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)”

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.”

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…”

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…”