Fifth Sunday of Easter 2020 Reflection from Monsignor Tony Doherty

10 May 2020

 

A retired priest from the Archdiocese of Sydney has chosen to start recording weekly reflections on the Gospel.

Monsignor Tony Doherty has started a series of reflections called “Breaking Bread Together” on a personal YouTube channel.

The reflections were designed for parishioners of St Joseph’s Neutral Bay, part of the Parishes of Sydney Harbour North, but he warmly welcomes those outside of the parish to the video.

In his reflections, Msgr Doherty reads the Sunday Gospel, provides a reflection, and then allows for a time of prayer towards the end.

 

Hope and despair are not opposites, says Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister.

They are cut from the very same cloth, made from the very same material, shaped by the very same circumstances.

Most of all, every life finds itself forced to choose one from another, one day at a time, one circumstance after another.

For some, these are very dark days. Our elderly parents are in aged care, our employers have no work for us, the forced isolation can exacerbate a sense of loss, our children are restless, our future has an eerie uncertainty.

The difference between hope and despair is that despair colours the way we look at things, makes us suspicious of the future, makes us negative about the present.

Hope, on the other hand takes life on its own terms, knows that whatever happens we live in the gentle embrace of a gracious mystery that Jesus calls his Father.

Life, whatever its twists and turns, will ultimately yield its good to those who live well.

At least, that is what the authors of the over 70 books of the Bible are writing about.

This Easter reflection below, explores the people of the ‘great longing’ who gave us that Bible and who describe that thirst for meaning which drives their faith.

Just click the link below for a reflection on the fifth Sunday of Easter.

Feel free to pass this reflection on to anyone you feel might be interested.

Every blessing,

Tony

To follow Msgr Doherty’s reflections, visit his YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNTI-unsj934-1HkRkbMaZA

 

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