Sunday reading

All three Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, agree that Jesus began his mission in Galilee, and that he did so after the arrest of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist had been a significant public figure. Through his outspokenness and his austere life-style, he carried the people with him - even while he antagonized the political and the religious establishment.

More, he pointed to Jesus, and sent many of his disciples to follow this new teacher. There could have been no better herald. Read more »

Thousands of Catholics carrying red roses welcomed the relics of St Therese of the Child Jesus in the province of Ilocos Norte today.

Bishop Renato Mayugba of Laoag diocese said the visit is "significant" and an opportunity to invite young people to become missionaries of the Church.

The relics, which are bone fragments of the saint housed in a special reliquary, arrived in the Philippines on December 15 for a four-month tour that will include visits to 48 archdioceses and dioceses throughout the country. Read more »

John and James were brothers, sons of a prosperous fisherman, Zebedee, probably from Bethsaida by the Sea of Galilee.

They were young and headstrong - “sons of thunder” was their nickname. They were both close to Jesus, and were privileged, with Peter, to be by his side on many special occasions.

They were also ambitious. On one occasion, they got their mother to put in a good word for them with Jesus, as a guarantee for their future. The other disciples never forgave them for that! Read more »

Memories embedded with romantic pictures of Jesus' birth are quite impossible to rewrite. Retold by Christmas pageants, reminded by carols and pictures replenish what we think happened at Jesus' birth.

I know it so well I hardly need a sermon, picture, movie or song to remind me of a pregnant Mary riding a donkey, about to deliver; a village with inns filled to capacity; a kindly innkeeper finding a stable for rest; shepherds arriving at a barn to welcome the Christ-child. Read more »

Thousands of Christian pilgrims are gathering in Bethlehem for Christmas celebrations, as the city enjoys a respite from years of political struggle.

Reservations for Christmas pilgrimages to the Holy Land dropped off in November when Israeli and Palestinian forces in Gaza exchanged artillery fire, but the influx of visitors has resumed, and Israeli officials expect 75,000 people in Bethlehem from Christmas. Read more »

For the next eight days, the Gospel readings are all from the ‘Infancy Narratives’, that section of the gospels of Matthew and Luke which deal with the birth of our Saviour.

This part of the Gospel was composed last of all, after the accounts of the public ministry of Jesus. But we can see here all the great themes of salvation.

This account of the anunciation of the birth of the Lord, which comes from Matthew, has Joseph as its central figure. In some ways it complements Luke’s narrative, which accords pride of place to Mary. Read more »

A genealogy or ‘family tree’ is important in many cultures. It establishes the claim of kinship and bonding. It says more simply, “He or she is one of us.”

The purpose of the genealogy at the beginning of his Gospel is Mathew’s way of saying that Jesus is the promised messiah, and that he is fulfilment of all the promises God made to Israel, promises which began with Abraham. Read more »

Today’s Gospel passage is part of a larger section which describes the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist, as seen through the eyes of their disciples.

John has understood who Jesus is, and has grasped what Jesus’s mission is to be.

John’s disciples however are confused, partly because popular ideas of the messiah were mixed up with political expectations. Read more »

The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe is one that many of you may know especially if you are Mexican but on this great feast day, lets listen to it again.

Juan Diego was from Mexico; but not the Mexico you and I know. He was from a Mexico that was mostly still Aztec and worshipped false gods.

These false gods demanded human sacrifice, so their “priests” said. It’s estimated that between 20,000 and 250,000 people – mostly children – were sacrificed to the gods every year. Read more »

That Mary the Mother of our Saviour was preserved from sin from the very first moment of her conception has been part of Christian belief for ages, though it was only in 1854 that Pope Pius IX declared it a doctrine of the Church.

What is the meaning of this feast? At one level, it points to the purity of Mary.

God chose her to be the mother of his Son, and so like Jesus, Mary was made holy and without blemish, not just from birth, but from her conception as well. Read more »