David Timbs  (Melbourne)     2013 articles    2012 articles

 

Dec 29: Immanuel: God – with – us - The quiet time before Christmas
This Christmas we could have no greater gift than to be assured that we live, breathe and glory in the ultimate comforting truth that, in Jesus, born in Bethlehem, God is truly with us

Nov 3: Two Marginals up a tree: Zacchaeus and God watching out for Jesus
God never ceases being most comfortably at home with the widow, the orphan, the poor, the stranger. God values the ones so despised and rejected that they have to climb a tree for refuge, for a sense of personal dignity, worth and ultimately, salvation. They were and are God’s People

October 6: The Disturbance and the Backlash
Pope Francis' spontaneity and unpredictability are putting almost everyone on edge and placing both supporters and critics in a state of almost permanent suspense and anxiety. It seems that those most uneasy are those with little tolerance for rapid change and who lack the ready ability to adjust both thought and imagination

August 12: Another Africa Story: The reflections and observations that follow derive mainly from personal experience as a secondary school teacher and part time English language literacy tutor. In the main, they concern the South Sudanese

                 August 6: Blog Links to Cathnews (New Format, 2013)
                
An index of David's many blogs for Cathnews

July 14: Sacra Liturgia Conference
Even the exotic rituals and coded communications of the Traditional Latin Mass are no match for the youth culture and coded dialects of texting, tweeting, Facebook and the i-phone. It would be an education if Rowland ever bursts into print on that particular culture war!

May 16: A Spirit uncontrolled?
  (CathBlog) - what direction will Pope Francis take?  Some suggestions....

May 6: A  response to some issues raised by Garry Wills and his interlocutors and some avoided by many
Biblical exegesis is not one of Wills’ strong points. He is a great literary critic but when it comes to Scripture for some strange reason he  becomes something of a fundamentalist. This works for and against him

March 31: Pope Francis the Disturber
Some Traditionalists are sensing the end of a kind of golden age in recent Church history. The riskiness of the Gospel is a challenge to those who seek solace and security in fixity and elitism. The Tradition is not a mummified corpse. It is alive and developing because it is an integral part of the story and identity of the living People of God.  
And see:  Who ordained this guy?

Feb 22: Benedict  has left the Church at a fork in the road (CathBlog)
It is not hyperbole to suggest that it is time for choice between a future of hopefulness or despondency. 
The difference between the two is great

Jan 6:  The God of All Nations 
What Matthew invites his community to do with this story is to explore what the Magi’s quest was focused on. It was illumination, an epiphany of divine intervention. They were searchers for wisdom and so it is not surprising that their presence supports the key Wisdom (Sophia in Greek) theme of the first Gospel. They were symbols of an outside world desperately in need of enlightenment and guidance