Monday, 16 February 2026
Demanding a Sign – Monday of the sixth week in Ordinary Time
And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.’ (Mark 8:12) (Mark 8:11-13)
I was struck in this Gospel when it said that Jesus ‘sighed deeply in his spirit,’ the kind of sigh that feels known to most of us. Jesus, questioned once again by the Pharisees seeking to test and trap Him, must have been exhausted with their games. They approach Him…
Sunday, 15 February 2026
All In – 6 ORDINARY
“Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20) (Matthew 5:17-37)
Imagine studying the law all of your life and then this new guy turns up and tells you that you have it all wrong! And his way is sooooo much harder! No wonder Jesus wasn’t that popular amongst certain groups of the Jewish people! But if we are trying to…
Saturday, 14 February 2026
“Using What You Have on Hand” – Saints Cyril and Methodius
“How many loaves do you have?” (Mark 8:5) (Mark 8:1-10)
Often I find myself daunted by the magnitude of what is asked of me. I quickly think that I don’t have the time, the skills, the resources or the energy to take on another task. Overcome by the enormity of expectations, I fall into a state of paralysis and find…
Friday, 13 February 2026
The Power of Testimony – Friday of the fifth week in Ordinary Time
They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” (Mark 7:37) (Mark 7:31-37)
There’s a bit of gumption here, in the people who ‘zealously’ testified about the miracle Jesus performed on the deaf man, despite Jesus ‘ordering’ them not to. But I imagine they couldn’t hold themselves back. They had just seen Jesus restore the hearing and speech in this man; his story…
Thursday, 12 February 2026
There is no boundary on God’s Grace. – Thursday of the fifth week in Ordinary Time
“A woman … heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet” (Mark 7:25) (Mark 7:24-30)
There is a tradition in both the Old Testament (Abraham in Genesis 18:16-33, Jacob in Genesis 32:24-26, and Job) and the New Testament (Luke 18:1-8, Matthew 7:7-8, Luke 11:5-8, Philippians 4:6) illustrating persistence in prayer and wrestling with God. Sometimes these passages paint God as reluctant (as in the friend…
Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Getting to the Heart of the Matter – Wednesday of the fifth week in Ordinary Time
“For it is from within, from the human heart, that the evil intentions come…” (Mark 7:21) (Mark 7:14-23)
A common understanding in Jesus’ time was the belief that coming into physical contact with certain items, people, and foods would “defile” a person—that is, render them unable to worship God until specific purification rituals had taken place. Jesus, however, rejects this idea. We see this, for example, when he…
Tuesday, 10 February 2026
Look into the mirror. – Saint Scholastica
“This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me;” (Mark 7:6) (Mark 7:1-13)
Wow! A pretty impressive outpouring of Jesus’ feelings in this Gospel. He certainly didn’t hold back in confronting the shallowness of the elders in the Jewish community. Imagine you were in the group hearing the very challenging words from the mouth of Jesus. There would probably be lots of mixed…
Monday, 9 February 2026
The lost, last, least, lame and longing – Monday of the fifth week in Ordinary Time
“They begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.” (Mark 6:56) (Mark 6:53-56)
The South African Dominican, Fr Albert Nolan OP coined the phrase the Upside-Down Messiah. Nolan broke open beautifully that on pretty well every page of the Scriptures, Jesus goes deliberately to the edge, to the liminal space and there encountered deeply the lost, the last, the least, the lame and…
Sunday, 8 February 2026
Called to be Salt and Light – 5 ORDINARY
“Let your light shine before others!” (Matthew 5:16) (Matthew 5:13-16)
This passage describes how we as Christians are to be in the world – how we are to impact those around us, and how we are to follow Him. We are called to BE the salt and the light – what does this mean? How can we be salt and…
Saturday, 7 February 2026
Rest a while – Saturday of the fourth week in Ordinary Time
“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” (Mark 6:31) (Mark 6:30-34)
I recently joined a group of Alpha leaders on a retreat at Marian Valley, and I’ve been pondering what made this time together so sacred. As women and men in ministry, we can become so captivated by purpose and vision that we forget that we too need tending. There’s profound…