Homilies

Homily for 31st Sunday Year C: Luke 19:1-10; DJC

Much earlier in his Gospel St Luke says of Jesus: “As the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem...” (Luke 9:51). Now at Jericho, Jesus is very near Jerusalem, where he will suffer under Pontius Pilate, be crucified, die, be buried, rise from the dead and then, after forty days, ascend into heaven.

Homily for the 27th Sunday Year C: Luke 17:5-10; DJC

The Gospel today begins immediately with an urgent request from the apostles to Jesus: Increase our faith! (Luke 17:5) It is their response to Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness, which is not included in today’s passage: that we are to rebuke our neighbour if they sin against us and forgive our neighbour as many times as they sincerely ask our forgiveness - literally “seven” times, which in the Jewish terms of the day meant without limit.

Homily for Sunday 29C, 16 October 2022: Exodus 17:8-13; Luke 18:1-8

Jesus told his disciples a parable about the need to pray constantly and never lose heart. Today’s Gospel offers us a strong lesson about prayer, especially the prayer of petition for what we want, or need. Don’t be discouraged! Don’t lose faith! Don’t give up! The Lord wants to be asked; he hears; he responds; he is generous in giving.

Homily for the 8 o’clock Mass, Sunday 26C, 25 September 2022, Luke 16:19-31

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus is proper to St. Luke. Like other parables proper to this Gospel - for example the Prodigal Son, or the Good Samaritan, or the Pharisee and the Publican - this one very much fits with Luke’s typical emphases. St. Luke, more than any other evangelist, wants to show how Jesus made himself one with the poor: from the poverty of the stable in Bethlehem, to the poverty of the Cross.

Homily for Sunday 22 C, 28 August 2022 – by DJC – Luke 14: 1, 7-14

St Luke tells us of three occasions when Jesus was invited to dine at the house of a Pharisee. In the first Simon the Pharisee’s reception of Jesus is so lacking in generosity and warmth that he does not even give Jesus water to wash his feet, greet him with a kiss or anoint him with oil - in contrast to the “gate crasher”, that St Therese of Lisieux loved so much, the sinful woman who showers Jesus’ feet with tears and kisses. She loves much because she has been forgiven much.