"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"   John 9:2  "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him.”  9:3 “My disabled daughter’s premature de...

    I'm just a soul whose intentions are good...   Nina Simone 1964     One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God .   Mt 4:4   ‘Oh, baby - don't you know I'm human,’ ...

To walk contemplatively in nature, is not to hike, not to be in a rush to reach the end, but to be receptive to the present moment, to be open to wonder.   The experience of ‘awe’ is a touch deep within, an overwhelming feeling of reverence...

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; Mt 5: 44 Yeah right – you cannot be serious! ‘Because this may be the hardest commandment,’ according to Fr James Martin SJ, one cannot but help emit shock / horror upon each rea...

We know that the whole of creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right through to the present time . Romans 8:22   Louis Pasteur once postulated, “it is in the power of (people) to eradicate infection from earth.” The probabili...

Aunty Joan Hendriks: Lest we forget. 8.1.1936 – 26.1.2020 Blessed are you, when people insult you and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you because of me. Mt. 5:11 Tributes, eulogies and commendations have greeted the passing of Aunty...

The first weeks of my year have been spent recharging my physical and spiritual batteries. It has been a time spent relaxing and in prayer committing to some new ways of proceeding in my life. These ways re-imagined by my coming to know my true feeli...

St. Francis Xavier – 3 December Francis Xavier was born on 7 April, 1506 at Javier, Kingdom of Navarre. He died on 3 December, 1552 aged 46 at on Shangchuan Island.  He met Ignatius of Loyola at the University ...

"  Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Luke’s scriptural quote goes beyond the familiar ‘prayers and thoughts’ refrain because it necessitates actions of seeking and knocking. ...

My Community Values… When I was very young my parents decided to move from war-torn Europe to New Zealand. This meant tearing ourselves away from our large extended family. They thought that in New Zealand we would have a better chance of making good...

The less knowledge we have of anything the more insignificant it seems. Our hatred of a person often decreases as we learn to know the person better.                        &n...

Pope Francis … delivered a ringing plea to the world and his own Catholic Church to reject … the growing temptation to “demonise” those who are different.  Nov 19, 2016 - Vatican City (RNS)  “Dingo man,” named so because of his two pet...

I remember many years ago before I married, I spent some time assisting my friends who were the owners of a property, to start a new vineyard in the prime agricultural country of Poverty Bay, in NZ.  We had a large empty paddock, which was fairl...

‘…knock and the door will be opened to you.   For everyone who asks receives;’   Matthew 7:7-8 It’s 1.00am and a knock at the presbytery door alerts Mt Isa’s 24/7 Parish Priest Fr. Mick Lowcock to the start of a new day. Given the closeness...

St Ignatius of Loyola’s feast day is coming up on the 31 st July and here at Faber we plan to celebrate with some enjoyable conversation over a simple lunch.     In this era of screen communication,  how long is it since you had a...

Mary Robson recalls her recent “Tropical Wilderness Retreat” experience, a six day walking retreat based in Cairns, Far North Queensland - an initiative of our Melbourne partner Campion Centre of Ignatian Spirituality, ‘Being with God in Nature Minis...

Often have I pondered how society could accept the installation of concentration camps in Nazi Germany as a consequence of increasing public racism towards the Jewish population. Rosie Glasser, a Dutch Jew and survivor of the Shoah, described this gr...

I woke up this morning to the comforting sound of steady rain drumming on the roof. In the darkness of pre-dawn I feel a sense of being safe and secure, my body curled up and cosy. It’s a primal womb-like experience. I relish the feeling.  ...

I was away from home on Pentecost and decided to celebrate this significant  feast of the ‘birth’ of the Church,  in a country town close to where I was staying.    The town boasted a beautiful Cathedral which ...

Picture yourself in the shoes of this refugee advocate sitting 30cm from the haunted eyes, furrowed brow and prematurely aged human who is younger than the advocate's youngest child. When face to face with an emotionless young adult, mentally be...