012 :
15 Apr 2012

Priesthood and the presence of Jesus Christ... Here's a thought to ponder on this Monday: let us assume for a moment that religion is dead and the idea of some Creator-God has disappeared from human thinking — perhaps like the animals, do they spend their days thinking of God and thanking him for their meals? Have you got the picture? Hold it for a moment and then think about this: If there was no God, and Jesus hadn't been thought of, or had been forgotten, would not all of us still be guided by the ideas and thoughts of someone? Are any of us truly NOT reliant on the ideas of other people who went before us as to what, and how we think about anything? My own belief continues to be that if Jesus hadn't existed, someone like him would have had to be invented. He is a model for so many of the ways in which we "negotiate or navigate life". He models for us the "ways' in which to think, and feel, and act in so many life-giving ways. Today's commentary is from Fr Kevin Murphy. He shares something similar to that perspective. He's a great fan of Jesus. In sending me his commentary he wrote: "As I follow the discussion in Catholica about priesthood, I realise I am not qualified to engage in a thorough theological debate about the essence of priesthood or creation or redemption. Others, who are qualified, can do the research regarding these important issues." [more]

011 :
01 Sep 2012

Jesus: Transformed and Transforming... Today's lead commentary from Fr Kevin Murphy is an update on one we ran back in February. Fr Kevin's passion has been in keeping the Jesus' story alive for those who've been becoming disenchanted with the institution and he's had a particular focus to those in rural areas who no longer have access to regular celebration of Mass because of the priest shortage. He's done a lot of work trying to develop liturgies for use in places where communities gather and distribute communion in the absence of a priest. This commentary has now been produced as a pdf flier that can be used by small groups who continue to value a sense of communion and community and exploring the meaning of Jesus in their lives. By way of his own introduction Kevin wrote: this article "promotes an appreciation of the sacramental dimension of Catholic spirituality which is not dependent on the official priesthood". [more]

010 :
17 Feb 2012

How do we integrate Christ into our lives? Another powerful commentary today. This time from Fr Kevin Murphy which follows beautifully from the discussion yesterday sparked by Emmy Silvius's commentary on Catholica [LINK]. Christians and Catholics protest that we "love Jesus", or want to "follow Jesus", but how to we integrate that into our lives in practical ways? [more]

009 :
28 Aug 2010

Finding the presence of the Spirit of God... In these times of scandal in the institution, great uncertainty in the world, and loss of confidence in our spiritual and political leaders there is a temptation to give up. In recent days in our forum a number of people have called for perseverence and solidarity amongst the grass roots. Today's lead commentary from Kevin Murphy sits well with this call. This is "a back to the fundamentals—back to Jesus" call for us to find solidarity in our communion with one another and with Jesus and his core insights. It's a call to let the Spirit of God guide us through these times. As Kevin concludes: "Even if it is sometimes difficult to live with the life of the Spirit of God within official church structures, we all have the freedom and right and responsibility to welcome the Spirit of God into our personal lives." [more]

008 :
09 Oct 2009

Re-thinking our understanding of Church community... Here's a good example of a reflection on Catholica that was triggered by a previous commentary long ago. Tom McMahon mentioned Paul Lakeland many months ago. Kevin Murphy went off to read up on Paul and found some ideas that are well worth reflecting on. The subtitle of Paul's book "Catholicism at the Crossroads" is "How the Laity Can Save the Church". What we're invited to reflect on is the style of community we build as Church. This is a rich reflection worth spending time with. [more]

007 :
18 Jul 2009

The great Eucharist starvation in the Church... How to address the shortage of priests? Fr Kevin J Murphy applies a bit of lateral thinking in today's commentary. He seems to assume the shortage isn't going to be addressed so the focus of his attention is more directed at us — the recipients of communion rather than those who confect it and distribute it. He invites us to turn every meal into a Eucharistic celebration. There is no law against it but he also cautions against the threat to Church unity if we become too cavalier in our attitudes. [more]

006 :
19 Jun 2009

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]

005 :
28 Aug 2008

Transforming our lives through a breakfast 'eucharist'… With the continuing crisis in vocations, the reality is that the opportunities to participate in the Eucharist are declining. Fr Kevin J Murphy is a priest in a rural Australian diocese which has been in the news in recent days because the shortage of priests is becoming acute. His reflection today wasn't written to address that crisis albeit that in the future we might be forced more and more into finding new ways of "living our faith". It is a gentle reflection that invites us to transform every meal into a small 'e' eucharist — a time of transformation in our lives. [more]

004 :
19 Jun 2008

A different way of thinking about liturgy and Church life… The Bishops are advertising to call people back but there is a shortage of priests to minister to them if and when they come back. Society is changing in so many ways. The nature of how we will be Church in the future will be a lot different to what it is today whatever the Vatican might want. Fr Kevin Murphy suggests we ought to do a little thinking outside the square and look at "New Ways of Being Church". In this commentary he puts forward some suggestions… [more]

003 :
24 Apr 2008

Rethinking our notions of parish structure… Fr Kevin Murphy suggests the leaders in the Church need to be paying more attention to the breakdown in the geographical-based parish structure. Self-evidently it is no longer serving the needs of the people, nor of the institution… [more]

002 :
14 Sep 2007

Why people drop out… Fr Kevin Murphy has been catching up on Bishop Geoffrey Robinson's book and shares these reflections of his own as to why people are disenchanted and dropping away from the Church. On the positive side he argues that small faith communities offer hope in addressing the decline. [more]

001 :
29 July 2007

A new Spirituality for today's needs… In this provocative commentary, Fr Kevin Murphy asks if we can develop a pristine Christian Spirituality in accord with the original spirituality in the Church and which is sympathetic to today’s needs? [more]