Do you feel like you're on a mission? Do you feel like your life has a mission? In this reading (Mk 16:15-20), Jesus sends the disciples out into the world. He says, ‘I'm leaving, and I'm leaving you here to carry this mission on.’ We call this the Great Commission. Was it just for the Twelve? No. It's for you and me as well.
Joy is God-centred. It comes from truly believing and accepting that God knows us, loves us, and accepts us. When I lack joy, it always means that my relationship with God has a weak link that I need to address.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that we can come to him and ask for whatever we want. Does that mean that, like a snake oil salesman, he is promising to give us whatever we desire, even if it’s riches, fame, or power? Not at all.
While I claim no expert knowledge when it comes to sheep, I did find myself relating to Jesus in his role as the Good Shepherd in today's gospel (21st April).
Don’t you wonder sometimes how our covenant Lord who is God – Creator, Master, and Teacher, can and does create from nothing and does not need anything or anyone but is helplessly in love with you?
It’s nearly 5 years since the introduction of the Working With Childrens Check (WWCC) became a minimum requirement for those with roles of responsibility within the life of the church.
Jesus meets Thomas the way he meets all of us—wherever we are when we decide we are ready.
Jesus’ love for his enemies knows no bounds. He prays even for those who are putting him to death. It is this, the enemy-loving God, that is offered to us in the Eucharist.
Reflect, today, upon how willing you are to embrace sacrifice in your own life. No, your sacrifices are not able to save the world by their own merit, but if you face your crosses in life, be they big or small, and if you intentionally and wholeheartedly unite them to the actions of Jesus that first Holy Week, then you can be certain that you will suffer with our Lord. But you can also be certain that your suffering will be transformed by the power of this Holy Week and lead you to a glorious sharing in His triumph over all sin and suffering.
The act of making a pilgrimage – traveling to a sacred place to encounter the divine – is ancient, probably as old as humanity itself. Perhaps the first Christian pilgrimage was that of the Wise Men, men who were not even believers in the Messiah, but who knew that “something” drew them from their homes and studies. Unsure as to what they sought, they found not a someTHING, but a someONE: Christ the Lord.
Who doesn’t love a story? Hope, conflict, wonder, desperation, loneliness, surprise, love, a hero. Story seems to be wired into our DNA. We all tell them, and we find many ways to do them.
Throughout Lent we’ve heard some of the high points of salvation history proclaimed to us in the first readings. These events from the Old Testament have focused on the covenants God made with His people, including Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David.
Seeds Kurralta Park, a thriving church plant of Seeds Uniting Church in Aberfoyle Park, has had an incredible year since its establishment in February 2023. As the community came together to celebrate its first birthday on 11th February 2024, they spent time reflecting on the goodness of God over the last year.
God sent Jesus to make free persons of us. He has chosen compassion as the way to freedom. That is a great deal more radical than you might at first imagine. It means that God wanted to liberate us, not by removing suffering from us, but by sharing it with us.
Bush Chaplain Sunny has a big job. His patrol area of Parkin-Sturt in South Australia includes 49 towns, around 170 farming stations, and multiple mines. But while his job may be big, he says it’s the small things that make a difference.
If most problems come from unforgiveness, we can understand why Jesus emphasises forgiveness to an extreme degree.
A down and then up perspective doesn’t fit into our Western philosophy of progress, nor into our desire for upward mobility, nor into our religious notions of perfection or holiness.
The love of God is an unconditional love, and only that love can empower us to live together without violence.
Esther followed God’s direction. Patiently waiting for the right moment, God opened the King’s heart to her plight which resulted in his favour bestowed upon Esther, Mordecai, and the Jewish people. She was willing to risk her life for others and for what God called her to do. I’m not saying we need to do this but I am saying we must be willing to do the hard stuff if God calls us to it.
Jesus begins His public ministry immediately after being tempted by the devil while in the desert for forty days. As He begins His ministry, He declares: ‘This is the time of fulfillment.’