If you had told me when I was at High School, that in thirty years time I would be spending several hours each day sitting in a classroom with other students listening...
john oconnor
the Catholic Priest today
Well I am on a bit of a roll with these priesthood videos. This is one I first saw last year, but I could not find it last week when I uploaded "No! it's much better!"...
signs of encouragement
During the celebration of Mass this afternoon I was aware that there were twice as many priests in the chapel as others. There were more than twenty priests. Most of...
the tender compassion of our God
My paternal grandfather knew his way around the night sky. In New Zealand, the Southern Cross is the most sought-after constellation. I remember my grandfather showing...
surprise blog statistic
Every now and then I check the stats for this blog. There are a number of regular readers from all over the world, and several thousand visitors each month. For the...
weekly newsletter
The weekly newsletter for the Catholic Parish of the Good Shepherd, Hurunui District, is now uploaded to the parish website at www.catholichurunui.co.nz
a stupendous speech
For the past couple of days I have been savouring the June issue of the "Traces" magazine. From the first page I was moved to read of the personal experience of some of...
Liturgy – an encounter with beauty
For the last couple of weeks I have been studying at the Liturgical Institute of Mundelein University, Chicago. I will be here for a few more weeks. It is a privilege...
St. Joseph in Eucharistic Prayers
If you listen carefully next time you are at Mass, you will notice a change to the text of the second, third and fourth Eucharistic Prayers. Today Pope Francis...
no, it’s much better!
People often ask me: "what's it like to be a priest?" It is a difficult question to answer. While as a priest I "do" many things, there is much more to priesthood than...
Latest Posts
Saint Suzanne
On this day, October 1, in 1926, Saint Suzanne (also known as Saint Grandma) died in Wellington after a long and rich life in service of Jesus in the poor of Aotearoa New Zealand. (read an earlier FFF reflection at this link) The official cause for Venerable Suzanne...
not lay
I’ve been thinking ahead to my Sunday homily this weekend at St. Mary’s pro-Cathedral. The readings provide a timely remedy of the tensions and evils within the church. Battle imagery is often used to describe the struggle between God and the devil experienced in...
life advice
Earlier this month Jean Vanier celebrated his 90th birthday and shared his reflections in this fifteen minute video reflection offering "ten rules for life.” He has given his life to service of the intellectually disabled with his L'Arche communities found throughout...
belonging
What is family? Most people hope that their family will be a place of belonging and growth. The reality is that our biological families exist only for a time. I am the child of my parents for a couple of decades then they age and die and I might then become the parent...
+ve moaning
It's Monday morning at the office and a few of the staff are arriving at work with groans and moans after relaxing and satisfying weekends. Even Pope Francis was talking about moaning when yesterday he spoke on his visit to Lithuania commenting that "before his...