It’s hard to believe that Christmas is upon us once again. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Christmas, not because of the presents and all of the good food and all of the feeling, the general feeling of closeness (people seem to be closer to each...

What will bring you joy and happiness? There are various types of joy and happiness; some are superficial and come and go but there is also deeper and lasting joy and happiness that abides and remains. The economic crisis or a pandemic of this time, with all the pain it...

A patient called up her doctor. Something is wrong with her; she needed emergency treatment in her house. “Can you have somebody drive me because my car broke down today?” the doctor said. “My husband and my children are here,” the patient replied. ‘All of them can drive but I...

If you have been attentive to the Gospel readings over the last three weeks we will have noticed a certain pattern emerging. Firstly, they all speak about a certain ‘time’ that will undoubtedly come – the time of the return of someone important who has been absent. Two weeks ago...

The crisis of today is the refusal to believe in moral absolutes. We believe that truth cannot be known with certainty. Maybe it’s true, maybe it isn’t! Today we no longer have truth, we have opinions. And the question arises: How can one be a Christian who is a person...

I want to begin today by noting that in Jesus’ time among us a talent was a huge amount of money. The coin denominated as a talent was very valuable indeed. For us today we think of talents not as money but as special personal gifts we may have. We...

In our first reading from the book of Wisdom God invites Solomon to ask for any gift he wants – and he asks for wisdom! – Wisdom to run his kingdom. Would you have thought of asking for something like that? Lord, I need good looks, I want to be...

A pumpkin story: “What is it like to be a Christian Saint? ”It is like being a Halloween pumpkin. God picks you up from the field, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you by inviting you to confess your sins and seek reconciliation. Then he cuts off...

There are some people for whom we simply cannot feel any love at all, or so we tell ourselves. Too much resentment, too much distrust… some people are just “too much” for us. Take, for instance, a relative who is arrogant, self-centered, opinionated, and who is totally given over to...

There is a story about a bishop being asked out of the blue at a press conference: “Your Excellency, what do you think of the local night clubs?” the Bishop taken by surprise replied: “I don’t know. I’ve never been to a night club.” The next day the newspaper headline...