Sunday Gospel

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) bequeathed to the Church a way of thinking that has proved perennial. He brought together faith and reason in the search for truth, goodness and beauty. This is especially true of his reflections on the feast of Corpus Christi – the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ: Jesus offered his body to God the Father on the altar of the cross as a sacrifice for our reconciliation. Notice the language employed: Jesus offered his body to God his Father. Jesus

We hear the mantra often enough: ‘We are an inclusive community.’ However, our starting point is not exclusion, but mutuality, precisely because we are baptised into the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: God is a mutual God. He is in us, and we are in him. Baptise is a Greek word meaning immerse. For instance, there is an ancient recipe for ‘Baptising cucumbers in vinegar.’ Cucumbers need a good soaking, as do we: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them

Look what happened to the people who built the Tower of Babel. They said to themselves, without any reference to God whatsoever: Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves (Genesis 11). What was the result of this godless egotism? The Lord dispersed them all over the face of all the earth. Its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth and dispersed them. Common la

Luke is writing to Theophilus (Acts 1). That is, he is writing to you and naming you as ‘Lover of God.’ What a beautiful thought. The love of God is within us: Where did it come from? What is its origin? We take our cue from Pope St. Leo the Great (440-461), an excellent teacher of faith. He says that ‘great mysteries are established and great truths revealed between the days of the ‘Lord’s resurrection and ascension’: The Lord set before the eyes and hearts of his followers

A study of recent popes (Pope John XXIII-Pope Leo XIV) revealed that Pope Francis refers to the devil more than any other. Jesus called the devil a murderer, deceiver and accuser. So, when we read in Acts 8 that ‘unclean spirits came shrieking out of many who were possessed,’ we can be sure that death, deceit and defamation are being confronted and expelled. Pope Francis highlights the accusatorial role of satan: The devil is the arch-defamer of humanity. He revels

The Gospel of John has seven ‘I AM’ statements. Today we encounter: I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14). We have a 4,000-year spiritual tradition. It all began with Abraham and Sarah, Christ being the foundation stone. Catechisms attempt to capture some of the richness that has been bequeathed to us. They follow the structure of Creed, Code, Cult, Communion: Jesus is the Truth. We have a Creed (beliefs). Jesus is the Life. We have a Cult (sacraments). Jesus is the

Luke speaks of the ‘narrow door’ (Luke 13). Matthew speaks of the ‘narrow gate’ (Matthew 7). Either way, the metaphor is evocative, challenging: The difficulty of Jesus’ path is not some kind of ascetic self-flagellation either. It is simply the difficulty of choosing and persevering in the distinctive way of life outlined by Jesus (Montague, Companion God, p.117). Experience is helpful. We decide to ‘roll the dice’ and make a lifetime decision. What seems restrictive is, in

Popes write teaching documents for faith-edification. Pope St. John Paul II published a document in 2004, meaning ‘Stay with us, Lord.’ The opening paragraph is exquisite: Stay with us, Lord, for it is almost evening (Luke 24). This was the insistent invitation that the two disciples journeying to Emmaus on the evening of the day of the resurrection addressed to the Wayfarer who had accompanied them on their journey. Jesus, our Wayfarer. He walks with us. We walk with him: W

Easter proclaims: Go out and tell the people about this new life (Acts 5). What is this ‘new life’? The whole community remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2). Furthermore, and not an optional extra: The faithful all lived together and owned everything in common. The Church has always defended the right to private property. With the advancement of the Industrial Revolution in the 19 th Century,

The four gospels have discrepancies in detail, including the resurrection of Jesus. Not so long-ago academics postulated that the discrepancies arose because of the political posturing of the four gospel writers. However, our ‘brilliant academics’ forgot to factor in the nature of oral tradition: The slight variations between the gospels show all the marks of oral tradition, for in genuine oral tradition each ‘performance’ is different. Different people tell the story slightl

Jesus of Nazareth is murdered. His innocent blood flows freely in and over each one of us. Matthew 26-27 begins with a critical preamble. An unnamed woman anoints Jesus at Bethany (Matthew 26:6-13). The apostles are not happy, but Jesus ‘sets them straight’: Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a beautiful service for me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. By pouring this ointment on my body, she has prepared me for burial. The

The Gospel of John can be divided into the Book of Signs (John 1-12) and the Book of Glory (John 13-21). The first sign is given at Cana (John 2). The last sign is given at Bethany (John 11). We witness ‘water turned into wine,’ and now ‘death put to death.’ Lazarus has been dead for four days, but now finds himself resuscitated: Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’ The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a

200 Words: Soulful Sensitivity The Gospel of John has seven signs. John prefers to call them signs since all events are exterior and interior by nature. This accounts for the different reactions and responses people can, and do, have to them. The healing of the blind man from birth is earthy, tangible and dramatic: As Jesus went along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. Jesus spat on the ground, made a paste with spittle, put this over the eyes of the blind man, and

John will be the dominant evangelist for Lent from hereon in: Today the Woman at the Well, then the Healing of the Blind Man, followed by the Raising of Lazarus. The Holy Thursday Gospel features John. Good Friday always rolls out John. On route from Judea to Galilee Jesus ‘had to pass’ through Samaria – a common phrase in John, indicating Jesus’ faithfulness to the Father and the Father’s will. We should not underestimate, for a minute, John’s alertness to Jesus’ humanity:

200 Words: Taken by Christ Evidently, the first two weeks of Lent encourage us to reflect upon the mystery of Jesus. The testing of Jesus manifests his humanity (Matthew 4). Our good friend Brendan Byrne, SJ, says Jesus is being invited to the false self, and what is true for Jesus is applicable to us: We are tested to identify with what we do. We are tested to identify with what people think of us. We are tested to identify with possessions – wealth, thoughts or ambitions. T

200 Words: Silence that Sustains St. Antony Abbot (251-356) lived a long and fruitful life. He was a Christian monk from Egypt who counselled people in need and courageously visited persecuted Christians in captivity. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert – Antony spent nearly 80 years in it. He went out into the wilderness around 270AD and stayed put. He used to say: When you go out into the desert, three things fall silent: our speaking, our hearing, our seeing. But one thing r

200 Words: Laws Lived in Love He was born in 1842 and died in 1857, canonised in 1954. St. John Bosco (1815-1888) wrote a book about him, devoting a chapter to the day of St. Dominic Savio’s First Holy Communion. Dominic wrote in his ‘little book’: Resolutions made by me, Dominic Savio, in the year 1849, on the day of my First Holy Communion, at the age of seven: 1. I will go to Confession often, and as frequently to Holy Communion as my confessor allows. 2. I wish to sanctif

200 Words: Ancient Promises, Risen Fulfilment Jesus says: You are salt of the earth and light of the world (Matthew 5). Salt preserves and gives flavour. Light penetrates darkness. Interestingly enough, Luke speaks of Jesus’ resurrection with the image of salt: Jesus presented himself as alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, for forty days being seen by them and speaking about the kingdom of God and eating salt with them (Acts 1). So, Jesus appears to the disci

200 words: Above the Crowds - From Stone to Speech The Beatitudes begin the Sermon on the Mount. The setting is helpful: Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up the hill. There he sat down and was joined by his disciples. Then he began to speak. (Matthew 5). Moses goes up the hill. Jesus goes up the hill. Moses receives the Ten Words. Jesus gives the Eight Beatitudes. The Ten Commandments promote and protect fundamental human values. We do well to know, love and preach and teach the

200 words: Immersed into change From a philosopher, theologian and rhetorician, known as the Trinitarian Theologian: Christ is bathed in light. Let us also be bathed in light. Christ is baptised. Let us also go down with him and rise with him (St. Gregory Nazianzen (329-390)). Furthermore, Jesus commissions us: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And teach them to observe all that I have command