Homily for Thursday in the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time, delivered in Star of the Sea Parish Office Chapel, Gladstone, Qld.

"The Lord came down in the Cloud. He spoke with Moses, but took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the spirit came on them they prophesied, but not again. Two men had stayed back in the camp; one was called Eldad and the other Medad. The spirit came down on them; though they had not gone to the Tent, their names were enrolled among the rest. These began to prophesy in the camp. The young man ran to tell this to Moses, ‘Look,’ he said, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’ Then said Joshua the son of Nun, who had served Moses from his youth, ‘My Lord Moses, stop them!’ Moses answered him, ‘Are you jealous on my account? If only the whole people of the Lord were prophets, and the Lord gave his Spirit to them all!’" (cf. Num 11:25-29)

"The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken and summoned the earth... The heavens proclaim his justice, for he, God, is the judge." (cf. Ps 50).

"As Jesus drew near Jerusalem and came in sight of the city he shed tears over it and said, ‘If you in your turn had only understood on this day the message of peace! But, alas, it is hidden from your eyes! Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise fortifications all round you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on every side; they will dash you and the children inside your walls to the ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you – and all because you did not recognise your opportunity when God offered it!’" (Lk 19:41-44).

Artwork: an image of a Spirit-filled lion standing infront of a cross, generated using Copilot, designed to evoke the untamed majesty of God.