6th Sunday in Ordinary Time: In the Book of Job, the main character, Job, says “….relentlessly I fret till twilight falls.” He lies on his bed and ponders his life and probably remembers the better days he’d enjoyed.  Job (pronounced Jobe) was a man whose faith in God was tested to the very limit.  He wasn’t always in this situation.  Far from it.  Job was a wealthy man who was happily married, had lots of children, enjoyed the finer things of life and was blessed with good health, livestock, land and property – that is until all of this was systematically taken away from him and he was tested over many years.  He was stripped down to the basics and only his faith in God remained. There are times in our lives when our faith is tested to the very limit because of the many hurtful and destructive things we encounter.  Faith can be an anchor of strength but it can also be lost if painful circumstances overwhelm and crush the vulnerable spirit inside. The good news is that God is close to the broken hearted as we read in Psalm 146.  Faith can be rediscovered again and allowed to grow if the hurt person chooses to seek God with all their heart.  They are never turned away for our loving Lord does not snap us in two if we are a broken reed or snuff us out if our flame is a smouldering ember.   Essentially, at the heart of the gospel message is the person of Jesus.  We strive to follow a person, not a set of rules and our Lord knows how we feel all too well.  During the whole of His life, Jesus suffered much which hurt Him, broke His heart as He endured the difficulties of life and the…

Fifth Sunday of the Year in Ordinary Time  Jesus said to Simon (Peter) “Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.” Luke 5:4 This weekend we are in the Fifth Sunday of the Year in Ordinary Time. At this time of year we are encouraged to focus on how our lives are going as we look towards Lent which will begin with Ash Wednesday on 6th March.  In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, we hear Jesus asking Simon Peter to cast out his nets again in the daytime for a catch. This would be a totally foolish thing to do, as fishermen would only ever fish at night so the fish would be caught more easily as they feed near to the surface of the water. Peter caught nothing the previous night and is hard pressed to believe that he will catch anything.  Jesus isn’t a fisherman but Peter listens to Jesus because Peter may well have heard about Jesus and he believes that the Man standing before him is much more special than he could ever imagine. The result of Peter trusting in Jesus, who is the Holy Son of God in human flesh, is that the catch is so huge it takes another boat to help him haul in the fish.  Peter will now be catching people for Jesus not fish and we too are called to do this every day of our lives as we live out our faith.  We are to be putting out into the deep of the lives of those around us.  We can only do this with the Lord’s help. As we reflect on our lives and prepare over the next few weeks as we approach the holy Season of Lent, let us think about how we can grow…

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord: Candlemas 2nd February Some 40 days after Jesus was born, He was presented in the Temple.  As a Jewish first-born male Child, He was to be dedicated, consecrated, set apart for the Lord, made holy and acceptable to Him.  Jesus didn’t need to be made holy, for He was and is the Eternal Son of the Father, our Messiah, the Second Person of the Most Holy and Blessed Trinity.  Everything that happened to Jesus during His short life here on earth was to set us an example and be for our encouragement.  This ceremony in the Temple completed Mary’s ritual purification after having given birth also according to Jewish Religious Law, the Law of Moses which was given by the Lord on Mount Sinai. It was a special time to thank God for His blessings and the gift of new life He had bestowed upon the mother and father of the child in presenting him to the Temple. The Catholic Church blesses new candles for use on the Altar and in Church on this Feast. As part of the celebration of Mass, we give thanks for the gift of light and the use of candles in worship of God and we remember that Jesus is the Light of the World.  In His Birth, the Glory of the Lord was revealed.  As the Magi visited Him, He was presented to the world, not just to the Jewish nation and peoples.  In His Presentation in the Temple, Simeon foretells the reason for Jesus’ Coming to earth – that He will be a sign that is rejected and a sword of pain will pierce Mary’s soul too.  These chilling words point towards the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus will make as the Lamb of God as He…

Third Sunday on Ordinary Time: Jesus said; “This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.” Luke 4:22 ‘The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for He has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, To proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour. ‘ Lk 4:18,19   At Mass this coming weekend we will hear these words being read as they are being proclaimed by Jesus in the Synagogue in Nazareth, His home town. St Luke mentions that Jesus was a regular worshipper in the Synagogue on the Sabbath Day and was in there praying and serving as He usually was. It was His turn to read from the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah.  He read these words of which He is the fulfilment. (c.f. Isaiah 61:1-3).   Throughout the whole of His life on earth, Jesus sets us an example.  Jesus, the All-Holy One, the Just One, the Son of God Incarnate in human flesh, goes to weekly worship, prays and reads Holy Scripture.  He does not need to do any of these things for He is the Author of all life and faith, but He chooses to submit to the Will and obedience of His Father, our Loving, Eternal and True God.  We too should imitate Jesus by our regular prayer, worship and study of scripture so we can take His word to others and bring about the Kingdom of God on earth by our actions. Jesus comes to fulfil the Law and the Prophets by His Incarnation, His becoming flesh as Man.  He is the living embodiment of the prophecy for Jesus’ whole life, work and ministry will be bringing about the promised…

Peace Sunday 20th January 2019 Jesus said “Peace I leave you, My Peace I give you.”  John 14:27 This weekend will be the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time and will also be Peace Sunday. Pope Francis continually asks all people to come together and pray for peace in our world. We hear these words every time we come to Mass as they are spoken just before we offer one another the sign of peace and friendship which is represented as a handshake. Jesus’ Peace is not as the world gives, for peace which comes from people can often only last a short time and it is conditional, that is, ‘if you do this then I’ll do that.’ Jesus’ peace is so much more and is unconditional.   Our Heavenly Father freely gives us His peace especially through the death and Resurrection of Jesus.  Through the Cross, God has reconciled us to Himself and all that stood between us and God has been destroyed through Jesus’ perfect sacrifice of Himself.  Through Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we can have peace with God and with each other. Our world needs God’s peace in all the places of conflict, hatred and division.  As we think and pray this through over the next week, may we remember to pray each day for peace to come into our world in a new way. Our prayer this week comes from part of Pope Francis’ prayer for peace: http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-a-prayer-for-peace Now, Lord, come to our aid!  Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace.  Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”.  Instil in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.   Lord, God of Abraham,…

The Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ Now when all the people had been baptised and while Jesus after His own Baptism was at prayer, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily shape, like a dove.  And a voice came from Heaven, ‘You are My Son, the Beloved; My favour rests on You.’   Luke 3:22 We have now come to the end of the Christmas season which closes with the final ‘epiphanal’ or ‘showing’ of Christ to the world. This weekend we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus.  This marks the beginning of Ordinary Time once again. Over the past few weeks the Church has concentrated upon the Coming and the Birth of Jesus and the visit to the Infant Jesus by the Magi with their three symbolic gifts.  Now, we fast forward to when Jesus is a thirty-year old man.   Following His hidden years in Nazareth as a humble carpenter, we come to the moment in His life when Jesus is about to begin His public ministry which will culminate in His Death, Resurrection and Ascension. Before He begins His ministry and the work that His Father has given Him to do, Jesus comes to be baptised.  He comes to John, His cousin, and presents Himself to be baptised by him.  In choosing to be Baptised, Jesus becomes our role model once again and sets out the path He asks us to follow.  We too share in Jesus’ Baptism when we are baptised either as infants or children perhaps even later on as an adult seeking to be received into the Church.  Through our Baptism, we become adopted into God’s Family, we become children of God.  We become like Jesus. Jesus’ Baptism is one of the last epiphanial moments in…

Fourth Week of Advent ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary, ‘let what you have said be done to me.’  Luke 1:38 Are you prepared? We are coming close to the approaching Feast of Joy – celebrating the birth of the Lord Jesus at Christmas. We may be getting our homes prepared with the cards, presents and gathering our shopping to help us celebrate with family and friends, but are our hearts prepared? Have we been able to spend time alone with the Lord over the past three weeks of Advent and really ponder His Majesty, His Power, and His tender, merciful Love? In our Gospel reading this week, Mary did not know that the angel Gabriel would come to visit her to ask her to become the Mother of Jesus but because her faith in God was strong and she spent time alone quietly reflecting on what her life’s purpose might be – her heart was prepared and she said her ‘yes’ to God.  Her ‘yes’ to God would carry her through the dark times of her pregnancy with the infant Christ growing and developing in her spotless womb. It would strengthen her when the tears flowed as misunderstanding and rejection initially by Joseph, (until his dream from the Lord telling him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife for she was with child by the power of the Holy Spirit) as well as her own people and the friends and neighbours she grew up with who had judged her once they discovered she was unmarried and pregnant.  It would embolden her as Joseph died when Jesus was a teenager, and would keep her going through the thirty years which Jesus spent with her in humility and obscurity as He laboured in Nazareth as a…

Third week of Advent “I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God.”  Isaiah 61:10 As we are now in the third week of Advent the candle on the Advent wreath changes from purple to pink.  The third Sunday of Advent is also known as ‘Gaudete Sunday’.  The word ‘gaudete’ in Latin means ‘rejoice’.  Our focus now shifts towards Mary as she prepares to give birth to Jesus very soon and she is filled with joy as she eagerly awaits the time when she will become His Mother.  Mary has also been waiting for the dawning of a new age and time where love, hope, peace and joy will come. God will bring all these wonderful things to the earth when He comes to us as a tiny, helpless baby. Through the readings at Mass, we too are encouraged to be joyful and rejoice in God.  We may search for ways to be happy but the Bible tells us that true and lasting joy and happiness can only be found in God – everything else satisfies us only for a short time and we soon end up looking for other ways to be fulfilled and content.  If we give ourselves to God then He will give us joy which never ends – even when times are tough and we may go through difficulties.  He promises never to leave us alone.  He has come to us and will stay with us for ever. The readings all point to the joy which Jesus, Our God-With-Us and our salvation comes to us. Salvation is not a thing but a person.  Jesus is God’s Salvation in Person and when we receive Him into our lives He brings only light, joy and happiness.  Our lives may seem like we are walking…

Second Week in Advent “A voice cries in the wilderness; Prepare a way for the Lord, make His paths straight.” Luke 3:4 As we come to the second week in Advent, we hear the words of the prophet Isaiah re-spoken by St John the Baptist from within the heart of the wilderness as he preaches conversion, repentance and baptism. During the Second Week of Advent it can be scary to encounter the figure of St John the Baptist. He is the man who lives in the wilderness, wearing clothes made out of camel hair, tied with a leather belt and one who eats locusts and wild honey for his food.   He is the ‘loud speaker’ for the Lord as he is the one who comes before Christ and prepares the way for Him.  The message he preaches is the same as that which Jesus Himself also speaks at the beginning of His Ministry. “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” Our theme for the Second Week of Advent is also faith.  As we journey in faith we seek to move closer to the Lord during this Holy Season let us also seek to draw closer to each other. How are we to make way for the Lord? At this time of year we can be so busy with all the ‘other’ Christmas preparations that our activities of shopping, card writing, decorating, socialising and visiting relatives can drown out the still small voice of God and we could easily forget the real reason for all our hustle and bustle and busyness – the Birth of Jesus, the Word Made Flesh – God with us, God becoming human. God in His love reaches out to us and gently draws us in close to Him once again through the celebration of…

Holy Season of Advent – 1st Sunday in Advent Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come.  So stay awake because you do not know when the Master of the house is coming.’ Mark 13:34,35a This weekend begins the Holy Season of Advent.  On Sunday, it will be the First Sunday in Advent.  We are now in the new Church Year and we have also begun our individual Advent journeys. Advent is four weeks of personal spiritual preparation.  As we aim to make more room in our hearts and lives for God by prayer, reflection and acts of kindness towards those in need, our hearts and lives become more ready to welcome the new-born Jesus into our lives anew at Christmas. The word ‘Advent’ comes from a Latin word adveniat meaning either ‘to come’ or ‘to arrive’. During Advent we remember the first coming of Jesus as a tiny baby, born in a stable in Bethlehem and we look towards His Second Coming as our King at the end of time when He will gather all people to Himself. Advent is a time of joyful expectant waiting.  We are to wait in hope because our Saviour is coming to rescue us! The Gospel reading tells us we are to stay awake because we do not know when He will come back again.  We should be “about our Father’s business”, serving Him in how we treat others and how we live our lives. We need to be prepared.  How exactly do we do this?  We can try and make more time for God each day through prayer, attending Mass, going to extra little services/Bible studies/prayer events taking place in our parishes.  We can mark the passing of Advent with…