MICHAEL Hutchinson remembers a weekend in 1980 as a turning point in his life. Apart from meeting his wife Sue and the birth of their daughters Kate and Sophie, there are not too many times that have had such lasting impact. “I’m very thankful to my sister (Maree) for inviting me to come to that celebration,” Michael said as he ... Read More »
“YOUR car or your life?” was the ultimatum armed rebels had for Mabel Saah as they stormed through her neighbourhood in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia in West Africa. She had no choice; she handed over the keys and left her home with her six children – never to return. That was 27 years ago, and now the Annerley Ekibin ... Read More »
DAVID Miller is an Aboriginal man who wasn’t raised in his people’s traditional ways and he wonders how different his life may have been. He’s a man well-known to many Brisbane Catholics as the one who breaks the silence playing the clap sticks at the start of Masses and liturgies for major celebrations in St Stephen’s Cathedral. It’s a ritual ... Read More »
MIDWIFE Beth Burt has been at countless births over more than three decades, but she’s also seen many deaths, and she feels privileged about every one of those experiences. Finishing up at Brisbane’s Mater Hospital after more than 37 years and heading towards retirement, she’s been thinking back over those times with gratitude. “We (midwives) always say – and I ... Read More »
ROLLING down the highways of western Queensland, former truckie Peter O’Leary could well have had the hit He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother blaring out on his radio and he would’ve sung along with gusto. Today, that same song could well be his anthem. The difference is that he’s not singing it but living it. Two of his brothers have ... Read More »
FOR Elizabeth Harrington, the secret to good liturgy is simple – good music, good preaching and a sense of being welcomed. It’s not an answer she gives off the top of her head; she’s been pondering the question with a passion for more than two decades as education officer with Liturgy Brisbane (formerly the Liturgical Commission). She retired from the ... Read More »
FOR Fr Stephen Kumyangi and his Brisbane community the war and famine crisis engulfing South Sudan is deeply personal – they have mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews stuck in the middle of it. Fr Kumyangi, who is chaplain to Brisbane’s St Bakhita Sudanese Community and associate pastor at Upper Mt Gravatt-Wishart parish, was in Uganda a few weeks ... Read More »
AUSTRALIA’S newest bishop Gregory Homeming has stepped into the role in Lismore diocese concerned not so much with power, but ready for grace in weakness. Addressing the crowd at the end of his ordination and installation as Bishop of Lismore on February 22, Bishop Homeming, a Carmelite friar, said “at this moment I’ve little idea of what a bishop’s job ... Read More »
ALMOST 20 years ago Kareem Patros’ faith could have cost him his life had he not escaped the brutal force of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Today, he and his wife Bushra could not be happier as they spend much of their time helping and encouraging others who’ve taken a similar path, fleeing the terror of ISIS. Kareem said his nightmare ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
