30th January. Friday of Week 3.
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…
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29th January. Thursday of Week 3.
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
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28th January. Wednesday of Week 3
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…
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27th January. Tuesday of Week 3.
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…
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26th January. Ss Timothy and Titus (Memorial)
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 … -
Presider’s Page for 25 January (Ordinary Time 3)
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.
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25th January. 3rd Sunday in Year B
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 -
24th January. Saturday in Week 2
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. -
23rd January. Friday in Week 2
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…
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22nd January. Thursday in Week 2
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..
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21st January. Wednesday in Week 2
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..
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20th January. Tuesday in Week 2
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..
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19th January. Monday in Week 2
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.”
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Presider’s Page for 18 January (Ordinary Time 2)
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.
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18th January. 2nd Sunday of Year B
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 …
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17th January. Saturday of Week 1
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 …
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16th January. Friday of Week 1
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..
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15th January. Thursday of Week 1
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…
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14th January. Wednesday of Week 1.
Healing and Praying :: Two quite different activities are reported in today’s gospel. The first is healing… ..The second is going out by himself to a lonely place to pray…
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13th January. Tuesday of Week 1
We can take joy from this basic fact: Jesus counts us as his own brothers and sisters. His life’s work was to gather us together as God’s family, and his intention is clear, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.”