Dear Friends,
By Virginia Ryan

During the early nineties I spent two years living in Sweden with the family. It was a fabulous experience.

10 Ways to evangelise through Christmas Mass 2008
By Martin Teulan

1. You only get one chance to make a first impression!
See this Christmas as your most important opportunity of the year to reach out to Australia's largest religious group, inactive Catholics. Around 25% of Australians are inactive Catholics, so our first mission field are the people in our neighbourhood.

"Friends Not Servants: Thoughts in the Season of Advent"
By Dr Matthew Del Nevo

Advent is existential, which means we are always waiting for Jesus to come. We live in a state of waiting. "Come, Lord Jesus!" (Rev. 22:20). These are among the last words of the New Testament.

The Season Of Glad Songs
By Sister Julianah

O Land, do not be afraid!
Do not seek contentment in the land of unlikeness,
For the season of glad songs has come.
Your Lord, the Lover of your soul comes to fill your earthly night with hope.

In the Light of Torah
By Teresa Pirola

'Torah' (Word of God) refers to the first five books of that part of the Bible which we Christians normally call the 'Old Testament'. The five books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

There is no shame in being human and vulnerable
By Dr Laurie Woods

Most of us would be reasonably familiar with the Sermon on the Mount in which Matthew puts together a number of Jesus' ethical teaching. We are more familiar with the Beatitudes that form the masthead of the Sermon and yet many of them are not well understood in the ancient Jewish context in which they were pronounced.

The Aussie challenges in Advent worship
By Dr Gerard Moore

Sometimes it is difficult knowing exactly where a piece will go. This is one of them! Not so much that it is written in haste. Rather the subject matter is utterly predictable and inherently impossible.

Benedict at the Table and Jesus on the Road
Showing Us What It Means to “Open the Scriptures”
By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).-The big news today was Pope Benedict's lesson at this morning's session of the synod of bishops.

Broken Bay Program 2009

13-16 January
Introduction to Catholic Theology By Dr Matthew Del Nevo
Liturgical Foundations By Rev Dr John Frauenfelder
14-16 January & 28-29 March
Vatican II and Its Reception By Dr John Luttrell fms

Evangelising Mission of the Church MS110/MS410 and Introducing Islam MS343/MS543

The Catholic Institute of Sydney's missiology department is offering intensive courses on the Evangelizing mission of the Church, and an Introduction to Islam. Participate for interest or for credit towards an award. Click here for details of the courses and how to enrol.