Richard Ounsworth OP, Author at Catholic Herald

Richard Ounsworth OP

The nature of God is seen in the love that took Jesus to the Cross

June 02, 2023

We always say that God is not a puzzle to be solved, but the unfathomable reality within and beyond everything that is, ever has been or ever will be. Yet people do find the doctrine of the Trinity puzzling: somebody recently said to me that it seems as though the Church, at least in the

The Paschal mystery continues at the Ascension and Pentecost

May 27, 2023

In the “farewell discourse” of St John’s Gospel, chapters 14-16, Christ prepares his disciples for his departure. In fact there is some deliberate ambivalence here: his initial departure will be his death by crucifixion, but just as Jesus speaks of his being “lifted up” to refer simultaneously to his death and his heavenly exaltation, so

The empty tomb of the risen Lord?

March 29, 2023

There are two distinct sets of stories in the Gospels about the Resurrection of Jesus. The one set, about which I wrote last year, concern the appearance of the risen Christ to the women, the apostles and others; these are what come first, as we see from the Gospel readings of the Easter Vigil and

Mary and Joseph were guided by goodness

March 01, 2023

During Lent we should look to the model obedience of Mary and Joseph. The month of March falls entirely within Lent this year, but there are a few feasts to lighten the mood, including in fairly quick succession that of St Joseph on the 19th (actually this year transferred to the next day, as 19

The Incarnation and the Crucifixion are woven together at Candlemas

February 01, 2023

As it is often noted, Christmas seems to begin earlier and earlier every year: certain newspapers can be almost guaranteed to have a letter sometime in the autumn expressing incredulity at the Christmas display the writer has seen on the local high street. One consequence of this is that as soon as we get past

The meaning of Matthew

January 03, 2023

The opening Gospel is carefully stuctured to present key teachings of Jesus

On the Fourth Day of Christmas: Martyrs in deed, not will

December 28, 2022

The sad truth is that the murder of however many infants there may have been at the time, a monstrous crime though it is, would barely have made a ripple in the violent, stormy history of Judea, says Richard Ounsworth OP