Fr Dominik Domagala, OMI, serves in Inchicore, Dublin. Studied Theology in Poznan (Poland) and currently is working on a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture. Author of the sermon-video-blog The Social Oblate. Send your questions to thesocialoblate@icloud.com
There are few Christian commandments more easily repeated and more difficult to obey than the one we hear in today’s Gospel: “Forgive your brother or sister not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” In other words, forgive without keeping count. But what about justice? What about those who have been wounded, exploited or humiliated? Does Christ…
Jeremiah 20:7-9 Romans 12:1-2 Matthew 16:21-27 The Sunday Gospel There is a rather surprising response to St Paul’s famous question: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The readings of this Sunday seem almost to answer: everyone. We might imagine that friendship with God guarantees an easy life. But today’s…
Mass readings: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 Matthew 15:21-28 Every year, on August 17, countless Irish pilgrims turn their hearts towards Knock. Many of them cannot think of the shrine without quietly recalling the familiar hymn: “There were people of all ages, gathered round the gable wall, poor and humble men and women, little…
Mass Readings: * Isaiah 55:1-3 * Romans 8:35, 37-39 * Matthew 14:13-21 *** Modern advertising has an uncanny ability to appeal to our deepest anxieties. “Don’t leave your family unprotected,” one life insurance advertisement urges. “Take out a policy today.” There is, of course, wisdom in making sensible provision for those we love. Yet there…
Wisdom 12:13, 16-19 Romans 8:26-27 Matthew 13:24-43 There is scarcely a question more frequently asked than this: Why does God allow evil? Why does He permit injustice to flourish, the innocent to suffer, the wicked to prosper, and cruelty to scar the lives of countless people? If God is all-powerful, why does He not…
Mass Readings: Zechariah 9:9-10 Romans 8:9, 11-13 Matthew 11:25-30 Anyone who has ever worked for some time in the countryside knows the quiet strength of a donkey. It will never win a race. It does not impress anyone by its appearance. Yet it patiently carries burdens day after day without demanding attention. It is…
There is a comforting illusion that faithfulness to God should make our life easier. Many people imagine that if one sincerely follows the Lord, prays regularly, and seeks to live according to the Gospel, then difficulties should diminish and peace should naturally follow. Yet the Bible repeatedly challenge this assumption. The readings for this Sunday…
There are truths in Christianity so familiar that we risk no longer being astonished by them. The feast of Corpus Christi confronts us with one of them. We hear again words that Catholics have repeated for centuries: “This is my Body… This is my Blood.” Yet if we truly allowed those words to enter our…
There are feasts in the Church year that we celebrate almost instinctively. Christmas appeals to the imagination. Easter speaks to the deepest human longing for life stronger than death. Pentecost, however, is often more difficult. The Holy Spirit can seem elusive, abstract, almost impossible to grasp. We understand the Father as Creator. We understand the…
The readings of this Sunday seem to stand apart from one another. In one, we witness the extraordinary power that accompanied the first disciples—healings, liberation, visible signs of divine action. In another, we hear a call to endure suffering patiently, even injustice, without retaliation. And in the Gospel, Christ speaks of love, obedience, and a…