Of Dumb Dogs
Third Sunday of Lent In the opening verses of today’s Gospel we have a summary of the two kinds of reactions that men in every age have before the manifestations of the divine. St Luke tells us that the crowds were in admiration. The awe before the astonishing feat is one of the most natural […]
St Cecilia Triduum, March 2024
Saint Cecilia Triduum of Prayer and Fasting March 2024 Lent is the time par excellence for fasting and other forms of penance. It is also the time to turn our minds and hearts to Calvary. The first point we can consider is the great love Our Blessed Lord has for us. He did not have […]
No Reason to Despair
Second Sunday of Lent It was just a few weeks before our Lord’s passion and death. He takes with Him His three favourite apostles, Peter, James and John, and goes for a walk up the mountain. They leave behind the plain, the world, their friends and loved ones. And there in that solitude with the […]
The Great Temptation
First Sunday of Lent Each year, as we enter the holy season of Lent, Holy Mother Church invites us to turn our attention to our Blessed Lord as He spends forty days in the desert, fasting and waging war with the devil. Our Lord’s fast was total. He ate nothing during those forty days and […]
Rejoice with the Truth, not with Iniquity
Quinquagesima Sunday On this last Sunday before the beginning of Lent, Holy Mother Church wants us to be clear about the real meaning of penance. None of the acts of self-denial we might offer up serve any purpose at all if they are not animated by true love of God and neighbour, in other words […]
Let the Grain Die
Sexagesima Sunday The one who goes out to sow is of course Our Blessed Lord Himself. From the beginning of time, He goes out in every age to sow the seed of His Word, hoping that here or there, some soul might welcome it and allow it to take root in his soul. Sadly, most […]
St Cecilia Triduum February
Prayer and fasting from Thursday 1 to Saturday 3 February. This month’s triduum falls as we prepare for the beginning of Lent. The three Sundays that precede Ash Wednesday, known traditionally as Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima, each have a specific lesson for us as we are about to enter the great penitential season, and so […]
Let’s Stop Fooling Ourselves
Septuagesima Sunday The great and obvious lesson of Septuagesima Sunday is that life is serious. We have a choice to make, and little time to make it. We are asked to choose between ourselves and God, between our comfort and hard work, between our dreams and reality. St Paul teaches us in the epistle that […]
“I Like to Think Heaven is Empty”
Third Sunday after Epiphany “I like to think Hell is empty; I hope it is.” So said recently a well-known religious leader. As one astute commentator observed, what it boils down to is that the one who said it hopes that Jesus is wrong. Indeed, Our Lord Jesus Christ is abundantly clear on the subject […]
