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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

Theology seeks to understand the meaning of events, so as to help us spiritually. After praying the Angelus, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the meaning of the resurrection of Lazarus: This event invites us to free our hearts from habits, conditioning and ways of thinking which, like boulders, shut us away in the tomb of selfishness, materialism, violence and superficiality. In these places there is no life, but only confusion, dissatisfaction and loneliness (22 March 2026). Surely

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

Pope Leo XIV is an Augustinian. Is it any surprise he likes to quote St. Augustine? The pope recently visited the Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Ponte Mammolo (Rome), and naturally enough he cited the saint: Saint Augustine, speaking about the face of God, of which we are called to be a mirror in the world, said to the Christians of his time: ‘What sort of face has love? What form has it? What stature? What feet? What hands has it?’ ‘It has feet, for these carry men to

Research affirms what makes great parishes: Good Community Good Teaching and Preaching Good Music. In other words, an experience of love, an experience of truth, an experience of beauty. With Christ at the centre of our community, teaching, music and art, we shall – with the help of Almighty God – create great parishes. Recently, the pope visited the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Rome. It was Pope Leo XIII who asked St. John Bosco to establish the parish near Termini T