It’s been another big week in International relations. We had our first visit of an Indonesian head of state – President Yudhoyono – who made a magnanimous gesture of condolence to the families of the Balibo five – expressing that the Indonesians feel their pain and grief . It was a small but important step […]
Two broad themes emerge from our readings today- the issues of governance and allegiance; and issues of Christian pastoral care. This is the last week of Ordinary time in year A of our liturgical cycle . Interestingly it was only in 1925 that the church gave this Sunday the title of “Christ – the King” […]
Today’s readings give us an insight into the concept of service. It flows naturally from our reflection last week on mission, and our concern for justice and peace for the poor in the world. In the Gospel, particularly, Jesus wants to teach us about servant leadership. Who here is familiar with that term of servant […]
On Friday I was involved in giving a presentation on “developing leadership” to the Australian Human Resources Institute’s, annual conference. There were broad range of people there from many sectors of the workforce. After my presentation quite a number of people came up to thank me for what I had offered them, but over lunch […]
Come to me all you who labor and are overburdened… shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. In today’s Gospel, and in the coming weeks, we have a series of […]
A few years ago I was in Nazareth in the Holy Land and saw this scene from the gospel acted out by role players, at a place called Nazareth village. It is a religious theme park where study groups can come and get some idea of what was going on in the time of Jesus. […]
John the Baptist is one of my favorite characters in the bible. He is a wonderful character of courage and hope. When I last went to the holy land, I wanted to gain an understanding of this man, John and his role. My study group went down to the River Jordan, where John had was […]
Jesus says to us today: “Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give back to God what belongs to God”. I’d like to try to unpack that message for us. What was Jesus saying to the people in his time, and how does it apply to us today? What should be our connection […]
Today’s readings hold some scary news for the reader. The book of wisdom, warns us that the Godless lie in wait for the virtuous. They would seek to test us with cruelty and put our endurance to the test . St. James warns about the disharmony that comes from jealousy and envy. He talks about […]
You might remember that in my previous homily to you, I shared something of the vision of Archbishop Bathersby. He shares that same vision that is reflected in the Acts of the apostles today and in Matthew’s Gospel , that we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us and we will be […]