17 February 2021 Today is a special celebration when Christians around the world embark into a very powerful season and our eyes look in a different direction, particularly a time of self-examination.  There are many times and reasons why we praise God: Most of the time, we praise Him because of material blessings we receive,…

Last Sunday of Epiphany, 14 February 2021 The Gospel for the last Sunday after the Epiphany is always the Transfiguration.  Glory has different meanings for different people: for Cicero, justice is the crowning glory of the virtues; for Richard Dawkins, scientific rationalism is the crowning glory of the human spirit.  This is not the glory…

5th Sunday after the Epiphany, 7 February 2021 The Old Testament reading is a very timely word: may it speak to us in this time.  Isaiah was one of the greatest Old Testament prophets, from around 740 BC onwards.  National and international developments of the time provide the essential background to his message.  Israel’s northern…

by Fr. Dana Jackson31 January 2021 The week before I had COVID, our parish had just begun meeting in a church again after five years in a hall.  We’d celebrated the third Sunday of Advent, and the Lord was giving me a word for the fourth Sunday and Christmas Eve.  We light candles to remind…

24 January 2021 Today we not only celebrate the life of a great apostle, but we’re particularly reminded of the starting point.  We see the power of God’s grace, even upon those who were against Christ, in his conversion from a zealous persecutor to a passionate, ardent apostle of our Lord.  Saul of Tarsus was…

by Fr. Terry Gensemer Our Lord the Giver of Life, 17 January 2021 The Feast of Our Lord the Giver of Life reminds us about the sanctity of human life.  Millions of babies are killed in their mother’s womb each year all around the world; this horrendous behavior takes place even in churches and is…

10 January 2021 Psalm 29 describes God’s voice.  Many would like to hear His voice and what He would say, but we must be ready to listen and obey.  The children of Israel in the Old Testament were afraid of God’s voice, and asked Moses to speak to Him on their behalf.  May we be…

6 January 2021 Christmas culminates with the Epiphany: the manifestation of God’s glory to all creation.  There’s something very special about this Child, which the world has never seen before, and has wanted, desired and longed for: in Him we see God’s glory and the fullness of His truth (John 1:14).  There’s no glory or…

2nd Sunday after the Nativity, 3 January 2021 “Mary treasured all these things in her heart”.[1]  Winston Churchill said we must not only rejoice in Christmas but also reflect on it: Christians reflect on the mystery of the Incarnation and everything it entails.  We may not completely understand it, but we need to strive more…

1 January 2021 For the world, today is a secular celebration of the new year.  The Christian new year started in Advent.  Today some Churches celebrate the eighth day after Jesus’ birth, when He was brought to the temple for circumcision and named according to Jewish tradition.[1] What’s in a name? A name is very…