Dear friends, these are some reflections I would like to share with you. I have been contributing to the St Peter’s Parish bulletin over the years. I hope you enjoy them.
REFLECTION: Luke 10:38-42 In this gospel we encounter Jesus calling us to be with him. Let us deep in our heart accept this invitation of God’s love. Perhaps we all have a bit of Marth and Mary in us. We need to do these mundane chores of our daily life, realizing we are serving Jesus when we accept His calling and know we are chosen by God. We are willing to accept with humility our lot in life as God has given us. We use our “free will” to choose to be with Jesus through all our cares and toils in our humanness. We take them to the foot of the cross and lay them with our love at Jesus’ feet, like the balm Mary used. “Our thanksgiving and praise to you Lord Jesus Christ, for by your cross and resurrection you have set us free”.
REFLECTION: Palm Sunday: Dear Jesus, let me not be distracted as we read your Holy word this Passion Sunday. As you rode through the streets of Jerusalem on the donkey, the people hailed you with palms, praising you and blessing you. Were these the same that shouted, “Crucify him, crucify him?” Do we leave you abandoned and alone in the tabernacle day after day making excuses not to visit you to stay a while and adore you? Do we listen to someone else’s knocking and the notion of money, power and greed that consumes us saddens you? Please Jesus let me trust you as you trusted your Father in all that happened to you. If tears well up in our eyes at Jesus’ suffering, our weak understanding can comfort him as we endeavor not to abandon him and contemplate his love for us. Jesus, you did this for us, you are here truly present as we say “We adore you Oh Christ, and we praise you because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world”.
REFLECTION: It is six o’clock in the morning and I am lying awake listening to the sweet sound that is the whistling of the black bird on the blue Jacaranda tree. Spring is near and sure enough the black bird is back again perched on the highest branch, at daybreak each morning. With its tuneful message as if it were for me alone to hear!
In many references in the Scriptures, we find Jesus making his way to the mountain top, to pray, give a sermon to his followers, show His disciples the love of God, being tempted by the evil one and most of all to be alone. Moses was handed the ten commandments on the mountain top when God called him. Then Jesus takes his disciples to the mountain top where they have the experience of God’s voice telling them “This is my own dear Son with whom I am pleased. Listen to him”. Let us spend some time each day or find a special place that can take us to the top of the mountain to hear God’s voice. So, to have a “successful” day, whether it be in the corporate world or at home, our thoughts and actions reflect this precious moment standing at the top of the mountain each day and being showered with Manna from Heaven. A reading from Exodus (34:2) “Come up in the morning and present thyself there to me at the top of the mountain”.
REFLECTION: The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
“We will do everything the Lord has told us”, words from today’s reading. Let us enter into the sanctuary of the Lord today in celebrating this feast day, “The solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – Corpus Christi”. For me the word “Adoration” means Jesus is calling me in the silence of this encounter to console and guide me, to bless and protect me. In the “Consecration” at mass it is the same. The holiness of the moment, the presence of Jesus!
We need to remind ourselves Jesus gave His Body and Blood in the Eucharist- the greatest gift we will ever receive. How sacred the moment when we receive Jesus in Holy Communion.
Let us pray in the words of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy: Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
REFLECTION: John 5-15, 19-26, 39-42
We have read the story of the Samaritan woman and her day that was “different”. Jesus was there at the well, tired and exhausted from his journey from Judea to Galilee. He asks the woman for a drink from the “well”. She is surprised, maybe shocked that this Jewish man spoke to her, and she asks if Jesus would drink from “her cup”. Jesus says, “If only you knew”. Jesus told her he is giving her “life giving water” and for her to “follow” Him and believe in Him. “Wells” are a man-made source of water. A spring is tapped, deep and mysterious! It is hard work to draw water from the well with the bucket. The day is hot; the road is stony and dusty. The well begins to hold a deeper meaning.
The Samaritan woman speaks to Jesus in “return”. In His encounter Jesus says “I will give you living water, never to thirst again” life giving water, giving eternal life. Then Jesus further tells her, “I am he (the Messiah) I who am talking to you”. What would we do if we had such an encounter with Jesus? We could remain with Jesus at this well listening to His words embracing His manner of deep concern and compassion. He knew this woman needed His help and forgiveness. Jesus is thirsty, Jesus is in “pain” from the long journey. Can we contemplate where else we would find Jesus in this situation?
May, the month of Our Blessed Mother: Venerable Mary Potter writes (Conference 14), Page 151 (Blue Book):
“We show special honour to the Maternal Heart of Mary. Knowing that the Immaculate Virgin Mother-heart is the most beautiful of all God’s created works, (the sacred humanity of our Lord of course excepted) therefore, what God so honours, it must be to His glory and our interest to honour likewise.
The Heart of Mary is the source of the Precious Blood, therefore those who wish to show devotion to the Precious Blood, must love the Heart that furnished it”.
In this month of May, traditionally dedicated to Mary, Mother of Jesus, we are invited to linger with the mystery of her heart—a heart so open to God that it became the dwelling place of divine love. In the words of Venerable Mary Potter, Mary’s maternal heart is not only beautiful, but deeply significant for our own spiritual lives. It is a heart that received, nurtured, and offered Christ to the world. To honour Mary, then, is not simply an act of devotion, but a way of aligning ourselves with what God Himself has cherished and chosen.
Mary Potter draws us further into this reflection by linking the Heart of Mary so intimately with the mystery of the Precious Blood. In recognising Mary as the source from whom Christ took flesh, we are reminded that her “yes” was not abstract—it was embodied, life-giving, and costly. The love that flowed through her life became the very means by which salvation entered the world. For us, especially within the spirit of the Little Company of Mary, this invites a deeper reverence for both the suffering and redeeming love of Christ, and for the quiet, steadfast love of Mary that made such a gift possible.
As Greater Company of Mary, we might gently ask ourselves how we, too, are called to reflect something of Mary’s maternal heart in our own lives. In our care for the sick, the dying, and those entrusted to us, can we be bearers of that same tender, compassionate presence? May this month be an invitation to grow in a love that is receptive, self-giving, and faithful—one that, like Mary’s, allows Christ’s life and love to flow through us into the hearts of others.
Let us sing a hymn to Mary:
https://youtu.be/OUey6ytEXqY?si=71O0-I49vbGKmsA0