A Catholic Monthly Magazine

New Ears and an Open Heart (0)

“There is a world of difference between listening and hearing.” (G.K. Chesterton, 1874-1936. English writer, theologian, and philosopher.)

I have recently been on an ‘organising’ purge in my home. I recognised that there were cartons, boxes, and containers which had not been looked at in a while.… More

St Patrick’s Church, Sydney (4) (0)

Marist Brothers

On July 23, 1816, twelve seminarians, aged between 20 and 34, eight having been ordained the previous day, climbed the steep steps to the top of the hill of Fourvière, Lyons, and there, in the small chapel dedicated to Our Lady, they promised to work at beginning a new religious order in the Church: a group called ‘Mary-ists’, whose work in the church would resemble that of the Jesuits, but whose approach or style would be unlike anything that existed in the Church at that time.… More

The Assumption in Stained Glass (0)

We celebrate the Assumption of Mary into Heaven on 15th August. There is no scriptural reference to the Assumption, but it has been part of Church tradition since the 4th Century. Pope Pius XII declared in 1950 that “It is dogma revealed by God that the Immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into the glory of Heaven.”

We then celebrate the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 22nd August.… More

August Crossword (0)

 

Solution for July

Across: 7 Excommunicate, 8 Straggle, 9 Lots, 10 Calypso, 12 Canon, 14 Grace,
16 Diocese, 19 Amen,
20 Long-life, 22 Intercessions.

Down: 1 Exit, 2 Rosary, 3 Imagism, 4 Angel, 5 Scylla, 6 Stations, 11 Acrimony,
13 Witness, 15 Censer,
17 Calvin, 18 Pluck, 21 Font.… More

Br Raymond (Anthony John) Kelleher SM (0)

Born in Oamaru 15 February 1938

Professed 15 August 1957

Died in Hawkes Bay on 26 June 2018

Thanks to Fr John Walls SM, for this summary of his eulogy.

Anthony John Kelleher's life trip began in Oamaru, 80 years ago.… More

Pilgrimage (0)

Motif and dynamic of the Christian Life

The Solemnity of the Transfiguration of the Lord is the occasion when God’s life gloriously shone forth in the body of Jesus. In a sense, that’s our goal as the baptised. And to make that challenge a more realistic goal for us, the Church punctuates her calendar with the saints.… More

10 Commandments (0)

Pope Francis began his catechesis on the ten commandments by pointing out that they are not heartless rules imposed on mankind by an oppressive God, but are rather words given by a father to his children in order to protect them from harm.… More

Can You Bear It? (0)

One day, an employee received an unusually large pay cheque. She decided not to say anything about it.

The following week, her cheque was for less than the normal amount, and she confronted her boss.

"How come," the supervisor inquired, "you didn't say anything when you were overpaid?"

Unperturbed, the employee replied, "Well, I can overlook one mistake but not two in a row!"

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A man asked his wife what she would like for her birthday.… More

Learning from Mary (0)

“Teach us Holy Mary, a loving song to sing…”

Mary! Here portrayed as my sister, my neighbour, my Model, my Prompt, wearing so well the creaturehood we share with you.

Mary, head lowered, quick to recognise the holy one before you, approaching you, in our midst.… More

This Saint was not made by eating well and being kind (0)

James K. Baxter wrote this article for the feast of St. John Vianney, Curé (parish priest) of Ars, in the form of a conversation. His friend, as it were, starts it off.

“The Church makes some very peculiar choices at times — I mean, in her choice of saints.… More

Praying with the Movies (0)

Silence Directed by Martin Scorcese

For 25 years the possibility of Martin Scorcese making his film version of Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence has been a matter of conjecture: Will he? Won’t he? Can he?

Now that the film has been released, conjecture and debate continues.… More

3D Faith (0)

We were nearing the end of a writing workshop and it was time for questions. Given the subjects covered, I expected queries about submissions, publishers or maybe agents. But the first question was, “Do you think writing is like meditation?” and from that evolved a vigorous conversation about the spiritual aspect of inspiration and creative expression.… More

School for Prayer (13) Evagrius of Pontus (5) – The human person in Christ (0)

By Fr Craig Larkin sm, 1943 - 2015

Putting it Together

According to Evagrius’ teaching, the human person, with its strengths and struggles, can be illustrated like this:

How the Logismoi operate

The Fathers, following Evagrius, outline a number of ‘stages’ in the struggle with the logismoi.… More

And About Caring (0)

Recently I spent a week or so with my young grandchildren, which included some time when their parents were away. One evening the 6 year old tore himself away from a fast moving video game to ask me what my book was about.… More

August Saints (0)

Saint Jeanne-Antide Thouret
(1765-1826)

Jeanne Antide Thouret was born on the 27th November at Sancy-le-Long, France, the fifth child of eight children. Her mother died when Jeanne was 15, leaving her to care for her father and siblings.

In 1787, at the age of 22, Jeanne entered the congregation of the Daughters of Charity, hoping to live a life of prayer, community life and service to the poor.… More

About Mystery (0)

Let’s start with a brief exercise.

Look back over your life and recall a time (or times) when you found yourself overwhelmed by a sense that you were part of something much bigger than yourself or that something happened to you that was like a gift coming from beyond yourself or an ordinary event briefly uncovered a world beyond the everyday

When we look at these experiences, we find that they can be positive or negative (or healing or painful).… More