Luke speaks of Jesus withdrawing from the disciples and yet he adds that they went back to the City “full of joy”. I used to think that this was perverse of Luke, but their joy means surely that this was not a departure bit a disappearance, the beginning not of an absence but of a hidden presence. He must vanish from their eyes…
Hundreds of thousands of Christians worldwide will be gearing up to take part in the sixth Thy Kingdom Come– a global ecumenical prayer movement for evangelisation, occurring annually from Ascension to Pentecost (13th – 23rd May this year). From outdoor Pentecost celebrations to prayer walking in the local community, continuous prayer events (online and in person) to…
After the Ascension of Jesus we have the story of the followers of Jesus, Mary, the women, the brothers of Jesus and the eleven remaining apostles gathered together in prayer in the upper room of the Last Supper. Although they realised that Jesus had risen, his followers didn’t seem to be clear what to do…
10th-16th May is Mental Health Awareness Week, an initiative to encourage discussion about and reduce stigma around mental health issues. The Jesuits in Britain want to take this opportunity to help our readers and listeners to pray, think, learn and talk about life’s uphill struggles, whether they are associated with diagnosed mental health conditions or…
The Gospel of John tells us that Mary his mother and her sister as well as Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene and his beloved disciple, were all at within sight of the cross, as Jesus breathed his last. What a trauma this must have been for those who loved him so deeply. But…
Mary and the family wanted to protect Jesus. He needed a rest, time to himself, the crowds would wear him out. So they set out to bring him home.But he gets energy from the crowd, from people listening to the word of God.Those who listen and do the will of God are close to him;just…
There may be a ‘fear of the Lord’, but ‘fear’ in relation to God has a bad history. It seems to have more to do with a fear of ‘hell’ rather than fear of the Lord. In his traditionally short catechism, Herbert McCabe expresses ‘fear of the Lord’ as ‘the gift of wonder and awe…
A great story only to be found in John’s Gospel. Here Jesus, his mother and the disciples have gone to celebrate with two families at a wedding, when, to the embarrassment of the host, the wine runs out. Mary is quick to notice the problem. Although Jesus shows reluctance to do anything she puts him…
When in May 1996 the shocking news of the murder at Tibhirine, Algeria, of a community of seven Trappist monks hit the headlines the subsequent publication of the moving ‘Testament’ of Christian de Chergé, the prior of that community, opened a window on the singular originality of this community’s involvement with its Muslim neighbours. The…
Today’s story throws light on the life of the Holy Family. No travelling as a nuclear family, but a great caravan from Nazareth. The walk men together and the women walk together, and the children wandering between them. Such a large group that Mary and Joseph didn’t notice they hadn’t got their boy. Imagine the…
Matthew has a different twist from Luke to the nativity. In Matthew it’s Joseph rather than Mary who dreams of angels bringing messages from God. After the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem the holy family are forced to flee for safety to Egypt. They spend some time, maybe two or three years, as refugees there….
Silence If you’re silent,you can hear the forest breathe,the holy hush of the tree’s limb. “Silence,” said Thomas Merton, “is God’s first language”:the way it soaks into your skin,surrounds you,blanketing you like the forest’s breath. Silence:The cadence of the land at rest,the body asleep,the heart awake. Silence:The deep rhythmic breathing of a mind slowed down,an…
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