As we have moved into the second Sunday of Advent, we are invited to spend some time examining ourselves and preparing our hearts for the upcoming celebrations of our Saviour’s birth.

“Religious extremism is on the rise!”, “Massive earthquake in Indonesia!”, “Severe droughts in Australia!”, “Russia is on a warpath with Ukraine!”, whenever we hear these headlines, it brings chills down our spines, and with it we could be forgiven for thinking that the end of the world as we know it is coming.

Back in the 1950s, when I was still in the Seminary, the Feast of Christ the King was celebrated in Grand Fashion.

The end of the world!!! Various people have anticipated it, various people have tried to predict when it will happen and so far we’re still around to tell the story.

She has put in everything… all she had to live on.She has put in everything… all she had to live on.

The Great Commandment:"One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?"

This Sunday’s Gospel text always stirs up for me an imaginary charming “family” scene.  Bartimaeus (one of the few people cured by Jesus whose name we know) is having dinner with some of the other disciples of Jesus (we know that after his sight was restored he followed Jesus).

Muhammad Ali once used to say whenever he knocks down an opponent, “I am the greatest! I am the greatest!”

Who can be saved? We have a rich young person today coming to Jesus to ask what he must do to ‘inherit eternal life.’ as it turns out, he has been a faithful observer of the Law and was a good person.

Marriage is a sacrament, a work of God, and a work of a man and a woman. It gives a couple the grace to live out in their lives the forgiving, understanding, committed, redeeming and transforming love God has for all of us.

Today’s gospel text invites us to follow Jesus by practicing three important virtues: tolerance, hospitality, and not giving scandal.

According to many Scripture Scholars ninety per cent of what Jesus taught was also taught by other Jewish rabbis.  But there are definitely some teachings that are unique to Jesus ...

If I ask anybody here if they love to experience pain, particularly physical pain, well I'd think you’re a masochist if you would ever say yes.

The Gospel this Sunday has a beautiful healing story. Jesus heals a person who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. In the Gospel, we are told that, unlike some of the miracles of Jesus, we see a ritual being performed here.

There was an old woman who was very conscious about observing the “one-hour fast” before receiving communion. She went to Mass one Sunday noting the time she finished breakfast, which was shortly before she left the house.