Chatham Islands
relax

relax

To make matters more complicated we are surrounded by signs pointing in every direction. Navigating a daily direction cannot be left to chance. It requires an intimate relationship with God and a keen and active discernment.

we will remember

we will remember

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember...

Chatham ANZAC

Chatham ANZAC

One year ago today I was on the Chatham Islands for Anzac Day on the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign. The painting above is by one of the young Chatham Islanders....

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...

Bp. Barry on Chats

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...

SMSM’s@Chatham

SMSM’s@Chatham

By the late 1940's the NZ government was finding it impossible to provide adequate medical care for the people of the Chatham Islands. The government made a request of...

Anzac Day

Anzac Day

The entire morning of Anzac Day on the Chatham Islands is taken with dignified commemorations.  The service at dawn is followed by breakfast. Then the parade from the...

Anzac dawn

Anzac dawn

Before dawn this morning here on the Chatham Islands, the Islanders gathered to remember that one morning before dawn 100 years ago this morning, New Zealand and...

Kaiangaroa visit

Kaiangaroa visit

The centre of the Catholic Diocese for the past few days has been the remote Islands of Chatham and Pitt because this is where the bishop has been bishopping. We have...

Moriori

Moriori

This morning, after arriving back from Pitt Island just after 7am, and before a few pastoral visits to the homes of parishioners, the bishop and I visited the Tommy...

Latest Posts

come & go

come & go

I like that. The world as the theatre of human history, that is, the world as the place where God and people meet and live together.

no & yes

no & yes

When the angel left Mary, the challenges and problems of this new era of her life had just begun.

highway for God

highway for God

Unbridled ambition is problematic and resentment is exhausting. Love, generosity and forgiveness really is foundational,

by rote

by rote

Rote learning was a norm in my primary school days, repetition of the times tables, two times two equals four, three times two

so simple

so simple

So simple that children who naturally and naively live with open eyes and ears get it, when we adults too often miss the point.