The Chapel of Richartz House (46)
2025 (46)
The readings today are about the seed God places in each heart, and the harvest He hopes to see—not a harvest measured only in numbers, but in love, in justice, in lives quietly given for the good of others.
Our first reading from the First Letter to the Thessalonians shows …
The readings today are about the courage to live the truth, the holiness that flows from God’s own life, and the cost and glory of a life spent entirely in His service. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Word set before us does not flatter or soften; it speaks of paths …
Dear brothers,
What does it mean to truly be awake in a world that often encourages us to sleepwalk through life? Not all wakefulness is fear or worry. Sometimes we stay awake because we care. Like leaving a light on at night, just in case someone comes home. A small sign …
Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Monica — a mother who loved deeply, prayed constantly, and waited patiently. She didn’t preach in public, but her life was a sermon of quiet, persistent faith. Her love for her son Augustine wasn’t loud or dramatic — it was steady and …
Today’s readings lead us to the heart — the truth God sees beneath our words and works. In Catholic teaching the heart is not just where we feel; it is the centre of the person, the place of decision and encounter with God, the inner room where we stand before him without …
Dear Brothers,
The readings today remind us that the Gospel is not just something we speak—it’s something we live. Truth shines most clearly in lives that are honest, open, and changed by grace.
In the first reading, Paul writes to the Christians in Thessalonica. They were …
The readings today speak of something we often find hard to hold together: God’s wide welcome, and the narrow road He asks us to walk. The gates of the kingdom are thrown open, but the way is still steep. And yet this is our path—whether we are priests or students, elders or …
Dear Brothers,
God often works through small, quiet things — small acts of love, small choices to be kind, small steps taken in faith. Today’s readings show us again and again that these small things, when done with love, can shape the world. From Ruth gathering leftover …
Dear Brothers,
The readings this morning are about love that moves, love that costs, and love that crowns.
In the reading from the Book of Ruth, we meet a young widow standing at a crossroads of life. Her homeland is behind her, her security gone, and her future uncertain. …
Dear brothers in Christ,
Some choices bring life. Others take it away. Some words open the heart. Others close it.
In the first reading, we meet Jephthah. He is about to go into battle. He is afraid. So he makes a vow to God: “If You give me victory, I will offer in …
Dear friends in Christ,
Have you ever watched someone climb over others just to get ahead—at work, in politics, even in the Church? There’s something painful about seeing people treat power like a prize, not a responsibility. Today’s readings help us confront that temptation …
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
When the angel greets Gideon in the Book of Judges, he says: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” But Gideon doesn’t feel mighty. He’s hiding from his enemies, threshing wheat in secret. His people are suffering. His heart is full of …
Dear brothers in Christ,
It is one of the deep mysteries of the human heart: how easily we forget. Not when we are desperate, but when we feel secure. Not when we are hungry, but when we are full. It is in those moments — when the land is calm, when our routines return — …
[Homily for the Assumption for the Blessed Virgin Mary]
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Grace, mercy, and peace be with you all.
Imagine a flicker—tiny, trembling, uncertain—but alive. That flicker is the fire of the Gospel: the fire that Jesus longed to kindle upon …
Dear friends in Christ,
Our first reading today, from the Book of Joshua (Joshua 24:14–29), takes us to Shechem, where an old man — weathered by war, by wilderness wandering, by the weight of leading God’s people — gathers the tribes for one last solemn moment. Joshua is …
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
There is a kind of remembering that renews. Not just the backward glance of nostalgia, but the holy act of recounting—of recalling with the heart—the deeds of God that have brought us this far. That is the remembering we are drawn into …
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Picture a threshing floor at harvest time. The grain has been brought in from the fields. The air smells of wheat and is filled with dust. Sunlight catches the husks so that everything seems golden. Underfoot, the farmer separates the …
My dear brothers in Christ,
When you reach a river and there’s no bridge, you can either turn back or step forward in trust. Today, on the feast of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, we are being asked to take that step—with courage, with faith, and with love that costs something.
In …
Dear Brothers,
Have you noticed that some of the most important moments in our lives happen in places we would never have chosen? A mountain we didn’t plan to climb. A furnace we didn’t want to enter. A meeting place we would rather avoid. Yet in each of these, God is …
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Today’s readings are about crossing over—across rivers, across ages, across that fragile threshold between fear and trust. In Deuteronomy 31, Moses stands on the edge of the Jordan, at the end of his life. He doesn’t talk about his own …
Dear friends in Christ,
Today’s readings speak about the heart—its faithfulness and failures, its courage and fears. They remind us that our relationship with God is not a cold rulebook, but a living friendship, a daily “yes” to the One who walks with the poor. And today, in …
Dear brothers in Christ,
Today’s readings speak to the quiet strength of faith—the kind that waits without giving up, that moves forward without knowing the full path, and that works with love even when no one notices. These are not dramatic stories. They are not about power …
Dear brothers in Christ,
Today’s readings call us to faith — not a comfortable faith, but one that digs deep, holds fast, and dares to move mountains. They ask us to remember who we are, whose we are, and what is possible when we trust in God’s mercy rather than our own …
Dear friends in Christ,
In Scripture, memory is more than remembering the past. It’s how we hold on to hope. It’s how we begin the journey again, how we find the courage to keep walking the road. And today, the Word of God invites us to remember—not only what God has done, …
Dear brothers in Christ,
Today’s readings are about rocks—both the rocks we strike in frustration and the Rock upon whom we must build in faith. They speak of what it means to lead with trust, to follow with humility, and to find water not in the expected places but in …
Dear brothers in Christ,
Today’s readings are about light. But not a gentle light, like sunrise or sunset. This is a fierce light—a bright, burning light that comes from God. It is the light of faith. The light Jesus brings into the world, so no one has to stay in the dark. …
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Today’s readings are about storms—the ones that howl across the waters of Galilee and the ones that gather within our own hearts. They speak of the tempests that rise when authority is challenged, when relationships are strained, when …
Dear brothers,
Today’s readings invite us into the miracle of tired hands.
The people are tired. Moses is tired. Even Jesus is tired. And still—God feeds them.
In the wilderness, the Israelites grumble. Manna, once a marvel, now tastes dull. They long for Egypt’s comforts, …
The readings today, on this Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, are about what really matters in life. They remind us that money, achievement, and even honest labour—while not wrong in themselves—can’t carry us through to the end. They ask us, gently but firmly: after all …
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Some debts are not written on paper but carried in the heart. We carry the wrongs we’ve done, and sometimes the ones done to us. We carry memories of promises kept, and of promises broken. And God sees it all—not to punish, but to …
Dear brothers in Christ,
We are a people who remember—not just with our minds, but with our whole lives. In today’s reading from Leviticus, we hear of the festivals God gave His people—not just rules, but rhythms. Sacred days that helped them remember who they were, where …
Happy Feast day of our Founder, St Ignatius of Loyola, to you all.
There’s a story many of us have heard—a Jesuit near the end of his life was asked quietly, “Are you afraid to meet Jesus?” And he answered, “Jesus? No, not at all. But Ignatius… that’s another matter.” It …
Dear brothers,
Some light is hard to look at. In today’s first reading, Moses comes down the mountain with his face shining. It’s not sweat or sunburn—it’s the light of someone who’s been close to God. He went up to plead for mercy after the people turned away. And when he …
Dear friends in Christ,
Sometimes, the holiest ground is not the mountain, but the middle of the mess—the chaos of mourning, the tension of unanswered prayers, the grief that stiffens the voice and silences the soul. Today, we find Martha standing in that place—between …
Dear brothers,
It’s not always the big battles that wear us down. Often, it’s the waiting. The long, quiet stretches where nothing seems to happen. When prayers feel like they bounce off the ceiling. When God seems silent.
But silence doesn’t mean absence. It doesn’t mean …
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Given that today is July 27, 2025, the 5th World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, established by Pope Francis, we are especially called to reflect on the theme chosen by Pope Leo XIV: “Blessed are those who have not lost …
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
God’s most important work often happens in the quiet places—around kitchen tables, in small family homes, in long, ordinary days filled with love and waiting. Today, as we remember Saints Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Blessed …
My brothers,
Today, as we celebrate the Feast of Saint James, Apostle and Martyr, our readings invite us to reflect on the true nature of greatness in God’s kingdom, a greatness found not in worldly ambition, but in humble service and the willingness to embrace …
Dear brothers in Christ,
We return today to the foot of Mount Sinai—a place filled with cloud, fire, and trembling. It’s not an easy scene. God does not arrive gently. There is thunder, smoke, and a voice that shakes the earth. And yet, this is not about fear. It is about …
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The people of Israel were tired. Tired of walking, tired of waiting, tired of hunger. In the first reading from the Book of Exodus (Exodus 16:1–15), they had been set free from slavery in Egypt, but not from the fear that comes when …
Dear brothers in Christ,
Before dawn had broken, she was already walking. Mary Magdalene, Saint of the Church, apostle to the apostles, disciple of deep, enduring love. She walks through the hush of morning toward the tomb—not with certainty, but with devotion. Not to find …
Dear brothers in Christ,
Sometimes the road to freedom feels more frightening than the chains we’ve grown used to. In our first reading from the Book of Exodus, the Israelites, freshly released from generations of slavery, find themselves in a terrifying place—trapped …
Dear brothers in Christ,
Some years ago, I visited an elderly Jesuit who was mostly blind, hard of hearing, and no longer able to write. But each morning, he would sit in his chair and pray over the day’s readings with a battered breviary and a silence that seemed full. “I …
Dear brothers in Christ,
In the stillness of the night, the people of Israel began their journey. They didn’t march out proudly—they walked quietly, carrying bread baked in haste and hearts filled with longing. Our first reading from the Book of Exodus tells us it was a …
Dear brothers in Christ,
The story from Exodus is heavy with finality. Nine plagues have passed. Pharaoh has resisted, relented, and hardened again. But now the tenth is coming. The Lord will act. Not to humiliate Egypt, but to save a people. To begin again. The night of …
Dear friends in Christ,
This morning’s readings are about burden and deliverance—about the weight we carry, and the God who carries us.
Our first reading, from the Book of Exodus, takes us to the desert, where Moses, a fugitive turned shepherd, stands barefoot before a bush …