Behold I stand at the door and knock...

What a great feast and solemnity! We honour the abiding presence of Christ in the tabernacle, the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus promised to be with His Church until the end of time and He fulfils that promise perfectly and constantly by His eucharistic presence.

With thankful hearts and lively faith, let us keep this marvellous holy day.

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Our yearly contemplation of the profound mystery of the Holy Trinity brings us to the central doctrine of our faith. It is a mystery beyond our comprehension but one that God has allowed us to have access to, indeed, even one that shapes and directs our life.

Praised be the most Blessed Trinity, one God in Three divine persons!

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The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost in an unmistakable way. Even those who did not have faith in Christ or did not know him could not miss the signs and wonders that accompanied the arrival of the Holy Spirit.

But coming to faith in Christ needs someone to speak the message; and that is what St Peter did. His words were the first evangelisation undertaken by the Church. It has continued since until this very day.

The Holy Spirit assist...

The Ascension of the Lord, celebrated in Australia on this Sunday (though biblically it really occurred last Thursday 40 days after Easter Sunday) is another major event in the Pachal Mystery. The Lord has physically left this earth leaving His Church to be His presence in the world and given to her an important and ongoing mission.

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What a marvellous reality does Jesus tells us in today's gospel reading: that God wants to dwell within our soul through the working of sanctifying grace!

We don't deserve this. We don't merit it in any way. But this is God's gracious gift to us obtained for us by the Paschal Mystery, the life, death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

We must then be truly grateful and truly faithful.

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The command to love and the expectation that we love as Christ has loved us is at the very centre of our Christian faith. It could be said to define who we are as well as  how we should act.

St Thérèse of Lisieux is a teacher of love in her "little way" that she taught to the whole Church. May she pray for us that we may be faithful to the way of love.

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Good Shepherd Sunday is always the Fourth in Eastertide because we hear each year the Lord's own words about Himself and us; as flock and shepherd.

It is true that our shepherd leads us to green pastures but also that His abiding presence makes us confident in times of trial and difficulty. Because He is beside us, there is nothing we shall want, nothing that we need that He will not supply.

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The Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff is days away. In God's awesome providence, the divine Scriptures read at Mass this Sunday give us a powerful statement about the role of the Pope.

Let us pray for a good and holy Pope, who is zealous for the faith.

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frpchandler@armidale.catholic.org.au

Als...

Each year, this Sunday of Divine Mercy reminds us and compels us to enter more deeply into the Divine Heart of Christ, wherein is a limitless ocean of mercy, waiting to be poured out upon those who dispose themselves to receive it.

This feast day is intimately connected to the Paschal Mystery of Christ's death and resurrection and so it finds its place correctly and properly on the Second Sunday of Easter, when our Risen Lord g...

We have reached the goal of our Lenten fast, abstinence and penitential practices, that is, the Day of the Resurrection of the Lord. Alleluia! He is risen as He said.

With joy and thanksgiving, let us deepen our faith and our love for our Risen Lord. Let us tell Him how much we love Him and how grateful we are that He has conquered death, and its origin, which is sin.

Let us spend the next 40 days of the Easter Season deepening our u...

As we seek to follow Jesus on His path of suffering and death this day, and desire to unite ourselves with His heart and mind, there is no other person better to help us than the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother. Through her eyes and through her heart we can unite ourselves more closely to Him.

O Jesus crucified, for us You suffered; for us You died on the Cross!

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As we enter into the Sacred Paschal Triduum, let us endeavour, through careful reflection, to know something of the mind and heart of Our Lord on this most tragic and momentous evening.

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frpchandler@armidale.catholic.org.au

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Palm Sunday begins Holy Week, that most moving and mournful week of the year. We are meant to enter more deeply into the sufferings and death of Christ and to go with Him on His way of the Passion. As He gives Himself fully for our salvation, our hearts can yearn even more for what is to come on Easter Day while at the same time being filled with thanksgiving and awe.

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The woman caught in adultery and brought before Jesus is almost as well known as the prodigal son of last Sunday.

However, the masterful writing of St John and the divine wisdom of Jesus create for us a multi-layered story that is capable of misunderstanding, as I will show. 

But it is also a parable that teaches us, with real people, the justice of God and His abundance of mercy and compassion.

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The Year C readings this Sunday include the well-known parable of the Prodigal Son. This is a story of many threads and themes. The one I want to highlight is that of conversion and to link that with the great, and much-underused Sacrament of Confession. Make sure you go to Confession before Easter.

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frpchandler@a...

"The Lord is kind and merciful", we say in the Responsorial Psalm at Holy Mass on this Sunday of Lent. This holy season is appropriate to approach the sacrament of forgiveness and healing, Confession or Penance or Reconciliation. In this podcast I want to answer some questions about this beautiful and much under-rated sacrament.

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The Transfiguration of the Lord led me to ponder upon the human soul and the mission of the Church for the salvation of souls. I hope you find some helpful and encouraging, as well as enlightening, aspects to this podcast.

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can do this via email:

frpchandler@armidale.catholic.org.au

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Lent is a hard road. It is paved with self-denial, almsgiving, fasting, abstinence from meat, more deliberate and careful prayer. We can't change that but we can joyfully accept it out of love for Jesus and our desire for solidarity with Him.

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can do this via email:

frpchandler@armidale.catholic.org.au

Also if you would li...

This podcast looks at the Holy Mass.

Holy Mass will be and should be an important part of our life, as I hope this podcast will demonstrate. Especially, during Lent it should be the ignition for an intense life of prayer.

Quite often the sacrificial nature of the Mass is overlooked or not known about. But the communion aspect of Mass cannot exist except when joined to the sacrifice.

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