Reflections
2022
The Baptism of the Lord
Today is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This Feast lies at the transition from our Christmas season, focused on the Nativity, to the rest of our Liturgical year, based around the adult life of Jesus.…
The Epiphany of the Lord
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. Which is a little confusing since you might remember there are supposed to be twelve days of Christmas, the last being the Epiphany on January 6. But in some parts…
2021
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
… his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been worried to death looking for you.” (Lk 2:48)A pretty typical interchange with a teenage son. It continues as you might…
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
Christmas has arrived, our celebration of the Nativity of the Lord. But this Christmas is disrupted, by illness, by fear, by divisions between people which seem irreconcilable. And yet this is the season of…
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Today we hear a story of two women (Lk 1:39-45). Two pregnant women supporting each other, as women have done since the beginning of human time, and doubtless will for all time to come. We hear something of…
Third Sunday of Advent
Two weeks to Christmas! I remember that as a child it was about this time that Christmas started to seem close, the excitement grew, the wondering what presents were coming. We get some of the same sense of…
Second Sunday of Advent
One of the longest lasting achievements of the Romans was their road system. Many major highways in Europe still follow the routes of Roman roads. Their engineering skills were not matched until the Eighteenth…
First Sunday of Advent
Reading today’s Gospel we could be forgiven for thinking we had dozed off, woken up, and it’s still the last Sunday of the year, the Feast of Christ the King, when we have a focus on the end of time and the…
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Last week we had something of a preview of this, our last Feast of the year, the Feast of Christ the King. Our first reading today is the passage from the book of Daniel (Dn 7:13-14) which links to the gospel…
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Last week we were in a familiar world of poor people and rich people, all with our individual struggles and decisions. This week it seems like we’ve moved to a different planet - there are vague “tribulations”…
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus sits across the street from the Temple treasury, watching (Mk 12:38-44). Is he watching us, checking to see how we are behaving? Are we being sufficiently generous? No, he’s not watching us, rather he…
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
In today's gospel reading (Mk 12:28b-34) Jesus says to a scribe: "You are not far from the kingdom of God." Just a few verses later Jesus says: "Beware of the scribes, ... They will receive a very severe…
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus says to the blind man: "Go your way; your faith has saved you.” (Mk 10:46-52) So today our gospel is about faith. Or is it? Certainly the blind man has faith, he clearly believes that Jesus can help him.…
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
James and John are certainly pushing their luck today! (Mk 10:35-45) Once again we are shown how far they are from understanding what Jesus is teaching them. The reaction of the other disciples is hardly…
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
So here we have Salvation 101, or “How to Lead a Good Life; in 4 Easy Steps” (Don’t lie, cheat, steal or kill!) Pretty much any religion, or even those without a religion, would agree on that. The young man in…
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Last week’s readings were challenging - with hands and feet being cut off! This week we may also struggle - how do we reconcile Jesus’ apparently uncompromising words (Mk 10:2-10) with the reality of marriage…
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In this week’s readings we have two topics, which seem unrelated. In the story from the Book of Numbers (Nm 11:25-29) and the first part of the Gospel (Mk 9:38-40) we hear how both Moses and Jesus have no…
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I’m sure there are times when we have all felt confused. Confusion can be frustrating and maybe irritating - for others or for ourselves. But confusion can be worse than that. When confusion affects our sense…
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah says: The Lord GOD opens my ear that I may hear (Is 50:5). If the Lord opens your ears what might you hear? Angelic voices; the sounds of peace and harmony; words of comfort and consolation? Isaiah…
Pentecost Sunday
"We hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.” Luke in the Acts of the Apostles gives us the most dramatic account of the coming of the Holy Spirit. There is wind and fire and speaking…