18th Sunday We only have to look at so-called reality television to see just how far some of our compatriots will go to be famous to be wealthy or to be part of the popular imagination We should never be surprised when our media culture reflects this back to us And by watching these programs re

Did you know that Lincoln s Gettysburg address was 250 words long The man before Lincoln spoke for over an hour The man who followed Lincoln spoke for even longer Today no one remembers what they said Lincoln s 2 minutes by contrast changed the USA s history and the mentality of the

A farmer a stockbroker and woman who was a lawyer were standing in line waiting for their chance at entrance into Heaven St Peter called the farmer first We have only one simple requirement for entrance here St Peter said You must spell God Easy enough said the farmer G-O-

Margaret Thatcher once claimed that the Parable of the Good Samaritan showed Jesus endorsement of the benefits of capitalism The then British Prime Minister argument ran that the hero of this famous story is the one who could afford to pay for the victim s care She surmised that the reason th

First an old story that is worth repeating A man was in his dinghy on a lake when a large yacht rammed him and his dinghy sank As the man began to drown the crew of the yacht threw him a life jacket but the man yelled back I don t need help for God will soon save me Straight away anot

In his book Things You Get For Free Michael McGirr tells the story of going on pilgrimage to Rome with his mother Maureen McGirr had always wanted to see St Peter s Basilica Michael records the big day One of the features of a visit to St Peter s is the modesty inspection This is the ki

The American political drama West Wing has been a huge hit on television in recent seasons Well-scripted cleverly cast and finely acted it dramatizes events around the most powerful office in the world This is one drama series that does not need to invent stories With former White House insid

The first time I preached on the Feast of the Most Trinity was on my first appointment as a deacon at the parish of Kings Cross Kings Cross is the red light district of Sydney I was the luckiest deacon in Sydney because my 70 year old Irish Jesuit parish priest Fr Donal Taylor never directly sa

Last week I was accosted by a evangelical Christian in the street He asked me whether I had given my life to Jesus Christ I have He asked me if I spoke in tongues I can but choose not to He asked me if I had made the necessary sacrifices for the Holy Spirit to come into my life At

Whether we love or hate the "Lord of the Rings" films, we have to admire them: they are a monumental cinematic achievement. Shot over 274 days for $281 million and lasting 558 minutes, these films have, at the time of writing and in the United States alone, grossed over $897 million.