Year B
Let them go up to worship in love
18 March 2012
Lent, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year B
A Jew would recognise our first reading today as the very last passage in the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh. English bibles have tended to reorganise the order of the books in the Old Testament, so that we no longer follow the three-part division of the Tanakh into Torah (the Law), Nevi’im (the Prophets) and Ketuvim…
Ten words of freedom
10 March 2012
To soften the hard edge of these sacred commandments that are presented in Exodus 20, the Rabbis’ would often tell a joke – such as ‘when Moses came down the mountain, he began by telling the people: well, there is good news and bad news; the good news is that I managed to talk the…
Sacrifice, obedience and the lamb
3 March 2012
Lent, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year B
Our first reading from Genesis 22 contains what is often regarded as one of the finest examples of a short story in all or Western literature. In 19 short verses, the reader is taken on a terrible and shocking journey along with Abraham and Isaac – your only son, the son that you love -…
Levitical cleaning
12 February 2012
Bible, Season of Growth, Teaching, Year B
Reading the bible is a wonderful gift. But for many people, who with great zeal and commitment begin to read the bible in the book of Genesis, everything goes well for a while. The book of Genesis is interesting, and it is full of familiar stories beginning with creation and then the ‘myths’ of pre-history,…
Immediately driven
5 February 2012
Every book in the biblical library has unique characteristics that set it apart from all other books in the bible. The passage that is our first reading today from the book of Job – dealing with suffering and pain – is fairly typical of this book. So also each of the gospels have particular ways…
Teaching with authority
28 January 2012
Any male who had completed his bar mitzvah was eligible to read from the Torah in a Synagogue service and to offer commentary upon the reading. What the commentary contained would always be a reflection upon what the student had learned from his rabbi – who in turn would offer the insights that he had…
Blessed by the face of God
1 January 2012
Christmas, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year B
In the perception of the so-called general public, when people think about God – if indeed they ever think about God, the idea that will probably be conjured would be more like the idea of the force from Star Wars, then the biblical reality of God. Likewise, the idea of heaven as somewhere up there…
David, Mary and the Ark
18 December 2011
Advent, New Creation, Season of Growth, Seasons, Teaching, Year B
After journeying through this season of Advent with the prophet Isaiah, and then for the last two weeks with the witness of John the Baptiser, it is only on this fourth Sunday of Advent that we finally are presented with the figure of Mary to accompany our Advent reflection. When we encounter her in the…
Beginnings
4 December 2011
Advent, New Creation, Season of Growth, Seasons, Teaching, Year B
Literature in the classical world was often concerned to set the scene and provide an overview of the whole text from the very first line of the text. When we come to a text like the Gospel of Mark, we may be tempted to pass over the opening line of the Gospel – which we…
Building the kingdom with Christ the King
21 November 2009
New Creation, Season of Growth, Solemnity, Teaching, Year B
Sunday 34 in the Season of the Year – Feast of Christ the King (B) Sometimes, especially when we live in a Constitutional Monarchy like we do in Australia, and we have strong democratic beliefs – and perhaps even more so if we are republicans – the idea of celebrating Christ as King can seem…
The gift of the widow
7 November 2009
Sunday 32 in the Season of the Year (B)Mark 12:38-44 and I Kings 17:8-16. The gift of the widow who has nothing to give. Play MP3Recorded at St Michael’s Nowra 9.30am (14’30”)
Blessed by God
31 October 2009
Season of Growth, Solemnity, Year B
All Saints Day (Matthew 4:25-5:12) The gospel passage that we usually call the Beatitudes seems to be one of those passages that is ‘trotted out’ for almost any occasion – from weddings to funerals to commitments of ordination and religious profession. But what on earth is it about? What does it mean to say that…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Greeks and seeds
29 March 2009
Lent, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year B
Our Gospel today begins with the strange reference to some Greeks wanting to see Jesus. They are also coming up for the festival – the great festival of the Passover – a sign that the influence and reputation of Jesus has moved beyond the local Jews – now even foreigners are coming wanting to know…
Grace and works
22 March 2009
Lent, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year B
Lent 4B – Ephesians 2:4-10 Last week we had the 10 commandments (Hebrew: mitzvot); this week we have the final verses from the Hebrew Bible (Tanaka) in 2 Chron 36 which record the failure of Israel to live up to these commandments which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and exile. It is only through…
Lent 2B – The binding of Isaac
7 March 2009
Lent, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year B
When studying Biblical Studies at Sydney University many years ago, I studied under a lovely Rabbi who highlighted the significance and power of this passage from Genesis 22 – the binding of Isaac – called the ‘aqedah sacrifice’. It still disturbs and challenges us to reflect deeply on the nature of faith and the call…
Exclusion and Embrace
14 February 2009
6th Sunday (B) – Leviticus 13; Mark 1:40-45 It did not take long during the week before we began to hear victims of the terrible bushfires that ravaged Victoria last weekend ask why did this happen? Who is to blame? Was it the fault of the arsonists who lit the fires, or the greenies who…
Exclusion and Healing
14 February 2009
6th Sunday (B) – Leviticus 13; Mark 1:40-45 During the week we have heard many stories from the bushfire-ravaged centres of Victoria – many incredibly harrowing and horrific of great loss of life and possessions; some magnificent and miraculous of escape and rescue. Among these stories we have also been presented with others as victims…
Immediately
8 February 2009
During this liturgical year, we read from the Gospel of Mark. Each Gospel has its own style and personality. In John there are long discourses from Jesus with rich theological insights; Luke, written to a Gentile audience, has beautiful parables like the prodigal son and the good Samaritan; while Matthew, written to a Jewish audience,…
Teaching with authority
31 January 2009
The words and teaching of Jesus were always closely united. This was clearly the intention of God from the beginning – this was the way that he wanted for his people. God wants us to know the truth, and he wants us to be changed by our encounter with him. This is only possible when…