What does it mean to be considered part of Jesus’ family? Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for Tuesday of week 25 of ordinary time can be found here.

Family history research has become increasingly popular in recent years as a result of the TV programme Who Do You Think You Are?, and the easy availability of thousands of records online. During the first Covid lockdown I got into my family history in a big way. Just as interesting as going back in time was discovering present-day relations. My grandmother had 31 first cousins, all of whom had multiple children and grandchildren. I started counting how many cousins I have of my own generation but stopped when it got over 200! I considered trying to contact some of them but soon realised, having never met the majority, we’d probably have little in common. I’m much more interested in spending time with friends who I share interests with and who care about me. They are much more like family than a list of names on a family tree.

In today’s Gospel Jesus also talks about two different kinds of family. Like all of us, he had blood relations, such as his mother and brothers and sisters who he is told want to see him. But then he describes another kind of family, a bit like me and my close friends. These are the people who show their commitment and their care not through genealogy but through their actions. Of course there can be an overlap. I have family members I am close to, as well as those hundreds of anonymous cousins. Mary, Jesus’ own mother, is surely an example of one who heard the word of God and did it; she received the angel’s message and then played her crucial part in bringing salvation to the world through giving birth to God’s Son. In Luke’s second volume, Acts, we see Mary taking her place with Jesus’ wider family, the apostles, on the day of Pentecost.

Throughout Scripture there is an emphasis on words being matched with deeds. Our reading from Proverbs today says that “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice”. Here in the Mass, we offer the sacrifice, and we praise God with our lips. Let us take to hearts the command at the end of every Mass, to go out and serve the Lord, as his beloved brothers and sisters.

Mass today is in St Mary’s at 6.30pm.

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer, check out our Day By Day pages.

Why did Jesus call Matthew, the hated tax collector to follow him, and why did he have dinner with outcasts and sinners? Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for the Feast of St Matthew the Apostle can be found here.

Next month King Charles will receive the Sultan of Oman on a state visit to the UK. Hosting such visits is a regular duty of the monarch, and the centrepiece is always a grand state banquet at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle. Drawing up the guest list for such a banquet is a diplomatic balancing act. Normally people in the UK with a connection to the visiting country are invited, but not any who have offended that government. The great and the good from the UK are always there, along with people who have achieved significant things in their particular field. Sometimes there’s criticism in the media about who has or hasn’t been invited.

The guest list at the dinner Jesus attended in today’s Gospel was rather different from a state banquet, but still attracted criticism. ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’, the Pharisees ask Jesus’ disciples. This guests at this dinner were certainly not the great and the good, the well-connected and the high fliers. They were the outcasts, those who were looked down upon. Tax collectors in Jesus’ day were particularly hated as they were seen as collaborating with the Roman Empire. One such Jesus had just called to be an apostle, Matthew whom we honour today on his Feast.

Why did Jesus call Matthew to follow him on that particular day as he passed the tax booth on the way out of Capernaum? Maybe he sensed something in Matthew that was yearning for something more, and a way out of the life he’s found himself in. Maybe Jesus knew that as a hated outsider himself who has suddenly been shown love and acceptance, Matthew was well placed to reach out to other outcasts.

The calling of Matthew gives a model for the church’s mission. Our table should be surrounded by all manner of folk – sinners, rebels, outcasts, and misfits. Unlike a grand state banquet, at our Eucharistic feast there should be room for all. And Matthew’s response to Jesus is a model for discipleship – responding to his call to serve, and following without delay, knowing we are loved and accepted for who we are.

Mass today is in St Dyfrig & St Samson at 6.30pm.

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer, check out our Day By Day pages.

Many aspects of our faith cannot be seen – our union with Christ, the working of the Holy Spirit, an abundance of grace. Yet the results of these things – the solid foundations of faith – can be seen in our lives and the lives of others. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for Saturday of week 23 of ordinary time (memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary) can be found here.

One of the more challenging aspects of preparing children for Confirmation is trying to explain to them how God can be real when we cannot see him. A fun way to explore this mystery is to ask them to make a list of things in everyday life that we cannot see but know exist because we feel its effects. They often come up with an ingenious range of things, such as gravity, electricity, the wind, smells, love, hate … and so it goes on.

Our readings today also delve into this aspect of our faith. A title for Paul’s discussion on the Eucharist could be “you are what you eat”. And indeed, food and eating is another area where something unseen (food being digested by the body) has visible effects (making us fat or thin). For Paul, the Mass has two important effects. First, there is union between the believer and Christ – it results in a participation in Jesus’ body and blood. Second, it brings about unity among believers – “we who are many are one body”. These things cannot be seen with the human eye, but they are represented by the visible elements of bread and wine. 

In the Gospel, Jesus gives us two images where something inward and unseen later manifests itself in a visible way. The health or otherwise of a tree cannot usually be detected until the fruit appears, and then we see whether it is good or bad. Similarly, you cannot see whether a house’s foundations are solid or shaky – it’s not until a crisis occurs, such as a flash flood, that this becomes apparent. 

Few people in the outside world will ever witness us, gathered here celebrating the Eucharist. Fewer still will be able to see the mystical union that takes place as a result of this sacrament, between us and Jesus, and between us and each other. Yet if we have that good fruit, that solid foundation which starts here in the Mass, then the whole world will be able to see the fruits it generates, as we become people filled with God’s love and eager to share it with all.

Mass today is in St Mary’s at 11.30am (preceded by morning prayer at 10.50 and the Rosary at 11am).

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer, check out our Day By Day pages.

Looking in the mirror to check our appearance is important. But more crucial is reflecting on who we are as people. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for Friday of week 23 of ordinary time can be found here.

Have you ever caught sight of yourself in the mirror and suddenly realised that you have been walking around for most of the day with something stuck to your face? A bit of food perhaps, toothpaste round your mouth, or a smudge of something on your forehead. The embarrassing thing is that everyone else may have been able to see it perfectly well. The only person who couldn’t see it was you. It can sometimes be the same with the faults and weaknesses we have in our lives. We can be remarkably good at spotting them in other people, while being oblivious to them in our own lives.

Jesus talks about this in the Gospel reading today. As he so often does, Jesus presents us with a wonderfully exaggerated image. “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”, he asks. In other words, it’s often quite easy to spot the relatively minor fault in someone else while ignoring the much bigger failing of which we ourselves might be guilty. It’s only by acknowledging our own shortcomings that we can ever hope to help others. This is why, whenever a priest hears a confession, after he has pronounced God’s absolution he says to the penitent: “pray for me, a sinner too”. The one who has just offered advice and given God’s forgiveness acknowledges his own need of help and forgiveness.

The key is self-awareness and self-reflection – checking the mirror regularly, if you like. Paul gives us a good lesson in this in our first reading. “If I preach the Gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting”, he says. Perhaps Paul was aware that being a preacher, teacher and apostle might lead one to become self-important. Paul reminds himself and us that it’s not the preacher that’s important but the message – “I have made myself a servant to all”, he says. Through prayer and sacramental confession, may we adopt that important practice of self-reflection. In doing so, and aware of God’s mercy, may we become more faithful servants, and better able to help others.

Mass today is in St Saviour’s at 10am.

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer, check out our Day By Day pages.

Sometimes it can be tempting to puff ourselves up, that is, make ourselves seem more important than others. The Christian way, however, is to build others up. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for Thursday of week 23 of ordinary time can be found here.

Various members of the animal kingdom have the ability to make themselves look bigger or more impressive as the occasion demands. For example, the male great bustard puffs out its feathers and inflates its throat during courtship, becoming almost twice its apparent size. When threatened, the pufferfish also becomes bigger so as to look much larger and harder to swallow. And of course, we’ve all seen the domestic cat arch its back and make its fur stand on end when scared. 

We might be impressed or even amused by such displays. Yet this kind of thing is exactly what Paul is referring to when he says that “knowledge gives self-importance”. Sometimes it is tempting to use what we know, or a skill we have, to appear impressive to others, just like an animal uses its fur or feathers. He uses the specific example from his day of food sacrificed to idols. We might know, Paul says, that idols don’t exist and therefore it’s not a problem. But we shouldn’t use that knowledge to belittle others who might be wary about eating such food. Paul himself abstains from all meat to be sensitive to others. He recommends using love which builds up the other person, rather than knowledge which might be used to build us up.

Love is a key theme in today’s Gospel reading, and Jesus also says it should be used for the good of others. When another person wrongs us, we might think that keeping a record of that wrongdoing makes us better than them. His radical new message is “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” It is about always seeking to build others up, wanting good for them, regardless of how they have treated us. These extraordinary commands are only possible because this is how God is with us. His love for us is undeserved, but is freely given, nonetheless. God never seeks to puff himself up – he has no need to – but instead is continually building us up. As Jesus says, “Be compassionate, as your Father is compassionate”.

Mass today is in St Dyfrig & St Samson at 10am.

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer, check out our Day By Day pages.

Sometimes we can think of ourselves as insignificant compared to the vastness of the universe. The Feast of the Birthday of Mary shows that God knows, loves, and has a purpose for each of us. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary can be found here.

In his rather zany series of novels comprising the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams imagines a machine called the Total Perspective Vortex. This shows you the whole universe, and your own place within it. The result for most people is rather terrifying. They suddenly come face to face with the immensity of the universe, with its billions of stars and galaxies, and then realise how tiny and insignificant they are. One infinitesimally small individual on a tiny speck of a planet. Maybe we sometimes have that feeling ourselves. Where do I fit into the great scheme of things? Does my life really matter? How can I possibly make a difference?

In the Hitch Hiker’s Guide, coming face to face with these questions often drove people mad. Happily for us as Christians, we need not adopt such a drastic response. Indeed, today’s feast, the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and its readings, offers a wonderfully hopeful perspective on the question of our place in the universe. In the passage from Romans, Paul talks about those whom God foreknew, predestined, and called. So God, the creator of that vast universe which can so disconcert us, knew and called individual people even from before they were born. This mighty creator not only has a relationship with his people, he also has a purpose for them. Today especially we think about this in relation to Mary – she was foreknown, predestined and called from before her birth. Yet it is surely also true for each and every one of us.

This theme is developed in the Gospel reading. The long and complicated genealogy which Matthew gives us shows how God’s purposes, culminating in the lives of the Holy Family, were worked out long ago. When Mary was born she would have seemed for all the world to be as insignificant as someone who experienced the Total Perspective Vortex. Yet we know that God had a wonderful purpose in store for her. The same is true for each one of us. On this great feast, let us seek to understand that purpose and, like Mary, fulfil with joy.

Mass today is in St Mary’s at 6.30pm.

Small actions can have a big impact, both for good and bad, like yeast working in dough. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for Monday of week 23 of ordinary time can be found here.

On 1 December 1955, a woman called Rosa Parks, who happened to be Black, was travelling home on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, USA. The rules of the time in Montgomery required Black passengers to give up their seats to white passengers when the white section was full. When asked by the driver to move, Rosa Parks refused, was arrested, and later fined. In one sense it was a small act, though one requiring great courage – a woman sitting on a seat on a bus. But her small act led to the Montgomery bus boycott, which lasted more than a year and became a hugely important moment in the American civil rights movement. Rosa Parks challenged the existing rules of the time with a sense of what was right.

We see something similar happening in today’s Gospel. What Jesus does is, on one level, a small act – healing the right hand of one man (though I’m sure it made a big difference to that man!). It takes courage on the part of Jesus, for he is challenging the rule-and-regulation focussed mindset of the Pharisees. Yet Jesus’ act goes beyond healing just one man, in the same way that what Rosa Parks did was about more than one woman on one bus. He is demonstrating a completely new approach to life, one where the driving force is love, compassion, healing and wholeness. In this simple act of healing, Jesus is showing us what his Kingdom is all about. 

In our first reading, Paul talks about the negative side of a small action having a big impact. “You must know how even a small amount of yeast is enough to leaven all the dough, so get rid of all the old yeast”, he says. He uses this image to reflect on problems in the church at Corinth. Yet we can also turn the image around. In the Gospels, Jesus compares the Kingdom itself to yeast, working away quietly inside the dough. So the question for us is this: what does our yeast look like? What are those small actions and attitudes which can have a big impact on our life and community? Like some in Corinth, is it a yeast which corrupts the dough, or like Rosa Parks and Jesus himself, is it a yeast which brings life and wholeness?

Mass today is in St Dyfrig & St Samson at 6.30pm.

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer, check out our Day By Day pages.

Being a Christian can be viewed as a foolish endeavour by many. What do today’s readings have to say.? Fr Dean reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for Thursday of week 22 of Ordinary Time be found here

In 1914, when Henry Ford doubled workers’ pay to five dollars a day and cut work hours, Wall Street experts and his own business partners called it financial suicide. However, he proved them wrong. Workers became fiercely loyal, productivity skyrocketed, and those same workers could now afford to buy the cars they built. There are many examples in history and in our own lives when was was denounced by some as a foolish decision turned out to be the opposite.

An outsider may think that the decision of those fishermen to leave behind their livelihood, homes and families as a rather foolish decision. Indeed, there will be moments in the years to come when they will be filled with doubt. However, they become an instrumental part in Jesus’ ministry and in the leadership and growth of the church after Pentecost.

St Paul says, ‘Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.’ Following Jesus may seem foolish to many people. Why waste our time and energy? God’s designs for us and the world often conflict with the world’s own ideas and perspective. It seems from today’s readings that’s it’s ok to be a little foolish at times.  Indeed, even Jesus was viewed by some of his family as being out of his mind. So, let’s not measure our faith and life by the standards of the world but only by the designs of God, for ‘we are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s’

Mass today is in St Dyfrig and St Samson at 10am.

If you’d like more resources for daily prayer, check out our Day By Day pages.