As a young altar server, I loved Palm Sunday. There would be a large group of us servers, all dressed in a red cassock and surplice, and we were given a palm to wave. 

Most of us when we were children may have tried to figure out what would happen if we put a seed in a glass of water.

We have reached the mid-point of our Lenten journey, a holy penitential season. This Sunday, we celebrate “Laetare Sunday.”

There is some reassuring and challenging teaching presented to us in the readings of today’s liturgy!

Temptations are a regular part of our lives. When I was still living in Macquarie Fields, five days a week, I’d go out in the morning and take an hour walk.

One of the most important events in an Athletics competition is the relay race. And one of the most crucial moments of this race is the baton change. The baton when passed from one runner to another is absolutely important. Sometimes races are won or lost because of this.

As a child in our parish school I can remember how every time our parish priest would visit us just before Christmas he would come with a hand full of Holy Cards. 

The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of Joy. As we are moving closer to the feast of God becoming one among us, we are invited to live in joy.

“Look, I am going to send my messenger before you; he will prepare your way.” This gospel passage reminds me of the road from Alice Springs to Santa Teresa, which is a remote Aboriginal community where I’m assigned at the moment.

The oldest liturgical cycles in our Church, dating back to the second century, are the Lent/Easter Cycle and the Advent Cycle.  The Advent cycle came at the end of the Roman Year and in its origin had nothing to do with the Birth of Christ.