John 21:1-19 Simon Peter, do you love me? In English we have one word ‘love’ and it can mean a whole variety of things. If we want to be specific we have to qualify it. Greek has at least 7 words for love. Our passage from John’s Gospel uses two of these: agape and philia. …
Author Archives: Turvey Nuns
Saturday, Second Week of Easter
John 6:16-21 In just 5 verses the writer of the Fourth Gospel has given us a window into a whole theological world. The story of Jesus walking on the water comes just after he had fed the 5,000. For the hearers of this Gospel the resonances with the Exodus story may well have been clear. …
Feast of St Catherine of Siena
Matthew 11:25-30 Today we celebrate the feast of St Catherine of Siena. You’ll see her depicted wearing the habit of a nun, but she was in fact a Third Order Dominican. She’s of particular note for her fearless resolve and ability to speak truth to power, and especially to Popes. The Church has recognized her …
Thursday, Second Week of Easter
John 3:31-36 Today we move from the story of Nicodemus meeting Jesus by night to the scene of John the Baptist in the Judean countryside. Nicodemus is set before us as a figure who seeks clarity in his confusion. John the Baptist is a figure of absolute certainty. I can sometimes be unnerved by John …
Wednesday, Second Week of Easter
John 3:16-21 ‘The Son of Man must be lifted upas Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,so that everyone who believes in him may not be lostbut may have eternal life.’ We’ve …
Tuesday, Second Week of Easter
John 3:7-13 From Monday to Wednesday of this week the Gospel texts come from the encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus in Chapter 3 of John’s Gospel. When we enter the world of John’s Gospel we enter a special world. There are broad themes of life, light, love and glory, there are words and images that …
Feast of St Mark
Mark 16:15-20 When we celebrate the feast of St Mark the Evangelist we celebrate the gifts of a storyteller. What we read on the printed page had its origins in an oral culture. The early Church preserved in writing the memories and stories which shaped their identity. If you were a well-to-do host in Graeco-Roman …
Second Sunday of Easter
Second Sunday of Easter John 20:19-31 There’s nothing worse than being with a group of people who are talking about an experience that you haven’t had. There’s only so far that you can go in trying to understand what they are saying and feeling. It’s easy for me to understand how Thomas might be feeling …
Easter Saturday
Easter Saturday Mark 16:9-15 Writing these few words didn’t come easily to me today. After the intimacy of Mary’s encounter at the tomb with Jesus and then the breakfast on the seashore, today’s Gospel text feel abrupt. It reads as a recap of themes we’ve heard during the week: refusal of the disciples to believe, …
Easter Friday
Easter Friday John 21:1-14 Just after my A levels I was able to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Our visit to the Sea of Tiberias stands out for me as a time of grace. In what was a fairly packed itinerary, there was suddenly time to sit and watch the water. It was …