Tag Archive for ‘Mass’
On Losing One’s Voice
Over the last year I have progressively lost my speaking voice as the nerves in my throat and larynx give up the ghost. The throat muscles are down to about 25% capacity and my voice is a strangled monotone. My voice started to fail after a bad turn in August 2011. Things came to a […]
Catholic Disciplehip College in Auckland Lay Led in 2013
The first few months of this year have seen many changes. Founder Fr Neil Vaney sm has moved to Hawkes Bay and now is on sabbatical study leave in Chicago. We are still supported by three Marist priests, based at the Marist Seminary in Auckland, who are available for daily Mass and the sacraments. Fr […]
Presider Style
I am an academic rather than a parish priest, so I do not have a regular Sunday congregation. The benefit of this unfortunate reality is that I visit many different parish communities and have the chance to concelebrate in a variety of settings. This means I can play the ‘sit back and critique the presider’ […]
Kiwi Zapped by Australia Day
Some years ago I happened to be staying with friends on the Mornington Peninsula near Melbourne, and got caught up in Australia Day celebrations. It was on a Sunday that year so we went off to Mass at the nearby Sorrento parish. First shock was the Australian flag draped across the altar, and the second […]
A Foretaste of Heaven
After my last column on the “Lamb of God” as one of the most hallowed Christian phrases for referring to Jesus, I was asked by a reader to explain the phrase “the supper of the Lamb”. The phrase is from the Invitation to Communion when, after genuflecting, the priest takes the host and holds it […]
Thursday 20 December
Isaiah 7:10-14, Ps 24, Luke 1:26-38 Yes “…for our salvation he came down from heaven: and by the power of the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” With these words the Church, in the Nicene Creed, regularly professes its faith and celebrates God becoming human through the Virgin Mary. We […]
Worshipping in the Wilderness
To be able to worship Our Creator, Jesus Christ, in the wilds of New Zealand is an extraordinary and unique experience of what it means to be both Catholic and human. Having tramped, climbed, and explored the wild and not-so-wild regions of this country for almost 40 years, from when I was in my early […]
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