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13th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 26 June 2022
One of the most important things we can learn about the gospels is about the nature of the language that the writers use. It is the language of parables – a language, it seems, favoured by Jesus himself. Jesus was a great teacher as we know. He was a great storyteller and he constantly uses stories to communicate his message. But the parables are not simply stories. A parable is very particular kind of story: it is a story that is designed to confuse us, to unsettle us, even in some cases, to shock us. This tendency to confuse, to unsettle, to shock is at the heart of the parables. The point in the confusion is that a…
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Corpus Christi – 19 June 2022
I often think how different life would be without emails. Emails now seem to rule the day, and it seems to me that the management of emails has become one of the most important skills to learn. One of the ways that I seek to manage it all is by having multiple email addresses, each one for different purposes. I have one for my parish and diocesan work, another for more general personal communication, another for news feeds. And so, in this way different kinds of emails get lodged into different boxes as it were. The last of these ‘boxes’ so to speak I open through the MSN website. I…
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Trinity Sunday – 12 June 2022
Whatever of our Republican aspirations, I am sure that many of us have been bedazzled by the recent celebrations of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. For many of us, it has been a trip down memory lane as images of the Queen’s long life and reign have greeted us – almost from another world. Monarchy speaks to something deep within us; there is something archetypal in its presentation. It sparks something deep within us. In particular, royal weddings capture our imagination. With great vividness, they bring before us something for which we all long: the simplicity of falling in love, the promise of exchanging a commitment to each other, the hope…
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Pentecost – 5 June 2022
As most weeks draw to their end, we can often feel somewhat fragmented. It’s been a difficult week at work; we haven’t achieved all that we would like to, there have been issues at home, at school. The world is full of dismay! In our own way each of us asks, “Where is the Spirit of God in all of this?” Where is the Spirit which Jesus has promised us? Where is the Gift of God’s life that we celebrate in this great festival of Pentecost? How is the Spirit of God given to us in the daily struggle of our lives, and in our effort to make sense of all that threatens to fragment our life?” If only the Spirit…
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Solemnity of the Ascension – 29 May 2022
We are often used to saying, “distance makes the heart grow fonder.” Sometimes, though, we are not so sure. We know how long-distance friendships or relationships suffer for lack of contact, it seems that the saying is true only when actually come into contact with each other from time to time, or when we are constantly reminded of the one we love. Then, the separation we experience with someone we love does act to deepen our love. This is why the photos of those we love but who have died become so important to us. Our constant reminder of them through these symbols means that our love does not extinguish…
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6th Sunday of Easter – 23 May 2022
One of my interests is choreography – not that I know very much about it, but I certainly enjoy watching productions of dance and motion. Perhaps this is because my parents were enthusiastic dancers and one of my most delightful memories as a child was watching them dancing. One of the most poignant dances I have seen is that of the Turkish whirling dervishes. This is a sacred dance with its very particular choreography. It begins with very slow motion and gradually builds with intensity so that the many individuals who enter the dance inter-weave their steps to create an extraordinary circular effect. It is one of the most sublime…
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5th Sunday of Easter – 15 May 2022
Last Sunday, the fourth week of Easter, the Church’s liturgy explored the life of the Risen Christ through the imagery of shepherding. Through this image of shepherding the Gospel of John develops the inter-relationship between the life of Jesus and our own lives. The image speaks of the particular bond by which we have both our identity and our direction. It is through this bond, and through this bonding, that we experience the life of the Risen Christ. The bonds that unite us therefore are not incidental to our Easter experience; they are one of the primary means by which we touch the life of the Risen Christ, How does…
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4th Sunday of Easter – 8 May 2022
One of the lines that we often hear in political life is the claim that an action or a particular policy was pursued because, “it was the right thing to do.” The assertion seems to justify all manner of decisions and it is given out in such a way to counter all opposing arguments such that the alleged rightness being claimed is simply given as fact. The process by which the determination that something has been right’ is arrived at is, of course, never explained. “I did it because it simply was the right thing to do, and I require no further justification,” seems to be the implication. Hearing this assertion a number…
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3rd Sunday of Easter – 1 May 2022
Often, it’s out of children, the youngest, that we hear the most wisdom. Children have the most disarming way of speaking the truth. And they have an uncanny capacity for observation – especially for when it comes to understanding the nature of love. At weddings I often like to share these delightful observations about love Q – When is it ok to kiss someone? A -You should never kiss a girl unless you have enough bucks to buy her a big ring and her own DVD, because she’ll want to have videos of the wedding. (Jim, age 10) Q – What is the right age to get married?A – Twenty-three…
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Anzac Day – 25 April 2022
The conclusion to the Ode we recite on this day each year has become etched in our minds: “Lest we forget.” The problem is, of course, that we do forget, and that we forget all too easily. The horror of war, its senseless brutality, and its needless destruction are never too far from eruption. The criminal tragedy of Ukraine is played out daily before us. However, let us not forget those other theatres of violence – Afghanistan, Myanmar, South Sudan, Syria – to name just several. And in each situation, we are left with the hauntingly relentless question of “Why?” Why does it have to be this way? Why are otherwise…
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