Tag Archive for ‘prayer’
Saturday 9 March
Psalm 51, Hosea 5:15-6:6, Luke 18:9-14 When repentance meets forgiveness This is David’s prayer, his confession of sin and his plea for God’s forgiveness. David names his sin – transgression, iniquity, sin, evil. He declares, ‘Against you, you only, have I sinned’ (v. 4). The heart of the sin matter is always sin against God. […]
Tuesday 5 March
Psalm 25, Daniel 3:25-43, Matthew 18:21-35 Uprightness and integrity Psalm 25 is the prayer of one who has chosen to walk in righteousness, but is finding the way difficult. It is lined with enemies waiting to get him, wanting to put him to shame by proving the powerlessness of his God. At the same time […]
Presider Style
I am an academic rather than a parish priest, so I do not have a regular Sunday congregation. The benefit of this unfortunate reality is that I visit many different parish communities and have the chance to concelebrate in a variety of settings. This means I can play the ‘sit back and critique the presider’ […]
Thursday 21 February
Esther 4:17, Ps.138, Matthew 7:7-12 Trust in the Lord Today’s first reading comes from the book of Esther. Esther was a Jewess, married to King Ahasuerus. The king, inflamed by his advisers, intended to massacre all his Jewish subjects and only Esther could speak to him on their behalf. The king was very angry and […]
Tuesday 19 February
Isaiah 55:10-11, Ps.34, Matthew 6:7-15 Our Father The Our Father must be the best known prayer in Christendom. The problem is that we know it so well we can say it without thought, without really considering what we are saying. I know I am guilty of this at times, but today I am going to […]
Monday 18 February
Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18, Ps.19B, Matthew 25:31-46 God’s justice Both our readings today deal with the way we relate to one another. Moses spells out the commandments of God to his people, telling them how they must live in this new land God has given them. Jesus, as always, carries it even further. Not just our […]
Sunday 17 February
FIRST Sunday in LENT Deuteronomy 26:4-10, Ps.91, Romans 10:8-13, Luke 4:1-13 In the shelter of the Most High Today’s psalm must be one of the most beautiful and reassuring in all scripture. Certainly we shall have troubles, we shall have to face temptations, Jesus did and so shall we, his followers, but we have God’s […]
Wednesday 13 February
ASH WEDNESDAY Joel 2:12-18, Ps.51, 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2, Matthew 6:1-6,16-18 Turn back to Me How do I regard Lent? Maybe as a penitential time, a time for self-denial, fasting, prayer? Lent is all these things but if we concentrate solely on them we miss a great blessing. Lent is a time to hear the call […]
Friday 8 February
Hebrews 13:1-8, Ps.27, Mark 6:14-29 Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever We live in a world of constant change, indeed the pace of change seems to increase all the time. We long for certainty and stability at the centre of it all. Fortunately we can find it. Jesus never changes, though our understanding […]
Sunday 3 February
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary time Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19, Ps.71, 1 Cor.12:31-13:13, Luke 4:21-30 Love is eternal Todays’ second reading, from St Paul to the Corinthians, must be one of the best known passages in the Bible. So well- known we sometimes lose the wonder of it. For our prayer today could we try and read […]
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