News and messages archive for 2012
The Second Vatican Council’s Golden Jubilee is the moment to discover its central insights
Posted on April 22nd 2012 in Weekly messages
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St Paul’s Letter to the Romans: The opening address 1:1-7
Posted on March 18th 2012 in St. Paul's Letters
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The history of attempts to legislate on matters of definition is strewn with failure
Posted on March 18th 2012 in Weekly messages
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St Paul’s Letter to the Romans: Introduction
Posted on February 26th 2012 in St. Paul's Letters
For most weeks of the Church’s year a small section from one of his St Paul’s letters constitutes the second reading at Mass. Read in small pieces does not make his rich theology very easily understood. Most of the letters…
The temptation of Jesus Christ points to the existential threat to remain a faithful pilgrim
Posted on February 26th 2012 in Weekly messages
The last few years have seen much debate as to the origin of global warming, whether it is explained by pollution, or may be part of some long-term shifts in climatic patterns. Whatever the cause or causes of weather changes,…
The challenges of Lent are to open hearts and minds to the need for spiritual healing
Posted on February 19th 2012 in Weekly messages
One cannot but admire the perseverance of those wounded soldiers who rowed across the Atlantic, virtually unaided, with artificial limbs rusting and running out of fresh water. They overcame insuperable odds and, in looking for a challenge, both developed their…
The Resurrection Part 5: c21:15-23
Posted on February 19th 2012 in St. John's Gospel
The hidden purpose of Jesus’ further post-Resurrection appearance may be glimpsed in His conversation with Peter, and the thrice asked question, ‘Do you love me?’ The risen Jesus is preparing St Peter for his commission to become a ‘Good Shepherd’…
The Resurrection c20: Part 3 vv 19-29: The appearance to the disciples
Posted on February 5th 2012 in St. John's Gospel
The return of Peter and John to the Upper Room has not dispelled their fear. The intimations of the Resurrection which were prompted by the empty tomb were not enough to dispel their fears over the consequences of the death…
Not ‘How far can you go?’ but ‘Where are you going?
Posted on February 5th 2012 in Weekly messages
‘How far can you go?’ is both a hilarious but poignant novel by David Lodge that charts the lives of a group of Catholics in his undergraduate days at University College, London. This was in the 1950s before the time…
True spirituality and our ultimate destiny is in the hands of God alone, not by our own efforts
Posted on January 29th 2012 in Weekly messages
This year the Archbishop of Canterbury has commissioned the Catholic Carmelite nun Ruth Burrows to write his Lenten Book, entitled ‘Love Unknown’. It contains an essential message, that religion, even the Christian religion, is no substitute for the love of…
The Resurrection c20: Part 2 vv 11-18 The appearance to Mary Magdalene
Posted on January 29th 2012 in St. John's Gospel
The departure of Peter and John from the empty tomb leaves Mary Magdalene alone outside the tomb fixated in her grief. The words and actions of Peter and John seem to have had no immediate effect. Her lament imitates that…
The Resurrection c20: Part 1 vv 1-8 The Empty Tomb
Posted on January 22nd 2012 in St. John's Gospel
The movement from the burial to the discovery of the Empty Tomb is held together by a thin thread of evidence, that of the beloved disciple and Mary Magdalen who were both present at the foot of the Cross, and…