One of the best-selling books lately is the “…for Dummies” series. This series is so popular because it has something for everybody.

At this time of year shop-keepers encourage us to celebrate "Christmas in July". Their motive is purely commercial: Get people to buy presents for each other, to have parties…..do things that will boost the economy. In actual fact, though, there's no reason why we shouldn't reflect on the message of Christmas in July, or at any other time of the year.

Friends, this little story of Martha and Mary which is our gospel for this weekend has a way of getting into our minds.

Pleading ignorance seems to be an ancient device.

The Lord of the harvest continually sends each of us into His plentiful harvest to be agents of peace, healing and liberation.

The opening verse sets the tone for this Sunday’s gospel reading “…he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”

In the Scriptures vineyards are often mentioned. A vineyard is, of course, a type of garden.

Imagine the disciples of Jesus being asked the question, “Who do you say I am?” For the disciples, they thought that this might be a test.

Today’s gospel invites us to surrender ourselves at the feet of Jesus in an act of humility and repentance and to open ourselves to be immensely loved by God.

Both Elijah and Jesus are moved with compassion in the face of suffering and death.

In almost all cultures, we show our hospitality by offering people food. For many of us, we see food as a way to connect, we see food as a way to forge relationships.

Whenever we pray, we start and end our prayers with our acknowledgement of the Trinity.

A few months before my father died, he wrote a letter addressed to my mum and all the siblings. We did not know it until the funeral day. It was a short letter written with so much love and affection for the family especially his grandchildren.

Dad loved to write in cursive style and I’ve always loved to watch him take special care in writing as well as the content of what he writes. He could write on anything from old cardboards to used A4 papers, and would still looked stunning.

“The meaning of Christ’s Ascension,” writes Pope Benedict XVI, “expresses our belief that in Christ the humanity that we all share has entered into the inner life of God in a new and hitherto unheard of way. It means that we have found an everlasting place in God.” It would be a mistake to interpret the Ascension as “the temporary absence of Christ from the world.” Rather, “we go to heaven to the extent that we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him.” Heaven is a person: “Jesus himself is what we call heaven.”

“Peace be with you!” These words, spoken by Jesus not long before His life on earth would seemingly come to an end, are recorded in the Gospel of John (14:23-29). With Jesus’ death, the relatively peaceful lives of those who heard those words, His closest followers, were thrown into turmoil. Rightfully, they must have wondered what Jesus could have meant by “peace” when they experienced the opposite.