• Creativity in Cold Lentils
• Recovering Hope
• Truth Is A Two-Way Street
• Our chance to stand in solidarity
• Human Rights: a common meeting place?
• The Heart of God
• Dare to Dream
• Learning to Listen
• Finding meaning in the experience
• Towards An Understanding of Home
• Silence
• Peregrinasaun Haksolok Hamutuk
• Peace
• The Big Show
• Weakness and Strength
• United in Peace
• The Ring
• ACUSA
• People as seeds of hope and change
• Being Grateful
• In the midst of 250,000 people
• UN World Habitat Day
• Praying The Rosary
• I Want To Make A Difference
• How Fragile we are
• The Challenge of email
• Being Socially Responsible
• Thirsting for Knowledge
• The Lord is my Shepherd
• Archived Thoughts of the Week
• An Idea

October, for members of the Catholic Church, is a month dedicated to Mary and in particular to praying the Rosary. Many associate the Rosary with devotion to Mary but in essence it is about Mary’s relationship to the person of Jesus and her role in salvation history. The Rosary is a meditation on the events leading up to the birth of Jesus, his life, suffering, death and resurrection. It holds for us a précis of what we believe as Catholics.

The Rosary is meant to be a meditative prayer. All too often it is rattled off at the speed of a race call in order to “get through it” rather than slowly praying and pondering on the wonder of the Incarnation, of God-with-us. The end of the year is fast approaching, our lives are busy. Perhaps the Rosary and the month of October are an opportunity to pause and ponder, to take time and make space for God in our lives.

Mary’s hymn of praise, the Hail Mary, forms the recurring mantra and the slow repetition and the rhythm of the prayer is the basis of the meditation.

During this month of October, let us take the time to be still, pray and centre ourselves in God.

• Werner Utri,
• Chaplain,
• Melbourne