As always at the beginning of Advent we anticipate the Lord Jesus both in his coming as man at the first Christmas, and at the end of time as the mysterious Son of Man.   The first understanding is the one which is most familiar to us—we are awaiting the birth of the child in Bethlehem; it’s all cute, there are farmyard animals, simple shepherds, angels dashing all over the place, and finally the visit of the wise men from the East—it ‘s all nice—kids act it out at Mass and e

The institution of monarchy has fallen on hard times in the modern world. Ever since King Louis XVI was guillotined during the French revolution, the number of kings and queens has become smaller and smaller with the passage of time. Australia continues to be a monarchy and our monarchy has recently attracted a great deal of attention, celebration and commentary through the passing of the late Queen Elizabeth II after a very long reign and the accession of her son, King Charl

We’ve all watched movies in which some possible disaster—a nuclear war, a gigantic meteorite, an unstoppable virus—causes the end of the world as we know it. After 90 minutes of tension and terror, we normally manage to do what we have been trained to do: we re-assure ourselves that it won’t happen to us in our lifetime, we get a good night’s sleep, and we get back to our jobs and our family life. Any adult who spent the night sleepless with fear and could not get on with lif