Today, Fr Paul does not give his usual Gospel Reflection but instead shares a little about the history and ceremony of Holy Thursday and invites us all to join in the unique and beautiful services we celebrate at Easter. Explanation & History The Holy Thursday ceremony is the first of ceremony of the [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (26: 14-25) which commemorates the first part of the Last Supper, the preparation, and the betrayal. Fr Paul says the strange pre-planned sequence of Jesus sending his disciples to encounter a seemingly random stranger in the city occurs both for Jesus’ solemn donkey ride [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of John (13: 21-33, 36-38) which shares details of Jesus’s last meal with his disciples. Fr Paul says rather than telling us the story of the Last Supper, the Gospel give us only two incidents at the Supper, that there is traitor, and the institution of [...]
Holy Week began with Palm Sunday celebrations and today Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of John (12: 1-11) which tells the story of the anointing of Jesus’ feet with costly ointment at Bethany six days before he makes his way to Jerusalem for Passover. Fr Paul says in Mark and Matthew [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of John (11: 45-56) in which the Chief Priests and Pharisees meet to decide what to do about Jesus. Fr Paul says the Gospel reading takes us to the aftermath of the raising of Lazarus. It is typical of John’s contrasts that the gift of life given [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads today from the John (10: 31-42) in which the Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone Jesus. Fr Paul says this scene of confrontation between Jesus and his opponents takes place at the Festival of the Dedication. This agrees with John’s theme that Jesus takes over, or centres in [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads today from the John (8: 51-59) in which Jesus says ‘whoever obeys my word will never see death’. Fr Paul says the Gospel passage brings to its climax the account of the confrontation of Jesus with ‘the Jews’ in the Temple at the Festival of Tabernacles. The gospel tells [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads today from the John (8: 31-42) in which Jesus says to the Jews that believed him, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ Fr Paul says the Gospel passage continues the confrontation [...]
Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of John (8: 21-30) in which Jesus tells the people about the Father but they fail to understand what he is telling them. Fr Paul says scene in the Temple we’ve heard today is full of questions: ‘Where is your Father?’, ‘Is he going to kill himself?’, [...]
Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of John (8: 1-11) in which the scribes and the Pharisees bring a woman, who had been caught in adultery, to Jesus to test him and Jesus says to them, “If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to [...]