Christ the King – A Crucified King

20 Nov 202220 Nov 2022

Col 1:12-20, Luke 23:35-43 We come to the last Sunday of the liturgical year. In a liturgical assembly, the principal figure always comes at the end. Fittingly, we conclude it…

33rd Sunday – Judgment and Mercy

12 Nov 202213 Nov 2022

Malachi 3:19-20 If you walked down from Warren Street Tube Station towards Tottenham Court Road in London, you’ll find a parallel street on the right called Whitefield Street. It's named…

32nd Sunday – Evil and Resurrection

6 Nov 202226 Nov 2022

Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome 2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14, Luke 20:27-38 We have a very graphic word in our first reading. They…

31st Sunday – The Troubles of being Short

29 Oct 202220 Nov 2022

Luke 19:1-10 We come to the interesting story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector. On the final leg of his journey, Jesus passes through Jericho. At around 800m below sea level,…

30th Sunday – Prayer and Pride

22 Oct 202212 Nov 2022

Ecclesiasticus 35:12-19, Luke 18:9-14 Last week we celebrated the feast of St Teresa of Avila. Teresa is one of the greatest teachers on prayer in the Church. She was the…

29th Sunday – The Power of Perseverance

15 Oct 20226 Nov 2022

Francis in Prayer, Francesco de Zurbaran Luke 18:1-8 We have today the parable of the widow who goes against the indifferent judge. Some of Jesus’ parables say what God is…

28th Sunday – The Ten Lepers

9 Oct 202229 Oct 2022

2 Tim 2:8-13, Luke 17:11-19 We meet the ten lepers in the gospel today. Within this encounter of the lepers with Jesus, can be found three profiles of the Church…

27th Sunday – To Fan into a Flame

2 Oct 202222 Oct 2022

2 Timothy 1:6-8,13-14, Luke 17:5-10 Oppression, injustice, outrage, violence! The prophet cries out to God in our first reading. It paints a very lucid picture of our present world situation.…

26th Sunday – The God who Saves the Poor

25 Sep 202215 Oct 2022

Dives and Lazarus (from the Fitzwilliam Museum) Luke 16:19-31 St Luke’s gospel is the gospel of the poor. No one emphasises more than Luke, the special place the poor have…

25th Sunday – The Unjust Steward and the Grammar of Creation

18 Sep 20229 Oct 2022

Luke 16:1-13 Pope Benedict XVI, in 2009, released his encyclical on social justice, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth). It was published on the forty-year anniversary of the promulgation of Populorum Progressio, the…

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 202210 Oct 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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

8th Sunday OT – Does your tongue need healing?

26 Feb 202220 Mar 2022

Ecclesiasticus 27:5-8, Luke 6:39-45 There is one thing that sets humanity distinctly apart from the animal kingdom. We can speak. All animals, even plants communicate. The higher primates reveal a…

7th Sunday – Spear, Water and the Wisdom of Love

20 Feb 202228 Jun 2022

Saul tries to kill David, Barbieri 1 Samuel 26:2-23, Luke 6:27-38 Love your enemies. Give to everyone. Do not ask your property back from a robber. Is it even possible…

6th Sunday – The Secret to Happiness

12 Feb 20226 Mar 2022

The Sermon on the Mount, Fra Angelico Jeremiah 17:5-8; 1 Corinthians 15:12-20; Luke 6:17,20-26 We have today Luke’s version of the beatitudes, far more blunt than Matthew’s in some ways.…

5th Sunday – Glory, Goodness and the Call to Mission

6 Feb 202226 Feb 2022

Call of Peter, Raphael Isaiah 6:1-8, Lk 5:1-11 Ever since Pope Francis came to the seat of Peter, he’s been calling all Catholics to be missionary disciples. But we’re not…

4th Sunday – Chosen and Called

30 Jan 202222 Feb 2022

Jeremiah lamenting Jerusalem's destruction, Rembrandt Jeremiah 1:4-19 One of the most rewarding ministries I’ve had in my short tenure as a priest, is that of RCIA, where you receive adults…

3rd Sunday – Opening the Sealed Book

23 Jan 202222 Feb 2022

Illuminated Manuscript, The Siegburg Lectionary 1 Cor 12:12-30, Luke 4:14-21 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When…

33rd Sunday – The Unveiling of All Things

14 Nov 20214 Dec 2021

God the 'geometer', creating the Cosmos Mark 13:24-32 We are approaching the end of the liturgical year as we reach the part of Mark’s gospel called the ‘little apocalypse’. It…

32nd Sunday – Obedience in a Time of Crisis

6 Nov 202127 Nov 2021

Elijah fed by Ravens, Guercino 1 Kings 17:10-16 We have a very powerful narrative from the ministry of Elijah, the greatest of Israel’s prophets. Elijah ministers during the time of…