Tuesday of Week 22 in Ordinary Time

Life is full of surprises; some are pleasant and welcome, while others we would sooner avoid.  In today’s first reading St. Paul suggests that the second coming of Our Lord will be more like a pleasant surprise than a panic-inducing shock to our systems. That’s because we are children of God and children of the

Ss. Margaret Clitherow, Margaret Ward and Anne Line

Today we honour the memory of three courageous English women who were martyred for protecting priests and allowing them to celebrate Mass in their homes – an act of high treason 450 years ago.  Saint Margaret Clitherow is perhaps the best known of the three: she was crushed to death in York in 1586 and

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

If you would be a superstar athlete, an accomplished musician, or a poet, or a writer, or if you would be a renowned scientist, or at the top of your profession, or a business tycoon, you would have to live a pretty disciplined life.  You would have to observe a rigorous set of rules and

O.H.F. Augustine

An impressionable young man from a respectable family falls into the wrong crowd.  He becomes increasingly estranged from his family and begins exhibiting strange behaviour.  While he is away at school his mother’s fears are confirmed.  He has become a member of an extreme religious cult.  Now this scenario could be straight out of the

Saint Monica

Today we honour the memory of Saint Monica whom the Church sets before us as a model of patience.  Her long years of prayer, coupled with a strong, well-disciplined character, finally led to the conversion of her hot-tempered husband, her cantankerous mother-in-law, and her brilliant but wayward son, Augustine who would also become a saint

Thursday of Week 21 in Ordinary Time

Americans love their cars, and they also love bumper stickers, and one of my favourites was “Jesus is coming. Look busy.”  In other words, we should keep up the appearance of activity so that we don’t get into trouble. Now, you might be tempted to think that Our Lord is saying something similar when he

Wednesday of Week 21 in Ordinary Time

If you had lived in Palestine two thousand years ago and someone called you a “whitewashed tomb” you would have been extremely insulted.  Tombs were usually carved into a rocky hillside and protected by a heavy stone.  Sometimes these tombs were hidden in the landscape, which could be inconvenient because the ancient Jews believed that

Saint Bartholomew

In today’s gospel we are confronted with this odd conversation between Our Lord and someone called Nathaniel, who may or may not be the apostle Bartholomew.  Philip seeks out his friend and brings him to Our Lord, who never having met Nathaniel declares, “This man is a real Israelite.”  And then we hear the mysterious

Saint Rose of Lima, O.P.

Saint Rose was the first South American to be canonised, and she led, to say the least, a very interesting life, and devoted much of it to prayer and penance, especially for those who had fallen away from the Church, and for the holy souls in purgatory.  Good works that we should perform every day.

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

As Catholics we have a particular awareness of God’s Presence.  In our churches and chapels, we experience flickering candles, the smell of candle wax and occasionally aromatic incense.  In some churches we see stained glass windows, statues, icons, mosaics, and all manner of rich symbols that almost transport us to another world.  When we enter