Of the many saints through whom we can reflect on the subject of suffering, St Clare of Assisi is a good choice. For during her earthly life, amidst poverty and illness, she avoided all temptation towards betterment and comfort. In stark contrast to this holy and stoic life, lies the way of assisted suicide, a.k.a […]
Continue reading
Domestic Dog as idol
November 21, 2025 
Comments Off on Domestic Dog as idol
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a dog lover myself. Indeed, I love all animals; will even make kissy noises as I pass by the sheep in our rural neighbourhood. But what I don’t like is the absolute reverence now paid to dogs, as if they were small little deities. We include them in activities once […]
Continue reading
My Will Be Done
September 22, 2025 Comments Off on My Will Be Done
God is dead, said Nietzsche. And when he said it, it was not in celebration. It was not a rally cry for atheists, but rather a lament regarding what was ahead for humanity without a shared moral framework. The ‘madman’ who uttered these words in Nietzsche’s narrative was mocked by a society that no longer […]
Continue reading
LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY
August 15, 2025 Comments Off on LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY
On self-restraint preceding grace. God seeks three things from the baptised: from the soul – genuine faith; from the body – self-restraint; and from the tongue – truth. – St Gregory the Theologian The first and last of these are plain to see, and most people would not dispute them. Yes, they’d say, if we […]
Continue reading
15 Minute Cities for the Brain
July 14, 2025 Comments Off on 15 Minute Cities for the Brain
I’ll sit with a book awhile, but if I hear my master’s call – the beep of an incoming text – I’ll drop it like a hotcake. The younger generation don’t even do as much. Many of them have given up entirely the notion of reading a book. They are fully committed to the screen […]
Continue reading
This (homemaking) Life
June 28, 2025 Comments Off on This (homemaking) Life
A small article I wrote, defending home-making, which was published in The Australian on 17 May 2025.
Continue reading
The miraculous fresh start we have been given with Pope Leo XIV
May 28, 2025 Comments Off on The miraculous fresh start we have been given with Pope Leo XIV
Growing up in the decades following the Second Vatican Council, which saw major changes wrought upon the Catholic Church and the Mass of the Ages, I had only ever been exposed to the ‘Novus Ordo’ – the new order Mass. As a teenager, I was decidedly unimpressed by my weekly attendance at Mass and had trouble […]
Continue readingAbout Author
The Bowditch Pitch 
To doomscroll, or to cook for my family? that is the question
Useless pursuits versus the basics. We are told that Gen Z spends a lot of time doomscrolling. And bed rotting. They fritter away the day. But even those of us older folk who are not actively frittering, are nonetheless susceptible to being distracted and spending our time on useless pursuits. In this modern era, the […]
Continue reading →