We are getting into the spirit and the joy of Christmas. In fact, the third Sunday of Advent is called “Gaudete Sunday.” Gaudete means ‘Rejoice.’  St. Paul reminds us “rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!! Let’s rejoice for the coming of our Redeemer, and we are called to share this joy with others, giving comfort and spreading hope.

“Look, I am going to send my messenger before you; he will prepare your way.” This gospel passage reminds me of the road from Alice Springs to Santa Teresa, which is a remote Aboriginal community where I’m assigned at the moment.

Queen Salote Tupou III was outstanding in different ways. Over 2 metres tall, she was Queen of Tonga from 1918 until her death in 1965. Greatly loved and  honoured in Tonga, she was a world leader who gently commanded respect way beyond her island nation.

Imagine this scene in a movie we may have seen in the not so distant past. A condemned criminal sitting on an electric chair in the last minutes of his life, an executioner just waiting for the signal to pull the lever to activate the electric chair, a police officer looking at the clock waiting nervously until the clock strikes 3pm, the time of the execution, another police officer waiting for the phone to ring.

We have come to the end of the Church’s liturgical calendar, Year C. This Sunday is the second last Sunday of our liturgical year. As we approach the end of the Church year, it’s not surprised that through the scripture we reflect on, the Church invites us to contemplate the final end of things. 

There’s no doubt that people have many kinds of questions about heaven or resurrection and what it will be like. The Gospel this Sunday confronts us with the theme of resurrection and life after death.

There are some really beautiful, powerful words and images offered us in this morning’s readings: how God sees the vast, immense universe around us, and all that exists in it.

The parable about the pharisee and the tax collector, like all of Jesus’ stories, makes his listeners stop and think…  Here Jesus talks about two men, both of whom are honest. But there is a problem with one of them.

For those who watch the Olympics, one of the so-called “blue ribbon” or glamour events is the 100-metre dash. It is a race where most of the time it will be over in about 10 seconds.

When I was studying nursing, we learnt two kinds of isolation for patients. The first kind of isolation is when a patient is set apart because they are so vulnerable to getting bugs from other people that they might get a lot sicker.