Beyond Whitewashed Words There’s a peculiar sting when someone says all the right things but means none of them. It’s a hollow echo, a performance of virtue rather than the substance of it. And yet, Jesus names this dynamic with unflinching clarity: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs,Continue reading “Authentic Witness”
Tag Archives: god
Happy New Year
As time continues we emerge into 2025. Often we start the year with enthusiasm and positive energy, that – let’s be honest – can quickly fade as routine begins and challenges emerge. That is okay. It is good to look to improve, to seek the positive, to strive to be our best self. It isContinue reading “Happy New Year”
Christmas 2024
Christmas Eve: the church is aglow with candlelight, the air thick with the scent of incense, children abound, life is vibrant and the choir is in song, and the pews packed with people—some regular parishioners, others unfamiliar faces. There’s something uniquely beautiful about this gathering, where everyone, regardless of their spiritual journey, feels the pullContinue reading “Christmas 2024”
Forgiveness
Recently, I ran a retreat for Year 12s and at the end the focus of our liturgy is forgiveness and reconciliation. For me personally, forgiveness is a challenge. I find it hard to run with the word. Let’s face it – our experiences colour our lens significantly. Too many times I have heard others pretentiouslyContinue reading “Forgiveness”
Trinity Sunday
How do we explore the Holy Trinity? I remember the whole shamrock image from my childhood and the flippant comment from Eric Idle in the film ‘Nuns on the run’ that God is like a shamrock ‘small green and split three ways’. Earlier in the film Robbie Coltrane had a go at explaining the TrinityContinue reading “Trinity Sunday”
What will the future say about us?
What if future historians use social media to recount our history? Not a very accurate picture indeed! We hold back on posting truth to avoid being negative – how many times do we read a post about someone when our experience may be incredibly different? It is appropriate, I believe, to hold back, but whatContinue reading “What will the future say about us?”
Finding what was lost
Losing something (or someone) can be the greatest challenge. Sometimes, you can restore and locate, other times, you have to learn to move on without that person. Even when it is a person, and they will never be there again, we seek to find something to fill the gaping hole left behind. In the ParableContinue reading “Finding what was lost”
His love is everlasting
At Mass this evening the response for the Psalm was about praising God for he was good, ‘his love is everlasting’. I thought about that last phrase. Love is not restricted to God. We love. So what makes his love ‘everlasting’ or beyond our human capacity? Surely my love for my child is everlasting? Well,Continue reading “His love is everlasting”
Where the veil is thin
In the Gospel of Mark (from Palm Sunday) we hear, ‘And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom’. Now this was no mean feat! Traditionally, according to the Talmud, the veil of the Temple was about 10cm thick; it was to separate mankind from the Holy of Holies, symbolicallyContinue reading “Where the veil is thin”
Fatigue
Here in Adelaide we have just had a stretch of hot weather and it drains energy and renders many fatigued. It got me thinking about different types of fatigue. And what of spiritual fatigue today? What does that look like and how prevalent is it? In an individual and personal sense I can say thatContinue reading “Fatigue”
The Female Theologian 