This Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday or the Sunday to Rejoice. This weekend we light the pink or rose coloured candle on our Advent Wreath. The opening antiphon this Sunday encourages us with these words of hope, ‘rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.’ The first reading from...

At the time of Jesus, people knew where to go to experience and hear the Word of God; the Temple in Jerusalem. This had been the place of Divine Revelation for centuries; from where else would God the Almighty speak? The Scribes and the Pharisees were the ones who knew the ancient scriptures. They knew...

This Sunday we start the new church year; the beginning of the season Advent. Before Halloween ended the ghosts and witches were taken down in the shops and the Christmas decorations went up. The Christmas rush stared weeks ago. Over the next four weeks we will be surrounded by all the signs, sounds and symbols...

There was a time when most countries in the world were ruled over by a king or a queen. When these died, their children inherited their thrones and the royal family line continued. Today, however, there are very few countries where kings or queens rule their country by divine right. At the time of Jesus,...

The end of the current liturgical year is almost here. Next Sunday we will celebrate the Feast of Christ the King and after that the season Advent begins. In the gospel this Sunday a group stand in the Temple admiring its fine art work and beautiful architecture. Never one to temper his words, Jesus interrupts...

We are very familiar with Jesus confronting and challenging the Pharisees and Scribes. In the Gospel this Sunday he is facing another powerful religious and legal group; the Sadducees. This group of strict Jewish leaders did not believe in the resurrection of the body and so to trick and trap Jesus they create an exaggerated...

In last Sunday’s gospel we read about the Pharisee and the tax collector who went to the Temple to pray. One of them thought he was better than everyone else, the other knew he was a loved sinner. This Sunday we have another tax collector; little Zacchaeus, who is a senior tax collector. Although his...

The opening line of the first reading this Sunday sets the tone and theme for the Gospel that follows. We are told that the Lord is no respecter of personages. He shows no (more) respect of personages to the detriment of the poor. A personage is a dignitary, a VIP, or as we might say...

Have you been ever treated so badly that you tell yourself you feel like a leper? The first reading and the gospel this Sunday both contain lepers. At the time of Jesus anyone who was sick, especially lepers where badly treated and seen as sinners. Because of their illness and condition they were despised, hated...

Perhaps we have had the experience of another person telling us something that we find hard to believe, and on hearing it, our first response is I don’t believe it. It’s as if we can’t or won’t believe what we have heard unless it is proven to us beyond all doubt. Unfortunately this doesn’t work...