Reflections
2026
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Our readings this week seem harsh and unpleasant. Jeremiah calls for vengeance and looks forward to the destruction of his enemies (Jeremiah 20:10-13). Even Jesus talks about disowning those who disown him…
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
They got what they deserved is a satisfying way to bring something to closure. If he or she got what they deserved - their comeuppance, or some appropriate reward, then that means things turned out as they…
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
As we came to the end of our Easter season, and even more so with Pentecost and the Feast of the Holy Trinity, we focused on how God’s saving act through his Son was completed, or made permanent, through his…
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Before we return to ordinary time we have another two major Feastdays. Today is the Feast of the Holy Trinity. We now move far away from feasts which commemorate particular events (the birth, death,…
Pentecost Sunday
The key things we have been told during our Easter season are that the results of the Resurrection, for those who believed, were peace and power. Peace from fear, and power to preach - to preach that Jesus had…
The Ascension of the Lord
We are inclined to think of the Ascension as the event that finally took Jesus away from this earth, our world, to somewhere else, a place we call heaven. But the gospel writers, at the end of their telling of…
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Today, our reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 8:5-8, 14-17) moves us further on from the simplicity of those very earliest days after the Resurrection, when the apostles and a small group of disciples…
Fifth Sunday of Easter
During the first weeks of our Easter season we focused on the effect of the Resurrection, both on those earliest disciples and on ourselves, in all the varied ways that played out and continues to play out.…
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Peter proclaimed: "Let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." He wasn’t pulling any punches! When he gets his act together he clearly…
Third Sunday of Easter
It’s hard to believe. Only a short while ago the disciples were locking themselves away because they were scared out of their minds that they were going to be the next ones executed. Before that they’d run…
Second Sunday of Easter
When did the Resurrection happen? That’s not too hard - on Easter Sunday! But if I wanted to be irritatingly pedantic and ask: “Yes, but exactly when, please be more precise?” - then there isn’t a clear…
Easter Sunday
Living things are very focused on staying alive, whether they are bacteria or mammals. Humans are no different. People survive under extraordinary circumstances. Occasionally living beings will put themselves…
Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion
There are occasions when things just stop. A relationship breaks up, a diagnosis you weren’t expecting, you don’t get the job you were hoping for, an accident that comes out of nowhere. We find ourselves…
Holy Thursday - Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper
So what actually happened on that evening when Jesus and his friends shared their last meal together? Paul spells it out pretty clearly (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Jesus took the bread and wine, which are…
Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion
Palm Sunday starts with an extra gospel reading to set the scene for the beginning of Holy Week, as Jesus makes his triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11). But our liturgy then quickly pitches us…
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Life and death. Most of us probably don't spend a huge amount of time thinking about it - which is probably all to the good. Those who do find themselves thinking a lot about the death part of the duo are…
Fourth Sunday of Lent
There is a lot of nonsense talked about how you can look into someone’s eyes and know whether they are trustworthy, or even maybe if you are in love. Doubtless we have ways to judge people based on small…
Third Sunday of Lent
For a time that is traditionally associated with fasting, Lent provides an extraordinarily rich feast of scripture readings. We’ve already heard about Jesus’ temptation in the desert; the Transfiguration; the…
Second Sunday of Lent
This year in our cycle of Lenten readings we hear often about beginnings. We heard first about the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. We heard of the beginning of human existence in a world as we know it, with its…
First Sunday of Lent
We have started our Lenten journey through the desert towards death, and resurrection. Today we listen to one of the best known stories in the bible (Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7). We hear about Adam and Eve, how they…