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…

At first glance, this feast day appears to be all about the dignity of Mary. When Pope Pius XII solemnly declared the doctrine of Mary’s bodily assumption into heaven as a dogma of the faith on 1 Nov 1950 in the document Munificentissimus Deus, at paragraph 44 he stated: “the Immaculate Mother of God, the…

Solemnity of Mary of the Cross MacKillop Although Mary of the Cross was canonised in 2010 as the first Australian saint, this is the first year that the feast day has fallen on a Sunday since then. When Mary was declared a saint, her feast day was bumped up in the ecclesiastical and liturgical rankings…

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…

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…

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….

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…

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…