St Martha’s Church, Strathfield, 23 August 2026
“Why, mummy, why?” “Are we there yet Dad?” “How long will it take?” “Do I really have to?” The parents here will all have experienced this incessant questioning at one time or another. It can be exhausting, especially when each question leads to another, an infinite regress until the parent exclaims “’Cause I said so!” Sometimes it is just a child’s strategy for wearing you down. But childish curiosity is also understandable, indeed necessary, especially when children are at the height of their learning. And it’s not just for children: asking questions is one of the most effective ways we all make sense of God, our world, ourselves. If we get why children, and even adults, ask so many questions, it might help us make sense of why God-made-man in Jesus Christ was such a fan of questions Himself.
At watershed moments in His ministry, instead of making declarations, Jesus asks a question: What can I do for you? Why did Moses, David, Elijah, John, God do what they did? Why all the grumbling and fuss? Why the fears, doubts, resistance? Why are you weeping or sleeping? What do you think? What are you talking about? What are you up to? Why ask me? Who are you looking for? Will you leave me also? Why do you strike me? Why do you want to kill me?[1]
Today we hear what is arguably Jesus’ most important question: who do you say I am? (Mt 16:13-20)Shortly, we will stand up beside Peter and give our answer “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”—only our Creed says it more expansively: “You are the One Lord, the Only Begotten Son, Light from Light, True God from True God, consubstantial with the Father, who came down from heaven” and so on. Our answer to Jesus’ question is not “You are a mirror god, the image of ourselves, thinking the same as us.” No, as our epistle suggests, it’s you are an endlessly surprising God, so much bigger and better than our categories and wishes, our ancient heresies and modern spiritualities (cf. Rom 11:33-38).
To get such things right, Jesus makes it clear we will need a lead. Like Eliakim in our prophecy (Isa 22:19-23), St Peter and his successors are tasked to “bind and loose,” that is to govern, teach and sanctify in the Church. By today’s standards it might seem naïve, unprofessional, bad planning, to build something as important as the Church on something as unreliable as human beings. Bedrock for the Church, Key-keeper of the Kingdom, Confirmer of the Brethren, Binder of Judgments, Looser of Burdens: it’s a big gamble to give the office of pope to such a man as Peter. Not for his aggrandisement, this. Not for some fantasy of earthly triumph. But rather, as Paul sings, so the Church may continue to reveal
How rich are the depths of God,
how deep his wisdom and knowledge,
how impenetrable his motives and methods!
All that exists comes from Him;
all that has ever existed is by Him and for Him;
all that will ever be is for His glory!
It is to that which the Church must point, her leaders and people together, that to which St Martha’s Parish is dedicated. Not the secrets known only to some elite, but mysteries openly offered to all. Not some bad news about how the universe is going down the gurgler and most are damned, but the Good News of God’s mercy and His particular care for the poor and suffering. Not just more questions, but at last the answers our hearts desire: salvation in the life and love of Christ, the Son of the Living God!
The Church, built on Peter’s confession, is more than just an abstraction: it is real people, on the ground, in places like Strathfield. As the Second Vatican Council taught, our local churches are fashioned upon the universal Church and it is “in and from” them that the one Catholic Church exists.[2] And so the profession of faith by Peter in today’s Gospel, echoed by your parish patron St Martha (cf. Jn 11:27), that “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”, has been lived out over many generations here. By the late 1890s Masses were being celebrated in the chapel of my Dominican Sisters at Santa Sabina. Then there were Masses in the larger space of the Town Hall. And then the Irish grit of Fr Peter Byrne, later St Martha’s first parish priest, and his parishioners enabled the first St Martha’s Church to be built in 1905. Then, 110 years ago, the parish was established and, after the war, the present church built (1924), partly in memory of Monsignor Byrne.[3] Their profession of faith—in Christ the Son of the Living God, in the Trinitarian God and the communion of saints, in the Church and her life and teachings, and in each other—has sustained this community ever since and Deo volente will long into the future.
As I wrap up my canonical visitation of the parish and as the whole Church of Sydney looks forward to the International Eucharistic Congress in 2028, I conclude that there is much to be proud of here at St Martha’s. A large and growing congregation worships and serves faithfully, led by dedicated clergy, lay leaders, religious, volunteers and catechists. Your schools are strong. Average Sunday Mass attendance has returned to pre-Covid levels and is higher than usual in Australia. You have ministries in prayer, catechists and social outreach. But as positive as all this is, there are also some challenges. Four out of five Catholics in the area are not at Mass on Sunday. Some sacraments are underutilised. As Sydney grows upwards as much as outwards, 3,000 more people are expected in your locality over the next decade. All this means that St Martha’s will need to focus its many gifts on inviting the disengaged and the newcomers into the love of Christ and His Church, so that this already vibrant parish might be ever more missionary. From what I have experienced these last few days, you are more than up to that task as God has blessed this community with many graces!
Dear friends, Christ’s question answered by St Peter, later by St Martha, and still later by faithful of this parish for several generations, is asked of each of us every day. We answer it not just by how we identify ourselves on the national census, or by professing the Creed at Mass, but also by how we live our faith in our daily lives. If we truly believe that Jesus is the Christ, Son of the Living God, that all that exists comes from Him, and that His love for us is stronger than sin and death, then no heavenly or earthly power, nothing present or to come, can separate us from His love. So let us go out and proclaim that love to all the people of Strathfield and beyond. God bless you all!
[1] What can I do for you? Mt 12:3; 20:32; 20:21,32; Mk 10:36,51; Lk 18:41; Jn 1:38; 2:4. Why did Moses, David, Elijah, John, God do what they did? Mt 11:7; 17:10; 19:7; 27:23; Mk 10:3; 15:34; Lk 6:3. Why ask me? Mt 19:17; Jn 18:21. Why all the grumbling and fuss? Mt 6:28; 7:3; 9:4; 26:10; Mk 2:8; 4:40; 14:6; Lk 12:26. Why are you afraid? Mt 6:31; 8:26; Mk 4:40; Lk 12:26; 24:38. Why do you doubt and resist? Mt 14:31; 16:8; 21:24-27; 22:18; Mk 8:12; 12:15; Lk 5:22; 6:46; 24:38; Jn 8:43,46; 11:25-6; 13:12; 16:19. Why so sleepy? Lk 22:46. Why are you weeping? Mk 5:39; Jn 20:15. What’s your name? Mk 5:9; Lk 8:30. What do you think? Mt 17:25; 18:12; 21:28; Mk 10:18; Lk 7:24-26; 12:56-57; 13:20; 14:31; 18:19; Jn 8:43; 11:56. What do you value? Lk 9:25; 11:11; 15:4,8; Jn 21:23. What are you talking about? Mk 8:17; 9:16,33; Lk 24:17,19. What are you up to? Mt 5:46-47; 12:11; 16:26. Why is your love so limited? Lk 6:32-34. Who are you looking for? Mt 11:8-9; 26:50; Mk 8:36-37; Jn 1:38; 20:15. Will you leave me also? Jn 6:67. Why do you strike me? Jn 18:23. Why do you want to kill me? Jn 7:19.
[2] Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium [Dogmatic Constitution on the Church], November 21, 1964, no. 23.
[3] Damian John Gleeson, “Monsignor Peter Byrne and the Foundations of Catholicism in Strathfield,” Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 35 (2014): 44–50.
Introduction to Mass for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) + Visitation of St Martha’s Parish
St Martha’s Church, Strathfield, 23 August 2026
Welcome friends to this Mass for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time. It is a joy to be with you all to celebrate the Eucharist and join you for Morning Tea, as the culmination of several days of episcopal visitation of the parish in this your 110th anniversary year. During this time I’ve had a good look “under the hood” of St Martha’s, including meeting your pastors and the parish team, the leaders, staff and students of the several schools, some of the housebound or in nursing homes, and those involved in many of the parish’s ministries such as lectors and musicians, acolytes and extraordinary ministers, wardens and finance committee members, catechists and some of those involved in St Vincent de Paul, Legion of Mary, Cenacle or the Neo-Catechumenal Way.
I am grateful for the warm hospitality I’ve received these last few days. I want especially to thank your Parish Priest Rev. Fr John Hayes, Assistant Priest Rev. Fr Liem Duong, and entire parish team for their assistance throughout the visitation. I also look forward to meeting more of you at Morning Tea.
To everyone here this morning, a very warm welcome to you all!
