Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mass Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne,
on Sunday, 2nd October, 2005, at 11.00am

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It is with great joy that we enter this month of October. In union with the Pope and the Bishops gathered in Rome for the Synod on the Eucharist, that we may appreciate the great gift we have in the reception and presence of Our Lord, here in the Cathedral also on the Sunday nearest the feast of the Rosary we will celebrate the crowning of Our Lady and in the Readings we remember the total giving of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, for us and to save us.

As we call to mind our sins, let us ask the Lord that he will guide our thoughts and actions as we reflect upon his Word, adore him as our God and receive him in Holy Communion as the Bread of Life for our journey.

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today’s Readings speak of endless and constant love, which God has for each of us. His desire to care for us, challenge us on our journey and lead us to our true home. Despite the rejection of his brothers and sisters, Jesus is the foundation of our faith.

It was the same Jesus who turned bread and wine into his own Body and Blood and then went to the Cross, so that by his perfect love he might bring us to our true home.

For us in the Catholic Church the Eucharist is food, medicine and comfort. Here in the Eucharistic celebration Jesus is really present and that presence remains (just as a person is present) as long as the species remain. This is why our churches are places of prayer.

The last and great legacy of Pope John Paul was his invitation to us to appreciate the Eucharist more fully. He had noted that in the last thirty-five years, because we are so often turned inwardly upon ourselves, there has been a lack of awareness of his presence in the Eucharist, of reverence in its celebration and of adoration and prayer in the Church.

The increasing secularism of our times has led to a total misunderstanding of the Eucharist. Sometimes people have emphasised the community in which they celebrate rather than the reality of what is taking place. Just as Jesus, by his own words and power, changed bread and wine into himself, so an ordained priest by Jesus’ power at Mass changes bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus.

This is given us as food, medicine from sins and comfort for our journey. The soul is nourished in the same way, as the body needs constant nourishment.

Today in Rome Pope Benedict will gather with a representation of the bishops of the Church in a Synod to examine the Eucharist, the source and summit of the life and mission of the Church. From Australia Cardinal Pell, Archbishop Doyle of Hobart and Bishop Christopher Saunders of Wilcannia-Forbes will be joined by Monsignor Peter Elliott, as an expert and a Consultor of the Congregation for Divine Worship. Three weeks of study and exchange will help the Church to reflect more deeply on the reality of Christ’s presence, its power in modern life and the fact that we as people of today need the presence and strength of God more actively and powerfully in our everyday experience and life.

Just as Jesus was given for us on the cross and his death has won us so many blessing and been the source of limitless grace and forgiveness, so in the Eucharist we realise that Jesus offers us these same strengths for our lives. It is a consolation to know that our God is so near and that he walks with us, but it draws us to a new awareness that the oneness with Jesus in the Eucharistic celebration might be reflected in the oneness we have with him in our lives.

Christian faith, nourished by the Eucharist, contemplated by prayer so that we will realise what we are doing, as a priest is told on his day of ordination, will help us then not merely to fulfil the Ten Commandments, but to go beyond that to “love one another as I have loved you”, in seeking a total commitment to truth in our own belief and life, to unity in what we seek for others and a service in reaching out into this troubled world, where many families are burdened constantly and find their inspiration often challenged.

Let us pray for the Pope and the Bishops and in our own lives, be one with them in prayer during these three weeks, particularly in front of the Blessed Sacrament, so that Jesus will be our life and send us out in a mission of love to all people.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.