The Vicar of Box Hill Blog

MOVING ON

2009-10-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

After over 34 years in Parish Ministry it is time for a change. As I indicated I have been suffering the effects of "burn out" and have had some 12 weeks of leave.

I have accepted the appointment as: "General Manager, Parish Partnerships and Community Development" with Anglicare Victoria.

This will be a big change, but I believe a fulfillibng and exciting one. It will allow me to use the experience and gifts I have and it will allow me to follow some of the things I feel passionate about.

I will be able to work in the area of social justice and bring to fruition some of the Gospel precepts about caring for the poor and the outcast. The Anglicare Vic Website will inform you of this area of its work.

I finish in the Parish on Nov 29th and begin with Anglicare on 1/12/09

God Bless you.

Depressed!

2009-09-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

As readers will be aware I am currently on sick leave. The diagnoses is Depression. The form I have, I call "burn out".
The effect is that you have a headache 24/7 and lose all energy and enthusiasm for anything and everything.

It's a pity we tend to be so embaressed about such illness, when it so prevelant and so treatable.

It is good to see Andrew Robb M.H.R. "outing himself"

What is the cure? Counselling, rest and medication. Mostly it takes time.

The cause? For me, it is too much work with a high emotional stress.

So, when I return to work, there will need to be some changes, and I am talking to the Church Wardens about that.

We all need to take these illnesses seriously and provide the care that each patient needs.

I am very grateful to the Parish for its patience and care, and to the Diocese for allowing me to take the time that I need to fully recover.

a break!

2009-09-14T03:22:00.000-07:00

As you are aware In am mnot a GREAT BLOGGER

I have been on sick leave - depression/burnout - will take up the pen again in October

In the meantime - keep the faith!!

The Age Sat 27-6

2009-06-26T18:50:00.000-07:00

I was saddened to read of the gun toting Pastor in this a.m's Age.
It begs the question: do we let The Gospel inform our culture and bring about change, or do we allow culture to inform and change the Gospel?
Jesus was the supreme "non violent" man, even to the point of giving himself up to death on the Cross. His teachings in the Beatitudes [Matt Ch 5-7] and elsewhere in the N.T. speak of non violent responses and active peacemaking.
"Everyone who lives by the sword, dies by the sword".
Whilst there may well be a place for guns for self defence, e.g. WW2 against Fascism, Gospel believing Christians must work tirelessly for peace and non violent responses to all situations.
Jesus: "Blessed are the peacemakers..."

P.S.
I am not a good blogger - but I would be interested in your comments on the above

A new way

2009-04-19T16:01:00.000-07:00

The Archbishop of Canterbury challenges us to look back to the monastic traditions as a new way of living.
His challenge comes as the world struggles with the issues of the Global Financial Crisis, climate change and so on.
As Christians we have a rich tradition of "community" which is based on mutual care, seeking the common good, and pursuing goals of peace and justice.
In the early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles we get an insight into how the first Christians lived.
A real challenge lay in how we might embrace these ideals in a very secular suburban world.
But just as the First century Christians turned the then world upside down, perhaps it is time for contemporary Christaians to turn our world upside down.
After all, we are the "resurrection people" - we have the Way, who is also Truth and Life!
Christ is Risen: Alleluia!

Pause a momnet

2009-04-01T03:13:00.000-07:00

The A.F.L. Season has started once again. I used to love the footy. But somehow it is just not the same. Call me old fashioned if you like. I loved the days when club loyalty was paramount. When the players were committed to the team. Now with all the money, the draft and all of that - footy is more about money and business. Too many things are now measured in dollar terms. I guess we cannot turn back the clock. However, it would be nice to think that we could just enjoy things for their own sake.

Perhaps as we come to Holy Week and Easter, you can take time to stop, to reflect on these great moments and see what they might mean in your life.
The first Easter Day changed the world for ever; how will this Easter Day affect your Life?
Will it cause you to pause and think about the timeless values of love, peace, justice, compassion and joy?
Will you stop and think about your relationship with God?
Good Friday might cause us all to pause and think of the destructiveness of human sin, of how it sets one person against another, one nation against another.
Jesus' resurrection might once again tell us all of God's power, of God's healing, restorative love.

Take some time to ponder these things
God Bless you

A SERMON

2009-03-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

THE LEARNED MAN SAID
TO THE ALMOND TREE;
SPEAK TO ME OF GOD.
AND THE ALMOND TREE BLOSSOMED.

ANON.

Let freedom roll!

2009-03-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

I have started to grow a beard. So what?

Well, that's would you would think should be people's reaction.

Well no; it is fascinating how people feel that they must express their opinion on beards and tell me what I can or can't do with my face!

O.K.; you might have to look at me, but, I also look at you, and I accept how you present yourself. If you want to make a change - that's your choice.

It is fascinating how people feel that they can tell another person how they should look. Surely we are free individuals who have the right to make simple choices: a beard, a new hair colour, wearing a bright pink shirt!

An important part of being human, is having the freedom to be yourself. Loving our neighbour is about letting them express their individuality in a way that they are happy with.

So, I am growing a beard - please - let me have that freedom!!

Think on this

2009-02-28T23:17:00.000-08:00

Unus christianus, nullus christianus.

The single Christian is no Christian

Fires

2009-02-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

It has been a dreadful time in Victoria this past week. You cannot read a paper or use the electronic media without a heavy heart. The tragedy is beyond comprehension.
The responses of people have been amazing. The compassion so many people are showing encourages ones faith in humanity.
The dreadful statement of Danny Nalliah of "Catch the Fire" ministries deserve the strongest condemnation. To say the fires were God's Judgement on Victoria shows a complete ignorance of both the Scriptures and our understanding of God, who is Love.
The Cross of Christ reminds us that God is in the very midst of our suffering, God is in the midst of our pain and despair. There is nothing blacker than Good Friday, but there is nothing more glorious than Easter day.
We don't have all the answers, we see, as St paul says, through a glass, darkly. But we know, that God, in Christ, is present with us.
"Even though I walk through the valley and shadow of death, I fear no evil, you are with me!" [Ps 23]
In these current circumstances we are called to act compassionately, be generous, and pray fervently, trusting in the God who will lead us into the glory of His Kiingdom.

A New World?

2009-01-28T13:35:00.000-08:00

Well, are we in a new world? We have President Obama in the U.S. and so many hopes are pinned on him.

No one man can do all that is laid on his shoulders.

However, I hope that the optimism and hope that people have will usher in a time when people will work togetjher to fulfill those hopes.
But with the realities of the Middle East and the financial crisis that is a very big ask.

As Christians look to the Gospels we find an agenda by which we can live and find the answers we need. But these are often very different to those of the society about us.

The prophet Micah summed up this agenda when he proclaimed that we should "love mercy, do justice and walk humbly with our God".

Jesus summed it all up in the two fold commandment: Love God and Love your neighbour as yourself.

Read through Matthew chapters 5 - 7 and ponder on Jesus' teaching - it challenges us to a new way of living - a way that gives LIFE, eternal life.

Welcome to 2009

2009-01-01T16:38:00.000-08:00

The New Year has arrived. I hope that for all my readers it will be a good year - despite the times we are in.

The unresolved mess in the Middle East continues with all its pain and suffering.

I cannot help but ask: why does the international community let this state of affairs continue for so long?

There will be no peace until Palestine is afforded the rights and status of an independant State. No one can expect the Palestinian people to live as prisoners and refugees on the land in which they have dwelt since before the birth of Christ.

There is little point in apportioning blame: a just solution is needed if there is to be an end to the suffering that continues in the Gaza and West Bank.

As Christians celebrate the birth of Christ; "the Prince of Peace", we should all be praying for and doing what ever we can to encourage and support any peace process that seeks justice and security for all.

We need a new way.

2008-12-10T20:43:00.000-08:00

Over the next week or so lot's of people are getting money from the government. It's all part of the plan to "get the economy going". It seems consumerism will solve the problems rampart consumerism created(!!??!!).
Perhaps it is time for western Society to have a major rethink. Is it time for us to take to heart the challenge to live more simply? I remember a call from the late 60's - "live more simply that others might simply live."
At Christmas, in my family we are trending to giving "aid packages" as gifts. You know the sort of things I mean, you can get them from World Vision, Oxfam, Tear and so on. You can give a goat, school supplies, a well - you name it. Instead of giving more stuff to people who don't need it, we give to people and communities that really need very basic items. Our experience is that the recipients really appreciate such gifts. The more and more ordinary folks share like this the better the world will be and we will generate good change from the bottom up.
Have a Holy and Blessed Christmas - and give a goat to a third world family - it will transform their life!

life is like a game of golf.

2008-11-26T21:03:00.000-08:00

Last week I played a game of golf - the first time in 12 mionths. We played "AMBROSE" We were in teams of 4. It works like this. We all tee'd off, then we selected the best positioned ball and all had our second shot from there. And so it continued. As a very rusty player i was able to make a significant contribution - I had a few "pearlers" of shots. It was a great team effort.

St Paul speaks about the Christian community being a "body" and we are all different parts of the body - working together for the common good.

This stands over and against the rampart individualism that affects so much of modern life.

I find it so much more satisfying when we use the "team model" do you?

Eating.....

2008-11-17T13:44:00.000-08:00

My wife and I have just had an enjoyable holiday in Tasmania. Eating out at a variety of places we made a few observations.
1. The number of people who are seriously overwieght.
2. The size of meals people eat - that is of course facilitated by the size of serves the venues give the customer.
We found ourselves ordering "entree" serves whenever we could.
3. The lack of thought given to what one eats.

We are a nation that in may ways is eating itself to death.

Jesus speaks about "loving your nieghbour as you love yourself"; part of "loving one self" is bound up in caring for our physical health - this involves such things as thinking about what we eat and what exercise we do. And as parents helping our children making good choices in these areas as well.

It seems so simple, it is at one level; but when confronted with advertising, the size of meals venues serve and so on; it all becomes that much more difficult. We each need to take a greater responsibility for our own well being - learning what it is to "love oneself" in a "Godly" way.

The Community of Faith.

2008-10-13T23:31:00.000-07:00

Over the past month or so I have been heavily involved with some terminally ill people who have subsequently died. They were people of great faith, and the remarkeable thing was their lack of any anxiety or fear. And during their illness and dying they ministered to their families and helped them as they made their journey.

Having faith does make a difference.

And the faith of these people has been nurtured and strengthened through their participation in the life of the community of faith, where Sunday by Sunday they received the Sacrament of Holy Communuion. This together with their reading of the Scriptures and their prayer life has been the source of their life in Christ.

Being an active participant in the Community of faith is such a vital part of it all.

If you are reading this and don't belong to, or are not a very active member consider the infinite worth of being a part odf the Church - the community of faith - the body of Christ

Money

2008-09-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

I am sorry - I am not a good blogger - but here I am back again.
What do you make of the current world Financial crisis?
It has certainly exposed the folly of rampart greed and the way in which the market so often acts like a "gaming table"rather than as a well ordered business activity.
At the bottom of it all is greed.

Money, in itself, is fine. St paul aware of the dangers of money, or the desire for it wrote: "the love of money is the root of all evil"

Jesus saw the dangers too: "You cannot serve God and wealth" - going on to say how you would end up loving one and despising the other.

We all need a good understanding of what is enough. What is a fair share, and how we can make sure that everyone has sufficient.

In the end we will only do that as we put God as our first priority and help others do the same.

It is when we love God first - that everything else falls into its proper place.

Olympics

2008-08-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

The Olympics are dominating the media at the moment. It is inspirring to watch the brilliance of so many athletes. For the victors there is the crowning glory of the Gold Medal - the reward of often a lifetime of training.
For others, despite such stirling achievement, there is only the rewrad of having competed.

St Paul talks about trining up for running our race. All of life is a "race" of one sort or another. We need to train for it.

As Christians we are challenged to learn to be Christ like. We do this through the discipline of Prayer, study of the Scriptures and our sharing in the Christian fellowship.

The more Christ like we are, the more we can reflect his light and truth into the world about us.

AS we run our race the reward is the " unfading crown of eternal life"

Slavery

2008-07-29T22:29:00.000-07:00

Today, July 30th, the Church remembers William Wilberforce (died 1833); he was the great social reformer who worked tirelessly for the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. He led a group of campaigners who worked selflessly for many years to bring this evil trade to an end: often at great personal cost.
They had to fight powerful vested interests - like so many things that are wrong - the lure of wealth blinded many to the evil, and as St paul reminds us: "the love of money is the root of all evil".
And, sadly, today the slave trade is still alive and well in all sorts of places around the world - even in Australia. There are "sex slaves" in the sex industry. Young women lured by deceit, sold by impoverished families or kidnapped, are brought to Australia to work in the sex industry and they may eventually work their way out of it - usually with nothing more than the clothes that they stand in.
In many third world countries children are forced into work - just to survive - receiving nothing more than scraps of food for long days of hard physical labour.
In areas of civil war, prisoners are sold into slavery.
This evil is a blight on humanity - we must as we best can support all efforts to abolish slavery - it can be as simple as buying "free trade" products - e.g. coffee and chocolate, supporting organisations like Anglicord and World Vision, who work to eridicate slavery in third world countries through their community support programmes etc.
Do not bury your head in the sand - look to what you can do - a little "googling" will open up all sorts of possibilities.

W.F.D.

2008-07-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

Well, World Youth day is here, and what a celebration it is for our friends in the R.C. Church.
It gets the Church in the news in a positive light - that's a change!
It provides all Christian communities with opportunities to share their faith.

It is encouraging to see so many young people passionate about their faith.

As we wrestle with the issues of Climate Change, rising oil prices, housing affordibility, food shortages and so on - as a community the Church has some very positive things to say.

Jesus challenges us all to be truly loving - i.e. to be compassionate, selfless, generous, just and peace makers.
These things are not easy to live, but as the Christian community we can, and with the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling we can, together fulfill God's will, and purpose.

So let us take the opportunities W.Y.D. brings.

Dying well - Euthanasia

2008-06-30T18:28:00.000-07:00

I have just read the Medical Treatment (Physician Assisted Dying) Bill 2008. I was very impressed with it. It certainly does not open the floodgates for Euthanasia, but it does allow Doctor assisted dying in particular circumstances. The Title for the Bill is: :"A Bill for an Act to enable a mentally competent adult person suffering intolerably from a terminal or advanced incurable illness to exercise their right to end their life by requesting medical assistance from their doctors, to protect doctors who assist, to prevent misuse of their ability to assist, and for other purposes."
I commend the Bill to your reading - it is easy to find - just Google the title as italisised above.

I don't think we can be black and white on this issue. There are just too many shades of grey. We do need to move very carefully. As Christians our consideration should be done with a good theological undergirding of our responses.

I would be interested in your comments

Love one another.

2008-06-24T23:57:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of talk in the press amd elsewhere about the Anglican Communion and a split - that being between the Conservatives and Liberals - what ever those distinctions finally mean. Me, I am happy to be called a Prayer Book Anglican and hope that we can all live with a sense of harmony and accept the differences we have with both grace and humour. It worries me when anyone claims to posses the "truth" and then tag everyone else as wrong. The variations and even contradictions of the scriptures show that even those authors understood what is "true" in different ways. Let's face it, there are 2 distinct Creation narratives within the first 2 chapters of Genesis.

We do well to have a true humility. We should read the Scriptures carefully, look carefully to our traditions, and use common sense and work prayerfully, seeking a consensus.

We should look at Jesus: listening to his words, and also observing how he acted in relationship to others.

And then, we should take to heart Jesus' words: "love one another, even as I have loved you."

2008-06-11T15:16:00.000-07:00

I was fascinated to read in the paper today oif the discovery of what is believed to be the oldest Christian church - dating back to the time of the First generatyion of Christians. It has been discovered in northern Jordan where early Christians fled to escape persecutions in Jerusalem - possibly those referred to by the Acts of the Apostles and led by Saul who was to become the great Missionary Apostle of the Church.

These discoveries are historically interesting because they point to the fact that the Christian faith is a faith bound up in human history. It is not a faith based on myth or legend - buty in the very reakl encounter with the divine - in the person of Jesus.

"and the Word became Flesh and dwelt amonst us - full fo grace and truth."

Various

2008-05-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

There are two things i would like to blog on about:
1. The Sudan. Again we are seeing acts of genocide against the Southern Sudanese - apparently with the support of the Sudanese military. Towns are being decimated, people are being murdered or driven off their land to a very uncertain future - at best finding safety in a refugee camp. How often will the world stand by and watch? We all need to urge our government to speak out - especially in the U.N. to get some real action to save these people.

2. Art or prornography?
The current debate over Bill Henson's photo's highlights the tension between art and pornography which comes up whenever provocative 'works' are displayed. Are far should artistic freedom go? It is a debate that will always be very lively. My view is that when it involves children/adolescents we must always take a conservative view, protecting the innocence of the young. Any freedom has to be balanced against responsibility. In this case art should recognise its responsibility to protect the innocent. What does the display of Henson's photos do in terms of giving permission to others to do in terms of photos?

Bits and Pieces

2008-05-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

Well dear readers I am back!

It has been quite a time over the past few months.
A period of being off on sick leave, Easter and a trip to Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

My illness revolves around "burnout" - a severe reminder of the balance we all need in our lives. The importance of proper rest and recreation.

We all do well to heed the commandment "6 days shall you labour....." Sadly, so many people are under so much pressure from work, family needs etc that we sometimes lose sight of the need for rest and re-creation: we all need time "to smell the roses".

Our Easter celebrations were a time of spiritual enrichment: the great drama that unfolds from Passion [Palm] Sunday through to Easter Day calls us back to what is most important in our life: a living relationship with God - Creator of heaven and earth. Jesus' death on the cross reminds us of how far God will go to draw us into that relationship.

After Easter Judy and I led a group of parishioners and others to the Middle East.

It was an amazing experience. Walking where Jesus walked, reading the stories of Elijah on Mt Carmel, the place where he defeated the priests of Baal, and being in Jerusalem and experiencing all its holy and historical sites brings the Scriptures alive in a new and exciting way.

One also gets a strong sense of the tensions and conflict that is part of the Middle East. We felt quite safe all of the time - but you wonder if peace is ever possible in that part of the world. I am becoming more convinced that "fundamentalism" be it Jewish, Islamic, Christian or Athiest is a dangerous form of belief - it leads to intolerance and often accepts violence as a means of achieving its ends.

We all need to join in the Psalmist's longing: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and may all who love her prosper"

In the end we must take Jesus' words to heart:"love one another, even as I have loved you."

2008-03-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

The Vicar is on sick leave until 31st March - so no blogging for a while

free speech

2008-02-12T13:35:00.000-08:00

What did you think of all the furore after the Archbishop of Canterbury's speech last Thursday? As a result of a carefully crafted speech about the practice of faith and the rule of law in a multi faith society he has been condemned by many fo9r comments about using some aspects of sharia law in relation to marriage and divorce matters. What he was proposing was in a sense quite inocuous, but the reaction has been amazing. Largely because the "tabloid" media have made sensational headlines and run articles that bear little resemblence to anything the A/Bp actually said. Also, they have played on the latent fears the general British public has of anything Islamic.

The greater tragedy is the assault on free speech. The reaction would cause any leader a pause, will I speak about this or that issue or not?
Civil society is based in part upon the freedom of its members to express their point of view.
If the reaction to the A/Bp's speech is anything to go by, we are at risk of being ruled by the mob!

We need to value free speech, and honour it. We need to encourage our thinkers and leaders to express a wide variety of views, we need to have our minds stretched so that we can have genuine progress and a richer and more harmonious society; built on respect for the other and tolerance for a variety of points of view.

environmental....

2007-12-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

Is the Climate changing? Is there Global warming?
Whether what we are experiencing with the climate is cyclical or man made we certainly are confronted with some stark realities.
The Northern Ice cap is certainly diminishing. Island nations, especially in the Pacific are expereiencing extreme tides, cyclones are more devastating as the recent ones on the coast of P.N.G. and Bangladesh show.
Couple this with the obvious man made disasters like the massive oil spill off the Korean Coast and we see the damage that is happening to our planet: which is both a robust and a vulnerable place at the same time.
God has called us to be good stewards of the earth, to care for it, to delight in it. We are also called to share the resources equitably.
Against the huge things happening in places like China - one of the planet's worst polluters - our efforts may seem puny and ineffective - but we must do our bit.
We are called to be good stewards, to be faithful - in that is our peace and from a tniy seed......

The environment

2007-12-05T01:16:00.000-08:00

Climate Change is all the talk at the moment. We have a new Government which seems to be more committed than the previous one in dealling with the issue; there is the big conference in Bali. Will nations take it all seriously or will money interests rule supreme? Indonesia which is host of the conference, "talks the talk" but the rape of its rain forests sends a very different message.

In the Church's calendar we are in the season of ADVENT. One of the themes here is the "new creation". As we await in hope for the new creation - described in both Isaiah and in the Revelation - we also need to play our part today in caring for the created order. We are responsible for the resources we use,l we are responsible for the rubbish we make - we have our responsibilities to care for, and delight in the creation - God has made us "caretakers" - are you taking "good care"?

eye for an eye?

2007-11-06T18:01:00.000-08:00

It was refreshing to hear the reaction of the family of the victim to the punishmnet given to the 7 youths who had assaulted their daughter. There had been much criticism that the sentence - which involved supervision orders and rehab programmes was too light. The family of the girl were looking for "rehabilitation" rather than punishment. So refreshing - as a society we seem to be being drawn into the old "eye for an eye" mentality. Christian teaching points us to forgiveness and restoration. Each person must be accountable for what they have done, and where appropriate some form of punishment should be given. But at the heart of our system we should be seeking to bring about renewal, seeking to build a richer and more civil society.

Election time?

2007-10-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

We grind along slowly to the election. Are you as sick as I am of the tedious "pre election- campaign"?
One of the things that disturbs me is the lack of vision for Australia by both parties. There seems to be an awful appeal to the "middle ground" which is about individual prosperity and has little to do with the bigger issues that confront us: environmental sustainability, equitable distribution of wealth, indigenous affairs, care of our ageing population, infrastructure development etc. When Kevin Rudd first became leader he began to articulate a vision, but that seems to have been lost in "me to-ism", John Howard swans around the country trying to buy marginal seats. There is little vision for our future offered in that process.
In the "good old days" (?) Whitlam and Keating, Killen and others all had "big pictures" to inspire us with.
Now it seems to be all reduced to froth and bubble, personalities rather than a real vision for our future?

Perhaps it is upto each of us to approach candidates and ask them hard questions about policy - make them earn our votes. Every letter, email etc to a politician is said to represent 100 votes.

It is in our hands. Democracy survives, even flourishes when ordinary people are engaged.

Go to the Party's websites, the White Pages has all the addresses of members - do your bit!!

2007-09-20T16:45:00.000-07:00

ANSWERING A QUESTION.

This morning I listened to our Treasurer, Peter Costello, on a radio interview. Like all politicians he said what he wanted to say despite the questions that was asked. Some questions were just totally ignored and on he rattled with his "political speak". Sadly, too many politicians respond to questioning in the same way.

Is it too much to ask, as we approach an election, that we get straight answers from all our politicians?

How can we make informed choices if we are not given clear answers.

As we draw near to the Federal election I am sure that you, like me, would like to hear what vision our politicians have for our future as a nation; what is their "Big Picture"?

A good democracy is built on robust debate and integrity, not weasal words.

The lesson is for us - to answer questions honestly - and set a good example.

Hope

2007-09-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

Recently I attended a "civil" funeral. And let me say, it was extremely well done. Great care and reverence was shown. But what intrigued me was the use of religious language and symbol whilst trying to be "non religious". There was a real sense of groping around in the dark for answers to deep questions about "life", "death", "purpose" and "the eternal". As a Christian I would have loved to have been able to jump up and say - "there is the bright light of Christ" that will illuninate and answer all your groping, all your questions.
It was not the time for that, but we must all, as we have opportunity, share the Good News with others so that they might find "The Light of Christ" and in that light find the answers to life's deep questions.

Intregrity

2007-08-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

What did the Treasurer say at Dinner 2 years ago?
Does it really matter?
In the media discussion that followed this "event" the question of who is telling the truth and who is not rises.
If we are going to have a fair election, if we are going to have good government, if we are going to have quality media we need to have confidence that every one is telling the truth.
Of course, people will see things differently, they will give differing interpretations, but we need confidence that underneath all of this there is a basic honesty.
Sadly today, in politics and the media this basic reality seems all too often to go missing. Drivers like Opinion Polls etc seem to tempt people to lower standards.
The New Testament encourages to "speak the truth in love" - that is a great place for everyone to start.

2007-08-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday 28-7 our parish was thrilled to join in on the celeberatuion of the ordination of 2 Sudanese Deacons to the Priesthood. In our Diocese we have a large and growing Sudanese Community. It is very interesting to get to know these people, to hear their stories and to assist in their resettlement. Getting to know these people helps us realise how lucky we are in Australia, as well as realising how important it is to share the riches we have with others - both here and through overseas aid programmes. Part of Jesus call to us is to love our neighbour - we are finding practical expression for this with the people of the Sudan.

Terror

2007-07-18T23:22:00.000-07:00

Terror!
Are you worried about the way the Howard Government is using its executive power to get around the Judicial system?
It worries me that in its enthusiasm for the War on Terror the Government is too willing to abandon due process.
It is appears that Dr Haneef is at worst a tiny bit player, and, anyway, he can be well monitored by the AFP if he is out on bail.
I cannot but help wonder if it is one of those "rabbits in the hat" Howard is looking for.

Indigenous Affairs

2007-07-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

It's a while since my last effort - I am not a great "blogger"
Do you share my concerns with the way the federal geovernment is intervening into Indigenous Affairs in the N.T.?
Apart from being heavy handed, it seems so ill conceived. Talk about policy on the run!
And why now?
These issues have been crying out for attention for a very long time.
And, until recently Federal funds have been reduced, cutting programmes that address issues of abuse, disadvantage and so on.
In such an area of desperate need we have too many levels of Government involved, to much political point scoring.
I hope that out of all of this current activity sensitive and sensible programmes will evolve that will meet the real needs of Indigenous Communities right accross Australia.

A Baby left

2007-05-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

The story of baby Catherine highlights the sad plight of some women who fall pregnant and are not able to cope with their new situation. The Headline seen in Sydney in the Daily Telegraph highlights the unthinking reaction many people easily have. With all the support that is available these days, for a person to do this shows a very desperate situatiion that cries out for help. Not only should we be sympathetic to the plight of the mother, we must all work hard to create communities where any person is able to find the help and support they need.

Too many people still experince alienation and loneliness. As a Christian community we must always seek to be welcoming and inclusive.

Free Speech

2007-04-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

Radio talk back hosts get a lot of freedom. But with freedom also comes responsibility. The debate this week over Alan Jones' comments re the Cronulla riots show how irresponsible he was, and sadly he has been able to thumb his nose at his critics - even getting a virtual "pat on the back" from the P.M. Yet, conversely when a Muslim cleric airs his views he is widely condemned. Their seems to be an unfair bias evident. If Alan J can have such wide freedom we can't the Mufti of Australia enjoy the same?

First effort

2007-04-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

This starts off what I hope will be a fruitful dialogue with visitors to our site.