THE JOY OF HOME COMING TO THE FATHER’S EMBRACE
By Dr. Joanne Mosley
Joshua 5:9, 10-12; Psalm 34(33): 2-7; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Laetare Sunday – Fourth Sunday of Lent
30th March 2025
The teachings of John of the Cross on the journey to union with God by the way of self-denial could appear less arduous if we began with his sketch of the allegorical Mount Carmel. For it shows us the destination, described as entrance into the land of Carmel where we may eat its fruit and good things. Laetare Sunday is just such a consolation along the way, where homecoming – arrival at our ultimate destination – is the overriding theme.
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SALVATION DAWNS ANEW
By Dr. Iva Beranek
Isaiah 7:10-14, 8:10; Psalm 40(39): 7-11; Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38
Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
25th March 2025
Look, the young woman is with child, and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. The promise was given around eight centuries before the birth of Christ. Those must have been long 800 years of waiting.
The Israelites kept this promise alive within them by believing that Messiah would come. But how would they know to recognize Him when He finally arrived? We don’t often associate the Feast of the Annunciation with the Dark Night of the Soul, but this poem may give you a slightly different insight.
ALMIGHTY, BUT STILL FOR ME
By Dr Joanne Mosley
Exodus 3:1-8, 13 -15; Psalm 103 (102): 1-4, 6-8, 11; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9
Third Sunday of Lent, Year C
23rd March 2025
On this third Sunday, the readings take us into the heart of the Lenten message. There is the desert, the prospect of the journey to freedom, and a call to repentance. But the scriptures give us more even than this. They lift the veil on the encounter of the human and the divine. The entire reading from Exodus is like holy ground, for here, God reveals his presence and his name. The details of this episode are very significant.
ITE AD ST IOSEPH – GO TO ST JOSEPH
By Br. Chidi JohnBosco, OCD
2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16; Psalm 89(88):2-5, 27, 29; Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22; Luke 2:41-51
Solemnity of St Joseph
19th March 2025
In the liturgy of the word of this great Solemnity of St Joseph, we are presented with three men whose faith in God was undaunted. God’s promise to Abraham and David was fulfilled in Jesus Christ through Joseph, the Son of David. According to Matthew, the genealogy recorded in the gospel indicates that God keeps his promise. After the promise was made to Abraham, God’s faithfulness was revealed in Jesus Christ after forty-two generations. We are at liberty to shout for joy and sing with the Psalmist and say that the Lord remembers his covenant forever, the promises he made for a thousand generations.
MIND THE GAP
By Dr. Iva Beranek
Acts 13:46-49; Psalm 117(116); 1-2; Luke 10:1-12, 17-20
Feast of St Patrick
17th March 2025
The whole world celebrates St. Patrick’s Day, from China to Chicago and everywhere in between. Yet, I wonder how many people know the real Patrick and the inspiring story of his faith and resilience. Patrick was not born in Ireland, but in what we know today as Wales, and at the age of 16 he was taken into captivity to Ireland.
LISTEN THROUGH CHRIST’S SACRED HUMANITY
By Dr Joanne Mosley
Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18; Psalm 27(26): 7-9, 13-14; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36
Second Sunday of Lent, Year C
16th March 2025
The Mass readings on the second Sunday of Lent are like an encounter with the beginning and end of salvation history. They begin with the covenant with Abraham for his descendants, before even his son is born. And they take us to Christ, the summit of that line, on the threshold of his paschal mystery.
A covenant is between two parties, but here, God commits himself on behalf of both. The transfiguration is also rooted in covenant. It has been pointed out that the key to understanding it is Exodus 24, the covenant between God and his people, when Moses ascends Mount Sinai, and where God reveals his glory and the mountain is covered by a cloud. But Jesus is both human and divine, who makes himself accessible to us. Our scene on the mountain, which we refer to as Tabor, begins in a much more ordinary way. So ordinary, in fact, that Peter, James and John can hardly stay awake while Jesus is at prayer.
A PATTERN OF SELF MASTERY
By Dr. Joanne Mosley
Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Psalm 91(90):1-2, 10-15; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13
First Sunday of Lent, Year C
9th March 2025
The Lenten journey we are each called to follow is directly linked to salvation history, which is presented powerfully throughout the readings of Lent, not least on this first Sunday. The Hebrew scriptures on this day present not one particular stage of salvation history, but the essence of the whole journey. We, too, belong to the Lord, and the reading from Romans gives us our own confession of faith.
Saint Paul tells us, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Saint Paul is here presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of the law. In like manner, Edith Stein describes the law of the new covenant as the Lord himself. It is in this light that she explains the Carmelite spirituality of meditating on the law of the Lord. The Gospel of Luke holds before our eyes Jesus tempted in the wilderness.
WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART, RETURN
By Dr. Joanne Mosley
Joel 2:12-18; Psalms 51(50):3-6, 12-13; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6,16-18
Ash Wednesday
5th March 2025
As we enter into Lent, a path of 40 days, full of rich potential, Ash Wednesday gives us a cry from God that is of real beauty. The watchword of our journeying in Lent is there, right at the opening of the first reading, where God cries out to us, “Return to me with all your heart”. The overriding cry of the Lord is that he wants us to return to him.
Returning denotes repentance and conversion. In Judaism, it is known as Teshuva. Stress is laid on the importance of our free will, in that we can turn back to the Lord if we desire. Edith Stein, a Carmelite saint of Jewish heritage, emphasizes the heart when she invites us to make a choice for God. She writes, The Saviour. God has spilled his heart’s blood to win your heart.
SELF-KNOWLEDGE ANIMATED BY CHARITY
By Br. Chidi JohnBosco, OCD
Sirach 27:4-7; Ps 92(91): 2-3,13-16; 1 Corinthians 15:54-58; Luke 6:39-45
8th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year C
2nd March 2025
This Sunday’s readings present us with some actions and their precise consequences. They teach that certain actions have predictable and definite outcomes.
The first reading says, that when a sieve is shaken, the rubbish is left behind; when a man talks, the intentions of his heart are made known; and when the orchard where a tree grows is good, it will become evident from the fruit it produced. In the second reading, St Paul says that when this perishable nature has put on imperishability, and when this mortal nature has put on immortality, the words of scripture will come true: Death is swallowed in victory; death is defeated and has no power over us.