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“A New Covenant People” – Fr. Bob’s Homily for Sunday, March 17, 2024

You know, of course, that the Bible is divided into two parts, called the Old Testament and the New Testament. In fact, the two parts could also be called the Old Covenant, and the New Covenant. Covenant is a word that describes an alliance or agreement between two persons, or parties, whereby each party pledges loyalty and support to each other and agree to certain consequences if either should prove unfaithful to the covenant terms. Covenant-making was the usual way in which two nations would pledge allegiance to each other in biblical times, and went beyond a legal contract in that each party pledged a personal commitment to the other. 

The language of “covenant” has found its way into a description of the marriage bond in the last thirty or so years. Before, wedding vows in the Church were considered as a kind of “contract” between husband and wife, whereby each gave to the other certain rights over themselves and their goods. The act of sexual intercourse, on the wedding night, was considered the moment at which the contract was “sealed” by the couple, and, after that, the marriage could not be dissolved by divorce. It came to be realized, however, that the legal idea of a “contract” was inadequate for describing the marriage bond between husband and wife, being too cold and clinical. So moral theologians turned to the idea of a “covenant” instead, drawing on the biblical understanding of the term.  A covenant between husband and wife speaks of a partnership, a sharing of life and love together. Marriage break-up, then, means much more than breaking the terms of the marriage contract. It means a break-down in the personal intimacy of mind, heart and spirit between the couple, and that is why it is so devastating to the couple.

God has always sought to form relationship with us, and the manner in which he has done so is described in the Bible as forming, or literally “cutting” a covenant with us.… Read more...

“Remaining in God’s Good Graces” – Fr. Bob’s Homily for Sunday, March 10, 2024

Note how many times the word “grace” appears in our second reading from St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: “it is by GRACE you have been saved”, “the immeasurable riches of God’s GRACE  in kindness towards us”, and “for by GRACE you have been saved”. 

There is a tendency to think of grace as some kind of spiritual currency. This attitude is, perhaps, more prevalent among Catholics as our tradition has used phrases like “storing up grace”, as though putting money in a bank account. In seminary, I was used to our teachers analyzing and dissecting grace in different ways, such as actual grace, supernatural grace, sanctifying grace, sacramental grace, etc. That is okay for study as when we dissected frogs in biology lab in high school. The one thing that we could NOT see in the dissection, however, was life… the one thing that gave what we studied meaning as far as the frog was concerned. So it is with grace. The one thing that gives it meaning is a living relationship with God. 

The word “grace” from the Latin word “gratia” shares a common root with the words “gratis” (free) and “gratuity”  (free gift or tip). So grace is a freely given gift from God to us, by which we share in the life and blessings of God. As St Peter describes it in his second letter: through God’s grace, we become “sharers in the divine nature of God” (2 Peter 1:4). Imagine that brothers and sisters, we actually share the very nature of God, which is divine, supernatural, heavenly, infinitely surpassing our own human nature. This happens to us when we are baptized; spiritually we are instantly “transported” to the right hand of God with Christ, and seated with him there in glory. As far as God is concerned, that is his destiny for us, where he wants us to be for all eternity, where, in his mind’s eye, he already sees us reigning.… Read more...

“When I Look at the Cross” – Fr. Bob’s Homily for Sunday, March 3, 2024

Earlier in Lent, I said that the Spirit of God brings us into the desert of Lent to answer one question, which is actually two questions in one, namely:  Is God with us totally or not, and are we with God totally or not? Now, today, we are shown that there is a second question that we are brought into Lent to answer: who is in charge of our life, who’s in control: God or ourselves, or something or someone else? This, like the first question, is crucial for the future destiny of our lives. Our second reading makes a clear distinction between “those who are perishing” and “those who are being saved”. That’s it: a clear choice. You are either on the way to heaven, or on the way to hell. There is no neutral destination. And the choice comes down to either receiving the message about the Cross, or not. 

And what is the message of the Cross? 

It is simply this, and St Paul puts it succinctly in our second reading today. “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness of stronger than human strength”. Are we relying on our own wisdom and strength for our salvation, or on God’s? There is a beautiful song by Geoffrey Birtill, called “When I look at the blood”.  The lyrics of the song are so powerful and so true:

When I look at the blood

All I see is love, love, love

When I stop at the cross

I can see the love of God

But I can’t see competition

I can’t see hierarchy

I can’t see pride or prejudice

Or the abuse of authority,

I can’t see lust for power

I can’t see manipulation

I can’t see rage or anger 

Or selfish ambition

I can’t see unforgiveness

I can’t see hate or envy

I can’t see stupid fighting

Or bitterness or jealousy

I can’t see empire building

I can’t see self-importance

I can’t see back stabbing

Or vanity or arrogance

But instead I see surrender, sacrifice, 

Salvation, humility,

Righteousness, faithfulness

Grace, forgiveness

Love, love, love, love, love, love.Read more...

“Behold His Glory” – Fr. Bob’s Homily for Sunday, February 25, 2024

In his second letter, St Peter describes the vision of the transfiguration of Jesus as he witnessed it. “We did not follow cleverly devised myths” says Peter, “when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honour and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain” (2 Peter 1: 16-18). 

Wow! 

What an honor, what a privilege to have been up there on the mountain, seeing Jesus revealed in all his glory for a brief moment. Don’t you just wish, brothers and sisters, that you had been up there at that moment? Don’t you feel that, if you had, you would never again, your whole life long, have another moment’s doubt that Jesus was indeed the beloved Son of God? Well, the good news is that we can, and we do, have that transfiguring moment every time we come to Mass. In every Mass, without exception, the bread and wine offered up at the altar are transformed, transfigured, into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That is what our Catholic Christian faith proclaims, this is the faith we were baptized into, and this is the reward for all baptized Catholics who come to Mass: to see Jesus transfigured in glory, and to receive him into ourselves, so as to be the means by which we also are transfigured also.

Why don’t we see this transfiguration physically at Mass? Why don’t we hear the voice of the Father declaring Jesus to be his Beloved Son?… Read more...