Jesus challenges us to be genuinely open to God In today’s Gospel from Matthew (23: 23-26) Jesus challenges the scribes and Pharisees about the priorities they place on different aspects of their faith. Fr Paul says it is obvious that Jesus is criticising the scribes and Pharisees about their different practices, in [...]
Feast of St Bartholomew Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of John (1: 45-51) which tells of Philip taking Nathanael to meet Jesus. Today we remember and celebrate the life of St Bartholomew – you may question why the Gospel used today talks about Philip and Nathanael rather than Bartholomew? Fr Paul [...]
Feast of Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary Fr Paul reads today’s Gospel from Matthew (23: 1-12) in which Jesus says the greatest among you must be your servant. Today we remember and celebrate the Queenship of Mary, which is, by tradition, celebrated on 22 August. Pope Pius XII established the feast [...]
Feast of St Pius X Fr Paul reads today’s Gospel from Matthew (22: 34-40) where Jesus is questioned by the Pharisees about which is the greatest commandment. Fr Paul says that today we celebrate the life of St Pius X, who was born in the village of Riese near Venice in Italy. [...]
Feast of St Bernard of Clairvaux Fr Paul reads today’s Gospel from Matthew (22: 1-14) about the king who sends his servants to call the invited guests to his son’s wedding feast and, afterwards, he shares a little about the life of St Bernard of Clairvaux, whose life and memory we celebrate [...]
Grumbling or Grateful? Fr Paul reads today’s Gospel from Matthew (20: 1-16) about a landowner and the workers he hires to work in his the vineyard. In this Gospel, Fr Paul says we are given a clear-cut example of God’s generosity to his people. Even the ones who come last will be [...]
For God everything is possible Fr Paul reads today’s Gospel from Matthew (19: 23-30) in which Jesus tells his disciples that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Fr Paul asks us to recall [...]
Sell everything you own and follow me The Gospel today comes from Matthew (19:16-22) in which a man asks Jesus what good deed he must do to have eternal life. Fr Paul says if you look at Mark’s Gospel (10:17-22) you see that Matthew has adapted this story to make it even [...]
Feast of the Assumption of our Blessed Virgin Mary Fr Paul says this Feast would normally be a holy day of obligation but due to our COVID circumstances, the Bishop has given us a dispensation from this obligation. The Gospel Fr Paul reads comes from Luke (1: 39-56) about Mary’s visit to [...]
Feast of St Maximilian Kolbe Fr Paul reads Matthew’s Gospel (19: 3-12) in which the Pharisees test Jesus. He then shares a little bit about the life of St Maximilian Kolbe, whose memorial we celebrate today. Maximilian was born in Poland on 8 January 1894. In 1910, he joined the Franciscans and [...]