5th Sunday of Lent Ez 37:12-14Rm 8:8-11Jn 11:1-45 “Let us go too, and die with him” Persecution is a real struggle for all around us. It is often understood to be the death of physical life for the sake of Jesus but instead, we need to understand that persecution can be subtle. It can take... Continue Reading →
21 March, Saturday — Pride & Prejudice
Saturday of the 4th Week of Lent Jer 11:18-20Jn 7:40-53 “...see for yourself: prophets do not come out of Galilee.” One of my favourite Jane Austen novels of all time is ‘Pride and Prejudice’. The protagonist, Elizabeth Bennett, comes from landed gentry, but they are seen as beneath the social standing of the wealthy Mr.... Continue Reading →
20 March, Friday — Try a Little Kindness
Friday of the 4th Week of Lent Wis 2:1,12-22Jn 7:1-2,10,25-30 …but they are misled, their malice makes them blind. They do not know the hidden things of God, they have no hope that their holiness will be rewarded, they can see no reward for blameless souls. I was watching a snippet from an old horror... Continue Reading →
19 March, Thursday — Quiet Obedience
19 Mar – Solemnity of St. Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary St. Joseph is a descendant of the house of David. A layman and a carpenter, he was the earthly spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and foster and adoptive father of Jesus Christ. He was a visionary who was visited by angels,... Continue Reading →
18 March, Wednesday — Who’s ‘Will’ Will You Do?
Wednesday of the 4th Week of Lent Isa 49:8-15Jn 5:17-30 “…because my aim is to do not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.” Today’s Gospel reading comes from Jesus addressing the Pharisees and Scribes after they found Jesus curing a man who was a paralytic for thirty-eight years. They could... Continue Reading →
17 March, Tuesday — The struggle to refrain from judging
Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent Eze 47:1-9,12Jn 5:1-3,5-16 One man there had an illness which had lasted thirty-eight years... Writing today’s reflection gave me an opportunity to read more about St Patrick, whom I had only vaguely associated with Ireland up till now. Going through his biography, I was surprised to learn that... Continue Reading →
16 March, Monday — Will There Be Peace?
Monday of the 4th Week of Lent Isa 65:17-21Jn 4:43-54 No more will the sound of weeping…be heard… “Happy Chinese New Year” I intoned cheerfully to my friend in the club gym. It was the morning of the 2nd day of the Lunar New Year, and I had gone there to exercise. He looked at... Continue Reading →
15 March, Sunday — Spiritual Blindness and Transformation
4th Sunday of Lent – Laetare Sunday 1 Sam 16:1,6-7,10-13Eph 5:8-14Jn 9:1-41 “…God does not see as man sees…” There are days when I realise how much of my life I spend seeing—and yet, not truly seeing. In 1 Samuel 16, the prophet is sent to anoint a king. When Samuel looks at Eliab, tall and... Continue Reading →
14 March, Saturday — Checklist spirituality
Saturday of the 3rd Week of Lent Hos 5:15-6:6Lk 18:9-14 “…what I want is love, not sacrifice” Whenever Lent comes around, I instinctively begin drawing up a list of commitments — how much more time to spend in prayer, what to offer in almsgiving, and what to give up for my Lenten fast. Now that... Continue Reading →
13 March, Friday — The. Struggle. Is. Real.
Friday of the 3rd Week of Lent Hos 14:2-10Mk 12:28-34 “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than... Continue Reading →
OXYGEN 