Homilies

Mt Schoenstatt Shrine, Mulgoa, 13 September 2026 Twenty-five years ago this week, the September 11 terrorist attacks took the lives of 3,000 people, while the rest of the world looked on in horror. In the days that followed, people rarely seen in church came in droves, looking for somewhere to put their numbness and grief, […]

St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, 11 September 2026 Most Catholic schools are named for a patron saint, and so the staff, students and wider community can look to a particular life of heroic virtue for inspiration. But what of a college named after an object, the Holy Cross? What does it mean to take your name […]

Seminary of the Good Shepherd, Homebush, 2 September 2026 On 30 June 1865 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that “By far the largest and most disastrous conflagration which has ever occurred in Sydney happened last night and resulted in the total destruction of St Mary’s Cathedral. This noble edifice, which was… the finest example of […]

St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, 30 August 2026 In 1973, the American writer Ursula Le Guin published a short work of philosophical fiction, The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. Set in an imaginary city where all enjoy peace and prosperity, the story opens with a summer festival including a horse-race for the young. Though limited […]

Feast of St Augustine, St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, 28 August 2026 Not long ago they were saying that in the Church we are now all Jesuits; these days we are all Augustinians! But it is not just Pope Leo the Augustinian who richly seasons his speeches and documents with quotes from St Augustine.[1] All the […]

St Martha’s Church, Strathfield, 23 August 2026 “Why, mummy, why?” “Are we there yet Dad?” “How long will it take?” “Do I really have to?” The parents here will all have experienced this incessant questioning at one time or another. It can be exhausting, especially when each question leads to another, an infinite regress until […]

St Martha’s Parish, Strathfield, Memory of St Pius X, 21 August 2026 The religious authorities try to trap Jesus with a loaded question (Mt 22:34-40). “Pick your favourite commandment,” they say innocently, knowing that whichever He picks would start an argument and divide people. If He picked one of the first three commandments they would […]

St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, 16 August 2026  A few nights ago, the nation was glued to devices or papers as we all filled out the Census forms. In the ancient world a census required people to go hither and thither to register, like Joseph and Mary at the first Christmas, and it usually resulted in […]

St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, 9 August 2026 On the recent Feast of the Transfiguration, we recalled that day that Christ allowed His divine glory to radiate from his body (Lk 9:28-36). Shining beside Him were Moses and Elijah, who were discussing Jesus’ forthcoming Passover through death to resurrection glory. Each had his own exotic ending. […]

St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, 8 August 2028 In the Hebrew of the Old Testament the way to say very was simply to repeat the word. So, the greatest song is “the Song of Songs”, complete futility is “vanity of vanities” and the most sacred place is “the Holy of Holies”.[1] יוֹם Yom is day and […]