Triduum
Why did Jesus die?
8 April 2023
A reflection on the Passion of Jesus in the Gospel of John. Play MP3 When I was a kid, the only thing that I seemed to want to do was to be older and bigger, you know, big enough that I was able to go out the back with my older brothers, with Dad on…
New Creation Hope
16 April 2022
Easter Vigil 2022 When you set out and walk east from the old city of Jerusalem through the Lion Gate, you move first through the shallow Kidron Valley before beginning to climb up the lower sections of the Mount of Olives. You pass first through the Garden of Gethsemene, complete with its old olive groves…
Truly Loved
15 April 2022
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…
Called to be Beloved Disciples
14 April 2022
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,…
Risen and Transformed
4 April 2021
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…
Personal Resurrection
3 April 2021
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…
Central Story
2 April 2021
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…
Broken Saviour
2 April 2021
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….
Called in service and eucharistic love (Holy Thursday)
1 April 2018
One of the great privileges of having a month in Jerusalem last year was visiting many of the places that are associated with the final days in the life of Jesus. Stepping on the same ground that Jesus had walked over, prayed in, wept in, offered his laments and called his disbelieving disciples deeper into…
It is finished
1 April 2018
The Commemoration of the Passion of Jesus in the Gospel of John is very different to the other gospels. Although it is brutal and heart-breaking, Jesus is always in control of his destiny and he exerts a regal air over all that he interacts with. In contrast to the Gospel of Mark that we heard…
Empty tomb and exile ended
1 April 2018
The ending of the Gospel of Mark is very intriguing. There are no stirring words, no great commission, no story of faith to motivate belief and response. Only a rather dark and foreboding conclusion: And the women came out and ran away from the tomb because they were frightened out of their wits; and they…
A Resurrection Worldview (Easter Vigil)
17 April 2017
Easter, New Creation, Seasons, Teaching, Triduum
This year our parish celebrated the Easter Vigil early on Easter Sunday morning (beginning at 5am) as a Dawn Mass, rather than early in the evening on Holy Saturday night as has been the custom. In part this was because I never liked the fact that during the Easter Vigil celebrated at that time, you…
Resurrection Is (Easter Sunday)
17 April 2017
Easter, New Creation, Seasons, Teaching, Triduum
One of the limitations of celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus is that for so many people in the church, they still operate with a tri-part understanding of creation, even though they know that this is not the case in the physical universe or according to the laws of science and nature. So we still think…
The Gospel of Good Friday
15 April 2017
Although we read the Passion story last Sunday during the Mass of Palm Sunday, that Gospel is always taken from one of the three Synoptic Gospel accounts, depending on the liturgical year. But on Good Friday, there can only be one Gospel that will be our guide and companion – the Gospel that shapes the…
Passover Slave (Holy Thursday)
14 April 2017
Discipleship, Easter, Seasons, Teaching, Triduum
We begin these sacred days of Easter with this encounter on the eve of Passover – as we remember the meal that Jesus celebrated with his disciples. The Gospel of John – which is our primary companion over these days – does not provide details about the elements of the meal itself – the bread…
Prayer Reflection on the Cross
25 March 2016
A short prayer on the cross offered at the conclusion of the Stations of the Cross. Play MP3 Recorded at St Paul’s, 10am service (1:47)Good Friday, Stations of the Cross