Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Every year the Season of Lent makes demands that are always difficult and challenging.  And after hearing the Gospel we could say the scribes and Pharisees deserved Our Lord’s rebuke.  But, of course, Our Lord’s words are also directed towards us, not someone else.  So when Our Lord says, “I have come to call sinners

Friday after Ash Wednesday

The ancient Israelites were without doubt a fickle and ungrateful people.  And yet occasionally we can feel sorry for them as they try to be faithful to God’s will for them.  In the first reading we hear how the prophet Isaiah tells them how displeased God is with them.  The people have been fasting, but

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

In the first reading we hear how the Israelites are just about to enter the Promised Land.  Forty years of waiting and wandering in the desert has finally come to an end, and Moses began preparing the people for the next phase of their history: the time when God would fulfil his promise to bring

Ash Wednesday

Today we commence our journey through the ‘desert’ of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving as we prepare to celebrate Our Lord’s resurrection at Easter. A desert is generally uninhabitable, full of danger, and lacking in such necessities as food and water.  So why would anyone voluntarily go into the desert?  Only, it seems, out of obedience

Shrove Tuesday

In some cultures, Shrove Tuesday is considered to be a day of excess; mardi gras or Fat Tuesday implies fun and feasting, it’s the last chance to live it up before the rigours of Lent begin.  But is Shrove Tuesday meant to be a last fling before the hammer falls?   Or is it to celebrate

Monday of Week 7 in Ordinary Time

Many moons ago when I was in the Second Heckmondwike Scout Group we got a few lessons in rock climbing.  Now, rock climbing can look awfully easy from below.  You just find the next place to grab and then hoist yourself up.  But anyone who has tried to climb a rock, or a mountain will

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

You may have heard the story about the three young lads who went to confession.  The first told the priest, “I threw Peanuts in the lake.”  The second confessed the same crime.  When the third boy came in, the priest said, “I suppose you threw peanuts in the lake too.”  The boy answered, “No Father,

The Cathedra of Saint Peter

God seems to enjoy choosing the most improbable people to move his purposes forward.  We’ve learned over the past few weeks how the first kings of Israel were totally unsuited to the job.  Saul was a megalomaniac with serious mental and personal problems.  Israel’s greatest king David committed adultery and conspired in murder.  We also

Friday of Week 6 in Ordinary Time

Even in the early Church, the debate about faith and works was a heated one.  But today Saint James is telling us that faith is not something just to be talked about; it’s to be lived.  As followers of Christ, we demonstrate the extent of our faith all day long, consciously or unconsciously, by the

Thursday of Week 6 in Ordinary Time

Napoleon Bonaparte is credited with having said: “From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a single step.”  Considering today’s gospel we might say that Peter certainly takes that step, and we might add that he slipped on a banana skin along the way.  In an almost comical transition, Peter moves so quickly from his