Blog

That Past Voice of God - Dr Matthew Tan

26 Feb 2021

In the Christian tradition conversion, referred to in greek as metanoia or “turning towards”, is never simply a once off, but a constant process. We are always called to turn away from things and turn back towards the face and voice of God.

Working document released for Plenary Council journey

26 Feb 2021

The working document for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia provides a catalyst for the Church to renew the journey of prayer and discernment toward the first assembly in October, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB says.

Common sense for faith schools to hire according to values

25 Feb 2021

John Howard has reignited the religious freedom debate, arguing schools should be able to hire teachers who accept the school’s beliefs in the same way political parties favour staff who believe in a party’s ideals. Source: The Guardian.

Facebook stomps on small publishers - MercatorNet

23 Feb 2021

Websites like MercatorNet grow when readers share links to stories that they like. There are other ways to achieve this, but the most powerful and efficient one is through Facebook. MercatorNet’s marketing plan is based on Facebook.

The Chair of Saint Peter, the Rock - Mike Lewis

23 Feb 2021

he Catechism teaches, “The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the ‘rock’ of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock” (CCC, 881).

Tenderness as a Test-strip for Truth Joe Schweighofer

22 Feb 2021

Pope Francis’s pontificate has the tender mercy of God at its center, yet he firmly calls us to a conversion that challenges our comfort. Tenderness is not softness; it is love. It is also a path to truth—one that we should all be inspired to follow

The Chair of St Peter - FEAST

22 Feb 2021

Before I called you away from your boat, Simon Peter, I knew you for my own; I have appointed you leader of my people.* I have delivered to you the keys of the kingdom.

210218 - ACBC - 200 Years Young

19 Feb 2021

A Pastoral Letter from the Bishops of Australia to the leaders, staff, students and families of Catholic education in Australia

GEARING UP FOR LENT

19 Feb 2021

Well, we just got our multimedia output for 2021 going earlier tonight with the first episode of “Where Peter Is Live.”

Catholic education launches bicentenary celebrations

18 Feb 2021

Celebrations to mark the bicentenary of Catholic education in Australia begin today, with students from schools with links to the nation’s first Catholic school participating in a virtual national launch. Source: NCEC.

Hypocrisy extinguishes the flames of God - Melinda Ribnek

18 Feb 2021

Traditionally, as the ashes are placed on our heads, we are told, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” This is a reminder of the death of our bodies, but we also believe that after death, God will raise our ashes.

Dare to Dream2 - John Coleman Glen Innes

14 Feb 2021

I read many books over the Christmas-New Year break - But I found the best page-turner of all the slim volume Let Us Dream, Pope Francis’ Path to a Better Future, in the wake of Covid-19. It’s revolutionary, inspiring, full of wisdom, warmth

Priests to ‘sprinkle’ ashes on people’s heads

09 Feb 2021

Priests across the world will take special COVID-19 precautions when distributing ashes on Ash Wednesday next week, including sprinkling ashes on top of people’s heads rather than using them to make a cross on their foreheads. Source: CNS.

After religion, what comes next

09 Feb 2021

The secularisation of Western societies is not a new phenomenon, nor one which has been overlooked by cultural commentators in recent years.

Armidale set to farewell a noble spirit

01 Feb 2021

The Diocese of Armidale will farewell its ninth bishop, Bishop Luc Matthys, on Friday after the Belgian-born bishop passed away last week at the age of 85. Source: ACBC Media Blog.

Tony Abbott seeks return to values

26 Jan 2021

Tony Abbott will lead a new movement to defend and revive traditional Australian values, as a report to be published on Tuesday warns of a collapse of living standards over the past two decades.

Philippa Martyr - Our giant credibility problem

26 Jan 2021

We know already from previous studies that people stop coming to Mass because they no longer believe they have to, because they think they have better things to do with their time and because they don’t really believe much of what the Church teaches.

Joe Biden s Catholicism By PAUL COLLINS

21 Jan 2021

With the exception of Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, religion has not been a big deal for recent US presidents who were, at best, nominal Christians. For Joe Biden faith is central to who he is.

President Biden - Breaking News

21 Jan 2021

In his inaugural address today, President Joe Biden surprised - by quoting St. Augustine. He attended Mass this morning at St. Matthew’s Cathedral and the prayer was given by Fr. Leo O’Donovan SJ – gave today’s events a certain Catholic inflection.

JUST FOR TODAY - AA

20 Jan 2021

Millions of Recovering Alcoholics have found strength and energy in AA's JUST FOR TODAY....non Alcoholics might source the wisdom too

Amoris Laetitia – The Joy of Love

19 Jan 2021

Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love) is a post-Synodal apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis on love in the family. It was signed on 19 March 2016 on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, and brings together the results of the two Synods on the family.

Archbishop Wilson dies

18 Jan 2021

Persecuted Australian Archbishop - acquitted of all charges brought against him - dies - Archbishop Philip Wilson

It s all in the Numbers

15 Jan 2021

The National Centre for Pastoral Research has released the full Australian Catholic Mass Attendance Report 2016.

The Art of Practical Catholicism

15 Jan 2021

Strategies for individuals and organisations to implement the Catholic faith and promote its evangelical performance around Australia

Let Us Dream - John Coleman

15 Jan 2021

But I found the best page-turner of all the slim volume Let Us Dream, Pope Francis’ Path to a Better Future, in the wake of Covid-19.

EWTN - The voice of opposition to the pope- by Mike Lewis

05 Jan 2021

I don’t have any inside information about why an ostensibly Catholic network has decided to shift into a hyper-political and anti-papal mouthpiece for alt-right Catholicism, but many journalists echoed the old refrain, “Follow the money.”

Where Peter Is - Year in Review 2020 Part 2

31 Dec 2020

Yesterday, Mike Lewis posted about the most widely-read articles on Where Peter Is over the past year. Today he is highlighting many of the articles that I believe exemplify the amazing work of our brilliant and faith-filled contributors.

Good Bye 2020

31 Dec 2020

Although we may not know what the future holds, we know Him who holds the future. We may not understand what is happening, or what God is up to, but we can trust Him.

Another Christmas Day - Fr Francis Afu

29 Dec 2020

He is looking at you, searching you and trying to reveal you to you. It is through His eyes that we see our true selves and understand the full meaning of every human life..

China s cross to bear - Greg Sheridan

26 Dec 2020

Can Christianity do for China what capitalism failed to do? Namely, to soften the harsh Marxist-Leninist and increasingly nationalist atmosphere of the society into something gentler and better?

Chesterton s Christmas by Colin Slowey

25 Dec 2020

n “The God in the Cave,” G.K, Chesterton explains that when Christians celebrate the Nativity, they are celebrating an event that changed the course of history and permanently transformed the DNA of human society.

Do you not realize

25 Dec 2020

O man, do you not realize by what means Christ pursues you in order to call you back? Saint Peter Chrysologus wrote this in the 5th century as a part of a reflection on the Nativity.

The Magnificat Gift of Advent

22 Dec 2020

Offered daily through the liturgical prayer of the Church, the Magnificat invites every Christian, through Jesus, to see the Holy Spirit in the rare expression of the woman from whose flesh our Savior took his own.

Marys Song of Praise - Fr Francis Afu

22 Dec 2020

No one encounters God and remains the same. There is always a newness. For some, this will mean a conflict; their old self will be wrestling with God's presence.

Homily for Fourth Sunday of ADVENT B 2020

20 Dec 2020

God is still looking at our lowliness, our nothingness, our powerlessness. He is summoning us as He did Mary to prepare a womb for His Word to take flesh and bring about the salvation of the world.

Year of St Jospeh

20 Dec 2020

Pope Francis on December 8, 2020 published an Apostolic Letter Patris corde, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. The Holy Father has proclaimed a “Year of St Joseph”,

Why George Pell was found guilty MercatorNet

19 Dec 2020

In the wake of Cardinal George Pell’s successful appeal to the High Court of Australia, and his release from jail after 404 days, several books purporting to be “investigative journalism” have appeared about this astonishing miscarriage of justice.

Report documents steady, meaningful progress on safeguarding

18 Dec 2020

The presidents of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia say their annual report to the National Office for Child Safety outlines comprehensive and sustained work across Church settings. Source: ACBC Media Blog.

Happy 84th Birthday, Pope Francis

18 Dec 2020

Being pope carries no age requirement. Pope John XII is believed to have been 18 years old when he ascended to the papacy in 955. On his 84th birthday, our current pope wears orthopedic shoes and uses a cane at times.

Let us talk about Divorce

18 Dec 2020

when Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant and he was not responsible, he willed the good for Mary.

CHRISTMAS NOVENA

16 Dec 2020

In the words of Pope Benedict XVI, we remember when God visited us, when light entered our darkness, when the invisible God made Himself visible.

St John of the Cross

14 Dec 2020

Lord give us the courage to change the things we can; and the discomfort never to settle for mediocrity.

St Patricks Bell

12 Dec 2020

Our Bell has tolled the Incarnation and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass since 1876. We become a parish in 1871 all the Bishops of our Diocese would have heard the tolling of our Bell over 150 years. And of course countless Glen children and families.

Praying Scripture

12 Dec 2020

Scripture is to be alive, to take flesh in us, to be proclaimed anew and allowed to evoke speech, a prayer, a response to God.

The AWKWARDASIAN THEOLOGIAN - A Laughing God Part I

11 Dec 2020

A problem many Christians face is being too serious. One can almost measure the the level of public contributions by Christians on newspapers, network television and social media by the amount of negativity and even bile

The Armidale Catholic Schools Council

11 Dec 2020

Following a review of the governance of the Armidale Diocese system of Catholic schools, the former Bishop’s Commission for Catholic Schools is being replaced by a new Council under the name of Armidale Catholic Schools Council (ACSC).

Go Make Disciples

10 Dec 2020

To be launched on 12 December 2020, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the ‘Star of the New Evangelisation’, our new mission plan Go Make Disciples represents an opportunity to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our Archdiocese of Sydney.

Archdiocese of Sydney

10 Dec 2020

Turning on the Christmas Lights as the Victorian Government seeks to stifle Christian Ministry

Pope Francis Proclaims - YEAR OF St JOSEPH

09 Dec 2020

WITH A FATHER’S HEART: that is how Joseph loved Jesus, whom all four Gospels refer to as “the son of Joseph”. Patris Corde.... Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis

The Director Speaks

08 Dec 2020

Scripture is at the centre of everything the Church does. The word of God shapes our prayer and worship. The Bible shows us how to understand the world, how we are called to live and relate to each other - Chris Smyth Director of Catholic Schools.

CSO CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

08 Dec 2020

The Christmas Story and believing worshipping and living our faith in the God who has plans for us - Greetings from the Armdiale CSO

Saint Pope John Paul II said this

06 Dec 2020

It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted........St John Paull II said this

EACH COUNTRY ALSO BELONGS TO THE FOREIGNER

06 Dec 2020

The plight of migrants and refugees has been one of the pope’s main talking points throughout his pontificate. Francis is very aware of rising xenophobia and Nationalism around the globe......

How to Stop Elder Financial Abuse

04 Dec 2020

Elder financial abuse in particular is the illegal or improper use of an older person's property, finances and other assets without their informed consent or where consent is obtained it is by fraud, manipulation or duress.

MAN IS NOT SAVED BY PHONICS ALONE

02 Dec 2020

Our Catholic parishes and schools derive their identity from the person of Jesus Christ. They exist in the hope that all members will have a personal encounter with Jesus, ‘the way, the truth and the life’, Dr Dan White Sydney

Homily - FIRST ADVENT B

28 Nov 2020

I have sunk many times. I have sinned, and I have been in dark places where I have always wondered if there is ever going to be the light of a new day. The Advent Season captures these experiences.

We are meant for each other by Theresa Zoe Williams

28 Nov 2020

When we celebrate Mass, we do so as a community of believers. We receive the Eucharist to be in communion with Christ and each other. We worship one God in three Persons, a communion of Persons. Everything about our faith is communal.

Christ the King of My Disappointment

27 Nov 2020

Last weekend, the Roman Catholic Church celebrated the Solemnity of Christ, King of the Universe, more commonly known as the Feast of Christ the King.

No Idle Dream

26 Nov 2020

The Catholic world, and the world at large, is in need of unambiguous and prophetic spiritual guidance, and Pope Francis has provided just that in his new book with Austen Ivereigh, Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future (Simon & Schuster).

Why did so many Americans vote for Trump

25 Nov 2020

Kevin D. Williamson’s new book — Big White Ghetto: Dead Broke, Stone-Cold Stupid, and High on Rage in the Dank Woolly Wilds of the “Real America” –– came out on November 17.

Which Pope said this - Pedro Gabriel

22 Nov 2020

Journalism, with its immense and direct influence on public opinion, cannot be guided by economic forces, profit and partisan interests alone.

Laudato si in Australia - a conversion story

18 Nov 2020

Care for our common home is at the center of Knox Peden’s conversion...Professor Peden moved to Australia about ten years ago... Presbyterian, he experienced personal and professional reflection which led him to embrace Catholicism in July 2019.

Child Safety a National Responsibility

17 Nov 2020

Child safety is everyone’s responsibility. Significant steps have been taken nationally since the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse delivered its recommendations in 2017. - Prof Darryl Higgins ACU

Simply Sunday - The Awkward Asian Theologian

14 Nov 2020

the Sabbath is meant to reveal ....the existential richness at the heart of the world, understood by Christians as the infinite dance of generosity, which is the Godhead and the endless outpouring of that generosity to the world

New partnership to train Catholic teachers

10 Nov 2020

Campion College has forged a partnership with Catholic Education Tasmania to deliver a new program to train teachers in Catholic teaching while giving them on-site practical experience.

The adventure of faith we are called to

05 Nov 2020

Daniel Ang is the Director of the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation, charged by Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP to bring to completion his Mission Plan for the Archdiocese, Go Make Disciples.

ALL SOULS....LIVNG CATHOLIC- DURING NOVEMBER

02 Nov 2020

November begins with the Solemnity of All Saints and the Commemoration of All Souls. Throughout the month’s thirty days, the faithful intentionally recall the memory of our departed loved ones.

New era for Catholic education in Melbourne

22 Oct 2020

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Ltd (MACS) has been established to assume the governance and operation of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, Archbishop Peter A Comensoli says.

CATHNEWS TODAY - lots of Stuff

22 Oct 2020

New governance model for Melbourne Catholic schools - Pope Francis backs civil unions for gay couples - Symposium looks at the Catholic world of tomorrow - NSW eases restrictions to allow 300 in churches

For Pope Francis, dialogue isnt relativism Adam Rasmussen

13 Oct 2020

Pope Francis’s third encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, on Fraternity and Social Friendship, is a gift to the Church and to the human race. Building on previous Laudato Si’ (2015) and Benedict XVI’s Caritas in Veritate (2009)

Pope Francis Delivers Talk on Climate Change

11 Oct 2020

Today, Pope Francis stepped out onto the virtual TED stage for a second time. His talk was entitled “Our moral imperative to act on climate change — and 3 steps we can take.”

New group calls for Church reform

08 Oct 2020

A new group has been formed in Tasmania to promote reform in the Church, calling for it to become more collaborative, accountable and transparent. Source The Advocate.

Key Quotes from Fratelli Tutti - Mike Lewis

05 Oct 2020

Fratelli Tutti It is a very wide-ranging document, touching on many themes. It’s difficult to do the entire thing justice, but here are some quotes on different issues that stood out to me - Mike Lewis

Time to reconsider our way of life - Pope

05 Oct 2020

In his new encyclical, Pope Francis imagines societies that are more caring, more focused on helping those in need and fundamentally less attached to the principles of market capitalism. Source - NCR Online.

St Jerome

30 Sep 2020

I interpret as I should, following the command of Christ - Search the Scriptures, and Seek and you shall find. ....St Jerome

Francis Vision of a Fraternal Economy

29 Sep 2020

Pope Francis is signing a new social encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, this weekend. The Holy Father has spoken about human fraternity throughout his pontificate, so it’s not a surprise that he chose this topic for an encyclical.

Archbishop welcomes plan to tackle modern slavery

29 Sep 2020

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP has welcomed a commitment by the New South Wales Government to finally enact legislation passed by Parliament to provide greater protection for the victims of modern slavery. Source: Sydney Archdiocese.

St Vincent de Paul Society

27 Sep 2020

The St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia has more than 60,000 members and volunteers, who work hard to assist people in need and combat social injustice across Australia. Internationally in 153 countries and has over 800,000 members.

The Development of Virtue: Swords into Plowshares - Wil Sipling

25 Sep 2020

modern readers may be rightly disturbed by Archbishop Turpin in The Song of Roland, a cleric active on the battlefield, slaying non-Christian combatants with righteous indignation, apparently invoking temporal and spiritual judgement by his spear.

Conscience and the Sunday Obligation

25 Sep 2020

Pope Francis says catechesis must begin with the proclamation of the kerygma, the fundamental truth that -Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you

The Church and Catholic Life

25 Sep 2020

In Christian usage, the word ‘church’ designates the liturgical assembly, but also the local community or the whole universal community of believers. CCC 752

The women who accompanied Jesus

18 Sep 2020

The largely Semitic world of Mark, Matthew and John has little room for women in other than domestic roles. All this changes when Luke and Paul come into consideration.

Forgiveness and flourishing

17 Sep 2020

Forgiving and reconciling with those who hurt us, while taking responsibility and making amends for how we have hurt others, breaks the cycle of revenge and allows for healing, ultimately enabling us to flourish.

Rights of the Child

17 Sep 2020

Bishop Anthony Randazzo today launched a Rights of the Child Framework as an initiative of Safeguarding Awareness Month. The Diocese of Broken Bay dedicates September to Safeguarding and has chosen as a theme for 2020, Promoting Rights of the Child

Catholic School Parents Australia launch new websit

08 Sep 2020

Catholic School Parents Australia (CSPA) is recognised as the national body representing and advocating for the parents of 768,067 children and young people who attend the 1751 Catholic schools across Australia

Catholic Schools New South Wales

08 Sep 2020

The aim and mission of Catholic Schools NSW Ltd (CSNSW) is to support the Bishops of NSW in bringing to life the Church’s evangelising mission.

The Gift of Good Fathering - John Anderson

06 Sep 2020

We need to end the silence on this. If we really care about our children, and our boys in particular, we would own a simple truth whether convenient or not and start talking about the critical importance of fathering.

Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service

30 Aug 2020

This website will be regularly updated with information, advice and strategies to help you manage your wellbeing and mental health during this time. And you can stay up-to-date by joining our email community.

The Parish is a Gift - Daniel Amiri

29 Aug 2020

I have been thinking lately about the many Catholics who are hanging on for dear life to a bruised or wounded faith—nurtured perhaps through habits of prayer, a daily devotional email, Bible reading, or nothing but the kindness of those around them.

Catholic News Today

28 Aug 2020

Plenary Council Discernment - Virus in North Sydney - Elder Abuse - poverty worsening in WA and Qld

Augustine and the good ol days

24 Aug 2020

Augustine wrote this during the fall of an already Christianized Roman Empire, but I think what he preached can still be applied today, namely to many Catholics who have an idealized vision of the Church before Vatican II.

Church Governance

24 Aug 2020

One of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was that the Catholic Church in Australia conduct a review of diocesan and parish governance and management.

YOU ARE PETER - A Narrative of Hope

24 Aug 2020

Not because Jesus was conducting a straw poll did Jesus asked the disciples who the people thought he was. Neither was he having an identity crisis to ask them who they thought he was.

Daniel Ang Latest study shows us new ways forward

21 Aug 2020

The latest findings from McCrindle research substantiate the way in which the fault lines or fissures that COVID-19 has created in the lives of Australians have led to spiritual curiosity and openness with which the Church can engage.

St Vincent de Paul launch Strategic Plan

20 Aug 2020

The National Council of the St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia has launched its strategic plan for the next three years as it continues to work to shape a more just and compassionate society.

Saint Peter First Among the Twelve Efran Menny

19 Aug 2020

On the 2018 Easter Vigil, I became a Catholic Christian. After many years of intense theological debate and challenging my stubbornness to believe, my faith journey finally culminated that evening in our citys cathedral.

A Hug

10 Aug 2020

We are touched into life by each other, from tiny touches to making love - Timothy Radcliffe op

St Mary of the Cross - 8th August Mass 9.30am

07 Aug 2020

Feast of St Mary of the Cross - Saturday - perhaps we should remember Mary MacKillop believed her Catholic faith and actually went to Mass - she was truly a Woman of God and the Holy Church

Archbishop Anthony Fisher's Letter

07 Aug 2020

I wrote to you last week about a parliamentary inquiry that is currently running into NSW anti- discrimination laws which has dramatic effects on religious freedom.

Catholic Schools Week - Not just for rich kids

30 Jul 2020

Because of JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD Catholic Schools strive seriously to support the New Closing the Gap deal ‘to move country in new direction’ - in partnership with Indigenous Australians...

Vatican document on parishes calls for renewed vitality

29 Jul 2020

...the Holy See.....believes that renewal will not come from the abandoning of existing structures but rather from the personal encounter with Jesus that transforms the lives of the faithful and imbues them with faith, hope and love.

Being Black and Catholic - Archdiocese of Westminster UK

25 Jul 2020

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who introduces the frank and challenging 18-minute-long video, urges its audience to listen carefully, with an accepting heart; don’t be thinking, ‘hang on a minute’. Make space to hear what they have to say.

New Wagga bishops call from God'

23 Jul 2020

Bishop Mark Edwards OMI said being installed as the new bishop of Wagga Wagga Diocese yesterday was a “call from God through the Church”.

Vatican Council II - A seed that continues to grow

06 Jul 2020

A great grace, a true prophecy for the life of the Church, a new Pentecost: these are some of the expressions used by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI to describe the most recent Council...

Vision for strong, vibrant, authentic Catholic education

06 Jul 2020

Bishop Anthony Randazzo has launched Towards 2025, the strategy for the Diocese of Broken Bay ensuring authentic, professional, Catholic education delivered with care and compassion to the diocese's 17,000 Catholic school students.

Church streamlines child protection efforts

30 Jun 2020

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Mark Coleridge says a new national office for safeguarding will streamline and coordinate the Church’s work to protect children and vulnerable adults. Source: ACBC Media Blog.

New Directory for Catechesis released

26 Jun 2020

The Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization releases a new Directory for Catechesis, providing guidelines for the Church’s mission of proclaiming the Gospel through catechesis and evangelization.

Redefining our past does injustice to Australia now

26 Jun 2020

As governor Arthur Phillip wrote to the Home Office: “There can be no slavery in a free land and consequently no slaves.” ..... colonial Australia was not the fatal shore but a land of redemption.

Government launches $23m scheme to fight elder abuse

15 Jun 2020

The Morrison Government will set up a $23 million scheme to receive reports of neglect or abuse in aged care, after a study estimated more than 50,000 claims went unreported in the last year. Source: Canberra Times.

The Centre Cannot Hold – Quadrant Online

13 Jun 2020

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” and in the same poem “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity”. Yeats

TRINITY SUNDAY 2020 a Reflections Resource

07 Jun 2020

The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for.

Fr Francis pens a daily dose of grace

05 Jun 2020

Father Francis Afu began writing short and powerful scripture-inspired reflections online about faith and the experiences of everyday life after he was inspired by Pope Francis’s opening words at World Youth Day in 2016.

Glen Innes Parish Social Profile - 2016 Census

02 Jun 2020

Profiles of almost 1300 Catholic parishes across Australia have just been published, offering insights that those parishes have been encouraged to use in their pastoral planning processes. Source: ACBC Media Blog.

Pope Francis - Homily for PENTECOST SUNDAY 2020

01 Jun 2020

It is important to believe that God is gift, that he acts not by taking away, but by giving. Why is this important? Because our way of being believers depends on how we understand God.

Union of Catholic Asian News

31 May 2020

Listening to the Asian Catholic Church - Asia has also seen a growth in Catholicism and now represents almost 12% of the total Catholic population in the world, or 137 million people.

Was the Royal Commission hand in glove with the - Get Pell - campaign

30 May 2020

After Cardinal George Pell’s successful appeal against his conviction for sexual abuse, the “Get Pell” campaign died down. But the release of three unredacted reports of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has given it a second wind.

The Anatomy of a Pathology

30 May 2020

On April 7, when a unanimous decision of the High Court of Australia acquitted him - Cardinal Pell - of “historical sexual abuse,” did not reckon with the climate of venomous hatred that has surrounded Pell for decades

Restrictions eased on NSW places of worship

29 May 2020

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP has thanked the tens of thousands of people across the state who signed a petition asking the New South Wales Government to scrap “unfair” COVID-19 restrictions on churches.

PAUL COLLINS. Back to Nature 28 May 2020

29 May 2020

It is five years this week since Pope Francis published perhaps the most radical and important papal encyclical ever issued, Laudato si’, mi’ Signore (‘Praise be to you, my Lord’) on ‘care for our common home.’

New Wagga Wagga Bishop draws faithful together for Mission

27 May 2020

In a letter to the faithful of Wagga Wagga, Bishop Edwards described his appointment “as a call from God to be with you and journey with you as disciple, brother, and bishop”. “Together, as a community of missionary disciples, we will worship, love, and evangelize,” he said.

Celebrating Scientific and Spiritual Curiosity

22 May 2020

HE TEMPLETON PRIZE honors individuals whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton’s philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest questions of the universe and humankind’s place and purpose within it.

Plenary Council Assemblies set for 2021-2022

21 May 2020

The two assemblies for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia will now take place in October 2021 and April 2022, following the disruption of the original schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Source: ACBC Media Blog.

Vigano & the Virus

21 May 2020

Anti-Vatican II traditionalists are known for their inclination to traffic in conspiracy theories while bemoaning the vanished political and legal authority of the Church.

Vinnies adopts National Catholic Safeguarding Standards

20 May 2020

St Vincent de Paul Society’s National Council has signed up to the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards, ensuring a nationally consistent approach to the safety of children and vulnerable people across the Society.

Selfless Love and the Theology of the Body - Daniel Amiri

19 May 2020

The truth that we were made—body and soul—for selfless, life-giving love is a hard sell in today’s culture. From our youth, we are taught by mass media to aspire to self-actualization, to pursue that which gives us bodily pleasure.

Printable Rosary Guides for May 2020 - Mike Lewis

09 May 2020

Pope Francis once again called upon the faithful to pray the Rosary. He requested that we pray the Rosary every day in the month of May, and he provided two additional prayers to Our Lady that he will be praying following the Rosary .

MARYS MONTH OF MAY - Printable Rosary Guides

01 May 2020

This week Pope Francis requested that we pray the Rosary every day in the month of May, and he provided two additional prayers to Our Lady that he will be praying following the Rosary for the month.

Strong in the Face of Tribulation

22 Apr 2020

The Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See is making available a downloadable book entitled -Strong in the Face of Tribulation - , containing prayers, supplications and the Pope’s homilies as - a sure support in time of trial.

Pells Kangaroo Court

21 Apr 2020

A Sydney lawyer dissects the arguments in Australia’s most famous criminal trial- Michael McAuley

Culture wars led to prosecution, Cardinal Pell says

15 Apr 2020

Cardinal George Pell believes culture wars and his conservative views on social issues contributed to him being prosecuted and jailed on child sexual abuse charges – convictions overturned by the High Court last week. Source: ABC News.

Twisted passion of the anti-Catholics on show in Pell case

14 Apr 2020

This anti-Catholicism must stop. The Pope is not the devil, Pell is not an abuser, Catholics are not a backward people. The prejudices of the progressive elite must be confronted in order that Catholics can feel comfortable in Australia....

GOOD FRIDAY love in the lockdown

10 Apr 2020

Today, the Christian Church celebrates the passion of its founder, Jesus Christ. Today, many of us will mark his passage into the tomb in a state of lockdown.

Pell versus the Queen

08 Apr 2020

The High Court found that the jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant's guilt with respect to each of the offences for which he was convicted.....

Pells High Court acquittal revives reasonable doubt

08 Apr 2020

Our judicial system is not perfect; no human system can ever be. But it has entrenched checks and balances, combining procedural fairness and reasonable review, and the promise that every person is treated equally.

First assembly of Plenary Council postponed

06 Apr 2020

In response to the dramatic changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the bishops of Australia have made the “difficult, but necessary” decision to postpone the first assembly of the Plenary Council. Source: ACBC Media Blog.

At Every Time and in Every Place

04 Apr 2020

Millions of Catholics around the world are now facing the reality that they won’t be able to attend any Holy Week liturgies or receive Communion on Easter Sunday.

Alarm at radical assisted suicide plan - Qld

03 Apr 2020

Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge said that the recommendations came as no surprise given the cultural tide of this time and the resources invested by the supporters of physician-assisted suicide.

Love in the time of the Coronavirus

03 Apr 2020

Nate Tinner-Williams writes: In this current crisis of health, wealth, and love of neighbor, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. Maybe you’re feeling it too, and asking yourself: Am I doing enough - Am I doing anything.

Glen Innes Churches in Virus Time

29 Mar 2020

Church Bells will ring in Glen Innes at 9am each day. Here are 9 things you can do at 9am to care for one another and ourselves.

Notes from the field Hospital

24 Mar 2020

Church Buildings may be closed but the Church - the Body of Christ - is OPEN AS LONG AS THE LORD IS RISEN !!!!!

UPDATE ON CORONAVIRUS MEASURES - Prime Minister

23 Mar 2020

We will be living with this virus for at least six months, so social distancing measures to slow this virus down must be sustainable for at least that long to protect Australian lives..

We have got to go hard, our window is closing

23 Mar 2020

Australias coronavirus health crisis will mirror those of Italy and the US within weeks and will get even worse without extreme social distancing measures, one of the nation’s top biosecurity experts has warned.

Up to date - Government Health Advice

22 Mar 2020

Health is closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic. Our information provides daily updates, answering your questions about the latest news, current facts and figures, travel advice, key contact and phone numbers.

Coronavirus Prayers - Bishop Michael Kennedy

22 Mar 2020

Bishop Kennedy has issued these Prayers in this time of the Covid-19 Virus they may be of help to us in our Diocese as we pray together for Gods healing grace in abundance.....

Who We Know God Is

21 Mar 2020

Only recently have I come to truly know God. I’m a cradle Catholic raised by pretty devout parents. I could maybe count on one hand the times I remember missing a Sunday Mass growing up. I received all my sacraments. I did all the Catholic things.

Some dioceses suspend public Masses

19 Mar 2020

Catholic bishops across Australia are coming to terms with new restrictions on public gatherings, with many suspending Masses in response to the coronavirus pandemic, while others will allow small gatherings to continue. Source: ABC News.

An Invisible Communion - Daniel Amiri

18 Mar 2020

In the face of our current situation, I would like to remind my fellow Catholics we can still welcome God into our hearts through what is called spiritual communion.

UPDATE ON CORONAVIRUS MEASURES

18 Mar 2020

The focus for the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments is the health and wellbeing of Australians and their livelihoods, ensuring that Australia is positioned to emerge strong and resilient from this global pandemic crisis.

ACBC CATHOLIC CHURCH RESPONSE TO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE OVERVIEW

17 Mar 2020

This document outlines the major initiatives by Catholic leaders in Australia to respond to the issue of child sexual abuse in Church settings. It focuses on progress in recent years. Some protocols also apply to improper sexual conduct with adults.

Hand washing

16 Mar 2020

As you go about your everyday life, germs accumulate on your hands. After you touch your eyes, nose or mouth, germs carried there can cause infections. Frequent hand-washing is one of the best ways to avoid getting sick and spreading illness.

Novel coronavirus (COVID-19)

12 Mar 2020

Information and advice on the novel coronavirus called COVID-19 for community and businesses in New South Wales.

Keep calm and make a curry

06 Mar 2020

On Thursday Scott Morrison explained that every Australian had a responsible role to play in the evolving coronavirus outbreak. The coming months will test our resolve and the Prime Minister urged common sense.

Sanctity the unspoken question for Plenary 2020

04 Mar 2020

Last week we celebrated a momentous occasion in the life of the Church in Australia – the Opening of the Cause for the Beatification and Canonisation of Servant of God, Eileen O’Connor.

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR LENT 2020

01 Mar 2020

In this Lent of 2020, I would like to share with every Christian what I wrote to young people in the Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit: “Keep your eyes fixed on the outstretched arms of Christ crucified, let yourself be saved over and over again.

Where Does the Church's Crisis of Authority Dwell

29 Feb 2020

How can lost authority be restored We did not need the recent poll on belief in the True Presence to indicate that the authority of the Church is in crisis within the Church—to say nothing of her authority outside the Church.

Ecclesiology to be key Plenary debate topic, says Bishop Umbers

29 Feb 2020

Not all the ideas that circulate among the people of God are compatible with the faith … it needs to be said that we are not going to redefine sin. We are not going to change the sacrament of Holy Orders and neither do we have the power to do so.

Bishops appoint new executive secretary

25 Feb 2020

A researcher, educator and Church historian with a deep commitment to empowering lay people in the Church has joined the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference as an executive secretary. Source: ACBC Media Blog.

Catholic schools must do more to protect children

24 Feb 2020

The head of the Australian Catholic education sector says Catholic schools still need to do more to protect children from predators, more than two years after the child abuse royal commission final report. Source: The Age.

THE LEUNIG FRAGMENTS

23 Feb 2020

With exclusive and intimate access to one of Australia’s National Living Treasures – Michael Leunig - this feature documentary entertains, engages and enlivens audiences with a revealing portrait of an enigmatic artist

My Clericalism and Querida Amazonia

20 Feb 2020

After reading Querida Amazonia, my initial reaction was to think we have a Pope that believes there are some issues more important than the priesthood. Those of us who criticize clericalism certainly believe this..

SENIORs STORIES Volume 5

17 Feb 2020

This collection of 100 stories is the fifth volume of Seniors’ Stories written by seniors from throughout NSW.

Why Catholics venerate the remains of the dead

07 Feb 2020

As the relics of St Therese of Lisieux and her parents tour the country, Lismore Bishop Greg Homeming OCD addressed the most common question about relics – why do Catholics venerate the remains of the dead? Source: The Catholic Leader.

Making things right - Pedro Gabriel

06 Feb 2020

I hope that at least some of those who badmouthed the Pope will follow his example and at least try to make things right by acknowledging what happened on January 8.

PRAYER

05 Feb 2020

Sometimes the answer to our prayers is not gaining, but losing .......

Family's faith, grace in tragedy

05 Feb 2020

....the Abdallahs are being sustained by their Maronite Catholic faith. Life cannot be the same for them but, as Kevin Donnelly wrote on Tuesday, “while the loss and pain will never be erased, in prayer and communal grieving there is solace”.

Australian Bishops have a Transparency Problem

02 Feb 2020

Australia's bishops have yet to demonstrate the new openness to the Catholic community necessary for a successful Plenary Council 2020. Their inclination to secrecy remains an impediment.

The Seamless Garment is the Catholic position - Pedro Gabriel

01 Feb 2020

Put simply, the Seamless Garment postulates that being pro-life involves not only fighting against abortion, but also against euthanasia, the death penalty, war, social injustice, anti-immigrant sentiment, and a host of other social issues........

Love - even when it is difficult

30 Jan 2020

Many faith traditions place an emphasis on atoning for wrong done. In the Catholic Church, we believe in confessing sins in Reconciliation to be absolved of them. This sacrament is a doorway to so much more in the Church and eternity.

College on course to teach teachers

28 Jan 2020

Campion College, a Catholic tertiary college based in Western Sydney, has launched its first postgraduate course, an online graduate certificate in religious education for primary school teachers.

The Rest of My Life Before and After Conversion

27 Jan 2020

Simply put, in order to become Catholic, I had to humble myself. To allow myself to be made ever so tiny— imperceptible—so that I could squeeze through the eye of the needle. This has been the single greatest gain during my journey into the Church.

Things We Don't Talk About Much in Australia

26 Jan 2020

Yes! There is an incredibly wonderful side to Australia……upon mature reflection however there is more to the story that we need to face as we embrace with energy the care we owe to the environment and the earth….

Australia Day as a day for humility - Andrew Hamilton

25 Jan 2020

Australia Day would be wasted if it were devoted simply to self-congratulation and technological wizardry with no care for the future. It is a time for hard thinking about both our Indigenous and our European heritage.

Vinnies welcomes bishops' Australia Day appeal

22 Jan 2020

The St Vincent de Paul Society has welcomed a special collection to be taken in Catholic parishes throughout the country this Australia Day weekend for the Vinnies Bushfire Appeal.

WORD of GOD SUNDAY background Readings

22 Jan 2020

In considering the Church as the home of the word, attention must first be given to the sacred liturgy, for the liturgy is the privileged setting in which God speaks to us in the midst of our lives..

Donations won't cover repair bill - Vinnies

21 Jan 2020

The more than $250 million donated to charities for bushfire relief in recent weeks is “probably not enough” to repair the damage caused by blazes across the country, the head of St Vincent de Paul Society NSW said. Source: ABC News.

After the Inferno

21 Jan 2020

As the smoke begins to clear, we’re seeing for the first time the unimaginable scale of Australia’s worst bushfire season.

Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP - In God’s Image

20 Jan 2020

The following is an excerpt of the text of the address by Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP at Australian Catholic University, North Sydney, 26 November, 2018 to launch In God’s Image by Archbishop Peter A Comensoli .

University defends standard of teaching degrees

20 Jan 2020

Australian Catholic University in Brisbane is standing by its low minimum threshold for teaching degrees, but experts say the academic standards for teachers still need to be higher. Source: The Courier-Mail.

Pope establishes Sunday of the Word of God

18 Jan 2020

Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter, Motu proprio "Aperuit illis", published on 30 September, establishes that "the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the Word of God".

How To Read Marks Gospel

18 Jan 2020

We have no certainty about the author of The Gospel according to Mark. The epistles of Paul mention a Mark who was a co-worker and the cousin of Barnabas, but Mark or Marcus was a common name then.

Welcome to Catholic Earthcare Australia

16 Jan 2020

ACBC mandates Catholic Earthcare Australia to act as an advisory agency on ecological matters. With Laudato Si at its heart, it will promote dialogue, education, advocacy and action for ecological conversion and care for our common home.

Vinnies, Salvos receive $50m injection to help victims

15 Jan 2020

Australians will gain access to $50 million in rapid assistance to recover from the bushfire crisis in a Morrison Government move to inject funds into the St Vincent de Paul Society and Salvation Army. Source: Sydney Morning Herald.

Nations and the cult of victimhood

15 Jan 2020

The Victim Cult: How the Culture of Blame Hurts Everyone and Wrecks Civilizations, a new book by seasoned public policy analyst, columnist and author Mark Milke, whose work has been published in think-tanks in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

LATIN WON'T SAVE US

11 Jan 2020

Most “lapsed” Catholics go either nowhere and become one of the “nones” who practice no organized religion or to protestant, non-denomenational mega churches.

PAUL COLLINS - Bushfires and the Culture War.

11 Jan 2020

The bushfire culture wars have already begun. For some the current crisis is apocalypse now, for others it’s just an extreme example of business as usual on our incendiary continent.

Strange Gods - Commonweal

08 Jan 2020

There are two sides to our economy: a rationalized, disenchanted side and an enchanted side. In fact, these are really two sides of the same coin.

Priests find light amid fiery dark of Australia

07 Jan 2020

Priests in Australia’s bushfire-ravaged heartland have praised the courage, and “generosity of spirit” of their communities. But they have also warned of the long-term impact of disaster trauma.

Keeping in touch at St Patricks Glen Innes

07 Jan 2020

He was not born in the Temple - but into a Family in a humble dwelling for everyone - the lowly and the wise and learned came to him from the outside - the powerful and the important were threatened.

CARE FOR CREATION - The Amazon Synod

31 Dec 2019

The final document of October’s synod of bishops on the Amazon has finally received an official English translation (here). Among its themes and proposals stands out its emphasis on caring for creation (ecology).

The Gospel for the 31st December 2019

31 Dec 2019

As the sun sets on the last day of the 2019 calendar year and we enter NEW YEAR'S EVE...the Church reminds us that In the Beginning was the WORD

A Vulnerable God

26 Dec 2019

Lord Jesus Christ, through your Incarnation you accepted a human nature and lived a real, human life. Setting aside the glory of your divinity, you met us face to face in the vulnerability of our humanity.

Church Must Adapt to Post-Christian West

23 Dec 2019

“We are no longer under a Christian regime because the faith — especially in Europe, but also in much of the West — no longer constitutes an obvious premise of common life. Pope Francis

Archbishop Fishers - CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

22 Dec 2019

“It’s news Christians never tire of telling. It’s what inspires so much good they do in families, parishes, schools, hospitals, welfare, missions,” he said.

Christianity Without Guardrails

21 Dec 2019

All too often arguments fall on deaf ears because in our world too many contradictory arguments compete with one another, so much so that we are spontaneously reminded of the medieval theologians’ description of reason, that it, has a wax nose

They actually believe this garbage

20 Dec 2019

It’s difficult to imagine that not long ago, Viganò held the prestigious position of apostolic nuncio to the United States, where an important part of his role was to suggest candidates for bishops to the Holy See.

Ecological Sin and the Cosmic Temple

19 Dec 2019

Let us, then, not resist Pope Francis, as he legitimately develops doctrine on “ecological sin.” There is more to it than meets the eye.

Catechesis is NOT the answer....

13 Dec 2019

To receive the faith, one has an experience that gives one an enriched vision of reality as it truly is, permeated with God’s love. Faith is not information in the sense that one simply “knows about” God or Jesus or the Church.

CathNews Monday 9th 2nd Week of ADVENT

09 Dec 2019

Thousands of young Australian Catholics were challenged to “go out and rebuild” God’s Church on the opening day of the 2019 Australian Catholic Youth Festival in Perth. Source: ACBC Media Blog.

CPSL publishes third Annual Report

06 Dec 2019

Catholic Professional Standards Ltd (CPSL) has today published its 2018-19 Annual Report, marking three years of operation for the organisation.

CATHNEWS

02 Dec 2019

What's Happening in the Catholic Community - A quick look

It Was Clearly Idolatry

02 Dec 2019

. By rejecting any alternative explanation as “spin,” and responding to evidence-based attempts to explain the truth with, “it was clearly idolatry,” they have turned this idolatry hypothesis into a non-falsifiable claim.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT...YEAR A- Fr Francis Afu

01 Dec 2019

We gather the evergreen plants and make an Advent Wreath..... It will survive the harshness of the winter and the droughts of our lives. It will be ever green, bearing witness to eternal life.

Advent and Christmas: From Promise To Fulfilment

30 Nov 2019

The season of Advent is peculiar to the Western church. It has no counterpart in the East. Outside of Rome it may have arisen as a three or six week period of preparation for baptism on the feast of the Epiphany.

Bishop Barron Comments on THE MASS

30 Nov 2019

A recent Pew Research Center study revealed that 69% of Catholics in the United States believe that the bread and wine used in Mass “are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.”

Bishop Barron on Reaching the iGens

29 Nov 2019

Jean Twenge book “iGen” about the generation born between 1995 and 2012 is one of the most fascinating—and depressing—texts I’ve read in the past decade.

More older Australians at risk of homelessness

28 Nov 2019

Older Australians are increasingly at risk of homelessness, with life shocks in senior years leaving many without a roof over their heads for the first time, new research shows. Source: Domain.

In the beginning was the Word

28 Nov 2019

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales have dedicated 2020 to be a year of focus on the Bible and ‘The God Who Speaks’.

FP Ideology, Part One: The Revolution

27 Nov 2019

You may have heard of an ultra-conservative Catholic group called Tradition, Family and Property (TFP), which has been involved in various efforts to oppose the initiatives of the Francis papacy.

Reintegrated, inside or outside BY MIKE LEWIS

27 Nov 2019

Any sentence must always allow for reintegration, a sentence without a ray of hope is inhuman. Even when it comes to life imprisonment, one must think how the person serving a life sentence can be reintegrated, inside or outside.

The insidiousness of the opposition

25 Nov 2019

Opposition to the pope is not new, but what is new is the level and intensity that is there…It’s the insidiousness of the opposition movement that I think is scandalous for us.

Such May Be Slain But Not Crowned

22 Nov 2019

I recommend the following selection from Cyprian’s De Ecclesiae Catholicae Unitate as a reflection for any who are tempted to rebel against the Church for whatever righteous reasons....Joe Dantona

The Motherhood of God

21 Nov 2019

Motherhood needs a cultural reboot. Perhaps no institution is as roundly mocked, belittled, and discounted as motherhood.

What is behind the nursing home disaster

15 Nov 2019

It’s hunting season on Australia’s aged care providers.... the Federal Government formed a Royal Commission to investigate the quality and delivery of aged care.

ALL SAINTS DAY - Fr Francis Afu

02 Nov 2019

(Saints) These people are not only those on the Roman Martyrology. They include our parents, our children, our siblings, our friends and even some we might have considered enemies. T

The Best is Yet to Come - Fr Brian Grogan sj

01 Nov 2019

In contrast to atheists, agnostics and humanists, Christians believe in the existence of God. God, they say, is not an abstract philosophic construct but a God who cares intensely for everyone, even beyond death.

A generational change to treat mental health crisis

31 Oct 2019

National statistics on mental illness are as staggering as they are sobering. “How good is Australia?” ..... But pose the question “How well is Australia?’’ and you’ll brace yourself for a grim diagnosis.

ALL SAINTS - the Communion of the Saints

31 Oct 2019

The term "communion of saints" refers also to the communion of "holy persons" (sancti) in Christ who "died for all," so that what each one does or suffers in and for Christ bears fruit for all.

My power is made perfect in weakness

31 Oct 2019

The Lord said to Saint Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). Our weakness is an opportunity for God to reveal his power.

Discernment is not about Choice

27 Oct 2019

......discernment is about discerning between what is of God and what is not – avoiding what is evil and embracing what is good.

How to Bless a Child

24 Oct 2019

As St. Ambrose says, “You may not be rich; you may be unable to bequeath any great possessions to your children; but one thing you can give them [is] the heritage of your blessing. And it is better to be blessed than to be rich.”

Children's Liturgy of the WORD

19 Oct 2019

Every 4th Sunday St Patrick's Parish pays special attention to the Infants and Pre-schoolers Our Young people Minister the Word and help out as Wardens

VINNIES NSW DROUGHT APPEAL

14 Oct 2019

The difficulties and hardships for farmers and their livestock caused by this drought will have ongoing ramifications for the affected communities.

Newman Saint and Modern Doctor of the Church

13 Oct 2019

I am a Catholic by virtue of my believing in a God...for I feel it impossible to believe in my own existence... without believing also in the existence of Him, who lives as a Personal, All-seeing, All-judging Being in my conscience

Catholicism Without Christ - By Simcha Fisher

11 Oct 2019

Christ is the great filler of emptiness. He is like the ocean, and we are like the sand: Dig deep enough, become empty enough, and look! Up He comes. The only trick, really, is to recognise when we are empty.

Faith and Reason - S Pope John Paul II 1998

08 Oct 2019

God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.

Pope Francis Critique of Modern Life

03 Oct 2019

though some of his (Pope Francis) critics within the church have accused him of importing socialism and radical environmentalism into Catholic social teaching, the current pope has in fact pushed out from a path firmly forged by his predecessors.

SUNDAY - THE WORD OF GOD - PopeFrancis Apostolic Letter

01 Oct 2019

Lk 24:45. This was one of the final acts of the risen Lord before his Ascension. Jesus appeared to the assembled disciples, broke bread with them and opened their minds to the understanding of the sacred Scriptures.

Vinnies welcomes new drought support package

30 Sep 2019

The National Council of the St Vincent de Paul Society has welcomed Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement on Friday of further assistance to rural communities devastated by drought.

St Vincent de Paul 1581 - 1660

27 Sep 2019

It is our duty to prefer the service of the poor to everything else and to offer such service as quickly as possible. St Vincent de Paul

Handing on the Faith - Dei Verbum 8

25 Sep 2019

the Church, in her teaching, life and worship, perpetuates and hands on to all generations all that she herself is, all that she believes.

THE GODLESS COUNTRY? CHRISTIAN AUSTRALIA

24 Sep 2019

The Church is now routinely portrayed as dangerous, its faith as benighted, its ministers as monsters. Some say Christians will for the foreseeable future be a persecuted minority in our community, if possibly a ‘creative‘ minority also.

ST BRIGID’S PARISH QUIRINDI

21 Sep 2019

ST BRIGID’S PARISH QUIRINDI Thanksgiving * Celebration * Remembrance 132 Years of Service given by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart “THE END OF AN ERA” BUT THE SPIRIT LIVES ON SATURDAY 26 OCTOBER 2019

Why You Should Go to Church

19 Sep 2019

Because God exists, because God has revealed himself, and because God wants a relationship with us and has set up a Church specifically for that reason. That is why I became Catholic. That is why I go to church, and would continue to go to church, even if I hated it.

Infanticide on Demand

16 Sep 2019

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has told a pro-life rally in Sydney that the proposed bill to decriminalise abortion is “effectively infanticide on demand”. Source: ABC News.

Ballarat shows commitment to safeguarding children

16 Sep 2019

Ballarat Diocese has implemented 73 per cent of the indicators relevant to its operations under the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards, according to an audit report published today by Catholic Professional Standards.

How Pope Francis can revitalize a Church in crisis

10 Sep 2019

Pope Francis’s foremost priority should be top-to-bottom culture change in the Catholic Church, specifically: fostering a spirit of urgency, bringing new talent to all decision-making tables, and creating openness to radically new ideas.

The unvarnished truth about celibacy

06 Sep 2019

Fifty years ago, Bostonians Bill and Mary Manseau exchanged wedding vows. “Exchanged” is the right word, for not so long before Bill and Mary had been known as Father Bill and Sister Thomas Patrick.

Stress on social workers ‘a ticking time bomb’

03 Sep 2019

Burnout among social workers tasked with helping traumatised South Australians is creating a “ticking time bomb” that “cannot be ignored”, a Centacare Catholic Family Services report warns. Source: The Advertiser

Bishops to launch major statement on social media

03 Sep 2019

Australia’s Catholic bishops will today launch a major statement on digital communications, calling on all levels of society to overcome the hatred, division and exploitation that occurs online. Source: ACBC Media Blog

Doctors, church leaders warn of 'death creep'

02 Sep 2019

Doctors and faith leaders have sounded the alarm on the “creeping” expansion of voluntary euthanasia, warning that safeguards in the Victorian law have been stripped out of proposed legislation in other states. Source: The Weekend Australian.

Assisted dying not our way, say elders

02 Sep 2019

Church leaders and community elders have warned that ​remote indigenous communities are bitterly opposed to voluntary euthanasia and its introduction would undermine trust in the health system.

A Christian prayer in union with creation

01 Sep 2019

‘A Christian prayer for union with creation’ was published in Pope Francis’ encyclical letter, Laudato Si. This prayer is for Christians to pray for inspiration to take up the commitment to creation set before us by the Gospel of Jesus.

World Day of Prayer for Creation

30 Aug 2019

The World Day of Prayer for Creation, celebrated Sept. 1 by Christians around the world, once again marked the opening of the annual ecumenical liturgical season known as the Season of Creation.....

St Augustine Day

28 Aug 2019

Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you,

AG plays to win back our liberty

28 Aug 2019

The Australian understands Christian Porter has in mind a new federal provision making it unlawful to drag someone to an anti-discrimination tribunal for expressing a religious belief.

Bishops pay tribute to Tim Fischer

23 Aug 2019

Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge has paid tribute to former ambassador to the Holy See Tim Fischer, who died yesterday, saying he lived as a proud Catholic and a proud Australian. Source: ACBC

The Australian Disgrace

22 Aug 2019

Victoria Supreme Court chief justice Anne Ferguson, reading the decision, made persistent reference to “the whole of the evidence.” But there has never been any “evidence” that Cardinal Pell did what he was alleged to have done.

No country for old Catholics

22 Aug 2019

For make no mistake: the liberty of any Victorian accused by a single person of an unverifiable crime (even one allegedly committed decades ago) is now in jeopardy.

CARDINAL PELL, SCAPEGOAT

22 Aug 2019

The conviction of Pell is an outrage—not because he is a cardinal of the Catholic Church, but because the case against him was not proved, and could not be proved, beyond a reasonable doubt.

Rachel's Vineyard

21 Aug 2019

25-27 October 2019 - This Retreat is a spiritual journey of post-abortion healing. It offers women and men who have an abortion experience a place of acceptance, forgiveness and reconciliation.

MIGRANT AND REFUGEE WEEK

20 Aug 2019

“I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10). It is not just about migrants: it is about the whole person, about all people. Migrant & Refugee Publication - Australian Bishops

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

14 Aug 2019

James Hanvey SJ contemplates Botticini’s ‘The Assumption of the Virgin’ and finds that it not only captures the complex mystery of the Assumption, but also illuminates the truth contained within this great feast.

Bishop Barron on Pope Francis and Catholic Social Teaching

11 Aug 2019

In the wake of the publication of Pope Francis’s encyclical letter ''Laudato Si'', and of the Pope’s recent speeches in Latin America, many supporters of capitalism might be forgiven for thinking that His Holiness has something against them. But

Responding to trauma

09 Aug 2019

ACCORDING to consultant psychologist, Angela McCabe, trauma is something that can be experienced simply from listening to another person describing his or her own traumatic event. This is what is termed “vicarious trauma”.

Bishop Kennedy writes to the Parishes

09 Aug 2019

I ask that the petition be printed and made available for parishioners to sign at Masses over the next two weekends, I ask you also to continue to pray that the bill will be defeated, and that a civilisation of life and love will prevail.

The Transfiguration

09 Aug 2019

Prayer is never a private thing we do. It is always Jesus taking us with Him. It is always the Bridegroom, Christ taking the hands of His Bride, we, the Church.

A warm welcome helps arriving priests, parishes

08 Aug 2019

A major Church conference on missionary clergy and religious in Australia has heard of the demographic shifting of the Church and the need to welcome and nurture international priests. Source: The Catholic Leader.

YOUR SUPPORT FOR ALL HUMAN LIFE IS NEEDED

03 Aug 2019

Bishop Kennedy Letter to the Diocese - Laws which legitimize the direct killing of innocent human beings through abortion are in complete opposition to the inviolable right to life proper to every individual.

Welfare policy changes blamed for rise in poverty

30 Jul 2019

Poverty in Australia is increasing again after several years of decline, a respected University of Melbourne study has found, with changes to welfare policies cited as a possible contributor. Source: The Guardian.

Prosperity and security rely on our freedom to worship

29 Jul 2019

The Australian Parliament is about to embark on what could be the most significant raft of reforms affecting religious freedom this country has seen, writes University of Notre Dame’s Mark Fowler. Source: The Australian.

St Vincent Paul Society - good works

29 Jul 2019

The St Vincent de Paul Society is committed to actively and passionately speaking out against the causes of poverty and inequality on behalf of the people we serve.

Catholic Social Teaching

29 Jul 2019

Catholic Social Teaching covers all spheres of life – the economic, political, personal and spiritual.

CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING - Faith in a better world

29 Jul 2019

“Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, the desire to do good fades.” Pope Francis

CathNews wants to hear from you

20 Jul 2019

CathNews, the daily news aggregation service of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, today launches a survey to canvass readers’ opinions.

Monica Doumit: It’s either bias … or stupidity

18 Jul 2019

As you might know, a few weeks’ back, the Archdiocese published a series of short, 30-second information clips to social media about the impact of euthanasia and assisted suicide in countries where it has been legalised.

New guidelines for Church’s response to abuse

18 Jul 2019

The Church is developing new national policy guidelines to strengthen and standardise Church authorities’ responses to historical and contemporary concerns and allegations of abuse of children and vulnerable adults. Source: ACBC Media Blog.

Time to listen to Aboriginal voices: Fr Brennan

15 Jul 2019

Human rights lawyer Fr Frank Brennan has urged Australians to have faith in Indigenous parliamentarians to find the right words for a referendum on constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Source: The Southern Cross.

Archbishop Fisher to meet Attorney-General to discuss bill

11 Jul 2019

Attorney-General Christian Porter will sit down with Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP to discuss a way forward on a religious discrimination act, after failing to respond to requests for a meeting for more than a month. Source: The Australian.

Homelessness needs a joint response: Vinnies

10 Jul 2019

St Vincent de Paul Society national CEO Toby O’Connor has welcomed the Morrison Government’s focus on emergency accommodation for a growing number of Australians, but warned a further joint response was required to address the need.

Prayer for a Suffering Church - Bishop Robert Barron

08 Jul 2019

Lord Jesus Christ, through your Incarnation you accepted a human nature and lived a real, human life. Setting aside the glory of your divinity, you met us face to face in the vulnerability of our humanity.

Is Christianity making a Come Back ?

07 Jul 2019

The scene is rocking, and the most racially diverse I have encountered in contemporary London. Lots of Afro-Caribbeans, plenty of Asians, lots of white folks, too, and almost every other variety you can imagine.

Labor 'ready' to work with Government

04 Jul 2019

Labor has locked in firmly behind Scott Morrison’s push for new religious freedom laws, with Labor senator Kristina Keneally confirming the Opposition is “ready to work with the Government”. Source: SBS News

Australians suffering from ‘gross affluenza’

01 Jul 2019

The self-centred, consumeristic attitude of Australians limits the sacrifices they are willing to make to redress injustices against the Aboriginal people, Bishop Christopher Saunders said last week. Source: Angelus News.

Bishops tackle big issues on Ad Limina visit

26 Jun 2019

The Australian bishops have commenced a series of meetings with departments of the Holy See by visiting the influential Congregations for Bishops and for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge Homily for Mass at Tomb of St Peter

25 Jun 2019

n Australia, this is a time surely when, beyond all the sorrows, we as bishops have to discover anew how small we are and yet how grand is the design into which we have been drawn by the call of God...... It is a time for humiliation to give birth to humility.

ACU backs freedom of speech code

21 Jun 2019

Australian Catholic University has endorsed a proposed freedom of speech code, saying it “fundamentally supported freedom of expression and academic inquiry”. Source: The Australian.

The Plenary Council - Where are we up to ?

19 Jun 2019

The Plenary Council is a key focus for the bishops at their retreat as they, like all of us, reflect upon, pray about and discern the six National Themes for Discernment.

Assisted dying bill reinforces deadly cultural assumptions

19 Jun 2019

Victoria’s controversial Voluntary Assisted Dying Act comes into effect today after a marathon parliamentary battle in late 2017, followed by a year and a half of meticulous planning by the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.

The majesty of the law - QUADRANT ONLINE

17 Jun 2019

Those of us who still believe the legal system's traditions help preserve us from barbarism can only hope the B-grade spectacle we have witnessed so many times in the persecution of George Pell is an aberration, not a portent of some squalid future

The Good Priest

15 Jun 2019

He cuts an oddly formal figure on the sand. But for the absence of a bride, you might think him a groom, here for wedding photos. Look closer and you see the white collar. Here is one of a new breed: a young, modern Catholic priest.

Gender ideology opposed to faith: Vatican

11 Jun 2019

Catholic schools must help parents teach young people that biological sex and gender are naturally fixed at birth and part of God’s plan for creation, said the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education. Source: CNS.

Gender ideology opposed to faith: Vatican

11 Jun 2019

Catholic schools must help parents teach young people that biological sex and gender are naturally fixed at birth and part of God’s plan for creation, said the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education. Source: CNS.

REASONABLE DOUBTS ABOUT PELLS CONVICTION

10 Jun 2019

Three judges now have a chance to vindicate the courts by overturning his conviction. Observers around the world, Catholic and non-Catholic, liberal and conservative, hope that they will.

RENAISSANCE OF MARRIAGE Building A Catholic Marriage Culture

03 Jun 2019

Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP KEYNOTE SPEAKER Archbishop of Sydney “The Renaissance of Marriage Conference is a important initiative and I am again pleased to be able to participate in this exciting event and to also spend time with delegates.”

Saints Charles Lwanga and his Companions - Martyrs

03 Jun 2019

  Within a year of their deaths, the number of catechumens in the country quadrupled. St Charles Lwanga is the patron of Catholic Action and of black African youth, and the Ugandan martyrs’ feast day is a public holiday in Uganda.

New government MUST tackle Poverty - Vinnies say

23 May 2019

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Coalition face the major challenge of helping three million Australians living in poverty, the St Vincent de Paul Society says. Source: The Catholic Leader.

5th Sunday of Easter Year C 2019 Fr Francis Afu

21 May 2019

The love that isn’t ashamed of those who are unable to live up to the defined truth. The love that encounters others, listens to their stories, pain and struggles, accompanies them step by step and leads them to the revealed Truth.

Religious Electorates Came Out Swinging

20 May 2019

Religious communities across western Sydney have punished Labor, with the growing concerns around religious freedoms swinging votes towards the Liberal Party in the traditional ALP heartland. Source: The Australian.

Catholic sector condemns Greens funding policy

09 May 2019

The Catholic education sector has hit out at the Greens’ “divisive” rhetoric on school funding, warning families that the party’s policies, if implemented, would force schools to hike up fees. Source: The Australian.

Death penalty banned, assisted suicide planned

07 May 2019

The Fifth Commandment (Exodus 20:6) is in fact a principle of social order enshrined in the laws of almost every society in history, providing for citizens a degree of protection against unjust assault or injury as we go about our daily work.

IS RELIGION JUST A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT

03 May 2019

One of the arguments against religion is that it’s a social construction – that is, that religion (particularly, belief in an interventionist or “moralistic” go.

Church Governance Review

02 May 2019

A panel of experts has been convened to conduct a national review of the governance and management structures of Catholic dioceses and parishes, including in relation to issues of transparency, accountability, consultation and lay participation.

Religion has a place in the Class room

30 Apr 2019

There is much misinformation about special religious education in New South Wales government schools, writes Christian SRE chief executive Murray Norman. Source: Sydney Morning Herald.

St ATHANASIUS AGAINST THE WORLD

24 Apr 2019

St. Athanasius lived when the blood of the Church’s earliest martyrs was still fresh in the memories of Christians—and the intensity of his faith was a tribute to those who had suffered and died rather than recant the apostolic faith.

Holy Saturday Waiting to cross over

22 Apr 2019

We tend to think of Holy Saturday as a day ‘in between’ Good Friday and Easter Sunday, without any particular significance of its own.

EASTER VIGIL HOMILY - Pope Francis

22 Apr 2019

The women, remembering Jesus, left the tomb. Easter teaches us that believers do not linger at graveyards, for they are called to go forth to meet the Living One.

EASTER EDITORIAL - The AUSTRALIAN

20 Apr 2019

Robert Thomson observed that “seething secularism’’ had created a situation in which any person of faith could be portrayed as a nutter, a fruitcake or even a “devotee of the deviant”.

Good Friday’s Silence Speaks

20 Apr 2019

Indeed, the silence in the church on Good Friday is as much visual as aural. The altar, bare. The cross, empty. The Eucharist, absent. Candles, snuffed out. Even the stomach is empty.

THE EASTER EFFECT

19 Apr 2019

The best sign of Catholic vitality will be found at the Easter Vigil on April 20 when tens of thousands of adults, fully aware of the current crisis, will be baptized or will enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.

THE EVERLASTING MAN

19 Apr 2019

It has itself returned to life many times after having been apparently defeated. It has, as Chesterton says, “died many times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave.”

GOOD FRIDAY 2019 - Fr Francis Afu

19 Apr 2019

He hangs on the Cross naked. Gathering to Himself all the naked. Crying their cry, “My God, My God, why have you abandoned Me”. The cry of a broken heart. Perhaps, it is your cry. He can feel your pain, your wound ....

Can Christianity Stop at Good Friday

18 Apr 2019

Simone Weil confessed that “if the Gospel omitted all mention of Christ’s resurrection, faith would be easier for me. The Cross by itself suffices me.”[1] This confession should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Weil’s life or thought.

STAY WITH US - Bishop Barron

18 Apr 2019

A Reflection on the Problem of the Unaffiliated. Bishop Barron's Keynote from the 2019 LA Religious Education Congress on March 22, 2019

EASTER GREETINGS

18 Apr 2019

Sacred Days - Holy Days....Gather Us In O Lord to your Table of WORD and EUCHARISTIC SACRIFICE

The Notre-Dame Cathedral Fire Isn’t a Sign

17 Apr 2019

For Catholics, churches are not reducible to a well-arranged construction of stones, brick, or concrete...Rather, churches “become” in the moment of consecration something sacramental, a living image of Christ’s very Body.

The WAY of HOLY WEEK

13 Apr 2019

The liturgies of Holy Week invite us to engage with the words, actions and experiences that constituted Jesus’s way to the Father.

Reading the Writing in the Dirt

12 Apr 2019

Only Jesus can teach the Church how to interpret God’s law, for it is he—so much more than we, heavy with hearts of stone—who knows our frailty, who remembers that we are dust.

Pastoral Research Online

11 Apr 2019

Reporting on the 2016 Australian Catholic Bishops Conference National Count of Mass Attendance

Catholic Education a Force for Social Harmony

08 Apr 2019

Faith-based institutions, including Catholic organisations, are under siege in many countries as leaders address the delicate balance between religion, law and the state in increasingly secular societies.

Pope Francis on the importance of the Seal of Confession

02 Apr 2019

The Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Pope said is “a path to holiness”..... This Sacrament, he explained, restores “full communion with God”, from which man sometimes strays by misusing the magnificent gift of freedom.

Karl Schmude Lents subversive signs

02 Apr 2019

The paradox of freedom, we are encouraged to understand, lies in practices of hardship, so often the means by which true love is expressed, rather than indulgence.

National Principles for Child Safe Organisations

20 Mar 2019

Catholic Professional Standards Ltd welcomes the release of the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations by the National Office of Child Safety following the endorsement of all states and territories at the recent COAG meeting.

St JOSEPH HUSBAND OF MARY - FEAST

19 Mar 2019

He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and men. (Lk 2:51-52)

The Solemn Joy of LENT

07 Mar 2019

The joy of Lent is a solemn one. We joyfully shoulder our crosses through our practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, because we know where we’re headed at the end of these forty days

Homily for ASH WEDNESDAY - Fr Francis Afu

06 Mar 2019

Like the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32, our memories not only torment us, they also serve us. They remind of where we have come from or from where we have fallen. They give us hope. They tell us we have a home.

Out of Ashes by Michael Mangan

06 Mar 2019

St Joseph's Catholic School children sand this Song so beautifully as the Recessional at Mass today.....it made us think, and reflect, and imagine at the beginning of LENT

The Biblical Roots of Ash Wednesday

06 Mar 2019

In this video, Dr. Pitre gives insight into the Biblical foundation for Ash Wednesday, as well as the rationale and purpose of the season of Lent.

Beyond Personal Piety

05 Mar 2019

G. K. Chesterton once commented that every modern conversation begins one step too late. His assertion pertains, unfortunately, when we think of the church.
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