Fr Paul reads from Matthew’s Gospel (5: 17-19) where Jesus says to his disciples ‘do not imagine that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets, I have come not to abolish but to complete them’. Fr Paul explains, the law of the ten commandments were given to Moses and [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (18: 21-35) in which Jesus tells Peter, ‘in order to forgive your brothers and sisters of their sins against you, you must forgive them not seven, but seventy-seven times’. This is a favourite parable of Matthew, Fr Paul says, as it continues the theme [...]
Fr Paul reads from Luke’s Gospel (4: 24-30) in which Jesus tells his disciples, ‘no prophet is ever accepted in his own country’. Fr Paul says, we are clearly told today’s Gospel, takes place in Nazareth. It is also taking place at the very beginning of Jesus’s ministry. In short, the Nazarenes [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (15: 1-3, 11-32) in which Jesus shares the parable of a son who strays and is still welcomed home by his father. For Fr Paul, today’s Gospel, pure and simple, is a story about forgiveness. The young man comes home, not because his is [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (5: 20-26) in which Jesus tells his followers to sort out their differences with each other before making an offering at the altar. In the scriptures, Fr Paul says, Jesus gives six ways in which true righteousness goes beyond what is in the Old [...]
The Son of Man must suffer many things The Gospel today is from Luke (9: 18-22) in which Jesus asks ‘Who do you say I am?’ and the title of our reflection is ‘Peter’s profession of faith’. For the writer of Luke many special moments in the life of Jesus take place [...]
Keeping the Sabbath Today Fr Paul reads from Luke’s Gospel (6: 1-5) in which the Pharisees question Jesus about keeping the Sabbath. In our Gospel today there are two stories about Jesus and the Sabbath; one about working on the Sabbath and the other about healing on the Sabbath. Fr Paul says [...]
The world loves its own In this passage from John’s Gospel (15: 18-21), Jesus talks about persecution, his and those who choose to follow him. Fr Paul says that, after cleansing the temple at the beginning of his ministry, the temple authorities in Jerusalem were wary of Jesus. From then on, his life [...]