Pope Francis may not have made it to Australia on his 12-day tour of Oceania and Southeast Asia but he entered the homes of many Australians through nightly news coverage.
The entrance hymn at Mass starts as the entrance procession begins and continues for as long as needed to allow the congregation to gather and prepare for the celebration (General Instruction of the Roman Missal #47).
As we celebrate Migrant and Refugee Sunday on September 29 Fr Dean Marin reflects on our ever-increasing multicultural congregations and missionary priests.<br />
An essential tool in the toolbox of anyone engaged in being a missionary disciple of Christ, of being a member of the Body of Christ, is being able to read the signs of the times.
Opinion
It’s funny the off-hand conversations you have in the strangest places that stick in your memory for some reason.
Opinion
September 14 is the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. This feast is so important that it replaces Sunday when it falls on the Lord’s Day. For those of us baptised in the Catholic faith, our first ritual step into Christianity was the wordless reception of the symbol of the cross when the celebrant claimed us for Christ by tracing the sign on our forehead.
Opinion
Nine months ago I wrote about the Hamas attacks on a kibbutz in southern Israel where I lived and worked as a volunteer in the early 1980s.
I have been to prison a few times. Sometimes in my capacity as either chaplain or bishop, or as friend. Sometimes maximum security, sometimes minimum security or even ‘prison’ farms.
Welcoming a new member into the family – whether it is a newborn baby, a newly adopted child, or someone joining through marriage – brings a mix of joy, hope and sometimes apprehension. This addition changes the dynamics of our family life, and we open our hearts, eager to share love, traditions and daily experiences, hoping the new member will fit in and embrace us.
During National Vocations Awareness Week, Sr Jenny Seal fdnsc, coordinator of the South Australian Vocations Network (SAVN), invited us to reflect upon the vocation to which we are called.
Family reunions and other such events gather people together. At such gatherings acquaintances are rekindled, stories are swapped, relationships are deepened, photos are taken, promises about catching up soon are given, identities are deepened.
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