16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
The parables of Jesus are not too remote from our own daily experience; at least it’s not difficult to understand them. Many are about household activities, the woman putting yeast into the flour, planting of seeds, harvesting weeds and wheat, being at a banquet. All these images can resonate either directly or indirectly with our own lives, and tha...
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Some of Jesus parables are very easy to understand, such as the parable of the sower who sews seed on the land. Because it falls in different places, it dies, withers away, gets choked by weeds, or yields a rich harvest in good soil. In this parable Jesus likens the sower to the messenger of the Good News, the seed is the message itself and the v...
I don’t care! Some people will say that straight out. They really don’t care about other people, their suffering, their hardship or anything else that is going on in the world. They are completely wrapped up in themselves and live selfish lives. As I say some of them will tell you straight out I don’t care. Most are more subtle. They say they care but they don’t really. Probl...
It seems clear from our great spiritual traditions that at some point on our journey we are going to discover that power, wealth, celebrity and success are not the answer to the meaning of our existence. These things might give us comfort, enable us to carve a position in the world but they cannot last. Many things can change them, illness, catastrophe, aging, above all that journey into our le...
Half a century has passed since the six-day war when Israel occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Despite stalled peace processes and the sufferings entailed by the occupation, people still hope for a better future.
The World Council of Churches has published reflections by 12 people with different backgrounds sharing their hopes for justice and pea...
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Quite frequently I find myself reflecting on the Christian journey I have made, the people who were my inspirations and guides on it and the direction I travel now. It seems to me to be a good time to bring together in my own way, much as Augustine did in his Confessions, the route that the Lord has taken me as his disciple. Don’t get me ...
Pope Francis on Thursday morning celebrated Mass in St Peter’s Square to mark the feast of Saints Peter and Paul.
In his homily the Pope focused on three words, confession, persecution and prayer, which he said are essential for the life of an apostle today.
The full text of Pope Francis’ homily follows:
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The liturgy today offers us three words ess...
Pope Francis yesterday morning told believers not to look to horoscopes or to consult fortune-tellers to foresee the future; but to allow God to guide them in a journey full of surprises. The Pope was speaking during the last Santa Marta Mass of the season before the summer holidays and his return from an apostolic visit to Colombia in September.
Inviting Christians not to be “too sett...
Fr Augusto Zampini Davies theological advisor at CAFOD gave the following homily on Sunday, 25 June 2017 at Holy Apostles, Pimlico in central London.
The images of the inferno at the Grenfell Tower in London will remain with us for a long time. It was ‘terrifying’ - truly horrible. London will not be the same after that disaster.
Also, (it feels like) terror by extremis...
12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
A number of phrases readily come to mind, when, lost for my words in prayer, I try to think what Jesus is saying to me in the Scriptures. They are phrases you and I hear frequently: ‘do not be afraid, peace be with you, I am with you always’ and so on. However something less obvious occasionally leaps out at me, and not usually the easiest scriptural sayin...
In order to hear the voice of the Lord, you need to make yourself small. That was the message of Pope Francis in his homily during morning Mass Casa Santa Marta on Friday, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Lord has chosen us, the Pope said. He has “mixed Himself up with us in the journey of life,” and has given “His Son, and the life of His Son, for our love.”
"The Good Shepherd gives his life for his sheep," Pope Francis during his homily at Casa Santa Marta this morning. Reflecting on the readings of the day, the Pope noted in Saint Paul, the figure of the "true shepherd", who does not abandon his sheep unlike a "mercenary". The first quality, therefore, the Holy Father indicated, is that St Paul is "passionate." Passionate, he added, "to the point...
Passionist priest Fr Martin Newell gave the following reflection on the 20th anniversary of his ordination and his 50th birthday on 11 June, at the Catholic Worker House in London.
In my last year at Seminary, I was in the staff room getting the key for the photocopy room, when a former staff member walked in. He saw me and said “Are you still here?” I guess it is pretty obvi...
On Sunday evening, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the Roman Basilica of St John Lateran which was followed by a procession to the Basilica of St Mary Major to mark the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.
In his homily Pope Francis chose to reflect on one word, 'Memory'. The Pope said that “remembering all that the Lord has done for us is the foundation of our own personal history of salvation...
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