One of the most frustrating things for a farmer is to have weeds in the fields. They steal whatever nutrition is there for the grain. Sometimes, when I’m in the garden, this is really a headache and I try my best to remove them and be careful that it won’t affect the other plants. Otherwise, I just have to leave it.
Today, all the readings invite us to have trust in and totally lean on the Word of God. As a matter of fact, the Word of God is Truth and God Himself.
Dear brothers and sisters. I would like to begin with few questions. The first one is very simple: Are you Jesus’s follower? Okay, I am sure you will say yes. Very good.
Second question is: Do you have any symbol to show you as a follower of Jesus? In today’s Gospel Jesus said: whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
“Do not be afraid.” This is the message of Jesus in today’s gospel. Yet, right now all over the world there are many things that we are afraid of, including war, political upheaval, violence, outbreaks of disease, and so much more. All we have to do is watch the News each day to see all of this in the world around us. So, it’s really difficult to say that we shouldn’t be afraid.
Karma is something that a lot of people ask me about, as to whether it is a Christian belief or not. Well, I would politely say that it is not. For us Christians, we believe that retribution or judgment will be happening not in this life but in the next.
The gospel for this week, which is pretty long, is about knowing who Jesus is from the efforts of the woman at the well. And as we read along the gospel, we will learn that the woman at the well slowly discovered who Jesus was - from a Jew, to a prophet and then a Saviour.
When I look back on the months I have spent in Rome, I often find myself caught between wonder and disbelief, writes Fr Clement Baffoe SVD. Rome, with all its centuries of whispers and layers of history, now forms part of my own personal story — a story I never imagined would unfold in such depth and colour.
I share this as a friendly journey through the corners of my life in the Eternal City. It is a story of grace, vulnerability, laughter, study, growth, and a fair share of unexpected moments.
Today is the First Sunday of Lent, and today’s Gospel is taken from the opening of Matthew, chapter 4. We hear the well known, dramatic story of Jesus’ temptations in the desert which takes place before he begins his public ministry.
When I was in my first year in the seminary, our Religious Education teacher challenged us to see who knew the Ten Commandments and who could recite them. I raised my hand and thanks be to God, I got them all, to the amazement of my classmates, because there were only two of us who raised up their hands. As you read this perhaps you could ponder, how many of the Ten Commandments do you really know?
Here in Australia the idiom “turn something on its head” is used quite a lot, especially in sports. When a team is leading by a big score and then the opponent rallies and is now in the lead, you can hear commentators saying, “The game has been turned on its head”.
