In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers how our life of faith is like a journey of discovery – and there are many things which we do not yet know.
Readings for 3 January: 1 John 2.29-3.6; Psalm 98.1, 3-4, 5-6; John 1.29-34. Text of readings can be found here.
Donald Rumsfeld, the former US Defence Secretary, was widely mocked for this statement he made in 2002: “There are known knowns – things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say, there are things we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we don’t know we don’t know”. While this may sound like gobbledygook, if you stop to analyse the words it actually makes sense. Put simply, he was saying that there’s a mixture of certainty and uncertainty in the world.
In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist is prepared to admit his previous lack of knowledge about Jesus, saying twice “I myself did not know him”. We might find this surprising, since John and Jesus were related. John, however, is not speaking from a familial point of view, but from a perspective of faith. Later in the passage, John speaks of how the insight into who Jesus really is was revealed to him. He saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove upon Jesus, and at the same time God revealed to John that this was the sign of Jesus being anointed as God’s Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
The humility of John that we saw in yesterday’s Gospel continues. He is clear that the insight of faith comes not from himself but from God. In this way he makes sure that the focus is not on him but on Jesus. For all of us faith is a journey of discovery, no matter how long we have been a Christian. It is a mixture of Rumsfeld’s “known knowns” and “known unknowns”. Let us share John’s humility and open ourselves to God, that he may continue to reveal to us the mysteries of the kingdom.
Mass today is at 11.30am in St Mary’s.
If you’d like more resources for daily prayer then check out our Day by Day pages.
In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers John the Baptist as an example of one who steps back to let Jesus enter in.
Readings for 2 January: 1 John 2:22-28; Psalm 98:1-4; John 1:19-28. Text of readings can be found here.
We human beings tend to define or describe ourselves by the things we do, or even the place we’re from. “I’m a doctor”; “I’m a teacher”; “I’m a mother” (or grandmother!); “I’m Welsh” are all things we might say about ourselves. We might even say “I’m a Christian”. Against this backdrop it’s interesting that John the Baptist in today’s Gospel defines himself by what he is not. To those sent from Jerusalem to find out about him, John says “I am not the Christ”; when asked if he is Elijah, John replies “I am not”, and to the question “Are you the prophet”, he replies “no”.
Instead, John defines himself not so much by what he is – his status – but by what he does, and in relation to Jesus. He tells the Levites that he is “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness” from Isaiah, to get people ready for the coming of the Messiah. John also acknowledges his own relative lack of importance compared to Jesus: “the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie”. John’s humility is striking: his role is not to be at the centre, but to make space for another.
This time of the year is often one for resolutions, ambitions and plans for the year ahead. If we are not careful, these things can place the focus solely on ourselves. John reminds us that the Christian life is not about self-assertion but about attentiveness: recognising who we are, and who we are not, and allowing God to work through us. May we be people this year who point beyond ourselves to the one who is greater than we are, and in so doing prepare the way for the Lord to work in our lives and the lives of those around us.
Mass is in St Saviour’s today at 10am
If you’d like more resources for daily prayer then check out our Day by Day pages.
In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers how Jesus becoming human – the incarnation – means that every human body is sacred and special.
Readings for 7th day within the octave of Christmas (31 December): 1 John 2:18-21; Psalm 96: 1-2, 11-13; John 1:1-18. Text of readings can be found here.
What do you think of your body? Do you like it, or find it embarrassing? Are you happy with the way it looks, or do you wish it was a different size or shape? Does it give you aches and pains more than you would wish? Are there bits that don’t work quite as well as they should? It’s a weird thing, the human body. It can be the object of desire, or self-loathing. We are presented with idealised images of the human body by the media, and people spend hours in the gym trying to obtain the perfect body. It’s precious, it’s fragile, it’s fallible and frustrating, but it’s the only one we’ve got, and it’s the means by which we live our life in this world.
The idea of a human body is at the heart of our Gospel reading today from John 1, which is the Christmas Gospel. John refers to the Word, existing from the beginning of time with God, and taking part in creation. This Word we have come to think of as the Son of God. The reading culminates with the claim that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. In other words, God’s Son inhabited a body just like ours, a thing of great wonder and beauty, but also prone to illness and disease, aches and pains. And a body, of course, that was cruelly mistreated, beaten and scarred, and finally broken on the Cross.
The fact that Jesus took on a human body like ours shows that God considered it a fitting dwelling place for God’s self on earth. This means that every single human body, no matter its size or shape, or what injuries or ailments it may have, is special and sacred. This is a challenge to our world, where so often human bodies are regarded as dispensable. But it also serves as a message of hope for each of us. Despite the lumps and bumps and the aches and pains, we all carry the imprint of the divine. Let us remember that when we are deciding how to treat a fellow child of God, but also when we look in the mirror.
Mass today is in St Paul’s at 10am and St Mary’s at 11am.
If you’d like more resources for daily prayer then check out our Day by Day pages.
In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers the importance of waiting in an increasingly busy and impatient world.
Readings for sixth day in the octave of Christmas (30 December): 1 John 2:12-17; Ps 96:7-10; Luke 2:36-40. Text of readings can be found here.
Someone once worked out that the average person spends one to two weeks every year just waiting. Waiting in traffic. Waiting in queues. Waiting on hold. Waiting for the kettle to boil, the screen to load, the meeting to start. We don’t notice it because it comes in tiny fragments — thirty seconds here, five minutes there — but by the end of the year it adds up to days of our lives spent doing… nothing much at all.
And yet the gospel today introduces us to Anna, a woman who has spent years waiting — not in frustration, but in faith. Day after day in the Temple, praying, fasting, watching. When the child Jesus is brought in, she recognises him immediately. Her waiting has tuned her vision. While others see just another baby, Anna sees the longed-for Messiah.
In this in-between time, after the mad rush of Christmas and just before the turning of a new year, Anna gently challenges us. What if our waiting is not wasted time? What if those moments — in queues, delays, quiet spaces — are invitations to notice God already present? Christmas reminds us that God comes not in the rush, but in the waiting — and blessed are those who learn, like Anna, to wait well.
Mass today is in St Mary’s at 6:30pm
If you’d like more resources for daily prayer then check out our Day by Day pages.
In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers how each of us has a calling from God which was fixed at birth; it is up to us to discover what that is.
Readings for 29 December, fifth day in the octave of Christmas: 1 John 2.3-11; Psalm 95.1-3, 5-6; Luke 2.22-35. Text of readings can be found here.
One of the curious Christmas traditions in the UK is the sight of crowds of well-wishers gathering to watch the Royal Family walk to church at Sandringham on Christmas Day. The assembled masses offer gifts and flowers, and nowadays try to grab a selfie. This year the focus was very much on the three children of the Prince and Princess of Wales: George, Charlotte and Louis. Whatever your views of the monarchy, it is remarkable to think that these youngsters have had their destiny mapped out from the moment of their birth. Even if the monarchy does not survive into their adulthood, their celebrity status will be assured.
In today’s Gospel, the account of Jesus being presented in the Temple at 40 days old, his destiny is confirmed by the old man Simeon. Simeon’s prophecy contains information about Jesus’ future which is both positive and joyful, but also carries a darker tone. This child, he says, will be a light both for the pagans and Israel, but will be rejected such that a sword will pierce Mary’s soul. Simeon’s speech about Jesus’ calling comes on the back of what the angel said to Mary about her child at the Annunciation, and what the angel said to the shepherds at his birth.
Each of us has a destiny, a calling which has been fixed from our birth. As with Jesus, it may be a joyful calling, a challenging one, or a mixture. St John Henry Newman put it like this: “God has created me to do some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission”. As we approach the start of a new year, let us pray earnestly for insight into our own special calling from God, and the grace to fulfil it.
Mass today (Monday 29 December) is in St Dyfrig & St Samson at 6.30pm.
If you’d like more resources for daily prayer then check out our Day by Day pages.
“Both at the crib and at the empty tomb we discover the new life which Christ brings.” Today’s reflection from Mass.
BIBLE READINGS: You can find the readings for St John the Evangelist on December 27 here (Universalis Website)
Just as Mary made haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth, and the shepherds made haste to see the good news of which the angels sang, there is the same sense of urgency at the end of Jesus earthly life.
He has a hurried burial and likewise on the third day, Peter and John race to the empty tomb. John is the fastest. Maybe it’s because he’s the youngest and still has the fitness of youth, whilst Peter’s age is beginning to take its toll. Who knows?
But there in that place of death, they find only signs of life. As Jesus was wrapped in swaddling bands as a baby so the cloths which wrapped him in death are left behind. He has no need of them. Death has been swallowed up in life.
These days of Christmas are perhaps less rushed and not so busy as the days which led up to it. But there still remains a sense of urgency as we attend to Christ. The world continues to spin, and life goes on. Wars and injustice continue, and there is still much to do but it begins with attentiveness to Jesus. A life of prayer and sacrament.
Both at the crib and at the empty tomb we discover the new life which Christ brings. The Word of God becoming flesh, active in his world, alive and bringing us peace. May his Word dwell in our hearts and lives.
DAY BY DAY
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As some box away Christmas for another year, our celebrations continue. The martyrdom of Stephen reminds us of the demands of discipleship and the lingering presence of God in our lives, who never goes away. Here’s today’s reflection from the daily Mass
Already fed up of Christmas, some people will spend Boxing Day taking down their Christmas decorations. For them, Christmas is over. For us, it’s just beginning.
And so the lights and tree and carols remain. They will outlast what’s left of the vegetables. They will be here long after the last Turkey curry has been eaten. We stubbornly cling to Christmas—each day of the Christmas Octave extending Christmas Day into one long day.
The unfolding of God’s revelation continues until the magi arrive from their long journey and glimpse the glory of God and Jesus is revealed to the nations. The revelations is symbolic of course, and continues throughout Jesus’ life, as people grapple with the mystery of who he is.
In the good news of Jesus revealed in the four gospel writers, only two have any account of Jesus’ nativity. Mark plunges straight into the Baptist’s call, as does John who then gives us a poetic prologue, philosophical and literary, of the mystery of the Word made flesh.
We cannot box the Incarnation away for another year. The hope for a baby and child is that they will grow up healthy and well, reach adulthood, follow dreams, make a difference in the world, and live a long life.
We cannot box the Incarnation away for another year.
It’s on the cross, that Jesus says his work is accomplished. If we had stopped believing in Jesus when we left the crib, then what good would that have done?
On the back of Christmas Day, we have the drama of Stephen’s martyrdom, the first person killed because of their faith in Christ, a faith he won’t let go. Stephen is stubborn. He holds onto what he knows will save.
After a visit to the crib, it’s a quick and harsh reminder of the realities of living and the demands of discipleship. But even here, in this brutal scene as people pick up stones in anger, there are glimpses of light and glory. Stephen is given a vision of heaven opened up, and Jesus at God’s right hand.
Christmas is stubborn. It never goes away. Because God continues to be present in the world today, in our lives and the life of the church. We are his body, his presence in the world. His presence lingers. God is stubborn but not forceful. After all, in the Incarnation, he is at first a needy baby, small and fragile, in need of care and attention.
Christmas is stubborn. It never goes away. Because God continues to be present in the world today, in our lives and the life of the church.
For us, the baby bit is easy. We can even reduce it to cuteness if we’re not careful. Stephen’s situation is by no means cute. And yet, he remains faithful, stubborn, refusing to box his faith away, not even for a moment.
So, let’s stick with Christmas for a little while longer. After the busyness of the pre-Christmas rush, these days are a gift to quietly contemplate the mystery of the Word made flesh, and how God lingers patiently in our lives.
Today’s Mass
Mass today is at 12 noon at St Mary’s Church, followed by drinks and nibbles
You can check out the readings for the Mass today here (Universalis Website)
Happy Christmas! What does God see in the shepherds? Or rather, what is God trying to say, by choosing the shepherds first to reveal to the news of the birth of Christ? In a polarised world, God bridges to the gap between us.
I’m sure many of us will have our favourite Christmas songs which get us into seasonal mood. Many of the songs sing of being with family and friends and loved ones for Christmas, and making the journey home.
I’ll be home for Christmas by Bing Crosby, There’s no place like home for the holidays by Perry Como, and Driving home for Christmas by Chris Rea who sadly died a few days ago. So much of our Christmas imagery is about being together with loved ones.
We live in a world of distance and separation. Many people are poles apart. There is a growing distance between rich and poor, between left wing and right wing. There are also people who revel in dividing others and fill the space with a hateful agenda. We are sliding into a world where people are poles apart.
There is also a distance between human living and nature. Political, financial and industrial decisions are made at the expense of the natural world. The only pole that seems to be disappearing is the North Pole, melting by the minute because of human beings.
The shepherds are poles apart from some of the great players of the nativity story.
Their life is a far cry from the palace of Herod, from Caesar and the powers of the Roman occupation who move people from one place to another in a political game. They are far from the religious authorities who say one thing and do another. The shepherds work through the darkest hours, out in the open, religiously unclean, on the edge and out of sight, unimportant and disposable.
And yet, it’s to them that God first reveals the news of the birth of Jesus. Surely, knowing God, it’s not an indiscriminate, unplanned or impetuous decision. What does God see in the shepherds? Or rather, what is God trying to say, by choosing the shepherds first?
It’s not a question I am going to answer. But a question I leave with you—what is God saying by choosing those shepherds?
And what do the shepherds have to say? Once they’ve seen Jesus, they’re unable to keep quiet. It is the shepherds who perpetuate the rumours. They keep the message going, pass on the news. They fill the streets and the countryside with the gossip of God, their lives echo the promise of peace on earth.
Ah, peace. That antidote to distance and separation. Peace which tears down walls, and dares to reach out to others to bridge the gap that human self interest has created
So what could our prayer be for the year ahead? Well, first we need to look back at how things have been. What part have we played in the sins of society? How have we been part of the cogs of human industry that have caused disharmony and division, hatred and injustice?
If we are open and honest enough, each of us will realise that in some way we share some of the guilt of creating a world that is polarised.
Perhaps our prayer can be to begin to live in a gentler way. Gentler towards ourselves and those around us. Gentler to those with whom we disagree. Gentler towards those who are different from us.
St Teresa of Calcutta said, “Peace begins with a smile.” If we think this is too simplistic, then maybe we should try it and see how it goes.
Begin our conversations not with confrontation but with a smile. Because the beginnings of peace emanate from us. We can’t wholeheartedly expect world leaders to solve the disagreements and wars that exist between nations, if we can’t control our own personal squabbles and confrontations—if we can’t make peace where we are.
That’s what the Bible means by “charity begins at home.” That phrase is often taken by some to mean that we shouldn’t be worried about people and things out there, when we have problems of our own. What it really means is that love emanates from us, and—such as love is— it can’t be contained.
None of us is entirely powerless. We make choices every day for good or bad. So the question is—what will we do this year to bridge the gap, to bring peace, to reach out from one pole to the other? To fill the space that exists between one pole and another with love.
To discover Christ in the distance between us. To help create a world of justice, love and peace.
“It’s important to have those personal moments with God. To place ourselves into his hands, and trust in his promises away from the gaze of others, caught up in love of him and know that we are loved.” Today’s daily reflection.
BIBLE READINGS: You can find the readings for December 24 here (Universalis Website)
With the continued growth of the use of Social Media, every aspect of some people’s lives are constantly in the public sphere. They tell the world where they’ve been or where they’re going. They post photographs of what they’ve bought, or what they’d like. They broadcast what they think, who they like and what they disapprove of. Proud parents share cute pictures of every week, month or year of their children’s lives. In so many ways, our lives have become public property—which can can give some people a greater sense of worth but can also create great anxieties and tensions.
In today’s gospel, there is an intimate moment in the song of Zechariah where the new father turns to his son and speaks to him directly. All his hopes and dreams of the past are wrapped up in the child in his arms. Like any parent, he has great hopes for his child. But for him, it’s not a case of wishful thinking. It’s a hope born from faith, and from trusting the promises of God. Although we are given a glimpse into this moment, we do so tenderly.
As members of the church, our lives are interconnected. We are united in Christ, called together to proclaim the good news of Jesus in word and action. But each of us, too, has an intimate relationship with God which is nurtured in our own private space through prayer. It’s important to have those personal moments with God. To place ourselves into his hands, and trust in his promises away from the gaze of others, caught up in love of him and know that we are loved.
MASS TODAY
Mass today on Wednesday 24 December is at S Paul’s at 10 am S Mary’s at 11am
DAY BY DAY
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What’s in a name? In today’s gospel reflection from the daily Mass, we look into Zechariah’s predicament, dumbstruck in disbelief!
BIBLE READINGS: You can find the readings for Friday of the December 23 here (Universalis Website)
The UK has no comprehensive list of banned names. However, according to the UK Deed Poll Office, there are some restrictions including Offensive language, explicit or sexually suggestive names, or names that have the potential to cause harm or ridicule, or names that could mislead, such as king, queen or doctor. Examples of names which have been rejected in recent times in the UK include Cyanide, Martian, King and Rogue. Whilst in France, one family were unable to call their baby Nutella.
Perhaps it puts Zechariah’s predicament into perspective. To call his son John may seem a rather harmless thing to do—even though he was breaking the tradition of naming a baby from amongst a pool of family names. Yet, this is not the only surprising thing about John—for his birth is out of the ordinary, especially considering Elizabeth’s advanced age. It is so unexpected and miraculous that Zechariah doubts the angel’s message and so he is struck dumb until the day he announces his child’s name. Meanwhile, the people are left to wonder what this child will be. In years to come, their wondering will be realised when John becomes the Baptist, the one who prepares the way of Jesus, calling them to turn their lives around.
At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, a name which means, “He who saves.” Like John the Baptist, his name is God given, all part of God’s design to save us. God knows us by name. Jesus, who is the Christ, calls us to himself. With him, we are able to call God our Father, adopting the family name of Christian and rejoicing in his saving love.
MASS TODAY
Mass today on Monday 23 December is at S Mary’s at 630pm
DAY BY DAY
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South Cardiff Ministry Area 