006 :
28 May 2011

Bleak House Part 4 – with a bit of joy at the end! Dr Anthony Lowes ends his examination today of the bleak state the institutional church with nine dot point priorities of what needs to be done to return a bit of joy to this institution which played such an important part in shaping us and indeed Western culture. Our increasing view here at Catholica is that pigs might fly before any of it happens. What he writes about though might well be very important in shaping the Phoenix that arises from the burnt out ruins of the church that Josef and Karol built out of the excitement and hope of Vatican II. [more]

005 :
21 May 2011

Bleak House Part 3... The subject matter of Dr Anthony Lowes examination of the bleak state the institutional church today echoes so well with that short, 10 minute excerpt from Edward Stourton's BBC documentary, Absolute Truth, that we are including it again at the conclusion of the commentary. Where did this institution begin to run off the rails to the point where 86% of the flock in the educated parts of the world have simply walked out the door? [more]

004 :
14 May 2011

Bleak House Part 2... The events of the past week in Australia following the forced retirement of Toowoomba Bishop, Bill Morris appear to have been an enormous downer for the spirits of the majority in the Church in this country. In some senses this series from Dr Anthony Lowes examining the bleak state the institutional church today is perhaps the last thing we need today to lift ourselves out of the gloom. Part Two of his series today though does have an optimistic tone seeking to find ways in which we might re-articulate and re-relevance the foundational insights of Christ. Dr Lowes' suggestions today might be the basis for the opening of a vigorous discussion as to what is needed to breathe life back into the bleak house. [more]

003 :
29 Apr 2011

Bleak House Part 1... In this first part of a four-part series Dr Anthony Lowes examines the bleak state the institutional church is in today with massive disaffection in the pews, lack of priests and a huge drop in morale. It's a familiar theme to readers of Catholica but this perspective from Dr Lowes provides much food for productive thought as to what we ought to do about the crisis. [more]

002 :
11 Jul 2009

The Point of Pursuing the Notion of Trinity – Part 2... Whether we appreciate it or not, all of us model our lives and behaviours on paradigms — big canvas ideas that mould our thinking and which we learn from our culture, our religion, ideas planted in our minds and being passed down through our families, the heroes we learn about through our reading and study, as well as the big ideas that are fashionable in society in our present moment. Just think of all the paradigms driving the behaviours of so many individuals around the world in the last week at the passing of pop star Michael Jackson. In this two-part article (we published the first part yesterday) Dr Anthony Lowes is looking at the theological concept of Trinity and argues that for many it has become an esoteric idea trying to describe a God 'out there' or 'up there'. Consequently most people today probably spend very little time if any at all thinking about "Trinity" — or see it as having much relevance in their day-to-day lives. Along with other theologians he refers to in this theologically dense essay, he is arguing we need to grab the concept anew and not exclusively see it as a concept trying to describe the 'Being' of a God "out there" but it is a powerful tool through which we can understand our own 'being' and what it means to be a person aspiring to re-union and comm-union with God and with one another. There is a profound mystery or paradox to our own being: to be the perfect individual we cannot achieve it as an individual but only in relation (communion) with others. [more]

001 :
10 Jul 2009

The Point of Pursuing the Notion of Trinity – Part 1... Something a little bit different today — and a bit heavier to provide much food for useful reflection and comment. Dr Anthony Lowes sent this in to us for consideration a couple of weeks ago. In the wake of the decline in relevance of religion he argues we are in danger of effectively throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Most people probably don't spend much time thinking about the Trinity these days considering it a form of thinking that belongs in the past. In this two-part article, Tony Lowes argues we need to re-discover the real depth in Trinitarian thinking (and rescue the entire concept from the neanderthal sectors — those incapable of change even if the survival of their church or species depended on it — who seem to make us want to believe Trinity is a physical reality and we're all damned if we don't accept their dogmas on the Trinity [yes, you have our permission to smile])... [more]