Who is Jesus? Today’s Gospel from Luke (9: 7-9) is titled ‘Herod and Jesus’. Luke’s Gospel does not contain the murder of John the Baptist by Herod. We only hear it alluded to in today’s Gospel. The Gospel writer of Luke mentions Herod here to raise the question that Herod asks, the [...]
Feast of Padre Pio Today's Gospel is from Luke (9: 1-6) in which Jesus gives the twelve authority and sends them out to proclaim the kingdom of God. Fr Paul says today we remember and celebrate the life of Padre Pio, or as he is more officially known, Saint Pius of Pietrelcina. Padre Pio was [...]
The mother and brothers of Jesus The Gospel today from Luke (8: 19-21) has the title ‘The true family of Jesus’ and in it we see that Mary and the brothers are outside. The crowd in this Gospel form a barrier between Jesus and his mother and brothers. Mary and the brothers [...]
Feast of St Matthew, the apostle Today’s Gospel (Matthew 9: 9-13) tells of how Matthew was called by Jesus to follow him. Fr Paul says today we celebrate Matthew’s life and the difficulty is we don’t know that much about him. We know he is the son of Alphaeus. We know he was [...]
The Parable of the Sower Fr Paul reads Luke’s Gospel (8:4-15) and says we now come to a section where Luke gives a number of parables about the Kingdom. As he does this, Luke is not so much reflecting on the nature of the Kingdom but on the individual virtues and vices that [...]
The importance of women in Jesus’s ministry Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (8: 1-3), which names some of the women who were with Jesus and his disciples as they travelled in their ministry. Fr Paul says, in Gospel times, how women are perceived or even taken into consideration is a [...]
The woman anoints the feet of Jesus Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (7: 36-50) about the woman anointing the feet of Jesus with perfume. Fr Paul says the Gospel we have heard today is very much a Gospel about devotion, about repentance and about welcome. As we hear Jesus [...]
Pope St Cornelius and St Cyprian Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (7: 31-35) and, afterwards, shares a little about St Cornelius and St Cyprian whose memorials we celebrate today. Cornelius was made Bishop of Rome, the Pope, in the year 251 and it was with Cyprian’s help that he [...]
Today we celebrate the memorial of ‘Our Lady and Sorrows and Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of John (19: 25-27) which tells of Mary standing at the foot of the Cross, as Jesus is crucified. Fr Paul says this devotion to the memorial of ‘Our Lady of Sorrows’ flourished in the [...]
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross Today, Fr Paul reads from the John of Gospel (3: 13-17) in which Jesus tells Nicodemus that God loved the world so much that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. Fr Paul says it might seem [...]