Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (2: 36-40) in which Anna, an old widow of great faith, gives thanks and praise to God when she meets Jesus in the temple. Fr Paul says today we hear of Anna the prophetess. She can sometimes be forgotten in the longer accounts of [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (2: 22-35) in which tells of Joseph and Mary taking Jesus to be presented at Temple, where they met Simeon, an old and devout man. Fr Paul says the story of the Presentation of the child Jesus in the Temple we hear in today’s [...]
On the fourth day of the Christmas Octave, Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (2: 13-18) in which tells of the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod. After reading the Gospel, Fr Paul shares a little about the Feast of the Holy Innocents, which we [...]
On the third day of the Christmas Octave, Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of John (20: 2-8) in which Mary of Magdala runs to tell Simon Peter and the disciple Jesus loved that the body of Jesus is no longer in the tomb. After reading the Gospel, Fr Paul shares a [...]
On the second day of the Christmas Octave, Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (10: 17-22) in which Jesus says to his apostles, ‘Beware of men; they will hand you over to Sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues; you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 57-66), which tells the story of the birth of John the Baptist. Fr Paul says the birth-stories of John the Baptist and of Jesus are told in such a way as to bring out the parallelism between the two figures, and the special [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 46-56), in which Mary responds to Elizabeth’s greeting with her Magnificat (or song). Fr Paul says Mary’s Magnificat, which we hear in today’s Gospel, sums up the themes of the Gospel. On the one hand, it is full of gratitude and praise to [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 39-45), in which Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country of Judea. Fr Paul says this gospel reading concentrates on Mary going to care for needs of her elderly relative. With her own baby on the way, she would have had [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 26-38), a continuation of the series, previously we heard the birth of John the Baptist foretold and in this Gospel the angel Gabriel visits Mary in Nazareth and greets her saying ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured the Lord is with you’. Fr Paul is [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 5-25) in which the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah and Elizabeth is foretold. With this reading from Luke’s Gospel, Fr Paul says, we begin a continuous series of Lukan readings which will carry us right up to Christmas Eve, enabling us [...]