In this Advent Sunday episode, Fr Sam invites us to rediscover the season not as a gentle lead-up to Christmas, but as a wake-up call. While we may picture the nativity as a comforting scene with children’s costumes and soft candlelight, Sam reminds us that the real story was anything but safe or sentimental. God entered the world through poverty, scandal, political oppression, and refugee displacement — and this shocking reality shapes what Advent truly means.

Drawing on Matthew 24, Isaiah’s prophecy, and Paul’s exhortation in Romans, Sam explains that Advent begins not in the manger but with urgency: “Be ready.” Jesus’ title “Son of Man” ties His birth to ancient prophecy, reminding us that God’s work in the world is always bigger, more surprising, and more disruptive than our expectations.

Through this sermon, we’re confronted with a three-fold Advent calling:

1. Be ready for God’s new, unexpected work — in refugees, the poor, the overlooked, and the places we least expect to find Him.
2. Live differently because Christ entered our world — letting the nativity reshape our actions, words, priorities, and compassion.
3. Rely on grace, not self-reliance — trusting God to clothe us with righteousness rather than trying to earn it.

Advent becomes a season of awakening — a summons to look for God among the vulnerable in our own community, to embody hope for the hurting, and to join the Holy Spirit’s work of drawing all people into God’s peace.

In this deeply honest and pastoral reflection, Fr Sam unpacks one of Jesus’ most challenging teachings, forgiveness without limit. Drawing from Matthew 18, where Peter asks how many times he must forgive, Fr Sam explores what it really means to live out forgiveness “seventy times seven.”

Through a powerful personal story of betrayal and hurt from his time as a pastoral assistant, Fr Sam illustrates how forgiveness is not about ignoring pain or pretending everything is fine. Instead, it begins at the altar,“Drown them in the chalice,” his priest once told him, meaning that true forgiveness starts in the presence and grace of Jesus.

Fr Sam reminds us that forgiveness is not weakness, denial, or instant healing. It’s a journey of grace, often slow and painful, where we bring our hurt to God again and again until mercy begins to reshape us. Forgiveness, he says, is not something we manufacture; it is something God does within us.

In a world where many wounds run deep, in relationships, communities, and faith, this episode invites us to rediscover forgiveness not as obligation, but as the path to freedom and peace.

In this moving Remembrance Sunday reflection, Fr Sam challenges how we imagine heaven and the life to come. Too often, he observes, we picture heaven as “earth but a bit better”. A continuation of our current joys without the pain. But, as Fr Sam powerfully reminds us, that vision cannot hold for those who have seen or suffered the worst that humanity can do. For them, heaven must be something entirely new and not an extension of this world, but its transformation.

Drawing from Jesus’ exchange with the Sadducees about marriage and resurrection, Fr Sam shows how Christ reveals heaven not as a continuation of earthly relationships, but as a perfected network of love, where all are united in and through the Holy Trinity. Using vivid imagery and honest theological reflection, he weaves together the themes of war, suffering, love, and divine relationship, reminding us that we were created for connection with God, with each other, and with creation itself.

Remembrance Sunday, then, becomes more than a moment to mourn the fallen. It becomes a symbol in need of fulfilment: a call to live differently now, to build peace, and to embody the divine love that heaven promises.