Forces of good and of evil
In the days of Jesus on earth, people called different evil forces ‘demons’. Jesus himself recognised one super-force behind them all. He named it ‘the EVIL ONE’ – also known in his day as ‘the Devil’, ‘Lucifer’, and ‘Beelzebub’…
Don’t you even care?
What a contrast between the calm of Jesus and the alarm of his disciples when that storm breaks out! He was lying in the stern of the boat, asleep, with his head on a cushion. The disciples were panicking and in their panic they woke and rebuked him, “Master, do you not care?…
The mystery of growth
The seed growing secretly suggests the mystery of growth. The farmer works hard to sow the seed, but then he has to wait. In a way he does not fully understand, the seed grows of his own accord…
Passing through the veil
The life-path Jesus leads us on goes via the cross and on to the heavenly sanctuary. Behind this Hebrews text lies the Old Testament ritual of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when once a year the high priest entered behind the veil into the Holy of Holies. There, amid a smoking cloud of incense, he
The parable of the sower
The religious leaders have accused Jesus and his disciples of breaking the Sabbath, and claimed that Jesus heals by the power of Satan. Jesus’ own relatives have tried to take him in hand because of the general impression that he has lost the run of himself. In that context Jesus draws the attention of the disciples to the farmer sowing seed in Galilee…
Smaller and Wider Family
Fidelity to God’s will makes a family of all Christians. Jesus identifies the true disciple not by by rank or position, special privileges of birth, talents and financial resources, but by fidelity in the routines of life…
Pastoral heroes, models for ministry
Timothy’s role in the Church sounds like a retired foreign missionary who later became guide or bishop to the local Christians in Ephesus. He had the honor of being a fellow worker with Paul… Titus, too …
The calling of Andrew and his brother Peter is described in today’s Gospel. Like those early disciples, we too are called. As believers, we gather here to listen to God’s word, resolving to put it into practice in the coming week.
Open to Change
We can all become rather set in our ways. We get into certain ways of doing things and it can be easy to stay with those ways and rather difficult to change from them. We develop routines and those routines keep us going. It often takes someone else to broaden our horizons
Giving himself totally
The heart of Jesus was dedicated to his all-consuming ministry. Mark notes how sometimes he hardly had time to eat. His dealing with the crowds turned out to be so incessant that some of his relatives, when they heard of this, thought him out of his mind.
The Call to the Covenant :: As Jesus goes up the mountain to summon the twelve he chose as leaders for his followers, it evokes memories of Moses who went up Mount Sinai to receive God’s law and covenant, (Exod 19) Moses pledged the covenant, surrounded by colleagues…
They came to him because…:: It was the people who were suffering, who were distressed, who had least going for them, that came to Jesus in the biggest numbers. They sensed that..
Conflict :: Today’s readings raise the theme of conflict and finding solutions. Melchisedek meets Abraham on his way back from a short military excursion against some local chiefs, and blesses him; then in the Gospel we have the conflict between the Pharisees and Jesus..
Ministering life? :: Today’s Epistle alerts us to the possibilities of loving service present in the most ordinary events and people of our everyday contact, especially those of our own household. Routine matters, and familiar people whom we meet each day can hold the key..
Theology and Common Sense :: Jesus is contrasted to the high priests of the old covenant, who first had to make sin offerings for themselves and then for those of the people. Earlier in the same epistle (Hebrews) the author noted how Jesus can sympathize with our weakness because he was “tempted in every way that we are, yet without sinning.”
Now that the Christmas season is behind us and we are moving into the New Year, the liturgy challenges us to reflect on what following Christ means. We gather as God’s people, called to follow the Lamb of God and we praise God, with thanksgiving.
Called By Name :: Samuel stands for all the forgotten people. Just a boy, with no high illusions about himself, a servant and apprentice to the old man Eli; he slept at night in a little room like an altar-boys’ sacristy, at the religious shrine of Israel. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, he heard God calling him by name …
Religious leadership :: When thinking about norms for leadership in the church, the most basic is a desire for sharing faith and love. Leaders ought to recognize and encourage the good qualities in others. Jesus not only calls Matthew but also accepts Matthew’s invitation …
Carrying their friend :: The image of the four men carrying the paralytic to Jesus is a very graphic one. They were so determined to get him to Jesus that they opened a hole in the roof above Jesus when their way through the door was blocked..
True and false fidelity :: “Value today,” advises the psalmist, whose text is quoted in Hebrews, because right here and now God provides the grace and insight we need to live a life of faith, and therefore…
