Ambition and the Cross
17 October 2009
Our gospel today (Mk 10:35-45) comes immediately after Jesus’ third prediction of his passion and death: “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles;…
The gaze of Jesus and the one thing
10 October 2009
Discipleship, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year B
Season of the Year – Sunday 28B. Mark 10:17-30 Wisdom 7:7-11. Our life is defined by the decisions that we make; sometimes we manage to make good decisions – often something less than that. The first reading provides us with the example of the author of Wisdom who clearly prays for the right things -…
Marriage in the beginning
4 October 2009
Sunday 27 in the Season of the Year (B) | Mark 10:2-16 One thing that I have discovered, is that usually when a particular moral question is put to me by someone, almost inevitably there is a context – a back-story if you like. If I simply answer the question in the abstract, without attending…
Trust like a child
20 September 2009
As we move into the second half of Mark’s Gospel, the disciples journey with Jesus from the Mount of the Transfiguration back towards Galilee, and increasingly towars the cross. Jesus takes them aside to explain what is going to lie ahead – the way of suffering and ultimately death. But they haven’t got a clue…
Jesus the Messiah
13 September 2009
When reading a Gospel like our one for today from Mark 8, we can sometimes only read it as an isolated piece. If we do this, we can miss the richer liturgical and scriptural context and thereby miss much of the richness and depth that the story may be presenting to us. Let us turn…
Hearing and Speaking
6 September 2009
Week 23 in the Season of the Year (B) Mark 7:31-37 – the healing of the deaf and mute man. This healing reminds us that like the people of the Decapolis, we may well have lots of distractions that prevent us from hearing the all-important Word of God. God’s word is always meant to be…
Images of the journey
6 September 2009
I have just returned from almost 4 weeks in the USA and Canada. It was a deeply renewing and wonderful visit to catch up with friends and meet heroes; to see what I can see and discover the richness and power of the church in the mid-west. The trip began in LA (only because that…
Elijah in his struggles
8 August 2009
In the first reading from I Kings 19, we meet the Prophet Elijah having a bad day – he has been serving the Lord faithfully for some time and done all these great works – and instead of thanks and honour he is being persecuted and pursued by the deadly Queen Jezebel. Perhaps we have…
The bread of life
2 August 2009
18B – Bread of life (John 6:24-35; Exodus 16: 2-4, 12-15) When you read the Gospel of John, you must always be aware of the broad canvas upon which John writes his Gospel. He is always mindful and aware of all that has gone on before in the past – the history of the people…
Hungry to be satisfied
26 July 2009
17B – Season of the Year – John 6:1-15 This year we have been reading from the Gospel of Mark. Last week we had the story of Jesus and the disciples crossing over the lake and coming to find a large crowd of people, which he set out to teach at some length. Rather than…
The true shepherd
18 July 2009
16th Sunday in ordinary time – Year B. Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34. In order to understand our first reading from the prophet Jeremiah today, we need to understand what has been happening in the history and practice of Israel. We need to go back a few hundred years. When the people of Israel…
View from a high place
12 July 2009
15th Sunday – Year B – The view from on high (Ephesians 1:3-14) I am going on holidays in the middle of August to the United States. I haven’t been there before, so I have been looking around at various maps, trying to work out my itinerary. I have been using Google Maps to work…
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…
Not dead but asleep
28 June 2009
Sunday 13B (Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24; Mark 5:21-34) Our first reading today begins with that rather curious line – ‘death was not God’s doing.’ It points to what is in fact the teaching of the Church about death. When we read in the account of creation, in Genesis 1-3, we get the sense that in the…
Storms in life
20 June 2009
Sunday 12B (Immaculate Heart of Mary) – Mark 4:35-41 Last Sunday I received a call from the Drug and Alcohol Department of the RNSH. A friend of mine had been admitted after an overdose of prescription drugs. It wasn’t the first time that he’d been admitted to hospital; it seemed that things had just become…
Body and Blood of Christ – Passover and Eucharist
14 June 2009
The Gospel today (Mark 14:12-16) begins with a reminder that the Last Supper occurred in the context of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, with the sacrifice and eating of the Passover Lamb. To understand this meal, we need to look back through Scripture to the first and most significant meals in human history. In this…
Above the broken
11 June 2009
New music video from EmmanuelWorship – will be released on their new album ‘Justice and Praise’ – well worth a watch. Great video!Watch now in a new window.
Commissioned in the Trinity
6 June 2009
Season of Growth, Solemnity, Year B
Matt 28:16-20. After the 96 days of Lent and Easter we move back into Ordinary time – but before we do there are two feasts to remind us of the whole direction of our Christian lives. Almost all of the other feastdays are connected with events in the life of Jesus and the saints, but…
Come, spirit of life
31 May 2009
Sometimes we can become so familiar with a word, that we forget what it originally means. When we think of ‘Pentecost’ we might think of the Holy Spirit, or the birth of the church, or those brand of churches that model themselves after the experience of the charismatic gifts, especially speaking in tongues, for example….
The Acts of King Jesus
24 May 2009
Ascension of the Lord (Year B). Acts 1:1-11 Many movies that we watch are sequels – the follow up to an earlier story. One of the things we notice at the moment is there are movies that now take us back to the origins to tell us what happened ‘in the beginning’ (Star Wars, Star…
New Book: Worship, the activity of disciples (Pat Keady)
23 May 2009
A great new book by Brisbane-based author Pat Keady, one of the leaders of EmmanuelWorship, has just been released. I received my copy on Friday – it is great to finally hold something that you have helped a friend to prepare. This is the blurb that I wrote for the book. “In Worship: the Activity…
Chosen by Christ
16 May 2009
Easter, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year B
6th Sunday of Easter (Year B)In the Gospel (John 15:9-17) Jesus beautifully illustrates one of the key distinctions of Christianity – that it is not about our striving to find God, but about his choice of us to be his disciples and to live under the commandment to love. I discovered this personally some twenty…
Connected to the Vine
9 May 2009
Happy Mothers’ Day! 5th Sunday of EasterThe image of Jesus as the vine giving life to the branches offers great possibilities to reflect on the place of our individual lives in the midst of much deeper realities. It also allows us to understand how we are connected with the whole church, especially as we pray…
Being led into the broad and good lands
3 May 2009
Easter 4B (John 10: 11-18) In the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd many people have taken great comfort over the centuries. Yet if we examine the image closely within the context of the broader scriptural story, we can see a deep challenge by the Lord to trust in his leadership and care as…
The resurrection body
26 April 2009
Easter, New Creation, Seasons, Teaching
Easter 3 (Year B) In Luke’s Gospel (24:35-48) we see the disciples gathered together, sharing stories of their encounters with the risen Lord – but still without the foggiest idea what it all means. One wonders whether we have a much better idea, even after 20 centuries of theological and spiritual reflection. Jesus seems to…
The journey of faith in John’s Gospel
19 April 2009
2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) – John 20:19-31In the magnificent 20th chapter of John’s Gospel, we see the culmination of the whole gospel – as Thomas eventually comes to declare his faith in the risen Lord he is able to state fully the statement of faith that was declared in the prologue -…
Easter Sunday
13 April 2009
The first Easter day marked a massive change in world history – no longer would death have the final say. We are called to share in this work as well by being his people and to work to bring about new creation around us by opening ourselves to the kingdom of God and the power…
Easter Vigil – Exodus
11 April 2009
Every year at the Easter Vigil, one Old Testament reading must be read – it is the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Surely this is because it is only when we understand God’s saving purpose – that he is a God who hears the cry of the poor and the oppressed and does something…
Holy Thursday
9 April 2009
Jesus takes bread and gives it to us as his body – a gift totally given and completely received. Jesus transformed those who were at table with him from betrayers and sinners into welcome guests – and he continues to do the same with us. Recorded at St Michael’s 7pm. (5’10”)Play MP3
Passion Sunday – Year B
4 April 2009
Lent, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year B
In this familiar story we can forget the dramatic elements of this most powerful story and not allow the drama to impact upon us. Mark’s Gospel (chapters 14-15) provides many unique points, including the woman with the smashed alabastar jar of costly ointment, the singing of songs of praise and the young man wearing only…