March / April 2008

Our cover
‘Let us rejoice and be glad’ (Psalm response for Easter Day). For this day is the day the Lord has made. We rejoice in its impact upon, influence in our lives; rejoice with the spontaneity and generous abundance of children.

In this issue ...

Soul Matters — Chris Gleeson SJ
Connected to each other. Lent and Easter offer perspectives on the body, Christ’s body, and us as the Body of Christ.

Roadside rest — Michael McGirr
Not to run away. A group of women did not run away, as others did, at the Crucifixion. Our lives are enriched if we, also, do not run away when faced with death and dying.

Tête à Tête — Mary Manning
A young martyr for Christ. Mary Manning interviews the third century martyr Perpetua.

Wanted: Dead and Alive!
Bruce Dawe’s poem proposes how the Easter season is time to reflect on the impact Jesus’ life and death has on us all.

Saintmaker – not a chance
Fr James Fitzpatrick, former Director of the Catholic Enquiry Centre, mission and retreat giver, founder of Mazenod College, has put a lifetime of experiences into a new collection of prayers. Rosie Hoban talks with him.

Family Matters — Teresa Pirola
A godmother’s journey. Being a godparent seems a wonderful thing when the child is a sweet youngster, but it is a life-long commitment of faithfulness and support.

Your Daily Prayer — March & April. A prayerful reflection on the scripture readings for every day of the month.

The power of story — Elizabeth Pike
A lawyer for her people. All young people need strong role models. Larissa Behrendt found one in her father, and has gone on to become similarly strong for Aboriginal young people.

A Cloud of Witnesses — Edmund Campion
Social work pioneer. Many children who survive a war are separated from their parents, often sent to a far-away country. It takes a special dedication to help them find their parents again. Eileen Davidson was inspired to do so.

Bread for the Journey — Peter Steele SJ
Making the crooked straight. The cross of Good Friday was once twisted into a malevolent new shape, the swastika, that became a symbol of one of the great evils. But the power of Good Friday is to confront and disable that evil.

The sculptor
A reverie from Lynne Roberts explores how we give ourselves into God’s hands as the clay commits itself to the expert hands of the sculptor.

Marian Valley
A place of pilgrimage in the Gold Coast hinterland seems like an Australian Lourdes to Fr Bill Stevens.

In joyful hope
Joy was the core theme of Archbishop Leonard Faulkner’s homily at the celebration of his forty years as a bishop.

Faith & spirituality in review — New books.