The last few months have been unique: the abrupt end of one papacy and the election of the first Pope from the new world! We have never confronted the situation of farewelling a Pope who was still alive. This has been a difficult time for many of us who have loved and...
What a time to be in Rome! As the world was gripped by the resignation of Pope Benedict and the election of Pope Francis, I found myself not just a close observer of these historic events but living them from their very centre. On December 31st last year I was...
The first document of an Ecumenical Council devoted entirely to divine worship was Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (1963). Because people experience the Church primarily through worship, no other document of the Second Vatican Council...
Professionalism and the priest. What a strange title for an article on the priesthood! Priesthood isn’t a profession – it’s a vocation. Agreed. It is above all a vocation, a calling from God from all eternity to serve souls in the ministry, making Jesus Christ present...
And some observations on the Nouvelle Theologie In this article the intent is to consider the relation between Church and State based upon the relation between grace and nature. It is believed that a failure to do this leads to all sorts of misconceptions about Church...
The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has chosen a beautiful theme and title for the bull of indiction, his decree setting the course for the Year of Faith. This is the year when we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council on October...
At Masses on Trinity Sunday we often hear the story of St Augustine and the child who was trying to pour the ocean into a hole in the sand. The message conveyed to the congregation is that Augustine then saw that he had been presumptuous in trying to get an...
Your parish and Facebook At last count, 11.5 million Australians were monthly Facebook users. That’s nearly two thirds of the adult population! Chances are, a great many of your own parishioners are in the mix. If the parish website is online and up to date, then a...
New media resources to deepen the life of faith Recently some members and associates have mentioned that a short section highlighting good resources helpful for ongoing faith formation would be of benefit to many readers. To this end, a brief list of helpful...