Jesus: Peace I leave with you Today’s Gospel from John (14:27-31) opens with Jesus giving a greeting of peace to his disciples. Fr Paul explains that the type of peace Jesus means is not just the absence of war. Peace, here, means peace within ourselves: Do we have a clear conscience type [...]
To love Jesus is to keep his commandments Fr Paul in reflecting on last week’s gospels says we should be able to identify a pattern in today’s Gospel (John 14: 21-26) - Jesus gives a teaching, one of the disciples questions that teaching and then Jesus teaches again. This Gospel shows the [...]
Jesus explains how he is the way to the Father This Gospel from John (14: 7-14) follows on from yesterday’s Gospel and we see the same pattern – Jesus teaching his disciples, one of them expresses doubt and Jesus continues his teaching. In this Gospel, Jesus explains how he is the way [...]
Jesus says trust in God and trust in me Today’s Gospel passage – John 14: 1-6 – is one of the most popular pieces of scripture chosen by families when preparing for the funeral of a loved one. This discourse of Jesus begins after the Last Supper and is very much the speech [...]
Jesus calls us to mission, ministry and service In John’s Gospel (13: 16-20) today, Fr Paul says we are listening to a part of the Last Supper that follows on from the Holy Thursday reading (where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples), which we don’t ordinarily hear. This Gospel is the [...]
John’s Gospel can be divided into two books - the book of Signs and the book of Glory. Today’s reading (John 12: 44-50), Fr Paul tells us comes from the end of the books of Signs and is a summary of Jesus’ teachings. Fr Paul highlights three themes that run through John’s [...]
Jesus speaks with the Jews at the Temple In reflecting on this descriptive passage from John (10:22-30), Fr Paul reminds us that Jesus is very different from what the Jews expected the promised Messiah to be. It is worth remembering, he says, that not too long after this these same Jews were [...]
Jesus the Good Shepherd Traditionally, today’s Gospel replicates the one used yesterday for Good Shepherd Sunday so Fr Paul opts to use the alternate Gospel of the day (John 10: 11-18), which continues the theme of ‘Jesus, the Good Shepherd’. As always, Fr Paul sets the scene with his vivid description of [...]
Feast of St Athanasius Today we remember St Athanasius (295-373) who assisted at Council of Nicea and fought against arianism (the belief that the son was created by the Father but is in no way equal to him). He was a staunch defender of the faith. In John’s Gospel (6: 60-69) Jesus [...]
John’s Gospel (6: 52-59) today sees Jesus teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. He causes a stir among the Jews there who say ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ Fr Paul explains how this Gospel connects to what we’ve heard over the last couple of days and how [...]