So many people over the centuries have been prepared to give their lives in witnessing to God. Their faithfulness can inspire and encourage us today. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for Saturday of week 17 of ordinary time can be found here (memorial of St Alphonsus Mary de’ Ligouri).

Pope John Paul II once said that the 20th century saw more Christian martyrs than the previous 19 centuries combined. Some debate the accuracy of this claim, depending on how a martyr is defined. However, there’s no doubt that over the past 100 years many have been willing to die for the faith. Think of St Maximilian Kolbe in the 1940s, St Oscar Romero in the 80s, or Fr Jacques Hamel, murdered while saying Mass in 2016.

In our readings today we see two figures willing to pay the ultimate price for serving God. Jeremiah has previously said that the Jerusalem Temple will be destroyed because of the people’s rejection of God. In today’s first reading the religious leaders say that he deserves death for this message. Jeremiah accepts his fate, saying “I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you.” The people intervene however and Jeremiah survived.

Not so fortunate was John the Baptist who we read about in the Gospel. Herod has him beheaded at the behest of his mistress and her daughter because John condemned the king for his immorality. We may not face such severe consequences for proclaiming the faith as Jeremiah, John, or the whole company of martyrs. However, may their actions example inspire us to be bold as we seek to witness to God’s truth today.

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

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

Sometimes as Christians it can feel that no-one wants to listen to what we have to say. Yet this was also the experience of the prophet Jeremiah and even Jesus himself. Like them, we should simply persevere, knowing that we are doing God’s work.

Readings for Friday of week 17 of ordinary time can be found here.

In December 1837, the newly elected MP Benjamin Disraeli rose to make his maiden speech in the House of Commons aged only 33. Criticising the previous speaker, he was met with laughter, shouts, and jeers from the opposition benches. Eventually he had to give up and sit down, saying “one day you will hear me”. Thirty years later Disraeli would have the last laugh as he began the first of his two stints as prime minister.

It’s never very nice when other people do not listen to what we have to say. Yet this was the experience of both Jeremiah and Jesus in our readings today. Jeremiah stands in the court of the Temple in Jerusalem and prophesies its destruction, saying that it will go the same way as Shiloh, the original Israelite sanctuary which was destroyed by the Philistines. The priests react angrily to Jeremiah’s words, threatening to kill him for what he has said.

In the Gospel reading the citizens of Jesus’ own hometown react to his ministry with a mixture of mockery and disdain. They cannot believe that the person they have known growing up can be anything special. This leads to Jesus’ famous declaration that a prophet is without honour in his hometown. Often the church’s message is met with either opposition, derision, or even both. This can discourage us and tempt us to give up, or even not bother in the first place. Like Disraeli, Jeremiah, and of course Jesus himself, we should persevere, regardless of the response, sure in the knowledge that we are proclaiming God’s word to the world.

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.

Like a potter, God shapes us by his very own hands. Patient and loving, he is willing to reshape us when we go astray. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for Thursday of week 17 of ordinary time can be found here.

My dear late mother had many gifts, but being good at knitting was not one of them. She told the story of how, before I was born, she tried knitting something for my older brother. Sitting in front of the open fire in her mother’s living room, mum dropped a few stitches and got into a bit of a tangle. In a fit of frustration, she threw the whole lot – knitting needles and all – into the fire! When my dad said “oh I expect my mum could have sorted that out” he was not popular! Have you ever had a moment of frustration like that, trying to do or make something and it just won’t work? And so you feel like throwing it away and giving up.

This is not the attitude of the potter whom Jeremiah visits in our first reading today. The pot he is working from clay on his wheel goes wrong, so he patiently reworks it into another vessel. He doesn’t give up at the first sign of difficulty, and all is not lost. God then likens himself to the potter, and Israel, his people to the clay. Israel has been rebellious for many centuries, continually falling out of shape like a wobbly piece of clay. And yet God promises never to give up on his people, and says that just like the potter he will remould Israel back into his own image.

In the Gospel reading we have another image of God’s patience with his people. The kingdom of God is compared to a net which gathers in fish of all kinds. God’s kingdom, and God’s world, as we know, is full of all sorts of folks – with plenty of misshapen pots and scraggly pieces of knitting included. Judgement, we are told, comes at the end of the age, only when all have had the chance to turn to God and follow his ways. 

God does not require us to be perfect vessels. Aware of this, may we always refrain from passing judgement on other fish who are in the net alongside us. All he asks of us is that we are willing to be held in his hands, the loving potter, who desires and promises to continually reshape us more and more into his likeness.

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.

Grief is a common human experience. The Bible does not shy away from this, as Biblical characters encounter their fair share of loss. Yet with God there is always hope for a way through. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for Wednesday of week 17 of ordinary time (memorial of Ss Mary, Martha and Lazarus) can be found here.

There’s one thing that unites all human beings, of all ages, nationalities, creeds and colours, from the very richest to the poorest of the poor. And this is the experience of grief. Every person in the world has some experience of bereavement and loss, of losing someone that they love. Some, of course, will have endured more than others, and it will affect everyone in different ways. And yet, it is a common experience that unites all humanity. This means that we can identify with others going through grief, and maybe even be able to help them.

In our first reading, Jeremiah is full of grief. His pain is not actually because of the loss of a loved one, but it might as well be. “Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me”, he says. “Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?” Many people who have gone through bereavement could identify with these words. The Gospel reading concerns the death of Lazarus, Jesus’ friend, and the response of Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha. Martha’s words to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died”, can be taken two ways. She might be blaming Jesus, accusing him of taking too long to arrive. Or she might be expressing a longing for a different outcome, or a mixture of the two. Either way, those words show that Martha has trust in Jesus’ power. This is reflected in what she says later on, affirming that her brother will rise again and that Jesus is the Son of God. In the first reading it is God himself who addresses Jeremiah in his sadness. “I will restore you”, God says, “for I am with you to save you and deliver you”.

The Bible never shies away from the harsh realities of life. Characters such as Jeremiah and Martha experience the same pain and suffering as we do. God never promises that those who believe in him will have a trouble-free life. What he does promise, however, is to walk alongside us in our darkest times, and that in the end hope will always win out over despair.

Mass today is in St Paul’s at 10am and St Mary’s at 11am.

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

Sometimes in life we are simply watching the clock, waiting for something happen. God promises that one day he will bring in his Kingdom; we not only wait for it, but can also play our part in bringing it about. Fr Richard reflects on today’s readings from Mass.

Readings for Tuesday of the 17th week of ordinary time can be found here.

Have you ever “watched the clock”? You’re enduring an experience that you wish would be over and so you keep checking the time, almost willing the clock to tick round a bit faster. Perhaps it was a lesson you hated at school, a boring church meeting (no such thing exists in South Cardiff, of course), or a football match where your team is hanging on for a win. Although wishing time away is probably not to be encouraged, watching the clock is, in a strange way, an expression of hope. We have the hope that whatever torture we’re going through will eventually be over, and better times will follow.

In different ways our readings today express this hope that, despite all its problems, the world is moving towards some kind of salvation. The prophet Jeremiah is famous for his bleak messages of doom, and at first glance today’s passage fits this bill. He talks of the nation being shattered, people pierced by the sword and diseases of famine. Yet the reading finishes on a note of hope, with Jeremiah acknowledging that only God can bring the nation out of this terrible moment.

The hope in our Gospel reading focuses on God’s judgement at the end of the age, when he will get rid of all that is evil (the weeds) and reward the righteous (the wheat). Christian hope is not just about watching the clock, however. We have a role to play in hastening God’s kingdom, whether by repenting and trusting in God, as Jeremiah did, or seeking to be the good wheat in the world, witnessing to God’s love through our words and deeds.

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.