In our newspapers we read of disasters and watch catastrophes on television. And we deal with painful tragedies in the lives of our friends and loved ones, and ask: “Where is God?”, “How can God allow these things to go on?” It is implicitly the question put to Jesus in...
What a grace for Peter and James and John to see Jesus transfigured. They got a preview of the glory of Jesus risen from the dead and his glory in heaven. It was also a preview of the glory we all hope to share in heaven. It was not the...
Oscar Wilde was a much-celebrated Anglo-Irish literary figure, very witty… and very worldly. He once wrote: “I can resist everything but temptation.” He lived in total self-indulgence, ridiculed Victorian moral norms, and died in Paris of meningitis in the year 1900. His view of life aptly ushered in the 20th...
Today we are entering a new Season, one of penance and sacrifices. Together, we have gathered here to celebrate “Ash Wednesday,” the first of forty days of the Lenten Season that precedes Easter. On this special occasion, we are called to be reconciled to God. Through the sacramental of ashes...
An Unknown Poet once wrote: “I dreamt death came the other night and heaven’s gate swung wide. With kindly grace an angel came and ushered me inside. And there, to my astonishment, stood folks I’d known on earth. Some I had judged `most unfit’ and others of `little worth.’ Indignant...
We are presented for consideration today one of the very hardest of Jesus’ commands: “Love your enemies”. This injunction comes in the very first sentence of today’s text and the rest of the extract could be regarded as simply a commentary on it. What we are talking about is ethics,...
Do you ever stop to think that, roughly speaking, eight out of ten Catholics no longer come to Mass? That’s a lot of people! It means that there should be another eight people sitting next to you. There are many reasons for their absence – the analysts of such things...
What powerful readings that we have just heard from the Holy Scriptures. What I mean by powerful is that the readings make us think twice of how we would behave if we suddenly found ourselves in the Divine Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many of us would like to...
Surprised by Jesus’ words and actions, the people shouted in villages of Galilee, “a great prophet has arisen among us!” They had heard that He had performed miracles, and they wanted Him to perform some for them. However this isn’t what happens in Nazareth when he appears among his neighbors...
Today we celebrate the third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Throughout this liturgical year, which is referred to as Year C, we will listen to the Gospel of Luke. The gospel text of today – specially edited for the occasion – begins with the prologue of the Gospel in which Luke...