Sunday, October 21, 2007

Sermon for 21st Sunday after Pentecost

21st Sunday after Pentecost 21.10.07 We cannot do it alone

We give thanks to God for the recent mission which has revived our awareness of certain key points, particularly the value of and need for the sacraments.

We cannot do it alone, we might say is the message from the Mission. We need God to help us, just as we needed Him to create us, and to provide an eternal dwelling for us.

There are two aspects to how God helps us: a) He communicates love to us b) He tells us what to do.

Experiencing His love will give us the wisdom and the motivation to carry out His commands.
So it is not a burden to love our neighbour or even our enemy, once we feel the joy of communicating in God’s nature. We rejoice to extend His goodness and love to others, cf in today’s call to forgive others as we have been forgiven.

He will not and did not leave us orphans but comes to us every moment and in every necessary way to help us cope.
We might feel alone, but that is only because we have not called upon Him sufficiently, or have not developed our faith sufficiently. Even when there is no feeling there can still be faith.

So there must be strength when we need it even though we do not feel it likely or see how it is possible. (Every one of us feels like we are on the brink at times; but He is always there)

Even if we feel too weak to call upon Him, or our faith is too weak to be able to believe in Him, enter (stage left) the Sacraments. These will take us to a higher level. God is bigger than we are, after all. He can do a lot more than we can.

A sacrament is an infusion of power and love that we could not generate by ourselves, could not find within us. It is divine, therefore infinite, and totally gift. We cannot produce it by our own strength, nor can we do without it. If we receive it in the spirit in which it is offered we will be capable of great things.

The sacrament of Penance especially will give us the power to forgive others. We hear that we cannot be forgiven unless we forgive others. If we cannot manage to forgive others first off then going to the sacrament, even imperfectly, will help us to meet that requirement.

Think big, as with all things to do with God, and see His mercy sweeping over everyone, including your enemies.

The sacraments help us to break out of the prison of our limited perception. We see only very little of the total reality. When we meet God in the sacraments we are receiving new vision, and it sets us free, free especially to love, even our enemies.
We need to bring all our grievances with others to the Heart of God and let His power take over.

What God commands, He also enables. Somehow we get lost between these two points. We hear the commandment, declare it impossible to our frail human nature, and don’t bother to ask His help. If we would simply hold on long enough to receive His help the execution of the command would be easy.

What power awaits the human race if only we would follow through on both the command and the promise.

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Some of you are going on the pilgrimage which will be more inspiration. If there is no big event to look forward to, we have to make our own excitement. The sacraments are there for us, and every one of them is exciting, and if only we let them – will make a big difference.