Isaiah 7:10-14,8:10Luke 1:26-38 ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High.’ Do you ever stop and wonder how different our faith might be if Jesus …
Category Archives: Monastic
Friday in the Fourth Week of Lent
Wisdom 2:1,12-22John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 As we move closer to Holy Week tension begins to mount in our Gospel readings. Today this tension is mirrored in the First Reading from the Book of Wisdom and the Psalm. The text from the Book of Wisdom lays out for us a familiar dynamic where virtue and goodness …
Thursday in the Fourth Week of Lent
Exodus 32: 7-14John 5:31-47 In today’s reading from Exodus God challenges Moses about the creation of a golden calf. Moses tries to defend the people and makes appeal to a tradition that stretches far back in biblical memory: ‘Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, your servants to whom by your own self you swore and made …
Wednesday in the Fourth week of Lent
Isaiah 49:8-15John 5:17-30 Each year in Lent the Church gives us the opportunity to revisit the story of our salvation. It’s a story of faith and great ideals, of times of bitter disappointment and the utmost courage. In the first readings in our weekday lectionary we are invited to identify with the people of Israel. …
Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Lent
Ezekiel 47:1-9,12John 5:1-3, 5-16 Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal. This passage …
St Joseph
2 Sam 7:4-5, 12-14,16Matthew 1:16, 18-21,24 We step off the Lenten path to celebrate the Feast of St Joseph. Unlike other saints in our calendar, we have no dates of his birth or death, whether from history or folklore. But what we do have is his silent belief in God’s promise. The first reading from …
Fourth Sunday in Lent
1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13John 9:1-41 Today’s Gospel of the man born blind had me searching for an article by liturgist Maxwell E. Johnson, entitled, Back Home to the Font: Eight Implications of a Baptismal Spirituality. He explores the liturgical year through the theology of Baptism and sees Lent as a time when we can imagine ourselves …
Saturday in the Third Week of Lent
Hosea 5:15-6:6Luke 18:9-14 The prophets were all called to deliver challenging messages to people who found themselves in crisis. It was largely a crisis of faith. One question occupied the hearts and minds of the people: Has God abandoned us? As political alliances failed and the prospect of exile loomed, Hosea speaks to the injustices …
Friday in the Third Week of Lent
Hosea 14: 2-10Mark 12:28-34 ‘One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put this question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel. the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with …
Thursday in the Third Week of Lent
Jeremiah 7:23-28Luke 11:14-23 ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses.’ The onlookers in today’s Gospel challenge the very nature of Jesus’ power to work miracles. Jesus has cast out a devil and rather than accepting this as a miracle, the onlookers set up a polarity: Jesus …