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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.
Priests for the Country, Global Warming and the Gospel & Stawell Induction | 01/11/2006
How hard it is to encourage priests and their families to come and live and minister in some of our rural areas. With the stories of drought and bush fires, rural decline and hardship, it is getting even harder and harder to encourage priests to leave the comforts of the city and minister in the country. I am sure if they could see themselves as missionaries and come for three or five years, they would have the experience of their lives. Any young priest would gain so much from a stint in a country parish and his future ministry would be blessed and enhanced. Country communities are great. We get to know each other, feel a part of what is going on and have a strong sense of mutual care and support. Country life is great. Let us all pray that we can encourage priests and their families to come to the diocese, at least for a short time. I know that they would have a ball and it is an opportunity to make a very valuable contribution to the life of our Church.