Traditionally, this Sunday is called Laetare Sunday, which means ‘a day for joy’ — although few will feel much joy this year, as the COV-19 epidemic draws ever nearer. But at this midpoint of Lent, it is traditional to honour mothers, treasuring those still with us and praying for those we have lost to death.
He is in our midst, he walks among us as the supreme healer, his hand ever ready to touch us, to take away our blindness…
Two men went into a church to pray, but the attitudes they brought in their hearts were quite different….
The first commandment calls us to love God with all our might, and the second to love our neighbour as ourselves. The interplay of those two loves is the vital point…
Saint Joseph serves as an inspirational patron for all parents who rear their offspring and then have to set them free to live their own lives…
Our Lord’s example tells us not to toss aside all the religious devotions of our past but neither are we to canonize them….
In the heart of Lent, we keep the feast of Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. We mark the day by praising God the creator, who sustained Patrick in good times and bad, and who will sustain the Irish even in the face of coronavirus.
“Mise Pádraig, peacach ró-thuatach… Más lochtach féin mé, is mian liom fios a bheith ag mo bhráithre agus ag mo ghaolta cén saghas duine mé, agus dúil m’anama a thuiscint.”
Jesus’ vision of God is to be still embraced by us, because it is fundamentally “good news” for all who are willing to receive it.
Today’s readings about water and thirst remind us that this is a baptismal season. The holy water of baptism blesses and protects the faithful in every danger, even as the threat of the coronavirus bears down upon our world.
The vision of eternal life brought them hope and joy that made all their efforts and sacrifices worthwhile…
The parable of the Prodigal shows how God’s compassion is always at work bringing people from isolation to new life…
What may initially be repugnant to us can become a means by which God teaches and heals us…
“Mr Rich” lived in his privileged, well-guarded world and made no effort to understand or relieve the plight of the beggar at his gate…
In spite of what they promised, James and John failed to follow the one who came not to be served but to serve…
Jesus helps us all to carry our burdens, both the inevitable ones like sickness and ageing and all the other misfortunes that crop up in daily life…
St Luke expresses the supreme moral ideal of Jesus as, “Be merciful, as your Father is merciful…”
Now that we are ten days into the season of Lent, our goal is clarified in today’s liturgy. The Gospel of the Transfiguration reminds us that we are destined for glory. Like the disciples, we keep this glimpse of glory in our hearts in the dark days ahead. Resurection will follow, as surely as day follows night.
Hearing God’s word and acting on it, made Abraham the great pilgrim of faith. His journey is the classic model of meaningful living….
To become perfectly mature we need to learn to love in an unconditional way, even loving our enemy….
