DEVOTION TO THE SAINTS The saints are often an untapped source of love, friendship, help and affection as we make our way through life. The Letter to the Hebrews depicts them as a great cloud of witnesses to Jesus who are all surrounding us and cheering us on, as the...
I DESIRE TO DESIRE TO BE A SAINT Sainthood can seem an unattainable dream when we think of ourselves as candidates. The daily experience of our moral fragility and weakness can appear to put to rest any notion of such an exalted aim. But to accept that is to buy...
LOVE DEMANDS LOVE It can seem a strange proposition to command someone to love you. Our experience is that we either fall in love whether we want to or not, or else love blossoms as the result of kinship or other social ties. If someone came up to you and...
During my own missionary globetrotting, I saw that missionaries often met with tension from the local public authorities. This is especially so when they are engaged in works like education, health and the care of the poor. In poorer countries, the state can envy missionary-run schools and hospitals, not just...
ON MISSION TO CAESAR With his words about Caesar and God, Jesus, the first to do so in history, separated religion from state. It is Christ who commands us to keep these two separate. The state is secular, i.e. it deals with the organization and administration of our earthly affairs,...
THE BODY AS A SACRIFICE PLEASING TO GOD (Romans 12:1-2) Through the body we are present to one another. Our body mediates to the other not just the fact of our presence but also how we are present. Body language gives the other a lot of information about me...
WHEN IS THE POPE MOST POWERFUL? (Matthew 16:13-20) A triumphalistic view of the papacy revels in today’s Gospel reading as if the Pope were a God on earth, with exclusive authority in matters spiritual, infallible in all his utterances and never to be challenged or contradicted. This view of...
HOW DOES YOUR MAGNIFICAT GO? Luke 1:39-56 Mary’s Magnificat is a prayer and song (“canticle”) we have all known and loved, and sung, since our early years. It is so positive, so full of thanksgiving and praise, so uplifting, so learned, so inspired and inspiring, so filled with hope,...
CONFIDENCE IN JESUS (Romans 8:35,37-39) “Nothing can come between us and the love of Christ.” These words are spoken by St. Paul in today’s second reading. What we need to remember is that Paul considered himself the worst of all sinners at the time Jesus appeared to him on...
THE EXTREME CHARITY OF ST. PAUL (Romans 8:35,37-39) In the second reading of today’s Mass, the Church continues to have us read, and hear, from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans. We have left behind the wonderful, comforting and inspiring chapter 8 of recent weeks, and are...
