Section Archive: Reflection

An enlarged life

A life well lived is a normal human aspiration. But the challenges of everyday life can overwhelm us and seriously deflect our pursuit of a good life, writes John Haren.

Posted on: June 10, 2025

The day I first met my mother

At Carrie’s funeral, her daughter speaks with simple clarity: “When my sister and I first met my mother, what I remember were the smiles, and the hugs. My beautiful mother.”

Posted on: May 18, 2025

God, disturb me!

Listening to the story of another person’s painful experience can bring us out of ourselves and remind us that we are alive and of what drives us, writes Catherine McAleer.

Posted on: March 18, 2025

Hear the heart sing

In the movie ‘Moana’ the heroine’s “voice inside” calls her to sail against convention. She dares to hope and dream of a better situation beyond the safety of the shore.

Posted on: December 7, 2024

Advent: the season of the quiet adventure of the spirit

The lighting of a candle on the Advent wreath, the meditative moment, the perambulations through sacred spaces, the kneeling at a nativity scene, these are God times, writes Ann Rennie.

Posted on: November 17, 2024

A Church of love

The strains of St Nicholas’ Church bells ring out over the harbour of Pothia. It’s Sunday morning, the mystical chanting of the priest dominates the sound space for several hours.

Posted on: October 15, 2024

God does not have favourites

On the sixth Sunday of Easter this year, in various churches across Melbourne, women were given the opportunity to speak on the readings. It was an opportunity I gladly accepted.

Posted on: August 20, 2024

My memory, my voice

Jennifer Tanti’s reflection ‘My memory, my voice’ was an entry in The Good Oil 2023 Writers’ Award, which has the dual purpose of supporting and encouraging emerging and published writers.

Posted on: July 15, 2024

Life after death

The Christian view of life after death owes everything to the Christian view of God, writes Garry Everett. Our experiences of love are foretastes of God’s greater love for us.

Posted on: July 14, 2024

Pulling towards justice

An Inter-Congregation Yarning Circle led by proud Ngiyampaa artist Sarah Richards was a space that fostered a rich sharing with renewed, ongoing and burgeoning friendships, writes Sister Anne McGuire RSM.

Posted on: June 16, 2024

Finding my voice is an ongoing journey

Finding my voice in order to help my fellow humans is an ongoing journey which takes courage, compassion and hope, attributes I do not automatically possess, writes Mary Rowan Highfield.

Posted on: March 18, 2024

The Pilgrim and the Apprentice: A regenerative learning journey

Each of us is uniquely called to wholeness and Oneness within nature, rather than living a divided life from Self and the splendour of planet Earth, writes Dr Bern Nicholls.

Posted on: February 15, 2024