Holiness is not the leisurely pursuit of the chosen few. It is the final goal, the end-game, of the human adventure, of every human life. It is a universal, a Catholic, call and destiny. If the Beatific Vision is the destiny for which we strive; and if the content of...
There have been 10 million abortions in the UK since 1967 and 43 million abortions in the US from Roe-Wade (1973) to 2021. WHO says that around 73 million induced abortions take place worldwide each year. WHO calls abortion a “common health intervention.” It says that six out of ten...
The Pharisee in today’s parable is wrapped up in himself. Jesus even portrays him as saying his prayer to himself. He was so grand in his own eyes that God couldn’t get a look in. He had become his own god. It’s so easy to make religion, and even...
The Amalekites would have defeated Israel if Moses had not kept on praying and if those with him had not kept supporting him. Our real enemies are not flesh and blood, St. Paul tells us, but the spiritual forces of evil. We experience their power and onslaught every day. Jesus...
On Tuesday 4th October we reach the end of the Season of Creation, so this is the fifth and last Sunday in that season. Science tells us that the human body is made up of elements which all come from the stars. Every element in our DNA is to be...
Mary stands near the Cross, drawing the others with her. Her physical nearness expresses her spiritual nearness as well as the nearness of affection and concern any mother would have for her suffering child. Crucifixions were brutal and ugly to witness. The professional violence of the crucifiers was mingled with...
On twitter there has been going around a picture of the late Queen Elizabeth with a quotation from her which reads: “The teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you,...
On this first of two Sundays which fall within our Parish Festival, let’s turn our eyes, minds and hearts to our Patroness, St. Mary, Star of the Sea. The image of the Star of the Sea is rather evocative. The star shines to provide light and direction in the night...
The Cambridge English Dictionary defines a festival as a “a special day or period, usually in memory of a religious event, with its own social activities, food, or ceremonies.” The parish festival we will hold beginning this coming Friday is not so much about remembering an event as a person,...
The Church would simply not exist without the Holy Eucharist, because the Church is first the Body of Christ into which we are then incorporated. Remember that the Eucharist is both the act of worship we call the Mass as well as the Sacrament we receive into our bodies and...
