29 November 2020 With great joy and gladness, the Church enters a new season and a new liturgical year.  It’s a season when God wants to do something new in our lives.  A new season is like a chapter of a book: there’s an end and a beginning, and something we can look forward to. …

22 November 2020 The feast of Christ the King points to the future; it’s a rehearsal for what is to come.  It was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 in response to growing secularism in the world – the “pushing out” of God from people’s lives and from nations.  He said there will be…

Proper 28, 15 November 2020 Today’s readings prepare us for the feast of Christ the King and the celebration of Christ’s Second Coming.  For 2000 years the Church has been looking forward to the promised coming of Jesus.  The question of the long delay can lead people to abandonment and disbelief of the promise, so…

Proper 27, 8 November 2020 The theme of today’s Gospel is the Second Coming of Christ, in which He will judge humanity, the nations, and each of us.  The parable is a wedding-feast: the bridegroom is coming but is late.  This points to Christ: though we know assuredly He’s coming, the time is not in…

1 November 2020 The season of Ordinary Time is a celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, of which we are reminded every Sunday, that we should never forget.  Beyond remembrance – “Do this in remembrance of Me” – we become a part and live by what Christ has done: His death and…

Daniel 3:24-25 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are…

Proper 25, 25 October 2020 Today’s Old Testament reading reminds us that Moses didn’t enter the Promised Land.  It may seem to have been a setback, but at the Transfiguration he was with Elijah in the vision.  We encounter failures in this world, but they don’t take us away from God’s love. In today’s Gospel…

Proper 24, Sunday 18 October 2020 In today’s Gospel the religious leaders tried to trap Jesus to put Him in trouble with the Roman authorities: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?”  Jesus, perceiving the wickedness in their hearts, said, “Show Me a coin.  What image do you see?”  They answered, “Caesar’s” (the emperor’s). …

Proper 22, 4 October 2020 Children love stories.  We read books, and now there is a multi-billion-dollar film industry to tell stories on the screen in a more sophisticated way.  Children watch cartoons and animated films over and over again because they see themselves as part of the story.   Today’s parable (Matthew 21:33-44) is an…

by Canon Jim House Psalm 23:1 encourages us. We all want things: most of us have had a lot of wants and needs; but if the Lord is to be a shepherd to you, you cannot have wants.  We must tell ourselves, “Self, stop wanting, stop desiring, stop needing.”  We’re like little children: “Papa, papa,…