Year B

Sunday 25, Year B. Mark 9:30-37 Play MP3Watch video Generated Transcript As I have grown older, my fondness for the gospel of Mark has also grown, and one of the things I really like about this gospel is the humanity of Jesus, but especially the humanity of the disciples. Yeah, they are in so many…

The story so far. Mark begins with a simple introduction: The beginning of the Good News about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. We’re then told a little about John the baptiser, the baptism of Jesus and then the temptation in the wilderness with angels and wild beasts. Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee….

One of the (many) cruel outcomes of Christian history is the unwarranted neglect of the Gospel of Mark. It was not until the sixth century that the first known commentary on the Gospel was written. It seems that the fact that it was the first of the gospels to be written was unknown, and so…

Mark 7:1-23 (Sunday 22, Year B) – full NRSV Gospel, not the strange shorter/edited form as in the lectionary. Play MP3Watch videoRead Gospel (red-letter / colour-coded edition)Read Social Justice Statement 2021-2022 An Englishman, an Irishman and an Australian go into a bar and they notice, sitting over at one of the tables, a pastor, a priest…

Sunday 21B (Joshua 24:1-2,15-18 & John 6:60-69) Joshua today invites the people to renew the covenant. He gathers the people in the very centre of the promised land, at Shechem, and retells the story of salvation so far. He reminds the people of all that God has accomplished within their history. He reminds them of…

Sunday 18, Year B. First Reading ‡ Exodus 16:2-4.12-15 I will rain bread from heaven upon you.Responsorial ‡ Psalm 77:3-4.23-25.54 The Lord gave them bread from heaven.Second Reading ‡ Ephesians 4:17.20-24 Put on the new person that has been created in God’s image.Gospel ‡ John 6:24-35 Whoever comes to me will never be hungry; whoever believes in me will never thirst.Play MP3Watch video…

Last week, Jesus and his disciples went looking for a lonely place away from the crowds. Mark told us that Jesus was so busy looking after people and caring for their needs through mighty works of healing that neither he nor his disciples had time for rest or even to eat. So they jump in…

NB. The first attempt at livestreaming Mass from St Columbkille’s – had a number of technical problems! We listen to Mark 6 tonight, and join Jesus and the disciples as they hear the terrible news that “King” Herod the Tetrarch has, during a magnificent banquet, executed John the Baptiser. So while Jesus needs to find…

Over the next 7 Sundays our second readings will be taken from one of St Paul’s prison letters – the circular letter to the community in Ephesus (in Asia-Minor, or modern-day west-coast of Turkey). It is a beautiful, rich and deep insight into Paul’s meditation and worship. Our reading today from Ephesians 1:3-14 contains 12 verses,…

Sunday 13, Year BMark 5:21-43Play MP3Watch whole Mass (recorded with 2 participants during greater Sydney June lockdown) Generated Transcript  Last Sunday we heard in the gospel that Jesus has authority over the wind and the waves. This little group of disciples were crossing over the Sea of Galilee in that boat, and the storm grew up…

In the mid 60s of the first century, Rome was the place to be. It was the centre of political, cultural and economic power. Population of around 2 million with a Jewish community of 30-40k. There was a pattern of discord and contention between the Jewish community and the city of Rome. In the year…

Solemnity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Patronal Feast of the Diocese of Wollongong)Readings for 11th Sunday of the Year, B.St Columbkille’s Catholic Church, Corrimal.Ezekiel 17:22-24; Mark 4:26-34Play MP3Watch VideoWatch full Mass here – with special guest Tongan choir leading us in song What can we say the kingdom of God is like? Ezekiel. Year…

Our God is a rock. The Lord is my shepherd. I am the living bread come down from heaven. I am the true vine.  When you read through the the pages of scripture, you’re confronted constantly by the Hebrew idea of metaphors. These comparisons between something that we have some sense about, something that we’re…

There are 3 kinds of seasons in the church year: Seasons of Preparation, Seasons of Celebrations, and the Season of Life. The main and longest season is prosaically called Ordinary – yet this is such an ordinary name for the period of time which is all about growing as disciples and followers of Jesus. ⇒…

There is a stark transition between the celebration and welcome as we join the pilgrim crowd who join and acclaim Jesus the Messiah in procession into the city of Jerusalem. Suddenly after our palms are blessed and the entry is proclaimed, there is a jolt and a movement in the liturgy into the suffering servant…

Some Greeks asking to see Jesus made all the difference! That outsiders and foreigners were now asking to meet with Jesus is the final sign that Jesus was looking for. Now the hour has come. When Mary asked Jesus to solve the problem of the wedding without wine at Cana, Jesus told her that his…

In our English Bibles we follow the order of the old Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. Divided into 4 sections – Pentateuch, History, Wisdom and Prophets. But the Hebrew Bible itself places the various books of the Biblical library together in a different way, using just 3 main sections: Torah, Nevi’ im and Ketuvim…

When you were a kid, who had a swear jar? Maybe I was not the only one to have my mouth washed out with soap and water – in Kindy! I guess it worked – at least I never had to go through all of that again. No, I can’t remember what I allegedly said….

Last week we found ourselves journeying with Jesus into the wilderness to be tested. We know that so often our lives have so many distractions that it is difficult to hear the voice of the Father claiming us as his own precious children. Abraham is invited today to once again leave and go – to…

Every year at the beginning of Lent, we are invited to journey with Jesus into the wilderness. The Gospel we have just read is sometimes called the temptation in the wilderness or the desert. This is an appropriate name for the similar story that is told within the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. But here…

What is the best way to let everyone know what is going on? Tell one person the news, but ask them to keep it secret! Jesus discovers this in the Gospel today. In the Greek text he is very strong – not just sternly ordered – there is a hint of anger. More than a…

This Sunday is Sunday of the Word of God (celebrated in Australia on the first Sunday in February), where Pope Francis invites the whole Church to encounter God and get to know Jesus through reading the Word. The Bible is not an easy read. It contains many different styles, including narrative/story, poetry and discourse. It…

One year ago today, there were more news stories coming out about this strange new coronavirus that originated in a large Chinese city that I hadn’t even heard of – Wuhan. On 25 Jan the first 4 cases were reported in Australia. By 30 Jan the virus had spread to 20 countries. First cases were…

Last Sunday we heard the first words of Jesus in the Gospel of John “what are you looking for?” Such a powerful question that continues to haunt us. Today we hear the first words of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the GOOD NEWS, saying: “The…

For many Christians, our faith is as people of the book. This is especially true as a result of the Protestant reformation. Yet the bible can sometimes serve to muzzle the active and dynamic relational quality of life with God. Many people relate to the opening line of 1 Samuel 3:1 – that the ‘word…

O come to the water, all you who are thirsty!Though you have no silver, come, eat, and be satisfied! This is the invitation that God so longs for us to hear. A constant longing for us to hear the invitation to be in relationship with God. To have nothing hold us back from being with…

I must confess a certain dis-ease in celebrating the feast of the holy family each year. Although it is a wonderful thing to do, there is a certain degree of disconnect and contrast between the seemingly perfect example of the Holy Family and the lived reality of most people. When you zoom back out from…

The church tonight – only half the number of people who had booked & many others would come. Glass of water: is it half full or half empty? Those who say the glass is half empty, we call a pessimist; those who say half-full we characterise as an optimist. As a follower of Jesus, should…

Do you remember what it was like to learn English? The experience will be very different depending on whether it was your first language learnt as an infant, or much later in life. In any language, there are at least 4 main components: learning to hear and understand what is said, learning to speak the…

Comfort my people, comfort them. Like the other 3 gospels, the one that we read from today – which we announce is “according to mark” is anonymous. The tradition that has named the author as Mark, or John Mark, dates to the second century. From the third century, it was believed that Matthew wrote his…