The changing of water into wine at a wedding is the first miracle attributed to Jesus in St John’s Gospel (2:1-12). It took place in Cana in Galilee, understood to be close to Nazareth where Jesus grew up. The occasion was a marriage to which Jesus, his mother and disciples were invited, suggesting that it…
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Parenting is always one day at a time J
Amy Morris-Young in The National Catholic Reporter, 12 January 2109 There is a rarely-discussed truth among us parents of three or more children. In general, we just seem to relax the more kids we have. It can't be helped. We are just plain busy, and really tired. If you want proof, pull out your family…
Homily, the Baptism of Jesus (C) 2019
In just three short sentences we are presented in the Gospel (Luke 3:15-16, 21-22) with a most decisive moment in the life of Jesus – his baptism in the River Jordan. It was so important that all four Gospels record it at some length. His baptism is the moment when Jesus became fully aware of…
Homily, Epiphany 2019
This is the 12th and final day of the season of Christmas. While in the Roman Church it closes the season of Christmas, Epiphany in the Eastern Orthodox Church it is their Christmas Day. Epiphany means ‘revelation’ and the feast celebrates God’s first public revelation of Jesus. It is symbolically enacted in the crib before…
Homily, The Holy Family 2018
The Holy Family 2018 We learn from St Luke today that after he had been missing for three days, the distraught parents of Jesus eventually found him meeting with an adult group of teachers in the Temple. It was a significant moment in his life. He was coming of age, entering his teens and beginning…
Santa Cause
A Leading Article in THE TIMES, 26 December 2018 Are you still a believer in Santa?” This question was posed in the White House on Christmas Eve by President Trump as he answered a phone call from a boy named Coleman, aged seven. Coleman was seeking information about the progress of Santa’s journey across the…
Homily, Christmas 2018
On this very night, Christmas Eve, two hundred years the carol ‘Silent Night’ was first sung in a little Catholic church in Austria. It was composed during a turbulent time in Europe when the continent was reeling in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. These were a series of major conflicts lasting 12 years, from 1803 to…
Homily, Fourth Sunday of Advent (C) 2018
Here in modern Western society, it can be difficult for us to imagine how women in the Middle East in first century Palestine could never do anything alone. They either had to be always in a group of women and children or under the watchful eye of their father, brother, husband or some other responsible…
A guide to having a really happy Christmas
By Tim Harford (The Undercover Economist) in the Financial Times, 22 December 2018 Is Christmas a time of magic, generosity and conviviality? Or of overconsumption, stress, and social anxiety? It is easy to make a case either way: listen to Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmas Time”, followed immediately by Tom McRae’s slow sighing cover of the…
The Virgin Punishing the Infant
This poem was inspired by the painting below by Max Ernst (1926) The Virgin Punishing the Infant Carol Ann Duffy He spoke early. Not the goo goo goo of infancy, but I am God. Joseph kept away, carving himself a silent Pinocchio out in the workshed. He said he was a simple man and hadn't…
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