Homilies

Recently three Catholic University of America researchers published Well-being, Trust and Policy in a Time of Crisis: Highlights from the National Study of Catholic Priests. It paints a rather bleak picture of priests’ fears of false accusations of abuse and of being abandoned by their bishop if that happened.[1] Ever since the U.S. Bishops’ instigated the Dallas Charter…

In the 1992 film, Forever Young, Mel Gibson plays a US Air Corps pilot Daniel McCormick, who has himself cryogenically stored for a year to avoid witnessing the death of his comatose girlfriend Helen(played by Isabel Glasser). But something goes wrong and he wakes…

This past week, the Church marked the sixtieth anniversary of opening of the Second Vatican Council. It was an event of epic, even biblical proportions. Where there were 200-300 bishops at the Councils of Nicaea (325 AD) and Trent (1545-63), and just over 700 at the First Vatican Council (1869-70), nearly 3,000 bishops from 112 countries…

Productivity apps are among the most popular today. Driving this is the yearning to squeeze as much as we can out of each week, day and hour, to get more done, more efficiently. Of course, this push for greater productivity predates smartphones and apps…

The Bible is ambivalent about monarchy.[1] The kings of the earth threatened the security of Israel, and the people long resisted having their own king, lest he be a rival to God’s sovereignty. The Jews were taught to “put not your trust in princes, in mortal men in whom there is no help”.[2] On the other hand, they thought of God as their heavenly king …

He was only 15 when the Nazis deported him and his family to Auschwitz. His mother and younger sister were killed on arrival. He felt his God and his soul died that day also, and all his dreams turned to dust. But the boy and his father were able-bodied and selected for hard labour. They were transferred to Buchenwald in Germany where the father died soon after. But the boy survived to be liberated …

Recently the ACCC reported that Australian businesses and consumers lost over $2B to scams and frauds in 2021.[1] This is more than double the amount lost in 2020. The numbers are staggering: more than one in ten adults has experienced some form of personal fraud, with credit and debit card …

It was born out of boredom. Birmingham was one of the most heavily bombed cities during World War II and so Anthony Pratt spent a fair share of his time bored in bomb shelters. Inspired by Agatha Christie’s murder-mysteries, as well as the parlour games of his youth, Pratt devised a “who done it” boardgame. Players …

The annual gala at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has been dubbed the “Oscars of Fashion.”[1] The event sees A-list celebrities, fashion royalty, the uber wealthy and politicians rubbing shoulders as they vie for the paparazzi’s attention by dressing in ornate themed costumes. Controversially …

They are called ‘eternal pictures’ due to their remarkable durability. Mosaics are intricate images formed by joining together thousands of glass and stone tesserae or tiles—some as tiny as 4mm square.[1] The ancient Mesopotamians, Greeks and Romans decorated temples, bathhouses and palaces …