Homily for 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Two tablets were unearthed in Babylon. They dated back to 2,800 years BC. They both commented on the trends of the day. One reads: 'Times are not what they used to be.'

The other reflected a major concern of many people living 28 centuries ago. Their complaint: 'The world must be coming to an end. Children no longer obey their parents and everyone wants to write a book.'

There is a common disease that each and every one of us has and that is 'LIP SERVICE' to some issue or problem in our society and even our church. We have people who are experts on fixing everything and if they were in charge well, the country would be run this way, and if they were the boss of that company well it would be far more profitable, or if they were on that committee it would be so much more effective; and of course the parish is suffering because the only the priests favourites are doing everything.

We are great at talking about all the wrongs of our world but we're not so good at volunteering to help put things right. Our Gospel challenges us to getting involved this morning. It challenges us to believe in our baptism which calls us to see all of creation as created by God and therefore to see all of humanity as our brothers and sisters.

I lived most of life in Dublin. Amn't I the lucky one!! During the week I heard that there are over 4,000 homeless people in Ireland and most of them in Dublin, some of these are children. I know from working in the inner city we have a drugs problem. The Merchants Quay project said during the week that in Ireland there are little or no residential places for people to come off drugs. It is the sad story of every city I am sure Galway has its story to tell too.

At the same time the economy flourishes. Why are there so little resources available to assist those less fortunate than you and I? What have centuries of Christianity taught us? Are we any kinder to each other? Are we any more sympathetic to the weak in our society? It seems not.

Yet there is evidence of Christ in our midst, the way some give us leadership in the way the respond to another's trouble, the way parents care for their children and vice versa. It is the simple kind acts that give us a glimpse of who we are when we're at our best. Christianity at its best is about simple acts of kindness that change and revolutionise our society

But what about social justice? It is never easy to face and the mistake would be to get disheartened because the questions are too difficult. Very few can move mountains but we can help. We start with our attitudes and our prejudices. We start by seeing those who are not as fortunate as us as our brothers and sister, our equals. We start to respect all human life precisely because we share a common humanity. We through the eyes of faith allow ourselves to see the spark of God in each person. And already a mountain is moved.

Our Gospel this morning was a warning to the establishment of Jesus' day that they were not listening to his message yet the beggars on the street were, those who were in the eyes of the society of the time outcasts were flocking to Jesus. They were the ones who reluctantly went into the vineyard to help the father. The establishment were the ones who on the face of it were saying yes to the message and the work of the vineyard yet were really not bothered. I have to ask myself which camp I belong to?

Today's message is for all of us. Our mass here this morning must make a difference to our lives and the way we look at the world. It can't just end here otherwise will they in 2,800 years from now dig up tablets from our time saying the same things they said in Babylon... 'Times are not what they used to be' 'The world must be coming to an end. Children no longer obey their parents and everyone wants to write a book.'

And they will say the same things as we may have said to ourselves this afternoon listening to the beginning of this sermon... Huh! Nothing changes.