I wish to share the striving, risk and chaos I have experienced in my life as well as the growth and fulfilment that has come my way. It is a way of “writing upon the wall of humanity”, sharing with innumerable people the task of searching for the meaning of all that is around and within us. I invite you to join with me in this enlightening and creative process.
Note from Tony: This article was published in La Croix International, an Independent Catholic Daily. A cardinal says he’s open to women’s ordination; a priest who did so remains suspended. Irish Redemptorist Tony Flannery says he’s been given the chance to recant Robert Mickens Vatican City September 18, 2020 Cardinal Jean-Claude HollerichSJ (Photo:...
Note from Tony: This story was published on ABC news online. Basketball champion and Indigenous mentor Patty Mills has found ‘a way to live with impact and purpose’ By Jonathon Gul September 13 2020 Patty Mills is one of Australia’s greatest basketballers. (ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter) Patty Mills remembers asking the question. Vividly, despite it happening more than...
Intro by Tony: This is not a story about football. It is a story about a person – an Indigenous Australian – and of people. There is no need, therefore, to know anything at all about Australian Rules Football to fully appreciate Rob’s story. His story has particular impact upon me for the reason I played AFL in Ballarat and Melbourne during this time (But not in the same...
On Tuesday May 8th 2018 my sister Liz together with Remy and me searched the cemetery at Corowa NSW for Marker 237. This was in the old section of the cemetery as we looked for signs of the place our brother John was buried sixty-eight years ago. The search was led and motivated by my sister Liz who had worked for many years at Sands Australia assisting parents grieve and cope with the...
February 2019 “Clothes make a man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” So wrote Mark Twain, echoing the proverb listed by Erasmus some 400 years ago. How then would Mark Twain view members of the Catholic Hierarchy based on the clothes they wear? What sort of man wears a cassock-dress, a mitre (embroidered, high-pitched hat), a scarlet...
Written after the People Power movement in the Philippines removed Ferdinand Marcos as President and ended a long period of Martial Law The task before us now, if we would not perish, is to cast aside our ancient prejudices and build the future This reflection is a personal sharing of my own journey as I have been confronted by life and death, suffering and resurrection, hope and despair...
July 7, 2020 Eric Bogle sings, in his iconic ballad “Now I’m Easy”:I married a fine girl when I was twentyBut she died in giving birth when she was thirtyNo Flying Doctors then, just a gentle old black ginBut it’s nearly over now, and now I’m easy. Eric Bogle’s use of the term “gentle old black gin” evokes the solace gifted by an older woman who shares his trauma and grief over the loss in...
Written in 1985. Faith and theology had been cracked open by the reality of peoples’ lives. We sought to discover and express a spirituality arising from the struggle of those seeking justice and their “true place in the world” We walk, crawl, stumble,grope in our little caves, within our prison walls believingour illusions to be the truth of lifeWe are so sure, so secure, so...
May 31, 2020 Reflections on a Global Pandemic I have imaginary conversations with our Toyota Kluger vehicle. These conversations changed in early March. From asking “Where are we going?” Kluger asked “Where the bloody hell are you?” Which was a surprise because it never dawned on me that Kluger had any consciousness of Lara Bingle and the then Tourism Minster boss, Scott Morrison. However, I did...
May 16, 2020 A conversation with Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia Well, Scott, no. It is not quite like that. There are plenty of people who try like hell to get ahead, who work like blazes to assist their family, and do so for a long, long time. But they do not actually get a go. It may be because they are born on the wrong side of the street, or the wrong side of town or the wrong...