034 :
01 Jan 2008

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus XIV: The final of the meditations from Bishop Geoffrey Robinson today is a beautiful way for us to sing in the New Year. The bishop presents us with a beautiful meditation on "the song of Jesus" and why it is in our collective and individual interests to be singing it. We would like to extend our thanks to Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing, for the privilege of publishing this series of meditations on Catholica Australia. [more]

033 :
30 Dec 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus XIII: It's a short meditation from Bishop Robinson today but one that fits like a glove with the series of commentaries we've been running from Professor Len Swidler on Mondays. Bishop Robinson asks if the greater involvement of all the people in the governance of the Church would make recent scandals like the recent crisis caused by sexual abuse less likely? We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

032 :
23 Dec 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus XII: Bishop Robinson in his book now turns his attention to the Beliefs of the Church. He argues: "The promise of Jesus Christ was not that the church will never make mistakes, but that it will survive its mistakes". Today's meditation is on this nexus at the heart of Bishops Robinson's argument: the conflict between the search for certitude and the search for truth. We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

031 :
16 Dec 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus XI: In Chapter Eleven Bishop Robinson tackles the painful issue of sexual abuse. His reflection might be seen as having a triple focus: the largest part is devoted to what needs to be done to heal the victims; he also discusses the healing the Church needs to take on board; running through the reflection is the question of the spiritual damage done by abuse and the need for spiritual healing. We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

030 :
09 Dec 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus X: Chapter Ten of Bishop Robinson's book is possibly the most interesting to many lay Catholics who have msigivings about Catholic Church teaching on human sexuality. In this Chapter, Bishop Robinson explores what the teachings actually are and also explores places where they might have gone off the rails or have been misunderstood or misinterpreted. We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

029 :
02 Dec 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus IX: Bishop Robinson argues: "If the Catholic Church is to regain some credibility after the many scandals of sexual abuse, it must first learn to speak with humility, intelligence, realism and compassion about all aspects of human sexuality". We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

028 :
25 Nov 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus VIII: Bishop Robinson now turns in his book to look at the different approaches we need to take to matters of morality (what we should do) and matters of belief (what we should believe). In the meditation today he presents a useful hierarchy listing six levels of moral living. We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

027 :
18 Nov 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus VII: Chapter Seven of Bishop Robinson's book looks at power and structure in the Church. He argues in this meditation: "Ideas concerning such matters as participatory government and subsidiarity, which the church constantly preaches to nations, must be applied to the church itself". We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

026 :
11 Nov 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus VI: Bishop Robinson argues that any consideration of the question of power and structure in the Church has to be grounded not only in Scripture and tradition but in the knowledge that God gives us through the world around and within us. Each element needs to be read in conjunction with, not isolation from, the other two. We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

025 :
04 Nov 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus V: Posing a question for meditation: what do you think was Jesus self-understanding of his mission. Bishop Geoffrey Robinson has been pondering this question for a long time but more so in the light of the events of recent decades in the Church which have led him to writing this book. We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

024 :
28 Oct 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus IV: What are God's true desires for his Church? That is the question that sits at the heart of Chapter Four of Bishop Robinson's book. He suggests: "It is persons, not religions, that God loves. God is happy when persons of any or no religion do things that help others, saddened when they do things that harm others, and loves all of them always, whatever they do." We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Geoffrey Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

023 :
21 Oct 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus III: A shorter meditation from Bishop Robinson today but a probing one. He's entitled this chapter "Spiritual Discernment" and basically he's asking what precisely are we called to believe and hand on? We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Geoffrey Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

022 :
14 Oct 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus II: In this reflection from the end of Chapter Two Bishop Robinson invites us to reflect on the two sources of our knowledge of God: the bible and the world around us and within us. He says: "They have sometimes been called 'the two books of God'. Human beings have had a significant role in the writing of both books, but both can also provide us with insights into divine wisdom." We present this series of meditations in cooperation with Bishop Geoffrey Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing. [more]

021 :
07 Oct 2007

Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus I: In cooperation with Bishop Geoffrey Robinson and his publisher, John Garratt Publishing, we have pleasure in presenting the end chapter reflections from his book which has created so much interest around the world. In this first reflection from the end of Chapter One he invites us to reflect on the nature of the relationship God calls us into. [more]

020 :
30 Sep 2007

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit VII: Fear of the Lord For our Sunday reflections on Catholica Australia we are presenting a series of prayers reflecting on The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Today's focus is on the seventh and final gift of Fear of the Lord. [more]

019 :
23 Sep 2007

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit VI: Piety For our Sunday reflections on Catholica Australia we are presenting a series of prayers reflecting on The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Today's focus is on the Gift of Piety. [more]

018 :
16 Sep 2007

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit V: Knowledge For our Sunday reflections on Catholica Australia we are presenting a series of prayers reflecting on The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Today's focus is on the Gift of Knowledge. [more]

017 :
09 Sep 2007

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit IV: Fortitude For our Sunday reflections on Catholica Australia we are presenting a series of prayers reflecting on The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Today's focus is on the Gift of Fortitude. [more]

016 :
02 Sep 2007

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit III: Counsel For our Sunday reflections on Catholica Australia we are presenting a series of prayers reflecting on The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Today's focus is on the Gift of Counsel. [more]

015 :
26 Aug 2007

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit II: Understanding For our Sunday reflections on Catholica Australia we are presenting a series of prayers reflecting on The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Today's focus is on the Gift of Understanding. [more]

014 :
19 Aug 2007

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit I: Wisdom For our Sunday reflections on Catholica Australia we are presenting a series of prayers reflecting on The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Today's focus is on the Gift of Wisdom. [more]

013 :
05 Aug 2007

Lay communities need to take greater ownership of the liturgy… Fr John McKinnon offers some thoughts on what it means to be a "Eucharistic Community" in the context of the thinking, or spirituality, that was encouraged by the Second Vatican Council and in the context of dwindling priest numbers. He argues lay communities need to take greater ownership of their liturgies. [more]

012 :
29 Jul 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]

011 :
22 Jul 2007

Bringing brutal honesty into our relationships, and into our conversations! This is a double-barrelled reflection. In introducing George Bouchey's commentary — which is all about sex, relationships, relationship breakdown, marriage and divorce — Brian Coyne suggests we need to find ways to be far more honest in the conversations we conduct in the Church. [more]

010 :
31 Dec 2006

The challenge posed by political correctness and moral relativism... Dr Andrew Kania presents a challenging reflection for us to see out the year. Partly inspired by the commentaries during the week from two of his former students, Ben and Phoebe Coyne, as well as other contemporary events, Andrew argues we need to guard against moral relativism. [more]

009 :
25 Dec 2006

"The Breath of Heaven" In a reflection that might take your breath away, Dawn Bowie provides us with an audio-visual experience for Christmas Day that perhaps only a woman could write. May it bring a deep experience of peace and lack of resistance into your day … the year ahead … and into your life. [more]

008 :
24 Dec 2006

A spiritual reflection for Christmas Eve... Today and tomorrow we have two gentle spiritual reflections. Today's comes from Andrew Kania wherein he argues "The message of Christmas is in itself a call to humility … [it] can be seen as the message of Divine love carried to us by the voice of the child." His reflection is accompanied by a gentle Christmas lullaby performed by Amanda McKenna. [more]

007 :
17 Dec 2006

Self-esteem or self-respect? Hugh Mackay's opinion piece in this weekend's Sydney Morning Herald has caused Tom Scott to re-think one of the homilies he's been preaching for a long, long time. What value should we promote more: self-esteem or self-respect? [more]

006 :
10 Dec 2006

A tougher seasonal reflection... Christmas in many ways today is the season in which we celebrate our affluence and success. Andrew Kania takes us on a more sobering reflection of Tom Scott/Brian Coyne: What value should we promote more: self-esteem or self-respect?. [more]

005 :
03 Dec 2006

What God will we serve at Christmas? For this first Sunday of Advent 2006 – the beginning of our preparation for Christmas – our resident "Holy Irritant", Tony Robertson, looks forward to ask what God will we serve when Christmas arrives. "As we wait in hope for the coming of God's Reign of Peace, we are called to challenge the values of our consumer culture by being a sign of the true God with Us, the God we know through the person and message of Jesus." [more]

004 :
26 Nov 2006

The Feast of Christ the King... For decades Tom Scott had wonderful memories of the Feast of Christ the King. Following the seed of a few words planted in his mind at the recording of a radio commercial to promote the Feast of Christ the King in the Jubilee Year, he has come to a far more critical view. [more]

003 :
19 Nov 2006

What's the apocalyptic vision in today's readings all about... Rosemary Canavan offers some thoughts on what meaning and comfort we can drag out of the apocalyptic readings this Sunday. [more]

002 :
12 Nov 2006

Searching for an authentic understanding of Jesus' vision... Following on from Rosemary's Take last Thursday, further discussion on the discussion forum in the days following, and today's Scriptural readings, Tom Scott seeks to explore what the authentic Catholic vision is by constrasting it to a number of alternatives. These include the "abundance theology" of Evangelical Christianity, the message thrust in things like the film The Secret, and abominations within Catholic belief itself. [more]

001 :
05 Nov 2006

The Historical Jesus Then and Now: The Challenge of the Kingdom of God... Last weekend Tom McMahon attended a series of lectures by the renowned scholar John Dominic Crossan at the local Presbyterian Church in his neighbourhood in San Jose. These are his notes and some links to further valuable material for quiet reflection. [more]