Luke 12:13-21 Scholars tell us that in the time of Jesus 90% of people relied on the agricultural economy for their survival. The well being of your family depended on the well being and right use of the land. Many were tenant farmers who lived with the pressure of the landowner’s expectation of the biggest …
Monthly Archives: July 2022
Martha, Mary and Lazarus
Today the Church keeps the Memoria of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. It’s a day that holds special significance for Benedictines. There are two collects given for Mass in a supplementary book which is used for all things Benedictine. Heavenly Father,your Son was receivedas an honoured and welcomed guestin the home of Bethany,keep us close to …
Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Luke 11:1-13 ‘Ask, and it will be given to you’ Asking for things in prayer is perhaps one of the first things we learn on our faith journey. In the Primary classroom if you set the children the task of writing a prayer the results will almost always be prayers of petition. There will be …
Feast of St Mary Magdalene
John 20:1-2,11-18 I recently read an article about Pope Francis where the writer talked about the importance of understanding his style of leadership, way of speaking and particular vocabulary. What stands out for me when I think of Pope Francis is his stress on the culture of encounter. Pope Francis wants us to meet people …
Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Luke 10: 38-42 In the cycle of our Lectionary readings it’s a comparative rarity to find a Gospel text that features women who are both named and are central to the story. Martha and Mary populate our biblical imagination as women who had a particular gift: they were close friends of Jesus. That they open …
Feast of St Benedict
Proverbs 2:1-9Matthew 19:27-29 Some years ago I attended a lecture by Nicholas King sj entitled ‘Religious Life in the Bible. He began the lecture with a wry smile, repeated his lecture title slowly and then told us that of course there in no such thing as ‘Religious Life in the Bible’. I don’t think anybody …
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Luke 10:25-37 The Good Samaritan is perhaps one of the most well-known parables in the Gospels. Often the very familiar parables can become weighed down with stereo typical interpretations, interpretations that often cast Judaism in a bad light. We’ve probably all heard sermons that speak of the priest and the Levite as the ‘elite’ and …
14th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 In last Sunday’s Gospel we heard the exacting demands of discipleship. This Sunday the focus narrows as we hear just how the seventy-two are to conduct themselves as they set out on their mission. ‘Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals.’ This is a stark reminder that complete trust in God is …