Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (23: 13-22) in which Jesus says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who shut up the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. Neither going in yourselves nor allowing others to go in who want to.” After reading the Gospel Fr Paul shares [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (23: 1-12) in which Jesus calls out the hypocrisy of those who do not practice what they preach. After reading the Gospel Fr Paul shares a little about the life of St Bernard of Clairvaux, whose memorial we celebrate today. Fr Paul says, Bernard was [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (22: 34-40) in which an expert in the law, tested Jesus with this question: “Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?”. Fr Paul says because we are so familiar with Jesus’ answer to the question about the greatest commandment it blunts our awareness of just how [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (22: 1-14) in which the Jesus speaks to the Chief Priests and Elders in parables, saying, ‘The kingdom of God may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding and sends his servants to call those who had been invited but [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (20: 1-16) in which the Jesus tells his disciples the parable of the workers in the vineyard.In Jesus’ time, as Fr Paul says we hear in this Gospel, workers would go to the marketplace and wait until someone hired them. Sometimes they were lucky, and [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (19: 23-30) in which the disciples ask Jesus about who can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Fr Paul says in all three synoptic Gospels, that is the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, the story of the testing and failure of the rich man is followed [...]
Today as we celebrate the very special feast of The Assumption of our Lady, Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 39-56) in which Mary visits her pregnant cousin Elizabeth and responds to Elizabeth’s greeting with her beautiful prayer The Magnificat. Fr Paul says the commemoration of the death of the Blessed [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (19: 13-15) in which people brought little children to Jesus for him to lay his hands on them and say a prayer.Fr Paul says the centre of Matthew’s version of this little narrative is the blessing of the children – in other words the actual [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (19: 3-12) in which the Pharisees test Jesus by asking him “Is it against the law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?”.Fr Paul says Matthew’s version of Jesus’ upholding the laws on divorce is taken from Mark, but Matthew makes [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (18: 21-19:1) in which Jesus tells the parable of the unmerciful servant, who when shown mercy by his master fails to show mercy to others. After reading the Gospel, Fr Paul shares a little about the life of St Clare whose memorial we celebrate today.Fr [...]