Homily - Ascension - Year C

Homily (Sermon) - It's out turn now.

The Readings for Ascension  Year C:

First Acts 1:1-11
Psalm Ps 46:2-3, 6-7, 8-9  R v6
Second Ephesians 1:17-23
Gospel Luke 24:46-53
[These readings can be found at www.universalis.com for the next few weeks.]

When Gail and I got married we went to Paris for our honeymoon. While there we visited the royal palace at Versailles and spent a wonderful day exploring the palace and the gardens. It's a wonderful place with many beautiful things to see, from antiques to flowers. But what I remember most from that day were the clouds.

They were big, bright, fluffy clouds. Clouds you could see shapes in. Look there it's a bunny rabbit, and over there, a crocodile, that one looks like a car. Do you know the sort of clouds I mean, the one you just have to smile at. The ones that only appear on bright sunny days. The ones that only appear in the very bluest skies.
I am sure it was a sky such as this that the disciples stood under at Bethany. Jesus stood before them and talked about himself in the scriptures, in the Law of Moses, in the Psalms and the Prophets, what we now call the Old Testament. He opened their minds so they could understand. These men had been with him, had witnessed his teaching, his miracles, his torture and death. They now stood with him after his resurrection. They understood that they would be taking the message of repentance and forgiveness of sins out into the world. And as they understood,  He blessed them, and ascended until a cloud took him from their sight.

Today we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, the moment when our Resurrected Lord leaves this mortal world and returns to heaven. But it's much more than that, it's not about Jesus leaving it's about Jesus taking his rightful position, as Paul tells us and the Ephesians, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, as ruler of everything. He is the head of the church, and we as the church are his body. We as the church are the fullness of Christ. Christ is present today in this Mass, in the Eucharist, in the Word we have just listened to, in Father Frank, in Persona Christi and in YOU, in us all. So as Jesus left this mortal world, He also joined us, as we continue to do his work and spread his word. The Disciples knew this, it was evident in the joy they felt as they saw him ascend. Soon the Holy Spirit would come to the disciples and strengthen them for the task, and we will celebrate that at Pentecost next week.

So Ascension is an ending and a beginning, and today we have heard the same story told in both ways. We first heard the story told at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, then we heard it again right at the end of Luke's Gospel. It's a little like a two part Doctor Who story, at the end of the first episode you are left wanting to know what happens next, and at the start of the next episode they remind you where you are and lead you into the next part of the story. Most biblical scholars would credit Luke with writing both Luke's Gospel and Acts. So if you were listening closely you may wonder why there are some small difference in the telling. For me these differences come about because the focus of the Gospel is Jesus, while the focus of Acts is the work of the Apostles.

In the final few sentences of Luke's Gospel, he tells us Jesus is divine, he is the Christ, he is God. We hear that the scripture foretold of his coming. In fact we hear this ourselves today in our Psalm, “The Lord goes up with shouts of Joy” Luke goes on to describe a demonstration of Jesus' priesthood as he blesses the disciples, just before he is carried in heaven. After he has gone the disciples worship him, they worship his unseen presence, as we do today, and they were filled with joy, the same joy that we can be filled with when we let Jesus into our hearts and lives.

When we look next to Acts we get the same event as the start of a new story, the story of our faith, of our church spreading over the world. We hear in a lot more detail Jesus preparing the disciples for their task. For example we are told He is with them for 40 days after his resurrection, hence today's celebration is 40 days after Easter. But in the gospel Luke didn't mention any time, in fact you could easily assume Jesus ascended on Easter Sunday. In the gospel, time isn't important, we are being told our Lords Story, when he walked this earth, but in Acts, time, is important. Luke wants us to know the disciples were prepared, that the message they passed down to us is correct. So he tells us of the 40 days Jesus spent preparing them.

Also in Acts we hear about the time the disciples have to do their work, that Jesus will return at a point known only by the Father. They have only an unknown amount of time to tell everyone, to prepare everyone, for the return of Jesus. It is because of them and the people they told, and the people that they in their turn told, and so on over two thousand years, that you come to be sitting here today. So the story we hear started today in Acts is our story, it's one we will continue tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, unless... unless we get another perfect cloudy day. A day when you lookup to the clouds and instead of bunny rabbits, or crocodiles you see our Lord coming again in glory.

So until that day, how are we going to add to the story, we are the church, we are Christ's body, we continue his work, what will be written in the Acts of the people of the Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes/St Austines/St John Fisher.

It's our turn now.

Homily - Easter Vigil - He is not here He has risen

Homily (Sermon)

The Easter Triduum - The Easter Vigil

“He is not here; He has risen."




Homily – 2013 – Easter Vigil Year C

The Readings for Friday 30th March 2013 The East Vigil

Genesis 1:1 – 2:2
Psalm 103
Genesis 22:1-18
Psalm 15
Exodus 14:15 – 15:1
Psalm Exodus 15:1-6, 17-18, Resp v1
Isaiah 54:5-14
Psalm 29
Isaiah 55:1-11
Psalm Isaiah 12:2-6 Resp v3
Baruch 3:915, 32-4:4
Psalm 18
Ezekiel 36:16-28
Psalm 41:3, 5   42:3, 4 Resp 41:2
Romans 6:3-11
Luke 24:1-12
[These readings can be found at www.universalis.com for the next few week.]

Over the past three days we have journeyed with Christ. We ate with him at the last supper, we watched as he gave us the priesthood, washing our feet as an example of service.

We eat His body and drank His blood, as He gave us himself to us, as the source and summit of our Christian lives, the Eucharist.

We stood with Mary and John at the foot of the Cross. We watched as our high priest, our king, found the only perfect thing to sacrifice, himself, for our sin. We watched him die.

We arrive now at the tomb, an empty tomb. We hear the words, “He is not here; He has risen.” Christ lives, Christ has defeated death, Christ's gift to us is life, eternal life, eternal life with him.

Alleluia.

Alleluia. I have missed that word over the last 40 days of lent. We have been saving up our Alleluia's so we can use lots of them tonight and over the next 50 days of Easter. Alleluia, it’s a Hebrew word and it means ‘Praise God’. It's a joyous word and it only sounds right if you smile while singing it.

Tonight is a joyous time. Tonight is the high point of our liturgical year. Tonight we gathered outside, the family of God, drawn to the fire, a light in the darkness, keeping vigil for the light of Christ. Now inside the church, we welcome the light of Christ back into our world, into our church, into our lives.

We filled this space with our salvation history, told through scripture. We heard how God spoke the world into existence, the word of God, Christ Jesus, through whom all things were created, right there at the start of everything.

Isaiah calls all who are thirsty to seek the Lord, who is rich in forgiving. He reveals God’s promise to bring a leader to all the nations, a witness to all the peoples, a new and everlasting covenant. The promise of the Christ, the promise fulfilled in Jesus, His life, His Death and His resurrection.

God revealed to us through Ezekiel another promise, that he would wash us clean, as each of us has been through the cleansing waters of baptism. With this washing, God promised us a new heart, a heart of flesh, a loving and feeling heart. A heart that is dead to sin, a heart that is alive for God in Christ Jesus.

We know now that we have been saved, like the people of Israel being lead out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. We know our Lord and God travels with us as He travelled with Israel in that pillar of fire. The light of Christ burns in our pillar of fire, our Pascal candle, its flame divided as we entered the church, you each held the light of Christ in your hands, now let it burn in yours hearts.

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About the Author - Deacon John Scanlon
Homily Index

Homily - Good Friday - The Celebration of the Lord's Passion

Homily (Sermon)

The Easter Triduum - Good Friday

“It is accomplished" and bowing his head he gave up the spirit.




The Readings for Friday 29th March 2013
or Good Friday - The celebration of the Lord's passion:

Isaiah 52:13 -53:12
Psalm 30
Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9
John 18:1 – 19:42

[These readings can be found at www.universalis.com for the next few week.]


Easter has been simplified and commercialised by the world around us. The rich history, the thousands of years of tradition, the mystery of Easter is lost, drowned out by bunny’s, eggs and chocolate.


Mystery is an interesting word, do you know what it means?
It can mean a puzzle, something unknown, it can also be a type of novel like those written by Agatha Christie, but when we use it to describe the paschal mystery then it doesn’t mean something we don’t know, it means almost the opposite, it means “a truth that is unknowable except by divine revelation.”

Easter is divine revelation!

At Easter we join Christ as we celebrate his passion, death and resurrection. God is revealing to us a truth, a powerful truth, the single truth, Himself. Yesterday we met Christ at the last supper, we traveled with Him to the garden of Gethsemane, we waited with Him and prayed with Him and tried to stay awake with Him.

Today we die with Him. Today is quiet day. A day to reflect on death. A day to reflect on where we would be if Christ was not in our lives. Today we reflect on the great sacrifice Christ made for us. On the things in our lives that required Him to make that sacrifice for us. Today we die with Christ, we die to sin, we suffer with Him, we look to the crosses in our own lives that we must bear.

Tomorrow we will see, know, and feel the full mystery, the revelation. But for now it is Christ’s death that is important. We call today Good Friday. I am often asked why it is good. It’s good because Christ, God’s Son, High Priest came to offer a permanent sacrifice for our sins. He needed to sacrifice something perfect; something so opposite to sin and the only thing that fitted that description was Himself. Christ took the role of High Priest and the role of sacrifice. He offered Himself for us. He gave up His life for his friends. The sin of Adam destroyed completely by the blood of Christ.

Today is good because we know the end of the story; we know about the resurrection, we know about the difference Christ makes in our daily lives. But the Easter Triduum is about the journey with Christ, today on that journey we see the cross. The tree that Christ was nailed too, the tree that he was lifted up on for all to see, the tree he was slowly and painfully crucified on, the tree on which he died.

Today is about joining Mary and John at the base of the cross and watching our Lord Jesus die, for us.

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About the Author - Deacon John Scanlon
Homily Index

Homily - Holy Thursday The Mass of the Lord's Supper

Homily (Sermon)

The Easter Triduum - Thursday

“I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.”



The Readings for Thursday 28th March 2013
or Holy Thursday The Mass of the Lords Supper:

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14

Psalm 115

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

John 13:1-15

[These readings can be found at www.universalis.com for the next few weeks, remember to scroll down a little as this link also contains the readings for the Chrism Mass.]


The Passover meal is one of the biggest feasts of the year for the  Jewish people. It is a time for the people of Israel to give thanks for their salvation. To remember the night they were saved from slaver. To remember how the Lord went through Egypt and passed over their houses. How the Lord struck down the first born of every Egyptian family and animal.

There is a pattern here you might notice. We tonight gather to celebrate a meal, another Passover meal but not the original Passover meal celebrated by the Jewish people, but the Lord’s Supper, the last meal our Lord ate.

Christ was celebrating with his friends, the disciples, the saving act of God in freeing His people from slavery under the Egyptians, as we here, are celebrating the saving act of God freeing us from slavery to sin.

The nation of Israel was saved by the death of the first born sons of Egypt. We are all saved through the death of God’s first and only son, Jesus.

Every time we take part in the Mass, every time we receive Christ’s body and blood, every time we join our heart to His during communion we also take a seat at Christ’s table at the last supper.

We witness Jesus our Lord and Master wash the feet of his disciples. We see a powerful demonstration of the call to serve, the foundation of the priesthood, the foundation of our ministries and our service.

In a few moments you will witness Fr Frank wash the feet of some of you. We are all disciples of Christ and as we watch this beautiful and touching at of service we must hear and take into our hearts Christ’s words.

This Easter, this Triduum, open your heart to Christ. Stay and pray with Him tonight. Stand at the foot of His cross tomorrow. Joyously offer praise and glory to Him as His light returns to the World on Easter Sunday.

Take Christ as your example, you are His disciples, you are His royal Priesthood, You are now the servant He is sending to a world that very much needs you to wash it’s feet.

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About the Author - Deacon John Scanlon
Homily Index

Pope Francis - Very Human

I can't help but like what I am seeing and hearing about Pope Francis. He seems very human, still doing the simple things like taking the mini bus to diner with his friends rather than a special car. I loved the comment he made to the cardinals at dinner just after they had elected him Pope, "May God forgive you what what you have done."

With every phone now having a camera we are seeing simple images of him like this shot of him paying his own hotel bill.

When he has been talking publicly he seems well able to go off script, say what he's thinking, for example today The Table reported him saying "half of us are in our old age, this is like the seat of knowledge of life. The old have wisdom. This wisdom is like good wine that gets better over the years. Then we must give the young people wisdom of life, go back to your sees enriched in your ministry from these days""