Reflections

God with us and in us We may be irritated by restrictions on our movements, anxious about the future of jobs and business, or disappointed by no sport.  We continue to need our regular doses of the Good News. Sunday by Sunday we are moving on from the Resurrection of Jesus towards Pentecost.  The forty…

The Way, the Truth and the Life Many of us are disappointed that very few of the restrictions on our movements have been lifted.  Return to any normality will take time.  Long term worries remain about unemployment, closure of businesses, national and personal finances. Can we draw any hope from the Gospel for this Sunday,…

Our Companion on the Road How are you coping with the restrictions at this difficult time?  Many people are heroic in caring for the sick. Neighbourliness has returned.  But there is great anxiety about business closures, jobs lost, timing of exams and so on. Can we learn anything from Sunday’s gospel story of the Risen…

In Time of Lockdown Lockdown is a new word for most of us.  In the days after the crucifixion of Jesus, the disciples were in lockdown behind closed doors, paralysed in fear and anxiety. When tyrants start killing it rarely stops at one.  Violence is a highly contagious virus. It is understandable that the disciples…

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,…

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….

High Mountain, Great Vision Jesus took three apostles, Peter, James and John with him up a high mountain where they could be alone.  From a mountain height one gets a panoramic view of the winding of rivers, the meeting of roads, the outline of fields.  It is an experience that opens up the mind.  The…

Temptations of Jesus The story of the forbidden fruit is the prototype of all temptation.  The devil is the father of lies and deception.  The most successful deception is the half-truth which is like the tasty bait used to lure the fish.  The devil begins by planting a doubt in the minds of Adam and…

According to Pope Francis, what Jesus set up was a revolution of tenderness … replacing bitterness and hatred with a love that refuses to be contaminated by the wrongdoing of another.  He advanced from what was said in the past to “but I say to you … offer the wicked man no resistance … turn…