23rd Sunday – Discipleship and the Quest for Greatness

4 Sep 202225 Sep 2022

Garofalo, Carrying the Cross Luke 14:25-33 An advert from the nineteenth century, still ranked among the 100 best ads a hundred years later, ran thus:  Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low…

22nd Sunday – The Glories of Humility

28 Aug 202218 Sep 2022

Ecclesiasticus 3:19-21,30-31, Luke 14:1,7-14 It’s very appropriate that our Word today focuses on pride and humility, as today is the feast of St Augustine. Augustine had a lot to say…

21st Sunday – Will only a few be saved?

20 Aug 202210 Sep 2022

Isaiah 66:18-21, Hebrews 12:5-13, Luke 13:22-30 ‘Lord, will only a few be saved?’ We are confronted with this very uncomfortable question in this week’s gospel. It has to make us…

Assumption – Woman in Glory, Mother, House of God

13 Aug 20224 Sep 2022

Assumption of Mary, Guido Reni On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII solemnly pronounced the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in His Apostolic Constitution, Munificentissimus Deus. This is the…

19th Sunday – The Assurance of Things Hoped for

7 Aug 202228 Aug 2022

Virtue of Faith by Piero Pollaiolo Hebrews 11:1-19 We have a wonderful excerpt from the letter to the Hebrews in our reading today. Hebrews is in reality, not so much…

18th Sunday – ‘Who Made me Judge?’

30 Jul 202220 Aug 2022

Ecclesiastes 1:2,2:21-23, Colossians 3:1-11, Luke 12:13-21 The Old Testament is divided into three sections. The Pentateuch or Historical books comes at the beginning, the Prophetic books come at the end…

17th Sunday – ‘Lord, teach us to pray’

24 Jul 202213 Aug 2022

Luke 11:1-13 We have this beautiful scene in our gospel where the disciples see Jesus praying and then, they ask him to teach them. The disciples would have seen him…

16th Sunday – Martha and the Re-creating Word of Christ

17 Jul 20227 Aug 2022

Luke 10:38-42 This is the first time we are meeting Martha and Mary in Luke’s gospel. As we meet them today, we find a Martha, who is very flustered. I’m…

15th Sunday – When God Interrupts your Plans

9 Jul 202230 Jul 2022

The Good Samaritan, Jan Wijnants Luke 10:25-37 One of my biggest inspirations in the last several years has been a young Christian missionary called Katie Davis-Majors. Katie was just a…

14th Sunday – Francis and the Call to Evangelise

2 Jul 202224 Jul 2022

Francis receiving the Stigmata, Giotto Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 Today we have a portrait of the great commission of the Church. This is what the Church exists to do. To be…

Solemnity – The Gifts of Peter & Paul

29 Jun 202217 Jul 2022

Matt 16:13-19 Why do we celebrate these two saints together? They were very different characters, sometimes at loggerheads with each other. We can exaggerate their differences as people sometimes like…

13th Sunday – Answering the Call

25 Jun 20229 Jul 2022

Image: the Ploughed field, by Van Gogh 1 Kings 19:16-21 The Word we have today focuses on the call of God. Elijah, the great, fiery prophet of Israel, drops his…

Corpus Christi – The Sacrifice of Melchizedek

18 Jun 20222 Jul 2022

Genesis 14:18-20 We meet today, this mysterious figure, Melchizedek. He appears only twice in the Hebrew Scriptures. He is the first named priest in the Bible and his name means…

Trinity Sunday -The Hope of Glory

12 Jun 202229 Jun 2022

Romans 5:1-5 Trinity Sunday. With this feast, we begin a new season in the Liturgical Year. There is a movement to it: from Christmas to Easter, finishing with Pentecost, we…

Pentecost – Under the Influence

4 Jun 202225 Jun 2022

‘No one can say Jesus Christ is Lord, except under the influence of the Holy Spirit’ (1 Cor 12:3) Pentecost. We come to the completion of the Easter season; where,…

7th Sunday – The Challenge of Stephen

29 May 202218 Jun 2022

Acts 7:5-60 We read a lot from the Book of Acts over the Easter period. It is a treasure trove for those interested in just how a small, marginal movement…

Ascension – Where he went, Whom he sent, Why it matters

26 May 202212 Jun 2022

Acts 1:1-11 As we celebrate the solemnity of the Ascension, I wanted to touch on just three things to explore something of this most mysterious feast. Of all the feasts…

6th Sunday of Easter – At Home with the Trinity

22 May 20224 Jun 2022

John 14:23-29 We are nearing the time of the Ascension of Jesus to the Father. The gospel once again goes to the time of the Last Supper. Here, Jesus opens…

5th Sunday – The Vision of the Blessed

14 May 202229 May 2022

Apocalypse 21:1-5 I started last week on the theme of eternal life, from the gospel of John. I would like to continue that this week with the beautiful vision presented…

4th Sunday – The Life of Eternity

8 May 202226 May 2022

John 10:27-30 The Good Shepherd gives his sheep eternal life. But what is eternal life? I do not know what your vision of heaven is like. Is it a bunch…

2nd Sunday – Touched to Believe

23 Apr 202214 May 2022

The incredulity of St Thomas, Caravaggio John 20: 19-31 The eighth day. This is the octave day of Easter. The Church believes that the Octave day is where the fullness…

Easter Vigil – On Grace and the Visitation to Mary

17 Apr 20228 May 2022

Christ Appearing to The Virgin, Rogier van der Weyden The opening prayer for Palm Sunday, at the start of Holy Week, begins with ‘Dear brothers and sisters, since the beginning of Lent…

Pascha -War, the Mandatum and the Prayer of the Son of God

15 Apr 20221 May 2022

Maundy Thursday inaugurates Easter: Lent is now over, Easter has begun. Easter, or Pascha is a three-day feast, from Maundy Thursday to Good Friday to the Easter Vigil (none of which are…

Palm Sunday – The Return of the King

10 Apr 202223 Apr 2022

The Entry into Jerusalem, Anthony van Dyck Luke 22:14-23:56 The gospels are a familiar story for Catholics, at least to those who practice their faith. The familiarity however can be…

5th Sunday – The Gaze that Saves Eve

3 Apr 202217 Apr 2022

John 8:1-11 We have a very familiar narrative from the gospels today, of the woman caught in adultery. The gospel writers manage as always, with a few deft strokes of…