(Parish Priest Canon Pat Browne gave the following homily on Sunday at Holy Apostles, Pimlico.)
I think it might have been the Indian priest Anthony De Mello who told this story. A man was in need of money and asked his boss to help him out. His boss set him a challenge: if he can spend all night on the top of a mountain, he will receive a great reward; if...
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time -
Any one in the business of dealing with people knows the highs of encountering others, meeting new persons, finding common bonds, learning and sharing with them as well as creating friendships that often last a lifetime. There's more of course, it depends on what vocational work one is doing. But there are the lows as well. People can be very ...
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time One of the enduring images in the story of early English Christianity is the tale of Bede's sparrow. It wasn't in fact Bede's tale at all, but in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, he tells the story of King Edwin receiving the Gospel from St Paulinus about the year 625 AD. Discussing what this new faith might mean, one of the...
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of the great difficulties I've had all the years of firstly monastic and then priestly life, has been the inner battle between what I have been told I am to be and do by the Church, such as being a 'shepherd-pastor, putting others first, having a simplicity of life style and humility in my manner of working and being with others, and what my...
The Winter Living Theology 2018 series by Fr Bryan Massingale addressed and reflected upon the social and religious impact of racism and the duty that we have, as people of faith, to work towards healing this great wound in and of our society. Towards the end of the series, Fr Massingale said something which got me thinking seriously about my complicity in some of the most serious injustices of...
Every priest, at some point, will recognise this statement, usually uttered in all innocence: "Ah, but Sunday's your busy day, isn't it, Father?". Rarely would this be said with any malice although maybe with a little touch of gentle teasing.
Priests work hard and wouldn't complain; they feel sure that it's part of their vocation, but some do work too hard and risk burning themselves out,...
Your parish priest is always available for you, to celebrate Mass, visit the sick, speak with someone who doesn't have anyone else who will listen to him, and much more.
But he's not a superman. He's a person who, like everyone else, also feels alone sometimes. During those moments of loneliness, you can do a lot for him. Listen to him, visit him, smile at him. He needs it.
"The ti...
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I love poetry, I used to write it but like my painting stopped doing so because of the pressure of academic and pastoral life. That I now know was not good for me! Little by little I return back to being the artist I always wanted to be, but lest you think I'm turning my back on all I have done, I am not. Nothing is wasted! Everything I ha...
Pope Francis reflected on the "sublime mission" of parents, during his Angelus address to pilgrims in St Peter's Square on Sunday. t
Reflecting on the Gospel of Luke reading for the Feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist, the Pope said that in "every human person there is the imprint of God, the source of life" and he described the role of parents in "generating a child" as a "truly...
Nativity of St John the Baptist
"And as John was completing his course, he would say, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.'" (Acts 13:25)
The issue of naming children can be a complicated business. The birth of a new child into a family unit can give rise to all kinds of suggest...
Pope Francis celebrated Mass at Geneva's Palexpo Convention Center on Thursday afternoon, offering a message of forgiveness and a pathway towards Christian unity. In his homily, the Holy Father spoke about three words from Jesus' Our Father prayer: father, bread, and forgiveness.
Pope Francis said the prayer begins with Our Father, which is "the key to opening God's heart." He said these ...
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
* So we are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight". (2Cor 5:6-7)
It's odd what we react to in the news! Sometimes it is the great tragedies like Grenfell Tower that sear themselves into our minds. I can never pass the shrouded tower when I come into Lond...
"And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."(Mk 3:34-35)
The best of families or communities can go through great difficulties and get over them, that I think we can all understand, but what happens as it does occasionally, when family or community relationships break down...
Pope Francis has encouraged Christians to think back to their encounters with Jesus, to nurture memories of those who were the first to transmit to them the faith, and to remember the law of love.
Speaking during his homily at morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta yesterday, Pope Francis said that in order to be able to go forward in Christian life, we must think back to and cherish our first ...
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