Reflections

A Touch of Kindness We will be commencing Lent next Wednesday.  Because the churches are closed you may not be able to receive the blessed ashes, although some parishes will have sachets of ashes available for collection.  With or without the ashes you can still observe Lent.  During Lent we are encouraged to give up…

Quiet Attentiveness Last Sunday we had the dream of Jesus as he launched his mission to establish the kingdom or reign of God on earth.  “The time has come and the kingdom of God is close at hand.  Repent and believe the Good News.”   This meant repossessing the world from the ways by which Satan…

Introduction In his Apostolic Letter of 30 September 2019, Aperuit illis Pope Francis established that the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be the Sunday of the Word of God. He had already proposed something similar at the end of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. Sunday of the Word of God is a day…

Let us Dream Pope Francis, with the assistance of Austen Ivereigh, recently published a book entitled “Let us Dream.”  In describing his ideals for the world, he was not the first dreamer.  He is following his Master.  Jesus began his public mission by proclaiming his dream: he called it the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:15-20). …

Come and See If you have access to a streamed Mass this Sunday you will notice that we have returned to the green vestments of Ordinary Time.  Green is the colour of growth and we can call it the default colour of the year when our journey is inspired by the teaching and events of…

Baptism: Beginning of Ministry The baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan marks the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus.  He came out of the years of hidden life.  There was no need for Jesus, being without sin, to participate in the ceremonial washing that John the Baptist offered people.  But by submitting to…

The Joy of Believing Our journey through Advent has highlighted hope, the virtue that keeps us going through darkness and coldness.  We are going through a winter under the restrictions of coping with the Covid virus.  It is a severe winter for the homeless and for people who have lost their jobs.  Hope keeps us…

Well Done, Keep Going The Gospel for this Sunday (Matt 25:14-30) is a parable encouraging us to use whatever talents we have, no matter how small or trivial they might seem.  While we are still on Level 5 of the battle against Covid 19, we need all the encouragement we can get.  We accept restrictions…

Purgatory: Therapy of Divine Love 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 seem to be contradictory. The doctrine of God’s holiness reminds us of God’s unique otherness, glory and light, far beyond anything we might deserve.  The…