Red and smoky skies at night and in the morning* looming in four Australian states indicate a catastrophe of biblical proportions as killer fires engulf towns and communities, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded.
Churches have been at the forefront among the responders in both their community service and disaster chaplaincy as Australians in four states including New South Wales and Victoria reel under flames, with thousands fleeing in the first days of a new decade.
Courtesy of our friends at Temple Beth Israel, in East St Kilda, we have A Bushfire Prayer to share. The prayer – a Universal Prayer, it is not sectarian – prays for those who fear for the safety others, for those who have been damaged, for those with trauma and nightmare memories.
The prayer goes on to include those with concerns for the stock under their care, those who are fatigued and exhausted, and for those who have generosity and have shared. There is prayer for our harsh climate, for excellence in stewardship and for faithfulness. A rare, universal prayer directly addressing our Bushfire necessities.
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health found that longtime yoga practitioners don’t display the usual age-related declines in the brain’s gray matter. Yogis also had larger volume in several brain regions, including the hippocampus, critical to memory and emotional regulation, and the precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex, involved in attention and self-awareness.
Overcoming environmental degradation through a green growth economy: The role of religious leadership was presented to the International Seminar on Interfaith Exchanges and Shared Future for Humanity, sponsored by the China Committee for Religions and Peace, Beijing, in December of 2019 by Emeritus Professor Desmond Cahill, Deputy Moderator – Religions for Peace Asia, and Chair, Religions for Peace Australia.
The nation’s peak legal body has condemned the Morrison government’s revised religious discrimination bill, declaring it remains “a deeply flawed piece of legislation” that puts freedom of religious expression ahead of other human rights.
Vatican City: Pope Francis on Tuesday hailed the virtue of selfless Christian charity as he celebrated Christmas Eve Mass in St Peter’s Basilica.
The service is one of the most important ceremonies in the Catholic liturgy, marking the birth of Jesus Christ. Thousands of people flocked to the basilica and St Peter’s Square to follow it.
Pope Francis has written about the meaning and importance of the nativity scene. He signed the Letter during his visit to the Italian town of Greccio – where St Francis first created the Nativity.
Vatican News takes a look at the inspirational Christmas cribs on display at different Vatican offices, which show great imagination and creativity.
(RNS) — The war on Christmas is over — if you want it, according to Anne Klaeysen, leader emerita of the New York Society for Ethical Culture.
Even the idea that there’s a war on Christmas is “antithetical to the holiday spirit, whether it’s Hanukkah or Christmas or Kwanzaa,” Klaeysen said.
“(The holiday spirit) is about celebrating the human story that we are here on this earth, that we have an opportunity and a responsibility to engage in ethical relationships. I think it’s a message of unity and how we can be more inclusive.”
The spiritual teacher and psychologist, Ram Dass, died on December 22, 2019 in Maui, Hawaii. He was 88.
Far-right extremist Blair Cottrell has lost his appeal against a conviction for religious vilification, with a judge finding a 2017 stunt in which he beheaded a dummy to protest against a proposed mosque in Victoria was “calculated to promote rank and demeaning stereotyping of Muslims”.
A Melbourne mother has launched a campaign to ban Hillsong Church’s youth pastors from running sessions in public schools as part of a planned national tour next year.
Fiona Newton started the petition calling for the ban, saying she was alarmed by Hillsong’s 2020 Schools Tour’s plan to expand and “proselytise” in non-religious schools.
