‘Works of love in action’
HOMILY: The Orthodox icon called Descent of the Holy Spirit shows the inner meaning of Pentecost – revealed to event participants … This inner or theological meaning is deep and wide.
‘Almost Pentecost’
HOMILY: Ascension registers departure and letting go, not as abandonment but as blessing. Ascension means we are close to Pentecost as exclamation on the season of Easter, as celebration of Christ re-embodied.
‘Sustained by a vision’
HOMILY: When I was 20 years old, I heard Nelson Mandela speak in Sydney at a prayer service for the people of South Africa. It was one of the most moving occasions that I can recall because it was, for me, the first time I truly realised what it means for someone to be sustained by a vision.
‘Making all things new’
HOMILY: “Look for me where you are going to find me,” Jesus says, “love one another.”
‘We play by ear …’
HOMILY: Today’s homily plays/prays within the fold of belief and belonging … belonging and hearing … hearing and following. When we hear the divine voice, the call, what do we hear? What is happening?
‘The story reverberates’
HOMILY: I cherish this gospel, which offers good news for awkward and confused disciples, good news for impetuous and penitent disciples, good news for the hard-working and hungry, for any who dare go deep into mystery, for all in need of protection, nurture and community.
‘To touch and be touched’
HOMILY: “To touch and be touched simultaneously is to be connected with others in a way that prises us open” (Richard Kearney) …
‘Return to the world’
HOMILY: Our gospel traces a movement of faith from loving kindness to emptiness, encounter with strangers/angels, then memory, testimony, disbelief, action, wonder/amazement …
‘Dying is living more’
HOMILY: Dying is living more. How might we interpret this theme? How might we perform it? Play or pray it?
‘Loving as friends love’
HOMILY: Foot or hand washing, like breaking bread, means loving as friends love.
