about not emailing Fr Pat while he’s away, and writing to him at his US address instead
Please note that Fr Pat is currently away, and will not see any email sent to him between now and September 2013. During his absence, please do not send him email, though we now have an address for Father Pat and he would be happy to receive letters: Fr Pat Day St Luke Institute 8901 New ...
Sunday June 16th 2013 – Eleventh Sunday of the Year
One of the greatest weights you are likely to carry is guilt. Guilt is made up of a number of elements: shame, regret, sorrow, pride and…
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Sunday June 9th – Tenth Sunday of the Year
On an initial reading of this Sunday’s powerful Gospel passage, we might subconsciously dismiss it as a gentle and comforting biblical story but totally irrelevant for us today. When was the last time we saw a funeral cortège stop and the one who had died restored to the following grieving family? How many of us have sat with families torn apart by the death of a young child or sibling and longed to be able to say or do something that would really help the distraught parent or relative? We are invited, therefore, to dig down into this text and to peel away the layers, so that it can speak directly to us and to the world of today…
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Sunday June 2nd 2013 – Corpus Christi
Taking pleasure in seeing your family fed is a very human attitude, which finds deep echoes in our Christian tradition. Feeding someone is a fundamental way of loving them, of showing that you care for their well-being. Food, for us human animals, goes far beyond…
Sunday May 19th 2013 – Pentecost
The Holy Spirit empowers us to go beyond our natural abilities, in order to witness to Christ, to live as children of God and to remind us of all that Christ taught.
With the mission of Christ completed, there was one more definitive step to establish his Church. That was the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is the transcendent software, as it were, that drives the Church. From the first moments of the Spirit’s gusty arrival in the upper room, the apostles were empowered to go beyond their natural abilities…
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Sunday May 12th 2013 – Ascension of Our Lord – World Communications Day
In 1907, when the 20th century had not long come into being, Robert Hugh Benson wrote of things to come in his book “Lord of the World.” In it he described many things not yet known to man – aeroplanes, electric lights, smokeless zones, temperatures measured in centigrade, a European parliament and a Home Rule Bill for Ireland. All this must have taken much imagination and a prophetic instinct, while those reading it then must have thought it all fantasy. Now we know how accurate he was.
But imagination can play a great part in our life of faith. How else can we…
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Sunday May 5th 2013 – Sixth Sunday of Easter
Today we hear from the farewell discourse in the Gospel of Saint John. Jesus is replying to a question about why he does not show himself to the world. The disciples want fireworks; they want everyone to see who Jesus really is and are wondering why he does not put on some big performance for them. The response of Jesus is clear…
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Sunday April 28th 2013 – Fifth Sunday of Easter
To die that we may truly live. It doesn’t take much searching to find in the scriptures words so terrifying that if we don’t feel in need of a word of consolation, it can only be because we haven’t been paying attention. For example, in today’s first reading St Paul and Barnabas tell us that the way to the kingdom of God lies through many afflictions, reminiscent, of course, of the remarks of Jesus to his disciples that they should…
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Sunday April 21st 2013 – Fourth Sunday of Easter – World Day of Prayer for Vocations
In the liturgy for the fourth Sunday of Easter, the Church gives us the powerful and appealing image of Christ as the Good Shepherd. Christ is commonly depicted in ancient art as a shepherd carrying a sheep on his shoulders, holding its legs firmly with his hands. It is an image full of reassurance, one that promises safety and security, one that tells us to…
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Sunday April 14th 2013 – Third Sunday of Easter
What happens to Simon Peter in today’s Gospel looks like a set up. And, to be honest, it is. Christ has set Peter up.
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Sunday April 7th 2013 – Second Sunday of Easter – Divine Mercy Sunday
Today we celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy. When we think about today’s feast we think about the mercy of God.
At first glance, we might think that this would be better if it were celebrated during Lent. After all, for six weeks of praying and doing penance, we were seeking the mercy of God. Now, all of a sudden, here we are on the octave day of Easter, the height of the celebration of Our Lord’s resurrection, and suddenly we are asking God once again for mercy. But, in fact, as we celebrate the octave, we are celebrating for eight days the feast itself. So today, as for the last week, we are in fact celebrating…
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