Disciples
Abundance
28 July 2024
The Abundance of God’s Love: Reflections on the Miracle of Feeding the 5,000 Greetings, dear friends. Today, I want to delve into a profound and timeless message that resonates deeply within our faith and daily lives. This reflection is inspired by the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, a narrative that beautifully illustrates the themes…
Called to a lonely place
20 July 2024
Finding Solitude in the Midst of Chaos: A Reflection on Compassion and Spiritual Nourishment Watch the Mass In our fast-paced world, finding moments of solitude can seem like an impossible task. Yet, as Fr Richard Healey reflects in his homily, these moments are not just beneficial but essential for our spiritual well-being. Drawing from the…
Breathing Mercy
7 April 2024
Breathing New Life: Reflections on Transformation and Faith in Uncertain Times Introduction Greetings, dear friends and members of our spiritual family. I am Fr Richard Healey, and today I want to share with you a reflection that has been on my heart, especially considering the tumultuous events that have unfolded in 2020. As we gather…
Come and See
14 January 2024
Encountering the Divine: A Journey from Distance to Presence A Reflection on Divine Intimacy and Community Today, I want to take you on a personal journey—a journey that delves into the essence of spiritual connection and the profound impact of community in our lives. This is not just a recount of an episode; it’s a…
Bags of Gold
19 November 2023
The Power of Conversations and the Parable of Talents Fr Richard Healey shares his insights on two contrasting conversations he had with fellow priests, which was both enlightening and deeply thought-provoking. It revolved around the Gospel reading about the parable of the bags of gold, also known as the parable of talents. The Parable of…
Body and Nephesh
25 June 2023
Play MP3 This year the last few Sundays seem to have been inviting us to reflect upon the very essence of who God is, how we stand in the presence of God, how we make sense of the nature, the quality of God. Last week, the Apostles were first named as such: they were sent…
Being Segullah
17 June 2023
I suspect that when many of us hear this kind of talk about being sent, about being called to go out to be part of the mission of Jesus, that we get very uncomfortable about that. We’re like, yeah, you know, that’s fine for the good sisters; that’s fine, maybe even for those crazy priests…
Silence and Space
28 May 2023
I grew up in the country. I don’t think I really noticed a couple of key things until much later – because often you only notice things when they’re not there anymore. But there were two things. When you would go outside, particularly on a night like this, pretty chilly kind of night. The night…
Silence and Word
28 May 2023
I grew up in the country. I don’t think I really noticed a couple of key things until much later – because often you only notice things when they’re not there anymore. But there were two things. When you would go outside, particularly on a night like this, pretty chilly kind of night. The night…
Doubting faith
21 May 2023
Ascension Sunday When I was 21, I was living in a formation house as my first year of attempting to follow this desire to be a priest. Towards the end of the first year I got sick. But before I realised that I was getting sick, I had come down with Chicken pox and as…
Advocate
14 May 2023
The Sixth Sunday in Easter, Year A Play MP3 | Watch video When I was a kid, I kind of grew up with a lot of science fiction as part of my diet, both in reading and and watching TV. And one of the wonderful things about sci-fi is you can kind of imagine almost…
Called and Chosen
12 May 2023
Mass from St John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Campbelltown with Fr Richard Healey Friday in the Fifth Week of Easter (Friday 12 May 2023) First Reading ‡ Acts 15:22-31 It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and ourselves not to burden you beyond what is essential. Responsorial ‡ Psalm 56:8-12 I will praise you…
Calling Disciples
21 January 2023
I asked ChatGPT this prompt: Write a short sermon on Mt 4:12-23 with a focus on the call of the four brothers as a model of discipleship. This is the response: In Matthew 4:12-23, we see the story of Jesus calling four brothers, Simon, also known as Peter, Andrew, James, and John, to be his…
Freedom for slaves
4 September 2022
Sunday 23 in Year C As a child – I really didn’t think about slavery. Later, after studying a little history, I thought slavery no longer existed – but I was wrong! In fact – although estimates and exact definitions vary – there are more slaves in total now than in any period of human…
Hospitality and Discipleship
17 July 2022
I like walking, and for many years now have tried to walk around 10km/day. Ideally this is bushwalking, but with our constant rain and flooding, many areas are closed, damaged, or way too muddy for pleasant walking. Instead, I now do lots of urban walking. I enjoy exploring new housing estates that surround our region….
Come to the Centre and go
19 June 2022
Season of Growth, Solemnity, Year C
One of the truly great things about the gospels is that they remind us that the disciples are not magically transformed the first time they meet Jesus. It takes time for them to get to know him and slowly begin to understand what he is all about. I imagine that they were pretty chuffed at…
Called to be Beloved Disciples
14 April 2022
Holy Thursday reflection Something amazing happened in the life of the beloved disciple. Tradition holds that John, the author of the fourth gospel, was the youngest of the 12 apostles. He is the only apostle who died in old age. The others were all martyred. The gospel that carries his name is an extraordinary achievement,…
The heart of it all
28 August 2021
Mark 7:1-23 (Sunday 22, Year B) – full NRSV Gospel, not the strange shorter/edited form as in the lectionary. Play MP3Watch videoRead Gospel (red-letter / colour-coded edition)Read Social Justice Statement 2021-2022 An Englishman, an Irishman and an Australian go into a bar and they notice, sitting over at one of the tables, a pastor, a priest…
The Chosen
9 May 2021
One of the truly wonderful aspects of the TV series called The Chosen. It’s a multi season series on the Life of Jesus and his disciples. But one of the wonderful things about this series is it’s very biblical but it tries to look at the different characters in the life and ministry of Jesus and develop some of their…