I was at a confirmation recently and someone asked “Why are people so angry these days?" It was the kind of question that stops you. Not because it is unanswerable, but because it is so honest and because the person asking it clearly already knew that something had shifted.
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, each year, one of the interesting tasks that befalls to the organising committee of the Marian Procession is to find an image of the Blessed Virgin. Look at the image that our talented Chancery Office team have created for today, its world-wide debut.
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This February and March saw St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral turn into a canopy of light and darkness as its walls and ceiling glittered daily as part of an inaugural Adelaide Fringe. Don’t just treat churches as museums says ARCHBISHOP PATRICK O'REGAN. They are so much more than that.
At the heart of Easter is a moment of recognition. Mary Magdalene stands weeping in a garden, certain she is alone with her grief, certain the story is over. A man speaks her name, just her name, and everything changes. She turns, and she sees.
Each year, as the season of Lent begins, I find myself thinking of an old story told about the desert fathers, those hardy, sun-scorched pilgrims who fled the cities of the ancient world to find God in the silence of Egypt and Syria.
We’ve just said farewell to the Year of Jubilee 2025 and we have begun 2026, mostly untouched and unwritten. There is something sacred about this moment, not unlike the afterglow that lingers when the sun has set, that peculiar light that remains even after its source has disappeared below the horizon.
As Christmas approaches, the familiar story of Mary and Joseph seeking shelter in Bethlehem takes on new meaning for those of us reflecting on how we live today. The innkeeper’s lack of space has long symbolised the world’s rejection of Christ, yet this Christmas season invites us to consider a more hopeful question: Do we have room in the inn of our hearts?
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