Take up your cross and follow me Today, in Matthew’s Gospel (16: 24-28), Fr Paul says we hear the first of three times that Jesus clearly predicts his suffering and, basically, the disciples can’t stomach this message. Each time Jesus repeats the message for them, they too, must share in his suffering. [...]
Feast of the Transfiguration Today, Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (17: 1-9) as we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration. Fr Paul reflects that this is the moment when the disciples, who are present with Jesus, were shown the divinity of Jesus. He says, this scene reminds us of [...]
The Canaanite woman’s faith Today’s Gospel (Matthew 15: 21-28) is about the interaction Jesus has with a Canaanite woman whose daughter is tormented by a devil. Fr Paul says that, from the outset of this Gospel, the woman who comes to Jesus is not after anything for herself. It is for her [...]
Feast of St John Vianney Fr Paul reads today’s Gospel from Matthew (15: 1-2, 10-14) in which the Pharisees question Jesus about why his disciples break away from tradition. In his reflection, Fr Paul reminds us that over previous days we have celebrated the lives of various founders of religious orders (the [...]
Feast of St Dominic Today’s Gospel (Matthew 14: 13-21) tells of crowds pursuing Jesus and the disciples even though they had withdrawn to a lonely place after hearing of the death of John the Baptist. After the Gospel reading Fr Paul shares a little about St Dominic, whose feast day we celebrate [...]
Feast of Alphonsus Liguori Fr Paul reads today’s Gospel from (Matthew 14: 1-12), about the death of John the Baptist and tells us about St Alphonsus Liguori, who was born in Marianella near Naples in 1696. Alphonsus was the eldest of a large noble family and he received an extensive education. He [...]
Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (13: 54-58) about Jesus visiting his home town and teaching in the synagogue – ‘a prophet is only despised in his own country’. He then shares with us a little about the life of St Ignatius. As his [...]
Jesus explains what the Kingdom of Heaven is like Fr Paul reads two Gospels, the one we missed yesterday (Matthew 13: 44-46) because of the feast of St Martha and the one for today (Matthew 13: 47-53). In these Gospels, Fr Paul says we hear three parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. [...]
Feast of St Martha Today we celebrate the feast of St Martha as Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (10: 38-42) in which Martha welcomes Jesus into her home. Martha, as we know from the Gospel, was the sister of Mary of Bethany. She was also the sister of Lazarus. [...]
Jesus explains the parable of the weeds Fr Paul reads and reflects on the Gospel of Matthew (13: 36-43) in which Jesus explains the parable of the weeds. This explanation only occurs in Matthew and, Fr Paul says, we need to understand that part of Matthew’s style of writing - what he [...]