Thursday Week 27 of Ordinary Time (Year B)
Mental Health Week Mass

Homily

By the Most Rev Bishop Don Sproxton
Auxiliary Bishop of Perth

St Mary's Cathedral, Perth
Thursday 10 October, 2024

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In our experience as Christians, we find that prayer is sometimes a very long process. It's not a one-shot attempt with God. It's not as though God purposefully delays, but I think it’s most likely that God allows time for us all to understand what it is that we pray for, so that we understand more deeply the intention we have for which we are praying.

The Gospel of Luke that we've heard today uses the word persistent - our prayer needs to be persistent. The greatest gift that God has to give to us when we pray is the Holy Spirit, and that persistent prayer allows us the time to gain some clarity about our faith and why it is that we approach God in the first place. As I said previously, giving us an opportunity to understand much more deeply what it is that we're praying for.

When I was a deacon, and at that time, still studying at the seminary in Adelaide, there was an opportunity given to me to visit each week and administer Holy Communion to a man who had suffered a very serious stroke. It meant that he was crippled and that he was bedridden. I reflect today on that that very first pastoral experience that I had with that man - who was not only physically disabled, but also suffered a very deep depression, borne out of the frustration that he had because of the stroke that had disabled him, in fact, crippled him.

I've reflected on the way in which his wife rose to the occasion, and how she became such a wonderful carer for him and had to observe not just the suffering that was caused by the stroke, but also to know what it meant for her husband and the reason for the frustration that he was feeling at times, the anger which sometimes broke out, although he tried very hard to control that. And, of course, the depression that would set in from time to time. I marvelled at her persistence, her courage, in living in that situation and being there constantly for her husband.

It was one of those experiences that has remained with me as I say, I have reflected upon over all these years. And especially when I remember what was said in the social justice statement some years ago to live life to the full, where the bishops spoke about the place that we need to have for people with disabilities, including those people who experience mental health issues. That would seem to be a very basic call that the Lord makes to each of us, within our parish communities, within our organisations and our agencies, to be able to ensure that there is a place for people who are suffering in these ways.

It's very easy - when confronted by the suffering of another person, or a disability - to draw back. However, if we really observe the approach that Jesus had to people who were afflicted in some way or suffering in some way, and were being pushed to the edge of society, we learn that there must be a different approach. Instead of drawing back, we can perhaps go towards them, and in that way, we actually can understand better ourselves, what are the things within us that need to change, the fears, that we might have when confronted by the suffering of another.

What are the limitations that we feel when we're in a situation where we feel absolutely helpless. For me, this wife that I met, this man, really gave a living experience of Jesus, remaining, drawing closer, not being afraid to be there and to hear and to listen to that experience of that person and drawing them to a place where they could be accepted, they could be cared for, and possibly that there could be some healing.

Pope Francis, of course, speaks a lot about going out to those pushed to the edges, instead of waiting for them to come to us seeking welcome and acceptance. So in this Mass today, listening to the Gospel, especially where Jesus says to us, be persistent in our prayer - ask and it will be given to you, search and you will find, the door will be open to you. We're called by our Lord to have that attitude of openness and of welcome and of giving of ourselves, because in prayer, we certainly ask for the heart of God to be opened.

And we also ask that our own hearts, too, will be opened, because it will be through whatever actions that we take that people will feel that presence and that love and that mercy of God.

As we pray, we pray that we will hear this word, be challenged by it, and be assured that if we do welcome those who are suffering from ill health or anyone with a disability, that we would be able to be the face of God to them, be the place where the welcome will be given, and be those that would show that acceptance and care and be part of that healing that may be required for that person, within our own organisations, within our own parishes, within our own agencies.

I’m sure many of us already know of individuals who are carrying the weight of mental illness. It’s an opportunity for us to show that openness and that care and that love.

So in this week in which we honour those who work in in the various fields that enable people to grow and to be healed, and to be able to take their place and be fruitful and to flourish within our society, we also ask that in the context in which we work, in which we live, that we will see the opportunity that the Lord has for us to open our own hearts when the Lord comes knocking.