A Catholic Monthly Magazine

Tapping into the Power of Patience (0)

‘Patience is not passive, on the contrary, it is concentrated strength.’
- Bruce Lee

‘Patience doesn’t mean passivity or resignation, but power. It's an emotionally freeing practice of waiting, watching, and knowing when to act.’
 Judith Orloff, MD

These pieces of wisdom are strong reminders that patience is a vital life skill.… More

September in Stained Glass (0)

Following the Gospel readings each day in September, especially during the first few days, reveals a busy Jesus. On the 1st he healed Peter’s mother-in-law. On the 2nd he was forced by the press of the enthusiastic crowd to step into Peter’s boat and preach from there.… More

Something Old – Something New (0)

Part 8 of 8

A Possible Marist Spiritual Ecology: Part 2 

The fourth Dimension: ‘Mission’ – Bugey and Oceania

This is the final article in our 8-part framework of proposing a paradigm for re-energising our Marist Story by re-connecting it with the Universal Story. … More

Sixty Years of Mission and Grace (0)

A Brief History of the Catholic Enquiry Centre

Part 1 of 2

Origins and Mission

Though the Catholic Missionary Society in England had expounded and defended the Catholic Faith for nearly a century, a more dynamic approach came to birth in the 1950s.… More

September Events to Remember (0)

The Season of Creation

1 September, the World Day of Prayer for Creation, until 4 October, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology

The Season of Creation is the annual Christian celebration of prayer and action for our common home.… More

Jesus Heals the Bleeding Woman (0)

Today in the Gospel (cf. Mark 5:21-43) Jesus encounters our two most dramatic situations, death and disease. However, in this period in which illness is still at the centre of the news, we will focus  on the healing of the woman.… More

Can You Bear It? (0)

Once upon a time there were four people named Everybody, Anybody, Somebody and Nobody.

When there was an important job to be done, Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did.

When Nobody did it Everybody got angry, because it was Somebody’s job.… More

MM 50 Years Ago (Comments Off)

Futuna pilgrimage at last

Only a few individual pilgrims from NZ have ever visited the Shrine of St Peter Chanel on Futuna Island in the Pacific. The most celebrated was the late Archbishop Francis Redwood SM, who had to break the lock to enter the then deserted church, and the latest was Mrs Ida Corrigan, well-known to Marist missionaries, and now back at her home in Paekākāriki.… More

Tenderness (0)

At Mass the other day there was a dear little child toddling around, who caught my attention.  Or should I say it was the actions of her mother that sparked off a train of thought. As the child tottered in and out around her parents, her mother instinctively put her hand over the sharp corner of the pew.… More

The Story of Two English Shrines (0)

From August this year, New Zealand will have a National Shrine of our Lady; it will be in St Mary of the Angels in Wellington, a beautiful church staffed by Marist priests and a fitting place. We hope and pray that it will become a place of devotion and consolation for all.… More

St John of the Cross (0)

The Living Flame of Love

Part 3 of 5

The next major work of St John of the Cross and his last, is called The Living Flame of Love, a poem, only twenty-four lines long, and his commentary.

It tells the story of the fulfilment of love, the spiritual marriage, the final transformation by God.… More

Letting Jesus In (0)

It’s a truism that Jesus needs to be at the centre of our lives as people of faith. No-one really disagrees with this assertion. However, it’s another matter making it real.

In a complex, sophisticated society, we have many other matters that absorb our attention and energy.… More

Staying Both Anchored and Nimble (Comments Off)

Watching young people at play or at sports’ training, reminds me of times past when I could run, jump, kick a footy, bowl a reasonable leg-break and hit a fair forehand – not all at once of course! The athletic flexibility of young people is a joyful gift and I often pray for them that it lasts as long as possible.… More

“That they may be one…” (Comments Off)

This Gospel text (John 17:11) we tend to associate with the unification of the many thousands of churches throughout the world, but recently I have been thinking about how we should apply it to our own church and the divisions within.… More

September Saints (0)

Blessed Michael of Ghebre
(1791-1855)

Michael was born in Ethiopia in Dibo in 1791, part of an Ethiopian religious sect, the Kevats. In his childhood he lost one eye in an accident that, in his culture, would render him unfit for most forms of work.… More