Good Morning and Thank you for joining all of the Oblate Family near and far for our time of Reflection and Prayer today. 

Lets begin. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen. And lets say the Lord’s prayer together:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen. 

Today’s gospel is taken from St Marks Gospel chapter 7 and relates how Our Lord focuses on what’s right and cuts through the swathe of man-made laws that the Pharisees put before him. 

The Pharisees saw that some of the disciples were eating before the ritual washing prescribed. 

This was one of many attempts by the Pharisees to focus on the trivia and not the central message that Jesus was preaching. Jesus calls them out on this quoting Isaiah “this people honours me with their lips but their heart is far from me”  

He highlights their hypocrisy as they focus on the periphery and not the heart of God’s word.  

Today let’s focus on what God wants and try to follow that without deflection.  

We ask our mother Mary to help us achieve that as we say:  Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee, Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb , Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death Amen. 

Thanks again for joining our prayer and reflection today. 

Good morning and thank you for joining all of us and the Oblate Family, near and far, for a time of reflection and prayer today with Frankie Mac Donald. 

Let's begin in the name of the father,

And let's say the Lord's Prayer together.

Today's gospel is taken from Saint Mark's

Such was the faith of the people,

And why wouldn't they?

And Jesus turned to her with such compassion,

It must have been like a rebirth for her.

And thanks for joining our

Good morning and thank you for joining our Oblate short time to pause, reflect and pray together on Sunday February 8th 2026. Thanks to Caroline Shevelan for today's reflection.

You are the salt of the earth.

Good morning and thank you for joining our Oblate short time to pause, reflect and pray together on Saturday February 7th 2026. Thanks to Caroline Shevelan for today's reflection.

Today’s Gospel is another challenging one. It is a passage that has been used and misused over the generations to control, to frighten, to justify cruel judgement and punishment.

A brief google search of homilies on this passage describe it variously as the hard truth of the Gospel, the war on sin and other alarming and doom laden titles which I had thought consigned to history.

How then do I respond to these sentences that mostly begin with ‘it would be better if’

Honestly I find them incongruent. The passage does not fit my picture of Jesus, or of a loving God the Father. Neither do they fit a picture of a relational God that has been built this week. Yet here it is a part of our lectionary so it must be important.

The rhythm of the week so far has been

Jesus light of the word proclaimed. The commandment to love as we are loved, a concrete example of what that means in relation to others, and an example of how we might misuse commandment and tradition.

So is sin a failure to love then? Maybe one thing Jesus is saying here is that we do serious damage to ourselves and to others when we fail to love. In this context the passage makes more sense for me. How much does it deeply hurt us when someone fails to see our need? Or walks by deliberately?

The imagery is extreme, but so is the pain of betrayal, loss, of being ignored or deliberately mistreated.

Thank you for joining us this morning!

Good morning and thank you for joining our Oblate short time to pause, reflect and pray together on Friday February 6th 2026. Thanks to Caroline Shevelan for today's reflection.

Thank you for joining us today! 

Good morning and thank you for joining our Oblate short time to pause, reflect and pray together on  Thursday February 5th 2026. Thanks to Caroline Shevelan for today’s reflection: 

The opening question of today’s Gospel, is maybe one we are asking ourselves.

Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say? Father save me from this hour

My soul has certainly been troubled over recent years. Troubled by injustice, cruelty and the disregard for the dignity of life in all its forms.

Should we ask to be spared these times?

Ini this passage Jesus shows us that we do not know why we might have been given these times to live in. Maybe, like Esther it is ‘for just such a time as this’ that we are called to live out our faith in ways we had hoped never to experience.

Jesus goes on to say, ‘the light is in you…walk while you have the light so the darkness will not overtake you’

Jesus, light of the world, Jesus whom Simeon and Anna acknowledged and proclaimed as the light of the world, Jesus tells us today that the light is in us, that we are to believe in the light in us. That even when we walk in darkness we are to hold onto the light.

We pray Lord may we see and cling to the light, even where no light seems possible. May we be like you Lord as you foretold your death, knowing that even here the darkness has only the power we give it.

Thank you for joining us this morning. 

In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen

The message of today’s gospel is clear, unambiguous

For truly I tell you when you did these things for the least of my brethren you did it for me.

Jesus again places relationships front and centre of his teaching. Our actions flow from our relationship with God, we love one another as we have been loved, and this requires action.

To feed, clothe, welcome, care, tend to.

It is a timely passage.

And the cost of living this Gospel passage is high for many people around the globe. Minnesota is the latest shocking example, where currently people cannot go to work, go shopping or safely send their children to school without fear of being arrested or hamred.

But it seems the community there is willing to pay the cost of loving their neighbours, going out for groceries, giving up valuable income to strike in protest, so the neighbours and strangers alike are kept safer, people creating unity in a community where hatred is being sown and pedalled as protection.

Some have even paid the ultimate cost to protect.

Not all of us will be called to action in this way, but we are all called to love, to clothe, to feed, to care and tend – and perhaps most importantly right now, to welcome.

We pray for those on the front line of living the Gospel, for anyone who is in danger or need because they are choosing to help their neighbour.

Good morning and thank you for joining our Oblate short time to pause, reflect and pray together on Tuesday February 3rd 2026. Thanks to Caroline Shevelan for today’s reflection: 

In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you so you must love one another.

How does Jesus love us?

In scripture we are given analogy, parable and example. Jesus loved wholeheartedly, completely, without reservation or regard for what was correct or proper, and without regard for what people might think or the disruption it might cause.

In the Gospels those who were living without love were the focus: the woman caught in adultery, the doubters, those who were suffering in any way. Jesus met them with compassion and he loved them too much to leave them where they were.

He meets us in the same way, sees our need in compassion and loves us too much to leave us where we are. The love he shows is a challenging love, challenging us to compassion growth and wholeness, to relationship, even when it is messy and uncomfortable.

Lord encourage us, show us where we already love as you have loved us and may we have room for the paradox of knowing we love well and knowing we can still grow.

And so we pray…

For those who need the small spark of the light of love from God from Jesus from me today.

Thank you for joining us this morning. 

Good morning and thank you for joining our Oblate short time to pause, reflect and pray together on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, or Candlemas, Monday February 2nd 2026. Thanks to Caroline Shevelan for today’s reflection: 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today is Candlemas, the official end of the liturgical season of Christmastide.

In the northern hemisphere there is a little more light. And light is the theme of the feast, the lighting and blessing of candles.

Jesus light of the world is presented in the temple and Simeon knows him, like John the Baptist knew him in the womb, like Elizabeth knew.

‘My eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples – a light for the revelation to the gentiles and for glory to your people Israel’

And Anna knows him and begins to praise God and speak about the child.

The lit candle is a symbol of hope, the smallest flame that dispels the darkness. 

In John’s Gospel, Jesus echoes Simeons words and the words of the ancient prophets

‘I am the light of the world -anyone whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life’

Do we know Jesus as the light of the world? As the great light seen by those who walk in darkness or as the small flickering flame that keeps the darkness at bay?

Will we light and bless a candle today?

We pray for all those whose live in the darkness of fear, hopelessness, loneliness or despair.

 We pray for light in our world, especially in the places where the dark feels thick, heavy and immovable. 

We pray for the coming of the light.

Thank you for joining us. 

Good morning and thank you for joining our Oblate short time to pause, reflect and pray together on Sunday February 1st 2026 of Ordinary Time. Thanks to Br Michael Moore OMI for today’s reflection: 

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We now offer our own intentions.

Lord, we thank you for your powerful word.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit.