For the last couple weeks, the Sunday scriptures have given us a healthy dose of what is commonly called ‘The Sermon on the Plain’ – Luke’s version of the more famous ‘Sermon on the Mount’ found in Matthew’s Gospel. The lessons have been familiar – but strikingly direct. What we hear is Jesus speaking directly…

St Katharine Drexel was born in Philadelphia on November 26, 1858, the second daughter of wealthy banker Francis Anthony Drexel and his wife, Hannah Langstroth. Her mother passed away shortly after Katharine’s birth, and her father remarried Emma Bouvier in 1860. Katharine and her sister Louisa received an exceptional education through private tutors and travelled…

I recently attended the baptism of my first grandchild, 3-month-old Charlotte. I must say, Charlotte is adorable. So, with that impartial assessment out of the way, I offer some reflections that Charlotte’s baptism brought to mind. My parents were in a huge hurry to baptise us. It was the before the Second Vatican Council, when…

There is a strong urge to believe in the shallow myths of success and power. It is dangerous to accept the fleeting ideas of the sacred which present God in the form of cosmic energy, or in any other manner that is inconsistent with Catholic teaching. My dear young people do not yield to false illusions and passing…

During the last years of his life, Thomas Merton lived in a hermitage outside a monastery, hoping to find more solitude in his life. But solitude is an illusive thing and he found it was forever escaping him. Then one morning he sensed that for a moment he had found it. However, what he experienced…

The Church dedicates the month of February to the Holy Family, an inspiring model of love. This time offers an opportunity for reflection on what love truly means. With St Valentine’s Day accompanied by chocolates, flowers, and idealistic films, it is easy to overlook the deeper meaning of love. But we are left with an…

Matteo Mazzariol   Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death.” These words of GK Chesterton are probably the best to…