Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Reflection on the readings 24 July 2022 ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’ Be careful what you pray for! This Sunday’s readings offer lessons on prayer. The Gospel passage opens with Jesus at prayer – a familiar scene in Luke – and with an intriguing request from the disciples: ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’ Why do they ask this? Presumably well-tutored already in those prayers recited in the synagogue and Temple, the disciples do not need to learn more. They speak of John and his disciples, but perhaps this is really about Jesus and them as His disciples. Do they hope to learn to become more like Jesus, to approach their God as Jesus does? Whatever their motivation, Jesus responds positively. The disciples do not learn specific words for reciting by rote. Instead, Jesus teaches them about relationship with God. He offers guidance on how to pray and what to pray for, on the importance of perseverance, and on the effective
Tonight, we set our clocks back an hour. Autumn is reaching its end. Winter is approaching. The sun is further away from us each day and its warmth lessens. The trees are ever more rapidly shedding their vividly-coloured tapestry of leaves. The migrating birds are gone. Outside my window, our two squirrels are hoarding horse chestnuts all day long. The light is changing and colours are fading. Nature is entering into its time of rest. We've come to the point of the year when the nights are longest, when we have more time in darkness than in daylight. This year, perhaps, we are each living that longest night with a greater intensity. These are dark times in the life of each and every person. This long, seemingly endless, time of pandemic and repeated lockdowns, is not easy. And my spirit is jangled - often. Tonight, as I sat in our convent chapel in the darkness, my spirit was not at peace. I cried. I told God what God knows already. In a quiet whisper, I poured out my pain: &q
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Reflection on the readings* 8 October 2023 Photo credit: Andrea Cairone - https://unsplash.com/photos/ lzM3pbQim70?utm_content= creditShareLink&utm_medium= referral&utm_source=unsplash In this Sunday’s Gospel passage, continuing on from last week, we find Jesus in combat mode. His actions and authority have been questioned by the chief priest and elders of the people and he responds to their challenge, not with an answer but with further questions, posed in the form of parables. Here, he tells the second of three parables (last Sunday, we heard Jesus relate a shorter one, next Sunday will complete the triad). Unlike most parables, these first two at least seem to be easily interpreted - clear in their meaning and in their application. Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel echo those of Isaiah, words we listen to in the first reading this Sunday. Those who heard them as Jesus spoke them in the Temple were familiar with the prophet’s words. They
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