Sometimes, the way you imagine someone or someplace to be turns out to be very different from the reality. You may evenconvince other people to expect someone to look the way you describe them. Sciencefiction films have developed a whole gallery of figures, both pleasant andterrifying, which might lead us...

The Catholic religion is a religion of the body as much as of the soul. While it is true to say that Jesus died to save our souls, it is truer still to say that He died to save the whole of our being, body and soul. We don’t just...

To confirm something is to provide reassurance that it is true. It is to strengthen its credibility and reliability. It is to dispel uncertainty or doubt. As a result, it is to make people more confident. If I confirm that the flight will arrive at 12 Noon, it means that...

I give you three words from today’s Gospel which go together: love, obedience and joy. Of the three, we all probably like the first and the third. It is the second word which gives us problems. We all want love and we all want freedom. But we are not so...

This is Vocations Sunday. I have written something in the bulletin for you on the usual theme of vocations. But here I would like to take another angle on the idea of vocation. St. John, in the second reading, draws our attention towards the future: “we are already the children...

“Ladies and gentlemen, we got him!” These were the words of the US Administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer referring to the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003. I suppose the words could have referred to anyone, but everyone knew who was meant, and everyone knew that those words were a...

The passion and death of Jesus Christ are not even a footnote in history for those who do not acknowledge him to be anything more than a human being. To begin to grasp their significance requires faith in him and love of him. Faith makes accessible to the mind the...

This is my body given for you. If someone said that to you out of the blue, you might well be taken aback. Leaving aside the immoral meaning the phrase might have, to give your body to someone should mean that you first love them with your deepest heart and...

Sometimes they strew His way,And His sweet praises sing;Resounding all the dayHosannas to their King:Then “Crucify!”is all their breath,And for His deaththey thirst and cry. We began our celebration today at the front door of the church in a spirit of exultation. We literally hosanna-ed Jesus in. His entry into...

Obedience is not a popular word today. We are sold instead the dogma of self-will, the do-as-you-please philosophy. And yet that dogma is an illusion. All you need do is get caught on a speeding camera and you will get a hefty fine for disobeying the rules. All you need...