17 November 2020

Homilies

Homily for the 8 o’clock Mass, Sunday 33A, 15 November 2020, Matthew 25:14-30

17 November 2020

Homilies

A talent in the ancient world was a huge sum of money. I suppose in our terms it would be worth millions, maybe even billions of pounds. And that’s appropriate for the parable, because in the Christian life the Lord endows all of us with…

Pluscarden Abbey

9 November 2020

Homilies

Homily for 8 November 2020, Sunday 32A, Matthew 25:1-13

Pluscarden Abbey

9 November 2020

Homilies

During a community retreat, it’s nice to be told how wonderful we are, how edifying and inspiring our life is, how much God loves us, and how heavenly joy lies just around the corner for us all. Sr. Anna Christi has done that for us, bless her, and much …

Pluscarden Abbey

4 August 2020

Homilies

Brief Homily for the 8 o’clock Mass, 2 August 2020, Sunday 18A, Matthew 14:13-21

Pluscarden Abbey

4 August 2020

Homilies

During the First World War, the Government of the Ottoman Empire decided that it was necessary for the Armenian nation to be wiped out. So they initiated a genocide. One of the ways this was carried out was by driving people - men, women and…

Pluscarden Abbey

29 June 2020

Homilies

Homily for the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, 28 June 2020: Matthew 16:13-19

Pluscarden Abbey

29 June 2020

Homilies

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, according to St. Matthew, Jesus speaks of a wise man who built his house on rock. Rain came, floods rose, gales blew, and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall (7:25). Now today we hear him speaking of…

Pluscarden Abbey

22 June 2020

Homilies

Homily for the Sacred Heart Year “A”, 19 June 2020: 1 Jn 4:7-16; Mt 11:25-30

Pluscarden Abbey

22 June 2020

Homilies

I once saw a little wooden cross - maybe it was in our shop here, I don’t recall - the sort people wear unostentatiously around their neck, or perhaps on a lapel. This one was quite plain, except for the figure of a heart outlined, very simply, at its centre. I thought that a fine expression of the great truth…

Pluscarden Abbey

7 April 2020

Homilies

Homily for Palm Sunday, 5 April 2020: Matthew 26:14 - 27:66 etc.

Pluscarden Abbey

7 April 2020

Homilies

Throughout the country, and even throughout the world, the Churches today are empty. Here at Pluscarden we are blessed to be able still to celebrate Mass, but we do so with no lay congregation whatever. Because of this, and in accordance with instructions from…

Pluscarden Abbey

25 February 2020

Homilies

Homily for the 8 o’clock Mass, Sunday 6A, 16 February 2020, Matthew 5:17-37

Pluscarden Abbey

25 February 2020

Homilies

We are in the Sermon on the Mount, according to St. Matthew. The lectionary gives us a series of extracts from that to be read over these Sundays before the beginning of lent. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus offers a description of those who belong to his Kingdom: their attitudes, their…

Pluscarden Abbey

11 February 2020

Homilies

Homily for Sunday 5A, 9 February 2020, Matthew 5:13-16

Pluscarden Abbey

11 February 2020

Homilies

There are two actors, or participants, in the Sermon on the Mount: Jesus and his disciples; “I” and “you”. The emphasis seems to be very much on the “you”. The word “you” occurs, by my calculation, 179 times in the Sermon on the Mount…