Homily for the Tuesday in the Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld.

"God made man imperishable,
he made him in the image of his own nature; the souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God... God has put them to the test and proved them worthy to be with him; those who are faithful will live with him in love; for grace and mercy await those he has chosen." (cf. Wis 2-3).

"I will bless the Lord at all times." (cf. Ps 34).

"Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, “Come and have your meal immediately”? Would he not be more likely to say, “Get my supper laid; make yourself tidy and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink yourself afterwards”? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, “We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.”’" (cf. Lk 17).

Artwork: Communion by Alphonse Legros (c. 1876).