Reflections

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…

The Rich Young Man Jesus was setting out on a journey, a road that would ultimately lead him to Calvary as the suffering, serving Messiah.  Are his followers prepared to overcome self-centred ways to follow him?   Today’s Second Reading tells us that the word of God is alive and active, as sharp as a sword,…

Christian by name and in deed The Sunday Gospels these weeks are about Jesus on the way to Calvary and how his followers are to take up their crosses also.  Today’s Reading (Mark 9:38-43. 45.47-48) is a challenge to be Christian not only in name but also in the way we live.  Do I belong…

Take up your cross and follow me In today’s Mass we reach the halfway point of Mark’s Gospel (Mark 8: 27-35).  The first half develops the identity of who Jesus is and it is time to ask the question, “Who do people say I am?”  The second half will deal with the question of the…

Taste and see that the Lord is good This is the fifth and final Sunday when the Gospel Reading is taken from John Chapter 6.  It began with the multiplication of the loaves and fishes to feed the hunger of the physical body.  This was a sign to move on to the second bread: Jesus…

While the Assumption of Mary has been celebrated for over a thousand years, the doctrine of her assumption was officially defined as late as 1950.   To mark the occasion, the famous novelist, Graham Greene, who had been received into the Catholic Church shortly before that, was asked to write an article for Life, then the…

This is the third successive Sunday when our Gospel is taken from John Chapter 6, all about bread.  John likes to start with something familiar like water, light or bread and to rise up step by step to divine life.   Two weeks ago, we read about the multiplication of the loaves and fishes when Jesus…

  Five Loaves and Two Fish Today we commence five Sundays when our Gospel is taken from Chapter 6 of John which is all about the bread of life.  The symbol of John in art is an eagle which sores high.   John begins a chapter with something on ground level such as water in a…