Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of John (5: 1-3, 5-16) in which we hear the story of Jesus’ marvellous healing at the Pool of Bethzatha (Bethesda) of the man who had been ill for over 30 years.Fr Paul notes, Jesus’ reflection on the healing, and on the witness it provides, will give [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (1: 16, 18-21, 24) where Joseph accepts Jesus as his son. Fr Paul says, we really don’t know anything else about St Joseph except what is said about him in the Gospels. Joseph was a carpenter; he accepted the will of God; and he supported [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (18: 9-14) where Jesus shares the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Fr Paul says, Luke is the evangelist of prayer, and he frequently hints about it within his Gospels. In this Gospel Jesus is explicitly mentioned as being in prayer more than [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (10: 1-12, 17-20) where Jesus sends out the seventy two to the towns and said ‘ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest’. Fr Paul says, Patrick was born in Roman Britain around the end of the 4th century and died [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (11: 14-23) where Jesus says to his disciples ‘any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and any house divided against itself will fall’. Fr Paul says, in today’s Gospel passage Jesus is accused of being in league with the Prince of Demons. The name [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (5: 17-19) where Jesus says to his disciples ‘do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them’. Fr Paul says, God’s covenant with Moses on Mount Sinai was the [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (18:21-35) where Jesus shares the parable of the unmerciful servant. Fr Paul says, this is a favourite parable of Matthew, and it continues and concludes his theme that forgiveness is the life’s blood of any Christian community. Matthew gathers together into one chapter the special [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (4:24-30) where Jesus spoke to the people in Nazareth and said, ‘Truly I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his country’. Fr Paul says, the full impact of this gospel scene becomes apparent only when we remember that it occurs at Nazareth, and [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (15:1-3, 11-32) in which Jesus shares the parable of the Lost Son. Fr Paul says, today’s gospel reading gives us a particularly attractive Lukan story of forgiveness. The story of the Prodigal Son is told with all Luke’s love, artistry and delicacy for the three [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (21: 33-43, 45-46) in which Jesus tells the parable of the Tenants. Fr Paul says, Jesus’ understanding of the power or authority of God brought him the violent opposition of some of the Jewish leaders which we hear of today. In the Gospels of Mark [...]