The Gospel According to Tomàs

Saint Polycarp continues his reflection on the Christian life and the duties of the Church’s ministers. His words are both pastoral and deeply practical. He insists that presbyters — that is, priests or elders — must mirror the compassion and mercy of Christ himself. They are to care for the sick, the poor, widows, and orphans, the most vulnerable members of the community. Polycarp’s vision of ministry is not one of authority alone but of service, modelled on the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep [ … ]

The message of this Sunday’s Gospel is so clear and so perfect. John has come to prepare the way of the Lord. He is not the Lord; he is come to prepare his way, the way of Christ. The opening of John’s Gospel may be heard this week as a beautiful restatement from a new point of view of the message of the coming of the Lord and the beginning of Christ’s ministry [ … ]

Saint Aelred was a 12th-century Cistercian abbot who lived within a spiritual tradition that emphasised both community life and the inner journey to God. His reflections on friendship are deeply shaped by Cistercian ideals of caritas—a love that is disinterested, holy and rooted in the life of Christ. Unlike worldly friendships based on advantage or pleasure, spiritual friendship seeks what is good for the other in God. It is a school of charity, a training ground for grace [ … ]