Feasts… Epiphany – The Risk of Faith 5 Jan 202116 Jan 2021 Matthew 2:1-12 The feast of Epiphany. We meet the Magi, these well-loved characters in every crib. Today, they are contrasted with another character, Herod. Between them, they represent the best…
Feasts… Christ the King – The Sheep and the Goats 20 Nov 202013 Dec 2020 The Last Judgment, Michelangelo Matthew 25:31-46 If you’ve been to the Sistine Chapel, you can’t fail to be impressed by the full length mural serving as the backdrop to the…
Ordinary Time… 33rd Sunday – Fear, Valour and the Joy of the Lord 15 Nov 202012 Dec 2020 The Stretcher, Eleuterio Pagliano. Prov 31:10-31, Matt 25:14-30 We come to the final parable in Matthew’s gospel. It leads to the awesome scene of the Final Judgement, which also sets…
Ordinary Time… 32nd Sunday – The Burning Love of the Bride 8 Nov 202028 Nov 2020 Wise and Foolish Virgins, William Blake Matt 25:1-13 Weddings, then, like now, were elaborate affairs. They probably lasted a whole week. In first century Jewish weddings, the man would first…
Feasts… Carlo Acutis and The Feast of All Saints 31 Oct 202020 Nov 2020 Fra Angelico, The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs Matt 5:1-12 “The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.” ― Léon Bloy I grew up being quite perplexed…
Year A 30th Sunday – Obedience, Compassion, Humility 23 Oct 202016 Nov 2020 Moses with the Commandments, Rembrandt Matt 22:34-40 We meet the Pharisees again this week, as they come together after their initial failed attempt to trap Jesus with the coin incident.…
Ordinary Time… 29th Sunday – Taxes,Caesar and God 18 Oct 20208 Nov 2020 The Tribute Money, Thomas Sully Matt 22:15-21 In today’s gospel, we have an unholy alliance, of the Pharisees and the Herodians who come together against Jesus. The question they pose,…
Ordinary Time… 28th Sunday – The Process of Judgement 11 Oct 202031 Oct 2020 Parable of the Wedding Banquet, from paintingvalley.com Isaiah 25:6-10, Matt 22:1-14 We reach the last part of Matthew’s gospel as Jesus enters Jerusalem. (If you’re wondering whether you missed something,…
Ordinary Time… 27th Sunday – “Falling asleep in the Father’s arms” 4 Oct 202016 Oct 2020 Saint Paul Writing His Epistles, by Valentin de Boulogne. Phil 4:6-9 Philippians is among the last letters written by Paul. We know that he was in captivity, though it is…
Ordinary Time… 27th Sunday -Tending the Vineyard 4 Oct 20205 Oct 2020 Matt 21:33-43 So many of our problems come from thinking that our life belongs to us. Take our lack of patience, for example, when we say that someone is “wasting…
Ordinary Time… 26th Sunday -Phronesis and the Drama of Suffering 27 Sep 202010 Oct 2020 The Apostle Paul by Rembrandt Phil 2:1-11 Philippi was a Roman Colony. A colony of Rome was an extension of Rome and it’s rule. These weren’t colonies in the sense we…
Ordinary Time… 25th Sunday – Why be envious because I’m generous? 19 Sep 20205 Oct 2020 Workers in the Vineyard, Rembrandt Isaiah 55:6-9, Matthew 20:1-16 The parables of Jesus are masterful constructions, deceptively simple in their appearance. Very often they are seen as similes, helping one…
Ordinary Time… 24th Sunday – Imaculee Ilibagiza and a Lesson in Forgiveness 12 Sep 20201 Dec 2020 Trinity with the Saints, Boticelli Matthew 18:21-35 “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times”. In this Sunday’s gospel we come to one of the key pillars, maybe the key pillar of Christian life.…
Ordinary Time… 23rd Sunday – To Judge or Not to Judge? 6 Sep 202026 Sep 2020 Matt 18:15-20 Fra Angelico, Sermon on the Mount Adele, the singer, has been all over the News and social media recently. She seems to have become the latest, but for…
Ordinary Time… 22nd Sunday – Stumbling Stone 30 Aug 202019 Sep 2020 Felix Joseph Barrias, The Temptation of Christ Matt 16:21-27, Romans 12:1-2 “It so happened that I [once wrote] a bestseller; this was a pure accident, due to inattention and naiveté and I would take…
