Today’s reflections focus on the Gospel about the significance of the Passover Meal when Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it He broke it, gave it to them and said, ” Take; this is my Body.” Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks He gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, ” This is my Blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” These words ...
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Today is the feast of the Holy Trinity, the feast that marks one of the most unique beliefs of Christian faith, separating Christianity from other world religions. We believe in one God in three persons. We believe in a God who is defined by relationship. 1 John states that “God is love.” God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the perfect love that unites them in such a way that nothing is done by one person of the Trinity ...
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The Church’s prayer for 2, 000 years has been, “Come, Holy Spirit.” The Spirit’s answer in all that time has never changed, “I am here. I have always been here.” This story comes from an autobiographical novel by Bryce Courtenay called The Power of One. It reminds me of Pentecost.
It takes place in South Africa in the late 1930s. It starts off with an emphasis on a little boy who is 6 years old, and he is an English boy. ...
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AIR
“There came a sound like the rush of a violent wind…”(Acts 2) and He breathed on them and said to them “Receive the Holy Spirit…'”
Air and Life
For the ancients there were four elements, not the ninety plus that science now teaches.
Those four were air, water, fire and earth. Today, Pentecost, I will concentrate on ...
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Twenty-one years ago, when I was young and foolish, I hopped in the car and drove 3,600 km to go to a retreat center in Tucson, Arizona. It was in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, surrounded by giant cactus plants, some with arms stretching 25 feet into the air. In each of the retreatants’ rooms was the standard bed, desk, chair and a lamp. I had been on retreats before. So, I knew there would be a piece of ...
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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 the time of writing this, ...
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This gospel reading is a continuation of the gospel reading from last Sunday. Last Sunday, Jesus told us to abide in him, to remain in him, so that our lives would bear fruit. In today’s reading, Jesus is putting a little different spin on things. He’s telling us to abide in his love so that his joy may be in us and that our new-found joy will be complete. Complete joy is not a joy that is fleeting. Rather, complete ...
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When we experience the best things in life, we don’t have words to describe those things. We stand there with our mouths open, and we are at a loss for words; it’s just that good. Equally true, when we experience the worst things in life, we go numb. We lose words. All we can do is weep. Tears replace words.
When it comes to our faith, especially in our feeble attempts to describe what God is like, we just know our ...
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Singing in the Assembly
When we come together to celebrate Eucharist we are asked to do something we are seldom (if ever) asked to do elsewhere. Some of us find it difficult or we think we are not capable. Or we think that it is something that only women (if we are men) or children (if we are adults) or professionals (if we are not) should do. Some of us don’t even think about it at all; we simply don’t ...
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The gospel story we just heard is a contrast between a true shepherd who is willing to lay down his life for his sheep and a hired hand who runs away when danger comes. It’s really not a story about shepherding sheep, which I know nothing about. It’s a story about caring for the people God has put on our life’s journey. Jesus is the good shepherd not because he talks about some abstract, idealized shepherd who lays down his ...
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