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
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.
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”
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).
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.
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…
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.
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.
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!
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).
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.
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.
