A VERY SPECIAL WELCOME TO TERRY SULLIVAN THIS WEEKEND. TERRY IS WITH THE CATHOLIC MISSIONS AND WILL BE SPEAKING WITH US ABOUT THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH AND THE PRACTICAL ACTION WE AS CHURCH ARE ENGAGED IN… 

         

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MANY THANKS TO TERRY SULLIVAN FOR VISITING OUR PARISH AND SPEAKING TO US ABOUT CATHOLIC MISSIONS. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE WORK OF CATHOLIC MISSIONS IS NOT JUST ONE WORHTY CAUSE AMONGST MANY, NOT AN ADDED EXTRA, BUT INTEGRAL TO OUR IDENTITY AND THE WORK OF THE CHURCH.

 

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Here are some thoughts on the scriptures for this week, (from Fr Paul)

 

The first reading and the Gospel are connected today in speaking about eating. All of us should love the words of the first reading, from the Prophet Isaiah: Heed me and you shall eat well! It is difficult to imagine another part of our Bible that is this blunt. If you follow the Lord, you shall eat well.

On the other hand, we also know that it is not entirely true. So many people have been totally faithful to God and have died of hunger. So what are we to make of these kinds of sayings? We have to know that the Bible is speaking ultimately about eternal life and not just about this life. For sure, the person who wrote this part of the book of the Prophet Isaiah really thought that anyone who actually was faithful to God would never have a problem with eating in this life. We who live so many centuries later can understand that the promise is NOT only about this life, but about living for ever and the kind of food that sustains eternal life.

All we need do is think of places around the world where good people are starving – they are not getting the things they NEED, the things they deserve. There were so many people who did believe with all their hearts—and they died from hunger.

For those of us in the “developed countries” there is almost always plenty to eat. So, in a real sense it is true, God does provide the world as a whole with the things that are needed for life and sustenance.  However, they are clearly not evenly distributed…..   but God has given us the means to distribute more evenly… that is where it is up to us to make a difference…..!!!!!

For a huge percentage of people in the world, there is not enough to eat. We need to ask ourselves what that might mean for us? Do we as developed nations… or even as individuals….help  with the hunger in the world? Are we, inspired by the Gospel, willing to eat a little less so that others might eat a little more? The answer is of course, yes… and much is already being done… surely this is helping to fulfil God’s will to give what is necessary to those who need…
These are questions that those of us who follow Christ need to ask ourselves. Jesus is so clear in the Gospel that he wants his followers to give food to those who don’t have any.

Jesus may also be referring to spiritual food too….   Such as the Eucharist and also nourishment from God’s Word in Scrtipture too. And so, we need to ask ourselves whether we have spiritual food for the journey? we need to keep looking for the presence of God in our own personal lives and in our daily lives of contact with others?

There is more than starvation in the world. People are finding themselves starved in many different ways in this world, and even in this town or country. People are starved of affection; starved of acceptance; starved of spiritual nourishment; starved of a sense of belonging; starved of confidence… the list goes on…  WE can be part of their nourishment by how we respond to our and their needs for this kind of nourishment too. It is a real need.

The Gospel is there not to condemn us, but to invite us to live as truly spiritual women and men in our present world. Let us ask God to open our hearts today to His presence. May we know His divine presence in every other person. And may our hearts be alive in the Lord as we respond to Jesus’ call “you give them something to eat yourselves.” 

 

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Sunday, August 3, 2008
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thought for food

“Give them something to eat” was Jesus’ mandate to his disciples concerning the hungry masses. It is still his mandate to us today as more than 1 billion people—one-sixth of the world’s population—live in extreme poverty on less than one U.S. dollar a day. With grain and fertilizer prices skyrocketing, the world’s poorest have never been more vulnerable. If we want people to be able to feel the loving presence of God in their lives, let’s first make sure they aren’t feeling the wracking pain of chronic hunger. Visit www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu or www.bread.org for ideas on how to help.

Today’s readings: Isaiah 55:1-3; Romans 8:35, 37-39; Matthew 14:13-21

“Jesus said to his disciples, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ ”

 

Monday, August 4
Feast of John Mary Vianney, priest

Lead by following

By the year 1818, the remote town of Ars in France had lapsed in its faith. Things only looked worse when a newly ordained priest was sent to minister there. Father Vianney had barely made it through seminary because he was a dull student and in poor health. Yet he single-handedly brought the whole town back to church with three simple tools: prayer, penitential acts, and example. Before his death Ars had become a pilgrimage site for many who wanted an hour in the confessional with the holy Curé of Ars. How does your example encourage others to faith?

Today’s readings: Jeremiah 28:1-17; Matthew 14:22-36

“Immediately Jesus spoke to his disciples in the boat, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ ”

 
Tuesday, August 5
Feast of Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome

Can you bear it?

“Mary, the Mother of God” had been a widely used and cherished title for hundreds of years when it was called into question in the early fifth century by a bishop who proposed that Mary should instead be called “Mother of Christ.” The people of Constantinople promptly and vigorously disagreed, but the matter was not officially settled until the Council of Ephesus in 431. It was in honor of the council’s confirmation of Mary as Theotokos (Mother or “Bearer” of God) that Pope Sixtus III built the largest and most important shrine to Mary in the West: the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. How do you bear God in the world?

Today’s readings: Jeremiah 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22; Matthew 14:22-36 or 15:1-2, 10-14

“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?”

 

Wednesday, August 6
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord; Hiroshima Memorial Day

The power to dazzle—or destroy

Bright light may indicate glory—as of Christ—or terror. On this day in 1945, Lt. Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb, later wrote, “A bright light filled the plane. We turned back to look at Hiroshima, . . . hidden by that awful cloud . . . boiling up, mushrooming.” And Jesuit Father John A. Siemes, on the ground at that moment, remembers, “Suddenly . . . the whole valley is filled by a garish light . . . and I am conscious of a wave of heat . . . I see nothing more than that brilliant yellow light.” In the plane, copilot Robert Lewis turns away and asks himself, “My God, what have we done?” That the feast of Transfiguration occurs on this date is a perpetual irony, but we must not turn away. The power to transfigure the world can be for good or ill in a generation of superpowers.

Today’s readings: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14; 2 Peter 1:16-19; Matthew 17:1-9

“And Jesus was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.”

 
Thursday, August 7

All about rocks

Here’s a riddle: When is a rock not a rock? The answer is: When it’s a stumbling stone. Jesus calls Peter a “rock” when the apostle professes his faith. But then he turns around and calls Peter an “obstacle,” a word that literally means a “stumbling stone,” a rock over which one trips and falls. It is a reminder to Peter—and to us—that following Jesus leads to suffering, because people of the world will reject the ways of God’s kingdom. The values of the world can only lead to death because all things are passing away. But the values of the kingdom will last because the kingdom is coming and will never pass away.

Today’s readings: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Matthew 16:13-23

“He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.’ ”

 
Friday, August 8
Feast of Dominic, priest

Friars put up a fight

Many of the monastic orders of the church were first formed in opposition to mistakes in thinking. An example of this pattern is the Order of Preachers founded by Saint Dominic in the early 13th century in part to fight the Albigensian heresy, which had become very prominent in southern France. Its adherents believed in a strict opposition between the spirit (pure good) and the flesh (an evil creation of Satan). The Albigenses also refused to believe that Christ resurrected or ever took a material body at all. We need to know of mistaken ways of thinking not only as problems of the past but also as misconceptions that many of us may still carry with us.

Today’s readings: Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7; Matthew 16:24-28

“For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?”

 
Saturday, August 9
Feast of Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, virgin, martyr; Nagasaki Memorial Day

Dare to dream the impossible

Anthropologists seem to agree that human beings are becoming less violent. Yet with 100 million violent deaths in the 20th century and the violent death toll rising by the millions in each year of the 21st century, it doesn’t seem possible that we’ve become a kinder, gentler species. What will it take for us to continue to make progress? The first step is to believe in peace. But, noted Eleanor Roosevelt, “It isn’t enough to believe in peace. One must work at it.” In honor of Saint Teresa Benedicta, who died in a Nazi concentration camp, and the tens of thousands killed in the bombing of Nagasaki, commit to initiating peace among feuding family members, neighbors, communities, and nations.

Today’s readings: Habakkuk 1:12-2:4; Matthew 17:14-20

“For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible for you.”

 

©2008 by TrueQuest Communications, L.L.C. Phone: 800-942-2811; e-mail: mail@takefiveforfaith.com; website: www.TakeFiveForFaith.com. Licensed for noncommercial use. All rights reserved. Scripture quotes come from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

 
Contributors: Father Paul Boudreau, Alice Camille, Daniel Grippo, Father Larry Janowski, Ann O’Connor, Sean Reynolds, Joel Schorn, and Patrice J. Tuohy

 

17th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A

27th July, 2008      17th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A

 

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The gospel this weekend is really fitting……   after a week of World Youth Day celebrations…. we are very much aware that we belong to One universal, catholic, apostolic Church…. the Spiritual head of the church, the Pope, gathered with people representing the people from all nations……   and we celebrated our unity, our hope….   and the rich treasures that our Catholic/ Christian tradition is……./    I know that this has renewed in the pilgrims and all of us, a powerful desire to continue on our humble journey of discovering the richness and depth of the treasury of our faith that Jesus offers us, in and through the Catholic tradition, firmly founded on the Gospels.

 

So the parable about a person finding a treasure in a field….  is very fitting…….//   last weekend… we celebrated a treasure lying in a race course…….     the treasury of the people of God….   the treasure of the Good news entrusted to us by Jesus himself…. and the rich treasury of the Catholic Church’s transitions, history and wisdom…….      //   it is humbling… and invites us to respond by deepening our search, deepening our study….   and deepening our prayer……. to immerse ourselves in this treasury…   completely…….

 

In the parable… a man discovers a treasure in a field and sees that it is so valuable   that he goes and sells EVERYTHING, TO HAVE IT … and then goes back to dig it up…..

 

Jesus is guaranteeing that his kingdom,..//  his good news…//  his offer of life and relationship is SO SPECIAL.. IT IS LIKE A RARE TREASURE… Nothing else on earth is as valuable as this……  It is worth giving up everything else to attain…//…  It has a richness and a depth that can never be fully plumbed……

 

As I read that parable…..I am reminded of the quote from GK Chesterton, (the great English scholar and writer)…  (and I am paraphrasing it liberally here)….  He writes….. ‘It’s not that Christianity hasn’t worked, its just that nobody’s really tried it yet !’  

 

So, to me,.,…..      what I fear in this day and age is that people are experiencing their faith like this parable………. Imagine a person digging in a field when they come across a pointy rock…..   …    it is hard… jutting out of the dirt…….but the little rock looks downright  ordinary….   So the person stops digging and goes away after being distracted by a few shiny stones they see off in the distance….. ..    little did they know that this pointy old rock is an unpolished diamond….    And in fact it is merely the tip of a much larger treasure…. //  If they had continued to dig…. And dig in the right places…..they would have found a whole connected seam of the most fabulous treasure they ever could have imagined…..    but…  no….   the unattractive ….pointy bit above the surface was all they needed to know that there was nothing in this field worth buying…. I feel that this is the same with the richness of our Catholic Faith… it is a priceless treasure……     deep, rich, complex, diverse….   its is over two thousand years of tradition, history and heritage…..   including the writings of countless saints and scholars, mystics and historians……    and our liturgies….   deeply enriched by two thousand years of traditions – filled with meaning upon meaning…/   significance upon significance……    one person could not hope to mine completely in a lifetime…..  or a thousane lifetimes for that matter…. 

We could profitably spend a lifetime depthing the richness of the catholic/ Christian faith tradition… ////////We can trust that we are being offered a unique treasure….  //… it will bear enormous fruit… we are promised that….

 

 

whilst the religious traditions of other non-christian religions are fascinating too…// … nevertheless, I am sure you will forgive me for this one little bias……….. The Christian faith and tradition has a treasury no less rich…. (and in fact to us Christian’s profoundly and uniquely /infinitely richer …..)…..  One gets a curious feeling that some people have rushed off to ‘mine the riches’ of another religion without appearing to know that there ARE  ‘depths to mine’ in their own Christian religion….//perhaps it is the ‘grass is greener syndrome…’  . //   I will eat my hat if most people who have rushed off to follow another religion have first  deeply plumbed the depths of the Christian treasury… as opposed to what they think is the full package of Christianity..  which for most people  through no fault of their own… might have been actually “christianity Lite”……(the edited version) //     (I have mentioned this before, but it remains a timely thought…)….How many people know of the ‘Christian mystic tradition’. It is also very ancient……//… which also taps into meditation, and mantras, wisdom literature and proverbs……  and profound insights into the human mind and heart………. and extraordinary relationships with one’s environment….   And so on…. Have they read the writings of the desert fathers… do they even know who or what the desert fathers are…… // 

….. and that is just to name one thing that springs to mind…...

 

Our Christian tradition (our Catholic tradition) although rich with nourishment…. is becoming the best kept secret in history.. to an increasing majority who appear to be on a spiritual fast food diet…

 

This parable today calls us to quiet humility…. // even after seven years of training and study of scripture, theology, ministry, philosophy, church history and liturgy……in the seminary… (and I am deeply grateful to the church for the amazing opportunity of a holistic theological education in my preparation for service in the church….)……. and then after countless in-services and ongoing study and reflection over more than ten years of ministry in parishes, I believe that after all that, nevertheless… I still feel I am only scratching the surface of the riches of Jesus’ Good news to be discovered in the Catholic tradition….//  this journey certainly gives a sense of the complexity, richness, subtlety and breadth of what we are being offered…..// certainly will never bore me or fail to satisfy//……so… I am delighted to keep digging…. the richness of what God offers us, never ceases to astound me…..//

 

Our faith is a treasure of incredible depth…   if one thinks they have grasped it enough to ‘find it wanting’…  They need to be very careful that they have not rejected a pale shadow of the treasure hidden in a field…

 

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These weekday reflections refer frequently to gimpses and tastes of the rich history, writing and heritage of our Church, it is an endless source of inspiration and reflection:

 

Extra weekday reflections:

 

Sunday, July 27, 2008
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A riddle wrapped in a mystery

Jesus mentions the kingdom of heaven 38 times in Matthew’s gospel. Clearly he wants us to understand exactly what it is. Yet the kingdom is mysterious; it is not something that can be defined once and for all. The best Jesus can do is to describe what it is like, not what it is. The kingdom is like a treasure buried in a field . . . it is like a merchant searching for valuable pearls. In other words the kingdom of heaven is both that which we find and that which is searching to find us. Hmm. Jesus wants to know if his disciples understand. Today would be a good day to contemplate the kingdom of heaven so that our answer, like that of the disciples, will be “Yes.”

Today’s readings: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12; Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 13:44-52

“ ‘Have you understood all this?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’ ”

 
Monday, July 28

The parable of the holy underwear

If you haven’t heard or read the first scripture reading for today, you might want to take a look. It’s a story containing the earthy detail of a prophet, on direct orders from God, burying a loincloth, which is a polite word for his shorts. Scholars say this story is a kind of street—or desert—theater: Folks would see Jeremiah hiding the loincloth, which then rots, and would ask themselves, “What the heck is he trying to say?” That the people are to be as close to God as a loincloth to, well, loins. When the people turn from this relationship by, say, chasing after other gods, the symbol of their closeness falls apart and can’t be worn anymore. Do you cling to God like clothes to a body?

Today’s readings: Jeremiah 13:1-11; Matthew 13:31-35

“For as the loincloth clings to one’s loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the Lord.”

 
Tuesday, July 29
Feast of Saint Martha

“Do you believe this?”

That was Jesus’ question to Saint Martha in the Gospel of John. In the aftermath of her brother Lazarus’ death—and before Jesus raised him from the dead—Christ tells her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” What a promise! Then the crucial question: “Do you believe this?” In her answer Martha speaks the words Saint Peter gets in the other gospels: “ ‘Yes, Lord, I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’ ” Hard to believe? What is your answer to the question?

Today’s readings: Jeremiah 14:17-22; John 11:19-27

“Yes, Lord, I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

 
Wednesday, July 30
Feast of Peter Chrysologus, bishop, doctor of the church

In search of the singular pearl

Saint Peter Chrysologus (d. 450), homilist extraordinaire and doctor of the church, preached often on the role of the Virgin Mary in salvation history: “A gentle maiden having accepted to bear God within her, asks as its price, peace for the world, salvation for those who are lost, and life for the dead.” Are we willing to accept those terms: peace, salvation, and everlasting life? We’d be crazy not to. But like children still unsure of the difference between a “dime and a nickel,”  many of us trade our most precious gift—our faith—for what looks bigger and better—money and power. God sees each of us as a pearl of great price worth selling all one has to own. No person or thing could ever value us more. Accept God’s terms of discipleship.

Today’s readings: Jeremiah 15:10, 16-21; Matthew 13:44-46

“On finding one pearl of great value, the merchant went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

 
Thursday, July 31
Feast of Ignatius of Loyola, priest

Take it to heart

Ignatius of Loyola is honored for many reasons, one of which is the lovely and powerful prayer he wrote, which goes in part: Take, Lord, receive all my liberty: my memory, understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and call my own. You have given it all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and grace. That is enough for me.

      The prayer is often recited by those professing a commitment to religious life. You can apply the prayer to your own life as you wish; the important thing is to apply it!

Today’s readings: Jeremiah 18:1-6; Matthew 13:47-53

“Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel, says the Lord.”

 
Friday, August 1
Feast of Alphonsus Liguori, bishop, doctor of the church

Problem report

One could say Saint Alphonsus (1696-1787) knew what it was like to live on the margins. He removed himself from his legal career after a professional disaster, sought his vocation in a hospital for incurably ill people, endured the resistance of his family, struggled to form a religious order, as a bishop revived a flagging diocese though nearly crippled by rheumatism, and late in life was tricked out of membership in his own community. Despite these difficulties, he became one of the church’s great moral theologians and pastors. Don’t let adversity knock you off the course of pursuing what you know to be good and right.

Today’s readings: Jeremiah 26:1-9; Matthew 13:54-58

“Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.”

 
Saturday, August 2

Mistaken identity

Jesus and John the Baptist did not have Facebook or MySpace pages, and you couldn’t Google them to check out their photos. So when Jesus was walking around performing mighty deeds, poor King Herod mistook him for John the Baptist come back from the dead—a death to which Herod had sent John on a whim. Herod completely missed the significance of the Baptizer: Just as John pointed the way to Jesus’ life and ministry, so, by his own example, he pointed to Jesus’ death. Herod’s error cautions us to recognize and welcome the real Christ.

Today’s readings: Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24; Matthew 14:1-12

“This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.”

 

 
©2008 by TrueQuest Communications, L.L.C. Phone: 800-942-2811; e-mail: mail@takefiveforfaith.com; website: www.TakeFiveForFaith.com. Licensed for noncommercial use. All rights reserved. Scripture quotes come from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

 
Contributors: Father Paul Boudreau, Alice Camille, Daniel Grippo, Father Larry Janowski, Ann O’Connor, Sean Reynolds, Joel Schorn, and Patrice J. Tuohy

 

16th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A

20th July, 2008      16th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A

 

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we are very much aware of our membership to the universal church…. particularly this week… where the Pope has been visiting Australia……… and people from all over the world have come to celebrate their unity in Christ… and their membership of the church…../    our thoughts and prayers are with the pilgrims, not only our local pilgrims….. but the japanese pilgrims we enjhoyed hosting last week……..

 

The psalm could very well have been written for today….it is so fitting… 

 

both the first reading and the gospel tell us something very important….  “God is all-powerful, but is gentle and always wants to give us time for change, for transformation, and for repentance.”    (abbot’s homily, Monastery of Christ in the desert).

 

The gospel this weekend, uses, among other images the image of the Reign of God being like ‘the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’  Surely our parish’s mission is very fittingly described as that. the life of this parish… the life of our schools, seek to implement the good news of Jesus in an “holistic”   way…  in a way that is not segmented…. //  It diffuses right through every aspect of life ………it is part of every aspect.. and not merely something that has been badly tacked on to the end of an otherwise “non-Christian set-up”… but rather… it is worked in and becomes an integral part of what we do and how we do it… like yeast is mixed seamlessly into flour…..  it becomes part of it, but also raises it up into a new and more beautiful creation….   All of us are like that too in our daily lives…… //   and the energy, inspiration and encouragement we have witnessed in world youth day….  the public interest in the message of the gospel……   these are glimpses of the kingdom at work….    working into and amongst the everyday events and values of the commonwealth……… we are all, as Christians, to be leaven (yeast) in the dough…//. ‘So much’ part of society and work as to be integral… and bringing the life and joy of our Christian faith effortlessly and not necessarily ‘obviously’ into all we do and say…    being part of God’s transformation of all things in God’s image…. 

 

Finally, Jesus tackles the age old question… why are there bad things in the world….  Why does God allow seemingly bad people to do bad things….     Why does God allow destructive to thrive along side of constructive……..    I suppose we can all be glad that God doesn’t dispose of anyone or anything that is imperfect…  or “hit with a bolt of lightning” anyone who has ever sinned or made a mistake or who was weak and not living up to the Gospel message perfectly… thank goodness God is patient.. I am sure we have all benefited from that most comforting of Divine qualities…  

 

God has unconditional love for us…. God made us, and God sees the enormous potential and possibilities that lie within our lives…..   he sees us as we are… and still loves us……    giving us time and grace…in order that we might foster the virtues and positive attributes of ourselves … and allow God to transform and heal those areas that are in need of forgiveness, transformation and conversion….. 

 

God appears to err on the side of human freedom so that we may be fully free to respond with love to all that God wants for us……..  (this is both an enormous gift and a powerful challenge and responsibility).

 

One thing is certain….  without denying the reality of suffering, injustice and downright evil within the world…..   nevertheless… we are invited not to be thrown by all this, and to focus more than ever in doing good, in being people of love, justice and compassion…..   let us not allow the hurts and sins of the world around us from deepening our constant calling to do good, to love more deeply and to travel the less travelled path of other-worldly love and compassion…..    when the weeds around us might otherwise prompt us to respond with negativity and bitterness….   where sin and hurt abounds.. let us ensure that the grace and love of Christ all the more abounds….    in all we do and say…

 

 

 

the pilgrims mass

Hi everyone, this is a variation on the previous homily, especially for the Pilgrims mass on Sunday, main celebrant Bishop Paul from Japan.  

I gave the homily and here is the shortened version from what I gave on Saturday:

13th July, 2008      15th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A

 

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It is a great honour to have our international pilgrims with us for these Days prior to the World Youth day in Sydney.    Thanks to bishop Paul and fellow priests, religious and all the pilgrims with us from Japan. The experience of the last few days has been a real gift for our community, and we pray that you will always remember your time in Maryborough with fondness. ( We will always remember this time with joy).   Thank you for coming.  It has been wonderful.

 

The gospel this weekend….  is perfect for our celebration of the beginning of the World Youth Day pilgrimage week in Sydney….   the sower went out….   the sower went out to sow……  and it fell on all manner of conditions …..   and if the conditions are nurtured and encouraged….  that word will bear enormous fruit…….    each one of us received the word of God in Baptism….    the Holy spirit was given to us… to be nurtured, to grow and to foster in us the love that Jesus wants for the world….

 

"The way of Jesus is an invitation that allows for all manner of responses….. and the response depends on US.  

 

This is an important reminder as near to thousands upon thousands of young adults will gather in Sydney this week to hear the word of God and be inspired to respond to it.  What will be the harvest resulting from this sowing?  We hope and trust that it will be a profound result…. leading to rich fruits…..   and may the pilgrims be transformed .. and may all those they meet be transformed….  like ripples going outwards in a pond…"  (st Vincent de paul reflection sheet).

 

The pope has already given some very important thoughts in anticipation for the world youth day celebration in Sydney, and it fits perfectly into the Gospel message of nurturing the seed of faith we have received in the best of soil – the best of environments….

 

 

For the  XXIII World Youth Day ; the theme will be: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8). The underlying theme of "the Holy Spirit and mission."

 

"The Spirit of courage and Witness that gives us the strength to live according to the Gospel and to proclaim it boldly."

 

Pope Benedict, speaking especially to the young people, has stressed… the absolutely vital need for PRAYER… he says….

missionary fruitfulness is not principally due to programmes and pastoral methods (that are cleverly drawn up and "efficient"), but success in mission is the result of the community's CONSTANT PRAYER.  He quotes the late Pope John Paul II who writes: "even prior to action, the Church's mission is to witness and to live in a way that shines out to others.  Similarly, the ancient church writer, Tertullian, tells us that this is what happened in the early days of Christianity when pagans were converted on seeing the love that reigned among Christians: "See how they love one another"

 

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Pope Benedict goes on to say that the Gospel of Jesus, (because of the presence and energy of the Spirit), cannot be reduced to a mere statement of fact, for it is intended to be lived in practical witness……   for it is "good news for the poor, release for captives, sight for the blind ...".

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Pope Benedict, speaking to the youth of our church, and to us all, stresses the vital importance of eucharist……..

"in order to grow in our Christian life, we need to be nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ. In fact, we are baptized and confirmed with a view to the Eucharist which is the "Source and summit" of the Church's life. The Eucharist is a "perpetual Pentecost" since every time we celebrate Mass we receive the Holy Spirit who unites us more deeply with Christ and transforms us into Him.

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Many young people raise deep questions about the future. They ask with concern: How can we fit into a world marked by so many grave injustices and so much suffering? How should we react to the selfishness and violence that sometimes seem to prevail? How can we give full meaning to life? How can we help to bring about the fruits of the Spirit -- "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" – to fill this scarred and fragile world.

 

The pope replied….…"You young people, through World Youth Day, are in a way manifesting your desire to participate in this mission.//… Once again I repeat that only Christ can fulfil the most intimate aspirations that are in the heart of each person. //Only Christ can "humanize humanity" and lead it to become 'divine' . Through the power of his Spirit Christ fills us from within, with / and this makes us capable of loving our neighbour and ready to be of service.

*****……In particular, I assure you that the Spirit of Jesus today is inviting you young people to be bearers of the good news of Jesus to your contemporaries – to fellow young people. The difficulty that adults undoubtedly find in approaching the sphere of youth in a comprehensible and convincing way could be a sign with which the Spirit is urging you young people to take this task upon yourselves. You know the ideals, the language, and also the wounds, the expectations, and at the same time the desire for goodness felt by your contemporaries. This opens up the vast world of young people's emotions, work, education, expectations, and suffering ... Each one of you must have the courage to promise the Holy Spirit that you will bring one young person to Jesus Christ in the way you consider best, knowing how to "give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but [to] do it with gentleness and reverence"

….Do not be afraid to become holy missionaries like Saint Francis Xavier who travelled through the Far East proclaiming the Good News until every ounce of his strength was used up,// or like Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus who was a missionary even though she never left the Carmelite convent. Both of these are "Patrons of the Missions". Be prepared to give everything….. in order to enlighten the world with the truth of Christ (in the places you live and work);//  (for we know that mission starts at home… in the places we live, work and socialize……)…….// We nurture that seed of Good news when we respond with love to hatred; when we proclaim the hope of the risen Christ in every corner of the earth.

 

May the world youth day pilgrimage bless us all…. // may it renew and enliven us to go forth in service and love… and we too who remain here are on this journey with you… in spirit and prayer…..    let us trust that the word of God does not return without having achieved what it set out to do……   bear fruit that will last….