Reflection Articles

Greetings from the Hermitage! Welcome to springtime in the Highlands and it could not be more fitting that as I write this newsletter, we are in the middle of our annual Spring Retreat. With Dr Sally Longley guiding us, we are praying our way through the four seasons of nature and of our spiritual lives, culminating in the promise of new life that is harnessed with the coming of Spring. This time of the year is beautiful in the Southern Highlands as the leaves return, the grass grows and the flowers bloom. This is good for our hearts and particularly good for our souls. We slowly peel back the layers of clothing and venture into the outdoors to view the new life emerging and smell the fragrances that fill the air. But of course, we don’t forget how we arrived here. Since the fruits of summer, both in the physical reality and metaphorically, there have been seasonal changes. First there was the spectacular autumnal changes of colour before a movement towards dying off - a ‘letting go’ of unnecessary embellishments. Then came the winter bunkering down which, this year anyway, seemed particularly bleak at times. But now, from the dying off, signs of new life are sprouting everywhere. Alleluia!   Continue reading at this link:September Hermitage Newsletter 2025.pdf

Interesting to observe the different lenses through which church commentators are looking at this month’s second session of the Synod on Synodality, and the conclusions that they are reaching. Different conclusions. Even polar opposite ones. There may be parallel developments, or at least analogous lines of thought and action, in where our own Marist family is heading. Let’s consider both.   CONTINUING READING