Autumn 2015

Each year we ‘re-member’—put together again—the Easter story, promising again to work with Jesus in his ongoing work of human liberation...

Helen Doyle, The Church on the Hill: A centenary history of St Brigid’s Crossley, and its Irish-Australian community, Bridin Books, 2014

The Pope's prayer intentions, calendar of saints and reflections on the liturgical readings for each day of the month. Click here to visit the website

The Apostleship of Prayer is Pope Francis’ worldwide prayer network. It receives monthly prayer intentions from the Pope and urges Christians throughout the world to unite in prayer for those intentions. Thus we all become part of an international Community of Prayer

Countless times, since artists have tried to represent the passion and death of the Lord, they have found in the gospel text what we might call eloquent items.

Having first sent prayerbooks, Fr John Joseph Therry soon followed with a visit to the newly-founded colony of Sydney.

Every year at this time, a case of clingstone peaches would arrive at the back door of my grandma’s house. She would set up a table and a couple of wooden kitchen chairs in the shade of the willow tree, furnished with bowls and paring knives, and rows of the tall cylindrical glass preserving jars that she used in her Fowler’s Vacola Preserving outfit, her pride and joy

St Joseph is a model for all fathers and families.

Iconographer Michael Galovic explains his approach to creating a religious artwork.

If you want to become a follower of mine, you need to deny yourself and take us your cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24)

M sister Philomene Tiernan entered the convent in February 1957. We said goodbye to Phil in the parlour of Rose Bay Convent in Sydney. We stood silent as the Mistress of Novices escorted Phil from the room carrying her single suitcase. It held a prescribed contents of modest skirts, blouses and flat shoes. Mum, Dad, my two brothers and I made our way through the heavy front doors back to our car. How we missed our sister as we drove through the starless night to Brisbane.

The worst thing that can happen to any Christian is for their experience of the cross to become bland. It’s understandable that this might happen when there are crosses everywhere. You find them on churches, schools, badges, uniforms, flags and even on hot buns. The cross is so familiar that we could pass by without recalling what it represents

During this special anniversary year of ANZAC, our thoughts turn to those events of 100 years ago. In the May 1915 edition of Madonna, regular writer Constance M. Le Plastrier wrote a long reflection on the role that Australian women were playing in that great conflict. Here is an extract from her article.

Long-time commentators on family, Mavis and Ron Pirola, made world-wide headlines with their address to the recent Synod on the Family.

Artist Martin Tighe is not much into self-promotion, happy to let his art do the talking. And there’s much to be said about his work, particularly his portraits and his most recent exhibition of bread paintings, which he calls religious icons

On the final day of his three-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land in May 2014, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the Upper Room—the Cenacle—in Jerusalem. In his homily he referred to the power of the gift Jesus left us through the Eucharist

As I pen this from Hong Kong on the last day of October, the feast day of famous Jesuit brother, St Alphonsus Rodriguez, I realise that I am not only a long way from home but also a substantial time from the publication of this Autumn edition