Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The gospel is extraordinary. The good news is Jesus Christ. In spite of man’s inability to govern himself wisely, in spite of the terror of war and famine, God continues to offer us His hand of friendship in the guise of His Beloved Son.

If raising Lazarus from the dead is extraordinary, then so is Jesus’ presence among us: in baptism, the church in general, in our Eucharist and in our tabernacle.

He invites us to be with Him in the liturgies and para-liturgies of the Church. Make the most of Holy Week, make the most of Easter – come out to meet Him, who is Christ the Lord.

Maybe you will come to believe in Him not through hearsay, but for your very self.

Keep travelling.

Fr. Richard

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

METANOIA is the Greek word for conversion, or change of heart. It is usually used of that conversion or change of heart necessary to want to be affected by the good news of the gospel.

Not everybody sees the need for change in themselves, but most of us see the need for change in others. That’s the trouble with the gospel. Jesus expects us to change. He does expect us to change others. We can change the world for the better if we at least are converted and live.

Where like-minded people want to live the gospel values together (freely), how powerful the Holy Spirit can be at work helping us to serve one another and build up community. The Jews in the gospel of the blind man were not interested in seeking the truth but rather with proving themselves right; hence the term “self-righteous”.

Those who would continue on the path of conversion must seek the truth – not to prove themselves right.

TURN AWAY FROM SIN AND TURN TO THE GOSPEL.

Have a good week.

Fr. Richard

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

St. John’s Gospel lets us see a dimension of Jesus’ personality that doesn’t seem to come across in the other three gospels. Today’s gospel of Jesus in dialogue with the woman of Samaria at Jacob’s well is an example. Jesus is enjoying the banter between himself and the woman; and she is relaxed enough to enter the spirit of the dialogue.

Surely it is encouraging to know that in our dialogue with Jesus, in the events of our life, in the sacraments, in the scriptures and prayer we too can be ourselves, be relaxed and enjoy God’s presence in our lives.

Begin the adventure again: Ask…
Seek…
Knock
ASK.

Fr. Richard

Dear Brothers and Sisters

It is good to have a time of year where we can enter a kind of desert. That is the Church’s gift to us in this season of Lent. It is a season of taking stock of our lives, a time of re-ordering and even perhaps re-direction.

Perhaps we will hear the gospel with fresh ears, because of the events of the past year in our own lives. Be sure of this though: God is calling us out of darkness into His own marvellous light, out of death to life.

May God be with you all on your journey through LENT this year.

Fr. Richard Moroney