Sunday Reflections
Fourth Sunday of Easter
It is all too easy for religious leaders to become involved in partisan politics to the detriment of their spiritual offices .Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, who presided at the trial of St…
Third Sunday of Easter
We are not certain of the location of Emmaus, but Luke tells us that it was seven miles from Jerusalem. There seems to have been no real purpose in the disciples taking the journey, which was…
Second Sunday of Easter
There is a growing number of people in Ireland who reject anything that is not backed up with material evidence. Science reigns supreme. St Thomas seems to have the same need in that he demanded…
Easter Sunday
John begins his gospel with darkness, contrasting it with the light which is Christ. The theme is repeated with the darkness of Easter morning, when the grieving Mary Magdalene visited the tomb to…
Passion Sunday
The liturgy of Palm Sunday invites us to contrast celebrity and adulation, which are worldly values, with the suffering and humiliation which Jesus embraced. The first is symbolised by the palm,…
Fifth Sunday of Lent
This Sunday used to be called Passion Sunday and the statues were all veiled in purple drapery. The practice added a solemnity to the last two weeks of Lent.
Life was becoming very…
Fourth Sunday of Lent
Today’s gospel is a drama, with a rich cast of characters through whom John skilfully explores how Jesus, a devout Jew, contrasts a God of compassion with the self-sastisfied Pharisees. The curing…
Third Sunday of Lent
John skilfully imparts some of the most profound teachings of Jesus through two very different people. The Pharisee Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, was a learned, wealthy and well-respected…
Second Sunday of Lent
The word 'Lent' means Spring. It is the time when nature renews itself. In the reading from Genesis, Abraham and Sarah are told by God to leave their own country and family and travel to a…
First Sunday of Lent
The desert seems to be a place where people find a closeness to God because, in the barren surroundings, there is nothing to distract them. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness on a sparse…