010 :
15 Sep 2006

Demystifying the Mystical... Theologos has been on retreat this week. He submitted his commentary for today before he went on retreat in order to help us Demystify the Mystical. That is his title. I am not sure that he achieves that as I've been working on it for four days now trying to make head from tale in this Alice in Wonderland World he is writing about so that I might present it here in an accessible way. I can assure you though, Dear Readers, that as with Peregrinus' comment the other day regarding PJPII's Apsotolic Letter, Salvifici Dolores, perseverence does bring its rewards. [more]

009 :
11 Sep 2006

A second glance at the Holy Family... In this special post which Theologos has submitted to fill in while Cliff is indisposed, he explores another dimension of the recent discussions on the Holy Family that have been taking place both in commentaries and on the discussion forum itself. He asks us to "consider the possibility that Divine Wisdom intervened in the life of Mary and Joseph, to enable the outcome to be as it has been revealed within Holy Scripture". [more]

008 :
08 Sep 2006

Guilt and the complex labyrinth that is the human mind and emotions... This is a difficult commentary from Theologos but I suggest you not give up. It follows on logically from his commentary last week which was about "learning to trust our spiritual intuition and inner guide". Today he's looking at some of the factors which prevent us hearing our inner guide. [more]

007 :
01 Sep 2006

Learning to trust our spiritual intuition and inner guide... In his commentary today Nathanael is exploring the nurturing of this spiritual intuition and "inner guide" that leads us to make the correct life choices. [more]

006 :
25 Aug 2006

The Real Presence – what it really means... In what you'll find is easily his most accessible commentary yet for Catholica, Nathanael Theologos in this short but value-laden reflection drives to the heartwood concepts at the centre, focus and objective of Catholicism. [more]

005 :
18 Aug 2006

Faith as the author... Much of the commentaries of Nathanael seem to be pointing to the paradoxes in our faith. In this reflection he argues "faith" is the author or wellspring of life. It's our faith which helps to reveal to us what the purpose of our lives is. The "purpose" of our lives is not some set of instructions that are emailed to us by God, rather Nathanael argues, the purpose is revealed by the very process of endeavouring to discover what the purpose is. But the author of our being is always present within us (through our faith). He argues it is this author "which enables our life to reveal its purpose for being alive". To reach outwards (i.e. to reveal the purpose of our life, and live it) the paradox is that we have to reach inwards (i.e. towards the author of our life — our sense of faith). The well-lived or "faith-filled life" is revealed in the joy we radiate as we age which, again paradoxically, seems to come as a reflection or reward from how much we reach out to others in need. [more]

004 :
11 Aug 2006

The Priesthood today. Nathanael Theologos reflects on the qualities of three priests who have inspired his sense of vocation. As a contribution to Vocations' Week which is celebrated this week, Catholica Editor, Brian Coyne, challenges readers to write in our forum about what qualities we are seeking from our priests. [more]

003 :
28 Jul 2006

Love as the antidote to fear... Following on from his last contribution in these pages where Theologos asked about the role played by fear in our lives, in his reflection today he poses the proposition that Love is the antidote to fear. [more]

002 :
09 Jul 2006

The role played by fear in our lives... Theologos argues that it is faith in God rather than faith in rules and laws that ultimately provides us with security and the ultimate "peace of heart". [more]

001 :
05 Jul 2006

Conversations with my best friend... Today we introduce an anonymous but well-credentialed writer of spiritual reflections. He'll appear in Catholica Australia under the pen name, Nathanael Theologos. This first reflection seems to take off to some extent from the question I've been asking in a number of forums in recent weeks: "how do we discern the will of God - how do we hear the voice of the Divine - in our lives?" In my life I liken it to the process or "moment" when ideas or suggestions slip over that portal or weir from the unconscious to conscious mind. Nathanael likens it to a conversation with one's best friend, alter-ego, guardian angel or spiritual guide whom he perceives as sharing his own name. –Editor [more]