Celebrating All Saints and All Souls (0)

Pope Francis,
1 November 2019

Today’s solemnity of All Saints reminds us that we are all called to holiness. The Saints of all times, whom today we celebrate all together, are not simply symbols, distant, unreachable human beings. On the contrary, they are people who lived with their feet on the ground.… More

Laugh Out Loud (0)

Does God have a sense of humour? Some say “yes”. Some say “no”. Some say “I don’t know”. In a spoof he did about hell, comic Rowan Atkinson identified a group of inhabitants who were there because they laughed at the movie “The Life of Brian”.… More

Mary in the Pacific (0)

This article first appeared in Marist Messenger in November 1970. Professor Dunmore of Massey University had recently published a two-volume work, French Explorers of the Pacific. He recorded references to the Blessed Virgin that he had found during his research.… More

World Day of the Poor – 15 November (0)

The late Bishop John Mackey of Auckland is quoted as often saying, “It’s a sad and sinful world”, and it is. Much sadness is a consequence of poverty, and much poverty results from greed and sinfulness.

Even though “humankind cannot bear very much reality” (T S Eliot, Four Quartets), we need to be aware of what is happening in the world.… More

Healing the World (0)

Extracts from the Pope’s catechesis on healing the world

In the face of the pandemic and its social consequences, many risk losing hope. In this time of uncertainty and anguish, I invite everyone to welcome the gift of hope that comes from Christ.… More

St Joseph’s 
Temuka
 (0)

The Pride of South Canterbury

The first church in Temuka, South Canterbury, was established with the arrival of the Marist, Fr. Louis Fauvel SM. It was a simple wooden building with a shingle roof, built as waves of settlers came into the area.… More

A Simple Way to Pray Always (0)

Cardinal Nguyễn Văn Thuận (+ 2002) was imprisoned by the Vietnamese government for thirteen years.

After my liberation, many people said to me: “Father in prison you must have had a lot of time to pray”. It was not as simple as one might think.… More

How to Judge Others – Fairly (0)

A fourteen-year-old girl entering 9th grade laments that other students have judged and isolated her as being unattractive.

A stay-at-home father of young children experiences judgment from others for being lazy, unmotivated and for living off his wife.

Canadian singer Céline Dione recently responded on social media to judgments and body-shaming directed at her by individuals declaring she is too thin.… More

Can You Bear It? (0)

A Sunday School teacher challenged his children to take some time on Sunday afternoon to write a letter to God. They were to bring their letter back the following Sunday. One little boy wrote, “Dear God, we had a good time at church today.… More

The Life of
 Venerable
Jean-Claude Colin (0)

“On whatever distant shore”

Part 1 of 2

As his Cause for Beatification is unfolding, the story of Jean-Claude Colin is now being told to the whole world.

From the Revolution’s stormy beginnings, this shy youngster from rural France was to become Founder and Father of a religious family bearing the name of the Most Blessed Virgin -- the Society of Mary.… More

Marist Brothers’ Islands’ Advances (0)

Marist Brothers’ Islands’ Advances

The Society of Mary has already made a good start with its newly founded Vocational Training Centre for Island Brothers at Tutu on Taveuni Island, Fiji. This is under the direction of Fr Michael Bransfield SM, aided by Brother Kevin SM and other experts.… More

The Interior Castle of 
St Teresa of Jesus of Ávila (0)

Part 1 of 7

Introduction

The Interior Castle is St Teresa’s masterpiece and one of the greatest books ever written about prayer. It is her most ordered and mature work, written in 1577 and taking six months to complete. It was said that those who observed her during this time saw a glowing radiance about her -- the Holy Spirit was very close.… More

Lessons from the Bees (0)

The bee is more honoured than other animals, not because she labours, but because she labours for others.

St John Chrysostom

I’ve been pollinating our household chili plant with a paint brush. I twirl the small brush in the flowers on the chili plant and hope for the best.… More

The Toe and The Tooth (Comments Off)

A Week in the Life of a Senior Citizen

My age doesn’t bother me.
It’s the side effects.
- Anon.

It was mid-January, 2020, when I started to feel a slight ache in my left middle toe. I ignored it, because as the golden years continue, it’s not advisable to pay too much attention to the small aches and pains.… More

November Saints (0)

St Joseph Moscati

(1880-1927)

“Who is the one we today propose to the imitation and veneration of everyone? He is a layman, who made his life a mission completed with evangelical genuineness. He is a doctor, who made his profession a training ground for the apostolate and a mission of charity.… More