Seasons

Good Friday – Solemn Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion First Reading ‡ Isaiah 52:13-53:12 He surrendered himself to death, while bearing the faults of many. Responsorial ‡ Psalm 30:2.6.12-13.15-17.25 Father, I put my life in your hands. Second Reading ‡ Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 He learned obedience and became the source of eternal salvation for all who…

Holy Thursday reflection Something amazing happened in the life of the beloved disciple. Tradition holds that John, the author of the fourth gospel, was the youngest of the 12 apostles. He is the only apostle who died in old age. The others were all martyred. The gospel that carries his name is an extraordinary achievement,…

Commemoration of the Lord’s EntranceYear C ‡ Luke 19:28-40 – Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. First Reading ‡ Isaiah 50:4-7I did not cover my face against insult and I know I will not be ashamed. Responsorial ‡ Psalm 21:8-9.17-20.23-24My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Second Reading…

Play MP3Watch videoSunday 5 in Lent, Year C.First Reading ‡ Isaiah 43:16-21 I am doing a new thing and I will give drink to my people.Responsorial ‡ Psalm 125 The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.Second Reading ‡ Philippians 3:8-14 Because of Christ I look upon everything else as useless in…

Sunday 4, Year C, Season of Lent (Laetare Sunday)First Reading ‡ Joshua 5:9-12The people of God went to the promised land and there kept the passover.Responsorial ‡ Psalm 33:2-7Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.Second Reading ‡ 2 Corinthians 5:17-21God reconciled us to himself through Christ.Gospel ‡ Luke 15:1-3.11-32Your brother here was dead and…

Third Sunday in Lent, C. First Reading ‡ Exodus 3:1-8.13-15 This is what you must say to the children of Israel: I Am has sent me to youResponsorial ‡ Psalm 102:1-4.6-8.11 The Lord is kind and merciful.Second Reading ‡ 1 Corinthians 10:1-6.10-12 All this that happened to the people of Moses in the desert was written for our…

Second Sunday in Lent, Year C. First Reading ‡ Genesis 15:5-12.17-18 God made a covenant with Abraham, his faithful servant. Responsorial ‡ Psalm 26:1.7-9.13-14 The Lord is my light and my salvation. Second Reading ‡ Philippians 3:17-4:1 Christ will transfigure these bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. Gospel ‡ Luke 9:28-36 As…

First Sunday in Lent, Year C First Reading ‡ Deuteronomy 26:4-10The confession of faith of the elect.Responsorial ‡ Psalm 90:1-2.10-15Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.Second Reading ‡ Romans 10:8-13The confession of faith of the believers in Christ.Gospel ‡ Luke 4:1-13Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led by the Spirit through the…

Baptism of Jesus We transition today with a feast that both closes the Season of Christmas, and launches us into the new season of the yearIn the Baptism, all of the Gospel accounts agree that this was the moment when the adult Jesus begins his public ministry.Jesus spent the first 90% of his life growing…

Each of the Gospels begins with the baptism of Jesus – launches his public ministry (next week)Each has an overture – like a piece of music that introduces us to mood and main themes.Matthew is no different. 2 chapters that situate the action of his genealogy and birth. He wrote his gospel after Mark, in…

The Feast of the Holy Family 1 Samuel 1:20-22.24-28 – For the whole of his life, Samuel shall be lent to the Lord.Psalm 83:2-3.5-6.9-10 – How happy they who dwell in your house, O Lord.1 John 3:1-2.21-24 – He calls you his own children, and that is what you are.Luke 2:41-52 – His parents found him in the temple,…

Hey! Look over there! What did you look at? Example of a dog, looking at the finger, rather than what is being pointed to. No longer walking in darkness – now in light. Often we have been so distracted by the folk law that has grown up around Christmas, that we continue to walk in…

Fourth Sunday in Advent, Year C. First Reading ‡ Micah 5:1- 4 Responsorial ‡ Psalm 79:2-3.15-16.18-19Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved. Second Reading ‡ Hebrews 10:5-10 Gospel ‡ Luke 1:39-44 Play MP3 Watch video (I forgot that I am tall) Readings What is your favourite…

Wednesday during Week 3 in the Season of Advent A reading from the Holy Gospel, according to Luke. (Luke 7:19-23) John, summoning two of his disciples sent them to the Lord to ask: Are you the one who is to come, or must we wait for someone else?  When the men reached Jesus, they said “John the Baptist has sent…

Advent 3, Year C Zephaniah 3:14-18.Philippians 4:4-7Luke 3:10-18Play MP3 Generated Transcript (9.30am Mass)Generated Transcript00:00:00If we read the first reading today without any kind of sense or understanding of the history or the background, we might think that the Prophet Zephaniah is just this naturally happy, bubbly kind of a person.00:00:16I mean, someone who is able…

Advent 3, Year C Zephaniah 3:14-18.Philippians 4:4-7Luke 3:10-18Play MP3Watch video Key points: Take time to imagine God delighting in you, rejoicing over you! He renews you in his love. It is wonderful to be in a good mood – to be happy, cheerful, joyful. We don’t live in a joy fest – the world is…

As we move through the season of Advent, there can be so many themes and ideas thrown in our direction, it can be difficult to keep up.There is the movement through the four Sundays, which is fairly consistent across the three-year-cycle of readings: Sunday 1 focusses on the ‘end times’; Sunday 2 and 3 on…

The Gospel today has always tended to set a note of fear within me. It seems like God is waiting to spring out and catch me in a trap. The way that I have heard this has often instilled a very unhealthy spiritual sense. As I prayed with the readings the notes played within the…

One of the truly wonderful aspects of the TV series called The Chosen. It’s a multi season series on the Life of Jesus and his disciples. But one of the wonderful things about this series is it’s very biblical but it tries to look at the different characters in the life and ministry of Jesus and develop some of their…

Easter 5BJohn 15:1-8Play MP3Watch video (Generated Transcript from Vigil Mass) Whenever we read any passage in Scripture, but especially one of the Gospels, an important thing is to know: Where are we in the story? What’s happening? Here, we’re essentially in the middle of this long section of the Last Supper. The final discourse that Jesus gives to his disciples begins…

The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd has been one of those images that has captured something in our hearts and lives, and we know that it’s from the earliest days of Christianity.  But one of the favorite images of the ways to portray Jesus has been exactly as this.  Jesus there with the…

The Road to Emmaus: Jesus shared with the two disciples along the road. “Didn’t our hearts burn within us?” They recognised Jesus in the breaking of the bread. Now, as they gather together in Jerusalem, Jesus himself stands among them: “Peace be with you!” The meal that the two disciples shared at Emmaus was about…

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. ⇒…

Happy Easter! “Until this moment, they failed to understand.”  I think we are on the side of the disciples in this. People who die and then rise from the dead, is not part of our ordinary human experience. You know, that’s not the kind of thing that we’re used to happening. It is not as though that we are now in our 21st century…

The gospel proclaims that there is no place for triumphalism in the Christian community, for it is a gospel of “little ones,” of women who were considered so insignificant that their witness had no social or religious validity. By the end of the day of crucifixion, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses had…

Every one of us have a central story that has shaped us and fashioned us; something that continues to define us and help us to understand who we are and how we have become that person. The Passover and the transformation of that ritual that Jesus enacted in the Last Supper is for us this…

On Good Friday we read the story of the broken God – the passion of Jesus from the Gospel of John. It a story that invites us to reflect on our own brokenness and how God in Jesus can begin the work of bringing healing to us and to those around us who are broken….

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…