In Mary’s great song of praise, which we hear in the Gospel today, she prophesies that all generations will call her blessed. We fulfill that prophecy every time we repeat Elizabeth’s words in the Hail Mary prayer, that Mary is the most blessed of all women.

Faith is something precious and important. We can ask for faith in prayer, and we can ask for an increase in faith.

St Paul teaches that our new identity calls for a radically new way of living and acting. He is quite clear that this new identity is incompatible with certain kinds of wrong behaviour. He even uses the strong language of saying that we must put to death everything in us that belongs only to earthly life. We must get rid of all those actions and ways of living that do not match up to the standards required by our nature as Christians

Why do we pray? After all, God knows us and our needs much better than we can explain them. Well, we pray because prayer is relational; it is the cement that keeps us connected to God.

When we celebrate the Mass, Jesus is present to us in four ways. He is present to us in the proclaiming of the Scriptures, the Word of God. During the Mass, it is Jesus who speaks to us when the Scripture texts are proclaimed. For everyone present, Jesus speaks to touch our hearts, to convert us, comfort us, challenge us and form us.

Trinity is a way of saying God is love. Not only is God loving, but God is love in himself. The phrase "is love" means that God's very being is structured according to love. In the Trinity, the Father is the one who loves, he is the Lover; the Son is the one who is loved, he is the Beloved; and the Holy Spirit is the love they have for each other.

On Pentecost Sunday, we remember the gift of the Holy Spirit. God’s personal, powerful presence poured into our lives to guide, comfort, and transform us. As at the first Pentecost, we are invited to be “pentecosted,” living daily in the Spirit’s love, strength, and mission.

The Ascension of Jesus is not his going away from us, but rather his coming infinitely closer to us. In St Matthew’s version of the Ascension, Jesus promises, “Behold I am with you always, even to the close of the age.”

God created us and knows each one of us intimately. He thought about us with love when he created us. He knew each one of us individually even before we were born.

We are to love one another just as Jesus loves us. The key to understanding the glory that Jesus is speaking about is a sacrificial love which is entirely for the other. There is nothing sentimental or self-serving about this kind of love. It is a gritty, determined love.

How do we recognise the voice of the Good Shepherd speaking to us, teaching us, and calling us? Well, we hear the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd in the reading of the Scriptures, in the teachings of the Church and its pastors, in the Mass, and we hear the voice of the Good Shepherd in our inner voice, our conscience, and in quiet reflection.

Lord asks us, as he asked Peter: “Do you love me?” It is a question that we must answer over and over again in our lives. Our answer is at the heart of a fundamental choice for God. Our answer is at the heart of our moral decisions and how we choose to live our lives.

What fears are in the background of our lives, that affect our well-being and joy? What wounds do we carry that need to be identified with the wounds of Jesus?

In the words of Pope Francis, “Let the risen Jesus enter your life. Trust him, go to him. He welcomes you with open arms. Let him dispel the doubt and fear from your lives.”

Opening to the Grace of Holy Week

Entering into the experience of Jesus, his pain, sorrow and suffering, will increase our appreciation for what he has done for us and increase our love for him.

The Gospel is that God responds to our weakness and woundedness with compassion and mercy. Jesus doesn’t condemn this woman before him; he forgives her, he shows her mercy. He tells her to sin no more, but he acts with compassion. He meets her misery with mercy

This story of the prodigal son is one of the most moving portrayals of God's loving compassion for his people. It is a real family story about breakups and reconciliation, about love that covers all sorts of failings and about love to the end. It is about a father who never stopped loving and never gave up on his son.

The image of the fig tree which is supposed to bear fruit is a symbol of our lives that are meant to be lived according to the purpose of God, the purpose for which we were created.

The Transfiguration confirms for us that there is a spiritual reality that is much greater and more beautiful than the ordinary world of matter that we experience around us. Jesus, through his Transfiguration, confirms for us that he is the Christ, the Son of God. In him rests our whole faith. Let us listen to him.

During Lent we called to identify our temptations, and fight against the things that hold us captive, the habits and addictions, the slavery to sin.