We transition today into a new liturgical year. What is unusual about this new season of Advent is that the themes of the readings that we have been hearing during the last few weeks continue as we move from ordinary time into the new season. It is the only time during the liturgical year that […] The post Tear open the heavens appeared first on rmhealey.org.

We have been on a pilgrimage with the Gospel of Matthew this year & arrive at this scene marking the conclusion of the public ministry of Jesus. We are presented with Jesus the king announcing a final blessing upon all of those who have been a blessing for others throughout their life. They receive the […] The post Christ the King appeared first on rmhealey.org.

“The parable of the Talents” Talent is just a Greek word, that the English translators fluffed, by writing it in English letters. Another translation is the master gave his servants 5/2/1 bags of gold. A talent is first a measure of weight – but there is much debate as to how much it is worth. […] The post Fruitful Living appeared first on rmhealey.org.

When we arrive in November, we know that there will be a change in the energy and movement of the liturgical year. Geared to the seasons in the northern hemisphere, there is increasing darkness and an apocalyptic turn as we hear the final passages of Jesus during the final week of his public ministry. It […] The post The Tragedy of the Unprepared Life appeared first on rmhealey.org.

9 Beatitudes. Blessings. Jesus on a mountain proclaiming all these blessings on the crowd. Beatitude. Nice enough. Beginning of the most famous sermon of all time. On the surface it all seems simple enough – until you start to go below the surface. Who is being blessed? What does it mean? A question to keep asking […] The post Called to be like Jesus appeared first on rmhealey.org.

Anger is a difficult emotion that perhaps gets a bad reputation from our experience as children and being told that it is wrong to feel angry. Yet in our first reading from Exodus 22:20-26 we hear about the kinds of things that make God angry – when the widows, the orphans, the strangers, the foreigners, […] The post The command to love appeared first on rmhealey.org.

We continue to read from the Gospel of Matthew (22:15-21) as we accompany Jesus during his final days in Jerusalem. He has made his triumphant entry into the city with a crowd of pilgrims, then he pulled the stunt in the temple, overthrowing the tables of the money changers. There was a question about his […] The post Give everything to God appeared first on rmhealey.org.

Weeping and grinding of teeth. Many are called but few are chosen. This is certainly a strange parable (or is it two parables?) of Jesus. It is told, like the two other parables that we have heard the last two weeks, not to the disciples or followers of Jesus, but to the Jewish religious leaders […] The post Wedding Invites appeared first on rmhealey.org.

At the beginning of Matthew 21, Jesus and his disciples arrived in Jerusalem making their triumphant entry – in the event that we commemorate each year on Palm Sunday. He makes his way to the temple and when he sees that this House of Prayer for all the nations has become a marketplace, he sets […]

“A Father had two sons…” It is such an evocative line. We will all know and have experience of the natural conflict that exists within families. The line probably activates the Parable in Luke 15:11-32 of the Merciful Father / Prodigal Son. It may also remind us of some of the ‘great’ sons and their […]