Section Archive: Opinion

Real people with gifts, stories and hopes

Walking with people who are seeking protection in Australia has allowed me to meet and learn from the most amazingly diverse, generous and inspiring people I’ve ever known, says Sister...

Posted on: December 12, 2018

Mary and the lost art of waiting

In our contemporary, connected world, that delicious down time, that lovely space created by waiting seems to have been crowded with production, writes Natalie Acton.

Posted on: November 21, 2018

Eighteen and homeless

Never did I fear turning 18, writes Ashleigh Green. For Tenille, who I met two years ago, the thought of turning 18 made her stomach tighten and ache.

Posted on: October 17, 2018

We're losing touch with the art of listening

Listening for Benedictines isn’t a passive endeavour. It is an act of will, of paying attention, writes Judith Valente.

Posted on: September 19, 2018

A revolution that starts in the heart

An afternoon with poets and writers delivered Natalie Acton with “an unexpected and precious gift”. “I think I’d experienced… what Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister names as having an ‘unboundaried heart’.”

Posted on: August 15, 2018

High school prophets

Despite how scandal-ridden the Church is in Australia and throughout the Western world, Beth Doherty sees signs of hope from unexpected sources. But will we listen to them, she asks.

Posted on: June 20, 2018

Where to now for Christianity in the West?

The great enterprise of articulating the Christian faith within the story of the universe awaits us in the third millennium, writes Kevin Treston.

Posted on: May 16, 2018

Importance of seeing the 'big picture'

Failing to see or accept the big picture is a condition that is currently affecting many organisations in our world, says Garry Everett, and four particular organisations stand out as...

Posted on: April 18, 2018

Binge-watching our Easter journey

While studies reveal “binge-watching” isn’t good for our physical health and social well-being, could it also have an impact on our spiritual health, asks Natalie Acton.

Posted on: March 21, 2018

Who is welcome at our inn?

As the Christmas season approaches, we are challenged to ask ourselves once again who is welcome at our inn. Who do we open our hearts, our homes, our communities and...

Posted on: December 13, 2017

Are we “honourable people”?

Why do the majority of Australians support a Government policy that is illegal, cruel, inflicted on hapless people and contrary to international conventions that we have voluntarily signed, asks Sister...

Posted on: December 13, 2017

Navigating the assisted dying debate

Within society I hear a babble of self-assured voices that prevent any openness to hearing the views of others, writes Sister Pam Grey.

Posted on: November 15, 2017