We need to nurture the seed of faith God has planted in us. Our part is to offer good soil for the seed to grow. One component of this good soil is prayer, both our own prayer and joining in the prayer of the community…

St Paul reminds us that within the church, the body of Christ, we are all interdependent. We need others and others need us. We all have something to give and much to receive…

Jesus spoke sternly to the proud and the self-righteous, but was gentle with the humble and repentant. He says that while our heavenly Father is ever loving, a forgiving spirit is also required in us.

The music of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is not a doleful dirge. It is joyful music about God’s grace and favour to towards all who are open to receive it…

As she watched Jesus die, Mary’s heart was broken. Long before, old Simeon had linked Jesus’ suffering with that of his mother: ‘a sword will pierce your own soul too.’ When our own troubles are hard to bear, we can look to Our Lady of Sorrows as our inspiration and our help.

In their Exodus journey through the Sinai desert there was a plague of fiery serpents, from whose venemous bite many people died. Then at God’s command Moses made a bronze statue of a serpent and mounted it on a pole, as a pledge of recovery. Jesus applies this episode to himself

Jesus offers himself as the foundation for our faith. Listening to him, we build our spiritual lives on rock, able to cope with the storms of life. We need to constantly hear his call, and build our lives on him.

Jesus gives the comic scenario of someone trying to take a splinter out of a neighbour’s eye while oblivious of the larger hazard in his own eye. The image warns us be aware of our own defects before judging others. God, who sees clearly into every heart, is compassionate to all, even the ungrateful and the wicked. We need to take our lead from our Heavenly Father.

People in a position to give to others generally expect some kind of reward in return. Our giving seems to put them in our debt, and we struggle to be selfless or anonymous in our giving. Jesus proposes a more selfless approach; we should try to follow the example of our Heavenly Father.

Isn’t it true that we often seek God more earnestly when our need is greater, whether in our individual or communal need. We come before the Lord in our poverty, our hunger, our sadness because it is above all in those times that we realize that we are not self-sufficient. In Luke’s gospel, from which our reading is taken, as Jesus hung from the cross one of the criminals alongside him said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” To this hopeless man Jesus said, “today, you will be with me in paradise.” It is when we are at our weakest that grace is at its strongest.

Next to Jesus, Mary is the most central person for the faith life of many Christians, and it is only fitting that the church remembers her birthday.

People even see reasons why God should not temper justice with mercy. But following Jesus’ example we should “Just Do It.”

For Jesus, there was nothing wrong in satisfying one’s hunger on the Sabbath day, especially for ordinary people like his disciples who lived a simple lifestyle. After defending his friends, he declares himself to be “Lord of the Sabbath”. Sunday is our Christian Sabbath, and on it any work which serves human needs is allowed.

The Pharisees could not recognise the mysterious divine power in the words and actions of Jesus. They wanted to keep religion under strict control, and were not open to the God of surprises. Trying to put the Gospel message into a new rulebook would be like patching a new garment with old material, or pouring new wine into old wineskins. What Jesus brought was something living and new. To receive it, one must be willing to be surprised by grace.