Anna meets Jesus in the Temple Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (2: 36-40) in which the Holy Family encounter Anna, the prophetess, in the temple. Yesterday, Fr Paul says, the Gospel was all about Simeon and today, as the presentation of our Lord continues, for balance and equality, the [...]
Jesus is presented at the Temple Fr Paul reads (from a special location) from the Gospel of Luke (2: 22-35) in which we hear about the presentation of the Lord in the temple. This Gospel, he says, is dominated by Simeon’s welcome and by his warning to Mary. Simeon’s message reiterates the [...]
Feast of the Holy Innocents As today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents, Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (2: 13-18) about the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt after an angel tells Joseph in a dream to do so. Fr Paul says this Feast remembers all [...]
Feast of St Stephen Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (10: 17-22) in which Jesus tells his disciples that the Spirit of God will speak in them when they stand firm in bearing witness to him. Today, Fr Paul says, we celebrate the feast of St Stephen and, he says, [...]
Fr Paul, mindful that in the current climate some people are unable to attend Mass in person this Christmas, has recorded this Mass so everyone can still feel part of, and connected to, the celebrations at this special time of year. To spread the peace, joy and gratitude that is the true spirit [...]
Recently the above cartoon appeared in the paper (Daily Telegraph, Monday, December 7, 2020). As you can see the Holy Family - Joseph, Mary and Jesus - are in the room and the Wise Men, following the star, have come from another country to visit the Christ child bearing their gifts of [...]
The birth of John the Baptist Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 57-66) and, today, we hear about the birth of John the Baptist. Fr Paul says this Gospel runs in parallel with the birth of Jesus, which we are also about to celebrate. Hearing about the birth of [...]
Mary’s Song – Lessons from The Magnificat Today Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 46-56) in which we hear Mary rejoicing in relation to the favours God has granted her. This prayer of Mary’s is called the Magnificat and it sums up the themes of Luke’s Gospel. In this [...]
Mary visits Elizabeth Today Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 39-45) which tells of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. Today we hear Mary journeying to Elizabeth’s house and as Mary makes this journey, we need to be aware of just how real an act of kindness that this is. Mary, [...]
Zechariah & Elizabeth Today, Fr Paul says, we change Gospel writers and will now be reading from Luke (1: 5-25) and this will happen right up until Christmas Eve. It will enable us to share in the experiences that happened for the birth of Jesus. Today, he says, we hear about Zechariah [...]