Many people find making decisions difficult. We forget that life’s big decisions, as well as the little and apparently insignificant daily decisions, are an opportunity to grow in human maturity, and therefore an opportunity to grow in maturity of faith. You might find this brief clip helpful.
The response to my post yesterday marking the death of Christchurch priest Monsignor James Harrington was both overwhelming and moving. Many readers were touched to learn that a most outstanding example of the art of JMH (as he usually signed a piece he had written) remains in the now derelict chapel of the former Holy Name […]
It is with sadness this morning that we have learnt of the death of Monsignor James Harrington PA. Monsignor Jim, as he was widely and affectionately known, became a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch on July 14 1957 when he was ordained by Bishop Edward.M. Joyce. He was born in Christchurch in 1932 the […]
Several times at this weekend’s Sunday liturgy we will pray in response to the first reading, “The Lord is my Light and my Salvation”. Twice in the Liturgy of the Word we will hear that the people in darkness have seen a great light. Let’s take a couple of minutes to consider our need for the […]
I’m writing this as an encouragement to everyone who has been united in prayer for the complete recovery of Bridget Martin. A significant number of people in New Zealand and in many other parts of the world have been united in prayer for Bridget forming a family of faith united in our love for Bridget […]
It was a great pleasure this morning for me to spend time with many of the Filipino priests serving in the dioceses of New Zealand. They bring energy, enthusiasm and new life to many of our parishes and ministries. Each year they gather for a few days of formation and friendship together and in these […]
It is now two weeks since Bridget Martin, a young Christchurch wife and mother, suddenly suffered a cardiac arrest while on holiday. Within hours she was undergoing major surgery and the prognosis carried little hope. Immediately Bridget’s friends and family began to pray, at first a general prayer for healing, and then very specifically for a miracle […]
Here in Canterbury New Zealand these past few years we rarely share our stories without telling of earthquakes. Our stability has been rocked in every way. We had thought that our turn on shaky ground had passed and recovery was underway. But then just after midnight on the morning of November 14 the entire region north through Marlborough to […]
Thanks to Radio New Zealand online I can share this interview with Fr. John Weir, editor of the complete prose works of one of New Zealand’s greatest writers, James K Baxter. Baxter became a Catholic in 1959 and from that point his writing became even more focussed on faith in a way that was not limited […]
In the early 1990’s I had the privilege of taking a class taught by Sister Mary Evelyn Jegen SND. Mary Evelyn was well known as a leader in the promotion of peace, and brought many life-changing gifts to the mixed bunch of students who sat in her class on spirituality and social justice. She told […]
These have been days of feasting with the feasts of Christmas, the Holy Family, Mary the Mother of God, and this weekend the feast of the Epiphany. In secular usage the word ‘epiphany’ means a sudden realisation of the true meaning of something. This is because our common usage comes from the religious meaning of Epiphany as […]
These post-Christmas and early new year days provide many New Zealanders with annual rest and recreation. However some families have suffered tragedy in these vacation days. I’m thinking especially of a young Christchurch woman, Bridget (pictured) who while on holiday with her husband Dan and young family suffered cardiac arrest and following surgery remains seriously […]
We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Today, January 4, is the 52nd anniversary of the death of one of great poets of the twentieth century. You might appreciate as I did this BBC Arena Portrait […]
