Tag Archive for ‘death’
Tuesday 19 November
2 Macc 6:18-31, Ps 3, Luke 19:1-10 Inspired by awe Eleazar in the dignity of old age faced his death, faithful to God “because of the awe he inspires in me”. It is this power of awe and attraction which also draws Zacchaeus, a public figure, to forego self consciousness and climb a tree to […]
Sunday 10 November
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2 Macc 7:1-2, 9-14, Ps.17, 2 Thess 2:16-3:5,Luke 20:27-38 Will we be raised from the dead or not? This question was disputed by the Sadducees: but Jesus assures his questioners that revelation has shown God to raise our forebears from death to life. Faith in this truth is what enables […]
Wednesday 6 November
Rom 13:8-10, Ps 112, Luke 14:25-33 The cost of love To love is to give oneself for the good of the other. We can only give love if we have first experienced its reception. We can only be detached from our father, mother, wife, husband, brothers and sisters, and our own life too – if […]
Saturday 2 November
The Faithful Departed 2 Macc 12:43-45, Ps 102, Rom 6:3-9,John 11:21-27 Death is the most feared of all experiences, if not faced with faith and hope in Eternal Life. We read in the book of Maccabees that God’s People prayed for their dead. Most cultures, of all time, in all places, have believed in the […]
October Saints
Saint Gerard Majella (1726-1755) Born in Muro, Italy, in 1726, the son of a tailor, Gerard worked for a time as a servant to a bishop. In 1745 he opened a tailor shop, but three years later he became a Redemptorist and was professed by St Alphonsus Liguori. A mystic with incredible gifts, Gerard served […]
Sunday 18 August
Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Jeremiah 38:4-6,8-10, Ps.39, Hebrews 12:1-4, Luke 12:49-53 The Gospel isn’t a private feel-good panacea To insist that God makes public demands is scandalous in a society which rejects sin and absolute truth. Jesus speaks of the cross as a baptism of fire. John was the only apostle who didn’t die […]
Monday 5 August
Numbers 11:4-15, Ps.81, Matthew 14:13-21 Share the merciful presence of Christ Jesus wanted solitude after John’s death. That human detail amplifies the miracle that follows. The disciples report needs, whereas Jesus asks for active compassion. How well do we comprehend this? Parishes are not just for registered parishioners. At every Mass we’re called to bring […]
Water
In New Zealand water plays a large part in our lives and we are never short of it. We are a coastal people and live never far from the coast. Even for those living inland rivers and lakes are there for enjoyment and the necessities of life. Our ancestors travelled many miles to this, our […]
Tuesday 30 July
Exodus 33:7-11, 34: 5-9, 28, Ps. 103, Matthew 13: 36-43 Judgement Though not a pleasant exercise, a good disciple will at times reflect on his or her own death and judgement. Today’s reading offers an opportunity. Holiness seeks virtue not vice, heaven not hell. Perhaps today I could ponder the theological and cardinal virtues the […]
It Tolls for Thee
“If you ever wonder what you’ve done in your life, and everyone does wonder sooner or later, you have been God’s grace to me, a miracle, something more than a miracle.” A father writing to his child, from Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, 2004. Page 52. “Never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it […]
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