Homilies by Revd George Kingsnorth (Deacon)

Getting stuck in procrastination.

Homily
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
2nd October 2022
Creative people are always getting a flood of ideas. Things they can do and make that will brighten people’s lives or pass on a message or philosophy through their art. A lot of artists and writers get stuck in their procrastinations. They can see what it is they are trying to do as if it was there in front of them. Then another idea comes, and another, and before long the first concept is lost in the mists of time.
“Dear Lord, how long must I wait to see these things come together?” cries the frustrated painter.
When I was teaching it was a struggle to get my students to write down their visions. “Keep a journal,” I would tell them. “Scribble down your ideas, get them down onto paper, then you have a record you can go back to, and be inspired at a later date.”
That’s what the Lord is saying in the first reading. If you can imagine what you want and can see it in your mind’s eyes, as if it is there in front of you, then it will become a reality. Once it is there, on paper it can be developed.
As a filmmaker, most of my projects have many scenes. If I get lost in the details too early on everything can fall to pieces. Some projects take years to come to fruition. I have been working on one project for nearly 14 years. In the early days, the film seemed eager to come to fulfilment. But at other times, I could not even open the project file to look at it. Yet, I have talked about this film for years. I have used it as an exercise in editing techniques. And it keeps getting nurtured along. It will come in the fullness of time. I just have to wait and be patient.
At times I have flagged. My soul wasn’t in the right place. I got disheartened but then I would get a flurry of ideas and there would be a new spurt of work. I would discover new techniques to realise my vision that were not there when I started.
In the second letter to Timothy, St Paul encourages him to remain faithful and not to be ashamed of witnessing Christ Jesus. We have been entrusted to look after a precious thing, and the Holy Spirit will help us to guard it, as he lives within us. In the Gospel, the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith.
There are many projects that we find ourselves working on, and in this day and age, we can often be discouraged and distracted by what the world throws at us, which can sometimes be used to make us feel that our own project is not worthy enough. Yet, if we have been inspired by the Holy Spirit to come up with the vision in the first place, then it is our duty as a servant of Christ to see it through and make it happen.
Sometimes, we have to be nudged many times to get the project done. We are being asked to get our souls in the right place to fulfil our purpose. The one Jesus sent us here to do. We may not fully understand what it is or why, but we should trust in the vision and dreams we are given that inspire us. The outcome may be slow, but the Lord tells us: “Come it will, without fail”. It may even take a lifetime. It will probably take a lot of hard effort, but we are told that the vision is for its own time.
This project, inspired by the Holy Spirit, will require discipline, self-control and love, but it is a gift from God, and we should not be timid in bringing it to fruition. Especially if through its realisation it can be a witness to our Lord.
My college diploma film had a rock-man, a magistrate, and a parcel wrapper that turned into a dove. I had been inspired by the science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick. When the assessor saw the film, he asked me if I was aware of all the symbolism. I wasn’t. So, he revealed to me how he saw the rock-man as St Peter, the magistrate as God the Father and the wrapper as the Holy Spirit. I had had the vision, but someone else had to interpret it for me so I could understand.
All we have to do is listen to what our Lord is calling us to do and follow it through, as we have to do so. In this way, we will see many miracles and be surprised at how others are brought to see Our Lord Jesus from the gifts that we produce.
Amen.
 

Homily - 3rd Sunday of Lent – Year B - Sunday 3rd March 2024

Homily3rd Sunday of Lent – Year BSunday 3rd March 2024Jesus visited the second temple to be built. Solomon had built the first one. This was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar after the people of Israel and Judah had strayed from God. They carved sculptures with eyes, mouths and bodies which could not see, hear, or breathe. Lifeless figures were created by men to pray to but could not answer them. Those who stayed in Jerusalem or tried to escape to Egypt perished. Roughly 25% of the total population of Judaeans and Israelites went into exile. Though they were under the rule of the Chaldeans, those in exile prospered because they had followed what God had chosen for them to do, by trusting in him. Seventy years later, God brought them out of exile, when King Cyrus of Persia fulfilled Jeremiah’s prophecy. The spirit of God was with Cyrus, and through him the second Temple was built.The second temple was destroyed in 70AD when Titus’s army supressed a Jewish uprising. The whole of Jerusalem was sacked. Today, there is talk of a third temple being built in Jerusalem, but in today’s Gospel, when the Jews ask Jesus for a sign to justify his actions of chasing the marketeers out to the second temple, he said he would destroy the sanctuary, and raise it up in three days.Cyrus had taken 46 years to build the second temple. The Jews could not imagine how a simple man could rebuild it on his own in just three days. But Jesus was not talking about a building made of stone. He was talking about something more precious. The sanctuary he was talking about was the Temple of the Holy Spirit, his own body. King David had wanted to build the first temple, but God prevented him from doing so because he had blood on his hands. David sent Uriah the Hittite to the front lines where he knew Uriah would be killed so he could marry Bathsheba. Their first child fell ill and died because of David’s sin. However, God loved their second child, and it was he whom God allowed to build the First Temple. His name was Solomon. Solomon knew his father had waged many wars against the enemies of God, but in his time, there was Great Peace, allowing Solomon to prepare and build the temple. Humans always desire to build a place for God to live in, but how can any building house the Glory of God?Jesus is this temple. In human form, God came into this world fully God and fully human. In both the previous two temples, mankind had not followed God’s commandments, had turned away from God and followed their own way into ruin. The consequences of their actions led to the destruction of both temples. Jesus had seen how the people in the Second Temple had turned it into a marketplace. Even though many believed in him, Jesus knew what was in their hearts and minds. He could not trust himself to them.They created other gods and carved images of bulls and other creatures to pray to. They misused the name of God in their dealings with each other, they worked on the Sabbath. Did they honour their fathers and mothers? Even King David’s eldest son Adonijah disrespected his father, firstly by trying to claim his throne and then by trying to take Abishag, the beautiful girl, who asked to keep David warm in his old age but remained a virgin. Adonijah died the day he made this request to King Solomon’s mother because of his disrespect. Adonijah had coveted his brother’s kingdom and his father’s maid. He had attempted to steal both.Jesus could see the same actions in those who lived in Jerusalem. After leaving Jerusalem, Jesus travelled to Samaria and met the woman who had had five husbands and was then living with a sixth man. She had been truthful with him and realised he knew her secrets. When he returned to Jerusalem, the Pharisees tested him with a woman they had caught committing adultery and they wanted to stone her. Interestingly, they did not bring the man she was caught with. Jesus told them whoever had not sinned could cast the first stone. He wrote in the sand and when he looked up, they had all gone, leaving just the woman. He refused to condemn her, telling her not to sin again.If you consider Jesus as the third temple, he had come into this world, lived as we do, and was prepared to die, through crucifixion, in our place for the sins we have all committed, so we can be saved. This is God’s gift to us. Paul told the Corinthians how the Jews struggled with this, the pagans thought it was madness, but God’s folly is far greater than our wisdom.In our world, where so many people seem to think they know better and know how to make progress without God, all we see is how foolish we are to have abandoned him. The riches of this world will fade away, but the glory of God is eternal. We need to keep our focus on Our Lord and Saviour, not trusting ourselves with those who think they know better but their hearts are not with God.Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me will never die. Amen.

Is Amos talking about our time?

Homily
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
25th September 2022
If we consider the words of the first reading, you might think Amos was talking about our time. We see television shows where supposedly ordinary people have accumulated riches one way or another and can now buy homes that are fit for a king, maybe ten times more expensive than what most folk can buy locally. It all seems like a dream. Or young ones wanting to find love on an island, which will make them rich and famous, at the expense of being cheated on, deceived, and having their hearts broken, all to entertain a mass audience. If you were not told that the first reading was from the Bible, you might think it was a scene from the television series Game of Thrones. Many stories from the Bible, especially from the books of Samuel and the two books of Kings show the intrigue and conspiracies that may seem darker than those found in Games of Thrones. David’s general Joab often acted on his own without consulting his King or waiting to see if it was what God wanted. He was ruthless in killing David’s rivals and was not worried about the crimes he had committed, but he was rewarded in the end and Joab, having not supported Solomon to be King, found himself taking refuge in the Tent of Yahweh. He refused to come out when ordered to do so and was put to death where he stood. There seemed to be more Kings who went against God than there were who followed him. Even those who did were conspired against. It was a constant battle to stop the Israelites from following other gods. Even kings sacrificed their sons to gain favours with a god made from human hands. None of this was what God wanted. But still, the Israelites continued in their evil ways. We are often reminded of how Samuel was called by God when he was with Eli. Samuel grew up in the presence of God, but Eli neglected his duties as a father and allowed his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas both officiating priests, to abuse their privileged positions. They took choice meats being offered as a sacrifice and had relations with women serving in the sanctuary. They had no regard for God. So, a man of God announced to Eli that at a future date, his sons would both die on the same day and a more faithful priest would walk in God’s presence. Sometime later, when Eli was an old man, the Philistines attacked Israel and captured the Ark of God, and both Eli’s sons were killed. A messenger brought the news to Eli. Though he was told his sons were dead, it was the shock of hearing the Ark had been captured that sent him reeling and he fell to his death. The rich man in the Gospel followed a similar path as Eli’s two sons. He did not consider Lazarus’ needs, and how his life could have been made better. Both died, Lazarus found himself in heaven and the rich man ended up in Hell. Still being selfish, he wanted Lazarus to do what he would not do for Lazarus. Yet the gulf could not be crossed. Even then, the rich man wanted Lazarus to return to the land of the living to do his bidding to try and save the rich man’s relatives who had taken the wrong path. He wanted a sign to be given to them to get them to change their ways. Abraham reminded the rich man that if they did not listen to Moses and the prophets why would they listen to someone who had risen from the dead? We have enough evidence about us to convince us of the reality of God. Timothy tells us how we should dedicate our lives to God through being saintly and religious, being filled with faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Eternal life can be won by dutifully following what we have been told by speaking about the truth as witnesses to God the Father, his son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit, we can be in God’s presence. What we see around us, in these seemingly strange times, with threats of war escalating beyond Russia and Ukraine, famine in many parts of the world, floods in Pakistan, and rising costs of living here at home in the coming months may make us fearful. But all God is asking us to do is to trust in him and he will save us. He will guide us through, just like he did the Israelites when he took them out of Egypt after the Passover. When we doubt and try to solve the problems ourselves, we end up in greater difficulty. We have our limits, but God is limitless. We just have to trust in God and not listen to those who ignore him. God the Father and Christ Jesus the Son, call to us through the Holy Spirit to be present and not strangers. The sheep that belong to Jesus will listen to his voice and will follow him. Though he was rich he became poor for us, to receive riches through his poverty. We just need to have faith and believe in him. Amen.

God remembers everything

Homily
19th September 2022
25th Sunday of Ordinary Time.
 
God remembers everything. Nothing is forgotten. And we cannot serve two masters, and the Gospel is asking us to choose between God and money. Yes, we have a choice. God wants us to freely choose. Things we think we have done unnoticed will eventually come back to bite us, and we will have to pay the cost, one way or another.
In today’s world, especially over the last couple of years, we have seen everything being turned upside day. COVID had us locked inside, across the globe. Whereas many struggled psychologically trying to cope with the isolation, others found loved ones being taken from them and not being allowed to be with them in their last moments. There was a lot of heartache.
Yet, at the same time, there seemed to be a lot of people who were reaping great rewards on the stock exchange. Many getting richer. While others struggled to make ends meet and needed to visit the Food Banks regularly, even with a good salary. There seemed to be an imbalance of things.
We saw certain leaders having a great time with parties, telling everyone else to self-isolate. One rule for some and another for everyone else – at least that’s what they think. But all is remembered. And they’ll be caught in the long grass, just like the velociraptors chasing humans in the movie Jurassic Park. Or perhaps others will say, long runs the fox – eventually it gets caught.
The bad steward knew how to make a good deal so that even in losing his job he would be okay, by swindling his master even further to gain favour with others so they would become his clients. Yet, the Master knew. How else would he have been able to praise his dishonesty for being astute?
It may be that the bad steward could rightly assess the situation and turn it to his advantage but was it right? In the film ‘Family Man’, Nicholas Cage’s character Jack Campbell is a rich, lonely guy who expects everyone to work on Christmas Day. On his way home he calls into a shop where a young man is told his winning lottery ticket is a fake. The young man pulls out a gun and threatens the shopkeeper, but Jack offers to buy the ticket for the price of the winnings, a mere $238. The young man agrees the exchange is made, and he leaves. Jack catches up with the young man in the street and offers to help him. The young man tells Jack that what is about to happen he has brought upon himself.
Jack returns home to an empty but luxurious apartment. When he wakes the following morning he finds a wife, kids and a dog. He is in a rundown house. Bewildered he struggles to cope with this new identity but as the months go by, he realises that this is a better life, the one where he is struggling to be a good husband and dad yet loved by his wife and kids. Upon this realisation, he meets the young man again, who is now a shopkeeper about to be swindled out of some money by a young girl who is not honest with her change. Jack realises that he must go back to his old lonely, rich life. And soon he wakes up back in his luxurious apartment.
However, with his new insights, he takes the courage to rekindle a lost love and correct the path he took to make a better life.
This is just a movie, but we all have opportunities every day to make a difference. To not be like the children of this world, yet we can still be astute, not for our benefit but for the benefit of others, by doing the right thing. It may not be easy, but it will be remembered.
Jesus Christ was rich, but made himself poor for our sake, to make us rich out of his poverty. Amen.

Homily - 2nd Sunday of Lent - Sunday 25th February 2024

Homily2nd Sunday of LentSunday 25th February 2024Many say the most important day of their lives is the day they get married. It was a great celebration letting the community, and the church, know that from that day onwards you and your spouse would be known as a couple until, God willing, the day you die. Though this day is indelibly imprinted in my soul, there are two more days that make the day of my matrimonial vows so much more significant. The days my two sons were born. Yes, four years apart, but the memories are just as vivid today as it was more than three decades ago. On each day I witnessed the first breath of each child. The transition from being within the womb to breathing within our planet’s atmosphere. Soon after came the crying but also the loving. One of the miracles, coming shortly after the second child was born, was to discover that our love as parents for him was equal to that of our firstborn. It was as if they had both existed in our lives forever. As if this wasn’t the first day of being born into this world. Both were precious. I was fortunate to be a father in my mid-twenties and again in my early thirties. As both my sons now have passed these ages, I am also fortunate to be relatively young to be able to spend time with them as adults and now with my grandchildren.Imagine being through life and not having been able to have children. Then to reach a point when your wife has passed the age for conceiving. Being old and struggling with your own body, which often groans when your mind wants to achieve goals possible in youth but with physical consequences in old age. My knees keep reminding me of this daily.Imagine being eighty or ninety and being told you would have a child the following year? No wonder Sarah laughed when she heard this. Yet this is what happened, and she gave birth to Issac. Abraham would have been over the moon. I wonder how they coped with the sleepless nights watching over an infant. Perhaps he gave them their needed rest? Abraham trusted in the Lord and would follow him regardless. Imagine the shock of being asked to sacrifice your son, the one you loved so much and had waited so long to share in your lives. Imagine the sorrow Sarah would have experienced knowing what God had asked her beloved husband to do. Could you forgive him? Yet, they both trusted God. This was before Moses was given the Ten Commandments. God promised Abraham a great nation of countless people would come from his line. How difficult would it have been for him to give up his only son, born of his wife through their love for one another. Yet, he trusted God and would do as he requested.It was at the very instant Abraham’s knife was about to strike Issac that the Angel of the Lord stopped him, then provided him with a sacrificial ram, snared in a bush. Our God is a God of love. He loves all of us. So much so that he sent his only begotten son into this world, to experience the journey through the womb and being born as we did. To be tempted by everything we have, but not giving in to sin. God revealed Jesus as his Beloved Son to Peter, James and John. They saw him transfigured, dazzlingly white, beyond what earthly bleach could achieve. The three disciples were confused. Peter did not know what to say. A shadow from a cloud overcame them and they heard God’s voice. In the blink of an eye, only Jesus remained with them. Jesus warned them not to say anything until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. Between them, they chatted about what this meant.God had given Abraham a ram as a substitute for his son, Issac, but in Jesus, the Lamb of God, the Almighty had given his beloved Son as a sacrificial Lamb in exchange for all our sins. God’s beloved was not spared. For every human that has ever existed and is to come, Jesus took on our sins so that we could be saved. This is how much God loves every single one of us. He doesn’t want any of us to be lost. God the Father loves all his children. Jesus died for us, is risen from the dead. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus has ascended into Heaven and sits on God’s right-hand side. Jesus pleads for us so we cannot be condemned if we have faith in him as our only mediator. All we must do is listen to his every word.Amen.

Homily - 1st Sunday of Lent – B - Sunday 18th February 2024

Over the last few days, there has been a lot of rain. On Friday the bands of rain were dispersed with some breaks in the clouds and sunbeams brought out the saturated hues. A coloured arch stretched across Slieve Gullion as the reflected light within the water particles separated into the electromagnetic spectrum, what we call a rainbow (Evers, 2023).Something you notice flying to other countries, where they get less rain, is how dull the colours are. Here in Ireland, with so much rain, we get to see the freshness of the bright colours as the rain washes away the dirt and grime. The greens are always vivid here and the various shades are amazing.Over the last few years, we have seen more storms, causing damage to buildings, and trees and taking of life. Science shows how much our planet is rising in temperature and many governments around the world are determined, so we are told by the media, to bring CO2 levels down to zero by the middle of this century. The UN (2024) claims that “75% of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions” come from burning coal, oil, and gas.What is CO2? CO2 is carbon dioxide and is created both naturally and through our everyday actions. Humans and animals take in oxygen and then breathe out carbon dioxide (NTL, 2024). Plants take in CO2 and water from the atmosphere using photosynthesis, which allows heat from the sun to make oxygen and activates chemical energy from a type of sugar called glucose, to create the nourishment the plant needs to survive (NGS, 2024). To achieve this, the plant cells contain a pigment called chlorophyll which captures the blue and red light but reflects green light (NGS, 2024). This is why our eyes see plants coloured green (NGS, 2024).This effect describes how gases such as “carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapour” (NTL, 2024) known as greenhouse gases, heat up the earth. Like me, you probably have come to think that humans are causing all the greenhouse gases and that we must eradicate such gases to protect our planet. The confusion comes when government leaders promise to achieve zero CO2 within the next decade or two. Scientists tell us by a “collective societal response” (Witze, 2023) that we can adapt our way of using certain fuel types to generate the energy we need to power our world. Clean electricity is the suggested way forward, probably by nuclear power plants.Yet the biggest contributor to CO2 emissions is not humans but nature itself (NTL, 2024). Animals breathe in the oxygen produced by the plants which need the carbon dioxide for their survival.Though I started off looking at the rain and the rainbow I had seen arching over Slieve Gullion, you’ll notice, so far there is no mention of God. Yet, today’s Gospel, though brief, mentions how Jesus was driven into the desert for forty days. This happened straight after he had been baptised in the river Jordan. Satan tempted Jesus but he was looked after by the angels. No more description is given in Mark’s account. John the Baptist was arrested, and Jesus began to proclaim the Gospel, saying “The time has come, and the kingdom of God is close at hand”. Last Wednesday, I had the privilege of joining Fr Seamus in Dromintee and Jonesborough Churches to distribute the ashes. As we both made the sign of the cross on each member of the congregation’s forehead, we asked them to “repent and believe the Gospel – the Good News”. The last line of today’s Gospel.The first letter of St Peter reminds us of Christ’s innocence, but that he died only once for our sins to bring us back to God. Through Jesus’s actions, our guilt has been washed away. Through the waters of the flood, God made a covenant with Moses not to again destroy the surface of our planet through water. His sign of this promise was the rainbow. Through Christ Jesus a new Covenant was made through the sign of the cross that we receive at baptism.God brought about the flood in Noah’s time and only a few were saved. In the book of Genesis, God had witnessed the evil humans plotted in their hearts, scheming all day long. He wished he had never created humans and decided to use water to cleanse the planet from their wickedness. The flood lasted forty days, the same amount of time Jesus was tempted by the devil in the desert. This is also the same amount of time we have during Lent to reflect upon what we have done, to repent and believe in the Gospel.The grass is green, cleansed by the rain, we are cleansed through baptism and need to focus on Jesus Our Saviour. He stopped the storm from destroying the boat the disciples were in when they called for him to help. Now is the time for us to call him to rescue us. We must repent and believe in the Gospel.

Getting a flood of ideas

Homily
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
2nd October 2022
Creative people are always getting a flood of ideas. Things they can do and make that will brighten people’s lives or pass on a message or philosophy through their art. A lot of artists and writers get stuck in their own procrastinations. They can see what it is they are trying to do as if it was there in front of them. Then another idea comes, and another, and before long the first concept is lost in the mists of time.
“Dear Lord, how long must I wait to see these things come together?” cries the frustrated painter.
When I was teaching it was a struggle to get my students to write down their visions. “Keep a journal,” I would tell them. “Scribble down your ideas, get them down onto paper, then you have a record you can go back to, and be inspired at a later date.”
That’s what the Lord is saying in the first reading. If you can imagine what you want, and can see it in your mind’s eyes, as if it is really there in front of you, then it will become a reality. Once it is there, on paper it can be developed.
As a filmmaker, most of my projects have many scenes. If I get lost in the details too early on everything can fall to pieces. Some projects take years to come to fruition. I have been working on one project for nearly 14 years. In the early days, the film seemed eager to come to fulfilment. But at other times, I could not even open the project file to look at it. Yet, I have talked about this film for years. I have used it as an exercise in editing techniques. And it keeps getting nurtured along. It will come in the fullness of time. I just have to wait and be patient.
At times I have flagged. My soul wasn’t in the right place. I got disheartened but then I would get a flurry of ideas and there would be a new spurt of work. I would discover new techniques to realise my vision that were not there when I started.
In the second letter to Timothy, St Paul encourages him to keep faithful and not to be ashamed of witnessing about Christ Jesus. We have been entrusted to look after a precious thing, and the Holy Spirit will help us to guard it, as he lives within us. In the Gospel the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith.
There are many projects that we find ourselves working on, and in this day and age we can often be discouraged and distracted by what the world throws at us, which can sometimes be used to make use feel that our own project is not worthy enough. Yet, if we have been inspired by the Holy Spirit to come up with the vision in the first place, then it is our duty as a servant of Christ to see it through and make it happen.
Sometimes, we have to be nudge many times to get the project done. We are being asked to get our soul in the right place to fulfil our purpose. The one Jesus sent us here to do. We may not fully understand what it is or why, but we should trust in the vision and dreams we are given that inspire us. The outcome maybe slow, but the Lord tells us: “come it will, without fail”. It may even take a lifetime. It will probably take a lot of hard effort, but we are told that the vision is for its own time.
This project, inspired by the Holy Spirit, will require discipline, self-control and love, but it is a gift from God, and we should not be timid in bringing it to fruition. Especially if through its realisation it can be a witness to our Lord.
My college diploma film had a rock-man, a magistrate, and parcel wrapping that turned into a dove. I had been inspired by the science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick. When the assessor saw the film, he asked me if I was aware of all the symbolisms? I wasn’t. So, he revealed to me how he saw the rock-man as St Peter, the magistrate as God the Father and the wrapper as the Holy Spirit. I had had the vision, but someone else had to interpret it for me so I could understand.
All we have to do is listen to what our Lord is calling us to do and follow it through, as it is our duty to do so. In this way we will see many miracles and be surprised at how others are brought to see Our Lord Jesus from the gifts that we produce.
Amen.
 

We live in troubled times.

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Homily for 14th 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?
 

Homily - 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 11th February 2024

Homily6th Sunday in Ordinary Time11th February 2024Several of the Gospel readings over the last few weeks have shown people who had a deep faith. They believe that Jesus had the authority and compassion to help them. Two weeks ago, Jesus’s authority was proved by the unclean spirit that had possessed a man. It knew who Jesus was, and shouted his name, Jesus of Nazareth the Holy One of God. Jesus ordered the demon to be quiet and come out of the man. The unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions, reluctant to leave but did, astonishing all the people. Last Sunday, Jesus accompanied James and John, to Simon and Andrew’s house, where Simon’s mother-in-law was ill. Jesus lifted her and she became well enough to serve people again. That evening many people came to Jesus to be healed of their illness or had devils cast out of them.Last Thursday’s Gospel saw Jesus visiting the territory of Tyre, he still did not want to be recognised but a pagan woman came to him and begged for his help. Her daughter had been possessed. This is when Jesus said to her that the children needed to be fed first, as in the Jewish people. The women’s reply showed her faith in Jesus. “Even the housedogs under the table can eat the children’s scraps,” she said. Jesus told her she could go home happy; “the devil has gone out of your daughter.” When she got home, she found her daughter as he said she would.Today, the leper asked Jesus that if he wanted, he could cure him of his skin disease. Jesus said he was willing to do so and commanded he be cured, and the leprosy left the man at once. Jesus tells the man to follow what Moses prescribed by showing himself to the priest, in the manner stated in Leviticus. Again, Jesus asked him not to tell others what had happened. To keep it quiet. Jesus found it difficult to walk around the towns because of his popularity, so had to stay in the countryside where no-one lived.Jesus was not seeking glory. He wanted the recognition to go to his Father. All glory and praise should go to God. Jesus humbled himself to become a human, so he could live amongst us. To experience what we do. Yet, he still had compassion for everyone he met, no matter who they were, pagan, gentile, Greek, Roman or Jew. No matter whether the person was ravaged by demons or riddled with illness, he was willing to help them, if only they believed in him. Everyone, humans, and demons recognised Jesus’s authority and were awe inspired by him. Some say fear but other say it is better to say respect. Those who knew Jesus did not seem to fear him but had great admiration for him.Why did the demon throw the man around? It was because it could not cope with the love and compassion that came from Jesus, because they had rejected him. If we are true followers of Jesus, we are encouraged to model ourselves on what Paul tells the Corinthians to do. We are not to be anxious about how to take advantage but to offer what we can give to others. What can we give? We are asked to give what we have in excess, what we have extra. We are encouraged not to be selfish, to show compassion in everything we do, no matter what, and to always offer it up for the glory of God. We are not to judge others because they may seem to be different, alien, or foreign. Every human being on this planet is to be considered as a temple of the Holy Spirit. Paul mentions the Church of God. Each Sunday we go to a building we call a church, or a chapel, or a cathedral, but the building is not the church. The church, the body of Christ is us, the people who come together to honour Our Lord, to give him praise for being the sacrificial Lamb of God, who died for all our sins, so that we may be saved, through the Grace of God. The psalm reminds us to acknowledge our sins and to confess our offences against the Lord, and we will be forgiven. We are to rejoice in Him and lift our Hearts. If we put our trust in Our Lord Jesus Christ and be lifted by the Holy Spirit, we will be giving praise to Our Heavenly Father, and it will be fear running away, like the devils and the leprosy. You are my refuge, O Lord; you fill me with the joy of salvation. Amen.

Homily - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time – B - Sunday 4th February 2024

On Thursday night, once a month, my wife and I join our friends for a pub quiz. We were asked to come early, and the restaurant was still in full swing, so the table arrangements were not normal. This night we got into a full-scale conversation, one we both enjoyed. Now, I’ve read through the reading for this Sunday, I am surprised at how our conversation touched on so many of the topics highlighted in the Book of Job, Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians and Mark’s Gospel.My friend asked if I had seen the two documentaries that had been on RTE, The Last Priests in Ireland and The Last Nuns in Ireland. At that time, I hadn’t but he was enthused by the topics. He even went to school with the father of the journalist who interviewed the nuns, so there was a local connection that encouraged the watch. My friend shared the same thoughts as Ardal O’Hanlon, the actor who played Fr Dougal in Fr Ted. His experience was of being force to rote learn the catechism, without fully understanding the meaning behind it. The words were just drummed into him, and the innocent child still remembers what was taught at school. He still goes to church but sees mainly older folk who in themselves are searching. He recognised a spark of the divine within his heart that nudges him to discover more.Ed Power writing in The Irish Times, explores how the Clonliffe Seminary in Dublin thrived in the mid-1960s, but today is a ghostly husk, now abandoned. He reminds us of how early Celtic Christianity had a sense of druid spirituality separate from the Global Church. As the Oxford Movement worked its way through the Church of England in the mid-1850s, Victorian morality seemed to be imposed upon the Irish Church at the time of the Famine as if at the hands of Darth Vader-like moralists. My friend, now retired, felt angry with how the church had lost its way and how the priests seemed to be distant from the congregation. He saw the violence in the world, especially how war was corrupting people and the lack of will from most countries to intervene and stop the slaughter of so many innocent civilians, where children are being forced to fend for themselves after losing their parents. Yet, inside his heart a spark of the divine continues to work away, making him question what life is all about? Are we simply here on earth for nothing more than to be pressed into the drudgery of service. Slavishly working with nothing in mind but a wage at the end of the day? Are we forced to lie in bed at night wondering how soon light will come so we can start again? This is what Job wondered.What about the devil? I asked my friend. That’s just a fairy tale to keep us all in order, to put fear into us. There’s no such thing. Yet, in Mark’s Gospel, we are reminded, as we were last week, that Jesus did cast out devils. He also cures the sick. They exist, but in our world, there is so much influencing us to believe devils are fantasies just to give us a thrill when watching horror stories and playing certain video games. It is important to question where do these ideas come from? And why are they shaping our lives? Are these all means to distract us from what life is really about? Are we all just sick of the drudgery? Do we need to be lifted out of the oppression that seems to darken our lives?There is a sense from what happened with Simon’s mother-in-law that she was not simply sick, but near death and had to be lifted back into being alive. So many people required such help across Capernaum. This work was exhausting, even for Jesus, who also needed time to pray, so rose early to have some quiet time. When the disciples found him, they were concerned because everyone was looking for him, but Jesus had to go elsewhere to carry on preaching, to share the Good News with more people.Paul reminds us all how important it is to share what we have discovered about the Good News that Jesus suffered and died for us to set us free from death, to save us. Yet, we are all weak and feel we are unworthy, but it is our duty to share the Gospel.The conversation with my friend, was to allow him to share with me what he knew and his concerns. He felt relieved getting this load off his chest. There are many people throughout our community who have questions and want to have the time to talk about where they are and how they see the world. Many have had a hard life and often feel abandoned, that no-one cares. Like Jesus who needed time to be alone and replenish his thoughts, we too need space, not only to think but also space to have time to be with others, without pressure, without being judged but simply wanting to be able to express what is in our thoughts and how we feel. Let us be still and let the light into our world, and then find time to share some space with others. It is difficult but we can be lifted spiritually, like Simon’s mother-in-law.Jesus said “I am the light of the world, anyone who follows me will have the light of life. Alleluia!