Casting Fire

As Christians we confess three persons in One God, coequal in glory, coeternal in Majesty; but does this dogma make any more than a formula to be memorised? Does it enthuse us with love on Monday morning? Trinity Sunday invites us to approach this God again, in loving fear, to show us how this creed we memorise is meant to save us and transform us from glory to glory, all the way to eternity.

We hear today of the ministry of Philip the Evangelist, one of the most exciting characters in the book of Acts. No sooner does he preach than the Spirit manifests himself in power. But what gave his proclamation so much power? And is it even possible for us to experience this today? Yes it is. And as Pentecost approaches, let us allow the Spirit to renew the Church and world through us.

We find three wonderful profiles of the Church in our readings this Sunday each moving progressively deeper in spirit. We find the Church in its service of charity while having to deal with its own mismanagement; it's service in spirit to the world and its fellowship of love and finally, as mystically united, co-inhering with Christ, it's divine Bridegroom. Together, they make Christ prese...

We have the very comforting image of the Good Shepherd given us in our gospel today. There is nothing excepted of the sheep except to trust the Shepherd. It is he who has to do everything. The Shepherd never leaves his sheep without his care, he knows them for himself. This was the ministry of Jesus then, it is the ministry of the Risen Jesus to us now. Wherever you might find yourself, turn to yo...

We hear the first part of Peter's epic sermon after Pentecost. Something dramatic happens at Pentecost. The apostles who were afraid and cowardly, now start acting much like Jesus himself. The Spirit reproduces the pattern of Jesus' life in those who are his disciples. Peter shows the gathered crowds how this could be true for them - and he shows us how this can be true for us today. This...

The apostles' experience of seeing the Crucified and Risen Christ is meant to be a fundamental experience for every Christian. Without this, the spiritual life remains a theory. It is in this experience of receiving Christ's overflowing Mercy that our hearts can be changed. We know that our Father is not distant, not angry, not uncaring, but close. In touching Christ we receive a Peace tha...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://castingfire.wordpress.com/2023/04/08/easter-sunday-did-you-feel-the-earth-quake/

The Cross is the strangest and most paradoxical event of God's revelation in our life. In the most unexpected way, God reveals to us his justice - in his forgiveness of our sins and a love which will never be exhausted. And this Love makes itself present today in our lives for those who will welcome it. In it we also find the Resurrection. This episode is also available as a blog post: https:/...

It is not without reason that some Biblical scholars have called the gospels simply Passion accounts with a long introduction. Here we see God's face unveiled for us. We can carry a lot of our fears, a lot of images which we project onto God. But here we find a Mercy which is ever-new, ever-flowing, and able to love us in our wretchedness.  This episode is also available as a blog post: https:...

The raising of Lazarus completes the series of gospels starting with the Samaritan woman which show the increasing deadliness of sin and the equal victory of Christ over it. Like Lazarus there can be things dead and decomposing in our lives. Events we would rather not visit, places we would rather not go, stones we would rather not move. But if we believe, we will see God's glory, we will know...

The gospels take us on a journey of ever-increasing baptismal grace over these weeks. We heard of the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan Woman; in the process she comes alive in faith. Next week, we will hear the raising of Lazarus, an image of the Resurrection, the final fruit of baptism. God is the actor in these things: I cannot give myself faith, neither can I raise myself from the dead. To...

We have the very powerful encounter of the Samaritan Woman with Jesus. She stands for those of us who find ourselves stuck in our life, where nothing we do ever seems to make a change. But not a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father's knowledge. And the Holy Spirit has an appointment for her with her divine bridegroom which changes everything. The Spirit invites us into this same encounte...

Every Christian knows of times when it all seems dark and God seems absent. Ironically, the event of the Transfiguration dazzles the disciples in just one such moment. Both Abraham and the disciples remain paradigms of our own journey where often enough, has more darkness than light. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://castingfire.wordpress.com/2023/03/04/2nd-sunday-the-darkness...

We begin our Lenten season as always with the testing of Jesus by the devil. It is the battle in which Adam failed, and in him, all his children. The devil continues to wage war against us and oppress us even today. But Jesus, the second Adam has defeated the enemy. Through his Church, Jesus continues to set us free from the attacks of the Evil One and gives us the life in fullness he promised his...

We get a sermon in itself in the gospel: Jesus gives a new Law and in doing so raises all kinds of paradoxes. If Israel was unable to keep the Old Law, as Paul argues, what chance do we have in keeping the new one, so much harder than the old? If not committing murder was the bar then, is it now possible to not be angry? The answer lies in Christ's own fulfilment of the Law, the work of the Spirit...

We moved the feast of Presenation in our parish! Luke, like his entire gospel, weaves an intricate web of theological mystery in a  very tiny event, the Presentation. Two people enter the stage: Simeon and Anna. They come only once, yet Luke describes them in detail. Why is it that these two identify the God-child whom everyone misses? And is there something they can tell us today? This episo...

Jesus opens his teaching in Matthew, not given to the crowds, but only to the disciples. It is the strangest prescription for happiness. Like the first disciples, in every age, we will have to wrestle with it - and allow the Spirit to prove this promise to be true. That those whose hearts are transformed in this manner, will be truly happy. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://ca...

As Jesus begins his ministry, he calls to himself those he wants: two brothers from two families, perhaps the only male heirs of the Father. We are not told what happens to the Father or the inner drama they face. This drama is what plays out in every 'vocation' be it to lay or clerical lives and functions. It is pressing, often unsettling, but ultimately fulfilling; because in answering the call,...

As we open John's gospel, John, as the last prophet, sums up the prophecy of Israel to point out to the world Israel's greatest gift: the Messiah, Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Spirit bearer and the one who baptises us in the Spirit. In encountering him, we can be freed of our guilt, in receiving the Spirit, we can know the love of our Father in heaven. This episode is also available as a b...

Each year the magic of Christmas breaks into our lives. All society seems trasnformed by the seemingly fairy-tale like quality of Christmas. But Christmas is lot more than a fairy tale, or an event for children. It is where God's promise of our salvation broke through into our darkness. God saves us as a baby. If we let this child touch our hearts and lives, we will also meet him as Wonder-Counsel...

The last week of Advent we are given the fascinating figure of St Joseph. In the few lines given to Joseph in the Scriptures, his virtues shine through. HIs justice is revealed in his humility and love, as he faces an impossible enigma. In him we find a model of docility to God's will and help in the dilemmas of our own lives. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://castingfire.word...

Isaiah promises that the desert will bloom and the frightful wilderness will become joyful because God comes to visit his people. Our lives can sometimes feel like a wilderness: I'm wandering in circles, without rest, without joy and nothing I do seems meaningful. Gaudete Sunday asks us to lift our eyes to God. He is doing a new thing right now. At his coming the desert will blossom. If we welcome...

When kings had successively failed Israel and left them in the crisis of war, Isaiah prophesied a Messiah who will fulfil God's promises and usher in his peace. He will do that by the power of his seven-fold Spirit. This same Spirit is given to us in our Baptism. His gifts bring healing and hope in our brokenness and peace amidst our fears. But it is only when Jesus becomes our King, that they com...

As Advent begins, we are presented with the magnificent vision of Isaiah, the Mountain of God rising in beauty. This was Israel's calling, her True North. When she went away from this, she fell apart. The Word confronts us with the same question. What is our True North, our raison d'être? Advent comes with the grace to orient us to our True North: Christ, the Mountain of God rising in beauty over...

Christ the King presents us with a startling paradox. It is a decision which confronts us today as much as it did the Jews who stood beside the Cross. Can this God save? One who literally cannot move, his limbs being nailed - is he able to save me in my daily troubles let alone when I die? Two thieves ask the same question. One finds a surprising revelation in the process. This episode is also ava...