Sunday Reflections
All Souls Day
Christ’s Church consists of both the living and the dead. The living form the Pilgrim Church, which travels along the path towards the eternal home for which God created us, struggling against…
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s parable must be one of the best known. The front seats in church are usually vacant, since many people don’t want to be seen behaving like the vain protagonist in the story. In reality,…
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus often used dramatic situations to emphasise his teaching. The steward in the parable, who could not pay his debt, owed ten thousand talents, which would be billions in today’s money. The…
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
It is interesting that the two lepers who expressed gratitude to God were foreigners. Naaman was a Syrian, whose cure in the river Jordan was brought about through a young slave girl from Israel.…
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Habakkuk lived probably sometime in the seventh century BC, when the power of Babylon was growing. It was a time of upheaval and his uncertainty about God’s plan has relevance for today, when we…
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today we have another well-known parable which Jesus told, which is unique in that he named a character in the story. The poor man was called Lazarus, which means “God is my help.” The rich man…
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The parable of the Unjust Steward comes between the stories of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:19-33) and the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). These teach about squandering resources and sharing…
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
On 14 September 335 a relic of the cross, found by St Helena, was venerated by the people in Jerusalem. The cross, which was used as as an instrument of cruel and humiliating punishment,…
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
When Moses stood with God, receiving the Ten Commandments, the Israelites made a golden calf and worshipped it (Exodus 32:1-4). We may laugh at their credulity; but the message is a stark one.…
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
The theme of today’s readings would appear to be the qualities required of someone seeking the Kingdom of God. We are all too well aware today of people who feel that greatness lies in dominating…