Victorious in Christ

 

In the Cross, we are reminded that God became one of us, sharing all our vulnerabilities. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). He who did not sin made himself one with us on the Cross (Hebrews 4:15; 2 Corinthians 5:21). God invites us to offer him our weaknesses, our uncertainties, even our despair, casting all our anxieties on him, for he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). It is in uniting ourselves with the Cross of Jesus in the celebration of the Eucharist — especially on this, the Lord’s Day, the day of the Resurrection (Luke 24:1-8; Acts 20:7) — that we draw new hope and new strength for the journey ahead.

We do not walk this road alone, nor do we walk it under our own power. The same Christ who emptied himself on the Cross rose again on the third day, and it is his risen life we receive at every Eucharist. Whatever weighs on us this week — the world’s brokenness or our own — we can bring it to the altar and leave transformed, 'more than conquerors through him who loved us' (Romans 8:37). That is the hope of the Lord’s Day: not that our struggles vanish, but that we face them carried by a strength not our own. 

Weary trying to hold it in

Sunday 30 August 2026

Lectio Divina:*

Jeremiah 20:7-9 Psalm 63(62) Romans 12:1-2 Matthew 16:21-27

(See also Mark 8:34-9:1 and Luke 9:23-27 and John 12:25-26)

Meditatio:

 “If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name’, then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot." (Jeremiah 20:9)

Commentary:

There is a small irony in this Sunday’s reading. Last Sunday, we heard about the conferring of the keys on Peter, the rock on whom Christ builds his Church. This Sunday, immediately following that discourse, we hear Peter being called a stumbling block—a skandalon in Greek—ironically from the same Jesus who had just named him Petros, the rock.

Jesus does not mince his words: ‘Get behind me, Satan.’ Later in the Gospels we learn that Peter will deny the Lord three times, and yet be forgiven, restored and strengthened. His story is not one of perfection at once but of conversion.

Like Peter, we too can become stumbling blocks for others on life’s journey. By our attitudes, assumptions and ways of thinking, we can become instruments not of peace and unity but of discord, harm and alienation. Being a stumbling block is one thing; failing to recognise it and change is quite another. We can cling to self‑interest or to the approval of others while ignoring the demands of love. Many are deterred or scandalised because the light of Christ seems absent from our words, actions and manner of living.

A telling vision at Knock

There have been many reports of apparitions of Mary, the Mother of God, across the world in recent decades and centuries. Some have been recognised and approved by the authorities of the Roman Catholic church while some have not.  A few turned out to be hoaxes.  Most attract the presence and prayers of large numbers of people.  No approved apparition is imposed on the beliefs of Catholics. One is free to accept, reject, doubt or remain indifferent to all such apparitions.  What is required is faith in the truths revealed by God and taught by the Church through Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium.

All that said, many holy places associated with claimed apparitions of Our Lady are important sites and, in my view, can be accorded some degree of credibility and importance in one’s spiritual life based on the evidence of the fruits flowing from such a place. ‘You will know them by their fruits.’ says Jesus in Matthew 7:16.

Going to him when we are struggling

Sunday 5 July 2026

Lectio Divina:*

Zechariah 9:9-10 Psalm 145(144)

Romans 8:9-13 Matthew 11:25-30

Meditatio:

‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28)

 

Commentary:

We tire from striving. We grow weary carrying burdens that were never meant to be carried alone. In his Son, God comes to us not as a despotic ruler but as a gentle king and suffering servant who gives his life for his people. God remains faithful when all around seems out of control. Evil never has the final word. Some may say that we are on the wrong side of history. Yet human history itself finds its meaning within God's greater plan of salvation. God's desire for his people is peace, life and communion with him. This is the theme running through each of the readings, today.

Why is there no mass today?

 Good Friday.

There is only one day in the entire year when the Roman Catholic Church does not celebrate Mass. At first this may seem surprising. If Good Friday commemorates the death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, why would the Church refrain from celebrating the Eucharist, especially since:

‘For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes’. (1 Cor 11:26)