Seasons

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…

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…

Do you know that I am weird? There is also a more than fair chance that I’m not the only weird person here today! Statistically, we talk about people who are most likely going to be surveyed by researchers. Unfortunately, most of them share something in common: they are weird. WEIRD is an acronym –…

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…

When Paul wanted to convey his most developed and longest letter to the half-dozen or so house churches in the city of Rome, he needed to find someone who understood exactly what he wanted to say, who perhaps was able to memorise the letter word-for-word and who knew how to interpret the letter and perform…

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…

We transition today into a new liturgical year. What is unusual about this new season of Advent is that the themes of the readings that we have been hearing during the last few weeks continue as we move from ordinary time into the new season. It is the only time during the liturgical year that…

When you come to reflect on the baptism of Jesus, the first thing that you need to take account of is how odd an event it must have been. The primary significance of the baptism that John was offering was a washing from sin and a ritual of repentance. It was in direct competition to…

The liturgy through the season of Advent provides events and characters to meditate upon. We are joined by Hebrew Testament prophets in our journey who express the hopes and longings of the generations of people for the Messiah to come. In the weekday Masses, Isaiah provides the main voice, but in our Sunday Masses, we…

As a society we so often accept poor substitutes rather than the fullness of life experience that is offered to us. When we journey through the season of Advent, it can at times feel like a poor substitute for the season of Lent. The reality is very different – because the character of the season…

The readings today reminded me of being in Brisbane at the start of 2011, when the devastating flood waters that had claimed too many lives in the Lockyer Valley moved downstream towards the city. Authorities did not want any more lives to be lost, so did all that they could to ensure that the population…

We begin the new liturgical year (Year C) in much the same tone as we concluded Year B – with a focus on the destruction of Jerusalem. So it seems appropriate to reflect on the events that would have so marked the lives of any Christians living in the forty-year period between the wonderful events…

Today is the feast of Pentecost. A powerful, but strange collection of images surround us. Tongues of fire; strange languages; Cretans; mighty winds; thunder; lightning; holy Spirit gifts; smoke … and more. The word Pentecost comes from the Greek language, where it simply means the ‘fiftieth’ day. It is the name for a Jewish feast, which in…

Our Gospel today for the Ascension of the Lord, is taken from what is called the longer ending to Mark’s gospel. Verses 9-20 of Mark 16 were added by another scribe or author who didn’t like the abrupt original ending of the gospel in verse 8. This author wants us to know certain things about…

Sometimes there are passages of scripture that continue to leap out of the pages of the bible (or as is usually the case for me – to jump off the screen). This section of John’s Gospel is one of those – and it has been for some thirty years. You may have had some kind…

The image of the vine was very significant across the history of Israel. It is used as a symbol of all that was good about Israel – the fruitfulness and capacity to enjoy life in all its fullness – but also of all that had gone wrong across her history. For example in Psalm 80,…

Jesus appears to the disciples today, joined by the two disciples who have been transformed by their journey to the village of Emmaus (Luke 24). He appears as quickly and easily inside the locked room as he disappeared as they recognised him in the breaking of the bread. Just as Jesus had explained to Cleopas…

Doubt. Belief. Fear. Peace. Joy. Sending. Breath. Spirit. Sins forgiven. So much happens when the young church is gathered and huddled behind locked doors trying to make sense of all that has happened over these days. All of this happens on that same day, the evening of the first day of the week – Sunday….

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…

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…

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…

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…

Wow. That was pretty intense. To read about all of that violence and hatred and to think that all of this happened to Jesus – of all people. Even people that really don’t know much about Jesus know that he was a great guy. He was innocent, and did all he could to love and…