Annunciation

A couple of thousand years ago, a young Jewish woman was going about her normal morning routines, perhaps with a mixture of house and garden work, chatting with parents and neighbours, aware of the local drought, the sickness of a neighbour and annoyed by the neighbourhood’s lack of sleep caused by the Romans’ noisy party the night before, when God broke into her routine and entered her life in a new and powerful way.

the real centre

Over the last month I have had the opportunity to work with many people across Aotearoa and further afield. In every retreat and seminar I have been with committed and faith-filled people who often feel as though they are on the periphery of the Church

the adventure

It’s easy to make the mistake of seeing life as a treadmill, day after day ups and downs, a movement through time from youth to old age, then death and beyond.
Too often if feels as if we are helplessly captive carried along by the momentum of all that is expected of us and demanded from us, and we risk falling into an existence mode, a daily rhythm of survival, enduring, coping and so the treadmill rolls on.

the bigger picture

Over the years, and even in recent months, weeks and days, I’ve prayed many prayers which have not been answered as I had hoped.
You’ve probably had the same experience: praying and wondering if and when or how your prayer will be answered.

moving waters

Bible questions still pop up regularly in quiz shows and they often cost otherwise sharp players much needed points.
I’m ready for a question asking for the two names for the last book of the Bible. The book often known as Apocalypse is perhaps more often referred to as the Book of Revelation.
It’s common (thanks to movies) to think of an apocalypse as a devastating and unwelcome time of destruction.

1 Comment

ADRIAN MCNAMARA on August 22, 2014 at 8:26 pm
HOW ABSOLUTELY RIVETTING THE WALL DAMAGED IN THE QUAKE WHERE THOSE STATIONS OF THE CROSS STAND AS A PARALLEL TO WHAT CHRISTCHURCH SUFFERED NOT ONLY POSSESSIONS-WISE BUT IN AT THE DEEPEST LEVELS OF ITS PSYCHE.
i MUST ADMIT THAT WHEN I LIVED IN CHRISTCHURCH i ONCE WENT UP TO THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE FOOTPATH ON THE ROAD THAT ISN’T LINCOLN ROAD JUST TO SEE WHAT I COULD SEE OVER THE WALL. I SAW NOTHING MORE THAN WHAT THE PHOTOS SHOW!
Once when trying to get into the outsiders’ meeting room, i blundered in an a Sister who was talking to a visitor. Both ladies could not have been more gracious. But what bowled me over was how abuzz with holiness the room was.

Carmelite insight