Welcoming our new Salesian Brothers from Poland and Croatia
Posted: Thu, 10 Sep 2020 10:00
Every year, our Province welcomes Salesians in formation from other Provinces, who will spend a year of their practical training working in schools and parishes in the GBR Province, and others who will study here as part of their training as Salesians of Don Bosco.
Each week, we'll share a video to introduce you to one of the young Salesians.
This week, we'd like you to say 'Hello' to Br Ante, from Croatia,... Read More »
Warts and All
Posted: Wed, 9 Sep 2020 15:12
In this week's article, Mike explores unconditional love, and how he applies Gospel teachings on love to his career as a teacher.
I have been married eighteen years. Eighteen happy years. Yet, I can guarantee, that upon meeting my her, my female colleagues will say to my wife "How do you put up with him?" I seem to have this effect on my female colleagues: I 'wind' them up! I don't mean to, I'm not... Read More »
Let’s talk about where are we going as a post-COVID Church
Posted: Wed, 9 Sep 2020 10:01
"As we now move forward, after weeks of lockdown, we need to have an honest and open conversation about where we are going as a Church. How are we going to find a new 'wine skin' to meet this new challenge?" Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB calls on all of us to help our Church form a community of faith for changed times, by sharing our own insights, experiences and sacrifices during the pandemic, and our hopes... Read More »
True forgiveness brings the spirit of reconciliation
Posted: Tue, 8 Sep 2020 11:35
Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB helps us reflect on the Gospel for 24th Sunday of the Year, Matthew 18: 21-35. (Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash)
Just as we begin the new school year, with all the problems that a global Pandemic brings, today's Gospel seems like a maths problem that Miss Wilson used to set us back in the day when I was in St Elizabeth's primary school.
Jesus never tires of talking about... Read More »
The cross of difficulty and the need to forgive
Posted: Sat, 5 Sep 2020 07:03
Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB looks at the lessons for us in the Gospel for 23rd Sunday of the Year: Matthew 18: 15-20
(Image: Arzobispado de San Salvador; Congregatio de Causis Sanctorum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
We were told last week to "take up your cross" and follow Jesus. It is a challenge that all of us, rightly, find hard; it unsettles us, but as the Jesuit peace-broker, Daniel Berrigan... Read More »
Learning to move forward in trust, in a world we cannot control
Posted: Wed, 2 Sep 2020 18:26
Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB reflects on what he has learnt about pastoral care, community and finding strength and peace, during self-isolation in rural Ireland, and urges us to come together to find new ways of 'being church', inspired by what we have all learned during the pandemic.
I write these lines as the rain is lashing down outside making me feel grateful for the security and safety that I'm... Read More »
From hero to zero: Sunday reflection
Posted: Fri, 28 Aug 2020 17:00
Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB reflects on the Gospel for 22nd Sunday of the Year (Matthew 16: 21-27)
(Image: Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB)
I suspect a lot of us can identify with Peter today: we want the very best for our families and friends. When he hears of Jesus speaking of the pain and suffering that going to Jerusalem will bring, Peter, as a friend, urges him not to go forward - he wanted the best... Read More »
'But you - who do YOU say that I am?'
Posted: Fri, 21 Aug 2020 14:15
Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB reflects on the Gospel for 21st Sunday of the year, (Mt 16: 13-20), considering our human weaknesses, and the beauty of our strength as we reach out together to others, in a spirit of building up the family of our Church. Image: Gabriel Ippoliti, published in La Nación, 2013
Solid and good drama needs its heroes and villains: from the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham or... Read More »
It's our founder's birthday!
Posted: Sun, 16 Aug 2020 07:54
Our founder, St John Bosco, was born on 16th August, 1815, in a tiny hamlet called Becchi, in the hills of the Piedmont area of Italy. His family were agricultural labourers, and John was only a toddler when his father died, leaving his young widow Margherita to bring up three boys alone. She was a resilient and resourceful woman, who instilled compassion and charity into her family despite their own... Read More »
Feast of the Assumption: asking Mary to be with us
Posted: Sat, 15 Aug 2020 08:00
Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB reflects on the Assumption and the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, in the traditions of the Western and Eastern churches,. and the assurance that she is with is in the most difficult of times. Image: Dormition - УШАКОВ СИМОН, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The pilgrim in Jerusalem will want to visit the Upper Room; it is a very special place. The home of the... Read More »