Unusual families

 

Sunday 28 December 2025

 Lectio Divina:*

Sirach 3:2-14

Psalm 127 (128)

Colossians 3:12-21

Matthew 2:13-23

 

Meditatio:

“...remain there until I tell you” (Matthew 2:13)

 

Commentary:

So you think your family is among the most unusual in the world—especially after the cabin fever of Christmastide? Take a look at the Bible and listen to the stories of the “Holy Family,” celebrated in the Catholic calendar this Sunday. Trace the families of the Old Testament and you may find comfort in the recurring truth that God writes straight with crooked lines, working through ordinary, vulnerable, fragile human beings.

He pitched his tent among us

 

Thursday 25 December 2025

 

Lectio Divina:*

Isaiah 52:7-10

Psalm 97

 Hebrews 1:1-6

 John 1:1-18

 

Meditatio:

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” (John 1:14)

 

Commentary:

Of the four Gospels, John is the most reflective. Where Matthew opens with a long Jewish genealogy and Luke begins with pregnancy and birth narratives, John starts with a contemplative, high‑theology genealogy of the Divine: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

The Gospel opens like a hymn to the Logos — the very utterance of God‑who‑is‑love. Eastern and Asiatic mysticism could recognise here the manifestation of the Seed that gives life to many other seeds. John knows how to speak to a Jewish audience and, equally, to a Hellenistic‑Greek one. The Logos (the Word) is identified with Sophia (Wisdom); it is our life, our light, and the ground in which we are rooted. The Word is also linked with the Torah given through Moses. Yet this Word — this New Law — becomes a defining theme throughout John’s writings, including the Letters attributed to him, which we hear at the daily Eucharist in these closing days of a troubled 2025.

Ready to receive

 

Sunday 21 December 2025

 

Lectio Divina:*

 Isaiah 7:10-14

Psalm 24

 Romans 1:1-7

 Matthew 1:18-24

 

Meditatio:

“…Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly ….” (Matthew 1:19)

 

Commentary:

Another week to go! Those cards, those presents, those visits, hiding the toys in the attic or with the neighbours, those last-minute things…`

Or maybe ….

Ready to witness

 

Lectio Divina:*

Isaiah 35:1-10

Psalm 146

 James 5:7-10

 Matthew 11:2-11

 

Meditatio:

“…blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me ….” (Matthew 11:6)

 

Commentary (1,162 words):

On this, the third Sunday of Advent, we are moving closer to that great feast of the Saviour’s birthday. However, the warnings of John the Baptist gave way to a new phase in our history of salvation.  Now, the focus turns towards the cousin of John. In terms of the Gospel story we skip forward from John at the river Jordan preaching, warning, baptising and clearing the way for someone who is to come to John who is in prison awaiting trial and, presumably, execution. 

The Gospel of Matthew places a strong emphasis on the Messiah (or the Christ).  This emphasis would not have been lost on his Jewish audience since the transition from a baptism with water and prophecy as with Elijah must now, decisively, give way to a new baptism in the Spirit and a new definitive revelation of God.  All of history leads to this event, this era, this teaching, this prophecy. It was no longer just a question of Jesus the extraordinary and ordinary cousin of John but it was a matter of Jesus Christ the ‘he-who-saves’ (Jeshua in Aramaic) and the Christ or Messiah (Christou in Greek).

Ready to change

 

Lectio Divina:*

Isaiah 11:1-10

Psalm 72

Romans 15:4-9

Matthew 3:1-12

 

Meditatio:

“…Prepare the way of the Lord….” (Matthew 3:3)

 

Commentary:

Hope runs through today’s readings. After a time of ruin for the Jewish people, Isaiah speaks of renewed leadership and a reign of peace where the vulnerable are protected. The Psalm echoes this vision with its promise of universal salvation. Paul, in the second reading, reminds us that salvation is rooted in Israel but extends to the whole earth. There is continuity from the Old to the New Testament, with John the Baptist heralding a new order.

John, the cousin of Jesus, points to a new way of life already breaking into our world. He was no ordinary figure. Clothed in camel’s hair with a leather belt, living on locusts and wild honey, he stood apart from the priests of the Temple and the leaders of society. His very presence was a reproach to the norms of his time—yet people flocked to him because his message carried weight and conviction.

Mindful and ready

 

Lectio Divina:*

Isaiah 2:1-5

Psalm 122

Romans 13:11-14

Matthew 24:37-44**

 

Meditatio:

“…Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour” (Matthew 24:44)

 

Commentary (1,082 words):

Stop.

Breathe.

Rest.

Six years ago, I wrote a blog here on the same readings for the first Sunday of Advent. Then, I reflected:

The best way to prepare for death is to live life to the full now and to live it well so that we leave a good memory and example and find our well-being in this thought.