Season of Growth

“Vanity of vanities says the Preacher – all is vanity.” In the middle of the crowd of 3,700,000 pilgrims on Copacabana Beach last weekend for the World Youth Day vigil and Mass with Pope Francis it was easy to feel overawed, excited and probably more scared than I wanted to admit. Two years ago I…

God is near the Body of Christ

7 July 2013

There is a sense of urgency in the Gospel today as Jesus sends out this group of seventy(-two) disciples to prepare the way for him as he continues to make his pilgrimage journey to Jerusalem. He had already sent out the twelve apostles on mission at the beginning of the previous chapter (Luke 9:1); only…

Setting our face towards the Lord

2 July 2013

The Gospel of Luke begins and ends in Jerusalem. Until the Gospel today (from Luke 9:51-62) all the action has taken place with Jesus ministering around the area where he grew up – Galilee – in places such as Capernaum, the lake, Nain and Mount Tabor. But there is a decisive shift at the beginning of…

Disciples of the Messiah

23 June 2013

The theme for the World Youth Day this year, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil next month, is “Go and make disciples of all nations” from the end of Matthew 28. Which in some ways begs the question of “what is a disciple?” What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? What are…

Look at this woman

16 June 2013

Season of Growth, Year C

Immediately before our passage from Galatians chapter 2, Paul takes to task several apostles for their hypocrisy. For example, although Cephas (St Peter) was in the habit of eating with everyone, including Gentiles; but when some people associated with the Apostle James arrived he then drew back and would then only eat with Jews. This…

Healed in the valley

9 June 2013

Season of Growth, Year C

The Gospel that we have just heard is interesting – not least because since the revision of the lectionary almost 50 years ago, this is only the second time that we have had these readings for the tenth Sunday (the last time was back in 1986) – so many preachers have probably gone scurrying for…

Woe is me yet here I am

10 February 2013

New Creation, Season of Growth, Teaching

I consider myself to be rather good at designing and maintaining websites, so perhaps the equivalent scene in today’s gospel (Luke 5:1-11) would be if – for example – Bishop Peter happened to drop into the parish office after a frustrating day of work, where new components or installations were not working on the Diocesan…

Coming to Mount Zion

7 February 2013

In Hebrews 12 we arrive at what can be argued as the climax of the letter/document with a description of two mountains. The first, although unnamed, clearly refers to Mount Sinai and the place of the reception of the great covenant by Moses. The frightening scene is related powerfully – complete with a blazing fire,…

Changed by black fire

27 January 2013

Bible, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year C

The scene that is described in the first reading, from Nehemiah 8 is certainly most extraordinary. Hearing that after almost a century since King Cyrus had allowed the people of God to return from Exile to the promised land, Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the civic official in the Persian court organise to return with…

Timely weddings

20 January 2013

Season of Growth, Year C

‘Nuptial imagery rings through the bible like peals of wedding bells’ (Bishop Tom Wright) Today we have the fourth of the great epiphanies – when the true identity of Jesus is revealed. Although it may be tempting to imagine the scene of the wedding at Cana as a contrast between the stale water of Judaism…

Grace impels us to go in haste

22 December 2012

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…

Rejoice in the day of the Lord

15 December 2012

As a society we so often accept poor substitutes rather than the fullness of life experience that is offered to us. When we journey through the season of Advent, it can at times feel like a poor substitute for the season of Lent. The reality is very different – because the character of the season…

Arise and look to the east

9 December 2012

The readings today reminded me of being in Brisbane at the start of last year, when the devastating flood waters that had claimed too many lives in the Lockyer Valley moved downstream towards the city. Authorities did not want any more lives to be lost, so did all that they could to ensure that the…

Days of darkness

3 December 2012

We begin the new liturgical year (Year C) in much the same tone as we concluded Year B – with a focus on the destruction of Jerusalem. So it seems appropriate to reflect on the events that would have so marked the lives of any Christians living in the forty-year period between the wonderful events…

King for the world

25 November 2012

The sense of royalty that we have is very muted. We live in Australia in a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as our head of state. Yet, the role of the Queen (or her representatives in the Governors and Governor General) within our lives is very limited, and severely restricted under the constitution and…

Shining lights in darkness

20 November 2012

The final Sundays in the liturgical year always feature readings that are drawn from the more apocalyptic readings in the scriptures. Drawing from the mini-Apocalypse of Mark 13, our Gospel this Sunday has often confused people. Indeed Mark suggests that people may well misunderstand it, when he adds the note to the reader in verse…

Arise, go and live

11 November 2012

Both the first reading and Gospel feature widows – one of the most vulnerable groups in Israel and the ancient world. When there is no social safety net, widows relied on other family members and the wider community to provide the sustenance that they could not earn themselves. There lot was even worse when times…

Suffering, service and mission

20 October 2012

As the liturgical year draws to a close, our readings bring us ever closer to the events of holy week and the suffering and death of Jesus. Immediately after today’s Gospel from Mark 10:35-45 we find Jesus and the disciples travelling through Jericho in the final stage of their pilgrimage to Jerusalem (next Sunday) and…

Life of the age to come

14 October 2012

This week we have commemorated the tenth anniversary of the tragic Bali bombings which commentators at the time and since have called Australia’s experience of 11 September 2001. Certainly those events that ushered in the so-called ‘age of terror’ have changed the way that we travel and our sense of security. In the universal church,…

Marriage in the kingdom

7 October 2012

Discipleship, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year B

A line in the first reading (from Genesis 2) caught my attention today: “The man gave names to all the cattle…” I wondered how many species of cattle there are that they are worthy of a special mention? Mainly, the line caught my attention because it reminded me of growing up on our farm, and…

The holy huddle of discipleship

23 September 2012

Discipleship, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year B

As Jesus and his disciples make their way back from the mountain-top experience of the transfiguration and the ultimate revelation of Jesus as the Messiah, it is little wonder that the disciples remain confused. Jesus has been teaching them and preparing them for the day that they finally grasped that he was the true Messiah…

Who is Jesus the Messiah?

16 September 2012

The Gospel passage today is taken from the centre of the Gospel of Mark – not only is it the literal centre chapter, but it is also the place in Mark where the ministry of Jesus takes a definite turn. Jesus and his disciples are on the move. Last week, in Mark 7, we heard…

He does all things well

9 September 2012

The Fathers of the Church remind us that there were many miracles that Jesus performed; when a particular one stood out in the memory of the evangelists, it was perhaps for a particular spiritual lesson that the story can offer to us as we read and listen to it. AS always, we are invited…

Fulfilling the law

1 September 2012

One of the gifts of Fathers’ Day – which we celebrate today in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea – is the impunity that it gives to fathers today to tell Dad jokes. Even though it might invoke a deep groan on other days, today we are more inclined to declare these to…

Choosing to follow the Lord

27 August 2012

Discipleship, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year B

As we come to the final of five readings from John 6, we arrive at the crunch moment in the chapter. Although confusion, grumbling and complaining have been part of the whole chapter – and would have reminded the first readers of the people of God complaining in the wilderness of Sinai in the book…

Take and eat my flesh; drink my blood

19 August 2012

As we arrive at the fourth week of our readings from John 6, we arrive at the section that has been the most controversial over the centuries, as different Christian traditions have offered very different understandings and interpretations of this key text. Until verse 51, although Jesus has been speaking about the Eucharist, it has…

Elijah as model of the evangelising church

12 August 2012