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 […]

Anyone who has read the front page of today’s Parish bulletin will see that my attention was captured by this first statement in today’s gospel . We would like to see Jesus. It was central to a talk that Cardinal Pell gave recently. He reminded a group of us that the person of Jesus is […]

This week, we had planned to update you on the progress of our partnership with the people of East Timor.  But of course, all of us have been shocked by the disasters in so many parts of Australia, and so we thought it appropriate to reflect upon these tragedies in the light of the Gospel […]

Two weeks ago. We heard how Jesus came to fulfill the old testament prophecy that the light would come to shine in the darkness and the darkness would never, ever, overcome it.  Neil gave a wonderful Homily on the light of Christ. You might remember him sharing how is far better to light a candle […]

I certainly hope that everyone has had a happy and holy Christmas season so far.  I hope it has been a great family time for you too.  My family celebrated Christmas yesterday at Surfers Paradise.  For the first time in six years, our son Michael was with us to celebrate Christmas, having spent the previous […]

If Jesus was wanting to recruit people for his mission, he surely had an unusual way of bringing them in.  He warns  them that they will face wars and revolutions, earthquakes, plagues and famines.  He tells them they will be seized , and persecuted and imprisoned.  They will be betrayed, even by parents and brothers […]

As Father Jan indicated last week, we have three weeks of parables,  that Jesus taught, about the kingdom of God. Jesus used illustrations from nature to help people understand better the approaches to life that he wants us to have. In this week’s gospel, he shared this example of how God sows good seed , […]

I’ve been on holidays for the last month, and of an evening instead of watching television. I’ve been writing a gospel. Seriously. I’ve been writing a gospel- Some good news according to Gary. Im doing this because I’ve been wanting some tool that I could use to share the story of Jesus to the many […]

I wasn’t sure exactly what I should say in this homily till last Thursday , when I went to visit a young soldier , recently returned from Afghanistan, who was experiencing severe symptoms of post traumatic stress. He had been in infantryman serving at the sharp end of the operations there last year , and […]