August 23, 2016
On Sunday night at the Cathedral, we experienced the joy of being joined by about 20 children for our singing at Mass. Their parents formed part of the congregation along with others who were there with their young families. These children were clearly excited to be there and to learn some of the words and indeed actions to our responses and hymns. Their parents were delighted at the joy which exuded from their children. In my experience children do not have any difficulty with religion or in expressing their faith as something beyond us.
August 16, 2016
Luke’s Gospel reading (Lk 12:49-53) for the weekend begins with these words:
Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!”
August 09, 2016
I imagine many of you have been connecting into the coverage of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. I also realise that there will be differing opinions on the purpose and outcome for this event and certainly the cost to the host country. I am conscious of those who have been displaced from their lives living in the favelas.
August 02, 2016
I hope you have taken the time to read the good news of our WYD pilgrims, who have joined the millions with Pope Francis for WYD in Krakow. I have certainly enjoyed reading about their journey in the Footsteps of the Saints, and seeing the great joy depicted in the many photographs, video blogs and Instagram messages.
July 26, 2016
If you have ever attended a celebration of our Eucharist at which Bishop Bill presides, you may be struck by how, at the end of the Eucharistic prayer, he brings us to pray the Our Father. He almost always breaks it open with some relevant contemplative words. It is as if each time he prays this prayer and invites us to pray it, there is some new emerging meaning to this prayer. I find this amazing and therefore respond to his invitation to pray this traditional prayer with a renewed heart.
July 19, 2016
Our sense of peace has once again been rocked by intentional acts of violence in France and Turkey. And as I write this message on Sunday 17 July, we remember the second anniversary of the shooting down of aircraft MH17 over the Ukraine in which 298 passengers were killed.
