Mark

Reflection on the Gospel of Mark: The Journey Towards the Cross Greetings, dear friends in Christ. As we gather on this 29th Sunday of year B, we find ourselves reflecting on the profound themes of Jesus’ ministry as presented in the Gospel of Mark. This week, we delve into the journey towards Jerusalem, the predictions…

Understanding Gehenna: A Call to Embrace Love and Freedom Have you ever been told to “go to hell”? It’s not a pleasant experience, but if it happens, you might not need to be too shocked or upset. The term “hell” in the Bible often refers to a specific place rather than the fiery, fantastical realm…

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…

Listen to Audio Bible (Mark) Watch this on YouTube The Gospel according to MARK Chapter 1. https://rmhealey.com/docs/Bible/48_Mark/Mark01.mp3 PRELUDE TO THE PUBLIC MINISTRY OF JESUS. The proclamation of John the Baptist. Jesus is baptised. Testing in the desert. THE GALILEAN MINISTRY. Jesus begins to proclaim the message. The first four disciples are called. Jesus teaches in…

Embracing Love and Mercy Amidst the Shadows of Betrayal and Violence As we journey through the solemn and reflective period leading up to Easter, I find myself compelled to share with you a profound experience that has deeply touched my heart and spirit. In today’s blog post, I want to take you through the same…

Creating Space for Intimacy with God: A Lenten Reflection Tidying Up the Soul: A Journey to Spiritual Clarity An experience of delving into the essence of Lent and what it means to truly create space for intimacy with God. I share a personal narrative that I believe resonates with many of us on our faith…

Unveiling the Layers of Scripture: A Journey Through Context and Wisdom Fr Richard Healey shared invaluable insights into the art of interpreting scripture, particularly focusing on the Gospel of Mark. I am excited to share with you the essence of this episode, transforming the spoken word into written wisdom, and invite you to join me…

Finding My Way Back: A Journey of Repentance and Restoration Lost in the Wilderness It was a day like any other when I decided to explore a national park, seeking solace in a less crowded area. Little did I know, this adventure would turn into a lesson about life’s path and the concept of repentance….

The Profound Significance of Mary in Christianity As we step into the new year, it’s a time of reflection and transformation—a time to ponder upon the words that have shaped our faith and the figures that have stood as pillars within our spiritual narratives. Today, I want to share with you insights of the significance…

Finding Peace and Unity in Exile: A Reflection on Personal Hardships and Natural Disasters Introduction Today I explore the concept of exile, drawing parallels to personal hardships and natural disasters that disrupt our normal activities. This blog post is a reflection on that episode, where I discussed the historical exile of the people of Jerusalem…

Sunday 33, Year B.Daniel 12:1-3; Mark 13:24-32Play MP3Watch video Our final reading from the Gospel of Mark for the year (next week – John 18).Mark 13 is challenging. Filled with references from the Hebrew Bible. If you don’t get those, you will be confused and probably get the meaning wrong. In our culture ‘apocalyptic’ means…

1 Kings 17:10-16 The widow made a little scone from her flour meal and brought it to Elijah.Mark 12:38-44 This poor widow has put more in than all who contributed.Play MP3Watch video Generated Transcript So we are in November and this is the 32nd Sunday in the year, so we’re definitely getting towards the pointy end of…

Once again we meet foolish disciples who screw up the simple and easy job of being faithful disciples. What unfolds is even more terrible when you read the section of Mark’s gospel that comes immediately before the section we read this Sunday (Mark 10:35-45).  32 They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem. Jesus was…

Divorce is one of the sad realities of our world. There are very few families that have not been touched by the heartache of separation and divorce. I suspect that my immediate family where my parents and my four siblings are all in multi-decade first marriages makes us rather unusual. The reality is that making…

Sunday 25, Year B. Mark 9:30-37 Play MP3Watch video Generated Transcript As I have grown older, my fondness for the gospel of Mark has also grown, and one of the things I really like about this gospel is the humanity of Jesus, but especially the humanity of the disciples. Yeah, they are in so many…

The story so far. Mark begins with a simple introduction: The beginning of the Good News about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. We’re then told a little about John the baptiser, the baptism of Jesus and then the temptation in the wilderness with angels and wild beasts. Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee….

One of the (many) cruel outcomes of Christian history is the unwarranted neglect of the Gospel of Mark. It was not until the sixth century that the first known commentary on the Gospel was written. It seems that the fact that it was the first of the gospels to be written was unknown, and so…

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…

Although the idea of journey is not as strong in the Gospel of Mark as it is in Luke, the disciples have still been following Jesus along the way for many kilometres now. And still they are struggling to make sense of who Jesus is and what it means to follow him on the road….

A few verses before our passage today we read that “And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.” (Mark 10:32, RSV) Then Jesus takes the twelve aside and announces to them what is about to happen…

The Gospel today should probably carry a warning message before it is read. So many saints across the centuries have been cut to the heart when they have heard this proclaimed, and realise that Jesus is looking at us, no gazing with love at them and you and me. He is going to redefine the…

As we have wandered through the stories behind the stories of the gospels and their composition and connection to the church, life and our own histories, it seemed appropriate to think about how the stories that are told about the birth of Jesus would fit within this new understanding. So considering the writings of the…

We saw in the first week of this series that one of the places that we see the law of four is in every great story ever told as well as in the story of our own lives – the pattern of (1) Hearing the summons; (2) Enduring the obstacles; (3) Receiving the prize/favour and finally (4) Returning…

This week in our Law of Four series, we looked in more detail at the four Gospels, and particularly the connection and relation of the first three Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) – why we call them the Synoptic Gospels, and how over the last 150 years we have developed a better understanding of the…

Although the idea of journey is not as strong in the Gospel of Mark as it is in Luke, the disciples have still been following Jesus along the way for many kilometres now. And still they are struggling to make sense of who Jesus is and what it means to follow him on the road….

A few verses before our passage today we read that “And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.” (Mark 10:32, RSV) Then Jesus takes the twelve aside and announces to them what is about to happen…

The Gospel today should probably carry a warning message before it is read. So many saints across the centuries have been cut to the heart when they have heard this proclaimed, and realise that Jesus is looking at us, no gazing with love at them and you and me. He is going to redefine the…

As we move into the new season of Lent accompanied by the Gospel of Mark, the starkness of the presentation of the testing in the wilderness in Mark becomes quickly apparent. Whereas the other synoptic Gospels offer us more detailed descriptions including the fasting, the nature of the testing and the dialogue that occurs between…

Today in the Gospel (Mark 1:40-45) we find Jesus on the move from Capernaum, through the nearby villages of Galilee, wanting to preach there as well. A man with leprosy comes and falls at the feet of Jesus with a pitiable plea to match the fact that lepers in that society are not only pitied…

We continue the day in the life of Jesus that the Gospel of Mark famously opens with. The four new disciples of Jesus travel with him as he leaves the synagogue and the now freed formerly possessed person and goes to the house of Simon and Andrew, where they find Simon’s mother-in-law sick in bed…