“…let us meditate today on the power of Divine Mercy, Christ’s call to repentance, the agency of the Christian priesthood in this, and the endless love of the heart of God our Lord.”
Author Archives: Father Kevin
The Bishop expresses his sorrow following the death of Pope Francis
In a statement earlier today, Bishop McKinney said: “I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of the Holy Father, Pope Francis. The Pope has left an indelible mark on the Church and the world, as a man of great warmth and humility who made use of his global prestige to highlight and toContinue reading “The Bishop expresses his sorrow following the death of Pope Francis”
And the drama begins again… (Palm Sunday)
I shall say today what I wanted to last week, when we had a letter from the cardinal archbishop. After several weeks of talking about the Catholic Mass, I have wanted to introduce another significant element of the devout lives of Catholics: the devotion to Our Lady. If we peer into the chronicles of theContinue reading “And the drama begins again… (Palm Sunday)”
Confessions during Holy Week
Aside from the morning of Holy Saturday at Louth (the day before Easter Sunday), confessions will be heard for at least half an hour before every parish Mass, from Monday of Holy Week down to the Easter vigil. Please come as early as possible, in case there is difficulty with queueing. This will be attemptedContinue reading “Confessions during Holy Week”
Pastoral Letter on the Terminally-ill adults (aka. End-of-life) bill
“One consequence of this flawed process is that many vital questions remain unanswered. Can MPs guarantee that the scope of the Bill will not be extended? In almost every country where assisted suicide has been introduced the current scope is wider than was originally intended…”
Taste and see (Sunday IV of Lent)
I shall end today with my descriptions of the Mass, and next weekend, I shall begin with the Rosary. The Mass, as the second Vatican Council said, is the source and summit of our lives. It is our nearest encounter with the Holy One, the moment when heaven touches earth, and we stand among angels andContinue reading “Taste and see (Sunday IV of Lent)”
Burning bushes (Sunday III of Lent)
“More important than the way we die is how we live our lives, in repentance and building virtue.”
When God tabernacles with men (Sunday II of Lent)
“As the glory of the Holy One flashes forth on the mountain, the law-giver and judge Moses appears and the prophet and moralist Elijah appear alongside. They were talking about the point where Law and prophecy come together, where justice and righteousness are fulfilled, where heaven touches earth and angels walk among men.”
Priestly offerings (Sunday I of Lent)
“…the Mass is a Temple liturgy which echoes the worship of the heavenly Temple, and this presence of Christ upon our altars forms the greatest part of the offertory of the Church…”
Quiet, and blessed silence (Sunday VIII of Ordered time)
“…wisdom is gained in silence and listening, rather than in speech, and as the Lord says in our gospel reading today, a foolish man will lead everybody who follows him into the pit he has dug for himself.”
Love even your enemies (Sunday VII of Ordered time)
“What makes the Sacrifice of our Lord upon the Cross so perfect? In a single word, His humility, which… creates the locus for self-sacrificing love…”
Trust in God alone (Sunday VI of Ordered time)
“…as the prophet suggests, and as our Lord Himself once said when He was talking about building upon solid rock rather than on sand, if we were to rely on the Holy One, God our Lord, being sure of His protection, we would have fewer worries…”
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts (Sunday V of Ordered time)
“We might as well use S. Paul’s words in the second reading this weekend: I am the least of the people to be sent out by You, Lord, for I have been a great sinner, and I hardly deserve the name Apostle, but by your grace I shall be fruitful, I shall be an apostle.”
The Lord will enter His Temple (Sunday IV of Ordered time)
“…S. Simeon returns the Child to Our Lady, saying to her that she would have to suffer much on the Child’s behalf, but through it all would Judgement come upon mankind, and Salvation to all who believe.”
Reading and understanding (Sunday III of Ordered time)
“Historically, in the time of Ezra and from the time before the destruction of King Solomon’s Temple, the Jewish people had been scattered throughout the known world. Wherever they went, they already began to establish what we would recognise as synagogues…”
Sunday of the Word of God
“Rome is making a point, and the Dicastery for Evangelisation is serious about this, as we can see from their website.”
The wedding at Cana and the other Wedding (Sunday II of Ordered time)
“When the master steward declared that the water drawn out was the best wine he had ever tasted, the Immaculate Heart looked forward to the Cross of her Son. And it is apparent to me that this is where the Catholic tradition of intercession to the Holy Mother begins.”
‘Behold, My Servant, in Whom I am pleased…’ (Sunday I of Ordered time)
“Baptism is like the penitential rite at the beginning of Mass, which recognises sin and wipes the slate clean, allowing the offering of the rest of our lives to God to be more beautiful, more pure, more single-minded. Baptism is the preliminary to a daily consecration of our lives to God.”
Hail to the Lord’s anointed (Epiphany day)
“…when they had appeared in Jerusalem to find the Child, Jewish heads would have looked up at the mention of a new light shining out in the heavens, because of such prophecies as we have from Isaiah…”
And you, Bethlehem-Ephratha (Sunday IV of Advent)
“Bethlehem-Ephrata! Least do they reckon thee among all the clans of Juda? Nay, it is from thee I look to find a Prince that shall rule over Israel. Whence comes He? From the first beginning, from ages untold! Marvel not, then, if the Lord abandons His people for a time, until she who is in travailContinue reading “And you, Bethlehem-Ephratha (Sunday IV of Advent)”
Pastoral letter from the Bishop
“Hope is the central message of the Jubilee Year 2025 which today, the Feast of the Holy Family, now formally begins in our diocese and every Catholic diocese throughout the world.”
Christmas Day! At last…
“The shepherds had more to rejoice about than simply proving the words of the angels on the hills. As religious Jews, they may have remembered the lines of Isaiah, given us by the first reading at the dawn Mass, which were coming to fruition before their eyes.”
John the Priest (Sunday III of Advent)
Let’s talk about John the Baptist. We don’t tend to see him as much more than the herald of Christ, and some of us may remember that he baptised our Lord in the Jordan river. We know that he had a particular ministry to the people, and his own baptismal rite for a spiritual washingContinue reading “John the Priest (Sunday III of Advent)”
Humanity renewed (Sunday II of Advent)
“The link of our gospel story to Baruch’s prophecy is clearly in the levelling of mountains and filling in of valleys, in order to allow Jerusalem and Judah to be more quickly restored, as per Baruch. But S. John the Baptist has a greater vision: it isn’t only the Hebrew nation returning to God in the Messiah, but all nations of the earth – all mankind.”
Awaiting the King (Sunday I of Advent)
“…we are to watch ourselves, take up self-control to avoid possible drunkenness and debauchery, we are to stay awake, praying for the strength to survive every threat to our perseverance and faithfulness to God, and to stand confidently in all purity before the Son of Man.”
All hail the King (last Sunday of Ordered time)
On the last Sunday of the liturgical year we honour the High King and track His progress from Old Testament prophecy, through the witness of the Gospel and unto the apocalyptic fulfilment in the book of Revelation. First, consider that at the beginning God was named sovereign over His Creation, but the sins of humanityContinue reading “All hail the King (last Sunday of Ordered time)”
‘Lo, He comes with clouds descending…’ (Sunday XXXIII of Ordered time)
Once more, as we come to the end of the liturgical year, in these last Sundays before Advent, our readings become apocalyptic and speak of the end of all things. This sort of thing can be frightening to the people of this world – those who have set their hearts upon the things of thisContinue reading “‘Lo, He comes with clouds descending…’ (Sunday XXXIII of Ordered time)”
Supplying divine worship (Sunday XXXII of Ordered time)
One of my favourite Christmas carols is In the bleak mid-winter, and I can’t easily sing the last bit without choking up. If you know it, it is the song of the Christian soul before the Christmas crib, saying, ‘What can I give to You, poor though I am? if I were a shepherd, IContinue reading “Supplying divine worship (Sunday XXXII of Ordered time)”
True sacrifice (Sunday XXXI of Ordered time)
We have something of an identity statement of the Hebrew religion in our first reading today, which you can still hear Jewish people using today, several times weekly, if not daily. They call it the Sh’ma (pictured above in the Hebrew Bible), which is the Hebrew word for ‘hear,’ the first word of the statementContinue reading “True sacrifice (Sunday XXXI of Ordered time)”
The light of Faith (Sunday XXX of Ordered time)
Let’s attempt to establish a timeframe for our readings this weekend. Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed calamitously twice, once in 587 BC by the Chaldeans and the second time in AD 70 by the Romans. So, the first time was a little less than 600 years before our Lord, and the second timeContinue reading “The light of Faith (Sunday XXX of Ordered time)”
Churches together on All Hallows
A quick notification about an All Saints event that didn’t get into the newsletter this weekend. Please spread the word if you see this… On the first of November, at 18.00at Louth S. James (the parish church),an ecumenical Churches Together eventto which all are invited.
To reign from a Cross (Sunday XXIX of Ordered time)
“But the souls of the just are in God’s hands, and no torment, in death itself, has power to reach them. Dead? Fools think so; think their end loss, their leaving us, annihilation; but all is well with them. The world sees nothing but the pains they endure; they themselves have eyes only for whatContinue reading “To reign from a Cross (Sunday XXIX of Ordered time)”
The true measure of holiness (Sunday XXVIII of Ordered time)
There’s something I mention reasonably often: integrity and sincerity. Let us define religion as rite and ritual: the ceremonies that walk us from soon after we are born, through the period of adolescence and early adulthood, that sanctify our ordinary life throughout and that then finally carry us into the tomb. Why do people whoContinue reading “The true measure of holiness (Sunday XXVIII of Ordered time)”
Marriage: in the fire of love (Sunday XXVII of Ordered time)
With our readings this weekend we drift into a new meditation on human marriage. Those of you who hear me regularly know that I talk a great deal about marriage in passing, because one of the grand themes of Holy Scripture is the marriage of God to His chosen people. The Jews dwelt a greatContinue reading “Marriage: in the fire of love (Sunday XXVII of Ordered time)”
Treasuring divine Wisdom (Sunday XXVI of Ordered time)
Our readings this weekend begin with the delegation of apostolic authority for ministry within the Church. Remember that the Greek word ‘apostle’ simply refers to somebody who is sent, but in the Christian context that refers to a very particular missionary with extraordinary delegated power and responsibility to govern and sanctify. We’re talking here aboutContinue reading “Treasuring divine Wisdom (Sunday XXVI of Ordered time)”
Christian leadership (Sunday XXV of Ordered time)
As with last weekend, we meditate upon the suffering of our Lord in the course of His great Sacrifice, so let’s again try to unite all three of our Mass readings together to establish a common message. Remember that September is traditionally the month of our Lady of Sorrows, when we stand with our blessedContinue reading “Christian leadership (Sunday XXV of Ordered time)”
Treasures in heaven (Sunday XXIV of Ordered time)
In our Gospel reading today we have the great confession of the Apostle S. Peter, at Caesarea Philippi, far, far north of Judah and Jerusalem, near what they call today the Golan Heights. Far beyond Galilee even, and the tranquility of the fishing villages. And so, far away from all things, Christ asks His menContinue reading “Treasures in heaven (Sunday XXIV of Ordered time)”
A divine vengeance (Sunday XXIII of Ordered time)
I often take things back to the garden of Eden. That is so very significant, that fall of mankind, and everything else that takes place throughout the rest of the Bible is related straight back to that, as is also the great ending of the book of Revelation, when the tree of life – onceContinue reading “A divine vengeance (Sunday XXIII of Ordered time)”
Ritual washings (Sunday XXII of Ordered time)
I think that one of the reasons the Pharisees and the disciples of Christ had so many arguments, as we are told by the gospel stories, is that they were both groups of orthodox Jews. And in the best tradition of the Jewish people, the Orthodox have a good old argument every now and againContinue reading “Ritual washings (Sunday XXII of Ordered time)”
A morning offering
I had said that I would start a series of posts on prayer, after finishing up the short commentaries. Here’s a nice, old morning offering, to begin the day with: O Lord God Almighty, behold me prostrate before Thee in order to appease Thee, and to honour Thy Divine Majesty, in the name of allContinue reading “A morning offering”
Reading through the book of the Apocalypse of S. John (aka. Revelation)
And finally, here is my last short essay on the books of the Bible, part of a marathon read through the entire Knox English version of Holy Scripture, a copy of which I acquired when I worked at the cathedral in Nottingham. Monsignor Knox was a twentieth-century Anglican clergyman who became a Catholic priest, following an intellectualContinue reading “Reading through the book of the Apocalypse of S. John (aka. Revelation)”
‘Will you leave me, also?’ (Sunday XXI of Ordered time)
Our readings this weekend demonstrate invitations by God to a chosen people, who are always given the freedom to either accept or decline. But if they do accept, they do so not on their own conditions but on His. We should remember that in the relationships that God arranges with an elect people, He paintsContinue reading “‘Will you leave me, also?’ (Sunday XXI of Ordered time)”
Reading through the Gospel of S. Luke
The Gospel of Saint Luke, third and longest of the lot, is particularly interesting for the way it is arranged, with much of the material in the Gospels of Saint Matthew and Saint Mark, but reordered to form a different narrative. At the same time, Luke added new material the other two Gospels don’t contain,Continue reading “Reading through the Gospel of S. Luke”
Reading through the Song of Songs
This is a difficult one. The Song of Songs is probably the hardest to understand in its place in the canon of Sacred Scripture – even more so than Ecclesiastes. It seems to be a series of love letters thrown back and forth between various couples, with no obvious point. Could it be taken as wordsContinue reading “Reading through the Song of Songs”
Reading through the book of Deuteronomy
The Greek term deutero-nomos is literally ‘the second law.’ We may be aware that God gave the prophet Moses a law on Mount Horeb/Sinai after the dramatic escape from Egypt; this is outlined at the end of the book of Exodus, and throughout the book of Numbers, and is a first Law for the observance of the people, toContinue reading “Reading through the book of Deuteronomy”
Reading through the book of Genesis
How do you summarise the first and greatest of the books of the Torah? Let’s put it into the following portions: (i) the Creation and the early prehistory, (ii) the story of Abraham, and (iii) the son of Israel and the heads of the tribes The most significant theme of the first three or fourContinue reading “Reading through the book of Genesis”
Reading through the letter of the Apostle S. Jude
Here’s an old prayer-card image of the Apostle Saint Jude, aka. Thaddaeus, better known to us today as the patron Saint of hopeless causes. One of Jude’s letters – a rather short one – sits in our collection in the New Testament. This letter has a common theme that it shares with other early letters, thatContinue reading “Reading through the letter of the Apostle S. Jude”
Reading through the Wisdom of Solomon (aka. the Book of Wisdom)
The Wisdom of Solomon is traditionally attributed to the king of that name, although Scripture scholars have attempted to throw doubt on that (as Scripture scholars are wont to do). But let’s use the traditional attribution to keep things simple. There are three great themes of the book: (i) the triumph of the Just (oftenContinue reading “Reading through the Wisdom of Solomon (aka. the Book of Wisdom)”
Wisdom builds herself a home (Sunday XX of Ordered time)
“See, where Wisdom has built herself a house, carved out for herself those seven pillars of hers! And now, her sacrificial victims slain, her wine mingled, her banquet spread, this way and that her maidens are dispatched, to city keep and city wall, bidding her guests make haste. ‘Simple hearts,’ she says, ‘draw near me;’Continue reading “Wisdom builds herself a home (Sunday XX of Ordered time)”
Reading through the letters of S. John
The first letter we have of S. John’s is not a very long letter at all, and has many features from the Gospel of Saint John, such as the theology of light and dark, good and evil and attachment to Christ. It is marvellously black and white, the constant theme being that if you loveContinue reading “Reading through the letters of S. John”
Catholic Louth and Mablethorpe 