Homilies

Homily For Mass Of 32nd Sunday Ordinary Time Year B

11 Nov 2018
  

HOMILY FOR MASS OF 32ND SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME YEAR B, 90th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEDICATION OF ST. RAPHAEL’S CHURCH + CENTENARY OF ARMISTICE DAY

St. Raphael’s Church, South Hurstville

Corporal Roger Morgan, of Richmond, Victoria, joined the 1st Australian Field Ambulance in 1915, and arrived on the fields of France a year later. He spent the next two years caring for the wounded, being wounded himself twice in the process. On the morning of 11 November 1918 he wrote in his diary that “one sits and ponders sadly of those pals who are gone to that home from which no wanderer returns”.[1] In particular his thoughts turned to an ‘old pal’ named Burns, saying “would to God that you were here with me this day, but no, God willed it otherwise and so farewell”.[2] Sadly, though we have Corporal Morgan’s diary, the identity of his friend Burns remains a mystery – just one of the many who never returned home.

We can take comfort from the fact that this Burns was remembered by his friend, and so his personal effects were most likely repatriated to his grieving family. But Corporal Morgan’s diary reminds us that so many thousands of young soldiers never came home, and their bodies were lost in the once-green fields of France or the rocky outcrops of Anzac Cove or elsewhere. For the families back home, it felt like they died twice, once in some foreign field, and once more in their hearts, with no body to bury.

Our readings today speak of need, of sacrifice, and of love. The women in our first reading and our Gospel are in great need. The first is stricken with hunger and exhaustion, with the shame that she cannot even feed her own son, let alone a wandering prophet, and the grief that mother and boy are dying (1 Kgs 17:10-16). It is like so many stories that we see from the East African famine at present, with an estimated 15 million people in South Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia experiencing chronic hunger, including millions of children. Yet when Elijah asks for water she fetches it for him; when he asks for bread, she shares her last with him.

The parallels with the poor widow in the Gospel are clear (Mk 12:38-44). She too is very needy, her ‘mite’ is all she has, and yet she renders that to God and, since the donations to the temple were supposed to help not only the priests but also the poor, also to her neighbour. As with Elijah, Jesus notices and praises the sacrifice. It is not that these women gave from their excess: no, they gave from the very little they had, and God noticed.

Of course, this kind of giving, giving not just out of warm feeling but in obedience to God, not just from one’s surplus but from one’s very self, is the giving Jesus Himself would demonstrate in that ultimate sacrifice described in our epistle (Heb 9:24-28). On the Cross Christ laid down His life for each one of us, everywhere, at all times. It is that kind of self-giving that He not only taught by His words but modelled for Christians. Just as the 11th of the 11th remains always as a reminder of the freedom bought with the lives of others, so too every Mass is the very same sacrifice of the Cross, with which our eternal freedom was bought from the bonds of sin and death. And as with the young men on the battle fields that finally fell silent his day, one century ago, so the young man-God on the cross gave His all.

The message of our readings today are for each one of us: we may not be rich or powerful or especially wise, but if we are willing to give from what little we have and are, the Lord rejoices, and He multiplies our efforts. As the great 16th-century spiritual writer St. Francis De Sales, pointed out: “As among the treasures of the temple, the poor widow’s mite was much esteemed, so the least little good works… are agreeable to God and esteemed by Him; so that though of themselves they cannot cause any divine providence, counting on them and, out of His goodness, valuing them, He rewards them with increase of charity.”[3]

Let me tell the story of another young Australian like Corporal Morgan: the 27-year-old Vera Deakin, daughter of the second Prime Minister of Australia, Alfred Deakin. Young Vera was pursuing a promising career in music when the First World War broke out, and immediately determined to do what she could to help. Though she was unable to fight, and, with a literature and music degree, had little in the way of skills useful in war, she remained undaunted. Against her parents’ wishes, she sailed to Cairo to join the Red Cross, their founding the Australian Wounded and Missing Inquiry Bureau.[4]

I mentioned at the beginning of this homily the many soldiers whose corpses were lost in the confusion of war. In response to this problem and the terrible grief it causes back home, Deakin’s Bureau worked tirelessly and efficiently to uncover the details of every Australian soldier lost in action, and to inform the relatives with as little delay and as much compassion as possible. From a small beginning in Cairo, the Bureau grew to handle over 27,000 inquiries per year, and went on to do the same in the Second World War. The dedication of Vera Deakin speaks to us of the same message as the other women in our readings today: that it doesn’t matter if we don’t have money, power, brilliance; you need only resolve to give of whatever you have, whatever you are, and entrust the fruitfulness to God.

St Michael the Archangel, after whom the Archbishop who dedicated this church was named, is thought of as a warring general, the leader of the heavenly host against the forces of darkness. But his brother St Raphael, after whom this church is named, is more an angel of peace, of healing, like Vera Deakin. Indeed the name ‘Raphael’ in Hebrew means ‘God Heals’. Precisely one hundred years after ‘the war to end all wars’ ended, we know that there are still many spiritual battles to be fought, such as those for the soul of our nation and for our own salvation, and so St Michael’s work for Christ is never done. Yet precisely one hundred years after that ‘war to end all wars’ we remember that wars can, indeed come to an end, that it is peace that we fight for, peace in our time, eternal peace, and the healing of rifts between nations, within communities and families, within our own hearts, and so St Raphael’s work also continues too.

When we review the ministries of this parish – the worship and prayer, the outreach to children through the school, CCD and sacramental programmes, to youth through the youth group, to the sick and elderly in nursing homes and at home, the leadership through the parish council, the Legion of Mary, community building through many social events – we see that there is much to give thanks for to Almighty God and 90 years of generous parishioners and pastors.

But there’s no cause for complacency. For every Catholic who regularly attends Mass here, there are as many as nine more out there who don’t. Even as we overflow with joy for ninety years of faith and fellowship in South Hurstville, we ache for the 9 out of 10 who are not with us. And so the challenge I set you for the next decade and beyond is this: to reach out to the unchurched in your community with the healing love of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not to complain, not to criticize, but like the women in our readings, or like Corporal Morgan and Vera Deakins, saying ‘What can I do? How can I spend myself for you?’ By the time of the centenary celebration – which God willing I will be here for – perhaps you will be discussing with me your need to build an even bigger church to accommodate all comers!

 

INTRODUCTION TO MASS OF 32ND SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME YEAR B, 90th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEDICATION OF ST. RAPHAEL’S CHURCH + CENTENARY OF ARMISTICE DAY

St. Raphael’s Church, South Hurstville

Dear brothers and sisters, it’s a great joy to be here this morning to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the dedication of this church: I think you are all looking pretty good for 90-year-olds! On the eve of the Great Depression Archbishop Michael Kelly blessed the new Spanish-Romanesque building that would serve as the parish church and school for years to come.

I acknowledge the Parish Priest, (Very Rev.) Isidore Ananth-araj EV, who I am so pleased to see fighting fit after he gave is all a scare a few months ago; and concelebrating priests Fr Phil Linder (past parish priest); Fr Terence Bell  (Retired priest); Fr Peter Christie (Retired priest); Fr Chaminda Wanigasena; and Fr Zvonimir Krizanovic OFM (Croatian Community Priest). I welcome from the community the Hon David Coleman, Federal Member for Banks, and Chris Minns, State Member of Kogarah. I would also like to acknowledge Sr Genevieve Walsh and Sr Margaret Guy from the Sisters of Charity, who started the St Raphael’s school in 1929.

Today, of course, we also celebrate the Centenary of Armistice Day, and so as we begin our Mass today, we remember with gratitude not just all those who built this parish over the 90 years past, but also those who have given their lives for their fellows, and commend them all to Almighty God.

 

 

But in the meantime, happy birthday St. Raphael’s! Thanks be to God for you. Ad multos annos!

[1] “Australians on the Western Front”, https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/history/conflicts/australians-western-front-19141918/australian-remembrance-trail/fourth-4

[2] Ibid.

[3] St. Francis De Sales, Treatise on the Love of God, book 3, ch. 2

[4] John Rickard, ‘White, Vera Deakin (1891–1978)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/white-vera-deakin-12014/text21547, published first in hardcopy 2002, accessed online 31 October 2018