Homily for the Thirty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld.

"The Lord says this: I am going to look after my flock myself and keep all of it in view. As a shepherd keeps all his flock in view when he stands up in the middle of his scattered sheep, so shall I keep my sheep in view. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered during the mist and darkness. I myself will pasture my sheep, I myself will show them where to rest – it is the Lord who speaks. I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them. As for you, my sheep, the Lord says this: I will judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and he-goats." (cf. Ez 34:11).

"The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want." (Ps 23).

"Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep; he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet. And when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subject in his turn to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all." (cf 1 Cor 15).

"Jesus said to his disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left... [the latter] will go away to eternal punishment, [but the former] to eternal life.’" (cf. Mt 25).

Artwork: an image of Christ the King, with many followers, people and sheep, sharing in his reign, tending to each other, with features inspired by Matthew 25:35-36, generated using Copilot.

Homily for Friday in the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time, (Feast of Saint Andrew Dũng-Lạc and his Companions), delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld.

"Judas and his brothers said, ‘Now that our enemies have been defeated, let us go up to purify the sanctuary and dedicate it.’ So they marshalled the whole army, and went up to Mount Zion. On the twenty-fifth of the ninth month, Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-eight, they rose at dawn and offered a lawful sacrifice on the new altar of holocausts which they had made. The altar was dedicated, to the sound of zithers, harps and cymbals, at the same time of year and on the same day on which the pagans had originally profaned it. The whole people fell prostrate in adoration, praising to the skies him who had made them so successful." (cf. 1 Mac 4).

"Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom, you are supreme over all. Both honour and riches come from you. You are the ruler of all, from your hand come strength and power." (Psalm taken from 1 Chron 29:10-12).

"Jesus went into the Temple and began driving out those who were selling. ‘According to scripture,’ he said ‘my house will be a house of prayer. But you have turned it into a robbers’ den.’ He taught in the Temple every day. The chief priests and the scribes, with the support of the leading citizens, tried to do away with him, but they did not see how they could carry this out because the people as a whole hung on his words." (Lk 19:45-48).

Artwork: an the saints Andrew Dũng-Lạc, Paul of Tarsus, Thérèse of Lisieux, and a crowd of Vietnamese martyrs standing about the cross. The words inscribed read "It is finished" (cf. Jn 19), generated using Copilot.

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.