First Sunday of Advent

In the reading from Isaiah and response to the Psalm there is communal lament -a prayer of people amid suffering. In the reading from Isaiah they lamented their deep suffering as a people—they are overburdened and oppressed, feeling abandoned by their ancestors and by their God. They even blamed God for their situation. But their prayer shifted from lamentation to belief in God at work in their lives based on the hope that the God who was present in their past would manifest a renewed goodness and mercy in their present suffering.

Solemnity of Christ, Heart of the Universe

This feast is not about dogma but about history. Situating this feast in its historical context provides a lens to situate ourselves as we come to the end of this year and begin another. This solemnity, like the Feast of the Sacred Heart, is a call to be humanised by feeling the pain and grief of people, known and unknown - particularly those who suffer from oppression, cruelty and exploitation. It is a reminder of our profound interconnection that is intended to bond us to one another. Our failure to grieve miseries, hunger and abuse is a warning signal – we can be betraying our own humanity.

Thirty Third Sunday of the Year

In a talk in 2013, Pope Francis urged students to develop the virtue of magnanimity ‘It means having a great heart, having greatness of mind, having great ideals, the desire to do great things in response to what God asks of us. It means also to do well the routine…daily actions, tasks meetings with people—doing the little everyday things with a great heart open to God and to others.’ The woman in Proverbs exhibiting compassion, generosity, hospitality, devotion, and commitment shares her gifts generously with family and the wider community. Her actions were done ‘with a great heart open to God and to others.’ Though some misogynistic interpretations downplay it, she is presented as a ‘woman of power’ where her work is affirmed as examples of strength, not subordination. All people are called to be like the woman of power.

Thirty Second Sunday of the Year

Today’s Gospel reminds us that God’s surprising or unpredictable presence can come upon us. This is the way that God chooses to call, send, or encounter people. In fact, God is always present but the surprise is on us. Life presents us with lots of unknowns and we need to be ready for them. Maya Angelou says: ‘Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.’ We are call to be concerned in every moment to build God’s reign by sharing the oil of justice, mercy, and all the blessings so critically needed in our world today. The gospel focuses on doing things differently. The ‘oil’ in the gospel is not the commodity people fight over but about thinking and acting differently. It may involve looking ‘foolish’ according to the world whether business, politics, or religion because it is God who is working whether we recognise it or not.

Thirty First Sunday of the Year

Matthew’s gospel begins and ends with the revelation that Jesus is ‘God with us’ (1:23-24) and will be with us until the end of time (28:20). This presence is also a call to be a life-giving presence to others in our little corner of the world. Religious leaders are being addressed by Malachi and Matthew for their shortcomings, for failing to facilitate the right understanding of divine teaching in the context of their times. This still occurs as so many people today seem to be excluded from a formation to think critically and have not been supported and accompanied in the challenges they face.