It is the feast of Ignatius Loyola today and I am grateful to have been greatly influenced by Ignatius and his followers the Jesuits. Ignatius remains one of our Christian traditions greatest teachers of discernment, the art of recognising and naming attraction and resistance in our life with God. I offer this reflection and encouragement […]
Today, 26 July, is the feast day of Anna and Joachim, the maternal grandparents of Jesus. This gives us a great opportunity to savour the significance of grandparents in the life of a child. I was fortunate in my growing up years to never live more than an hour from my four grandparents. They were, […]
“You have been chosen by Christ to receive the imprint of his own priesthood in your souls so that your destiny is linked to him in a bond that lasts into eternity. What a challenge, what a demand that is upon you but what a privilege too.” An inspiring 3 minute video reflection from the […]
Today I’m in Hanmer Springs , a beautiful town in the north of the Good Shepherd Hurunui parish. One century ago ago the first soldiers began to return home from the First World War. Many of them were suffering greatly and they came to this place aware of their need for healing. All of us […]
I am grateful to the Christchurch Press for taking the initiative to present a feature this morning on the recent Christchurch ordinations. A brief interview can do little more than convey an idea or two slanted with a personal, populist and often negative bias. However a personal participation in the gathering itself has the power […]
Too often we see Christian faith presented as and reduced to moralistic and legalistic adherence to cultural norms and moral ideals. However our experience of life with Jesus is that of an encounter with something, no someONE much more, a relationship with the divine who satisfies all human desire and gives meaning to the life […]
One of this morning’s Press cartoons reminded me of a moment of grace I experienced last weekend. Tragically my moments of grace too often get ignored or quickly forgotten as other stuff overwhelms the moment of awareness of the presence and action of Jesus. Then there are the many more moments of grace that I’m […]
If you are anything like me you need all the help you can get to stay focused on the beauty of the presence of Jesus Christ alive and active in the midst of daily demands and circumstances. Around the world in many languages people are praying with the Magnificat booklet. I have been using it […]
It’s a beautiful Sunday morning here at sunrise, the bells of the monastery have been ringing calling the monks to prayer, and in a couple of hours we will gather with the community and other retreatants for the Sunday morning monastery Mass. We have a wonderful selection of readings in today’s liturgy. I’m reminded as […]
A brief Saturday morning live video reflection from New Norcia, a couple of hours north of Perth in Western Australia. I hope you are getting a chance to “retreat” in the most helpful sense of that word this weekend. Tap on this link to watch: Saturday Morning in New Norcia
I was interested to hear of the publication today of a new book on leadership written by NZ “leadership coach” Diana Jones. Tap on the image below to hear one of the interviews that whetted my appetite. I was especially interested to hear the emphasis on emotional and social intelligence, and vision in which Diana says […]
A number of Food For Faith followers have requested to read the homily given by Bishop Basil Meeking DD, Bishop Emeritus of Christchurch, at the Christchurch priesthood ordinations earlier this month. It is printed in full below. A major challenge facing religious faith and the mission of the Church today is the Catholic who […]
It’s the feast of St. Benedict today, the patron saint of Europe and of all those who seek to learn. Happy feast day! One of the reasons that Benedict is so well remembered and often quoted 1500 years after his death is that he sought to follow Christ without compromise in the circumstances that he […]
My little homily at this weekend caused considerable discussion and reflection among some parishioners, not so much agreement and disagreement but instead inspiring alternative thoughts. I was moved to hear these. Nothing is more inspiring for a preacher than to see a homily reflection stimulating in the hearers a deep desire to understand a passage […]
The New Zealand bishops have this week published an encouragement and a challenge for us in preparation for the September general election. “Politics is never far from conversations in family homes and with colleagues at work. Our fast approaching election this September comes against a backdrop of a rapidly changing world. Once we divined the […]
