Preface

I remember reading, for the first time, a translation of St. John Chrysostom’s commentary on Ephesians. Only months after our wedding, my wife and I were encountering our first real conflict in married life.

I subscribe to The Pillar. A small Catholic news source set up by two investigative reporters who remain mostly impartial and determined to analyse and report the truth. 

This excellent piece was sent to subscribers of the Pillar on July 4th this year.

After much planning, a lot of hard work and the support of bishops in Sydney, I am happy to say that we are launching a new weekly podcast, beginning this week.

I was recently asked if I would be posting a reflection on the candidates for the coming Federal election. To be honest, I was trying to avoid doing so.

The following is my reflection and a brief summary of the Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit promulgated 25 March 2019.

Jordan Peterson is good – just not God

(First published in the Catholic Weekly - March 2019)

I am frequently sent articles, videos and news items by students and friends who seem to find Jordan Peterson inspiring and particularly good news for Catholics.

In the face of current legal cases that beggar belief, I returned to the words St Thomas Moore prayed after his unjust trial, as he was waiting to be executed.

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This post is my comment on the candidates for the 2019 NSW State election. It is in no way exhaustive, nor do I claim to be the least bit impartial. These are my observations as a voter, who happens to be a Catholic Christian.

The big news is that Albert has been accepted into a local school for children with special needs. The school itself has the training, facilities and experience to help Albert develop in skills which are essential to being as independent as possible in the long run.

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Listening to late night talk-back radio as I drive home late at night is almost always a bad idea. The presenters are usually so biased in their outlook that they ride roughshod over logic in order to promote their preferred opinion.

In an article speaking up for male victims of sexual assault, Christine Wekerle, (a professor of paediatrics) calls for a more compassionate response to male victims.

The first thing to acknowledge is that, according to current records, females are much more likely to suffer assault than males.

A headline in my feed today reads "Why are so many female teachers sleeping with students?"

The article claims there is an upward trend of female teachers being accused of sexual misconduct with their students.

I was reading an article by Elizabeth Farrelly published in the Sydney Morning Herald, (well worth reading), commenting on Australia's bizarre habit of equating professional sportsmen with "role models".

The recent public outrage at the Australian cricketers caught cheating on field has raised several questions about what sort of expectations we have of our sporting heroes.

I finally have a moment to offer a long overdue update on Albert's progress. The good news is that nothing seems to be going backwards.

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Some of the most interesting conversations I have had recently have been on the topic of books made into movies. It usually begins when I admit that I did not go and see the last of the Hobbit movies.

I recently spoke to a number of people who had questions about a specific aspect of the Catholic faith. One was interested in a very specific moral situation, another asked about Marian dogma, still another about which books are in the Bible.

There is nothing unusual about those questions.

Today I was asked to respond to an article claiming to be a summary of critical biblical scholarship on the matter of homosexuality.

The article makes the explicit claim to be a summary of "critical biblical scholarship", but it would struggle to meet the criteria of a first year scripture class.

Having been through a public high school, a fair number of team sports, working as a dogs-body several kitchens and in a bank, six years of seminary and survived several university degrees, I have gritted my teeth through many unpleasant and unnecessary experiences.

I was sitting in Mass a few weeks ago when the book of Isaiah was one of the readings, which included the following;

“Integrity is the loincloth round his waist, faithfulness the belt about his hips.” (Is 11:4)  It occurred to me that I hadn’t heard the word ‘loincloth’ for quite a while.

With so much love, hate, confusion and misinformation flying around in the media about Pope Francis, it is no wonder that he likened some misleading forms of media (and our obsessive consumption of it) as coprophilia.

Over the past decade of reading a fair range of academic papers and books on sex and gender, I have noticed a few big differences in the way different academic disciplines approach the study of sex and gender.

On the one hand, some insist that sex and gender are not necessarily related.

A recent news/opinion piece containing input from Justice Kirby is the latest in a long line of people complaining that a Same Sex 'marriage' plebiscite will cause hateful dialogue.

"This is going to be, if it goes ahead ...

The 2016 elections in Australia and the USA have sparked many excellent discussions on politics. The more I discuss these topics, the more my thoughts come back to GK Chesterton's one-line critique of so-called reformers of the sixteenth century.

It has been a disappointing week for Australians. For those who do not care about politics, the disappointment has been that everybody keeps talking about politics! :) For those of us who care about politics, the disappointment has come in many types and flavours, and it keeps coming.

Further to my previous post on preparing for the 2016 Federal Election, it is worth noting where the various parties advise their supporters to distribute their preferences.

Royal Commission

Submission June 2016

To whom it may concern

I write this response as a man who is Catholic by choice, a father of eight children, and a lecturer in Theology at a Catholic University.

Reading through various voting guides and comments by Christians in the lead up to the general

election, I was struck by the general assumption that ‘conservative’ and ‘Christian’ are often assumed to be more or less the same thing. It is simply not true.

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A quick post to share this little milestone.

That's right, Albert has progressed from pulling himself up on furniture to standing by himself, in a relatively short period of time.

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A recent article titled "5 Reasons You Should Have Sex With Your Husband Every Night" has been getting some strong reactions around the web.

It has been some time since I posted an Albert update. A combination of factors have made me extremely busy this year so far. We are now homeschooling our children, the oldest is now at

University, I have been working hard on my PhD.

Albert continues to progress at a slow but steady rate.

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Today we celebrate some small but significant milestones in Albert's progress.

First, Albert made it to his second birthday party! He did like the cake and was fascinated by the candle in particular, but he was unable to eat any of his own cake.

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You may have seen a video posted by a father who was distressed that he had just overheard someone referring to Down Syndrome as an illness of 'not knowing anything.'

Before I add my own reflection on this general problem, I want to pay tribute to the father who took the risk of being vulnerable, n

When I first heard about a British company's attempt to design and build a hybrid airship I did not

take it very seriously. Possibly because I was introduced to the project by articles citing Bruce Dickinson, (another, and another) who fronts the band Iron Maiden.

This article contains spoilers. Please do not read if you have not seen the movie.

I was one of the throng of people squeezing into cinemas on the opening weekend of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

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Married with eight children, I read for work and recreation which results in the current combination of G.K. Chesterton, Orson Scott Card and Terry Pratchet in my backpack. I'm not always certain which is work and which is recreation!
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