Stanislav Petrov: he’s been called “the man who saved the world”—a rather provocative title, since we know that Man and His Name wasn’t Stan…
Stanislav Petrov: he’s been called “the man who saved the world”—a rather provocative title, since we know that Man and His Name wasn’t Stan…
The motto of the Olympics is ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’, Latin for ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’. It was proposed in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin, the French educationalist, historian, and founder of the modern Olympic movement…
Parapraxis, according to Sigmund Freud, is an error of speech due to an unconscious wish or internal train of thought.[1] More than moments of humour and humiliation, these ‘Freudian slips’ (as they came to be called) are supposedly windows into our true thoughts and feelings…
The British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has an illustrious CV. For 13 years he held the University of Oxford’s Chair in the Public Understanding of Science and in 2001 was made a fellow of the prestigious Royal Society. He’s authored nineteen books and countless articles and received numerous honours. His most important work has been on the role of genes and DNA in evolution, culminating in his…
Jesus mostly eschewed the limelight, preferring to preach and heal through small gestures that encouraged and persuaded, rather than big ones that wowed and overwhelmed. But sometimes He “let rip”, as it were, and today was such a day. He goes up a mountain as if He were the new Moses. But where the first Moses went to converse with God, this One is revealed to be the very conversation of God, the Logos, communication…
I’m so grateful for the literary diet served me in my Catholic secondary school, named for St Ignatius whose feast it is today. We read Austen, Beckett, Blake, Bolt, Bronte, Chaucer, Chekhov, Conrad, Dickens, Donne, Dostoevsky…
In 1955, Life magazine published an article on a new trend sweeping through households known as ‘throwaway living’.[1] There was an image of a family tossing household items like crockery and cutlery into the air, delighting in the freedom that was said to come from disposability. By getting rid of things after one use…
The adventure film Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks, was released in the year 2000. It tells the story of Chuck Noland, a FedEx troubleshooter who is stranded on a desert island following a plane crash. As the sole survivor, he must fend for himself, finding food, water and shelter, and try to find a way back to civilisation…
The term ‘quiet quitting’ first appeared in the social media a little over two years ago. A 17-second video clip that went viral on TikTok sparked a global debate about work especially amongst young, disaffected professionals. The online trend quickly morphed into a broader social phenomenon, with countless articles appearing in the mainstream media…
A recent article in Seek.com outlined the importance of a well-crafted job description for attracting suitable candidates and establishing expectations for the role.[i] According to the experts, a good j.d. must showcase the company, describe the critical functions and core responsibilities of the position, and specify qualifications and rewards.
Your Beatitude, Ignatius Yousef III Cardinal Yonan, Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and all the East; Your Graces of the Syriac Catholic Church, Mor Basilius Georges Casmoussa, Apostolic Visitor in Australia & New Zealand, Mor Ephrem Yousif Abba, Archeparch of Baghdad and Mor Barnaba Yousif Habash, Eparch of the USA…
Good evening and thank you Rabbi Elton for the kind introduction. It is a delight to be among friends at the Great Synagogue and a real honour to be invited to offer this address in memory of Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple and his contribution to Jewish-Christian relations. He truly was a trailblazer…
The term “communion” translates the Greek word κοινωνίᾳ koinonia and the Hebrew word חַבּוּרָה chavurah. Both indicated an association or cooperative, such as Jonah and Sons, and Zebedee and Sons, who were in partnership in the fishing business at Lake Galilee, until the boys ran away from home to join Jesus and fish instead for people. Already at the time of Jesus, as today, a chavurah or minyan of at least ten men was required to represent the community of Israel at a synagogue service, wedding or funeral…
It was probably the largest gathering ever held in Sydney. Half a million people packed the streets for a week. The opening and closing ceremonies gathered people of every stripe from all around our city, country and globe, ordinary people both young and old, and a Who’s Who of celebrities. Despite adverse publicity in the lead up, Sydney was a joyful host, and in the end almost everyone judged it a great success…
The year is 2035, hopefully my last as archbishop. I’ve just emailed my draft homily for Sunday to the Religious Safety Commissioner for her approval. She’s the independent regulator charged with ensuring that faith groups spread no discriminatory and otherwise harmful messages. With the help of AI, she vets all planned sermons and spiritual talks to be given in Australia each week, catching any inappropriate words or themes before they are spoken…