Below are the notes used for the above. The Eucharistic Prayer   Many prayers in liturgy: opening prayers, blessing of water, consecration of priest. Pride of place to EP.   More than a prayer. Words of Christ prayed by Church which bring about central action. Work of redemption. Sacrifice of...

As far as I know, we have no photographs of Jesus. Nor TV, nor YouTube live-streaming, nor audio-recordings. We do have lots of writings about him, but nothing written by him. He chose to live in a time and in a way where you could only meet him in person....

I recently took a run down to Ardrossan just for a walk and change of scenery. It’s always nice to be able to go back to the old home town, especially when you can take it easy and reminisce. In my lifetime there, we lived in three different houses: Coalhill...

With the image of the true vine, Jesus is talking about himself as the source of true life and fruitfulness. Anyone who is joined to him is a branch on the vine.   We are very aware in these pandemic days of how fragile life is. The vaccines have helped...

The generosity and self-sacrifice of so many people are simply heroic: the mother who pours herself out in caring for a sick child; the father who slaves away at difficult work to put food on the table; the nurses and doctors who have put themselves last to care for Covid...

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Pope Saint Paul VI in person at the audience hall now named after him in Rome. I had arrived in Rome on 10 October 1975, a Friday, and went to the papal audience the following Wednesday, 15 October. The excitement was high,...

The death of Christ is the act by which the floodgates of divine mercy are thrown wide open. To talk of God’s mercy means to talk of the death of Jesus. To ask for that mercy and to receive it means to be placed inside the death of Jesus. All...

HOLY THURSDAY These three holiest of days breathe deeply of Jesus. During them, the believing heart is drawn into a truer and deeper union of love with Him in his great work of redemption, the healing of man and the healing of creation. We call these three days the Sacred...