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Showing posts from April, 2013

Do you Love me?

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This week I came up to Gaston Farm to have a look at the lambing with my parents. One thing that I was struck me was the fact that each of the Lambs that had been born were painted a number on the side of them so that the Shepherd knows whose lambs belongs too. For the ewe also had the same number on them.  This is a device used just for the shepherds and not for the ewes who seem to know instantly which lamb belongs to them. At our baptism we are signed with a sign of the cross on our foreheads. It reminds us that we belong to Christ. He knows us and loves us into being. Notice in the Gospel today that Jesus calls Peter by name. He asks him three times. It reminds us of the denial that Peter did about knowing Jesus just before his trail. We are asked the same questions so often imagine your name being in place of Peter. He is calling us by name into action. By loving the Lord and responding to his call we act in love to others around us. We belong to him and so should respon

Easter 2013

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I want you to imagine that you have some really good news. You are itching to tell others about it: It maybe a birth of a new grand child or a new loves of your life it maybe just something that you just want to share with another person. And when you tell them they are not excited as you are and say something like “Oh that’s nice” Imagine how let down you are, how disappointed you will be the next time you want to share with them some good news. In fact you may not even bother. Now imagine that you are one of the women who had gone to the tomb to see Jesus on that first Easter Sunday morning.  You are told “Why look among the dead for someone who is alive?” As you leave your head is filled with all the things that have happened over the last few days and its all clicked into place.  You go back to tell the others and they don’t believe you. It takes a little convincing but to stop you going on about it they go and see for themselves and when they go into the tomb they real

Washing feet

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Holy Thursday 2013 Jesus asks us today to “Do this in memorial of me.” And so for over two thousand years we have been celebrating the Mass countless thousands of people have been doing the same as we do this evening.  Also for countless number of years we have been arguing about what Jesus actually meant by these words. We as Christians have argued and have caused many divisions. But maybe we are missing an important issue and it’s something that we notice in the Gospel of John. Notice that John’s Gospel we have just heard is set at the last supper but it does not describe to us the last supper it describes another event. It tells us about Jesus washing his disciples’ feet in service to them. He gets down on the floor and does this profound act of humble service to those who have followed him. He asks them like the breaking of bread to do the same. “I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.” This “Do this in memory of me” then I think has ad