Catholic Homilies By Fr Linus Clovis

St Paul in the first letter to the Thessalonians tell us that, urges that we should make more and more progress in the kind of life we are meant to live. What kind of life? The life that God wants. How do we know the kind of life that God wants us to live? The apostle himself tells us, ‘as you learnt from us and as you are already living it.’ So St. Paul himself taught the Thessalonians what God required of them and the Thessalonians had actually began to put this into practise. He goes further and says ‘You have not forgotten the instructions we gave you on the authority of the Lord Jesus.’ So with these words the Apostles tell us that his letters and his writings are directly from God and that they contain the framework, they contain the instructions which God has given us, by which we can make spiritual progress. Now this spiritual progress is individual each one of us, it’s singular. It’s also community, as a people. And of course it is ecclesial, the Church itself. But we all know from persona

And so the Church today begins a new liturgical year. When Our Lord speaks to us in the scriptures, we need to keep something in mind - namely, heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass. Therefore His words are as applicable to us today as they were when He first spoke them 2000 years ago and as He will continue to speak them in the ages yet to come. So we need to apply these words to ourselves that we might receive the benefit, that the divine words necessarily bring. How do we digest the words of God, yes we hear them, we internalise them, perhaps, but do we understand them, have we digested them. Our Lord himself complained about his own disciples - are you too without understanding are your eyes blind, are you unable to see, why can you not understand? This is what He said to the twelve. Of course He could easily say that to us as well. Therefore it is necessary that we ponder these words and apply them to our time and ourselves…. Are our hearts truly open to the Gospel?

Our Lord reaches the shores of Galilee, we are told that He then went up into the hills. Whenever He goes into the hills it is to remind us that we cannot find satisfaction, or healing or indeed salvation in the low places, but rather we must ascend into the heights. And so we find all the great revelations of God are found in the Hills, Moses on mount Sinai, and on mount Tabor, the Lord Himself was transfigured - and He ascended from the mount of Olives. As before when He sat on the mount of beatitudes to teach, He now sits on this hill close to the Sea of Galilee and we are told that the multitudes came. Why do they come? Because of their infirmity, and here is Someone who can heal all of our infirmities. And St. Matthew describes some of the many infirmities that are brought to Our Lord - the lame, the cripple, the dumb and many others. In fact this describes us as well - spiritually, for the physical infirmities that we experience are but spurs for us to seek healing from the only One who can truly

Our Blessed Lord having been baptised, beginning His redemption of the Human race, starts off by calling the apostles so that they might be witnesses of His teaching, of His miracles and above all of His Resurrection. He chose them at the start of His mission so that they should be there from the very beginning, for this is the criteria used by St. Peter, when it was time to replace Judas who abandoned his post. St. Peter said we should choose someone who was with us from the very beginning. So after being baptised, Our Lord then having left the Jordon, we are told, walks along the sea of Galilee, he didn’t see them (His apostles) with his bodily eyes, rather He saw them with their spirits, He saw their souls and disposition, He created them for this very reason... Our Lord has created us, each with a unique mission, each with a unique path. Are we open to following what God has Willed for us? Are we ready to say not my will, but Your Will be done?

After Our Lord, having delivered the beatitudes on the mount, He came down and immediately a leper came to Him and He cured the leper. Now we hear how Our Lord makes His way to Capernaum and the centurion makes his way to Him. Mystically we understand that in the leper we see the healing of the people of Israel and in the coming of the centurion the healing of the gentiles. In the case of the centurion, he comes on behalf of his servant whom he describes, ‘my servant is lying at home paralysed and in great pain’ which indeed is the condition of the gentiles. By nature we are paralyzed and incapable of doing good, for we know neither law nor the prophets. So Our Lord comes to us in the person the centurion. The centurion is a man of exceptional quality motivated by charity… This advent can we be animated by this same charity? Are we willing to open our hearts further to Our Lord and Blessed Mother?

In the time of Noah, the ark was being built, but people were eating, drinking, taking wives and husbands completely oblivious to what was going to happen. In our day a new ark is being built, the Church. Once again people are eating and drinking and marriage is being abolished. Therefore be ready, because you know not, at what hour the Son of man will come.

Our faith is important, your believing means that other people will receive grace. Your believing is the very means by which God has chosen to bring others to salvation. Why do you think the devil is so eager to break our faith, to destroy our practices? There are many ways we can do penance. But what kind of penance does God want from us; the acceptance of the difficulties of each day (that is enough for those who are lukewarm). Those who want to make progress in spiritual life need to undertake more serious penances. How can you make effective sacrifices in your daily life?

We have been given a gift, a precious faith which we have received at baptism. This faith is objective, not something we feel. It is concrete and explicit. It is manifested and articulated in doctrine. We must know the doctrine, this is what we have to believe if we are to be saved...

Our Lord performed His first miracle in the synagogue (according to Mark’s Gospel) casting out demons. The second, we're told that he went to the house of Simon Peter, curing his mother. The Third, was a man whose body was rotting away. The Leper says, 'If you want to, you can cure me', here is faith, he knows the Saviour has the power, what he doubts is the Saviour’s goodness. Do we find ourselves doubting Our Lord's goodness? Do we doubt that Our Lord will listen to our prayers? Do we question whether He will answer them?

‘Beelzebub is in him’ and ‘It is through the Prince of devils, that he casts devils out’. These are the accusations laid against Our Lord by Pharisees. These two accusations which are levelled against Our Lord, the head of the Church are also levelled against His Body. The Church is often accused of not understanding or being up to date with the age in which it exists. It has been argued that the Church should marry the spirit of the age… But hasn’t the Church seen every age? What does this age have to give to Christ’s Body?

The Gospel details Our Lord calling His first four ‘Apostles’. We need to look beyond the literal meaning of the word ‘Apostle’ and need to delve into it’s mystical meaning. We need to apply it to ourselves. Our Lord is calling each one of us according to his ability, according to disposition… Everyone is called according to grace. Do we hear His voice? Do we answer that call?

Our Lord has a destiny for each and everyone of us. He explains to his apostles that he has prepared a place for them (and us). But He will not force us to go to that place, he will however, invite us, encourage and forgive and do everything possible that we might arrive at that destiny. Do you want to respond to Our Lord's goodness and grace? Do you want to realise Our Lord's plan for you?

God has given each person with gifts and blessings. Every single gift we have is exactly that, a gift given by God. Given for his own good pleasure and according to his purposes. We can think of a garden with many kinds of flowers, some flowers are more beautiful than others. Is that a reason for one person to be jealous over another?

All the priests stand at their duty every day, offering sacrifices, over and over again which are quite incapable of taking sins away. The Jewish priesthood is a shadow of what was to come... How should we consider the old sacrifice and the New? Why did we need the True Sacrifice? How are we sanctified by this Sacrifice?

Our Lord is accused of being in league with devils by the pharisees when he casts out devils. Our Lord says "Every kingdom divided against itself, shall be brought to desolation, and house upon house shall fall Luke 11:17". Our Lord warns them; all sins will be forgiven, all blasphemies can be forgiven, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit he will never have forgiveness, because he is guilty of a eternal sin. What is this eternal sin, the sin that cannot be forgiven?