The ultimate goal of teaching!

Teaching is a unique human activity. Find out where it gets
its real energy from and why what you do really matters.

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Why a Catholic Teacher Needs to Know Where They Come From.

One of my favourite speakers has the great line, “You don’t need a great idea. You just need a good idea that you are prepared to use.” Over the years I have learned that most of the time all it takes to change a paradigm or an important area of our lives is simply a good idea that we are prepared to use.

Your words shape your world

The truth is our language gives shape to our experience. We begin to believe what we repeatedly say. It is the tool we use to interpret the things that happen to us. But, and it’s a big but, we actually have enormous control over how we express what happens to us.

Catholic Education and the Boeing Factory. What’s the connection?

What does the world’s largest undercover building have in common with your average Catholic school and why do we remember less than eight percent of what we hear?

Learning to Love – What every teacher needs to know.

A recent translation of a world famous theologians book by young priest Fr. Joel Wallace has some great insights into the mystery of love for our own lives and that of the young people we serve

Late for lunch but worth the drive!

I was early…at least I thought I was. When I pulled up at the Archbishop’s house things were already in full swing. It was a private lunch for about 15 people with visiting international speaker and ‘new media’ evangelist Fr. Robert Barron.

The Mystery of the Mass and Sacred Music

Another sacred cow is led to the abattoir by gifted theologian and writer Mishel Stefanac who has the courage to say what many of us have been thinking. Is there a chance that we might one day see Top 40 power ballads removed from school liturgies? Read on…..

The New Atheists and a Catholic Resurgence

Somewhere in the last short while I have been experiencing some kind of a catholic resurgence. It’s an unusual occurrence for sure and seems to be to a large degree to have a life of its own. I’m not even sure where and when it began, but I think it had something to do with Richard Dawkins and The God Delusion.

Some reflections on the push for gay marriage

I’m 19, I’m a university student, I use social media, I play video games…and I oppose gay marriage. According to the polls and the stereotypes, I’m an anomaly.

Jesus Teacher Tech

I’m assuming that if you teach religion in a Catholic School you are a “Jesus Teacher” but are you using technology? Why not? Look at your students do you think they can be engaged by a lecture and a power point?  

‘Catholic’ teachers undermining the Church?

What do you seriously think will happen when enough of the staff of any Catholic school are non-Catholic or when enough of the Catholic staff within it either don’t practice their faith or can’t stand most of what the Church actually teaches?

The Mystery of the Mass

Few things are more frequently given as evidence for the Catholic Church being on the ropes of history than Mass attendance for young people. Mishel Stefanac shows us why we may have been misdiagnosing the problem which means hope for the future…..

Love and Responsibility taking universities by storm

In 1954 Hugh Hefner bought a centre-fold of Marilyn Monroe from a local calendar printer. Fourteen years later the sexual revolution reached its apex. Despite the fact that 17 million viewers watch each episode of Two-and-a-half-men in the U.S. an increasingly large number of university students have been taking the road less travelled by exploring a book written in 1960 that thought Hefner had missed the point….

Lady Gaga and the Weight of Glory

The argument that “I was born that way.” has a lot of currency in our current philosophical, political and sociological landscape. Unfortunately, no one gets off that easy….

Did the Catholic Church Attempt Suicide in the 1960′s?

“…we find him in the malaise of more than a few post Vatican II clergy, who are dare we say it, in the business of easy consensus, a short homily and an early lunch.”

A notepad can save a teacher’s life

“Let me be honest, these strategies around time and personal effectiveness management have a lot of relevance for me right now. So, if it helps, consider me your own personal lab rat…or maybe guinea pig…much nicer!”

Are religious believers nicer people than non-believers?

“…you are able to read this article on a computer without someone coming to lock you up, torture your family and dump you in a mass grave because of the cultural hegemony that Judeo-Christianity built.”

‘Will Heaven Smell this Bad?”

A young Australian priest shares his insights into young people, World Youth Day and the magic and mystery of the world’s biggest youth event.

Wine and Food for the Catholic Teacher – 2009 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon

“My neighbour and I spend quite a number of hours throughout the year drinking – mainly red wine. We have decided to experiment with some of the tenets of wine drinking”

TIRED, STRESSED, EXHAUSTED? Personal Effectiveness For Teachers

I survived my first year of teaching by eating sausage rolls stuffed inside hot dog buns. Up at 5.00 a.m. to prepare lessons, I stumbled through the mornings, hungry and heavily caffeinated, before fleeing to the school canteen in my first period off, sometimes as late as 2pm to attack a super-sized sausage roll crammed inside a white hot dog bun which moments later I drowned in tomato sauce.

How to save a Marriage

The universe is coming to an end.

I remember spending the final year of high school trying to appear far more scholarly than was the case by walking around with a book called, “The Second Law of Thermodynamics.” I don’t think I ever got past the first chapter but by reading the back cover I learned that everything in the universe, left to itself, is winding down.

Is there such a thing as Catholic leadership?

Earlier this year I spoke to student leaders from all of the Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne about the challenge of being a Christian leader in the light of the theme for World Youth Day 08: ‘Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith’ (Col 2:7).

Music Matters – Episode 3

A Glimpse of Heaven – Why Music matters in a Catholic School.

In the last article we looked at the power of music to take the truths of the faith and present them in a way that engages students, sticks in their heads, and ends up on their ipods.

Why a 16th Century Mantuan Matters in Milson’s Point

A rather imposing sculpture situated in the foyer of St Aloysius’ College, Sydney, recently sparked a conversation about role models and the impact a 16th century Mantuan has had on the Aloysian community in Milson’s Point.

A Crossroads in Catholic Education

Australian Catholic education has undergone significant change over the past forty years. While the various transitions have been relatively smooth, substantial and daring challenges remain.

The Paradox of Work & Rest

In the last edition of Being Catholic I wrote about the sacred power of paying attention, so it was with some interest that I read a piece written a few weeks ago in the Sydney Morning Herald that declared that Australians are working longer and harder than ever before.

Why aren’t girls free?

There are some things in life that I understand and there’s some that are just so confusing!