Reflections & Homilies

During the General Audience with pilgrims in St Peter's Square yesterday, Pope Leo focused on the importance of the signs, symbols and rites of the liturgy to draw us closer to God, Pope Leo said: "With the solemn simplicity of its rhythms, the rite interrupts our frenetic activities, leading us back to what is essential... We thus discover another dimension of action, not guided by calculations... Read More

The values expressed in sports can unite people, break down barriers, and create spaces bringing together cultures and generations. At a time when competition can become empty rivalry, and exclusion leaves many out, it is important that we rediscover the true meaning of sports as a school of fraternity, respect, and solidarity. In this month's prayer, the Holy Father invites us to pray "for the va... Read More

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Lectionary: 164 A bit of History I start on a slightly contentious note, because I find this feast somewhat superfluous as a distinct celebration. I can understand that it emerged out of devotion, but for the first millennium of the Church a specific, universal feast honouring the Trinity did not exist, there was a deeper and more pertinent understanding that... Read More

Renewing the liturgy and allowing it to progress, while preserving tradition, allows the Church to grow, be united and continue her mission of spreading the Gospel to all, Pope Leo XIV said during the Wednesday General Audience in St Peter's Square on 27 May. The Holy Father continued his catechesis series on the Documents of the Second Vatican Council, and reflected on the 1963 Constitution on t... Read More

Archbishop Richard Moth gave this Homily yesterday at the Mass in thanksgiving for matrimony in Westminster Cathedral, during which over 450 couples renewed their commitment to live their marriage in holiness. Dear brothers and sisters, We rejoice today in the response of those who answer the call to the vocation of marriage. A great number (466 couples) are present here today and we pray with and... Read More

Pentecost How can one relate to the unseen Spirit? The paucity of our various languages reveals the difficulty of expressing just who the Spirit is to us, and the wisdom of Christianity in its best sense, uses descriptive metaphors and symbols just as Jesus' teaching in the gospel does. The manner in which we use our various languages to describe the Spirit does not capture or determine the essenc... Read More

Seventh Sunday after Easter The period between the Ascension and Pentecost is always a slightly strange one, in that we have celebrated the Lord's leave taking and wait in a kind of vacuum for that great outpouring of the Spirit on the nascent community which becomes in time what we know as the Church. This period may seem slightly artificial as the reality of the experience of the Resurrection, a... Read More

Pope Leo XIV has sent this Ascension Day Message to Thy Kingdom Come. 'Dear brothers and sisters, I am pleased to greet all of you taking part in this year's "Thy Kingdom Come" ecumenical prayer event, and to assure you of my spiritual closeness. Each year, during the Advent season, Christians address God with the words, "Come, Emmanuel." With great urgency we cry out for the fulfilment of Isaiah'... Read More

Pope Leo dedicated his catechesis at the General Audience on 13 May, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, to Our Lady, who he described as the perfect model, member and mother of the Church. As he arrived in St Peter's Square, passing through the crowds in the popemobile, Pope Leo stopped and knelt at the spot where, on this day in 1981, St John Paul II was the victim of an assassination attempt. "T... Read More

During his Regina Caeli address on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV reminds the faithful that Jesus loves us forever and unconditionally, and that His love for us moves us to love others. "The Lord does not leave us alone in life's trials," Pope Leo XIV told pilgrims gathered in St Peter's Square. Before reciting the Marian prayer of the Easter season, the Holy Father reflected on the day's Gospel according ... Read More

Sixth Sunday of Easter Most of us may have little remembrance of our own baptism, but I am sure we can recollect the day of our Confirmation, a ceremony where we took that step into the adult life of the faith strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit. In recent years some of us will have become familiar with the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, particularly if our parish community has ... Read More

"The Church is the pilgrim people of God on earth who, drawing precisely on the final promise, reads and interprets the dynamics of history through the Gospel, denouncing evil in all its forms and proclaiming, in word and deed, the salvation that Christ wishes to bring about for all humanity and His Kingdom..." Pope Leo XIV stressed this at his weekly General Audience on Wednesday morning in the V... Read More

During the Regina Caeli prayer on Sunday, with pilgrims in St Peter's Square, Pope Leo said that Jesus' words to us take on new meaning in the light of the Resurrection, much as they did for the early Church. "What once eluded or troubled the disciples now returns to their memory, warms their hearts, and gives them hope", the Pope said. Reflecting on the Gospel of the Last Supper in light of the R... Read More

Usama Nicola writes in Bethlehem Updates: Today marked the final session of the icon-writing course that began in January. While the city was busy with the noise and tension of local council elections, I stepped away into a different kind of space, one of silence, prayer, and attention. I spent five hours completing my icon, and we ended with prayers and blessings, for the icon and for each of us ... Read More