A few weeks ago I mentioned the error of universalism, the idea that, apart from one or two very serious exceptions, everyone gets to heaven, no matter how they have lived their lives. In the first reading today, God says that the word that goes out from His mouth will not return to Him empty, but shall succeed in the things for which He sent it. Does this mean, then, that I am wrong and in fact God always succeeds all the time with everyone? Sometimes, we can look back at ce

The motto of the BBC, which goes back to the Christian influence of its foundation, is “Nation shall speak peace unto nation”. The motto was changed in 1934 to just one word: “quaecumque”, meaning “whatsoever”. Rather than being a term of disrespect, it was based on St Paul’s letter to the Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoev

Imagine you’re the Lord. I know it’s a bit of a strange thing to say. The Gospel needs to be spread over the whole world. Would you have chosen Simon and Saul? And out of all the Twelve, would you have chosen Simon to be the one in charge? Would you have chosen Saul to go across the Roman Empire on various missionary journeys, or one of the other of the Twelve instead? If we look at all of the Twelve, and the future St Paul, they all have their faults and shortcomings. Perhap

I can remember some time ago seeing on-line a meme that someone had put together, using a scene from one of the Back to the Future films. “The Doc” has returned in his time machine and he is saying to Marty McFly: whatever you do, don’t go to 2020. For most of us, that year started just like any other, but by the time we got to March we began to see it would be unlike anything we had ever experienced before. A priest friend of mine, who was in a parish in Birmingham at the ti

“When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” I wonder if that’s how the Lord looks on the parish and my ministry here – “they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd”. Hopefully not. But today we are joined by Br Christopher Okonkwo. He has spent some time with the Carmelites in Oxford, and will be shadowing me at weekends, seeing one example of what the life of a diocesan pri

In the Vatican Museums there is a painting by Raphael, entitled the Disputation of the Holy Sacrament. Centre-stage is an altar, on which is a monstrance, the special display stand, if you like, for the consecrated Host. To the left and right of the altar are various Popes, bishops and famous people of the time, adoring the Lord, and then above that section of the painting are the saints in heaven and the Most Holy Trinity. The painting contrasts the glory of God in heaven, w

If mankind had never sinned, so if even down to today we were completely living in accord with the will of God, would Christ have come among us? In the past, some theologians said no. At the Easter Vigil, in the Exsultet, we hear the words: “O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!” So yes, if sin had never entered our word, there would have been no need for Christ to come and redee

Imagine what it must have been like to have been at that first Pentecost. Since the Lord ascended into heaven, you’ve been gathering in prayer each day, together with Our Lady and the other Apostles and disciples, and now, suddenly, comes the sound of a mighty, rushing wind. Then, flames of fire appear. What is this, you might wonder. The flames split and descend on each of you, and then you start speaking in different languages, filled with enthusiasm to go out and preach th

Today’s Gospel is from the first part of John chapter seventeen, what is sometimes referred to as the Priestly Prayer of Jesus. It is uttered by Christ at the time of the Last Supper, after the Washing of the Feet on Maundy Thursday. People have identified three parts to it, and our Gospel reading today includes the first two parts. In the first part, Christ asks the Father for the glorification of His holy human nature and for the Father to accept His Sacrifice on the Cross.

Today’s second reading is perhaps a typical example of St Paul’s writings, with his rather long sentences. But at the end it refers to Christ being “all in all”. What does that mean? It means Christ being everything, and in everything. I remember going to an evening meeting some years ago for clergy who were going to become, or who already were, school governors. The priest leading the session quoted Cardinal Basil Hume, who said that Catholic education is not just National C

Speaking the truth, with love, is not easy. We can so easily go to one extreme or the other. We can be blunt, “telling it the way it is” and upsetting or antagonising people, or, to be nice and polite, we deny the truth and just want to say “nice things” instead. Take the example of a teenage lad who has come back from playing a football match and is watching TV. His brother enters, stage left. He has a reputation for being as blunt as a spade. He tells him straight: “It abso

We begin today’s homily with a short message from the Archbishop: “Dear friends, this weekend we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday, when the Church prays especially for vocations to the priesthood. I want to ask you to join me in praying today that all those whom Our Lord is calling will respond with courage and generosity to his invitation to serve their brothers and sisters as priests in our Archdiocese. If you feel that the Good Shepherd might indeed be calling you – and if y