A CHRISTIAN Brother whose first job was working in a shearing shed in outback Queensland and who ended up ministering to prisoners died recently after an accident on the road to Toowoomba. Br Gary Ferguson and a fellow Christian Brother Patrick White were both taken to Toowoomba Hospital after the accident, and Br Ferguson died there on December 27 surrounded ... Read More »
Tag Archives: Christian Brothers
Brisbane Christian Brother launches new book on Christian meditation
CHRISTIAN Brother Brian Grenier is rare as far as writers go. That’s because he was more interested in his readers’ answers than his own. Having just released his new book, Listen to Him!, Br Grenier was reminded of a theologian who said “it is the question rather than the answer that educates”. “And you could say that in the book ... Read More »
Religious life proves more rewarding than Olympic berth for Br Chris Pritchard
A SPORTS injury that blocked his road to the Rome Olympics, a Christian Brother who offered him a “free ticket to Heaven” and a persuasive aunt all played a part in Br Chris Pritchard’s vocation story that’s spanned 60 years. Br Chris, a key man at St Patrick’s College, Shorncliffe, was well on his way to representing Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe) ... Read More »
Christian Brother Damien Price believes in a God who is light in the midst of the darkest night
IN my childhood I was introduced to the story and the image of the Sacred Heart. We were gently taught that June was a special month in which – in small but meaningful ways we focused on the total and unconditional love of our God for us. I don’t believe in a God of fear. I don’t believe in a ... Read More »
Christian Brother Brian Grenier says St John’s Gospel lets us reflect on our own faith journeys
‘Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.’ – John 20:30-31 REPUTABLE scholars assure us that, before the ... Read More »
Are you building bridges or walls? Christian Brother Brian Grenier reflects on the human heart
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 »
Love, Lent and life – Christian Brother Damien Price explores the ‘why behind what we do’
I ONCE worked in a school with a rowing program. I was in awe of the students’ ability to get up long before dawn and be on the water by 5am. Occasionally I would accompany them in the coaches tinny and loved the early-morning freshness of the Brisbane River at dawn. These same students would put their bodies through so ... Read More »
Does truth have one face or many? Christian Brother Brian Grenier distills the great sayings
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 »
Crossing a ‘void’ for the poor, a Christian Brother’s journey to the heart of the village
LEADER, teacher, village ambulance driver – Christian Brother Frank Hennessy has laboured for the best in people from Ballarat to East Timor. Br Hennessy was recently in Brisbane for the final thanksgiving at St Joseph’s Gregory Terrace as the Christian Brothers withdrew from East Timor. He worked in East Timor for five years as ministry leader where he changed the ... Read More »