The daughter of two of our parishioners works with the charity Mercy Ships. Each week she forwards a diary of how her week has been.
Mercy Ships are a team of nurses, doctors, surgeons, and other crew members from all over the world, donating our time to help on board the world’s largest non-governmental floating hospital, sailing directly to some of the world’s poorest people to deliver life-saving medical care and provide safe, state-of-the-art facilities in which to treat them.
For more details about the work of the Mercy Ships visit their website.
- We Shall Be Like Him 31/10/2020
Solemnity of All Saints, Year A. Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14 – 1 John 3:1-3 – Matthew 5:10-12. Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. Mother Teresa of Calcutta declared that “all you have to do to be a saint is to give God permission” – and that is the difficulty! St. Thomas ...
Read more - Love: The Force For Better World 24/10/2020
30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. Exodus 22:20-26 – 1Thessalonians 1:5-10 – Matthew 22:34-40. In a town far away, a seven year-old boy lived with his wealthy grandfather. His grandfather was the owner of a factory with a large workforce. Towards his employees, the man was overbearing, mean and a bully, ...
Read more - What Actually Does Belong To Caesar? 17/10/2020
29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. Isaiah 45:1, 4-6 – 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5 – Matthew 22:15-21. Andrew was a little boy who was very fortunate in having loving parents who provided for his every need and spoiled him rotten! He had designer clothes, ‘must-have’ toys, and he was given pocket money ...
Read more - You’ve been invited. Are you ready? 10/10/2020
28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. Isaiah 25:6-10 – Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20 – Matthew 22:1-14. One of life’s joys is taking part in the great feasts of life. We invite folks (or they invite us) to come along and join us in celebrating a lifetime milestone such as a wedding. We ...
Read more - God’s Vineyard Is Salvation History 02/10/2020
27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. Isaiah 5:1-7 – Philippians 4:6-9 – Matthew 21:33-43. Here’s a question for you. How far has humanity failed to realize that human beings are only the caretakers of the earth? Well, the simple answer is that whenever someone has ambitions to be the leader of the ...
Read more - Positive Transformation 26/09/2020
26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. Ezekiel 18:25-28 – Philippians 2:1-11 – Matthew 21:28-32. There’s a North East saying: “things nivver stay tha’ same”. Change is the only thing that is permanent! Heraclitus declared that no one puts a foot into the same water twice. Everything in the world keeps changing ...
Read more - God Who Is Generous With Salvation 19/09/2020
25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. Isaiah 55:6-9 – Philippians 1:20-24,27 – Matthew 20:1-16. Today’s Gospel sets before us an illustration of the generosity of God, which is beyond human experience. Our Lord is from heaven, so He’s telling us what God ‘is like’ (Mt 20:1). God’s love for us boundless: ...
Read more - Forgiveness and Mercy 12/09/2020
24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. Sirach 27:30-28:7 – Romans14:7-9 – Matthew 18:21:35. Today’s readings draw our attention to the interconnected themes of forgiveness and mercy. Our Lord Jesus Christ emphasised that the practical demonstration of mercy and forgiveness is a non-negotiable obligation upon His followers. In the circumstances of everyday ...
Read more - If He Listens… You Have Won Back A Brother 05/09/2020
23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. Ezekiel 33:7-9 – Romans 13:8-10 – Matthew 18:15-20. Today’s readings are on the theme of reconciliation. The dictionary definition of ‘reconciliation’ is ‘the re-establishment of friendly relations’ with people. The function of reconciliation is to restore peace and harmony to a relationship. In the Gospel, ...
Read more - Suffering and the Christian Life 29/08/2020
22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. Jeremiah 20:7-9 – Romans 12:1-2 – Matthew 16:21-27. Today’s readings are about the suffering that every Child of God will experience. After conferring on Peter the authority of the Church, which is about the glorious part of the Christian life, Jesus began to tell His disciples ...
Read more - You are the Christ 22/08/2020
21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A. Isaiah 22:19-23 – Romans 11:33-36 – Matthew 16:13-20. Jesus and the disciples were in the region of Caesarea Philippi in the Golan Heights. Caesarea Philippi (also known as Tiberias) overlooks a large rock which the Greeks called “the Gate of Hell”. As Christ’s followers, the ...
Read more - The Glorious Assumption – Our Joyful Hope 15/08/2020
The Assumption of Mary, Mother of God, Year A. Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6,10 – 1Corinthians 15:20-26 – Luke 1:39-56. The Church asserts the dogma that “the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory”. The joyful Solemnity of the ...
Read more - The Lord Comes In A Gentle Breeze 08/08/2020
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. 1 Kings 19:9-13 – Romans 9:1-5 – Matthew 14:22-33. Jesus had foreseen that, despite the miracle of the Feeding of the 5000, He – the Living Bread from heaven – would be rejected by those He fed (cf. Jn 6:60-66). In the Second Reading, the ...
Read more - My Part To Play 01/08/2020
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. Isaiah 55:1-3 – Romans 8:35, 37-39 – Matthew 14:13-21. Sometimes, when we turn on the news, we hear distressing reports of famine. Not only do we hear of people starving, suffering and dying of hunger, but also about people who do not have safe water ...
Read more - Seeing the Bigger Picture 25/07/2020
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. 1Kings 3:5, 7-12 – Romans 8:28-30 – Matthew 13:44-52. Rory was a clever, gifted and hard-working young student. He had a dream: it was to study chemistry at a top university, and he was intent on being accepted for a place in the upcoming academic ...
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