SELF ABANDONMENT FOR GOD
By Dr. Susan Muto
Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22(21): 8-9, 17-20, 23-24; Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 23:1-49
Passion Sunday
13th April 2025
The readings for Palm or Passion Sunday bring us face to face with a choice we must make: to turn away from Jesus or to adopt a spirit of self-abnegation, annihilating in us anything that is resistant to humble obedience to what he asks of us. Such abandonment represents the most radical truth lived by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, who knew in her heart that Jesus thirsted for her as much as she thirsted for him. So convinced was she of this truth that she wrote in her autobiography, “…Now abandonment alone guides me. I have no other compass!”
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CRUCIFORM LOVE OF CHRIST
By Dr. Joanne Mosley
Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalm 126(125): 1-6; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11
Fifth Sunday of Lent
6th April 2025
The Lenten theme of journeying to the Promised Land is today taken to a new level. The Israelites are once more in exile, this time captives in Babylon. The first reading, from Isaiah 43, begins by recalling the exodus out of Egypt – an event so important that Moses instructed the people, in Exodus 13:3-10, to remember it always. But now, the Lord says to them: ‘Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.’ How can this be? It is because God will do something even greater: ‘Behold, I am doing a new thing’.
THE JOY OF HOME COMING TO THE FATHER’S EMBRACE
By Dr. Joanne Mosley
Joshua 5:9, 10-12; Psalm 34(33): 2-7; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Laetare Sunday – Fourth Sunday of Lent
30th March 2025
The teachings of John of the Cross on the journey to union with God by the way of self-denial could appear less arduous if we began with his sketch of the allegorical Mount Carmel. For it shows us the destination, described as entrance into the land of Carmel where we may eat its fruit and good things. Laetare Sunday is just such a consolation along the way, where homecoming – arrival at our ultimate destination – is the overriding theme.
SALVATION DAWNS ANEW
By Dr. Iva Beranek
Isaiah 7:10-14, 8:10; Psalm 40(39): 7-11; Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38
Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
25th March 2025
Look, the young woman is with child, and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. The promise was given around eight centuries before the birth of Christ. Those must have been long 800 years of waiting.
The Israelites kept this promise alive within them by believing that Messiah would come. But how would they know to recognize Him when He finally arrived? We don’t often associate the Feast of the Annunciation with the Dark Night of the Soul, but this poem may give you a slightly different insight.
ALMIGHTY, BUT STILL FOR ME
By Dr Joanne Mosley
Exodus 3:1-8, 13 -15; Psalm 103 (102): 1-4, 6-8, 11; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9
Third Sunday of Lent, Year C
23rd March 2025
On this third Sunday, the readings take us into the heart of the Lenten message. There is the desert, the prospect of the journey to freedom, and a call to repentance. But the scriptures give us more even than this. They lift the veil on the encounter of the human and the divine. The entire reading from Exodus is like holy ground, for here, God reveals his presence and his name. The details of this episode are very significant.
ITE AD ST IOSEPH – GO TO ST JOSEPH
By Br. Chidi JohnBosco, OCD
2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16; Psalm 89(88):2-5, 27, 29; Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22; Luke 2:41-51
Solemnity of St Joseph
19th March 2025
In the liturgy of the word of this great Solemnity of St Joseph, we are presented with three men whose faith in God was undaunted. God’s promise to Abraham and David was fulfilled in Jesus Christ through Joseph, the Son of David. According to Matthew, the genealogy recorded in the gospel indicates that God keeps his promise. After the promise was made to Abraham, God’s faithfulness was revealed in Jesus Christ after forty-two generations. We are at liberty to shout for joy and sing with the Psalmist and say that the Lord remembers his covenant forever, the promises he made for a thousand generations.
MIND THE GAP
By Dr. Iva Beranek
Acts 13:46-49; Psalm 117(116); 1-2; Luke 10:1-12, 17-20
Feast of St Patrick
17th March 2025
The whole world celebrates St. Patrick’s Day, from China to Chicago and everywhere in between. Yet, I wonder how many people know the real Patrick and the inspiring story of his faith and resilience. Patrick was not born in Ireland, but in what we know today as Wales, and at the age of 16 he was taken into captivity to Ireland.
LISTEN THROUGH CHRIST’S SACRED HUMANITY
By Dr Joanne Mosley
Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18; Psalm 27(26): 7-9, 13-14; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36
Second Sunday of Lent, Year C
16th March 2025
The Mass readings on the second Sunday of Lent are like an encounter with the beginning and end of salvation history. They begin with the covenant with Abraham for his descendants, before even his son is born. And they take us to Christ, the summit of that line, on the threshold of his paschal mystery.
A covenant is between two parties, but here, God commits himself on behalf of both. The transfiguration is also rooted in covenant. It has been pointed out that the key to understanding it is Exodus 24, the covenant between God and his people, when Moses ascends Mount Sinai, and where God reveals his glory and the mountain is covered by a cloud. But Jesus is both human and divine, who makes himself accessible to us. Our scene on the mountain, which we refer to as Tabor, begins in a much more ordinary way. So ordinary, in fact, that Peter, James and John can hardly stay awake while Jesus is at prayer.
A PATTERN OF SELF MASTERY
By Dr. Joanne Mosley
Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Psalm 91(90):1-2, 10-15; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13
First Sunday of Lent, Year C
9th March 2025
The Lenten journey we are each called to follow is directly linked to salvation history, which is presented powerfully throughout the readings of Lent, not least on this first Sunday. The Hebrew scriptures on this day present not one particular stage of salvation history, but the essence of the whole journey. We, too, belong to the Lord, and the reading from Romans gives us our own confession of faith.
Saint Paul tells us, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Saint Paul is here presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of the law. In like manner, Edith Stein describes the law of the new covenant as the Lord himself. It is in this light that she explains the Carmelite spirituality of meditating on the law of the Lord. The Gospel of Luke holds before our eyes Jesus tempted in the wilderness.
WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART, RETURN
By Dr. Joanne Mosley
Joel 2:12-18; Psalms 51(50):3-6, 12-13; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6,16-18
Ash Wednesday
5th March 2025
As we enter into Lent, a path of 40 days, full of rich potential, Ash Wednesday gives us a cry from God that is of real beauty. The watchword of our journeying in Lent is there, right at the opening of the first reading, where God cries out to us, “Return to me with all your heart”. The overriding cry of the Lord is that he wants us to return to him.
Returning denotes repentance and conversion. In Judaism, it is known as Teshuva. Stress is laid on the importance of our free will, in that we can turn back to the Lord if we desire. Edith Stein, a Carmelite saint of Jewish heritage, emphasizes the heart when she invites us to make a choice for God. She writes, The Saviour. God has spilled his heart’s blood to win your heart.
SELF-KNOWLEDGE ANIMATED BY CHARITY
By Br. Chidi JohnBosco, OCD
Sirach 27:4-7; Ps 92(91): 2-3,13-16; 1 Corinthians 15:54-58; Luke 6:39-45
8th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year C
2nd March 2025
This Sunday’s readings present us with some actions and their precise consequences. They teach that certain actions have predictable and definite outcomes.
The first reading says, that when a sieve is shaken, the rubbish is left behind; when a man talks, the intentions of his heart are made known; and when the orchard where a tree grows is good, it will become evident from the fruit it produced. In the second reading, St Paul says that when this perishable nature has put on imperishability, and when this mortal nature has put on immortality, the words of scripture will come true: Death is swallowed in victory; death is defeated and has no power over us.
COMPASSIONATE AS THE FATHER
By Br. Chidi JohnBosco, OCD
1 Samuel 26:2-23; Psalm 103(102): 1-4, 8,10,12-13; 1 Corinthians 15:45-49; Luke 6:27-38
7th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year C
23rd February 2025
The readings for today have answered the frequently asked questions about “To whom am I to model my life?” Or as some others would ask, “What’s the best way to model my life?” Both questions are geared towards finding a better way to approach life. However, there is something more eternally rewarding that the readings offer. In the first reading, David says, “The Lord repays everyone for his uprightness and loyalty”; in the second reading, Paul tells us that if we model our lives to Christ, we will be like Him and become a life-giving spirit. In the gospel, Christ says we will have a great reward as sons and daughters of the Most High. The question is: How might we inherit these rewards?
BEATITUDES: A PORTRAIT OF ABUNDANCE
By Dr. Heather Wards, OCDS
Jeremiah 17:5-8; Psalm 1:1-6, 40(39):5; 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20; Luke 6:17, 20-26
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday 16th February 2025
I think it’s possible to read the beatitudes in Luke’s gospel as a summary of a central aspect of Old Testament faith and of the major prophets. Indeed, read in the light of Isaiah and Jeremiah we can more readily appreciate their eschatological dimension as well as their challenge to us.
In Old Testament terms, what makes the hungry and poor blessed? They are those who have not forgotten God and the need of salvation, they haven’t filled themselves with riches of any kind. This is the message of Deuteronomy chapter 32, verses10 to 18. God was with Israel in the desert and satisfied their needs in abundance. The same theme is found in Isaiah chapter 51: 1,7-8. It is those who are not filled but “look to the rock from which you were hewn” who are open to the message of deliverance; “fear not the reproach of men, and be not dismayed at their reviling.
IN LETTING GOD, LET DOWN YOUR NETS
By Dr. Heather Wards, OCDS
Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 138 (137):1-5; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday 9th February 2025
If we read today’s gospel in the light of our first reading I think we are invited to consider the nature of the holiness that is required of Isaiah and Peter. What might be said to be the prerequisites? Is there any message here about the kind of prayer associated with such holiness? Both Isaiah and Peter had an experience of God as the Holy One; meeting him reveals to them their own unlikeness to him and their own sinfulness is exposed. However, although Peter sees his unworthiness we can see in his response two positive, interlinked attitudes, of obedience and of faith. Peter is a skilled and experienced fisherman.
CONSECRATION TO THE ALL OR NOTHING
By Fr. Clement Obiorah, OCD
Malachi 3:1-4; Psalm 24 (23):7-10; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-23
Feast of the Presentation
Sunday 2nd February 2025
The Feast of the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple represents the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies, highlighting the Lord’s intention to cleanse His temple and renew the locale of worship in His body. Of this coming, Malachi in our first reading, prophesied the purging of the sons of Levi who in their irreverence and abuses failed to recognise the Lord in their consecration to him.
RESTORED IN THE SPIRIT OF JUSTICE
By Dr. Heather Wards, OCDS
Nehemiah 2:2-10; Psalm 19 (18): 8-10; Corinthians 12: 12-30; Luke 1: 1-21
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday 26th January 2025
I think any Jew or Christian of the time in which John’s gospel was written would hear in this account of the wedding at Cana a twofold message. Here is the Messiah, the Restorer, bringing in his kingdom, announcing his kingly rule. But, more than that, here is the bridegroom, restoring his people because of his spousal love for them.
I think any Jew or Christian of the time in which John’s gospel was written would hear in this account of the wedding at Cana a twofold message. Here is the Messiah, the Restorer, bringing in his kingdom, announcing his kingly rule. But, more than that, here is the bridegroom, restoring his people because of his spousal love for them.
FORETASTE OF THE WEDDING FEAST OF THE LAMB
By Dr. Heather Wards, OCDS
Isaiah 62: 1-5; Psalm 96 (95): 1-10; Corinthians 12: 4-11; John 2: 1-11
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday 19th January 2025
I think any Jew or Christian of the time in which John’s gospel was written would hear in this account of the wedding at Cana a twofold message. Here is the Messiah, the Restorer, bringing in his kingdom, announcing his kingly rule. But, more than that, here is the bridegroom, restoring his people because of his spousal love for them.
They might hear behind the story not only our first reading from Isaiah, but also the more explicit declaration in Isaiah 54-4. For your maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name, and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. And they would recognize that this celebration represents the final action in a marriage that follows the earlier betrothal.
Baptism of the Lord
By John Dalla Costa
Isaiah 42:1-7; Psalm 104 (103):1-30; Titus 2: 11-14; 3:4-7; Luke 3:15-22
Sunday 12th January 2025
We are in the time of beginnings and today’s liturgy we gaze at the moment when Jesus, as an adult Jew, experiences the life-changing infusion that sets him on his mission to save all of humanity. The baptism of Jesus is referred to in each of the four Gospels. Luke’s telling is distinctive for several reasons.
Unlike Mark and Matthew, Luke does not explicitly state that Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist. The man we understand as pointing the way to the Messiah is not a protagonist in what happens. He is rather the sentinel for centuries of expectation who adds his witness to the cosmic turn in human history that occurs when baptism is of the Spirit rather than water … (Reflection by John Dalla Costa)
The Epiphany of the Lord
By John Dalla Costa
Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalms 72(71):1-2, 7-13; Ephesians 3: 2-6; Matthew 2:1-12
Sunday 5th January 2025
Today’s feast of the Epiphany marks in a dramatic way the contradiction posed to humanity by the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. On the one hand, as we read in Matthew’s Gospel, the light of Christ’s coming has shifted the cosmos, with a star arousing wonder and awe among sages in foreign lands. On the other, after an arduous pilgrimage across desert and plain to follow that star, the presence of these seekers arouses an equal and ominous enmity in the hearts of Herod, and those who’d been entrusted as custodians of God’s promise…. (Reflection by John Dalla Costa)
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
By Fr. Clement Obiorah, OCD
Numbers 6:22-27; Psalms 67:2-2,5-8; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21
Thursday 1st January 2025
On this first day of the year, the readings for the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God make us want to focus on where true blessedness lies, and who are the chosen ones identified in God. God’s blessings transverse beyond fun fair, to mean a protective hand; a certain overshadowing and guidance, despite any appearances to the contrary. This reverberates with that timeless assurance for the pilgrim Israel in Exodus (13:21), which Christ fulfils as the “God with Us.”