2nd Sunday of Easter - Year C - 2025

Jeff Bagnall • 23 April 2025

Luke, in this extract (Acts 5:12-16) has awkwardly put together allusions to tales about Peter in the early Church. He wants to impress us with the power of the resurrection and the expansion of the number of believers. They gather together in a public place sheltered from the weather, where people generally could meet as friends, for business or for learning from expert teachers; so the gathering Luke describes shows the believers as such a group but highlights the miraculous power of the leader (the power of Peter’s shadow sounds legendary to our ears); but this is often the attitude of religious people to their senior representative.

The second reading is from the last book of the Christian bible, called the Book of Revelation (1:9-19 passim) or, by some, called the Apocalypse (meaning momentous or catastrophic). It is attributed to John though its style is different from the Gospel and letters attributed to him. It is from the last decades of the first century when the Christians where suffering persecution within many parts of the Roman Empire under Diocletian. The author indicates that he is in exile on the island of Patmos as a result of this. The text is tightly written in places as we hear, “I share with you the distress, the kingdom and the endurance we have in Jesus;” referring to the difficult times they are in, but also the joy of belonging to the kingdom of God and hence being able to put up with the situation successfully with the power of Jesus in whose life they share. Then the literary genre turns visionary as he writes about the seven churches – bright lights in these dark times – to each of whom he has a message latter on. He describes an encounter with Christ, affirming the new life he now has with God and the influence of this life in the whole of creation; it is this that urges him to write this book.

The gospel passage (John 20:19-31), is the conclusion of this great gospel of John (chapter 21 reads as a later addition). Jesus comes to the weak and scared humans; He comes with renewed life, physical but also transcending the physical – the resurrected Christ. John always emphasised that Jesus is sent by God, is obedient to God’s will and empowered by God’s Spirit. Now Jesus passes to His followers this same commission; to bring deliverance to all who can accept it (in Chapter 9 Jesus met people who could not receive faith). This moment is like a new creation, with a renewed infusion of the Holy Spirit, as at the first creation. Then the gospel brings in the story of doubting Thomas – the sceptic who wants evidence (but who makes a baptismal confession “My Lord and my God” when he sees Jesus; and the masterful conclusion which speaks to us all “Blessed are those who have not seen, but have believed.”

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Jeff Bagnall was a lecturer for many years at Craiglockhart College teaching RE to many future Catholic Primary teachers.

Holy Family - 2025 - Year A

16 December 2025

The first reading is from the Wisdom of (ben) Sirach which is sometimes called Ecclesiaticus or even the Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach; it is what might be called a deutero-canonical book because its status as part of the canon (or official collection) of Scripture was not recognised by Jews resident in Israel; Protestant Bibles follow that shorter collection of the Old Testament; though Sirach was used by Jewish scholars and is included in the early Greek version of the Jewish Bible (called the Septuagint) and it is in all Catholic bibles. A lot of the wisdom in this book is about good relationships within families, society and between people in general – the section we hear today is a good illustration of this. The nature of the society from which this came is indicated by the absence of any reference to daughters. We should, however, when we apply this reading to ourselves, include in our thinking all members of families as well as single people.

4th Sunday of Advent - 2025 - Year A

by Jeff Bagnall • 12 December 2025

The first reading is a small part of a story loosely based on an event in the history of the Jews ( in the second book of Kings ) around 733 BC. The story tells of Aram and Ephraim (namely, Syria and Israel) in the north, joining together against Judah in the south, to try to force an alliance of the three as a defence against the threat of the Assyrian empire in the east. In Judah in the south, the prophet Isaiah has told its King, Ahaz, that he should trust God to defend his people and not worry; God even offers the king a sign to show His support, but Ahaz turns the offer down. Like a very understanding and caring negotiator, God will give him, and his court, a sign anyway, which is our first reading ( Isaiah 7:10-14 ). The message is delivered through Isaiah, God’s spokesman; “Look,” he says “that young marriageable girl there. She will become pregnant and produce a son whom she will call Emmanuel (God’s with us)” – the name is significant because people often gave their children names that express something about their situation or hopes, so Emmanuel might mean that by the time of the birth, the people will feel sure that ‘God is with them’. In fact Ahaz called upon the emperor of Assyria to help him, rather than rely on God; so Judah was safe, at least for the time being and the two northern kingdoms were beaten by the Assyrians. This story raises the question of how to proceed in life’s difficulties; whether to trust God or to take evasive or defensive action oneself; but it also points to hope and belief that one day God will be with the people in a reassuring way – with us.