Here we are launched into another month and in the season of Lent. I have spent a lot of time this week reviewing ways that people engage with this time of preparation for Easter. I think back to the Godly Play story that explains that this time of preparation takes six weeks because Easter is…
Dear Friends, This week’s gospel has a deceptively simple message that we can paraphrase: take care of who you follow! It is interesting that that the phrase ‘Take care’ has become a prosodic feature of our social interaction. It’s a kind of social lubricant. People use it constantly as a way to end a conversation….
Dear Friends, Of recent weeks, our gospel readings have offered strands that merge into an important theme. We should love our enemies. How hard it is to embrace that notion! The human heart wants to rail against it. Anger so easily bubbles to the surface. We heard the statement from the prophet Jeremiah in our…
This week we revisit the Beatitudes. I wonder what sort of relationship you have with these statements of faith. The Beatitudes could be used as a justification of suffering. Such an approach encourages a life focused on eternity. Current hardships will be rewarded in heaven. We should take careful heed of Jesus’ teaching, but I…
This week’s gospel (Luke 5: 1–11) gives us pause to think about what it means to follow Jesus. You may have heard me say that our relationship with Evangelism depends on our personal experience and our personality. I am shy by nature, so persuasion and testimony make me feel uncomfortable. However, this gospel gives me…
This week’s celebration of Candlemas marks the end of the Epiphanytide that bridges Christmas and Ordinary Time. In truth, I feel sadness at letting go of the beauty and joy that accompanies this early part of the year. Our nativity scenes in church have been packed away. I was a Godly Play teacher for many…
When we imagine the world as God intends for it to be, it is a pictureof unfathomable love manifesting as beauty, goodness and grace. InAustralia, we believe it’s a picture of our nation listening deeply toAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the truth of ourshared history. A picture where pursuing true reconciliation bringsan end…
This week our Advent candle is pink, a less sombre colour than the seasonal violet. So some churches will use pink vestments. The penitential theme of our readings has shifted and there is a more joyful tone to lighten the mood. This half-way point in the Advent season is a wonderful time to pause and…
It has been another exciting week for me in the parish. Because Advent always feels like a runaway train, I have to balance activity with purposeful reading and prayer. I need to ground myself in the Eucharist as I wait on the Spirit to enable threads to emerge in my preaching. Our new Christmas Calm…