he source of good seed for all of us is the Gospel, writes Christian Brother Br Julian McDonald.. It contains all we need for our growth and development as disciples of Jesus. Yet, we know that God’s word can be stifled by our own assumptions and prejudices, and contamination by the expectations our culture can impose on us. While we all have our own favourite parts of scripture and our personal understanding of God, we still have to be ever open to be surprised by the ability of God’s Spirit to show us new meaning in the readings we encounter Sunday after Sunday when we sit expectantly in the pews. How open are we to being surprised this week?

This Sunday’s gospel reading reminds us that there is nothing to be gained from trying to hide from the world of which we are a part nor from letting ourselves be drawn into submitting to the status quo, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald. But, if we were to live our lives with meekness, gentleness and humility high on our list of priorities, we might find ourselves involved in transforming our world and ourselves into the dream Jesus had for us all.

While this Sunday’s Gospel challenges us to be wary of the kind of position and power the world applauds, we have to cultivate the power that comes from being truly centred in God, from being in touch with God’s Spirit planted deep within our hearts. It will be from that place that we will grow into genuine and prophetic witnesses to Jesus and his message, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald..

This Sunday’s readings are a call to us to trust in a God who loves and cares for us in all the circumstances of life and a call, too, to live with integrity, come what may, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald..

On this Sunday’s celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ, we are invited to reflect on the place of Eucharist in our lives, giving attention to what we are about when we “go to Mass”, and how that relates to everything we do as the rest of our week unfolds, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.