20 July 2014: Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Let them grow together until the harvest

While we must speak out for the truth, we may well be tempted to emphasise our faithfulness by our impatience and intolerance towards those who do not journey with us. The parable of Jesus warns us that this is not God’s way. The reading from the book of Wisdom shows us that, as the Old Testament was drawing to a close, devout thinkers in old Israel were recognising that the virtuous person must be kindly to others, learning from the mysterious patience of God.

Only the Lord of the harvest – whose grace is at work in a hidden way in every human heart – can sort out the good from the bad when all is gathered in at the end. We who are blessed with the gift of faith must prepare for the final harvest by becoming an exemplary crop ourselves. There is a lesson here, also, for those who belong to the new movements emerging in the today’s Church. They must avoid a sectarian spirit that would see their way as the only way. There is room in God’s Church for many spiritualities and traditions. True 'catholicity' shows an openness to this.

From a homily by John Thornhill sm

Two Feast days in a row

A warm welcome to Fr Nguyen Viet Huy sj who had a safe journey back from the Holy Land! We sincerely look forward to celebrating these forthcoming Feast Days together!:

• Sunday 27 July 2014: Feast of St James
• Sunday 03 August 2014: Feast of St Ignatius, including the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Society of Jesus, and the blessing of the church's restored slate roof

See our Calendar for further details.

13 July 2014: Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A sower went out to sow

The story of the sower and the seed describes the growth of faith in our hearts and in society. God makes the seed grow, but the ground it falls on decides how healthy it will be and how much grain it will yield. The parable invites us to ask what kind of soil we offer God to sow in, and how we might work with God to fertilise and water it.

To people who walk with disadvantaged young people, as we do at Jesuit Social Services, the story speaks very powerfully. The lives of young people depend so much on the soil in which they are planted.

The lives of some young people are like the seed that falls on the path. They are crushed by domestic violence and neglect and exploited by strangers. As they grow up they have learned not to trust others and lack the social skills to form good relationships.

Other young people are planted on rocky ground. Things go well at first, but broken relationships, poverty and family illnesses mean that they start school behind others, drop out of education and lose hope of making a life for themselves. They wither.

Others are like the seed sown among thorns. The adults in their lives themselves did not enjoy love and respect when they were young, and were not good role models for their own children. The other young people they mix with are also pretty lost. They start to drink and take drugs and soon find themselves caught in the juvenile justice system and in the maze of other government services.

Each of these plants is precious; each person dreams of a better life. God wants us to enrich the soil in which they live so that they can grow stronger. This can happen only through people who accompany them and never give up on them. This is the commitment of Jesuit Social Services to troubled young people.

A Sharing by Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ

Eat well, and give young people a job

The Jesuit Social Services (JSS) Ignite Cafes serve hot and cold meals and good coffee, and cater for events. They also provide training for 65 unemployed young people.

You are most welcome to drop in at any one of the three cafes in Camberwell, Hawthorn and Burwood East.

Full details on JSS's Ignite Cafes page.