In a couple of hours I will celebrate the Vigil Mass for the Fourth Sunday of the season of Advent. Since last Tuesday evening when we priests of the diocese of...
john oconnor
foodforfaith – a new beginning
Over the last few years this foodforfaith blog has grown far beyond my original intentions and expectations. Several thousand people visit the foodforfaith blogger site...
Inform (Dec ’13)
The December issues of the Christchurch Diocesan magazine "Inform" arrived this afternoon, so I made a coffee and sat in the garden to savour the Faithfest photos. You...
listen this space…
I think there is probably enough reading and watching on this website to keep you going for the next few weeks, and I wasn't going to post "watch this space" about the...
you did know this
After my post about the Advent "O Antiphons" a couple of days ago, some have comment that they had never heard about the "O Antiphons". But most Christians know the...
nativity difficulty
Earlier today I visited the home of parishioners who had just finished setting up a nativity scene in their living room. It was prepared with love, beautifully created,...
seven more sleeps
In the Prayer of the Church, prayed through the hours of each day by many Christians, and which priests and many Religious communities pray on behalf of all people, the...
priests are sinners
In 1984 as a seminarian I spent three months on pastoral placement in the parish of Pukekohe, South Auckland. It was a very good experience for me. I recall attending a...
Cohen & Francis
I have several friends for whom Christmas has come early with the Leonard Cohen concert in Christchurch on Saturday night. I too am a bit of a Cohen fan, and yesterday...
no optimists
This third Sunday of Advent is known as “Gaudete” Sunday, or "Rejoicing" Sunday. The rose coloured candle on the Advent wreath is lit today. We remember that our reason...
Latest Posts
just love
Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.
the hidden centre
Our feelings tell us a lot about how we are in any moment, but in the same way that a verbal communication can be misunderstood, so too the language of the heart (our feelings) need to be understood…
breaking & entering
after the original shock of finding an angel in her kitchen, Mary was able to recognise God.
holy ground
Our homes, our workplaces and our communities are holy ground when we communicate with Jesus in these places. In these conversations heaven and earth are linked and named holy
called to maturity
I was in an airport at 1.30pm yesterday afternoon when the nearby TV was turned to full volume so that the Muslim call to prayer could be clearly heard.