John 15:18-21 If you belonged to the world,the world would love you as its own;but because you do not belong to the world,because my choice withdrew you from the world,therefore the world hates you. These are not easy words from today’s Gospel. We naturally draw back from the word ‘hate’, especially in a Bible text. …
Monthly Archives: May 2022
Friday, Fifth Week of Easter
John 15:12-17 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friendsif you do what I command you. Few of us will be called upon to lay down our lives for our friends. Though we probably all hope that if a big sacrifice of some sort is asked of …
Thursday, Fifth Week of Easter
John 15:9-11 ‘If you keep my commandmentsyou will remain in my love,just as I have kept my Father’s commandmentsand remain in his love.I have told you thisso that my own joy may be in youand your joy be complete.’ By this stage in Eastertide we have heard a good deal of John’s Gospel. There are …
Wednesday, Fifth Week of Easter
John 15:1-8 Every branch in me that bears no fruithe cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruithe prunes to make it bear even more.You are pruned already,by means of the word that I have spoken to you. It took me a while as a novice to learn the difference between cutting away and …
Tuesday, Fifth Week of Easter
John 14:27-31 ‘Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you,a peace the world cannot give,this is my gift to you. ‘Oh, sister, it’s so peaceful here in the monastery.’ We hear this very often and, of course, there is a good deal of truth in this. We are a low stimulus environment …
Monday, Fifth Week of Easter
John 14:21-26 One of my favourite Psalms is 118/9. It’s very long and arranged as an acrostic. Some people find it a bit tedious as it is very repetitious and turns around a small list of words: law, word, will, statutes, commands, decrees and precepts. Every four lines uses at least one of these words. …
Fifth Sunday of Easter
John 13:31-33a, 34-35 Today’s Gospel is just five verses. Those five verses hold within them the essence of our life in Christ: love. I give you a new commandment:love one another;just as I have loved you,you also must love one another. Love comes in all shapes and sizes. St Benedict knew this so well. In …
Feast of St Matthias
Every single line in today’s Gospel opens up a whole thought world for me. It was hard to choose just one phrase. The First Reading and the Psalm are full of meaning too. In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles Peter sets the criteria for choosing a new apostle: ‘We must therefore choose …
Friday, Fourth Week of Easter
The past two years have brought the reality of death very close to us. We’ve listened to the heartbreaking stories of people dying alone and of families not being able to be at the hospital bedside of a loved one. In our culture the idea of someone dying alone is something which haunts and troubles …
Thursday, Fourth Week of Easter
In the round of the liturgical year there are certain texts which we might hear only once. John’s account of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet is one such text. We hear this at Maundy Thursday at the solemn beginning of the Triduum. Today’s Gospel verses come straight after the washing of the feet and this …