From politicians, business leaders and the population in general are eagerly waiting and hoping for the day when life can return to normal.Question: Is that the best we can hope for?I would ask you to ponder upon this enforced semi-isolation as an opportunity to reflect upon our lifestyles.Quakers (in their gathering for worship) are comfortable with the sound of silence. It is an attenuated openness to the inspiration of God or the Spirit. The journalist Tom Robinson writes: If God is trying to tell us something, the thinking goes, how can we hear him amid the hymns, psalms, sermons, and recited prayers of a conventional church service. So, for 350 years Quakers having been sitting down, sh...

Pope Francis prayed for the world last Friday evening here in Rome.    Here are some excerpts of his meditation:  "When evening had come" (Mk 4:35). The Gospel passage we have just heard begins like this. For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice in people's gestures, their glances give them away. We find ourselves afraid and lost. Like the disciples in the Gospel we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have real...

Jim Carty sm,  leader of our jpic Australian group, has written the following Christmas letter: Chiaroscuro is an Italian term applied to those paintings where the central figure or feature is bathed or suffused in bright light (chiaro) surround by dark (oscuro) indistinct sometimes threatening, foreboding figures or features, suggesting danger, uncertainty- the nativity story as described in the Gospel is the focus of thousands of artists using this technique. Two such paintings by the same artist capture well this contrast:The calm before the approaching storm and all its concomitant fears. The nativity with its promise fulfilled, offering the light of hope and possible peace in a fra...

​Pope Francis, on the 4th December gave an address to the  participants in the XXIV Public Session of the seven Pontifical Academies.  His words are appropriate for us as Marists in this time of Advent: Mary, a teacher of humanity The Pope reflected on  "Mary - way to peace among cultures" and recalled briefly on how different popes expressed veneration for Our Lady.He recalled the dramatic experience of the two world wars that led Pope Pius XII to uphold Mary as a beacon of peace for a frightened humanity.The Second Vatican Council, he continued, pointed to her as a "teacher of humanity" and a model for the Church in its mission to serve the "deepest aspir...

God of Deep Time,God of the ever-expanding universe,God of Light of the Supernovas, and of the Darkness of the Black holes of our Universe,God who Resurrected Life after 5 mass extinctions of earth,God who knew us before we were born, and gave us our name and our place in this Universe, You know our predicament at this point in time,You gave us a mind to discern the signs of the times:The disruption in climate, The loss of biodiversity, and the fragility of our future,The fear of the stranger and the protection of borders to keep out our brothers and sisters. Darkness is not dark for You, and night is as clear as the day.In you we place our trust.Show us how to think, and what to do, to prov...

Continuing the blessing of St Paul: "may your spirit, life and body be kept blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" [1 Thess 5:23]                                                                    Mrs. Bobbie Hall,  Class instructor and Department Chair ​writes:                                           ​Mind and Body Wellness is a new class offered at Notre Dame Preparatory School in Ponti...

​ Michael Whelan SM, Parish Priest of St Patrick's, Church Hill,  Sydney established the St Dympna Community in May 2018.   The purpose of the community is to provide a hospitable gathering for victims an  survivors of sexual abuse who want to be part of the Catholic community, but do not feel comfortable attending Mass. The community, of about 12 people,  meets once a month for prayer, sharing scripture, and anointing with oil.  St Dympna is the patron saint of the nervous, emotionally disturbed, mentally ill and sexually abused. Her feast day is May 15th. Saint Dympna (also: Dymphna, Dimpna) was the daughter of a pagan Irish king and his Christian wife in...

​This week we  share the address of Pope Francis to participants at the International Conference on Religions and Sustainable Development Goals held at the Vatican from 7 to 9 March 2019.I greet all of you gathered for this International Conference on Religions and the Sustainable Development Goals.Sustainability and InclusionWhen we speak of sustainability, we cannot overlook how important it is to include and to listen to all voices, especially those usually excluded from this type of discussion, such as the voices of the poor, migrants, indigenous people, the young. I am pleased to see a variety of participants at this conference bringing a wide range of voices, of opinions...