Mass Reading: Sunday - 17th August 2025

First reading
Jeremiah 38:4-6,8-10'

Do not let the prophet die'


    The king’s leading men spoke to the king. ‘Let Jeremiah be put to death: he is unquestionably disheartening the remaining soldiers in the city, and all the people too, by talking like this. The fellow does not have the welfare of this people at heart so much as its ruin.’ ‘He is in your hands as you know,’ King Zedekiah answered ‘for the king is powerless against you.’ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the well of Prince Malchiah in the Court of the Guard, letting him down with ropes. There was no water in the well, only mud, and into the mud Jeremiah sank.

    Ebed-melech came out from the palace and spoke to the king. ‘My lord king,’ he said ‘these men have done a wicked thing by treating the prophet Jeremiah like this: they have thrown him into the well, where he will die.’ At this the king gave Ebed-melech the Cushite the following order: ‘Take three men with you from here and pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the well before he dies.’


The word of the Lord.


________




Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 39(40):2-4,18


Lord, come to my aid!

I waited, I waited for the Lord
and he stooped down to me;
he heard my cry.

Lord, come to my aid!

He drew me from the deadly pit,
from the miry clay.
He set my feet upon a rock
and made my footsteps firm.

Lord, come to my aid!

He put a new song into my mouth,
praise of our God.
Many shall see and fear
and shall trust in the Lord.

Lord, come to my aid!

As for me, wretched and poor,
the Lord thinks of me.
You are my rescuer, my help,
O God, do not delay.

Lord, come to my aid!



________




Second reading
Hebrews 12:1-4
We should keep running steadily in the race we have started


    With so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race we have started. Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right of God’s throne. Think of the way he stood such opposition from sinners and then you will not give up for want of courage. In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death.


The word of the Lord.



________




Gospel Acclamation
cf.Ac16:14


Alleluia, alleluia!

Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.

Alleluia!


Or:
Jn10:27


Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!



________




Gospel
Luke 12:49-53
How I wish it were blazing already!


    Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!

    ‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’


The Gospel of the Lord.

Mass Reflection: Sunday - 17th August 2025

 

JER 38:4-6, 8-10; PS 40:2-4,18; HEB 12:1-4; LK 12:49-53

Today’s readings set a high bar for us Christian stewards, reminding us that a stewardship way of life is meant to be a challenging way of life.

The bar is set immediately, beginning in the first verse of our Old Testament reading from Jeremiah: The king is told, “Jeremiah ought to be put to death” for “demoralizing” the people. What had Jeremiah been doing to merit such a punishment? He was speaking out against corruption and the unjust treatment of the poor. For speaking God’s truth to those around him, Jeremiah gets thrown into a cistern where he is left to die. Later in the passage, we learn that the king relents and sends someone to rescue Jeremiah from the cistern. Even so, some thanks he gets for preaching God’s word!

In the second reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, we are told to live as Christ lived. And how did Christ live? “For the sake of the joy that lay before Him He endured the cross.” If we are tempted to complain about the sufferings we must endure in living as Christ’s disciples, we are told, “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.” In other words, “If you’re not bleeding, what are you complaining about?” That is quite a high bar!

The Gospel reading from Luke continues this challenging theme. Our Lord tells His disciples “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing.” A couple of verses later Jesus adds, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

Jesus’s life on this earth and the message He brought were not meant to simply make us feel good. In fact, His words can make us downright uncomfortable at times. That’s because His Good News (and it is indeed good news!) is meant to change us, to make saints of us.

Another verse in our second reading encourages us to embrace this challenging way of life. “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [our big brothers and sisters, the saints] let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.”

The stewardship way of life helps us to stay in good racing shape. By putting God first in all areas of our lives, we rid ourselves of the burden and sinfulness of over-attachment to ourselves and our things. We get lean and fit and strong for the long race to Heaven. We begin to look and act more like Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.

The stewardship way of life sets a high bar indeed. But deeply embraced, this way of life focused on God and others will make us the saints we are called to be.

Mass Reading: Sunday - 18th August 2024

First reading
Proverbs 9:1-6
Wisdom builds her house and invites all to eat her bread there

Wisdom has built herself a house,
    she has erected her seven pillars,
she has slaughtered her beasts, prepared her wine,
    she has laid her table.
She has despatched her maidservants
    and proclaimed from the city’s heights:
‘Who is ignorant? Let him step this way.’
    To the fool she says,
‘Come and eat my bread,
    drink the wine I have prepared!
Leave your folly and you will live,
    walk in the ways of perception.’

The word of the Lord.

________

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 33(34):2-3,10-15

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

I will bless the Lord at all times,
    his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
    The humble shall hear and be glad.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Revere the Lord, you his saints.
    They lack nothing, those who revere him.
Strong lions suffer want and go hungry
    but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Come, children, and hear me
    that I may teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who is he who longs for life
    and many days, to enjoy his prosperity?

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Then keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn aside from evil and do good;
    seek and strive after peace.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

________

Second reading
Ephesians 5:15-20
Be filled not with wine, but with the Spirit

    Be very careful about the sort of lives you lead, like intelligent and not like senseless people. This may be a wicked age, but you redeem it. And do not be thoughtless but recognise what is the will of the Lord. Do not drug yourselves with wine, this is simply dissipation; be filled with the Spirit. Sing the words and tunes of the psalms and hymns when you are together, and go on singing and chanting to the Lord in your hearts, so that always and everywhere you are giving thanks to God who is our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The word of the Lord.

________

Gospel Acclamation
Jn1:14,12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Word was made flesh and lived among us:
to all who did accept him 
he gave power to become children of God.

Alleluia!

Or:
Jn6:56

Alleluia, alleluia!

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me, and I live in him,
says the Lord.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel
John 6:51-58
My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink

Jesus said to the crowd:

‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;
and the bread that I shall give is my flesh,
for the life of the world.’

Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:

‘I tell you most solemnly,
if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him.
As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’

The Gospel of the Lord.

Mass Reflection: Sunday - 18th August 2024

 

Prov 9:1-619; Ps 34; Eph 5:15-20; Jn 6:51-58

Jesus said to the crowd, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” Their response? Shock and indignation. We can hardly blame them for this reaction — eating the Flesh and drinking the Blood of our Lord should cause us a bit of a shock. Yet, how easy it is for us modern-day Catholics to show up at Mass Sunday after Sunday, receiving the Eucharist as simply part of a weekly routine.

If we really spent time praying and contemplating the gift our Lord is offering us in this sacrament, we would be awestruck at the love and power in this gift. Through it, our Lord is giving us the very best He has to give — Himself. In his gift of the Eucharist, He has held back nothing, giving us literally everything he has to give, His very Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Not even the greatest theological scholar or the holiest of saints can fully understand this mystery.

Thankfully, the first reading comes as a wonderful consolation to us “ordinary folks.” It says, “Let whoever is simple turn in here; to the one who lacks understanding… come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding.”

St. Paul delivers a similar message in our second reading, instructing, “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity because the days are evil.” So, we don’t need to be saints or scholars in order to receive this sublime gift. But we should do our best to receive the Eucharist with gratitude. And we can look to today’s readings to glean two fundamental principles to become better Christian stewards.

First, the Eucharist is the foundation for a stewardship way of life. Through His gift of the Eucharist, God fills us with His love and strength. This love and strength empower us to live as generous stewards — to be faithful to the ministries in which we serve, to step beyond our comfort zone in material giving, and to offer our very best to our families and secular work.

Second, the Eucharist is our ultimate inspiration for a stewardship way of life. When we really think about what we receive in this gift — God Himself — we will want to make a joyful return to Him by the way we live our lives! The more that we deepen our understanding of this sacrament through study of the Church’s teachings on the Eucharist, the more we will want to live our lives as grateful, generous and joy-filled stewards.

As the book of Proverbs and the great St. Paul remind us, let us not live foolishly, but make the most of our time — during Mass and adoration — by giving the Lord all our attention and devotion in these moments. Let us form ourselves by studying what the Catechism and spiritual writers must teach us about the Eucharist. Then, coming to Mass each week will be anything but routine.

And in return for this unfathomable gift of our Lord Himself, let us live intentionally and passionately as His disciples every day of our lives.

Mass Reading: Sunday - 20th August 2023

First reading
Isaiah 56:1,6-7
I will bring foreigners to my holy mountain

    Thus says the Lord: Have a care for justice, act with integrity, for soon my salvation will come and my integrity be manifest.

    Foreigners who have attached themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love his name and be his servants – all who observe the sabbath, not profaning it, and cling to my covenant – these I will bring to my holy mountain. I will make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their holocausts and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.

The word of the Lord.

________

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 66(67):2-3,5-6,8

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

O God, be gracious and bless us
    and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth
    and all nations learn your saving help.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and exult
    for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples,
    you guide the nations on earth.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;
    let all the peoples praise you.
May God still give us his blessing
    till the ends of the earth revere him.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

________

Second reading
Romans 11:13-15,29-32
With Israel, God never takes back his gifts or revokes his choice

    Let me tell you pagans this: I have been sent to the pagans as their apostle, and I am proud of being sent, but the purpose of it is to make my own people envious of you, and in this way save some of them. Since their rejection meant the reconciliation of the world, do you know what their admission will mean? Nothing less than a resurrection from the dead! God never takes back his gifts or revokes his choice.

    Just as you changed from being disobedient to God, and now enjoy mercy because of their disobedience, so those who are disobedient now – and only because of the mercy shown to you – will also enjoy mercy eventually. God has imprisoned all men in their own disobedience only to show mercy to all mankind.

The word of the Lord.

________

Gospel Acclamation
Jn10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice, 
says the Lord, 
I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

Or:
cf.Mt4:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds of sickness among the people.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel
Matthew 15:21-28
The Canaanite woman debates with Jesus and saves her daughter

Jesus left Gennesaret and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Then out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, ‘Sir, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.’ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him. ‘Give her what she wants,’ they said ‘because she is shouting after us.’ He said in reply, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.’ But the woman had come up and was kneeling at his feet. ‘Lord,’ she said ‘help me.’ He replied, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’ She retorted, ‘Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.’ And from that moment her daughter was well again.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Mass Reflection: Sunday - 20th August 2023

 IS 56:1, 6-7; PS 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; ROM 11:13-15, 29-32; MT 15:21-28

Our readings today remind us that God is ever-faithful, even when we are not. They challenge us as Christian stewards to show our love for this faithful God through actions, and to lean in to our trust in Him even when it seems He is not answering our prayers.
 
The First Reading, from Isaiah, teaches that all of humanity is invited to become the Lord’s disciples. But we have to actually take Him up on the invitation by the way we live our lives. “Observe what is right, do what is just… All who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain… for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Our parish is not a country club. It is meant for all and must be a welcome place for all — where we roll up our sleeves together to serve and worship our God.
 
God knows we will not always get this right. We will choose selfishness and stay in our comfort zones at times, rather than embracing the daily call to discipleship. But God will never withhold His love and His gifts from us. 
 
Our Second Reading, from the letter to the Romans, shows us, “For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.” God is patient and merciful with us when we falter in the stewardship way of life. He brings good from even our failures as long as we continue to attempt the challenging path of discipleship. The reading closes with this reminder: “For God delivered all to disobedience that he might have mercy upon all.” 
 
And because God is indeed faithful and merciful, He wants to lead us to the joy of heaven to spend eternity with Him. For that, we must be strong in faith and live our lives as an act of love and gratitude to Him. In other words, we must allow Him to transform us into saints. This is what the stewardship way of life is meant to do. Sometimes, that will feel painful to us. Often, it will be challenging. 
 
Jesus certainly challenged the Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel passage from Matthew. She called out to Him on behalf of her daughter, who was being tormented by a demon.

What did Jesus do in reply to this mother’s desperate plea? Nothing. He “did not say a word in answer to her.” But she was undeterred and continued to call out to Him — so much so that the disciples asked Him to send her away. Jesus does not send her away, but He does not give her what she asks for immediately either. 
 
Instead, He continues to challenge the woman’s faith. And she rises to the challenge to such an impressive degree that Jesus exclaims, “O woman [a term of deep respect in that day], great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” Imagine hearing those words proclaimed over us by God. Truly, there could be no higher honor than hearing our Lord say that to us. 
 
So we must accept the difficulties that come with the stewardship way of life. Some days will be a true challenge to our trust in God. But those are the days when God is making saints of us. Let’s embrace the hard days. The deep joy that eventually comes, the eternal reward He promises, will be so worth it. And He wants us — all of us— to have it.

Mass Reflection: Sunday - 14th August 2022

JER 38:4-6, 8-10; PS 40:2-4,18; HEB 12:1-4; LK 12:49-53

Today’s readings set a high bar for us Christian stewards, reminding us that a stewardship way of life is meant be a challenging way of life. 

 
The bar is set immediately, beginning in the first verse of our Old Testament reading from Jeremiah:  The king is told, “Jeremiah ought to be put to death” for “demoralizing” the people. What had Jeremiah been doing to merit such a punishment? He was speaking out against corruption and unjust treatment of the poor. For speaking God’s truth to those around him, Jeremiah gets thrown into a cistern where he is left to die. Later in the passage we learn that the king relents and sends someone to rescue Jeremiah from the cistern. Even so, some thanks he gets for preaching God’s word!

In the second reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, we are told to live as Christ lived. And how did Christ live?  “For the sake of the joy that lay before Him He endured the cross.” If we are tempted to complain about the sufferings we must endure in living as Christ’s disciples, we are told, “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.”  In other words, “If you’re not bleeding, what are you complaining about?” That is quite a high bar! 

The Gospel reading from Luke continues this challenging theme. Our Lord tells His disciples “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing.” A couple of verses later Jesus adds, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

Jesus’s life on this earth and the message He brought were not meant to simply make us feel good. In fact, His words can make us downright uncomfortable at times. That’s because His Good News (and it is indeed good news!) Is meant to change us, to make saints of us. 

Another verse in our second reading encourages us to embrace this challenging way of life. “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [our big brothers and sisters, the saints] let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.”

The stewardship way of life helps us to stay in good racing shape. By putting God first in all areas of our lives, we rid ourselves of the burden and sinfulness of over-attachment to ourselves and our things. We get lean and fit and strong for the long race to Heaven. We begin to look and act more like Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. 

The stewardship way of life sets a high bar indeed. But deeply embraced, this way of life focused on God and others will make us the saints we are called to be.

Mass Reading: Sunday - 14th August 2022

First reading
Jeremiah 38:4-6,8-10
'Do not let the prophet die'

    The king’s leading men spoke to the king. ‘Let Jeremiah be put to death: he is unquestionably disheartening the remaining soldiers in the city, and all the people too, by talking like this. The fellow does not have the welfare of this people at heart so much as its ruin.’ ‘He is in your hands as you know,’ King Zedekiah answered ‘for the king is powerless against you.’ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the well of Prince Malchiah in the Court of the Guard, letting him down with ropes. There was no water in the well, only mud, and into the mud Jeremiah sank.

    Ebed-melech came out from the palace and spoke to the king. ‘My lord king,’ he said ‘these men have done a wicked thing by treating the prophet Jeremiah like this: they have thrown him into the well, where he will die.’ At this the king gave Ebed-melech the Cushite the following order: ‘Take three men with you from here and pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the well before he dies.’

The word of the Lord.

________

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 39(40):2-4,18

Lord, come to my aid!

I waited, I waited for the Lord
    and he stooped down to me;
    he heard my cry.

Lord, come to my aid!

He drew me from the deadly pit,
    from the miry clay.
He set my feet upon a rock
    and made my footsteps firm.

Lord, come to my aid!

He put a new song into my mouth,
    praise of our God.
Many shall see and fear
    and shall trust in the Lord.

Lord, come to my aid!

As for me, wretched and poor,
    the Lord thinks of me.
You are my rescuer, my help,
    O God, do not delay.

Lord, come to my aid!

________

Second reading
Hebrews 12:1-4
We should keep running steadily in the race we have started

With so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race we have started. Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right of God’s throne. Think of the way he stood such opposition from sinners and then you will not give up for want of courage. In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death.

The word of the Lord.

________

Gospel Acclamation
cf.Ac16:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.

Alleluia!

Or:
Jn10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice, 
says the Lord, 
I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel
Luke 12:49-53
How I wish it were blazing already!

    Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!

    ‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

The Gospel of the Lord.