Reflections, sermons and homilies.
During the Angelus with pilgrims in St Peter's Square on Sunday, Pope Francis commented on the day's Gospel (Luke 12.49-53), in which Jesus speaks of the "fire" which he came to throw on the earth. The Pope explained that "the fire" that Jesus came to ignite, pushed disciples "to abandon every attitude of laziness, apathy, indifference." Christianity has spread "overcoming every division betw...
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Gospel is certainly not an easy one to listen to, nor meditate on, for instance the question that Jesus answers himself, 'Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division,' has a real sense of tribulation and difficulty about it. We can see in the Church this happening today, different focus groups clai...
We live in a world with so much poverty. It is a day to day painful reality. Recently I was at a Jesuit Justice and Ecology conference in Johannesburg. One of the speakers (a Jesuit) defined poverty as pure evil - there is no other explanation. I feel that this definition fits perfectly.
I am always thankful that I am in full-time employment. Despite this, I find it difficult to make ends...
Fr Dominic Robinson gave this homily last night, during Mass at Farm Street Church, in Mayfair, London, on the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady.
You may have become acquainted already with our new commission by Andrew White, our artist-in-residence, called Mother Mary - just over there. It's challenged me to wonder who Mary really was. The indescribable but deeply engaging is ...
Gospel of 13 August 2019 - Matthew 18: 15-20 Jesus said to his disciples: 'If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to li...
Most Rev Mark Davies, Bishop of Shrewsbury, gave this homily at the end of the New Dawn Charismatic Renewal Conference, in Walsingham, on Friday, 9th August.
A new dawn broke upon this world with the advent of Jesus Christ (Cf. Lk. 1:78). In the light of that dawn we see how every chapter of human history, every successive challenge to Christ and His Church are merely the last, ...
Pope Francis reflected on Sunday's Gospel during Angelus yesterday with pilgrims in St Peter's Square. He also spoke about 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions which is being marked today.
In this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus tells His disciples to "gird your loins and light your lamps". Pope Francis described this image as one that "recalls the attitude of the pilgrim, ready to set out...
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time -
For some reason these particular words of Jesus recorded by Luke leapt out at me as I read through the Gospel. 'Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more'. (Lk 12:48b) This may be because I felt the weight of being the Director of Summer Schools, a mixed blessing, which does ca...
At our Ignatian Day, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, the Primate of the Anglican Church in South Africa, spoke about "Ignatian Spirituality: Finding God in South Africa today." In the question and answer session following his talk, people shared with great feeling, their anger, frustration and concerns about so many of the struggles we face in our country. They spoke of the simmering anger of many in...
August 6th 2019
There is a high mountain we all must climb with Jesus , one where darkness is banished and brilliant light surrounds the three disciples with Jesus. Here we too rest, struggling with another conundrum, but it is one where an answer is given us. Jesus is seen as he truly is, the mystery of God is caught and glimpsed. Peter grapples with what he sees and is inadequate in h...
People were shopping, here in El Paso, getting ready to send their children back to school and help them get the education that provides a level of economic security for their futures. Attending school means our children will find better jobs someday, with opportunities for developing their skills, their intellects, their social abilities, their values and their spiritual lives.
But for a...
18th Sunday in 0rdinary Time
With all the talk of tribalism going the rounds, particularly in political discourse, religious people should be setting some example of inclusivity, but we are not. The mentality of the so-called 'culture wars' across the globe, but mainly the US and Europe, has infected and infested our communities of faith. Too often people in the Church portray themselves ...
In his prayer video for the month of August 2019, Pope Francis invites us to pray that "families, through their life of prayer and love, become ever more clearly schools of true human development."
The full text follows:
What kind of world do we want to leave for the future?
Let us leave a world with families.
Let us care for our families, because they are true ...
Bishop Nicholas Hudson gave this homily in the Chapel of St Joseph, Lourdes at the Mass for children and Pilgrims with Learning Disabilities Wednesday 24 July 2019
My Daddy was a very good man. And he taught me many things. One of the things he taught me was that when Jesus said, "Love your neighbour", it was actually true. You really can love your neighbour. When I was about six...
