I REMEMBER going to Mass as a teenager and looking around my parish thinking, “Am I normal?” As one of the few young people at my parish, I could count on one hand the total number of other teenagers at Mass on Sundays. The idea that I would someday celebrate my Catholic faith with thousands of other young people, seemed ... Read More »
Tag Archives: Our Lady
First Australian chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Akita being built in Brisbane
THE first Jesuit priest to land in Japan has paved the way for a new chapel dedicated to miraculous events that occurred near the island nation’s town of Akita. The Confraternity of Our Lady of Akita is in the process of building a chapel for Our Lady of Akita at Marian Valley in the Gold Coast hinterland. It will be ... Read More »
Mary is the Lady who guides us on our way of faith
‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?’ (John 2:4) I KNOW many people who visibly wince whenever the ‘Wedding at Cana’ is the Gospel of the day. It is certainly jarring to hear those words spoken by Our Lord to Our Lady – it seems rather rude at first. I know of a priest in South Australia ... Read More »
Fair as the moon: Four tips for shooting the supermoon tonight
WHERE will you be when the moon edges its closest to the Earth in 70 years? For the first time since 1948, the moon will be the closest to the Earth, at 15 per cent larger than its normal size. And it’s happening tonight. The astromonical phenomenon better known as the supermoon will occur, according to NASA, because the moon ... Read More »
In this month of Our Lady, pray the Rosary
THE Order of Preachers has a particular devotion to the Blessed Virgin and rejoices in her protection as patroness of the Order. As October is a month traditionally devoted to the Holy Rosary and Our Lady, it seems an appropriate time to reflect upon her significance for us as Dominicans. It would be hard for any objective observer to doubt ... Read More »
Brisbane Catholics have been hosting a birthday party for Our Lady for 27 years
JESUS’ mother has never missed a birthday party at Queensland’s own Marian shrine for the past 27 years, and 2016 was no exception. Traditionally celebrated in the Church on September 8, more than 800 Catholics flocked to the popular Marian Valley shrine for the Nativity of Mary on September 3. Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green travelled from his home diocese in Wilcannia-Forbes, ... Read More »
A decade as an addict
RORY Norris promised to stop using heroin when he turned 30. He never asked to be an addict, but addiction has no social boundaries – a kid from a private school in Brisbane born to a devout Catholic mum could still get caught in a drug-abuse trap. “I started smoking marijuana at school, and then got into harder drugs,” he ... Read More »