‘Peace be with you’ The first greeting Jesus had with His disciples on the same day of His resurrection, as the Gospel says: ‘In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week’, was ‘Peace be with you’. Jesus knew what the disciples were facing. Fear must have filled them, that is why they were together, the [...]
The Lenten season is a timely reminder for us to embody the spirit of holiness and sacrifice, but for many of us, our sacrifices are in fact shameful, shabby, and shoddy. We are so stingy with what we give, giving thus the leftovers, the broken things, the things that we are getting rid off in our spring-cleaning, the things about [...]
Faith is a gift that must be unpacked through actions that reveal the gift. Faith is the ability to act when there are no logical facts supporting the action. This is supernatural in the sense that it is not normal. One cannot take this step unless one is given Grace by God to do so. This gift is further strengthened, [...]
We begin Lent with two very familiar stories: Noah and the Ark, and Jesus in the wilderness. As a Catholic who was baptised in infancy, these were the stories that I had heard from my earliest years and these same stories raised many questions in my mind. How could two of every animal fit on the Ark? Wouldn’t the lions eat [...]
The Lenten season often takes on a sombre, solemn note, However, if we trace the etymological origins of the word, “Lent”, it surprisingly means “Spring” or “Springtime” in the Old English, lencten and was meant to describe the lengthening of the time of sunshine allotted in a day, when the colder season of Spring transited into warmer days (Online Etymology [...]
When the Lord God, set apart His chosen people, He gave them a set of rules to adhere to. First of them, was “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall not have other gods beside me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or a [...]
Imagine that you live in ancient times and that you have a skin condition that is diagnosed as leprosy. That would be a disaster, where you would be condemned to live an existence where you are ostracised by your own community and loved ones in exclusion and misery. You are labelled as “unclean”, which will be a social stigma that you will carry [...]
As a Christian, how do I bring comfort and the Lord’s consolation to someone who is suffering? What answers can we provide to someone whose mother is dying in a hospice? Whose parents are undergoing a difficult divorce? Who is struggling to make ends meet because of a crippling financial debt? What do we say to someone who is grieving [...]
In today’s Gospel we look at how the four apostles seek our Lord’s help to heal St Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever. How often do we have the courage to bring our family, relatives, and friends to our Lord when they are wounded, lost, confused and in need of healing? Most of the time we try to counsel, rely on [...]
Are we listening? Are we seeing? Can we hear? Can we see? Are we able to hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit and see with our hearts as Simeon did? In Luke 2:27-32, Simeon was moved by the promptings of the Holy Spirit and went into the temple courts where he met Jesus. Holding Jesus, he could “see” [...]
