The marriage of Joseph and Mary

Super Flumina
Babylonis

under the patronage of St Joseph and St Dominic

By the rivers of Babylon there we sat and wept, remembering Zion;
on the poplars that grew there we hung up our harps. . . Ps 136

St Dominic

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Professor Solomon's Introduction to Philosophy

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Myall Lakes Adventure


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Miscellaneous Papers

I. The Passenger

Christ is the Way.  We who seek to emulate him must make ourselves wayfarers, passengers.  This is the dignity accorded the pilgrim; he emulates the Divine Exemplar, Jesus Christ. more

II. One Road to Heaven, a Thousand Roads to Hell

Every one of us is made to see God. That is the only reason we were created. None of the business of life has, at the last, any other significance.  more

III. Solving Australia's Drought Problems

There is a solution to the water shortage problem in Australia. The solution lies in acknowledging the rights of Almighty God over each of us and of our utter dependence on Him. more

IV. Why the Drought Will Get Worse

How can we lament the drought yet keep on offending Almighty God, the giver of rain, so profoundly? The offences are not only continuing, they are increasing -- abortion, the in vitro fertilisation of human embryos, and now, cloning. Yet we expect Him to provide us with rain! more

V. The Tsunami & Secular Humanists

The tsunami of Boxing Day 2004 shook the security of the secular humanists. There is no security for those who deny the existence of God.  more

VI. The Will, Mistress of the Soul

Each of us will determine his own destiny: no one else will do it for us. more

VII. Born for Friendship

Almighty God not only made us in His own image, but He made us capable of rising to the level of personal friendship with Him. more

VIII. Two Events that Stopped the World

There have been two events in the last ten years that have stopped the world; one of them with horror, the other with wonder, and bemusement.  more

IX. Veni Sancte Spiritus

Pentecost Sunday marks the birth of the Catholic Church, the beginning of the explosion of the faith that has had such an influence on the world.  more

X. The Struggle Lasts as Long as Life

The whole of a man's life is a struggle with himself.  Getting to heaven is a lifetime's work.  more

XI. The Shadow of His Wings

The life of Fr Gereon Goldmann OFM, former member of Hitler's SS, stretches the bounds of credibility.  His path to the Japanese mission field led through the terrible terrain of wartorn Europe and North Africa. more

XII. World Youth Day and Man's Vocation

Pope Benedict came to Sydney to recall the youth of the world to their vocation - love.  more

XIII. Ascension Thursday

The failure to celebrate Christ's Ascension on the Thursday forty days after His Resurrection is yet another triumph of expediency over liturgical truth. more

XIV. The Vatican Bureaucracy

The seeming inability of the Vatican to control its own household is a matter of ongoing concern. more

XV. Heaven, Where Dwell the Saints

Those who believe in God and in His revelation are the world's realists:
they know, for they accept on God's authority, what He has in store for those who love Him.  more

XVI. Good Friday

Was it necessary that Christ should suffer for us?  Yes, for two reasons. more

XVII. Homily of Pope Benedict on Canonisation of Six New Saints

We set out here our translation of the homily of His Holiness on 17th October when he raised six new saints, including St Mary of the Cross (Mary MacKillop), to the altars of the Church. He emphasises the importance of prayer. more

XVIII. Paul Brazier

At about 10.00 pm on Easter Wednesday, 27th April 2011, the feast in the Tridentine rite of his favourite saint, St Peter Canisius, bishop and doctor of the Church, Paul Andrew John Brazier, died suddenly at his home in Faulconbridge in Sydney’s Blue Mountains. more

IXX. What Ails the Youth of Britain

The heirs of Henry Tudor have come into their inheritance. more

XX. A Propos of Modern Manglish

Two Australians have established a website to address the mangling of the English language.  Here is a letter of response to an article by one of them, Harold Scruby, in 'The Australian' of 22nd December, 2011.  more

XXI. Death of a Soldier

We mark the ninth anniversary of the founding of this website, the anniversary of the death of Leo XIII, with our tribute to the latest Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan.  He was the writer’s nephew.  The reader will find reference in a footnote to the wisdom of the great Pope.  more

XXII. Italy, the Vatican & Dr Moraro

In December last an Australian academic, Dr Piero Moraro, criticised certain advice by Archbishop Bregantini of the Italian Bishops Conference to the Italian Government in respect of the current economic crisis in Italy.  His criticisms had some merit; and some shortcomings.  more

XXIII. After America

This is a critique of Mark Steyn's praiseworthy study of America's moral, social and economic decline, 'After America'.  more

XXIV. In Defence of Tolkein's Fantasy

This is a response to a recent criticism of Tolkein (among others) for his fantasy.  more

XXV. Two Parables

Some brief thoughts on the vocation of the practising Catholic.  more

XXVI. Reflections on the Solution of the Bogle/Chandler Mystery

Peter Butt’s solution of the mystery surrounding the deaths of Dr Gilbert Bogle and Mrs Margaret Chandler early on New Year’s Day, 1963, provides food for some profound thought.  more

XXVII. Gerard Windsor's The Tempest-Tossed Church

This book, published in 2017, is the latest in the oeuvre of Sydney Catholic, and former Jesuit student, Gerard Windsor.  More about Windsor and his faith than about the Church, it will yet repay the reader who is likely to feel himself entitled to disagree with a deal that the author has to say. more

XXVIII. Reaction in Minnesota

Isn’t there a connection between the extraordinary event of a group of Catholic Bishops standing up for principle in Minnesota and the chaos precipitated in the same American State just five days later?  more

XXIX. Eternity

In Isaiah we read: “Thus says the High and Holy One who inhabits eternity whose name is Holy and who dwells in the high and holy place.  I am with the humble and contrite of heart to revive in them the spirit of humility and of contrition…”  (57: 15)  Which raises the question, ‘Where will you spend eternity?’   more

XXX. Miracles at Wingello

This is our comment on one of the more amazing consequences of the recent bushfires in Australia.  more

XXXI. Truth & the Canberra Disaster

August 13th last marked the 80th anniversary of the air crash that may be said to have destroyed Australia’s United Australia Party Government.  The anniversary has provided great scope for conjecture at the expense of the facts.  We provide here an article which balances assertions that responsibility for the disaster should be laid at the feet of the then Minister for the Air and Civil Aviation, Mr Jim Fairbairn.  more

XXXII. A Plague to Counter a Plague

Christ’s Church specifies for Lent an antiphon to the Office of Matins which reveals Divine foreknowledge of the dilemma that confront us—Promisit Dominus coronam vigilantibus.  more

XXXIII. The Trinity Reflected in Man

God made man in His own image and likeness.  Careful consideration shows just how closely we reflect the Divine Being.  more