Humans are made for freedom which is why we react so strongly against anything that appears to limit our liberty. However our understanding of freedom is often very impoverished. Freedom is not about being able to do whatever I want…

In his video reflection on Sunday Christchurch Bishop-elect Paul Martin encouraged us to use the daily scriptures to guide us through Advent. These daily readings are available at this link. Today’s scriptures remind us that God is not…

On this Second Sunday of Advent Food For Faith gives the floor to Christchurch Bishop-elect Paul Martin on this first Sunday after the announcement of his appointment. In this clip he encourages us to use the daily readings as…

Today’s reflection gives new Christchurch bishop-elect Paul Martin a good mention, but the post is not about him. There’s also a mention of children counting the sleeps until Christmas, but the reflection is not about them either…

Make sure there are no children reading over your shoulder before I tell you that a couple of years ago I visited the grave of Santa Claus. I was in Bari in southern Italy with a family who live in…

Have you ever thought of prayer as child-like playfulness.  There are some similarities and today’s gospel in which Jesus encourages us to be childlike gives us an opportunity to consider these…

Happy Advent! For those of us who follow the life of the church we can also say Happy New Year since today, the first Sunday of Advent, is the first day of the new Church year. I’m looking forward…

Welcome to Food For Faith for Advent. Even though we don’t begin Advent until this Sunday I’m thinking ahead, especially because I’m celebrating Mass and preaching at St. Mary’s pro-Cathedral in Christchurch this Sunday at…

I remember someone once defining an intelligent person as one who can hold apparently contradictory thoughts in their heads at the same time without having to attach to one thought or another. I suppose another way of expressing this would…

It was my paternal grandfather who first taught me about the night sky pointing out notable stars and constellations. Later when I became familiar with the scriptures I discovered that the stars are often mentioned as a way of helping…

If I began this post saying “I’m going to tell you some of the reasons why I think values are so important” you might not be too curious. But here is a brief video clip about the importance of…

It has been a full and satisfying day of priestly ministry for me here in the Hurunui. Early this morning I drove the hour north to Cheviot for Mass with the locals. After Mass the conversation was of the great…

I’ve got a bit of a challenge on my hands. A couple of weeks ago I posted about our Hurunui parish weekend for young families held in Hanmer Springs. This morning the group met for 8.30am pancakes breakfast…

A brief video reflection on earthquakes, church building and the call to live the life of a saint from the basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. Pilgrims come to this place from all over the world to visit the town…

Bishop Robert Barron offers a clear and sound reflection for today’s feast of the Assumption. We approach death in fear and trembling. That’s because we are sinners. What would it be like for one without sin to die…