Homily by Fr Richard Rosse – 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C (21 Sept 2025)

The Second Reading today shows us one of the most beautiful invitations to prayer which we get from St Paul. First of all, he asks that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone. This has reminded me that prayer, the activity of talking to and listening to God is one which can be carried out anywhere. However, we remember that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the highest form of prayer and the church, as the place where our Lord and Saviour dwells, is the best place to pray.

Firstly, it is important to remember that when we come to Mass, we are indeed coming together in order to praise and worship our Lord. We must celebrate the Mass according to the rubrics of the Roman Missal and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Most importantly when we come to Mass, we are coming to be present at a mind-blowing event whereby the priest makes present again for us the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary. That event is the pinnacle of salvation history, and it is certainly the most important event for Catholics. We also understand that it is the most significant event in the whole history of mankind. As we contemplate the awesome nature of the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, we must do so with all the reverence and solemnity that is due to it. I do take this opportunity to thank you for the silence observed during the Eucharistic Prayer once we kneel after the “Holy Holy.”

We celebrate the Mass in our parish in our church, in this building which should not be treated as any other building. It is because this building contains God himself reserved under the appearance of bread in the Tabernacle. For us to progress in our spiritual life it is so important to be in communication with our Lord, and we do that by praying to God and we should pray unceasingly, according to St Paul. Jesus Christ is truly, really and substantially present in the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle. When we are in the worship space of our church, the only person that we should be concerned about having a conversation with is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Something we priests were told on retreat the week before is that for 2000 years Our Lord has been present in the Tabernacle, as it were, waiting for us to come and talk to him.

You know that over that my time here I have tried my very best to have events that bring the parish together. We have celebrations around the time of the Feast of our Patron Saint. Tomorrow we are celebrating the Anniversary of the Dedication of the Church. Next month, we will celebrate our annual international food day. We have increased hospitality to twice a month. The purpose of all of this is to make it possible for people to catch up, to rekindle and to go deeper into friendships, and to reassure each other of our friendship, our compassion and our solicitude. There is plenty of time for that to happen at parish events.

When it comes to being in the worship space, it is so important for us to focus on a conversation with Christ, prayer. We know very much that the language of God is the language of silence. It is by being silent before, during and after Mass in the worship space that we will be able to hear Jesus speaking to us. In a homily preached in December 2021, Pope Francis said, “We are afraid of moments of silence. Let us not be afraid! It will do us good” Again, friends, I appeal to you once you get into the worship space, please only have conversations with our Lord. Also, the person in the pew next to you or behind you or in front of you might want to pray. We have no idea what some of the issues are that that person might be going through. If someone needs to pour out their heart to Our Lord, we have to respect their right to silence for them to be able to talk to God. Finally, there are many people who stay back in order to pray after Mass. It’s a wonderful opportunity to stay in the church here after Mass to thank God that we have been able to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There are many countries where that cannot happen, where people put their lives in danger in order to celebrate the liturgy. I am always humbled by the number of people who stay back to pray after Mass in this parish and it’s important to respect their right to silence immediately after Mass. As I mentioned during the time of Holy Communion last month, for all social conversations, I plead with you to move to the meeting rooms or the gathering space. This is why these areas exist: to enable us to come together to share stories, to rekindle our friendships and to celebrate all that unites us.

I put these considerations to you, my dear people, to encourage you to remember that the most important person in the worship space is Jesus Christ present in the tabernacle. When you are here, remember that he wants to hear from you and that he has much to tell you. Please make yourself available for both.