HOMILY FROM FATHER STEPHEN FOR THE 16TH SUNDAY
Changing the World
In 2009, the first Darkness into Light event in aid of Pieta House took place in Dublin’s Phoenix Park. Around 400 people walked the 5Km course that year to raise funds for the suicide prevention charity. In Scotland this event took place around the Hydro in Glasgow around 2014 with 400 people walking. Fast forward to May last year, and more than 130,000 people took part in 150 Darkness into Light events across Scotland and worldwide. Many of us will know someone who took part, or we may have got involved ourselves this year. As the crucial message of hope and solidarity filters out from these events, who knows how many lives have been saved or transformed over the years?
Darkness into Light is a great example of a movement which has grown from a small seed of an idea into a major force for good. The parable of the mustard seed, which we hear today, shows us that fantastic things can emerge from the most modest of beginnings, ‘The smallest of all the seeds’ The disciples who first heard Jesus were ordinary people – not the religious leaders of the time or those in positions of power or influence. But they were the seeds from which the Church would grow down through the years.
Each act of kindness or forgiveness, each time we spread the Good News of Jesus in our own way, we are hastening the spread of God’s kingdom. These seeds grow and multiply, and bear fruit even if we cannot see the results. We can’t change the world in one go – but we can change our world. Together, as a people of faith, hope and love, we will grow with the love of God the Father, the Grace of Jesus, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, the maternal guidance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the intercession of St Joseph and all the Saints.
