Grace
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
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
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…
The rubbish of the older brother
15 September 2013
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 2013
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
22 December 2012
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…
Grace and weakness
7 July 2012
The disciples in the gospel of Mark are at times amazed and astonished by the work and ministry of Jesus. Here, when Jesus makes his way back home to Nazareth, there is more amazement and astonishment – but not in the good way. The people think they know Jesus – they grew up with him…
Ten words of freedom
10 March 2012
To soften the hard edge of these sacred commandments that are presented in Exodus 20, the Rabbis’ would often tell a joke – such as ‘when Moses came down the mountain, he began by telling the people: well, there is good news and bad news; the good news is that I managed to talk the…
Grace, peace and purpose of Christmas
28 December 2011
Time magazine this year declared the Protester to be the ‘Person of the Year’ – and certainly 2011 was an extraordinary year of protests and revolutions. But it was not the first year to be noted as such – and one event that began a revolution that continues to this day was the birth of…
First and last
17 September 2011
The parable that Jesus tells today, from the beginning of Matthew 20, about a landowner hiring workers for his vineyard throughout the day – some who begin work at 6am and work for 12 hours for the agreed standard wage, and then various other groups who are employed at 9am, 12pm, 3pm and 5pm -…
The way of forgiveness
3 September 2011
Sometimes we might imagine that scripture is full of good advice and nice parables that are of quaint historical interest to those kind of people, but it is of little practical use to the rest of us living somewhere in the early twenty-first century. Today’s passage from Matthew 18 should provide a necessary antedote to…
The power of kindness
3 September 2011
I just had the most extraordinary conversation with a random man who turned up at the front door of the presbytery here at St John Vianney. He was quite distressed and wanted to share his story. About 30 years ago he had been mixing with the wrong kind of people, who taught him how to…
The way of grace
31 July 2011
The Gospel today begins with Jesus withdrawing to a lonely place to mourn and pray after hearing of the death of John the Baptist – his cousin, friend and comrade – only to find that this secret place has been invaded by crowds of people. Although he could respond in many ways, Jesus chose the…
Wheat and weeds in the shining sun
17 July 2011
How many times have we heard something described as an ‘act of God’ or a disaster of biblical proportions, and wondered in our hearts – if God is indeed all-loving and all-powerful – then where is he in these times? Why doesn’t he step in and prevent these disasters? Why do we see such powerful…
Come Holy Spirit
11 June 2011
Easter, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year A
This feast is a demonstration of the unique Christian understanding of grace and salvation. Before this day, although the disciples knew of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus and the fulfillment of the many prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures, they were still huddled together in fear – until the Spirit comes – then they…
Thirst quenched by living water
26 March 2011
Lent, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year A
The story of the woman at the well presents many strange scenes in this most beautiful Gospel. John 4 begins by telling us that Jesus learnt that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was baptising and making more disciples than John the Baptist (although it wasn’t Jesus who was baptising, but his disciples – apparantly)…
Worry, money and insurance
26 February 2011
The fact that Jesus repeats a phrase seven times in our Gospel reading today perhaps suggests that there is something he wants us to learn. In a world that values money, security and wealth much more highly than the glories of God’s creation, the words of Jesus invite us to embrace a different way of…
Blessing of Mercy and Peace
30 January 2011
We begin to sit at the feet of Jesus as he shares the sermon on the mountain with his disciples (including us) and begins by reminding us that at the heart of Christianity is the desire of God that we should know fullness of life (blessing) in him. When we examine the series of eight…
Religion binds us
23 October 2010
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14) invites us to reflect not just on what true prayer is about, but also on what religion is all about in the first place. The parable encourages us to ponder deeply about the truth of what we share in common – especially as we…
Grace is found beyond justice
11 September 2010
Sunday 24 (Year C) – Luke 15:1-32 I heard during the week of an Australian policeman who has been working for many years in the highlands of Papua New Guinea with the local tribes people there. For many generations their custom has been to seek vengeance for any slight or injury through violence, and consequently…
Entering the gate of Jesus
21 August 2010
Many years ago, when I was a uni student in Sydney, I wanted to head back home to Bega for a family function. These was the days before the Internet (remember those?) so I bought the bus ticket from a travel agent and duly headed into the Coach Terminal at Central Station to catch the…
It has pleased the Father to give you the kingdom
8 August 2010
19th Sunday, Year C (Feast of Blessed Mary MacKillop) It is appropriate that the Australian church remembers Blessed Mary MacKillop today, with the opening line of the Gospel (Luke 12:32-48) being a powerful reminder to us the idea of grace – ‘There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your…
Hair and tears
12 June 2010
Season of Growth, Solemnity, Year C
11th Sunday in the Season of the Year. Also Immaculate Heart of Mary (Diocesan Feast) and Mission Sunday Appeal. Also the Sunday when my move to Fairy Meadow Parish was announced… Announcement of Co-Cathedral Like a great artistic masterpiece, Luke tells the story of the day that a Pharisee invited Jesus to a festive meal,…
Grace and call
7 February 2010
On this fifth Sunday we hear the call of three central biblical characters – Isaiah, Paul and Simon-Peter. The first reading (from Isaiah 6) and the Gospel (from Luke 5) offer many insights into the nature of biblical Christianity and the primacy of grace in the life of all who are called to be disciples…
The grace of baptism
10 January 2010
The Baptism of the Lord (Year C): Luke 3; Titus 2:11-14,3:4-7 As we finish the Christmas season and then start a new year, it is natural that we should look ahead. Our second reading today provides a brilliant way of doing this. Paul writes to his co-worker Titus, who is on the island of Crete…
His grace is enough
5 July 2009
14th Sunday in Ordinary time (2 Cor 12:7-10). One of the interesting things is that when you read the stories of some of the great saints across the pages of history, almost inevitably when you go through their story you come across some great shadow or darkness that hung over their lives. For example when…
Grace and works
22 March 2009
Lent, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year B
Lent 4B – Ephesians 2:4-10 Last week we had the 10 commandments (Hebrew: mitzvot); this week we have the final verses from the Hebrew Bible (Tanaka) in 2 Chron 36 which record the failure of Israel to live up to these commandments which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and exile. It is only through…
Exclusion and Embrace
14 February 2009
6th Sunday (B) – Leviticus 13; Mark 1:40-45 It did not take long during the week before we began to hear victims of the terrible bushfires that ravaged Victoria last weekend ask why did this happen? Who is to blame? Was it the fault of the arsonists who lit the fires, or the greenies who…