What Advent Offers Us
We blinked, and it happened. The year has ended, and a new one begun, because for the Church, the arrival of the season of Advent marks the beginning of the new liturgical year. The Church asks that we live Advent in anticipation of and preparation for the arrival of the Christ child, born again as the Child in the Manger, even as we know Christ is with us now, even as we …
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My mother had a multitude of pithy sayings, some her own phrases, some borrowed from others. One such saying was, “Misery loves company.” I thought of that when I read today’s second reading. “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are,” Paul writes to the Hebrews. Someone who can sympathize with us; someone who understands our sufferings; someone …
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Perseverance
The readings this Sunday have a focus on death. The first reading from the Book of Wisdom says that God neither makes nor delights in death. Mark’s Gospel talks about the impending and eventual death of Jarius’ daughter. Don’t tell Wayne, but I too have spent much time over the past year thinking about death. On March 20, 2023, I was diagnosed with a meningioma tumor; on May 6 of this year, I was diagnosed …
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Living in Hope
And just like that, it is Mother’s Day again. As always at this time of year, my mother is much on my mind. She had an abundance of wisdom sayings – some were her own pearls, and some the words of others which resonated with her. A favourite was “Live in hope or die in despair.” That sprang to mind today as I was reflecting on St. Paul’s letters to the Ephesians. At …
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My God, my God…
Years ago, when I was the catechetical coordinator at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, the parent of a child in year 5 called me with a question from her son. They had been to mass on Palm Sunday, and hearing in the Gosepl the same words used during the the responsorial psalm – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – the child asked, ‘Since Jesus is the Son of …
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The Breaths of Life
Patience is not one of my virtues. Lack of it is probably one of my more glaring faults. While I have spent much time in my life praying for patience, persuaded to continue to do so by a priest friend when I was about to give up (or run the risk, he felt, of losing my trust in God’s willingness to respond to our prayers 😊) that particular prayer has not, as …
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The Consoling Joy of the Gospel1
In a world that has not enough of any, the themes of Advent are significant – hope, peace, joy and love. This Sunday the focus is on joy. The prophet Isaiah, a key character of the season, reminds us of the ‘good news’ which he has been sent to proclaim, for which he is ‘greatly rejoicing.’ Mary, on arriving at her cousin Elizabeth’s home, responds to Elizabeth’s greeting with her …
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Love is the Greatest Commandment
¯Love, love, love … all you need is love. ¯
The multitudes of songs and poems which talk about love is endless. As a reader, I can attest that it is also a common theme in many books, a universal concept, understood and lived out in a variety of ways. Love really does appear to make the world go round, as someone once said. We are a society …
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Well this I am certain of, as I am not certain of much else: thank God I do not have the same friends as Jeremiah. “All my close friends are watching for me to stumble” he tells us. Maybe it is a little delusional of me, but I would like to think that my friends are always rooting for my success.
Jeremiah was born in the mid 600’s BC in Anathoth, near Jerusalem, the son of one …
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I know very little about shepherds. In fact I would argue, that very few of us do. Frankly, I was shocked to discover that shepherds are still a real thing. That, although modern methods of farming have made protecting and herding sheep a lot easier, there are still many places in the world, including places in North America, where shepherds continue doing the job which has been done for thousands of years – one source indicated it may well …
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