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Can I be forgiven
I have committed lots of serious sins. I want to go to confession but I need someone to help me feel that Jesus will really wipe away the awful things I have done. Will Christ our Lord forgive one who has caused so much pain to others? Read more…
Abuse: Let the healing begin
When Pope Benedict met five survivors of clerical abuse—representative of all victims of predatory Church personnel—he communicated a powerful message: today, the Church sides with those who have been abused. Read more…
Mbeki: A squandered legacy
When South Africa’s parliament adopted the country’s exemplary Constitution in May 1996, then-Deputy President Thabo Mbeki delivered his powerful “I am an African” speech, an epochal and epic exposition which caused many to invest much hope in the man who would become the nation’s next president. Read more…
We should bombard the media for their smutty ads
I received a telephone call recently from a lawyer friend in Johannesburg asking about any recourse pro-life organisations could take through industry regulators against newspapers that ran misleading classified advertising for abortion clinics.
My answer to him was, quite sadly: “No”. Read more…
Communion: who may come up
At a funeral service the celebrant stated that practising Catholics could receive Communion, but non-practising Catholics could not. He also said that practising non-Catholics could receive. Another celebrant on another occasion said that non-Catholics could not receive but could come up and receive a blessing with their arms crossed. Please make it clear what the Church’s ruling is on this. Read more…
Give us our voice
Radio Veritas, it seems, cannot win. When South Africa’s Catholic radio station previously applied for a national broadcast frequency, the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (Icasa) declined that application on the grounds that Veritas supposedly was not a community station, according to its narrow and absurd definition. Read more…
Does God work for you?
The Mail & Guardian poster displayed over Easter asked: “Is God working for you?” My first reaction was: “Of course, that is what we believe.” Then I thought some more “How successful is my relationship with God? Is it really working for me?” Read more…
Lights out: The Dark Ages come to SA
It is possible. Life without a cellphone. A day without a laptop. Surely it is, but not without pain. Life has not been the same since the robbers stole my tools of the trade. Someone’s phone rings and I search my pockets. There are no e-mails to read. Load shedding has prepared me to get used to the modern South African version of the Dark Ages. Read more…
Much to be proud of in our birds, beasts and blossoms
In these days of violence, crime and political uncertainty—and there seems to be more dark cloud and less silver lining—I have decided to start looking for good news, for positive things happening in this country.
And it is quite remarkable how much good news there is if one just takes the trouble to look for it; things that can make us South Africans proud of ourselves. Read more…
Get ready to face new challenges
Every era has its own challenges There are challenges that confront people of every time and place; there are challenges that are specific to a specific era.
It is a human tendency to look back with nostalgia to “the golden age”, or a period in the past when everything was ideal. But if truth be told, every age in every place has its own problems. In the next few articles in this retitled column we are going to reflect on “the challenges of our time”. Read more…
