Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr Dominic’s Homily

Today we get another prediction by Jesus of what lies ahead. His suffering, crucifixion and death followed by his resurrection on the third day. He never speaks about suffering without the glory of the Resurrection because that is what it leads towards.

Jesus is preparing his apostles for this. He tells them they need to follow him through this. He is telling them that he truly is the Messiah. But this is all confusing for them they do not understand and they are too afraid to ask him.

Instead they start arguing about who is the greatest among them as they follow him. This shows they haven’t really listened to anything his has just said.

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Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr Dominic’s Homily

Do we know better than Jesus does? This is what Peter thinks in the Gospel today. But he simply doesn’t want Jesus to suffer. It’s natural that we always try to avoid suffering. It’s human nature. But the only way of salvation was through the cross.

Jesus describe Peter as Satan. These are strong words. So what does he mean by this? Why does he say this? It’s because without knowing it, Peter was speaking for Satan.

Jesus had just revealed to His disciples for the first time the plan: He was to go to Jerusalem to suffer, die, and be raised to life. And not come to establish an earthly kingdom.

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Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr Dominic’s Homily

The world that we live in is noisy with so many distractions that most of us can’t hear the word of God clearly in our lives.

In a way we are all a bit like this deaf man with a speech impediment who needs to hear properly again. And if we can’t hear well in the first place then we certainly can’t speak Gods message to others.

So Jesus is walking through the Decapolis region which is composed of ten cities. It’s a place that Jesus would rarely walk through. It was known as Gentile territory - in other words the realm of the unhearing people.

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Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr Dominic’s Homily

As you know it’s the year of Mark and now we are back onto the readings of Mark – after 5 weeks of being on John and his Eucharistic teachings.

So today we hear about another encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees. The words Pharisee means the separatists because they segregated themselves from other Jews. They saw themselves as above the rest.

They try and put Jesus down and make him look like a bad Jew for not observing all the minutia of the laws they had made. So Jesus calls them Hypocrites. Or actors. In other words they wore a mask and were not authentic.

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Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr Dominic’s Homily

You rarely get a straight answer with Jesus. And quite often he will answer your question with another question.

Or else he won’t answer your question directly but answer the deeper question that you really should be asking - and that you know you really are asking if you think about it.

“Rabbi – when did you come here?” They were expecting him to say something like “Oh about half an hour ago actually” But instead he says:

“I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat. Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.”

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Sixteenth Sunday on Ordinary Time

Fr Dominic’s Homily

This passage is set after the disciples returned from their mission of preaching and healing. They were eager to share their experiences with Jesus but were also exhausted from their strenuous work. Jesus recognised their need for rest and invited them to come away with Him to a quiet place.

This setting helps us understand two aspects of Jesus' ministry: His compassion and His recognition of our need for rest.

The disciples were so busy with their ministry activities that they didn’t even have time to eat. Jesus’ invitation to "come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest" is a gentle reminder that we need to take time to rest and recharge.

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Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr Dominic’s Homily

Today Jesus instructs his disciples how to travel in order to be able to spread his word and message of the kingdom of heaven.

It’s as if he is preparing them for a flight somewhere. He says don’t take any extra baggage. He wants them to be unhindered. Or pay the price.

He describes to them what they should and shouldn’t take. He wants them to trust in his providence. To take extra luggage is to show a lack of faith in the one who sent you - in God.

This reminds all of us that we are not actually permanent residents here on earth. We all have a Visa from God for a certain period of time.

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Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr Dominic’s Homily

Jesus had been home for a few days and as was the family tradition attended synagogue on the Sabbath. It was not permitted for just anyone to teach. You have to have had some training.

Normally a trainee Rabbi would be an apprentice of a well known and respected Rabbi. However Jesus was recognized as competent and allowed to speak for a few minutes.

The people in the synagogue were amazed at Jesus teaching. They all thought they knew who he was. What he said appeared to them to have genuine insight; it would have been clear and straight forward, honest and open. Those who listened did so with their hearts and were open to Jesus words. Yet many still didn’t accept him.

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