200 :
07 Dec 2011

Finding the Divine in the splendor of God's Creation... All life is mythological is the statement Tom McMahon uses today to grab our attention. The world seems increasingly divided into fundamentalists who want to take the mystery out of the mythological and replace it with dogmatic and liturgical certitudes and those who are increasingly attracted to the excitement of immersing themselves in the Mystery. Tom's reflection today is essentially an investigation of this dichotomy and why society is in this fix. This is Tom McMahon's 200th commentary for Catholica. Congratulations and thanks from all of us to you, Tom! [more]

199 :
30 Nov 2011

The awesomeness of God's Creation... Today's reflection from Tom McMahon might be seen at first as a giant promotion for National Geographic magazine. That was not the direct intention of Tom's reflection. It is really a giant promotion for the awesomeness of God's Creation! Enjoy! [more]

198 :
23 Nov 2011

A follow-up to Enda's essay: "John Vianney was plain wrong!" The feedback we have been receiving might indicate that one of the most popular pieces we have ever published on Catholica was Enda's contribution on our forum last Saturday, John Vianney was plain wrong! It, and the attendant discussion it generated, caused Tom McMahon to scrap the commentary he'd been planning and replace it with this... [more]

197 :
16 Nov 2011

Is the elevation of sport to a religion a good thing? "Is the elevation of sport into a religion a healthy thing for society?" That's the essential question Tom McMahon paces before us today. His thoughts have been triggered by the Penn State Football sexual abuse scandal. Tom suggests society's changing attitudes towards religion, and God, are linked into this shift. This commentary from Tom is likely to be uncomfortable for many different reasons. [more]

196 :
09 Nov 2011

A Creator intimately in all creation... It's a bit of a pot-pourri from Tom McMahon today. The unifying theme might be considered to be this quest we all share to find "the real Jesus", or "the ultimate understanding of God" despite the games being played by the gentlemen who are supposed to be leading the search in the Roman hierarchy. He ends with a video which links in with what he is writing. [more]

195 :
02 Nov 2011

A Halloween Commentary... Tom McMahon wrote today's commentary when Halloween was being celebrated in his neighbourhood. He was in an upbeat mood from a whole series of news articles and commentaries during the week. This is an optimistic commentary about a lot of good things happening in the world if not in the Catholic Church. [more]

194 :
27 Oct 2011

The Rubik's Puzzle of Life... Tom McMahon's plans for this commentary got thrown into disarray through the death of his mother-in-law on the weekend. He's been on a long road journey to collect his sister-in-law for the funeral and has sent us this brief commentary on the puzzles of life and our relationships. We extend our condolences to Tom, Elaine and their family and join with them in celebrating the life of Elaine's mother, Jennie. [more]

193 :
19 Oct 2011

A Church in need of a bit of "Family Therapy" Daily the headlines around the world these days spell out that the Catholic Church is in crisis. Tom McMahon in today's commentary compares the present leadership of the Church to the Southern Plantation Owners of an earlier phase in the history of the United States. What is needed he suggests is a bit of serious "family therapy". [more]

192 :
12 Oct 2011

Which way, Lord? Tom McMahon has been catching up with some old friends in recent days. Today's commentary stems out of those meetings with his friends. The question in the headline, "which way, Lord?" gels beautifully with a lengthy discussion going on in our forum at the moment [LINK] triggered by a lengthy reflection by one of our readers, Kevin Latta. Kevin's been pondering a few things stemming from Professor Brian Cox's series on "The Wonders of the Universe". That is another constant theme in the writing of Tom McMahon, including this commentary. [more]

191 :
05 Oct 2011

Seeking what it is to be a Jesus person... We all carry deep within ourselves some ideal of the person we'd like to be. It is a struggle to measure up to that. Tom McMahon in this commentary is essentially exploring what it means to measure up to the ideal sense of self offered by Jesus — as priest or lay-person, man or woman? [more]

190 :
28 Sep 2011

The future of religion in the modern human understanding of self (cont'd)... What can we learn from writers like Galileo Galilei, John Muir, Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme, and Michael Morwood that might guide us in finding a better way to "build the kingdom" than this one which seems to have been driving the great majority of people out of the Church. That's the broad territory Tom McMahon is opening up for exploration in today's lead commentary on Catholica. [more]

189 :
21 Sep 2011

The future of religion in the modern human understanding of self... There's been an explosion in our human self-knowledge about ourselves and how our minds and emotions 'tick'. This is the landscape — perhaps mindscape? — Tom McMahon is exploring today. What's the future for religion in this new landscape? What will our grandchildren think of our religious views and practises? How are our theological and religious views being shaped by the new knowledge we're acquiring in this new world saturated with knowledge and technology? Is the proverbial "Father McKenzie" still writing the sermons that no one will read? [more]

188 :
14 Sep 2011

Open Sesame! It's a lovely metaphor Tom McMahon uses today. Most of us have experienced that curious pleasure in opening a combination lock when, often suddenly, we get the numbers right and the lock pops open. He likens that to this long process of searching for answers as to what it all means — what our lives mean. He argues a writer from the 1920's pointed us in the right direction. Unfortunately some keep looking backwards for answers instead of forward. We might be prompted to ask: where does God reside? In the past or in the future? [more]

187 :
07 Sep 2011

Jesus' Fire! Tom McMahon's Commentary today is essentially looking back over a few things that have been making news over the past week. Surprisingly for all the doom and gloom associated with things Catholic at the moment, Tom finds quite a bit to be energized and excited about. Most of the congregation might have deserted the pews but there is still a lot of enthusiasm for Jesus and his counter-intuitive "way" suggests Tom. [more]

186 :
31 Aug 2011

Assessing the American Catholic Council: Part 4 Today Tom McMahon delivers his own conclusions about the American Catholic Council held in Detroit over the Pentecost Weekend. It is sufficient that the people of God met and he compares the meeting to the lessons learned a long time ago on the road to Emmaus by some of the first followers of Jesus. Tom also poses some tricky questions that the editor will endeavour to open up conversation about on our forum [LINK]. [more]

185 :
24 Aug 2011

Assessing the American Catholic Council: Part 3 Tom McMahon has been gathering feedback of assessments people made of the American Catholic Council held in Detroit over the Pentecost Weekend. Today he brings us some further assessments he's been gathering preparatory to providing his own assessments next week. [more]

184 :
17 Aug 2011

Assessing the American Catholic Council: Part 2 Tom McMahon has been gathering feedback of assessments people made of the American Catholic Council held in Detroit over the Pentecost Weekend. Today he brings us the first three of a number of assessments that have impressed him for their insights: two from a married couple one of whom went to the trouble of writing to the local Archbishop, Allen Vigneron, who had been critical of the Council and one from a local reporter who attended the Council. [more]

183 :
10 Aug 2011

Prepare, Ye, the Way of the Lord! Over the coming three weeks Tom McMahon intends to give an assessment of the American Catholic Council — the meeting of delegates from the major Church Reform groups in the United States who met in Detroit over the Pentecost Weekend. What was achieved? Tom McMahon is optimistic. [more]

182 :
04 Aug 2011

A poignant public epistle to a bishop mate… Tom McMahon's conclusion today to this series on the unexpected early retirement of Bishop Daniel Walsh from Santa Rosa Diocese is somewhat poignant. It might be described as a personal epistle written from one friend to another at the end of a long journey where the writer finds he's become separated from his brother. Perhaps many of us would love to have the courage to pen a moving, heart-felt epistle like this to our bishop friends in the isolation of their ivory towers? [more]

181 :
27 Jul 2011

Some questions that need answers… Jason Berry in his latest book has accused the church of institutionalised lying. The editor of Catholica has suggested for some time that many who work in the institution live a constant lie in that they have to pretend they believe a lot of things that in their hearts they do not believe. Tom McMahon is exploring similar territory today in how bishops have to "keep up appearances" and not admit the truth. His particular concern are some events in California over recent decades. Bishops are constantly "hushing things up" in an effort to protect the reputation of the institution. Tom McMahon suggests a few too many things have been "hushed up" in the Diocese of Santa Rosa in particular. [more]

180 :
23 Jul 2011

A sympathetic look at the life of a bishop • The unprecedented attack on the Catholic hierarchy and Catholic Church goverance by the Catholic Prime Minister of Ireland, Enda Kenny, during the week will one day be viewed as a watershed moment in Catholic Church history. It is not an isolated event but follows a growing disillusion in the world to the point where nearly 90% of the baptized across the educated world have, for all intents and purposes, abandoned week-to-week participation in the spiritual life of the institution. Our episcopal leaders are beginning to look "ontologically different" alright in their inability to distinguish which way is up in moral behaviour. Tom McMahon's commentary today provides good adjunct reading to the criticisms made during the week by Enda Kenny and also the revelations in Jason Berry's new book, Render unto Rome: the Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church. None of this is pretty reading — in fact it is downright embarrassing for all intelligent Catholics — but if the Church is to be brought back to the insights and core mission of Christ the games our ecclesial leaders have been playing do have to be exposed to the clear light of day. [more]

179 :
13 Jul 2011

A sympathetic look at the life of a bishop • In intoducing today's commentary Tom McMahon wrote: "if you want to know the world in which one lives today take the time to know your background history. Join me as we as we take off on a magical mystery tour of a boy who became a Roman bishop." The "boy" in question is Bishop Daniel Walsh, the recently resigned Bishop of Santa Rosa, California. [more]

178 :
06 Jul 2011

Another Bishop forced into early retirement • Bishop Daniel Walsh went to the same seminary as Tom McMahon. News has broken in recent days that he's taking early retirement. Tom senses something is brewing in the "Vatican-Roman stewpot" and will provide a series of background reports starting today. [more]

177 :
27 May 2011

Hopefully not the last word on +Bill Morris • It's not going to go away. Tom McMahon brings us news today of a French group that has written in support of Bishop Bill Morris. Tom's commentary today explores a little further the implications of this disturbing development for the welfare of the entire Body of Christ. He suggests there are lessons we can learn from American history and, in particular, +John Carroll, America's first bishop. He also draws attention to the recent commentary on Catholica by Dr Brian Gleeson which revived a discussion on Collegiality — a central Vatican II ecclesial concept that is under increasing threat. [more]

176 :
18 May 2011

Do you realise the key role you are invited to play? Despite the efforts of the editor to get us away from the anger unleashed by the treatment meted out to Bishop Bill Morris, it seems that anger is not going to go away. This affair is taking on the spectre of the damage done by the previous major gaffs in Benedict's pontificate. As Tom McMahon has been following the affair from the other side of the Pacific he's found the anger rising in him. He's not really happy with how this commentary turned out because of it but he attempts also to provide an analysis of the anger these sort of things unleash and how to deal with it. [more]

175 :
12 May 2011

Whose side is God on? It's a question that goes back decades, possibly centuries — ever since humankind has been at war. Bob Dylan incorpated it into a song in the 1960s. Whose side is God on? Tom McMahon brings it back to centre stage of Catholica today in asking whose side is God on in this contest between Bishop Bill Morris and Pope Benedict and the Vatican? [more]

174 :
06 May 2011

Royal Weddings, love and revolution! Tom McMahon today starts off his commentary with a beautiful quotation from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: "Some day after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity we will harness for God the energies of love: and then for the second time in the history of the world man will have discovered fire." It needs a phrase added to it after the word gravity: "and after we have mastered the forces of reaction in the Holy Roman Latin Church who have their heads constantly buried in the past rather than the future ... we will harness for God..." Are we at the point where Teilhard's vision may be transformed into a reality? [more]

173 :
27 Apr 2011

Are any bishops courageous enough to listen to the disenchanted? Tom McMahon has been watching a bit of television over the Easter break — as well as doing a bit of volunteer work around his community. This commentary is essentially about communication and communication gaps. How do we communicate across generational gaps — and between bishops and people? He wonders if there might be any Australian bishops who might be courageous enough to set up a genuine dialogue with those who have stopped listening to what bishops and the institution have to say? [more]

172 :
20 Apr 2011

From Rome – the same ole, same ole! The essential question Tom McMahon examines in his commentary today is why those who control the institutional agenda constantly want to revert to medieval culture and thinking from around the era of the Council of Trent and want to stuff Vatican II back in some box as some kind of historical aberration? It's a mystery almost more confounding and perplexing than the Mystery of the Trinity! What do they find so attractive from that period of human history? [more]

171 :
13 Apr 2011

Human Sexuality: A discussion • VII • The views of Dr Patricia Brennan... Tom McMahon today reflects on the perspectives on human sexuality put foward in a recent re-broadcast of the views of the late Dr Patricia Brennan. He concludes "Dr Brennan surely ranks among the wise for her stand on Women's Rights and the value of women in restoring worldwide peace". [more]

170 :
06 Apr 2011

Human Sexuality: A discussion • VI • Changing the diapers of bishops... Here's another wonderful commentary from Tom McMahon pushing out all sorts of wonderful thoughts as his mind meanders through this rich conversation topic about our sexuality. It's hard to find one single headline or quote that summarizes it all in one go today. He does accuse the editor of having an "Alz moment" though but the Editor fires the same complaint back at Tom as a post script. [more]

169 :
30 Mar 2011

Catching up with a few seminary colleagues... It's another catch-up commentary from Tom McMahon today before he returns next week to his series on Human Sexuality. As he discloses today he has been inspired by the conversation recently rebroadcast on ABC Radio National between broadcaster Stephen Crittenden and the late Dr Patricia Brennan. He's mulling himself on what Patricia had to say about Human Sexuality in that conversation and will return next week with his own thoughts. Meanwhile the bulk of his commentary is a reflection on his St Patrick's Day get together with a few mates from his seminary days. He shares a few jokes also in the additional story that we've included as a pop-out. [more]

168 :
23 Mar 2011

Catching up on a few topics... This is very much a catch-up commentary from Tom McMahon today. It's delayed from last week and Tom covers a big gamut of topics from further comment on The Wilkinson Report, his own series of Human Sexuality, response to questions the editor posed in the forum on the future of Catholicism, to comment on the forthcoming American Catholic Council in Detroit. Much to reflect on here... [more]

167 :
09 Mar 2011

An American response to The Wilkinson Report The emerging reaction in comment across the web is that things are effectively terminal for institutional Catholicism. The recently released report by Peter Wilkinson on the disaster facing the Church in providing priests in Australia is not going to be addressed by those presently leading the institution. Tom McMahon in California has read the report and offers comments on various parts of it today. Perhaps not surprisingly he shares much of the pessimism most readers of Catholica express that anything is about to change at the institutional level. What can be done? [more]

166 :
02 Mar 2011

Human Sexuality: A discussion • IV • The beauty of the naked female form... Today's commentary from Tom McMahon includes a stunning piece of music by Brian Doerksen cut to images taken from Sir David Attenborough's BBC series, Planet Earth. Tom uses it to drive home his central point that the beauty of God, the beauty of the Divine, is found in all of Creation and somehow finds some kind of mysterious zenith in the naked female form. The form that has intrigued artists and sculptures since humankind climbed out of the first womb. This is a beautiful commentary. [more]

165 :
24 Feb 2011

Human Sexuality: A discussion • III • Finding a middle course... Tom McMahon's central argument today would appear to be almost a question: how can society find a middle way for discussion about human sexuality between the fools' gold found in Hollywood and the popular media, and the medieval attitudes that still prevail in the Roman institution? He suggests women have to have greater input in the discussion and we need to take into account what we are learning from the insights of modern medicine and understanding of human psyche. Sex and human sexuality have become divided into two separate subjects. Tom argues we have to bring them together again. And by "we" he means "us" — people who meet in places like Catholica! [more] | [see also today's email]

164 :
23 Feb 2011

The meaning of priesthood today... Tom McMahon writes: "Father Eric Hodgens, Melbourne priest ordained 50 years has summarized in four pages the whole of my thinking as priest ordained in 1954. His description of being ordained not by, or for, God but for and by people tells the whole of his holy (wholesome) mindset. 10,000 cheers and thanks for Eric and his like who have braved 50 years of pioneering Vatican Two and its life-saving atmosphere. Here is the Jesus people-priest about whom I have been commenting on for the past two years." [more] | [see also today's email for explanation of how this commentary fits into the series of Tom's commentaries]

163 :
16 Feb 2011

Human Sexuality: A discussion • II • Women will be the ones to save us! Reflecting on the epoch-changing events in Egypt in recent days, and other books and films he's been reflecting on, Tom McMahon today presents the argument that women are the ones who, in the end, will be likely to save Catholicism if it is to be rescued from its decline into societal irrelevance. [more]

162 :
09 Feb 2011

Human Sexuality: A discussion • Part 1 Tom McMahon opens this discussion on human sexuality today with an observation that wider society has become unbalanced about sexuality — and so is the Church. The reader might ask: which came first — the chicken or the egg? Is it possible for a group of today's senior's to map out some kind of more holistic approach to our attitudes to sexuality? [more]

161 :
02 Feb 2011

Let us discuss the subject openly and honestly: Not so much a commentary from Tom McMahon today, as a challenge to all of us. Are you up for a really honest discussion on Human Sexuality? Official Roman Church thinking is probably the biggest single thing that drives our children away from listening to anything the Church has to say on any subject. Most of the wiser spiritual leaders long ago ceased speaking about the subject in public. Tom suggests we have a conversation about this, and about human sexuality itself. What would you say to your children? What set of values concerning human sexuality do you think society needs? What legacy of wisdom would you like to see the present generations of elders leaving to posterity? Essentially the question on the table from this commentary is: are you game enough to participate in such a conversation? Let us know your responses, in the forum or via email. [more]

160 :
27 Jan 2011

The challenge in discussing Sexuality Issues: Something a little different today: Tom McMahon invites our feedback on the discussion on sexuality and homosexuality. His commentary is part reflection on the series he's just presented and part questioning of whether its possible to even have an intelligent conversation at the moment. He directs a series to question to Brian Coyne, editor of Catholica, and others to you, the readers of Catholica. To kick off the conversation, Brian Coyne provides some of his responses at the end of Tom's commentary. [more]

159 :
19 Jan 2011

Homosexuality-Homophobia-Church Part 2: You can almost sense the soul-searching in the words as they leap off your screen in this second commentary by Tom McMahon examining Homosexuality-Homophobia-Church. As we wrote in the introduction to the first part of this commentary: "it's difficult territory to discuss in public but Tom makes the attempt". This continues an exploration Tom began before Christmas. [more]

158 :
15 Dec 2010

Homosexuality-Homophobia-Church Part 1: Last week's commentary from Tom McMahon was only the warm-up. In this commentary and his next he's into the main game attempting to examine the relationship between these strange bedfellows; Homosexuality, Homophobia and Religion/Church. It's difficult territory to discuss in public but Tom makes the attempt. [more]

157 :
08 Dec 2010

Institutionalised Homophobia! Tom McMahon today takes on the big one: institutionalised homophobia — tentatively, at least. This is a beginning exploration, largely based around some research he's been doing and, in particular, an interview in Spiegel Online with gay theologian, David Berger, which he invites you to read and provide feedback on in our forum. Tom will continue his exploration next week. He suggests the study is important even if, at the end of the day, there might be no easy answers. [more]

156 :
01 Dec 2010

The Trentan Priesthood cannot reform itself! Despite the many good individuals it has produced Tom McMahon argues the priesthood and seminary system is incapable of reforming itself. If there is hope for the future it has to rest with the laity. [more]

155 :
24 Nov 2010

The yearnings of the priest for intimacy... Sex is the "elephant in the room" in almost any discussion these days concerning the future of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. In recent days Pope Benedict seems to have taken tentative steps — "testing the water" so to speak — of a slight change to what we were all told up until recently was immutable. Tom McMahon's commentary today does not directly address the breaking news of the moment but it does address the "elephant in the room" in a personally courageous way. There must be few in the world courageous enough to speak as openly about his personal journey as Tom does in today's commentary. [more]

154 :
17 Nov 2010

A Dysfunctional System... Tom McMahon argues in today's commentary that the system that formed both priests and lay people was dysfunctional with its emphasis on guilt. The Second Vatican Council was an attempt to develop an alternative way of looking at and forming ourselves. [more]

153 :
03 Nov 2010

The two worlds that confronts modern humankind... Tom McMahon begins his commentary today with two tributes to friends who have passed away in the last week or so: George Grantham, who he met in Bunbury on his visit to Australia 15 months ago, and Mary Bell, much closer to his own present home. He then introduces the theme he'd like to explore further next week: "the awesome contrast between two worlds that confronts modern humankind." [more]

152 :
27 Oct 2010

The Collapse of the Seminary System... We live in a fascinating moment of ecclesial history. For those who follow the commentaries in the more intellectually probing publications around the world now the collapse is almost palpable despite the events like the canonisations in Rome a few weeks ago. Vatican II was seen by many as the opportunity for the Church to renew itself and retain its relevance in the modern world. Tom McMahon, like many of us, was excited by the vista it opened up. Today the initiative has been lost and the institution seems to be collapsing into a museum and a remnant, largely irrelevant to the needs of the vast majority it once baptised in the name of Jesus. Tom continues his exploration of the collapse. Today he draws particular attention to the seminary system that has been at the core of the institution's power since the Council of Trent. [more]

151 :
20 Oct 2010

Changing perceptions of priesthood Tom McMahon continues to explore the changes that have occurred in the world over his lifetime and the impact these have had on himself, the Church, and our collective understanding of our relationship with Jesus. His commentary today includes a moving tribute to a 90 y.o. priest colleague, Monsignor Eugene Boyle, who in the last few days has had to move into a care facility. [more]