Tag Archives: Church

Listening with her heart

By Beth Doherty

Eight years ago, Anna Chandler had a virus. The virus resulted in her full hearing loss in her right ear, a condition which has continued to deteriorate each year since in her left ear.

The charismatic youth minister, teacher and Centacare facilitator however has not let this enormous challenge prevent her from sharing a message of hope with those around her. Continue reading

GLOBAL GIFTS – CHRISTMAS 2011: IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT THEM!

LEAVE the chocolates in the aisle, your friends eat too much anyway.

LEAVE the wine on the shelf, your Dad doesn’t need another drop.

LEAVE the handcreams where they are, your Mum doesn’t really doesn’t like them.

AND don’t even think about toys. There’s just no more room for them.
So take a deep breath. For Christmas why not buy your kin something useful? Something really useful.

Aid and development agency, Caritas Australia, has launched its 2011 Global Gifts campaign _ a one-stop shop for anyone who thinks beyond their own wants. Continue reading

Letter for International Day for People with Disability – a letter from Bishop Terry Brady

Dear Friends in Christ,

At our baptism, we are welcomed and commissioned to spread the Good News, to produce fruit that will last and to use our God-given gifts. We are all called to witness the life of Jesus Christ through our prayer, our offerings and how we share our gifts. It is through the life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Saviour that we are challenged and called to be a loving, compassionate and inclusive community; to be truly One Body in Christ.
The President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Philip Wilson, in his recent letter to the Catholic Church in Australia, invites and calls us to a Year of Grace. It will be a time to contemplate the face of Jesus Christ; for it is when we recognise Jesus Christ in ourselves and each other that we are led on a profound and mysterious journey towards understanding the meaning of being One Body in Christ.

Continue reading

What is this “Year of Grace”?

By Fr Peter Brock

You’ll have seen Archbishop Wilson’s Letter, on behalf of the Australian Bishops, announcing the Year of Grace [www.yearofgrace.catholic.com.au]
The Bishops have chosen, as a sort of sub-heading, a phrase from Pope John Paul II’s Novo Millennio Ineunte: “starting afresh from Christ”.
So that might be the four-word answer to the question.
At the meeting of our National Planning Team, we brainstormed a slightly longer version:
“Listening to the wisdom of God, the Year of Grace calls us to:
· encounter Jesus Christ in prayer
· seek healing and renewal through repentance
· grow as disciples by cultivating the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that the Church in Australia will continue to be transformed by the power of Christ’s resurrection”. Continue reading

Monsignor John Murphy – A reflection from Fr Maurizio Pettena CS

Photo courtesy of the Catholic Leader, Brisbane.

By Fr Maurizio Pettena CS

This text is also available on the website www.acmro.catholic.org.au

Monsignor John J. Murphy, former Director of the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office concluded his journey here on earth, Monday, November 14, 2011. The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office joins the many people who mourn and offer prayers for this truly good and faithful servant of Jesus Christ and of the Church. Continue reading

“One Body in Christ” –Disability Council releases new resource for people with disabilities


“One Body in Christ” – Release of a New Resource for Welcoming People with Disability
Media Release
16.11.11

The Australian Catholic Disability Council and the Disability Projects Office of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference have released today a new resource for parishes and Church communities called One Body in Christ, Welcoming People with Disability. Continue reading

Graces in my Diocese – reflections on an Archdiocesan Assembly

By Archbishop Mark Coleridge, photos by Loui Seselja

I have no illusions about the challenges we are facing, but I have high hopes for the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn. Both the challenges and the opportunities were on show last Saturday at the Archdiocesan Assembly attended by over four hundred members of the Archdiocesan community. They came from far and wide, from every corner of this far-flung and very diverse Diocese; and it struck me that in some ways this was the “core leadership” group. Continue reading

Put out into the deep – the New Evangelisation’s challenge to the Church

By Marita Winters, Director, Catholic Enquiry Centre and the National Office for Evangelisation

Recently I’ve been part of several dinner conversations on the state of the Catholic Church.
Does that sound familiar?

During one, there was comment on the average age of the few participants at a vigil Mass -the estimate given was “at least mid-60’s”. During another there was discussion around the overwhelming participation for registration for a parish Sacramental program one week and the return to half-empty seats the following week. Continue reading