We process. Glass exhibition cases, old reliquaries. A forearm here; here a nun’s fingertip. In chapel, at a glance, there are the usual faces. But they all stand to attention. [ … ]
Reflections On A Visit To Lourdes | Extracted From The Gospel According To Tomàs
We were at Lourdes before we crossed the Pyrenees. This lies back in the days when I wanted a clean faith, a vertical faith, where I could just be me, and nothing to do with home. Later, I have come to know, and quite to like, that modern Catholicism’s splashed all over the blessed place, a more womany religion, and perhaps that is its secret heart. Fundamentally vulgar, squalid, domestic, this, necessarily, was an attempt to share. All manner of things. All manner of stuff and business. Normally, the rule is, Mum and I talk through the dog: Samson’s very happy to see you. Samson was missing you. Oh look, Samson’s giving you his paw. That’s how we share most directly. That’s how we confer such mutual feeling and human emotion. I had wanted to share a lot, but we never did – not directly. Now this delicate matter of Catholic faith [ … ]
Hail Mary, Full Of Grace | Extracted From The Gospel According To Tomàs | The Virginity Of Mary And The Birth Of Christ
Sometimes, when I read my Bible, I pause in the reading and say to myself: ‘This bit’s real.’ It would be fair to say, I have issues with Mary, because, [ … ]
The National Sculpture Museum | Valladolid | Extracted From The Gospel According To Tomàs
The Carrefour will be open, where I can buy nuts for the red squirrel, who lives in Campo Grande. The red squirrel is Valladolid’s best bit. Even as a child, [ … ]
The Birth Of Jesus | Jesus Is God | Jesus Is Love | Prayer To Jesus
Our Advent prayers recall Jesus and Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, the story of the Nativity as handed down to us especially through the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. It is such a wonderful, intimate story, of Mary and Joseph, two people whose lives would have been otherwise utterly obscure, lived out in a remote province of the Roman Empire, far from the centre of things, to whom something extraordinary is happening [ … ]
KJV Psalms | Psalm 22/21 | King James Bible | My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me | Crucifixion
Jesus references this psalm when he is on the Cross. ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.’ It is possible to read this utterance of the psalm as [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | Ritual Cleansing | The Tradition of the Elders | What Defiles a Man
The purification rituals of the Jews were originally laid down, in Exodus, for the priests to perform before they offered sacrifices to God. These rules were then later extended to all Jews, to be performed before every meal. This was as there developed a greater and greater call for all Jews to be a priestly people, particularly in the light of national set-backs, which were ascribed to infidelities to God [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | Woe Unto You, Scribes And Pharisees, Hypocrites | Ye Are The Children Of Them Which Killed The Prophets
Jesus’ critique of the scribes and the Pharisees continues in today’s Gospel verses. The accusation is constant: they are hypocrites. The imagery in part remains constant: these hypocrites put on outward shows of purity, and yet their hearts are corrupt and their behaviour is corrupt. This imagery now develops. Woe unto you! For you are as painted tombs, all white and purportedly pure and true on the outside, while within the dead flesh rots […]
Saint Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas’ philosophy was grounded in Aristotelianism, but he was also heavily influenced by the works of Augustine. He sought to reconcile the insights of reason with the truths of revelation, arguing that faith and reason are complementary rather than contradictory [ … ]
Daily Bible For Advent | Second Sunday of Advent | The Baptism of John
Mark’s Gospel, thought by many to be the earliest written, does not present an account of the birth of Christ. He begins with the proclamation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, leading into his baptism by John. Toward the end of the Gospel, when the crucified Christ dies, the centurion standing by him will affirm this, saying: ‘Truly this was the Son of God.’ Throughout this most fast paced of gospels, this is Mark’s message, to give his readers the knowledge that Christ is the Son of God [ … ]
Parable Of The Good Shepherd | Daily Bible Verses Easter Season To Pentecost | Parables Of Jesus
Christ offers himself to the people as the good shepherd, recalling a favourite theme of Old Testament prophecy. Priests and kings are so described, and indeed God is spoken of as a shepherd, as we hear, for example, in Psalm 23:
THE Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters [ … ]
Parable Of The Pharisee And The Tax Collector | Parables Of Jesus
This is among the most perfect of the parables to listen to during Lent – indeed, it has resonances that must extent to each and every time we receive the Eucharist. We are simply not worthy. And God’s mercy extends to us nonetheless. The prayer of the Pharisee is false. It is not true prayer. We see him, standing there in the presence of God and congratulating himself, as if he does not need God for his redemption, as if he can redeem himself [ … ]
Parable of the Vine and the Branches | Parables Of Jesus
In the Old Testament, the chosen people of Israel have been compared to a vine. We may think, for example, of Isaiah’s Song of the Vineyard (Isaiah 5:1-7 – Audio Bible Verses Spoken Word), in which God complains that, despite the care he has lavished upon it, his vineyard has only produced wild grapes [ … ]
Parable Of Lazarus And The Rich Man | Parables Of Jesus
Jesus speaks in parables when he has something important to communicate. The meaning of a parable may seem obscure or in need of explanation. Jesus does give interpretations of the parables to his disciples. We are encouraged through the parables to see our world in new and perhaps unexpected ways. The parables encourage us to think more deeply about Jesus’ teaching. They are, above all, a challenge – even an anarchic challenge – to everything we think we know [ … ]
Parable Of The Good Shepherd 1 | Parables Of Jesus
Christ offers himself to the people as the good shepherd, recalling a favourite theme of Old Testament prophecy. Priests and kings are so described, and indeed God is spoken of as a shepherd, as we hear, for example, in Psalm 23: THE Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want [ … ]