Thirty Third Sunday of the Year

In a talk in 2013, Pope Francis urged students to develop the virtue of magnanimity ‘It means having a great heart, having greatness of mind, having great ideals, the desire to do great things in response to what God asks of us. It means also to do well the routine…daily actions, tasks meetings with people—doing the little everyday things with a great heart open to God and to others.’ The woman in Proverbs exhibiting compassion, generosity, hospitality, devotion, and commitment shares her gifts generously with family and the wider community. Her actions were done ‘with a great heart open to God and to others.’ Though some misogynistic interpretations downplay it, she is presented as a ‘woman of power’ where her work is affirmed as examples of strength, not subordination. All people are called to be like the woman of power.

A society is judged by how they treat their most vulnerable members. For the last 20 years, Australia has stolen refugees and stateless people’s life based on hypothetical future events. According to international law, indefinite detention is arbitrary and unlawful. Detention should only be used where it is absolutely necessary in the individual case, and there is no reasonable alternative available. It must be for the shortest possible time and reviewable by a court. The Edmund Rice Centre along with many other groups have advocate for change to these and other harsh policies often targeted at some of the world’s most vulnerable people. 8th November 2023 the High Court overturned Australia’s longstanding practice of mandatory and indefinite detention. The detention may end but the wounds of detention are lifelong. The trauma and more importantly the years wasted in detention cannot be returned.

Thirty Second Sunday of the Year

Today’s Gospel reminds us that God’s surprising or unpredictable presence can come upon us. This is the way that God chooses to call, send, or encounter people. In fact, God is always present but the surprise is on us. Life presents us with lots of unknowns and we need to be ready for them. Maya Angelou says: ‘Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.’ We are call to be concerned in every moment to build God’s reign by sharing the oil of justice, mercy, and all the blessings so critically needed in our world today. The gospel focuses on doing things differently. The ‘oil’ in the gospel is not the commodity people fight over but about thinking and acting differently. It may involve looking ‘foolish’ according to the world whether business, politics, or religion because it is God who is working whether we recognise it or not.