The Birth of Jesus Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (1: 18-24) which tells how Jesus Christ came to be born. Fr Paul says, we hear in this Gospel that, at first, Joseph is hesitant to adopt Jesus into his line, into his family, that we learned about yesterday, the [...]
The Genealogy of Jesus Christ Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (1: 1-17) in the first of a series of special readings that will take us up to Christmas Eve. Matthew, as we realise reading from Chapter 1 Verse 1, begins his Gospel about the birth of Jesus with a [...]
Are you the one we are expecting? Fr Paul reads today’s Gospel from Luke (7: 19-23) in which John is languishing in prison and doubts have started to come into his mind. John wants to know what Jesus is doing. John wants to know if Jesus is the Messiah or not, so [...]
Parable of the two sons Fr Paul reads today’s Gospel from Matthew (21: 28-32) in which Jesus tells the parable of the two sons. Matthew loves doing parables contrasting the ‘goodies’ with the ‘baddies’ like the two sons in today’s Gospel. For Matthew there is only bad and white; there are no [...]
St John of the Cross (Memorial) Today, Fr Paul reads from Matthew’s Gospel (21: 23-27) in which the chief priests and elders question the authority of Jesus. He then shares a little about the life of St John of the Cross whose memorial we celebrated today. John of the Cross was born [...]
The voice of Elijah has already come Today, Fr Paul reads from Matthew’s Gospel (17:10-13) in which the disciples question Jesus about Elijah, which continues a theme that we have been hearing all this week. We continue to hear about John the Baptist, Jesus, Wisdom and, like yesterday, about the people’s refusal [...]
You did not dance Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (11: 16-19) in which Jesus compares his generation to children in the marketplace who say to others: ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance’. This Gospel is also called, at times, the parable of the playing children. [...]
Jesus speaks about John the Baptist Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (11: 11-15) in which Jesus speaks to the crowds of John the Baptist. In the Gospel last weekend John the Baptist was introduced to us on our Advent Journey and, at that time, Fr Paul mentioned that all [...]
You will find rest for your soul Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (11: 28-30) in which Jesus says, ‘Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.’ In Judaism, the yoke that’s referred to can sometimes refer to the Law; that the [...]
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (1: 26-38) about the annunciation when the angel Gabriel visits Mary and she accepts God’s will for her. On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Fr Paul explains that this doctrine holds that the [...]