2025 (24)

When the first Spiderman movie came out, I was enthralled – it was so good I was left hungering for more. I would replay in my mind again and again my favourite scenes from the movie, and I would track the blogs of ardent fans that would dish out all the latest gossip about …

While aimlessly trawling the net, I recently stumbled across an article entitled “Don’t force your happily ever after.” It was by a young woman named Kelsey, who takes us through the vicissitudes of her love life and then tries to draw a lesson out of it. When she was in …

“Love one another as I have loved you.” This is Jesus’ command to us in today’s gospel. But how has Jesus loved us? I would like to suggest to you that what characterizes Jesus’ love is its asymmetric quality. Jesus’ love is a completely asymmetric love, it’s a love that …

In the English language sheep have a bad rap where following is concerned: “to follow blindly like sheep.” It is true that in some cases this saying is apt and describes well the mob mentality of certain people who decide to abdicate all personal responsibility and simply …

Recently one of the top players in the ATP Men’s Tour, Carlos Alcaraz was interviewed on his hopes and dreams for the future. At the tender age of 19, he achieved the huge feat of becoming the youngest ever number one in the world after winning the US open. Two years later, …

In today’s gospel, we see Jesus giving the Holy Spirit to his disciples and giving them the power to forgive sins: “whose sins you forgive are forgiven, whose sins you retain, they are retained.” Pope Francis loved reminding us that mercy is the most powerful aspect of …

It is said that on the evening of June 18, 1815 a man stood in the tower of England’s Winchester Cathedral gazing anxiously out to sea. At last he found what he was looking for – a ship sending a signal by use of lights. He strained to see the message. All of England held …

On Palm Sunday, we have the privilege of hearing two gospels, one that recounts the events when Jesus entered Jerusalem, and then a second that recounts the events that lead to his crucifixion. All too often the homily on this day focuses on the former, to the exclusion of …

In her work of counselling couples who are dealing with the fallout of an adulterous affair in their marriage, Ester Perel, a Canadian psychologist, has come to some interesting insights into the motivations behind adultery. Her work has led her to believe that when a …

This is a parable that we all know very well. I would suspect that when we hear this parable most of us are inclined to see ourselves in one of the sons. But I would like to invite you today to focus on the Father, for it was not really the son who was prodigal, but rather …

In today’s gospel, we are confronted by a certain version of Jewish theodicy. Theodicy is the branch of theology that wrestles with the question of how an all-powerful loving God might allow evil. At the time of Jesus, many Jews, following the lead of the Sadducees, did not …

Today’s first reading begins by telling us that Abraham decided to put his faith in the Lord. What does this really mean to have faith in God? Surely it means more than simply believing that God exists and following his commandments. I would suggest to you today dear friends …

Imagine that you were a car – now ask yourself what type of fuel you run on? What is the fuel that you put inside yourself, what keeps you going throughout the day. Now I’m not talking about whether you eat nshima, bread or spaghetti. I’m talking about what is the fuel that …

As a visitor to Joburg I have been amazed by the phenomenon of intersections where the traffic lights are not working. The lights not working are of course not what I find amazing, as a Zimbabwean, I am unfortunately far too used to such a phenomenon in my own country. But …

The faults that we most condemn in others are actually the faults that we fear the most in ourselves. When I first heard this axiom, I laughed at it because it sounded so hypocritical. How can a person be so vociferous in condemning a fault in another person when they have …

Imagine that you have just won the lottery – a cool R100 000. The next day, you are driving to the store, and when you get to the parking lot, it is choca-block, nowhere to park. You roam all over the parking lot until finally a space opens up – now you like reverse parking …

In 2004 Victor Yushchenko stood for the presidency of the Ukraine. Vehemently opposed by the ruling party Yushchenko’s face was disfigured and he almost lost his life when he was mysteriously poisoned. This was not enough to deter him from standing for the presidency. On the …

Perhaps some of you have come across the new series on Jesus’ life called “The Chosen.” It takes the story of the gospel and fills it out, giving character and depth to those who play cameo roles in the gospels like Nicodemus, Mary of Magdala and Matthew the tax collector. …

In our hyper-individualistic society, we can sometimes fall into the trap of approaching our religious faith in individualistic terms. We each have our own faith and practice this faith in many different ways. Many of us have various devotional practices, which, for a large …

In our hyper-individualistic society, we can sometimes fall into the trap of approaching our religious faith in individualistic terms. We each have our own faith and practice this faith in many different ways. Many of us have various devotional practices, which, for a large …

Contrary to the other gospels, John does not pepper his gospel with many stories of Jesus’ miracles. We know Jesus worked many miracles, many of which are not even recorded in any of the gospels. But John decides to recount only seven miracles of Jesus in his gospel. …

Baptism of Our Lord – St. Ignatius 10am – Year C – Lk 3: 15-22 It may surprise you to learn that the early Christian community were very embarrassed by the Baptism of the Lord. This was because it upset the neat categories that they were trying to establish: namely that John …

In today’s gospel we are presented with three wise men who sought to discern the happenings of great events in the stars. A common misconception presents the wise men as kings. The probable cause of this confusion comes from Ps 72 that we sung today for our psalm, where we …