St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, 19 April 2026
The reality show Shark Tank has had six Australian seasons so far. Its premise is simple: everyday people are given the chance to persuade a panel of multi-millionaires (called ‘sharks’) to invest in their business idea. Each contestant has only a few minutes to make their case and so must distil their vision, passion and product in a way that is compelling for sceptical money-guys. The business world calls such an exercise an ‘elevator pitch’—the attempt to win someone over in the time it takes a lift to reach their floor.
Some people might wish that homilies were that short! But in many situations it is challenging to communicate a vision persuasively and concisely. You have to be clear about what you are ‘selling’ and be across the detail. You need to get to the heart of the matter quickly, distinguishing substance from filler. And you must demonstrate what value it will be to others. In the process, you interrogate, confirm or revise your own convictions. Do I really believe in this myself? Why do I find it so compelling? Why would others want to join me?
In today’s first reading (Acts 2:14,22-33), St Peter gives his elevator pitch. Not to wealthy investors but a diverse crowd gathered in Jerusalem for the Festival. It’s far from clear how he’ll go, as Peter is not a reliable salesman. Sometimes he is inquisitive about faith and morals, at other times resistant. Sometimes he’s the first to get what Jesus is all about, at other times quite bone-headed about it. Sometimes he’s heroic, jumping in head-first after Jesus and leading the others, at other times cowardly, waving Jesus away or denying he even knows Him.[1] Yet here he is today and in a few sweeping lines he gives us the Christian story: Jesus of Nazareth, a man commended to you by God through the signs and wonders worked through Him; whom you handed over to be lawlessly crucified but whom Death could not hold in its grip; whom God raised from the dead and lifted high to His right hand—this Jesus is the fulfilment of the patriarchs’ promises, the prophets’ predictions, and the apostolic testimony. So repent, be baptized, confess Him—and you will be saved!
It’s the first Christian sermon, and Peter captures those essentials we call The Kerygma. If you had to explain the Good News in an elevator trip, it would be hard to outdo him. Jesus is God given to us, killed by us, but raised by God, all for the sake of our happiness! Peter is clear, succinct, but also confronting: he does not downplay the wickedness of Good Friday or the astonishment of Easter. And his ‘pitch’ works: over three thousand people were baptised that very day (Acts 2:41).
So, we hear the Good News. But what next? What purchase does it have on ordinary life? What do Easter people do with salvation received? What’s the value add of discipleship?
We get a clue from our Gospel today (Lk 24:13-35). Two disciples are walking along, confused and downcast. A stranger joins them and opens up the meaning of the Scriptures for them. Their hearts burn within them as He speaks. But inspiring as the words are, they are only Part One…
In Part Two He sits at table with them, takes the bread, says the blessing, breaks the bread, and gives it to them—and instantly their eyes are opened. They recognise that it’s Him in the Liturgy of the Word and in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The pattern given on that first Easter Sunday evening has been the blueprint for Sunday Mass ever since!
Immediately after Peter’s homily and the conversions it provoked, we are told the neophytes “devoted themselves to the apostolic teaching, the communion, the Breaking of the Bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42,46). So the Mass was a priority from Day Zip. In First Corinthians Paul records the apostles’ memories of the Institution of the Eucharist and issues instructions about its celebration (1Cor 10:14-31; 11:17-34).
In Acts Luke records that “At Troas… on the Sunday, we gathered together for the Breaking of the Bread.” Paul preached until midnight—no elevator pitch this—so long in fact that it put one of the congregants to sleep and he fell out a window to his death. But Paul’s Eucharistic Prayer restored the young man to life, “to the great consolation of all”.
Succeeding generations continued to celebrate the Mass.[2] Mid-way through the next century a Christian philosopher named Justin wrote an Apologia to the emperor, Antoninus Pius, answering the wild rumours that the Mass was godless, seditious or cannibalistic. What Justin describes is immediately recognisable to us today: “On the day we call the Day of the Sun, all who live in the city or countryside gather in one place. The [New Testament] memoirs of the Apostles and the [Old Testament] writings of the Prophets are read. The one who presides admonishes those gathered to imitate these beautiful things. Then we all stand and offer our prayers. Bread and a cup of wine (mixed with water) are brought forward. He who presides offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son, and in the Holy Spirit, giving thanks at considerable length. All present acclaim this with a great ‘Amen.’ Then the deacons distribute the eucharisted bread and wine to all present.”[3]
So why Mass? Peter and Luke explain that it’s where we will meet the Lord given for us on Good Friday and risen for us at Easter. So much for why—but how Mass? Already in Paul and Justin we have a well settled order of readings, homily, prayers of the faithful, offertory, Eucharistic Prayer, Great Amen, and distribution of Communion. Still today we do what they did at Emmaus.
To our newest members of the Church: you are living proof that Peter’s pitch is still compelling, that the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ still has the power to change hearts and draw people into the life of grace. The mystagogical Sundays of the Easter season are your time to go deeper into the mysteries you received at Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion. Having recognised Him in the Word and in ‘the Bread’, you now walk with Him and His Church along the path from Emmaus and Jerusalem to Sydney and Heaven…
Short Remarks to Neophytes 2026
St Mary’s Cathedral College hall
Welcome dear brothers and sisters. It has been a privilege for us all to witness a defining moment in your lives on earth and beyond. Above all, of course, we give thanks to Christ to whose life, death and resurrection you have been joined, and whose identity and destiny are now yours forever.
It is an exciting time to be entering the Church! All around Australia, the US, Britain, Europe and Asia dioceses have reported record numbers of, say, a thousand adults joining at Easter. They include high profile figures and the humblest believers. They seem to want full-cream faith: God, Bible, Catechism, Tradition, Liturgy, Art, Music, Morality, Service—the lot! In Sydney we’ve broken all records now for six years in a row. There are many other green shoots in the Church also: think of the 20,000 who took part in our Walk with Christ last Corpus Christi, and perhaps half a million to come, including Pope Leo, for the 2028 International Eucharistic Congress.
I thank our pastors and RCIA team members, and all those who have contributed to your journeys of faith. It’s your turn now to bring others to Christ and His Church, making your words and witness an invitation not into the shark tank but into the peace of God’s kingdom. Congratulations new Christians! Welcome to the family of God! God bless you always!
[1] Peter inquisitive about matters of faith and morals: Mt 18:21; 19:27; Mk 13:32; Lk 12:41; Jn 13:36. Peter resistant to Christ’s teaching: Mt 26:40; Jn 13:6-8. Peter first to appreciate Jesus: Mt 4:18-20; 16:16-19; Jn 6:68; 13:9; 21:15-19. Peter bone-headed about Jesus: Mt 16:22-23; 17:4-6; 18:21; Jn 18:11. Peter heroically leading: Mt 14:28-33; 26:33,35,58; Mk 16:7; Lk 22:31-32; 24:12; Jn 1:42; 18:10; 20:3-6; 21:2-7; Acts 1:15; 2:37-38 etc. Peter cowardly: Mt 14:30-31; 26:69-75; Lk 5:8.
[2] See for example, the Didache (or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) 9:1-10:6; 14:1-3.
[3] Justin Martyr, First Apology 67, in Cyril C. Richardson, ed., Early Christian Fathers, Library of Christian Classics 1 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1953), 287
INTRODUCTION TO THE PASCHAL EUCHARIST, THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER (YEAR A)
ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL, SYDNEY, 19 APRIL 2026
Welcome to St Mary’s Basilica, Sydney, for the Solemn Mass of the Third Sunday of Easter and our ‘Paschal Eucharist’. Today we welcome back our neophytes newly incorporated into the family of God in their parishes at Easter, and are now participating in mystagogia to enrich their faith, worship and outreach to others. They were part of more than 800 baptised or received in greater Sydney over Easter, alongside thousands more around Australia and hundreds of thousands around the world. Today we greet you, no longer as Christians-elect or Catholics-to-be, but as fully-fledged sisters and brothers in Christ, acknowledging our communion as one spiritual family.
We have recently had news of four major transfers of Church leaders in Australia: Archbishop Anthony Randazzo, former auxiliary bishop of Sydney and until now Bishop of Broken Bay, will be taking up an important post in the Vatican; Archbishop Amel Nona, until now the Chaldean Catholic Eparch of Australia, has been elected Patriarch of that Church across the world; Bishop Rene Ramirez RCJ has been appointed Bishop of Sandhurst (Bendigo); and Bishop Danny Meagher, until now auxiliary bishop of Sydney, Bishop of Rockhampton. We pray for all four of them in our Mass today.
Before he leaves us, Bishop Danny will be co-ordinating our archdiocesan synod, which will explore ways to make our liturgies and lives more prayerful, our parishes and communities more Christ-centred, and our priests and people more missionary. I ask you to pray for the success of our synod, which is now less than a fortnight away.
You will have noticed the erection in the cathedral square of the venue for the forthcoming Sistine Revelations immersive experience. It will be a wonderful experience of sacred art and modern technology in service of the Christian story, and will run from 16 May to 19 July. I recommend you book tickets now and bring someone with you who might be inspired by the beauty of the Sistine Chapel. To everyone here this morning, including visitors and more regulars, a very warm welcome.
