Casting Fire

As we come closer to Holy Week, Jesus declares that the hour he was preparing for, has indeed come. It is when the Greeks, the non-Jews come asking to see him, that Jesus declares his hour has come for him to be glorified. His glory is what he will reveal on the Cross. And it is a glory his disciples will share.

Suffering is something that seems to be an inevitable part of life. No one, good or bad, rich or poor, escapes suffering in their life. Hard as it might be, our experience of suffering becomes far more difficult due to two things: isolation and darkness. This is what the Apostles were entering into: and in their place of darkness, God reveals his light which changes everything. This is the light t...

Mark's gospel presents the shortest account of the temptations of Jesus. It mentions the Holy Spirit, the Devil and even wild animals and angels but nothing of the content of the temptations themselves. But within this few, brilliantly crafted lines, we can see our own lives played out. And Christ comes as King battling forces far greater than ourselves, so we can have the victory.

We are confronted by the striking lament of Job in his suffering. In Job, all those who suffer, and suffer greatly can find a voice. Physical suffering can sometimes be relentless, leaving one with no rest and no joy. And the gospel seems to give God's verdict on this suffering - Jesus heals everyone. Does God really want to heal us? And does it happen today?

The book of Jonah is one of the most hilarious, yet completely profound books of Scripture. It has depths to plumb, all the way down to the deep! But in Jonah, we can find ourselves in our pain and our difficulties and a God who will go to the ends of the world to find us.

As we return from our own family gatherings, the Church offers us the icon of the family in the feast of the Holy Family. Our families can be the source of great joy and blessing - and also great pain and suffering. But this feast reveals the wonderful calling for our families. Jesus being born in a family means he can be born in ours too if we will ask God for this grace. Just as Christ redeemed...

We continue to be confronted by the mysterious figure of John the Baptist, this third week. His actions are so puzzling that the high priests send priests and Levites to question him on what he is doing. This ominous confrontation goes to the heart of our own struggles, the challenges we face every day, in our own lives.

Advent is a season of hope, and comes with new grace to renew us in our hope. Without hope, we do not have direction in our lives; without hope, we die. The great symbol of this in the Scriptures is the figure of the Watchman. The Watchman can continue watching because he knows that finally, God is the one who watches over Israel - and when all else has failed, we can still stay awake because the...

Ten virgins wait for the coming of the bridegroom. In most things they are all alike; Augustine notes that they are all virgins, they have kept their hearts chaste for Christ, they have oil and light. The sleep is probably the final sleep of death. And after all their good works, only five go in. What did the foolish ones miss? And will we be caught out at Parousia?

Jesus puts the Pharisees on the stand this week and he exhorts his disciples against being called ‘Father’, ‘Teacher’ or ‘Master’, all of which we seem to routinely violate. Jesus’ words are harsh, but he is not attacking the Pharisees in anger. His Word can hurt, but it is like the surgeon’s knife which cuts only to heal. When we allow his Word to penetrate our hearts, we will also discover our o...

Our gospel this week brings us to the heart of Jesus' teaching: all of the Law and Prophets summed up in two commands, summing up even Jesus' own new law of the beatitudes. But how do we live this? We can often fall on one side or the other, but Jesus is uncompromising. To love this way, however is to love like Christ himself. And that is exactly what we see in the saints.

Our gospel this week brings us to the heart of Jesus' teaching: all of the Law and Prophets summed up in two commands, summing up even Jesus' own new law of the beatitudes. But how do we live this? We can often fall on one side or the other, but Jesus is uncompromising. To love this way, however is to love like Christ himself. And that is exactly what we see in the saints.

This Sunday begins a series of challenges Jesus faces with the religious authorities. Should we pay taxes to Caesar or not? To say yes would have marked Jesus as a traitor, a collaborator with Rome and to say no would have marked him as POI with the Romans. But Jesus takes neither. Instead, as usual, he asks them a question. It is a similar question God asks us in our own dilemmas. Answering that...

We have another parable of judgment this Sunday. It seems full of exaggerations. The people refuse a king's invite and the king flies into a rage constantly - and why should a wedding garment matter so much? Does he represent a God who is capricious? Or is it all really Good News, which we can live by

As we come to the close of Matthew's gospel, the parables of Jesus become darker, highlighting what the religious elite will do to him very soon. All through salvation history and to our own times, we have always grasped at what God has given. Grasp too much and we would even kill the Son. But in our very sin, God reveals the face of his mercy in a way we could never have imagined.

We have this Sunday the beautiful hymn of the early Church, to Christ's divinity and his salvation, which Paul quotes to the Philippians. To a church which was in distress, Paul puts before them a crucified Messiah, who hasn't abandoned them. Two thousand years later, we are far from slavery, let alone Crucifixion, but their questions remain our own. Can this Messiah save? And how can we f...

We meet Elijah, the greatest of Israel's prophets today exhausted after his battle with Baal's prophets. Strangely, after his most climactic victory, after winning the heart of Israel over from Baal, Elijah crashes, losing even the will to live. Why does he fail now? Is it inevitable that we will fail in this way? And where can we find the strength to get up when we fall?

The humdrum of 'Ordinary Time' is broken this week by the splendour of Light. We gaze on the glory emanating from Christ on the mountain. We neglect this feast to our own loss in the West, but the East give it its due - as it is one of the great feasts of our salvation. The experience of the apostles is meant to be a foundational experience of all Christians.

We are given three parables and an intriguing saying, the last of Matthew's collection this Sunday. But what does it mean to sell everything? Is the treasure truly worth all of it?

The parable of the Wheat and the Tares addresses one of the longstanding and most perplexing questions for people of faith. Whence, evil? Where does it come from and even more, what can we do about it? The answer given seems surprising, maybe even frustrating; but the Lord of the harvest sees all - and the Spirit who is in us takes up all our groans to the Father who knows our needs.

The Sower is the first parable Jesus gives in all the Synoptics. As the religious leaders become hostile to Jesus and the people fail to believe, Jesus gives them this parable. Maybe because it says something about our capacity to hear and bear fruit. Two thousand years later, this Word confronts us just as it did Jesus' first audience. Do your eyes see? Do your ears hear? And is your heart ca...

In what is possibly one of the most consoling verses of the NT, Jesus invites his sheep, wearied and overburdened to find rest in him. This rest is a lot more than what a good sleep or even a holiday would give - it is a state of profound flourishing, linked to shalom, the peace God gives. But is this even possible? And how does one find it? Today's gospel also gives the answer.

In the encounter of the Shunamite woman with Elisha lies a dynamic which unfolds each Sunday in the Eucharist. Just as the woman's generosity in opening her house to the prophet brings about her heart's desires, so will our hearts be fulfilled as we open ourselves in faith to the Word proclaimed.

The disciple is to expect persecutions much like the Master, yet every hair on his head has been numbered; he is to 'fear not' even as danger looms. What does it really mean that not a hair on our head will be lost, though we lose our lives? The Jewish Catholic St Edith Stein's life throws a light on our paradoxical gospel today.

On the feast of Corpus Christi, I wanted to reflect on the gift of the Precious Blood of Christ. Blood is something rarely given space to in our modern life, and unfortunately, even in our spiritual reflections. Yet it is one of the most complete symbols of what God has done for us, and what he has given us. The blood of Christ is life eternal for us, it is our forgiveness, it is our defence again...