Faith and mission are behind 15-year old William Henry’s international business selling rosaries. “My mission is to spread the power of the rosary and our faith to the world through my business,” Henry says. It all started a few years ago when a friend made Henry an Irish penal rosary made up of just one-decade, Read more
“Enough is enough! I’m writing the President!” After hitting the umpteenth brick wall, my wife had reached the end of her rope. As a Canadian citizen in America, married to an American, obtaining a green card for work should have been a walk in the park for her. But it wasn’t. After three years of Read more
I’ve seen this observation attributed to theologian Paul Tillich and to popular Christian writer Anne Lamott, but it’s been expressed in one way or another by mystics and preachers across the centuries. It says that the opposite of faith isn’t doubt. Tillich, I believe, said doubt is a necessary part of faith. Lamott has said Read more
When I retired from teaching, I decided to try to learn to draw. I bought Betty Edwards’ highly recommended “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.” One of the ways to free the right brain from left brain control, writes Edwards, is to practice drawing negative spaces — the spaces that surround the objects Read more
Poor St Thomas, Apostle, whose feast we celebrated recently, can never live down that time he wasn’t in the room where it happened, when the risen Jesus first appeared to his disciples. The room was locked, concealing the fearful followers after Jesus’ crucifixion, so we may wonder, where was Thomas? Why wasn’t he there, hiding Read more
If there’s one patient I’ll always remember with special fondness, it’s Ron. Ron was in his late 80s, a bushman who valued his independence. He wouldn’t let Hospice visit him at home because he didn’t want the neighbours to know he was sick. But he did agree to me visiting him at the pub, so Read more
Most Americans understand the Bible as a rulebook for how to live your life, but fewer think of it as a hymnal. Yet the long history of American—mostly Protestant—hymnody, set to the cadence of the King James Bible, is embedded in our collective religious consciousness. (Think Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic” or Read more
When Mary Goulding first awoke from 12 days in a coma following a horrific car accident in late-May, her first thought was, “what am I doing here? I have basketball training to get to”. Soon after, as the reality of her situation emerged, the mindset shifted. That’s when she realised how lucky she was just Read more
In a display of creativity, faith and resilience, ‘resting’ Catholics in Vietnam are making a spiritual resurgence. This is despite facing government restrictions on religious activities. These people have begun returning, seeking solace and reconnecting with their religious roots. Over the past decade, Vietnam has experienced a decline in religious practice, with a significant number Read more
I wanted to start by acknowledging that what the Church calls Good News and what journalists call good news are entirely different things. The Christian Gospel, which is a word meaning, ‘good news’ – is that the Creator of all things, God, so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that all Read more