Sunday Reflections
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Widows were very vulnerable in the society of Jesus’ day. There were no social services to care for them. The widow in today’s gospel was destitute, like the widow in the first reading who was…
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
When people asked Jesus questions, it was often with a view to trapping him into saying something that would be incriminating. The scribe who came in today’s gospel was different. He seemed…
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The story of the blind beggar cured by Jesus is related in all the synoptic gospels, but only Mark gives us his name. This would suggest that Bartimaeus was a well-known figure on the road.…
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
A recent television series, about the Boleyn family, showed how Queen Anne’s father, Thomas, clawed his way up through the court of Henry VIII, making an advantageous marriage and connecting with…
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Queen Victoria, on hearing that she was next in line to the throne of England, is reputed to have said: “I will be good.” Jesus questioned the young man in today’s gospel as to why he called Him…
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
There were at least two different schools of thought about divorce in Jesus’ time and the Pharisees were hoping to trap Jesus into supporting one of them, therefore alienating the other. Jesus…
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The apostles were specially chosen by Jesus and it seems they were beginning to think of themselves as an exclusive group. They scolded a man who cast out devils in their Master’s name. We can…
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus has been beginning to reveal to his disciples what lay ahead of him in Jerusalem. It is a terrifying prospect; the Romans had no mercy on those who were seen as a threat to their authority.…
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus had been teaching in Galilee, where he got a reasonably friendly reception. Now he was moving northwards. Caeserea Philippi was situated about forty kilometres from the sea of Galilee, at…
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah spoke about what happens when God is present to people. Life is restored in that the desert is watered and people are healed of their disabilities. The prophesy was fulfilled in Jesus, who…