Trinity as Community and Relationship
15 June 2014
Easter, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year A
When it comes time to celebrate Trinity Sunday it can be tempting to settle in for another discussion on this abstract and irrelevant theological idea. Yet the readings that are offered for this Year A cycle give the clear basis for why the divine dance of love that describes the relationship between the Father, Son and…
Pentecost – renewing the face of the earth
9 June 2014
When I was a kid it was uncommon for my parents to come and visit the school; in part this was because we lived on a farm and caught the bus to and from school almost every day; the exception was on Tuesdays which was mum’s shopping day and we could go home with her…
The Ascension, Jesus and Heaven in Western thought
1 June 2014
When we come to celebrate the Ascension of Jesus all manner of things can tend to get in the way. For a start, many people can overstate the literal details in the first reading today, from the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, what with all the information of Jesus being lifted up into…
Longing for a new breath of life in the Holy Spirit
25 May 2014
It can be the case that when we think about the early experience of the Church, that we compress it into a rather monochromatic history. In fact the disciples were probably more like us than we think. Even though Jesus gives them rather clear instructions that they are to wait in Jerusalem upon the Holy…
A chosen race and a royal priesthood
20 May 2014
During Easter we read from the first letter of St Peter, and we come today to what is one of the most extraordinary declarations in scripture. Peter addresses a mixed community – young and old, men and women, gentiles and Jews, leaders and members – and to each person he reminds us that Jesus has drawn very…
Shepherd, Healer and Guard
11 May 2014
The image of God as the Good Shepherd was a significant part of the worship of Israel, and so it was natural that the image of Jesus would also be one of the most enduring images. To understand what Jesus is saying in this tenth chapter of the Gospel of John, we need to understand three…
Journey and Encounter on the Road to Emmaus
4 May 2014
Discipleship, Easter, Radio Program, Seasons, Teaching
In the final chapter of the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, there are three stories about resurrection appearances of Jesus: all of them take place on that first day of the week – the first Easter Sunday, and all of them take place centred on Jerusalem. In this well-known story of the road to Emmaus we…
Identity in the Merciful Messiah
27 April 2014
In the program Grand Designs, host Kevin McCloud walks with people who are transforming often old buildings into new and beautiful designs. I had a little experience with this when I was in Nowra Parish and the old parish hall, which for many years was used by the school as classrooms, but had been laying…
New Life #StartingToday – Easter Sunday
20 April 2014
When Jesus makes his triumphant entry into Jerusalem on the day that we call Palm Sunday, the crowds acclaimed him as the Messiah and welcomed him with great joy. But the first three gospels record him doing something very strange as his first act of coming into the city – he goes into the Temple…
The Friday that is truly Good
18 April 2014
Recently, I was asked an interesting question: Why is this particular Friday called good? We have Holy week, holy Thursday, holy Saturday… why not holy Friday? Why Good Friday? I guess the first thing we might notice – as Christians – is that we are meant to be bearers and proclaimers of good news. And…
Holy Thursday – a place at the table
18 April 2014
The ministry of Jesus was characterised by the meals he ate. Sometimes he ate with the right kind of people — the Jewish leaders, the priests, the rich, the Pharisees; sometimes he ate with the decidedly wrong kind of people — tax collectors, prostitutes, sinners and commoners. His table was open to all. He loved…
Became empty on a cross
13 April 2014
The liturgy of Passion Sunday is dominated by the contrasts of the triumphant entry followed by the solemn proclamation of the Passion of our Lord. In between, the church each year provides us with two powerful texts to reflect upon – the first of the servant songs, followed by the Carmen Christi – the song…
Lazarus / El’Azar – Unbound and unsmelly
5 April 2014
Death is something of a problem! The Gospel today, taken from John chapter 11, tackles the very real question of the significance of death full on. Jesus is good friends with this family of Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha. So naturally, when Lazarus is sick, the sisters send Jesus a message to…
Blinded by disturbed shalom
30 March 2014
The magnificent story of the healing of the man born blind occupies the whole of chapter 9 of St John’s gospel – although the miracle itself only takes two verses to tell; the controversy around the healing takes the other 39 verses. The first question that arises and which continues through the drama as it…
Understanding Loneliness
29 March 2014
Bible, Discipleship, Teaching, Technology
A biblical and anthropological look at loneliness This talk was given to a group of young adults in Wollongong, in response to a request to look at why in an age of widespread online social networks, so many young people still experience profound loneliness. The talk first looks at the biblical background to the concept…
Thirsting for relationship and meaning
23 March 2014
Thirst is one of those basic human needs that is hard to ignore. When you have worked hard on a hot day, or you have returned from a vigorous run or work-out, or you simply out in the heat of the desert, the need to drink and quench your thirst is usually significant. So, even…
Changed into glory with the Lord
15 March 2014
Lent, New Creation, Radio Program, Seasons, Teaching
In the journey through Lent each year, the Church leads us first out into the wilderness to be with Jesus during his temptations, and then on the second Sunday of Lent his three closest disciples join Jesus as they journey up a high mountain. The strange event which the bible calls Jesus being transfigured is…
O happy fault of Adam
9 March 2014
At the Easter Vigil, there is an especially poignant moment during the singing of the Easter Proclamation, or the Exsultet, when the deacon or priest sings: “O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer.” (Roman Missal II translation) As we set out on the journey of Lent,…
Message for Lent – Pope Francis
7 March 2014
Below is Pope Francis’ message to the faithful for Lent, 2014. Dear Brothers and Sisters, As Lent draws near, I would like to offer some helpful thoughts on our path of conversion as individuals and as a community. These insights are inspired by the words of Saint Paul: “For you know the grace of our…
The invitation of Lent
6 March 2014
“Be merciful O Lord, for we have sinned.” So much of this season of Lent is acknowledging how true this – that we stand before each other as sinners. This cry attempts to express something of our need for God – to be healed. By myself, I cannot do this; but with the grace and…
Worry
2 March 2014
This Sunday, Bishop Peter Ingham’s Lenten Pastoral message – “This is Christian Hope: That the Future is in God’s Hands” – replaced the homily in all churches across the Diocese. You can watch the video here. Consequently, I did not preach nor record a homily this week. However, the homily from three years, recorded at St…
Called to be perfect
23 February 2014
Source: www.shinheechin.com No one could deny that the Jewish law sets a very high standard. In this reading from Leviticus chapter 19, we’re told to “Be holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy.” Be holy as God is holy? Seriously? The Gospel today (Matthew 5: 38-48) concludes with Jesus…
The law completed
16 February 2014
Bible, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year A
The Jewish law, especially the 613 mitzvah or commandments found in the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures / Old Testament) – with 365 prohibitions (You shall not…) and 248 prescriptions (Honour your father and mother; Keep holy the Sabbath day…), was a colossal achievement. The whole of the Jewish nation -…
A salted earth
9 February 2014
Discipleship, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year A
The writings of the prophet Isaiah continue to echo across the centuries to provide a challenge for us; they were certainly well-known at the time of Jesus and seem to provide the background for the teaching that Jesus gives us in the second part of the sermon on the mount. The call for Israel was…
Presentation of the Older Brother
2 February 2014
Discipleship, Solemnity, Teaching
The feast of the Presentation of the Lord, celebrated forty days after Christmas, brings the nativity stories to an end. It is a very Jewish feastday, concerned as it is with the purification of the mother after giving birth to a son (the purification period was doubled for the birth of a daughter – WTF?)…
Behold the Lamb of God
20 January 2014
Bible, Discipleship, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year A
When John the Baptist, sees his cousin Jesus coming towards him, it seems a little odd to declare “Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Presuming that John has not simply forgotten the name of his cousin, there must be something much deeper going on. As we have often seen…
Bruised but not broken
12 January 2014
The baptism that St John was offering in the Jordan River was a great challenge to the Jerusalem Temple. The main practical function of the temple was to provide a place on earth where worshippers could go and be cleansed by ritual baths and offering sacrifices. John was indicating that he did not accept the…
Every nation may come and worship
5 January 2014
In the Gospel of Luke, it is the lowly and outcast shepherds who are the first to visit the child Jesus in the stable in Bethlehem; in the Gospel of Matthew, it is foreign magi who have journeyed for weeks, if not months, to come and seek the new-born king of the Jews. What is…
Joseph as model in the holy family
29 December 2013
Although each of the five stories that St Matthew tells in the beginning of his Gospel about the birth of Jesus ends with a statement such as “this occurred so that words spoken by the prophet may be fulfilled,” the final line of the Gospel tonight, that Jesus “will be called a Nazarene” does not…
A messy church and Christmas
24 December 2013
Christmas, Discipleship, Seasons, Teaching
In the middle of the year I was travelling through South America with a group of young pilgrims from the Diocese towards World Youth Day. While everything on the trip started off really well, by the time we arrived in Rio de Janeiro, the weather had really turned against us and the rain started pouring…