Here in Aotearoa New Zealand we are preparing for the start of the new school year. School staff will meet in the next few days and students will soon arrive to begin...
Blog
the threshold
Grief is the price we pay for love, and this week the many family and friends who love and are loved by Fr. Graeme Blackburn have been gripped by grief at his tragic...
searching
Since Fr. Graeme Blackburn's tragic death on Monday night we have been united in grief: Graeme's mother Erin (above embracing Graeme at his ordination last year) and...
what to do?
A couple of weeks ago I was privileged to take part in the annual Hearts Aflame gathering of 100 young NZ Catholics aged between 18 & 35. I was asked to share a few...
deep sadness
Last evening we received the tragic news of the death of one of our youngest priests in a road accident. Graeme Blackburn was ordained on 1 July last year. Our prayers...
the pointer
My paternal grandfather knew his way around the night sky. In New Zealand, the Southern Cross is the most recognisable constellation. I remember grandad showing me...
180 years ago
180 years ago, 13 January 1838, the first Catholic Mass was celebrated on Aotearoa New Zealand soil. Bishop Pompallier had arrived in the country a couple of days...
Encounter
One of these years I will make it to the New York Encounter. The 2018 event will be held over the next two days and "strives to witness to the new life and knowledge...
searching
My friend Alex is an excellent preacher. Because he is in the US which is a day behind NZ and his homilies only appear online on NZ's Monday I am unable to steal his...
the holy longing
"the Magi did not set out because they had seen the star, but they saw the star because they had already set out” I enjoyed a couple of days this past week at the...
Latest Posts
the wounded healer
I’m writing this reflection the evening before you will read it, twenty-five years to the day since Henri Nouwen’s sudden death.
the light
Last night a friend in Auckland spent his lockdown evening with telescope and camera and captured this image of Saturn.
bridge building
I first met Leonie when as a young priest I decided to use spare time in a small rural West Coast parish to study communication
seeding
Jesus help me to be more careful, more aware of the power of my words and actions…
a humble church
The Church of Christ does not seek to dominate consciences and occupy spaces, but rather to be a “wellspring” of hope in people’s lives.