Homily 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time 29th October 2023

Homily

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

29th October 2023

This week had been busy. Monday had been frustrating because none of my counselling clients turned up, but I did get to meet up with a friend and have a good chat.

Tuesday, I had editing to do on a project but there was a lot of preparation necessary beforehand, ensuring sound and pictures were synchronised. It was a boring job, but it had to be done if I wanted to successfully edit the film I was working on.

Wednesday, a planned trip was cancelled at the last minute, so I was able to use the time sorting out sound and pictures.

Thursday, I also had a work experience student do a Zoom call so I could take her through the filmmaking and editing process. Nine scenes were edited together.

Friday, I planned to work on my video homily, but lots of other things happened. I had a good conversation about Christianity and learnt a lot from this encounter. By Friday teatime I had abandoned the thought of writing a homily as my wife and I were going to another friend’s 60th birthday party.

We were not sure how the party would go. Both of us were tired. Yet on arriving, we were greeted with such warmth and friendship; any signs of fatigue were instantly expelled. Within a few hours, we had rekindled memories spanning back some 40 or more years. We laughed at how our friend’s children, now adults with teenagers, remembered us from several decades ago. Everyone was smiling and laughing. It was infectious.

Little miracles were also shared. One parent adopted a boy who had been split from their sibling. On visiting their adult daughter, the mother got chatting to the next-door neighbour. A young girl came running out, excited to greet the boy. It was her brother.

As with many families, all those at the party had their ups and downs, but the bonds between them were strong and they weathered the dark times, coming through the storms into calmer waters.

When I arrived in Northern Ireland, nearly 40 years ago, I was the stranger, in biblical terms an alien, but both my wife’s and friend’s families welcomed me. Making me part of their families and accepting me for who I was as a person. They were not prejudiced against me because of a stereotypical outline of a nationality I could have been perceived as. They also help me to see things from a different perspective, alleviating my fears and putting me at peace.

Strong relationships were formed, sowing the seeds that would grow into amazing friendships. The two friends I met this week, both lived close to where my family had our home in Belfast. One journey was forged many years ago, another more recently, but both had their origins set many years ago.

Someone had caused these paths to connect to allow the bonds of friendship to develop. Those connections were not accidents, not coincidences that randomly happened. We are not in control of our lives, no matter how much our world tries to convince us we are.

If we can accept God’s trust. To love him as he loves us, he will give us the strength we need to conquer the adversities that assail us. The doubts we have about ourselves, can at times attempt to crush us.

One of my conversations this week was about where our riches are. The conclusion was not in money that decays. No, our wealth is in the love we have for our families and our friends. If we can build good relationships with those around us, relationships that last a lifetime, we will be laying down a foundation based on love, which will bring us the rewards we need to get through life.

Filmmaking does not generate lots of money, even though there is a perception that it can. However, when a group of people come together to create a piece of art, if there is respect for one another then strong relationships can be built, so the process can be repeated, again and again. When my wife and I had renovations done to our home; we saw the same relationships had been forged with those who came into our home to do the building work. The same coordination and planning had gone into the project. It is all about setting a firm foundation that will last.

In counselling, we talk about automatic negative thoughts. In Christianity, this could be seen as the devil trying to trip us up. If we look beyond ourselves and love our neighbour, without judging them, what shackles are placed upon them can be shattered by the love of God that you share with them. We can, simply by loving others, become the model St Paul talks about that others will want to share in.

We all must watch the thoughts we get in our minds. Through prayers and worship in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, our focus can be less self-centred and more outward-looking to help others. So let us love God, love others and we will be loved.

Amen.