Today, February 22, marks seven years since the devastating 2011 earthquake which brought tragic loss of life to our city of Christchurch where we continue the long and...
unveiling
It is traditional in New Zealand to gather on the first anniversary of a death to unveil the headstone on the grave of one who has died. Yesterday, to mark the first...
one year on…
At this hour, twelve months ago, the sun set on Bishop Barry Jones' last day on earth. He was unwell and in hospital care. At 3.30 on the morning of 13 February Bishop...
Month’s Mind
It is an ancient tradition in the church that 30 days after the people gather to celebrate another Requiem Mass known as the "Month's Mind." Last night we gathered in...
a delighting bishop
This weekend marks one month since the death of Bishop Barry Jones, ninth bishop of the diocese of Christchurch, in the early hours of 13 February. On Monday evening...
five years on
Today, February 22, marks five years since the devastating 2011 earthquake which brought tragic loss of life to our city. Five years on we continue the long and...
Bp. Barry on Chats
One of the first phone calls I made on hearing of the death of Bishop Barry Jones on Saturday morning was to the furthest periphery of the diocese of Christchurch, the...
Bishop Barry Jones
It is with great sadness that we have received news of the death of our Catholic bishop of Christchurch, Bishop Barry Jones, peacefully at 3.30 this morning. This...
building a church
Five years on from the devastating Canterbury earthquakes, a number of parishes around the diocese are looking to build new churches to replace destroyed and damaged...
ChCh build plan
Bishop Barry Jones has issued a pastoral letter on the building plan for the Catholic diocese of Christchurch, a single plan involving the repair and strengthening of a...
Latest Posts

the adventure
It’s easy to make the mistake of seeing life as a treadmill, day after day ups and downs, a movement through time from youth to old age, then death and beyond.
Too often if feels as if we are helplessly captive carried along by the momentum of all that is expected of us and demanded from us, and we risk falling into an existence mode, a daily rhythm of survival, enduring, coping and so the treadmill rolls on.

the bigger picture
Over the years, and even in recent months, weeks and days, I’ve prayed many prayers which have not been answered as I had hoped.
You’ve probably had the same experience: praying and wondering if and when or how your prayer will be answered.

moving waters
Bible questions still pop up regularly in quiz shows and they often cost otherwise sharp players much needed points.
I’m ready for a question asking for the two names for the last book of the Bible. The book often known as Apocalypse is perhaps more often referred to as the Book of Revelation.
It’s common (thanks to movies) to think of an apocalypse as a devastating and unwelcome time of destruction.

to dream
The pics I use on these daily posts are sometimes snapped by me, and often borrowed from free-use websites. I thought it might be interesting to move towards using only my own snaps, and then only those taken in the past 24 hours. We’ll see how I go.
I took the pic above yesterday morning on an early walk.

to really see
Perhaps we find the miracles of Jesus too difficult to understand. How can we cope with what we may not have seen with our own eyes?
Many people cope with the miraculous by reducing it to what they can understand. They say Jesus just increased the blind man’s psychological vision, or opened his eyes of faith rather than actually giving him physical sight.