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All Episodes

Hearers of the Word — 171 episodes

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Title
1

HW: When is an ending not at ending (at all, at all!!)

2

HW: Giving an account of the hope that is in you

3

HW: Flourishing in our particular world of uncertainty, unease and unclarity,

4

HW: Who will the shepherds of tomorrow?

5

HW: We are all disciples — companions! — on the road to Emmaus!!

6

HW: Living doubts and dead certainties. Learning from St Thomas.

7

HW: "Rise, heart, thy Lord is risen"

8

HW: "My song is love unknown": shifting the strangeness of the story of Holy Week

9

HW: why do we really believe in the resurrection of the dead? Lazarus revisited.

10

HW: The man born blind — a contemporary reading of John 9:1-41

11

HW: The woman at the well — a different way of reading the story.

12

HW: The Transfiguration — the visionary and the practical!

13

HW: What on earth do we moderns do with Adam and Eve?

14

HW: Where to with the Synodal Pathway in light of Matthew 5:17-37?

15

HW: Having an account of the hope that is in us.

16

HW: The secret of flourishing according to Jesus.

17

HW: Women deacons — a biblical contribution

18

HW: Sunday of the Word of God, 2026

19

HW: Jesus, the Lamb of God — richness and potential for today

20

HW: Baptism — unconventional, radical, wonderful!

21

HW: Hearing the Prologue of John again for the first time!

22

HW: Christmas carols and Christian doctrine!

23

HW: how to read the birth stories of Jesus (e.g. today's Matthew 1:18-24)

24

HW: Is it possible today to be a joy-filled happy believer?

25

HW: St Paul — an Advent figure, especially in our time.

26

HW: Tripping over joy...for the birth of the saviour

27

HW: Christ the King — the paradox of God's "weakness" and love

28

HW: Don't be afraid of the reasurrance of faith.

29

HW: You are God's temple and the Spirit of God is living among you.

30

HW All Souls: Remembering our beloved dead in love, in hope and in faith.

31

HW: If only someone would rise from the dead! (Luke 16:19-31; 28 September 2015)

32

HW: On trying to buy a new car!!! (Luke 16:1-13; 21 September 2025)

33

Feast of the Holy Cross: what "happened" for us in Jesus' death and resurrection?

34

The Season of Creation 2025 ("Peace with creation")

35

Is being humble really necessary? (Sirach 3:19-21, 30-31 and Luke 14:1, 7-14; 31 August 2025)

36

What can we say about the "nationalism" of the Bible today? (Isaiah 66:18-21 and Luke 13:22-30; 25 August 2025)

37

The prophetic voice: rare, awkward, needed! (Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10 and Luke 12:49-53; 17 August 2025)

38

Faith: hunger, encounter, trust (Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19; 10 August 2025)

39

How to become "rich towards God" (Luke 12:13-21; 3 August 2025)

40

Learning to pray: The Lord's Prayer (Luke 11:1-13; 27 July 2025)

41

Are you Mary or are you Martha? Or should we be both?

42

The Cosmic Christ: a reflection on Colossians 1:15-20

43

"A threefold chord is not easily broken!" Communion, mission, participation today. (6 July 2025; Luke 10:1-12, 17-20)

44

Feast of Sts Peter and Paul: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church.

45

Corpus Christi: Becoming the body of Christ

46

Trinity Sunday: celebrating the Nicene Creed 325 to 2025

47

Pentecost Sunday (Acts 2:1-11): Pentecost happens again and again

48

Ascension Day (Acts 1:1-11): Transition, Task, Empowerment

49

Easter 6C25 (Acts 15:1-2, 22-29): Pope Leo XIV, synodality and the future

50

Easter 5C25: John 13:31-33, 34-35 "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."

51

Easter 4C25: John 10:27-30 — Job vacancy: good pastors (and not just in Rome!)

52

Easter 3C25b: John 21:1-19 once again...what kind of faith leaders do we need?

53

Easter 3C25: Playing with numbers...in the Bible! (John 21:1-19)

54

Easter 2C25: Deepest doubts are the royal road to deepest faith

55

Easter Sunday: Rise, heart, thy Lord is risen!

56

Palm Sunday 25C: My song is love unknown

57

Lent 5C25: Having the courage to do something really new!

58

Lent 4C25: Who is the real "prodigal" in this story?

59

Lent 3C25 "What's in a name?" (Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15; 23 March 2025)

60

Lent 2C25: "Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity" Simone Weil (Luke 9:28-36; 16 March 2025)

61

Lent 1C25: “A springtime of faith” (Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13; 9 March 2025)

62

Sunday 8C: The Synodal Pathway...where to from here? (2 March 2025; Luke 6:39-45)

63

Sunday 7C: Jesus, philosopher of living (23 February 2025; Luke 6:39-45)

64

Sunday 6C: Would you like to flourish? (16 February 2025; Luke 6:17, 20-26)

65

Sunday 5C: Pilgrims of hope in this present moment and into the future (9 February 2025; 1 Cor 15:1-11)

66

Presentation: What will become of this child? (2 February 2025; Luke 2:22-40)

67

Word of God Sunday: Pilgrims of hope, hearers of the word (26 January 2025; Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10; Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21)

68

Cana: Come to the wedding, so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (19 January 2025; John 2:1-11)

69

Baptism: being pilgrims of hope (12 January 2025; Luke 3:15-22)

70

Epiphany: "Christianity is Judaism for non-Jews" (6 January 2025; Matthew 2:1-12)

71

Caught up in love of the God we cannot see (5th January 2025; John 1:1-18)

72

"Good people all, this Christmastide, consider well and bear in mind" (Luke 2:41-52; 29 December 2024)

73

Christmas 2024: Listening to what we sing at Christmas!! (25 December 2024)

74

Advent 4C: Entrusting our "mud pies" to each other's sympathetic consideration (Luke 1:39-45; 22 Dec 2024)

75

Advent 3C: Rejoice in the Lord always (15 December 2024; Philippians 4:4-7)

76

Advent 2C: Christianity on the edge... (8 December 2024; Luke 3:1-6)

77

Advent 1C: a new year, a new Gospel, a new synodal adventure (1 December 2024; 1 Thess 2:12-4:2 and Luke 21:25-28, 34-36)

78

Christ the King "In it, there are quite different things going on" (John 18:33-37; 24 November 2024)

79

What happens when you die? (Daniel 12:1-3; l7 November 2024)

80

Synod 2023-2024: where to from here? (10 November 2024; Mark 12:38-44)

81

Experimenting with a pomegranate (Mark 12:28-34; 3 November 2024)

82

The Gift and Opportunity of the Synod: a reflection on Mark 10:35-45

83

Synod 4: "What do you want me to do for you?" (Jeremiah 3:17-19; Psalm 125/126; Mark 10:46-52; 27 October 2024)

84

Synod 3: A church which does not serve, serves for nothing! (Is 53:10-11; Mark 10:25-45; 20 October 2024)

85

Synod 2: How to be wise so as to hear what the Spirit is saying (Wisdom 7:7-11; Psalm 89/90: 12-17; 13 October 2024)

86

Synod 1: Negotiating idealism, realism and compassion (Mark 10:2-16; 6 October 2024)

87

Month of Creation 2024: "To Hope and Act with Creation" (James 5:1-6; 29 September 2024)

88

Costly discipleship: Dietrich Bonhoeffer remembered (Mark 9:30-37; 22 September 2024)

89

Half the answer is knowing the right question to ask in the first place. (Mark 8:27-35; 15 September 2024)

90

Wash your ears out! (Mark 7:31-37; 8 September 2024)

91

What to keep and what to throw away? (Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23; 1 September 2024)

92

Will you also go away? And if not, why not? (John 6:60-69; 25 August 2024)

93

“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” The uses of misunderstanding. (John 6:51-58; 18 August 2024)

94

Rattling the cultural shell of evaporated faith! (John 6:41-51; 11 August 2024)

95

Not just what do I desire but what does God dream for me? (John 6:24-35 Ephesians 4:17,20-24; 4 August 2024)

96

Missing God...and other hungers of the heart (John 6:1-15; 28 July 2024)

97

Shabbat shalom! The peace of the sabbath be with us all (Mark 6:30-34; 21 July 2024)

98

Starry, starry night...in the Negev Desert (Ephesians 1:3-14; 14 July 2024)

99

Where does Paul get his resilience from? (2 Corinthians 12:7-10; 7 July 2024)

100

Death is not strange...strange is life! (Mark 5:21-43; 30 June 2024)

101

Faith in unsettled times (Mark 4:35-41; 23 June 2024).

102

Nothing is so beautiful as a tree!! (with apologies to GM Hopkins; Ezekiel 17:22-24 and Mark 4:26-34; 16 June 2024)

103

Who told you that you were naked?... (Genesis 3:9-15; 9 June 2024)

104

Eating together, becoming one. (Corpus Christi; 2 June 2024)

105

The love of the Triune God, poured into our hearts (Trinity Sunday, Matthew 28:16-20, Romans 8:14-17)

106

Pentecost [singular] and Pentecosts [plural] (Acts 2:1-11, 19 May 2024

107

The ascension of the Lord: Go into all the world and preach the gospel (Mark 16:15-20; 12 May 2024)

108

"God does not have favourites": the courage of the radically new (Acts 10:25-26,34-35,44-48; 5 May 2024)

109

Walking together the Synodal Pathway (Easter 5b; Acts 9:26-31; 28 April 2024 )

110

The Good Shepherd image and its illuminating strangeness (Easter 4b; John 10:11-8; 21 April 2014)

111

Matter matters before God! ( Easter 3B; Luke 24:35-48;14 April 2024)

112

Living doubts and dead certainties (Easter 2B; John 20:19-31; 7 April 2024)

113

When is an ending not an ending? Mark 16:1-8 (Easter Vigil 2024)

114

Christ is risen! He is truly risen! (Easter Sunday: 31 March 2024)

115

A double entry: into Jerusalem...and into Holy Week (Palm Sunday, 24 March 2024)

116

When I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all people to myself: The Fifth Sunday of Lent (17 March 2024)

117

God so loved the world: the Fourth Sunday of Lent (10 March 2024)

118

The Ten "Signposts for Freedom": the Third Sunday of Lent 2024 (3 March 2024)

119

Being Hearers of the Word: the Second Sunday of Lent (25 February 2024)

120

A springtime of faith: the first Sunday of Lent 2024 (18 February 2024)

121

And what about the marginalised, the excluded? (Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 and Mark 1:40-45); 11 February 2024

122

In the morning, long before dawn, Jesus got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there (Mark 1:29-39); 4 February 2024

123

Jesus heals a man with an unclean spirit (Mark 1:21-28) 28 January 2024

124

The Sunday of the Word of God (21 January 2024; Mark 1:14-20).

125

Jesus said: "What are you looking for?" (14 January 2024)

126

Christmas Day 2023: Listening again to the familiar yet strange (love) story with fresh ears...

127

Advent 4B23: ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ (Luke 1:38)

128

Advent 3B23: He comes to us as one unknown (John 1:6-9, 19-28)

129

Advent 2B: Mark's amazing prologue (Mark 1:1-8, 9-15)

130

Advent 1B Resources for living in our time (1 Cor 1:3-9; Mark 13:33-37)

131

Christ the King: the visionary values of God's reign (Matthew 25:31-46)

132

Living through difficult times: a reflection inspired by 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

133

Life beyond death: listening to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

134

Leadership today: a reflection on 1 Thessalonians 2:7-9,13 and Matthew 23:1-12

135

Synod 5: You were led to become imitators of us, and of the Lord

136

Synod 4: you have shown your faith in action, worked for love and persevered through hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ

137

Synod 3: There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength.

138

Synod 2: The peace of God will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus

139

Synod 1: In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus

140

Learning from the women of St Paul

141

The struggle for inclusion: the story of the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28)

142

Living in stormy times (Matthew 14:22-33: the storm at sea and the walking on the water)

143

Glimpsing something more — the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9)

144

Where your treasure is, there will your heart be too (Matthew 13:44-52)

145

The parable of the weeds and the wheat: a message for the Synodal Church (Matthew 13:24-43)

146

The word will not return to me empty (Isaiah 55:10-11; Matthew 13:1-23)

147

Come to me, all who labour and are overburdened! (Matthew 11:25-30)

148

Baptism as communion, participation and mission (Romans 6:3-4,8-11)

149

Do not be afraid...to speak out (Matthew 10:26-33) The Prophetic Imagination

150

What are we proclaiming? (Matthew 9:36-10:8)

151

Why the Trinity at all? (Exodus 34:4-6,8-9 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 John 3:16-18) Trinity Sunday 23A

152

The continuing outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 2:1-13) Pentecost 23A

153

Go, make disciples (Matthew 28:16-20) Ascension Day

154

Give an account of the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15-18) Easter 6A

155

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:1-12) Easter 5A

156

Who will shepherd us? (John 10:1-10) Easter 4A

157

‘It is nearly evening and the day is almost over.' (Luke 24:13-35) Easter 3A

158

Living doubts v. dead certainties (John 20:19-31) Easter 2A

159

Walking in newness of life (Romans 6:3-11) Easter Vigil, Year A

160

Love is strong as death, passion as fierce as the grave! (John 20:1-18) Easter Sunday Year A

161

A double entry into Jerusalem... and into Holy Week (Matthew 21:1-11) Palm Sunday Year A

162

The raising of Lazarus and of us all in Christ (John 11:1-45) Lent 5A

163

Amazing grace! I once was blind but now I see! (John 9:1-41) Lent 4A

164

Meeting your beloved at a well or wherever! (John 4:5-42) Lent 3A

165

The Transfiguration: both visionary and practical (Matthew 17:1-9) Lent 2A

166

Adam and Eve and all of us! (Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7) Lent 1A

167

Love your enemies! (Matthew 5:38-48) A7

168

You have heard it said, but I say to you (Matthew 5:17-37) 6A

169

Salt of the earth, light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16) 5A

170

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) 4A

171

Sunday of the Word Sunday (Matthew 4:12-23) 3A