Tag Archive for ‘fear’
Friday 3 August
St Dominic Jeremiah 26:1-9; Psalm 69; Matthew 13:54-58 Unacceptable prophets/prophetesses. Fear and prejudgment drive us to box and label others. We know their views on everything, their mistakes, even how faithful they are. Boxes keep them in – they also keep us out. St Dominic stayed up all night talking to an innkeeper getting to […]
Being Childlike
One day at Mass two little girls went up at communion time to receive a blessing. I saw them shyly wave to a couple sitting in front of me, who must have been their grandparents. After the blessing the shyness was gone and they rushed up to the couple, ran into their pew and hugged […]
Sunday 24 December
Fourth Sunday of Advent 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 15; Psalm 89; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38 The child will be holy We see Mary again today with the angel, telling her of God’s plan for her. The child to come will be holy and the Son of the Most High. This child is God-with-us. It […]
Can You Bear It?
An American and a Czechoslovakian lawyer were trekking through the Rockies, when they were confronted by a male and a female bear. One of the bears grabbed the Czechoslovakian and killed and ate him. The rangers were soon on the scene. They asked the surviving lawyer which bear had killed his friend. He replied that […]
Tuesday 29 August
The Passion of John the Baptist Jeremiah 1:17-19; Psalm 71; Mark 6:17-29 I am with you Many emotions collide in the scenes leading to the death of John the Baptist: the pride of Herod; the expectations of his guests; the jealousy and hatred of Herodias; the cold indifference of her daughter; the unquestioning obedience of […]
Friday 10 February
Memorial of St Scholastica Genesis 3:1-8; Psalm 32; Mark 7:31-37 Deaf and dumb Jesus touched the deaf man’s ear and tongue. He healed his speech impediment and his physical deafness. Our own deafness and silence may not be physical. They may be caused by fear or guilt or shame so that we are deprived of […]
Monday 23 January
Hebrews 9:15, 24-28; Psalm 97:1-6; Mark 3:22-30 Seeing through the eyes of prayer We can sometimes fall into the trap of demonising those whose actions or words we strongly disagree with or are threatened by. When this happens, as with the Pharisees, logic gets put to one side and we rely totally on emotion – […]
Thursday 13 October
Ephesians 1:1-10, Ps 98, Luke 11: 47-54 St Paul’s hymn of salvation The introduction to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is one of his most beautiful writings. Part hymn, part prayer, part credo, it has the effect of filling our hearts with light. Compare this with the gospel reading. Paul preached the freedom of God’s […]
Friday 8 July
Hosea 14:2-10; Ps 51; Matthew 10:16-23 Have fortitude Jesus warned the apostles that bearing witness to his teaching was not likely to be an easy task. Despite this, they went out and gave over their lives to telling others about Christ’s message of love and forgiveness. We are just as likely to be ridiculed and […]
Midnight
: Is 9:1-7 calls me to risk stepping out of the morbidity of darkness and into the vitality of the light, to see what God has done. Titus 2:11-14 calls me to give up everything that does not lead to God. Lk 2:1-14 a call to overcome my fear, the major driving force of modern […]
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