Isaiah 49:1-6John 13:21-33,36-38 While at supper with his disciples, Jesus was troubled in spirit and declared, ‘I tell you most solemnly, one of you will betray me. In today’s Gospel the mood intensifies. We can easily imagine the scene of Jesus sharing a meal with his disciples. When film producers portray this they build the …
Monthly Archives: March 2026
Monday in Holy Week
Isaiah 42:1-7John 12:1-11 The anointing at Bethany stops me in my tracks each year. For much of the liturgical year the lectionary leads us through the teaching and miracles of Jesus. From time to time we have a personal encounter: Zacchaeus, the Syro-Phoenecian woman, the Samaritan woman etc. Each encounter is life-changing. Today’s text from …
Women of Holy Week (1) Miriam’s Story
Listen to Miriam’s StoryRead Ps 118 and Mark 11:1-11 Imagine that you are part of the crowd.What do you see? What do you hear? Miriam sings Ps 118, longing for the Messiah to come.What do you long for as Holy Week begins? Image © Ally Barrett (www.reverendally.org) and used with permission.
Palm Sunday
Isaiah 50:4-7Philippians 2:6-11Luke 22:14-23:56 Each morning he wakes me to hear,to listen like a disciple.The Lord has opened my ear. As we begin Holy Week the Church invites us on a journey. This week is like no other in the year. The Church tells her story in words and images, in ritual and drama, and …
Lent Alphabet (Z)
ZION For ZION was saying: ‘The Lord has abandoned me, the Lord has forgotten me.’ Does a woman forget her baby at the breast, or fail to cherish the son of her womb? In the language of Isaiah the covenantal bond between God and the Israelites is often spoken about in relational terms. The chosen …
Lent Alphabet (Y)
YOUNGER A man had two sons. The YOUNGER said to his father, ‘Father, let me have the share of the estate that would come to me.’ The hearers of Luke’s Gospel will have been familiar with the opening of this parable. In the literary conventions of the Old Testament, when a story starts with a …
Lent Alphabet (X)
CHRIST JESUS Ιησούς Χριστός Make your own the mind of CHRIST JESUS: Who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. There is a sense in which the whole of Lent is an opportunity to ‘make our own the mind of Christ Jesus.’ I hear in this …
Lent Alphabet (W)
WHEAT GRAIN Unless a WHEAT GRAIN falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. As we come to the final weeks of Lent we might feel that our hopes and plans haven’t quite come to fruition. The Liturgy can gently nudge and …
Lent Alphabet (V)
VIRTUE For I tell you, if your VIRTUE goes no deeper than that of the Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. When I learnt the Catechism at aged seven I really enjoyed the pages where the Theological and Cardinal Virtues were listed. It all looked very neat and tidy and I …
Lent Alphabet (U)
UNLEAVENED BREAD The Israelites pitched camp at Gilgal and kept the Passover there on the fourteenth day of the month, at the evening in the plain of Jericho. On the morrow of the Passover they tasted the produce of that country, UNLEAVENED BREAD and roasted ears of corn, that same day. One of the opportunities …