John Kleinsman4 October 2011 As Christians we readily accept the birth of a child as a gift from God. Parents understand this means that we do not ‘own’ our children – we are called to provide physical, emotional and spiritual care for our children while encouraging them to flourish and realise their freedom. Good parents […]
Louise Kelleher4 October 2011 We are the baby-boomers who revel in the joy of welcoming grandchildren and who, at the same time, experience the challenges and sadness of looking after and farewelling elderly parents. Our son and daughter-in-law, thrilled and excited at the prospect of a second baby, show us the scan of their wee […]
Cushla Hassan4 October 2011 She is pregnant with her sixth child and deeply distressed. With her husband out of work, the family can barely manage to feed the five little ones let alone see to their education. Her husband has gone into denial and she feels isolated and trapped. She wants an abortion. ‘I have […]
Cecily McNeill2011Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation.’ Justice in the World, 1971 […]
Cecily McNeill2011The latest drought in the Horn of Africa has dominated the news in past weeks with nightly televised film of emaciated people barely subsisting on parched land. But an analysis reprinted from Guardian News and Media in the Sunday Star Times on July 24 suggests this latest of many to hit this region is […]
Archbishop John Dew2011 It looked a bit like the traditional childhood ‘alphabet soup’: ADW – APC – BOA – COP – ABC! The abbreviations poured out of the data projector, danced onto the screen and we were kept guessing. The ‘ABC’ is the annual meeting of three major groups that serve the Archdiocese of Wellington […]
Column Kieran Fenn FMSIn 2008 the 12th Assembly of the Synod of Bishops met in the Vatican with the theme ‘The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.’ An attempt was made to point out certain fundamental approaches to a rediscovery of God’s word in the life of the church as […]
Column Kieran Fenn FMS Biblical revelation is presented here as the dialogue God wishes to have with us as God’s friends, an invitation to the loving communion that God begins with creation in Genesis 1. The coming of the Word of God, Jesus Christ, is a mystery of God’s infinite love which we are invited […]
Column Kieran Fenn FMS The role of the Holy Spirit After reflecting on God’s final and definitive word to the world, the synod turned to the mission of the Holy Spirit, without which there can be no understanding of Christian revelation. Irenaeus describes the relationship of Son and Spirit as ‘the two hands of the […]
Column Kieran Fenn FMS Because May is the month in which we honour Mary, the reflection on scripture and our response (Articles 22-26) will be held until next month. Article 27 The basic aim of the synod was to ‘renew the Church’s faith in the word of God’. It is Mary who, by her ‘yes’ […]