Gospel for the Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) (6 October 2024)
Even as we meditate on the vision Jesus gives us, we cannot forget that this journey of marriage is a vulnerable reality.
Michael Whelan SM, PhD
Gospel for the Twenty Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) (29 September 2024)
whoever gives you a cup of water etc: Jesus continues to develop his tolerant and universalist understanding of the kind of reality he is bringing to birth.
Gospel for the Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) (22 September 2024)
Discipleship does not come with a book of answers. It is an invitation to a journey with Jesus and through him with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Gospel for the Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) (15 September 2024)
A natural symbol of all human beings is that of life as “journey”. The question then arises: Is the journey meaningless, without any direction or goal, except perhaps what we create?
Gospel for the Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) (8 September 2024)
It is not unreasonable to ask: Why the detail? And it is not unreasonable to ask: Why not? The truth is, we do not pay much attention to the details of our days.
Gospel for the Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) (1 September 2024)
What is the difference between this scribe and the scribes and the Pharisees that are in conflict with Jesus? Jesus cites the prophet Isaiah: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me’” (Isaiah 29:13). “Their hearts are far from me”!
Gospel for the Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) (25 August 2024)
believe: The “hearing” and “accepting” are central to “believing” and believing is central to the Gospel of John. The Greek verb pisteuō is used more than ninety times in John’s Gospel. It is first used in the Prologue – see 1:7. Throughout the Gospel, John always uses the verb, “believe”, never the noun, “belief”.
Gospel for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) (18 August 2024)
The experience of “longing” helps us understand “life”. You knew longing as a child – “Are we nearly there yet?”. You knew it is an adolescent when you thought of the summer holidays. You knew it when you fell in love. You know it now – no matter how old you are. Being is be-longing. Enough is never enough. We are restless beings because we are made for “more”. Living is longing!
Gospel for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) (11 August 2024)
The Founder of the Marist Fathers – Jean Claude Colin (1790-1875) – said that once people have “tasted God” everything else will look after itself. All the idols that dwell within the thicket of unreality and prevent you hearing God’s invitation, will gradually disappear. Knowing you are loved is a powerful antidote to all manner of physical, moral and spiritual diseases!
Gospel for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) (4 August 2024)
Bread, in the Bible, as elsewhere, is food. But in the Bible bread is also a profound symbol of God’s care and concern for the people with whom he has entered a Covenant. Bread is a communal symbol, representing hospitality and identity. Our English word “companion” – from the Latin com meaning “together” and panis meaning “bread” – reflects something of this tradition. A true companion is someone with whom we share bread.