As 2023 draws to a close, it is customary to look back over the year that has been. This year started with the news that Pope Benedict XVI had died on the last day of 2022. So it seems fitting, that in the build-up to Christmas, 2023, we conclude the calendar year with some reflections … Read More about The First-born of all that is
Opinion
Democracy and governments and politics
We have a new government. The previous one was in ... Read More about Democracy and governments and politics
Evangelisation
We had the privilege of having a family holiday in ... Read More about Evangelisation
What makes a good dad?
by GREG ERLANDSON (OSV News) Judging from media ... Read More about What makes a good dad?
The Easter period this year brought the usual news stories of breaches of Easter trading rules and the like. Stories about politicians putting up members’ bills — to remove restrictions on alcohol sales over Easter, Christmas and Anzac Day (Kieran McAnulty — Labour) and to remove shop trading hours and … Read More about Yet another slippery slope
The unfolding of God’s plan for us does not run in parallel with our ordinary lives and ordinary human history. Ordinary life is what God is bringing to its fulfilment. That fulfilment is already assured in Jesus’ Resurrection, and becomes ours through union with him. But we know there are … Read More about Calling out evil
Baptism is the formal sacramental initiation into the Catholic Church. In the Catholic Church, we baptise small babies to ensure they are welcomed into the Church and cleansed from original sin as soon as possible. In other Christian churches, people are fully immersed into water as adults. I went to … Read More about Baptism
The Good Samaritan parable is one of the most loved Gospel stories. This is a story I have taught many times in Religious Education classes. It is a story that I often reflect upon in my own prayer. The parable is told in Luke 10:29– 37: A man going from … Read More about The challenge to prioritise people over policy
One of the strategies for parish rejuvenation in some parts of New Zealand is running Alpha courses. These have been described as “back-to-basics” courses on the Christian faith, where people think and reflect on some of the fundamental truths of the Gospel. Occasionally, a sceptic, with a bent for writing, … Read More about The Resurrection is not an extra bolted on to an ethic
Many Catholic households will have received, in their letterboxes, a booklet titled “National Sunday Law” — and many of those households will have done with it what Fr Mervyn Duffy, SM, suggested; consigned it forthwith to the recycling bin. Fr Duffy, in comment for NZ Catholic, rightly described the contents … Read More about Discard the nonsense but keep the Lord’s Day
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