Two visions of discipleship
18 July 2010
The short story of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) is often told in terms of the contemplative life versus the active life. Even though Mary seems to be the hero of the story, it is Martha who is honoured with the feast day (29 July) – perhaps that at least provides some balance for the…
The Samaritan redeemer
10 July 2010
In the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ in Luke 10, the Fathers of the Church saw so much more than a simple moral parable. They saw the whole story of salvation of every one of us as the one who stops and shows compassion provides healing, nourishment and redemption for every person who journeys down…
On a mission from God
4 July 2010
14th Sunday in the Season of the Year (C) Having just moved from Nowra to Fairy Meadow parish, I can see why Jesus instructs his disciples not to move from house to house: for any of you who have moved recently, you will know what a pain it is to pack and move. In this…
Freedom and the iPhone 4
26 June 2010
Discipleship, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year C
13th Sunday in the Season of the Year (C) – Setting our face toward the Lord. In the first reading from I Kings, we meet Elijah at the end of his ministry, when his service begins to be more about Elijah than the Lord, so the Lord essentially tells him that his services are no…
Jesus in 3D
20 June 2010
Experiencing Jesus in 3D. Often we are content to stay with the images or ideas that we had about Jesus from our childhood. But there is so much more that we can experience about the historical and spiritual reality of Jesus of Nazareth, as he puts the same question to us that he put the…
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,…
A priest of El Elyon
6 June 2010
The first reading from Genesis presents the intriguing character of Melchizedek, king of Salem, and priest of El Elyon (God Most High) who offers Abram a sacrifice of bread and wine. Why is this significant for the celebration of this feast of the Eucharist? There are two significant points of distinction about the passage from…
Trinity and wisdom
29 May 2010
Trinity Sunday C- The heart of our faith; everything flows from it and to it; the distinctive message of Christianity.- The first reading from Proverbs personifies Wisdom (she in the Hebrew) comes forth from God, yet not a creature, since she exists before all creation (before the springs and the mountains)- She is with God…
Pentecost and Mount Sinai
23 May 2010
In the first reading from Acts 2 we hear a whole series of quite bizarre events – most of which we probably have no idea what they mean. To get a better sense of what we celebrate, we need to revisit the Jewish festivals of Pesach and Shavuot in the book of Exodus and remember…
The same power
16 May 2010
Easter, New Creation, Seasons, Teaching
Ascension Sunday (Year C) | Eph 1:15-23; Luke 24:46-53; Acts 1:1-11 I had my washed car yesterday – at one of those automatic car washes. When the weather is a bit warmer, I like taking it through the do-it-yourself section, so that I can play with the power hoses! It is amazing the difference that…
It seems good to the Holy Spirit
9 May 2010
Sixth Sunday in Easter (Year C). In Acts 15 we have a quite extraordinary moment in church history. At issue is how a Jewish community, gathered in worship at a Jewish synagogue around a Jewish Messiah, in the midst of a Jewish nation, keeping Jewish festivals and rituals – how does it welcome non Jews…
Everything is spiritual in the city of God
2 May 2010
Easter, New Creation, Seasons, Teaching
Fifth Sunday in Easter (Year C). Sometimes we get caught in the idea that there are spiritual moments in our lives (when we are in Church; praying; reading Scripture; listening to music or whenever) and all the rest is just secular and to some extent doesn’t count. But that’s not the story of the Scriptures….
Every nation, tribe, people and tongue
25 April 2010
Easter, New Creation, Seasons, Teaching
Fourth Sunday in Easter (Year C) – Commemoration of Anzac Day. In the reading from the book of Revelation, John the Divine has this vision of an immense crowd – impossible to count – of people from every nation, tribe, people and language who have all been through the persecution / tribulation and have had…
Called to follow in the light of the Son
18 April 2010
Easter 3C – John 21 In this final chapter to John’s Gospel – probably written later than the rest of the Gospel – John provides a magnificent summary of the Christian life. He starts with the disciples returning to Galilee and with Peter in the lead, they head back to their old way of life…
Finding mercy and faith in the heart of Jesus
11 April 2010
E2C – Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) In Acts we are given the strange detail that people were bringing their sick to lay them on the streets near where St Peter would walk, knowing that if even his shadow should touch them they might be healed. The power of his amazing shadow! Surely…
Why Resurrection Matters
5 April 2010
http://www.robbell.com/ – Rob Bell presents a great new video on the difference that Resurrection makes and why it matters for us… all in 4 minutes. Well worth a watch! Jesus is standing in front of the temple in Jerusalemthe massive gleaming brick and stone and gold house of Godand he says destroy this templeand I’ll…
What resurrection means for the world (Easter Sunday)
4 April 2010
Easter, New Creation, Seasons, Teaching
We celebrate that moment in human history when the stone was rolled away. A sign and symbol of the separation that exists between life and death. A grave-robber had come – but it was God the Father who had acted in human history to defeat death. Death is our greatest fear and worry – human…
Death and new life in Luke (Easter Vigil)
3 April 2010
Luke 24:1-12 Hey! I’ll let you in on a little secret. Are you ready? (whispering) Dead people – well, they usually stay dead. We didn’t need the insights and advances of medical science in the past couple hundred years for humans to know that. The scriptures make it clear that no one who was following…
Namaste – Holy Thursday
1 April 2010
Easter, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year C
Jesus was an endlessly fascinating character and a simply amazing human being. Across his whole life he never failed to love and bring life to the people that he mixed and shared with, as he taught and healed and forgave sins. In more recent years we were inspired by the example of Blessed Teresa of…
Stones and the Cross – Good Friday
1 April 2010
On Good Friday we reflect on the amazing love that was shown by Jesus. Last night we remembered the nature of our call to be a Eucharistic people and to respond to the call of our baptism through lives of service. Today we continue that reflection by remembering our call to be ministers and priests….
Dining and dying with sinners
28 March 2010
Palm Sunday = Passion Sunday (Year C) The criminal on the neighbouring cross cried out – ‘This man has done nothing wrong’. Pilate had a sign attached to the cross above the head Jesus – as was the custom in the Roman Empire, to provide the charge that had been made against the victim of…
Skubala – and knowing Christ
21 March 2010
Week 5 in the Season of Lent (Year C) Paul, the Pharisee, after giving us his impeccable credentials for ministry within Judaism, then goes on to say why all of that – as impressive and amazing as it is – was as nothing compared to knowing the power of the resurrection at work in our…
The lost sons
14 March 2010
The fourth Sunday in Lent (Year C) – Luke 15. We have been pondering during Lent what it means to be in right relationship with God. Today we are reminded in the readings of the desire of God for us to have a full and complete life. We begin with the book of Joshua and…
Encountering the Sacred Tetragrammaton
6 March 2010
Lent – week 3 (Year C) – Exodus 3:1-16 During Lent we travel with specific characters. In the first week we have journeyed into the wilderness with Israel as they pondered their past and looked toward their future in the promised land – and then stayed in the wilderness with Jesus as he spent 40…
Called through a covenant of trust
28 February 2010
Each year on the second Sunday of Lent we are taken from the wilderness temptations to the heights of the mountain top experience in the transfiguration of Jesus. But in Year C the Church combines the transfiguration with the story of the Lord cutting the covenant with Abraham from Genesis 15. We shall see that…
Purification in the desert
21 February 2010
First Sunday in Lent – temptations in the desert. Deut 26; Rom 10; Luke 4 We begin the forty days of Lent by journeying with Moses and Jesus into our shared history, so that we have time away from all the distractions that we so often fill our lives with, to reflect on those questions…
Trusting in the Lord alone
13 February 2010
6th Sunday in the Season of the Year (C) – Jer 17:5-8; ICor 15; Luke 6:17-26. St Valentine’s Day. The question that lies at the heart of our readings today is – where do you place your ultimate trust / faith / hope? Jeremiah rather starkly tells us that if it is in the world…
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…
Actions and words
31 January 2010
4th Sunday – Season of the Year C. When we were baptised we were Christened – that is, we were anointed with Chrism and the priest prayed, “God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has freed you from sin, given you a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and welcomed you into…
Finding the right walls
24 January 2010
Third Sunday (Year C). When adults attempt to teach young children how to ride a bike, they sometimes cry out decidedly unhelpful comments like – ‘just keep pedaling’ or ‘ride straight’ or ‘don’t crash into that parked car.’ When we think back on our first attempts at riding a bike, we may have very vivid…