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Living Creatively in the Tension between Tradition and Context – Keynote CSNSW Student Safety Forum on Consent and Respectful Relationships – 17 March 2025
Some thirty years ago, I was introduced to the work of the American philosopher of religion, David Tracy. At the time his writing was quite prolific, though he retired early due to poor health and has only recently returned to writing. Notwithstanding, he has been one of the formative influences in the development of my own thinking. Tracy took the context of postmodernity seriously. He understood it, recognising both its possibility and its limitations. And wondering how one might speak the life-giving word of the Gospel in its midst, he proposed conversation as the theological method best suited to the times. In a postmodern environment, conversation is our only hope,…
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Second Sunday of Lent – 16 March 2025 – Second Reflection on Hope in the Year of Jubilee: Hope – doorway into the future
Through each Sunday of Lent in this Year of Jubilee, I have invited us to go on journey of reflection on the nature of Hope. Pope Francis has put to us the theme of Hope for this year of celebration with the scriptural verse, “Hope will not disappoint” (Rom 5:5), and so it seems opportune for us to reflect on this systematically. And what better time to do this than through Lent, the period of renewal and hope? Last Sunday, we explored how the experience of hope arises from our needs, of how it is connected to the hungers in our hearts, and we touched upon the power when we…
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First Sunday of Lent – 9 March 2025 – First Reflection on Hope in the Year of Jubilee: Hope born from our Hunger
This year we celebrate our Season of Lent in a Year of Jubilee. And the theme of this Year of Jubilee is that of Hope. “Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5) is the scriptural verse chosen to highlight this. Therefore, this particular Lent seems an opportune time for us to explore together the nature of Hope. Over each Sunday of Lent this year, therefore, I would like to focus on Hope, and to invite us into a journey of reflection on Hope. What is hope? From where does it arise? Why is it so important in our life of faith? What is its connection to faith and charity? How can…
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Ash Wednesday – 5 March 2025
Pope Francis once spoke about the new poverties, “poverties produced by the culture of wellbeing.”[1] And in that light he defined the poor today as those who are those afraid of the future.[2] Those afraid of the future. On this Ash Wednesday, all of us are poor because for all of us the future presents with great uncertainty. The world order is changing; decisions are being made by powerful people that will have dramatic consequences for much of the world, including ourselves. The distinctions between truth and falsehood, fact and fiction, have become intentionally blurred so that the masses might not stand in the way of powerful and sinister political and social agendas.…
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Mass celebrating the 135th Anniversary of Mercy Catholic College – 3 March 2025
In 1890, one hundred and thirty-five years ago, Mercy College was established. Australia was still a collection of British colonies, not yet federated; the Australasian Federal Convention which laid the groundwork for Federation only first met in this year. It was a moment of possibility and opportunity. Yet, it was also a year of great social unrest. In the late 19th century, there had been rapid economic growth, driven by industries like wool, mining and shipping. However, the growth was uneven, and workers often faced poor wages, long hours and harsh conditions. In August 1890, the now famous national Maritime strike began, paralysing the ports of Sydney. A state of emergency…
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8th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 2 March 2025
The German writer, Deitrich Bonheoffer gave us the distinction between what he called, on the one hand, ‘cheap grace’ and, on the other, ‘costly grace.’ Writing in Germany in the 1930s he lamented the way in which the Christian Churches had so accommodated themselves to the prevailing currents as to have lost their genuine sense of discipleship of the Risen Lord. And this could equally be a possibility in our own time in which we can be swayed by political forces that use the term Christian to describe their aspirations, but which, in their conduct, are in no way Christian. Of course, this is always a tendency for us. we…
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Australia Day – 26 January 2025
We often refer to the ‘word of the year’ – a word that encapsulates so much of the tenor and mood of a year that has gone. The word for 2024? “Brain-rot.”[1] Proposed by Oxford University Press, it’s a rather shocking indictment of where we. As the publishing house described, ‘brain rot’ is defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration”. Oxford University Press goes on to explain, “The first recorded use of ‘brain rot’ was found in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s…
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3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – 26 January 2025
Every day the images of people who suffer are put before us – whether it be in Gaza, or Ukraine, or even in our own country. In some ways we become inoculated against what we see. We turn over the channel, and go back to what we were doing. We look for something more entertaining, not perhaps alluding to the fact that news broadcasts on television and social media are edited in such a way to keep us entertained in the first place. The problems are too big for us to think about, the places of which they speak too far away, too foreign. And even though we shake our heads by the…
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Christmas 2024
It is often remarked that it is children who make Christmas. Often, they are at the centre of our thoughts and practices when we come to celebrate Christmas – whether it be our own children, or grandchildren, nieces or nephews. Christmas is an enchanting time for children – they are full of expectation and excitement. Their sense of wonder at the decorations, the music, the family customs, Santa Claus, and our gift-giving are all infectious. We lead them to the crib, and we bend down to their level and see the scene through their eyes. The characters of Mary and Joseph, the baby Jesus, the shepherds, the wise men and…
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Children’s Christmas Mass – 24 December 2024
Over the last four weeks we have been decorating our Christmas trees. So as we sit in front of our Christmas tree let me tell you the tale of three trees.[1] Three little trees stood high upon a mountain discussing their dreams for the future. The first little tree looked up at the dazzling night sky and said, “I want to carry the treasure of kings and queens. I want to be beautiful. I want to be filled with the riches of the world. The second little tree saw a nearby stream, and said, “I want to be a mighty sailing vessel. I want to sail in the roaring oceans,…
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