The story about a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) was based on a popular folk tale of the time. However, Jesus gave it a surprising ending to enforce his teaching on the Christian attitude to wealth and possessions. It is not suggested that the rich man had acquired his wealth…
Blog
Homily 25th Sunday of the Year C 2022
Last Sunday I quoted the following from the late Queen’s Millennium Christmas Message: To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn…
Homily 24th Sunday of the Year C 2022
‘To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.’ ~ Queen Elizabeth…
Homily, 23RD Sunday C 2022
According to the United Nations, about 40 million people are currently caught up in the modern slave trade industry. It is a multibillion-dollar business with estimates of up to $35-$40 billion generated annually. Despite being illegal in every nation, slavery still exists in many modern forms – the most common ones being forced labour slavery, forced…
Now the young are priced out of marriage
by Janice Turner in THE TIMES, 13 August 2022 We married within six weeks of discovering I was pregnant. There was no shotgun; we’d been together nine years and co-owned a flat; we didn’t fear the stigma of having an “illegitimate” child; the only guests were our witnesses and I would not take my husband’s…
Homily, 22nd Sunday (C) 2022
In St Luke’s Gospel, eating with others is a notable characteristic of Jesus’ ministry. He has Jesus eating with others about twice as frequently as in the other Gospels of Mark, Matthew and John. In today’s reading (Lk 14:7-11) Jesus is a guest at the home of a leading Jewish official. At first it looks…
Homily, 22nd Sunday C 2022
The eight panels under the half dome in the sanctuary at Holy Name bear images of saints popular when this church was built in 1929. The second one on the left is an image of St Thomas More. Born in 1478, he was an English lawyer who was councillor to King Henry VIII and Lord High Chancellor of…
A Case Crying Out For Reform
Archie Battersbee THE TABLET, 13 August 2022 The tragic story of Archie Battersbee has again highlighted the potential for an excruciating conflict between judges and doctors, on the one hand, and loving and determined parents, on the other. This is in nobody’s interests, and the legal situation cries out for reform. Archie suffered irreversible brain…
Homily, 19th Sunday of the Year C 2022
In the novel The Brothers Karamazov, the Russian novelist Feodor Dostoyevsky tells the story of a guardian angel who wept before God because the woman in his charge had been so wicked in life that she was stuck in hell. When God asked if she had ever done anything good, the angel said she had once…
Homily 17th Sunday of the Year C 2022
Two Conservative members of Parliament are now travelling around the country and appearing in various media outlets appealing to fellow party members to make them the next Prime Minister. These some 180,000 party members will choose who is to be in charge of the UK’s population of about 67.2m people. Whoever is chosen, will this…
Sunday Mass: Saturday 4pm, Sunday 10am 