Seasons
All the nations
8 January 2012
We are so used to thinking about the Christmas story as told in the gospel of Luke, that Matthew’s equally compelling story can get sidelined. When we do turn to Matthew’s story, we can get so distracted by the crib scenes and carols that the true details also get lost. It is worth pondering the…
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…
Grace, peace and purpose of Christmas
28 December 2011
Time magazine this year declared the Protester to be the ‘Person of the Year’ – and certainly 2011 was an extraordinary year of protests and revolutions. But it was not the first year to be noted as such – and one event that began a revolution that continues to this day was the birth of…
Christmas Proclamation
26 December 2011
At the midnight Mass on Christmas Day (or Christmas Eve if you prefer) there is a tradition of reading the ‘Christmas Proclamation’ – which powerfully situates the events of the Nativity in the historical context of salvation and secular history. This is a recording of the beginning of Mass and the proclamation…Play MP3 (2’26”)Recorded at…
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…
Rejoice always
11 December 2011
On this third Sunday in Advent, the church issues a command – Rejoice! The teaching comes to us from the second reading today, taken from the very end of St Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, and therefore the very earliest Christian writing that we have. In the few short sentences, Paul manages to pack…
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…
Images of sin in Isaiah
27 November 2011
As we begin the new liturgical year and this new season of Advent, it is fruitful to consider the readings that the Church presents to us on this first Sunday, because it sets the agenda for the whole of the season and the year. It has been said that if Christmas were removed from the…
Come Holy Spirit
11 June 2011
Easter, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year A
This feast is a demonstration of the unique Christian understanding of grace and salvation. Before this day, although the disciples knew of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus and the fulfillment of the many prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures, they were still huddled together in fear – until the Spirit comes – then they…
Signs of the Spirit
28 May 2011
Easter, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year A
As we move through the Easter season, the liturgy today moves in its focus from looking back to the events of Easter, to looking forward in anticipation of the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out upon the Church at Pentecost. All the readings today provide insights and guidance concerning the life in the Spirit…
Chosen race and royal priesthood
22 May 2011
Easter, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year A
During Easter we have been reading from the first letter of St Peter, and we come today to what must be one of the most extraordinary declarations in scripture. Peter addresses a mixed community – young and old, men and women, gentiles and Jews, leaders and members – and to each person he reminds us…
The road from Emmaus
7 May 2011
Bible, Easter, Seasons, Teaching
This powerful resurrection story is well known and often repeated. It shows the creative power of Luke’s narrative and has intrigued saints and scholars over the centuries. One saint who has a wonderful commentary on the story is St Bede the Venerable, the famous 8th century English historian and doctor of the Church. He brings…
Peace be with you
1 May 2011
Easter, New Creation, Season of Growth, Seasons, Teaching, Year A
‘Peace be with you’ – this is the greeting that Jesus proclaims to the disciples when he appears to them – even if they are locked behind closed doors for fear of the same fate falling on them as has just happened to Jesus. But the peace that Jesus promised, and the peace that he…
Living on the third day
24 April 2011
Easter, New Creation, Seasons, Teaching
Welcome to the third day – the day when everything is different because of that day – which John calls the first day of the new week, when the tomb was empty. On Friday we waited in silence and we mourned and lamented. We so often live our whole lives on Friday. We are shocked…
Resurrection Day (Vigil)
23 April 2011
Easter, New Creation, Seasons, Teaching
The Easter Vigil provides us with the opportunity to be immersed within the story of our salvation and the continuing work of God – from creation to redemption. So it is only appropriate that we make Alleluia our song as we celebrate the day of Resurrection and become builders of the new creation.Play MP3Recorded at…
Betrayal, lies and grace
17 April 2011
The Palm Sunday liturgy crams an amazing array of emotions into an hour – from the jubilation of the triumphant entry into Jerusalem to the heartbreak and desolation of betrayal, sleep, violence, cowardice, lies, false witness, racial abuse, denial, pride, anger – the reality of so much human sin on display. It is precisely into…
Roll the stone away from the stink
9 April 2011
This most powerful healing story – perhaps the ultimate miracle with the raising of a man four-days dead – begins so simply with a description of the fact that a man called Lazarus was ill. Most of our English biblical names have come to us via the Latin Vulgate translation. In the original Hebrew, Lararus…
Blinded by the light
3 April 2011
Discipleship, Lent, New Creation, Seasons, Teaching
To truly appreciate the full scope of this sixth sign in the gospel of John – the healing and faith of the man born blind – we need to remember the full scope of John’s spiritual vision. John is always leading us to look back to the beginning of creation and forward to the wonders…
Thirst quenched by living water
26 March 2011
Lent, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year A
The story of the woman at the well presents many strange scenes in this most beautiful Gospel. John 4 begins by telling us that Jesus learnt that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was baptising and making more disciples than John the Baptist (although it wasn’t Jesus who was baptising, but his disciples – apparantly)…
The voice of justice
25 March 2011
If justice and injustice were in the flesh, what would they say to us? Which voice would commend, which would rebuke — and whose voice would be most familiar?The Voice of Justice from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.See more: http://www.thejusticeconference.com/
Changed by cross and glory
19 March 2011
Lent, New Creation, Season of Growth, Seasons, Teaching, Year A
On the second Sunday in Lent each year we join Peter, James and John to witness that incredible moment when Jesus is changed (in the Greek, metamorphoo, which you can probably discern from the word is an aorist indicative passive third person singular verb, which is a form of ‘metamorphosis’ meaning ‘to remodel’ or ‘to…
Garden and wilderness
13 March 2011
As we begin this new season of Lent, we are taken back to the garden of Eden to witness both the life of tranquility and peace that originally existed and then the condition during and after the fall. When the serpent entered into the picture, the lies and deception begin to flow and the consequences…
The journey of the Magi
1 January 2011
Feast of the Epiphany. The journey of the magi provides us with an opportunity to reflect on our own relationship with Christ and the lengths that we go to seek out truth and bring our lives in worship before the child king in Bethlehem. Play MP3Recorded at SJV, 6pm (7’00”)Play MP3Recorded at SJV, 10.30am (6’41”)
Family Models
26 December 2010
On the feast of the Holy Family, we are presented with various images and models of family. St Paul encourages us to be clothed in love as we allow the message of Christ to find a home within us. In the gospel, St Matthew in Herod and Joseph gives us two figures that provide powerful…
The word revealed in the sight of all the nations
25 December 2010
We are reminded in the prologue to the Gospel of John of the incredible power of the word of God – a word that changed the course of human history in ways that we will never understand. Some of the most defining moments in human history have been shaped and defined by human words -…
Rethinking familiar stories
24 December 2010
When we hear the Christmas story proclaimed in the Gospel of Luke, we are more than likely so very familiar with the basic story line, that we simply switch off, or switch into sentimental childhood memories replete with lots of non-biblical details. When we actually look closely at the story, perhaps what we see in…
Big dreams and promises
19 December 2010
In our final Advent Sunday, the magnificent prophecies from the book of Isaiah turn with a very specific promise made to a very specific king – the young man Ahaz (only 20 in 735BCE) who finds himself hemmed in from every side by enemies. He doesn’t know where to turn and is most likely quite…
Waiting and growing
12 December 2010
Advent, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year A
As we celebrate Gaudete (Rejoice!) Sunday, we remain with the figure of St John the Catholic Baptist – but now, we are not at the very beginning of his prophetic ministry, but almost at the end. He is in prison because of his objections to the marriage of the claimed king of Israel, Herod (who…
Washed in the desert
4 December 2010
Advent, Season of Growth, Seasons, Year A
As we continue our journey through this sacred season of Advent, we are again given the majestic vision of the glory of the Lord bringing peace and unity to all creation – all as the fruit of a small shoot that grows from the root of Jesse. As Christians, we profess that this shoot is…
Gathering on the mountain
28 November 2010
As we begin a new liturgical season, and indeed a new year – the first year in our three year cycle of readings – it seems appropriate that the first image that is presented to us is something that is so deeply ingrained in my psyche – the mountain as a sacred place. I grew…