On the second day of the Christmas Octave, Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (10: 17-22) in which Jesus says to his apostles, ‘Beware of men; they will hand you over to Sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues; you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 57-66), which tells the story of the birth of John the Baptist. Fr Paul says the birth-stories of John the Baptist and of Jesus are told in such a way as to bring out the parallelism between the two figures, and the special [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 46-56), in which Mary responds to Elizabeth’s greeting with her Magnificat (or song). Fr Paul says Mary’s Magnificat, which we hear in today’s Gospel, sums up the themes of the Gospel. On the one hand, it is full of gratitude and praise to [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 39-45), in which Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country of Judea. Fr Paul says this gospel reading concentrates on Mary going to care for needs of her elderly relative. With her own baby on the way, she would have had [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 26-38), a continuation of the series, previously we heard the birth of John the Baptist foretold and in this Gospel the angel Gabriel visits Mary in Nazareth and greets her saying ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured the Lord is with you’. Fr Paul is [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 5-25) in which the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah and Elizabeth is foretold. With this reading from Luke’s Gospel, Fr Paul says, we begin a continuous series of Lukan readings which will carry us right up to Christmas Eve, enabling us [...]
In these days we truly begin the countdown to the event of Christmas, Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (1: 18 – 24) in which an angel visits Joseph telling him not to be afraid to take Mary home as his wife. Fr Paul says today’s reading comes from the [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (17: 10-13) in which the disciples ask Jesus to explain parts of scripture to them. Fr Paul says, today’s Gospel carries on from yesterday and the day before, where Jesus was praising John the Baptist. In the very last book of the Old Testament, [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (11: 16-19) in which Jesus compares his generation with children shouting to each other as they sit in the marketplace. Fr Paul says this Gospel reading is often called the parable of the playing children, and it is one of those stark contrasts that [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (11: 11-15) in which Jesus spoke to the crowds saying ‘Of all the children born of women a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen, yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he is’. Afterwards, Fr Paul shares [...]