A retired priest from the Archdiocese of Sydney has chosen to start recording weekly reflections on the Gospel.
Monsignor Tony Doherty has started a series of reflections called “Breaking Bread Together” on a personal YouTube channel.
The reflections were designed for parishioners of St Joseph’s Neutral Bay, part of the Parishes of Sydney Harbour North, but he warmly welcomes those outside of the parish to the video.
There is something about the writing elegance of Michael McGirr which burns me up with envy.
Two years ago, I read a collection of his favourite writers entitled; Books that Saved my Life. And loved it. So last month I sat down and read it again. First time I have found it an advantage in having a short memory. You can enjoy good writing all over again.
As this reader was introduced to McGirr’s cherished authors – Harper Lee, Margaret Atwood, Nelson Mandela, Miguel de Cervantes, Seneca, Dorothy Day, Les Murray and a dozen others – you are given a sneak-peek into the fuel that keeps the McGirr imagination firing.
His publisher describes him as: schoolteacher, father and lifelong lover of literature.
Lucky students, I say. Lucky children.
In a word, I would like to write like him. Or perhaps it is really desiring to see this complex and beautiful world through his eyes. My best description – he is a writer ‘with soft eyes’.
To write well, is to read often. McGirr offers us his encouragement to be a reader like himself.
‘At every season of life, the mind needs to be nurtured, It needs challenges. Reading is as much a part of investing in yourself as gyms, financial planning and relationships. It will feed your hungry mind and take your heart on a journey. It will help you on the path of one of life’s most elusive and hard-won freedoms, freedom from the ego.’ (Page 9, Books that Saved my Life, Text Publishing, Melbourne. 2018.)
The following video reflection focuses on the evangelist John’s description of the ‘bread of life’ and its power to nourish.
Just click on the link below.
Feel free to pass on the link to anyone who may be interested.
Blessings,
To follow Msgr Doherty’s reflections, visit his YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNTI-unsj934-1HkRkbMaZA
