4th Sunday in Ordinary Time Zep 2:3,3:12-131 Cor 1:26-31Mt 5:1-12a ...it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning... I once heard a homily where it was shared that the 12 apostles will unlikely qualify for any job in today's age. Each of them had characteristics which would embarrass... Continue Reading →
23 January, Monday – Caught Up In The Moment
Monday of Week 3 in Ordinary Time Heb 9:15,24-28Mk 3:22-30 ...but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness Football is the purest expression of gladiatorial sport in our age. Brute force is pit against battle wits to move a football down to the opponent’s end zone. It is violent.... Continue Reading →
22 January, Sunday — Guided by faith
3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Isa 8:23-9:31 Cor 1:10-13,17Mt 4:12-23 At once…they followed him. I was extremely blessed to spend 5 days in Medjugorje just after the New Year. We had travelled there via Istanbul and Dubrovnik and I had been craving some peace and quiet, having gone through a tough, challenging year. Having a... Continue Reading →
19 January, Thursday – Asking and Taking
Thursday of Week 2 in Ordinary Time Heb 7:25-8:6Mk 3:7-12 He cured many and as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. The scene of our gospel reading today is markedly different from yesterday. Today, we see Jesus mobbed by the crowd, pressed in from all sides, by people... Continue Reading →
18 January, Wednesday — Anger Issues
Wednesday of Week 2 in Ordinary Time Heb 7:1-3,15-17Mk 3:1-6 “…grieved to find them obstinate, he looked angrily round at them…” Do you suffer from anger issues? I know I do. Do you understand what anger is and where it comes from? I thought I did but realised that I didn’t truly understand the passion... Continue Reading →
16 January, Monday — New Wine, New Wineskins
Monday of Week 2 in Ordinary Time Heb 5:1-10Mk 2:18-22 “And nobody puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins too. No! New wine, fresh skins!” As we settle into the new year, both Liturgical and Gregorian, how are you... Continue Reading →
15 January, Sunday — Bearing Witness
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Isa 49:3,5-61 Cor 1:1-3Jn 1:29-34 “May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send you grace and peace.” Amidst the festivities of Christmastide and merrymaking of ushering in the New Year, some of us may have made new year resolutions. This annual tradition helps us take stock of what... Continue Reading →
14 January, Saturday – Come Dine With Me
Saturday of Week 1 in Ordinary Time Heb 4:12-16Mk 2:13-17 When Jesus heard this he said to them: "It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners." If I remember correctly, one of the first things Pope Francis said in the early... Continue Reading →
12 January, Thursday — Faith
Thursday of Week 1 in Ordinary Time Heb 3:7-14Mk 1:40-45 A leper came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees: “If you want to,” he said, “you can cure me.” I have been writing for Oxygen for probably ten years or more now. Sometimes, reflections don’t come easily; you’ve really got to dig deep into... Continue Reading →
11 January, Wednesday — Conversation with God
Wednesday of Week 1 in Ordinary Time Heb 2:14-18Mk 1:29-39 In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there. There is a sweet spot in the day, if one rises early enough, when the sun has yet to rise and the world... Continue Reading →
