Thoughts and Reflections

Exodus 19:2-6a/ Ps 100(99)/ Romans 5:6-11/ Matthew 9:36-10:8 In the 1850s, in the slums of London, there was a young man who could not help feeling compassion for the poor that he saw all around him, the people rejected by society, outcasts because of the way they lived. He felt compelled to do something to help, not waiting for them to come to church but going out to find them. Together with his wife Catherine, William Booth started what we know today as The Salvation Army.

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a/ Ps 147/ 1 Corinthians 10:16-17/ John 6:51-58 When we think about our families, we sometimes see that they may have become scattered far from home. Children grow up, move away, form their own relationships and families. There can be family splits and disagreements, deep hurts that are hard to heal. Relatives who have not spoken in ages. Every so often there comes an opportunity for a family to gather, it might be at Christmas, a family wedding, fune

Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9/ Dan 3:52. 53. 54. 55. 56/2 Corinthians 13:11-14/ John 3:16-18 Imagine trying to explain the colour blue to someone who has been blind from birth. You could describe the wavelength of light, compare it to the feeling of cool water, read them every poem ever written about the sky and the sea. In the end they still would not really know what blue is. This is a little like trying to describe the Most Holy Trinity, trying to understand a reality that is far be

Acts 2:1-11/ Ps 104(103)/1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13/ John 20:19-23 Some years ago, I was privileged to accompany a group of young people who travelled to Poland for World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI. One of the tours arranged for the groups attending was a visit to the Auschwitz extermination camp. Here we learned the story of Father Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest who was a detainee there. A prisoner had escaped and the camp commandant had ordered the deaths of

Acts 1:12-14/ Ps 27(26)/ 1 Peter 4:13-16/ John 17:1-11a Most of us know only too well what it is like to be delayed at the airport. The flight is delayed, no information, no departure time, and no explanation. The frustration can be seen all around, people are restless, pacing up and down, even getting angry with staff, or they just give up and try to sleep on the seats. We feel trapped, with no control over when we might get going. We know this feeling of waiting, with littl