St Theresa's Catholic Church Camps Bay

06/09/2026

Imagine what would change if we actually believed that the Messiah is among us - that Christ is present in the person next to us, however irritating or wrong they may be.

Wherever people live and work closely together, resentments build and someone eventually causes harm to someone else. Turning a blind eye is not a Christian option. Consider how we respond to situations and people who have gone astray. Do we simply give up, or retreat into a “mind our own business” attitude? The point of today’s Gospel is that we don't get to just write other people off. We are responsible for each other.

In our first reading today, God says to Ezekiel: “I have appointed you as watchman for the house of Israel. “I have appointed you as watchman for the house of Israel. If you do not speak to warn the wicked man to turn from his ways, that wicked man shall surely die, but his blood I will require at your hand.” Ezekiel is told, in the plainest terms, that he will be held to account if he sees someone heading for disaster and says nothing.

In every setting, the same principle holds: we owe each other the dignity of being spoken to directly, not about. The reference to treating an unrepentant person “like a pagan or a tax collector” is worth a second look, because it can carry a nice twist. As it stands, Jesus is naming a category of people the community has the right to exclude. But Jesus himself showed special care for pagans and tax collectors - not least St Matthew, a former tax collector himself, who is recording these very words.

We have a responsibility for one another there. When we gather, when we accompany each other, pray together, and form and correct each other in love, the Messiah truly is among us.

https://www.ourladyofgoodhope.co.za/homily/responsible-for-each-other

30/08/2026

Discover what truly satisfies the deepest longing in your soul.

"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." - Matthew 16:25

Let’s face it: there is something confusing and illogical about losing one’s life in order to save it. To follow Jesus is to take up a cross, to deny oneself. This means denying our own priorities, preferences, and comforts. The self that Jesus calls us to deny is not our true self; it is the false self that is inward looking, selfish and self-seeking.

We are asked to deny that aspect of ourselves which is focussed entirely on ourselves and on our comfort, regardless of the needs of others or a sense of our own need for God. Ultimately, we are made for the fullness of true life, giving glory to God. There is an empty space within each of us which is God shaped and only God can fill this emptiness, this longing within us. All of us need to get in touch with this longing within ourselves. To give your life to Jesus, to lose your life for Jesus’ sake, is to find true life.

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Read the full homily by Fr Zane on our website here: www.ourladyofgoodhope.co.za/homily/find-true-life

28/08/2026

Dear Parishioners and Friends. Please see the parish newsletter for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. I look forward to seeing you all. God bless. Fr Zane

26/08/2026

23/08/2026

“But who do you say that I am?” - Matthew 16:15

We seek the answer to “who am I?” in our achievements, our failures, what others make of us, and the accidents of our birth. But the deeper question is not only where we come from, but who God says we are when he calls us by name.

Jesus asks Peter "who do you say I am?". Peter answers: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Not admiration. Confession. Then Jesus tells Peter who Peter is. He receives an identity, and an office that are not his own achievement.

Grace always comes first. Vocation follows.

And so Jesus is asking us each individually. "But you — who do you say that I am?". Take that question into one quiet moment of prayer, answer it honestly before him.

Then ask in return: “Lord, who do you say I am?” If we give him a true answer, Jesus may well have a name to give us in return — not the name our flesh and blood gave us at birth, but the name he sees in us, the person he is patiently, faithfully, already building us to become.

21/08/2026

Dear Parishioners and Friends. Please see the parish newsletter for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time. I look forward to seeing you all. God bless. Fr Zane

17/08/2026

Where is God quietly at work in your work? Join Prof. Elaine Rumboll for a contemplative evening using LEGO® Serious Play® to explore a real question from your working life and discover what God’s hidden kingdom might look like there.
Thursday 27 August ·

6:30–8:15 PM, at Our Lady of Good Hope, Sea Point
“Those who have eyes to see, let them see.”

No Lego experience required · RSVP Tarryn: 074 107 2708

16/08/2026

Today is the patronal feast of the Church here in Southern Africa.

We are under Mary's protection. The Church teaches that at the end of her earthly life she was taken up body and soul into heaven. So it is worth asking, on this feast especially: what is Mary, through her life and her Assumption, saying to us? Today's readings and the Church's faith hold up three portraits of Mary: Mary the heavenly woman, Mary the first fruits of the redeemed, and Mary the woman of discipleship - the new ark who carries Christ to others.

Read Fr Zane's full homily here: www.ourladyofgoodhope.co.za/homily/assumption-of-mary-2026

14/08/2026

Dear Parishioners and Friends. Please see the parish newsletter for Assumption Sunday. I look forward to seeing you all. God bless. Fr Zane

09/08/2026

Isn't it true that nothing draws our attention quite like a whisper? And yet, in the noise of our lives, we might easily miss a message given in a whisper. We can fall into the trap of thinking that God has gone silent. Really, we have been listening for a shout, while God often chooses to whisper.

Think of the storms of life we face. Relationship problems, illness, financial difficulties, persecution, loneliness, depression, fear, anxiety, and doubt are all part of the human condition. It is into storms like these, ours and the Church’s, that Jesus comes, saying, “Do not be afraid.”

Peter answers with a bold request: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” Jesus says — inviting him out of the safety of the boat, into the wind and the waves. As Peter is sinking, Jesus reaches out at once and catches him. The step of faith doesn't have to be perfect. It only has to be taken.

The invitation is the same one given to Elijah on the mountain, to Peter on the water, and to a priest on a sinking ship. Quieten down. Listen for the whisper. And when he says, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid,” act in faith; step out onto the waters.

🔗 Read the full homily by Fr Zane on our website here: www.ourladyofgoodhope.co.za/homily/take-courage