Reflections & Homilies

As we embark on this Jubilee year, Pope Francis reminds us of an urgent need: the right to education for all children and youth. "Today we're experiencing an educational catastrophe," the Pope warns, in The Pope Video for January, produced by his Worldwide Prayer Network in collaboration with the Jesuit Refugee Service. Indeed, around 250 million boys and girls are denied schooling due to wars, m... Read More

Pope Francis led the first midday Angelus prayer of 2025 in a crowded Saint Peter's Square yesterday, reflecting on the "surprise and the joy of Christmas." The Pope recalled the Gospel that narrates the arrival of the shepherds in the grotto in Bethlehem after witnessing the proclamation of the angels telling them about the newborn saviour, Messiah, and Lord. The Pope described this encounter whi... Read More

Mai Hanukkah - "What is Hanukkah?" asked the rabbis of the Talmud. In answer to their own rhetorical question, they chose not to tell the story of the Maccabean victory over the Seleucid empire in 160 BCE. Rather, they offered the famous story of the rededication of the Temple and the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. For the rabbis, the oil of the menorah symbolized hope and faith i... Read More

Pope Francis marked the beginning of 2025 with the celebration of Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, the Most Holy Mother of God in St Peter's Basilica. In his homily, the Holy Father said that "like a Mother," Mary points us to her Son and leads us to Jesus. Today's feast, he said, "immerses us once more in the mystery of Christmas" - a mystery summed up in the Second Reading, where St Paul tells u... Read More

Pope Francis' Message for World Day of Peace, 1 January 2025: Forgive us our trespasses: grant us your peace I Listening to the plea of an endangered humanity 1. At the dawn of this New Year given to us by our heavenly Father, a year of Jubilee in the spirit of hope, I offer heartfelt good wishes of peace to every man and woman. I think especially of those who feel downtrodden, burdened by their p... Read More

The following sermon was delivered at evensong on the Feast of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, on Sunday, 29 December 2024 by Fr Robert McCulloch SSC. We come to consider a murder that took place here 854 years ago, at this very time, in the evening of 29 December. We recall and remember St Thomas Becket this evening. He was a pastor to his people. He was a priest of pure life. He was a ... Read More

The Rt Rev Mark Davies has formally opened the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope in the Diocese of Shrewsbury. The opening Mass in the Shrewsbury Cathedral on Sunday December 29 follows the opening of the Jubilee, or Holy, Year by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve in Rome when the Holy Father opened a 'Holy Door' at St Peter's Basilica through which millions of pilgrims will pass in 2025. The Jubilee Year was... Read More

Cardinal Vincent Nichols gave this homily at Westminster Cathedral on 29 December 2024, at the Mass opening the Holy Year of Jubilee 2025. Today, we open this Year of Jubilee, the Holy Year 2025. The Church first declared a Holy Year in 1300 and has continued ever since. They are occasions for the Church to seek renewal, to undergo a 'reset'. And this Holy Year invites us to deepen and renew the p... Read More

Archbishop Dermot Farrell delivered this homily today during Mass in Saint Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Archdiocese of Dublin for the launch of the 2025 Jubilee Year: "Jesus then went down with Mary and Joseph, and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority, and his mother stored up all these things in her heart (Luke 2:51). Last May, when Pope Francis issued his letter to announce the Jubilee Year... Read More

Feast of The Holy Family Readings: 1 Sm 1:20-22, 24-28, I John 3:1-2,21-24 Luke 2:41-5 The difficulties of the family of Jesus Given the variety of family structures we can discern in our society, and the way families vary from country to country, this feast cannot simply be seen as providing the model of Christian family life, which is how one is supposed to preach it to others. Instead we have ... Read More

Pope Francis encourages us not to look at the future "with pessimism and resignation," but to always choose the path of love and view the world with "the gentle gaze of hope" in his 'Thought for the Day' message broadcast on BBC Radio Four this morning. "I hope that during this Jubilee, we practice kindness as a form of love to connect with others," he saiud, In his message, the Holy Father highli... Read More

"The mystery that never ceases to amaze and move us was renewed this night: the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God, wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. "That is how the shepherds of Bethlehem, filled with joy, found him, as the angels sang: 'Glory to God and peace to men'" At midday on Christmas morning, Pope Francis gave his customary Christmas greetings and m... Read More

Cardinal Vincent Nichols gave this homily at Westminster Cathedral on 25 December 2024 for the Solemn Mass during the Night. My dear friends, Tonight this cathedral is filled with beauty. At its focal point is the crib, and looking into the crib our eyes go straight to the child, the Christ-child. With the eyes of faith, here, we see the greatness of God in a tiny baby. The birth of any child is, ... Read More

O Emmanuel, our king and lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their saviour: Come and save us, O Lord our God. Do you take the trouble to read and explore what is being said in Scripture? There are contexts to be investigated, particularly in sections that have clear historical origins, such as Isaiah's utterances for us in this last week of Advent. We need to engage more, so that the word of God... Read More