Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Abba, Father! – Tuesday of the third week in Ordinary Time
“Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35)
A father’s love … who does not yearn for that? Warm, comforting, unwavering. To those who have experienced that familial love it’s certainly something to savour but to those who haven’t, definitely something to seek. The recent Feast of the Baptism of Jesus reminded us of God’s proclamation to Jesus,…
Monday, 26 January 2026
A Revolutionary Path to the Kingdom – Australia Day
“Blessed are the……” (Matthew 5:3)
On the mountainside, Jesus sits and teaches—not as one receiving a law, but as the One who gives it. This is a moment charged with meaning. Where Moses once climbed to hear God’s word, Jesus ascends as God’s Word made flesh. What follows is not advice for the spiritually curious…
Sunday, 25 January 2026
A New Heart and A New Spirit – 3 ORDINARY
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 4:17)
Following the imprisonment of John the Baptist, Jesus begins his public ministry with a simple yet demanding call: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” The word repent does not only imply regret, but a deep inner turning, a conversion of heart and mind that reorients a person…
Saturday, 24 January 2026
Embracing Gospel Madness – Saint Francis de Sales
People were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’ (Mark 3:21)
In today’s brief Gospel passage, Jesus returns home after a busy time of ministry and the appointment of the Twelve. His family seek to protect him from the pressing crowds and the claims that ‘he has gone out of his mind’ while the scribes argue that his authority for casting…
Friday, 23 January 2026
Known, Named & Sent! – Friday of the second week in Ordinary Time
‘he called to him those he wanted…..to be with him and to be sent out to proclaim the message.” Mark 3:13–19
Before Jesus sends anyone out, he first calls them to himself. Jesus goes up the mountain, a place of prayer and encounter, and summons those he wants. And the first reason he appoints the Twelve is simple and profound: “they were to be his companions.” Only then are they sent…
Thursday, 22 January 2026
Who is Jesus? Who are we? – Thursday of the second week in Ordinary Time
“But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.” (Mark 3:12)
Twenty years ago, two well-meaning parishioners shared their opposing perceptions of me as a theological conservative and a liberal. These contrary perceptions made me smile. Perhaps I was doing something right. They revealed how easily our identity and vocation can be shaped, confined, or even distorted by others’ perceptions. In…
Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Water the Word – Saint Agnes
“And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” (Mark 4:20)
Proverbs 4:23 tells us to attend to our “heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” It is amazing to think that we have been given the ability to choose, either to nurture the Word that has been spoken to us in Jesus, or to neglect…
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Learning to Exhale – Tuesday of the second week in Ordinary Time
‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath…’ (Mark 2:27)
This Gospel meets me at a quiet moment of transition. It is my first day back at work and Jesus’ words about the Sabbath feel timely and challenging. He gently but firmly dismantles a legalistic understanding of rest. When his disciples are hungry, he allows them to eat. Human need…
Monday, 19 January 2026
Come to the Wedding Feast – Monday of the second week in Ordinary Time
“New wine into fresh wineskins.” (Mark 2:22)
Today’s gospel focuses around the practice of fasting, an integral part of the Jewish religion, especially among the devout Pharisees who would fast twice a week. This outward sign (along with sackcloth and ashes) could be used to measure a person’s holiness and piety. And yet we know that there…
Sunday, 18 January 2026
This is the Son of God – 2 ORDINARY
“He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” (John 1:33)
In Australia we hurry to pack Christmas away. No sooner do the wise men arrive, then we immediately pack up the whole nativity scene. European churches don’t send them on their way until the end of January. The season of Epiphany continues until the Presentation of the Lord on 2…