Come out of the shadow of death, out of the darkness of sin, to take our place beside Zechariah, Joseph, and John the Baptist, and cast our eyes on the grace-filled sunrise which begins now in the crooked crib of a newborn babe. Luke 1: 67-79 is a moment of prophetic insight and praise, as [...]
When Joseph obeyed the command of the angel in his dream, he was following a long tradition of obedience to God’s messengers. He could not, like Mary, reverse the disobedience of our first parents by his simple consent to God’s plan. Today’s gospel (Matthew 1: 18-24) relates the circumstances in which Joseph considered “putting Mary [...]
The genealogy of Jesus, so strange upon our ear, is no excursion into mere curiosity or arcane trivia. It is the unfolding and making known of the tale of God’s mercies down the centuries, told out in the lives of the many most of whose names are known to God alone and who lie in [...]
How, we wonder, can we know the lightness of His burden and the easiness of His yoke? Unless we are gifted by some special grace, this is not the work of one day or one night. We must surrender to the divine pedagogy, to the training that He offers us every day. Matthew 11: 28-30 [...]
If our ears are to be opened to the good news to come, we need to shed the lies with which we comfort ourselves and face our worse selves, only to bring them to the healing touch of Christ. He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. He is the [...]
Follow me, Christ says; and wherever the Master goes, there must the disciple follow. Mark 16:15-20 gives us the last scene in the gospel of St Mark, setting out Jesus’ final command to the apostles to preach the gospel, and promising that their work would be accompanied by miracles and signs. Then the Lord is [...]