“…why the Holy One took flesh and walked as a Man among them. And so we celebrate Christmas as everything else at the foot of the Cross. Christmas had to be, so that Good Friday could be.”
Tag Archives: prophecy of isaias
Waiting patiently (Sunday III of Advent)
On this third Sunday of Advent, we water down the purple of the Advent vigil to a more joyous rose pink, as we rejoice in the Lord. Because of that first word of the Mass this weekend – rejoice – this liturgical Sunday is called Rejoice Sunday, or in the Latin Gaudete Sunday. So, asContinue reading “Waiting patiently (Sunday III of Advent)”
Fear of the Lord (Sunday II of Advent)
“If God can raise children of Abraham – our father in the faith – out of the stones in the desert, it doesn’t matter at all that we may be Jews, or indeed that we are of any race, that our families have been Christian and Catholic for x number of centuries, or decades or years…”
Keeping vigil (Sunday I of Advent)
We could say to ourselves: last weekend was the last Sunday of the liturgical year, and so this Sunday must be the first Sunday of the new liturgical year. And we would be right. And we could suggest that, since the readings of the last two Sundays had apocalyptic, end-of-the-world-type themes, this Sunday should haveContinue reading “Keeping vigil (Sunday I of Advent)”
The narrow gate (Sunday XXI of Ordered time)
“Christianity, contrary to what we may sometimes be told, is not a religion ‘of the book,’ but rather a religion of the heart… Christianity and Catholicism will always be a love story.”
Christus imperat, Christ commands (Sunday XIV of Ordered time)
“…the Church defends the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception in the womb of the mother, and until the moment of natural death…”
‘I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith…’ (feast day of S. Peter and S. Paul)
“Christ immediately after that appointment of Peter as steward/vicar starts to talk about His own passion and death, His resurrection and His departure. Peter would have a very real job in His absence.”
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 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.”
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…”
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)”
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)”
The Church in effect (Sunday II of Easter)
This Sunday is the octave day of Easter Sunday, and just as a musical octave at its end pitches the same note higher, the Resurrection of our Lord raises in pitch on the eighth day in a way, to the flourishing of the Church. For the grand theme of all our readings this weekend isContinue reading “The Church in effect (Sunday II of Easter)”
Glorified in suffering (Sunday V of Lent)
This Sunday is called Passion Sunday. Not Palm Sunday – that comes next weekend. The reason we begin already to speak of the Passion this Sunday is because the liturgy features today the moment when our Lord set His face towards Jerusalem and to His great ordeal. As He says in the gospel reading today,Continue reading “Glorified in suffering (Sunday V of Lent)”
God or the king? or both? (the 29th Sunday of OT)
“A message from the Lord to the king He has anointed, to Cyrus. I have caught him by his right hand, ready to subdue nations at his coming, put kings to flight, open every gateway before him, so that no door can keep him out. And now (says the Lord) I will still lead theeContinue reading “God or the king? or both? (the 29th Sunday of OT)”
Catholic Louth and Mablethorpe 