Grace

Remember the Why

31 August 2024

Year B

Understanding the Teachings of Jesus and the Purpose of the Commandments In today’s reflection, I want to draw your attention to a significant moment in the Gospel of Mark. If you’ve been following along, you may have noticed that I didn’t read the text exactly as it appears in the lectionary. Instead, I chose to…

Abundance

28 July 2024

Year B

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

Year B

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…

Graced Home

7 July 2024

Year B

Embracing the Transformative Power of God’s Grace: A Reflection on Home, Vulnerability, and Faith Welcome to this reflection on the concept of home and the transformative power of God’s grace. Today, I want to share with you some personal experiences and biblical insights that have shaped my understanding of home and the profound impact of…

Shepherd us

21 April 2024

Easter

Embracing the Transformative Power of God’s Love: Reflections for the Easter Season I welcome you to a space where we delve into the profound messages of our faith, especially as we find ourselves in the heart of the Easter season. Today, I wish to share with you not just a sermon, but a journey through…

Room for us 2

26 December 2023

Christmas

A Reflection on the Nativity Scene The Humility and Vulnerability of Jesus The birth of Jesus is a story of humility and vulnerability. Born in a manger, surrounded by animals, Jesus’ birth was far from the royal entrance one might expect for a king. This humble beginning makes Jesus more approachable and relatable. It’s a…

Room for us

24 December 2023

Christmas

The Humble Birth of Jesus: A Reflection on the Significance of Christmas The Gospel of John and the Letter to Titus As a podcaster and a spiritual guide, I recently had the opportunity to delve into the profound significance of Christmas and the birth of Jesus. During a religious service, I found myself reflecting on…

People Love

24 December 2023

Advent

Embracing the True Nature of God: A Reflection on Mary’s Encounter with Angel Gabriel Challenging the Common Perception of God As a religious leader, I often find myself questioning the common perception of God. Many people tend to view Him as grumpy and easily angered. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. When God…

Jesus the king

26 November 2023

Season of Growth, Solemnity, Year A

A Journey of Understanding: Reflecting on Gospel, Grace, and Extending Love Beyond Boundaries Initial Confusion and Evolving Understanding I found myself reflecting on a particular gospel passage that has significantly shaped my understanding of Christian life. Initially, I was confused about how this passage fits into the grand scheme of my faith. I grappled with…

Living with Integrity

6 November 2023

Year A

Embracing Integrity and Grace: A Reflection on Christianity and Spirituality A Personal Journey into the Heart of Faith Last night I attended the engagement celebration for my niece in Nowra. As a deacon and assistant priest in the church, I had the honour of being closely acquainted with the groom’s family. This experience, along with…

Grumbling Generosity

24 September 2023

Year A

“God is generous and God will pour himself out as much as we are able to receive. And our lives are about growing in that capacity to be able to be used and to receive the goodness of God.” Fr Richard Healey So many of us have a whole mix of memories from our childhood,…

Forgiving Flow

17 September 2023

Year A

“The only way to let go is the way of mercy, the way of forgiveness, the way that doesn’t say that it didn’t matter, that thing is not significant. Yes, it happened and it was crucial and it was awful, but still from my side of the street, I have that obligation to let it…

Compassionate and Gracious

4 June 2023

Season of Growth, Solemnity, Year A

Trinity Sunday What is God life? When I was a kid, I had a pretty clear idea. God was an old dude with a long white beard. He sat on a big golden chair. He had a kindly face, but a really short fuse. He seemed to get ticked off by almost anything at all….

Faith in a Great God

2 October 2022

Season of Growth, Year C

Sunday 27 in Year C First Reading ‡ Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4The just will live by faithfulness. Responsorial ‡ Psalm 94:1-2.6-9If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Second Reading ‡ 2 Timothy 1:6-8.13-14Never be ashamed of witnessing the Lord. Gospel ‡ Luke 17:5-10If you had faith! Very occasionally on a cold winter’s morning…

Gracious New Jerusalem

21 May 2022

Easter, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year C

Sixth Sunday in Easter, Year C. We arrive at almost the very ending of the bible with our reading from Revelation 21 today. We are given the vision of the new Jerusalem as it descends and heaven and earth are fully reunited once again. The city is enormous – 12,000 stadia (2,400km) in each direction…

True Love’s Rewards

19 February 2022

Season of Growth, Year C

Who is the worst person that you know? Who is the person who is causing you the most grief right now? Who is your greatest enemy? Or the person who causes you to lose sleep at night…?It’s probably better to be someone that we know well – a friend, partner, neighbour, colleague. But it could…

Mercy beyond imagining

13 September 2020

Season of Growth, Year A

Today we conclude the 18th chapter of Matthew. This fourth block of teaching centres around life in the community. It began with the question of who is the greatest in this new covenant community and culminates in this over-the-top story of abundant grace and mercy. Peter the impetuous again provides the fodder for the teaching…

The rubbish of the older brother

15 September 2019

Season of Growth, Year C

When I was in USA a few months ago, I visited the Great Smoky Mountains national park in Eastern Tennessee. It is a beautiful place, and the most visited of the national parks in America, attracting millions of visitors each year. And most of those visitors first go to the main entrance and visitors station…

The kingdom received already

11 August 2019

Discipleship, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year C

The opening line of our Gospel today provides an essential description of the Christian message for us – if only we could receive it and live it. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased the Father to give you the Kingdom.” So often we live caught up in a false notion that…

Grace impels us to go in haste

23 December 2018

Advent, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year C

The liturgy through the season of Advent provides events and characters to meditate upon. We are joined by Hebrew Testament prophets in our journey who express the hopes and longings of the generations of people for the Messiah to come. In the weekday Masses, Isaiah provides the main voice, but in our Sunday Masses, we…

Apostles breaking down barriers

19 July 2015

Season of Growth, Year B

We meet the disciples of Jesus today as they return from their missionary journeys where they went out in pairs to not only proclaim the message of salvation but they were also tasked to heal the sick and bring release to those bound with evil spirits. They return no longer as disciples – but they…

Grace, power and weakness

5 July 2015

Season of Growth, Year B

Any truly compelling story always seems to have one common element: just as the protagonist or hero of the story is nearing their goal – whether it is true love, destined position or treasure – some major setback interrupts everything and this hurdle needs to be overcome before we can reach the conclusion, and everyone…

The good gift of the body broken

7 June 2015

Solemnity

On the feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord, we really should begin by re-enacting the Exodus reading – it would be a great sight to haul in a few young bullocks, slaughter them, drain all the blood into huge bowls and then begin splashing one bowl all over the altar and then…

Living with a great soul – making sense of repentance

19 April 2015

Discipleship, Easter, Seasons, Teaching

“In the name of Jesus, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations.” The readings this week again invite us to reflect on sin and repentance so that our hearts may burn with love. Jesus the just one, is the sacrifice that takes our sins away – not only ours,…

A God who is rich in mercy

15 March 2015

Lent, Seasons

Beginnings and endings are always significant. How you start a story – and how you end a story create so much of the impact of the whole story. We know well how the Bible begins – “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth…” (Gen 1:1) We might even know how the…

Good goats did it for me

23 November 2014

Season of Growth, Solemnity, Year A

Bad sheep and good goats Justice is something that we learn very early as children. We have this strong instinct for when something doesn’t just seem to be fair. Perhaps as a result, justice is one of the most profound longings of the human race. When there is no justice, then…

Grief and Grace

3 August 2014

Season of Growth, Year A

During the week as I was bombarded by both traditional media and social media with increasingly violent and horrific articles and images of the death and destruction in the conflicts in Gaza, Syria and Iraq, it was difficult not to feel completely overwhelmed by grief and sadness in the face of such hatred and cruelty. All…

The Abundant Word

13 July 2014

Discipleship, Season of Growth, Teaching

Isaiah chapter 55 begins in a very awesome and utopian way – “Come all who are thirsty, come to the water; and you that have no money – come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” This is certainly a beautiful vision and description of the abundance of God’s…

Thirsting for relationship and meaning

23 March 2014

Lent, Seasons

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…

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…

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