NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Lectionary	1st Reading	Psalm	2nd Reading	Gospel
Anglican lectionary	Isaiah 1:1,10-20	50:1-8,24	Hebrews 11:1-3,8-19	Luke 12:32-40
Catholic lectionary:	Wis 18:6-9		Heb 11:1-2, 8-19 or 11:1-2, 8-12	Lk 12:32-48 or 12:35-40

SERMON NOTES

SUMMARY OF PREACHING THEME

The readings today speak of faith, hope and action.

The Letter to the Hebrews cited the faith experience and journey of Abraham and Sarah. In the Gospel, Jesus encourages his disciples to have a firm hope in waiting for the coming of the master by being ready. The Old Testament reading speaks of action: “learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”

We can reflect on this in relation to Sustainable Development Goal 16 which looks to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. This is an important element in reconciling ecology, economy, society and God.

Every year Filipino churches produce pastoral statements about peace which if followed would make the country a just and peaceful place for all. But despite public show of respect for the voice of the church in the Philippines, one thing is quite clear: leaders of the national government in the Philippines conduct their business as though the church does not exist.

This is evidenced by the growing number of Church leaders who are being harassed, intimidated and at worst, even killed, for speaking with grave concern to the alarming and worsening human rights situation. This includes the government’s brutal war on drugs and against social and environmental defenders, lawyers and human rights defenders and leaders of indigenous people’s communities people who are standing up for the integrity of God’s creation and for a just and peaceful society.

The government’s brutal campaigns that have claimed thousands of lives and left thousands of widows and orphans.

The Most Revd Rhee Timbang, Archbishop of the IFI, says, “These killings are gruesome and the attacks to human lives are horrendous. They characterize a society in deep violence and a nation wallowing in death and grief and whose soul is slowly disintegrating. These killings and attacks eloquently speak that the road to war is not the way to build up a nation.” The Filipino people are not merely dealing with the fact of a growing number of individual cases of human rights violation, rather an endemic situation where human rights don’t matter anymore because in the ordinary run of things they aren’t respected as they ought to be. The integrity of all of creation is not being respected as it ought to be.

Reflecting on these things and the readings today we are challenged on the following:

As Church in obedience to the God of life do we raise our voice against human rights violations? Do we raise our voice against injustice that put power and profit above our planet and its people? In being silent, the Church gives the impression to the poor, deprived and oppressed (and all) that it is allowing this evil.
The Church needs to engage in proclaiming the saving act of God to awaken and sustain hope in all people. We can work to mobilise our faith resources, to help our communities to understand their situation and to enhance our capacity to address these.
The Church should urge authorities to attend to the needs of people and to support them in encouragement, moral support and material support. Especially for families who have lost loved ones. We must listen to their cries for justice.

With faith and hope translated into action, let us journey together in the fellowship of the church, where we receive God’s forgiveness when we fall into sin, where we get inspired by the examples of those who are strong, where we hear the mystery and wonder of God’s grace, where we experience a foretaste of life in glory. Amen!

SERMON OUTLINE

Old Testament reading / Psalm

The Old Testament reading speaks of action: “learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”

Christian mission is introducing Jesus Christ to the people and attending to their physical and social hence Christian mission must involve concerns for justice, peace and human rights.

We cannot speak of the mission of the church without asking ourselves how we are relating and ought to relate to the poor, powerless and the marginalized.

Jesus also demonstrated this love by his actions to people and by his choice of friends – poor folks, despised women, persons who suffered from illness and disabilities and those who hunger for justice.

New Testament reading

The Letter to the Hebrews cited the faith experience and journey of Abraham and Sarah. The early Christians of the apostolic times regarded Abraham as the father of faith. It’s not in the sense of being the author of faith that Abraham gets the honour of being its father. It simply means that the journey of our faith began with this man and his household.

The God who called Abraham was not introduced to him by his parents. His parents worshipped the god or gods of the family and tribe for many generations. Abraham, therefore, couldn’t stay in the same place in the midst of his clan and worship a new god. By changing gods, Abraham must have to cut himself off from his clan and make a new start. When Abraham left Ur, he also left an old life in order to begin a new life.

Faith’s journey, therefore, begins with conversion – leaving an old life in order to carve out a new life. The new life is not something finished; faith begins a new life, nurtures it through time and perfects it in the course of living. It means being “born again”, as evangelical Christians call it. In the light of Abraham’s own conversion what does being born again mean? It means leaving behind a life that is secured by the things of this earth to a new life that is solely secured and sustained by God’s grace.

The journey of faith is a journey towards the maturity and perfection of the new life that the Spirit gives us through Jesus Christ. This journey takes place in the ordinary course of living as we carry out our duties in the family, in our workplaces and in society.

Gospel Reading

In the Gospel, Jesus encourages his disciples to have a firm hope in waiting for the coming of the master by being ready. Christianity is not only about faith; it is also about hope. This hope is about a wonderful reality that awaits the faithful in the future. One must have to ready ‘for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” Throughout history, Christians sing about this hope through trials and tribulations.

Christian faith is founded upon a firm hope that God is leading the faithful to a glorious future, both in heaven and on earth. Jesus said: ^“32‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ³³Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Christian mission calls Christians to move from the center to the periphery. This means that those who stand at the center are called to divest themselves of power and privilege and become free to move towards the periphery. Jesus told someone who stood at the center, “Sell all that you have and give the money to the poor.” (Mark 10:21) It goes without saying that everything that the church has should be shared and used for the benefit of those who are in need. That is the meaning of Christian stewardship. Just as Peter said, “silver and gold have I none” (Acts 3:6), so must the church declare its poverty and offer what the Lord has given it to the poor, the sick and oppressed. For the church’s true possession is nothing else but its faith in Jesus Christ and its hope in his return in glory.

UPDATED SERMON NOTES

Homily: “Faith in Action: Living Sustainability as a Pilgrimage of Justice and Hope”

Readings: Isaiah 1:1,10–20 | Hebrews 11:1–3, 8–16 | John 12:32–40

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We gather today not just as faithful Anglo-Catholics, but as stewards of a planet entrusted to our care: God’s good creation. From the lush forests of Palawan to the coral reefs of the Visayas, from mountain terraces to rice paddies, the Philippines is a country blessed with abundant natural beauty. Yet it is also a land bearing the scars of environmental destruction, poverty, and vulnerability to climate change.

In this sacred moment, Scripture calls us into a deeper understanding of sustainability, not as a distant ideal, but as a way of life, a moral duty, and a spiritual journey. And in doing so, our readings today resonate with the global agenda of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a vision for human flourishing that echoes the justice, faith, and hope of the Gospel.

I. “Learn to do good; seek justice…” (Isaiah 1:17)

Isaiah speaks with clarity and fire: God is not pleased with hollow worship. What God desires is justice, the kind of justice that rescues the oppressed, defends the orphan, and pleads for the widow.

This is where the SDGs and the Gospel intersect.

• SDG 1: No Poverty and SDG 10: Reduced Inequality are not political slogans! They are prophetic imperatives. In the Philippines, where over 18 million people still live below the poverty line, and environmental degradation disproportionately affects the poor, our faith demands action.

• SDG 13: Climate Action calls us to confront the existential threat of climate change, which has intensified typhoons, droughts, and food insecurity in Filipino communities.

Isaiah reminds us: worship without justice is empty. Sustainability without compassion is hollow. The Gospel demands more than awareness. It calls for courageous acts of restoration!

As the Church, we are called to ecological conversion. We are called to change how we live, how we consume, how we relate to the earth, and to one another.

II. “By faith Abraham obeyed…” (Hebrews 11:8)

The second reading from Hebrews speaks of Abraham and Sarah, who left behind their homeland, not knowing where they were going. They walked by faith, trusting that God was leading them toward a better country, a city “whose architect and builder is God.”

This is a powerful metaphor for sustainability. We are on pilgrimage, too, and we are called to leave behind unsustainable ways of life and to journey toward a world marked by justice, equity, and peace.

In the Philippine context, many rural and Indigenous communities model this spiritual wisdom. Their livelihoods depend on the land and sea, and they have long practiced stewardship, not exploitation. Yet their voices are often silenced, their lands seized, their waters polluted.

• SDG 15: Life on Land and SDG 14: Life Below Water are not abstract ideas, they are intimately tied to the lives of farmers, fisherfolk, and tribal peoples.

• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities reminds us that urban planning and development must be rooted in the dignity of human beings and the integrity of creation.

Like Abraham and Sarah, we must walk by faith, choosing sustainability not because it is easy or popular, but because it is right. Because it is holy.

III. “Be ready… Blessed is the one whom the master finds at work.” (John 12:40)

In the Gospel, Jesus urges His disciples to be vigilant, to live in expectant hope. This is not passive waiting. It is active readiness, a readiness that transforms how we live now.

Today, sustainability is not a luxury. It is a matter of spiritual urgency. As we await the fullness of God’s kingdom, we must live in ways that reflect that hope.

• SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production – these are not merely goals for governments. They are also spiritual practices for churches, for communities, for families.

To be ready means to make choices that reflect the coming Kingdom:

• To install solar panels in our parishes and convents.

• To reduce our waste and consumption.

• To support policies and leaders who defend creation and protect the poor.

Our hope is not naïve optimism. It is rooted in Christ, the One who reconciles all things to Himself, and through whom a new heaven and new earth are promised.

Conclusion: Our Catholic Witness to a Sustainable Future

As Anglo-Catholics, we understand the sacramental nature of creation. The bread and wine of the Eucharist are not mere symbols, they are transformed matter, revealing that matter matters to God.

Thus, to care for creation is not separate from our faith, it is the expression of it!

Let us link hands across nations, cultures, and languages, joining the work of sustainability with the ancient call of the prophets, the courage of the saints, and the promise of the Gospel.

Let our churches become beacons of eco-justice.

Let our voices rise in defense of the earth and the poor.

Let our hope in Christ shape a world where all may flourish, and no one is left behind.

For the earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it.

Let us walk by faith, act in justice, and wait in hope.

In the Name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

Further information on the growing human rights situation in the Philippines:

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Fr. Herbert F. Fadriquela Jr.

Fr. Herbert F. Fadriquela Jr. is Chaplain to the Filipino Community in the Diocese of Leicester in the Church of England. He comes from the Philippines and was ordained into the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Independent Church of the Philippines) where among many roles he was Director of IFI-VIMROD (The IFI Visayan-Mindanao Regional Office for Development) which facilitates the formation of people’s organisations for community development.