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Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year B, 12th May 2024

God is love

On this Sunday, which comes between the Ascension and Pentecost, we continue to follow the development of the infant Church and return to St John’s theme of God’s love for us.

In the First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples come together to discern and pray, so as to chose an apostle to replace Judas. The lot falls to Matthias.

The Psalm is a hymn of praise and describes the love of God that covers the whole universe.

The Second Reading emphasises that God’s love for us is the reason and example for our love for each other. As long as we do this, God will live in us, and will share his Spirit with us.

In the Gospel, taken from Jesus’s priestly prayer to the Father, Jesus prays that the disciples will remain true to his name. As the Father sent Jesus into the world, so he now sends his followers. May they be united in faith and love.

The readings lead us to contemplate the love and unity within the Trinity, a fitting preparation this week as we look towards Pentecost.

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The Ascension of the Lord, Year B, 12th May 2024 (USA)

‘Go out to the whole world!’

I come to pray the texts for the feast of the Ascension and ask the Lord for a deeper understanding of this mystery of Christ. Throughout the Eastertide readings, we have watched the disciples grow and mature in faith – I wish to do the same.

The First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles marks the end of Jesus’s earthly ministry as he returns to the Father and promises to send the Holy Spirit.

The Psalm is a joyful prayer of praise and an acclamation of Christ’s victory. He is Lord of all people, of the universe.

St Paul describes the meaning of the Ascension – the Father has raised Jesus above all powers and made him Lord of creation. The gifts of the Spirit are given for the good of all, to lead us to full maturity in Christ. (Second Reading)

In the Gospel, Jesus ascends to heaven and continues to work with his disciples as they preach the Good News. The signs he works confirm their message.

This week, we might want to pray for the opportunity to proclaim the Good News to as many people as possible.

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Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B, 5th May, 2024

‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love.’

Today’s readings centre on the theme of love: the totally faithful, unconditional love of God for us.

The First Reading describes a turning point in the growth of the Early Church. Peter visits the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion and Gentile, announcing that ‘God does not have favourites’. God reaches out to those who listen to him through his Holy Spirit. He creates a community of love that embraces all humanity.

St John (Second Reading) reminds us that God loved us first. God’s nature is love. The great depth of that love is revealed in God sending Jesus, whose self-sacrifice redeems our sins and draws us into the life of God.

The Gospel shows us Jesus teaching his disciples about his loving relationship with his Father. Jesus chooses and invites us into that same intimate relationship. He tells us how to follow him: that we should love one another.

The Psalmist encourages us to sing praise joyfully to the Lord whose love offers salvation to all.

As we approach the end of the Easter season, we pray for the grace that we ourselves might reflect the gift of God’s love, through our actions to our brothers and sisters, and to all creation. We also give thanks for the love of our friends, and for the joy that they bring to our lives.

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Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B, 28th April, 2024

‘I am the vine, you are the branches.’

We are deeply rooted in the love of Christ. The risen Christ is the source of all that we need to grow ever closer to God.

In the First Reading, we hear how shortly after his conversion, St Paul was initially treated with fear and disdain by those he had been persecuting. Paul’s zeal for the Lord was grounded in a very personal encounter with Christ. Knowing that he was loved completely despite all that he had done before, gave him the encouragement to spread the Good News.

As a faithful worshipping Jew, Paul would have been familiar with praying today’s Psalm, an encouraging song of praise. It foretells how generations yet to come will be filled with the love of the Lord.

In the Second Reading, the writer counsels that even if we feel we have failed or fallen short in our response to God’s love for us, his love is so immense and all-forgiving that we need not be afraid. Knowing this, we can be free to live out the great commandment to love one another. 

The beautiful image of a vine carefully tended by the Father is used by Jesus to describe his and our relationship to God (Gospel). We are all sustained in an intimate co-existence with the Holy Trinity. Jesus invites us to remain close to him. Without him, our life is nothing, with him, we discover our true identity and purpose

This week, let us try to consciously be aware that we are branches of one vine, rooted in God’s love. Although we may have our differences and shortcomings, we are forever loved completely by a God of compassion, love and forgiveness. Let us pray that like St Paul, we will have the grace to live out this amazing Good News.

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Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday), Year B, 21st April 2024

‘They too will listen to my voice …’

We continue our journey through Eastertide, experiencing the joy of the Risen Lord. This fourth Sunday of Easter traditionally features Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and is also kept annually as the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

In the First Reading, Peter explains that the miracle he has been able to perform came not from him, but from the name of Jesus Christ, the keystone rejected by the builders.

The Psalm, normally sung by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, is a thanksgiving prayer from someone who has been rescued from an ordeal. It uses the same cornerstone image as the First Reading. Like Peter, the psalmist acknowledges the Lord as his Saviour.

The writer of the Second Reading stresses that we are God’s children. Although we might find the path difficult, and feel unsure of what the future holds, we will be transformed into God’s likeness when we meet him.

In the Gospel, Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd, who is prepared to lay down his life for us; he knows us intimately and wants to bring everyone into his fold.

On this Day of Prayer for Vocations, we might pray that everyone should be willing and able to fulfil their own vocation. We continue to pray for war-torn countries, that they will find a Good Shepherd to guide them out of conflict.

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Third Sunday of Easter, Year B, 14th April 2024

Lift up the light of your face on us, O Lord

In today’s readings, we celebrate the living Christ, our advocate who dwells with the Father. Through him we are given encouragement to overcome our fearfulness and weakness of faith.

Peter (First Reading) insists that even those responsible for Christ’s death are not without hope. They, too, are called to repent, and turn their face back to God.

In the Second Reading, John reminds the community of believers that the Christian life demands continuous attention to Christ’s teachings. By following this Way of love in our daily life, we will be invited into an ever deepening relationship with God.

Luke continues the Resurrection story as the risen Lord appears to his fearful friends. Jesus bolsters their faith by joining them for a meal. He invites them to touch his body, before finally breaking open the word of Scripture. We, like the disciples, need the risen Christ to comfort and embolden our lives of faith. (Gospel)

The Psalmist has been delivered from anguish and gives thanks to the one God who has listened and released him. It is a prayer of deep trust and confidence in the Lord of all.

In a world both ablaze with the wonders of science and technology and ravished by war and profound injustice, we pray that we may never forget that only you, dear Lord, can ever satisfy our restless, fearful hearts.

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Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday), Year B, 7th April 2024

‘My Lord and my God!’

On this Second Sunday of Easter, the readings invite us to believe and trust God’s mercy. According to the ways of the world, mercy does not really make sense, but this is the very faith Paul speaks of as that which ‘conquers the world’: forgiveness begets forgiveness, mercy begets mercy, love begets love (Second Reading).  Our need for, and joy in, such graces is echoed in the Psalm, where we can join with the psalmist in saying: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endures forever!’ 

 The Acts of the Apostles (First Reading) shows that the mercy of the risen Lord continues to be poured out through the ministry of his apostles, while in the Gospel we see Jesus himself being the model for mercy for his fearful and doubtful friends. 

The US journalist Cathleen Falsani wrote: ‘justice is getting what you deserve; mercy is not getting what you deserve; grace is getting what you don’t deserve.’  This coming week, let’s pray that, though completely underserving of such a gift of grace, God’s divine mercy will have its effect in us, freeing and opening us to love ever more deeply. 

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Easter Sunday, Year B, 31st March 2024

Christ, our hope, is risen! Alleluia!

We greet this day with thanksgiving and praise. Christ our hope is risen and we want to announce it by our life and our joy.

This is how we see Peter in the First Reading.  He is addressing Cornelius and his household, recounting Jesus’s life and death, and how, as a witness to it, Peter has been ordered to proclaim Christ’s resurrection to his people.

St Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians (Second Reading), encourages us with the practical example of getting rid of the old yeast, to be completely renewed through Christ, in sincerity and truth.

The Psalm is a joyful Easter song celebrating Christ’s triumph. It will be a refrain for us throughout the season.

In the Gospel, after Mary of Magdala finds the stone rolled away from the tomb, she runs to tell Peter and John. By seeing the empty tomb and the discarded cloths, they slowly come to realise that Jesus has truly risen.

Let us pray that we, too, will witness to the resurrection in our lives.

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Palm Sunday of the Passion of our Lord, Year B, 24th March 2024

The journey begins. Go with him. 

Today marks the end of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week. The readings focus on Jesus’s sacrifice for us and express confidence in God’s faithfulness.

St Paul (Second Reading) highlights the humility of Jesus, who emptied himself of the glory that was his as Son of God. He gives himself away totally in love, coming among us as the suffering servant described by Isaiah in the First Reading. Jesus puts others before himself rather than seeking power or honour.

Riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, Jesus shows us his way is one of love, compassion, mercy, humility, and service. We hear the crowds welcome him excitedly, shouting ‘Hosanna’, wanting to make Jesus into the king who will save them from Rome. (Procession Gospel)

In the main Gospel, we see the same crowds turn against Jesus, calling for his arrest. He is mocked, beaten, condemned, crucified, and placed in a tomb. Jesus is betrayed by one of his own disciples, denied by another, and abandoned by most.

The Psalm describes this humiliation. On the cross Jesus prays the psalm’s response: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’

We are invited to walk with Jesus through Holy Week. Jesus, in turn, wants to be with us in our experience of this journey. Lord, help us to walk with you, to be strengthened by your example and teaching.

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