GOSPEL REFLECTION LAETARE SUNDAY Our Lord heals a blind man by using a paste of clay – ordinary elements from nature.  The miracle today is unusual – a paste of clay.  In the first reading from the book of Samuel, David is anointed with oil and this oil causes the Spirit of God to work powerfully upon David from that day until his death.   Today, God continues to use ordinary elements from nature to give His Life to us - in the Sacraments for example.  A Sacrament is when God

GOSPEL REFLECTION: The Samaritan woman at the well.   The Samaritan woman was at the well on her own – and at midday – the hottest time of the day. This was probably to escape criticism or scornful looks and verbal abuse because the woman had had five husbands and the man, she now lived with was not her husband. For this reason, she may have been despised by all the people in the village. A woman perhaps not receiving true love from anyone.  She may have even despised herself

In 1981 the Pope, St. John Paul II established perpetual Eucharistic adoration in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome and at that time, he prayed that every parish would have perpetual Eucharistic adoration.   Adoration is simply appreciation that the Blessed Sacrament is really Our Lord.  This appreciation is expressed when a parish has a chapel or sets aside a small prayer room that is open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day with permanent exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.  There are

GOSPEL REFLECTION: Preparing ourselves to receive God’s Love   God’s plan for us during Lent is, that we would become love, as He is love. However, in order for us to love as God loves, it is helpful to know how much God loves us.   In the Gospel, Jesus, out of love for us, spent 40 days in a desert denying Himself all food.   We can’t imagine or conceive in our minds how great His Love for us is. To St. Alexandrina de Costa who died in Portugal in 1955, Our Lord said: “If yo

GOSPEL REFLECTION Our Lord didn’t come to change or “abolish” the law (the Old Testament Law) but He came to complete or fulfil it. The Old Testament Law is You shall not… i.e. You shall ‘not’ kill. You shall ‘not’ commit adultery.  You shall ‘not’ bear false witness, etc.   Jesus now teaches it is not enough to try not to break the law, we must try to achieve its perfection. Hence, Jesus said (Mt 5:48): “You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect and be holy as I