Bartolome De Las Casas was born the son of Pedro De Las Casas in 1474. Pedro became a lowly foot soldier with Columbus on his first voyage to the New World, but he acquired so much booty from the expedition that was able to set himself up as a wealthy merchant in Seville.. Pedro was […]

Nilus Sorsky was born in Russia in 1443 AD. At an early age Nilus, named after an early church father, joined the famous Russian Orthodox monastery of St. Cyril of Belozersk at White Lake. Very sincere about his faith, Nilus quickly became disillusioned with the corruption in the White Lake monastery. So, as an able […]

Francis Bernadone was born in Italy in 1182 AD. His father called him ‘Francesco’ after a trip to France. And the ‘little Frenchman’ was brought up on romantic French ballads sung by travelling troubadours. The son of a wealthy merchant, Francis led a cavalier life in Assisi until, in his early twenties, he fought in […]

Aidan arrived in Northumbria in 635AD. He set up his base on Lindisfarne or the Holy Isle. Lindisfarne was isolated and protected — the perfect place for a monastery. It had a causeway connecting it to the mainland, which appeared twice a day at low tide, so the monks could travel back and forth on […]

In 500 AD Benedict moved to Enfide in the Simbrucini mountains about sixty kilometres outside of Rome. There he joined ‘a company of virtuous men’. While he was with them, Benedict’s understanding of spirituality was radically transformed. He was convinced that preaching ‘good news to the poor’ demanded grass-roots, hands-on solidarity with them. When the […]

In 357AD, after visiting monasteries in Mesopotamia, Palestine, Syria and Egypt, Basil set up his own monastery at Annesi. Basil emphasized the importance of monasteries being communities, rather than collections of solitaries. He advocated all monasteries should serve the poor in their localities, requiring all prospective members to sell at least some of their property […]

In the Christian community circles that I move in there is an increasing interest in monasticism as a way for us to engage in incarnational community work. Now lets be clear about our terms. ‘Monasticism’ (from Greek μοναχός, monachos, derived from Greek monos, alone) ‘is the religious practice in which one renounces worldly pursuits in […]

This paper on the Beatitudes by my friend Lane Walker is in two parts. Part One – A Philosophical Introduction To The Beatitudes As A Step Program. Part Two – A Practical Orientation To The Beatitudes As A Step Program. If you are philosophical start with Part One: if  you’re not, start with Part Two. […]

“You [O Muhammad] were gentle with them, and if you were rude and hard-hearted, they would have run away from you.” As I watch protests around the world go awry and become violent, it’s this verse that rings in my ears, a stinging reminder of how far Muslims have strayed from the example of the […]

Listen to the broadcast by Radio National on the Spirit of Things on Sunday 2 September 2012 6:05PM Living with compassion for the stranger has epitomised the Christian life for Dave Andrews, founder of the community network The Waiter’s Union in West End Brisbane. This year Dave, after profound dialogues with his Muslim friends and […]

Week 4 Day 1 As we fast and pray we cannot help but come to the realisation that our world is in trouble; and religion, which was meant to make things better, has often made things worse. We do not suffer from the lack of religion, but from the lack of love. So, if we […]