Pope Benedict
All Saints

All Saints

On this day, the feast of All Saints, in the year 1541, Michaelangelo‘s Last Judgement was unveiled on the rear wall of the Sistine Chapel.

Ascension

Ascension

The disciples do not feel abandoned. They do not consider Jesus to have disappeared far away but are convinced of a new presence of Jesus.

just love

just love

Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.

Santa’s birth?

Santa’s birth?

We can no longer assume that people know the meaning of Christmas.  A child recently asked about the significance of Christmas replied: “it is when Santa Claus was...

a priest – 65 years

a priest – 65 years

As I write it has just passed midnight in New Zealand on the early morning of 29 June, the Solemnity of Peter and Paul, and the day on which Pope Emeritus Benedict was...

sacred heart

sacred heart

I have a few great memories of earlier years’ celebrations of today’s feast of the Sacred Heart. Five years ago on this feast I was privileged to be in St. Peter’s...

Ascension Thurs?

Ascension Thurs?

I often re-read the books that I consider to be spiritual classics. Some of these were written decades or centuries ago. Others, including Pope Benedict’s second “Jesus...

santa’s birth

santa’s birth

We can no longer assume that people know the meaning of Christmas.  A child recently asked about the significance of Christmas replied: “it is when Santa Claus was...

parish war or peace

parish war or peace

a reflection based on the readings for Sunday 7 September 2014. Readings at this link. It is remarkable that eighteen months after his election, Pope Francis remains...

one year ago

one year ago

It was one year ago today that Pope Benedict's resignation took effect. This event opened the way for the conclave that elected Pope Francis. You can watch many of the...

Latest Posts

Annunciation

Annunciation

A couple of thousand years ago, a young Jewish woman was going about her normal morning routines, perhaps with a mixture of house and garden work, chatting with parents and neighbours, aware of the local drought, the sickness of a neighbour and annoyed by the neighbourhood’s lack of sleep caused by the Romans’ noisy party the night before, when God broke into her routine and entered her life in a new and powerful way.

the real centre

the real centre

Over the last month I have had the opportunity to work with many people across Aotearoa and further afield. In every retreat and seminar I have been with committed and faith-filled people who often feel as though they are on the periphery of the Church

the adventure

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

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

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.