Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables. He said, ‘Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell…
Today, I was reminded at Palm Sunday Mass (this post was first drafted on 28th March 2021) that when Jesus Christ was at His weakest physical state as God-Made-Man, the devil struck again to taunt, to try to tempt Jesus to succumb to the order of the world, and to let His material wants take…
The people stayed there before the cross watching Jesus. As for the leaders, they jeered at him. ‘He saved others,’ they said ‘let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.’ The soldiers mocked him too, and when they approached to offer vinegar they said, ‘If you are the king…
I have often wondered what our Creator’s intentions for Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 is? Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun? Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 NRSVCE A young person once argued that “vanity” was akin to a loss of…
St Pope John Paul II, who passed away on Divine Mercy Sunday on 2 April 2005, wrote his last book, Memory and Identity: Personal Reflections, (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, published 2005), in the style of a series of interviews and questions, expanding on the themes that were much earlier examined in 1993 with two Polish philosophers,…
On Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020, like no other, a day to be still, a day to reflect on the good that will always conquer the evil, to revert to a time of peace and silence, while the world awaits a sign of deliverance, of the end that cannot be soon enough, and yet, the…
Today’s Gospel Reading in the Missal of the Catholic tradition is such a powerful lesson in how to be a steward of God’s talents and remain a faithful servant. Here Jesus gives a master-class in servant leadership, and teaches us (a) how to use our talent (willingly and with great generosity to help others), (b)…
Jesus said to Nicodemus: ‘Do not be surprised when I say: You must be born from above. The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.’ How sweet…
“The Second Coming” Turning and turning in the widening gyreThe falcon cannot hear the falconer;Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhereThe ceremony of innocence is drowned;The best lack all conviction, while the worstAre full of passionate intensity.Surely some revelation is at hand;Surely the…
Today’s second scripture reading at Mass in the Roman Catholic tradition is a wonderful rendition of the inner peace that comes with acknowledging the balance and equity of material needs, wants and apportionment. St Paul does not ask for the reversal of fortunes, or even equal misery – just the generosity of needing less and…