Reflections, sermons and homilies.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster has issued the following Pastoral Letter for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
The prayer of our Mass today expresses the desire of our faith: that God's grace will create in us "hearts that are true and just" which can be "a dwelling pleasing to you." We pray that our way of life will be marked by an unaffected truthfulness an...
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I doubt if any one of us does not use social media in some form or another. I hear friends express their horror of Twitter and Facebook, ' I don't use such things, they cause too much trouble', they say, but then are quite emboldened to spend hours on their mobile phones or using email correspondence! Not one of us is exempt from at least one contemporary met...
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
If you listen to or watch the media at the moment, you will be conscious of several 'dark' themes, the issues surrounding climate change, the ease with which an epidemic can develop into a pandemic and the general dissatisfaction with politics, where truth and honesty seem disposable necessities in a culture or political squirming, wriggling, mendacity! In al...
As part of its celebrations for the Year of the Word, the Diocese of Leeds is running a series of podcasts entitled A History of the Word in 12 Objects from Leeds Diocese. Each podcast showcases various objects, chosen from churches and schools across the Diocese, which illustrate the Bible's relevance to our Faith. The initiative has been devised and produced by Diocesan Year of the Word Scrip...
In his prayer intentions this month Pope Francis focusses on the issue of human trafficking. In his video he says: "We cannot be silent accomplices of the organized criminal phenomenon of human trafficking. Much less can we be protagonists of it, even indirectly.
"Faced with those who live off the misfortune of others and who take advantage of their desperation, let ...
The Pope has warned Catholics against succumbing to a spirit of "worldliness," that deadens our awareness of our sins.
At the morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta on 31 January, the Pope reflected on the first reading, and how even the once holy King David had been tempted into sin. He observed that David had forgotten he had been chosen by God, and had slid into a comfortable life where, dea...
Men and women consecrated to God have "caught sight of the treasure worth more than any worldly good," according to Pope Francis. The ability to recognise Jesus and see "what really matters in life," is at the heart of religious life, the Pope observed at a Vigil Mass for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which marks the World Day of Consecrated Life.
The Pope compared the consec...
February 2nd 2020
Candlemas, as it is anciently known in the UK, is a wonderful feast, we owe its place in our Christian calendar to the Eastern communities of Christianity, known as the Hypapnte or Meeting, based on the events described in Luke 2 where Jesus is presented in the Temple by Mary and Joseph where the baby is revealed as the promised one to Simeon and Anna. As Presentation o...
God will judge us with the measure we use to judge others, the Pope said at Mass on Thursday morning.
Reflecting on today's Gospel, Mark 4: 21-24, he noted that each of us has "a way of measuring ourselves, things and others" and this very measure will be the one the Lord will use to measure us.
Thus, those who judge selfishly may expect to be judged the same way: those who are m...
Pope Francis has urged Catholics to read the Bible every day, and keep the Gospel to hand on our mobile phones.
Comparing the Bible to a "love letter" from God to mankind, the Pope said yesterday that Catholics should be "open" to His word, rather than going to him with rote prayers."
"To follow Jesus, mere good works are not enough; we have to listen daily to his call," Francis sa...
When I was in Primary School - a long time ago - I remember the question being asked in catechism class; "When are you late for Mass?" You wouldn't believe it but the answer then was, so long as you are in for just after the gospel you're not late! The implication being that what had happened up to then was not that important.
Nothing could be further from the truth. This was based on an ...
Third Sunday in ordinary Time
These words of Jesus should have a profound effect on us because they are crucial to his ministry and proclamation of the Good News and of what we too seek: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."(Mt 4:17) We hear and read these words often enough, but how far does that phrase sink into our faith life and religious consciousness, what does it me...
During morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis spoke of the danger of jealousy and envy that can lead us to misjudge others. These two words, he said, are the "seed of war."
The Gospel reading of the day describes how King Saul's jealousy of David fades. Pope Francis said the king's jealousy comes from the fact that although he had killed ten thousand enemies, and David 'only' one ...
Today marks a gem of a feast, although one that is lesser known - the 'Feast of the Espousal of Mary and Joseph' - also referred to as the 'Feast of the Holy Spouses.'
A feast in honour of the Espousal of Mary and Joseph was first celebrated on August 29, 1517, when Pope Leo X granted the Nuns of the Annunciation permission to do so. In the 19th and 20th century, other permissions were gi...
