Reflections

Emmaus and Eucharist (Luke 24:13-35)There are ten meals in Luke’s Gospel, each one with an important message. Today we shall ponder on the meal that the Risen Lord shared with two travellers on the road to Emmaus. It is very likely that Luke used this story to explain the four parts of the Mass: assembly…

Today’s Gospel gives us two encounters of the Risen Lord with his disciples. The setting for the first encounter doesn’t look too promising. The disciples were locked in behind closed doors, confused and afraid. Would there be more arrests? There is an old Irish saying that God’s help is nearer than the closed door, and…

Christ is Risen I like the story about an ageing flower-lady with an outdoor stall.  Her clothes were old and shabby, her face weather-beaten and wrinkled. A regular customer asked how she was always in good form.  “It’s my friend Jesus,” she replied. “Good Friday was the worst of days.  Three days later, Easter Sunday, the best of…

Jesus the Wounded Healer “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection:  for the sake of the joy which lay ahead of him, he endured the cross, disregarding the shame of it, and has taken his seat at the right of God’s throne,” (Heb. 12:2)….

This Sunday’s Gospel, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, is the third story from John’s Gospel, chosen to cast light on the meaning of baptism. First, at the well in Samaria, Jesus offered a sinful woman a living water which would quench many forms of thirst: her lonely thirst for a lasting relationship, her…

Temptations of Jesus (Matt 4: 1-11) On the First Sunday of Lent each year, the Gospel is about the temptations of Jesus before  commencing his public ministry.  “Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” The nature of temptation Today’s First Reading (Gen 2:7-9. 3:1-7) offers a story…

Today’s Gospel is about understanding the positive meaning of the commandments.   At the time of Jesus, the Scribes and Pharisees were the dominating legalists.  On the one hand they brought in multiple rules which squeezed the joy out of religion.  But on the other hand, they analysed the Commandments to see where exceptions to the…

Jesus Christ, the Universal King (Luke 23:35-43) Today, the last Sunday of the liturgical year, is when we celebrate Jesus Christ, the Universal King.  In today’s Gospel, Luke takes us to the foot of the cross on Calvary.  At the end of Jesus’ journey, over his head, his crime was posted, “Jesus Christ, King of the…

Pray continually and never lose heart (Luke 18:1-8) The message of today’s Gospel is clearly expressed in the opening line: “Pray continually and never lose heart.”  We are prepared for this lesson by the First Reading.  A battle was being fought, and as long as Moses kept his arms raised in prayer, Israel had the…