A friend of mine just put me onto this fantastic article by Maria Walley on the Grotto Network: What the world needs to understand about single people. Maria hits the nail on the head about a number of issues, including common myths surrounding dating and marriage, how married couples should (and shouldn't) speak to singles … Continue reading How to navigate the single life (and how to talk to your single friends)
Her characters are relatableSeriously, who doesn't identify with Anne Elliot, Catherine Morland, Marianne Dashwood or Lizzie Bennet at times? Or indeed, any of her other characters? Love her or loathe her, Jane Austen had a wonderful understanding of the human person, which is why she was able to create such three-dimensional, relatable characters that you … Continue reading 7 reasons why women love Jane Austen
Since the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse wrapped up at the end of 2017 in Australia, there have been many calls from politicians, child protection groups and the media to force priests to break the confessional seal in cases of confessions by pedophiles and child abusers. Some states have even gone so far … Continue reading Attack the confessional seal, attack the Church
After publishing my article, The Catholic Weekly followed it up the next week with a wonderful response by Philippa Martyr. Philippa picked up where my article left off - on the importance of not storing up your treasures here on earth but in Heaven, our ultimate destiny. She addressed an important issue that I didn't … Continue reading Don’t hide behind ‘God’s will’
Bad dating experiences are all too common these days, and the Church is no exception. When I wrote my article, it drew a lot of negative comments from some who dismissed many of the concerns I raised. In response to this, a young woman in her late 20s called Sophie reached out to me to … Continue reading Some unfortunately common dating experiences…
I have been sent so many beautiful notes, hopeful messages and words of encouragement over the past four weeks and I want to share the love. I hope that some of you may find hope and encouragement in these words, as I did. The below were published in the Catholic Weekly's Letters page the week … Continue reading Love(ly) Letters
Below is the second version of the article 'For want of a lot of good men'; this one I wrote for The Australian. It was published on Saturday, 25 May 2019. A good man is hard to find, and increasingly becoming even more scarce Where are all the good, marriageable men? This is a question … Continue reading Good men are hard to find
This whole adventure began on Thursday, 2 May 2019 when The Catholic Weekly published an article I'd been working on for a couple of weeks about an issue I felt deeply about, but never seemed to hear or read anyone discussing. Namely, the absence of good, moral, normal men, and the consequent desperation that was … Continue reading The article that started it all
Agony and Hope 