On Wednesday this week the Church recalled and celebrated the birth and naming of John the Baptist, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets whose mission was to prepare the way for Jesus.

When the Angel appeared to Mary to ask her to be the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God she was told that her cousin in her old age was pregnant to show that nothing is impossible for God. Mary went straight away to visit her cousin Elizabeth and we read that the greeting caused the baby in Elizabeth’s womb to leap for Joy. (Luke: 1. 41)

This greeting was special in the story of Salvation. John’s role was to be of paramount importance in God’s plan.

What happened is also instructive for all pregnant women and for the whole world because it proclaims that each and every pre born child is aware of the external world from within the womb; able to pick up on the mother’s feelings, to hear music, to feel a loving hand on the mothers tummy, to feel pain, to suffer when the mother abuses herself through smoking, drinking and drugs but most importantly that the baby from conception is a son or daughter of God and has the supreme dignity of being formed in in God’s image and likeness.

John at a spiritual level detected the presence of the Son of God in Mary’s womb so much so that he leapt for Joy.

Taking the life of a baby in the womb is a violation of a woman and her motherhood but also the ending the human life of a son or daughter of God made in His very image. A baby able to sense at a spiritual level.

Moreover, a woman’s body, emotions, psychology are geared to giving birth and welcoming into the world and nurturing her child thus achieving the apex of her womanhood according to the immutable laws of nature. No wonder post abortion women suffer so much.

Each child is a one- off, unique, with gifts and talents undiscovered, unrealized and with unknown potential.

A baby is body, mind and spirit.

John paved the way for Jesus by offering a baptism of repentance – a complete change of heart – without which a full relationship with Jesus is not possible. (Mark: 1. 1 – 6)

God is a God of mercy and His mercy is greater than any sin. There is a way back for women who go down the path of ending the life of their child prematurely. Repent, become a warrior for the unborn, come to Jesus, know and accept him as Lord and Saviour. Be open to receive his love which brings a new beginning.  

See “The Secret Plague” by Tom Caluori

www.goodnewsbooks.co.uk   

A futuristic pro life fiction set in 3020 which looks back at a black hole in history for which no information is available.  

When we say “Give us this day our daily bread,” in the Lord’s Prayer or “Our Father,” we can be asking God for what we need for the day. But we especially ask for the Bread which is Jesus himself – the “Body of Christ received in the Eucharist.”(See Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1384)

This Sunday is the feast of Corpus Christi. For Catholics this is the greatest treasure, the Body and Blood of Christ, the Holy Eucharist- regarded as the source and summit of all we have and do as Catholics. So this Sunday Catholics reflect on the meaning of the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion.

Jesus says, “I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)

In this passage Jesus is preaching to the crowd who were so taken by the miracle of the feeding of the multitude that they went to find him.  

Jesus tells them that anyone who eats his flesh will have eternal life and he will raise them up on the last day. But many just walk away.

At the Last supper Jesus changed the bread and wine into his body and blood. This happens at each Mass. Catholics receive Christ in Holy Communion and we welcome him into our lives. In the Eucharist we are united with one another present and the whole Church. Catholics are sent out from the Eucharist to bring Christ to those we meet and into the world through our actions and words and the way we live.

“Give us this day our daily bread” also invites us to bring bread to our brothers and sisters in need.   

“You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.” (John 20:29)

In the Gospel reading for this Sunday we hear that Jesus appeared among his disciples who were hiding behind closed doors for fear of the Jews who had arranged for Jesus to be crucified.

“Peace be with you,” Jesus says and shows them the marks of his crucifixion, his hands and his side.

Jesus is truly risen from the dead and the apostles are filled with joy.

Jesus tells them he is sending them out. He breaths on them and they receive the Holy Spirit. The apostles are to continue his mission and are given the power to forgive sins.

Thomas was not there and when he learns of this doesn’t believe it. After eight days Jesus again appears with the greeting, “Peace be with you.” Jesus invites Thomas to touch his wounds but he declines. He now knows for himself and says, “My Lord and my God.”

Jesus appears several times after rising from the dead according to all four gospels.

This overwhelming evidence is a challenge for everyone. What does this mean for me and my life?

Perhaps there are some who cannot forgive themselves. The Pope and Bishops are successors of the apostles and they, along with priests, have the authority to forgive sins in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Once Absolution has been granted following a sincere confession and intention to change for the better with God’s help, how can anyone not forgive themselves?

“It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb.” (John 20:1)

We see Mary of Magdala, one of Jesus’ women disciples, coming early in the morning to the tomb where Jesus had been buried. She sees straight away that the stone has been moved. She runs to Peter and “the disciple Jesus loved” (John), to tell them. They run as fast as they can to tomb to see for themselves. Peter goes in first and John soon after. They notice the linen cloths on the ground that had been over Jesus’ head rolled up nearby.  

The resurrection of Jesus is the most amazing and significant of the gospel happenings. To live forever is the most wonderful thing. Because of Jesus’ Death for us on the cross, new life with God in heaven is available for all. St Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:52 “the dead will be raised, imperishable.”  No wonder Sunday is the Lord’s Day when we celebrate the Eucharist.

“I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live.” (John 11 1-45)

This is such an appropriate passage from the New Testament for this fifth Sunday of Lent as we approach the great feast of Easter.

Jesus raised Lazarus after he had been dead for four days. Jesus knew the family. The sisters Mary and Martha sent for him saying ‘Lord he whom you love is ill.’

We read that Jesus wept before going to the tomb where Lazarus was laid. “Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’

“Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him.”

Do we believe? Will we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus?

What does the Resurrection mean for us?

In this week’s Gospel for the fourth Sunday of Lent, Jesus heals a blind man. The Jewish leaders of the time, the Pharisees, were annoyed because Jesus healed him on the Sabbath which was against the Jewish law. Moreover, they believed that the man’s blindness like all sickness was because he or his parents had sinned. Jesus told his disciple this was not the case.

This led the blind man to accept Jesus as the “Son of Man” when Jesus told him who he was. I came into the world Jesus said, “that those who do not see may see.” Thus the healing of the blind man may be considered a metaphor for something much deeper.

Jesus lights up the lives of those who accept him as Saviour which these Pharisees clearly didn’t, and so they remained in darkness.

Lent is a time to reflect on our lives.

We can be faced with all sorts of difficulties and challenges and feel that we have lost our way. We just don’t know which way to turn. Catholic churches are open for all genuine searchers in the run up to Lent and at Easter. Why not pop in and sit quietly in front of the Tabernacle where Jesus is truly present.

The honest and heartfelt prayer, “Jesus show me the way to walk,” should light up our day, our week, our lives.

Find a hymn book at the back of the church and read the words of the hymn, “The Spirit Lives (Walk in the Light)” or find it on YouTube (Damian Lundy).

The Gospel reading for this third Sunday of Lent asks us the most important question ever.

Jesus is at a well in Samaria which is amazing as Jews would avoid Samaritans as they regarded them as foreigners and heretics. The disciples had gone to buy food. A Samaritan woman comes to draw water and to her utter amazement Jesus asks her for water. “You are a Jew and you ask me a Samaritan for a drink?” Furthermore, a man would never speak to a woman in public. But Jesus has a purpose in mind. Jesus says, that if only she knew who was asking she would be the one to ask him for a drink and he would give her living water, welling up to eternal life. Jesus is speaking about the Holy Spirit.

“Anyone who drinks of the water I shall give will never be thirsty again.” (John 4:14)

Jesus tells her of the past men in her life. She then sees Jesus as a prophet. Jesus reveals to her that he is the Messiah and she runs back to the village to tell everyone.

Jesus is not offering her something new to believe so much as living water – the Holy Spirit which the presence of Jesus on earth as the Messiah or Christ makes possible.

This message was offered to the villagers when they came to meet Jesus. He stayed with them for two days.

“Now we no longer believe because of what you told us; we have heard him ourselves, and we know that he really is the Saviour of the world.” (John 4:42)

What can we get from this? This experience of the Holy Spirit makes a relationship with Jesus possible and begins in the here and now.  Words cannot describe this.

But it begins as it did for the woman at the well with recognising Jesus as Saviour.

Do we believe this?      

Last Sunday, the second Sunday in Lent the Gospel focussed on an incredible event which is referred to as the “Transfiguration.” Peter, James and John, close disciples of Jesus, accompanied him up a high mountain, “There in their presence he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light.” (Matthew 17.2)

For us today this event is a powerful reminder of why we are here and the ultimate meaning of our life on earth.

The meaning of this is in stark contrast to all who cling to this life as though this is all there is.

So when we see the news about wars and killing and all the terrible things which human beings are doing to one another, the true meaning of life is obscured.

The Transfiguration is a wakeup call for us all.

Sin separates us from our loving Father God. As they were coming down the mountain Jesus says, “Tell no one about the vision until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

Pressing the pause button

There are times when we should all step back and take a good look at ourselves and where we are going; what sort of person we aspire to be and how we are going to get there.

For Christians Lent is just such a time and here we are with Lent just begun with Ash Wednesday when Catholics in particular have blessed ashes put on our their foreheads in the sign of the cross and the words “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” or “repent and believe in the gospel.”  This is a reminder of our mortality.

So begins a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving in the period leading up to Easter when we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead, an event offering to all new life in the here and now and for eternity.

Our fast in lent recalls the 40 days when Jesus was led into the wilderness to fast in preparation for his mission as Son of God and the temptations he encountered.

“Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights” Matthew 4: 1-2. This was the Gospel reading last Sunday the first Sunday of Lent. The devil asks Jesus if he would use his power as the Son Of God to turn stones into bread. Jesus replies, quoting scripture, “man does not live by bread alone” Hunger for God’s word is far more important.

Is Jesus going to be a wonder worker? The devil tells Jesus to throw himself down from the Temple parapet, saying surely the angels will take care of him. Jesus again quoted scripture and says, “You must not put the Lord your God to the test.” Finally, the devil shows Jesus the kingdoms of the world. “I will give you all these if you worship me,” he says, to which Jesus replies, “Be off, Satan! For scripture says: You must worship the Lord your God alone.”

What might we understand by fasting? In Isaiah 58: 1 -9 we read “Is not this the fast that I choose: to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see him naked, to cover him…Then shall your light break forth like the dawn…”

Lent is a time for growing close to Jesus Christ; to love God with our whole heart and our neighbour as ourselves. In this way we change and so does the world around us.Pressing the pause button

There are times when we should all step back and take a good look at ourselves and where we are going; what sort of person we aspire to be and how we are going to get there.

For Christians Lent is just such a time and here we are with Lent just begun with Ash Wednesday when Catholics in particular have blessed ashes put on our their foreheads in the sign of the cross and the words “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” or “repent and believe in the gospel.”  This is a reminder of our mortality.

So begins a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving in the period leading up to Easter when we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead, an event offering to all new life in the here and now and for eternity.

Our fast in lent recalls the 40 days when Jesus was led into the wilderness to fast in preparation for his mission as Son of God and the temptations he encountered.

“Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights” Matthew 4: 1-2. This was the Gospel reading last Sunday the first Sunday of Lent. The devil asks Jesus if he would use his power as the Son Of God to turn stones into bread. Jesus replies, quoting scripture, “man does not live by bread alone” Hunger for God’s word is far more important.

Is Jesus going to be a wonder worker? The devil tells Jesus to throw himself down from the Temple parapet, saying surely the angels will take care of him. Jesus again quoted scripture and says, “You must not put the Lord your God to the test.” Finally, the devil shows Jesus the kingdoms of the world. “I will give you all these if you worship me,” he says, to which Jesus replies, “Be off, Satan! For scripture says: You must worship the Lord your God alone.”

What might we understand by fasting? In Isaiah 58: 1 -9 we read “Is not this the fast that I choose: to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see him naked, to cover him…Then shall your light break forth like the dawn…”

Lent is a time for growing close to Jesus Christ; to love God with our whole heart and our neighbour as ourselves. In this way we change and so does the world around us.

Peace Sunday 2026

Today is Peace Sunday, a day designated by the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales as a day for us all to reflect on the Pope’s message for the World Day of Peace on the 1st January.

The theme chosen by Pope Leo for his message this year is a challenging one: “Peace to you all: Towards an ‘unarmed and disarming’ peace”.

One image that may help us engage in this message is to reflect on Jesus before Pilate -standing there, an innocent man, seemingly helpless, before Pontus Pilate, a Roman Governor. 

It is so easy to feel helpless in a world of violence today. The nonviolent action of Jesus can be our guide in working for peace and justice. Pax Christi tries to give a lead in this process.  A movement founded 80 years ago in France to pray for reconciliation between two nations, Germany and France, it has since become an International Peace Movement.

Bishop John Arnold in Salford diocese, representing the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, writes:  “Pope Leo is telling us that peace should not rely on fear, threats or weapons.  Peace should have the capacity to resolve conflicts and open hearts through mutual understanding and hope”

The Pax Christi movement tries to respond to this aim through publications, prayer, public witness and nonviolent action. 

We are in a world torn by violence and war; a time of uncertainty; a time when strong leadership can help disperse doubt and show a positive way forward in full hope.

Pax Christi tries to give practical expression to this hope through its outreach work in promoting the Gospel message of nonviolence and offering peace education in schools.

It is a national organisation but with a small committed staff team.

The generosity of parish communities each year makes a big difference to the funds needed for its vital work to continue.

You are asked to pray for peace in our world and for the success of Pax Christi by donating in a second collection today.

Your help is very much appreciated.  Thank you for listening to this message.

May God continue to help us all to be instruments of his peace. 

Given in Catholic churches today from Pax Christi