A famous theologian called Von Balthasar wrote some years ago that just as Jesus can only be understood better as God in relation to the Father and the Spirit, so he can only be understood fully as man by the key human relationships of his earthly life. I suppose that’s...
This homily is directed to parishioners in Largs, Fairlie and Sklemorlie! I want to appeal to your sense of holy defiance. Covid has had us pinned down, restricted and constricted since March. In both parishes, it has deprived many of the spiritual lifeline of Holy Communion and Reconciliation. It has...
Sacraments are encounters. Scriptures. Prayer. Creation. People, “even the least of these brethren” – the unborn, the terminally ill. Conscience, “vox Dei.” Hard to think of a situation where a meeting with Christ is not possible, is not already happening, at least from His side. All of the above are...
No less than four times, Jesus bids us stay awake in today’s Gospel. We need to sleep, of course, so he’s not saying that Christians are to be insomniacs. He is urging us to be ready for Him, but only because He desires that we will want to be ready...
Is there a connection between Christ the King and Catholic Education? Well, first, let’s remember that the full title of today’s Solemnity is: Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King. The word universal gives us the link to Catholic Education. Catholic means universal. Turning that around, we could also stretch it...
The first two days of November turn our thoughts to heaven (All Saints) and to purgatory (All Souls). Traditionally, long before Remembrance Sunday was ever instituted, the Church has called on us to pray for the faithful departed but also to consider our own eternal destiny. To do so is...
The Solemnity of All Saints draws our minds and hearts to that dogma of the Catholic faith which is called the “communion of saints.” The word dogma has become a bad word today. People use it pejoratively when, for example, displeased they call someone “too dogmatic.” What they mean is...
The pandemic has laid us all a bit low in so many ways. In my contacts with parishioners I have come across all kinds of emotions and states of mind and heart. Among the difficult ones are anxiety, fear, boredom, loneliness, depression, anger, frustration and apathy. By no means is...
