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

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17/ Ps 66(65) 1 Peter 3:15-18/ John 14:15-21 Imagine being in the work staff room having a break, when a colleague says, "I noticed you go to Mass. Can I ask you something? Why do you believe all that?" This comes out of the blue, no warning, no time to prepare. What would we say? We might mumble something about it being a family tradition, try to change the subject, wish for a moment that the ground would swallow us up. Without judging I would suggest this wou

Acts 6:1-7/ Ps 33(32)/1 Peter 2:4-9/ John 14:1-12 Today the corner or foundation stone is often just a plaque on the wall. In ancient times the cornerstone was critical to the construction of a building. All subsequent stones were aligned on that first stone. If the laying of that first stone was faulty, the entire building could eventually crack, divide, and collapse. That is the context in which we should hear Saint Peter's words in the second reading today. He challenges u

Acts 2:14a, 36-41/ Ps 23(22)/ 1 Peter 2:20b-25/ John 10:1-10 Imagine the terror that set in on Holy Thursday when Jesus had been arrested. His closest friends, the ones who had spent three years with Him, eating with Him, and watching Him perform miracles, fled to the locked upper room. Peter, the man who had just sworn he would die for Jesus, was so terrified that he denied even knowing Him. He was a sheep who had lost his shepherd, paralysed by the wolves closing in around

Acts 2:14, 22-33/ Ps 16(15):1-2a, 5. 7-8. 9-10. 11/1 Peter 1:17-21/ Luke 24:13-35 In the Gospel passage today, two disciples are walking down the road to Emmaus when an extraordinary encounter changes their lives for ever. They are joined by none other than the Creator of the Universe, the Saviour of the world, but because He looks like any other traveller on an ordinary road, they do not recognise Him. We might ask ourselves: How often does God join us in the ordinary moment

Acts 2:42-47/ Ps 118(117)/ 1 Peter 1:3-9/ John 20:19-31 Imagine being in that locked upper room with the disciples on the evening of the Resurrection. Struck with fear, confusion, and uncertainty. then, suddenly, Jesus is standing right there in the room, large as life. He breathes on them and says, "Peace be with you." That same breath of the Holy Spirit is blowing over us today, God is inviting us into an adventure of faith, healing, and absolute trust. Today is the Second

Acts 10:34a, 37-43/ Psalm 118(117):1-2. 16-17. 22-23/ Colossians 3:1-4/ John 20:1-9 Imagine running to the tomb on that first Easter morning, heart pounding with grief and confusion. You arrive and see the stone rolled away, the tomb empty except for the grave clothes. That same empty tomb is calling to us today with the greatest news in history. Today is not just a remembrance of a past event, it is a living reality. Jesus is risen. In the Gospel today, we hear about the oth

Matthew 21:1-11/ Isaiah 50:4-7/ Ps 22(21)/ Philippians 2:6-11/ Matthew 26:14-27:66 People today come to public notice for all sorts of reasons, politicians, athletes, celebrities, are subject to viral videos and become popular heroes overnight. Millions praise them, their images appear everywhere. Then, just as quickly, they can be demonised, rejected, the same people who praised them one day will decry them the next. Praise turns to hatred, the crowd demands the person be ca

Ezekiel 37:12-14/ Ps 130(129)/ Romans 8:8-11/ John 11:1-45 Among the passengers onboard the Titanic when it met its fate after striking an iceberg was Father Thomas Byles, a catholic priest. Refusing places on the lifeboats Father Byles stayed on deck, hearing confessions, leading the Rosary, and praying with those facing death. Father Byles displayed an extraordinary calm, steady presence as he awaited his inevitable death. What gave this man the courage to remain on a sinki

1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13/ Ps 23(22)/ Ephesians 5:8-14/ John 9:1-41 There is an old saying, ‘there are none so blind as those who will not see’. That saying could be the thread that runs through the readings of this Fourth Sunday of Lent. God said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." In those few words, w

Exodus 17:3-7/ Ps 95(94)/ Romans 5:1-2, 5-8/ John 4:5-42 In the first reading today, we find the Israelites in the desert. They have escaped slavery, seen miracles, watched the sea part before them. Now they are thirsty, weary and frightened, and they turn on Moses for leading them out into the desert to die. This is not a complaint from a faithless people, it is the cry of a people who are exhausted, who expected the journey to be easier, who were wondering why God felt so f

Genesis 12:1-4a/ Ps 33(32)/ 2 Timothy 1:8b-10/ Matthew 17:1-9 What would you do if you got a call from someone you love and trust, a best friend, parent, brother, or sister, asking you to do something without explaining fully what it is, or why it needs to be done? All they say is that they need you to trust them. Knowing and trusting them you say of course you will do whatever they ask. They then tell you to leave your job, sell the house, and move to an unfamiliar place. Th

Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7/ Ps 51(50)/ Romans 5:12, 17-19/ Matthew 4:1-11 We are now in the season of Lent, we join Jesus in the desert, not a physical desert of sand and stone, but a spiritual desert, forty days that stretch before us like a holy invitation. A time when we walk alongside Jesus into a place of testing, a place of hunger, a place where the devil prowls. Why do we do this? Why would Jesus submit Himself to such hardship? Because Jesus loves us. Though He was fully di

Sirach 15:15-20/ Ps 119(118)/ 1 Corinthians 2:6-10/ Matthew 5:17-37 When we go on a journey to somewhere unfamiliar, we might use a GPS. We enter the destination, the device calculates the route, and off we go. What happens if we ignore the directions? What happens when we think we know better and take a shortcut that turns out not to be a short cut after all? We end up lost, frustrated, and wasting time going in circles. God's commandments are like a GPS system for our lives

Isaiah 58:6-10/ Ps 112(111)/ 1 Corinthians 2:1-5/ Matthew 5:13-16 Have you noticed how some things lose their power when they are not used? A torch sitting in a drawer does nothing for anyone. Salt left in a salt cellar can never enhance a meal. But when these simple things are used, when a torch shines and salt seasons, they can transform things. Today, Jesus gives us two powerful images that reveal exactly who we are called to be, salt and light. Not salt sitting unused in

Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13/ Ps 146(145)/ 1 Corinthians 1:26-31/ Matthew 5:1-12a We live in a time when the loudest voices get the most attention, when self-promotion is considered a virtue, when influence is measured by followers and 'likes'. We are surrounded by a culture that tells us to market ourselves, to climb the ladder, to make our mark on the world. The truth we learn today is that God's way is different. The readings today call us to change, they present us with a radic

Isaiah 9:1b-4/ Ps 27(26)/ 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17/ Matthew 4:12-17 We live in a world powered by electricity. We flip a switch, and there is light. We adjust a thermostat, and warmth fills our homes. We plug in our devices, and we are connected to the world. We take this power for granted, until suddenly, we do not have it anymore. The recent storm reminded us of this reality in a dramatic way. When the power went out, some of our homes and businesses sat in darkness for da

Isaiah 49:3, 5-6/ Ps 40(39)/ 1 Corinthians 1:1-3/ John 1:29-34 As the memory of Christmas recedes we are called to recognise who the baby born in a stable so long ago is and what he means to us in our lives. John the Baptist gives us the answer with the words: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." These words are so familiar to us, we hear them at every Mass. The priest lifts the consecrated host and makes John's proclamation: "Behold the Lamb of God

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7/ Ps 29(28)/ Acts 10:34-38/ Matthew 3:13-17 Few of us will remember our baptism with most being newly born babies when our parents brought us to church with our godparents and promised to bring us up in the faith. It is a useful reminder today of what that baptism meant for us. Baptism is the first and most important of the sacraments because it is the normal way to salvation and is the gateway sacrament without which none of the other sacraments can be rece