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RELIGION LITURGY AND LIFE

Archive for the month “August, 2026”

29 Aug 2026

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Well, here we are at the last weekend of August, and the youngsters are going back to school, and I think at this stage everyone will be happy to get back to the daily routine of school and home life. Time does not wait for anyone though sometimes it seems to just go quickly.  The First reading this weekend is from Jeremiah the name of the prophet Jeremiah is often a byword for misery. In today’s reading, the prophet accuses God of being the source of his misery. God has set him a thankless task, where the only reward is insult and derision. Yet, Jeremiah sticks with his mission even though it was a hard job. In the Second Reading  Saint Paul recalls the Jewish tradition of sacrificial offerings  and encourages his Gentile audience to model themselves around this idea. Having been shown such great mercy, they ought to offer themselves as a holy sacrifice as the perfect way to honour God.

In the gospel reading for this Sunday, we see Jesus telling his disciples that ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. Jesus also began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the scribes this was a pointer to all that happened on Good Friday. Peter knew that Jesus was the Messiah that God’s people were waiting on, but he did not understand that Jesus would be a suffering messiah the suffering servant.  But it did happen to Jesus, and it happens to those who follow him being a Christian is not always easy and many who took up their crosses gave their lives. Among all the religious symbols of faith in the world none is more universal than the cross. You see crosses everywhere, on walls, on hillsides, in churches, in houses, in bedrooms, on chains around people’s necks, on all kinds of people, on believers, and on people who aren’t sure about what they believe. Not everyone can explain what the cross means or why they choose to wear one, but everyone has the sense that it is a sign and a symbol, perhaps the ultimate symbol of love, fidelity and faith.  We are told in our gospel reading to deny our very selves and follow Jesus by taking up the crosses that might come our way.  It is so easy to say this but with the grace of God, we can do exactly what Jesus asks of us! With the goal of eternal life as our focus, the Gods grace enables difficult things to become not only possible, but easier for us to see and do.  

 We can find the life God wants us to live.  What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit eternal life?  Today we pray for all those who find the burden of the cross they carry too hard to bear and we hold them in prayer.

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22 Aug 2026

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the First Reading  from Isaiah The LORD declares that He will remove Shebna from his position and replace him with Eliakim. Eliakim will have authority and be like a trusted peg, honoured by his family. In the Second Reading  from Romans declare that the vastness of God’s wisdom and knowledge is incomprehensible. No one can fully understand His mind or advise Him. Everything originates from and exists for Him. Glory to Him eternally. This weekend in our gospel reading Jesus asks the apostles “who do you say the Son of Man is?” Jesus was in Caesarea Philippi in the northeastern corner of Palestine. There no one would not look for Him. He had much to teach the twelve before He could leave them this was quality teaching time.

So, He put the question to them that went to the heart of the matter, “Who do you say I am?” Peter acting as spokesman for the others told Him He was “the Son of the living God” Peter confesses the deep mystery of Jesus, who is the Christ and the Son of God.  In the light of this inspired confession, Peter is chosen to be the rock on which the Church is built. When Jesus told him, “ you are Peter and, on this rock, I will build my Church” Peter received the gift of being the leader of the Church. Peter was first among the apostles, first among those who were called to proclaim the Kingdom of God on earth. Peter took leadership in the Church at Pentecost. After he, the apostles and Mary, received the Holy Spirit, Peter led everyone out to the Temple and began preaching the good news to the people. After Saul became Paul, after the persecutor of the primitive Church accepted Jesus Christ, Paul spent three years in the desert reflecting on his experience of the Lord on the Road to Damascus. He then went to Jerusalem to receive Peter’s blessing and commission to bring the Good News of the Gospel to the world.  We do not know how Peter got to Rome. We know that he was there, though. We know that Peter died in Rome, crucified head down. The excavations under the Basilica of St. Peter revealed a tomb with the words, Here Lies Peter. We also know that when Peter died, the charism he was given to lead the Church remained active in Rome.  The ones who took his place were St. Linus, and those who followed him, St. Cletus, St. Clement in the Apostolic succession right through the centuries up until Pope Leo  in our present time.

All of the Holy Fathers are recognized as having received the  same charism that the Lord gave to Peter to lead the Church and this has passed down through the centuries. As time went on, these bishops of Rome would be given the title, Pope, Papa, Father of the Family, leader of the Church.  Through our baptism, all Christians have received a share in the power of the keys to heaven. With that power goes responsibility to witness to the Gospel.  God gives authority to those He chooses. Our Challenge is to Trust that God is at work through His Church and its leaders. From the very beginning we have had both saints and sinners among our popes, bishops, priests, religious and laity. But the Gospel reassures us that, in spite of our weakness and the many ways in which we may be found wanting, God is still close to us and faith is a journey, not a destination. So let us continue our Journey as we go forward together in faith.

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15 Aug 2026

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Well, here we are at the middle of August, with just two weeks to go before the schools reopen after the long summer holidays. When you stop to think about it time just seems to be passing by. It is worrying when a 23 year tells you that his life is flashing by his eyes what must it be doing for those who are older?  The scripture readings for the20th Sunday are all about faith and trust in God. The readings show that our heavenly father welcomes everyone and listens to those who seek Him. The First Reading tells us that the LORD calls for righteousness and justice. Foreigners who love and serve Him, keeping the covenant and observing the Sabbath, will find acceptance in His house as his house is the house of prayer for all nations. In the Second Reading  St Paul tells us Brothers and sisters, as the apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry, making my race envious for salvation. Rejection brings reconciliation, and God’s gifts and call endure. Mercy awaits all

Our Gospel reading is about the faith of the Canaanite woman whose daughter was being tormented by a devil when you read the story, we realize it is really about the great faith that she has and it was that faith in Jesus that cured her daughter even though she had to be persistent in dealing with the Lord. The woman in today’s Gospel story is not satisfied with just tears though.  Her daughter “is tormented by a demon.”   Parents among us know what that might feel like and how fiercely we would spring into action if a “cure” was before us for our own sick child.   She cries out and asks Jesus for help … and perseveres even when the disciples try to send her away and Jesus Himself rebuffs her!  Jesus relents because her faith is great. In the same story we see much about ourselves and our own faith.  Over a number of years, I have known people who have been praying for something for a family member and very often they have said to me that the prayers have not been heard let alone answered. I have always told them to hang in there to persist like the Canaanite Woman and not give up the prayers because they are always heard and this has been the case with so many people throughout history.

In the same way as the Canaanite woman pestered Jesus, we should never give up though we mightn’t have our requests granted when WE want them, they will be granted when we really need the things that we are praying for. The message of today’s readings is all about FAITH life can be a bit of a pickle with good and bad things within it, but a life lived with faith will see all the various obstacles being removed. Would our faith be as persistent as the faith of the woman in this Sundays Gospel? Only you can answer that one and I hope that your faith is persistent like the Canaanite woman whose daughter Jesus Cured because faith moves mountains but remember not to stop climbing!!

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08 Aug 2026

19th Sunday of OrdinaryTime

In the first reading the prophet Elijah is on the run from the anger of King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel.  He finds refuge in a cave on Mount Horeb where God reveals himself to Elijah not through earthquake, wind or fire, but rather through a gentle breeze – the breath of God.  The subtlety of God’s presence is so gentle it could easily be missed by those expecting great signs and wonders.

In the second reading Paul, familiar with the teaching of his former Jewish faith and converted by his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, struggles to understand why his Jewish brethren have not also understood ‘the truth’ that guides him. Perhaps his anguish is heightened because he was accused of turning away from his Jewish faith to preach to the gentiles.

The gospel reading this Sunday is all about Jesus’s walking on water but if you look beyond the walking on water this story is really about trust and faith in God. We have no problem identifying with Peter, he is so like us. He is confident one moment and then, when things get difficult and he realizes that he has bitten off more than he can chew, he falls apart. By then it is too late and he needs help and that is when Jesus offers peter his hand.  and he acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God. Life is like that, we start something like a new job, college, marriage, or a project to help others, but then it gets complex and beyond what we are capable of. We are sinking, we are drowning. Not an uncommon experience in so many situations in life and in the way we deal with them. God doesn’t always give us an immediate cure or a fast solution when we bring ourselves in prayer for others or for ourselves to God. God, through Jesus, is not distant from our problems. Jesus shows us that when he reaches out a hand to Peter and to us, he is companion with us in the storms of life.  

At times we may well be floundering, like Peter, but Jesus reaches out to help us, to rescue us. What better analogy could there be of our own lives and relationship with Jesus. We live messy lives, we doubt and we lack faith but nevertheless we are still moving towards the Lord. This Sunday we are reminded that we should   listen for God in quiet moments and trust Him in hard times. Elijah found God in a gentle whisper. Peter walked on water but sank when he doubted. Jesus saved him, showing that God does not abandon those who call out for help and that include all of us today.

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01 Aug 2026

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

We are at the beginning of August and It will be no time until the schools reopen at the beginning of September and the summer holidays for 2026 will be a distant but hopefully a good memory. Time waits on no one and for many of us it is passing by just too quickly. The First Reading is taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 55:1-3. The prophet, living among the Jewish exiles in Babylon, utters words of consolation for the despairing exiles. Here he tells them that Yahweh is inviting them to a banquet which he freely gives them. Yahweh alone can provide for their real needs; they are foolish to look elsewhere for consolation or help. If they cooperate, he will fulfil the promise he had made to David, the promise of a future Messiah. The Second Reading is from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 8:35, 37-39. St. Paul concludes this chapter with a hymn in praise of God’s love for us: “with God on our side,” he says, “who can be against us?” Then come today’s verses, which are rhetorical questions, showing that there is no power in heaven or on earth that can take away or lessen God’s love for us as manifested in Christ, his Incarnate Son.

In our Gospel story for this Sunday, we hear about the feeding of the five thousand. The people in this story are a crowd that realize Jesus had something to offer them in their “deserted places.” Jesus wasn’t just filling their stomachs. They were not the rich, the famous, the educated or the powerful; they were the afflicted and the marginalized people that Jesus went out of his way to seek out.  The words of Jesus were there to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted Life may have passed them by, but Jesus didn’t.  He took note of them, and they in turn saw in him a place to be nourished, a place where deep hunger and longings would be fulfilled. The physical bread of the miracle story was of temporary value. It could not satisfy deeper spiritual hungers, but it was a sign that Jesus can and that his heart is moved with pity for us. Notice how he handled the food with reverence, the same reverence he felt for the crowd whom he knew were the beloved of God. The sign for us today is that we too are the beloved sons and daughters of God and we will not be left hungry or alone for God is with us in the good, bad, happy and sad things that are part and parcel of our daily life. In this version of the story, there is no boy to provide the loaves and fishes for this miracle. The disciples have food with them. Jesus Is asking them to share out of their supplies. He Is asking them to risk it all, to take a chance with him. And they take the chance to be agents of change as the disciples’ have learned that whatever they have, it will be more than enough in their collaboration with Christ as they risk what they have in his service.

As we heard last week, the person who discovers the treasure in the field goes out and sells everything to buy the field and have the treasure. The disciples too are being invited to invest everything they have in Jesus. Are we prepared to follow Jesus wherever he leads us as we bring ourselves to the one who does not disappoint for there is no power in heaven or on earth that can take away or lessen God’s love for us shown to us through Jesus his Incarnate Son.

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