We live in troubled times.

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily for 14^th August 2022

We live in troubled times. Some say it feels like in the months leading up to World War Two, the were tensions. People like Winston Churchill believed the Nazis were building up their war machine and preparing to retaliate for what they believed was their humiliating defeat of World War One. Churchill attempted to say his piece in Parliament but was ridiculed for being a warmonger.

Britain, France, Poland and many other countries in Europe were ill-prepared. When the war finally comes Jesus tells us we will be divided amongst ourselves. Son against Father, father against son, mother against daughter. And so on. Jesus says he had not come to bring peace, but to bring fire upon the earth. While writing this homily, I checked out NASA's Earth Observation website to see where the fires are around the planet.

I have a little video that shows where the fires were from March 2000 to May 2022, from Sierra Leone to Somalia in Africa, Bangladesh to Vietnam and China in Asia, across Russia, the Americas, North and South Australia and Europe like a pulsing wave year in and year out. The flames spread across the globe and back again, but there didn't seem to be a time when there were no fires.

What I noticed when watching or listening to the news, the bad news is that there is no mention of God. Global warming is a manmade phenomenon. It is our fault and only man can fix it. So we are told day in and day out by the media, that Jeremiah tried to tell his people about the disasters heading their way, but no one wanted to listen.

They threw him down a well to die. His message was to turn back to God, not to rely on human intervention. Though Jeremiah knew no one would listen he would surely die. He put his trust in God. Likewise, Jesus knew his destiny was on the cross. He swept flood in the garden of Get. Send me knowing what was in store for him over the coming days.

But he accepted the cup his father gave him. The Gospel is about love and resurrection. How world is in trouble? And though we have put our trust in our technology to save us, isn't it about time we came to terms with the truth? The truth that it is only through our Lord Jesus Christ that we can be saved?

Pope Benedict, the 16th, said, My first task is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My second task is to bring the fire of God's love to the world. And my final task is to suffer for the sake of others, as our Lord did Himself. Ashworth adds, But isn't it time that we listened and accepted that our Lord Jesus calls us today and He is our Savior before it is too late?

 

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