Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mass Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne,
on Sunday, 10th October, 2004, at 11.00am

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today the whole Church is beginning the Year of the Eucharist, invited by Pope John Paul, that we might appreciate more deeply the presence of Christ among us, his saving action in the Mass and his love for us in Holy Communion, fostered and nourished by prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

The Mass stresses today that we have many motives for thankfulness to Our Lord; Naaman who had been cured (First Reading), the Samaritan leper in the Gospel.

As we call to mind our sins, let us thank God for the gift of the Eucharist and throughout this year let our awareness of Christ be not only during the celebration, but in our prayer in his presence at other times.

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Readings today underline for us how we are overwhelmed with gratitude by the dramatic change effected in our lives through Jesus. Our gratitude is reflected by our praise, glorifying and blessing God.

Notice that when Naaman and the Samaritan were healed their response took the form of a proclamation of faith and of praise for God and for Jesus. Their praise invites all of us, who have been cured by Jesus from the spiritual leprosy of sin, to continue that praise. Indeed, the simple words ‘thank you’ somehow do not seem enough.

Everything we have comes from God. Our ability to praise him and know him, our ability to recognise his protection in our lives, the strength that he provides amidst our struggles and difficulties pull us up very straight. One of the great illustrations is the lasting hope which people have had in captivity during the Second World War. Just imagine these words prayed by a prisoner. “Blessed are you Lord our God, King of the Universe, who have kept us in life and preserved us and enabled us to reach this season.”

We come to Mass because our own words of praise and thanksgiving are not enough. The action of Jesus in the Last Supper and on the cross, transforming bread and wine into his own Body and Blood and then giving his Body and Blood to die for us and the effects of the love he shows the Father being made present here on our altars in the Mass show us that this special meeting with God, the most perfect prayer, is given to us.

The Year of the Eucharist is chosen by the Pope to make sure that when we say the Eucharist stands at the centre of the Church’s life and is the mystery of faith and of our redemption, the Pope wants us to put ourselves at the disposal of the one who said, ‘This is my Body given for you. This is the cup of my Blood poured out for you.’ Or like those on the road to Emmaus, to open our eyes and to recognise Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

Walter Burghart insists that the Eucharist is thanksgiving only if we become given for the life of the world, taken by Jesus, blessed by him, broken with him and fully given as he was.

It was God’s gift that healed Naaman, that cured the ten lepers, who had been dead and came back to a full life.

In our generation life is so much concentrated on ourselves as individuals that we can be preoccupied by our burdens and struggles. In the Eucharist Jesus wants us to know that he is here as our Saviour. That is why he died on the cross. He wants us to realise that in the offering of the Mass we have an action of Jesus to save us, which must be reflected upon and pondered.

This year, could not each of us look at some time spent outside Mass praying in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Every Thursday night in our Cathedral young people gather for an hour of adoration and in the quiet of that time Jesus will work great things to change and touch our heart and make us truly aware, not only of how much he has given us, but how much we can do and be for the life of the world.

Eucharistic adoration is no mere quietism, it is an engagement at the deepest personal level with the Lord, who wants to use us to save the world. That is why the Eucharist is the source from which the power of all the work of saving people flows. Or as Dag Hammarskjold acknowledged God’s gifts, we too say, “For all that has been, thanks; for all that will be, yes.” Jesus is our life. In this year let us discover the wonderful secrets he has to offer to us in the Eucharist celebrated - pondered and taken as food, medicine and comfort.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.