God has shown his favour to the woman born Mary Helen MacKillop by confirming her sanctity and presence with him in the glory of heaven. Through the authority of the Church and in particular an authentic exercise of the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff, we now...
Dear Brothers in the Priesthood, Deacons, and brothers and sisters of the lay faithful: It is with this act of worship, taking our part this evening in the unending sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving which the Church on earth offers to the one True God in and...
Such was the enthusiastic response to our 2009 Inaugural ACCC Annual Retreat that opened our observation of the Year for Priests that it was decided again to invite the Emeritus Bishop of Christchurch, NZ, to direct our 2010 ACCC Annual Retreat for...
My Dear People, With Christmas in the now approaching, I address an issue which causes me some concern. In the year 112 AD, Trajan was the Roman Emperor, Pliny one of his Provincial Governors. Pliny was constantly writing to the Emperor seeking advice in handing...
How wonderful that we should invoke the most holy Trinity at the beginning of our talk on St Gregory of Nyssa, who was one of the greatest champions in the 4th century of this foundational dogma of our Christian faith. But first, the title of my talk: “Saint Gregory...
The current religious scene of occasional and cultural Catholics Catholics in the Western world are facing a bit of a liturgical crisis. We have more and more members who are “cultural” and “occasional” Catholics. They perhaps know more about various forms of Eastern...
In this Vigil Mass we prepare for the Requiem Mass of Fr William Ross at St Stephen’s Cathedral tomorrow morning, to be celebrated by Bishop Michael Putney, Bishop of Townsville, as Fr Ross canonically belonged to that Diocese. From school the young William Ross...
Where are they “coming from”? What attracts a young man? In our quest for more vocations to the priesthood we firstly need to understand what the contemporary seminary candidate is looking for in his pursuit of the priesthood. This in turn can help us, as priests, to...
G. K. Chesterton was a prolific writer on all manner of subjects, and my particular focus will be on one vital part of his life and thought; namely, his inner life or spirituality. When Chesterton was asked to explain why he had become a Catholic, a step which he took...
[gview file="journal/the_priest_2010_nov.pdf"]