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... only speak the word, and my servant will be healed ...The story in Matthew's Gospel is about words and their power to heal. The story is also about pain and loss, suffering and distress, hope and wonder. In a sense, it is also the story of every person's journey in faith, with elements of fear, apprehension, unspoken doubt, unexpected joy, renewed life.These are experiences reflected in Poems of Lament and Grace. The author gladly acknowledges that her own faith journey has involved times of faith and doubt, uncertainty, longing, apprehension.Yet, this deeply honest series of poems - words of healing - acknowledges times of discouragement and dismay, but above all rejoices in divine grace, offered and lived.

What it is like to do a funeral?Are you ready to sit with people in their darkest moments?These are the kinds of questions that Alex Sangster struggled with as she began her journey as an ordained minister in the Uniting Church in Australia. And the journey continues.Using the metaphor of Story, she shares her passion to discover ways that liberate, inspire and awaken; and suggests how the emerging church can connect with those who are spiritually hungry but culturally anti-institution. do they make coffins that small? explores what it means to minister in the context of contemporary disbelief.

The well-known story from the Gospels reminds us that prayer, healing and forgiveness are central to the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth; and a key to understanding how we are to live by faith.In this book, Paul Kraus recalls and celebrates a life formed and shaped by the teaching ministry of Jesus of Nazareth and the gospel values of the New Testament. With verses from the Bible, prayers, poetry and hymns, as well as extracts from celebrated spiritual writers, he records God's gifts of faith and hope; and rejoices that they have brought healing, forgiveness and love into his life.Above all, the book is about the promises of God, the healing power of God that happens when we surrender to God. It is about accepting and imitating the example of God's incarnate Word whose ministry taught us acceptance, inclusion, encouragement - letting go and letting God into our lives.

'It takes a lifetime to grow up.'Graced beyond telling is the story of one woman's growing up in life, in faith, in self-discovery; a story of finding inner peace, inner meaning, inner acceptance of the person God intended her to be. It is about a growing awareness of God's presence in her life, bringing wonder, trust and peace. A story of searching, occasional and deep confusion, times of abandonment, vulnerability and a growing sense of God's Spirit at work in her life and her ministry. It is an account of her 'yes' to the presence and purposes of God in her life, purposes that shaped her world and her life even before her life began. Ultimately, it is a story of grace at work in the ordinary everyday of her life. In a sense, too, it is the story of everyone's journey in faith - unknowing, trusting, discovering, letting go. A journey of accepting that our lives are part of a cosmos infinitely larger than ourselves and a gradual making sense of that mystery and accepting it in faith.

Take Nothing for the Journey is written in both Vietnamese and English This radical command of Jesus to the disciples as he sent them on their mission to preach God's good news involved - for them - faith, confidence, trust and the conviction that this was a journey that would change their lives forever. For Huan Ho, the journey of escape from his home and family in Vietnam would also change his life forever. Take nothing for the journey is his account of that significant adventure - but it was not only a search for freedom but a journey of faith as he discovered God's providence and care in his many experiences on the way. Throughout, the story is richly illustrated by his fine artwork that depicts people and places along the way. Theo l¿nh truy¿n c¿i cách c¿a Chúa Giêsu cho các môn ¿¿ c¿a Ngài khi Ng¿¿i sai h¿ ¿i th¿c hi¿n s¿ m¿nh rao gi¿ng tin m¿ng c¿a Thiên Chúa. Liên quan ¿¿n ¿¿i v¿i h¿ - ¿¿c tin, s¿ t¿ tin, s¿ trông c¿y và ni¿m xác tín r¿ng ¿ây là m¿t cüc hành trình s¿ thay ¿¿i cüc ¿¿i c¿a h¿ mãi mãi. ¿¿i v¿i H¿ Huân hành trình v¿¿t bi¿n lìa b¿ gia ¿ình quê h¿¿ng Vi¿t Nam c¿ng s¿ thay ¿¿i cüc ¿¿i anh mãi mãi. Không mang theo gì cho cüc hành trình là câu chuy¿n c¿a anh v¿ cüc phiêu l¿u ¿¿y ý ngh¿a ¿ó - nh¿ng ¿ó không ch¿ là m¿t cüc tìm ki¿m t¿ do mà còn là m¿t cüc hành trình c¿a ¿¿c tin khi anh khám phá ra s¿ quan phòng và tình yêu th¿¿ng trong quan tâm c¿a Thiên Chúa trong nhi¿u tr¿i nghi¿m c¿a anh trên ¿¿¿ng ¿i c¿a anh ta. Xuyên süt, câu chuy¿n ¿¿¿c minh h¿a phong phú b¿ng nh¿ng b¿c tranh c¿a anh ta ¿¿¿c t¿o hình theo m¿t tr¿¿ng phái m¿i ¿ã mô t¿ con ng¿¿i và tâm h¿n và ¿¿a ¿i¿m trên ¿¿¿ng ¿i. I know well the experience of being adrift and lost at sea. Huan tells very graphically the many frightening steps of his remarkable journey. For many Vietnamese, the drama of that escape is not easy to put into words. Huan wanted to leave his story for his family and, interestingly, he wanted it to be recorded in both Vietnamese and in his adopted language English. +Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv - Bishop of Parramatta Tôi ¿ã bi¿t rõ c¿m giác trôi d¿t và l¿c h¿¿ng trên ¿¿¿ng bi¿n. Huân k¿ r¿t sinh ¿¿ng v¿ nhi¿u s¿ ki¿n ¿áng s¿ trong hành trình ¿áng chú ý c¿a mình. ¿¿i v¿i nhi¿u ng¿¿i Vi¿t, bi k¿ch c¿a cüc v¿¿t thoát ¿ó không d¿ di¿n t¿ thành l¿i. Huân mün ¿¿ l¿i câu chuy¿n c¿a mình cho gia ¿ình và ¿i¿u thú v¿ là anh mün nó ¿¿¿c ghi l¿i b¿ng c¿ ti¿ng Vi¿t và ti¿ng Anh. +Vincent Nguy¿n Vân Long . OFM Conv - ¿¿c Giám m¿c Parramatta Huan Tran Ho was born in Saigon in 1965 and was enrolled in the Saigon Art University. He reunited with his parents and siblings in Australia in 1996. Huan lives in Melbourne with his wife and two daughters. In Australia, Huan spent his early years working in factories; and today, he is exploring his first love - developing his art. H¿ Tr¿n Huân sinh n¿m 1965 t¿i Sài Gòn và theo h¿c t¿i ¿¿i h¿c M¿ thüt Sài Gòn. Anh ¿ã ¿oàn t¿ v¿i cha m¿ và anh ch¿ em t¿i Úc vào n¿m 1996. Huân s¿ng ¿ Melbourne Australia v¿i v¿ và hai con gái. Huân tr¿i qua nh¿ng n¿m ¿¿u tiên khi ¿¿¿c ¿¿nh c¿ t¿i Australia anh ¿ã làm vi¿c trong các hãng x¿¿ng và hôm nay, anh ¿ang khám phá thêm v¿ ¿am mê ¿¿u ¿¿i c¿a mình - phát tri¿n thêm m¿ thüt h¿i h¿a

How can churches contribute to bringing about healing in our troubled world? Has Christianity been a force for good in the world? Is it still today? At the 2020 conference of the Association of Practical Theology in Oceania (APTO), these were the serious questions raised and debated, reflecting the ministry of healing that is at the heart of the church's existence.Fourteen papers presented at the Conference are contained in this book. They represent the range of presentations made at the Conference, emphasising the nature of practical theology whose purpose is to uncover the causes of woundedness in the church and to suggest ways towards resolution, forgiveness and, above all, truth.

For many people in the churches, the recent decline in membership among women has been a distressing and deepening reality. For centuries, women have been the mainstay of church life - those who managed housekeeping and catering chores, provided secretarial duties, organised fundraising and supervised the religious education of children, as well as being the majority of worshipping communities everywhere. Without their presence, churches have witnessed serious declines in family participation, the collapse of Sunday schools, and lower involvement in study groups. Inevitably, there is a deepening concern among older churchgoers for the future of their parishes and church life. The author's previous book Freedom from Sanctified Sexism was a history of women in the Australian Anglican Church from the end of the nineteenth century to 1992, when women were finally admitted to the Australian Anglican priesthood. Gender-Balanced Belief moves on from there. Mavis Rose acknowledges the significance and success of the Movement for the Ordination of Women but alerts us to deeper, more endemic realities of church life and governance that have prevented the full participation of women, especially in significant areas of church leadership. She explores the reason for this situation: the entrenched resistance among leaders of the churches to accept women in ministry, based on flawed theology, out-of-date approaches to the Bible tradition, as well as unhealthy and sexist approaches to the equality of women and their legitimate rights in contemporary society. Gender-Balanced Belief calls on the churches to respect the Jesus tradition of including all people - irrespective of sex, class or ethnic group - to establish the reign of God in our time and place. In this way, women - and men - of faith may rediscover the heart of the gospel and recognise in renewed church structures effective contexts for proclaiming the good news and witnessing to its teaching.

How do we find Christ in films that are not directly about Jesus of Nazareth? This has been one of the recurring challenges to Peter Malone who has spent more than fifty years as a reviewer of films with a constant interest in uncovering themes, characters and plots that reveal Christ-like figures and images.Christ-figures - there on our screens is a fascinating insight into more than thirty films that the author explores for their - generally hidden - portrayals of characteristics that reflect the life and teaching of Jesus in the Gospels.The book is offered to help us reflect on the films and to discuss them in formal or informal groups. It will also be a rich resource for Religious Education when film becomes a way of helping students appreciate how the Gospel messages are interpreted, portrayed and lived.... a really fertile topic for examination and allows us to ask searching questions about how we may be afforded the opportunity to learn more about Christ through film and film through Christ. - Chris Deacy, Reader in Theology and Religious Studies, University of Kent.... presents readers with a stimulating unmasking of how movies work, why they work, and what drives film critics to make the judgments they do... This is an outstanding book by an inspiring scholar. - Peter Sheehan AO, Associate of Jesuit Media.Peter's writing provides us with contemporary theological language and keen insight that unpacks depictions of Christ and Christ-like characters.- Charles Watt, Deputy Principal: Faith and Mission, Genazzano College, Kew.Peter has highlighted the Jesus figure in some of my favourite movies, and now I have a whole new list for my 'to watch list'. - Sr Rita Malavisi, National Chair, Conference of Spiritual Directors Australia.

After all this time invites us to rediscover the sources of faith and to express in contemporary language what it means to accept Jesus of Nazareth and his teaching as an authentic way to shape life and give meaning in our world.

When Catholics say, 'I don't go to Mass anymore', it generally indicates something more significant than simply deciding to spend less time in church. Often, it relates to a gradual distancing form the church itself, a growing away from something that once gave meaning, shape and purpose to life. This is one of the realities that Frank O'Loughlin considers in helping us understand the nature and function of liturgy in the life of the church. Liturgy is not an 'added on' feature for faithful Christians; it is at the heart of faith, expressing how we understand the gathered community that is the People of God in our secular world. Recalling the constant development of how Christians have worshiped from the earliest times, the teachings of Trent and the Second Vatican Councils, he emphasises the need to respond to cultural and societal change in order to express his deep appreciation of the ancient principle that connects Eucharist and church. This involves informed reflection about priesthood, the words we use at Mass, the nature of signs, the emphasis on people rather than clergy, the purpose of liturgy to express our longing to make the teaching of the Gospel bear fruit in our lives and our word. The author writes with authority and insight; above all, he writes from many years of pastoral experience, aware of changes in families and society, and the perennial need for renewal, openness and self-giving in liturgy and in the church itself.

The church has a message to proclaim, a gospel to share, a conviction about how society should function, but no one is listening. In Recovering the True Church Paul Collins identifies the defects in the current model of Church.

Sr Marie Leonie Williams' new book of poems is a celebration of almost seventy years as a professed Sister of Mercy in Australia.

Will I Go Blind? is a personal & honest experiences of what it is like to be diagnosed with Macular Degeneration and how it is possible to lead a full life.

10 Minutes is a fresh way to approach the study of the Bible. Take 10 minutes, it suggests, to read a chapter in the book that will introduce a Bible story that will lead to another 10 minutes of reflection, prayer and sharing. The approach is described as 'writing your own Gospel' - inviting us to recall our own versions of the life and teachings of Jesus - those favourite passages that have shaped our personal (and group) identities as disciples within the community called the church.The approach acknowledges that this process probably reflects how the original stories were remembered, shared, modified and finally written down in the four Gospels in our New Testament. It is also an approach that, in our times, recognises the effect of film, stage and television on how those ancient messages have been shaped and recalled.The reflections in 10 Minutes will move our hearts and minds to learn anew the revelation of what our God is like through the life of Jesus and the teaching of the Gospel.

You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.Matthew 5:13The Jesus community is called to be the salt of the earth, a metaphor that contains rich and disruptive challenge. Salt is little. We weep salty tears and grow up in dark salty wombs. Salt preserves. Salt draws out taste and too much salt spoils everything.With scholarly insight into the biblical text, early church writers and theology, as well as her pastoral experience in ministry, Sally Douglas invites us to wrestle afresh with the metaphor of being salt. Here we discover a call into discipleship that is free from the success criteria of consumerist culture and free from nostalgia.This book is not a 'how to' manual. Instead, through stories of ancient and contemporary salty communities, reflection questions and liturgies, the book is a nourishing resource for people and communities seeking faithful ways of being church today.

The poems witness Grierson's personal, faith-filled conviction that all poetry seeks the extra-ordinary buried in the ordinary. His poems are themselves music to surprise, delight, challenge; and be thankful for the richness of our lives.

Blessed are those who know the joy of a friend, parent, or child, who accept us without rhyme or reason or reward, who love us with a power that can withstand the assault of our doubt.In the Jewish and Christian traditions, blessings are generally looked for in extraordinary people and situations. And in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the declarations of blessedness reflect Jesus' approach of turning expectations upside down so that it is the poor, the sick, the bereaved who are declared blessed by God. Strange and unexpected beatitudes!Glynn Cardy's A Book of Blessings takes the Jesus tradition in new directions. He well understands that the blessings of God are found in the ordinary, the familiar, the day-to- day. He affirms that blessings may be experienced and celebrated in unexpected situations and people.This is a collection that inspires, delights and encourages. A Book of Blessings is in itself a blessing to the community called the church - and well beyond the church - for all who share a love and appreciation of everyday people and the richness and the ordinary of their lives.

'The glory of God is a person fully alive.'The affirmation by St Irenaeus of Lyon has inspired Paul Mitchell in his life as parent, writer, poet, educator and learner.In this series of essays and articles, written over many years and for a variety of journals, he reflects on the joys and challenges of being a parent and teacher; he shares tender experiences of what worked, what did not and the struggle to recognise that parenting skills must adapt as children grow and develop their own personalities.Here is a master storyteller at work, someone whose faith informs his natural gifts. His deep understanding that resurrection is about our everyday lives is reflected in the stories of ordinary events, the surprises we meet along the way, and the people who enhance our love for life, our children, our partners and ourselves.

The churches have not been exempt from the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic. Churches have closed, liturgies cancelled, 'virtual' participation almost normal in many countries. In this context, is there an appropriate Christian response? What can we learn from the responses of religious people to previous pandemics? Is there any model of response that can help Christians when, inevitably, there will be further pandemics in our lives?Pandemics and Spiritual Seekers - a collection of essays, poems, prayers and reflections - records various responses, ancient and contemporary. It includes the insights of saints, mystics and celebrated writers who have left us their thoughts of how to make sense of it all; it includes the responses of contemporary faithful people, sharing their experiences of anxiety, distress, fear, uncertainty and hope. All of them offer opportunities to reflect deeply on the theology and spirituality of the pandemic.The theological response includes those who see the pandemic as an opportunity to consider the nature and function of the church itself in such troubled times. Pope Francis has proposed that the church should be a 'field hospital', implying a moving away from traditional boundaries to exercise the healing ministry of Jesus to people affected by the pandemic - those afflicted spiritually as well as physically and mentally. The subtitle of the book 'Locating our invisible wounds' suggests that the pandemic may be a kairos moment for the church, an opportunity to consider what the community called church offers to wounded humanity - what needs to change within itself as it seeks and offers faithful responses to the challenging, pandemic events in our lives.

This book is a companion book to Brian Gallagher's earlier work God's Foolishness.

Christians - especially Catholic Christians - live in anxious times. Truths once held as sacred and lasting are now challenged, often from within the faith community; church leaders no longer command deference and respect; the voice of the church is considered by society as 'just another opinion'.This is the context in which Overcoming fear is offered to those who genuinely seek to understand and develop their sense of connection with the mystery we call God. The author acknowledges that we live in changing and challenging times but suggests that the times were ever so, especially in the life and ministry of Jesus whose teaching and insights and relationshipwith the Father developed in similar times of fear and uncertainty.How Jesus responded to the times is the model for how we as his followers may respond to our own times, resisting fear and powerlessness in seeking the will of God, deepening our relationship with God and living lives of faithfulness and trust and love. Faithful to the Bible witness, sensitive to ancient Christian spiritual traditions - for example the writings of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross - as well as insights of contemporary teachers like Richard Rohr and Walter Brueggemann, the author's experience as director and counsellor encourages us in our search for God's purposes and how we may overcome fear within that journey, deepening our understanding of God and God's invitation to closeness, growth and faith.This is a book for contemporary disciples who are willing to take seriously the invitation to acknowledge fear in their spiritual journey and to overcome that fear so as to grow in confidence in their relationship with the God of compassion and love.

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28This seminal statement in the letter to the Galatians is the foundation upon which this book is based. Its clear teaching about our unity in Christ overrides other sources of identity and is the recurring theme in this careful, sensitive and informed research about issues surrounding the ministry of women in the churches.The book's particular focus is the Lutheran Church of Australia, traditionally opposed to such leadership, and apparently based on what has been considered sound interpretations of New Testament teaching, especially in the letters of PaulThe author does not ignore the passages used by those who oppose women in ministry. Rather, as an eminently qualified scholar of the Bible, he contends that such texts need to be understood in their original social contexts with all the limitations that such contexts make to our ongoing understanding of their teaching.The struggle to include women in ministry and leadership in the churches has been long and divisive. Neither Male nor Females argues that now is the time for the Lutheran Church of Australia (and other Christian churches) to affirm the roles of women at all levels of the church's life and especially reassess their dependence on such exclusion on long misunderstood Scripture verses and long abandoned expectations of women's roles in society an church.... a please to those who continue to refuse a place for women in ministry to rethink their position, based on taking a more differentiated approach to Scripture. - William Loader, Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Murdoch University.... explores the texts that have been used to deny the full personhood of women using the language and methods of interpretation congruous for those who hold different views, while not accepting the framing of the discussion given by them. - Dr Tanya Wittwer, Lecturer in Pastoral Theology, Adelaide College of Divinity / Flinders University, Brooklyn Park, South Australia

Jesus & The Empowering Influence of Friendship explores the values of the historical sage Jesus of Nazareth, considering not only the words and actions of the historical Jesus but examining the values of compassion and acceptance shown in the relationships with the people he meets.Reflecting on contemporary biblical scholarship, including the discovery of ancient texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi, the John W H Smith also critiques the traditional 'orthodox' Christianity and asks if the practical application of Jesus' values have been reflected in the creeds, councils an historic documents of the Churches.In addition, the author shows how traditional 'orthodox' teachings can be challenged and changed through the transforming influence of friendship discovered in the life and teaching of the sage Jesus of Nazareth.

Not Forgotten celebrates the lives of our forebears, the flesh and blood people who passionately believed that what they could bring to Australian children was worth the struggle.