The nomination of Kamala Harris, daughter of a black man from Jamaica, to the Vice Presidential Candidacy of the Democrats in the United States made headlines lately all over the world including Australia. In the wake of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, there are issues to be solved in America.

Thursday morning dawned with the terrible news of catastrophic blast in Beirut, the port city and capital of Lebanon. For many parishioners and other people around with Lebanese heritage it was a heart breaking news. The economic hardship and notorious corruption in Lebanon was already breaking the back of ordinary people. Many of them have already been trying to help their dear ones back home, from out of the black hole. Now this blast has not only flattened many buildings and destroyed the food reserve, it also devastated many lives.

When someone dear to them dies, a Catholic would soon gather friends and family to celebrate a Mass. If the deceased person was dearly loved, the greater would be the gathering. At such gatherings people would be speaking about virtues like compassion, love given and received, experiences of healing or uplifting when life itself was challenged. It helps them make a better sense of the life of the departed. When someone dear passes on, you could be feeling a kind of emptiness; your experience could perhaps be described as if you are in a wilderness, needing support. You need consolation. Such needs are fulfilled in the coming together and celebrating Mass with the kith and kin.

These days with the COVID-19 restrictions, we have to be innovative in a lot of things. Recently, the sacramental team of the parish has been discussing how to re-organise the Sacramental Preparation Programs without calling for the parents to gather and risk the spread of corona virus.

There are a number of people employed in the Catholic Schools who are counter witnesses to the Catholic Church. Some of them openly oppose some of the fundamental teachings of the Church. They do not care about the mission of the Church. These less than desirable elements in the school system is affecting the integrity of not just the Catholic Education system, but the Church at large.

I have a problem in preparing my homilies each week. To be an effective communicator I need to speak at the level of my audience. But if the audience are at different levels of understanding, what do you do?

Once a reformed alcoholic promised to join me in helping others who suffer from the addiction. Making the best of the offer I referred a case to him. His response was that the new client is not broken enough to be helped.

Faith is everything, isn’t it? ‘Have faith in yourself, you can do it!’ In this expression, faith means confidence. But the Gospel of Matthew is speaking about a different kind of faith. It is not about self-confidence. Faith is the personal commitment to Jesus.

Cardinal Pell, though not considering his ordeal in the prison was the worst, said it was difficult. Then he told us that it is his faith that helped him endure his 13 months of lock up. There are many martyrs and near martyrs who endured terrible persecution because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

In this time of COVID pandemic we as a community are concerned about the welfare of everyone. The ‘job seeker’, ‘job keeper’ programs and such other initiatives are helping many to have food on their tables which otherwise would not have been possible.