Category: Reflections

Have you heard this joke about Pope Francis? I hadn’t until just recently. It goes like this.

‘We are here to appreciate beauty.’

I read this in a novel over the Christmas break. While I can’t recall how it fitted into the plot, the image has stayed with me. It’s a great answer to the question each of us has to ask at some time on our life’s journey.

39 Jesus told his disciples a parable, ‘Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? 40 No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.

If human life is the wonderful gift and privilege we believe it is, then so too, is the work of making it more fully and authentically human, and countering everything that dehumanises.

During the month of February 2025 Pope Francis’intention is:  For vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Let us pray that the ecclesial community might welcome the desires and doubts of those young people who feel a call to serve Christ’s mission in the priesthood and religious life.

During the month of March 2025 Pope Francis’intention is:  For families in crisis. Let us pray that broken families might discover the curefor their wounds through forgiveness, rediscovering eachother’s gifts, even in their differences.

So often we come to this point of the year and we find it hard to believe that another year is coming to an end. We can look back on all that has happened and marvel at the moments of joy and delight and recognise the moments of struggle, sadness and challenge. All of this makes up the tapestry of our own lives and our life as a Church community.

A new year has begun in the Church, and very soon the great festival of Christmas will be upon us. Once again, we will be invited into the great mystery of God’s love for us. A ‘love’, as St Augustine reminded us – whose quality makes us feel ‘as if we were the only one…’.

In the Catholic Church Advent is a time of waiting. In our lives there will be many times when we are waiting for someone or something to arrive. It can be a time of unmixed joy, as when we wait for the homecoming of someone we love or wait for the great holidays we have planned.

We’re in the season of getting together. Family members coming home. Friends re-connecting. Christmas!