The Anglican Diocese of Ballarat-Bishop's Blog

Is this the Church? | 03/05/2010

The Archdeacon sent me a challenging quotation from one of my favourite theologians, Jurgen Moltmann. It goes: I am free and feel myself to be free, when I'm recognised and accepted by others and when I, for my part, recognise and accept others. I become truly free when I open my life for others and share it with them, and when others open their lives and share their lives with me. Then the other person is no longer a limitation on my freedom but the completion of it.

Windows to God | 27/04/2010

Christians (and Christian communities) are to be windows to God. People look at the Christians and the way they live together and act together, the way they love and behave and see something of the ways of God. The Church is a window to the holy, a community called to reveal God present and acting in the world of their own time. That is how he measured his own ministry and what enabled him to do what he did. More than likely he would have asked himself: how did Jesus act when they were beating him and nailing him to the cross? If that is how Jesus acted, that is how Paul had to act and it is how we are called to act. Like the psalmist, like Paul, like Thomas a Kempis. A single message and timely reminder and a sober warning.

Proclaiming the Good News by more than Word. | 25/04/2010

This message we have to proclaim to the world truly is gold, it is Good News. But we have to proclaim it not just in words, that is the easy way. We also have to proclaim it the hard way, the sacrificial way, by engaging in the healing, restoring and forgiving of others. This is always where our proclamation falls down and it is one of the key reasons we cannot convince the world that we have something to offer them. What they desperately need we are all too often unwilling to provide.

Reflections throughout Lent 2010 | 25/02/2010

Praying the office this morning I enjoyed the words of psalm 32. That psalm begins with a statement about the greatness of God: By his word the heavens were made, by the breath of his mouth all the stars. He collects the waves of the ocean; he stores up the depths of the sea. Here we have a God who is clearly all powerful. If he can create the magnificence of the heavens with just the word of his mouth and bring the stars into creation by a simple breath, then what would happen if he turned his full attention to a problem? Remembering that the ocean depths were powerful forces to be feared, they were the place of monsters and the enemies of God, we are shown here a God who is able to collect those roaring and rolling waves in his hands and stack them away for safekeeping in some kind of storeroom.

Goodbye Mr B! | 23/02/2010

Eighteen months ago we were asked by the department of Child and Family Services if we would be prepared to take on a tiny baby. As registered foster parents we are used to these kinds of requests and without hesitation we said 'yes'. Our lives were changed, as were the lives of many other people around the diocese as this little bundle of joy smiled his way into our little family as well as integrating himself into our much larger church family.

A little more about the Bushfires & the Spiritual Life. | 08/02/2010

Over the weekend I was asked how it is possible to endure, a question that is a pertinent over the coming weekend as we reflect on the horrors of last year's devastating fires. I well remember our tanker stopping for lunch in the midst of the burnt hills and gathering with others around the sad remains of a family home. There were children's trikes, swings and a patio table and chairs, stark and sad reminders of the joys of the family who once lived there. It was a deeply spiritual moment for me as the smoking and smouldering countryside offered little in the way of hope and life. It seemed that the created order had been overwhelmed and overturned by the ferocity and evil of the fire. We sat around on the ground, covered with ash and dirt, silently reflecting and wondering. It was a profoundly depressing moment. Indeed my entire stay in those burnt hills was disturbing and provoking and it is only now, twelve months later that I can allow myself to think about what it meant for my own life and spirituality.

Black Saturday Memorials | 05/02/2010

This weekend Australians will pause to remember the terrible events of last February when bushfires ravaged through parts of Victoria bringing death and destruction to the lives of many. It is not something we are going to be able to forget or ignore as the various press agencies take us through the events themselves and the stories of those who were caught up in them. Do we as a Church have anything to offer to the Black Saturday memorials? Yes, we do.

PROFESSOR AND BISHOP WALK [4] | 10/12/2009

After lunch we wandered down to the Mortlake high school for a talk and then a walk around a small man made lake next to the school. The kids were great. They sat there throughout the talk listening intently to what Peter and I were saying and then asked some good questions. Peter pitched his bit about global warming and carbon outputs at just the right level and the kids, I hope, were able to appreciate just how they can have an impact on the rising carbon levels. We then headed off to walk around the lake. On a one to one basis the students were most impressive.

PROFESSOR AND BISHOP WALK [3] | 09/12/2009

I slept really well last night and woke up bright as a button at 5am. Some things never change. Praying my office in the swag to the noise of the birds is so peaceful. It seems like the whole world has stopped and there is only me, God and a few avian singers.

PROFESSOR AND BISHOP WALK [2] | 08/12/2009

Day three began at 2am with the rain. I was outside in the swag and the noise of the rain on the canvas was not the slightest bit unpleasant. Cold but soothing. I knew then, as I rolled over and went back off to sleep that this was going to be a day to remember. And so it was.

PROFESSOR AND BISHOP WALK [1] | 06/12/2009

Our walk began with an off the cuff comment after Peter spoke at our synod earlier this year. He wanted to talk with people about climate and to listen to their thoughts on such matters. I said to him that one of the best ways to meet people was to walk among them. It is one thing to call a meeting in a town and then give a talk, answer questions and move on. It is another to deal with chance encounters along the way and listen to what people have to say. He came back to me about six weeks ago and said let's walk during the Copenhagen conference to highlight issues. And so we are.

The Prophets, Challenging the World and Redemption | 04/12/2009

What is the message we have for the world? That God is a redeeming God. We have been saved (and justified) in and through Jesus Christ (Rom 3:24; 1 Cor 1:30). The great biblical Truth uses the language of the Roman Empire where ransoms were paid for slaves and for prisoners of war. Money was paid and the slaves were freed and prisoners able to return home. But we need to go back to the Old Testament for the roots of this idea of redemption. The Bible tells us that God is a redeeming God. He set the Hebrews free from slavery in Egypt (Ps 111:9). He is go’el, redeemer. He is the divine kinsman who sets out to buy back one of his relatives from slavery (Isa 41:14; 43:14; 44:6; 47:4).

Following on from our day of prayer for Reconciliation | 28/10/2009

Following on from our day of prayer for Reconciliation, I found the message of Thomas (3:28) on Keeping the Peace timely and helpful. The Lord warns the brothers: You don't bear up well, do you, my dear friend, when someone trashes you in public; that's to say, when someone sets the torch to your ears? There is a reason for this; in fact, two reasons. First, you think more of yourself than you should. Second, you should think less of yourself than the slanderers think of you. If you’re already treading the downward-inward path, you will not pay much attention to whatever slanders come flying in your direction. The advice offered by Thomas is that when we find life becoming difficult the way forward is to first of all turn inwards – to the Lord. He says that if this becomes the way we act then we won’t be knocked off (our) course by some outrageous judgment about (our) person or (our) conduct. In picking up a common theme of the prophets and the gentle reminders of Jesus, Thomas tells us that we should not be looking for peace to come from the mouths of others. Our peace should not come from whether or not people say good things about us or bad things about us; from whether or not they do good things to us or do bad things to us. Our peace comes from God and if that is the way we live, then the words and actions of others will not disturb that peace....pleasantries, unpleasantries, it really does not matter. Either way, the true Devout will enjoy great peace.

Reconciliation Day | 26/10/2009

Reconciliation Day: On Saturday last we travelled to Ararat at the invitation of the deacons to have a day of quiet and reflection on the theme of reconciliation and healing. Responding to the cries of people across the Diocese, they exercised their diaconal vocations in gathering us together in the name of Jesus. This was not to be a day of politics, or discussion or an evaluation of rights and wrongs. It was a time when we, the Body of Christ in this part of the Kingdom, responding to a divine calling, came together for quiet prayer, meditation, confession and healing. In other words, we did what the Lord wants us to do and even commanded us to do.

THE CHURCH: Called to reconcile the world to God | 15/10/2009

The obvious starting point for any reflection on reconciliation is Luke’s parable of the Forgiving Father (15:11-32). In that story we have a younger son who sinned heinously for all kinds of human reasons. He left his father’s house and sought to make his own way in the world. But it did not work and he found himself filled with shame, humiliated and eating pig’s swill. Jesus shows the power of love in that the father never abandoned the son to his sin. His love never faltered and went out each day willing him home. Then, when the son returned he was given a feast, for the son that was lost was found, who was dead was now alive.

The Kingdom of God | 10/10/2009

Jesus taught the kingdom and as we read through the Gospels it is clear that what Jesus had in mind was not some political/sociological/geographical reality but the power of God himself at work in creation. It was a kingdom that could only be understood and perceived through faith. While the kingdoms of the nations of the world can be experienced through their power and influence and are usually marked by human self serving and self interest, the Kingdom of God is marked by love, sacrifice and a death of the self. The Kingdom proclaimed and inaugurated by Jesus was a Kingdom beyond all human expectation, human actions and human history. The Kingdom of God was about our human existence being completed and fulfilled and once more caught up in the very life of God himself. The Kingdom of God is something God himself is doing in his creation.

Ministry | 05/10/2009

A key part of our renewed understanding of the nature of the Church is to remind ourselves, over and over again that baptism brings a person into ministry within the Body of Christ. Gone are the days when believers could come along to church on Sunday to be a part of an audience. One cannot be a passive believer for baptism brings with it an expectation of ministry according to the divine gifts bestowed on the ones baptised. Thomas O’Meara beautifully describes the Church as being clusters of people with a world to serve. This picks up the two key ingredients: the Church is a community and it is a community with a call to serve the broader world. Any understanding of our identity as Catholics will need to be built on these two realities: we are called through baptism to form a community (and communities) of faith and we are to be reaching out to meet the needs of the world in which we find ourselves living.

Back to Church Sunday & Religion and Faith | 14/09/2009

We celebrated Back to Church Sunday over the weekend and so far some of the stories that have come out are encouraging. What was really reassuring was to see how many of our faith communities participated in what has become a Communion wide initiative. Of course, with all of these there was a mixed reception but the exciting thing is the willingness to reach out and do something about growing our faith communities. The more we try these initiatives the more we attune ourselves to the movement of God and when God is given half a chance, things happen.

Holy Week 2009 - Truth | 08/04/2009

Thomas a Kempis begins his Holy Week reflection today with a rather hefty knock: Nowadays, when I begin to speak, people feel their deafness coming on. They'd rather hear the world than the Word of God; they'd rather tickle the fancies of the flesh than tackle the fancy of God. I remind myself that this is addressed to what the world would consider 'holy men'. They are members of a monastery and have dedicated themselves to carrying out the Word of God. Yet, there, within those silent walls, they have monks preferring to listen to the world than to the Word of God.

Bishops & Country and City Inequality | 04/04/2008

What a world we live in. In Melbourne, millions can be put aside from tax payers money to fund a car race that satisfies the yearnings of a miniscule number of people. Millions can be put aside for all kinds of studies, trips overseas, perks to keep MPs happy and an amazing range of nonsense. Do we see a problem here? ... If there are city-country inequalities they are being fostered and deepened by a parochial and city bound state government.