Reflections

Easter  4/4/26 The Rolled Away Stone - Proof of Life. There are three popular theories to explain the resurrection of the Master. First, that Jesus held his breath and stopped his heart long enough so that everyone thought he was dead, no stethoscopes or ECGS in those days. Then, when he was safely ensconced in the...Continue reading→

Softly and gently, dearly-ransom'd soul, In my most loving arms I now enfold thee, And, o'er the penal waters, as they roll, I poise thee, and I lower thee, and hold thee. And carefully I dip thee in the lake, And thou, without a sob or a resistance, Dost through the flood thy rapid passage...Continue reading→

Palm Sunday  - The Donkey During this Lent, we will be offering some homilies under the theme of ‘Instruments of resurrection’. We will discover that the most unlikely, commonplace, mundane things are instruments of resurrection. How clever that the master would use everyday, simple things to communicate and help us enter into the most profound mysteries....Continue reading→

Remember… On Ash Wednesday, we have a splendid custom where the ashes from last year’s Palm crosses are imprinted on our foreheads. You may have seen folk walking around with this grey smudge on their forehead and wondered what all the fuss was about. The words said while the ashes are being placed on the...Continue reading→

Everyone's an Expert/Ambassador Around the time Jeanine and I were considering a Parish exchange (2013), we were deluged with advice on a whole raft of subjects, which was the best time to fly, which airlines to fly with, who was grumpy at which border, which cities to avoid, which pub serves the best pint and...Continue reading→

Sunday March 22nd Lent 5 Vinegar During this Lent, we are offering some homilies under the theme of ‘Instruments of resurrection’. We are discovering that the most unlikely, commonplace, mundane things are actually instruments of resurrection. How clever that The Master would use everyday, simple things to communicate and help us enter into the most...Continue reading→

So this is what it’s all about! I found some words the other day that were helpful for me. For some, they might be too churchy, for others, the style will be familiar. For others… go gently with it and see where it might lead you. I use these words to conclude this little reflection...Continue reading→

Sunday March 15th Lent 4  15 March 2026 During this Lent, we will be offering some homilies under the theme of ‘Instruments of resurrection’. We are discovering that the most unlikely, commonplace, mundane things are instruments of resurrection. How clever that the master would use everyday, simple things to communicate and help us enter into the...Continue reading→

The Two Faces of ‘What If?’ They came to me with a bewildering tale of how they were lining up for a lifetime of ongoing tests. Each one is seemingly innocuous in and of itself, but any one could be life-changing. It wasn’t an easy way for this person to live, but that was their...Continue reading→

8/3/26  Lent 3  Instruments of Resurrection - The Lance. During this Lent, we are offering some homilies under the theme of ‘Instruments of resurrection’. We are beginning to discover that the most unlikely, commonplace, mundane things are actually instruments of resurrection. We discovered last week in our reflection on the hammer and nails that God...Continue reading→

Observe the rest Some time back Jeanine and I went to see the film. ‘The Choral’. It’s a charming movie and it involves a choir with all the sparkle and hard work that goes into making intoxicating music. There was a line in the film I remembered long after I walked out of the cinema....Continue reading→

Lent 2 1/3/26 Instruments of Resurrection: Hammer and nails During this Lent, we will be offering some homilies under the theme of ‘Instruments of resurrection’. We will discover that the most unlikely, commonplace, mundane things are instruments of resurrection. How clever that the master would use everyday, simple things to communicate and help us enter...Continue reading→

I Feel Guilty You know those magazines at the supermarket checkout? One of them had the curious headline in lurid, stand-out, knockout colours: “I feel guilty”. Presumably, the attractive, smiling person on the cover belonged to this headline, but they didn’t look as though they felt guilty. They looked positively radiant, which, of course, is...Continue reading→

Lent 1 22/2/26 Instruments of Resurrection - Bread and Wine. During this Lent, we will be offering some homilies under the theme of ‘Instruments of resurrection’. We will discover that the most unlikely, commonplace, mundane things are instruments of resurrection. How clever that the master would use everyday, simple things to communicate and help us...Continue reading→

Going Cheap. I’m reflecting back over the Black Friday sale, the Christmass sale and the Boxing Day sale. Discounts and bargains galore. At the same time, nation continues to rise against nation often for the sake of greed and wanting what someone else has. This ‘acquisition’ comes at a cost that no one can calculate...Continue reading→

Homily 15/2/26 The Red Hire Ute. Today’s story is not pretty. It comes with a health warning about commandment number 8. The adventure begins when I have to hire a ute to shift some things from point A to point B. All goes well. I make the booking, I fill out the forms, and collect...Continue reading→

The Value of Archives I was nostalgically going through some old files the other day. They were old pew sheets run off with quite a different technology, and the articles were a delight to read. The ideas and content wouldn’t quite ‘fit’ into the world of 2026, but that was not the point. There are...Continue reading→

Of Light Last week, I printed a homily by Lisa Kelly on the beatitudes. She made the point that usually when we read the beatitudes, we identify as one of the crowd on the mountain listening to Jesus rattle off all the “Blessed be’s”. Blessed are the peacemakers, (not Blessed are the cheesemakers as some...Continue reading→

Screens are great… but I well remember one of my first days at St. Michael's Grammar School, where I had a go at being a school chaplain. My supervisor/friend/mentor handed me my bright shiny, complimentary laptop and explained. ‘This is how we talk to each other.’ At first, I didn’t quite get it. Surely you...Continue reading→

Homily About the author Lisa Kelly Lisa Kelly is an Ignatian Associate living in Omaha, Nebraska.  She has a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard and a Master’s in Christian Spirituality, together with a certificate in the Ignatian Tradition. Lisa is co-director of the nonprofit La Storta and an accompanier for the Discerning Leadership Program....Continue reading→