17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) : Homily / Sermon

What is that between so many? (John 6:9)

And there are those, good and believing people, who are uncomfortable about the miracles in the Gospels and try and explain them away. Perhaps there is some natural explanation, they say. Perhaps the walking on the water was a trick of the light. Perhaps the stilling of the storm was co-incidence. Perhaps the feeding of the 5000 was not supernatural at all, but an extraordinary act of sharing by the crowd, so that all were fed.

But perhaps those who try and explain these things away are missing the point. They try to make the miracles stories into some moral insight about humanity. They are explained as human actions, human misunderstandings, human gullibility. And in reducing the stories they make them unremarkable, hardly worth telling. Their difficulties lead them to make the account - and Jesus - too ordinary, too banal.

We can see this when we consider today’s Gospel in the light of others. For there is another occasion when Jesus is asked to perform a miracle with bread. Only on that occasion he refused. It was when he was tempted by the devil in the desert. Now why perform the miracle now, and not then?

We might suppose that the obvious reason is that Jesus refuses to turn a stone to bread to create a spectacle - but he willingly makes a little bread into much bread to feed the crowd.

But there is perhaps a much more important reason why he feeds the 5,000, but does not give in to the temptation in the wilderness. That is because the Devil tempts Jesus to Destroy - Destroy the Stone to conjure up the bread - while the miracle which Jesus willingly performs does not destroy nature, but multiplies it.

And this is always true. And this is what miracles are.

Jesus takes what we give him and makes more, much more. A little love is multiplied into great love. A little sorrow for our sins becomes an overflowing forgiveness. Our small talents and abilities become great with his help. Our simple prayers are joined to his all embracing will. Drops of olive oil convey his healing power. A little water is made the gateway to eternal life. Our gifts of bread and wine become his Body and Blood.

Christ takes our little offerings and makes them great. God does not destroy nature, but expands it and enhances it and glorifies it. As St Thomas Aquinas says “Grace perfects nature”.

The stone is not destroyed but the loaves and fish are much multiplied.

It is just like the words of the Christmas carol: “What can I give him, poor that I am, if I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb. If I were a wise man, I would do my part. What can I give him? Give my heart.”

A small offering: a great reward.

16th Sunday of the Year (B) : Homily / Sermon

16th Sunday of the Year (B)

You must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while. (Mark 6:31)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus and the Apostles go on holiday!
Just like the school children and the teachers and so many others, they set off for a bit of a break.

Last week, in the Gospel we heard about the urgent, almost frantic mission which Jesus gave to his apostles, to go out two by two, to preach to all who would listen, to move rapidly from place to place shaking the dust off their feet as they went. And now, the mission successfully completed, it is time to go off to a quiet place for a bit of relaxation. ‘You must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while,’ Jesus says (Mark 6:31). Their mission had been a bit too successful, and they were pressed by the crowds, and just had to get away.

Except, of course, it all goes wrong. The crowd guess where they are going, and get there before them. And the work continues …

Of course, it probably wasn’t the first, certainly not the last holiday, the last break, to be disrupted, interrupted, or broken into.

And nowadays, with the mobile phone, it is almost impossible to get away completely. It is very rare to be more than a text an email or a phone call away. Getting away from it all can be a particular challenge for the priest, but not just the priest: many have responsibilities whicvh might mean they are at risk of having a break cancelled or being called back in an emergency. Others, in the caring professions find it hard to completely switch off while they are away, and yet others may spend their holidays finding resources or ideas for their working lives - the busman’s holiday, as they call it. And those who are responsible for others - parents and carers - may even find themselves working harder during the holidays, or being beset with worry for those left back at home, so that the end of holiday might even provide a bit of relief. Like Jesus and the Apostles, the idea of the time of rest might seem to be something of an illusion.

But this doesn’t mean that this story from the Gospels is telling us that the holidays, the break from routine is wrong in some way, or just a vain and pointless wish.

Resting, holidays, recreation are not wrong. We know that Jesus would frequently retreat from the activity of the day for reflection and prayer - just as he tried to here, and especially as he did even on the night before his arrest.

This Gospel is not telling us that we should work hard at all times and never rest. No: its message is one of compassion, and mercy, and generosity, and love: love of our neighbour, even love of those who do not love us. It is about humanity, and about Christianity in which all are our brothers and sisters. Despite the words in today’s readings about the Shepherds, this Gospel is not even really about priesthood, Christian ministry or leadership. It is about what it means to be Church. To be a person who cares. It is about compassion for one another, about valuing and nurturing every member of Christ’s flock, and those who are not yet part of his flock.

And Resting … is not an exercise in escaping from caring - but rather the drawing of strength in order to do the works of mercy.

That’s why we call it a holiday, a “holy day”.

It is a time for pleasure and enjoyment, and more. It is a time when we draw strength from God - so that we can take a breather, recharge our batteries, clear away the clutter, set aside the busy-ness, and look at things afresh - our responsibilities, our priorities and our faith.
So - however you spend the next few weeks, home or away, passive or active, have a good holiday. And recharge your batteries: to be strengthened in your service of God and in his works of mercy.
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Fifteen Sunday in Oridinary Time (A) : Homily / Sermon

So they set off to preach repentance; and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them. (Mark 6:12-13)

Jesus sent the Twelve out to preach the Good News, the Good News of the Gospel. And that Good News is a call to repentance.

This not what we think of usually as Good News. Good news is the surprise lottery win, the announcement of a birth or a marriage, being given the all clear, the result of the match, the winning of the prize, the success in examinations or a job interview. And in all these, notice, for all our efforts beforehand, Good News is something that happens to us, it is gift, it is grace.

Yet here, in this Gospel the message is one of repentance, contrition, sorrow for sins. It is something we have to do, and something which is painful - to admit our own fault, to confess our sins, to acknowledge our failures, our impatience, our dishonesty, our unkindnesses and cruelties. It might be necessary - but how can this be a message to preach? How can this be Gospel? How can this be Good News?

Well it can - it is - of course it is - because what the Twelve are sent out to preach with such urgency is not the wickedness of the world, but greatest of God’s mercy. They move from house to house and place to place rapidly, wasting no time with those who do not want to here because they are there not to condemn but to give the offer of a Great Gift, the Gift of Forgiveness which is freely given by God to everyone who embraces it, and this gift heals minds and hearts, casts out anxiety and soothes infirmity.

It is a Gift that is easily refused, yet easy to accept.

Because all we need to do to receive this great gift of God, the Gift of Forgiveness, the Gift of Healing, the Gift of Peace - is to accept that we need to be forgiven, we need to be healed, we need to welcome into our troubled hearts this promise of Peace.

If we do not know our needs - if we are incapable of self-criticism, if we entirely lack humility - then there is no yearning for forgiveness, no Gift to receive, and the message, the “News” cannot be good, because far from giving us healing and comfort, it disturbs our self assurance, and disrupts our self-satisfaction.

Football’s not coming home … yet

Football’s not coming home … yet

St Ignatius and the World Cup
Homily at Cardinal Griffin Catholic College Friday 13th July 2018

I was disappointed on Wednesday evening. I woke up on Thursday feeling even worse. The extraordinary dream of England winning the world cup had passed, and Croatia had bundled us out in the semi final. Despite all the anticipation, all the excitement, football isn’t coming home after all.
I’m old enough to remember our win in 1966, and also old enough to remember too many disappointments like this, many years of hurt. When you have spent much of your life supporting the England men’s football team, it has often been like this.

But yet, at the same time, despite the pain, let’s not forget this team’s achievements. The youngest squad in the competition, with few players of world class fame, were not expected to escape the group stage, still less succeed in a penalty shoot out. Expectations were low. Very low.
Yet they did exceed them. They even got to that semi-final. And in that game, for 45 minutes, they were the best team in the world, within a whisker of the prize. Players you had hardly heard of excelled - such as Pickford, Trippier, Maguire. And Kane got the golden boot.
They may not have won the trophy, but this young team, many of them little older than many of the students at this college, performed wonderfully.

Now of course, you know all this, and you’ve heard it from the pundits, read it online, heard it on the radio and the TV, and discussed it with friends. What on earth has this got to do with this mass? and St Ignatius?

(Oh No, perhaps you are thinking to yourselves, this is the bit when he brings in Jesus. Well yes … and no. )

Ask yourself how this young England team achieved so much that was beyond what was expected of them.

Two things.

Firstly, they played as a team.
I saw a poster before the world cup began, advertising tv coverage. It had pictures of the stars on it: Ronaldo, Messi, Suarez, Salah, Neymar. All of these brilliant players - but none of them got very far in the competition. What won through was not just exceptional skill, but Team Work. Unselfishness. It is unselfishness, not celebrity which succeeds - players playing not for themselves, but for others. Most of England’s goals were scored from set pieces, dead ball situations, including corners and free-kicks. In the whole tournament about a third of all goals were from set pieces, and England created 22 goal-scoring chances from set pieces - twice as many as any other team. And how do you do that? Through hard work on the training ground, hours of practice, rehearsing play after play, move after move, working together, working for one another.
And this team was also diverse. More than half the England team were from families which had come into Britain as migrants, enriching and diversing our national resources.
And the team is not just the men in the team, not just the squad, not just the manager, not even the waist coat, but others too: physiotherapists, doctors, fitness coaches, sports psychologists, fans and families, women and men, working together - team work, unselfishness, cooperation.
You’ve heard of this before, because here in this College, inspired the teaching of Ignatius … we have phrase for it: we call it being Men and Women for others.

And secondly, by being a team, they exceeded what anyone could possibly have anticipated. They progressed through the knock-out stages, playing untiringly, with commitment and loyalty. More than anyone thought or could have imagined or perhaps even dreamed. They did more than expected. They gave something extra. The Team became bigger and better and more than the players.
Bigger. More. Extra. Exceeding expectations.
You’ve heard of this before too, because in this College, inspired the teaching of Saint Ignatius … we have word for it: we call it Magis.

I am sure you have heard these words many times, Magis, and Being Men and Women for Others and perhaps you’ve wondered what they mean or what they have to do with you.

Yet what Ignatius was saying, what his ideas are telling us is this: this is the way really to be fulfilled as a human being, truly to be happy. Human potential is not found in our own success or glory, but in the good of others, not just in doing what we have to do (like ticking a checklist), but in giving more, in being more.

It is true in football, and other sports too - we have seen this very clearly in these past few weeks. But it is also true in your studies, in the choices you may in life, whatever work you may do now or in the future, in the way you care for your friends and your families. We become men and women for others by exceeding even our own expectations.

And you don’t have to be religious at all to see that this is true,
but if you do have a faith, it will make perfect sense
as the work of the love of God for all his people.