It's Sunday afternoon on a warm Cheviot day, and after a weekend of Masses I'm about to pour a cold beer and read a novel for a couple of hours. After giving the same...
john oconnor
lark ascending
In the weeks leading up to the end of each year, Radio New Zealand's Concert programme invites listeners to "settle the score" suggesting their favourite classical...
homily studio 12/1
When speaking about the importance of the homily in his recent exhortation "The Joy of the Gospel" Pope Francis commented that both the people and the preachers "suffer...
benevolence
This is the follow-up to yesterday's post on guide books. That reflection was inspired by Pope Francis suggesting that as pilgrims we have two "guide books" to help us...
abundantly living
It's a week into the new year, and you may have already given up on your new year's resolutions. Here is a unique resolution, guaranteed to bring you a more abundant...
guide books
Did you notice that Pope Francis in his Epiphany homily referred to guide books? If you have ever travelled in a foreign country you will know just how helpful a good...
fall in love, again
It is a glorious summer's morning here in Cheviot. I'm thinking of the many people around the world who are suffering the weather at present with, extreme cold in the...
greatest attraction
In the past couple of posts (listen and read) I have reflected on Pope Francis' Epiphany homily in which he challenges us to take the example of the Magi by avoiding...
how to be happy
The great challenge at the heart of human life, is the discernment of what will lead us to greater intimacy with God, and what will lead us away from this relationship....
holy cunning
I am sure that there are some people who saw this snake image and quickly decided to surf to another page. Many people don't like snakes. It can't be simply that they...
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hope alive
Each of us is called to rediscover in the Risen Christ the one who rolls back from our heart the heaviest of stones. So let us first ask: What is the stone that I need to remove, what is its name?
with Easter joy
Just as the earthquake shook the land at the moment of Jesus’ death, it was an earthquake that helped to bring our diocese to its knees nine years ago. This places us firmly with the first disciples of Jesus
facing fear
We spend most of our lives running from death and the daily moments that feel deathly. We do our best to avoid such uncomfortable realities and expend time, energy and resources trying to avoid anything that hints at death.
at table
In comparison with moralism, Christianity is something more and something different. Our activity, our moral capacity is not placed at the beginning.
a kneeling church
And so the church that once stood strong and militant marching in step has been brought to its knees. And in this humility we find ourselves where Christ needs us not standing proud, but humbly kneeling.