Year A
Pursuing Wisdom
27 July 2014
King Solomon whose reign is normally dated from around 970/960 BCE to 930/920 BCE is best known for being extremely wise, extraordinarily wealthy and as a supremely powerful monarch. He is also described as a great lover, with the legendary harem of 700 wives and 300 concubines. He was probably also very busy 😉 He…
Violent darnel
20 July 2014
Most Australians awoke on Friday morning to the devastating news of the destruction of Malaysian Flight MH17 after being shot down by rebel forces in the Ukraine with the loss of 298 lives, including 37 Australian residents and citizens and some medical professionals who were heading to Australia to attend an AIDS conference in Melbourne. In the…
A strange kind of king
6 July 2014
Even though across its long history Israel had very little to make it stand out – one thing that is notable is the honesty with which it tells its story. So although it could never claim to be the largest, wealthiest, most powerful or most influential nation, perhaps it can lay claim to being the one…
Peter’s Confession of Faith
29 June 2014
Radio Program, Season of Growth, Solemnity, Teaching, Year A
Today we honour the apostle Peter, who represents that part of the Church which gives it stability: its traditions and the structures which help to give consistency and unity to the Church, spread as it is through so many races, cultures, experiences and geographical diversity. In the Gospel today from Matthew chapter 16, Peter’s confession…
Trinity as Community and Relationship
15 June 2014
Easter, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year A
When it comes time to celebrate Trinity Sunday it can be tempting to settle in for another discussion on this abstract and irrelevant theological idea. Yet the readings that are offered for this Year A cycle give the clear basis for why the divine dance of love that describes the relationship between the Father, Son and…
Worry
2 March 2014
This Sunday, Bishop Peter Ingham’s Lenten Pastoral message – “This is Christian Hope: That the Future is in God’s Hands” – replaced the homily in all churches across the Diocese. You can watch the video here. Consequently, I did not preach nor record a homily this week. However, the homily from three years, recorded at St…
The law completed
16 February 2014
Bible, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year A
The Jewish law, especially the 613 mitzvah or commandments found in the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures / Old Testament) – with 365 prohibitions (You shall not…) and 248 prescriptions (Honour your father and mother; Keep holy the Sabbath day…), was a colossal achievement. The whole of the Jewish nation -…
A salted earth
9 February 2014
Discipleship, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year A
The writings of the prophet Isaiah continue to echo across the centuries to provide a challenge for us; they were certainly well-known at the time of Jesus and seem to provide the background for the teaching that Jesus gives us in the second part of the sermon on the mount. The call for Israel was…
Behold the Lamb of God
20 January 2014
Bible, Discipleship, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year A
When John the Baptist, sees his cousin Jesus coming towards him, it seems a little odd to declare “Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Presuming that John has not simply forgotten the name of his cousin, there must be something much deeper going on. As we have often seen…
You did it to me
20 November 2011
Season of Growth, Solemnity, Year A
The feast of Christ the King provides us with Christ the prophet presenting this ominous and dark scene of the judgement – not only of the people of Israel or the New Covenant – but of all the nations gathered before the Lord, being separated according to the way that we have recognised the presence…
Jacaranda trees and exams
13 November 2011
One of the lovely things about living in the Sydney area is the veritable plethora of jacaranda trees that are in full blossom at this time of the year. When I see one of these trees, I am often reminded of the beautiful tree in one corner of the main quadrangle at Sydney University, and…
The hope of the Lord’s coming
6 November 2011
New Creation, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year A
During the month of November, there is a tradition of remembering the dead and praying for them – particularly during the Eucharist. Our liturgy this Sunday provides an opportunity to reflect upon this practice in the light of the Lord’s coming and the judgement. When Paul writes his earliest letter, to the Thessalonians, he still…
Don’t call me father
30 October 2011
One of the things that you really have to admire about Catholics, is that we have taken the warning that Jesus offers us in today’s Gospel (Matthew 23:1-12) so seriously, that there is almost no risk in finding room in the seats of honour at the front of the church – with people crowding around…
Learning to love
22 October 2011
There is nothing unusual in the question that Jesus is asked in our Gospel today (Matthew 22:34-40) – students would regularly ask visiting Rabbis this question – which is the greatest commandment. When there are 613 mitzva (commandments) to choose from in the books of Moses (the Torah or Pentateuch) it is no wonder that…
Images and coin inscriptions
17 October 2011
The heat continues to rise between Jesus and his persecutors. Now the Herodians, who normally would not associate with the Pharisees, join forces to ask an impossible ‘yes or no’ question of Jesus – either answer would get him into trouble with his supporters or even arrested and killed by the Romans. The answer that…
Come to the wedding
8 October 2011
In this final parable in the trilogy of parables that Jesus addresses to the scribes and elders of the people after his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, Jesus draws on the image of the wedding banquet that Isaiah uses as a reminder that God has been inviting his people to share in the fullness of life…
The fruit of creation
2 October 2011
The parable in today’s Gospel from Matthew 21 continues directly from the parable last week (and leads naturally into the final parable of judgement in this trilogy, which we will have next Sunday) and again is addressed to the chief priests and elders gathered in the temple forecourt, while the crowd looks on, on the…
The empty God
24 September 2011
To make sense of the gospel today, you need to see what has been happening earlier in chapter 25 of Matthew’s gospel. At the beginning of the chapter Jesus and his disciples have made their triumphant entry into Jerusalem on the day that we now call Palm Sunday. He then proceeded to cleanse the temple,…
First and last
17 September 2011
The parable that Jesus tells today, from the beginning of Matthew 20, about a landowner hiring workers for his vineyard throughout the day – some who begin work at 6am and work for 12 hours for the agreed standard wage, and then various other groups who are employed at 9am, 12pm, 3pm and 5pm -…
Breathing and forgiveness
10 September 2011
On this tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, it is providential that the Church offers the profound reflection that Jesus offers to Peter in response to his question ‘how often must I forgive?’ The answer that Jesus gives to Peter’s already generous question – as many as seven times, when the…
The way of forgiveness
3 September 2011
Sometimes we might imagine that scripture is full of good advice and nice parables that are of quaint historical interest to those kind of people, but it is of little practical use to the rest of us living somewhere in the early twenty-first century. Today’s passage from Matthew 18 should provide a necessary antedote to…
The power of kindness
3 September 2011
I just had the most extraordinary conversation with a random man who turned up at the front door of the presbytery here at St John Vianney. He was quite distressed and wanted to share his story. About 30 years ago he had been mixing with the wrong kind of people, who taught him how to…
Waiting for God to answer
15 August 2011
This homily was recorded in the conversion chapel of St Ignatius in Loiola in Spain, while on pilgrimage to World Youth Day in Madrid, which would begin the next day. The Gospel of the day was the story of Jesus and the Canannite woman in Matthew 15:21-28 – a very strange story indeed! The image…
What do we want from God?
23 July 2011
Although we know many things about the life of King Solomon, we do not know how old he was when he came to the throne of Israel, to succeed his father David. Solomon is the tenth of David’s sons, and as I Kings opens, he is described as not yet being an adult. So it…
Wheat and weeds in the shining sun
17 July 2011
How many times have we heard something described as an ‘act of God’ or a disaster of biblical proportions, and wondered in our hearts – if God is indeed all-loving and all-powerful – then where is he in these times? Why doesn’t he step in and prevent these disasters? Why do we see such powerful…
Creative word
9 July 2011
The Word of God is so creative, powerful and fruitful, that sometimes we need to go to a high place to see the incredible vista that the Lord provides before us. This is the image that St Paul uses in Romans 8 when he lifts us with him to see the vision of all creation…
Resting in the Father
2 July 2011
As we return to the ordinary season of the year, we are given a most magnificent Gospel to land on, in Matthew 11:25-30. This gospel passage is unusual in the first three Gospels that rarely take us into the inner life of Jesus in his prayer to the Father. Here we are plunged into this…
Liturgical Dance
26 June 2011
Reality TV shows like MasterChef have reminded us of the art involved in preparing a meal – you need the right equipment, the right techniques and especially the right ingredients in the correct balance to prepare the culinary masterpiece. The feast of the Body and Blood of Christ provides an opportunity to reflect on the…
God is love
18 June 2011
When you read through the scriptures, one thing that modern readers might expect are passages that point to proofs for the existence of God. And yet there is not a single place that we can turn to to find something even remotely close to a De Deo Uno (Concerning One God) treatise that you find…
Come Holy Spirit
11 June 2011
Easter, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year A
This feast is a demonstration of the unique Christian understanding of grace and salvation. Before this day, although the disciples knew of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus and the fulfillment of the many prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures, they were still huddled together in fear – until the Spirit comes – then they…