Chris McDonnell 2018 articles
Dec
26: Earth rise over our moon
The US Postal Service issued a stamp commemorating the Apollo 8 flight
around
Dec
12: Gaia's
revenge
"The continuation of civilisations and the natural world upon which we
depend is in your hands"
Dec
5: Henri Nouwen - a lonely mystic
Because of his own struggles and experiences he was able bring support to those
who were struggling, he knew where they were for he had been there himself.
Nov
28: A drifter passing by
The story-telling aspect of tapestries, meticulously stitched by hand a thread
at a time has often been a model of our own lives, put together one piece at a
time
Nov
21: Leaves
that were green turn to brown
"Those who are best at forgiving are those who do not forget"
Nov
14: A bird with a broken wing cannot fly
How will the Democracy of immigrants that forms the United States rebuild trust
and civility?
Nov
7: The pity
of war
The
War that had cost so much in human suffering also took apart the very
fabric of society
Oct
31: The voice of courage (Oscar
Romero)
Many people have
paid a high price for their honesty in speaking out
Oct 31: Abraham's Children (Pittsburgh synagogue shooting)
Oct
24: Who calls the tune?
Great leadership looks to what might be achieved over and above the mistakes of
previous times
Oct
17: When
it comes to talking
Yet for the average Joe, the agenda is unknown, the detail a matter of
conjecture
Oct 10: Give me a drink
Idle time spent by water is never wasted
Oct 3: A much needed place
He was a person who was at home with diversity, seeking common ground and
understanding rather than looking for the edges and tripping points of discord
Sep
26: I'm just passing through
We have all been there sometime, in a strange place, hesitant in an unknown town
or city, not sure of the next step to take.
Sep 19: Write a
letter or two
Over
many centuries, letters have been exchanged about anything and everything
Sep 12: 9/11 reflection
Sep
12: The
fragile face of dignity
We
should be dignified people of principle
Sep
5: A
suffering Church
We
are facing a cataclysmic change that hasn't been experienced since the years
when reformation swept through Europe
Aug
29: A pastor for his people - Raymond
Hunthausen
He was truly a man of the Beatitudes
Aug 22:
When honesty comes at a price
The cover-up became part of the story
Aug
15: Brother Roger of Taize
Thirteen years ago, on August 16th, 2005,
the founder of the Taize ecumenical community was attacked and killed during
evening prayer
Aug
8: Year
of three Popes
That time now is history though forty years on, its influence is still felt
Aug
1: The Transfigured Christ
Each of us can identify some such turning point, some significant occasion in
our lives
July
25: Remaining faithful
Being alongside someone is about remaining faithful
July
18: Fifty
years on and still a disputed question
It is hard to argue the case for responsible conjugal love with those whose
experience is, by and large, that of the celibate looking-on
July
11: Baggage on the journey
You
cannot be understood if the language you use is archaic and has therefore no
meaning for those we address
July 4: A
broken dream
The current argument in the US is not between Democrats and Republicans; it is
between decency and autocracy.
June
27: Take, eat and drink
'Of course the Church was corrupt but that was no reason to leave it.'
June
20: A cathedral for our time
What a fine, magnificent statement of faith the whole design represents!
June
13: So what can we
do?
We are no longer children who respond to being told we can't do something, but
adults teaching each other how we might be Christians in difficult days.
June
6: You just call on my name ...
Recently, there was a Royal Wedding. These things happen, but this was different
May
24: It
will always be Pentecost
Pentecost was not a "one-off" event
May
23: Time
to talk to someone...
It is the spoken word that is our basic currency of exchange
May 16: Give us a job!
A Christian can't just sit around, that's not in the job description
May
9: "Is
everyone else alright?"
Concern for others is a generosity that carries with it a cost, both in time and
energy
May
2: Time to get dressed again
I have often thought that if my years had not taken
me in to teaching, then working with wood was an alternative worth considering
April
26: We belong, our belongings
Wherever we move, the tap root of our lives is always rooted in the soil of our
birth place
April
18: A question of doubt
Once we have accepted that doubt is part of faith,
our expectation of an easy ride is reduced and trust is maintained in times of
difficulty
April 11: Walk with me
We have lost the significance of the action of breaking, the
physical distribution of the one loaf, the sharing, one with another, of the
Eucharistic Christ
April
4: Once started, it is hard to stop
Yesterday's norm is now a matter of history within a
very short space of time. There has been greater change in the last sixty years
than in the whole of our human experience on this earth
March
30: We
look after ourselves
"Any
seminary that does not disabuse its students of the self-evaluation involved in
pretending to such omnicompetence is seriously failing the priestly
community"
March
22: Thanks
for stopping
"The
Church has survived in spite of her clergy"
March
15: What's
in a date?
It was on March 15 in 44BCE that Julius Caesar was assassinated
in the Roman Senate. It gave rise to the words in Shakespeare's play
"Beware
the Ides of March"
March
7: Students inspire the call for change
Living in the UK, we find it inconceivable that teenagers, too young to buy a
beer, can walk into a gun store and buy a killing machine intended for rapid
fire in a war zone. But that is the case in the US.
March 1: Our
actions have consequences
Oxfam ... and the Church
Feb 22:
What
do we value?
Maybe
during this listening time of Lent, we might examine our own values, what we
hold dear, what shapes our lives and forms our experiences, what gives us vision
Feb 18: A time of waiting
The vast majority of us live far from the desert experience, yet we also can
find that odd moment of peace and stillness, a slip-away time that is valued, a
time when we can be ourselves and breathe the solitude we rarely encounter
Feb
14: Looking
two ways now
Our calendar reminds us of a journey we undertake
whether we like it or not, the passage through space of our Earth round the star
that is our sun
Feb
7: The I that is me
The respect we gain is
determined by the respect we give
Jan 31: Still
asking questions....
What cannot happen, must not happen, is that the question having been asked by
so many is left hanging in the air
Jan 24: Fifty
Years on from 1968
It is worth gathering some thoughts on that year and their consequences