Do Retreat Centres have a future? Ted Mason has been helping run the Shalom House of Prayer at Carcoar in the Bathurst Diocese for 24 years. In this article he examines the uncertain future being faced by retreat centres as the influence of the Church declines. Brian Coyne responds by asking if we need to radically re-formulate how we "do Church" and "worship God" if the decline is to be reversed? He suggests one proposal which might help give retreat centres a new future. <more>

Peregrinus on the origins of he NT and Cindy makes a Return Peregrinus' commentary today is a fascinating look at the origins of the New Testament. Modern biblical scholarship has certainly helped strip away many of the certitudes help by our more recent ancestors. On the ligher side today, Cindy the Sacristan makes a return having got over her "hissy fit" on the Editor allowing the "f" word to be used in commentaries and discussion on this site. (We hope she didn't go into meltdown listening to the interviews with those three "naughty boys" on Monday!) Like one of our participants in the forum she attended the Melbourne talk given by Bishop Robinson last week and was favourably impressed with his language. <Peregrinus><Cindy>

Getting the balance right… Dr Kania examines the challenge we face in the education of young people, not to mention our own selves, in getting "the balance right" between freedom and discipline, between optimism and pessimism, between being cautious and "going for it". There are no easy answers but finding "the right balance" is the critical ingredient to finding contentment. fulfilment and our ultimate purpose in life. <more>

Three very special guests No they're not the "three wise men" but three "very naughty boys" whose parents and Church gave them a very good Catholic education and they're run away and chucked it all in the bin. One can already hear the myriad of responses this interview is going to generate when different people have read it — a bit like the responses to that other "naughty boy", Geoffrey Robinson one expects. It's a long listen but we've broken it down into 10-15 segments with visual clues as to what is covered in each setion. Ironically, this could turn out to be the most valuable bit of information we've yet published on Catholica — then again, depending on which side of the fence one sits on, it might be seen as being almost as valuable as Bishop Robinson's book. Enjoy, Amanda McKenna and Brian Coyne, had a lot of fun listening to the stories of these three intelligent young men. …Editor. <more>

Crazy fo Jesus! Tom McMahon continues his series of recollections from his own personal journey to explore the meaning of eucharist and communion. Today he recalls the contasting approaches of a number of clerics he has met over his lifetime who brought contrasting approaches to this sacrament. <more>

The Sixth Gift of the Holy Spirit — Piety In the sixth in our series on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit the focus gift today is piety. It's an appropriate matter we might reflect on today in the wake of Tom McMahon's reflection. <Sunday's reflection on Piety>