“The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus.” What hope that line gives us! To sin is to leave the company of Jesus or to refuse to seek it again. To repent is to return to close companionship with him, to seek his company...

  When I was first ordained a priest, I was sent to St. Teresa’s Church in Dumfries. As you know, Dumfries is the hub of the universe! I.e., not a lot happens in Dumfries! Don’t tell anyone from Dumfries I said that! Dumfries was at first a bit of a...

  Imagine you are hosting a dinner and one of your guests starts lecturing the other guests on how to behave; or says to you that your motive for having the dinner is only so that you can be invited back. It would be rude! But that’s precisely what Jesus...

  There are no pockets in a shroud. While we can accumulate external riches during our life, it’s only the internal riches that we save up which will survive the grave. Jesus nowhere teaches that money and wealth are bad in themselves, nor is he saying that we mustn’t practise...

  Just imagine the Apostles watching Jesus at prayer. It must have drawn their hearts deeply to the mystery of his Person. Jesus prayed often, for long periods, sometimes for the whole night. Together with his teaching, his miracles and just the way he was as a man, his prayer...

You’ve just got to love Martha! You can picture her standing there at the door of her house with open arms to welcome Jesus. I imagine her to be five-foot tall, on the plumpish side, of lively eyes and always on the go. I’m sure Jesus will have loved being...

Jesus outwits the lawyer in today’s Gospel who asks him two questions to trip him up.   The first is, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus turns the question back on him: you’re the lawyer, answer your own question from what the law says. The lawyer does...

No wonder the labourers for the harvest are so few if they are to be devoured like lambs by wolves! Nor does the prospect of being opposed and rejected exactly sound attractive! Yes, there would also be men of peace who would accept them, but Jesus’ forecast looked bad for...

Simon and Saul were both stubborn men. Simon was all muscle and brawn; Saul was all moralism and brain. They were both passionate men with very firm views. But all their bravado actually masked a deep fragility. Deep down, they were both cowards. They were afraid of God, the real...

The Bishops of Scotland normally celebrate the annual Day for Life on 31stMay, the feast of the Visitation. This year, however, it is being celebrated on Pentecost. That is why the second collection today will be for the pro-life activities of the Bishops.   It’s very appropriate that we celebrate...