tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84206005156140776602024-03-15T12:58:01.766+00:00catholicsermons.co.ukSunday and Holyday Sermons based on the Readings for the dayCatholic Sermonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116349020167238628noreply@blogger.comBlogger711125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-86661120264178696072024-03-15T12:57:00.000+00:002024-03-15T12:57:18.594+00:005th Sunday of Lent Year B, 2024<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:7-9; Saint John 12:20-33</span>)</span></div></div><p class="SermonBody"></p><div style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody"></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
whole purpose of Our Blessed Lord’s life and death upon earth can be summed up
in the words of His prayer:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <b><i>Father, glorify Your name!</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
today’s Gospel account He was near the end of His life: He had performed
striking miracles, healed countless sick, and possessed persons. Above all, however, it was His teaching-with-authority
that had provoked most attention from Galilee to Jerusalem among those who exercised
or coveted power (John 15: 24):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If I had not done among them the works which
no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have seen and
hated both Me and My Father.</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And
now, among the crowds coming to Jerusalem from all over the Mediterranean and Middle East for the imminent Jewish Passover, certain
Greeks had sought out Philip of Bethsaida, a disciple of Jesus, asking that he
might introduce them to Jesus. Philip asked Andrew to back him up in making such
a striking request known to Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Learning
of the pagans’ request to speak with himself as a unique religious teacher, Jesus
immediately realized that the climax of His life, as God-made-man for God’s
glory and mankind’s salvation, was at hand. The Romans had over-all military power
to control (crush if necessary) the crowds, and punish trouble-makers; The
Sadducee Temple authorities had their share of (Roman) power to govern Jerusalem’s
world-famous Temple and its ceremonial worship; the Pharisees and their Scribes
had assumed authority over the traditional religious teaching being given to faithful
Jews, and now there was <b>Jesus of Nazareth:</b> whose <b>Personal, and Teaching
authority</b>, was alarming all those I have just mentioned, exercising and coveting
more people-power.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">At
this juncture, Jesus had come to realize that His life’s fulfilment would only
be attained by His allowing, by <u>His embracing</u>, <b>His Father’s authority, </b>and
will-to-bring- to-fulfilment that for which He, Jesus, had been sent as God’s
ultimate response to Abraham who -- out of obedience to God – had, long-ago, been
willing to sacrifice his own son; a response that leads all one-God believers
(Jews and Muslims), and all Christians to speak of ‘father Abraham’ (Genesis
26:3-5): <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I will establish the oath that I swore to
Abraham, … in your offspring all the nations God’s of the earth shall be
blessed, for Abraham obeyed My voice. </span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And,
likewise, fulfilment for all Jews obedient to the Law of Moses and believers in
the promise made there of a coming God-inspired prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Lord your God shall raise up for you a
prophet like me </span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Moses) <b>from
among you, from your brothers – it is to him that you shall listen. <o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And
to that sublime end the devil himself would be permitted, in his overweening pride
and ultimate stupidity, to bring about his own downfall by doing <b>to </b>Jesus what he had long-desired to do
since having being humiliated in their desert contest at the beginning of
Jesus’ public ministry. This renewal of
that contest would be the decisive moment when the ignorance and hatred of sin would
be cast out, and the beauty and truth of the Kingdom of God ushered in as the
ruling power for the future formation, development, and fulfilment of a new
People of God throughout the whole world: a people called to embrace a transformation
of life, from an earthly life inexorably enmeshed in sin, into the freedom of
the children of God: a heavenly and eternal life to be bestowed upon all believers
in Jesus as Son of God and only Saviour of mankind:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now the ruler of this world is to be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will
draw all people to Myself.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Those<b><i> </i></b>around Jesus heard Him glorify His
Father, but when a voice came from heaven proclaiming that the Father was about
to be supremely glorified through the death of His Son, they were divided in
their opinions: some were humbled by the mystery and said, ‘It was an angel
speaking to Him’. Others, probably the majority, shrugged off what they could
not immediately understand and said, ‘It was a clap of thunder!’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">People of God, a like division still arises
today, when Christian, even Catholic, people, are faced with personal
suffering. Such suffering is inevitable in
this life and we who want to be true disciples of Jesus, must learn, with Jesus,
to allow our heavenly Father to lead us to our fulfilment as disciples of His by embracing<b> our suffering</b> – in the
power of Jesus’ most Holy Spirit – as our share in <u>His self-sacrifice</u> of
love. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For
there are certain truths in life, People of God, which can only be appreciated
by allowing life to teach us; our intellect alone cannot, in the case of such
truths, give us a satisfactory understanding, and most certainly cannot give us
an adequate <u>appreciation</u> of them.
For example, authorities in free societies try to carefully avoid making
martyrs of opposing factions or individuals; somehow punishment seems to
strengthen, focus, such opposition, not destroy it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now
such truths are especially prominent in matters of religion. Our Blessed Lord Himself said earlier in St.
John’s Gospel (7:17):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If any man’s will is to do God’s will, he
shall know whether My teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on My own
authority.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
other words, we can only begin to truly recognize God’s will <b>for us</b> <b>individually</b>, <b>personally</b>,
by our acting in conformity with the whole of His revelation, and, above all, by
obedience to His Church-proclaimed and Scripture-manifested <b>will</b>. Such moral,
spiritual truth, however, can only be gradually assimilated into our being by
being humbly received, sincerely obeyed, and <u>patiently loved</u>, as an
integral, essential, and indeed <u>decisive</u> aspect of our on-going life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
greatest of all the Christian truths which can only be understood by living
them, is that the Father’s name, and Jesus Himself, are
supremely glorified by Jesus’ death on the Cross. Jesus’ following words resulted from His
living of that truth: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever
hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life,</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> (John
12:25)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">At
first hearing, those words seem contradictory and meaningless, yet they are, in
reality, spiritually logical and redolent with divine wisdom, because Jesus
added:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me.
</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(12:26)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Of
course, the word ‘hate’ is not to be understood literally, we can’t <i>hate our life in this world </i>literally,
any more than we can <i>hate our father and
mother, brother and sister </i>as we read in one of Our Lord’s sayings; it is a
figure of speech, a way of speaking current in Our Lord’s time in Palestine,
meaning that, under certain conditions, we must be prepared to regard our life
in this world, our love for father, mother, brothers and sisters, children and
possessions, reputation and respect, as of secondary importance. When, that is, their consideration would
conflict with the absolute demands of the Supreme Good: God and eternal life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This
doctrine that suffering, humbly accepted and fully embraced in faith, can be
the gateway to a higher and better life, is one of the greatest lights and supreme
blessings of Christianity. It is,
however, a light and a blessing we must cherish by putting it into practice in
accordance with those words of Jesus: allowing it to guide, rule our response
to the ever-recurring, difficulties, problems, and alas, even sorrows, we come
across in our experience of life as His true disciples.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We
Catholics especially need to be convinced of this, that God can make the
inevitable sufferings we experience on earth into blessings for eternal life
for those who love His beloved Son enough to imitate Him, walk in His way here
below.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">People
of God, when grief, anxiety, pain, come your way, try to recall what our Faith
teaches us: that in God alone is our fulness of life and being. Because He made us out of nothing, He alone
knows us entirely through and through, and because He made us for Himself, He
alone loves us for what we most truly are.
With such an awareness, in times of trial, short prayers – deeply
intended -- are most fitting: <b>Lord</b>, <b>I thank You, I trust You, I love You, my
God and my All’ <o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Don’t
look for results</span></u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> from Him; rather,
put and keep yourself<b> </b>at peace, cradled in faith.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">That
attitude well befits a true disciple of Jesus Who, when His own agony was
beginning, took His suffering to His Father in prayer. Indeed, it was by His
persevering in such loving obedience and total trust, that what had been lost
by the first Adam in the Garden of Eden, was redeemed by the Second Adam in the
Garden of Gethsemane. As we heard in our
second reading:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Although He was a son, He learned obedience through
what He suffered; and being made perfect, He became the source of eternal
salvation for all who obey Him.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Therefore,
surely, we His disciples should endeavour to follow in His steps. The greatest opportunity that can come our
way is the moment when suffering comes -- unasked for, unsought, unprovoked –
into our lives; that is the moment when God Himself is, as it were, knocking at
the door of our will for permission to Himself glorify His own name in us and
through us, by means of the suffering He wants us to share with Him. Such
suffering is found abundantly in family life where there are grand-parents, parents,
and children, and where children can so easily be used as bargaining-chips for
either grand-parents or parents, to get what they want … creating situations
where emotion rules imperiously and God’s teaching and guidance is ignored.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dear
People of God, Jesus did not ask to understand His Cross, but He prayed most
earnestly that He might have strength to embrace it. We, for our part, <u>cannot</u> fully understand
our crosses, but let us gratefully follow Our Blessed Lord’s example in His
prayer, and in His consenting ‘YES’ to His Father, and death to Himself.</span></p></div></div></div>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-10384091675064600062024-03-08T09:52:00.001+00:002024-03-08T09:55:32.955+00:004th Sunday of Lent Year B, 2024<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none; white-space-collapse: preserve;">2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-21; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21</span>)</span></div></div><p class="SermonBody"></p><div style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody"></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the desert, on their way from Egypt to the promised land, and fleeing from pursuing Egyptian forces, God’s People had allowed themselves to “speak against God and against Moses” and God punished them severely by fiery serpents whose bites killed many. In the general panic the more devout members of the children of Israel besought Moses’ prayers and ultimately were saved by looking up – yes, just that -- by looking up at a bronze likeness of those deadly serpents, and thereby realising through their Israelite Faith, that their bitter complaints against God and Moses, had been a scandal of national sinfulness, and had brought down upon them those fiery serpents as had Eve’s sin against God’s command in the garden of Eden, and Adam’s subsequent compliance with her action – both dupes of the ‘original serpent’-- ruined their idyllic relationship with God. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">That saving incident has carried, and still bears with it, salutary teaching for Jewish/Christian people </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">of all times. For God, having sent the </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">punishing serpents to do their work among a sinful and rebellious people, was subsequently </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">willing to turn that deadly surgical weapon of His wrath into a medicinal instrument </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">of His saving grace, willing to save, that is, those who --- looking up at the </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">bronze serpent --- were able and willing to <u>recognize their own sinfulness</u>.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">God’s chosen People, for they were learning </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">to recognise and appreciate sin in their own lives nearly one thousand years </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">before the ‘glory’ of the Greeks’, with their love for beautiful boys, constant intellectual searching and social </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">experiments, and before the might of Rome with its lust for military power, pride </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">in technological expertise, and claims to a ‘divine’ promotion of world-wide </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">peace, could even imagine soul-destroying sin.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">Both Greeks and Romans --- are so esteemed, admired and imitated by the intellectuals of our modern Western </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">‘woke’ cultures. And yet, all of them were </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">quite unable to seriously recognise their own sinfulness, an ability which is, </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">in all reality, the priceless -- God-given to those who love Him – key to human </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">concord and spiritual fulfilment. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> <br /></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">Jesus says that God the Father allowed His only begotten Son, <u>His Beloved</u>, </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">to be rejected by the religious authorities of His own people, before being </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">cruelly lifted up on a Cross by the powers and principalities of imperial Rome, </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">as an exhibit condemned to suffer an agonisingly slow death. Could that most brutal, most degrading and </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">horrendous event of human sinfulness ever be used to serve any good purpose? </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">Most assuredly so, only because an absolutely unique love – that of the <b>Son-of-God-made-Man -- </b></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">was involved: a love which permeated the whole of that degrading suffering and sublime </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">offering; a love that can still find a home today in the hearts and minds of faithful </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">Catholics and Christians, and can inspire authentic resonance among sincere God-believers </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">even today.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">As <b>Son</b>, Jesus was consumed with divine love for His Father, Who, eternally loves those He originally </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">created in His own image and likeness; as <b>Man</b>, Jesus loved us because He had put on </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">our flesh and blood in the womb of His mother, Blessed Mary, the Virgin of </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">Nazareth, and had been ‘sent’ to be our Redeemer. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span><span color="windowtext" style="line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Dear People of God, our Gospel reading today brought us to face to face with that Jesus, when we heard those </span><span color="windowtext" style="line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">words:</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><i><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, </b></span><b style="color: windowtext; white-space-collapse: preserve;">so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whoever believes in Him may have </b></span></i><b style="color: windowtext; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;">eternal life.</span></i></b> <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The serpent was lifted up because it was the cause of the suffering, pain, and
</span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">because it was the cause of the suffering, pain, and death of many of God’s </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">sinful People in the desert. “So must </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">the Son of Man be lifted up” because <b>sin,</b> the true cause of sinful </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Israel’s suffering ‘at the hands of God and man’ could only be shown in all its </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">horror by showing its effects on One who was the unique example of pure humanity, </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">absolutely sinless and holy: <b>HE</b> had to be lifted up in agony on the Cross, </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">to show that though God-Man, He knew – from Personal experience -- the pain and </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">agony of all those He had been sent to save.</span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin </b></span><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">the world.</b><b style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </b></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">(Jn. 1:29)</span></span></span></div><div><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div>
<span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Look on the bronze serpent, raised up on high that all might be able to see it, and find </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">healing! The bronze serpent showed the ultimate cause of Israel’s </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">suffering, for it recalled the original serpent in Eden who injected the poison </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">of sin into human life; Jesus-crucified-on-high likewise represents the horror all </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">humans suffer from sin.</span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But Jesus’ Pasch did not end with suffering, end with suffering, for His suffering was entered upon and embraced as the </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">initial stage of His way back to His Father; and now it is <u>Jesus</u> -- </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">having returned to His Father and been <u>lifted up in the glory of God</u> by </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">the Spirit of God -- Who manifests the healing power now being offered to all </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">mankind against the primordial and still enduring ‘bite’ of sin and death.</span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> <br /></span>
<i><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>The LORD said to Moses, "Make a serpent and </b></span><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will </b></span></i><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;">recover."<br /></span></i></b>
<span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">People of God, it is not enough for us -- the new Chosen People of Spirit and Truth -- to look <b><u>on</u></b> Jesus </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">crucified with nothing more than sentimentally sincere sorrow, merely decrying </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">such barbarity, for many humanists and ‘woke’ ones pride themselves on such </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">sentiments. It is necessary for us Catholics and all who aspire to </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">salvation, to look <b><u>at</u></b> Jesus on that pole of suffering </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">not only humbly confessing Him to have been raised up there for <b>our</b> sins, but also gratefully </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">acknowledging that that same Jesus – still in His human flesh -- has <b>now</b> been </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>raised up on high</b> in glory, <b>as </b></span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>our Saviour</b>. The Risen and Glorious Lord </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Jesus is the One to Whom we must commit our sinful selves with absolute faith </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">in His promises of Divine Goodness for our salvation, and with unshakeable confidence </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">in the dying manifestation of His now-eternal human compassion:</span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Father, forgive them for they know not what they do</b></span><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.<br /></b></span></i>
<b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;">I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise. </span></i></b><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(Lk. 23:34, 43)</span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span>
<span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Only thus will we come to that living hope of which St. Peter speaks with such gratitude and confidence </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">in his first letter (1 Peter 1:3):</span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus </b></span><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Christ, Who in His great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the </b></span></i><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;">resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead</span></i></b><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. </span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span>
<span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">People of God, the message of message of Christianity is clear: in </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">order to reach the fullness of our human capacity for life, that fullness for </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">which we were originally created by God and subsequently redeemed by God’s Christ, </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">we must first of all recognise and then leave behind our own sins and </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">sinfulness, by faith in, obedience to, and companionship with, Jesus our </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Saviour, present to us and for us in and through His Church today, here and now.</span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span>
<span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">St. Paul in today’s second reading guides us to the ultimate root of our faith:</span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span>
<b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;">GREAT LOVE HE HAD FOR US, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought<br /></span></i></b><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;">us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved), raised us up with Him,<br /></span></i></b><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;">and seated us with Him in the heavens in Christ Jesus.</span></i></b></div><div><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></i></b>
<span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Dear People of God, the great tragedy and the ultimate wrong afflicting and threatening our world today is </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">ingratitude to, wilful ignorance and defiance of, God’s love for us and all </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">mankind. Above all, however, such </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">ingratitude, ignorance, and defiance is shown by some who were or are nominally </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Catholic Christians! The very first petition in the only prayer taught us </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">by Jesus goes immediately, as did His whole life, to this most radical evil </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">afflicting our world today: <b>Father, HALLOWED be Thy name.<br /></b></span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We all have to treasure our God-given faith most carefully as was explained in our </span><span color="windowtext" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">second reading:</span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></div><div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>For by grace you have been saved through FAITH, </b></span><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, <u>so no one may boast</u></span></b><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">.</span></b></div><div><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And I think it is essential today in lands formerly Catholic and Christian, to </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">think of those former brethren now delighting in a pseudo-freedom to sin – </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">which, they assert, is not real, only imaginary – to be free to do whatever </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">they want in order to enjoy the ‘pleasures of life’ and to proclaim themselves, </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">by boasting about the ‘good’ things they now do without any need of God or </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">grace. </span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span>
<span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the words of Jesus Himself, Faith -- for us -- really means, <b>Life and Love</b>: </span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a name="_Hlk508389052"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></a></span></div><div><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Now this is eternal life, that they should know You, the only true God, and the One Whom You sent, Jesus Christ. </b> (John 17:3)</span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></span>
<span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, may our lives, refreshed and renewed by today’s fellowship in and </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">with Jesus our Lord, help Mother Church bring to fulfilment His work and our </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;">glorious legacy:</span></div><div><span color="windowtext" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 150%; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world t</b></span><b style="background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">he world but that the world might be saved through Him.</span></b></div><p></p><p style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></p><p style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></p>
</div></div></div>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-42165193573641488212024-03-01T15:55:00.003+00:002024-03-01T15:55:35.836+00:003rd Sunday of Lent Year B, 2024<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">(</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span class="TextRun SCXW250506989 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial_EmbeddedFont, Arial_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; white-space-collapse: preserve;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW250506989 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Exodus 20:1-17; 1</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW250506989 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial_EmbeddedFont, Arial_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; white-space-collapse: preserve;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun Superscript SCXW250506989 BCX0" data-fontsize="12" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: super;">st</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW250506989 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial_EmbeddedFont, Arial_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; white-space-collapse: preserve;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW250506989 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. Corinthians 1:22-25; John 2:13-25</span></span></span>)</span></div></div><p class="SermonBody"></p><div style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody"></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I want us to carefully consider the words and actions of </span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">J</span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">esus in today’s Gospel reading:</span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> <br /></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"335551550":6,"335551620":6}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 24.8208px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> <br /></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">The Passover of the Jews was </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">at hand</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">.</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; 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background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">"Take</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> these things away; </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">do not</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> mak</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">e</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> My Father's house </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">a house </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">of </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">trade.” </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559685":720,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"335551550":6,"335551620":6}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 24.8208px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Where, in our modern Church, could one find any responsible Catholic leader who would, under </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">any </span></span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">imaginable</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> circumstances</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, behave as did Jesus</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">? </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">And yet,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> Jesus </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">most certainly meant His actions </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">to be examples for His disciples</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">He</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">re, He</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">assaulted the money changers</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">;</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> He damaged</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">possibly deprived</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> them of</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> some of their goods</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">;</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> He drove the sheep and oxen out in a far from gentle manner</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">;</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> and speaking of the </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">pigeon</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">s</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> He said, “Take these things away”</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">!</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">And, on top of all, He did this in </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Israel’s most</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> holy place</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> before the </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Temple authorities</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">hundreds(?) </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">of </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">devout </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">worshippers </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">coming from </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">what is </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">called the Diaspora … </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">where </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Jews</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, exiled originally</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">were living</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">in </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">many countries</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> but </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">yearning to participate</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, if possible, in Israel’s great </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">annual </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">feasts</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, bringing money with them</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">national</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> enthusiasm, and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">offering </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">a perfect stage for the pr</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ou</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">d</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, largely Sadducee</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Temple </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">authorities and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘guard</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ian</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">s’.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Later,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Jesus’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> disciples</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">trying to </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘tak</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">e-</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">in’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">such a remarkable </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">event an</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">d </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">wonder</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">i</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ng</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> wh</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">at</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Jesus </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">could </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ha</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ve</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">possibly m</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">e</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ant them to </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">learn from it</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">found themselves </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">thinking </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">humbly</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> --</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> for they were </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Gal</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ilean</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘yokels’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">in such a concourse</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> of </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">important and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">motivated people</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> --</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">but also </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">with </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">quiet</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> confiden</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ce and calm expectancy</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> sure</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> of their </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Lord</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’s</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> Person</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">al authority </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">S</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">criptural </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">provenance</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, so to speak</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. A</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">nd we a</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">r</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">e told that</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> they </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ultimately </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">found</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">what</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> they </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">were </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">seeking</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> in the Scriptures</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">:</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">words</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> they </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">could </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">now </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">try</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> to </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">understand and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">learn</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> from,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">that they might </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">gradually </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">assimilate</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Jesus’ actions </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">in</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">to </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">their </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">appreciation of life and</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">their </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">response to it</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> as His Apostles.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">They</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">remembered that it was written, "</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Z</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">eal for your house will</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">consume Me." </span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Dear People of God, w</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">here </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">i</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">s Christian zeal </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">to be seen</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> today</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">? </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Is it still surviving in our </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘woke</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> world</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">? </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Jesus’ actions </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">certainly </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">did not always </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">call for His disciples’ literal imitation</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, but they </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">always</span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> </span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">offered teaching</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">stronger</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> than mere words</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">.</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Such </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">zeal</span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> as Jesus showed </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">was indeed proscribed by the Temple authorities</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> but human proscription could not </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">dampen</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> the </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">love </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">concern, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">the </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">zeal</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">in Jesus’ heart</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">.</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">C</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">an it be that zeal</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> --</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">consuming </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">lov</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">e</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">for God</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> --</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> is too dangerous for contemporary </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Western </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">C</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">atholicism </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">to handle</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">?</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Can it be that modern</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">woke-</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">shadowing</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Catholicism</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">is too fearful of human </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">authority</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> too desirous of public approval</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> to be able to allow </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">any</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> expression of real </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">zeal for God</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">or </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">– what is </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">much</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> worse </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">–</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">to </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">even </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">be able to </span></span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">conceive any real zeal</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">for the Faith</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> of our fathers</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, especially for the Apostolic faith of our Apostolic Fathers</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, </span></span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">any consuming love </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">for </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Our Lord and Saviour, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">our heavenly Father?</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"335551550":6,"335551620":6}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 24.8208px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">O</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ur question today is about the difference between the zeal of Jesus Himself, openly manifested and clearly expressed, as distinct from the prevailing </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Wes</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">t</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ern</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Catholic ethos</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">A</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">re we afraid today of a zeal </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">that </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">cannot </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">be </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">fully </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">comprehend</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ed</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">that might </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">get us in</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">to</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> trouble</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> a zeal that cannot be fully </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">and authoritatively </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">controlled</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> because it is a zeal that relates to God </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">first and foremost</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, above all other considerations</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Jesus was filled</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> --</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> the disciples </span><span class="NormalTextRun ContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2Themed SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-image: var(--urlContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2, url('data:image/svg+xml;base64,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')); background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">realized</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> and the Gospel tells us</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> --</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> with a zeal for God that drove Him to do what no recognized, approved, and responsible, Christian teacher and leader today would dream of doing, and which no modern, official, Catholic teaching would countenance or admit</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> in His disciples</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">For officialdom </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">(</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">even in the Church</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">)</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">the work of the Spirit</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> -- because it is </span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">humanly unpredictable</span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> and difficult both to appreciate and justify by </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">merely </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">human </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">thinking</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">;</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> because it </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">a consuming fire</span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> which sometimes comes </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">t</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">o burn away human mediocrity and comfortableness; because it is </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">divinely inspired</span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> and not humanly conceived</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">;</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> -- </span></span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">the work of the Spirit</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> is </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">becoming</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">something </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">alien and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">alarm</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ing</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">something</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">increasingly</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">disconcerting</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> for </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">a</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Catholicism</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">a </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Christianity</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> too centred on human considerations</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> --</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> accommodating</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">popular</span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">hu</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">man</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">on-thi</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">s</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">-earth</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">desires</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> rather than elevating human aspirations</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> to what is </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">indeed </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">above</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> them</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, yet </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">what is </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">possible and even promised</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> to all who will</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, in divine obedience, seek it</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Jesus Himself made the question of priorities quite clear when, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">o</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">n</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> being</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> asked by a scribe for guidance</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">:</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Wh</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ich</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> commandment is the most</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> important</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> of all?</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">He addressed the crowd around most solemnly:</span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">“</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">and with all your mind, and with all your strength</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">”</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">.</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> The second is this,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">"You shall love your neighbour as yourself</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">”</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">.</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">There is no other commandment greater than </span><span class="NormalTextRun ContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2Themed SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; 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background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">(</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Mark 12:30-31)</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559685":720,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">The two commandments do indeed go together, but there is only one that is first</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">This was clearly appreciated in earlier times; of late, however, since Mother Church finds herself, in the West especially, in a secularised </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">society</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> which enjoys wealth and promotes pleasure, idolizes popularity and worships success, there is an almost overwhelming pressure to </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">promote</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> the Faith by accommodating it to modern humanistic tendencies -- why can’t gays and lesbians</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">marry, adopt</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> (buy)</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> children, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">openly </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">become </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">members of the cloth</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">?</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">H</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ow can God want us to cause suffering by holding on to hard doctrines and insisting upon </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">s</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">o-called</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> ‘</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">unpopular</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> teachings</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> especially </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">concerning</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">sin</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’, which </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">today </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">is increasingly rarely committed</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> because it is </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">neither</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> recognized or admitted</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">;</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">n</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">or</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">can </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">it</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">be </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">condemned</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, for </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">–</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">“</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Who am I to judge?</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">”</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">--</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">when</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> the sinner is so frequently </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">said</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> to have a </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">most</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">-understandable</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> human</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> excuse which it</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> is</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> the duty of modern </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">woke</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> charity</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> to </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">compassi</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">onately </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">recognize</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> and</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">accept</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. In these and similar ways the second command is twisted in its application and</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, as it were, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">escorted</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> into </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">prime place</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Jesus was never in any doubt about which command was first and which second, because He lived His earthly life in response, not to</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> the Mosaic </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘I </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">am </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">the Lord your </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">God</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, but </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">in response to, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">for </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">the </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">love of</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">the </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">Person</span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> of His beloved Father; </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">for </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">the Honour, the Will</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> and the Glory, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">of </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">the Father Who had also sent Him to give supreme and complete expression to what the second commandment can only put into </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">human </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">words</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">sometimes </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">most </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">blatantly abused</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">e.g.</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> ‘love’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">.</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">People of God, if love of the Father does not predominate in our lives, if the guidance and inspiration of the Spirit is not </span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">prayed for</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">a</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">s much as human opinion and approval is </span></span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">sought</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> for</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, we shall in no way be able to proclaim Christ as:</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">T</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">he power of God and the wisdom of God;</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">or </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">agree with S</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">t. Paul when he says </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">that:</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">T</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">he foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. </span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">The Church in our </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Western – and Western</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">-</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">influenced</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> -- </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">world today </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">mos</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">t urgently </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">needs to be more fully committed and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">much more</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> devoted to </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">GOD</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> our Father</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">the God Who commissions </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">and commands</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">her</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">to proclaim His Truth</span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">:</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">s</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">he must proclaim</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> the Good News</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">and </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">help those seeking to understand</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">but </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">not </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">cajole</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">wheedle</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">or</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">‘</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">persuade</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">And that means that we, as children and living members of the Church our Mother, must turn more trustfully to the Father, </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">and</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> whole-heartedly beg </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">that </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">His Holy Spirit come to us </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ever </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">anew and establish His rule in us and over us, inspiring, guiding, and strengthening us to walk along </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">ways of His</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">So</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">n’s</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> choosing</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, doing work for His Kingdom, and abandoning our worries and concerns about what ‘the world </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">and its </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> authorities</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’ </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">may think of us:</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 34.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before Me.</span><span class="EOP SCXW92925632 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134245417":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; 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mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Gen. 22: 1-2, 9-13, 15-18; Romans 8:31-34; Mark 9:2-10</span>)</span></div></div><p class="SermonBody"></p><div style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody">Our Blessed Lord’s Passion and Death was looming on the
horizon and He had already seriously forewarned His disciples of it; but, as in
so many other matters, they were not yet able to truly understand and fully
appreciate His words. When the time
would come for Him to be taken away from them, Jesus realized that it would be
a traumatic and potentially faith-shattering experience for them, His great concern
was, therefore, that they should be so prepared that they might be able to endure
the grief of losing Him, and even draw spiritual profit from His own steadfast
confidence in His Father and love for them throughout His Passion. He could not spare them that trial, but He
would not have them agonize themselves and lose faith in Him because of it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">How then did Jesus go about this preparation of His
disciples? Considering His later Agony
in the Garden, there can be no doubt that He prayed most fervently to His
heavenly Father about it. Let us try to
learn something of the efficacy of that prayer.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The bond between her Son here on earth and His heavenly Father
was something that the Blessed Virgin Mary could not fully appreciate,
something that once caused her to exclaim: ‘Son, why have You done this to Your
father and I?’ On that occasion, instead
of returning home from Jerusalem with the caravan, Jesus -- after having become
‘officially’ a young man-before-God-and-for-God according to the Law -- had
remained there in the Temple at Jerusalem.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b><i>After three days they found Him
in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and
asking them questions</i></b> (Luke 2:46). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Jesus was <u>delighting in His heavenly Father</u>, as He listened
to and questioned the doctors of the Law, and the teachers in the Temple,
praising Israel’s God. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Years later, as a fully-grown man, and ‘still at home’ as
it were, Jesus left Nazareth and went to search out John the Baptist actively doing God’s work. That Jesus did this at His Father’s inspiration
is confirmed by His Father’s voice sounding from heaven as He rose from the
waters of the Jordan after John’s baptism:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><b>You are My beloved Son; with
You I am well pleased.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The Father alone knew when and how He wanted His Son to
begin His public ministry; Jesus had
first to hear His Father’s call and learn His will by patient, humble, obedience.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">And now, on the mount Tabor’s top, the Father, in answer to
Jesus’ supplication, had plans to comfort and confirm His Son by calling Moses
and Elijah – representing the whole of God’s dispensation for the
sanctification of Israel through the Law and the Prophets – to emphasize for the
truly human Jesus that His coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection would be the
culmination and fulfilment of all Israel’s hopes, and of all God’s saving plans
for His Chosen People and, indeed, for the whole of mankind. Moreover, Jesus’ chosen Apostles on the Mount
with Him would see and experience this glorification of their Lord as the
fulfilment of Israel’s Law and Prophets, before hearing God Himself speak
Personally from the heavenly Cloud giving testimony to His beloved and lovingly
obedient Son. That those plans and intentions
of God were fulfilled is shown subsequently by Jesus own words and those also of
His disciples labouring in His nascent Church:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b><i>Beginning with Moses and all the
Prophets, (the risen Jesus) interpreted to them (two of His followers going to
Emmaus) what referred to Him in all the Scriptures. </i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b><i>(Peter said): “To Him (Jesus) all
the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will
receive remission of sins.”</i></b> (Luke
24:27; Acts 10:43)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Jesus, most certainly, did not lead His three disciples up
the mountain to display Himself; He simply knew, as Man, that He <u>needed</u> to
pray; He also knew He had little time to prepare even those three specially chosen
disciples for what was soon to happen, which is why He took them with Him that
they might be near Him – as later in the Garden of Gethsemane -- when He was praying
for guidance and grace.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Jesus, <b>following His Father’s lead</b>, was aware that
His disciples were, at present, rejoicing in the presence of their Lord: He was
the Bridegroom and they were the Bridegroom’s most privileged friends. However, such <b>present, </b><b>earthly,</b> <b>joy, </b>though holy,<b> </b>would
not be enough to sustain them through the trials that lay ahead of them. And that, People of God, is something we
should notice. Joy in the Lord <u>based largely on emotional experiences</u>
would, most certainly, not be enough for Jesus‘ disciples, nor can it suffice
for us: their joy, their love, had to be firmly established -- as must ours
also -- on Faith, shot-through and made incandescent, with Hope. Therefore:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b><i>Jesus took Peter, James, and
John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was
transfigured before them. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">And, as the three disciples looked on:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b><i>A cloud came, casting a shadow
over them; and from the cloud came a voice, "This is My beloved Son. Listen
to Him!" <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">These words from heaven were given to root the disciples’
joy-in-the-Lord to the faith proclaimed by Moses and the Prophets, which had guided
and sustained Israel over many centuries.
For, throughout Israel’s wanderings in the desert, the presence of God’s
glory among them in the Tent of Meeting had been manifested by a cloud
descending upon the Tent. That same cloud
had also covered Mount Sinai when the Law was being given to Moses, and it was
there at Jesus’ baptism as you have heard; now it was covering the disciples on
the top of Tabor, the mountain of Transfiguration, and from it a voice was
telling them to listen to the words of Jesus.
The disciples could have no doubt about the voice speaking to them from
the cloud:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"> <b>This is
My beloved Son. Listen to Him! </b>(Mark
9:7)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">It was indeed the voice of the God of Israel, the Father of
Jesus their Lord and Master, they were sharing a vision of heavenly glory and
they wanted to remain there, basking, as it were, in the glory of Jesus: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b><i>Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi,
it is good that we are here! Let us make
three tents: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">That was not to be.
For the present they had already been given what was necessary: a vision
of faith in the heavenly glory of Jesus, and a hope that would inspire and
sustain them in an insatiable longing to share with Him in His glory. Now, to finally galvanize them to put on this
new armour of salvation and prepare themselves for the great trauma that lay ahead
they were given a command: “Listen to Him.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Long ago, as the disciples knew full well, Moses had spoken
of a prophet like himself whom the Lord God would give to His people (Deuteronomy
18:15):<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b><i>A prophet like me will the LORD,
your God, raise up for you from among your own kinsmen; to him you shall
listen. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Those very words “Listen to Him” were now ringing in their
ears!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The disciples were ready indeed to descend from the top of
the mountain; for now their faith -- rooted in that faith which had sustained
and guided their fathers for over two millennia -- had been <u>transfigured
into Christian faith</u>, and they had been strengthened with hope which no earthly
trials could ever take away from them: for now they had a vision of Jesus’
heavenly glory, though hidden as yet from earthly eyes; now, they had an
eschatological hope to look forward to; now, they had a divine revelation and
commission to hold on to and proclaim to the world. From now on they would be
guided and sustained in all their difficulties by a sure and undoubting
confidence in the goodness of God, unflinching faith and trust in Jesus’ Person
and commands, and unshakable hope in the power of His guiding, ever-present,
Spirit of Love and Truth.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">People of God, see and learn how to protect yourselves
against the snares of the devil rampant in the world of today: delight in the
heavenly Jesus more and more. We are not
to be mere moralists, <b>we are</b> <b>called to be</b> <b>lovers and proclaimers of Jesus Christ</b> our Lord and Saviour who trust
in the traditional teaching of His Church and never give up hoping that the
goodness of God will lead us -- if we persevere faithfully along the way of the
Cross -- to share in the eternal glory of Jesus before the Father.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Trust the faith. Trust
God’s words as did Abraham our father in faith, who, as you heard, was tested
by God saying to him:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b><i>Take now your son Isaac, your
only one whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust
on a height that I will point out to you. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">How fearsome and dread did those words sound at first! How wonderfully, how beautifully, did they
echo when the Lord God gave the boy back to his father, resolving to become
Himself the Only One Who would offer His only-begotten Son for mankind’s
salvation. How wonderful are the blessings won for us by
Abraham’s obedience and trust, he was and is most truly our Father in Faith!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Trust – and defend -- the Catholic Faith, and delight
freely and fully, and ever more wholeheartedly, in Jesus our Brother and
Saviour; for, as St. Paul explains (Rom. 8:38s.):<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b><i>Neither death nor life, nor
angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.</i></b> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Again I repeat: <b>trust</b> the faith, <b>delight</b> in
Jesus, and <b>thank</b> God for His unfailing goodness. In
that way you will be armed both to resist and to overcome all that the devil
and the world can try to do against you: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><b><i>For the joy of the LORD is your
strength.</i></b> (Nehemiah 8:10) </p></div>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-30868646868567655832024-02-16T13:10:00.003+00:002024-02-16T13:11:31.635+00:001st Sunday of Lent Year B, 2024<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Genesis 9:8-15; 1<sup>st</sup>.
Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15</span>)</span></span></div></div><p class="SermonBody"></p><div style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">In
the course of history God made four covenants with men: the first was set up through
Noah for all time and for the whole of mankind; indeed, for every living animal. You could call it a ‘NATURAL’ COVENANT (Genesis 9:11):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 12pt 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">I
establish My covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by
the waters of the flood; and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the
earth. <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">The
second was a directly, deeply, spiritual covenant with Abraham, his family, and
followers, beginning what the late Pope
Benedict XVI called ‘A history of blessings’, for those called to leave behind all that would
divert them from their <i>faith-search </i>for the one, true, God. It was, and still is, for all ‘men’ of faith
like Abraham – Christians, that is, who still call Abraham ‘our father in faith’
in the liturgy of Mother Church, and also certain Muslims and Jews searching
for the One, True, God to the best of the revelation they know – all looking forward
to the revelation of Him Who is the <u>Man-answering-such-faith</u>, our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ (Genesis 12:1-3):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 12pt 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Go
from your country, and your kindred and your father's house, to the land that I
will show you. And I will make you a
great nation; and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will
be a blessing.</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"> <b><i>I will bless those who bless you and
him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall
be blessed</i></b>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">That
second covenant was, is, a </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">COVENANT OF FAITH</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">There
were next two temporal covenants given directly for the Godly formation of Yahweh’s
Chosen People, made through Moses and David.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><a name="_Hlk158819568"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">The final, fifth, and <u>Ultimate Covenant</u>
was for the redemption and eternal salvation of all mankind, established in and
through God’s Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, and the abiding Gift of the Holy
Spirit of God in His Apostolic Church.<o:p></o:p></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">You
will probably remember more of the covenant with Moses and the initial People
of Israel (Exodus 24:6-8):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 12pt 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Moses
took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on
the altar. Then he took the Book of the
Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. They said, "All that
the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient." And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on
the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord
has made with you according to all these words."</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">That
third covenant required God’s Chosen People to live in accordance with the Law given
by God through Moses: it was, consequently, a COVENANT OF OBEDIENCE AND
FORMATION … leading God’s People to a level of moral worth far above and beyond
that of the Greeks’ constant questioning and moralizing, and that of the Romans
so aware and appreciative of power with authority, and technical ability with
efficiency. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">The
fourth was a personal covenant that God made with David and his house:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 12pt 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">When
your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed
after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. And your house and your kingdom shall be
established forever before Me. Your throne shall be established forever.</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"> (2 Samuel 7:12,16.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">It
Is with this covenant we have the promise of a personal Messiah, a Saviour of
kingly line, whose kingdom will endure for ever; this fourth covenant, was a COVENANT
OF HOPE AND EXPECTATION.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Finally,
we have the fifth and eternal covenant, the <u>ULTIMATE COVENANT</u> for the redemption
and eternal salvation of all mankind, made in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth,
sent by the One God of all previous covenants, to become O/one with us, and thus
to draw us to Himself, through faith, that we might -- in His Apostolically
established Church -- with Him and by His Spirit come to personally know, love
and serve the Father:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 12pt 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">He
also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in
My blood, which is shed for you.</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"> (Luke 22:20)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">A
covenant of love -- <b>divine love</b> -- calling for mankind’s return to the
Father of an<b> in-Jesus-Spirit-sustained-love</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">People
of God, we must clearly recognise the wonderful wisdom of our God, for this
fifth covenant includes all that had gone before. Here water, used in the original and still
enduring nature covenant with Noah, is now sacramentally associated with the
bestowal of the baptismal life of the S/spirit, for all who believe in Jesus. Again, as with all true descendants of
Abraham our ‘father in faith’, Jesus’ redeemed people are a People of Faith,
this time, however, of <u>supernatural, revealed, Faith</u>; a People ever on
pilgrimage looking forward to and living for that which eyes cannot see, that which
ears have never heard before, that of which the tongue of man may never tell
the whole. Moreover, this new People of
God, the house of Jesus, is pledged to obey a teaching foreshadowed, and indeed
prepared for, by the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai, but now become a law,
not of letters inscribed on stone tablets, but of grace poured into men’s
hearts by the Spirit of Jesus and Gift of God, that they might respond to God
as He wills: in Spirit and in Truth. And
finally, the covenant of hope and expectation in the line of David is most sublimely
fulfilled in Jesus, the Son of God made flesh, the promised Messiah become our
Saviour and Leader, and Who, by His Death and Resurrection, is able and willing
to make of us a chosen nation, a royal priesthood, called to sing more beautiful
praises of God than even king David and the Psalmists could bring forth. THIS COVENANT OF JESUS IS <b>A COVENANT OF
FULFILLING LOVE</b>, enabling the Kingdom of God to begin even here on earth by
beams of heaven’s merciful glory being reflected back in humble and total love
for God by disciples of Jesus and members of His Mystical Body.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 12pt 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">After
John (the Baptist) was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel
of God: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and
believe in the Gospel.’<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">How
wise is our God! How beautiful is the
revelation which Jesus -- originally through His own preaching and now through
His Spirit -- makes known to us through Mother Church and the traditional exposition
of her God-given Scriptures! Cleansing
water bestowing new supernatural life on disciples and followers called to set
out on a pilgrimage from earthly sin and death to eternal joy and divine
fulfilment; a pilgrimage along a way not of our own choosing or any merely human
imagining, but one marked out for us by God’s beloved Son Who – by His own sacramental
presence in Mother Church and the gift of His most Holy Spirit in the hearts of
all who believe in Him – continues to call and enable us to follow Him along
His way to the Father. <b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">However,
dear brothers and sister in Christ, we must never forget that before Jesus proclaimed
His Good News in Israel, before He set about healing the sick, enabling the
blind to see, the lame to walk and the dumb to speak, He was first of all led
out into the desert -- the devil’s homeland, so to speak -- to fight personally
against the power and cunning of Satan. Why? Because <b>Satan could not deceive Jesus</b>! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Whereas
the multitude of men are largely unaware of Satan’s presence and work in their individual
lives and in the social structures they build, in the case of this man – Jesus --
Satan was unable so to disguise and hide himself as to be able to stealthily worm
his way into Jesus’ human psyche and gradually corrupt, before ultimately destroying,
Him at his own ‘leisure’, pleasure, and will. Satan was obliged therefore -- even though most
reluctantly, for he knew there was something disturbing about Jesus’ ordinary
appearance -- to try to overcome Him in a direct confrontation where and when he,
Satan, was at his strongest, and Jesus, after His forty-day’s fast, would
presumably be at His weakest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Therefore,
we, His disciples, who aspire to further the mission of Jesus in our world
today must first of all --under the guidance of the Gospel and in the power of
the Spirit -- enter into serious combat against our own personal sinfulness by
sincere repentance, a repentance not merely to be pronounced by formulaic words
but deeply experienced by a ‘humbled and contrite’ heart, a repentance welling-up
in one having glimpsed God in the Person of Jesus, and heard Him in Jesus’
Gospel of salvation:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 12pt 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">The
Father Himself loves you because you have loved Me and have believed that I
came forth from God</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"> (John 16:27).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">A
whisper -- barely heard in one’s heart of hearts – yet undoubtably known as coming
from Him Who is our true and only Eternal Father, calling us secretly and most persuasively
to become a child of His now in the Jesus He sent for our salvation, and
ultimately a member of His heavenly family by His Spirit of Love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Let
us all, therefore, try to follow Jesus in this Lenten season by making serious efforts
both to resist, and – in God’s great goodness -- to overcome, sin in our lives:
the surest sign of love for God on earth, and the unshakeable pledge of eternal
salvation thanks to the saving Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord
Jesus Christ.</span></p></div>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-79595734880399256562024-02-08T15:33:00.007+00:002024-02-08T17:27:47.258+00:006th Sunday Year B, 2024<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">(Leviticus
13:1-2, 44-46; 1</span><sup style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">st</sup><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">. Corinthians 10:31-11:1; Mark 1:40-45</span>)</span></span></div></div><p class="SermonBody"></p><div style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody">Our first reading told us that, in Jesus’ times, after a
priest’s examination;<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>When a person has on the skin of his
body a swelling or an eruption or a spot,
he shall cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He
shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside
the camp. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="SermonBody">And, in order to prevent any further contact with ordinary,
healthy members of society: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>The leprous person who has the disease
shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, he shall cover
his upper lip and shall cry out, 'Unclean, unclean.'<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="SermonBody">As a result, a leprous person was -- in the popular
estimation -- as good as dead so far as normal society and normal human
contacts were concerned. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Now this law of exclusion embodies a divine principle, both
Jewish and Christian, whereby the good of the whole transcends that of the
individual, and the individual good should be conducive to the good of the
whole. This was one of the guiding
lights for St. Paul throughout his missionary labours, as we heard in the
second reading:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>I try to please everyone in everything,
not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="SermonBody">Today however, this principle is neither clearly understood
nor readily accepted. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Consequently, even though the common good is at stake,
nevertheless, today, it is mainly religious bodies who alone have sufficient
conviction to resist present western hedonistic tendencies such as abortion, and
social doctrines presenting homosexuality as an alternative life-style to that
of heterosexual love and marriage.
Heterosexual love in marriage is the bedrock of human society,
fulfilling the spouses and serving the whole human race through the children
they raise as wholesome family members.
Homosexuality, on the other hand, when practised as an optional, sexual
life style -- as distinct from <u>friendship</u>, an emotional and spiritual
but <u>non-sexual</u> relationship --
satisfies only the passions of the individuals concerned at <u>the expense of
society</u> which is thereby debilitated: professional surrogate mothers, and frustrated: children in unnatural homes -- as experience shows at home and abroad.
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">The rabbis considered the cleansing of one suffering from
leprosy to be as impossible as raising the dead, and a story concerning Elijah
(2 Kings 5:6-7) shows how clearly Israel and the ancient world recognized that
none but divine power could cure it:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><i>(Naaman brought a letter</i> from the king of Syria<i> to the king of Israel)</i><b><i>, ‘When the king of Israel read the
letter, he tore his clothes</i></b> <b><i>and
said, ‘Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure
a man of his leprosy?’ <o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="SermonBody">However, St. Mark in today’s Gospel reading told us that:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>A leper came to Jesus, imploring Him,
and kneeling said, "If You will, </i>You<i> can make me clean." Moved
with pity, He stretched out His hand, touched him, and said to him, "I will;
be clean."<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="SermonBody">There, we can recognise the faith which sustained the leper;
for, risking public disapproval and official punishment, with humble confidence
and firm faith he sought out Jesus and begged Him: ‘If You wish, <b>You</b> can make me clean’. In response, Jesus reached out and, <u>touching the man</u> said,
“I do will it”; whereupon the man was completely cleansed of his leprosy. Jesus’ very deliberate touch restored the
leper’s contagion! Holiness curing the
contagion of sin! The very essence of Jesus’ Gospel of Good News and
salvation!!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">If we continue to look more closely at Jesus, trying to
understand and learn from His human attitude, it can be of much help and might save
us from many errors.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Our modern Western society is so ostentatiously committed
to human rights -- the rights of the individual -- that the good of the whole
is easily overlooked; and individuals become, in ever-growing measure, <u>out
of control</u>, to the detriment of both the security and the cohesion of
society as a whole. This is the case
because individual rights are only valid – as we have noted -- to the extent that they are conducive to the
well-being of the whole of society, and the validity of this principle is being
vindicated in our day by the fact that now, at last, the social evil of
abortion is becoming <u>manifest</u> to all, as the European birth rate is
unable to support the continuing viability of its member nations: several of
which are dying out, dying on their feet, so to speak. Again, lack of discipline in our schools –
due in no small degree to the doctrinal application of so-called <u>human
rights of children</u> who are, as yet, unable to truly appreciate that rights
and duties are inevitably co-related -- is leading to an educational and social
crisis; because any educational system that is not able to teach its children
and students self-control and personal responsibility by the imposition of
recognized and necessary discipline cannot produce true citizens. Indeed, such a system is liable to turn out an
ever-growing number of young adults who are a potential danger to their
neighbours and to society as a whole, because their emotions are not
sufficiently subject to their control, and the only rights they are aware of
are their own ‘personal’ rights, rights which -- they like to think -- should
in no way be restricted or overruled by any ‘supposed rights’ of the larger
body of society. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">And now, taking up our Gospel reading again, we heard
there, that Jesus -- having cured the man -- warned him sternly not to tell
other people about it; however:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody"> <b><i>The
man went out and began to talk freely about it and to spread the news. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="SermonBody">One can easily think-up excuses for the man cured; but, in
fact, his publicising of the cure made things much more difficult for Jesus,
because it meant that:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><a name="_Hlk158056688"><b><i>Jesus
could no longer openly enter a town</i></b></a><b><i>, but </i></b><i>(had
to be)<b> out in desolate places. <o:p></o:p></b></i></p><p class="SermonBody">Before this incident it was the leper who had been obliged
to remain in deserted places; but now
the former leper was free to mingle with men, while Jesus had to behave <u>as
if He</u> were the leprous one, being unable continue His saving mission in the
towns, and villages of that area. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">That incident is again a helpful insight for us in our
understanding of Our Blessed Lord Who later on, dear People of God, would even
become ‘sin’ and ‘a curse’ for our sakes!!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>For our sake He made Him to be
sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.</i></b> (2 Corinthians 5:21)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>Christ redeemed us from the curse
of the Law, by becoming a curse for us -- for it is written, “Cursed is
everyone who is hanged on a tree”. </i></b> (Galatians 3:13)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Jesus had come to cure the whole of Israel -- and
ultimately the whole of mankind -- from the supreme uncleanness of sin, but the
cleansed-leper was only able to think of his own cleansed body. Jesus had cured <b>him</b>, and he felt he <u>had to</u> tell others of what had happened
to himself; and, as a result of such forbidden praise, we are told that: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><b><i>Jesus</i></b><b><i> could
no longer openly enter a town.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="SermonBody">Of course, people today like to think that because the man was
obviously so grateful to Jesus, so happy in his new-found health, he is therefore
not to be blamed. But in fact, although that
man’s ignorance of Jesus’ overall purpose is perfectly understandable and
blameless, nevertheless, the fact that He ignored Jesus’ <u>express</u> command
to ‘keep quiet’ turned out to be positively damaging for others: because He -- the
Healer, the Master -- was no longer able to continue His healing, saving,
mission in that vicinity. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Dear People of God, what unknown harm do our sins, our
failures to obey the Lord’s commands in our lives, cause for others in need of
God’s saving help and strength?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">At this point we should call to mind Our Blessed Lord’s
words which explain His own Personal attitude in all such matters of obedience,
an attitude that would lead Him to embrace death out of loving obedience to His
Father and for our salvation:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><b><i>I know that His (My Father’s) commandment
is eternal life! </i></b>(John 12:50)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Jesus came to take away the sins of the world, and our
personal needs and desires are but elements, however important to us, in God’s
overarching universal purpose, and they must, therefore, be subject to its
requirements.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">As in the case of today’s cured-leper, that steadfast and <u>unnoticeable-to-men
obedience</u> which God wants above all, calls for a moral strength, a humble selflessness,
and a devout faith of a much superior order, which, far from meeting with human
praise, can often enough lead to disapproval
and judgemental words, “how ungrateful!”. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Because we are so very self-centred, we need to constantly
remind ourselves that none can cure mankind from the malady of sin but Jesus
the Christ, sent by God His Father for that specific purpose; and, that Jesus --
though now in heaven -- is ceaselessly at work by His Spirit in and through His
Church; and if we want to be His <u>co-workers</u>, we have to resolutely seek
only <b>His</b> glory, await patiently <b>His</b> will, proclaim always <b>His</b> goodness.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">In His time Jesus was regarded as a rebel because <b>He was
never intimidated</b> by the expectations of contemporary popular thinking nor by
the pressures of self-serving officialdom; and we, as His disciples, should
likewise practice independence from <u>the pagan attitudes of people around us</u>
whilst maintaining, with Him, a right humility before lawful authorities established
for the good governance of society. Throughout
His life Jesus recognized His Father as the <u>exclusive Ruler</u> over all the
decisive events of His life on earth, as the <u>only Guide</u> for all His Personal
attitudes, and as the <u>supreme Goal</u> for all His Personal actions and
decisions. And so for us, the true good of
the individual, though included in God’s plan for the good of the whole, is nevertheless
subordinate to that good of the whole. And that balance is an integral and
necessary part of the <u>true and ultimate good</u> prescribed and wanted by
God the Father and proclaimed by Our Lord Jesus Christ; a good that we, as
living members of His Body, have to seek, work and pray for, in the power and
under the inspiration of His most Holy Spirit of Truth and Love. </p></div>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-84218774108863154012024-02-02T09:16:00.005+00:002024-02-02T09:17:48.025+00:005th Sunday Year B, 2024<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">(<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Job
7:1-4, 6-7; 1<sup>st</sup>. Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23; Mark 1:29-39</span>8</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">)</span></span></div></div><p class="SermonBody"></p><div style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody">Simon and his companions searched for Jesus and, on finding
Him, they said:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Everyone is looking for
you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He told them, “Let us go on to
the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I
come.” <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">We can appreciate from that passage of the Gospel that
Jesus considered His preaching to be of supreme importance; and that most
probably led that great disciple of Jesus, St. Paul, to make this otherwise
surprising declaration in his first letter to the Corinthians:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Christ did not send me
to baptize, but to preach the gospel.</i></b> (1:17)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Throughout His public ministry Jesus’ preaching was a cause
of astonishment to those who heard Him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
reacted in this way both because of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">content</b>
of His preaching -- many, for example, would say after hearing Him:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Where
did this man get this wisdom?</i></b> (Matthew 13:54), <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">and also, because of the<b> manner</b> in which He addressed
them, as you heard in last week’s Gospel passage:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The people were astonished at His
teaching, for He taught them as <u>one having</u> <u>authority</u> and not as
the scribes. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Now, this was not just the reaction of simple people
perhaps too prone to religious excitement, it was also the response of the Temple
guards – servants of the chief priests and Pharisees -- notoriously untouched
by any such religious sensitivities, as St. John tells us in his Gospel (7:46):<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The officers answered,
"Never has a man spoken the way this Man speaks.” <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Indeed, St. Mark tells us (11:18), that the religious
authorities themselves -- proud aristocrats and determined enemies of Jesus --
had a like appreciation of His preaching:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The chief priests and the scribes
began seeking how to destroy Jesus; they were afraid of Him, for the whole
crowd was astonished at His teaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">When the scribes -- learned in the Law and in the Jewish
oral tradition -- addressed the people on some brief passage of the Law, they
frequently did little more than string together a few quotes, taken them from
earlier authorities or currently influential teachers, without themselves
making any personal statements or commitment.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">With Jesus, however, it was quite different: He might,
indeed, <u>quote</u> on occasion, but only from the Scriptures;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>other than that, He might proffer His own observations
on everyday events and occurrences of human life, or make Personal references
to the wonder and beauty of the natural world around, before finally -- by the
fullness of the Spirit that was in Him -- delivering a teaching uniquely based
on His own Personal authority, that was both sublimely expressive of God’s
presence and purpose in the Scriptures, and yet most harmoniously in tune with nature,
and with the experiences, the religious expectations<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and aspirations, of ordinary men and women.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">His was, indeed, an absolutely unique authority on, and
interpreter of, divine realities, as both St. John (3:11-13) and St. Matthew (11:27)
tell us: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Truly, truly, I </i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(Jesus)</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> say
to you, We</i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">speak of what We know and testify of what We have seen, and you do not
accept Our testimony. No one has ascended into heaven, but He Who descended
from heaven: the Son of Man.</i></b> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All things have been handed over
to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone
know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Now, St. Paul, by virtue of his God-given vocation as Doctor
of the Nations, recognized and appreciated the absolute necessity of this
aspect of Jesus’ teaching, as we can tell from the advice he gave to Titus (Titus
2:15), an early convert of his whom he later established as head of the church
in Crete:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Say these things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Exhort and correct with all authority. Let no
one look down on you </i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(because of your youth)</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.</b></i> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Today, the proclamation of the Gospel by public preaching is
frequently mocked by those who foolishly and proudly ‘think they know it all’;
or by others (more important ecclesiastically?) who think they have reasons more
compelling than Our Lord’s own express example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nevertheless, public proclamation through authoritative Sunday <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>preaching <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is absolutely essential for Mother Church, and
it should not be abandoned for fear of jibes or unpopularity! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The authority so desirable in Mother Church’s
preaching can only come from enlightened <b>faith</b> based on her witness to authentically
Apostolic and Catholic Christian teaching: a faith which has been gratefully
received, wholeheartedly believed over thousands of years, and is now -- even
in a paganized West -- so deeply loved and revered that it <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">has to be most reverently handed</b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
</i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">on</b> to subsequent generations in
the fulness of its wondrous beauty and divine truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such authority in priest-and- people’s
Catholic proclamation and Christian witness cannot be based on some<i> </i>stirred-up,
emotional novelty, justified by any ‘paternal assurance’ of personal,
compassionate, inspiration; it must come from a total commitment to what is
traditional and transcendent in Mother Church, and yet, what is essentially
part of, and indeed the only key to, our deepest human self, made in the image
and likeness of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This total
commitment to the God proclaimed by our faith can only come about to the extent
in which we realize that our duty and glorious calling <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as Catholics and Christians is to <b><u>know</u>
the <u>God</u> of our proclamation <u>p/Personally</u></b>:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">They will not hurt or destroy in
all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.</i></b> (Isaiah 11:9)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">This knowledge is not just some awareness of certain facts <b>about</b>
God, the Scriptures, or about the Church; it must aspire to be <u>a deeply personal
appreciation of and love for God Himself</u>, as manifested to us in the Person
of Jesus Christ, witnessed to us by Jesus’ revelation of the Father, and confirmed
by His Gift of the Holy Spirit in Mother Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a knowledge that can only be received
by those who consistently and perseveringly seek to follow their Lord’s own
example of commitment and love as shown by His constant communing with His
Father in prayer:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rising very early before dawn, He
left and went off to a deserted place, where He prayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">It is the lack of such loving knowledge of, communion with,
and whole-hearted response to, the <u>Personal God</u> Who deigns to dwell
within His faithful servants, that bedevils the proclamation and the witness of
Catholic priests and Christians today.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">In the book of Hosea (4:6; 6:6) we are told:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My people are destroyed for lack
of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from
being My priest. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I delight in loyalty rather than
sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The world’s ‘religion’ today is above all a proclamation of
self-sufficiency and mutual self- approbation: ‘<u>we can do good of ourselves
without any God’</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And because God is
rejected as not-necessary, there is no authority able to give peace, strength,
and coherence to the common man’s experience of life, all we have is woke doctrines
and human (especially feminine) sensibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The laws that would govern the nations all too often give expression to the
lies and deceits of unconsciously ludicrous pride (as above) and corrosive
self-interest; and the laws that would govern our own society is, at the best, only
a series ‘ad hoc’ solutions quite unable to cure the root-ills of an irreligious,
no longer God-fearing, nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For an
ever-growing number of individuals there is no rudder to guide or govern their
personal lives: only the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>compulsive
pressures of profit, the personal passions of pleasure, and social aspirations
for power and popularity, all leading to an experience of Job’s words:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My days are swifter than a
weaver's shuttle, and come to an end without hope. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Nevertheless, let us, People of God, take to heart the
words of the great prophets:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He will raise us up on the third
day that we may live before Him; so, let us know, <u>let us press on to know</u>,
the LORD.</i></b> (Hosea 6:2-3)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">They will not hurt or destroy in
all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.</i></b> (Isaiah 11:9)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Above all, of course, we <u>must learn</u> from Our Blessed
Lord Himself (John 10:15):<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">As the Father knows Me, <u>I know
the Father</u>; and I lay down My life for the sheep.</i></b> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">You</span></i></b><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (Samaritans) <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">worship
what you do not know; we</i></b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">worship
what we <u>know</u>, for salvation is from the Jews. </i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(John 4:22)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is eternal life, that they should <u>know</u> You the only true
God, and the One Whom You sent, Jesus Christ.</span></i></b><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(John 17:3)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 12.5pt;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>I do know</u> Him (God) and I keep His word.</i></b> (John 8:55)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Son of God <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">knew</b> His Father’s infinite goodness-and-love
for what He had originally created in His own likeness, and – loving Son that
He was -- He willed to suffer in His humanity <u>for love of us</u>, and to die
as Man <u>for love of His Father</u>, thus becoming Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
Word of God, born of the Virgin.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Dear People of God, let us pray that our Blessed Lord and
Saviour may give authentic authority to both the preaching and proclamation of
Mother Church and of us, her, individual, witnessing priests and people, in our
troubled world of today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p></div>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-83510549726377579952024-01-25T21:26:00.004+00:002024-01-25T21:26:47.615+00:004th Sunday Year B, 2024<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">(<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Deuteronomy
18:15-20; 1<sup>st</sup> Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28</span></span>)</span></p></div><p class="SermonBody"></p><div style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody">Moses had found the Israelites both hard to teach and
reluctant to obey the words given him by the Lord for their observance; so
perhaps there was some overtone of irony in his voice when, as we heard in our
first reading, he said to them:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: 3.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own
kinsmen; to him you shall listen.<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We, however, are
not like those Israelites of old; and so,</span> let us recall and try to profitably
consider what is of supreme importance from that first reading today:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moses spoke to the people saying:
‘The LORD said to me, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among
their kinsmen, and will put My words into his mouth; he shall tell them all
that I command him”.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">We then heard why it would be so very important for them to
listen to the promised prophet better than they had listened to Moses himself:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: 2.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If
any man will not listen to My words which he </i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(the prophet) </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">speaks in My name, I Myself will
make him </i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(that person) </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">answer for it. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">After Moses, the Lord did indeed raise up a series of
prophets: great prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Micah, Ezekiel, Daniel,
and others, whose messages live on in the Bible, and yet others whose names
alone are remembered; but even though they spoke faithfully, and -- at times --
most beautifully, in the name of the God of Israel, we find throughout the
Bible that their message was largely ignored:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I have sent to you all My
servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you have not
inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me.</i></b> (Jeremiah 35:15-16)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Or, as Isaiah put it more dramatically (42:18-20):<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hear, you deaf! And look, you
blind, that you may see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have seen
many things, but you do not observe them; your ears are open, but none hears. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">A prophet was called and sent to speak a message given him
by God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, should a prophet betray
his calling by substituting his own words for the word of God – which was always
a possibility because of human sinfulness and the importance and attention
accorded to a recognized prophet – God had also most solemnly warned:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: 2.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If a
prophet presumes to speak in My name an oracle that I have not commanded him to
speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">And so, though the Lord took great care to have His word
faithfully proclaimed and publicly appreciated in Israel, nevertheless, His
true prophets were frequently ignored by the people; and indeed, opposed, and
even physically oppressed, by their leaders who were inclined to listen only to
what they wanted to hear, rather than to the word the Lord their God chose to
send them (Matthew 23:37): <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">O Jerusalem, who kills the
prophets and stones those who are sent to her!</i></b> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">Nevertheless, Moses’ promise of <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">a special </span>prophet to come was not
forgotten by pious Israelites, neither was their conviction that <u>his</u>
message would be of decisive<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">importance for the fulfilment of Israel’s destiny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can, therefore, appreciate the
significance of the question put to John the Baptist by a delegation of Jews
from the authorities in Jerusalem:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are <b>you</b> the Prophet?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Recall also, in this connection, the voice of the Father speaking
from heaven to Peter, James and John on the Mount of Jesus’ transfiguration:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This is My beloved Son.</i></b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">LISTEN TO HIM!</span></b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span>(Mark 9:7) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Believers of today now know the reason why the Prophet promised
by Moses would speak infallibly in God’s name: it is because <b>that </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">P</span>rophet was the very Word of God Himself
Who became one of us as <b>Jesus</b>, the Son of Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jesus answered, "My doctrine
is not Mine but His Who sent Me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I and
My Father are One."</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(John
7:16, 10:30)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">So, People of God, you are in a position to understand that
when Jesus spoke, He did so with authority, a God-given <b>authority</b>,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></b><u><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">not as the scribes</span></u><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">;</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">and that why, as
we were told:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The people were astonished at His
teaching.</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Now, that same Jesus speaks to us today, indeed, He is
speaking now, in your midst, as I proclaim His word in His name; and we must
always bear in mind that He was, and still is, the Saviour of those, and <u>only
those</u>, <b>who</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">want</b> to be
saved, who <b>will</b> “Repent”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many to
whom He spoke and who heard His teaching would not accept His teaching-with-authority
and, consequently, did not acknowledge His Person; those He left them to
themselves, He did not seek to force Himself upon them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">And now today, each of us here must be prepared to answer a
question arising from the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>secret depths
of our Catholic mind and heart: “Do I want Jesus to be my Lord and Saviour, or
do I want to be left in the indolence of my own comfort and indifference? Do I
want to be rescued from my sinfulness or not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What</b>, indeed, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">do I want, here, before God?</b>”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Yes, dear People, if you really want Jesus to be your
Saviour, a Rock of strength and support for you, a Light to reveal the authentic
beauty of God’s saving will for you, and to guide you into the joy of walking,
by His Spirit, along the path He has traced out for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want God – Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit -- to be your earthly joy and promise of eternal blessedness, your earthly
light leading to heavenly glory; <b>IF</b> you want to become -- in Jesus -- a
true child of God, then you <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">must give
Him authority</b> in your life now, here on earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus is no tyrant, He will not arrogate such
authority to Himself; but if you humbly and faithfully give it to Him, He will
use it for your great, eternal blessing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Listen now to Our Lord Himself again (John 7:16-17):<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My doctrine is not Mine, but His
who sent Me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If anyone wants to do His
will, he will know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I
speak on My own authority. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">“If anyone wants to do God’s will, he will know, he will realize
…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>God has done His work </u>by giving
us His Son --- Who suffered, died, and rose again for us --- and His Spirit, to
guide and form us as His children in His beloved Son; and now, <u>we have to
choose</u>: “If anyone <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">wants</b>”, Jesus
said, “to do God’s will, he will know the truth of My teaching.” Jesus never
fails His People; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but not all those who
call themselves Christians and Catholics actually <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">want</b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span> or do <b>choose</b>,
Jesus to be their Lord and Saviour. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Far too
many concede Him the titles of Lord and Saviour indeed, but not the authority
of Lord and Master in their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">In a sinful world, ‘authority’ easily brings to mind an
objectionable, domineering attitude, that has to be resisted, or at least submerged
and forgotten in a flood of emotional words and deeds. And yet, <b>true love
cannot be exercised without right authority</b>: God the Father <u>sent</u> His
Son among us; His Son <u>obediently</u> came into our world at the behest of,
and out of supreme love for, His Father; and in every Christian household, loving
parents must guide, and when necessary correct, <u>with right authority</u> their
children.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">See, dear People of God, when Jesus used those words, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Father and I are One</i>: He was
speaking about authority and obedience, command and love, as being
complimentary manifestations of the absolute one-ness of divinity; He was
speaking about the dignity,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>understanding, and the totally selfless mutual commitment, uniting the
Father and Himself as Son, in the work of our salvation, through their most
Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Dear People of God, Mother Church’s traditional faith, is
God’s saving truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mother Church’s sacraments
give us God’ grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We <u>recognize and acknowledge</u>
that Truth; we <u>follow, and are grateful for</u>, that grace, in our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But our hearts are moved to <u>love</u> -- <u>in
return</u> -- by <b>Beauty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Our
Blessed Lady loved Jesus as God’s ‘gift’, as her own Son, but ultimately, above
all, she <u>loved Him</u> for being the sublimely beautiful Person she had seen,
come to know ever-more-deeply, and experienced -- <u>full heart-and-soul</u> --
Him to be. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We recognize and acknowledge
the traditional faith of Mother Church, we are grateful for her God-given
sacraments which are God’s chosen channels of our salvation … but, the supreme
fulfilment of our Christian and Catholic being is only to be found in the measure-of-our-awareness
of the <b>Personal Beauty</b> of the God behind them; the God Who supports
them; the God and Father of us all Who bestows them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p></div>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-48883908074849952062024-01-19T08:45:00.001+00:002024-01-19T08:45:25.027+00:003rd Sunday Year B, 2024<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">(<span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jonah
3: 1-5, 10; 1<sup>st</sup>. Corinthians 7: 29-31; Mark 1: 14-20</span>)</span></p></div><p class="SermonBody"></p><div style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><p class="SermonBody">In the Gospel reading today we have St. Mark’s account of
Our Lord’s proclamation to Israel at the beginning of His public ministry, and
we can expect that this might well contain something absolutely central to His
teaching:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b>This is the time of fulfilment.
The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.</b> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">He declares the imminent proximity of that which had been
foretold by the prophets and longed for by the faithful for over a thousand
years. What joy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God has been mindful of
His People, has seen their distress, and is now about to bring them
salvation!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What then should they do to
welcome Him and embrace the salvation He offers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><b><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Repent
…… and believe in the Gospel!<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Notice the order of the words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Repent” comes first; then, “believe in the Gospel”.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Repentance has to come first in order for
us to be able to believe in the Gospel, as Jesus says elsewhere, <u>those who
seek the Truth</u> will recognize the divine provenance of His, Jesus’, words. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Israel had learnt -- from their inability to
keep God’s Law as given them through the prophet Moses -- the reality of the sinfulness
alienating them from their God; and such awareness did indeed entitle them to
be known as the People of God because it was unique in the world of that time,
and enabled them to have a unique appreciation of the transcendent holiness of
the one true God.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">If Jesus had presented Himself as a charismatic leader come
to drive the Romans out of the Promised Land, then there would not have been a
call to repentance, the first thing would have been a call to arms: “Aux armes,
citoyens” as the French cry in their national anthem; and Jesus would have been
merely a somewhat bigger and better version of Judah’s legendary King David,
who had, in a measure, foreshadowed Jesus in his beautiful – but, at times,
overpoweringly fragile – humanity, and in the disarming sincerity of his love
of God in a life scarred, nevertheless, by political and personal scheming.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Jesus, however, was the very Word and only-begotten Son of
God, made flesh; and He came with a message concerning Israel’s intimate relationship
with her God, not her political status with Rome; for in order to embrace God’s
offer of salvation it was, and still is, necessary to recognise, acknowledge, and
humbly accept, the truth of God’s charge of individual sinfulness and corporate
responsibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None can appreciate God’s
Truth offering salvation who are not willing to hear His Truth telling them of
their need to be saved from sin: <u>their own sin and the resultant sinfulness
of their world</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A disciple of Jesus
must first of all be willing to repent in that personal way in order to wholeheartedly
receive and believe the Good News of the Gospel, offering purification from his
or her old sinful ways and transformation into what is new and Godly, child-like
and Divine.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">John the Baptist required of those coming forward to
receive ritual purification by his immersing them in the waters of the river
Jordan something that modern society can appreciate, namely <u>works</u>;
works, however, of a deeply religious significance:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b>You brood of vipers, who
warned you to flee from the wrath to come?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">And when the crowds questioned him, saying, ‘what shall we
do?’, he would answer them with examples he considered acceptable to God as
signs of their turning away from the sin hitherto too prevalent in their lives:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b>The man who has two tunics is
to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.</b>
(Luke 3: 7-8, 10-11)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Jesus, however, goes much deeper, indeed, to the very root
of Israel’s sinfulness; His first words are straight to the point:<span class="msoDel"><del cite="mailto:Fr%20J.P.%20Entwistle" datetime="2024-01-15T16:10">:</del></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b>Repent,
and believe in the Gospel<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>(Show true
repentance by believing My Truth).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">For people rarely do even good works from pure motives: those
practically-minded can be genuinely trying to help others, but also wanting to prove
their own human (‘good fellow, good woman’) individual worth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others, more intellectual, can pronounce
themselves to be ‘<u>very proud</u> of what they do’, because it shows that
they have no need of redemption, or <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>any
other sort of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘saving’ by a so-called
God.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Today, dear People of God, the very best works our
disbelieving world has to offer are works of personal generosity or human endeavour,
on the part of those performing them; but they are <u>not works of goodness</u>,
flowing from the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>transcendent goodness</b>
of the almighty and eternal God Who is the Father of us all. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Now Jesus willed and wanted <b>all</b> <b>His disciples’
works</b> to be done with humility, and <u>for love of God</u>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>because He Himself came among us to live and
die for love of His Father and to suffer for love of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>therefore, He said:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b>Repent</b>
-- root and branches -- <b>and believe</b> – wholeheartedly -- <b>in the Gospel</b>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Salvation is an offer from God, of eternal blessedness as a
<b><u>child of God</u></b>, to one who has believed in His only-begotten Son
sent among men to save them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ancient
scriptures had long proclaimed that human kind is not -- as Buddhists like to
think -- on a level with earthly things, part of, and essentially bound up with
creation around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Moses and the
prophets told God’s chosen people that only humankind had been originally made
in the image and likeness of God. And Jesus was now come to proclaim and to
offer that, in Him -- the Son of God made flesh -- our sin-scarred likeness to
God could be restored and brought to the ultimate joy of its heavenly fulfilment
and perfection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Today there are very many who do not want to hear about
human dignity transcending <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the rest of
creation, because they do not want to be called to strive for anything other
than what they can immediately see, hear, taste and enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They do not want to aspire for yet higher
things, they seek to just enjoy, get as much as they can -- here and now -- out
of what they have got, or lies at hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Consequently, the idea that human beings have a greater dignity and a higher
destiny than that of the world around us seems to them a preposterous
suggestion, because it is, first of all, an unwelcome one.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">God sent His Son to take on human flesh as perfect God and perfect
Man, showing us both the possibility and the way to become truly one with God: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><b><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I am
the Way, the Truth, and the Life.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Such oneness cannot be attained by any merely human works,
and that is why Jesus did not, first of all, call for works; rather He demanded,
<b>first of all</b>, faith in His own Personal Being and in the truth of His Gospel,
whereby human beings might be lifted up to a heavenly level by the sheer
goodness of God, in Jesus, through the Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Heaven cannot be gained by any human excellence or power because heaven
is not a place to be found, nor a state to be acquired: <b>heaven is a <u>relationship
with</u> and <u>presence to</u> the three Persons of the most holy Trinity of
Love</b>, into which only Jesus -- the beloved and only-begotten Son, Word of
the Father -- can lead those who, in faith submit to Him and aspire, by His
gift of the Holy Spirit, to the promise of heaven proclaimed by His
Gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">We need to stop living as if we are simply part of this
earth in which all our happiness and fulfilment is to be found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The blessings of life on earth are indeed,
many, because God has made all things good; nevertheless, they were meant for
us to use on the way to our eternal destiny and calling, they were not intended
to become a drug that would stultify any higher aspirations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because we have been fashioned by God in His
own likeness, we <b>are</b> supreme over all things of earth, we are, most
certainly, <b>not</b> meant to be ruled by things of earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul was speaking of this in our second
reading:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b>I tell you, brothers, the
time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having
them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those
buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the
world in its present form is passing away.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Paul is saying that marriage may indeed be for you, that
is, it may be of help for your salvation, but do not think that there is nothing
better to come than marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise,
those who mourn should not fear that their whole life has been totally blighted,
for they are, in Jesus, destined to eternal joy and happiness; while those who
are happy must not be so foolish as to think that earthly happiness can be
compared to the blessedness awaiting those who will sit at the Lord’s Supper in
heaven as God’s children; for, as St. Paul tells us: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b>Eye has not seen, nor ear
heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared
for those who love Him.</b> (2:9)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Dear People of God, Jesus’ call, ‘Repent, and believe in
the Gospel’, is an invitation -- most serious and pressing -- to help you
recognize, and then realise, your true worth, your divine calling, and your eternal
dignity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Learn from Jesus</u>, let Him
teach you what to hate and avoid, but above all, <u>what to love and whither to
aspire</u>: that is the essence of repenting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you thus commit yourself to the Gospel, that Good News will lead you
to peace and give you strength in this world; and, for the future, an
inviolable hope transcending all earthly limitations. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">We should not be surprised that the message of the Church
is unpopular today, <b>if they hate Me, they will also hate you, </b>because
many are living in such a way that they cannot hear let alone understand God’s call:
money is worshipped as the supreme goal of human endeavour because it promises tangible
and alluring pleasure, buys obsequious respect, and provokes envious admiration
on all sides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, for many today,
popularity is second only to money, and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>so there can be no excellence accepted where popularity is wanting, and
whatever is popular and exciting is considered to be excellent, no matter how
tasteless, futile, or degrading it may be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Considering these aspects of our world today, surely,
People of God, let us take heart from Jesus’ words recorded in the Gospel (John
16:33 and Matt 24:35): <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b>These things I have spoken to
you, that in Me you may have peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the
world. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass
away.</b> <o:p></o:p></p><br /></div>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-24388032166072886752024-01-11T09:09:00.002+00:002024-01-11T09:10:17.147+00:002nd Sunday Year B, 2024<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">(<span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1 Sam 3:3-10, 19; 1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20; John
1:35-42</span>)</span></p></div><p class="SermonBody"></p><div style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Samuel was destined to become a great prophet in Israel and therefore, young though he was, he had to come to a p/Personal knowledge of the Lord, and, as you heard, Eli was able to help him make his initial experience of, and give his very first appropriate and personal response to, the Lord God of Israel:<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <b>Speak </b>(Lord) <b>for your servant is listening.<br /><o:p></o:p></b></span><b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span></b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">There, dear People of God, we are given the one absolutely essential requirement for prophecy in Israel, and for those commissioned by God to proclaim the Word of God (Jesus Himself and His Gospel) in Mother Church: that is, the ability and commitment to silence all clamouring, inner, ‘voices’ in order to listen to the Lord communicating with us – by heart-penetrating <u>words</u>; by <u>happenings</u> even small that re-structure our whole life; or by seemingly passing <u>thoughts</u> that somehow linger-on until we begin to understand them.<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The prophet Jeremiah (31:33-34) later extended this need for such listening, not only to chosen prophets but to all God’s Chosen People:<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><b><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.<br /></span></i></b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">That teaching, dear People of God, is exemplified perfectly in our Gospel reading by two of John the Baptist’s disciples:<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <b>John said </b>(in their hearing)<b>: ‘Behold the Lamb of God.’<br /></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">And what did those disciples do on hearing those words? THEY FOLLOWED JESUS.<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><b><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, ‘What do you seek? They said to Him, ‘Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come, and you will see.’ So, they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day.<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span></i></b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Notice how those two disciples </span><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">silenced all other voices</span></i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> as I said earlier, even the voice of John the Baptist, by immediately following Jesus, remaining with and listening to Him alone, for the rest of that day.<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Today it is thought by some that, to hear those wanting to somehow accommodate their evil ‘actions’ with Catholic traditional teaching, is a charitable ‘hearing’! However, we Christians and Catholics are called by today’s very readings, to hear <u>Jesus</u> … which means that we can hear all who are seeking Jesus, but we do <u>not</u> hear those wanting to maintain their un-Christian life style by simply ‘titivating’ it with some ‘Christian-like’ adaptations.<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Remember, dear friends, how Our Blessed Lord, though He would not publicly condemn the woman apprehended in the act of adultery, nevertheless did not want to hear any excuses, or ‘extenuating circumstances’, from her. He offered her no comforting, or ‘understanding’ words, for Him sin was sin, and He hated sin. He <u>would not condemn</u> her, but He made quite clear what He expected of her, by telling her, ‘Go, and <b>sin no more</b>!’<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">People of God, the reason why Jesus established Mother Church is so that in her, and through her, all who would seek Jesus might -- as the prophet Jeremiah had foretold -- learn to know the Lord, each and every one of them, personally. Jesus has endowed Mother Church with the fullness of His own most Holy Spirit so that she can -- beginning at our baptism and continuing throughout our sacramental lives -- gradually bestow upon us ever more of that same Spirit to form us in the likeness of Jesus, and to enable us to follow Him until He leads us into the presence of the Father of all Glory, where, knowing the holiness and beauty, goodness and truth, of the infinite and all Holy God to the utmost of our personal being, will be our consuming delight for all eternity.<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The devils whom Jesus cast out of sufferers during His time on earth frequently cried out claiming to know Him, as St. Mark tells us (1:24; 3:11):<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><b><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!<br /></span></i></b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Notice dear friends, that even the demons could understand the folly of trying to religiously ‘titivate’ a sinful life-style, ‘What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth?’ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">There we are given a clear picture of the Devil, who, on recognizing the Person and holy power of Jesus, could only react with detestation and fear, and whom Jesus would later describe as a liar, <b>the supreme</b> Liar:<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><b><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">You (Jews) are of your father the devil, and you willingly do the desires of your father. … Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.</span></i></b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> (John 8:44)<br /><b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The devil is, by his very nature, first and foremost, a liar: not a murderer, a fornicator, a </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">paedophile</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> or whatever else, no, he <b>is</b> first and foremost, a LIAR and the FATHER OF LIES; and he generates, encourages, and delights in, all forms of sin because he is <b>the </b>Liar. Therefore, when we find the devil promoting lying imitations of Christian virtues or attitudes, we can be sure that he is at his most dangerous and deadly. For example, he loves to imitate Christian charity, and in doing so spawns on the one hand, sexual lust calling it ‘love’, and, on the one hand, that ‘laissez faire’, ‘let things be’ attitude, characteristic of irresponsible parents who so “love” their children that they can never teach, correct, or discipline them. The devil also delights to imitate the Christian virtue of knowing the Lord and he does this by encouraging many Catholics to be quite content with knowing <b>about </b>the Lord but <b>not</b> knowing <b>Him</b> p/Personally; and accordingly, they are by no means solicitous about doing His will: they hear the gospels but never take them to heart; they attend Mass, at the Lord’s command, but are always looking forward to the time to leave Church. In fact, they know the Lord’s love for them so well that they like to think that receiving Holy Communion is all that matters. In all these corruptions we find a people never seriously seeking to personally <b>know</b> the <b>Person of the Lord</b>: a people content with their own fullness, with the result that they never experience any need to open themselves up to Him, in longing for and need of, Him. Being thus deceived by the devil who is the consummate liar, they are content with that stagnant situation, being, apparently, quite unaware of the words of the Lord:<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><b><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. </span></i></b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">(Revelation 3:16)<br /><b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">How different was the attitude of those two disciples of John the Baptist who heard him say, on seeing Jesus pass by,<b><i> Behold the Lamb of God!<br /><o:p></o:p></i></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Those two disciples, no longer disciples of John but disciples-in-desire of Jesus the Lamb of God, were now ardently, almost painfully, aware of their own emptiness, need, hope and longing. And to those disciples seeking to know Him as Teacher (Rabbi), Jesus simply said: <b><i>Come and you will see.<br /><o:p></o:p></i></b></span><b><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span></i></b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">They did just that. They followed Jesus to His dwelling to know about <u>Him</u>, to know Him p/Personally, to hear, be near to, to admire and learn from, Him; quite possibly they would also have taken the opportunity to open up their souls to Him, before darkness came requiring them to leave and go back to their own dwelling.<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">People of God, what does Jesus say to you coming out of the crowd perhaps to receive Him in Holy Communion? His very first words to Andrew and his companion had been:<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><b><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> What are you looking for, what do you seek?<br /></span></i></b><b><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span></i></b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Could you, queuing in Church to receive Him in Holy Communion, answer such a question? Could you tell Him what emptiness was be forcing you to Him; could you tell Him that you are longing for something He alone could give you?<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">People of God, we must realize that He, the Lord Himself, is in Mother Church, with her, in order to be contacted, found, there, by us, in a <b>one-to-one-relationship</b> of loving appreciation and obedience, in which we will gradually learn, by His most Holy Spirit, to worship the Father as His true children, in Jesus. Mother Church is our atmosphere, she is indeed the only environment in which we can fully prosper, but she is not our end, she is not our goal.<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">It is quite legitimate, however, and profoundly true, to take those words of St. Paul in our second reading today, words spoken directly against all forms of sexual immorality:<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><b><i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> You have been bought with a price: therefore, <u>glorify God in your body,<br /><o:p></o:p></u></span></i></b><b><i><u><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span></u></i></b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">in a further perfectly relevant, profitable, and fruitful sense. You who belong to Mother Church are all members of the Body of Christ, and therefore, the Body of Christ is, in that sense, <b>your</b> body. Do, then, as St. Paul tells us: <b><i> Glorify God in your Body.<br /><o:p></o:p></i></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">You members of the Body of Christ, you members of His Church on earth, should never allow yourselves to settle down as an anonymous Catholic; it is not enough just to be <b>in</b> Mother Church, to be merely present at Mass: you should seek above all to <b>personally know, love, and</b> <b>glorify God there</b>, either in your own hearts filled with His praise and thanksgiving, or among His people -- your brethren -- whom you seek to serve and exhort as His disciples, for His glory. Each of you, personally, has been bought at a price, that is your supreme dignity: nobody else, absolutely no one, can thank God, thank Jesus, for you, on your behalf; that is exclusively your own, personal, calling and privilege. And only if you respond to that individual calling, only if you are personally aware and appreciative of that unique privilege, will you come to know what ‘<b>yet</b> <b>more’</b> God still wants to make of <b>you</b>, individually. </span></div><p></p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-28016597865542394122024-01-05T10:08:00.000+00:002024-01-05T10:08:31.338+00:00The Epiphany Year B, 2024<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: solid #9BBB59 3.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: solid #A7BFDE 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10.0pt 0cm 15.0pt 0cm;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">(Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12)</span></p></div>
<p class="SermonBody">Why are we drawn to some people more than others … because
of their kindness perhaps, their good looks; or might it be due to their understanding,
sympathy, wisdom, or courage?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
richness and variety of the human character is endless, but when we actually --
and truly – come to <b>love</b> someone, that is because of <b>who they are</b>,
because of their <b>unique personality</b>, as known to us and experienced by
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We cannot love someone unknown to us.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although we can admire, be grateful for,
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>what we hear of others, nevertheless, such
admiration through hearsay or ‘work experience’ only becomes love when, after
we have first of all <u>met</u>, and then gradually <i><u>experienced </u>them</i>,
when we have learned to <i><u>personally appreciate</u></i> them because of
their complementarity to ourselves, that is, when we begin to ‘miss’ them, and find
ourselves less happy(?), less content(?), less confident(?), indeed less
fulfilled, without them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Since that is true, isn’t it strange that so many Christian
and Catholic leaders speak so very little about the beauty, goodness, wisdom
and ‘loveableness’ they see, find, experience, in their relationship with God,
especially with <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it that their understanding of a religious,
faith, relationship is exclusively a matter knowing teaching, obeying commands?
Would such speaking about the beauty, the ‘loveableness’ of God or of Jesus
especially, such as <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have mentioned, be
considered outrageous presumption or merely personal emotion?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is the name of Jesus, or the word Faith, indeed
perhaps those other words Christian or even Catholic, taboo for them in their addresses
concerning the state of our world today? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">However that may be, the fact is that the Christian
proclamation as we hear it <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>today<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is so often nothing more than ethics: doing
good to the needy and underprivileged, loving one’s neighbour and especially
children, social involvement, anti-racism (which seems, somehow, to include
hating<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>so-called racists!!) etc. etc., which
has lost all contact<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with its Christian
matrix, and has long become representative of mere ‘wokeness’ or humanism. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>international religious statements such as the
Pope’s Urbi et Orbi, and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s seasonal exhortation, now
often say very little more than what is humanly expected of them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">There is, dear People of God, very little witnessing to the
pleroma of Christian, and above all Catholic, faith as a spiritual power
capable of bestowing on believers not merely firm purpose, deep patience, and loving
commitment, as a prelude to eternal salvation, but also as a unique source of
hope for the unity, peace, and fulfilment of mankind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘<b>Forgive us our sins </b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">as we forgive others</b>’ – is a fundamental
Christian doctrine that invokes a uniquely personal experience capable of bestowing
a secret joy and profound peace -- <b>’Jesu joy of man’s desiring’--</b> in
anticipation of, and prelude to, our personal sharing in Jesus’ Own experience
of Divine Beatitude. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>Whoever has My commandments
and observes them is the one who loves Me. And whoever loves Me will be loved
by my Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”</b> (John 14:21)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">However, the heavenly reward to which we all aspire as
disciples of Jesus will not be given us because we have lived up to the world’s
‘politically correct’ expectations or requirements; not even just because we
have kept Church and Divine rules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ultimate
criterion for the fully Christian and Catholic appreciation of our whole life
will be:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">“Did you keep those
commandments, rules of life, because they were <b>MY </b>commandments? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did you love and commit yourself to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Lord your God in your mind and heart <u>sincerely,
as best you could in your life-situation</u>, or did you just follow what
others about you were doing, or just seek to earn a living?”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Without personal love for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
our Christian life can only be <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bleak and
formal, our Catholic witness to God only lifeless and uninspiring; all in stark
contrast to those words of the prophet Isaiah we heard in the first reading:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Arise, SHINE; for your light has
come!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The glory of the LORD is risen
upon you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Christians -- above all we who are privileged to be
Catholics -- should indeed shine out because we are called to <u>reflect and make
known</u> the glory of the Lord which has shone upon us through our faith in the
Good News of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are not like our
brothers, the Jews and the Muslims (too many of whom alas are only pseudo-Muslims,
priding themselves on being such <u>great haters!</u>), who, as true servants
of the one God they <u>know</u> alike through Abraham: they can and do <u>speak</u>
good, holy, and beautiful things about God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Indeed, the Jews speak of God in ways very close to our own hearts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, the Christian faith is so much
more glorious than either Judaism or Islam: for we speak not only of the glory
of God, but of the wondrous GOODNESS of the Father, the supreme and
unimaginable BEAUTY of His Son Who became one of us in order to save us, and
the MYSTERIOUS AND MOST INTIMATE WORKING of the Holy Spirit of both Father and
Son: not indeed as one-of-us, but always <u>with us</u> in Mother Church, and
always wanting to be Personally present to all of us who will follow His guidance
along the ways of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">We Christians know God through the Old Testament Scriptures,
but above all we know Him through the fulfilment of those Scriptures contained in
the Gospel ‘Good News’ of Jesus, interpreted for us through Apostolic Traditions
which are the rock-like foundation of the Catholic Church (no Synodality
there!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We confess, love and worship
God, as Father, Son and Spirit: <u>the Father</u> Who created us and Who is become,
really and truly, our own Father in Jesus; <u>the Son Who took our flesh</u>
and became our Brother before showing Himself to be our Saviour, and Who, to
this very day, continues to give Himself as flesh and blood for you and me to eat
and drink, thereby enabling us to live with His life, by His Spirit; <u>and the
Holy Spirit</u> Whom we love and praise, in Whom we trust and rejoice, since He
is ever with us as our Advocate, our strength and support, our light and our guide,
our sure hope and our deep, deep, joy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">People of God, today's great solemnity of the Epiphany, the
shining forth of God's glory, invites us most compellingly to glory in the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, by telling us, in the words of the prophet Isaiah,
to:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lift up your eyes all round </i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(that is, appreciate the Faith you profess
and the Church in which you live)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">; then
you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy.<o:p></o:p></b></i></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Jesus came to teach each of us to recognize with Him, and
in Him <u>to appreciate, the Father</u> <u>as a Person</u>: His Father, and now
-- in Jesus -- our Father; and He has given us His own most Holy Spirit, <u>to
inflame our hearts, enlighten our minds, and give us strength</u>: that He might
form in us Jesus’ Own filial likeness, for the glory of the Father:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Spirit helps our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we should.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for
words.</i></b> (Rom. 8:26)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The Father is so Personally committed to us that, having
given His only Son for us, He now wants to speak to each of us personally, by
His Spirit, that we might turn to Jesus and find our salvation in Him:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No one can come to Me unless the
Father Who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(John 6:44)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The Father looks for, and expects in return, a similarly
personal and whole-hearted response and commitment from us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus assures us that the Father wants to be
our most perfect Father (Matthew 10:20):<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: 3.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It is
not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father Who speaks in you.</i></b> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">And, as the only true Father, He wants to be recognized and
loved by children who will confidently turn to Him, in Jesus, saying:
"Abba, Father"<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Our Lord Jesus is indeed the Messiah foretold by the
prophets; proclaimed by angels and manifested by a star at His birth; revealed
by the Father at His baptism in the Jordan; He Personally died on Calvary for
our sins, yours and mine; and rose on the third day for our salvation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We now live <u>in Him</u> by His Spirit bestowed
on each of us by Mother Church at our baptism, and continually renewed in us by
our faithful living in her, above all by our reception of the Eucharist at Holy
Mass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this Holy Spirit -- relating
to each and every one of us individually – works His divine purposes in the
secret depths of our minds and hearts to the extent that we are attuned to His
presence and willing to respond to His inspirations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, He is so personal to us that it is
His task to lead each of us to our own individual and personal fulfilment and
perfection in Jesus, for the Father.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">People of God, Christians and even Catholics today are
often ‘shy’ of the wonders of our faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jesus, however, came to lift His disciples up to <b>heavenly</b> glory to
share with Him in the glory of <b>divine</b> charity where Father, Son and Holy
Spirit are eternally and indivisibly <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">One</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For we belong to Jesus -- as St. Paul tells
us (1 Corinthians 3:21-4:1) -- just as Jesus belongs to God, our relationship
with God is that personal:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All things are yours, whether
(the Church), the world or life or death, or things present or things to come;
all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">There, in the Son and by the Holy Spirit, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you and I are called to join in the songs of
myriads of angels; to participate <u>with our whole being</u> in the great and eternal
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ecstasy of heavenly praise to the glory
of Him Who is, as Jesus and His most faithful disciple St. Paul,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tell us, <b>our Father</b> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></sup><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Call
no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven</i></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. </span>(Mt.
23:9)<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One God and Father of all, Who is over all,
through all, and in all. </i></b>(Ephesians 4:6)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let us on this most
solemn feast of the Epiphany 2024 revive our ability to whole-heartedly rejoice
in God and, with quiet sincerity and deep confidence, to stand ever more firm
and sure on the rock and foundation of our God-given Catholic and Christian Faith.<o:p></o:p></p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-69752526853824671312023-12-30T11:15:00.001+00:002023-12-30T11:15:33.280+00:00The Holy Family Year B, 2023<p> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #243f60; font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Ecclesiasticus 3:2-6, 12-14; Colossians 3:12-21; Luke 2:22-40</span></i>)</span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><!--StartFragment-->
</p><p class="SermonBody">Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, today I am going to
speak to you about Catholic teaching on a most contentious and disputed aspect
of human life and society … I will not be speaking to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you as ‘a Government trained and sponsored official’
... not as one who has got any University degree in social sciences … not even as
a specially sympathetic person speaking from my own experience of life …
although the latter qualifications could possibly be the best of the three just
mentioned!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, I will be speaking to
you about <b>Catholic</b> (not ‘Synodal’) teaching, the teaching of God first
of all, through Moses, the Law of Moses, the teaching of the great Prophets –
that is the Jewish teaching in which Mary of Nazareth was brought up – the
teaching that Jesus Christ – the Son of God made Flesh – <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>came among us to live to perfection for love
of His heavenly Father, and bring to its ultimate fulfilment for the eternal
salvation of all who, through faith in His Gospel tidings, could become – in
Him and by the Gift of His Spirit – children of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Today’s feast and the readings chosen for it by Mother
Church invite us to think on the characteristics of family life from the
Christian point of view: the family life of a man and woman who have dedicated
their union to Christ: for His glory, and also for their own fulfilment and
salvation together with that of any children the Lord may give them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a community of faith, hope, and
charity; a domestic church.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Notice, first of all, the absolute importance of family for
us Christians: the very Son of God would not enter into this world other than
by being born into a family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deliberately
adopted one-parent homes are not of God’s choosing and they are not endowed, nor
are they generally able, to provide the human background, understanding and sympathy
that God wants for each and every child.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Joseph and Mary were never to have sex our faith teaches,
but Joseph was <u>essential</u> for the birth of Jesus: the family for God’s
only-begotten-Son-made-flesh had to be made up of a man and a woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Families’ of the same sex are <b>not</b>
Christian families, they can neither pretend to be, or ever hope to become,
such. Notice here that God the Father, when requiring that His Son be born as Man
into a family made up of one man and one woman, was not just following an
arbitrary rule or (Mosaic) law of His own making, He was doing it out of His over-flowing
love of the future Child – His most beloved and only-begotten Son – Who was to
become incarnate in human flesh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover,
this unique Child-birth was not to be just a traditional blessing for the
Jewish people; for God wanted His Son to be born into the family of Mary and
Joseph for the greater good and the guidance, indeed for the salvation, of the
whole world.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">This fact of the supreme importance of some sort of family
for the good of children and of society is not disputed among the great
religions of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Governments
however, yield easily to popular pressures and they seek to promote not only
what is good for the people but also, and at times, primarily, what is likely
to be for their own good at the next election, as we see today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At such times, popularity is of supreme
importance … and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>popularity means --
too often -- the lowest common denominator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Consequently we, as Catholic Christians, base our
appreciation of the nature and role of the family not on any politically
correct view but on the ages-long experience of human society, the inspired guidance
of the Scriptures, and also the infallible teaching of Jesus Christ, our Lord
and Saviour, and of the Church He has bequeathed us, through His chosen
Apostles under the guidance and sustaining power of His Most Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">As in every body made up of several parts, the over-riding
requirement is that of <b>unity</b>, for without unity such a body <u>cannot
function</u> aright, and it will fragment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That is why, St. Paul in his letter to the Colossians, when telling them
how to give glory to God and how, in modern terms, to give good press to the
Faith, spoke of that one basic and supremely important need for <u>unity in Christian
family life</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was, of course,
much else that he could have said about such family life, but at this point in
his letter there was no opportunity for anything more than what was absolutely
necessary, and so he wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wives, be subordinate to your
husbands, as is proper in the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them.
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the
Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fathers, do not provoke your
children, so they may not become discouraged. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">I think that everyone will agree that -- for men in general
-- their weakness, their ‘Achilles’ heel’ in their relations with women and in
family life, is a tendency towards violence, together with an excessive love of,
and absorption in, work at the expense of personal relationships of
understanding and love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, when
considering more particularly the question of violence between spouses, and
having just acknowledged a man’s tendency towards violence, we must recognize
the fact that a woman’s violence WITH HER TONGUE can often be most BITTER, and
that such bitterness can provoke men to resort to slap-violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is essential to recognize that violence of
whatever sort is wrong before God, and feminine violence with her tongue can be
equally as wrong as man’s ‘slap-hand’ violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Legally however, woman’s violence with her tongue – her more natural
weapon -- is rarely considered as criminal, though the harm done by it can be enduringly
hurtful and harmful, whereas a man’s slap with his hand – his more natural
weapon under provocation – is much more easily condemned as criminal.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Wouldn’t it be strange then, if Saint Paul, writing in
order to preserve and build up unity in the family, gave guidance to married
men that is so pertinent and precise -- <b>love</b> your wives and <b>do not be
harsh</b> with them -- and then was to be very far out in his prescription for
women?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His words to them are, in fact,
just as clear and incisive as those words of advice he gave for men, and he, in
the name of Jesus, told women then, and the Scriptures still proclaim his
teaching to women of today: “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the
Lord.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Submit, that is, to your husband’s
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">decision</b> as being necessary for the
family, so long as it is “<b>in the Lord</b>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Endless arguing should be anathema!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Again, our everyday experience confirms Paul’s teaching in
this respect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Modern day feminists see
themselves as <u>rivals to men</u> not as complimentary to them; and even were the
man to be their husband, their love for him as a person might well be
insufficient to ameliorate their confrontational attitude towards men in
general.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, because they set
themselves up as rivals to, and independent of, men, they feel bound,
frequently, to try to prove that they can do <b>manly</b> work every bit as well
as men, claiming the right to be boxers, miners, front-line soldiers, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no doubt that they can, indeed, do
many manly things, but, at times, only at the cost of a certain loss of their
own femininity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A woman can drive heavy,
long-distance lorries, slug it out in a boxing ring, dig coal, fight in battles;
but what sort of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">woman</b> will be the result?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The assertion of women’s rights is all to the good, it is
the teaching both of Mother Church and the Scriptures that man and woman are of
equal dignity and worth in God’s eyes; but the demand for equal rights carried
to that excess which would claim <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">equality</b>
in every respect, will only result in a society where there are fewer and fewer
true men and women, and more and more human beings of no particular character:
men <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>without spirit and strength of
character; and women lacking female charm or grace of character, and much less able
to sympathetically understand and positively guide and develop the volatile humanity
of young people, and to form the bond of mutual appreciation and sympathetic
help in family life, thereby promoting in a <u>uniquely effective way</u> social
harmony and peace.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Paul’s last bit of teaching on family life concerns the
young: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Children, obey your parents in everything,
for this is pleasing to the Lord.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Christian parents should never be embarrassed by this their
right to obedience from their children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Children who obey their parents gain a blessing from the Lord, because,
Paul tells us, such obedience is pleasing to the Lord, and that is because it
is for the good of the children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
cannot be a good parent if you abdicate your God-given right to obedience from
your children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Children -- young people
especially -- should note that they have to show obedience to their parents out
of love for the Lord, “It is pleasing to the Lord”; and so there can never be
any question of children obeying in what is sinful.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The last admonition is addressed by Paul to fathers because
of their tendency towards violence in general, but today we know that it
applies equally to possessive and domineering mothers:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Do not provoke your children,
lest they become discouraged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Every aspect of Christian family life is ordained towards
the good of the children, the fulfilment of the parents, and to the benefit of
human society: parents in their attitude towards their children are neither to
spoil them by releasing them from their duty of obedience nor are they to
embitter them by their own harshness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And the personal, mutual, relationship of husband and wife is, likewise,
most necessary for the good of the children, and needs to be regulated with
that end in view: therefore, the husband must love his wife, and the wife must
respect her husband, both of them “in the Lord”, for family unity, peace, and
cohesion, requires it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their personal
fulfilment and sanctification as disciples of Christ and children of God go
hand in hand, and are to be attained through that mutual fulfilment of, and submission
to, God’s will; the nostrums of modern psychological or social theoreticians
can in no way sound the depths of human nature or the splendour of mankind’s
destiny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is noticeable that whereas
modern society in the West recognizes, with St. Paul, <u>man’s tendency to
downgrade love,</u> it is unable, unwilling, or even afraid (?), to publicly accept
the <u>equally noticeable tendency for women to downgrade respect</u>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Finally, let us have a look at the behaviour of Mary and
Joseph in the Gospel. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">I will just bring out one or two points for you to
note.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First of all, Mary and Joseph both
teach the Child obedience by themselves being obedient to the Lord and the Law:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When the days were completed for
their purification according to the law of Moses, they took Him up to Jerusalem
to present Him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord. When
they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned
to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Simeon the Temple priest blessed both Joseph and Mary, but
in the matter of the Child’s Personal destiny it was Mary alone he addressed:
Mary’s personal dignity was not in any way lessened or compromised by her
submission to Joseph in the family, for the family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Finally, try to imagine the joy of both Mary and Joseph
when they began to see the fruit of their personal sacrifices:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Child grew and became strong,
filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon Him. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The development of the Child Jesus is meant to serve as a
model for the nurturing of all Christian children: they need to gradually grow
in human wisdom and in their endowment of divine grace, so that their fullness
of their God-given personality may develop hand in hand with their physical
growth.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">People of God, make every effort to bring up your children
in a Christian family atmosphere in accordance with the teaching of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A true home, both earthly and heavenly, can
only be attained by our walking in the power and holiness of the Spirit, along
the path prescribed for our well-being by the Father Who calls us, and trodden,
for our example, by His Son Who loved, died, and rose again, for us.</p>
<!--EndFragment--><br /><p></p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-54505213480922916092023-12-29T15:09:00.002+00:002023-12-29T15:10:30.654+00:00Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God Year B, 2023<p><br /></p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21) </span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"></p><p class="SermonBody"><br /></p><p class="SermonBody">
</p><p class="SermonBody">In the second reading we heard St. Paul telling his
converts in Galatia:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>As proof that you are
children, God sent the spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba,
Father!”</i></b> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">There Paul was urging his converts to recognize the wonderful
privilege bestowed upon them by their faith in Jesus, a faith which enabled
them to address God as ‘Abba, Father’ in all truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That mind-blowing privilege was theirs
because the Spirit left by Jesus to His Church, to make up for His own bodily Ascension
into heaven, was – and is -- the Spirit of God’s own Son, with power and
mission to form all earthly disciples of Jesus into an authentic spiritual
likeness of their Lord and Saviour, able to express their love and trust
towards God, as did Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemani, with the word 'Father' (‘Abba’
being Aramaic for ‘Father’).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The Spirit bestowed upon Mary, however, worked so
wondrously in her, that she was led to respond to God the Father with a love and
trust that enabled her to bring forth not just passing words of praise from her
lips, but the Divine Word Himself -- the Father’s co-eternal Son -- become Man from
her womb!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So intense, so complete and absolutely
unreserved, was the response of Mary to God’s word delivered to her by the
angel Gabriel, that Jesus always openly praised her for that aspect of her
character above all else:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>And it happened that, as (Jesus)
spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to
Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed
You!"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But He said, "More than
that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"</i></b>
(Luke 11:27-28) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>"Who is My mother, or
My brothers?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And He looked around
at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My
brothers!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For whoever does the will of God
is My brother and My sister and mother."</i></b> (Mark 3:33-35)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">We can also compare and contrast Mary with Moses who, as
you heard in the first reading, brought great blessings down on Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There, we were told how God would bless the
Chosen People of the Old Testament through the use of certain words of priestly
blessing that He gave to Moses for Aaron, his sons, and their descendants:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>Tell Aaron and his sons: ‘This
is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them: “The LORD bless you and
keep you!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The LORD let His face shine
upon you, and be gracious to you!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So shall they invoke My name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.’
<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Those are truly beautiful words used to confer a treasured
blessing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But consider how God the
Father blesses us through Mary and her Son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For, she does not simply hand down, pass on, special words, she clothes
-- with <b>her</b> own flesh and blood-- the One Eternal Word of God given her,
and gives Him birth for the ultimate blessing and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>eternal good of all mankind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No longer simply a prayer for the blessing of
Israel, but God's gracious presence in Mother Church for the salvation of the whole
world!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory
of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Him we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Ephesians 1:3-8)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Holy Mary, you are indeed blessed above all women by God
the Father, for through you there came to both Jews and Gentiles the One God
and Saviour, through Whom and in Whom all the blessings of heaven itself are promised
to those who believe in His ‘Good Tidings of great joy’!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Again, in our Gospel reading we learned that those who
searched for the Child found:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b><i>Mary
and Joseph, and the Infant lying in the manger.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Jesus told His disciples, through St. John at the foot of
the Crosson Calvary, to take Mary to their hearts as their own Mother, meaning that,
in their endeavours to become His true disciples, they would ultimately find that
fulfilment only through <u>her maternal prayers. </u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary is no mere addition, certainly no
complication, for Catholic spirituality; but she is most certainly a <u>challenge
</u>for many modern – formerly Catholic -- women whose main aim now seems to be
proudly challenging men in human diversity, rather than fulfilling themselves --
and humanity itself -- through their share in God-given complementarity!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we believe that Mary
leads each and every one of us to Jesus when we recall that she is not simply
the model of the Church, but was the Church itself in its origins, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and that only in Mother Church can each and
every one of us find Jesus truly and love Him fully.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Finally, we also need to understand that Mary, who is, for
us, a temple of the Holy Spirit and a channel of blessing from the Father, is
also our model and inspiration in our relationship with Jesus, in so far as the
Scriptures tell us that she, our Mother, who was and is always most sublimely
one with Jesus, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>Mary kept all these things</i></b>
(that she had experienced and heard concerning Jesus) <b><i>reflecting on them
in her heart.</i></b> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">There is to be found the supreme example and the ultimate
guidance for anyone <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hoping and longing
to find God -- our only true and sublimely perfect Father -- in and through
Jesus: imitate Mary by treasuring the Good News of Jesus handed down to us by
Mother Church who, with her teaching of the Scriptures, illuminates our minds
to understand and appreciate the promised Christ of God; and, through the
economy of her sacraments, enables us to fittingly welcome and worship His very
presence in our midst, and receive Him with whole-hearted and personal love into
our own individual minds, hearts, and lives. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">As children of Mary, therefore, hear the Word of God
proclaimed in Mother Church, with reverence and joy; treasure the mysterious
presence of His grace in your heart; and, above all, dear People of God, seek to
respond – by the Spirit – to God, the Giver of all good gifts, with that
wholehearted trust and gratitude to which Mary herself gave perfect expression
when she said:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>Behold, I am the handmaid
of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.</i></b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Luke 1:38) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<!--EndFragment--><br /><p></p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-42386438214503998842023-12-22T17:34:00.003+00:002023-12-22T20:32:12.972+00:00Christmas Dawn Mass, 2023<p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; text-align: left;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Isaiah
62:11-12; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:15-20</span>)</span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"></p><p class="SermonBody"><br /></p><p class="SermonBody">Perhaps the most striking aspect of our Gospel reading this
happy morn is the fact that it is all about the shepherds: from beginning to
end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when the story leads us into
the presence of Mary, Joseph, and the ‘Infant lying in the manger’ the focus
still remains on the shepherds, who:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>Made known </i></b><i>(to
Mary and Joseph) <b>the message <u>that had been told them</u> about this Child.<o:p></o:p></b></i></p>
<p class="SermonBody">And though mention is next made of Mary herself,
nevertheless, the shepherds are not dismissed, for we are told:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>Mary kept all these things
</i></b>(told her by the shepherds)<b><i>, reflecting on them in her heart.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">And the whole gospel passage is concluded with information
concerning the shepherds:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>They returned, glorifying
and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told
them.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Notice carefully that final phrase; for the reading could easily
have ended:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>They
returned glorifying and praising God all they had heard and seen.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">But that would not have been enough, those final words nailing
our attention to the shepherds were added:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b><i>just
as it <u>had been told them</u>.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Why are the shepherds so very, very, important for the beginning
of the Gospel story, why are they so firmly established, centre stage, as it
were?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Surely the answer is that the Son of God was coming in
human flesh that He might<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>shepherd Israel</u>,
God’s Chosen People, and that they might become sheep of His flock: the flock
whose integrity He would protect and lead to rich pasture, while sparing the
ewes that were pregnant and cherishing the lambs still weak; the flock He would
protect from all dangers, while searching for and rescuing individuals gone
astray, tending the wounded, nourishing the sick, comforting the fearful and calming
the foolish. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">From the very situation of His birth, therefore, Jesus
began His life most emphatically proclaiming: <b><i>‘I am</i></b> (going-to-be)
<b><i>the good shepherd’</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">At today’s third <span style="color: red;">Christmas </span>Mass
attention will be directed to the divine Person and heavenly Origin of Jesus,
and there our <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">worship</b> will be called
for and His <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">glory</b> exalted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b>In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was in the beginning with God.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">But here, at this early morning Mass, our <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">love</b> is provoked – not for the Child as
such -- but for Him Who has come to be <u>the promised ‘good shepherd’ for
Israel</u>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Shepherds tending their flocks were often lonely for long
periods, regularly sleep-starved; and they had to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>be prepared to face up to hyenas, jackals,
wolves, and even bears; wielding only their iron-bound cudgels and large knives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Meanwhile, they had to be prepared to experience ‘burning
heat by day and biting frost by night’ according to the patriarch Jacob who
once served as Laban’s shepherd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Jesus had, most certainly, a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>deep-down regard for, and appreciation of,
shepherds; as is shown by His famous words:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b><i>A
good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The shepherd’s life was hard and their public esteem was generally
low; but Jesus openly acknowledged His admiration for those men willing to lay
down their lives for their sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
viewpoint is not generally appreciated today, and can even be attacked as being
wasteful of human life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Jesus,
however, it was, and is, the <b>self-centered person</b> – no matter how
cultured or eminent – whose life was (is) supremely wasteful of a God-given opportunity.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A life embracing self-sacrifice to
fulfil an obligation of trust, to express commitment to, not <u>mere emotion</u>
for, the good – yes, even the good of mute and, at times, stupid, sheep --
evoked such admiration and love from Jesus that, no matter how humble,
mis-esteemed or unappreciated by others it might be thought, He most readily
saw Himself embodying it: <b>laying down His life for His sheep</b>,
unhesitatingly going off into the desert in search of perhaps only one – very
stupid indeed – lost sheep (Mary Magdalene and her 7 demons??), and most
whole-heartedly rejoicing could He but carry such a lost one back to the flock
on His shoulders!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">For a true shepherd there was a ‘substantial’ reward quite
apart from whatever pittance they might have been able to earn from the owners
of the flocks, for a good shepherd loved the sheep of his flock, because <u>he
was their shepherd</u>, he was their <b>all</b> in the desert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the shepherd was, in turn, loved by his
sheep, which could number thousands; and being, of themselves helpless, the
sheep were completely dependent on their good shepherd and trusted him implicitly
and totally in return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is more, living
together continually, through ‘thick and thin’ as the saying goes, there was a very
strong bond of understanding between them:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the shepherd’s morning call as he led them out to drink was unique and
immediately recognizable to the sheep of his flock, and he would often play
upon a pipe or flute for them as they walked along the way to water or pasture;
indeed, there were individual sheep so tame that they would respond to their
name being called by that voice they recognized and trusted.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">And so, People of God, we who are thought to be sheep of Jesus’
flock, should aspire to recognize, hear, and most gratefully appreciate the
love that filled Jesu’s own Most Sacred Heart from the very first moment of His
being amongst us, His future sheep.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">What did He expect in return?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Since Jesus came to give, not to receive, and since
self-love was totally alien to Him, I think we must conclude that He expected
nothing <u>for Himself</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nevertheless, since His ability-, or opportunity-to-give would
ultimately be dependent on mankind’s willingness to receive what He offered,
then, <u>out of love for us</u> He must have deeply desired to be received as
Shepherd, by the sheep He came so selflessly to serve and save. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Moreover, although Jesus expected nothing <b>for Himself</b>,
He most certainly hoped for, strove for, and ultimately died for, whatever the
best of human nature could be taught and brought to, offer, give <b>to</b>, and
<b>for</b>,<b> His Father</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What so shocked St. John and all the apostolic
witnesses to Jesus was that:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>He was in the world, but
the world <u>did not know Him</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
came to what was his own, but his own people <u>did not accept Him</u>. </i></b>(John
1:10-11)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">However, His self-less love for us triumphed over that
rejection both on the Cross and in His glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and
that triumph has been shared with us by His Gift of His own most Holy
Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, Jesus comes anew to us as
our Shepherd, offering Himself to us and for us; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and we today, have -- by the power of His
Spirit with us and in us -- the opportunity to change the wretched record of current
history by giving Him a welcome into our own hearts not unworthy of that
relationship between Shepherd and sheep foreshadowed in the stall at Bethlehem
those long years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is why we
prayed at the beginning of this Mass:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Father, we are filled
with the new light by the coming of your Word among us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May the light of faith shine in our words and
actions.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">St. Paul told us in the second reading that:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i>The kindness and generous
love of God our Saviour appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had
done, but because of His mercy.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">God, that is, takes the initiative, He leads, He guides, He
calls … it is our part, our duty, and surely, ultimately our joy, to LISTEN, to
UNDERSTAND, and to RESPOND.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this is a wonderfully
happy and most beautiful morning, for the shepherds were invited to the grotto
where Mary and Joseph adored the Infant Jesus in manger familiar indeed to
shepherds, where the Child was wrapped in swaddling clothes just such as would have
been available in the shepherds’ own families; and their unimportant, but truly
essential presence, so carefully and repeatedly stressed, assures us of this
most beautiful and comforting truth: <u>Jesus wants us to welcome Him this day
as our own most loving Shepherd, and become sheep of His pasture</u>: sheep who
recognise His voice, trust Him implicitly and whole-heartedly, respond joyfully
to His call, and thus come to know how to find peace in His presence and rest confidently
in His care, by the Spirit, for love of the Father.</p><br /><p></p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-31763485214607823222023-12-20T22:20:00.005+00:002023-12-22T08:59:05.626+00:00Fourth Sunday of Advent Year B, 2023<p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #243f60; font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14a, 16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38</span></i>)</span></p></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Today, Mother Church puts before us
two very significant readings from her sacred Scriptures, and their comparison
can show us a fact of fundamental importance concerning our relationship with
God, and provide us with sure guidance for the conduct of our spiritual lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">Let us look first of all at our
Gospel reading:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">(The angel Gabriel) said, "Hail,
full of grace! The Lord is with you! ..... Do not be afraid, Mary, for
you have found favour with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb
and bear a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great, and will
be called the Son of the Most High.” Mary said: “How can this be, since I have
no relations with a man?”</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">While some scholars have imagined
that Mary consecrated her virginity to the Lord in her early years, others have
disputed such an idea as being inconceivable for a young girl living
devoutly among the Jewish people who held marriage and childbirth in such great
honour.</span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">Such respect, even reverence, was
indeed the attitude to childlessness in Mary’s own family background where her highly
respected cousin Elizabeth considered childlessness to have long been ‘her
reproach among men’ which the Lord had finally deigned to take away through the
birth of her son John, the future Baptiser.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">Moreover, today’s readings show us
that the idea of a formal consecration or dedication of her virginity by Mary
is not necessary if we rightly follow the teaching available to us in the first
reading about King David, and use it to carefully appreciate Our Lady’s answer
to the angel Gabriel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">David, you heard, had planned to
build a temple for the Lord:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">When the LORD had given King David
rest from his enemies on every side, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am
living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God dwells in a tent!” Nathan
answered the king, “Go, do whatever you have in mind, for the LORD is with
you.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">It was God, however, Who would build
the temple He wanted, when the time was right. Therefore, He sent Nathan
back to David with this message:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></o:p></span><b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Go, tell
my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Should you build Me a</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">house to dwell in? I, THE LORD WILL
MAKE A HOUSE FOR YOU. When your time comes and you rest with your
ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will
make his kingdom firm. I will be a Father to him, and he shall be a son
to Me. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before Me.’ <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 2.25pt;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">Dear People of God, whatever we do
before, and above all </span><u style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">for</u><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">, God is essentially secondary to </span><u style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">the
attitude in which we do it</u><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">; and David was adopting a rather condescending
attitude towards God, Who knew David’s heart far better than David understood
his own enthusiastically chosen words:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> Should <u>you</u> build <u>Me</u> a house to dwell in?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">David, we are told, was a man after
God’s own heart, but here he had spoken from his position of newly-gained
security, power, and personal satisfaction, all of which had led him to express
‘generous gratitude’ to God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">Therefore, the prophet was instructed
to make it crystal clear to David, </span><b style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">WHO</b><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;"> was doing the leading and
guiding, </span><b style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">WHO</b><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;"> would protect and save.</span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">That was something</span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">essential for
a man of David’s character and capabilities to know.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">Mary, on the other hand, could never
think, like David, of bestowing anything on God. Because of her wondrous humility
she had no treasured physical virginity to offer Him; her humility was </span><u style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">total</u><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">,
and embraced her </span><u style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">whole being.</u><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;"> And so, Her </span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">life-long desire to belong entirely to God </span><b style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">was
her virginity </b><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">because it was </span><b style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">absolute</b><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">. Momentous HUMILITY and un-imaginable
VIRGINITY are ‘part and parcel’ of the wondrous beauty of Mary, and </span><b style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">that</b><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">
overwhelming passion was not – like a supposed vow would have been -- alien to
Jewish aspirations, as we know from St. Paul (1 Corinthians 7:25, 34),
who had been himself a supremely observant Jew:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Brothers and Sisters: In regard to virgins,
I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who, by the
Lord’s mercy is trustworthy … an unmarried woman, a virgin, is anxious about
the things of the Lord so that she may be holy in both body and spirit, (but)
she who is married cares about the things of the world.</span></i></b><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">So, in her reply to Gabriel, Mary could
only speak from that looking-to and longing-for God which was fundamental to
her character; and, on hearing the angel addressing her, no marriage-envisioning
question such as ‘who has been chosen for me?’ came to her mind, nothing but
those simple words:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">How can this be, since I have no
relations with a man? Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">She had always been, and had always
longed to “better-be”, ‘the handmaid of the Lord’; and whereas David had spoken
to God ‘generously’ out of his present fullness, Mary … with complete humility
and total longing … found nothing to offer other than that abiding and absolute
commitment to, and longing for, God, which we rightly call her spiritual and
physical virginity, the TOTAL VIRGINITY, supreme and spotless, of her Immaculate
Being.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">And – note this most carefully dear
Friends in Jesus -- Mary’s most beautiful virginity, catholic doctrine, and the
spiritual ideals they caused to arise in receptive hearts and minds conquered
the hearts and minds of women – powerful women, influential women – in vice-ridden
Rome.</span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">Yes, the </span><b style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">beauty of Gospel
Christianity</b><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;"> conquered the hearts and minds of all those sick of the
pleasures and advantages of pagan practices --- recognized as being pagan by the
new, and full-, pure-, blooded, Christians of Apostolic times.</span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">Words of personal condemnation were not used,
following Our Lord Jesus’ Own example, but neither were gratuitous blessings or
favours bestowed to win worldly favour.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">David lived long enough before God in
his restored humility and hope, not only to gladly look forward to, but also to
prepare for, the beginning of the fulfilment of the Lord’s promise through his
son Solomon, who did indeed build an earthly Temple for the Lord in
Jerusalem. However, that first Temple would be destroyed by the
Babylonians after some 350 years and it was not seriously replaced until
a most splendid Temple was later built by the wicked King Herod, who did indeed
produce a wonderful structure which amazed the world of its time, but was in no
way pleasing to God in so far as it had not been built for God’s glory, but for
Herod’s own glory, and the renown of his kingdom under the watchful eyes of his
imperial overlords in Rome. And, in the event, it was those very Roman
overlords who -- as Jesus foretold -- not only destroyed, but</span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">totally ‘razed to the ground’, that symbol of
Herod’s glory before one hundred years had passed. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">And so, God’s word to David by the
prophet had been aimed over and beyond Solomon, for it envisaged and intended
Jesus Himself, Whose risen, glorious, Body would become the ultimate Temple of
God among men: a Temple not built by human hands, and one where Jews and pagans
without distinction would have access to the Father in the one Spirit.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></o:p></span><b><i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The Jews said to Him, “What sign can
you show us for doing this?” Jesus <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> a</span></span>nswered and said to them, “Destroy
this temple and in three days I will raise <span> <span> </span><span> <span> </span></span></span>it up.” The Jews said,
“This temple has been under construction for forty-six <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>years, and you will
raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking about the <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>temple of His
body.</span></i></b><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">
(John 2:18-21)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Consequently, our Gospel story was
all about God choosing <b>When</b> (in the fullness of time), <b>by Whom</b>
(His own Son), and <b>through whom</b> (the immaculate virgin Mary of
Nazareth), salvation would ultimately be offered to humanity:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have
found favour with God. Behold, you will </span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">conceive in your womb and bear a
Son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called
the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David
His father, and He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of His
kingdom there will be no end.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></i></b><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It is God alone Who gives salvation
and works wonders. However, we are by no means excluded from His
purposes, for we are called – in Jesus and by the Holy Spirit -- to share in
and contribute to His work. Although the Lord did not allow David himself
to build the Temple in Jerusalem, his desire to do so was most pleasing to Him,
and therefore He rewarded David with great blessings, the greatest of which
being that He, the Lord, would build David a house, and from that house the
Messiah Himself, Israel’s supreme King, would eventually come. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">With Mary, on the other hand, her
desire was so supremely pleasing to God that it would be immediately and most
sublimely fulfilled in the way God wanted: Mary would remain a virgin.</span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">Notwithstanding that however, she would give
birth to a Child, her Child indeed, but above all, the very Son of God Himself,
incarnate, clothed in Mary’s spotless human flesh.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The Lord
has looked upon the lowliness of His handmaid.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">My dear people, it is a fact that God
alone does the work of salvation, for to Him alone is glory and power.
Nonetheless, He wills to associate us in the work His own dear Son accomplished
in human flesh and blood, to the extent that even the bread and wine we offer
Him at daily Mass must be, and must be declared to be, ‘made’ by human
hands. Moreover, God does not use human beings like tools: for, in Jesus,
we are called to co-operate with Him as true children trying to please and
glorify their heavenly Father; and it is through such work that we are enabled
to receive, by the Holy Spirit, the gift of a personal share in God’s own
infinite holiness and eternal blessedness.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">Do you want to make something of your
life with and for God, to love and serve Him faithfully and supremely? Do
you want, most sincerely, to become a true Child of God in Jesus? If you
can say “Yes” to such questions, and if you can keep on aspiring to serve Him
even though, despite your efforts, you see little of real worth in your life …
if you will keep on telling God of your desire even though you have not yet
been able to hear any reply … then you will indeed be used by Him for His
purposes, and you will become a disciple after Jesus’ own most sacred heart,
and in Him, a true child of the heavenly Father.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">Of course, that is not easily done, for
it is a lifetimes’ work. But those whose mind and heart are firmly
centred on God, though they may -- at times -- be painfully aware of their own
nothingness, do not allow themselves to become downcast or disheartened;
precisely, because their mind is always occupied with desires for God’s
good-pleasure and greater glory, and thus they are always looking forward and
hoping in Him rather than despairing of themselves. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">People of God, following our Mother
Mary,</span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">let us, welcome Jesus -- the very
Word of God made flesh -- into our lives anew this Christmas with like
sentiments of love and longing, of trust, hope and commitment:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></o:p></span><b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I am the
handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your Word.</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 14pt;">There is no surer way to find
Christmas joy and peace. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<!--EndFragment-->Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-8219221477813701882023-12-14T21:52:00.001+00:002023-12-14T21:53:50.686+00:00Third Sunday of Advent Year B, 2023<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Isaiah
61: 1-2, 10-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1: 6-8, 19-28</span>)</span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
great prophet Isaiah spoke most assuredly about God’s forthcoming work for the
glorification of Zion and salvation in Israel, and in today’s reading he portrays
one majestic figure yet to come:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_Hlk501120094"></a><a name="_Hlk153307193"><b><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I rejoice heartily in the LORD,
in my God is the joy of my soul</span></i></b></a><b><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">; for<a name="_Hlk500949535">, </a></span></i></b><b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">l</span></b><b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">ike a bridegroom adorned with diadem,</span></b><b><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Who was Isaiah foreshadowing there? Whom did he have in mind when saying:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_Hlk153307287"><b><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He
has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice</span></i></b></a><b><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Above
all, who could he imagine to be:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span><b><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Adorned, with a diadem …<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Indeed,
with the </span><b><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">diadem of the</span></i></b><b><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> MOST
HOLY SPIRIT</span></i></b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(cf.
61:1)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Isaiah
was not of course ‘imagining’ anyone, he was speaking under divine inspiration of
one of whom only God could authoritatively speak, Jesus, the Beloved and
Only-Begotten Son of God: incarnate, that is, clothed in, wrapped in, flesh
given Him by His immaculate mother, Mary the Flower of Israel, herself </span><b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">adorned with jewels</span></b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,
that is, the privileges of her </span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Immaculate
Conception.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And the ultimate
reason for all this rejoicing? It is indeed
a most sublime reason, pre-eminently worthy of such rejoicing, because it fulfils
and answers both the eternally-loving purpose of Our God and Father, and
mankind’s own deepest longing since being cast out of Eden and away from God’s
presence:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">THE LORD GOD WILL MAKE JUSTICE
AND PRAISE SPRING UP BEFORE ALL THE NATIONS.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="SermonBody"><span style="font-size: medium;">Notice, dear People of God, that PRAISE is associated with ‘justice’ essentially!! One fully justified instinctively <b>rejoices
in the Lord</b>, such a one cannot not-rejoice in the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="SermonBody"><span style="font-size: medium;">And yet, when that promised Coming One -- Son of the Virgin
Mother -- was about to begin His work of
making ‘justice and praise spring up’, the greatest of all the prophets, John
the Baptist found himself confirming Isaiah’s prophecy by making use of much more
sober language in order to reveal with all clarity a truly disconcerting
reality:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">I am the voice of one crying out
in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord; for there is One among you
Whom you do not recognize, the One coming after me, Whose sandal strap I am not
worthy to untie.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%;">That is the setting for our
Advent preparations to welcome the Lord coming to His spouse -- Mother Church –
this Christmas, to make her more recognizable
as</span><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <span lang="EN-US">‘a bride bedecked with jewels’</span></span></i><b><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dear People of God, look all around you
this Advent time at the great majority of Christmas celebrations and you will
have no doubt about the truth of the Baptist’s words:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <b><i>T</i></b></span><b><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">here is One among you Whom <u>you do not recognize</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Why is Jesus
not recognized today by those, so many of them, who were formerly professing
Catholics or Christians? It is, to a
certain extent, because many have succumbed to the lure and enticements of
popular sin, or have fainted or despaired under the burden of personal and worldly
cares.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There is,
however, another cause for Jesus being unrecognizable for too many of our
fellows, be they merely nominal Catholics or Christians or just present-day
unbelievers, and that is because they
have long been <u>out of touch with</u>, and have become unaware of and
insensitive to, the real Jesus of Mother Church’s authentic teaching and apostolic
traditions. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dear Catholic
People of God, as Catholics <b>we are </b>members of the original body
established by Jesus as His Church, on the foundations of His Personally chosen
and Spirit-endowed Apostles, to whom He uniquely said:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I
no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is
doing. I have called you friends, because I have told YOU <u>everything</u> I
have heard from My Father.</span></i></b><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> (John
15:15</span><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Moreover, He promised those original Twelve that: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Advocate, the Holy
Spirit that the Father will send in My name — He will teach you <u>everything</u>
and remind you of <u>all</u> that (I) told you.</span></i></b><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> (John 14:26</span><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Those original Apostles are thus the source of Mother Church’s doctrinal
<b>teaching</b> <b>and traditions</b>,<b> </b>and it is absolutely necessary that those
Apostolic memories of Jesus’ words --- addressed Personally and directly to
them as His friends for the good of further friends to come through their
ministry -- that those Apostolic traditions learned from Jesus’ very actions
and attitudes, and witnessed by their own eyes and heard by their own ears, remain
intact and appreciated in Mother Church today.
No one -- not even a Pope -- can sever us from Jesus’ love and guidance handed
down through the ages in those <b>Apostolic
doctrines and traditions</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">There are difficulties today for a faithless generation wanting <u>to
justify itself</u> and acquire <u>worldly popularity</u>: it tries to confuse
issues by subtly ‘updating’ certain texts of the Gospel, that is, by teaching
them in accordance with modern preferences while, on the other hand, simply
trying to consign to oblivion other authentic teachings that cannot be thus ‘updated’.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This is due to the fact that (as Jesus Himself said,</span><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span lang="EN-US">John
14:17</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">):<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">This is the Spirit of Truth, Whom <u>the world
cannot receive</u>, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him,
because He abides with you, and He will be in you.</span></i></b><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">The world <u>cannot</u> receive the Spirit of Truth
because it does not, will not, believe in Jesus: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">And
when He</span></i></b><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> (the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth) <b><i>comes,
He will convict the world in regard to sin, <u>because they do not believe in
Me</u>. </i></b> (John 16:8–9</span><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">) <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">The Apostles, on the other hand, know the Spirit of
Truth, because He already abides <b>with
them</b> as leaders of the future Catholic Church of Jesus, and will be <b>in them</b> individually, as faithful
disciples of and witnesses to Jesus their Lord and </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">Saviour</span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="SermonBody"><span style="font-size: medium;">The season of Advent is a time of great expectancy, when devout
Catholics and Christians look forward to
the coming of the Lord; and being certain that His coming anew this Christmas
will be for our blessing, let us all beseech His most Holy Spirit to prepare us
to welcome Him with hearts and minds authentically attuned to Him in the
Apostolic purity of Mother Church’s authentic <b>teaching</b> <b>and traditions</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="SermonBody"><span style="font-size: medium;">We are also aware that at the appointed time -- we do not
know precisely when -- He will come in glory to judge the world, to triumph
over all His enemies and cast out Satan; and then, after having ultimately
established the Kingdom of God, He will lead all His faithful ones to worship
and rejoice in, the supreme Lordship of His Father. This is what St. Paul
explained when writing his first letter to his converts in Corinth:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>As in Adam all die, even so in
Christ all shall be made alive. But
each one in his own order: Christ the first-fruits, afterward those who are
Christ's at His coming. Then comes the
end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all
rule and all authority and power. For,
He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet; the last enemy that
will be destroyed is death, for, "He has put all things under His
feet." </i></b>(1 Corinthians
15:22-26)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="SermonBody"><span style="font-size: medium;">This season of Advent is a time of joyful expectancy
indeed, but it is a Christian joy, <b>sieved</b>,<b> </b>as it were, through a
God-given awareness of his/her human weakness, ignorance, and personal
sinfulness; it is a most-truly Christian joy: gladdening-the-heart and also
humbling-the-mind of those called to become true children of God, loving Him in
all and above all, as Jesus Our Saviour would have us do by the Gift of His own
Most Holy Spirit. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="SermonBody"><span style="font-size: medium;">And therefore, all true Catholics and Christians can share,
take part in, with all confidence and simplicity, humility and sincerity, that blessing
enshrined in Isaiah’s great oracle: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="SermonBody">
<b><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I rejoice heartily in the Lord,
in my GOD IS THE JOY OF MY SOUL.</span></i></b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-29215516154851480302023-12-13T20:04:00.003+00:002023-12-13T20:04:51.576+00:00Second Sunday of Advent Year B, 2023<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Isaiah
40:1-5, 9-11; 2<sup>nd</sup>. Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8</span>)</span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody">John, a desert-dweller enormously popular with Jews seeking
both liturgical purity and greater personal moral integrity, came to the river
Jordan to proclaim his God-given message and to ‘baptize’ the crowds flocking in their thousands to hear him and receive his
baptismal ministrations. John’s
God-given message was definitively clear and authoritative proclaiming repentance
for the forgiveness of sins to those who
were both religious and humble enough to want to hear and follow his guidance: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>One mightier than I is coming
after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thong of His sandals. I have
baptized you with water; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.</b> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">John the Baptist -- as he is now known -- the greatest, as
Jesus said, of all those born of woman, was chosen by God to immediately
precede Jesus and personally introduce Him to God’s Chosen People. John fulfilled
that commission perfectly by proclaiming Jesus as the Bridegroom, the Messiah of
Israel’s expectations, the One who <b>alone</b> could and would baptize with
the Holy Spirit. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">John -- the Bridegroom’s precursor and friend to the end --
would be murdered in a lonely, royal, dungeon cell, for witnessing to God’s
truth against the displayed pride, indulged salaciousness, and the hidden weaknesses,
of a tyrant, himself subject to Rome’s ever-more-scrutinizing
approval.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">John’s proclamation of Jesus was no threnody, however, dear
People of God; on the contrary, it was an introduction to the supremely
Christian song of glory, gratitude, and joy: for, all who would believe in, and
be baptized into, Jesus, would receive life from Him Who was willing to die –
even on a Roman cross -- to save them, through His own Spirit of Truth and Love,
from sin and death.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">And it is in that way that obedient and faithful Catholics today
already share in some measure -- even here on earth -- the life of the Most
Holy Trinity: called by the <b>Father</b>
to faith in His beloved and only-begotten <b>Son</b>, and ‘gifted’ with the <b>Holy
Spirit</b>, they share eternal
sustenance as living members of the One True Church which is the Body of Christ,
constantly guided and protected in the Truth of Jesus’ Gospel by the Holy Spirit,
to worship the Father as His truly adopted children in Jesus, His Son and our
Saviour. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of
fulfilment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”</b>
(1:14-15):<b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">For the authentic Christian understanding and practice of
repentance, we need to look closely, very closely, at our readings today in
order to appreciate Mother Church’s teaching in this matter. What
was it that John the Baptist <b>said</b>?
What <b>did</b> Isaiah proclaim? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">John said ‘<i>repent’</i> first; and then next – on seeing Jesus passing by -- he said to
Andrew and another of his disciples, ‘<i>Behold the Lamb of God</i>’.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><u>That</u>, dear People of God, is the composite nature of
conversion: first turn <b>from</b> sin, then turn <b>to</b> the Lord.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Turn from sin, try to correct the ravages it has caused in
your life; which is what Isaiah proclaimed in those words:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>Make straight in the wasteland
a highway for our God! Every valley
shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land
shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Such indeed is the first requirement of repentance, turn
away from sin in all sincerity, and then, by walking in the ways of Jesus, allow
the Spirit of Jesus to enter our life, and form us anew in the likeness of
Jesus, for love of the Father :<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>Then the glory of the LORD
shall be revealed, and all mankind shall see it together; for the mouth of the
LORD has spoken.</b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Notice too that Isaiah’s prophecy provides us with a sure way
to test the truth of our repentance: <u>is the glory of the Lord<b> </b>being revealed <b>to</b> you</u>? Do you, as you grow older, see and admire in
Jesus gradually more and more of the glory, that is, of the goodness, the beauty,
the truth, and the wisdom, of God? Do
you, as the years pass by, become ever more grateful to the Father for His
goodness in calling and guiding you to Jesus?
Do you find yourself gradually more willing to trust Him completely,
above all else? Do you aspire, more and
more, to know, love, and serve Him with your whole being? If you can say “Yes” to questions such as those
then, indeed, you are both sincerely repenting, and truly seeking the face of
the Lord; and, moreover, I could confidently say that <u>the glory of the Lord
is also, indeed, being gradually revealed both to you and in you. <o:p></o:p></u></p>
<p class="SermonBody">But what if -- as the years go by, when you seriously look
at yourself and sincerely question yourself before God -- you recognize that
you are thinking less and less of Jesus because you are increasingly absorbed
in worldly interests and aspirations; that you are more and more preoccupied by
cares about money and people’s opinions or attitudes in your regard, and less
and less attentive to God speaking through your conscience or drawing upon your
heart-strings? Do you feel yourself
obliged to respond in kind for every little benefit you receive from others, a
Christmas card for a Christmas card, an invitation by an invitation, a gift for
a gift, and yet never think that you owe a debt of gratitude to God for all the
many blessings He has bestowed on you throughout <span style="display: none; mso-hide: all;">H</span>your life? Are you
gradually becoming tolerant of failings you are aware of -- you might like to
call them ‘mere peccadillos’ -- in your daily living? All these things are quite possible where
Christian people are found to be no longer looking to God, for God, but looking
<b>at</b> others, and <b>looking-</b><b>after</b> themselves. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">People of God, let us now for a short time look at God in
our Gospel reading trying to <b>look
after Herod</b>, despite his multitudinous failings. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">God speaks to <u>each and every one</u> of us – without
exception – in one way or another, for our GOOD, for our eternal salvation; and
in today’s Gospel we heard how He kept on trying to straighten out Herod’s
hitherto most miserable life: a collaborator with the hated Romans, a most
blatant sinner with his own brother’s wife, and add whatever else you like …. a
murderer? a rapist? a great hater? a supreme exponent of the art of betrayal?
…. All most helpful for one wanting to become a royal figure with a measure of
authority in those hectic days and seasons after the death of <b>Herod ‘</b>the Great’, who had been a
superb servant of Rome, and whose sons –
including the Herod-Antipas of our Gospel reading – were doing their very best!!
– to win Rome’s favour by whatever means. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Dear People of God, God was <b><u>still trying</u></b> to
communicate with Herod Antipas, encouraging him, right to the end, to <u>hear</u>,
and in certain measure, <u>to listen to</u> John the Baptist speak of Israel’s faith! But now, although he in-his-way reverenced
John, Herod couldn’t go-back-on his foolish word to the lascivious daughter of
his scheming, adulterous, and murderous wife!
He didn’t dare give cause for his nobles and ‘mighty men’ to look down
on him and question his authority … so he ignored his God’s spiritual life-line
and plunged head and shoulders into yet greater sin and deeper spiritual
disgrace.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Dear People of God, no matter what might be the state we
find ourselves in at this moment, Mother Church urges us to aspire once again this
Advent time to prepare to welcome Jesus anew into our lives that His truth
might enlighten us, His love inspire us, and the Gift of His most Holy Spirit might
protect, guide, and sustain us along His way to the Father. Time is irrelevant to God, it of <u>this</u>
world, <u>not</u> of His heavenly Kingdom, our future home. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><b>With the Lord one day is like
a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">What is essential for us, therefore, is that here and now, we
have the will to prayerfully aspire to the blessings He has prepared for us, and
that we have the humility and fortitude to forget our self-solicitude and, by
our daily prayer and Christian living, learn to rejoice as He gradually makes those
promised blessings an ever more real experience for us.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">As St. Peter’s put it:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>Waiting for the coming of
(Our Lord and) God, you ought to be (found) conducting yourselves in holiness
and devotion; eager to be found at peace, without spot or blemish before Him.</b></p><div><br /></div>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-31295690588304906112023-12-02T12:48:00.004+00:002023-12-02T12:48:39.129+00:00First Sunday of Advent Year B, 2023<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Isaiah
63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7; 1<sup>st</sup>. Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:33-37</span>)</span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody">Our reading from the prophet Isaiah on this the first
Sunday of the Advent season, is a direct preparation for what is the supreme teaching
of the Gospel: the revelation of God as Father, and of the re-birth -- by the
Holy Spirit -- of Jesus’ faithful disciples, into living members of His
Mystical Body, and adopted children of the heavenly Father.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Isaiah was very conscious and proud of the fact that God
was a Father to Israel, and In our first reading he referred to God three times
as Father, twice in the opening verse:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b><i>You are our Father. Were Abraham not to know us, nor Israel to
acknowledge us, You, LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer you are named from of
old.</i></b> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">But, what did he understand by his use of that word ‘father’? <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Let us turn our attention to the Law, to the book of
Deuteronomy, source of the fountain which supported and inspired Isaiah, and
there (32:18) we read:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b><i>Of the Rock Who begot you, you
are unmindful, and have forgotten the God Who fathered you. </i></b> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Though the word ‘father’ is used there, and even backed-up
by the words ‘begot’ and ‘fathered’, nevertheless they are all used
metaphorically, since it is all about the birth, that is, the calling, formation,
and establishment of a nation from those who had previously been wandering desert
tribespeople and latterly a persecuted minority of slaves in Egypt. And the prophet Isaiah himself was not, and
could not have been, fully aware of the real meaning and ultimate significance
of the word he was being led to use when calling God the ‘Father of Israel’,
for that required further revelation <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">God did indeed continue to guide His People over the subsequent
centuries and gradually formed their history in such a way that those prophetic
words and traditional faith were finally shown to be true in the sublime beauty
of their ultimate meaning and significance, when He brought about through Mary
of Nazareth -- the Flower of Israel -- the birth, in time, of His only-begotten
and eternally-beloved Son as Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man for mankind’s
salvation. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">That, dear People of God, is why you heard St. Paul exclaim
in the second reading: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b><i>I give thanks to my God always on
your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="SermonBody">As we are now entering upon a new Church year, it is not
only right and proper, but surely also most helpful and beneficial, for us to
be aware of the ultimate goal of our life in Jesus under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, which is, that we should become truly adopted children of the
Father:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody"> <b><i>If
anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home
with him.</i></b> (John 14:23)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">The Father Himself, therefore, comes with Jesus and the
Holy Spirit, to abide with us and make us His children in Jesus, and this He
does in a way that is unique to Him, that is, by showing Himself to be<b> <u>the most perfect Father</u> </b>to us and for us.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Therefore, we Catholics especially must always remember
those unique words, those most ‘invasive’, serious, and solemn words, of Jesus,
which are generally considered – or consigned! – to be words of no special
significance:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><a name="_Hlk152075050"><b><u>Do
not</u> call anyone on earth your Father; for One is your Father, He Who is in
heaven. </b></a><b> </b>(Matthew 23:9)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Moral theologians will tell you that those words ‘Do not’
are a direct prohibition.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Now, such words used by Our Lord Jesus are <b>not </b>‘over-the-top’,
neither are they meaningless; they <b>are</b> indeed, as I said, ‘invasive’
because they penetrate to the depths of our personal being, both physical and
spiritual. They pertain to, and concern,
the supreme responsive awareness, grateful love, and self-sacrificing obedience,
of which we can be capable as children of God;
they are hights to which we can be ‘vocationally called’ when the
sovereign name of Jesus in Mother Church is impugned or threatened. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody"> <b><u>One</u> is your Father, He Who is in
heaven.<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="SermonBody">In the begetting of a child, the father initiates the
life-giving process in the mother who subsequently gives growth, nourishment,
and ultimately birth to a child, a unique personal human being.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Spiritually, the heavenly Father is the unique Begetter of
all true disciples of Jesus. He can contact
us -- if we will listen and hear -- because He, our Creating Father and our Spiritual Father, is able to address us
through unspoken words uttered in the depths
of our being and personality. Because,
in our early years we had do not normally learn to recognize His traces, any first and/or
early experiences of such communication can seem to originate within ourselves
and to be, unaccountably, ours: mysterious longings and desires, sudden lights
and quiet convictions, protecting fears (! sic), and simple assurance, all can
seem to be very much a part of us because they come from the centre of our
being. And yet, because they are, in fact, communications from the as yet unknown-to-us-Father,
they can become intelligible to us by our walking in the ways of Jesus and thus
learning to share in His infinitely sensitive awareness of, and responsiveness
to, His Father’s abiding Presence and loving Providence. And when many apparently unrelated events and
diverse incidents come to be seen and recognized as connected and coherent
parts of one embracing plan of Providential care, then the Father’s loved-and-appreciated
Presence reveals Itself to us in glimpses reflecting the beauty of His truth in
the Scriptures and the splendour of His grace in Mother Church. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">In ways such as these the Father can speak to us in any
situation and throughout the whole extent of our life. No earthly father or mother, no lover, no friend,
can speak so intimately, or be present to us in such a way; because He is the
God Who originally made us in His Own likeness for Himself. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Yet, there is even more than that; for He -- God the Father
-- wills to be <b>our All,</b> not only in
our origins, but also in the fulfilment and ultimate justification of our
being, because He wants to be for us <b>the sublimely perfect Father</b>, such
a Father Whom only Jesus can reveal to us, for Whom only the Holy Spirit of
Jesus can prepare us; a Father Whose Presence we can encounter <b>only as living members</b> of the mystical
Body of Christ, our Brother and our Head.
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><a name="_Hlk152076389"><b><u>Do
not</u> call anyone on earth your Father; for One is your Father, He Who is in
heaven. <o:p></o:p></b></a></p><p class="SermonBody">Dear, present-day People of God, that most serious command
of Our Blessed Lord is not ‘over-the-top’ because <u>Jesus knew full-well</u>
the ordinary, homely, use of the word ‘father’, as His mother testified most
emphatically, being concerned about Saint Joseph more than herself (Luke 2:48):<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>When His parents saw Him,
they were astonished, and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this
to us? <u>Your father</u> and I have been looking for You with great anxiety.” </b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">What then was Jesus’ intention in that solemn injunction
about our use of the word ‘father’? <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">We know that He sometimes used words to startle, jolt, His
hearers into <u>thinking</u>, as distinct from just idly hearing. But that is not the case here, for Jesus was
not telling a parable, He was responding to a particular threat hanging over
the People of Israel in His days, a threat still virulently alive, and Jesus’
response is too imperious to be just passed over by us today.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Jesus had in mind the Pharisees who were claiming the teaching
authority and taking over the words of Moses in the Law of God, for themselves;
they would say that they were ‘adapting the words of Moses, the Law of God, for
modern times’, by interpreting those words in accordance with a multitude of
their own, very human and proud, traditions.
A ‘take-over’, indeed, not unlike that now being practiced by a majority of the bishops
– the Church ‘Fathers’ -- in the German pseudo-Catholic Church of today; a
take-over some “Jesus’-teaching-needs-updating” Catholics are today wanting to
foist on the universal Catholic Church.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">In that original confrontation with the Pharisees in
Jerusalem, and in today’s similar situation, Jesus’ words were <u>direct</u>
and unambiguous, in order to protect; and today they are still meaning-full and
authoritative for His Church:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b><u>Do not</u> call anyone on
earth your Father; for One is your Father .... in heaven. <o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="SermonBody">Yes, God sent His co-equal Son in fulfilment of the words
of the prophet to save His People and all mankind from Satan’s power of sin and
death. Through faith in, baptism into,
and obedience to Jesus -- the Son of God become our Brother -- we are enabled
by the Gift of His Holy Spirit to become living members of the Unique Body of
which Jesus is both Lord and Head, and in Him we can become children of the
One, true God and Father of us all. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">He is indeed, and wills to be known by each one of us
personally as, our <b><u>sublime Father</u></b>, supremely authoritative, and
yet One Who is always there, with us, closer to us even than we are to
ourselves: the <b>Father</b> Who can only be known by the words and teaching of
Jesus of Nazareth -- <b>His only-begotten Son</b>, born of the Virgin -- and can
only be understood aright in accordance with the authoritative guidance of His <b>most
Holy Spirit</b>, in teaching passed down to our days by the Apostolic tradition
and teaching of Mother Church, and contained in the Scriptures of the Old and
the New Covenants, and Mother Church’s own doctrinal teaching. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="SermonBody">Advent now calls us to prepare a welcome for the nascent
Son-Who-is-to-come, let us do so joyfully, and oh! so lovingly, carefully, and
courageously, as did Mary our mother and model.</p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-54582307515939115582023-11-25T10:33:00.003+00:002023-11-25T10:33:48.372+00:00Christ the King Year A, 2023<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ezekiel
34:11-12, 15-17; 1<sup>st</sup>. Corinthians 15:20-26, 28; Matthew 25:31-46</span>)</span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><p class="SermonBody"></p><p class="SermonBody">Following the Gospel of Matthew we have recently heard
Jesus warning us in parables, first of all, to be faithful and responsible, after
the example of the wise and faithful servant set over the household whilst his
master was away; then -- in the parable of the 5 wise and the 5 foolish virgins
-- to be prepared and alert at all times; and finally, last week, He admonished
us -- in the parable of the talents – to put to good use the gifts we have
received by bringing forth fruit for eternal life.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">And now, just before the chief priests and elders of the
people meet to plot Jesus’ death, Matthew puts before us this awesome scene of
the Last Judgement pictured for us by the Lord Himself:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>When the Son of Man comes in His
glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit upon His glorious throne, and
all the nations will be assembled before Him. And He will separate them one
from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.</b> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Jesus goes on to make clear the grounds on which the sheep
are to be separated from the goats, and in doing so He fills in with greater
detail the advice given us previously in His parables by showing us how to
remain faithful and responsible, ever alert and prepared, and how to invest for
the future by bringing forth fruit for eternal life:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>I was hungry and you gave Me
food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, a stranger and you welcomed Me,
naked and you clothed Me, ill and you cared for Me, in prison and you visited Me<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Those, on the left hand, who do not remain faithful, alert
and prepared, who make little or no effort to gain profit for heaven, will be most
severely judged and condemned, and the immediate continuation of our first
reading from the prophet Ezekiel tells us why:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>Then the King will say to <u>those
on His left</u>, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared
for the devil and his angels. <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>“<u>As for you, O My flock</u>,”
thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep,
between rams and goats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it too little
for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your
feet the residue of your pasture -- and to have drunk of the clear waters, that
you must foul the residue with your feet?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">St. John Chrysostom, a Greek Doctor of the Church, when
commenting on today’s parable of the Final Judgement, told his congregation at
the imperial court in the city of Constantinople some 1600 years ago that God
does not demand great things of us, for He is gracious enough to reward even
little things:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And in return for
what, do they receive such a great reward as a share in heavenly glory?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For offering the covering of a roof, for
giving a garment, some bread to eat and cold water to drink, for visiting one
languishing in the prison. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In every
case it is for what is <u>needed</u>; and sometimes not even for that, for
surely, as I have said, the sick, and he that is in bonds, seeks not only a
visit, but the one to be loosed (from his chains), the other to be delivered
from his infirmity. But the Lord, being gracious, requires only what is within
our power.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="SermonBody">At times this parable of the Last Judgment has been wrongly
interpreted as though it<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>asserts that
our salvation will ultimately depend exclusively on works of fraternal charity
done or omitted by us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, when
looked at in the whole context of St. Matthew’s presentation of the teaching of
Jesus, works of fraternal charity are valid and valuable <u>only in so far</u>
as they are true expressions of love for God.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>A lawyer, asked Jesus a
question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great
commandment in the law?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus said
to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, and with all your mind.'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is the first and great commandment. <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>The second is like it: 'You
shall love your neighbour <u>as yourself</u>.'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."</b> (22:35-40)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Love God with <u>all your heart, soul and mind</u>;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>love your neighbour, <u>as yourself</u>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">St. Matthew elsewhere (19:16-21) quotes Jesus showing love
of neighbour to be a necessary preparation for love of God when he tells how one
day a rich young man, who, though having long kept the commandments and shown
love toward his neighbour, came to Jesus because he still felt himself to be
far from perfect:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>"Good Teacher, what good
thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" Jesus said to him,
"Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you
want to enter into life, keep the commandments, go, sell what you have and give
to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."</b>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">There Jesus obviously wanted to lead this promising young
man on to the fulfilment of charity in personal love of God.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">In our parable today, notice that those called to His right
hand by Jesus had indeed shown love of neighbour, but they had not sufficiently
recognized God, Jesus, in their neighbour:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b>Then the righteous will
answer Him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty
and give You drink?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When did we see You
a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When did we see You ill or in prison, and
visit You?’ <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">They still needed to learn much from Jesus in order to recognize
and truly appreciate the pearl of great price.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The rich young man, however, by his life-long endeavours to
find God, merited Jesus’ Personal invitation to “Come, follow Me”: only three
short words but of surpassing significance. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Come and learn from Me how to love both God
and neighbour; come, learn to love My Father and your Father so much as to be
able to embrace the Cross with Me for His glory and for the salvation of
mankind”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He speaks those same words to
us this very day, for we should recognize that there is much for us to learn concerning
which none but Jesus can teach us through His Spirit, recalling His words and
actions and, in the Holy Eucharist refreshing our charity to respond ever
better to His perennial truth and love .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our world’s greatest need is for divine wisdom to understand God’s will
in the signs of the times, <u>especially today under the looming cloud of
Sodality</u>, where human beings are presuming to think that their ‘synodal’ thinking
is more suitable for the spiritual well-being of modern humanity than the
supposedly ‘time-aged’ or ‘not up to modern life-experience’ teaching and
example of Jesus, handed down to us by the Apostolic Tradition and brought
‘refreshingly’ to our present-day minds by His most Holy Spirit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the Holy Spirit, being with Jesus a truly
divine Person in the one godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is <b>the
supreme leader and ruler</b> in Jesus’ present-day Church, as He is also
Personally active in our individual lives as Comforter and Strength – not some
government-trained psychological tyro – but a divinely-gifted source of
spiritual peace and sustenance for all the circumstances of our daily lives, no
matter what the earthly<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pressures,
sorrows, difficulties or trials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dear
brothers and sisters in Christ, <b>we – </b>ordinary<b> </b>faithful Catholics
-- can now know more of Jesus’ words than did those ordinary disciples of old,
because the Holy Spirit has brought, and is constantly bringing <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to the Church’s mind for deeper understanding
and love, ALL that <b>Jesus</b> said and did, ALL<b> </b>that Jesus intended to
be for us and wants of us, and we must always be awake and ready <u>to defend
Jesus’ legacy in our lives</u>, as did His Apostles who shed their blood for
Jesus and in fulfilment of the mission of truth and grace He had given them,
just as Jesus Himself had shed His blood for the salvation of all of us.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">‘<b>Do gooders</b>’ always think their idea of goodness is
best for the people of their day, but today, those synodal do-gooders
apparently inside Mother Church have a far more seriously defective
understanding, not only of ‘goodness’, but of the very word ‘<b>God</b>’ if
they think Our Lord Jesus’ teaching out-of-date for today’s Church.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Once Jesus’ coming into our lives has freed us from the slavery
of sin then, by the gift of His Spirit, those God-given gifts of understanding
and love can begin to reform and renew our darkened minds and stony hearts for God’s
glory and the blessing of all around us.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">If, therefore, we aspire to be counted among the sheep at
God’s right hand we must make a beginning by fulfilling, as St. John Chrysostom
explained, the first and easiest demands of Him Who will, ultimately, be our Judge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only little words and actions capable of expressing
both sincere love for God and neighbour are asked of us, for it is only as the
ordinary, everyday, attitudes of individual men and women become spiritually healthy
and strong through Christ living in them, that the Holy Spirit of Jesus will be
able to gradually correct and efface the social and political evils which
afflict our country and our world, until that time comes when Christ --
reigning supreme in hearts and minds of His disciples—will be publicly manifested
as King of Glory ushering in the Kingdom of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Towards that end every disciple of Jesus is able
and called to contribute, since <b>all of us</b> have a personal role to play in
the development of that Kingdom and a necessary function for its fulfilment.</p><p></p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-4062457793637590452023-11-18T15:19:00.001+00:002023-11-18T15:19:02.058+00:0033rd Sunday Year A, 2023<p><br /></p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Proverbs
31:10-13, 19s, 30s; 1st. Thessalonians 5:1-6; Matthew 25:14-30</span>)</span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><p class="SermonBody">Today’s parable was relatively long and detailed with
special emphasis being given to the lot of the servant who received one talent and
did nothing with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people tend to
think he was unfairly treated from the beginning by being given only one talent
while others had more given them; and so, feeling sorry for this servant who
“received only one talent”, they harbour a kind of grudge against the master of
those servants and don’t really seek to learn anything from the parable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">However, we should take care not to project twisted modern psychological
attitudes onto the parable, but rather just try, first of all, to appreciate how
much a ‘talent’ was worth in those times long-ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One talent was equivalent to 6000 denarii,
and a man and his family could live adequately for one day at the cost of 2
denarii.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So you see that the man who
received “only one talent” was actually entrusted with a sum sufficient to
provide a suitable living for himself and his family for over 8 years!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">People of God, let us have nothing to do with prevalent
greed and self-love which leads many to cry foul where some seem to have more
than others! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of us have, indeed,
been most generously endowed by God for the task of bringing forth fruit for
eternal life in the course of our earthly pilgrimage.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Their master said to two of the three servants on bringing their
profit to him:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Well done, my good and faithful
servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great
responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Such words make us feel glad, happy for and happy with
those servants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, if we concentrate
more directly on the nature of that happiness, we can recognize three aspects
mentioned or implied in those words:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Since you were faithful in small
matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s
joy.’ <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody"><i>You were faithful</i> implies the joy, the peace, the
happiness of a good conscience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>I
will give you great responsibilities</i> foresees one being able to use one’s
talents and abilities to the full, which is what we could call a satisfying and
honourable career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, even such
praiseworthy natural happiness is not able to dominate our attention in this
parable because of those last words:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Come, share your master’s joy!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Let us, therefore, for just a few moments, look into the spiritual
depths – that is, the essential core of Jesus’ teaching in this simple parable --
of those degrees of happiness, and you will realise how wonderful is that
invitation to <i>enter into the master’s joy.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Surely, we have all experienced at times the up-lifting joys
and deep happiness that can result from human endeavour in human society: for
example, we treasure the subtle varieties of deep <u>personal love</u> and
human fulfilment in family life, and the more individual joys of <u>worldly success
and achievement</u>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can appreciate too
the deep ‘selfless’ joys of <u>beauty</u> seen and appreciated in the world
around us, or of <u>truth</u> known and understood. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">All such earthly types of joy and happiness do indeed
delight us and give us a sense of deep fulfilment; and yet, they are so easily,
connected indirectly with sorrow and sadness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is a famous song, “Plaisirs d’Amour” which tells of the joys of
love which swiftly pass and of its pains and sorrows which endure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That might be a somewhat mawkish and poetic appreciation,
but, nevertheless, we all aware, that, in this world, human love is inevitably accompanied
by its own particular and penetrating sorrows, however slight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As regards the joys of personal achievement <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and human awareness of beauty and truth can
incur both enmity, envy, and perhaps worst of all, the disappointment of being unsustainable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The physical beauty of the world around us is
being shown in these modern times as more and more unreliable, with global
heating causing great destruction and insecurity, through such of opposites as
floods and fires, while also threatening the harmony of seasonal changes and
the ever-recurring short periods of special beauty such as autumn and spring. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">That is why so many modern people opt only for present,
personal, pleasure and try to avoid love or special attachments of whatever
sort; they want just loose relationships without any binding commitment, so
that if and when sorrow looms ahead, they can break free and take up another
source of comfort and pleasure that promises less trouble or greater satisfaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Our work, so necessary for living life these days, can -- at
best -- offer us only limited successes; and, of course, those short periods of
apparent fulfilment can be quickly obscured by the shadow of competition and/or
soured by occasional threats such as short time or redundancy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The joy of a good conscience, however, is not in any way
connected with sorrow or suffering and is therefore joy of a superior kind; moreover,
it leads to another unsuspected joy which can be ours: a share in God’s own
eternal happiness – ‘<i>Come share your master’s joy’</i> -- which totally
transcends all earth’s passing joys.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">But how can it come about that we -- who know ourselves to
be, at the very best, so prone to sin so weak and fragile in doing good -- are
capable of receiving and appreciating, infinite, eternal, happiness?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite all the outstanding advances of
modern scientific thinking and technological ingenuity and expertise, we cannot
even imagine, let alone conceive, the immensity, the variety and beauty of the
universe God has created and sustains: how then can our poor hearts be expanded
so as to be able to accept a fullness corresponding to <u>His own infinite beatitude</u>
in which we are promised a share?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">The Psalmist (Psalm 81:10) gives the answer to our
question:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I am the LORD your God Who
brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide.</i></b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">How are we to open wide our mouth?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen to the Psalmist (Psalm 119:32) once again:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I will run the course of Your
commandments, for You shall enlarge my heart. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody">That, dear People of God, is the way we can prepare ourselves
to receive the divine happiness that can be ours: we open wide our mouth by
walking -- indeed by running -- in the way of God’s commandments; and He then enlarges
our hearts so that He might subsequently fill them with the riches of His
blessings.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">However It is often objected – usually by unthinking people
-- against the very thought of eternal happiness, that ‘it must be extremely
boring’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me counter such a remark
with a question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could eternal pain be
boring?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course not, such pain would
not allow anyone sufficient respite ever to think of being bored!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thought of being bored by the joys of
heaven is, indeed, an unthinking, foolish, or even stupid thought<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">I want you to just try to recall the happiest moments of
your life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you remember how short the
time seemed?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You were so happy it seemed
only a moment, even though it might have been hours, days, even years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that gives us the key to heavenly
happiness, for even though time is earthly, part and parcel of creation where
things are always changing, nevertheless, there are occasions -- yes, even here
on earth -- when time seems to stop or disappear, melt, in the presence of
happiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How much more then is the
question of time utterly irrelevant in eternity where there is no time!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eternity is not endless time, eternity is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">timeless</i>; time has no meaning for there
is nothing to be measured by time in heaven before God’s Presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>St. Peter tells us something of this in a
pictorial way in his second letter (2<sup> </sup>Peter 3:8):<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beloved, do not forget this one
thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years
as one day.</i></b> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Therefore, for those who are called to share, with Jesus,
by the Holy Spirit, in God’s heavenly blessedness, time will be totally supplanted
by transcendent joy flooding their whole being, body and soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think again, People of God!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have had plenty of experience even here
on earth, which is, so to speak, a time-zone: if you are bored or weary,
anxious or worried, time drags ever so slowly; and yet, when you are happy it
flies! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, even here on earth, time
is relative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, heaven is a time-free
zone: that is, in heaven time is totally irrelevant, not only because we won’t
notice it, but because it has no being, no function, in the bliss of God to
which we are invited in Jesus by the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody">Don’t think little of your gifts, People of God, be they 5,
2, or 1 talents-worth, they are more than ample for all your needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t be foolish enough now -- and ultimately
wicked enough -- to ignore a happiness which can transfigure your whole being
and help transform our world, making you eternally fulfilled and happy beyond
all imagining! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can be yours in Jesus:
let Him lead you, in His Church, by His Holy Spirit, to live and work for the
glory of the Father, in Whose presence -- Jesus promises -- you will be greeted
by those most memorable words:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Well done, good and faithful
servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many
things. Enter into the joy of your Lord!</i></b></p><br /><p></p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-61739496484010047112023-11-11T10:51:00.000+00:002023-11-11T10:51:15.973+00:0032nd Sunday Year A, 2023<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Wisdom
6:12-16; 1 Thessaloniansn4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13</span>)</span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; punctuation-wrap: simple; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0cm; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="break-after: avoid; margin-top: 12pt; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dear Brothers and
Sisters in Christ, our first reading reminded us of a supremely important
Christian truth: <i>God speaks to, tries to communicate with, all those He has
created in His own image and likeness</i>:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wisdom is readily
perceived by those who love </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(want) <b>her and found by <u>those who seek her</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She hastens to make herself known in
anticipation of their desire.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jesus Himself said much
the same thing but in more easily understood words once:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><b><u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Whoever chooses to do His will</span></u></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> shall know whether My
teaching is from God or whether I speak on my own. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(John 6:17)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Those who, even in the
slightest degree sincerely want make something of their life as a whole, not
just here and now in this or that difficulty or challenge, <b>but as a whole</b>,
have feelings, thoughts, such as: ‘does my life have a purpose, a meaning? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>I</b> personally can’t be meaningless,
surely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How am I to live <b>my</b> life aright,
fulfil its, fulfil my purpose?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">All who have thought
about, wanted to answer, take up, such seeking, wanting, wondering and longing,
<b>will most certainly ‘be contacted!’ </b>by Wisdom, our first reading told us;
that is by the <b>Holy Spirit</b>, Jesus’ parting Gift to His Church and
human-kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is not, nor ever has there
been — according to Christian teaching -- any such sincere human being who has <b>never</b>
known, experienced, or been aware of, <u>anything</u> from God, about God, from
His Spirit of love and truth contacting them, speaking within them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Whoever chooses to do His will <u>shall know</u> … </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">know something that
could lead to his or her eternal salvation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As regards<b> o</b>ur
Gospel reading, we can, surely, all agree, if I say that the five foolish virgins
were certainly not thinking girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
minds were filled with present happenings, what they had recently heard, seen, or
done …. Such people will eventually say, in self-justification, that <b>they</b>
<u>never heard anything</u> from God, anything convincing about God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What they should have
said was that they had never <u>adverted</u> to anything from, about, God!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason was that they simply lived life as
they found it, and in that sense, they were subject to life, <b>servants</b> of
life, <b>slaves</b> to, life as it was being lived in their day. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had <u>no ears</u> for God whatever words
He whispered to them, they had <u>no thoughts</u> about the meaning of life,
not even about <b>their own life</b>; their whole concern was for living their life
span as pleasurably, ‘as well’ they would say, ‘as possible’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Another fundamental
Christian truth is made clear in our Gospel reading today for all who have ever
-- in their life-time -- thought of responding to, taking up, those whisperings,
from the almost unknown depths of your being, about possibilities of life over
and above the everyday, more-or-less humdrum, events of life, however important,
out-of-the-ordinary, and exceptional they may have once seemed: possibilities, opportunities,
to truly understand and joyfully fulfil, the life given you. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that fundamental truth is, that possibilities
not taken up, opportunities offered but rejected, put aside, ignored, <u>can be
lost forever, without possibility of recall:<o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Lord, Lord, open up for us.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But He answered, “Truly I say to you, I do
not know you”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Others in that situation
you may remember said, ‘We heard you in our street, we did this or that good
thing!’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But you didn’t want to
know Me! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You didn’t answer My call:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Truly I say to you, </span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I do not know you</span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dear friends in
Christ, I haven’t said anything about the synod or synodality!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, such things come and go as excogitations
of human minds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We today have considered
– I hope, I pray – fruitfully in some measure, two essential aspects of Jesus’
saving Gospel of Salvation, treasured in the Spirit-endowed memory our Catholic
and Apostolic Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-18968904880481919032023-11-03T22:10:00.001+00:002023-11-03T22:11:32.905+00:0031st Sunday Year A, 2023<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: center;">Malachi 1:14 - 2: 2, 8-10; 1</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: center;">st</sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: center;">. Thessalonians 2:7-9, 13; Matthew 23:1-12</span>)</span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; punctuation-wrap: simple; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0cm; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="break-after: avoid; margin-top: 12pt; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, our readings
today are topical: we are told of some priests who lead people astray by their bad
example and faulty teaching and, in passing, of some lay-people who promise
much but produce little.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">If we take a look at the lay person mentioned in our
first reading:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and
vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to (Me)," says the LORD of
hosts, "for I am a great King. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">There, someone vows to offer a fine animal in sacrifice
to the Lord, but then, after second thoughts, substitutes a blemished, and
unworthy one in its stead, saving himself some money thereby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">I write as a retired parish priest and former curate, and
priest(s) and parishioners are well aware of seemingly fine Catholics <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>who in no way live up to the impression they
give in parish life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They may be
relatively well off but put little or nothing on the collection plate; they may
speak the right words but will not perform, they frequently criticise but never
seem to help; they usually require certain standards, such as clean pews and
nice flowers, but never have time to join any rota for church cleaning and the
provision of flowers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't wish to
overemphasise the point, however, for no one living in any parish can be
ignorant of what I am describing, unless, perhaps, they are themselves among
the culprits.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Then we heard of some priests of the tribe of Levi
dishonouring the Lord:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">“And now this commandment is for you, O priests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you do not listen, and if you do not take
it to heart to give honour to My name," says the LORD of hosts, "then
I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings."<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">In this respect Pope St. Gregory the Great, who sent St.
Augustine to bring the faith here way back in the year 597, over 1400 years
ago, bitterly complains in one of his sermons that there were thousands of
priests in the Church at that time, but so many of them did not do the work of
priests:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">“Look how the world is full of priests, yet only very
rarely is one of them to be found at work in God's harvest.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">There is no doubt that things are much better now in that
respect, for the great majority of priests give themselves sincerely to work in
God's vineyard.</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Nevertheless,
human sinfulness, ignorance and weakness, are still part of every human being’s
make up, and so there are today instances of priests dishonouring the
Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Malachi said in the first reading
to them:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">The lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men
should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of
hosts; but as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many
to stumble by </span></b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">(your)<b> instruction; ….
you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in the instruction.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">The Pharisees to whom Jesus spoke in the Gospel reading
were neither priests nor lay-people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were religious leaders and guides, handing down the religious
traditions of Israel which they interpreted according to their own group
principles and practices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that way
they were, as Malachi said of the priests of his times, partial in their
instruction: smothering the observance of the Law with the stifling burden of
their own innumerable regulations and restrictions, which earned them these
words of Jesus:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's
shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a
finger. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">The Pharisees prided themselves on their fidelity to the
Law, and tended to look down on others who were neither so learned nor so
meticulously observant as themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pride, that is, inclined them to arrogance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Today, however, People of God, it can happen at times, that
priests who fail the Lord and their people, do so, not out of a perverse or
domineering attitude towards people but, from a mistaken understanding of how
to honour God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They want to make Him
more easily appreciated by their people, more immediately likeable and
understandable to them, and so they seek to make themselves -- as His servants
and representatives -- popular with, liked by, even loved by, the people to
whom they have been sent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They try to be
found humanly understanding and sympathetic, whilst studiously avoiding any
appearance of teaching with authority, correcting or reproving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>St. Gregory the Great, again, speaks of this
in his 'Pastoral Rule' saying:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">“Just as thoughtless remarks can <u>lead</u> people into
error, so also ill-advised silence can <u>leave</u> people in their error …
Negligent religious leaders are often afraid to speak freely and say what needs
to be said – for fear of losing favour with people.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Besides keeping silent for the sake of popularity -- and
they think they are making Jesus popular too, don't forget -- such priests and bishops
may also pursue the same end by over-adapting the Gospel truth to modern
opinions and expectations: the Gospel's strictures are softened; hard words of
Jesus are passed over or explained away, while those of the apostles, especially
St. Paul, omitted altogether; the word 'love' is much used, indeed it is bandied
around repeatedly, despite the fact that 'love', in our world of today can and
does commonly mean attitudes that are quite contrary to the Gospel; and the
Christian word 'charity' is no longer understood or used. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">However, just as the prophet Malachi reproved both faulty
priest and what he called 'swindling' lay people, so also St. Gregory is
even-handed in his appreciation of what was wrong in the Church of his time:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">“It is often the fault of those in their care that
leaders are deprived of the opportunity preach … sometimes preachers are
prevented from speaking through the sinfulness of those in their care, as the
Lord says to Ezekiel: 'I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your
mouth, so that you shall be dumb and unable to reprove them; for they are a
rebellious house.'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is as if he had
said quite openly: you are not allowed to preach, precisely because this people
is not worthy to have the truth preached to it.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">In such situations priests can be encouraged in their
pursuit of popularity by people who want to hear only good news, or those who
want the priest to preach only that which they themselves want to practice, or
finally those who simply want the sermon to end as soon as possible.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">And so, People of God, it has always been the same: in
the times of the Prophets, in the Church of Jesus Himself, of St. Gregory the
Great (about the year 600 AD.) and still today in our times, there are some
leaders, priests and religious, bishops and popes, who go astray and fail both
God and their people for reasons that can be quite personal, professional, or perhaps,
even sordid, reasons for which, at times, not only those leaders and priests
are at fault, but also <u>the people themselves</u>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">What then should, what can, be done?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Listen to Jesus speaking to ordinary Israelites, including
some of His occasional <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘disciples’, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>semi-observant of the Law at best:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in
the chair of Moses; therefore, all that they tell you, do and observe, but do
not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Note that Jesus said 'do and observe all they tell you' because
such occasional, temporary followers of Himself, such ‘surface’ observers of
the Law, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>would not be harmed by the literal
law-teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees. Indeed, Jesus Himself, when teaching
His saving truths to such followers, spoke to them only in parables<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Jesus bequeathed Mother Church to us as He bequeathed His
Mother Mary to John the beloved disciple; for her, Mother Church, He sustained
the Cross and poured out upon her, and now continues to bestow, His most Holy
Spirit: He knows well how to protect and sustain her no matter what her
trials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus will, most certainly,
never fail those seeking Him, in sincerity and truth, through the Church which
is His Body and our Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">People of God, do not let those who hate Mother Church or
those who may fail her, ever diminish your confidence and trust in Jesus, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or your care and solicitude for His much loved
and faithful Spouse; for Mother Church is structured and strengthened by Jesus’
abiding ’Gift’ of His most Holy Spirit and our, His People’s, service and prayers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Today, despite the current example of the Church in Germany,
which is far from sharing fully or worthily in the name Catholic (universal)
Church, we are having synodality officially stuffed down our throats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I, with your prayers in mind, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and in my own solicitude, want to cite only one
small, most disturbing – and not only -- quote from documents sent to me
concerning the recent synod of Bishops in Rome: “Christian Initiation … Convergences
… section ‘e’ “<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">‘The celebration of the Eucharist …. “By calling us to
participate in his (sic!) Body and Blood, the Lord Jesus <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>forms us into one body, with one another and
with Himself.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Dear People of God, by calling us to participate in His
Body and Blood the Lord Jesus forms us into one Body <b>with Himself</b> directly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The words “forms us into one body with one
another” are <u>misplaced</u> and also dangerously <u>ambiguous</u>: they can, possibly
and rightly, mean ‘forms us as members of His Body, the Church’; they cannot
mean ‘<u>forms us</u> – you and me, neighbours and friends, here and now –
directly, <u>into one body</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>Jesus</b>
<b>must come first</b>, for all is through, in, Him<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 0cm 36pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Jesus, in our reception of His Eucharistic Body, forms us
into <b>one Body with Himself</b>, and all that can, in God’s design, follow
such a wondrous fact and truth, is dependent on, subservient to, for the
glorious fulfilment of, that <u>unique, self-standing, truth.</u></span></p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-63935925742957607302023-10-28T11:27:00.002+01:002023-10-28T11:27:23.517+01:0030th Sunday Year A, 2023<p><br /></p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">(</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Exodus
22:20-26; 1 Thessalonians 5c-10; Matthew 22:34-40)</span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; punctuation-wrap: simple; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0cm; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dear People of God, Our Lord Jesus, out of
sublime love for, and obedience to, His Father in Heaven, came to live as a man
on this earth in order to serve and save us from the eternal consequences of
our sins.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Why do our earthly sins incur heavenly
consequences?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because God made us in His own image and likeness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All God’s creation He pronounced<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘good’, but we human beings were meant to be
His supreme delight in creation, destined for a <b>home</b> in heaven as His
truly-adopted children, through our faith in Jesus of Nazareth, the
only-begotten Son-of-God, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sent by His
Father to become man, by birth from Mary the Virgin of Nazareth and the sublime
Gift of the divine Spirit of Holiness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">From the beginning of Israel Moses had been
unique by reason of his love for and commitment to the God Yahweh Who<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>saved Israel – His ‘Chosen People’ -- from
physical slavery in Egypt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yahweh, the only
true God and Lord of all creation, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>wanted
to save His people from all forms of slavery, above all from the <b>spiritual
slavery to sin </b>that would make them spawn of Satan and deprive them of that
likeness to God which was the very basis of their intended being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moses received from Yahweh a unique Law,
which he, as first and greatest of Israel’s subsequent prophets, proclaimed to Yahweh’s
Chosen People: a law embodying national love for and obedience to their saving
God, along with mutual respect and care between all members of God’s People, a
Law quite unique in the world of those times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Moses thus in his own person exemplified and manifested both the Law and
the Prophets.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Subsequently, further Prophets were sent
by<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God who repeatedly reminded Israel
about Yahweh’s concern that sincere mutual respect for and service of their fellows
should grow ever more among His Chosen People rather than an ever-greater
multitude of unasked-for and ostentatious individual sacrificial offerings in
His Temple.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Law and the Temple authorities on the one
hand, and the God-sent Prophets on the other, thus <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>gradually came to be more and more at
loggerheads in Israel until<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>Jesus</b>,
the second and greater Moses, was sent by His Father to make all things one in
His own unique human being and divine Self: the beloved and only-begotten Son
of His Father in heaven, and our own flesh-and-blood brother and Saviour.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Our Gospel reading <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>told us that in <a name="_Hlk496881219">the
course of His public ministry in Israel Jesus said: <o:p></o:p></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 3.0pt;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk496881219;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, this is the greatest and
first commandment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second is like
it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk496881219;"></span>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now, that first and greater commandment cannot
be fulfilled without obeying the second; because love of the God-Who-loves-humankind
necessarily involves <u>our</u> loving the humanity we encounter daily, that
is, our neighbour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And here, Jesus’ fundamental words concerning
Christian marriage are totally relevant and supremely important here:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What God has joined together let not man separate.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For <u>that</u>, dear People of God is precisely what modern godlessness
is trying to do!!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">God,</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> first of all by creating man in His own image
and likeness, </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">joined man to
Himself</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, in his very essential being; and that is why modern godlessness – I
mean the deliberately intended denial and hatred of the very idea of any God –
can only and ultimately fail or </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">destroy humanity </span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">… and in our days we are regularly seeing and hearing of such a gradual
destruction of the glory of God’s creation in and among our fellow beings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Denying God, of course, means that the true understanding of ‘love’ is
lost in the whirlpool of life being lived simply for the experience of living itself
– no ultimate purpose involved – just </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">living</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">as best you will and for what want</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> so long as no ‘criminal’ acts are committed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">How ambitious, dear Brothers and Sisters in
Christ, is the devil’s project to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>divide
what the very Person of Jesus so gloriously manifested, and what His Holy
Spirit so graciously and powerfully supports and furthers, as vocationally and potentially
one! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Who are the devil’s instruments?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All those do-gooders of today who remember
something of the beauty of Jesus’ once-loved teaching while refusing to follow
His example of obedience to His Father, their God. They <u>will</u> practice a
love towards men which makes themselves feel good, but <u>not a love of God that
calls for their obedience</u>!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And how
can they do this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because their ‘doing
good’ makes them feel<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>independent of God!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They feel no need to give glory and obedience
to God once they have embarked on the good ship ‘Good will to all men’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ‘do-gooders’ of whom I am now speaking
are not fools, they are not necessarily insincere or hypocritical; some of them
truly love being able to do good to others in need; but from a Catholic and
Christian point of view they are foolish in thinking that they can separate
what God has joined together, by their attempt to practice authentic ‘goodness’
without themselves being obedient to the God Who alone is Good.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Such ‘do-gooders’ deny that they themselves
are subject to the slavery of sin: their good works, they would say, show their
goodness!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They themselves should know
that that is not logical thinking, nor is it factually true in so many cases! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jim’ll-fix-it … a popular man’s public name in
Margaret Thatcher’s time … did very much <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>good indeed, but his self-confidence involved
self-indulgence of the grossest kind. That grossness reflected not so much his common
humanity as his own distinct personality, for <u>any</u> and every unredeemed
man or woman who rejoices in the goodness they do as being a work of <u>their own
goodness</u>, is already a slave of the devil, is already being prepared by him
to do whatever work he may want of him<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…
not necessarily something so gross as in the case of Jim’ll-fix-it, but
something ultimately very indicative of the deepest human and angelic sin, that
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">pride</b>: I have no need of God,
least of all to do good to fellows of my choice!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Let us look back to Jesus’ own experience (Matthew
26:6–12):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the
house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to Him with an alabaster jar of
costly perfumed oil, and poured it on His head while He was reclining at
table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the disciples saw this, they
were indignant and said, “Why this waste? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could have been sold for much, and the
money given to the poor.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since Jesus
knew this, He said to them, “Why do you make trouble for the woman? She has
done a good thing for Me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The poor you
will always have with you; but you will not always have Me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In pouring this perfumed oil upon My body,
she did it to prepare Me for burial. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">St. John (12: 4-5) gives some more particular
and pertinent details of the one whom we may consider as the prototype of
‘do-gooders’:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’
disciples, and the one who would betray Him, said, ‘Why was this oil not sold
for three hundred day’s wages and given to the poor?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Our Church is much divided today, People of
God, and that is due, I believe, largely to the fact that <u>Jesus</u> is not
being preached and proclaimed sufficiently today, to the fact that His own
standard-setting words are not being followed:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><a name="_Hlk496881815"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You shall
love the Lord your God with all heart, with all your soul, and with all your
mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This is the greatest and first commandment</span></u></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The <u>second</u> is like it: You
shall love your neighbour as yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mother Church’s proclamation is no longer
centred on the greatest and first commandment but rather on synodal, social,
sexual, relations and difficulties which are being emotionally ‘stirred up’ to
such an extent that they are disturbing her centre of gravity and ultimate
identity which <u>will</u> be, and should now <u>be</u>:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You shall love the Lord your God with
all heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One of the great and burgeoning, so to speak, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">evils</b> of our day is suicide in both
young and old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the deepest depths of
the human personality there was, is, something missing for such people, and
that is the Personal presence of the <u>acknowledged </u>God of Love Who
created us originally in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">His Own
likeness</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">for Himself</i></b> eternally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And <u>Jesus</u> is the God-given link, bond between that lonesomeness
which is ours of ourselves, and the blessedness of Divinity which is His from
‘the beginning before the world was made’;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><u>Jesus</u> the only-begotten and most beloved Son of the Father, and at
the same time our Self-sacrificing Saviour, Lord, and Brother;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Jesus</u>
<b>the</b> Link and our Lord, Jesus our supreme Pontiff!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dear People of God, we are weak and ignorant
human beings: Adam and Eve were once monstrously deceived by the devil showing
himself as an angel of light; and that is why Jesus speaks to us today in and
through His Church using words that are of crystal clarity:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the greatest and first commandment.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The second is like it: You shall love
your neighbour as yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></b></p><br /><p></p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-27910396858398631672023-10-20T22:02:00.007+01:002023-10-20T22:02:46.993+01:0029th Sunday Year A, 2023<p><br /></p><div style="border-bottom: solid #9BBB59 3.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: solid #A7BFDE 1.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10.0pt 0cm 15.0pt 0cm;">
<p class="Sermonhead"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="Sermonhead" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(Isaiah
45:1, 4-6; 1<sup>st</sup>. Thessalonians 1:1-5; Matthew 22:15-21)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -10.7pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; punctuation-wrap: simple; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 0cm; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="text-align: left;">In our first reading from the
prophet Isaiah we learned that Israel’s God is the only Lord and Ruler of all
that is, and that He even inspires certain decisively important events in the course
of human history:</span></p><p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: -10.7pt; margin-top: 12.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For Jacob My servant's sake, and
Israel My elect, I the Lord have named Cyrus, though you have not known Me; I
will gird you, though you have not known Me.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">St. Paul in our second reading
took up that appreciation of God’s authority when he wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: -10.7pt; margin-top: 12.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our gospel did not come to you in
word only, but also in power, <a name="_Hlk496281355">and in the Holy Spirit
and with full conviction</a>, as you know what kind of persons we were among
you for your sake.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">Dear People of God, how Mother
Church today needs such ‘persons’ whose faith is for them a source of holy
power and firm conviction for the service of Jesus Who is the same yesterday, today,
and for ever, and of His Church commissioned to offer salvation to all mankind!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">A disturbing aspect of modern
Church life, however, is the growing number of ordinary ‘little’ Catholics who
are <u>afraid</u> to humbly confess Jesus in their daily way of life or witness
openly to Him<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>when necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They <u>fail</u> Jesus because His teaching
is openly mocked by popular figures whose pleasures and pursuits exemplify
Jesus’ words – ‘an evil and adulterous generation’ -- and m<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">ockery from their
peers is indeed something that all school-children fear, perhaps most of all.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">Many ‘more prominent’ figures
in Mother Church herself today – acting not from fear but from arrogance and
self-seeking -- <u>betray</u> Jesus by looking <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>closely at the largely pagan society around,
observe what is happening there -- especially in matters of sexual morality and
social responsibility -- and then try to make <u>the Jesus we know</u> -- the traditional
Jesus of countless martyrs and saints, men, women and children, the Jesus
proclaimed and fought for by St. Paul and all the Apostles<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> in the Holy Spirit and with full
conviction</i></b>, the Jesus of the Gospels -- and then, I say,they <u>try to
make that Jesus ‘popular’</u> ….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>somehow
able to be fitted in seamlessly with pagan society’s popular practices and
‘beliefs’!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;"><u>Nowhere</u>, dear People of
God, did Jesus ever say that His disciples, His Church, would be popular, with
‘bums on all seats in their Churches’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did indeed say that His Gospel was to <u>be
preached to al</u>l, but <u>not</u> that it would be <u>accepted by all</u>, or
even by the majority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, He did give
voice to one of His most solemn and considered warnings:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When the Son of Man comes, will He
find faith on earth? </span></i></b>(<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Luke 18:8</span>)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">Certain passages of our New
Testament are now regularly omitted in liturgical readings; how many more will
have to be omitted in future to accommodate yet more modern ‘popular<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sensitivities’, to allow those whose public words
or open life-style contradict the Gospel, still pretend to be acceptable to or at
home with Mother Church?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">There are other passages in
today’s Gospel reading relevant to our times in which political violence and
racial terrorism seek to cover themselves with a cloak of so-called moral
sensitivity or religious devotion, for there we are clearly shown the Pharisees
and the Herodians trying -- as consummate hypocrites -- to lull Jesus into a
sense of false security:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: -10.7pt; margin-top: 12.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Teacher, we know that You are
true and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You
do not regard the person of men. <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">They were using such flattery to
soften up Jesus before the putting to Him the punch question that was ready on
their lips:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tell
us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or
not?" <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">The idea was, of course, to
get Jesus into most serious trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If He
were to have said it was right to pay taxes, then those patriotic Jews and the
Zealot agitators would have decried Him as some sort of traitor or
quisling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, had Jesus
said it was wrong to pay the taxes, then the Romans would have been informed
immediately and they would have deemed it necessary to seek Jesus out as one potentially
troublesome and deal with Him accordingly; which, of course, was just what the
Pharisees and the Temple hierarchy wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">Jesus was not going to fall
into the trap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He answered them:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: -10.7pt; margin-top: 12.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Show Me the tax money."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So they brought Him a denarius.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And He said to them, "Whose image and
inscription is this?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They said to
Him, "Caesar's."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And He said
to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to
God the things that are God's." <o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">Oh! dear People of God, who
can fail to recognize the <u>beauty of God’s wisdom</u> in those wonderful
words spoken in such a situation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
beauty -- both simple and sublime -- is something for us to admire and contemplate
most gratefully before God!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But now, at
this moment, gathered here as disciples of Jesus wanting to learn from Him how
to worship and serve the Father, let us consider something of the implications
of those words and perhaps understand Jesus’ attitude of mind and heart a
little better.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">Those words of flattery spoken
by the Pharisees and Herodians were meant to ensnare Jesus, and the attitudes
they sought to promote are a perennial temptation and conceit for Christians of
all ages; and today we should -- like our Blessed Lord -- be quick to recognise
their poison and strong to reject their subtle infiltration into our lives.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">We, as disciples of Jesus, are
called to lead good lives, that is, lives of <u>integrity</u> before God <u>not
conformity</u> with society’s – be it lay society or Church society -- prevailing
modern standards and judgements; we have to try to live up to the role set
before us in Jesus’ Scriptures and called for in the traditional teaching of
Mother Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, knowing full well
that our sins are many and our weaknesses manifest to the eyes of God, we must
seek to assimilate this awareness of faith more and more fully and deeply into
our personal self-consciousness, so that our Christian integrity may ever be ‘instinctively’
accompanied and embellished by a corresponding degree of humility, truly vigilant
lest we ever begin to slide into an easy acceptance of the demands or wishes of
men, as ever, willing and wanting to give immediate rewards of praise for
compliance with their views.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">Jesus Himself was not in any
way swayed by such flatteries: His personal integrity would always and only be
used to glorify His Father and promote the true well-being of all those who
heard and listened to His words; and so, His resolute independence of men and
their opinions would be -- always and only -- the other face of His constant
care to be free to serve them, for Jesus was always the Servant, never a
braggart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, His requirement
of independence made it necessary for Him to be fearless, and so, here, He
separated State and Religion for the first time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until Jesus came the state had been in total
charge of religion: Emperors were worshipped as gods in the all-powerful Roman
state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And therefore, those famous and
most beautiful words of Jesus:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: -10.7pt; margin-top: 12.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Render therefore to Caesar the
things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">are not only wonderfully wise
words, they were also brave words for those times.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="SermonBody" style="margin-right: -10.7pt;">People of God, only the power
of the Holy Spirit and the assured commitment to Jesus which our faith affords
us can enable us to be independent and free in our proclamation of and witness
to our Catholic and Christian faith before the society in which we find
ourselves today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we must never
allow such aspirations to become insidiously perverted so as to serve our own personal
pride or profit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are, above all, disciples
and servants of Jesus, and, at all times and in all situations, we must seek --
in Him and by His Spirit -- to glorify God our Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, we must never forget that we are,
individually, members of His People, of His family, of His Body, and consequently
we can never think of ourselves as independent of our brothers and sisters in
Christ: our own personal integrity and independence must be consonant with and embrace
the authentic Christian good of all those for whom Christ died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as true glory can only be given to God
the Father in and through the whole Body of Christ, Head and members, so also, praise
and profit can only come to us as living members of the whole Body of those who,
in accordance with the Father's will and the working of His Holy Spirit, are
being led to share in the fullness of salvation won for them by Jesus.</p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8420600515614077660.post-9238792610004577282023-10-14T08:33:00.004+01:002023-10-14T08:34:20.884+01:0028th Sunday Year A, 2023<p> </p><div style="border-bottom: 3pt solid rgb(155, 187, 89); border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid rgb(167, 191, 222); mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent3; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 127; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 10pt 0cm 15pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif;">Isaiah 25:6-10; Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20;
Matthew 22:1-14</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="break-after: avoid; margin-top: 12pt; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On this mountain the LORD of hosts will
provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy rich food
and pure choice wines. On that day it
will be said: “Behold our God, to Whom we looked to save us! This is the LORD
for Whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that He has saved us!” <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This passage, indeed the whole of the
first reading, is wonderfully suited to portray the blessings of Christianity,
and by that, I mean above all, the blessings of the Catholic faith when lived with
humble and sincere gratitude.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For all non-believers or nominal
Christians who – <b>as serious and sensitive human beings </b>-- <u>have felt
the anguish of ‘not-knowing-what-to-do’</u> when oppressed by a vague sense of
‘wrong-ness’ in a particular situation or in their own life; <u>who have felt
the insufficiency of all merely human ideals</u> to enable them to withstand
the trials and temptations of life, which occasion that suffering captured in
those words of St. Paul: “<i>I do not do the
good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” (Romans 7:19); </i><u>who
have suffered or still suffer from divisions</u> within themselves, within
family, society; <b>for all those who have experienced, and want to learn from,
such occasions of suffering and sorrow</b>, the Catholic faith offers a most
wonderful reconciliation with God, with one’s own self, and with the world: a reconciliation
that brings us peace of mind and freedom of heart as it restores meaning and
hope to our life, and delights us with a beauty that can inspire and thrill but
never enslave. However, the hard skin of
a previous worldly, selfish and/or sensual, experience of life, can make it
difficult for these wonderful blessings to penetrate through to the warm,
sensitive, core of human beings as individuals intended by God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Human beings are formed by, and live most
fully in, their personal relationships; and <u>it is in the deliberate and free
gift and acceptance of personal love</u> -- not the impulsive, driving, passion
of sexual encounters -- that a human being first opens up him- or her-self for
maturity. When a man or woman gives or
receives such love for the first time they are changed thereby, and life is no
longer the same as it was before that encounter, which is the initial warrant
and seal of one’s worth as a personal being.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It is the Eucharist</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> which brings that glow of personal,
loving, encounter, fully into prominence in the spiritual life of a Catholic;
for the Eucharist is indeed a feast, a
banquet, of rich food and pure, choice, wines. For the truly stupendous fact and unfathomable
meaning of the Eucharist is that Jesus, the very Son of God, made Man-for-us,
there presents and renews (not repeats!) the original and eternally-enduring
gift of Himself made on Calvary in His self-sacrifice-of-love to His Father <b>for</b> <b>us all</b>, and in His offer of Personal
love <b>to each and every one of us</b> who
wills to call on Him in faith and receive Him fittingly. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">That gift of total love by Jesus is unique
and absolutely inimitable. We human beings can only offer ourselves partially
to another, and only receive another’s gift partially, though our intention be both
sincere and dedicated. In the Eucharist, however, Jesus is <u>total gift and
commitment</u>, to be initially discovered and embraced by us through the inspiration
of His most Holy Spirit, a gift to be<b> </b>treasured life-long, by being gradually
and most carefully nourished in us who receive Him by our following the
teaching and guidance of Mother Church, and the enlightenment of the Holy
Spirit Himself. As foreshadowed on the
human level, so here most sublimely, this union of love, CHARITY, is indeed the
ultimate fulfilment of one’s human being, it is the total vindication of one’s
worth as an individual now become <u>a child of God</u> the Father, in Jesus. For Christ comes to us that He might give us
a share – chosen for us by the Father – in His Own eternal Life of Truth and
Love before the Father.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">All these blessings, which reach to and
transfigure the core of our human being can be ours, but only through our <b><u>faith in Jesus</u></b>, and we have to
pray that we might grow in faith precisely in order that we may ever-more deeply
love, esteem, value, and respond to those blessings to which our Father invites
us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now. that is not always easy for us since
we -- like children who seek all that glitters -- are very subject to the
impressions of our external senses and our inner emotions, and these can easily
drive us to <u>over-involvement</u> in worldly concerns. It is not wrong to be fully involved in what
we undertake -- indeed St. Paul warns us against half-heartedness – but <i>over-involvement </i>so easily leads us to
over-esteem worldly activities and under-value spiritual blessings, which we
can only <u>perceive</u> through faith, and to which our instinctive emotions
do not immediately respond. And it is here
that we must turn to our Gospel reading.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The ‘invited guests’ in Our Lord’s parable
were first of all, God’s original ‘Chosen People’ established as such by their observation
of the Law of Moses, and the OT covenant with God was the first invitation
given them. The King’s feast ‘prepared for
the wedding of his son’ figured the Messianic feast, long foretold, and now
prepared and ready. The excuses came
back thick and fast from all sides, with varying degrees of politeness: but
they all had the same fundamental meaning, ‘We have more important things to do
just now than come to your feast.’ And,
in fact, that is the situation still today, the former ‘Chosen People’ did not
accept Jesus – the incarnate Word, Son, of God – as their Messiah sent by God;
they did not ‘come to the feast’ of God’s Messiah, the Eucharistic Sacrifice
which we are now celebrating. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">That parable of Jesus highlights the great
danger for many people today, who can come to regard earthly obligations, to value
emotionally stirring activities, as supremely important, <b>if </b>they allow
ourselves to become too wrapped-up in them; for example, by wanting to start off too high up on the
tree of life, and thus over-burdening themselves with obligations and costs that
can come to stifle all other aspirations: ‘the cares of life’ as Jesus called
them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In today’s parable Jesus teaches us on the
one hand that no one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven by his own efforts without
<b>an invitation from God</b> – and all of us, willingly here, have received
that P/personal invitation. And, on the
other hand, Jesus tells us that <u>no one is condemned</u> to remain outside
the Kingdom except as a result of their own willful disdain or deliberate
rejection of God’s offer of love. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Go out, therefore, into the main roads and
invite to the feast whomever you find.’ The
servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good
alike, and the hall was filled with guests</span></b><span lang="EN-US">. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">People of God, <b>a choice has to be made</b>
by all of us, a choice involving life or death; that is, a choice for life in
Jesus, Who alone rose from the dead (three days in the tomb) and rose from
there to eternal life, in his Ascension.
It is a choice to be made not just once but one to be re-affirmed by
ourselves many, many, times over the years of our life because, as I said
earlier, we ordinary human beings cannot give ourselves wholly or receive
another’s gift wholly immediately. How
much more is that the case, therefore, when our love is with Jesus. Our Lord
and Saviour, God the Father’s only-begotten and most beloved Son! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Let me quote some tragically beautiful, and
yet so sadly mixed-up, thoughts of a modern philosopher of renown, Bertrand
Russell:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“The centre of me is always and eternally
a terrible pain – a curious, wild pain – a searching for something transfigured
and infinite. The beatific vision—God, I
do not find it. I do not think it is to
be found – but the love of it is my life.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The only-begotten, most beloved, Son of
the heavenly Father came as our Lord Jesus to save those ‘original likenesses’
of God still loved by His Father but cut off from the benefits of that love by life-preferences
and practices adopted through ignorance and weakness. Our Lord died and rose from death to save such
spoiled ‘likenesses’; and ascending back to His Father in heaven He offers them
the Gift of His Most Holy Spirit to enlighten their ignorance and support their
weakness, and lead them, as living members of the <u>Body of Christ on earth, Mother
Church</u>, to the fulness of earthly life and heavenly glory as ‘other
Christs’ in the beatific vision divinely revealed to us in Mother Church, and so
vaguely wanted and yet doubted by Russell.</span></p>Sermon_Posterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14245960889999762616noreply@blogger.com0