Wednesday 19 April, 2023 | Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter |Readings: Acts 5:17-26; Psalm 33(34):2-9; John 3:16-21 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)
As he strove to build a more equal society, struggling against racism, Martin Luther King Jr, said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” The symbolism of darkness and light is deeply embedded in the human experience, and each has been used to express something about good and evil.
In the gospel reading, we witness Nicodemus seeking Jesus under cover of darkness. He wants to keep the encounter secret. As Jesus responds to his searching for the truth, he uses the symbolic experience of darkness in which they stand, drawing Nicodemus from his ignorance and lack of faith to enlightenment. “The man who lives by the truth comes out into the light,” said Jesus. In those words, he is inviting Nicodemus to leave the darkness of fear and ignorance, and to come closer to him.
Martin Luther King recognised the power of light over darkness, the power of love over hate. It is love and light which is at the heart of the Christian Faith. There is still much darkness in the world today, and so much hatred. But like Martin Luther King, we are to fight these not with an equal portion of darkness or hatred but with light and love. “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,” said Jesus, “so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life.” How can we bring God’s light to a world of darkness? How can we bring God’s love into situations of hatred? How can we dispel fear?
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These posts are part of our endeavour each day to provide a short homily or reflection from the celebration of the Mass of the day. Links are posted on Twitter and Facebook, and you can also sign up for daily emails in your inbox by registering your email below:
MINISTRY AREA MASS
Mass today (Wednesday 19 April, 2023) is celebrated at St Paul’s Church, Grangetown at 10am and S Mary’s Church at 11am. If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button
Tuesday 17 April, 2023 | Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter |Readings: Acts 4:32-37; Psalm 92 (93):1-2,5; John 3:7-15 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)
Every day, we use our phones and computers to communicate with one another. The experience of Lockdown meant that many meetings and conversations took place online, and much of this has continued. As beneficial as these platforms have proven to be, the importance of face-to-face conversations and encounters remains for they provide possibilities that are not easily present online.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Christians have forgotten that the ministry of listening has been committed to them by Him who is Himself the great listener and whose work they should share. We should listen with the ears of God that we may speak the Word of God.” In the gospel reading, the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus flows freely. There is question and answer, listening and speaking. He is seeking the truth and comes armed with many questions. Each is attentive to the other. As the conversation progresses, Nicodemus – sheltered by the darkness – is slowly enlightened by Jesus, the great listener.
Each of us is at different stages of the journey of faith and, at various times, we will have many questions, some of which we may grapple with for a lifetime. Having a living encounter with God through prayer and worship, bible reading and study, silence and stillness, is important. We are called to be attentive to the One who attends to us. We are called to listen to the One who himself is the ‘great listener.’ As fellow pilgrims along the way, we can also learn so much from one another – if we have an open ear and an attentive heart. How often do we fail to listen to others, or are inattentive to what is really being said – or wanting to be said? How can we ensure that each encounter provides a means through which we really listen to one another, and so in turn learn to speak the Word of God?
MAKING CONNECTIONS
These posts are part of our endeavour each day to provide a short homily or reflection from the celebration of the Mass of the day. Links are posted on Twitter and Facebook, and you can also sign up for daily emails in your inbox by registering your email below:
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Mass today (Tuesday 18 April, 2023) is celebrated at St Saviour’s Church, Splott at 10am and S Mary’s Church at 7pm. If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button
Monday 17 April, 2023 | Monday of the Second Week of Easter |Readings: Acts 4:23-31; Psalm 2:1-9; John 3:1-8 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)
During these days of Easter, each day at Mass we have moved through the Acts of the Apostles and witnessed the growth of the Church in those early days after Pentecost. The disciples are transformed, changed. They speak boldly and with conviction. They face authority without fear and spread the message that Jesus is risen from the dead. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit has enlivened and transformed them. They are a new Creation.
This New Creation is at the heart of that secret conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus under cover of darkness when Jesus talks of the need to be born again through water and the Spirit. As the Spirit of God hovered over the waters of Creation bringing order from chaos so too he fills the hearts of believers, gives them a new birth. The Spirit of God shows us who Jesus is and leads us closer to him. The Spirit fills our hearts and lives, praying in and through us, like a deep sigh too deep for words.
The disciples have moved out from beyond the closed doors of that upper room into the streets of Jerusalem, but their journey has only just begun. Soon they will leave the confines of the city walls, move out into the country and beyond. Today, as Peter and John return to their brothers and sisters, we hear them pray, and join our prayer to theirs, as they raise their voices to say, ‘Master it is you who made heaven and earth and sea, and everything in them.’ Soon, they will cross boundaries and venture into other countries, to take the message far and wide around the world, and witness to a New Creation.
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These posts are part of our endeavour each day to provide a short homily or reflection from the celebration of the Mass of the day. Links are posted on Twitter and Facebook, and you can also sign up for daily emails in your inbox by registering your email below:
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Mass today (Monday 17 April, 2023) is celebrated at St Mary’s Church Butetown at 6pm and Ss Dyfrig and Samson, Grangetown at 7pm. If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button
A journey from Cardiff by boat across the Bristol Channel to the island of Flat Holm raises the question, ‘What do we want here?’ Fr Dean reflects on a pilgrimage with Matt Batten
“There’s an easterly wind from Newport,” said the skipper as I enquired about the weather. I didn’t blame Newport. I don’t think they were responsible for the wind or the waves or the sickness that overcame Matt as his face became a pallid green half-way through the journey from Penarth to Flat Holm.
I had noticed a break in the excited chatter we’d exchanged since we met that morning for Mass at St Mary’s. The weather didn’t look good, but we were on an adventure, a personal pilgrimage, just the two of us, with the weather against us.
As we made our way across the waves of the Bristol Channel on board the Lewis Alexander, Matt had stopped moving around from taking videos of every moment and matter. He’s a ‘Comms Guy’ through and through, always looking for the angle, a new way of sharing something in a fresh way. For now, he had stopped. There was silence, apart from the chug of the boat, the sound of the sea.
As I turned away from my own view of the horizon and the grey sea which rose and fell and crashed against the boat, I saw him, sat there, looking, well, rather unwell, as grey as the sea. He rushed to the side of the boat and stayed there for some time. There, he had his own ‘private’ moment.
Afterwards, we chatted about the journey of St Cadoc all those years ago, back in the fifth century, and how his coracle must have crashed on the waves which made the journey difficult and dangerous. We marvelled at the faith and adventurousness of the Celtic Saints who pushed out from the familiar in search of something more. We always want more.
No wonder that when St Cadoc, after his own Flat Holm pilgrimage, sent his fellow pilgrim, Baruc, back to collect a forgotten prayer book, that Baruc succumbed to the waves. His body was washed up on the mainland, his name given to another island which welcomed his body.
That island, Barry Island, is now a playground for day trippers and holiday makers, armed with candy floss and popcorn, and whose fingers smell of the metal of money dropped into the slots of the arcade games. There, the only sickness comes not from the sea but by the fall and rise of Fairground rides as they look for excitement. We always want more.
We arrived at Flat Holm, and were greeted by a battalion of birds, gulls who gathered in great numbers as the boat chugged onto the shingled shore. I misinterpreted their cry as a welcome, a wing-flapped applause, an avian benediction. Instead, they said ‘Go home, stay away, leave us alone, this is our home. What do you want here?’
What do we want here?
At the water’s edge, we were welcomed by the new Warden of Flat Holm who began his job just four weeks earlier, and we spent much time with him.
We talked about the island and nature and the environment and the beauty of the island, the harshness of life here. But we also had conversations about the street and urban issues and young people. We talked about our backgrounds and our experiences. There, in seclusion and beauty, we talked about poverty and the lack of aspiration and opportunity, about politics and refugees and communities, about the direction of the country and how we all fitted in. A pilgrimage is never an escape from life. It’s an embracing of life, offers a new perspective.
From Flat Holm, we could see the city of Cardiff, from afar, across the rising grey waves. Even though there were the grim, grey clouds, pushed across by the easterly wind from Newport, we could see the tips of buildings, the eclectic gathering of steel and glass, the shape of the city.
What do we want here?
That’s the question, waiting for an answer. Whoever comes here is just dropping by as a visitor, a passer-by. Each of us needs to be respectful of the home into which we step, and those who live here – the wildlife – allowed a time, a place, to be at home, and thrive beyond the steel and glass of the city’s staggered life.
Here, on Flat Holm, nature takes priority. This is nature’s home, and we need to tread carefully with respect, with love, and to discover what it means to be at home in the world.
On the way back, as we gazed over the boat’s edge, I asked Matt what colour is the sea? He thought it brown. Yes, at times, it seemed brown, but then grey, and then the froth of broken waves which gave it a hope, an ambition to be a different colour, something new. We always want more.
The journey back was smoother. Perhaps Newport was kinder to us as we were homeward bound. It held back its wind, and we washed in through the Barrage from the flat tops of Flat Holm with a relative ease.
It had rained that day, across the island. We hadn’t noticed the rain, just the easterly wind along the journey. And the memory of the flat-topped island which welcomed us for a while, and asked us ‘What do you want here?’
Readings: Acts 4:13-21; Psalm 117(118):1,14-21; Mark 16:9-15 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)
Homilies often begin with an illustration from everyday life. But today, let’s get straight to the point, which is what St Mark does in the gospel reading today. In typical succinct tone, he sums up the resurrection appearances of Jesus. He begins with Mary of Magdala and how her message was met with unbelief. After this, he speaks of two other disciples who were travelling to the country and who also did not believe. At last, he showed himself to the Eleven while they were at table. Jesus ticks them off for not believing the witness of those who had seen him, and then gave them the commissions to ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the good news to all creation.’
Our faith in the Risen Lord is not operated by some imaginary switch, like a light bulb which immediately brings light to a room. Rather, it is often gradual, like the rising of the sun at dawn, when one is not quite sure if we are in light or darkness, but we soon sense that the darkness is gradually giving way to the brightness of the sun. Doubt is part of the pilgrimage of faith, as we grapple with the reality of God.
It is like Jacob wrestling with the angel at the River Jabbok. Or like Peter stumbling his way from the fire of denial in the courtyard when Jesus is on trial to the sands of Galilee’s shore and the fire that the Rosen Lord had kindled for them to ‘Come and have breakfast.’ At the end of the gospel reading today, the disciples are sent out. We see them doing this in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Filled with post Pentecost fire and with a firm faith in the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, Peter says, ‘We cannot promise to stop proclaiming what we have seen and heard.’ Peter and the others have been on quite a journey. It is a journey in which we share, and to which we can perhaps relate, as our faith grows and is enlightened like the rising of the sun at dawn.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
These posts are part of our endeavour each day to provide a short homily or reflection from the celebration of the Mass of the day. Links are posted on Twitter and Facebook, and you can also sign up for daily emails in your inbox by registering your email below:
MINISTRY AREA MASS
Mass today (Saturday 15 April) is celebrated at St Mary’s Church Butetown at 11.30am, preceded by Morning Prayer and Rosary at 11am. If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button
Readings: Acts 4:1-12; Psalm 117(118):1-2,4,22-27; John 21:1-14 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)
Perhaps one of the many comforting things for us which come from the resurrection appearances of Jesus is the number of times those who had been closest to him, failed to recognise him. How does this resonate with us? How many times do we fail to recognise Jesus, have we not been aware of him or alert to him? How often have we allowed other things to get in the way? Perhaps, at times, both the highs and lows of life distract us.
In the gospel reading, after the catch of fish, the Apostles begin to recognise Jesus. He calls them to sit and eat with him. The invitation to do the same is always before us. The invitation to the Eucharist is free and open to all and yet so many people prefer not to accept this loving invitation. They may find other things to do that, for them, are more important and worthwhile. Perhaps at times our enthusiasm wanes, we get tired and disconnected, worn and weary, and we disconnect from the Mass.
‘Come and have breakfast,’ said Jesus to the Apostles. They bring some of the fish they have caught, fruits of their labours, gifts for the banquet. Jesus, in return, accepts these fruits, transforms them into a meal of which he is the host, and where he nourishes them with his Risen presence. At the Eucharist, we present the gifts of bread and wine, fruits of the earth and work of human hands, and they become for us the bread of life and the chalice of salvation. It is a banquet of Divine proportions.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
These posts are part of our endeavour each day to provide a short homily or reflection from the celebration of the Mass of the day. Links are posted on Twitter and Facebook, and you can also sign up for daily emails in your inbox by registering your email below:
MINISTRY AREA MASS
Mass today (Friday 14 April) is celebrated at St Mary’s Church Butetown at 9.30am
South Cardiff Ministry Area’s Easter Mass 2023 at St Mary’s Church
Readings: Acts 3:11-26; Psalm 8:2,5-9; Luke 24:35-48 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)
As the two disciples from yesterday’s gospel share their Emmaus story with the other disciples, Jesus stands among them. They have been witnessing to his risen life with a personal testimony, speaking from their own experience, sharing their joy, telling their own story and, there, Jesus stands among them.
All that had happened had caused so much confusion, stirred up so many emotions, created so many tensions that it took some time to assimilate everything. Words such as ‘alarm’ and ‘fright’ enter the narrative. Jesus senses their agitation, discerns their doubts, and invites them closer to see and to touch him. He shows them his wounded hands and feet, the marks of love.. Jesus will for ever be associated with the sacrifice of the cross. He carries his wounds for ever.
Each of us has our own story of faith to tell. We may not think that our story is significant when compared to others, or we may find it difficult to put it into words or be confident to tell it. But we can be assured that when we share the good news of Jesus risen from the dead and reveal how his grace has moved our lives, he will be standing there with us. For our story of faith is not to draw attention to us but to reveal Jesus to others. He wants others to see the wounds that have come from his love. He desires others to draw near to him, to experience the peace he brings to the world.
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These posts are part of our endeavour each day to provide a short homily or reflection from the celebration of the Mass of the day. Links are posted on Twitter and Facebook, and you can also sign up for daily emails in your inbox.
MINISTRY AREA MASS
Mass today (Tuesday 13 April) is celebrated at Ss Dyfrig and Samson, Grangetown at 9.30am | St Mary’s Church Butetown at 10am | St Saviour’s Church, Splott at 5.45pm
A pic from Easter Sunday at St Saviour’s, 2023 featuring our newly baptised with friends and family
Readings: Acts 3:1-10; Psalm 104 (105):1-4,6-9; Luke 24:13-35
Martin Buber, the Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher said, “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware.” This is certainly the case for those two disciples of Jesus who made their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Perhaps they wished to make the journey as quickly as possible – after all, most of us are very keen indeed to get to our destination and we may view the journey as something to be achieved quickly, efficiently, and as a simple means to an end.
Whilst the destination of Emmaus is always before them, on arriving they will look back on their journey and realise the significance of what they had experienced along the way. After spending a short time in Emmaus, they return to Jerusalem as quickly as possible, retracing their steps. They are now deeply aware for themselves that Jesus had risen from the dead for they had recognised him in the Breaking of Bread. Even though he had shared in their journey, walked and talked with them, been invited to stay with them at the end of the day, they failed to recognise him. When they arrive in Jerusalem, their own experience is confirmed by that of the disciples. ‘Yes, it is true,’ they said. ‘The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Those two travellers then share the story of what happened to them on the road and how they had recognised Jesus at the breaking of bread.
Whenever we gather at the Eucharist, we are called to recognise the Risen Lord. But we also bring to him all that we have experienced along the path of life. Being attentive to the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist can help us to be more alert to his presence in our daily lives, and in all the little journeys we make, whether we are at work or rest or play, whether we are moving on or standing still. Sometimes, our journey may take us to a different destination, or new possibilities are opened to us. We may even go back to where we started but with a fresh perspective on life. So, may our time spent with Jesus in the Breaking of Bread, and the precious gift he gives us, help us to be more attentive to his presence in our daily lives.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
These posts are part of our endeavour each day to provide a short homily or reflection from the celebration of the Mass of the day. Links are posted on Twitter and Facebook, and you can also sign up for daily emails in your inbox.
Celebration of Baptism at St Saviour’s Church, Easter Day 2023
Readings: Acts 2:36-41; Psalm 32 (33):4-5,18-20,22; John 20:11-18
‘On the court, I am fierce! I am mean and I am tough,’ said the American tennis player Serena Williams in an interview for Vogue Magazine in 2005. ‘I am completely the opposite off the court,’ she continued. ‘My confidence just isn’t the same. I wish I was more like I am on the court. Nobody would know that I am constantly crying or complaining.”
We often try to hide our tears, conceal our sadness, try to be strong and fierce in the public eye. Today’s gospel reading is filled with tears which freely flow. Mary Magdalene is mentioned twelve times in the gospels, more than most of the apostles and more than any other woman in the gospels. One thing that we significantly remember her for are her tears.
She weeps at the entrance way of Jesus’ tomb and, as she stoops to look in, she continues to weep. Alone and beside herself, her sadness and distress deepen. Angels dwell where Jesus once lay but this does little to comfort her. ‘Woman why are you weeping?’ Her voice cracks through her tears and sobbing. She seeks the body of Jesus, needs to do what she couldn’t do a few days ago when he was buried in haste and left his body to the darkness of a sealed tomb. From behind, out of sight, she hears another voice which echoes the angels’ question. ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ Her anxiety continues. ‘Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him. He speaks her name. ‘Mary.’ In that moment, as she recognises him, he calls for her total attention. She tries to embrace him for she cannot contain her joy.
Mary of Magdala’s tears have defined her, but she is, above all, defined by that message she takes to the Apostles. Her sadness is dissolved by the joy she experiences at meeting her Risen Lord. From there, Jesus sends her off and she makes haste, is fierce and confident, full of faith, unstoppable, as she carries the message of life, and the good news of the Resurrection of Christ. She runs to tell the apostles that she has seen the Lord. We, too, carry the same message which transforms the world. We, too, are called to share this news with others.
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These posts are part of our endeavour each day to provide a short homily or reflection from the celebration of the Mass of the day. Links are posted on Twitter and Facebook, and you can also sign up for daily emails in your inbox.
A portrayal of the Easter Garden at St Mary’s 2023
Readings: Acts 2:14,22-33; Psalm 15(16):1-2,5,7-11; Matthew 28:8-15
Apparently, each of us lies at least once or twice a day, although prolific liars will, of course, lie in greater numbers! The lies we often tell may be such seemingly trivial things as providing a false complement to someone, or concealing how we really feel when asked, ‘How are you today?’ And then there are other lies when people or institutions have gone out of their way to cover up something, a lie which has serious consequences for all involved.
When Jesus was on trial, Pontius Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’ Jesus gave no answer. As the women who visited the tomb of the first Easter Day return with joy to the others at encountering the Risen Lord, there are backroom deals being done elsewhere. A story is concocted to cover up the most recent happenings and, after an exchange of money and the promise of protection, the soldiers start to circulate the story that the disciples of Jesus have stolen his body under cover of darkness. There is, though, quite a difference between a lie and a perspective.
There are always different perspectives of the same event. News outlets can give varying angles to the same story. Witnesses to a crime can give very different descriptions of what happened. Indeed, each of the four gospels provide a slightly different perspective on the events of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, each written at a different time, for a different audience, but each seeking to reveal the truth. When Peter spoke to the crowds on Pentecost Sunday, filled with the Holy Spirit, he shared the truth of what he had experienced and witnessed. He talked to them with conviction about Jesus the Nazarene who died and was raised to the heights of Heaven. ‘God raised this man Jesus to life,’ he said, ‘and all of us are witnesses to that.’ Whilst we may not have the eloquence and confidence of Peter, each of us can try to live lives that are authentic, lives which reveal something of the Truth in which we believe – not only with our words but with our actions. We too can be active and living witnesses to the Truth as we rejoice in the Lord in whom we take refuge, and who is our portion, our cup, our prize (Psalm 16:1-2)
MAKING CONNECTIONS
These posts are part of our endeavour each day to provide a short homily or reflection from the celebration of the Mass of the day. Links are posted on Twitter and Facebook, and you can also sign up for daily emails in your inbox.
South Cardiff Ministry Area 