The Revolution 1 – Why did Jesus die?
5 March 2017
As we enter into this new season of Lent, the Church offers us very evocative readings to guide our journey. But it seems that there is an even more fundamental truth that lies at the heart of the Christian faith – which is the question of “Why did Jesus die on the cross?” Although the…
Temple builders
19 February 2017
Season of Growth, Series, Year A
The first question that Paul addresses today in I Corinthians 3 is whether he in fact is the founder of Christianity. It had been commonly claimed that Jesus only ever intended to proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God by reforming Judaism, not to begin a new religion, and Paul is accused of being…
Spirit Wisdom
12 February 2017
Season of Growth, Series, Year A
Although it may seem that St Paul is having an each-way bet today, he is not. He says that although the Cross is foolishness for the wise and a stumbling block for the Jewish people, there is still a wisdom that is at work here – but it is not a wisdom that is available…
Proclaim Christ Crucified
5 February 2017
Season of Growth, Series, Year A
When pondering the nature of God, Paul could have spoken about the various ways that God had been revealed across the centuries, the different qualities of God, the effects of God, or the ways to encounter God, based on philosophy or rhetoric – common in Greek culture. Instead Paul focuses on one basic element -…
Somebody boast
29 January 2017
Season of Growth, Series, Year A
The liturgy presents us with the final section (26-31) of chapter one of First Corinthians today, which means we have jumped over verses 18-25 which provides the essential context of the passage. Paul speaks in a powerful rhetoric about the cross – ironically telling us that God will destroy the wisdom of the wise. It…
Preaching Jesus united
22 January 2017
Season of Growth, Series, Year A
Corinth was located at the end of a neck of land attaching the Peloponnese peninsula to mainland Greece and having a port facing east (Cenchreae) and another with access to the west (Lechaion), Corinth was geographically predestined to be a corridor of commerce and a potpourri of cultures. Ships could be hauled across the isthmus on chariots on the 6km paved…
Grace and Peace in Corinth
15 January 2017
Season of Growth, Series, Year A
Each liturgical year, the second readings for the first eight weeks of the Season of the Year are taken from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians. In Year A we read sections from chapters 1-4; in Year B from chapters 6-10; and in Year C from chapters 12-15. The letter is also read at key points in…
Strangers of Epiphany
8 January 2017
Although there is nothing in the Gospel of Matthew about camels, kings or even how many of the strange magi visited the child Jesus and his mother Mary – there are enough details to provide much pondering. The first chapter of Matthew’s gospel – although we are given a full (stylised) rendering of the genealogy…
How is this woman mother of God?
1 January 2017
The understanding that Mary – a seemingly ordinary teenager growing up in Judea or Galilee who happened to be visited by the archangel Gabriel to hear the announcement that she would become the virgin mother of the saviour, who would be called Jesus – thereby becoming the mother of this unique person who was both…
The child in whom we live and move
24 December 2016
So many of our Christmas traditions are based on the barest threads of details. For example, in the gospel of Luke, although we are given very complete information about the announcement of the birth of first John and then Jesus, and the details of their parents and travels, when it actually comes to the moment…
Four Transcendentals: Beauty
18 December 2016
We come to the final transcendental this week as we encounter Beauty. Over the weeks of Advent we have journeyed through these ideas that are present in every single thing, indeed in being itself – ‘Omni ens est unum, bonum, verum et pulchrum’ – that all being is one, good, true and beautiful. “The quality…
Four Transcendentals: True
11 December 2016
When John the precursor asks the question of Jesus – are you the long-anticipated Messiah – or are we to wait for someone else? – he taps into the long tradition of the prophets and holy people of Israel who had longed for a new David to set them free from all of their oppressors…
Four Transcendentals: Good
4 December 2016
All being is one, good, true and beautiful (Omne ens est unum, bonum, verum et pulchrum) The word Good is very commonly used in the scriptures (more than 500 times), but it can mean one of ten things: useful; pleasing / agreeable; advantageous / profitable; fitting / appropriate; abundant / full-measure; generous / benevolent; sound…
Four Transcendentals: One
27 November 2016
Advent, Season of Growth, Seasons, Series, Year A
One small piece of wisdom that has come down from the ages (it was first stated in Greek philosophy, and then offered into the Christian tradition through the writings of the Eastern fathers, St Augustine, and then codified in scholastic philosophy through the writings of St Thomas Aquinas) is the Latin phrase: omne/omnia ens est…
Christ the King of mercy
20 November 2016
Season of Growth, Solemnity, Year C
Many of the parishes around our Diocese celebrate First Holy Communion on this day – which seems like a lovely idea, given the name of the Solemnity with which we conclude the liturgical year. But I am intrigued about the disjuncture between the apparent theme of the liturgy and the strong and provocative images that…
Sun and temple and Alpha
13 November 2016
As we come to the end of the liturgical year, the darker tone of the readings this week match well the international mood after the results of the presidential election in the US. The images are rich and evocative, and require us to unpack them a little. We begin with the image of the sun -…
Living Simply 4 – Today Matters
6 November 2016
Season of Growth, Series, Year C
In the Gospel today (Luke 20:27-38), a group of Sadducees (the only mention in the Gospel of Luke) come to Jesus with a question, involving a bizarre scenario about seven unfortunate brothers and their common childless wife. Although the context of the resurrection of the dead is presumed, Jesus doesn’t complete the argument, leaving it…
Little Zacchaeus
30 October 2016
Radio Program, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year C
Before I begin this gospel reflection, there is one thing that you should know about me: I am not height challenged – in fact I am much more likely to be asked to move out of the way so that others standing in a crowd behind me are able to see the action. So the…
Living Simply 3
23 October 2016
Season of Growth, Series, Year C
In order to be able to live simply, sometimes a bit of perspective is going to be helpful – so we need to go on a journey today into the vastness of the universe – which scientists just last week announced was even bigger than previously known. Gospel reflection Unless we are in the legal…
Living Simply 2
15 October 2016
Season of Growth, Series, Year C
“In a few hundred years, when the history of our time will be written from a long-term perspective, it is likely that the most important event historians will see is not technology, not the Internet, not e-commerce. It is an unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time – literally – substantial and…
Living Simply 1
9 October 2016
Season of Growth, Series, Year C
When you look at the Gospels and the ministry of Jesus, there are many things that strike you. But one thing that is not present is any sense of Jesus being distracted and worried about so many things all happening at once. Somehow he manages to keep this focus on the thing that is happening…
Fanning the flame of faith
2 October 2016
Is there anything better than a blazing log fire on a cold winter’s morning? Clearly the answer is no – but what is better is if someone else gets the fire going for you – especially when you are a little child and you have no clue as to how to get a fire going….
Being Good Stewards
18 September 2016
The parable that Jesus tells today (Luke 16:1-13) is a very odd kind of story – one that has perplexed people across the generations. Does he really praise the astuteness of the steward for doing something at least immoral, if not illegal, in the final stages of his term as the steward for the rich man?…
Lost & Found
11 September 2016
We read the whole of the fifteenth chapter of Luke’s gospel today – which begins with this description of the annoyance of the religious types that Jesus was mixing with the wrong kinds of people – the tax collectors and sinners. In response, Jesus offers these three beautiful parables – the last two of which…
Towers, Armies and Mission
4 September 2016
Discipleship, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year C
Jesus is somewhat uncharacteristic today as he tries to win friends and influence the crowds by declaring that they will not be worthy to be his followers and disciples unless we hate the most significant people in our lives, including ourselves, take up our cross – which means to prepare to die – and give…
A tale of two mountains
28 August 2016
Bible, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year C
The wonderful reading from Hebrews 12 today (second reading) may pass us by, because it presumes that we have a good understanding of the rest of the book, as well as Jewish history, geography, scripture and the Jerusalem temple. It probably doesn’t help that the name of the first mountain is not even given in…
Are you saved?
21 August 2016
The Gospel today begins with our first reminder since the end of chapter nine, that Jesus is continuing to teach and minister along the road towards his suffering and death in the city of Jerusalem. Someone asks a question: Will there only be a few who are saved? Now that is a good question, if ever…
Jarred awake
13 August 2016
Radio Program, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year C
If your image of Jesus is of Mr Nice Guy, always meek and mild, then the Gospel today will come as a massive shock. In the Gospel, from Luke chapter 12, verses 49-53, there doesn’t seem to be a hint of gentle Jesus, or even nice Jesus, but instead a wholesale picture of family feuding…
Treasures of standing ready
6 August 2016
Only faith… We have a selection from the magnificent reflection on faith that is Hebrews chapter 11. Today we hear the stories of Abraham and Sarah, who trusted in a God who they barely knew to set out for a land that they did not know, among a people that they did not know, trusting…
Building Bigger Barns
31 July 2016
One of the interesting characteristics of the Hebrew language is that it has a relatively small vocabulary – especially in comparison to English. It is also a very concrete, practical language, with very few words that are merely conceptual. So when it comes time to try and describe something that is more abstract, Hebrew has…