Who Are the Pallbearers?
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost Today the holy Gospel takes us to the little town of Naim. Our Lord approaches with His disciples, and as He does so, a funeral cortege is processing out in direction of the graveyard. The dead man was young, the only son of his widowed mother. The details are important, because […]
Square Pegs and Round Holes
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost For the second time this month, the sacred liturgy brings before us what is probably the best known part of the Sermon on the Mount, with its command to contemplate the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. They do not amass treasures of any kind, and yet […]
Gratitude Flows From Love
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost Today’s Gospel offers us a poignant lesson in the importance of gratitude. The ten lepers in their faith beg the Lord to cleanse them from their deadly disease which forced them to live on the margins of society. The Lord mercifully complies and sends them off to the priest. This was […]
The Maternal Warning
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary In the ancient Roman liturgy, before the definition of the dogma of the Assumption by Pope Pius XII and the composition of the beautiful Mass that we now sing on this feast, the Gospel read on this day was that of Our Lord’s visit to Martha and Mary in […]
If I Do Not Give God, I Do Not Give Enough
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost Today’s Holy Gospel presents us with the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan. Instinctively, when we read this parable our thoughts go to the generous-minded soul who is always ready to lend a helping hand wherever it might be necessary. To say of so-and-so that he is a Good Samaritan is […]
The Deafness that Leads to Dumbness
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost In today’s holy Gospel, we are given to contemplate the healing of a man who was both deaf and dumb. Our Blessed Lord takes him apart from the crowd, because such is the prerequisite for hearing His word, letting it take root in our heart and thus being delivered from our […]
August St Cecilia Triduum
For this month’s triduum, which runs from 1-3 August, I would offer some reflections inspired by St Ignatius. Three points will nourish our prayer and penance for these three days. First, we can all relate to Ignatius, the young man who thirsted for human love and earthly glory. He himself tells us of this, and […]
Where Does Our Allegiance Lie?
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost Today’s sacred liturgy brings before our eyes the well-known parable of the pharisee and the publican, the one proud, the other humbled, the one who praises himself, the other who glorifies God, the one who is rejected, the other who is received and pardoned. The parable reminds us of that most […]
The Tears of God
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost Today’s holy gospel brings before our eyes Our Lord’s prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem. His sadness at the fall of the cherished city erupts into tears. They are the tears of God who weeps over His chosen people who, after so many offers of grace, after centuries of prophecies announcing […]
