Twentieth Sunday of the Year

Isaiah is offering us a way to embrace the value of others by genuinely appreciating them in our hearts which impacts on our actions by way of his prayer of the heart – the God in our heart – who says, ‘I will bring foreigners to my holy mountain. I will make them joyful in my house of prayer, says the Lord, ‘for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples’. No one is excluded.

Nineteenth Sunday of the Year

Like most people, Elijah, does not experience God’s presence in the expected places such as in power or violence of earthquakes, fires or winds. God is found in the quiet, gentle breeze by responding to everyday issues that involve service and solidarity with others. Today’s readings suggest that it is in precisely these places and situations that we experience and touch God. God cannot be encountered in withdrawal from life’s realities but by ‘walking across the water’ and trusting in the one who says ‘Courage! It is I!’  

18^th Sunday of the Year

It is difficult to avoid the reality of injustice and poverty today when we see the following Jesus whilst he is trying to find some space to deal with the murder of John the Baptism.  This murder gave Jesus a double warning. First, it made clear that anyone who criticised powerful people courted danger. We see also the tragedy of trivialising John’s life and mission because his death was due to petty vengeance and a drunken promise. Whatever Jesus wanted to do, looking upon the distressed people called something from him as well as clarifying his mission.