Author: sgigacz.aci@gmail.com

Formal religious faith is on the decline in Australia, but that does not mean that the truth of faith cannot apply to those who describe themselves in the national census as having “no religion”. The Gospel is for everyone and for all time. 

If Joseph Cardijn was alive today, he would be impressed with Dr Elizabeth Mitchell’s detailed analysis of the New Testament references to the appearances of Jesus after his resurrection

The Mass of the Last Supper is celebrated in the evening on Holy Thursday. The Gospel reading, which is from John’s Gospel, recounts Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. 

Jesus wanted to be a rabbi. When he had finished his secondary schooling (Bet Talmud), he went to his local rabbi to ask to be taken on as his apprentice (Bet Midrash). The rabbi replied with two words: “Lek hackeri” (Come, follow me).

If you have been reading the Gospel Enquiries, which I have posted here each week, then be assured that I have not ceased preparing them.

The Gospel reading here is the Gospel for the Memorial of the Feast of St Josephine Bakhita. Her story is worth reading. She suffered greatly in her life.

The men who prepare for ordination in a Redemptoris Mater seminary experience what the twelve apostles experienced during their training to be the leaders of Jesus’ church.

I often find myself thinking about the Blues Brothers’ mantra: ‘We’re on a mission from God” and wondering of late about what people give up so that they can commit themselves to carrying out the mission God gives them.

Fr Mark Link, SJ (1924-2017) published a book about Jesus in 1971. He called it He is the Still Point in the Turning World, a compilation of evocative images chosen to amplify the themes of the quotes, poems and reflections included in the book.

Many years ago, I remember using a short film with senior Religious Education classes. The film was titled “Parable” and it showed Jesus as a circus clown who is crucified by Magnus, the ringmaster.

If you want to know what it is like to encounter Jesus, just ask his mother, Mary. She was about twelve years old when she became pregnant with him by the power of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus was born, the angelic choirs sang about peace on earth, but it wasn’t long before Herod, fearing the loss of his kingdom, ordered the slaughter of all male infants up to the age of two years to be found in his kingdom.

My life was once graced by the presence of a human dynamo. He was short, a ball of energy and irrepressible. We nicknamed him “Mighty Mouse.” He was salt and light to those who knew him.

I recall a time when a colleague suggested that we supply students in our school with wrist bands with the letters WWJD printed on them. WWJD? “What would Jesus do?”

When Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, they affirm their belief that Mary was conceived free of original sin. In his poem The Virgin, William Wordsworth (1770-1850) refers to her as “tainted nature’s solitary boast.”

In Siblings All, Sign of the Times: The Social Teaching of Pope Francis, Cardinal Michael Czerny and Fr Christian Barone interpret Vatican II as “a historic-salvific reading of contemporary events (which) … takes as its sole reference the centre of faith the message of Jesus.”

The focus of every Gospel Enquiry is Jesus and what it means to follow him. What comes to mind is the event in his life when he called Peter, Andrew, James and John, four Galilean fishermen, to be his apostles.

The Gospel Enquiry is always about Jesus first and then us as his followers and co-workers. This dynamic, this movement is what is called “evangelisation.” Jesus says something, does something, which defines who he is and his mission.