Thursday, 11 September 2025
Impossible Love – Thursday Week 23 in ordinary Time
‘Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.’ (Luke 6:27-28)
The bluntness of Jesus’ teaching is nowhere more evident than in today’s Gospel when he outlines what it means to be a disciple of the Beatitudes. (Luke 6:20-26). Humanly, it is outrageous to shower love on our enemies, return hate with kindness, speak lovingly of those who defame us and…
Wednesday, 10 September 2025
A Call to Deeper Compassion – Wednesday, Week 23 in Ordinary Time
Then he looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.’ (Luke 6:20)
Many of us reading this reflection come from a place of privilege, not all, but many of us. Still, we have to navigate our own complex responsibilities—family, work, finances, community…. We might measure ourselves and our success in terms of financial and material comfort. Jesus reminds us that true blessing…
Monday, 8 September 2025
God with Us; a Surprising Grace – Feast The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
‘‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.’’ (Matthew 1:23)
I anticipate becoming a grandfather for the first time on or around the date this is published. As I move ‘up’ in the family tree, I gain a deeper appreciation for genealogy and its impact on generations. The genealogy of Jesus, which might seem tedious to us, was of vital…
Sunday, 7 September 2025
What will it Cost Me? – 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
‘‘For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost…?’’ (Lk 14:28)
If we read today’s Gospel literally, Jesus seems to demand the steepest and most far-reaching costs imaginable of his followers. He calls disciples to hate their most important relationships: father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters, and even themselves. Furthermore, he insists they must sell all they have, embrace the…
Saturday, 6 September 2025
Listen deeply – Saturday Week 22 in Ordinary Time
‘‘Have you not read…’’ (Luke 6:3)
I would like to begin this reflection with a question. How do we respond when we are asked a question we feel is inappropriate? Possibly with a little frustration, a little irritation or we may even burst out laughing. As Jesus walked with his followers, through the corn field, he…
Friday, 5 September 2025
Lean into the New Thing – Friday Week 22 in Ordinary Time
‘‘You cannot make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?’’ (Luke 5:34)
In today’s scripture, Jesus is asked by the scribes and pharisees why his disciples didn’t fast. In response, Jesus uses two analogies. First of the wedding feast and second the need for new wineskins. Jesus was making the point that he was doing a new thing and it’s time for…
Thursday, 4 September 2025
Listen when Jesus speaks. – Thursday Week 22 in Ordinary Time
‘‘Put out into the deep water and let down the nets for a catch.’’ (Luke 5:4)
Today we hear Luke’s account of the first calling of Jesus’ disciples. With the crowd pressing in on Him, Jesus borrows a boat moored near the shore while its owners are washing their nets. Preaching from the boat allows Him to avoid the throng while remaining close enough for all…
Wednesday, 3 September 2025
Fickleness of Crowds – Memorial St Gregory the Great, pope, doctor
‘‘And the crowds were looking for him; and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them.’’ (Luke 4:42)
We seem to blow hot and cold over issues, being deeply passionate about a cause one moment and then being indifferent or even despairing that anything will ever change. My grandson can be adamant one day that he will be a professional golfer and overnight he changes and becomes focussed…
Tuesday, 2 September 2025
Hope in the Lord – Tuesday Week 22 in Ordinary Time.
‘‘They were astounded at his teaching because he spoke with authority.’’ (Luke 4:32)
There is a beautiful synchronicity throughout the readings today, beginning with this one from St Paul. ‘Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.’. So writes St Paul in the first reading of today’s liturgy (1 Thess 5:11). It is an exhortation that reflects…
Monday, 1 September 2025
Will I Listen? – Monday Week 22 in Ordinary Time
‘‘When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom.’’ (Luke 4:16)
The scene in the synagogue at Nazareth is electrifying. Jesus unrolls the scroll of Isaiah and proclaims, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.’ (Luke 4:18) In that moment, God is not speaking abstractly, but personally, revealing…