UCA News Podcast

Most of Japan’s Catholics are not Japanese. They have come to alleviate a shortage of native workers. While the Church has tried to respond to their …

We must teach the world's wolves a new way of living. We must teach respect for the weak and service to them. We must teach the wolves that lambs are …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Hong Kong marks the 25th anniversary of the British handover to China …

What do we think we are doing when we pray to saints? Are we applying extra pressure on God? Are we relying upon some sort of magical powers that we think a saint might possess? Does the communion of saints that …

When the Lord calls us, it is because he wants a response in action from us now, not a minute from now, not an hour from now, not next week or next year. He does not call upon us by appointment. He will not be penciled …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Natural disasters have hit Asian nations, affecting millions of …

God's love and blessings are not limited by the belief of the men and women through whom God chooses to work. A pagan priest-king not only has a place in the building of the Reign of God, but God uses him to bless …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Rising attacks against Christians have triggered alarm in India and …

Whether or not they really exist, ghosts teach us something about what is happening in the Church. The Church as we have known it is dying in much of the world. We can, like ghosts, hang on to what and where we have …

Our glory as Christians is that God has chosen us to carry on the mission of the Son to be the love of God incarnate in creation. Our shame is that we so often fail as a Church and as individual Christians to live that …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

The Indonesian government has invited Pope Francis to visit the …

Today's feast is a celebration of our mission as Church to proclaim to the whole world that Christ is risen. Since it is also a day on which we …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Catholics in Asia cheered as Pope Francis named six new cardinals …

The world is in an ecological disaster and needs the People of God to show a way of hope. However, it is unlikely to be heard because those who speak …

We, the new people of God, have been prepared for our vocation. We are the apostles. Christ has stepped aside so that we might step forward. The Acts of the Apostles begins with the Ascension of Jesus; they continue …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Hong Kong’s outspoken Cardinal Joseph Zen remains defiant after …

The gift of peace would be glorious in itself, but as Christians we have a special vocation. We are called not merely to find peace, but to be the …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Attack on Marian shrines in India and Myanmar shocked Catholics, …

Bringing the world to Christ is our vocation. Loving one another is the way to live that vocation.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a …

The Catholic Church in Asia operates in ignorance. We don’t really know ourselves or the world in which we are called to proclaim the Good News. …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

The arrest of Hong Kong’s Cardinal Joseph Zen has sparked global …

It is still Easter time. It is still the season of resurrection. It is still the season to recall that my life is not a matter of the merely day-to-day, but of eternity.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Thousands of mainly Christian ethnic Karen have fled their homes as …

Peter was chosen to lead the disciples, to lead the Church, not because he was bright or well-spoken or a deep thinker. He was appointed to look after the Lord's flock because he loved the Lord.

About the Speaker: Father …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Pope Francis has called for the truth behind the 2019 Easter bombings …

Faith and ideals give us dreams, but the reality we inherit limits how we can work toward making those dreams and hopes come true. Incarnation means that we, like Jesus, live in a world we are given, a world in which we …

God entrusts us with a great gift. Overcoming evil depends upon our willingness to forgive. It is up to us. We can forgive, or we can refuse to forgive. God will accept our decision.

About the Speaker: Father William J …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Easter celebrations triggered mixed feelings for Christians in Asia. …

On this Sunday, this Easter Sunday, we remember what every Sunday is because of what happened one Sunday long ago when the mission of the Church was born in the proclamation, "The Lord is risen!"

About the Speaker: …

Today is also a day of commitment to be a sign of God's love. God felt it worthwhile for Jesus to die in order that I might know love. My life is worth giving in the day-to-day as well as, if necessary, in death so that …

Our sharing Eucharist is a service -- a service to the world. We can wash its feet, and we can bring it with us as we share union with Christ. It's all one and the same.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a …

It is early spring in Japan, the time when cherry trees bloom. Even in Tokyo, the world’s largest metropolis, nature calls us to reflect on beauty …

We give thanks to Christ for uniting with us, embracing the fear, pain and death that are an ineradicable part of our lives. At the worst times of my life, Christ crucified is there with me.

About the Speaker: Father …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Catholic bishops, priests and nuns join street protesters in Sri …

Sin is serious, but the most important thing in the world is the love of God that forgives our sins. The scribes and Pharisees had forgotten that.

…

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

India’s Dalit Christians have continued to protest the appointment of …

Lent is a time for me to come to my senses and return to my Father. I do not need fancy words. I do not need to buy forgiveness with good deeds or intentions. All I need is to say, "Father, I have flunked."

About the …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

The ordination of 13 new priests in conflict-torn Myanmar is seen a …

The division of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western halves led to the same division in Christianity. Different histories in East and West then caused the development of different approaches to civil and social …

We are celebrating Lent, the season of repentance. We reflect upon our sinfulness and do what we can with God's help to change our lives. Rather than …

LIsten to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

The Pakistani Church has started the formal process of sainthood for …

The war in Ukraine has ended three-quarters of a century of comparative peace in Europe. Democracy, economic integration, and Christianity were supposed to maintain and spread peace. They have not, and we are left …

Lent is a chance to live our true citizenship. In prayer, fasting and sacrifice, we weaken our ties to the world. We withdraw from our citizenship in this world in order to focus upon our true home, our true citizenship.

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

A Dalit woman’s elevation to the post of mayor in India’s Chennai …

It is Lent. It is good to begin the season by reflecting upon the temptations that Jesus faced and that we face that hinder us in living the Baptism commitment we renew at Easter.

About the Speaker: Father William J …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Asian Catholics pray for peace in Ukraine

Asian Catholics pray and …

As we enter Lent, we reflect on the role of sin in our lives. But we often – maybe generally – look too narrowly at what constitutes sin. The problem …

Welcome to Lent, a time to reflect on our ashiness and our salvation. From now till the start of the Sacred Triduum we will remember that we are Cinderella sitting in sin.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a …

Repentance, prayer, reflection and study will remove the obstacles that keep one from being a wise guide and a clear-visioned healer for the wandering children of God looking for a vision of the love of God made real in …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Indian bishops are campaigning to end discrimination against Dalit …

It is not totally impossible to do love toward an enemy. One just has to do for others what one does for oneself. That still is not easy. But, knowing we can do it for our worst enemy is an encouragement that we can do …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

A year after the military coup, Myanmar continues to burn as new …

The Gospel presents us with a decision and a consequence. We must decide who Jesus is, and upon what authority he says some very strange things. 

…

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Vatican scoffed media speculations that it pulled out representatives …

After every new exposé of abuse in the Catholic Church, bishops, superiors and other managers end any statements with a pro-forma claim that their …

The world is starving to hear of God's love, to see God's love. The world is swimming around in confusion, waiting to be brought into God's net. That is what counts.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

As Catholics in Pakistan welcomed “Servant of God” status for a man …

Either there is something wrong with Jesus, or there is something wrong with our expectations. We either have to abandon him as a savior or accept him on his own terms. There seems to be no other possibility.

About the …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Myanmar is facing a humanitarian crisis as it prepares to mark the …

The Word of God is, or should be, a reminder of God's presence among us. That is the reason we treat a Bible or Lectionary with special respect.

About …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Election fever is heating up in Timor-Leste as a former Catholic …

Catholics, including those whose vocation is to proclaim the Word of God, have become strangers to the Word, and by doing so have put the mission and …

Jesus the Lamb presents us with the wine of peace because he overcomes the sin of the world in his death and resurrection.

About the Speaker: Father …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Catholics in Asian nations offer hope and support to communities in …

The difference between us Christians and the rest of the world is the knowledge that there is an answer for our anticipating hearts, and the answer is the Son of God present among us.

About the Speaker: Father William J …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Shock and anger abound over India’s pro-Hindu government targeting of …

The Catholic Church is preparing for a new kind of synod involving all of us. Its roots lie in an ecumenical council 60 years ago, Vatican 2. Looking …

If we want to see God, we need not spend years doing spiritual calisthenics or wait until we die. God has come among us as one of us. If you wish to see God, look at Jesus, the manifestation of God among us.

About the …

Each of us is presented with the same vocation as Mary. God says to you and to me, "Make my Son present in the world. Forgive sins. Bring healing. Live with faith that my love is stronger than your death. By word and …

As the boy Jesus "increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor, " so, too, the Church grows in wisdom, years and favor.

About the …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Christmas spirit is slowly gripping Catholics in Asia despite …

Today we remember and celebrate the fact that we can know God's glory and power not as some sort of information, but as a person. So, on Christmas Day we move from the story to the program, from what happened long ago …

Last year, we had a Covid Christmas. We thought, or at least hoped, it would be the only one. But now we face our second. In a real sense, every …

Christmas is, of course, much more than a child's feast. But, it is, indeed, a time for us to reflect upon children and the gifts we give them, the legacy we leave them. 

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Catholic-run institutes bear the brunt amid an anti-Christian purge …

What we really want has already been given us. We do not have to wait until Christmas Day to receive it. We do not have to wait until we start …

In the early Church, there was quite a contest between the followers of John the Baptist and the followers of Jesus about who was preeminent. But the …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Politically troubled and divided Hong Kong has welcomed a new …

Jesus birth is attended by various pointers to its significance and meaning for redemption and God’s fidelity to his plan to redeem the human race. …

The Church year begins and ends with disaster stories. They are a style of biblical literature called apocalypse that has now become a genre of …

This Gospel today contains more material to again show the focus of one of the early contests in the first Christian communities: how did Jesus fit …

Today’s Gospel is the most emphatic statement by Jesus about how determined he is to seek out and save whatever might be lost among us. He just won’t, perhaps even can’t give up on us. The implication for us and how we …

The crowds are staggered and amazed that Jesus can heal as he does, perform the miracles that he does, achieve the mighty outcomes that he does. But Jesus wants the crows to appreciate he has more he can do than just …

Sunday Gospel Reflection by Father Bill Grimm

Advent is the season in which the Church recommits itself to living a great adventure. We are a band of companions walking through a world of marvels and dangers to a …

Today’s Gospel announces the mission and message of John the Baptist who comes in anticipation of Jesus to open the way for his mission and message. The evangelist seeks to be precise and exact about when this action …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Compensation bought some consolation for two sexually abused altar …

Healing is the characteristic action of Jesus’ ministry. People in Jesus’ time saw illness and disease as an effect of sin and so the banishment of sickness and the healing of disease is part of the renewal that comes …

St. Francis Xavier whose feast we celebrate today is a saint of wide significance for the Church across the world but especially for those of us in Asia and Australia. In Australia, he is a national Patron Saint and he …

One of the main things that discourages people from exploring the message of Jesus and becoming Christians is the life that Christians live that is so obviously at odds with message and example of Jesus. It is the …

This is a parable of Providential abundance - of God providing for his people in their acute and extreme need. We are in Advent and preparing to …

This invitation to the two sets of brothers comes very early in Matthew’s Gospel and even before he starts to preach his message. And the four …

This Gospel today recounts the evangelist’s way of accommodating in Matthew’s Gospel the reach of Jesus’ message: completely beyond the boundaries of Israel but still taking up its foundation in the way God has been …

Can I believe that when troubles come the Lord comes as well? How can I deepen my faith in that coming? The Lord's answer is "Pray constantly."

About …

Happy New Year. Well this is the Church’s New Year’ Day when all begins again as we enter Advent and build up to Christmas. But we haven’t left the Apocalyptic readings behindhand we open the with one for the First …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Catholics in strife-torn Myanmar continue to be targeted by the …

If ever we needed reminders about what real sacrifices our service of Jesus requires we are reminded of them by today’s gospel but also by today’s …

The number of people outside and even inside the Catholic Church who trust the institution is shrinking. When the Church’s management engages in …

It is difficult to exaggerate the significance of the destruction of the Temple for Jewish identity. The Temple is the point of intersection between …

Today’s feast is an instructive moment for the way the Church celebrates features of Church life. It is the feast of Saint Cecilia and there is no reliable evidence that she ever existed. But she is patron of music in …

When we say Christ is King, we say we belong to him and to no others. We cannot, then, be used or abused, since that is an attack upon his subjects and his sovereignty.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a …

We have reached the moment we’ve been waiting for in all the Gospels - Jesus is before Pilate and is being asked to answer Pilate’s questions about who he is. The most important thing about the questions Pilate’s asks …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Timor-Leste paid tribute to independence heroes on the 30th …

We know in our own lives that trying to be too smart can lead to our demise and it does for the scribes in today’s Gospel. But what is most important then is that this incident becomes an opportunity for Jesus to take …

Luke the evangelists uses the event of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD - decades after his crucifixion - to put …

The Gospel is written after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Romans and uses the event to put into Jesus’ mouth what he would have …

The context in which Jesus tells this story 9is while Jesus is on his journey to Jerusalem. That means Jesus is on a journey of faith and this story informs what that journey requires and expects. And what does it …

There is a lot of action and movement in this story and it’s all for our instruction - Jesus is on a journey to Jerusalem; each of the people that the Lord in this story entrusts with wealth is on a journey to assume …

People can be very discouraging in our lives. They can focus, and lead us to focus on all that is against our accomplishing what is desirable for our growth, happiness and better contribution to others’ lives. What does …

Sunday Gospel Reflection by Father Bill Grimm

The Good News is not that God will make everything work out as we wish but that he is with us in a special way when it seems our world is ending.

About the Speaker: Father …

More extreme apocalyptic language in today’s Gospel and all is calculated to make us alert to the dramatic acts of God that seek our urgent reaction …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

The Indian Church will see its first lay Catholic martyr become a …

Today’s Gospel takes inside Jesus and what he must have felt every day when his followers should such complete ignorance of who he was and what his …

At the end of the year, as we head towards Advent and prepare for the beginning of the Church’s year in Advent, the gospel readings become more and more mysterious. But a focus on what God might be doing in these …

Our human reconstruction of the Kingdom of God is s distraction from what it really is. It isn’t in time and space. it doesn’t refer to a locality. …

Once again, faith is what triggers Jesus miraculous action and the mighty deed of cleansing is there to show something more of just who Jesus is and …

Poland’s bishops were recently in Rome for their ad limina visit that bishops make every five years. While there they complained about the rigor with …

Today’s Gospel is not as simple as it might appear to be. It can’t just about having trading and worship compete because offering the animals is considered an appropriate sacrifice and can’t be dismissed out of hand as …

At this stage in Luke’s Gospel, we are being introduced to a series of stories teaching us simple wisdom about how we grow in the love of and avoid the ways we can take people own the wrong path into darkness. …

Sunday Gospel Reflection by Father Bill Grimm

The woman knew better. She knew that what she had was nothing compared to what God offers. God offers me eternity. Can I, in gratitude, find ways to offer up my treasure of …

This is one of the most profound and moving stories from Jesus about just what generosity really means - surrendering all we have to live on and trusting that God will supply whatever it is we need. That is the heart of …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

The meeting of Narendra Modi and Pope Francis as well as the Indian …

Jesus commends the pragmatism of the cunning servant and suggests that his followers should be just as pragmatic when it comes to their own dealings …

Jesus finds immense depth in a moment of deep bigotry and prejudice among those seeking to find fault with him and he puts it to good use in taking …

Luke’s gospel is very strong and consistent in emphasizing that faith begins with God’s invitation. But then the evangelist is very insistent that the invitation requires our response if anything is to be made of the …

Remembering our dead - what we do today, on All Souls Day - is a deeply mysterious event. It’s mysterious not simply because it is a direct …

The Feast of all Saints today is both a solemn celebration of the destiny of us all and the actual condition of so many simply not recognized in the …

Being a Christian is not about behaving toward others in a certain way. It is about having a special kind of relationship with God. All else follows …

Here Jesus summarizes in simple and direct terms what is at the heart of his message - God is above all and for all and self-sacrificing love is our way of responding to God’s love for us.

About the Speaker: Father …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

The battle between the underground and state-sanctioned churches …

We could read this Gospel as an encouragement to adopt an attitude of “enlightened self-interest” when it comes to management of our engagements with …

Today’s Gospel has two important messages: first of all, being bound and inhibited by the Law is a disservice to faith and love but, secondly, that is especially because Jesus as the Son of God, is Master of the …

Today is the Feast of two Apostles - Simon and Jude. So today’s Gospel is one account of the call and commissioning of the Apostles who are given …

We are seeing more and more each day the impact of human-caused damage to the environment. We need a familial sense of our connection with the rest of creation. It may be too late to head off even more problems. …

Not surprisingly, there are some followers of Jesus who want to know whether all their efforts and sacrifice will yield them any benefit with their …

Once again, Luke the Evangelist comes to the fore as vivid story teller, providing pictures and images so that weight grasp something more of the deep mystery of the Kingdom and God’s transforming power at work in us - …

What today’s Gospel underlines is God will not be imprisoned by human laws, conventions or constraints. God and God’s spirit at work in us “can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Hypocrites are those who …

The Gospels do not hesitate to put us followers of Jesus in a bad light. We, represented by the disciples, can be so dense that we miss something …

This healing story is a classical one - it is healing by Jesus in response to the faith Bartimaeus has in Jesus. It is classic not only in the sense it fits everything the healing miracles display - they are all in …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Religious minorities face hard times amid rising intolerance and …

Perseverance and commitment are what is needed inner faith journey as well as as God’s grace. Today’s Gospel shows that in our lives, Jesus is asking us not simply to seek and search but also to never give up hope. Are …

All too often in life and no less in our relationship with God we think it’s all and only God’s work to bring the change we seek or the remedy we long for. This Gospel underlines that it is in our hands to read the …

Conflict and division, however unpleasant and undesired by us they may be are nevertheless an unavoidable part of life and sometimes those are …

Faith is a matter of an invitation we receive from God and then the response we make to that invitation. God doesn’t do everything for us because, to …

The mission of the Church is to point to the coming and the presence of the Lord. And sometimes the is a costly vocation  as it was for the first Jesuit missionaries in North America who paid with their lives in …

Luke is the best writer in the New Testament at narrative description and story telling. His stories are rich in detail, color and context, making …

Sometimes, being a Christian means going against doing what comes naturally. The whole world does what comes naturally, and that is why it needs …

Despite being with Jesus for as long as they have been with him, his followers really get very little of what his message and meaning is. Lest we …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

A brave Filipino journalist has won the Nobel Peace Prize in a world …

We continue today the “hard sayings" of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel. Luke is the master of narrative and tells some of the richest stories in the New …

St Teresa Avila is a most remarkable woman. She is a Doctor of the Church, a mystic, a Church reformer in a time of great disturbance and turmoil in the Church and one who today points us towards where we can find the …

This section of Luke’s Gospel is brutal and extreme in the way it paints Jesus’ grim attitude to his contemporaries and the choices they make about …

Jesus is plainly very angry with the religious hypocrites of his times. He sees what counter-signs they re to the very with they think they are promoting and protecting. But what actually can he do about their attitudes …

Again, Jesus testifies to the fact that he just doesn’t fit into the narrowband controlling categories prescribed for him by the religious …

Today’s Gospel proclaims just what faith in Jesus is about - not marvel at the signs and wonders he works but trust in the steadfast love he has for us and which can save us. This is about our relationship with Jesus …

Jesus is challenging us to live in the real world, to give up all that might allow us to avoid the truth that there is no easy way to share in everlasting life. And everlasting life is what we all really want; all our …

Sometimes people take an attitude to faith that vindicates Karl Marx’ judgment of religious faith - that it is the opiate of the people. Not so Jesus for whom faith is always presenting us a challenge and another aspect …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

People in Asian nations strive for freedom, rights and justice as …

Responding to flattery of both him and his mother, Jesus cuts straight to the bone and emphasizes what is essential to faith:  not blood relations but the spiritual bonding that comes with being children of the same …

Today’s Gospel goes to the heart of the perennial question posed to us believers: how can we be confident that God is at work in whatever is moving us? There is really only way to answer that: are there the signs of the …

Our relationship with God is not simply a matter of our rejoicing in God’s largesse. Yes, our faith is based on God’s abundant generosity. But as in any real relationships with God: it is not matter of simply stating …

Jesus is many things to us including a patient teacher and in today’s Gospel he isa patient teacher of prayer. Today’s version of the Our Father begins with the words that remind us of our original and unifying bond as …

Martha’s objection to the apparent laziness or at least irresponsibility of her sister in paying attention to serving their guests and asking Jesus to correct her behavior produces from Jesus one of the sharpest lessons …

St Francis of Assisi is the preeminent reminder of just how inexhaustible God’s love is, how far and wide it reaches and how challenging it is to …

Jesus defended two groups in his society that had no defense. He forbade discarding wives or denying children their right to a place among his …

There are two hard stories in today’s Gospel - first that God asks us some things will never b able to realize left entirely our own resources; and that we need to recover the innocence and trust of a child if we are to …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Extremism remains a threat to minorities in Asian nations as …

Angels in Jewish and then consequently Christian though and piety have a simple force and purpose: they are the carriers of God’s presence who come into our experience to prompt our openness to God’s invitations and to …

Although today is the Feast of St. Therese, the Little Flower, there is nothing flowery about the Gospel we have for this feast day. At this stage of Luke’s account of Jesus journey to Jerusalem, Luke shows Jesus to be …

Today is the Feast of St. Jerome to whom we are indebted for several foundational elements in our faith - collecting together what became the the …

Nathaniel is declared by Jesus to be “an Israelite incapable of deceit” or one in whom there is no double dealing. Nathaniel is straightforward, reliable and honest. Nathaniel is astonished at Jesus’ judgment but all …

October is World Mission Month, but mission is not just something to think about for a few days out of the year or one among many activities of the Church that other people and groups also do. Mission is the reality of …

Today’s Gospel is a further instance showing how far Jesus’ disciples have to go to understand who he is and what his message is. They are trapped tribalism. But as today’s Gospel demonstrates, so are the Samaritans and …

What an appropriate Gospel reading for today’s Feast of St. Vincent de Paul. This French priest became a model of sacramental ministry but also …

We companions of Jesus have an essential vocation. All men and women are called to live in the dignity of children of God.

About the Speaker: Father …

How do we manage people who’re like us and doing things we are familiar with but don’t subject themselves to the same institutional constraints we do? We can see them in all sorts of negative ways or we can look at …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Christians face violence as Myanmar continues to burn under military …

Today’s Gospel is the text focused on Jesus’ identity and what that means for what is to become of him, his mission and to his followers. Jesus faces …

Today’s Gospel text goes to the heart of just what Jesus is afraid of seeing develop among his disciples: marveling at signs and wonders and through paying attention only to them, missing the centerpiece of Jesus’ real …

In today’s gospel episode, Herod shows all the insecurity someone in power can display when one more apparently threatening event occurs and the …

Today’s Gospel makes it very clear how Jesus expects his followers live and act while on their missions for him - with full dependence on God’s mercy …

Suitably enough, we have the Gospel text telling of the calling of St. Matthew to be read and heard on this, his Feast day and this particular text …

Today is the Feast of the Korean martyrs who are the seed bed of one of the most lively churches anywhere in the world. Martyrdom is the abandonment …

We can all understand the argument the disciples had. We spend much of our lives seeking status, protecting our status, or mourning the loss of …

Clearly, this parable comes from the period of Church life after the death and resurrection of Jesus and reflects the way the early Christians are coming terms with the reality that lots of people don’t enthusiastically …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Religious and ethnic minorities continue to face discrimination and …

The most important thing about today’s Gospel is not that here Jesus describes four types of disciples and we can portray ourselves according to one of the characterizations Jesus offers us. The most important thing to …

Today is also the Feast of St. Robert Bellarmino, Doctor of the Church

Today’s Gospel gives us a look at how Jesus and his community of disciples were sustained and provided for - who among their group bought and …

Some people can use their faith to structure the way they categorize other people, control their own behavior, use the characteristics of faith to …

Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Cross is exalted so everyone can see it so that they not only behold the means of our …

Today is the Feast of St. John Chrysostom, an early Doctor of the Church. He stands as an example of what we need more of today - leaders who can stand between contesting parties and bring them together. The Gospel …

Authentic humility is a great gift because it allows us to appreciate and appropriately value the gifts we have been given and on which our lives depend. The Centurion in today’s gospel is, of course, not a Jew. But he …

Christ's call for us to take up the cross is an invitation to learn that though suffering is always with us and may make us think God is far from us, it is actually a share in the life of God who also takes up the cross.

Today’s Gospel text in many ways briefly summarizes the message of Jesus - that it is only by throwing in our lot with Jesus and letting go of the pursuit of our own self interest that we can give a welcome to the …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule around 10 minutes.

Minorities and vulnerable communities are facing threats and rights …

With the practical and indeed rustic common sense so characteristic of Jesus in his story telling, where he tells stories in simple terms that the people of his time and all times will grasp the meaning of, he once …

One of the most arresting effects of finding fault with other people’s views or behavior is that we become completely blinded to our own shortcomings …

Today is the feast of St. Peter Claver to whom I have a special devotion. He spent his life serving African slaves in a city to the north of Latin America. They were left out and neglected to a point where they were …

The justly very famous Lutheran theologian Karl Barth made a very helpful distinction that applies to today’s feast of Mary’s nativity: there is a …

Something that has people glued to Jesus is his capacity to heal them of the possession by evil spirits who torment and destroy them. One of the …

It’s hard to exaggerate how mind numbingly self-destructive we humans can be. So it’s comforting to know that Jesus saw just how self-defeating we can be and offers a way that can see such futility reversed or …

The way to make God's love present in this creation is to groan with Christ. Anyone who has tried to share God's love with the world comes to know …

The story in today’s Gospel recounts the reversals which have come one man’s way. Jesus enters that life to reverse the fortunes of the man afflicted …

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The prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award has honored the role of …

Common sense and recognizing the priority attending to actual needs rather than simply standing on his dignity to see that the rules are kept is a …

In today’s Gospel story, Jesus faces the recurrent question of what is needed to bring lasting change - How deep and complete does the change need to go? To the roots? Case by case and a bit here and a bit there? Jesus …

Today’s Gospel is as powerful a story as we find in the New Testament about God’s determination to see his will done and to the limits ways in which …

Today, we see a focus on two of the key features of Luke’s Gospel - Jesus contest with dark spirits that bring confusion, division and death with his Spirit, which brings joy, peace life and love. Curiously, the demons …

Today’s Gospel is taken from early in Luke’s account. The Synoptic Gospels all share presentation and portrayal of Jesus as then leading God’s fight against the spirits of death and darkness and offering life and love …

Here at this stage in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus receives the clearest outline of his prophetic mission, as Luke recalls what that mission is as described as being by the Prophet Isaiah. Then Jesus goes on to describe what …

Do my devotions, practices and thoughts deepen my understanding of real Christianity, or am I in danger of wandering from the truth? Have the customs I learned from my family, from my community and from the teachers of …

Jesus makes it very clear that what he calls his disciples to is not a religion of empty formalism but one that lives from and is nourished by a …

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Asia is reeling from the fallout of the Taliban takeover of …

To follow up the Gospel story we heard yesterday, this Gospel today directly addresses the matter of our response to Jesus’ generous call to us. God …

The love of God and the call of Jesus in the Gospel can be talked about in a way that completely ignores that the call of Jesus invites a response. Jesus doesn’t simply present a call that that works its way without the …

Once called by Christ and if we have responded openly and generously, it is incumbent on us to remain alert to where God appears in our lives and what he asks of us newly. What God asks us never remains the same because …

We are in a place in Matthew’s Gospel where the prophetic impulse in the Gospel is strongest. Jesus is declaring “Woe to you…” for being such two …

How do we come to faith? Everyone has their own mysterious biography - the people and events who spark interest and openness to Jesus’ presence and message, the arresting experiences that force us to sit up and take …

Jesus wants an alignment between what his followers say and what they do in their following of him. He wants us to be sincere and authentic. …

If Jesus is indeed who he and the Church say he is, then there really is no place else to go. If he is real, then any alternative is unreal. We have no choice. If we accept the truth of Jesus' divinity, we must accept …

Following Jesus requires making and living from a real choice: can we entrust our lives into God’s hands and leave to God making something of the …

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The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan continues to dominate headlines …

Today’s Gospel is a very brief summary of just what following Jesus entails for us as relive our discipleship of Jesus. Are we ready to delay our own …

It can appear very simple: following Jesus is about two central things - loving God and loving our neighbor. And while that’s true, it’s simplistic …

Clearly there was puzzlement in the early Christian community over why the Chosen People were not rushing the callow Christ. What are they to make it? The only answer the Gospel gives is that people are free not to hear …

We have a sequence of Gospels in these days that underline what a paradoxical, surprising and unpredictable message Jesus is proposing. Jesus is not …

It is difficult for us humans - apparently so well endowed and swell resourced - to discover and accept that all the gifts and blessings we have can …

We are caught in a whirlwind of change. New realities call for new responses, but where are hints of how to go about them? Perhaps looking at the past will help us move toward the future. But, when we look to the past, …

It is difficult for us to see and name much less surrender what stands between us and God’s deeper embrace of our lives. We are often blind to what …

Every feast of the Church, no matter what its name, is ultimately a celebration of what God has done in Jesus Christ. The Assumption is such a feast, …

Today’s Gospel cuts straight to the heart of who Mary is for us and why we should be so grateful to her: she embodies discipleship and shows us the …

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Religious and ethnic minorities are enduring abuses and …

Today’s Gospel reading at Masses, curiously enough, about as appropriate as a reading could be for the saint whose feast we celebrate today - St. …

Jesus’ teaching on marriage seems very harsh and restrictive if it is taken literally. But understood as a teaching as applying to all who might …

The forgiveness we are called on to offer those who have wronged is is a reflection of the forgiveness God has offered us. Forgiveness is the fluid of our faith life - flowing to us, through us and to all that wrong us. …

Today’s Gospel is a special moment where we can see how the early Christians resolved conflicts and disagreements. The most important thing for us to …

This extract from the Gospel of John comes after the declaration of John’s message through the SIGNS Jesus uses to express what he wants to say and before he goes into the long Last Supper discourse. Curiously, this …

Today’s Gospel is a further gloomy prediction: that the one whom the apostles are following is to comet a painful end when he is given into the hands …

The Eucharist we share is food like that the angel gave Elijah. It is food that enables us to persevere in our long journey to God. It is the …

In our journey in faith, we are invited to journey every day deeper into the life of God in our midst. God wants us to share the life of Father, Son …

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Asian nations have reported repression against minorities including …

This Gospel scene is a decisive statement of just what Jesus' miraculous work is really about: faith - inviting it and nourishing it. It’s not about …

The Transfiguration which we celebrate today is the feast that keeps our eyes and attention focused on what God’s grace can do even as we are smothered in circumstances and impacts that seem destructive and overwhelming …

Today’s Gospel is really what someone would call the clearest and simplest mission statement Jesus could articulate - that he is from God, has a …

In preparation for the reopening of churches, bishops have an opportunity to raise the quality of liturgical service. Workshops for clergy on preaching and liturgy can be done remotely while waiting for the resumption …

Things never happen as and when we want them to happen and today’s story in the Gospel is one underlining the force and significance of perseverance …

Today we have a powerful sequence of stories about the healing that Jesus’ presence brings. This powerful effect is completely free of any effort on …

Today’s Gospel is a decisive turning point in the fortunes of Jesus because the fate of John the Baptist - his execution by Herod’s agents - is a pointer for Jesus to just what lay ahead for Jesus himself. Personal …

The Lord sets a banquet before me, but all too often, I look over, under and around the table for the sort of nourishment I think I need instead of feasting on what I am offered, the only real nourishment I need.

About …

We have reached the climax of John Chapter 6 and the climax of John’s teaching on the eucharist - that this is how God nourishes us for the journey of life and faith with the body and blood of Jesus, blessed and broken …

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Catholics in Asia have experienced both joy and grief this week with …

On the Feast off St. Ignatius Loyola we would do well to consider his two great contributions to the life of the Church - firstly the way he provides …

Human beings - like all of us - don’t like change and do everything to resist it. This is especially so hen we have grown comfortable with a familiar view of other people or the circumstances we have experienced and …

Feast of St Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Today we celebrate the feast day of some friends of Jesus who turn up in the Gospel narratives at various points and are very instructive when they do. Today’s Gospel text allows …

Again, Jesus uses some very simple but just because they are simple, they remain extremely powerful images and metaphors for the action off God in …

This text explains the parable of the sower which is a simple story but one which even from New Testament times has been difficult for disciples to …

The feast of Saints Joachim and Anne has a special place in the calendar of Christian saints even though they are not Christians. It is special because they are Mary’s parents and the grandparents of Jesus. As in all …

The Eucharist is the miracle in which Christ takes "the work of human hands" and presents it to the Father as himself. Our own little bit, our own willingness to search out what we can do, becomes part of that. God is …

Today’s Gospel story comes from John, chapter 6 which is in John’s narrative another of the signs John offers to demonstrate and explain Jesus' …

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Covid-19 and conflicts continue to grip Asian nations alongside …

Yet another use of an agricultural metaphor by Jesus to show the gentle and often mysterious way in which God nurtures the growth of the divine life …

It’s a mystery we can behold every day - growth in people, growth in groups and growth in movements that is as certain as it is mysterious and often …

Today is the feast of St. Mary Magdalene and suitably enough the gospel for today’s Mass is the one recording Mary’s most important contribution to our faith and the story of Jesus -her witness to the Resurrection. Mary …

There is such a familiar accessibility to the stories Jesus tells and today’s Gospel is a classic instance of this - the way grain grows as metaphor for how the Word of God takes root and grows among those drawn to hear …

One of the recurrent themes in Matthew’s Gospel is how the message of Jesus, originally meant for the people of Israel, is actually a universal message meant for all humanity. The same happens withe growth of Jesus’ own …

Today’s Gospel puts the challenge of faith in Jesus very starkly: our faith is in the crucified and risen one and there will be no signs and wonders drawing us to faith beyond what we discover in the person and message …

The Lord tells the apostles and us to pack up the picnic basket, get in the boat and get away from it all. Our bodies, minds and souls all need an …

The demands made of Jesus in his ministry - people relentlessly chasing him and drawing on him, in a way that exhausts him and his apostles - says …

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Christians across Asia face a rising tide of intolerance and …

In this Gospel text, we hear not only the declaration of what Jesus is doing and wants to do but also of how he is doing it and foreshadows his mode of operating hen he gets to Jerusalem. Jesus reveals with under …

Today’s Gospel reading has one of the most significant pointers to how we are to serve God, follow Jesus and live at the prompting of the Spirit: The …

One of the fastest-growing religious affiliations, or more accurately, disaffiliations is the large number of people who declare themselves to be …

What an important Gospel to hear on the Feast of a Doctor of the Church for the Franciscan St. Bonaventure. Come to me all youth labour is a familiar message in Franciscan circles where the love and gentle goodness of …

This gospel text is completely misunderstood if it is taken to recommend an infantile attitude as the only one for us to adopt if we are to draw close to God. Jesus recommends and invites nothing of the kind. What he is …

Two quite violent readings today - one from the Gospel and one from the Old Testament. Both show the dire consequences for people seeking to slide …

We have reached a decisive point in Jesus teaching in Matthew’s Gospel - we are at the end of his instruction of his disciples and Jesus is moving back to preaching and teaching all those drawn to hear his message and …

It is hard to believe that God is relying upon me, when I thought I was supposed to rely upon God. But, that's the case. God needs me, needs us, to bring the Good News to a world waiting unawares for it. So, Jesus tells …

This text from Matthews Gospel puts the choice before us as disciples very plainly: are we ready to allow the God of healing renew, love and reconciliation to be the dominant force in our lives? If we are not, we are on …

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The tragic death of elderly Indian Jesuit activist Father Stan Swamy …

Finding the God whom we can worship all our lives and the real person of Jesus whose following becomes the centerpiece of our lives are matters of …

While God’s Providential care of us as we do God’s work is assured, that assurance does mean it will be easy or that we are assured of success in what we undertake What we can be assured is that nothing we do for God …

Today’s Gospel contains the simplest description of just hat the mission and message of Jesus’ followers is - the heal people and foster life; to …

In today’s Gospel, we re witnesses to privileged moment in the mission of Jesus. He has just just completed the section in Matthew’s gospel devoted to the core elements of his message and he specifies who it is that the …

The Gospel in today’s Mass says specifically just what a change the Good News provides as the way to find and serve God: It is not the predictable, “worthy” and obviously blessed to whom Jesus goes but to those who are …

All sorts things can stand between us and hearing and receiving God’s invitation to faith. Often enough it’s the sheer noise in our lives that blocks us from hearing the call of Jesus. In this Gospel, it is noise from …

Jesus learns something we all know: people don’t like change especially the sort pf change that invites them to reconsider some of their basic presuppositions about life and others but most especially when it comes to …

God does not force us to accept love. In today's Gospel, we hear that Jesus could not perform miracles because people would not believe in him. They …

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India’s Eastern-rite Syro-Malabar Church is in hot water again over a …

The doubts that Thomas has about Jesus risen are representative of our human misgivings and to be expected of us all -  anyone in the first century of the Christian Era or in the first century of the third Christian …

Jesus calls us all in the real world we inhabit everyday. Sometimes that world naturally opens us to God and sometimes it obstinately blocks God out. Whatever that world does to our engagement with God, it really can’t …

The American bishops have failed to influence their society on the matter of abortion, they want to override the democratic system and replace it …

This story draws on what was a common perception in the time of Jesus - that physical affliction was part of punishment for sin. Jesus doesn’t believe that for one moment but people around him do. Jesus wants to show …

This is one of the most vivid stories in the New Testament about how Jesus has an impact in driving the demented and destructive spirits out of people. The demoniacs are possessed by evil spirits intent on destroying …

Today’s feast of Saints Peter and Paul highlights the two essential features of the Church: the rock of faith in Jesus on which the Church is built …

There are always reasons and occasions to do other things than respond to the invitations God offers us. But when the invitation comes, it is our turn to respond to God’s call and strangely our reluctance to respond to …

The world as God wills it and the world as we experience it are both real. To accept only one while ignoring the other is not realistic.

About the …

Jesus is continuing to do battle with the spirits that bring death an here is an iconic instance of that battle in which Jesus asserts and then delivers on his assertion that he is in command the forces at work and no …

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Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing administration has put the last nail in the …

This gospel is especially important because it invites us to embrace the message of Jesus not just in words but in deed - that Jesus is the one with the power of life over death who can create life and prospects for us …

Jesus has just finished delivering what is clearly his biggest piece of teaching in Matthew’s Gospel - the Beatitudes - and then the evangelist has him engaged with what is central and extensively throughout his …

Today is the feast of the birthday of John the Baptist who was never a baptized Christian but all the same is a Christian saint. That’s unusual …

Jesus and his follower were just as concerned as we and our contemporaries are about authenticity - who can be trusted. Is it just someone saying …

Following the call of our Lord isn’t for people trying to avoid challenges. Following our Lord is following the call of Jesus on the journey to …

Today is the feast of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. A a boy I went to a school named after this saint and his memory was done no favors by the sentimental …

The night prayer of the Church recognizes the connection between sleep and death. Our night prayers are meant to be a preparation both for dropping off to sleep and for death, when we will have to let go of everything.

…

Today’s Gospel is a text to reassure us even in the face of circumstances where we feel completely swamped by challenges and circumstances beyond our …

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This week, strong calls for human rights and justice resonated in …

Throughout the Old and New Testament, there is the consistent message that whatever trouble we get into by our own hand or through the ways others treat us, God will be with us and provide for us.

About the Speaker: …

It’s an old saying the “we make our own luck” and that is what Jesus seems to be saying today about our engagement with God and our following of …

Christian prayer is the active cultivation of the presence of God in which we give thanks for all God does for us, ask for what we need and seek the …

This section of Matthew’s Gospel is especially concerned about authenticity - saying what you. Mean, doing what you say. The death of any religion, indeed anything proposing reform an ideals in life, hinges on the …

Following the declaration of the Beatitudes, Matthew has Jesus express just what the “higher road" that following Jesus entails. It really means …

Today’s gospel reading comes from Matthew’s Gospel and follows closely after the Beatitudes. In it Matthew has Jesus spelling out what that the …

'Your mustard seed is what the Reign of God is about. Your little faith, your little effort is enough. Give your little bit and stand by amazed as you see what God will do with it. Your mustard seed will flourish.'

About …

This early in Jesus’ life the Evangelist wants us to know that Jesus is on a mission from his Father, that his eyes are on that mission, that the journey to Jerusalem that is so much part of Luke’s Gospel is …

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The uphill battle for survival continues for religious and ethnic …

Only recorded in Luke’s Gospel, this account of how Jesus becomes a problem to his parents by going off on his own among Temple authorities has a very specific point to make - about Jesus and for us: Jesus is on mission …

This passage from John’s Gospel is as stark and direct as you can find in John’s Gospel which its readers can complain about for its abreactions. …

We could be mistaken and think Jesus is setting up a competitive process to get his followers to compete with their Jewish brothers and sisters to …

Jesus comes to fulfill the promises God made to the People of God, not to wipe out all that pointed to this fulfillment. To appreciate what his …

Today’s Gospel has two purposes: to recall the events of the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist and secondly to recall for us just what the meaning of the last Supper is - the essential celebration of our …

The Gospel reading today - the Beatitudes - is the most emblematic statement of just what Jesus’ message is and where God is to be found - on the …

On this feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, we once again say "Amen" to being Christ for the world, confident that his real presence with us will …

Today we repeat in the Gospel of Mark what we call the “Institution Narrative”, when Jesus institutes what we call the Eucharist. In memory of him, we bless the bread and the cup to recall the life giving death of the …

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The killing of a former priest has sparked an outcry over the culture …

Today’s gos[el story is nothing if not paradoxical because it proposes that those with nothing but still generously offer their “nothing” to God and for the well being of others armor admirable and esteemed by God than …

Today’s Gospel is another chapter in asserting and explaining the heritage of Jesus and just what his gift to us as our savior means - Son of God yes. But also descendant of David as predicted. That affirms his oneness …

When we see and hear how simple God’s invitation and challenge is, we can wonder why we have distracted ourselves as we have with so much additional commentary and so many directives that take us away from simply seeing …

Jesus has enemies and they try to distract people following and listening to him with small quibbles that are too smart by half These pedantic …

The reality of what’s going on in this encounter with Jesus is that his audience is trying to trap and mislead Jesus. He will have nothing of it and just sticks to his script. Hey wants people to be genuine and …

The three big feasts we have celebrated in recent weeks are all ways of mapping out what Christian discipleship means and how we can thrive as …

Trinity Sunday reminds us that God can "get into our pocket" and become knowable and lovable not because of what I do, but because God chooses to be known and loved, chooses to be in my pocket.

About the Speaker: Father …

The Feast of the Holy Trinity is the second of three Feasts - Pentecost last week and the Body and blood of Christ next week - that are a brief and …

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Deadly conflicts and loss of lives continue in military-ruled Myanmar …

Jesus is being cross examined by his enemies not to find out the truth about him but to trip him up and make him unable to act. What is his circuit breaker? He refuses to play their game. The only thing he does is to …

There is a lot of passion flowing in and around the text in today’s Gospel. But all that action really points in one direction - to the significance of faith and the power of faith to move, change, transform people and …

Many miracles in the Synoptic Gospels involve the restoration of people’s sight because seeing with new eyes is part of what Jesus wants to do for us …

Mark’s Gospel is wonderful for its clarity and simplicity. It shows Jesus coming straight to the point and shows his apostles to as blunt, …

The ebb and flow of good fortune and blessing are constants in all faith journeys and we see that again recorded in today’s Gospel. There is no simple way to account for it, predict its course or anticipate its twists. …

Today’s Gospel according to Matthew contains the significant last words of Jesus that have become central to the prayer life of so many over the centuries and also the basis of so many musical compositions. But the …

The Church exists not to be a club of the saved, but to be the herald of the Gospel. Our first concern must always be with those who are outside, for the men and women who have not yet come to know Christ.

About the …

Pentecost Sunday is the birthday of the Church. It is the day when we celebrate the movement of the Holy Spirit to gather and confirm the impact of …

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Pope Francis has appointed a fellow Jesuit as the new bishop of …

We are coming to end of John’s Gospel and the Evangelist wants to present his credentials as a trustworthy re0porter of the activities and sayings of Jesus. But really the only one who can vindicate the evangelist’s …

Today’s declarations by Peter match the three denials  of Jesus after the Last Supper and when Jesus was handed over to Pilate. But the most powerful …

Today’s text from John’s Gospel is most unusual because it is a reflection  on something that must have been a real issue in the early Church - The legacy of Jesus’ work of preaching and building the Kingdom: what is to …

It is impossible to find our way to God unless we are protected and guided in that journey. That is what today’s Gospel is asking us to do - “consecrate” here means to find protection and guidance.

About the Speaker: …

“Glory" and “glorification" are recurrent in this part of John’s Gospel. What does it mean? Glorification is how the Fourth Gospel describes how the surrender of self-sacrificing love produces fruit in abundance and …

We are each pf us a work of God, fashioned and renewed and made fruitful by God’s grace. That is the point of what we celebration the Ascension …

There are people suffering the effects of illness, poverty and injustice. There are people who are ignorant of God's love for them. Evangelization, …

We are approaching the end of the Easter Season and approaching through the Ascension the central feast of the foundation of the Church - Pentecost. This means we are invited to discover and embrace completely new ways …

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Hong Kongers escape China’s persecution

Communist China’s repressive …

We are coming to the end of the “Apostolic" period in the life of the early Church and Jesus immediate presence to believers and the intimacy of that …

Today’s Gospel presents one of the most enduring statements of how we can be with God - “abiding” with and in God. Remaining in and deepening our engagement with God is the simplest statement of what reality of …

On Ascension Thursday, we have arrived - in terms of the timings of Scripture readings in the post-Easter period - at the end of the Apostolic Era. …

In today’s Gospel, the evangelist in the Fourth Gospel actually introduces us to some whose presence and power in the life of believers and the Church only becomes clearer in the Councils of the Church in the centuries …

Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles displayed approach to how faith operates in someone’s life or someone’s coming to faith occurs through a dramatic and extreme experience. Here we have the world broken open …

Faith has consequences for the way we live and how people react to and treat us. And many of the consequences are not appealing or attractive. But the Evangelist in John’s Gospel wants us to be under no illusions about …

Today's continuation of our Easter celebration is a joyous proclamation of the great love God shows in calling us to be united with Christ. It is a …

Today’s reading match and balance each other in very complementary ways. But the point at which they cohere is in the way they all point to God being the one who initiates the life of the Spirit in us and grows the life …

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Despite the Covid-19 pandemic worsening in India this week, Catholics …

Today’s Gospel repeats the Golden Rule of Christianity - love one another. Of course the truly remarkable thing is that Jesus did and does love us, …

Today’s text from the Fourth Gospel is one of the simplest and tightest summaries of just what the Evangelist wants us to understand to be Jesus’ …

Today’s gospel does two essential things: it specifies what our aim and purpose as disciples of Jesus is (to remain in and be animated by God’s love); to share the joy God gifts us with so that our joy may be complete. …

The evangelist in the Fourth Gospel continues with the agricultural metaphor to explain how we grow in our relationship with God ands in any aspect …

Peace and the experience of it is the most reliable indicator of God’s presence in our lives and of God’s blessing of the way we have chosen. Peace …

Once again, the evangelist in the Fourth Gospel is spelling out how essential it is for us believers to recognize the intimacy of our relationship with the God who sustains and empowers us, and to recognize just hw much …

In the Acts of the Apostles, Saul shows what love calls for. He continues to proclaim the fact that he has met the Lord though no one trusts him and …

John’s Gospel is the most consistent and persistent record of just how intimate our engagement in faith with god really is. Our faith is entirely about nourishing that relationship with God so our lives become …

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The deadly second wave of Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc in India …

We know very little or nothing from the New Testament about Joseph, Mary’s spouse and whose feast we celebrate today. What we do know is he is Mary’s …

Today’s text from John’s Gospel sone of the most powerful texts very often used t funerals. And why is it so powerful? Because it clearly provides …

Today’s gospel text takes us back to the Last Supper and Jesus instructions to his followers and to us his followers two millennia later and the …

At this point in John’s Gospel, the evangelists at pains to found his identity in the mission and words given him by his Father. His mission and his works are intimately tied up with what he has been given by his Father …

This gospel has a very distinctive echo in our times. We live in an era of exaggerated emphasis on an externalized identity - as people in society, as citizens in countries, as males and females and son. Today’s gospel …

We are taken immediately and quickly from considering Jesus as the bread to nourish us on our journey of faith - closer to us than we are to ourselves - as we have done in Chapter 6of John’s Gospel to now considering …

Jesus announces himself not merely as a shepherd, but as the Good Shepherd. He is the one shepherd we can trust because he is the one shepherd who is not a sheep himself.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a …

Today’s Gospel from John specifies the pattern of Jesus’ life but also the pattern of the lives who follow him and imitate his pattern of service - …

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This week, Asian nations have experienced violence and repression …

Here today, at the end of Chapter 6 in John’s Gospel, the central question for us is posed: when all is said and done, what does our engagement with …

Intimate union with God through Jesus becomes available to us through the Eucharist. That’s the shock and the simplicity of how much God offers us and makes available to us. It comes to us in with, is given by God’s …

The period after Easter Sunday, the so called Eastertide, is the time when we focus on the way in which God wants us to share through Jesus even more intimately in God’s own life through our sharing in his body and …

God’s gives us life so we can then enjoy God’s love. The two go together. God’s intention is certain and direct. But it is up to us to receive and accept that love into our lives so it can confirm and direct our lives …

This chapter in John’s Gospel is our walk into the nourishment that the Eucharist is for our faith journey. It picks up the Providential care God shows us; it emphasis the nourishment God wants to offer us on our faith …

In this post-Easter time, Jesus and his disciples are depicted as wandering around to a great many places. That forcefully reminds us just how …

Let's face it — the Resurrection is unbelievable. Even seeing the risen Lord is not going to convince us otherwise. It's easier to believe in ghosts or to doubt one's own sanity.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm …

Today in the Gospel for Mass we see Luke putting the pieces of his message about the resurrection of Jesus together and highlighting the key features he wants his community appreciate and accept about Jesus - that the …

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This week, minorities including Christians have struggled for basic …

Today’s Gospel reading is one of the most loved of all readings in the New Testament because it grabs just how many of us meet Jesus - when we are caught in personal turmoil and looking for him to still our hearts and …

John’s Gospel has both the story of the institution of the Eucharist but he has a deeper and richer narrative to support it and the first part of the Gospel reading for today’s Mass. But the resonances in this account …

Our faith life starts and grows in simple ways from an invitation God offers us and to which we respond generously and openly. And that is how it grows too. The reach and demand of the claim and call God makes on us …

Today’s Gospel text at Mass is the most cryptic and succinct summary of just what God is doing in Jesus and doing for us in Jesus - saving us. But God’s love focus is sodden and complete That despite God’s generosity …

The Gospel of John has an abundance of graphic images that abundantly declare what the message of Jesus is and how he works in us. Today, John utilizes an image from the Old Testament that has the Serpent held up and …

Easter time, especially Holy Saturday, is the preferred (of course, not exclusive) date to baptise and welcome new members of the Church. And we see …

Living a Christian life takes courage. However, we need not search for it. We have it. Each Sunday when we join the community of disciples we take the greatest risk, that of meeting the Lord.

About the Speaker: Father …

What is most moving and compelling about today’s Gospel from John is that it testifies to the pervasive existence of doubt about Jesus’ Resurrection across the community that gathered around John, the Beloved Disciple. …

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Catholics in Asia joined Christians around the world to celebrate …

We can really confuse ourselves if we think doubt is the enemy of faith. It’s not as is shown throughout the New Testament. Doubt can lead us deeper into faith. The enemy of faith is certainty and it’s the absence of …

The post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus are many and varied and they can’t be tied down to any simple formula that is endlessly repeated in its …

Luke is wonderful in the way in which he graphically illustrates the story he is telling. That is especially so in the way he illustrates that most …

This account in Luke’s Gospel of the disciples’ meeting with Jesus on the road to Emmaus is iconic for believers because it captures some of the key features of our engagement with Jesus - Jesus initiates the encounter, …

Today’s gospel story is so representative of just how we all respond to the presence of Jesus in our lives. Mary Magdalene is more preoccupied by her own loss and sense of disappointment and so completely misses that …

Something as completely unexpected and indeed unimaginable as the resurrection of Jesus provoked the predictable ways to defuse the story. There were those of course who had everything to lose if word got round about …

On Easter we celebrate on behalf of all the world God's love that embraces all the world. We celebrate for that boy, for all the dead and for ourselves, the living who are promised a share in the life of Christ who rose.

Easter Sunday is the pivot of our Christian lives. In it, we celebrate the transformation any reckless and destructive elements in our past lives, the blessedness in which we live now and the basis for our confidence in …

The first Mass to celebrate the Easter Rising is on the evening of Easter Saturday and recalls the details of those who’re the first witnesses of the …

Good Friday is a special gift to us. This is the day when we can move more intimately into God’s presence and find in our own experience just what relief god gives us when our resources are spent and we feel God …

Today is also a day of commitment to be a sign of God's love. God felt it worthwhile for Jesus to die in order that I might know love. My life is worth giving in the day-to-day as well as, if necessary, in death so that …

Today - Holy Thursday - is mostly celebrated for its being the founding moment for our most familiar sacrament- the Eucharist. But what it is just as …

Our sharing Eucharist is a service -- a service to the world. We can wash its feet, and we can bring it with us as we share union with Christ. It's all one and the same.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a …

In today’s Gospel we hear the account in John’s Gospel of the nuts and bolts of the bitter betrayal and actual abandonment of Jesus by Judas but also …

We are moving further into the depths of Holy Week and Jesus’ destiny as the savior of the world who gives his life that we all may share more in the …

We are in Holy Week which is both where we’ve been going all through Lent but also brings us to the sharp end of our time accompanying Jesus on his …

Today’s Gospel is, of course, the Passion narrative and it’s too long and much too complex and/or too rich to reduce to something you can make a …

We mark this Holy Week with solemn joy. Death is real. But this week we know that love is even more real.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is …

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Catholics in many Asian countries have renewed their devotion to …

How can we escape being two timing frauds in our beliefs? How can we avoid being duplicitous and escapist in our engagement with God? These are the questions that today’s gospel presents us with and we can begin to find …

Clearly Jesus has puzzled the crowds. They don’t know what to make of him. That is as it should be because Jesus is facing the people with challenges …

Today’s Feast - the Annunciation of the conception of Jesus and all that means for every man woman and child on our planet - almost always falls in Lent. Celebration of a conception, even one so mysterious and …

Once again and this time very powerfully, Jesus explains in simple terms that to become involved with Jesus takes us to the heart of God. But people …

This style of Gospel writing can be very abstract and remote from our experience unless we realize and accept that Jesus is talking here about the mystery of his union with his Father. When we do see it that way, we can …

It’s difficult to exaggerate  how perfectly balanced this story of Jesus and the adulterous woman really is: a widely recognized man known for her …

The raising of Lazarus is very important for us to understand in Lent. It points to something central - that Jesus is the massive force for life in the face of death; and that in John’s Gospel, this is the turning point …

John "lets the beans out of the bag" by telling us that Jesus is actually talking about the way he will die, lifted up from the earth on a cross. Do I really want to be drawn to him there?

About the Speaker: Father …

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The Philippines has marked the 500th anniversary of the arrival of …

Today’s Gospel asks us to get off the merry go round of our lives, to listen to what is really going on in our lives and especially where God might …

Today is the feast of St. Joseph husband of Mary. We know next to nothing about him beyond what a loyal and steadfast person he was and what an extraordinary model of discipleship he offers us - the still, silent …

Humankind is resilient. We have survived worse, much worse, than this pandemic. History tells us that we will somehow get through this crisis. We may be changed. We may be scarred. We may have hurts to our hearts and …

This a deeply mysterious section of the Fourth Gospel which seeks to explain why we should trust Jesus and how his destiny and fortunes are …

The purpose of our prayer and dedication to discovering and doing the will of God is for us to be united with God in the action and work He is doing in us and through us every day all about us. That is what today’s …

It’s truly remarkable that people in Jesus’ time could distract themselves foreseeing and believing just how good and gracious God is in the deeds …

The first 12 chapters of the Gospel of John are called the Book of Signs. The Signs are the signs of God’s outpouring of generous doses his mercy and gracious love. Today’s Gospel is the second of the Signs after the …

There are lots of plays on sight and blindness in today’s Gospel, on how we come to real sight that gives us insight and faith and about how God works in us to bring us to faith and to see our lives and our world with …

Lent is the season when we prepare to renew our baptismal commitment in solidarity with those being baptized at Easter. It is a time of preparation …

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This week, human rights and abuses of minorities made headlines in …

Hypocrisy and self-righteousness are two of the biggest enemies of faith. Why? Mostly because they put an insurmountable obstacle between us and God - ourselves! The constant impediment to our engagement with God and …

Our faith is both very simple but also very demanding. In a brilliant way, Jesus summarizes our faith - love of god and of our neighbor - but then also indicates the reach of our love of our neighbor. That reach is to …

There are no half measures in the way God deals with us. We mightn’t see it as straightforwardly as we can and should. But that can’t distract us …

Jesus is clearly not an “either/or” person. He’s not saying he wants people to get on board with his message and discard anything and everything from Israel’s past that contributes to the coming of Jesus and our …

Today’s Gospel reading at Mass is so central to what Lent is for and actually what the whole dynamic of Christianity is in outlives- forgiveness …

One of the constant challenges we face in our journey of faith is accepting that we don’t have all the answers to our problems and that the way God works something we have to patiently ask God for the faith to see and …

Mid-way to our celebration of the Cross and Easter, we reflect on how we are like the animals, tables and vendors in the temple, interfering with others' finding the Lord. As individuals and as a community, we must …

Being God’s presence in the world is then invitation God makes to us all at our baptism. Today as we move closer towards the celebration of the life giving death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter, we are reminded of …

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This week, people across the globe witnessed the horrors of a deadly …

One of the most arresting answers to the question “Who are you?” that I have ever heard was then response to this question given by Pope Francis just after he was elected Pope and was interviewed. As quick as a flash, …

God only writes straight with crooked lines. No gesture, action or intervention of God is ever simple and straightforward. God is the one who appreciates and works by paradox. If we want to live through love in the …

Our living and our loving have consequences and that conviction is given graphic importance in Luke’s Gospel where the Evangelist’s capacity to provide rich narratives show how real the outcomes of our decisions in …

This set of instructions for the disciples and their families comes late I Matthews Gospel and it’s a puzzle why, after all their time with Jesus, they still don’t get what he’s really saying and actually inviting to be …

Today’s Gospel is a characteristic invitation of Jesus to change our ways and embrace the grace of conversion that God wants us to have. Bu how do we do it? One thing is to have the still times with God to hear what he …

Happiness and enjoying all the good things God wants us to enjoy are really in our hands. Sometimes we can read the Gospel, listen to it and think it’s all just too hard and completely beyond us- perfection is for the …

This gospel of the Transfiguration is the one the Church always places for our consideration on the second Sunday of Lent. Why? So that we are comforted at the prospect of what God wants us to enjoy, so that we find …

Today's Gospel is a Lenten reminder that the gift of being a beloved child of God that I received in Baptism leads to my own transfiguration. I walk the way of the Cross in this world, but it is a way that leads to …

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This week, Asian nations have experienced a trampling of basic human …

Today’s gospel takes us to the heart of the most significant challenge for all Christians - loving our enemies. It’s OK to commend that as a wanted state. It’s quite another to move beyond the bruises inflicted by our …

Conversion to following the path Jesus asks us to follow is far from a momentary or instant matter. Jesus is asking us to change our lives and that …

Our faith is an open ended matter from God’s point of view. God will keep giving, sustaining, nurturing, forgiving and renewing us all our days. Our challenge is simple: are we ready to do that for those who come by us? …

The gospel and the first reading too about that most intimidating of subjects - change. And the readings ask us whether we reread to change and to let God into our lives to have us grow and change? The answer is we are …

Praying is something that is very natural and normal once you know the first steps. When you know those first steps and take them, you and I can give ourselves into the hands of the Spirit and God leads us where God …

Today is the Feast of the Chair of Peter and so today’s Gospel is especially important because it specifies just where and how this feast gets its bearings - Peter and his successors as bishops of Rome have no other …

The Gospel text for today is apparently simple. But behind it sits the whole course of our journey in faith - close engagement with Jesus, the …

The Lord calls us to a change of life, a change we exercise in some small way in Lent as a means of recommitting ourselves at Easter to the big reform we accepted in our baptismal commitment.

About the Speaker: Father …

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This week, Asian Catholics joined the faithful across the globe on …

It’s difficult to give this Gospel story its full force because here is our Lord, the source and center of all that is good saying that his life is …

The purpose of Lent is to allow us time and space to discover God in our lives and to through the power of the Spirit to allow God to be God, free of our rigid expectations. And if we feel that is a big challenge, we …

We all get faced with making choices all through our lives, sometimes every day of our lives. And every choice we make comes at a cost. Here at the beginning of Lent we are faced with that reality about our faith and …

Lent gives us a chance to taste the emptiness of their lives so that we will be better motivated to share the good news with them that they, like we, are invited to leave our ashes behind and take part in a glorious …

Today is Ash Wednesday when we take the sign of the cross marked on our foreheads if we can to remind us just how simple and basic our being marked by God is. The ashes come from the burnt remains of the palms from last …

Today’s Gospel offers Jesus to comment again on the feeding of the 5,000 and to appreciate how obtuse his followers are. This story, like the feeding …

Once more, we register just how frustrated Jesus becomes with the lack of faith and real obtuseness of his followers. They just don’t understand who …

We followers of Jesus are called to be supernatural. In other words, we must be people noteworthy for our willingness to go beyond the natural in …

Today’s gospel reading is a short one from very early in the Gospel of Mark but in many ways it summarizes one of the central themes of Mark’s gospel- the contest between the spirit of light and life and the spirit that …

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This week, Asian nations have experienced violations of political and …

Of all the stories Jesus tells to focus our attention on his providential and abundant care of us, none is more powerful than the stories of his …

Today’s readings at Mass are direct treatments of different types of burdensome evil - physical evils that the disabled endure and which Jesus heals and the more sophisticated treatment that the writers of Genesis give …

Today’s Gospel from Mark is another account familiar to us now of how we are cured and healed of the destructive effects of spirits and impulses and …

Today’s gospel asks a question we should out to ourselves every day and several times through every day: who and what is in control how we behave and …

As  Christians we were hurt by the vehemence of their reaction to the mention of Christianity, even if that mention was a tasteless or even stupid one. But as a Christian, we also knew that the hatred the other kids …

We humans are an odd species. We develop practices and habits for good reasons. We follow them so much we can’t imagine ourselves not following them. …

Today’s gospel presents us with a central challenge to us in our faith journey: are we ready to wait to discover what God is inviting us to be and become. It may or may not (and usually does not) have much to do with …

Like Jesus, we must be ready and willing to leave our prayer for those who seek us out. Like Peter's mother-in-law, our encounter with God must get us back to normal stuff.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a …

We can hear a lot today about the need for “work/life balance”, and we should. We can get so distracted from what is deepest, truest and most …

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The military coup in Myanmar shocked the world and made headlines in …

One of the constant features of Mark’s Gospel is how superficial the crowds are and how superficial even Jesus’ followers are. They are just …

Today’s gospel takes us to the heart of how we become entrapped by our own self-interest and how that entrapment suffocates us morally and spiritually. It also takes us to where we can be set free by God’s liberation of …

This is one of the most graphic and powerful portrayals in the New Testament of just how God works and how and why Jesus is good news for us. Jesus …

In the journey faith, the one absolutely certain feature we should be ready for in abundance is paradox - what we don’t expect or predict occurs and …

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord when the Gift of Jesus is gratefully received from God and acknowledged by Jesus’ parents.  It is …

We are on a journey with God as our companion. Progress in the journey can be so slow that we can’t really measure or observe whether there’s been any development at all. But often we are asking the wrong question. The …

The first step in repentance is to admit our guilt, as when we go to confession. We admit our faults and failures out loud, making them painfully and …

This is such a familiar story that sets the scene very early in Mark’s gospel for one of the central features of the narrative of this gospel: then contest between the good and life enhancing spirit that comes from God …

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This week, Asian nations have witnessed violence including the murder …

Today’s Gospel is so familiar to us because we find ourselves trapped and fearful in turbulence a great deal of the time in our lives and wonder how …

Today we get some insight into the way Jesus communicates, how and why he tells us the story of God’s engagement with us through the stories, the narrative Jesus spends all his time creating and explaining to his …

The Catholic Church in Japan has a unique practice, providing wedding ceremonies for non-Christians. As new civil and social forms of shared life …

Today is the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, the commanding genius of medieval Catholicism. He is a living instance of the effective engagement between …

Faith is a mysterious gift of God. It comes to us and we need to nourish it. But we can take it for granted and when we do, it withers and it can die. That this parable in here so early the first of the Gospels ever …

Loyalties and religious allegiances are always vexed issues and evidently Jesus’ life that was also the case. Family bonds and their place in the hierarchy of commitment are the focus in today’s gospel and what is very …

Today is the feast day of the conversation of St. Paul and there can be no other celebration of the conversion of anyone more important to the …

The clearest presence of the reign is Jesus, God's reign made flesh. "The time of fulfillment has come" is another way of saying, "Here I am!"

About …

An important if very short extract from Mark’s gospel today: John the baptist has been arrested by Herod and that triggers Jesus into beginning his …

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The inauguration of US President Joe Biden made headlines in Asian …

Today’s Gospel story, where Jesus is told by his family that he’s “mad” underlines what trouble he is even for people well disposed to him. He is …

This a very familiar Gospel because it relativizes the force of rules and regulations and makes them all subject to the over-riding rule of love and …

Let’s look at the reading from the Letter to the Hebrews today and see the way it informs us on just how Jesus influences and mediates the person and the believer we become. Unconsciously we do this ourselves all the …

Today’s Gospel from John’s Gospel is the first of what John calls the Signs in the Book of Signs. These are the five signs that God’s kingdom alive and at work among us. This one uses wine and its abundant flowing as a …

Today’s readings offer a very important lesson for us as we seek to get closer to God: start from where we really are -needy, deficient human beings. Sinners. That where God can meet us -  where we really are - and from …

As individuals, as members of families, workplaces and other institutions, we always try to fit whatever appears to be fresh and different to patterns that applied elsewhere and before. It doesn’t work and embracing the …

When the disciples went with Jesus, they entered into a path of healing, forgiveness, and liberation for others. Such lives will lead us to what it is, whom it is, we are seeking.

About the Speaker: Father William J …

The earliest part of John’s Gospel returns several times to the question of the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist and the followers of …

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This week, Asian nations have struggled against repressive laws and …

The best is the enemy of the good. Jesus believed that and that’s why he spent time with tax collectors and sinners - the not-perfect children of God …

Is Jesus a wonder worker who can do what we want to bring comfort and consolation to us when we want? Or does God have a mind and will of his own and …

Jesus goes about his healing way only to have the leper he cures make him into a celebrity. To meet the challenge of these circumstances, Jesus goes into virtual hiding only to be sought out by the crowds. He had to …

Thinking about American Church prompted by last week’s attack on Capitol Hill where the bishops and their clerical underlings have failed to guide …

The daily chores of Jesus life were teaching, healing, renewing and forgiving. That’s how he announced in deed and not just in word what his message …

Jesus begins his ministry in Mark’s Gospel once John the Baptist is arrested by Herod. And the first story in the narrative of his ministry is a characteristic one: driving out destructive spirits.

About the Speaker: …

Mark is unique among the Gospels in highlighting the arrest of John the Baptist as the trigger for Jesus to commence his ministry. Now is the time for him to get on with his vocation, to seek and do the will of god by …

The Baptism of the Lord celebrates the beginning of Jesus’ explicit commitment to a path of finding God among us so that we might follow him who is …

God has said to each of us at our baptism, "You are my beloved child. On you my favor rests." What am I going to do about it?

About the Speaker: …

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The world has ushered in the new year 2021, but the threat of …

Today’s gospel is the clearest statement we could hope to find in the Gospels about what our vocation as Christians is - to point Jesus as God’s last …

Healing - of ourselves or our share in healing others - is a mysterious that asks of us to engage with people including those who have betrayed and hurt us and whom we have betrayed and hurt. Engagement is the first …

Our journey in life and in faith is a journey discovering our identity as followers of Jesus loved by the Father. In that we are following the …

The story about Jesus walking on the turbulent waters as he comes to the rescue of his disciples is one of the best known and most comforting stories …

The feeding of the 5000 people is a remarkable account of the continuing creativity of the Providence of God which, especially after the Feast of the Epiphany underlines how universal the reach of God’s care is.

About …

In the time after Epiphany, we are in a strange time the New Testament: Yes, so kething decisive for Israel has happened (the fulfillment of God’s …

The Epiphany which we celebrate today is the Feast that points to the universal significance of all that God has done focus inJesus’ birth, death and …

We are called to be Stars of Bethlehem, leading men and women to Christ. The chief vocation of the Church is to proclaim the Good News to all nations. How do I share in that great vocation?

About the Speaker: Father …

Much of our prayer and much of our Christian journey is spent in anticipation and also in the hope for the fulfillment of the promises Godhas made to …

A new year begins and the Church does it returning to a Gospel that goes back to our origins in God, connects us to the way we live in God through welcoming the God who is with us (our Christmas celebration and then …

Each of us is presented with the same vocation as Mary. God says to you and to me, "Make my Son present in the world. Forgive sins. Bring healing. Live with faith that my love is stronger than your death. By word and …

Strangely enough, the year ends with a Gospel that for john’s Gospel describes Christian origins - “In the beginning was the Word - And then goes on to show how God is presenting many ways till the decisive intervention …

Today’s Gospel brings to a close Luke introduction to the life of Jesus in his family - he returns to Nazareth to take up a normal life as the son of his parents, in the midst of his family and relatives, growing in …

This Gospel today closes the story of how Jesus and his family fled from Israel for their safety and returned when their persecutor Herod died. It also is the setting for seeing something central about Jesus in …

Matthew’s infancy narrative sets some of the key pieces of his whole account of Jesus, his message and his ministry in place. Jesus is the new Moses, …

The feast of the Holy family can be sentimentalized and fin so, the whole point of the feast is missed. Family life is always messy because human …

If there were no answer to our search and longing, then, indeed, our lives would be futile. What use is there for a hunger that cannot be filled? …

The earliest church discovered what today we call “the cost of discipleship” which was death when we saw what happened to St. Stephen, the first martyr for the faith.

About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit …

In contrast to the way Christmas is marked in some places around the world, the original Christmas occurred in an obscure place among insignificant people . Christmas is always paradoxical and each year we are asked to …

Today we remember and celebrate the fact that we can know God's glory and power not as some sort of information, but as a person. So, on Christmas Day we move from the story to the program, from what happened long ago …

Today - Christmas Eve - the Gospel chosen for today’s Mass celebrates what Christmas Day vindicates - that here is the fulfillment of God’s promise …

I've always been fascinated and attracted of John the Baptist, who is the central subject of today's Gospel, for the simple reason because he's such a different character who doesn't fit in and I think that's the best …

The rich and rewarding thing about following the Gospels through the week before Christmas is the way in which we follow the evangelist in company …

The alternative first reading today is from the book of the Song of Songs and it's the closest thing we'll find in the Old Testament to a piece of erotic poetry. All of which is done for real reason not because people …

What I like about the readings that come at this time of the year - Christmas time - is that they are full of familiar references which is very …

God doesn't choose the way we would. God chooses worldly weakness to proclaim divine power. That's the reason Mary was chosen and the reason we have …

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Church leaders and activists in Asia have called for upholding human …

Today in the Gospel from Luke we have another vivid demonstration of the Evangelist’s capacity to write a rich narrative full of suggestive details. …

Any stories in the Gospel we can't really understand if we don't move inside them and become part of them. They are not just a description of a set of factual events that we get the detail from the gospel about. It is …

What Matthew does is begin with a genealogy to show Jesus heritage because he's not only son of God but he is also a human being and as a human being he has precedence, ancestors and relatives.

About the Speaker: Father …

In today's Gospel we have another chapter in the discussion in the early church about the role of John the Baptist, the place of his followers and …

It's the Paradox of human achievement that we can go and do extraordinary things and then they hang around our necks and eventually choke us. That's what Jesus is getting us at the Gospel today.

About the Speaker: Father …

Today's Gospel puts us in a place that's quite familiar if we think about it. It is one of those situations that occur when we're trying to avoid accepting something that might have unpleasant, unwelcomed, uninvited …

Jesus is an outsider. Jesus is someone who comes and he's a threat to the establishment in Israel at the time. Jesus is someone sent on a mission of universal significance, but no one seems to recognize that that's what …

The place we really live our faith is not in a church. It is in the desert of our workplaces, our schools, our streets, our homes. There is no other …

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International Human Rights Day was observed across the globe this …

Quite appropriately for this time of year as we head towards Christmas the readings at Mass drawn on some of the great stories that point the significance of the mystery of the Incarnation. God coming to dwell among us …

Both reading today focus on the unlikely and difficult subject of missed opportunities. Missed opportunities are things that all of us can identify …

This year, Christmas is either about God with us or it is nothing. If Covid Christmas teaches us that, next year we may resume the trappings of the season, but with a new unclouded knowledge of what the feast really is. …

We've been going through a very strange time throughout the world watching the Americans argue with each other about who won the presidential election in November. Now I think when it comes to the New Testament and …

Remarkable, but actually also quite mysterious feature of our engagement with God through scripture is that almost on a random basis wherever we are and however we are we can flip the scripture open and find in it …

In Advent we make a bit more effort to welcome the Lord into our lives and into our hearts, so that we can indeed know him as Son of God, as Good …

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Catholics in Asia have experienced celebrations, commemorations and …

Faith, hope and love are virtues directed toward past, future and present. In Advent, we remind ourselves to be ever ready to meet and love the Lord who has come, who will come, who comes.

About the Speaker: Father …

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Across Asia, rights violations and abuses against women and …

Even while the world is facing a new spike in cases and deaths, there have been encouragement news of development of vaccine and prevents the Corona Virus. Besides being a source of hope for us all, for people in the …

We must be such followers of the crucified Jesus, giving our strength and even our lives for the sake of others that they will respond to us as the …

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Across Asia, natural calamities made headlines this week as many …

It is to us as servants and for the sake of being servants that God gives us talents. Let us not bury them, but put them forth for the whole world.

…

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The US presidential election filled Asian media last week, drowning …

Signs of God’s kingdom are all around us. If we remember that, we will see them and thus build up our supply of oil so that at any time, in any way that God comes to us, we will be ready.

About the Speaker: Father …

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Catholics across the world observed two major feasts this week —All …

Remembering all saints becomes a reminder that God can be, and in fact is at work in the time, place and life which I live.

About the Speaker: Father …

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Asia this week witnessed a series of attacks on religious and …

The law of Christ is simple. Love. Love God by loving your neighbor. And your neighbor is anyone close enough to be loved, anyone in the world.

About …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule under 10 minutes.

China and the Vatican this week agreed to extend an agreement on the …

The world’s political news is full of people fixated on the short term. They pander to the fears and frustrations of others in order to gain and keep …

Occasionally, UCA News Podcath invites experts to discuss issues relevant to Asian communities.

Australian Catholic teacher Garry Mulroy, who has been …

We Christians have been shown Christ, the image of God, so that we can proclaim that image to all the world. In order to do so, we must clear away whatever mars that image in us.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm …

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The arrest of an 84-year-old Jesuit priest accused of terrorist links …

In the Eucharist, in the worship and service of the community of good and bad folks that Jesus invites to the banquet of God's Kingdom, I am offered …

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China continues to attract headlines in Catholic media as church …

There is one other thing we must do. We must hear and heed the messengers God sends to us workers in the vineyard. For we, too, need to be converted throughout our lives.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule under 10 minutes.

The news of the Vatican's proposal to renew its controversial deal …

The test of Christian faith is not merely whether or not we are in church on Sunday. Going to church is the renewing of our "yes" to the call of God. …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule under 10 minutes.

Developments in Asia this week show how governments are directly or …

Just as the parables of Jesus show the love of God in stories about lost coins, vineyards and generous landowners, the followers of Jesus must make …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule under 10 minutes.

The Covid-19 pandemic has tightened its grip on India, where daily …

Violence is unjustified, but it remains one of the tragedies of our sin-marred, sin-deformed world that it too often takes violence to end or control …

The way out of the paradox is to realize that forgiving and being forgiven is not a parade of activities that happen in order – God forgives, then I forgive, then God forgives. God’s forgiving me and my forgiving others …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule under 10 minutes.

The feast of Mother Teresa, who toiled for the poor, passed off …

The Lord's command to confront sin in ourselves and others is never easy to fulfill. It is even harder, perhaps, to be the object of that …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule under 10 minutes.

Developments across Asia in the past week were shocking for groups …

Occasionally, UCA News Podcath invites experts to discuss issues relevant to Asian communities.

With 132 million people aged between 15-33, Pakistan is the fifth largest young country in the world. The Muslim-majority …

The temptation to avoid the cross is not one that Jesus alone faced. We, too, face it. That is the reason Jesus tells us that we must be willing to take up the cross.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm is a …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule under 10 minutes.

The struggle for democracy and freedom of religion and speech …

The corona virus pandemic has forced limits upon Christians’ ability to gather in churches to pray and celebrate liturgy. In some places, churches are closed. In others, the number of those who can join liturgies is …

The important thing about Peter and the important thing about me is that Christ has chosen us to be Church. He has set us up in all our weakness and declared that the gates of death will not prevail against us.

About the …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule under 10 minutes.

Three Asian nations observed independence days this week, marking …

The Incarnation means that Jesus really was a man of his time, his place and his people. He spoke their language, he dressed as they dressed, he had the same prejudices they had.

About the Speaker: Father William J Grimm …

Listen to news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule under 10 minutes.

Several parts of Asia witnessed heavy rain and floods this week as the …