Here in Australia the idiom “turn something on its head” is used quite a lot, especially in sports. When a team is leading by a big score and then the opponent rallies and is now in the lead, you can hear commentators saying, “The game has been turned on its head”.

January, the beginning of a new year, can be a time of regret and reflection, mixed with optimism for the future, a time for new resolutions.

A few years ago I talked to my cousin from the United States over the phone and we chatted for quite a while, and, while I know that she knows me, somehow in her voice she seemed a little bit bewildered.

In this feast of the Magi, the Church celebrates the welcoming of the nations to the scene of that first holy night: Mary, Joseph, and the child Jesus.

There was a story of a man who was deeply devoted to St Joseph and when he died he was at the gates of heaven and being interviewed by St Peter. St Peter, after assessing the record of this man declined him entry to heaven straightaway, but the man argued that he was a St Joseph devotee.

We are getting into the spirit and the joy of Christmas. In fact, the third Sunday of Advent is called “Gaudete Sunday.” Gaudete means ‘Rejoice.’  St. Paul reminds us “rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!! Let’s rejoice for the coming of our Redeemer, and we are called to share this joy with others, giving comfort and spreading hope.

“Look, I am going to send my messenger before you; he will prepare your way.” This gospel passage reminds me of the road from Alice Springs to Santa Teresa, which is a remote Aboriginal community where I’m assigned at the moment.

For those who watch the Olympics, one of the so-called “blue ribbon” or glamour events is the 100-metre dash. It is a race where most of the time it will be over in about 10 seconds.

The Season of Creation – the annual Christian celebration of listening and responding together to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor – is drawing to a close and once again, it has been an important reminder of how faith communities can respond together to the climate crisis.

The Season of Creation began on September 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends on October 4, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology.

In 2018, I attended the episcopal ordination of Bishop Ewald Sedu, in Maumere. Maumere is a very Catholic town, on the very Catholic island of Flores, in very Christian eastern Indonesia.