November 2014 Pastoral Focus Mike Noonan Leading is an agreement. It is an agreement to be led and an agreement to lead. Sometimes the bargain has to be struck, and sometimes not if the situation or the role carries the expectations. A bargain was struck between Peter and Jesus (in John 13). ‘You will never […]
August 2014 Pastoral focus Michael Noonan ‘Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs, is people who have come alive.’ This encouraging statement came from Howard Thurman, an African-American philosopher and theologian influential in the formation of leaders of the American Civil […]
News April 2014 Michael Noonan One of my regular jobs as a child in a family that shared the care of the household was polishing the dining table. As stewards in the archdiocese, we, too, are charged with ‘care of the household’. My five-year-old arms could only just reach the centre of the huge table, […]
Opinion March 2014 Michael Noonan Pope Francis’ short papacy has given us plenty of examples of how we can work together (visiting and embracing the sick, welcoming prisoners) in order to bring to those of us who need it mercy and encouragement rather than judgement and condemnation. He invites us to get out of our […]
Opinion February 2014 Michael Noonan A few Christmases ago, I was given a coaster and a miniature bottle of whisky. The coaster had a picture of a square-jawed man eagerly picking up a glass. The caption said, ‘the glass can be half empty or half full … as long as there is whiskey in it. […]