Leper Colonies, Coral Reefs and Pearl Farms
AMDG This last week in Culion has been a delightful experience. A fascinating place with an impressive Jesuit presence, an important mission and a unique history. The former leper colony on the edge...
View ArticleParadise Lost? The need for Lent
AMDG One of my abiding memories of my time in Culion was staying overnight with a family in the remote village of TabukTabuk. On the west of the island many of the villages are populated by...
View ArticleIs God Silent?
AMDG Wow – I have just finished reading Shusaku Endo‘s historical novel Silence. I know that the story will stay with me for a long time. Powerful and haunting. I strongly recommend it as a good...
View ArticleA patron saint of bloggers?
AMDG As the Pope visits Mexico it will be interesting to see if he mentions a brave and inspiring woman – Maria Elizabeth Macias Castro who was tortured and beheaded by a drug cartel last September....
View ArticlePalms in the Villages
AMDG This Sunday was a very memorable Palm Sunday for me. With about 200 villagers and 5 other Jesuits we processed from the recently built Health Centre (funded by a Spanish Jesuit University) to the...
View ArticleThe Passion of the Dalits
AMDG The power of Jesus’s Passion and the message of the Gospel are heard in a unique way by the poor. So to celebrate Good Friday with the villagers of Pannur, many of them ‘untouchables’ in the eyes...
View ArticleTemple Prostitutes
AMDG 96 Girls in our school come from the Devadasi community. Their mothers were dedicated or ‘married’ to the Hindu Godess Yellamma at a young age. They are not allowed to marry a mortal but ones...
View Article13 mackerel, 2 priests and a rabbi
AMDG My cousin has sent me an excellent joke related to the recent fishing trip - 2 priests and a Rabbi go fishing and haul in 13 mackerel. At the end of the day they start to argue about how much fish...
View ArticleTom Cruise and Reversion
AMDG Now I am not turning this into a celebrity tittle-tattle blog but I have to admit to having carefully read some of the reporting about Tom Cruise’s divorce, particularly the insights into...
View ArticleA rare and beautiful flower
AMDG There is an archetypal story of the flower or plant that is very rare but exceedingly beautiful, or has mystical healing powers. In order to pluck this treasure you have travel to a remote spot, a...
View ArticlePublic Confessions
AMDG The student paper here, The Mancunion, claims to be the biggest student paper in the country. Generally speaking it is well produced and well written. It is also invaluable for me to read at the...
View ArticleOutward Looking
AMDG We had a great evening at the chaplaincy on Friday Night – as the Faith and Politics series of evenings came to a climax. With 4 guests, 2 current MP’s, a former MP and a prominent Catholic...
View ArticleWhen I met Pope Francis …….
AMDG On the historical night of the election of Pope Francis – the Jesuit community & guests Fr Dushan Croos & Br Guy Consolmagno Sj , were toasting the health of the new Pope – when we were...
View ArticleSmall Acts with Great Love
AMDG “I would like [the message of Christ's resurrection] to go out to every house and every family, especially where the suffering is greatest…”The power of these words were matched by an encounter,...
View ArticleLast Interview of Missing Jesuit?
AMDG Fr Paolo Dall’Oglio SJ has been a leader among Christians in Syria. In 1992 he re-founded an abandoned ancient monastery in the desert North of Damascus as a place for reconciliation and...
View ArticleHeroic Faith (1)
AMDG Whilst I was on my retreat last week, I was able to do some spiritual reading. I was inspired by a book called ‘The Flying Bishop’ Fifty Years in the Canadian Far North, by Gabriel Breynat OMI....
View ArticleInterviewing Pope Francis & Ignatius
AMDG Reading the wonderful interview that Pope Francis gave to Thinking Faith and other Jesuit journals last week – what comes across is the great freedom with which he speaks and also the humility...
View ArticleStudents House Burnt Down
AMDG It’s reading week here in Manchester and one of our students ‘Eric’ has been sweeping up leaves for us after the storm. Eric arrived in Manchester from Pakistan 4 years ago – he is a very hard...
View ArticleNot dot com but dot catholic
AMDG A piece of news that might have passed you buy a couple of weeks ago is that the Vatican has secured control of the .catholic domain name. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers...
View ArticleOut of the Deep Freeze
AMDG Apologies to those who have been sending messages asking me what’s happened to the Blog. Now that the University Semester has ended I think I have the time and energy to pull it out of the deep...
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