Sunday Reflections
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…
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Lex Talionis is an ancient law, and is referred to in Exodus 21:23-27. It was meant to redress wrongdoing and to allow the victim of a crime to exact punishment equal to that of the injury…
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s gospel comes from the Sermon on the Mount, which is a collection of the teachings of Jesus, grouped by Matthew as though they were given on one occasion. We must never forget that Jesus…
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Last Sunday we read Matthew’s account of the Beatitudes, which describe the qualities of those who follow Jesus, who demonstrated them in his own life. In today’s gospel he singles out two things…