Recently my five-year-old son asked me why Christmas is so important and while I think I gave him some good answers I suspect there may be more. How would you answer him? Actually, the Catechism of the Catholic Church answers your son’s question under the heading “Why did the Word become flesh?” It is a somewhat more sophisticated way of putting it but in the end it is the same questi...

Tragedy upon tragedy, evil of evils. The story which flashed around the globe last week of the killing of 20 primary school-age children and six adults at Sandy Hook School in Connecticut was all so sickening. The shock is universal and anyone who tries to contemplate what happened can only cry. There would be no shame in it. In this whole terrible episode, the silence of the ch...

Dave Brubeck, the influential and prolific pianist whose composition Take Five became a standard in the annals of jazz, died on December 5 at age 91, one day before his 92nd birthday. He died of heart failure. He was reportedly on his way to visit a cardiologist in Norwalk, Connecticut, with his son Darius when he suffered a heart attack. Brubeck played his “cool” brand of West Coast ...

Phaik Kee Teoh was born near the mouth of the Perak River in Malaya on the eve of the Pacific War. She spent her babyhood in the jungle where the women had to hide to escape the predatory behaviour of undisciplined enemy soldiers. Her birth registration shows she was the second twin. Because of harsh conditions in jungle life, she was fed on rice gruel; there was no milk. According...

When Portuguese missionaries arrived in what is now modern-day Kerala, India, they came face-to-face with an ancient community of Christians dating back to the ministry of the Apostle Thomas. They encountered a Church with a Syriac liturgy, Persian bishops, its own unique form of administration and religious practices which, while Christian, also reflected the Indian cultures amidst which th...

As another year comes to a close we will see the usual back and forth commentary about the cost of fireworks displays in all the major cities of the world to herald in the New Year. The largest display in Australia is put on in and around Sydney Harbour with approximately seven tonnes of fireworks launched. It is estimated that 1.6 million people watch the fireworks at vantage points ...

Warren Masilamony, a graduate of Wilfred Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, moved to Australia in 2010. He has travelled to 17 countries and now works as the broadcasting and production co-ordinator at WTV, Perth’s local community television channel. Mr Masilamony tells Juanita Shepherd about his favourite sport, the best thing about Christmas and the power of Jesus Christ. What adv...

My teenage niece wanted to study religious education in high school but was discouraged by her dad, who said it did not carry much weight, like science. My unbelieving brother-in-law chipped in, saying there was no point in studying something if you don’t know whether that something even exists. How can I help her? We can begin by saying that your brother-in-law is right as regards the p...

By Anne Pitos The transition from adolescent to adult is arguably the most difficult phase of our lives that we, as individuals, have or will face. It marks an ‘in-between’ time when our physical, emotional and spiritual selves endeavour to make sense of the world and the expectations of society and peers. It is a time when we truly learn about the balance between freedom and respo...

A brief shower of rain early in proceedings did little to dampen the enthusiasm of parish priest Father Vinh Dong and parishioners as principal celebrant Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB celebrated Mass in honour of the 25th Anniversary of All Saints Church, Greenwood on November 24 this year. Assistant priest Fr Quynh Do and resident priest Fr Tam Lai also assisted with celebration of Mass ...