GOING into a Catholic Church building, one usually comes across a statue of Jesus showing his heart. Such a statue is called “The Sacred Heart”. His displayed heart tells of the strong and constant love of Jesus the Saviour for every human being, past, present and future. In this vivid way the Son of God keeps saying that “God is ... Read More »
“My child, if you aspire to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for an ordeal. Be sincere of heart, be steadfast, and do not be alarmed when disaster comes. Cling to him and do not leave him, so that you may be honoured at the end of your days. Whatever happens to you, accept it … be patient since gold is ... Read More »
AS I write, the stand-off between the United States Congress and President Donald Trump over his campaign commitment to build a “big and beautiful wall” along the border with Mexico continues. Trump would not be the first leader to erect a protective barricade of this kind. There have been many such structures across the ages. Partially effective in their own ... Read More »
MY first experience of World Youth Day was in Krakow a couple years ago. I was amazed by the large crowd of young people who gathered from all over the world to celebrate and grow deeper in their faith. My pilgrimage group did the Stations of the Cross walk in Fatima. There, I heard Jesus calling me to be like ... Read More »
ON my way to night lectures at the University of Queensland many years ago I often paused to read an inscription emblazoned on the wall above the entrance to the Forgan Smith Building: “Great is truth and mighty above all things”. A quotation from the First Book of Esdras in the Hebrew Scriptures (4:41), it is an appropriate proclamation of ... Read More »
“BLESS yourself before you go”, my mother often said to me as I left for St Anthony’s School in the Brisbane suburb of Kedron. It was a perfectly natural thing to do; for, as Catholic primary-level pupils in those days, we lived in a world of blessings. Before school business began we chanted a long, drawn-out greeting to our teacher: ... Read More »
ACCORDING to the Psalmist: “The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong” (Psalm 90:10). From that point of view, if from no other, I share these reflections from a position of strength. They are prompted by a question that was put to me recently: “What religion are you?” As my reply, “I am ... Read More »
JOHNNY Farnham had a song more than 30 years ago called You’re the Voice. Farnham sings: “You’re the voice, try and understand it … we’re not gonna sit in silence, we’re not gonna live with fear.” In October 2020 the Australian Church will gather in Plenary Council. Constantly over the past year we have been asked: “What do you think ... Read More »
THE irony is not lost on me. Here I am writing a column on guilt-free motherhood while feeling guilty because it has taken me so long to do. I often say, if I could give any new mother a gift, it would be guilt-free motherhood, after all we are all just flawed human beings doing our best. Whether you are ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
