John the Baptist was a voice in the wilderness urging people to prepare a way for the Lord. Every mountain has to be laid low. There are mountains and hills of pride and ignorance. Every valley will be filled in. We think of the valleys of emptiness in our lives. We try to fill our [...]
Three attitudes help to enter into the spirit of Advent: WAITING, WATCHING AND WELCOMING. Waiting is eager expectation, an inner longing. Like the watchman that waits for the dawn, we wait for the Lord. He comes to us in so many ways: in word and silence, in joy and sorrow, in sickness and health, in [...]
This feast, instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 proclaims the sovereignty of Jesus over all authority. The Kingdom of Jesus is a Kingdom of Truth. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (Jn. 14:6). The Kingdom of Jesus is a kingdom of holiness. Jesus delivers us from evil. He died on the [...]
As the liturgical year approaches the end, our attention is drawn to the end times, the end of the world. “He will come to judge the living and the dead” we profess in the creed. When will this Last Judgement be? Nobody knows. Not the angels; not even Jesus! The Last Judgement is certainly going [...]
While he was teaching, Jesus had an eye on the charity box in the Temple as he watched closely people putting money into it. The temple like the Church is a place for prayer as well as charity. Prayer and almsgiving must go together: If we really pray, we will give alms; if we are [...]
The first and greatest commandment isto love God with all our heart, all oursoul, all our mind and all our strength.Added to this is the secondcommandment: You must love yourneighbour as yourself. We cannot loveGod if we do not love our neigbour. If wedo not love our neighbor whom we see,how can we love God [...]
Bartimaeus teaches us many lessons. He has deep faith; knows his own poverty and also knows Jesus’ power. He accepts his own dark blind world; believes that Jesus can restore his sight and bring him back into the light. This is the first condition of prayer: to know who we are and to know who [...]
The apostles were close to Jesus witnessing the miracles he wrought; listening to his teaching. Yet, in today’s gospel we note how James and John were cleverly scheming their way for balcony seats in the kingdom. In spite of being so close to Jesus, having lived and moved with him, they had failed to understand [...]
The encounter between Jesus and the rich young man described in the Gospel is a crucial encounter. Energetic, enthusiastic, excited and earnest, he runs to meet Jesus. Even more, he kneels before Jesus. Kneeling is a gesture of submission, subjection and surrender. He is both good and generous, having kept all the commandments and wanting [...]
Marriage has been designed by God. God in his infinite wisdom, love and power has decreed that man and woman come together in complementarity in a loving, living and life—long relationship. Man and woman are incomplete and insufficient in themselves. As male and female they complete and complement each other. God has decreed the insightful [...]