Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Just over a week ago at the parish school, the children in Year 6 said goodbye

for the final time – off to pastures new in September. It’s quite a transition

going from primary to secondary school. When I went from primary to

secondary school, it was a bit like going back in time. We went from

whiteboards to blackboards, although they were covered in so much chalk dust

they were really greyboards. We went from a BBC computer in every

classroom to no computers except in the one computer room. And some of the

classrooms still had the kind of desks where the lid opened and you could use

them to store your books, although we used the lockers instead.

Making the transition, there were also new words and expressions to learn. At

one point I was called a “fustie”, and assuming it was an insult, I denied that I

was one. I remember looking up the word in the dictionary, and all it had was

something like saying that a fusty professor was someone with much book

knowledge but little experience of the outside world. “Fustie” was actually a

bit a school slang. In those days, you started in year one, not year seven, so

being in the first year, or the “fust” year, you were a fustie.

In one of the classrooms that we used both for French and Maths, the desks

were still of the type with an opening lid to store your books, as I mentioned.

In the desk I sat at, someone had written inside, “Good luck fustie, you’re

gonna need it!” Later on, someone added, “Not! Not!” But it’s a bit like the

message for our new prime minister. He’s got a tough job ahead of him, but

whoever’s selling books about prime ministers has got a regular source of

income.

Talking about a regular source of income, that is of course one of the problems

in our country – getting more people into jobs and job creation. Pope Leo a

while ago wrote an encyclical letter, in other words a teaching document, called

Magnifica Humanitas, “on safeguarding the human person in the time of

artificial intelligence”. It’s quite a lengthy document, and I’m about three

quarters of the way through. Clearly one of the many concerns about AI is

what it will do to the jobs market. Maybe Andy Burnham could get AI to come

up with the new Budget. But if he did, it might show up everything that is

wrong with that kind of approach. AI is a tool, which can be used both for

good and bad. They sometimes say, “garbage in, garbage out”, and AI as a tool

only works on the information it is given, plus it follows the instructions of the

one who programmed it, although it’s supposed to evolve its programming as

well. To run a country well, a business, or anything else for that matter

involving human beings, needs more than just number crunching and profit

maximisation. Human beings are not just another cost to be dealt with, and not

just to be thrown on the scrap heap together with old cans of paint and nails

that have gone rusty. So in the first reading, King Solomon, at the start of his

reign, asks for wisdom and discernment, not long life, riches or the lives of his

enemies. After all, as the saying goes, “A fool and his money are easily

parted”. We need to pray for our new prime minister that he also may have a

wise and discerning mind to navigate the many pitfalls that lie ahead.

In the second reading, St Paul says: “We know that for those who love God all

things work together for good”. He doesn’t say that we will always have an

easy life, nor that we should always have an easy life. In fact Pope Leo,

writing in Magnifica Humanitas says that “humanity flourishes not despite

limitations, but often through them” (para 188). He says: “To eliminate

suffering entirely would mean, in the end, extinguishing love and desire as

well. Those who love and desire cannot avoid passing through trial and

suffering” (para 120). Maybe Andy Burnham, being a northerner, will ask us

all to tighten our belts and be prepared for “hard graft”. But joking aside, we

can find ourselves sometimes asking what all this work and activity is for. Is

there more to life than just getting up in the morning, going to school or to

work, and then returning home, eating and watching TV? Or going out in the

evening? In the Gospel, Our Lord likens the kingdom of heaven to priceless

treasure. In the two examples He gives, the person is rather reckless. The first

persons find the treasure in the field, covers it up, sells all he has and buys the

field. The second does the same thing for a pearl of great value. That is how

things can be in the world of property and finance. But the kingdom of heaven

is like that as well, if not more so – you throw in everything. You can’t put a

value on a human life, ennobled by almighty God, where you find your purpose

and meaning. All that I do counts towards something, and it’s noticed by God.

So I’m sure you’ll keep in your prayers both those moving from St Joseph’s

School to secondary school, and the new PM as well. And we pray that, no

matter what happens, we may all realise that it’s our faith in God which makes

all the difference.

Curious about exploring things further?  If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk