A woman walked into her son’s bedroom and found it in a total mess. “What has happened here?” she asked. The boy answered: “I had a visit from the Holy Spirit.” Seeing his mum perplexed he went on: “Didn’t you read your Bible? He is like a wind.” The mother paused for a moment, and then she closed her eyes and said: “You know what? He is back. He is just going through my head right now and saying: Tell the boy to clean the room immediately.”
            My Dear Sisters and Brothers!
            It is encouraging to meet people who have such a strong belief in the presence of the Holy Spirit, isn’t it? Why wouldn’t they? Jesus himself made it obvious when he spoke to his disciples at the Last Supper: “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name will teach you everything.” The Lord assured his Apostles that his departure meant the arrival of the Holy Spirit. In a couple of weeks we will remember that sacred day of Pentecost, when the promised Holy Spirit came upon the followers of Jesus as wind and fire. However it wasn’t a firework display but it was like what those two disciples had on the way to Emmaus. Jesus joined Cleopas and the other man and as they were walking Christ was explaining the Scriptures to them. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit joined the fragile, newly established Church on her journey through centuries and continents to guide, inspire and transform the followers of Christ.
            Our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles showed us the Church some years after the first Holy Week events. They were discerning some big issue. When they concluded their discernment they wrote: “It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves.” Can you sense in those words their deep conviction that what they decided wasn’t simply their thinking but it was a divine inspiration? They were aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit among them. Why wouldn’t they? Jesus did promise them the Holy Spirit. They saw him raised. They saw his ascend to heaven. They heard the wind and saw the tongues of fire on the Pentecost Day.
            In 21st century the Church faces big issues too. We, as followers of Christ, are questioned why we don’t accept same sex relationships, abortion, euthanasia, contraception, divorces. We are challenged on our commitment to Christ as the only Saviour of the world. Those who challenge us on those issues give us a long list of reasons why we should change our approach. However on that list there is one reason missing. Is it the will of God? Does it come from the inspiration of the Holy Spirt?
The contribution of the Catholic Church to the world is not simply to agree with the rest of the world but to bring into the world God’s perception. In another passage of the Acts of the Apostles we find Peter and the Apostles answering the authorities in Jerusalem: “We must obey God rather than people.” Because what we want to offer to the world is a perspective which isn’t limited by the horizon, but goes beyond. This perspective comes from the Death, Resurrection and Glorification of Jesus Christ.
At Mass we are asked to offer each other the sign of peace. Usually we do it by shaking hands. What does it make different to a normal handshake? We say: “Peace be with you.” In this way we say to the person next to us that we want her or him to be at peace. People are at peace when they are reconciled with God, others and themselves. When deep down, they are convinced that their decisions are good because they are inspired by God. Because they come from the discernment guided by the Holy Spirit who accompanies us in the way Jesus accompanied his two disciples on the way to Emmaus. This is also my prayer for your faith community here: May you be at peace. May you always be able to say: “It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves.”

          When I was reading the passage from St John’s Gospel for this Mass I kind of processed a problem I have with my mum. In the Gospel Jesus said to his disciples: “My little children” I think he and my mum would get along very well as she always calls my: “My little son.” It is kind of embarrassing as I don’t meet many people I would have to raise my eyes so that I could see their face. Most importantly however is that I do enjoy being an adult. I don’t have a particular desire to be a little child again either.
          However in what Jesus said I can see an echo of his earlier words: “You need to be born again.” What I would like to draw your attention to this Sunday is the moment a child is born. The birth isn’t the beginning of child’s life it is more about passing from life to life. To be new born means that one moves from old life to new one.
          It’s interesting to see a new born child. Do you agree that the first moments the child is out of the womb it looks as if the child was suffocating, but doctors and nurses, and we too, know that it is just a stage when the child stops using the umbilical cord to breathe and begins to breath clear air with his or her nose and lungs, though as I have said it may look like suffocating.
          Each one of us has gone through this. If we are here today it is because we left our mother’s womb. However a similar process still happens in what we go through in our daily life. St John in the Apocalypse says: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, the first heaven and the first earth disappeared.”
          To see the new heaven and new earth we need to leave the old ones. Heaven and earth here don’t mean just the blue thing above our heads and the dirt we walk on every day. So what does it mean for us? If the first haven and first earth are like breathing with the umbilical cord the new heaven and new earth are like breathing with your nose and lungs. To explain it let me also use the image of a person needing an oxygen bottle to breathe. How often we are like the person! We’ve got bottles with various things which we believe should keep us alive and going. Some people suffocate if they don’t go shopping. Some can’t survive without getting feelings from other people.
          A little example may help to understand: Imagine someone baking a cake and now he or she gives you one. So what do you say: “Oh Dear, thank you. It is such a beautiful cake!” But the person say: “No, it is nothing special. It is just a plain cake.” But in his or her heart the person is saying: “Give me more of these compliments. Tell me more about how beautiful the cake I made is.”
          How many people need this kind of praise to keep going? If they don’t hear from others how beautiful they are they get depressed and are hardly alive. They are like a person with an oxygen bottle – they inhale the stuff from the bottle. It keeps them going. Jesus however tells us: “It is destructive. It is addictive. So cut it off. Don’t be scared you won’t die. For some time you will be like a new born child, kind of suffocating but then you will experience true freedom.”
          My Sisters and Brothers! Imagine a morning like this. You wake up and you say to yourself: “God is my Father. He loves me. I am his beloved child.” Inhale it. Breathe in. WOW!!! Now you can go ahead with your day. This thought makes your day. You don’t need to fight for people’s feeling. You don’t need to go shopping to prove your value. You don’t need to maintain this perfect image of yourself.
          This is the new heaven and new earth Jesus wants to take us to. If a bottle is still sitting on your back cut it off. Let it go. Don’t be afraid to be born again. Now you can hear Jesus command: “Love one another.” Jesus didn’t say do your best to be loved, because you are already loved by God. But he said: ”Love others!!!” because you have been set free by your Lord to love.

            One of the most ancient images of Jesus is the one of Good Shepherd. It shows Christ with three goats. One goat is looking away in search for happiness and life somewhere else. This is a symbol of non-Christians. One goat is looking up at Jesus in search for happiness and life in him. This is an image of catechumens who grow in their faith as they prepare for baptism. The third goat rests of Jesus’ shoulders, as Christ is its support. It is a symbol of Christians.
            My dear Sisters and Brothers! All of us here present have been baptised but we can relate to all those three goats. At times we search for happiness and life away from Christ, don’t we? Then we realise that it takes us to nowhere and we return to Our Lord. The goat on Jesus’ shoulders also the expresses our hope to be embraced and supported by our Saviour in spite of our wonderings away.
            The image was produced around 3rd century AD when some time had already elapsed from the days of Christ. Does it mean that this old wall painting in Rome is about nostalgia for the good old days described in the Bible? Not at all, it is about faith in the Good Shepherd who leads his humble flock to a share in the joys of heaven.
            The first reading for this Good Shepherd Sunday gives us an insight into a community of believers in Antioch. They didn’t have Jesus in the way the Apostles had him when the Twelve walked with him the hills and valleys of the Holy Land. Jesus ascended into heaven but he sent his Holy Spirit to fill the believers, to create of them his Holy Church. When you research the Bible you discover that the four Gospels which tell us the story of Jesus’ life on earth take one third of the New Testament. What is the rest about? Two third of the New Testament is about Jesus’ life in his Church after the Day of Pentecost. It is the story of the evangelising community of Jesus’ followers. The community of people who couldn’t keep Jesus’ love to themselves but because of that love found themselves compelled to evangelise. They desired to bring others into the same loving and life-changing relationship with the Lord.
The two people of whom we heard in the first reading were not some employees hired by the community. Paul and Barnabas were home-grown missionaries. They were an integral part of their own communities which desired to get the message of Jesus out there.
            We know that those two men are dead but their mission is not dead. After 2000 years we still keep writing the Acts of the Apostles by our commitment to living and spreading the message of Jesus.
            In 1841 when the Missionary Oblates of Marry Immaculate celebrated their Silver Jubilee a Canadian bishop looking for missionaries for his vast diocese visited the Oblate Founder - Bishop Eugene de Mazenod. He was because someone described Eugene as “the man with the heart of St Paul.” The Canadian bishop realised that it was his chance. Someone with the heart of St Paul wouldn’t refuse to evangelise. He was right. The Oblates for their twenty-fifth anniversary didn’t throw a party but they sent the first group of missionaries overseas. An interesting way to celebrate a mile stone, isn’t it?
            My Dear Fellow Catholics! Good Shepherd Sunday invites us to intensify our prayers, our commitment to spreading the Gospel. We mustn’t keep our faith to ourselves. Jesus’ died and was raised to life for all people. They need to hear that.
Those who are discerning their vocation at the moment I would like to leave with the image of another person from the Bible- Prophet Elijah. According to the Bible Elijah will return and when he returns the Messiah will appear immediately. That’s why the Jews, who still wait for the Messiah, when they celebrate their annual Passover they pray for Elijah to come. Then they send someone to open the door for him.
Our faith tells us that John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah and then Jesus appeared among the people. However this profound image of Elijah as the announcer of Christ’ coming I find as a help for those who weigh their future. If you find the image of Elijah intriguing and speaking to you it may be because the Lord is calling you to give your life to evangelise, to announce him to others. If the image of Elijah who turns up and everyone starts looking over his shoulders to see the Messiah coming fascinates you it may mean that you are called to spend your life for God’s glory and the salvation of others.

            Although the summer is over and, at least here in Victoria, not many of us are planning a swim in the ocean let’s recall those beautiful warm days when we enjoyed swimming. What do we do before jumping into the water? We take off our clothes, don’t we? What did our first Pope did before he jumped into the water in today’s Gospel? “Simon Peter, who had practically nothing on, wrapped his cloak round him and jumped into the water.” You may be now scratching your head thinking whether you should still acknowledge Peter as your hero Pope. However before we make a psychologist appointment for Peter let us look at the story again. “The disciple Jesus loved said to Peter: “It is the Lord.” At these words “It is the Lord”, Simon Peter, who had practically nothing on, wrapped his cloak round him and jumped into the water.” Can anyone say that the first Pope was insane? He was excited. He was so excited seeing Jesus that he didn’t think about anything else but getting to Jesus. We all should pray for such an excitement.
            My Dear Sisters and Brothers! I am amazed that Peter didn’t sink on the way to the shore as his heart was heavy after his betrayal of the Lord. The only reason I can find for him to stay afloat is that his memory of the three years he had with Christ firmly convinced him of Jesus’ readiness to forgive. Let us leave the swimming Pope in his full suit alone for a few moments to listen to another story. Two men were having a conversation.  One said: “Every time I have a blue with my wife she gets historical.” His mate corrected him: “I think you wanted to say hysterical.” “No - the married man answered - When I argue with my wife she gets historical. She remembers all the mistakes I have ever made.” Do you think that it is a made up story? ….
            Let’s go back to our excited Pope who is reaching the seashore by now. What does he find there? There is a charcoal fire. The last time Peter saw a charcoal fire was when he betrayed Jesus. Looks like Jesus gets historical here. Then they have an unusual conversation. Basically Jesus asks Peter the same question three times. The last time Peter was asked the same question three times the question was: “Are you one of Jesus’ disciples?” Looks like Jesus gets historical again. However Jesus’ getting historical is different from the conversation of that man and his wife. There is not anger here. There is no bitterness. There is no blaming involved. On the contrary the charcoal fire becomes an expression of Jesus’ care for Peter. The Lord of heaven and earth, who was betrayed by his Vicar to be, grills some healthy fish for the feeble man. The three questions are about love Jesus still sees in Peter, even if Peter proved it otherwise a few days earlier. What is happening here? What is it all about?
            My Dear fellow believers! It is about memory. It is about healing Peter’s memory. Our memory is a funny thing. It can lend us wings by recalling love, support, appreciation and pride of those we love. It can also drag us down by bringing up our misconduct, sins, failures and the hurt we inflicted on others or what others did to us. What Jesus does in the Gospel for this Sunday is he faces Peter with the context of the first Pope’s failures. However Jesus doesn’t leave our hero Supreme Pontiff there alone to contemplate those failings. In a merciful way he reconciles Peter with the painful and shameful past. Jesus provides Peter with divine forgiveness which will free the man to go forward with a joyful and grateful heart.
            Have you ever thought why you need to name your sins when you go to the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation? It is not to dwell on your sins but to have a Peter’s moment of memory healing. When you name your sins it is like that charcoal fire. It is like those three questions. You bring up your past tarnished by shame and pain into the presence of our Risen Lord. What is the outcome? A joyful and grateful heart.
 
            Let me finish with the best homily I have ever heard on Reconciliation. It was in Sydney. We had first Reconciliation for the children from the parish. The following morning I was walking to celebrate a Mass when I saw a second grade student walking with his mum to school. He was jumping up and down with a big smile on his little face. I said to him: “Looks like someone is having a good day today.” His answer was: “Of course Father. Jesus forgave me all my sins last night.”

            How would you feel if I said to you that you are listening to a saint right now? It would sound like I had some humility issues, wouldn’t it? How would you feel if I told you to keep my nail-clippings as relics? It would sound weird, wouldn’t it? However these are not made-up scenarios. The person who spoke like that was the Little Flower, Saint Therese of Lisieux. Did she have some humility issues? She was an example of humility. Was she weird? Quite opposite, she was normal and pleasant. She was a sought-after companion. What made her speak like that then? She saw her holiness as an accomplishment of God. What she expressed by speaking in such unusual way was praising God for his mercy shown her.
            My Dear Sisters and Brothers gathered here to praise the Lord for his mercy to us! God is a great artist. Genesis tells us beautifully the story of creation. Genesis also tells us profoundly of the distinction between creation of humans and the rest of the world. Are we the only living organisms on this planet? Are we the only organisms breathing on this planet? We are not. However the Bible is very firm to proclaim that the liveliness of people came from God who breathed into their nostrils a breath of life. At the outset of human story there was a distinct action of God who implanted something of himself in humans so that people could be capable of having a loving relationship with God and with each other. This capability however implies that each single person is a piece of art in making. God doesn’t make wrong moves in what he does for us, but we do when we choose against God, when we sin. How disastrous it is can be found out in Genesis too. The tragic story of the fall is told there. Its epidemic consequences we live every day when we experience that, as St Paul wrote in the Letter to the Romans: “I cannot understand my behaviour. I fail to carry out the things I want to do, and I find myself doing the very things I hate…What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body doomed to death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Can you also detect God’s mercy at work in what St Paul wrote? Paul wanted to be different. He hated sin. He desired to be freed of it. Our world needs this mercy so much as our world indulges in sin and calls it good. It happens because our world doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ. So many of our brothers and sisters don’t believe in Jesus and that’s why they don’t know how to deal with sin. If one doesn’t know how to deal with sin they say that sin is OK. OK is not a solution here. On the contrary facing the reality of sin, doesn’t matter how petrifying it can be, leads to facing the sight of the Merciful Lord. No one can face consequences of sin without looking into Jesus’ eyes. Remember Judas. He couldn’t handle his sin. He killed himself. That’s why our Blessed Lord has given the world, which doesn’t have courage to face sin, his message of mercy. Only Jesus, who loves people so much, could expect of his priests to take on extra work in the busiest time of the year. In terms of urgency this message of Divine Mercy is the best means and the best calling for all of us to get it across to others.
How has God shown us his mercy? By giving us his Son Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins, who was raised to life to justify us and who has been glorified at the right hand of the Father to judge the living and the dead. What does this Jesus do for us sinners? He breathes into us the Holy Spirit, the very life he shares with his Father. The Gospel for this Divine Mercy Sunday gives us a scene from the room where the disciples were gathered. Jesus came to them and he did what God did at the beginning: “He breathed onto them.” What I find fascinating is that Jesus didn’t give them any time to enjoy that but immediately he told them to go and through preaching and sacraments provide others with the same experience of mercy they were granted: “Receive the Holy Spirit. – he said - For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven, for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.”
            My Sisters and Brothers! Believe those words of Jesus. Trust him with your life. Praise him for his mercy to you. Spread the message of his mercy which can evoke new hope in those who out of fear can only say that sin is OK and keep on going the path of destruction.
            This Sunday for two millennia has been also called White Sunday after the white robes worn by newly baptised. Those robes were a reminder of what God did for them in the sacrament of Baptism but those robes were also a reminiscent of the robes of the angels at the empty tomb of Jesus. Those angels proclaimed the resurrection of Christ. We who have been baptised have been called to witness by our words and actions to the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
            For those who may still feel intimidated I would like to proclaim the words of Jesus which St John heard on the island of Patmos: “Do not be afraid, it is I, the First and the Last; I am the Living One. I was dead and now I am to live for ever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of the underworld.”