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One of the new Food For Faith undertakings is a weekly podcast we have named the Homily Studio. Many preachers find the mission of preaching to be more of a burden than it needs to be, and many parishioners seek to understand the scriptures at a deeper level than a few minutes of homily can feed.

You can sign up to receive the weekly Homily Studio podcast at the FFF email preference page at this link.

Here are few quotes taken from the inspiration of the team of four reflecting on today’s scriptures: Archbishop David Moxon, Triona Doocey, Kath Petrie, Merv Duffy and myself.

I suppose i’m a bit biased but I think it is well worth the half-hour listen. Your own comments and reflections are welcomed at the bottom of the Homily Studio page at this link or click on the image below.

Here’s a little sample of what you will hear:

I couldn’t help focussing on Peter in the Gospel – when he is asked ‘who do You say that I am’, he answered ‘You are the Christ’, but I wondered what did he understand by that, and what do we understand differently today.

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The two questions Jesus asks are so central – who do people say I am, and the second “who do YOU say I am.” The first question is easy. The second is really tough.

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I got the feeling that Jesus was a little annoyed

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The word Messiah is loaded with all kinds of imagery – being anointed, for a cause, to everyone’s surprise involving suffering…Suffering is not what they were expecting, but it is the way to life.

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When Peter heard “anointed one” he was probably thinking of an earthly king

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We want to follow the hero, the successful one, and instead we have a Christ who suffers…

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The reason i love the crucifix is that it reminds me that suffering is not a problem but a pathway, particularly the suffering that seems unwanted, unwarranted and unjust.

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Peter only seems to hear the end of the sentence – three times in this section of Marks Gospel Jesus always ends talk of suffering with “he will rise again.”

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One of the things I love about the San Damiano crucifix is that it is not Jesus dead but a dying Jesus….the head is forward and eyes open, but there is the beginnings of new life.

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The cross does not mean that I should simply put up with suffering, becoming co-dependant on a grossly unfair situation, but that is not the meaning here. Instead the meaning is that if you serve the Messiah, you will come up against suffering. It does not mean staying in abusive situations.