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Fr Kevin Murphy… |
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 Vision and Mission... Fr Kevin J Murphy sent this piece in as a reflection on the importance for any community having a clear vision and mission statement. One of the larger problems the institution as a whole seems to be facing is a confusion about what our mission is these days. Is the mission of Catholicism, or Christianity, to be creating a community of socially conformist, pious individuals — or is the prime mission we are charged with to encourage individuals to develop their talents to the full and "to become like God"? <more>
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Dr Ian Elmer… |
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 The Final, Fateful Journey… In a sense this story Dr Elmer has been peeling apart for us is profoundly depressing. It's a story of failure. Paul failed to convince the religious establishment of the Church at the time that his way of interpreting the Good News offered by Jesus was legitimate. At another level though it might be a hope-filling story — and particularly hope-filling given the contemporary decline in relevance being experienced by Catholicism today: in the final analysis Paul was the big winner. The policy directions he had established were the ones that eventually prevailed and saw Christianity evolve into a movement with a mission to the whole world, not just the self-elect puritans and legalistic conservatives. As Dr Elmer himself suggests in today's commentary, our study of St Paul has much relevance to situations that we continue to face today in 21st Century Catholicism and Christianity. <more>
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Tom McMahon… |
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 Reporting on his Aussie Pigrimage #3 Today Tom McMahon's commentary is more about sharing some of his impressions of Australia, and the people he met — all synthesised, of course, through the spiritual lens that largely underpinned his pilgrimage to the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit. Talk about not being able to take the spirit out of a priest — this is one man who didn't give up his vocation when his priestly faculties were removed. <more>
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Dr Andrew Kania… |
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 Eclipsing Truth Today we have a gutsy commentary from Dr Andrew Kania. This is adult spirituality at it's very best. Not only is it a cleverly crafted and entertaining piece of writing it has the capacity to bounce your mind around like a basketball in the hands of a pro. He's asking confronting questions: questions which ought be confronting for us Catholics as much as they ought be confronting for those in the other estimated 33,000 denominations and sects that make up Christianity today. In a sense it's a reflection on the meaning in the end words of Matthew's Gospel — the bit about making disciples of all people and having faith in Jesus being with us to the end of time — Matthew 28: 18-20. Andrew entitled it "Eclipsing the Truth". It's an essay about so many things: ecumenism and the (dis)unity of Christianity; what it means to be 'catholic', 'Catholic', 'Christian' or a 'follower of Christ'; what are we endeavouring to pass on to our children; where do we find 'truth'; can any of us 'live a lie'? <more>
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SPECIAL SERIES: The Invention of Christianity – The Future by Tom Lee |
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 17.2: The conversion and endorsement of Constantine… Today we reach one of the defining moments of Christian history in Tom Lee's manuscript — the conversion and endorsement of Emperor Constantine. The Church becomes an alley of the State with mutual benefits to both but with Christianity being the eventual winner as it outlived the Roman Empire. In our present phase of history are we seeing the final demise of Christianity as it is led to remnant status — or will there be a revival when it recaptures the original Spirit of what the founder, Jesus, was on about? <more>
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Sunday Forum… |
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 How will our generation be remembered? Today's Sunday Forum is partly triggered by what emerged from a meeting Brian and Amanda attended in Melbourne yesterday and partly by an essay from Charles Handy that Stephen (Oh Yet We Trust) posted on our forum: "What will be on your 'white stone' at the end of your days?". <more>
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Best wishes for a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life or in our world!
Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher |
