Father Bob's Blog

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admin has written 321 posts for Father Bob's Blog

Social justice

By admin ⋅ January 15, 2010 ⋅ 2 comments

Some newspapers recently shortchanged Fr Jim Jones, Anglican Vicar of the Parishes of St Lawrence and St Hilda, York, England, when they used the catchy headline: “shoplifting is OK for the poor”. Barney Zwartz, the Melbourne Age, wrote an excellent article on the challenge issued by Vicar Jones. Vicar Jones wrote a letter to The [...]

Fortress mentality

By admin ⋅ October 16, 2009 ⋅ 4 comments

200 catholics will meet this Sunday (as on every Sunday, since 1854, catholics have met, sometimes 2,000, othertimes 200) to seek refuge from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Our neo gothic church building was designed to demonstrate publicly that catholics had a fortress. Having a fortress easily generates a fortress mentality ….. we’re [...]

Life goes on

By admin ⋅ October 8, 2009 ⋅ 4 comments

Since the “bosses” gave me a short term contract from now till 2012 (early 2012), well intentioned people, sometimes friends, sometimes people on the streets, have been offering me retirement advice. “You haven’t got two and a bit years, you’ve got one year. Start planning for the end of 2010!” I’m temperamentally unsuited for this [...]

Getting on with it

By admin ⋅ October 1, 2009 ⋅ 6 comments

Red dust storm Sydney dropped tonnes of nutrients into Pacific Ocean, just as it has been designed to do over millennia. Tsunami across Pacific Ocean destroys human life and property and underwater animals and vegetables, as it, too, has done for millennia. Seems something pretty big is going on, has been going on and will [...]

The circus is in town

By admin ⋅ September 24, 2009 ⋅ 18 comments

I pinched this from “The Far East” magazine because it is akin to how we are feeling and have been feeling over the past few weeks: “THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN If I was thinking of running away this would be a good week to do it as the circus has set up in our [...]

A few things happenings around here

By admin ⋅ September 17, 2009 ⋅ 72 comments

Few things happenings around here. Hope it does no harm and a little good. Locals have every right to express traces of battle fatigue. Hope it’s all over soon, one way or another, for the common good. At least, the world knows there is specifically South Melbourne Catholicism. That’s not meant to be offensive to [...]

One small step

By admin ⋅ September 10, 2009 ⋅ 179 comments

At the same time as “the other business” was going on, the government sent me a letter beginning with the following: “The Victorian Government is committed to ensuring that senior Victorians are to make the most of their retirement years”. The rest was about travel concessions and lots of other goodies. See how word spreads [...]

Big Week for me

By admin ⋅ September 7, 2009 ⋅ 369 comments

Big Week for me. Phone rang Wednesday a.m. “It’s the archbishop. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.” I didn’t have time to think or call for help. Luckily, Judy, the office manager, was present to take notes. By the time he left, I was feeling 90 years of age, not 75, the age of statutory [...]

The campaign continues

By admin ⋅ August 27, 2009 ⋅ 8 comments

Big break in my routine this weekend. I’m visiting Maidstone, Braybrook and West Footscray to preach briefly at eight Masses, Saturday night, Sunday morning and night. It’s part of those churches’ fund raising campaign to enable them to stay open. Lots of Italians, Philippino/a’s and Vietnamese. I’ve been booked for the “gig” for months. See [...]

The next stage in the evolution of humanity

By admin ⋅ August 20, 2009 ⋅ One comment

Quick trip to Hobart this week. Moderator of panel discussion to end the Catholic Health Australia annual conference. Panellists were Jane Favoto, President, Australian Catholic Press Association, Steve Crittenden, ABC journalist, and Father Brian Lucas, Sydney archdiocesan, secretary and spokesman, general secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference since April 2002. The topic was “How [...]