The Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Braamfontein (53)

Today’s readings talk about three things. We hear talk of prophesy in the first reading, a righteous spirit in the second reading, and death and resurrection in the Gospel, or in Lazarus’ case, resuscitation, from the dead. In a nutshell, we are witnesses to the promise of …

We gather today to celebrate the baptism of Simon Ethiel and Daniel Oz Hanauer. As Christians, we belong to the Mystical Church of the Body of Christ, and as the first of the Sacraments of initiation, we are all gathered here to welcome young Simon and Daniel into a …

We gather today to celebrate the baptism of Oliver John Marco Knezovich. As Christians, we belong to the Mystical Church of the Body of Christ, and as the first of the Sacraments of initiation, we are all gathered here to welcome young Oliver into a relationship with Jesus …

We gather today to celebrate the baptism of Daniel Robert Matthew Carswell. As Christians, we belong to the Mystical Church of the Body of Christ, and as the first of the Sacraments of initiation, we are all gathered here to welcome young Daniel into a relationship with …

We gather today to celebrate the baptism of Ella Riley Cumings. As Christians, we belong to the Mystical Church of the Body of Christ, and as the first of the Sacraments of initiation, we are all gathered here to welcome young Ella into a relationship with Jesus Christ. In …

You are all welcome to this Church of the Holy Trinity. We are all gathered here in this Church to share in this joyous occasion together and to celebrate the love that Mphaga and Phindokuhle both share for each other.

Christians have long believed that human persons bear …

Tonight we hear about the healing miracles of Jesus. I suppose Jesus could have healed the rich and famous but instead he heals the people who are on the margins of Society.

Jesus heals a physically impaired person, a man who is both deaf and suffers from a speech …

Good morning everyone. It’s good to be here again with you all. Our readings offer three insights to us this morning. The first is that if we are serious about being Christians, we need to reverse our thinking; the second is that we should beware ambition; and the third is …

We gather today to celebrate the baptism of Rebecca Catherine Grace Carswell. As Christians, we belong to the Mystical Church of the Body of Christ, and as the first of the Sacraments of initiation, we are all gathered here to welcome young Rebecca into a relationship with …

Last week I spoke about Christmas and I used Star Wars as an example. But in case I confused you all – today I want to speak about Peace; because today I think we are being asked to remember three things, a blessing of peace, a call to non-violence and unity, and …

In our first reading today the Prophet Zephaniah, writing some 600 years before Christ, writes of the people he calls the anawim, which means a remnant, the leftovers, a tiny band of God’s poor and forgotten. The characteristic feature of these humble and lowly …

Taken together today’s readings talk to us about three things: true Piety, true Preaching and true Presence.

True piety, the prophet Isaiah declares in today’s First Reading, does not consist in ritual acts of fasting, but in responding to the practical demands of …

In today’s first reading, Sirach tells us how we have been given a choice, to keep God’s commandments, if only we will to do so. We are told that we are to choose between fire and water, life and death, good and evil. Our great gift of free will requires the even …

You are all welcome to this Church of the Holy Trinity. We are all gathered here in this Church, from I think, places all over the globe, to share in this joyous occasion together and to celebrate the love that Megan and Peter both share for each other.

The …

In today’s Gospel Jesus uses three images to capture the new justice he is proposing to his followers. It is a creative, healing, and restorative justice that focuses on relationships. The old justice found in the Bible was designed to prevent revenge running away …

Well we’ve almost reached the end of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Today’s installment, following on from the last few weeks – which began with ‘Blessed are the poor in Spirit’ – now talks about how we cannot serve two masters… we cannot serve God and mammon.

Mammon …

I think today in the readings we are being asked not to forget. This past Wednesday we all came together to receive ashes and mark the beginning of Lent. The Church offered two statements as the ashes were imposed. The first was ‘Repent, and believe in the Gospel’, …

Today I want to talk about the readings but I also want to say a few words about the past week in South Africa and how the readings have resonated with me experiencing this. Today’s readings talk about three things. We hear talk of prophesy in the first reading, a …

In Matthew’s Gospel which we have just heard and which really needs no explanation, the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus is a world-ending event. We are told of the violent shaking of the earth that was expected to announce the arrival of the end time. The …

We must never forget that what we have just heard happened for us. That God so loved us all, that he allowed his Son to come into the world, to die so as to take away our sins. This is why we call this day ‘Good’ Friday. Because it is the day that death …

So in this evening’s Gospel we hear the familiar story of the Risen Christ appearing to the disciples in the Upper Room.

I’ve just come back from a retreat with all the Parish Catechists where we watched the movie, Risen, which starred Ralph Joseph 1 Fiennes as the …

This Sunday’s Gospel reading from Saint Luke is the familiar story of the Disciples on the Road to Emmaus. This story of the journey to Emmaus is both a literal and a spiritual journey. On the one hand, it recounts the story of two disciples who, after the …

Last week we heard about the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and how Jesus went after these two ‘lost sheep’ and found them. Today we hear a lot about Shepherds and Sheep, and so consequently we call today Good Shepherd Sunday. With the exception …

In today’s first reading we hear how, as a result of the evangelization of the apostles, the number of disciples grew. But as the number of disciples grew, we are told, so did the complaints. In ways that we can identify with today, the complaints ran along the …

I’d like today to talk about three things: firstly, the Holy Spirit, secondly, a sign of that Spirit present in our country this week. And thirdly, I’d like to briefly say something about Catholic schools which you may have noticed from some of the children wearing …

My brothers and sisters, on this the last day of Easter, on this our Feast of Pentecost, our readings tell us the story of the descent of the Holy Spirit.

We remember that in the Bible, God the Father and God the Son have featured very prominently – but God the …

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. This feast asks us to grapple with the very identity of God. To ask, not only who God is, and what God is, but how he communicates to us because we can only be in relationship with someone who discloses …

In today’s Gospel we hear what is in fact one of the most repeated commands in the Bible. It is not ‘thou shalt not be corrupt’ – though in this country the Church must never tire of saying that. It is, instead, the much simpler, and yet, much more important, “do …

As I read today’s readings I was struck by one of the many qualities of God, his loving kindness, and the hospitality and love Jesus is calling us to.

In today’s Gospel though, at least on a first reading of it, you might be forgiven for wondering where is the …

We just heard that God has hidden things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to infants. When I hear that line I think of a story when a young dad who had a young son were walking back from Church one day after Mass and the father said to his son, …

Last week we heard about a farming metaphor to do with ploughing – we heard Jesus explain that with Him, the yoke is easy and the burden is light. And I tried to explain how this is so because we do not bear our burdens alone, or end up being yoked by ourselves – …

This past week I found myself asking God why things happen the way they do? If God is all powerful, could he not prevent tragedy or evil? Inherent in this question, is a deeper underlying question as to how exactly does God act in the world in the first place? God …

Today we celebrate in the parish, the feast of Saint Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, and the inspiration of a spirituality that I know many of you, young and old, lay and religious, value and esteem. There’s so much I could tell you about St Ignatius, but let me try …

I have three small thoughts about today’s readings and they concern Revelation, dialogue and prayer.

Today we celebrate an important Feast – the Feast of the Transfiguration, a Feast that is mentioned in all three of the synoptic Gospels, and which symbolically links the …

Today Jesus continues to reveal aspects of his divinity when he walks on water and commands the winds and the waves. Just like last week he is revealing his divinity in order to strengthen his disciples’ faith, and we see in Peter someone who is like us – someone who has …

I’d like to thank the children and the catechists in our parish who teach our children every week. They take great care in preparing the children for the sacraments and as a parish we are very grateful to them.

Quite often in Jesus’ parables there is a hidden meaning – but …

Last week we heard the parable of how the servant was forgiven his debts. The Lord was generous with his mercy and expected us to be generous in return. The Church also celebrated the Feast of the Apostle Matthew during the week and we read of how Jesus came and called …

Today we celebrate two things. The first is all of you who have been doing this Alpha Course and who I think have been learning more and more about their faith in god the Father who created us, and in Jesus Christ his Son who came to save us, and in the Holy Spirit that has …

Today’s readings talk to us of conversion, the importance of what we do rather than what we say, and of the primacy of individual responsibility over communal responsibility.

In our first reading today we hear how “when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has …

During the week we celebrated World Teachers Day and I’d like to ask for your prayers for all of our teachers in Catholic Schools, and indeed, all our schools in our country. They deserve our thanks and our prayers for their dedication and work in preparing our future. Of …

Today’s Gospel follows on from last week’s – the one about the wicked tenants. Now Jesus is becoming even blunter in the way he makes his point. If they did not understand last week’s parable, they have to, he thinks, understand this one. A marriage feast is a joyous …

Good morning everyone. There are three things I want to propose that we reflect on today after hearing these three readings. They are firstly, what are we to do with luxuries? Secondly, how can I be sensitive? And thirdly, the difficult business of respecting the …

Good morning everyone. We see from the First Reading, that when we pray or talk to God, we can be honest with him. In fact it is best that we are. In today’s first reading we read from the Prophet Habakkuk “how long shall I cry for help” – a more honest remark we …

Today’s readings present us with three rich images about perseverance in prayer and strength of faith. They show us three things, firstly, that we need help to pray, secondly, that we should not give up, and thirdly that God will answer our prayers if we have …

At the heart of today’s readings is, I think, the distinction between a gift and a reward. God is always gifting us, blessing us, and bestowing grace upon us. It is not something we can ever earn or take for granted, rather we can only say how unworthy we are of it …

Technically we call today the “Commemoration of all the faithful departed” but it is popularly known as ‘All Souls’ as a play on words of yesterday’s ‘All Saints’. In yesterday’s feast of All Saints, the Church around the world honored the Church in Heaven (though in South …

Some people believe the Feast of Christ the King is a feast dating back from the Middle Ages, when Monarchy was more common. It was in fact instituted in the last century and represents the concerns of our recent history. In 1925 Pope Pius XI understood that the …

Today is the First Sunday of Advent. It is the first day of the Church’s year and during this time the Church, in her liturgy, offers us images about the coming of the Lord. In the first part of Advent, the images are mostly about the second and glorious coming of …

“…The voice of one crying in the wilderness”

In today’s readings we hear from three voices who bring messages of hope to us this Advent.

The first voice is from the prophet Isaiah, who lived in a time when Israel had some underwhelming and despicable kings. Isaiah …

We might be forgiven this evening for being a little confused about today’s Gospel. It begins with John trying to ascertain what type of messiah Jesus was. Last week’s Gospel happened just before John baptized Jesus. So you would have thought that since he was …

Today I want to say something about dreams, and reflect on two people mentioned in today’s readings: Ahaz and Joseph.

Behind the innocent sounding text of our first reading is a saga that sounds like it is out of the popular TV show, Game of Thrones – by which I …

It is not often that we have such a coherent set of readings. The first reading comes at the end of Chapter 1 of the first book of Samuel. If one were to read the rest of the first chapter, one would learn that Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, was made fun of by Elkanah’s second …

Let me say again Merry Christmas, and I hope everyone had a good night, and that Santa’s new built-in sleigh-GPS is working and that he managed to find all of your chimneys!

I would like to say a few words today about our readings – and how they convey the Good …