Who do you say that I am?   When Jesus asks his friends in the gospel today, ‘Who do people say I am?’ they offer him a list of famous names from their own history and tradition; ‘John the Baptist,’ they said, ‘others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.’ Jesus doesn’t seem to be...

Jesus wants to heal us   The first reading today from the Prophet Isaiah proclaims with great energy; ‘Say to those who are afraid, “Be strong, do not be afraid! Here is your God… he is coming to save you.” Then the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will walk, and those...

Lip service or service of the heart   In the gospel today, while the conversation with Jesus and the religious leaders is still about food, it is more about the Pharisees and their ancient rules and rituals; The Jewish Law. They gather around Jesus and accuse him and his followers of eating without washing their...

Jesus the Word of Life   Last Sunday we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. Today we continue the conversation that Jesus is having with the people about his claim to be the Bread of Life that has come down from heaven. As the conversation continues, so too does the conflict and their...

The Assumption of Mary   Today in union with the Church, we are honouring Mary as we celebrate her Assumption into heaven. Along her Annunciation, the Visitation, The Presentation, the Finding in temple, to her vigil at the cross and finally while she was with the others at Pentecost, this is the culmination of her...

Jesus nourishes and strengthen us Our readings this Sunday continue the message that we were offered last week; that of food and Jesus being the Bread of Life. In the first reading from the Book of Kings, Elijah is in the desert. He is tired, sore and hungry. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘I have had enough....

Jesus – The Bread of life  Last Sunday Jesus fed the crowd by multiplying the loaves and the fish. The message of food is contained in both the first reading and the gospel today. In the first reading the people who have been freed from slavery are complaining and hungry. It seems they were happier...

Offering to Jesus whatever we have  For the next four Sundays the gospel will be taken from chapter six of John’s gospel. There is no last supper or meal in John’s gospel. But this chapter more than makes up for this. Next week we will hear Jesus say clearly I am the Bread of life....

The Disciples return to Jesus     In the gospel last Sunday, Jesus sent his followers out with his message to proclaim God’s Kingdom. The gospel today follows on immediately after this; having sent them out, they return to Jesus and he welcomes them back. The apostles rejoined Jesus and told him all they had...

We are called and sent by Jesus At one level, today’s gospel is a very easy one to understand. At another it is very challenging to each of us today. It begins with this; Jesus called the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs… so they set off to preach repentance; and anointed...