There are times in life when you really need a light. Driving home from Brisbane through last nightโs intense rainstorms, as an east coast low sat stationery over the central coast, I was increasingly grateful for my own carโs headlights, the hazard lights of other cars, and those little โcatโs eyesโ embedded in the motorway, as …
Ecumenical perspectives: George Fox
George Fox (b. July 1624, d. 13 January 1691), the English dissenter and founder of the Religious Society of Friends (commonly known as the Quakers), was one of the most creative and disruptive figures in post-Reformation church history. Emerging from the turbulence of seventeenth-century England with its civil war and sectarian ferment, Foxโs life and teaching …
The light of a star
We may have packed away our tinsel and Christmas trees for another year, but the Christmas story doesnโt end with Christmas Day. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that โAfter Jesus was born โฆ wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, โWhere is he who has been born king of the Jews? For …
The use of Scripture in Dilexit nos
PART 2 Dilexit nos was the first post-Vatican II papal encyclical dedicated to the Sacred Heart, a central feature of private Catholic devotion. Released by the late Pope Francis (1936-2025) in October 2024, Dilexit nos sets forth philosophical, biblical and doctrinal aspects of the Sacred Heart, discusses the Sacred Heart tradition in the writings of Catholic mystics, and …
When guests came bearing treasures
A first-person retelling of the visit of the Magi. I was sweeping the corner near the door when I heard the sound of hooves outside. Not the quick clatter of local animals, but the slower stately clop, of large beasts bearing heavy loads. We had been in Bethlehem for some time. Joseph worked at his …
