Yesterday I read through one or two suggestions for Lent that left me reeling. I really don’t think Lent is about giving up or taking on more, as such; rather, it’s about seeking God with more intensity of focus than we manage at other times. To do that we need simplicity— and we have become Read more
Looking for prayer and penance ideas for this year’s Lenten journey? Or a faithful guide and friendly reminder to practice virtue, do good works and read Scripture? Whatever you’re searching for to help you draw closer to Jesus Christ these 40 days of Lent, there’s an app to help you. “It’s a beautiful thing to Read more
On Ash Wednesday the Bishop Patrick Dunn of Auckland New Zealand published a pastoral letter to mark the beginning of Lent. In his pastoral letter the Bishop invited parishes to open their churches on a Wednesday evenings so people can gather and simply “‘be still’ with the Lord” before the Blessed Sacrament PASTORAL LETTER FOR Read more
In a show of unity, MPs from all parties walked onto the upper marae together for the Waitangi Day Dawn Service, with Labour leader David Cunliffe following just behind Prime Minister John Key. At the Service, overseen by Bishop Kito Pikaahu, Key lead the congregation in prayer thanking the nations forefathers for their “courage to come together and Read more
On Dec. 10th, 2013, Pope Francis is inviting the world to join him in a global wave of prayer to end world hunger. The global wave of prayer will begin at noon in Tonga, progressing around the world until reaching American Samoa 24 hours and 164 countries later. Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, president of Vatican-based Read more
Pope Francis on Sunday advised Catholics to take a special dose of spiritual medicine, offering some 20,000 boxes of “mercy” – containing rosaries – to pilgrims in St Peter’s Square. “I now want to suggest a medicine. ‘What?’ you ask, ‘the pope is now a pharmacist?’” Francis said, shaking a box resembling a pack of Read more
Well know evangelist, and faith healer Bill Subritzky is to hold prayer meeting at Sacred Heart Cathedral, in Thorndon, Wellington New Zealand, this week. Sacred Heart parish priest James Lyons said Subritzky’s request to hold a meeting at the church was accepted because the power of prayer was indisputable. “He’s not saying, ‘I will cure Read more
It is becoming increasingly clear that our Pope Francis is a pope who, as Stephen White put it,”smells like his sheep”. He is a man of his people, and a father who communicates to his people in a fashion that they seem to like. More evidence of this is a means to prayer that the Read more
My 15 minutes of fame, courtesy of an article in the Washington Post featuring me as an atheist who prays to an invented God in order to facilitate my participation in a 12-step recovery program, provoked a little tempest in the teapot of atheist blog postings and commentary. My fellow atheists have suggested, not always politely, that Read more
She sat beside the bed, tears brimming. ‘Mum’s dying.’ ‘Yes.’ We sat in silence for a bit. ‘I’ve lost my faith.’ ‘Uh huh.’ ‘When my friend died.’ ‘Mm.’ We held hands and Mum’s too, wondering in our own ways, about God and faith and people dying and what the universe meant, if anything. As we Read more