Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter, Year A, 7th May 2023

Acts 6:1-7 1 Peter 2:4-9 John 14:1-12

I spent a good part of the past two years at Prinknash Abbey near Gloucester in England. They are a small community now, living in a quirky old building with a very interesting architecture and a very complicated history. In it there is a hall, which also serves as a chapter room and forms part of the library. On one of the bookshelves, in a prominent place, someone put a large-format picture book, cover up. The cover is shiny but very dark. It's a painting of a nun in a black habit with a black veil on her head. Only two things shine out brightly: the nun's face and the word “trust” written in large letters directly beneath it.

Homily for the 8 o’clock Mass, Sunday 7 May 2023, Easter 5A, John 14:1-12

Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? (14:9)

Philip has been living in constant companionship with Jesus now for three years. Philip knows that Jesus is deeply, consistently good; that he walks with God in holiness of life; that he possesses power, and wisdom, and authority, such as no other man has ever done. Philip has listened to Jesus teaching, both publicly and privately. He has witnessed his miracles, seen him at prayer, observed his clashes with the Jewish religious leaders. Based on all that, Philip has no doubt whatever that Jesus is from God. With Peter and the other disciples, Philip has concluded that Jesus fulfils in himself all the prophecies of Israel: that he is indeed the promised Messiah. But still, Philip does not yet know Jesus.

Homily for Easter Sunday 4A, 30 April 2023: John 10:1-10

Many times in the Old Testament God’s people are spoken of as sheep, led by a shepherd. The image would be a very natural one in the Ancient Near East, where wandering flocks led by a shepherd were everywhere a familiar sight. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all shepherds. Moses and Joshua are portrayed as shepherds guiding Israel to freedom, and to the promised land (cf. Nb 27:17). David was taken from shepherding sheep to become the Kingly shepherd of Israel (cf. 2 Sm 5:2). We find this same image several times in the Psalms, and in the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah.

Homily for the 8 o’clock Mass, Easter Day, 9 April 2023: John 20:1-9

She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb.

In today’s Gospel Jesus doesn’t appear at all. In the half light of very early dawn St. Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb, and sees that it’s empty: but she entirely fails to understand what that means. We rightly call her the Apostle of the Apostles: but in the first place she runs off to convey to the disciples a message of non-faith.

Homily for the 8 o’clock Mass, 12 March 2023, Sunday Lent 3A John 4:5-42 - The Samaritan Woman at the Well

From ancient times the 3rd, 4th and 5th Sundays of lent were designated as special for catechumens. There were public ceremonies on these days for all the candidates for Baptism: exorcisms, anointings, and special instructions, marking stages on their path towards becoming fully members of Christ, and members of His Church, at Easter. The Gospels for these Sundays were always the same: the Samaritan woman at the well, the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus, according to St. John.