At last month’s Academy Awards Joaquin Phoenix was awarded best actor for his performance in the psychological thriller Joker.
15
Mar
2020
21
Feb
2020
HOMILY FOR MASS OF INAUGURATION OF PROFESSOR FRANCIS CAMPBELL AS VICE-CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME AUSTRALIA
New beginnings. The first Christians experienced the encounter with Christ as so inside-outing that they compared it with being born again
20
Feb
2020
HOMILY FOR THE VOTIVE MASS OF OUR LADY TO LAUNCH THE CAUSE FOR THE CANONISATION OF EILEEN O’CONNOR
In the lead up to Mary MacKillop’s canonisation journalists and faithful asked: what is a saint, who decides and how? Is MacKillop someone we all can be proud of, or only Catholics or Josephites?
20
Feb
2020
RELIGION AND MENTAL HEALTH
One in five Australians suffers some form of psychological illness in any particular year, and nearly half do so at some stage in their life. It affects all age groups, sexes, ethnicities, beliefs, professions. The figures are staggering, and mean a lot of people are hurting out there, many of them silently, without professional help
18
Feb
2020
HOMILY FOR MASSES FOR THE OPENING OF THE YEAR OF SYDNEY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
The etymology of the word education, like so much else in education, is much contested. Its roots are the Latin words educare, meaning to train or mould, and educere, meaning to draw forth or lead away.
14
Feb
2020
“CONSCIENCE, RELATIVISM AND TRUTH: THE WITNESS OF NEWMAN”
On 13 October last the Church canonised a man whose life and work has been described by Pope Benedict XVI as ‘one great commentary on the question of conscience’, who was praised by St John Paul II for his “deep intellectual honesty [and] fidelity to conscience and grace”
26
Jan
2020
HOMILY FOR AUSTRALIA DAY MASS
Our readings today address the trials of Australians today. Amidst great hardship Paul urges us to persevere (Rom 12:9-13) and Isaiah prophesies a time when deserts will become fertile and scrub a thick forest, when the endangered will be secure at last and all dwell in domestic tranquillity (Is 32:15-28).
12
Jan
2020
HOMILY FOR A MASS IN TIME OF FIRE
Fire and water – which along with earth and air are the four classical elements – have always been both gifts and challenges for humanity. Water is the source of life, critical to hydration and growth, cleansing for bodies, clothes and land, and beautiful to view in lakes and seas.
25
Dec
2019
HOMILY FOR THE MORNING MASS OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD
Identity. Adolescents have been searching for it since the 1960s and still take decades to find it. After that it’s nearly time for a mid-life identity crisis. The search goes on – until you don’t care who you are anymore…
25
Dec
2019
HOMILY FOR THE MIDNIGHT MASS OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD
Some of our I.D. comes from family, nation and culture. But modernity prefers self-generated identities.Much of it is said to be about what we identify with: ethnicity, sexuality, profession, politics, loyalty groups.
22
Dec
2019
HOMILY FOR MASS FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY OF ADVENT A
When Joseph hears that his young fiancée Mary is pregnant, he’s agog and aggrieved(Mt 1:18-24). Perhaps he thinks she’s been unfaithful, or been violated, or is delusional. There’s probably been gossip about Mary and even about Joseph.
19
Dec
2019
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 2019
Christmas tells us we are valued, we are wanted, we are loved. Each one of us is precious, irreplaceable, made for greatness. It might sound overblown, even vain. But that’s what Christmas says. You matter so much, that God would become one of us – for your sake!
15
Dec
2019
HOMILY FOR MASS FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT A + INSTALLATION OF FR REMY SON LAM BUI AS PARISH PRIEST OF CABRAMATTA
Why on earth is John the Baptist sending emissaries to inquire if Jesus is the Messiah (Mt 11:2-11)? After all, he has already identified Jesus as ‘the Christ’, ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’, and ‘the Son of God’ (Mt 3:11-17; Lk 3:15-22; Jn 1:19-36).
13
Dec
2019
FERVERINO FOR CHRISTMAS CONCERT 2019
How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.- Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, Act V, Scene I. So says Portia, the beautiful heiress of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. She speaks a great truth: good deeds – and the intentions and agents behind them – don’t just get done and then fade away.
08
Dec
2019
RELIGION AND MENTAL HEALTH
In the past few weeks mental health has emerged as a key challenge for modern-day cricketers, with their gruelling schedules, intense public scrutiny, performance anxiety, burnout or loss of love for the game, effects on family life, and the baseline stress of contemporary life all weighing heavily.[1] Glenn Maxwell, one of the world’s best short-format players, announced he was taking time away, and Will Pucovski and Nic Maddinson followed suit, just before the first Test against Pakistan.