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All my being, bless God’s holy name. We acknowledge fairly readily that we as human beings are unique on this planet of ours. We have intelligence and free will. We can love. We are creatures before the Creator, and in the immensity and vastness of creation we are unique in that Read...
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No need to recall the past; no need to think about what was done before. See, I am doing a new deed, even now it comes to light, can you not see it? We should not take these words about recalling the past literally. We must keep recalling the ways Read...
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Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. Gospel Every human being has a need to be touched. Jesus touched the leper. He had no need to do so to heal him. By touching him, Jesus broke the law demanding separation (cf the first reading), and so made himself an outcast, Read...
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His teaching made a deep impression on them because, unlike the scribes, he taught them with authority Gospel People experienced a difference in the way Jesus taught. He did not speak down to them. He did not lay burdens on them. He practiced what he preached. It is easy to imagine the Read...
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A message of thanks from all at St Paul’s, Manly. As we come to the end of Fr David’s tenure as Associate Priest at St Paul’s we would like to offer a few words of thanks to David and Rhonda for their spiritual guidance, love, support and good humour during their Read...
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Repent and believe the Good News It is interesting that Jesus links repentance with believing the Good News. We may question whether Christianity has been consistent in linking the two, and whether we have done so in our own thought and practice. If the two are not linked there are dangers of Read...
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Your body, you know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you since you received him from God.       Second Reading In today’s first reading we have the call of Samuel, with the well-known ‘Here I am Lord.’ Response. The Gospel gives us the call of Read...
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There are three distinct ways we can understand ‘God’ and appreciate the activity of God in our world. We understand and appreciate God as Creator, the source of all that exists, the Almighty. We use the symbol of ‘Father’ to express God’s concern, care and compassion, and to evoke trust Read...
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The Pentecost Sequence, found in the Missal before the Gospel, is a beautiful prayer. Try praying it with the firm convictions that the Spirit of God is in you, that you are, as St Paul says of all Christians, ‘a Temple of God’s Holy Spirit.’ (1 Cot. 3:16) As the Sequence Read...
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