Daily Reflections from "alive Publishing"

Wednesday 19 November




Luke 19:11-28




11 As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 12So he said, ‘A nobleman went to a distant country to get royal power for himself and then return. 13He summoned ten of his slaves, and gave them ten pounds,* and said to them, “Do business with these until I come back.” 14But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, “We do not want this man to rule over us.” 15When he returned, having received royal power, he ordered these slaves, to whom he had given the money, to be summoned so that he might find out what they had gained by trading. 16The first came forward and said, “Lord, your pound has made ten more pounds.” 17He said to him, “Well done, good slave! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.” 18Then the second came, saying, “Lord, your pound has made five pounds.” 19He said to him, “And you, rule over five cities.” 20Then the other came, saying, “Lord, here is your pound. I wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, 21for I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.” 22He said to him, “I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! You knew, did you, that I was a harsh man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23Why then did you not put my money into the bank? Then when I returned, I could have collected it with interest.” 24He said to the bystanders, “Take the pound from him and give it to the one who has ten pounds.” 25(And they said to him, “Lord, he has ten pounds!”) 26“I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.” ’
28 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.



Jesus’ constant references to the ‘kingdom’ and his talk of salvation coming ‘today’ (e.g. Luke 19:9) might well have led his Jewish listeners to conclude that the coming of God’s kingdom was imminent, that Roman rule would be abolished and that Jesus himself would be crowned king.
Through a parable, Jesus explained that he would suffer rejection and that he would be going ‘far away’ for a period of time (this refers to the time between the ascension and the second coming). The image Jesus used was probably familiar to his audience, since both Herod the Great and his son Archelaus had to go to Rome in order to receive the right to rule Judea (and in doing so both ensured the ‘kingdom’ was safely under their control).
Jesus began his public ministry with these words: ‘the kingdom of God is at hand…’ (Mark 1:15). With the coming of Jesus, God’s kingdom was inaugurated, but it has not yet come in its fullness. That is why we continue to pray, ‘Thy kingdom come.’ Even after the resurrection, when questioned about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel, Jesus responded that only the Father knew dates and times. He focused instead on the disciples’ role as witnesses in proclaiming the good news and spreading the kingdom. Despite unpopularity and even persecution, the kingdom of God will come and Jesus will return as a triumphant King, so that the main thrust of the parable is the role that Jesus’ followers must play during his absence.
Today’s parable is not just about developing our talents, but also demonstrates that our work on earth is linked to the coming of God’s kingdom. Salvation is not just a ‘ticket to heaven’. We are saved in order to serve. As Jesus disappeared into the clouds and the disciples stood staring at the sky, the angels demanded, ‘why do you stand looking into heaven?’ (Acts 1:11). As we await Jesus’ return in glory, we are called to continue the work of Jesus by active service in his kingdom (Acts 1:8). Whatever we have received is not to be selfishly or lazily hoarded, but generously and energetically invested in the lives of those in need. Then the kingdom will grow, and the Master will be pleased and proud of his faithful servants.


Your kingdom come, Lord, in its fullness, and until it does, help me faithfully to do your will.

Thursday 20 November




Luke 19:41-44




41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’


It is very hard to hear heartfelt weeping and not be moved. Such grief comes from somewhere deep inside a person and has the effect of laying themselves bare. Witnessing a widow mourning the loss of a dearly beloved husband or parents sobbing over the tragic death of a child, even the hardest heart could surely not be unmoved. The sight of a strong masculine man weeping is rarer but equally profoundly moving, evoking a deep sense of sympathy and connection.
We encounter Jesus weeping twice in the Gospels. The first time is captured in the shortest verse in the whole Bible, in which we are told succinctly by John that ‘Jesus wept’ (John 11:35) over the death of his friend Lazarus. We find Jesus weeping again today not over one person but a whole city, the holy city of Jerusalem. The Lord is weeping because of their rejection of the One who is the promised Messiah. He is the Messiah, the Lord’s anointed, and what will bring them peace is what brings every human being peace and reconciliation: faith in him and in his saving death and resurrection.
The revelation that Jesus is the Messiah was hidden from their eyes (v. 42), and the veil of unbelief covers the minds and hearts of all who refuse to believe in Jesus. God has given us all the gift of free will and we are free to accept or reject God’s plan revealed in and through Jesus. It was the heartbreak of unbelief and rejection which moved the Lord Jesus to weep those tears of sorrow and grief.
Pray for all those whose hearts are hardened against Christ and his gospel. Pray also for the Jewish people that their hearts may be enlightened so that they can accept the Good News that Jesus is not only our Messiah but first and foremost theirs. Indeed, the return of Christ is suspended until Jesus’ coming is recognized by all Israel. Writing in Romans, Paul expressed his own heartfelt longing for their acceptance of Christ: ‘For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?’ (11:15).


Lord Jesus, we pray today for the full inclusion of the Jewish people in the salvation Jesus won by his death on the cross so that we all may enjoy together the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Friday 21 November





Luke 19:45-48 • The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Memorial)




45 Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; 46and he said, ‘It is written,
“My house shall be a house of prayer”;
but you have made it a den of robbers.’
47 Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; 48but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.



Imagine walking into your local church next Sunday and finding souvenir stalls and hole-in-the-wall cash machines set up along the centre aisle, with people scurrying to and fro, depositing cheques, withdrawing cash, choosing postcards, buying candles, paying black-market-rates for hymnals… How would you feel? What would you do?
As Jesus entered the temple, he made no attempt to hide his displeasure. The Jews believed the presence of the Lord dwelt in the Holy of Holies, the innermost part of the temple. The temple was the place God intended to be ‘a house of prayer for all peoples’ (Isa. 56:7). How had it become a ‘den of robbers’?
Worshippers were required to make sacrifices for their sins and to pay a temple tax. Since many journeyed from far-off, they could not bring their own animals; foreigners in the city had to have their money changed into local currency. Thus traders and money-changers provided a necessary service for pilgrims.
But what had begun as a service to facilitate worship had been exploited into a booming business, with merchants charging exorbitant prices and money-changers doing the same with exchange rates. All this took place in the outer courtyard – the place designated for Gentiles (i.e. non-Jews) – making worship impractical, if not impossible. Backed by the priestly aristocracy, the temple had become a centre for profiteering, not prayer.
Today, God’s dwelling place is in the midst of his people, the community of believers, the Church. Peter reminds us: ‘But you are…a royal priesthood…that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light’ (1 Pet. 2:9). As a faith community, let’s ask ourselves: Is our church a ‘house of prayer’ where we ‘declare the wonderful deeds’ of God? Do we welcome and accept all kinds of people? By our words, actions, liturgy or lifestyle, have we erected barriers such as exclusiveness (which keeps people out) or being judgemental (which drives them out)?

Saturday 22 November


(Memorial) St Cecilia • Luke 20:27-40




27 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him 28and asked him a question, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man* shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; 30then the second 31and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. 32Finally the woman also died. 33In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.’
34 Jesus said to them, ‘Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; 35but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36Indeed they cannot die any more, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. 37And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.’ 39Then some of the scribes answered, ‘Teacher, you have spoken well.’ 40For they no longer dared to ask him another question.



Is there life after death? What happens when we die? Does death separate us from our loved ones for ever? Is physical death the end of life as we know it or do we pass over to a different kind of life? These are the questions which surely must pass through all of our minds at some time or other in our lives but which we dare to voice only rarely if ever at all because, in our twenty-first-century society, death is a taboo subject. We don’t like to talk about it and pretend it does not exist, and we would certainly find ourselves excluded from polite company if (God forbid) we referred to it in any way, shape or form.
Our forefathers showed no such reluctance in discussing death. The Sadducees, who would have been in good company in our modern world since they too did not believe in an afterlife, approach Jesus ostensibly for help in addressing a domestic conundrum, but they are really out to set him a trap. They invite Jesus to pronounce on the case of a woman who married seven brothers in turn and tragically each time her husband died. Whose wife, they want to know, will she be in the resurrection (v. 33)?
Cutting through their confusion, Jesus explains that beyond death there is no need for marriage because we are like angels who behold the beatific vision of God. Through the grace of baptism, ongoing conversion and the mercy of God we become children of the resurrection, sons and daughters of the living God.
Our belief in the life everlasting, the resurrection of the body and heaven is rooted and grounded in Jesus. He is the One who has truly gone before us and he is the One who is truly risen from the dead. He is the One who proclaimed himself to be the resurrection and the life (John 11:25) and in this we put our faith, our hope and our trust. The saints are consoling and comforting in holding out the witness of those who faced death with courage and confidence, helping us to see that we too do not need to fear death. St Ignatius of Antioch said: ‘My earthly desire has been crucified;…there is living water in me, water that murmurs to me: “Come to the Father.”’


‘I want to see God and, in order to see him, I must die.’ (St Teresa of Avila)

Sunday 23 November




Matthew 25:31-46 • Christ the King (Solemnity) (A)



31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” 37Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.” 41Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” 44Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” 45Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’



When Christ comes again, he will judge us on whether or not we have kept the Ten Commandments (Exod. 20:2-17), that is, on our obedience to God’s law. He will also judge us on whether or not we followed his commandment to love our neighbour: ‘This I command you, to love one another’ (John 15:17), that is, on our treatment of others. This judgement is perhaps a more searching one. Christ wishes to reward us for the good we have done. He has no desire to punish us or exclude us from heaven.
Jesus laid down his life for us. He loves us unconditionally. It is critical that we grasp the depth of his love for us so that we are not paralysed with fear or by the prospect of his judgement. It is vital that we contemplate God’s love towards us, recognizing his mercy and kindness. In this way we will grow in our knowledge and experience of God’s love. Out of love for us God promised: ‘I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the cripple, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will watch over; I will feed them in justice’ (Ezek. 34:16). He fulfilled his promise when he sent Jesus as our Shepherd: ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want’ (Ps. 23:1). Jesus brings us back to the Father, bandages up our wounds, strengthens us through the gift of his body and blood, and protects us from Satan’s ferocious attacks. We live in Jesus’ love. This enables us to love others as he has loved us (John 15:12).
Matthew lists some practical ways of loving others: feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and those in prison (vv. 35-36). Fundamentally, loving others is taking care of them and serving their needs – being a blessing to them in any way that we can. This is not difficult for our love for others flows out of a grateful heart, a heart that knows it is loved. Reflect on the many ways that God shows his love for you. Let his love fill your heart. Then let his love overflow to others.


Jesus, I want to love as you have loved me. Give me an open, generous heart. Show me practical ways to love others.

Monday 24 November

(Memorial) St Andrew Dung Lac • Luke 21:1-4



21He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; 2he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3He said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; 4for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on. "


Jesus saw what others missed. Jesus highlighted the hidden and the humble. The witness of a poor, hidden and humble widow speaks to every generation of believers. She gave not from surplus or wealth but from poverty and misery. She gave in an age where there was no social security, no pension provision and no support from charities or other organizations. As a widow she would have been unable to work and would have been treated with contempt as a second-class citizen. In her pure and simple act of giving, Jesus saw the generous heart of the true disciple, and because of this she has become the living witness of the cheerful giver. From the poor widow we learn that God loves with great tenderness and compassion those who give from a good and generous heart. We are told that she did not simply make a donation but put into the temple treasury all she had to live on (v. 4).
The widow, whose name we are sadly not told, can be for us the patron saint of generous giving. Many centuries ago St John Chrysostom urged Christians to take seriously her example and then follow it: ‘For what use is it when you give as much of your wealth as someone might give a spoonful of water from the ocean and you don’t imitate the widow’s generosity of spirit?’ We can be generous in many ways: with our time, our energy, our resources and our lives.
Today we celebrate the witness of Andrew Dung Lac and his companions who were generous with their lives, laying them down so that the fledging Church in Vietnam could take root. Father Andrew Dung Lac, a diocesan priest, is chosen as the martyrs’ representative – in total 117 courageous people were martyred. They died during a fierce and brutal period of persecution in Vietnam (1625-1886), in which many hundreds of thousands of hidden saints and martyrs suffered and died for their faith.
The Vietnamese group comprised 37 priests and 59 lay people: 76 were beheaded, 21 suffocated, 6 were burnt alive, 5 were mutilated and 9 died in a prison as a result of torture. They were canonized on 19 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II.


Martyrs of Vietnam, pray for us.

Tuesday 25 November




Luke 21:5-11



5When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6“As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” 7They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” 8And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them. 9“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 10Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven."


We are now nearing various endpoints. Autumn is beginning to edge towards winter, and in just over a month it will be the end of another year in all our lives. The end of the church year is even closer as we are now making our way through the final days of the liturgical calendar. Fittingly, the readings throughout this week help us to think of the last things culminating in Saturday’s reading from Revelation which speaks of the second coming: ‘There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever... “Behold, I am coming soon!”’ (22:5,7).

The Gospel reading today also speaks of the last things, and links aspects of Jesus’ life to those things which are still to come. In this passage Jesus prophesies the destruction of the temple. In what follows the horizon will expand to include Jerusalem (vv. 20-24), and then the end of the world (vv. 25-33). In other words, what this complex passage suggests is that the events unfolding before the eyes of the disciples had implications for the rest of human history, that is, our history.
The end of the world is also evoked in the apocalyptic imagery of today’s passage (vv. 9-11), which anticipates indeed the language of the Apocalypse, or Revelation. As we now approach Advent and Christmas, we prepare to celebrate the first coming and to anticipate the second coming. It is without doubt a complex time of the year. On the one hand, at the beginning of November, we think of death as we remember those who have gone before us in the feasts of All Souls and All Saints. On the other hand, we are about to celebrate the most important birth in human history, that of Our Lord and Saviour.
As the days continue to shorten, then, it is good to call all these things to mind and to treasure them in our hearts. Equally, as we reflect on the last things, we should perhaps pause for a moment to think of our own end, as we know not, of course, either the hour or the day.


Lord Jesus, help us to prepare properly for your coming, and for that moment in all our lives when we shall meet you face to face.

Wednesday 26 November




Luke 21:12-19



12“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my name. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your souls . "


Did you know that there have been more Christian martyrs in the twentieth century and the early years of the twenty-first century than in all the other centuries put together? Hard to believe but true. Christians, from across the denominations, are suffering for their faith all over the world. We just don’t often hear about it or (if we are honest) give it much thought or attention. Sadly, it is only too human to be diffident or just ignorant of the plight of human beings, even within the family of faith, who suffer in countries on the other side of the world. The Christian Church is mercilessly persecuted in countries such as East Timor, the Moluccas Islands of Indonesia, Sudan, Peru, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and many other places around the world. To these we must now add Iraq, as the recent horrifying scenes on our television screens have forcibly brought home to us. Jesus warned explicitly that times of persecution would be the lot of many who follow him.
The suffering and persecution Jesus refers to in today’s passage is specific to a time which will immediately precede the end of the world. In other words, since the beginning Christians have been persecuted and since the beginning the blood of these martyrs has been the seed of the Church.
However, the period prior to the end of the world will be a time of terrible persecution for all believers. The Catholic Church echoes this stark warning from the Scriptures: ‘Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church 675).
We don’t know times, we don’t know dates, but what we do know is that the Church will pass through this final trial. Will it be in our lifetime? Will it be for a thousand years or two thousand years? We just don’t know when God will wrap up human history like a garment and the end will come. What we do know is that, wherever we are, we are called to be witnesses to Christ. Our vocation is an invitation to share and testify to Christ and the beauty, truth and goodness of the gospel.


‘I pray, my brothers, that we may be found worthy to be cursed, censured, ground down and even executed in the name of Jesus Christ, as long as Christ himself is not killed in us.’ (St Paulinus of Nola)

Thursday 27 November




Luke 21:20-28



“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it; for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”



During November the Church urges us to ponder the last things – death, judgement, the second coming, heaven, purgatory and hell. Although sober and sombre subject matter, these are some of the most fundamental realities of life and faith, from which there is no escape. We will all die; we will all be judged; there is a heaven and there is a hell; and Jesus is coming again.
We live in a very sophisticated age in which our focus is consumed in the here and now, but as Christians we need to have a much broader horizon. Whether we choose to think about it or not, we can be certain that one day all human life will cease, Jesus will return and the righteous will reign with God. In today’s passage Jesus points to a time when the holy city of Jerusalem will fall to a cruel marauding army – this actually happened in AD 70 when the temple was razed to the ground and the Roman army invaded the holy city of Jerusalem. When a city is attacked, its inhabitants seek sanctuary within its walls: however, Jesus urges his followers to flee to the hills (v. 21). The apocalyptic scene of persecution and suffering which he vividly describes is frightening and disturbing. As we read it today it can seem removed and remote, belonging to a bygone age.
Nevertheless, we need to think again and consider the following words from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: ‘Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth, will unveil the “mystery of iniquity” in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh’ (para. 675). We are invited to have a very firm grasp of reality. Jesus’ return is imminent (CCC 673). Although, of course, we do not know the time or season, we need to be those who pray for and long for the glorious return of Jesus which will usher in the end of the world and the establishment of God’s kingdom .



Come, Lord Jesus, come.

Friday 28 November




Luke 21:29-33



29 Then he told them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. "


Throughout the year nature signals the changing seasons, forewarning us of what is to come. As human beings we have learnt to interpret these signs, which are often encapsulated in homespun proverbs and sayings, such as ‘one swallow doesn’t make a summer’, or ‘rain before seven, fine before eleven’. We have grown adept at interpreting the signs of nature – our vocation invites us to be just as wise in interpreting the signs of the times and therefore the signs of the kingdom.
As we search the Scriptures to find out what these signs are, we need to ensure that we maintain a balanced perspective – an overly apocalyptic vision of the world is dangerous and can lead to extremism. Our vocation is an all-embracing invitation to live by the power of the Holy Spirit, who brings wisdom and light to our lives. The signs of the times are that we are living in a world which is becoming increasingly hedonistic, relativistic and consumer driven. Our culture, despite its many blessings and materialistic advantages, is adrift and lost in a world of shifting and shallow values (for example, the love of celebrity, wealth and pleasure for pleasure’s sake). Our world is in need of the gospel more than ever. There are also, however, signs of hope, such as technological progress in the field of medicine, a greater awareness of our responsibility for the environment and a new momentum for justice and equality – the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign has highlighted the sense of solidarity we feel with our brothers and sisters in Africa, for example.
We are called to live with a sense that God’s kingdom is near and that Christ’s second coming is imminent. Pope John Paul II, throughout his pontificate, urged us to renew our hope in the coming of God’s kingdom. We are to pray earnestly for Christ’s second coming. How often have you prayed, ‘Come Lord Jesus, come’? How often have you reflected on the truth that every time we celebrate Mass and say the powerful words ‘We proclaim your death O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again’ we are anticipating our future glory in God’s kingdom? We are pilgrims, we have another home and we strive towards another world.


The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’

Saturday 29 November


Luke 21:34-36





34 ‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’



There is nothing worse than being caught unawares. The examples from daily life are many and varied: the arrival of a guest who drops in quite out of the blue, an outbreak of inclement weather with nothing to protect us from drenching, or a wild card question in an exam we had not anticipated or revised for. Such things are the stuff of life and have happened to us all. They highlight, however, a certain precariousness and fragility to life. The truth is we don’t and can’t really know what will happen from one day to the next. This does not mean that we live in a state of constant anxiety, fretting about what will or will not happen. We just get on with life and attend to an unexpected guest, a sudden downpour or seek some other arrangement if purse, wallet or tickets are missing.
Baden Powell, the founder of the Scout movement, drawing on his army training and discipline, coined the saying, ‘A good scout is always prepared’, and in a similar vein the Christian, too, always has to be prepared. ‘Watch’ and ‘pray’ are important words in a Christian’s vocabulary. There are two events in life which are certain to occur.

The first will definitely occur in our lifetime; the second may or may not occur in our lifetime, but occur it will. They are, of course, our own death and the second coming of Christ, and for both of these events we are to ‘watch’ and ‘pray’.
Jesus is startlingly direct about the issues in our lives which dull us and make us lose an edge to these verities: ‘dissipation and drunkenness and the anxieties of life’ (v. 34 NIV). God knows life is full of temptations. We all have our own struggles and temptations and whatever form dissipation, drunkenness or anxiety take in our life, one thing is sure: if they overwhelm and dominate we will certainly lose clarity and become confused. We are all personally responsible for our lives. But there is no need to be overwhelmed because the Holy Spirit is our Counsellor and Comforter, always guiding, prompting, urging us to ‘watch’, ‘pray’ and ‘be ready’ because we do not know the day or the hour.

‘Watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man.’
(v. 36)

Sunday 30 November




Mark 13:33-37 • First Sunday of Advent (B)


33Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. 34It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, 36or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”


Today begins the holy season of Advent during which we enter a time of preparation, reflection, renewal and refreshment. Although Advent comes to us in the deep night of winter, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta compared it to ‘springtime in nature, when everything is renewed and so is fresh and healthy. Advent is meant to do this to us – to refresh us and make us healthy, to be able to receive Christ in whatever form he may come to us.’ In what form will Christ come to you this Advent?

The word ‘advent’ comes from the Latin adventus which literally means ‘coming’. In this season of Advent the liturgy urges us to focus on the three comings of Christ: his first coming in the incarnation, his second coming in glory, and his third coming into our lives in a new, fresh and dynamic way. We rejoice in Christ’s first coming, we long for his second, and with an expectant and living hope we are confident of a new outpouring of his Spirit into our lives this Advent.

Advent is certainly a season which evokes many sentiments and emotions. We experience wonder at the drama of the birth of Christ in a manger and joy that unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Alongside this sense of rejoicing, Advent is a penitential season when we are invited to examine our lives, invite the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and undergo the movement deep within us of a contrite and humble heart.

Alongside all of this grace and blessing we face one of the most commercially ferocious times of the year – we buy, we sell, we panic, we fret, we rush, we prepare, we party... However, amid the many challenges of Advent, only one thing is needed – and that is that we carve out time to be with the Lord, to pray, reflect and ponder on our Saviour’s birth, for this is the true meaning of Christmas. Each Advent we are invited to reflect in awe and wonder on the revelation of the incarnation and let its gentle grace and blessing reach deep into our lives, healing us and restoring to us the joy of our salvation.

Monday 1 December





Matthew 8:5-11 • (Solemnity in Scotland) St Andrew



5When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him 6and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.” 7And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.” 8The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” 10When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven . "


Faith isn’t just something that we exercise in our spiritual lives. Without faith we couldn’t live in our society. We have faith that our money is safe in our banks; we have faith in electricity; we have faith in our doctors, lawyers, accountants and other professionals. Of course, all these institutions and individuals can let us down, but on the whole we maintain our faith in them.

The problem with spiritual faith is that we often misunderstand what it really is. Many think of faith as a kind of blind leap into the dark – you close your eyes and jump – but that isn’t faith, that’s stupidity. God calls us not to take a blind leap into the dark but rather to put our faith, hope and trust in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, for the existence of whom there is ample historical evidence.

The faith of the Roman centurion is one of the most moving and powerful examples of faith in the whole New Testament. Although his name is lost to history his faith is remembered every time we celebrate the Eucharist. His faith was rooted in his direct encounter with Jesus. The Holy Spirit was at work in this professional Gentile soldier, moving him to a faith so profound that he received the double blessing of a miraculous healing of his servant and his faith being recorded for all time. In response Jesus marvelled and exclaimed: ‘Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith’ (v. 10).

This movement of the Spirit is a mystery in all our lives. Nevertheless, it is important to understand and appreciate that the Spirit is always at work in people’s lives – whoever they are, whatever they have done and no matter how far we judge them to be from God. God allows his sun to shine on the righteous and the unrighteous, on the good, the bad and the rebellious. Faith cannot be manufactured: it is the response of the human heart to God’s infinite love and mercy. It is a supernatural gift from God. We believe first in order to understand and in this act of believing we receive the gift of revelation into the mysteries of God, which flesh and blood cannot reveal, but only the Father of mercy.

Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my life but, this Advent, I beg you to pour out your lavish blessings upon me.

Tuesday 2 December





Luke 10:21-24




21 At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 22All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’
23 Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.’



What gives you joy? From today’s Gospel we learn that what gave Jesus joy was the grace of revelation being poured out upon us so that we might learn of the height, the width, the depth and the length of God’s love and wisdom. One thing we can know for sure is that if the Christian life is not a life of joy, then somewhere along the line we are missing the point.

Pope Francis is heading up a revolution of joy. He is the Commander-in-Chief of a ground-breaking rising up of joyful and Spirit-filled Christians. And his recent Apostolic Exhortation is, if you like, the battle plan. Like all prophets of joy Pope Francis has a great sense of humour. He has even pulled his own leg and ours by admitting that he is so realistic about the state of the hearts of clergy and laity alike that he is resigned to the fact that not many of us will even read or familiarize ourselves with his battle plan. Some have accused him of giving up before he has started but perhaps they don’t understand his sense of humour.

In an ideal world, when the Pope publishes an encyclical or an apostolic exhortation there would be a stampede to download it and print it off, or to buy a hardbound copy. Our clergy would be hardly able to contain their joy that they had a papal document to get their teeth into and to fuel their preaching and their teaching and their interior life. They would be exhorting the lay faithful from the pulpit to read and study Evangelii gaudium, explaining that it is a wonderful document which will help them to live their Christian life with fresh enthusiasm and joy. And, in response, the lay faithful would storm Waterstones and WH Smith’s to get their hands on a copy. Clergy and lay would then be united in an adventure to plumb the depths of the teaching of St Peter’s successor, and together we would all be engaged in a common endeavour of study and prayer as we sought to learn more of the unfathomable mystery which is Christ.

Lord, give me joy in my heart keep me praising, give me joy in my heart I pray; give me joy in my heart keep me praising, keep me praising till the end of day.

Wednesday 3 December





Matthew 15:29-37 • (Memorial) St Francis Xavier




29 After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. 30Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, 31so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.’ 33The disciples said to him, ‘Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?’ 34Jesus asked them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ They said, ‘Seven, and a few small fish.’ 35Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36he took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37And all of them ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full .

The signs and wonders performed by Jesus reveal the power of God. They reveal Jesus as the One who can reverse and overpower the laws of nature. But, in addition, each one points to a deeper meaning that is specific to that particular miracle. What, then, is the meaning of the two miracles of the multiplication of the loaves (see also Matt 14:15-21)?

Our scientific age is rather sceptical of the miraculous. Ever since the Enlightenment philosophers and even theologians have sought to undermine the idea that God can directly intervene in our lives, especially in supernatural ways. Nevertheless, it is impossible to read the New Testament without encountering signs and wonders. Furthermore, since the beginning the Church has taught that the Evangelists were eyewitnesses of historic events which were verified by Roman and Jewish historians. They were not writing propaganda for incredulous and superstitious peasants: they were witnesses of the Christ event.

St Augustine, that towering intellect of western civilization, said: ‘Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature. I never have any difficulty believing in miracles, since I experienced the miracle of a change in my own heart.’ There is no doubt that things happen that are beyond science and beyond explanation and reason. The Church is, however, so respectful of science and the competency of the medical professions that a healing at Lourdes, for example, is subject to over a decade of scrutiny before it is declared a miracle.

Thankfully the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers us commentary on miracles: ‘The miracles of the multiplication of the loaves, when the Lord says the blessings, breaks and distributes the loaves through his disciples to feed the multitude, prefigure the superabundance of this unique bread of his Eucharist’ (para. 1335). Every time we celebrate the Eucharist we are reminded of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. In the same way that Jesus broke the bread and gave it to his disciples to distribute, so his body would be broken on the cross and his saving grace made available to all who partake in it. We are blessed to share in this miracle of miracles every time we are nourished in body, soul and spirit with the Bread of Eternal Life in the Eucharist.

‘Sacrament most holy, sacrament divine, all grace, all thanksgiving, be every moment thine.’

Thursday 4 December




Matthew 7:21, 24-27




21 ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
24 ‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. 26And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!’



Most sermons, if we are honest, are pretty forgettable: they don’t excite or encourage or stimulate. Indeed, in Evangelii gaudium Pope Francis encourages his clergy to focus on this part of their ministry because clearly, as it might say on a school report, they ‘need to do better’!

That said, no sermon or homily could ever top the Sermon on the Mount. It is the sermon par excellence, revealing the mind of God and showing us how to live our lives. It pushes us far beyond the narrow and rigid attitude of simply obeying rules and regulations and crosses the threshold into the world of the life in the Spirit, showing us how to live not by the letter of the law but by the new way of the Spirit. The right reaction to reading the Sermon on the Mount is to throw our hands up in total exasperation and despair and say something like, ‘It is impossible to live like this. Who can?’ The answer will then come from God himself: ‘What is impossible for men and women is possible with God.’

The Sermon on the Mount concludes with a profound parable about two men who built a house – one on sand, the other on solid rock. It is a simple parable and the message is clear: a house built on sand collapses; a house built on solid rock endures. Simple. But is it really that simple? Of course not, for how many of us truly invest in the wise strategy of building our lives on a rock-solid foundation?

Most of us have a shallow approach to life. We live for the immediate, the here and now. We don’t take time out to think about how to root our lives in God and his teaching. However, if it were easy, everybody would be doing it! If we did the following most days of our lives, our foundation would go deeper and deeper: read the Bible; read the Catechism of the Catholic Church; pray; examine our conscience and repent; frequent the sacraments – especially the sacrament of reconciliation and supremely the Eucharist; throw ourselves on the mercy and forgiveness of God; and strive every day to love and forgive those we do not want to love or forgive.

Lord, teach me to lay down deep foundations in my life, rooted in the teaching of the Church and in the sacraments, which feed and nourish me on my journey to eternal life.

Friday 5 December





Matthew 9:27-31



27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, crying loudly, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David!’ 28When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ 29Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith let it be done to you.’ 30And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly ordered them, ‘See that no one knows of this.’ 31But they went away and spread the news about him throughout that district.



It isn’t hard to imagine that life without the gift of sight would be brutal – in this or any age. We often take our five senses for granted but losing any one of them must be terrible, reducing the quality of life significantly. The healing of the blind men in today’s Gospel is a wonderful and encouraging miracle. Yet the majority of us are not physically blind, so how do we interpret this miracle story and apply it to our own lives?

First, it is important to say that many of those who have impaired vision or who are blind are incredible witnesses to courage and grace. For example, the American educator Helen Keller overcame the adversity of being blind and deaf to become one of the twentieth-century’s leading humanitarians. She said that her blindness gave her ‘a deep sense that “things seen are temporal and things unseen are eternal”.’ We live by faith and not by sight but the truth is that we can be blind to many things in our own lives and we, rather like the blind men in today’s Gospel, need the gift of faith and the gift of sight. St Augustine of Hippo said: ‘The very limit of human blindness is to glory in being blind.’

So how can we be blind in our own lives and what are the things to which we are blind? We are often blind to our own sin but remarkably very clear-sighted about the sin of others – this, unfortunately, is pretty much the human condition. We like to take the speck out of another person’s eye when all along there is a plank in our own! The light of Christ needs to shine on us so that we have the grace to take the plank out of our own eye.

We can also be blind to the many blessings in our lives and fail to give thanks and praise to God. We can be blind to the beauty and grandeur of God’s creation and not see the mark of the Creator in every good thing. This kind of blindness makes us cynical and resentful instead of joyful and generous.

Lord, I repent and turn away from those things in my life which make me blind to my own sin, blind to the blessings in my life and blind to the goodness of the Creator. Restore to me, Lord, the joy of my salvation.

Saturday 6 December




Matthew 9:35-10:1, 5-8




35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; 38therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’
10Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” 8Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers,* cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment."


The nineteenth-century American writer Henry Thoreau was largely unknown during his life, but was recognized in the twentieth century as being one of the greatest literary thinkers his country had produced. He was deeply troubled by the injustice of slavery, and his commitment to brave, but non-violent protest, inspired both Gandhi and Martin Luther King. He once wrote that ‘The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation’ It is a striking statement, precisely because we know it to be utterly true.

Most of us know that our friends and the people with whom we work and socialize all have their problems to cope with, but it can be very instructive to indulge in a little ‘people-watching’ on the train, in the street or in the bus queue, for instance when people are engrossed in their own thoughts. Furrowed brows and anxious or irritable looks are signs of the tip of the iceberg of burdens which many, many people carry from day to day.

Fractured relationships, financial worries, insecurity and the fear of rejection are no respecters of social boundaries. And many people do not even show the tell-tale signs giving absolutely no outward indication that behind their smile they carry a great sorrow.

The Gospels tell us clearly that Jesus could look into men and women’s hearts and know what was within them. So, when Jesus was travelling around the towns and villages of Palestine he could look at the crowds and see the troubles, worries and insecurity behind the facades of every individual person. And, seeing these, he had compassion. His ministry to humankind is the same now as it was then; not counselling, or bland sympathy, but a solution that goes to the very centre of the burdened human heart. It is news that is truly life-changing to those who are really open to its full implications. The kingdom of God is at hand: sinners are forgiven, guilt is removed, the sick receive healing and those in captivity whatever its nature are set free.

Lord, I lay my burdens at your feet. Help me to begin to understand the full wonder of the gift of salvation which you have won for me. Set me free from the chains of fear, guilt and insecurity that bind me and restore me to the joy of your love.

Sunday 7 December





Mark 1:1-8 (B) • Second Sunday of Advent




1The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight” ’,
4John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’



Why did people go out to the desert to hear John the Baptist? No doubt it was partly out of curiosity to see this unusual preacher who wore a garment of camel hair and ate locusts and wild honey. But they also went because John had a message that spoke to them. John was not the sort of speaker who minced his words: he told people plainly that they were sinners who needed to repent. Nowadays it is not fashionable to talk in such a way, even for many Christians.
Talking about sin is held to be negative and morbid. But accepting we are sinners is not unhealthy on the contrary, it is the way to spiritual health since it means we are acknowledging the truth. We all do wrong things, and there is no point running away from this fact.

John told people that they needed to acknowledge their sins openly, repent and make a fresh start. This is what the symbolism of baptism means. By accepting baptism people showed they were repenting of their sins, were being washed clean and emerging as new men and women. Pretending we are not sinners will not save us: the route to salvation is to confess our sins, repent and seek God’s forgiveness.
Advent is a time when we examine our lives and repent of our sins as we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ coming into this world. John the Baptist was preparing the way for the Lord, and he did this by leading people to repent and seek forgiveness. We must follow their example. It is in our hearts that we need to prepare a road for the Lord, to make the crooked ways straight and the rough places smooth. We are not only celebrating Jesus’ birth in the past: we pray that he would come more fully into our lives at this time and we look forward to his coming in the future.

John’s baptism symbolized repentance and rebirth, but could not actually save people. That is why he pointed them to Jesus Christ, the one who baptizes with the Spirit and gives us the new life which endures for eternity.


Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Monday 8 December




Luke 1:26-38 • Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Solemnity)



26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ 29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 34Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ 35The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.’ 38Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.


The doctrine of Mary’s sinlessness, from the moment of her conception, is the fruit of the Church’s meditation on scripture and tradition. However, Luke, the evangelist, spends some two chapters telling us about the birth of Jesus and the episodes which preceded it. Contained in them (and in today’s reading in particular) is much information about Our Lady , how she thought and how she behaved in the face of the bewildering events in which she found herself so unexpectedly playing a central role.
When we try to explain to children about the holiness of saints, or of Our Lady, they often seem to get the mistaken impression that because of their innate sanctity, the spiritual life must have been easy for them. Perhaps in our inadequate explanations we make saints appear like super-heroes, in the sense that they breeze through challenges effortlessly. Religious works of art tend to reinforce this idea. To a child’s mind, the concept may be good enough for the time being, but in adult life we realize its inadequacy. True sanctity is nothing like that, and Luke paints a much more real, a much more complex picture of Mary’s holiness.
It is quite clear that there was nothing easy or effortless in Mary’s acceptance of God’s will for her. Vulnerability, confusion, courage and faithful obedience are all seen quite clearly in Mary’s responses. This was a young girl, who despite her tender years had a solid commitment to her destiny as a handmaiden of the Lord. Her courage enabled her to make the arduous and risky journey in the early stages of her pregnancy to visit Elizabeth in the Judean hills. On her arrival, her hymn of praise to God in the Magnificat remains one of the most powerful and most beautiful in all literature. Nowhere do we get the impression that any of this was easy for her. Quite the reverse.
Indeed, Mary’s life , so far as we know it , was characterized by real challenges and by deepest suffering. Her sinlessness gave her no protection from the agony which she felt as she stood at the foot of the cross, having witnessed her son’s journey to Calvary.


‘My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour. He looks on his servant in her lowliness; henceforth all ages will call me blessed.’ (The Magnificat)