Sunday Gospel

St. Carlo Acutis (1991-2006) realised – from a very young age – that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. So convinced of this truth, that he set about documenting 136 Eucharistic miracles throughout the history of the Church. What is a Eucharistic miracle? The Church has taught, teaches and will continue to teach that when Christ said of the bread he held in his hands at the Last Supper, ‘This is my Body,’ that he meant what he said. The bread became, becomes, wil

The Lord comes to Solomon in a dream and asks him what he desires. Solomon responds: Give your servant a heart to understand how to discern between good and evil, for who could govern this people of yours that is so great? (1 Kings 3). Solomon is prudent, not prudish. The former comes from the Latin providens, meaning ‘seeing ahead.’ The latter from the French, meaning ‘shocked by someone’s behaviour.’ We need prudent men and women in every age, but especially now with the c

You: ‘I don’t know how to pray.’ Me: ‘Of course you don’t.’ You: ‘Seriously, I can’t pray.’ Me: Relax. Let Paul direct you: The Spirit comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words (Romans 8). We are good people, but weak. Take this magnificent passage from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: It is not in our power not to feel or to forget an offe

Matthew has five great discourses. Chapter 13 is number three. It is ‘chock-a-block’ with parables. In my opinion, the ‘Parable of all Parables’ is the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9), with its allegorical interpretation in Matthew 13:18-23. Brendan Byrne, Lifting the Burden (2004), wants us to be more perceptive and receptive: Where does the seed fall? What is the reception and response to the seed? What are the three failures and the three gains? The evil on

In the midst of the widespread rejection of his message, Jesus prays to his Father: I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth (Matthew 11). Jesus calls his Father ‘Abba.’ Jewish names for God include Lord, King, Shepherd, Rock, Fortress, Father. George T. Montague alerts us to something most important: The Talmud says that when a baby first begins to speak, his first words are Amma and Abba, both titles of intimacy by which he addresses his ‘mummy’ and ‘daddy.’ The fi

Modern life is replete with addictions. Alcohol takes its toll. Illicit drugs kill. Pornography is plentiful, accessible and destructive. Experts say that the gambling addiction is the hardest to break. One thing is certain: therapists will not be without work. Can we offer anything from our rich spiritual tradition? Well educated, formed in the Jewish faith, Saul of Tarsus undergoes an unexpected conversion, re-orientating him from persecuting Christians to the warm embrace

The experience of success is important. Joy is the word that comes to mind. However, it may be that the experience of failure is more important. Paul speaks in Romans of the mysterious failure and fall of Adam. We find it in Genesis 3, where God responds to failure, not by accusing, but by questioning Adam, with no less than four questions! The questions are designed to enable Adam and Eve to understand the experience of failure more deeply. This helps them to go forward with

Strategic plans are helpful, but they are not a panacea: The harvest is rich, but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest (Matthew 9). Prayer is the panacea. We have to stand before the Lord and ask him – beg him – to send labourers. God desires labourers everywhere – in every walk of life: The eyes of faith behold a wonderful scene: that of a countless number of lay people – men and women – busy at work in their daily life and a

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