serving the faith communities of the Goulburn Valley
Simon Critchley, who teaches philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York and has long been intrigued by mystics, tells readers what he has learned through his studies in the new book Mysticism. Late in the book, after too many efforts to say why he wrote it, Critchley emerges with this useful phrase: Mysticism is the “fiery core and beating heart” of religion.
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Spiritual reflection can be a part of many traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Sufism, and Shamanism. Spiritual traditions are a collection of beliefs and practices that help people connect with the divine or a greater truth. They can include rituals, meditation, prayer, and moral teachings. Here, Jackie Bailey, a Funeral Celebrant, speaks of her spiritual traditions.
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In his famous work, “Anonymous Christianity,” the great Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner claims that the benefits of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice are not confined to the boundaries of any particular religious tradition or by our awareness or acceptance of Christian doctrine. To which German theologian Hans Küng responded by saying that “any sincere Jew, Muslim, or atheist would assert it is presumptuous to claim that he is an ‘anonymous Christian.’” In his message to the youth of Singapore, Pope Francis called for unity among the faiths, saying, ‘all religions are paths to God’.
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From January 1 – 7, all are invited to join in co-creating a global field of care , coherence and healing as we gentle ourselves into the loving embrace of Rest.
As we attune together to the frequency of Rest, we support a collective release of that which is not in service of Life. In re-turning to rest, we enable a profound re-calibration with nature’s primordial rhythms and regenerative intelligence.
Slowing down, we nourish a deepening connection with ourselves, each other and all of Life, and seed the New Year with a profound gift of healing and regeneration.
This year, the first night of Hanukkah falls on Wednesday, December 25 – Yes, Hanukkah begins on Christmas Day for 2024. Appearing in Jewish art from antiquity until today, this ever-burning, seven-branched candelabra symbolized the permanence of the people of Israel’s connection to God, and God’s continual presence among the Jewish people. And so it is with the Ner Tamid in synagogues today.
Christian leaders from around the world share their Christmas messages. The children in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, in Beirut and the Gaza Strip, in Syria, Ukraine, and Sudan are the ones who suffer most in violent conflicts. And so are some children in homes in our own country, where they experience violence behind closed doors instead of safety, despair instead of hope. So write Church leaders as we come upon Christmas 2024.
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Every year, hundreds of thousands of Muslims undertake the Hajj –the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca. In 2024, the pilgrimage took place in mid-June, the start of the Saudi summer. But this year, more than 1,300 pilgrims never made it home. Lethal heat combined with humidity proved deadly. New research shows the upper limits of human heat tolerance were breached for a total of 43 hours over the six days of Hajj. During these periods, heat and humidity passed beyond the point at which our bodies are able to cool down.
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Former President Barack Obama at a forum on democracy pointed to the partnership of houses of worship and the success of megachurches as examples of ways to build bridges and foster pluralism. “The pluralist ideal is what allows a Christian church and Muslim mosque to sit side by side on the same city block — and then maybe agree to share a parking lot,” Obama said at the Obama Foundation’s Democracy Forum in Chicago.
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FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Just off a state highway in New Jersey, one of the largest statues of the Buddha in the United States appears unexpectedly in the middle of a backyard. It rises 30 feet high from the woods in Franklin Township, near Princeton, where it was built a decade ago under the leadership of a Sri Lankan monk ordained in Theravada, one of the oldest forms of Buddhism. His dream? Uniting people of all faiths.
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Mahmoud Muna is the owner of the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem and one of the editors of “Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Cultures”. The book collects testimonies and stories from over a hundred Gazans, documenting their lives before and during Israel’s ongoing war on the enclave.
There are some special events to honour William Cooper this 6 December. At the Israel and German embassies in Canberra, a plaque honouring him will be erected on the adjoining fence of the embassies, an amazing gesture of solidarity. Also, Michael McDonogh and Alice Young, the family of William Cooper, united with faith leaders from the Anglican, Baptist, and Pentecostal churches, Michael Pearce, the Hon Consul General of Germany, and former Senator Nova Peris OAM, are making a stand for social cohesion. … Read more…
Let’s say you want to write a book. You’ve got a captivating story to tell or a compelling argument to make. You’ve got a gift with words!
That’s a good start! But there are other things you (probably) don’t have. Like easy access to paper and ink reserves, a commercial printing press, and a fleet of trucks to haul your handiwork across the country. Even then, more hurdles await, like convincing the people who run libraries and bookstores (and Amazon sales teams) to stock an item with your name on the cover.
Many write – books, e-books, kindles. Publishing is an instant business these days, particularly with Print-On-Demand services available. Here, the editor of Christianity Today reviews an extra-ordinary range of new books on Christianity. Be warned, these reviews go across the full spectrum of writing on Christianity!
DHARAMSHALA, Dec 5: A well-known and young Tibetan Buddhist leader Kundeling Tatsak Rinpoche represented the Buddhist community at the All-Religion Interfaith Conference held in Vatican City from November 29 to 30. During the conference, Kundeling Tatsak Rinpoche had a personal audience with Pope Francis where he presented a book authored by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Suicide is a topic that many don’t speak of. The media, most have style guides that tell not to cover suicide unless it is hooked to a public interest issue. Yet, this silence, this loss, this trail of blame affects many people locally. Perhaps we might even say that something has been stolen from us, someone we love, we cared for, someone we knew, someone we went to school with. The We Listen Suicide Loss Support Group invites the community to light a candle in memory of loved ones during its annual Candlelight Vigil – at Ferrari Park, Mooroopna – on Tuesday, December 17.
Young scientists, sisters, and theologians of the “green generation” reflect on “saints”, canonised and not, who offer hope and inspire us towards ecological action. “In the community of saints, all together are companions in memory and hope. Together, all together, they are becoming something strange and growing and great, instruments of change. Green Saints for a Green Generation taps beautifully into this dynamic for the sake of our suffering Earth, which cries out for no less”.
2 December every year is International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. Latest estimates by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) show that forced labour and forced marriage have increased significantly in the last five years. 10 million more people were in modern slavery in 2021 compared to 2016 global estimates, bringing the total to 50 million worldwide. Women and children remain disproportionately vulnerable.
International Day for the Abolition of Slavery occurs annually on 2 December every year. What is presented in this post are selections from a report on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery in Australia during the year 2022, as compiled by the Australian Institute of Criminology.
The Vatican may make “spiritual abuse” a formalized crime in Church law, rather than merely an aggravating circumstance of other crimes. The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is forming a working group with the Dicastery for Legislative Texts with “the task of analyzing this possibility and presenting concrete proposals” on the matter, according to a paper from the doctrine office dated Nov. 22 and posted online this week.
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In Moana, there is a mystique around Māui’s demigod status; he sits in the space between the gods and humanity. Like the Māui of Polynesia, he can shapeshift, wields a magic hook and is courageous.
Yet this Hollywood Māui would have no chance against the Māui of Polynesia, who is not a god to be worshipped, but a spirit – a set of characteristics identified through the actions of a person. Māui’s spirit lives today and can be activated by his descendants to do extraordinary things.
25 November every year is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Violence against women and girls remains one of the most prevalent and pervasive human rights violations in the world. Globally, almost one in three women have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both, at least once in their life.
For at least 51,100 women in 2023, the cycle of gender-based violence ended with one final and brutal act—their murder by partners and family members. That means a woman was killed every 10 minutes.