Faced with an abundance of painful questions, the Yahwist author asked: why do we suffer these ills? What is their origin? He is certain that they cannot come from a good and just God, who always desires what is best for humanity.
The Adam and Eve account, along with the remaining chapters up to Abraham, is unsurpassable as an account of the origin of sin. Let us be quite clear. At the beginning of last century there was a very literal approach to certain parts of the Genesis story; the existence of Adam and Eve, the appearance of the devil in the form of a snake, though how this was reconciled with ‘one of the good creatures God made’ at the time of the tempting, I can only wonder.
The tragedy of the human suffering which leads to suicide is not being loved or not knowing that you are loved. Fr Richard Taylor of Angelicum University in Rome told the Sisters of Compassion during a seminar in Whanganui last month that Christianity is the only religion that really addresses the issue of human suffering.
Sunday 11 March was a day of thanksgiving and celebration in Taranaki for Fr Jim Rickard who celebrated his 56th year in the priesthood. Mass was celebrated at the Bell Block Parish Centre and included a joyful guitar Mass, with parishioners from different ethnic backgrounds being involved in the liturgy.
Escaping from the Egyptians and getting through the Red Sea were uppermost in the minds of pupils in Rooms 1, 2 and 3 of St James’ School, Palmerston North, last month as they embarked on an Exodus walk. Two students of the school had revised the story.
Friends and family from all over New Zealand and Australia celebrated with Home of Compassion Sister Anna-Marie Shortall her 90th birthday in early February.
Donkey ‘doos’ proved a popular feature in a fundraising gala at Whanganui’s St Mary’s parish in February.