Reflection of the Week - 4th June 2024
It can be easy to forget that in many places around the world, access to simple bread and clean water is still the difference between life and death.
It can be easy to forget that in many places around the world, access to simple bread and clean water is still the difference between life and death.
In this gospel reading, we encounter the profound and transformative Great Commission, where Jesus, having triumphed over death, gathers His disciples on a mountain in Galilee and entrusts them with a mission that would change the world forever.
With a presence in the area for 30 years, on Monday 20th May, Resthaven Paradise and Eastern Community Services officially opened a new, larger office at 255 Main North Road, Sefton Park.
Sorry always comes before reconciliation; you cannot have one without the other if we are to accept where we have come from in our combined histories.
In today’s second reading, we hear, ‘To each individual, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.’
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.