Fr Paul reads the Gospel from Mark (4: 26-34) in which Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a seed, scattered by a man, that grows he knows not how. Jesus was from the country, from the rich agricultural plains of Galilee where wheat and fruit were everywhere. It was, therefore, natural [...]
Fr Paul reads the Gospel from Mark (4: 21-25) in which Jesus says, ‘there is nothing hidden but it must be disclosed’ and afterwards shares a little about the life of St Thomas Aquinas, whose life we celebrate today. Thomas was born in 1225 into a noble family in southern Italy. He [...]
Fr Paul reads the Gospel from Mark (4: 1-20) about the parable of the sower. Fr Paul says, today, we ask ourselves what was Jesus’s original intention for this parable of the sower? Was it a warning against different types of temptations for his followers? Or was he reflecting on his own [...]
Prior to reading the Gospel today, Fr Paul explains that the church in Australia celebrates Australia Day as a day of prayer. It is a day, he says, on which we are encouraged to pray for our nation; to pray for the wonder and beauty we have in this country; to pray [...]
A conversion story Today we celebrate the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul as our own Fr Paul reads the Gospel from Mark (16: 15-18), in which Jesus commission the apostles to go out to the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation. To celebrate today’s Feast of [...]
Today’s Gospel from Mark (3: 20-21), Fr Paul says is very short, just two verses. It tells of the reaction of Jesus’s family when he returns home. Fr Paul says this Gospel reading is about the rejection of Jesus. Today, he says, we hear that his family thinks he is out of [...]
Fr Paul reads today’s Gospel, again, from Mark (3: 13-19) in which Jesus appoints the twelve who were to be his companions and to be sent out to preach with power. Today, Fr Paul says, we hear the names of the twelve appointed apostles. He says, the names differ in the various [...]
After reading the Mark’s Gospel (3: 7-12) in which people, who had heard about Jesus, came to him in great numbers, Fr Paul shares a bit about the life of St Agnes, whose feast we celebrate today. Before doing that he draws our attention to the fact that today the Gospel writer [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Mark (3: 1-6) in which Jesus is in the synagogue on the Sabbath and cures the man with the withered hand. Fr Paul says, today we hear the last of five events of controversy in Galilee. These five events, or controversies, are between Jesus and [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Mark (2: 23-28) in which Jesus is questioned by the Pharisees about the actions of his disciples as they pass through a cornfield. Fr Paul says, Mark’ account of this Gospel is different from Matthew’s; instead of eating the corn, they are pulling it up [...]