Homily for the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Exodus 19:2-6a; Psalm 99; Romans 5:6-11; Matthew 9:36-10:8
Listen at soundcloud.com
In all three readings today, the people in dire straits are offered hope, and hope in abundance. In the first reading from Exodus, the Israelites are offered hope after they have been long abandoned in the desert. In the second reading of Paul to the Romans, Christians when feeling helpless are offered hope, having been redeemed by the death of Jesus. In Matthew’s gospel the crowds ‘troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd’, are offered hope by Jesus who sends out the disciples telling them: ‘Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.’
Like those disciples, we hear the words of Jesus: ‘Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.’ Recently Bishop Danny Meagher from Sydney was installed as the new bishop of Rockhampton. Danny told the people that he had 12 years until retirement age and he expects to see out his time as a bishop in central Queensland. The bishop concluded his words by inviting the congregation: ‘Let’s give it a crack, let’s be adventurous, try things, make mistakes. St Peter made lots of mistakes. And above all, let’s live.’ Giving it a crack seemed to me a very down to earth Australian way of giving without counting the cost. The image took on national significance last week after the death of Australian of the year Professor Richard Scolyer who died of a brain tumour. He had written a letter to us all for release after his death. He wrote:
My final message to all Australians is to say thank you for your outpouring of love and support for me and my family. I haven’t sugar coated my journey and I sincerely thank you for allowing me the space and opportunity to share it with you, warts and all. I hope I have in some small way made the road ahead easier and smoother for others.
If my legacy was to continue beyond these words, I would be delighted and humbled to be remembered as a proud everyday Aussie who ‘gave it a crack’, and in doing so, inspired others to pursue their dreams and passions with humility, love and compassion.
Giving without counting the cost was then writ large for us on Friday when Pope Leo inaugurated and blessed the tower of Jesus Christ at the Basilica of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona on the 100th anniversary of the death of architect Antoni Gauci. Gauci devoted his life to this project, living poorly in the last couple of decades of his life. After the blessing, the sky beside the basilica was lit with a drone image of Gaudi and his favourite saying: ‘To do things right, first you need love, then technique.’
Each of us is missioned to love without counting the cost. Each of us with love is missioned to develop our technique according to our gifts and opportunities. Each of us is sent forth to bring hope where there is despair, to do things right.
Today, we commence Refugee Week with the theme ‘A million stories’. In 1947, Australia agreed to an initial intake of 4,000 refugees after World War II. Since then we have granted a million humanitarian visas to people from every country on earth. Every one of these people was offered hope on these shores having left places of great despair. These individuals have help build modern Australia. As we know, all our major political parties are feeling reluctant to provide many humanitarian visas at this time. We all need to do more to change the political atmosphere and to extend the welcome mat to those fleeing despair and who come to this land with hope. Yes, there is a cost of living crisis. But the words of the gospel resound even when grocery, petrol and house prices are rising. ‘Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.’ Let’s give it a crack!
We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands;
serve the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Know that the Lord is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
The Lord is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO, Adjunct Professor of Thomas More Law School at ACU and Adjunct Research Professor at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, is a former Rector of Newman College, University of Melbourne, and CEO of Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA). His latest books include Pope Francis: the Disruptive Pilgrims Guide (ATF Theology, 2025), and Gerard Brennan’s Articles and Speeches: Maintaining the Law’s Skeleton of Principle (2 volumes) (Connor Court, 2025).
