Reflections

Our Companion on the Road Can we learn anything from Sunday’s gospel story of the Risen Jesus joining with two people on the road to Emmaus? It was the third day after the death of Jesus on Calvary.   Two of his former disciples were devastated.  They had lost hope.  They had lost direction.  In Luke’s…

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….

Sharing in the Death and Resurrection of Christ The story of the raising of Lazarus from the grave is used in the liturgy of Lent because it illustrates baptism as dying and rising with Christ.  Jesus did not respond immediately to the news that Lazarus was seriously ill but he waited three full days until…

Children of the Light                                                                                            Last Sunday we had the story of Jesus sitting with the woman at the well, offering her the living water of friendship and mercy.  It is a story about the grace of baptism.  Today we have a second baptismal story from John’s Gospel, the miracle of sight for the blind. …

The Woman at the Well The highlight of the liturgical year is the renewal of our baptismal commitment to Christ at the celebration of Easter.  Today’s Gospel (John 4: 5-42), the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well, is the first of three stories in John’s Gospel which throw light on the…

Jesus was led by the Spirit On the First Sunday of Lent each year, the Gospel is about the temptations of Jesus before he commences his public ministry.  “Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matt 4: 1).  We will reflect initially on the nature of…

The Unconditional Love of God This Sunday’s Gospel (Matt 5:38-48) is the fourth excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount, the charter of the Kingdom of God, the description of a Christian life. Last Sunday Jesus gave us a new understanding of three commandments, moving from what “You have learnt from what is said” to…

The Commandments are guidelines to Virtues Jesus proclaimed that his mission was to bring people back from evil ways to the reign of God in their lives.  His words were backed up by healing people and casting out evil spirits. The charter of his kingdom was set out in the Sermon on the Mount.  Today’s…