It’s a sad fact of life, if you do something good, it isn’t remembered for very long. You are only as good as your last good deed. But if you do something bad, there will be those who insist on never forgetting it. There will always be those who mutter, “Oh that’s ‘so and so’ the one who had the affair.” “That Mr. Thingymajig, the
The Gardener, the Fig Tree and the Promise When people die, especially in tragic or premature circumstances, we are left with a sense of injustice. There are some who will question what kind of God we have who can allow such unfairness. But the bottom line is that life simply isn’t metered out to us in equal proportions. Death simply happens. There is no intent
‘Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you’. Surely that's a recipe for becoming a doormat, yet this is what Jesus is asking us to do in today's gospel. The six o'clock news fuels our anger. We want to fight back at the aggressors. We want to hit back at the terrorists who hurt us. We want to see consequences for those
“Woe to those who are rich.” “Woe to those with plenty to eat.” “Woe to those who laugh.” “Woe to those who are honoured.” Does Jesus mean that heaven is denied us if we pick up a well-earned pay packet at the end of the month, stock the freezer and put on a cheerful face? Few of us consider ourselves really well off, but there
Sometimes we can have a strong sense of our own unworthiness when we are in the presence of the Lord. Several characters in the gospels express this sense of unworthiness before Jesus. John the Baptist expressed his unworthiness to baptise Jesus; the Roman centurion expressed his unworthiness to have Jesus come to his home. In this morning’s gospel reading, Simon Peter expresses his unworthiness just
If you were told you were going to die tomorrow, would you be ready to go? Young and old alike, the answer to this question is probably “no”! Being ready to leave this world demands tremendous clarity, and whilst some of us have achieved clarity in our lives, the resstumble around confused and overly burdened. We go through the motions of living but all too
