THE Jubilee Year of Mercy started on December 8, feast of the Immaculate Conception. A Vigil for Peace was celebrated in the parish on Wednesday December 9 to begin the Year with just over 30 parishioners participating. According to Pope Francis, his intention is to allow priests to grant absolution for abortion and to validate […]
Category: Pastoral Messages
Islam, Catholicism And The Enlightenment
TONY Abbott criticised Islam for the fact that it had not had a Reformation or Enlightenment and was, as a result, in a kind of cultural Dark Ages. Kristina Keneally, former Liberal Opposition Leader and now commentator, returned fire, arguing that Catholicism had resisted the Reformation on the free and critical interpretation of scripture and […]
Islam And Mercy
THERE has been a good deal of negative press for Islam – violence, terrorism and black flags. What is not widely appreciated, especially in the Jubilee Year of Mercy, is that mercy is a cornerstone of Islam. Aside from knowing about Muslim’s frequent prayer and Ramadan fast, most are unaware of Muslim religious practices, let […]
Homily Notes Second Sunday of Advent
Second Sunday of Advent – Year C December 6, 2015 This Sunday falls close to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Tuesday Dec 8). It also corresponds to dark days in the Pacific when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour and, in less than 8 hours, HK, sinking American ships. Two hours after HK it was […]
What kind of Christmas?
WALKING the city of Melbourne, or any Australian shopping mall, is an eye opener. Mostly gone are the cribs, Mary and Joseph. Wise Men and animals. Replacing them we have the traditional reindeer, cute bears and hooked candies. holly, thistle and trees (without stars) are permitted. But a real sense that the Biblical Christmas is […]
Reflection on the Year of Mercy
ON Tuesday December 8, our Jubilee Year of Mercy commences. As we turn our spiritual attention towards that, we become aware that we are being invited on a journey. In fact, the word pilgrimage describes it better. A time of pilgrimage involves the putting aside of those things that weigh us down as we focus […]
Justice & Healing Council – Royal Commission Update
WE are right in the middle of the latest public hearing of the child sex abuse Royal Commission. The examination of paedophile priests in the Melbourne Archdiocese has almost finished and next week abuse in the Ballarat Diocese will come under the microscope. Two weeks into the hearings and there is a strange sense that […]
Jubilee Year of Mercy
December 8, 2015 to November 20, 2016 THE Year of Mercy logo and motto together provide a fitting summary of what the Jubilee Year is all about. The motto – Merciful like the Father – serves as an invitation to follow the merciful example of the Father who asks us not to judge or condemn […]
Pope Francis On The Christian Person
REPRESENTED in the cupola (small dome shaped structure) of this most beautiful Cathedral is the universal judgement. Jesus, our light, is at the centre. The inscription that one reads at the top of the fresco is Ecce Homo (Behold the man). Looking at the cupola we are attracted to the top, while we contemplate the […]
Theology Corner
THIS is for those who have a background or who read in theology. It concerns the recent Synod of Bishops on the Family. This “synodal process” as defined by Pope Francis has become a marker of his pontificate. Until now, the idea of ‘reception’ of the synod was not applied to synods, but mostly reserved […]