A lay reflection on the Eucharist… Inspired by Tom McMahon's reflection last Sunday on "eucharist-Eucharist", Ted Mason sent in this poignant little reflection on the most memorable Eucharist he ever attended… <more>

The woman by the well… What a beautiful essay this is today from Daniel Gullotta? I am sure many who read it will feel enlightened and uplifted. It is a poignant reflection on the meaning we can take today from that ancient story where Jesus encounters the foreign woman at a well and has a conversation with her. <more>

The Prophets and the Books of Wisdom… In this fourth commentary in a series Peregrinus concludes his examination of the Old Testament by looking at some of the background to the Books of Wisdom and the Books of the Prophets. <more>

The scandal of the Latinization of the Universal Church… In this lengthy and powerful commentary Dr Kania discusses the scandal of the manner in which the Eastern Churches have been treated by the Latin Church. The commentary will be of significant interest to a lot of readers from different points of view including the present discussion going on in Australia regarding the ordination of married men. It's wider message though concerns relations between the Eastern and Western Lungs of Catholicism. <more>

How do we reach out to the 85%? It's a pleasure to welcome another writer to the pages of Catholica. Ted Mason hails from the Bathurst Diocese where he helps run Shalom, the Diocesan House of Prayer at Carcoar. He submitted this article in response to the recent commentary by Fr Kevin Murphy ("Why People Drop Out") providing some further interesting observations from one of the rural dioceses in Australia. …Editor. <more>

eucharist or Eucharist? One could argue that a second great benefit of Bishop Geoffrey Robinson's book, besides its excellent exploration of so many questions of theology, belief and practice, is that it has given an enormous number of people a new-found confidence to speak their minds. Intelligent people are sick to death of this culture that has developed in the Church where everyone is beholden to the "thought police". One wonders what the Vatican would do if the entire population rose up and questioned some of its pet assumptions? Don't answer that question. 85% of the population of the Western world has and you can see what the Vatican has done: it has constantly caved into the insecure elements in the population constantly running around proclaiming the sky is about to fall in if we discuss such and such. Tom McMahon is another man, like Geoffrey Robinson, who is not afraid to called a spade a freakin' shovel. Enjoy this new series Tom begins today where he endeavours to explore the real meaning of eucharist and communion in our lives without fear of the hand-wringers, thought police and those in despair that the sky is about to fall in if we question a few assumptions. …Editor. <more>

The Fifth Gift of the Holy Spirit — Knowledge We could all do with greater knowledge. Our support commentary today is a prayerful reflection on this fifth gift of the Holy Spirit. <Sunday's reflection on Knowledge>