Short Talks
This section of the website comprises short stand-alone talks and articles on different aspects of the Christian Faith, including the teaching of Jesus, the seasons of the Church’s Year and Feasts and Festivals. More talks/sermons/homilies/articles will be added in due course.
The section of the website entitled The Christian Faith provides more extended teaching on larger content areas, such as the Creed and the Sacraments.
Feeding the 5000: Rest and refreshment
“Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down’ “ (NRSV, John 6:10)
The distance south from the Lake of Galilee to Jerusalem is about 80 miles, but whereas the Lake is more than 600 feet below sea level, Jerusalem stands at a height of 2,600 feet above sea level. So whether one went to the Holy City by way of the central highlands through the unfriendly territory of Samaria, or took the pilgrims’ route along the Jordan valley, there was a good deal of uphill travelling to be done.
Jairus’ daughter: “Only believe”
‘Do not fear, only believe’” (NRSV, Mark 5:36)
In his account of the raising of Jairus’ daughter, St Mark records that immediately after the incident in which the woman was healed by surreptitiously touching Jesus’ garments, friends from Jairus’ house came and told him, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to Jairus, “Do not fear, only believe” (NRSV, Mark 5:35,36). So they went on.
Syrophoenician woman’s daughter
“Jesus…went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon’. But he did not answer her at all” (NRSV, Matthew 15:21,22,23)
In Our Lord’s day the coast of Northern Palestine was inhabited by one of the most remarkable peoples of the ancient world – the Phoenicians. They were from early times a nation of seafarers. This was due to the geographical fact that their country was just a coastal strip between the mountain range of Lebanon and the Mediterranean. Though nowhere more than 20 miles wide this strip was some 120 miles in length and contained the fine natural harbours of Tyre and Sidon. From there the Phoenician seamen, who were incidentally the first to navigate using the pole star, sailed out into the Mediterranean and beyond.