Reflections

Have we forgotten why we celebrate Christmas?  A friend told me she got a card wishing her a very merry Winter Festival?  Could you beat that!  People tell me they have to search in shops for cards that portray the Nativity but there is no shortage of fir trees, snow, red robins and Victorian carriages. …

The Joy of the Visitation Children are counting down the days.  After this Sunday, only six more days till Christmas.  Excitement is bubbling up.  I could feel it myself when watching the television commercial where a little boy keeps asking “Will he really come?”  Of course, we all think that he is waiting for Santa…

Someone is coming The entrance antiphon for Mass on the Third Sunday of Advent sets the tone for coming closer to Christmas.  “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.  Indeed, the Lord is near.”  Today is known as Gaudete Sunday, a day of special rejoicing. The Second Reading is worth repeating in full…

Prepare a way for the Lord “The word of God came to John son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.” I really love Advent.  Each season of the liturgical year has its own rich spirituality, but I think Advent has the message that is most relevant at the moment, at least in the state of the…

Stay awake, praying at all times The First Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year.  The Gospel of the day is about the end of time (Luke21:25-28.34).   It might seem odd that Advent begins, not with preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas, but his coming for us at the end…

Jesus Christ, the Universal King This is the last Sunday of the liturgical year when we celebrate Jesus Christ, the Universal King.  The end of the year anticipates the end of time when “the Kingdom of God will come in all its fullness.  Then the just will reign with Jesus Christ for ever, glorified in…

Purgatory: Therapy of Divine Love November is the month when we remember those who have died and we pray for the souls in purgatory.  Purgatory is not specifically mentioned in the bible but the doctrine of purgatory is a beautiful development which holds in unity two ideas that might appear to be contradictory. The doctrine…

The Greatest Commandment One of the scribes, who were recognised as the experts in the laws of religion, put a question to Jesus.  “Which is the first of the commandments?”  This was a question frequently debated among those legal scholars.  Was there any particular law that summed up the whole meaning or intention of religion? …

Bartimaeus and the Jesus Prayer On the last seven Sundays our readings from Mark’s Gospel gave moral instructions on how to follow the way of Jesus.  In today’s extract, Bartimaeus is a modal of discipleship.  Initially he is blind, stopped on the roadside, going nowhere.  He is desperate for the restoration of sight.  He has…