image of children looking at an icon, generated using the Wonder app.

Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld.

"The Lord says this: Rejoice heart and soul, daughter of Zion! Shout with gladness, daughter of Jerusalem! See now, your king comes to you; he is victorious, he is triumphant, humble and riding on a donkey..." (cf. Zech 9).

"I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God; 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." (cf. Ps 145).

"Your interests are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual, since the Spirit of God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him..." (cf. Rom 8).

"Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him... 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.’" (cf. Mt 11).

Artwork: one of many images on the theme of being made kings in Christ, generated using the Wonder app. This one was chosen for what looks like a baptismal font in the middle.

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

"The length of Sarah’s life was a hundred and twenty-seven years. She died at Kiriath-arba, or Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn and grieve for her... [He] buried [her] in the cave of the field of Machpelah opposite Mamre, in the country of Canaan... [Then] Abraham said to the eldest servant of his household, the steward of all his property, ‘Place your hand under my thigh, I would have you swear by the Lord, God of heaven and God of earth... go to my own land and my own kinsfolk to choose a wife for my son Isaac.’ The servant asked him, ‘What if the woman does not want to come with me to this country...?’ Abraham answered, ‘... if the woman does not want to come with you, you will be free from this oath...'" (cf. Gen 23-24).

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good: Come to me, Lord, with your help that I may see the joy of your chosen ones and may rejoice in the gladness of your nation and share the glory of your people." (cf. Ps 106).

"As Jesus was walking on, he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him. While he was at dinner in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When he heard this he replied..." (cf. Mt 9).

Artwork: "Meeting of Isaac and Rebecca" by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, (c.1640).

Homily for Thursday in the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time (feast of Saint Maria Goretti, Virgin, Martyr), delivered in Chanel College Chapel, Gladstone, Qld.

"God put Abraham to the test. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he called. ‘Here I am’ he replied. ‘Take your son,’ God said ‘your only child Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him as a burnt offering, on a mountain I will point out to you.’" (cf. Gen 22).

"I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living." (cf. Ps 116).

"Jesus got in the boat, crossed the water and came to his own town. Then some people appeared, bringing him a paralytic stretched out on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Courage, my child, your sins are forgiven.’ And at this some scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’ Knowing what was in their minds Jesus said, ‘Why do you have such wicked thoughts in your hearts...?'" (cf. Mt 9).

Artwork: "Christus heilet einen Gichtbrüchigen" (Healing the paralytic at Capernaum), by Bernhard Rode (c. 1780).

Homily for the Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle and Martyr, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish Office Chapel, Gladstone, Qld.

"You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household. You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit." (Eph 2:19-22).

"Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him: ‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’" (Jn 20:24-29).

Artwork: "Vaux Passional", the incredulity of Thomas who placed his fingers in the wounds, (c.1503-4).