During his prime, Muhammad Ali, the heavyweight-boxing champion of the 60s and the 70s proclaimed one day, “I am the greatest! I am the greatest!” When he said this nobody tried to refute it, for during his time, he was indeed the greatest. 

Knowing who Jesus is and what following him means is something that each one of us as Christians needs to grow more deeply in every single day. It is a lifetime journey.

Bless every father and grandfather with the best of your spiritual blessings today. Let him know he is not alone in the tasks you have given him.

There is a distinct message of hope and a call to mutual help in the readings offered to us this Sunday.

For some reason, it seems to be a part of human nature to delight in catching someone out! Putting another down is so common. By putting someone down, we raise ourselves up, and make ourselves seem better and brighter than the other.

“After hearing Jesus (as he taught in the synagogue at Capernaum), many of his followers said, ‘This is intolerable language! How could anyone accept it?”. (John 6:60)

Many years ago, I was reading an article on Catholic Digest. The title was “Why do I believe in the Assumption of Mary?” The author whom I can’t recall was a Protestant. His premise was that in the Old Testament, the prophet Elijah at the end of his life went to heaven body and soul in a chariot of fire while he left Elisha to carry on his ministry. So, he concluded that if this happened to Elijah, then why not to Mary who is the mother of Jesus.

A classic from Jesus today in the Gospel, the reassuring words, “So do not worry!” As we are celebrating the Solemnity of St Mary of the Cross today, the readings chosen for this celebration tell us of the life of Mary Mackillop, who in her life went through challenges and struggles but kept her faith alive in God and left the worries with God as well.

Maybe once in a while we have met some people who seemed to have everything in life; a good house, a flash car, a high-paying job, manage to travel around the world at a moment’s notice but somehow there’s something that is missing.

Ted Noffs, who died in 1995, was a man very well known to Sydney-siders for more than 30 years. A Methodist/Uniting Church minister, he founded the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross in 1964, as an outreach to society’s most vulnerable people.

There was a company, which was working in the forest and looking for a woodchopper. One day, two woodchoppers applied for the job. The manager said that they would only accept one. So he invited both of them to a test.

Jesus today sends forth his disciples to preach repentance and bring healing to peoples’ lives. The mandate is clear; no possessions, depend on the generosity of the people, but preach repentance and bring healing.

Each one of us, for sure, has stories or quotations from Holy Scripture that are very special. They may be linked to personal needs or simply to moments of personal enlightenment.

To borrow again a story from my friend, Fr Bel San Luis, there was a very devout man who is in his house when there was a huge deluge in town.

There was this story of a boy who was playing on a cruise liner with his alphabet blocks. Then in a few minutes, the ship encountered a storm.