• 100 Years at Epping
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Scripture Reflections

One of the most important events in an Athletics competition is the relay race. And one of the most crucial moments of this race is the baton change. The baton when passed from one runner to another is absolutely important. Sometimes races are won or lost because of this.

One of the best experiences I had with my parents was when in 2011 I toured them for four weeks around Australia and New Zealand.

The first Sunday after the Solemnity of the Epiphany, we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This feast day marks the end of the Christmas liturgical season.

When I was a little child, my dad used to bring me to my Godfather and Godmother during this time. In some cultures, today is the traditional day for gift giving.

As a child in our parish school I can remember how every time our parish priest would visit us just before Christmas he would come with a hand full of Holy Cards. 

The movie, “To be or not to be” is a comedy film by Mel Brooks which is about a group of stage actors who are trying to escape from the Nazis in the newly occupied Poland in 1939. In one scene, Frederick Bronski, played by Mel Brooks, is asked to act like a Nazi Colonel in order to fool a Polish spy for the Nazis.

The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of Joy. As we are moving closer to the feast of God becoming one among us, we are invited to live in joy.

“Look, I am going to send my messenger before you; he will prepare your way.” This gospel passage reminds me of the road from Alice Springs to Santa Teresa, which is a remote Aboriginal community where I’m assigned at the moment.

Advent wreath 150The oldest liturgical cycles in our Church, dating back to the second century, are the Lent/Easter Cycle and the Advent Cycle.  The Advent cycle came at the end of the Roman Year and in its origin had nothing to do with the Birth of Christ. 

Saturday, 21 November 2020 11:52

Feast of Christ the King - 2020

Every time I read today’s Gospel I am reminded of an experience I had when I was a young priest.  I was helping out in a neighbouring parish and really did not know much about them.  So I based my homily on the conversation that some of us priests had at breakfast about how easy it is for us to “sanitize” this Gospel text and how easily we lose the sense of shock and surprise that Jesus’ listeners must have felt. 

Imagine you got the windfall of a lifetime. You’ve just won the top prize in lotto, which was worth millions of dollars. What would you do with this windfall?

Our Gospel reading for this 32nd Sunday of ordinary time challenges us to be vigilant and wise. We often hear people say that “she has lots of wisdom or he has lots of knowledge”.

Let me read to you once more the wonderful message of John’s apocalyptic vision:

In today’s gospel the scribes who exercised leadership in the Jewish community with their interpretations of the law found their authority being threatened by Jesus and therefore wanted Him to take a position on their discussions about what is the most important law in their scriptures. 

For those of us living here in Australia or in New Zealand, if you take notice, you’ll see that on all of our coins, we see the image of Queen Elizabeth II or whoever is the ruling monarch in England.

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