24th Sunday in Ordinary time “ Do not let the sun go down on your anger” No doubt many of you heard your mother or father say that to you as children, when God forbid, you or your brothers and sisters were fighting or [...]

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time This Sunday’s readings did not seem at first sight to be easy to write about,  all about correcting our neighbour’s faults and sins out of love.  What a tough and unpleasant task! Since our earliest days we have been [...]

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Today’s Gospel may not be a comfortable one for us. It presents a challenge to take up the cross, to take up a cross for the sake of the Good News and not to be like Peter, a block [...]

  On this the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time we are gifted with the Gospel of Matthew 14:22-33. The painting depicting Jesus and his disciples immediately brought to mind the images, we have sadly become familiar with, of  the thousands of migrants who have crossed [...]

This Sunday's liturgy invites us to reflect on our priorities and the basic values on which we base our existence. We are unrelenting pilgrims in search of the Kingdom of God. We all have been called, for we are witnesses to the Love of God [...]

16th Sunday In Ordinary Time July 23rd 2023 In today’s gospel, Matthew puts before us a teaching of Jesus about ‘the Kingdom’ in parable form. The parables are invitations to learn what the coming of God’s liberating and life-giving reign should mean for us. [...]

I Cor1: 26-31 When I saw the theme of this Sunday’s so beautifully entwined readings, I immediately thought of Gladys from San Nicolas, a town near Rosario, in Argentina, and just 10 minutes drive from our own community in Sanchez.  I often passed by [...]

In last Sunday’s Gospel, we heard how Jesus was baptized by John, the Baptist in the River Jordan. On that occasion John declared: “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) We too are invited to heed [...]

The Sermon of “St John the Baptist”, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1566, Museum of Fine arts, Budapest We Do Not Have To go Through this Life Alone The above painting by Bruegel is a perfect example of the inclusiveness of John the [...]

Many of us are familiar with personal identity documents, compulsory in some countries and non-compulsory in others. These documents are updated at different stages in a person’s life. The first one is given in childhood, it is renewed in the teenage years and then [...]

Mary, Mother of God If You Want If you want, The Virgin will come Walking down the road Pregnant with the holy, and say, “I need shelter for the night, Please take me inside your heart, My time is so close.” Then, under the [...]

The only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. A tradition that has grown very dear to me, a blow-in to Dublin, is the pre-Christmas performances of Handel's Messiah. For many, the Oratorio is a must-see during Advent. Christmas without the Messiah, [...]

The maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Emmanuel, a name which means, “God is with us”. These words came from Isaiah around 740 BC. We often say that God’s ways are not our ways; [...]

This Sunday is “Gaudete Sunday” which means “Rejoice!”.  In times past when this was a time of fasting, the third Sunday was seen as a little respite from fasting.   It was a time to rejoice that Christmas was very near now.  The pink candle [...]

Today’s Gospel introduces John the Baptist, cousin of Jesus, who came as a witness to speak for the Light.  There had not been a prophet for 100 years in Israel. Prophets were the conscience of the people, encouraging them to model God’s values of [...]

Isaiah:2:1-5  -  St Paul: Romans:13:11-14  - Mt: 24:37-41 In today’s first reading, Isaiah holds up the vision for the season of Advent. A vision to prepare us for the reality of the birth of the Christ-child. What is the source or bedrock of the [...]

Feast of Jesus Christ Universal King. Those of us who live in the north eastern corner of Ireland recently witnessed the death of a monarch Elizabeth 11 and witnessed her son succeeding her as King Charles 111. Those who saw every second of the [...]

Mourning our Losses. Too many of us, live with our regrets.  The very sudden death of Siobhan leaves us with questions.  Though Siobhan didn’t talk freely, freely, about her illness, we were still free to ponder with her. I still remember and regret a [...]

Thirty Second Sunday - Luke 20:27-38    Second reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5 The start of this Sunday’s Gospel text sets the scene of an encounter between some Sadducees and Jesus. Their question is one that many of us can identify with.  After we draw our [...]

EVANGELIO SEGÚN SAN LUCAS 19, 1 -10 En estas líneas del evangelio nos encontramos con un tema preferido de la Comunidad de Lucas, “la Conversión y sus exigencias”, en todo tiempo y a destiempo de nuestra experiencia humana, cristiana y  dominicana…. Zaqueo es el [...]

Luke 18: 9-14:   The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector When Dominican Sisters or Brothers make profession – take their first or final vows - they are asked during the ceremony “What do you desire?”  the response is, “The mercy of God [...]

Luke 18:1-8 In the parable in today’s gospel reading, the woman kept asking, and eventually the judge gave her what she wanted. It’s so easy to focus on the last bit: the woman got what she wanted. But the fact that she had to [...]

2Kings5:14-17 Naaman and Elisha were both men who wielded much power, Naaman as a successful military man and great favourite of the King of Damascus,  Elisha a Man of God  with a reputation for healing among the Israelite community. Unfortunately Naaman had Leprosy and [...]

1st Reading God's plans are not always the same as our plans; they are often invisible to our eyes, incomprehensible to our living and feeling. How many times do we ask ourselves like Habakkuk, where are you my God? But God is sovereign in [...]