Luke 1:57-66,80 What will this child turn out to be? I have always loved this line from Luke’s account of the Birth of John the Baptist. The reader knows just who he will turn out to be. And yet, I am always caught up in a feeling of expectancy and possibilities. An earlier line in …
Category Archives: Monastic
Saints John Fisher and Thomas More
Matthew 24:4-13 In the Collect for today’s feast we hear these words; ‘graciously grant that, strengthened through the intercession of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, we may confirm by the witness of our life the faith we profess with our lips.’ This encapsulates the basic truth that the faith into which we were baptised …
Sacred Heart
Deuteronomy 7:6-111 John 4:7-16Matthew 11:25-30 If the Lord set his HEART on you and chose you, it was not because you outnumbered other peoples: you were the least of all peoples. It was for LOVE of you and to keep the oath he swore to your fathers that the Lord brought you out with his …
Corpus Christi
Deut 8:2-3, 14b-16a1 Corinthians 10:16-17John 6:51-58 For many years anthropologists told us that the sharing of food was something unique to humans. More recent studies suggest that some species of primate will share food, but not tools or toys. Some species will not fight back if their food is taken. This is of course, is …
Trinity Sunday
Exodus 34:4-6,8-92 Corinthians 13:11-13John 3:16-18 The mystics believed that we are all born with a capacity for God (Capax Dei). St Augustine believed that this capacity makes it possible for the human person to be re-formed through God’s gracious gift. It has become common place for society to be described as ‘post Christian’ or as ‘secular’. …
Visitation
Luke 1:39-56 ‘Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country’. When Mary sets out to visit Elizabeth there’s a sense of urgency and excitement. By all accounts Mary’s journey to Elizabeth won’t have been easy. Whatever we imagine the terrain to be like, the journey was …
Pentecost
John 20:19-23 From the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday to the celebration of Pentecost the Church has marked out a path for us to follow. We have walked in the wilderness with Israelites, fasted in the desert with Jesus, followed him as he taught and worked miracles, we have sat at the table in …
Augustine of Canterbury
Luke 10:1-9 ‘Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road.’ These words always pull me up short. I rarely travel light as I like to be able to cover every eventuality when I am on a journey. We can quickly spiritualise this text and tell ourselves that Jesus wants us …
Friday, Seventh Week of Easter
John 21:15-19 Our Gospel texts during Eastertide have laid before us many themes. They weave in and out of each other and form a kind of fabric. Amongst the many themes, these stand out for me: Love, Glory, Life, Believe in Jesus and Truth. Today it is Love that is to be our focus as …
Thursday, Seventh Week of Easter
John 17:20-26 Father, I want those you have given meto be with me where I am,so that they may always see the glory you have given mebecause you loved me before the foundation of the world. Often in liturgy we find ourselves holding several time frames at once. We have celebrated the Ascension and now …