As Pope Francis is today in the afternoon of his first full day on US soil, the US media is flooded with commentaries on the couple of speeches he has given so far...
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Msgr Bede RIP
This morning the parishioners of the Catholic diocese of Christchurch and many friends from further share sadness at the death last night of Monsignor Bede O'Gorman,...
shepherd one
In a few minutes Pope Francis will walk on US soil for the first time after an inspiring few days in Cuba. In his brief time in Cuba the pope addressed issues of...
rain for our roots
There is never a dull moment as a priest living parish life, especially on a Hurunui Sunday. It is now just after 2 on a Sunday afternoon and I am back at Hawarden...
a mother’s tears
I will never know the depth of enduring pain felt by a mother who watches helplessly as her child suffers and dies. As a priest I have buried too many children and...
Masterchef
For some weeks the people of the Hurunui, and especially parishioners, have been delighting in the inspiration provided by our Hurunui friends Richard and Leo in the...
“long to reign”
Early tomorrow morning NZ time (10 September) Queen Elizabeth will overtake her great great grandmother Victoria as the longest-serving British monarch. Â Each year her...
Antarctic priests
I had a great lunch gathering today with some of the priests who have served the US Antarctica Summer programme in the world's southernmost continent. In January of...
Virtually Francis
A papal first a couple of hour ago when Pope Francis was interviewed in an interactive Audience / conversation with the people of the USA in preparation for his visit...
five years on…
Five years ago today, a couple of hours before dawn, the people of Christchurch and surrounding districts were jolted awake by a sharp and severe earthquake. In the...
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with new minds
With this blinkered vision, what is physical and tangible drains our time, energy and resources as we set about ‘winning the world’.
look up
We need something to look up to, to lift our gaze beyond the loss of perspective that too easily comes when we become preoccupied with the things that are important but not essential.
an inner life
Am I forgetting that when I point my index finger with accusation at someone else I have three other fingers on that hand pointing back towards me
pray & heal
We are challenged by Jesus to forgive those who harm us, but as hard as we try we are unable to do this and often we don’t even want to forgive.
let’s get personal
Many Catholics aged over 65 can still recite word-for-word catechism answers they learnt at school. However the tragic down-side