One of the most recognisable songs in the cult-classic movie Back to the Future is “The Power of Love”, by Huey Lewis and the News.
29
Oct
2017
26
Oct
2017
BOOK LAUNCH FOR NORMAN THOMAS GILROY: AN OBEDIENT LIFE BY JOHN LUTTRELL FMS
Like Brother John Luttrell, I never met Cardinal Gilroy. As a child growing up in Lakemba and Lane Cove I knew of him simply as “the Cardinal”.
22
Oct
2017
HOMILY FOR MASS OF 29TH SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME YEAR A + 10th ANNIVERSARY OF DEDICATION OF HOLY SPIRIT CHURCH – Holy Spirit, Carnes Hill
Our epistle this morning (1Thess 1:1-5) may have seemed little more than a formal g’day and list of acknowledgments like my greeting at the start of Mass. Yet these were in fact the very first words ever written for the New Testament.
21
Oct
2017
HOMILY FOR MASS FOR RIVERVIEW 40 YEAR REUNION – St Mary’s Cathedral Crypt, Sydney
Jesuits make great martyrs and Martin Scorsese’s long-awaited and recently-released film, Silence, is a confronting glimpse of one period of Jesuit heroism and betrayal.
18
Oct
2017
HOMILY FOR MASS FOR THE FEAST OF ST. LUKE THE EVANGELIST – Warrane College Chapel, University of New South Wales
Most of what we know about St Luke comes from the New Testament. He was a Greek-speaking disciple of St Paul and his companion in mission: in fact, he was one of the few people who could long abide Paul’s rather difficult personality.
15
Oct
2017
HOMILY FOR MASS OF THE 28TH SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME YEAR A – St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney
My favourite film this year has been Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge. Andrew Garfield brilliantly plays Desmond Doss, a medic who was the first conscientious objector to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.
11
Oct
2017
OPENING REMARKS AT 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF REFORMATION COMMEMORATION – Chapter Hall, St. Mary's Cathedral
On 22 June 1535, my great-great (to the power of twenty) grand-uncle, Cardinal John Fisher ascended the scaffold, just as his friend Thomas More would do three weeks later.
10
Sep
2017
HOMILY FOR THE CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH + 150th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION – St. Bede’s Church, Pyrmont
Every great religion has had its sacred sites where people felt closest to God. Our Jewish ancestors counted the Jerusalem Temple their holiest place, where God’s shalom dwelt, and the prayers and sacrifices of the cult were offered.
07
Sep
2017
Three Challenges
Dear friends. This is a time of challenge for our Church. Whether it's debates over school funding or religious liberty or the sacraments of Confession and Matrimony, there's more than a bit of anti-Christian feeling in the air.
01
Sep
2017
HOMILY FOR OPENING AND BLESSING OF DOWNSIDE HALL – Rosebank College, Five Dock
In 1802 an orphan boy was placed in the care of his uncle, Father Bede Brewer, leader of the English Benedictine Congregation.
