Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Matthew 10: 26-33 - What you hear in the dark….

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of gendered violence and its impacts on women. This material may be distressing for some people. 1800RESPECT is available for free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to support people impacted by domestic, family or sexual violence.

Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time - Matthew 9:36 – 10:8

Corpus Christi - John 6: 51-58

Dr Alexandra Banks PhD works as an artist, theologian, writer and researcher who engages theologically with the arts and trauma theory to uncover the complex landscape of embodied memory. Alexandra’s key area of interest is the historical suppression and coercive appropriation of biblical women’s bodies and voices, and the doctrinal and practical implications of this interpretive legacy. Within her studio practice, Alexandra is fascinated with how everyday objects such as payphones and letterboxes have the capacity to point to and draw out silenced biblical characters like Hagar and Ishmael, and Mary, mother of God. Through her engagement with everyday objects, her current research is focused on how church buildings, stained glass, and their ornamentation provides a visual representation of interpretive traditions, institutional memory, and an example of a pedagogical architecture of power and surveillance.

The Most Holy Trinity - John 3:16-18

Elissa writes:

I'm a theologian specialising in synodality in the Catholic Church. I am interested in building a mature, responsible and loving Church. 

I live in Australia and my writing has a focus on developing foundations for Catholic ecclesiology in a new era of synodality. I explore how such foundations may support the praxis and good governance of synodality.

I am honoured to manage a Program of Theology for women in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands; a partnership in tertiary theological education between the Sisters of Mercy and the Divine Word University. I am an approved lecturer in systematic theology in this Program.

I have been a sessional academic with the Australian Catholic University.

I provided a theological reflection on "Becoming a more synodal Church" for the Assembly of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences in Oceania, February 2023. I had a role assisting the Drafting Committee of the Fifth Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in Australia in 2022. I gave the keynote speech to the Sandhurst Diocesan Assembly in February 2023.

I am a member of the Australian Catholic Theological Association (ACTA) and the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea (ISMAPNG) Theological Association.

I was a member of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne’s Ecumenical & Interfaith Commission for four years before its decommissioning in March 2021. This role included hosting the Pontifical Commission for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) in September 2018. I was a member of the Victorian Council of Church’s Faith and Order Commission for six years, and the VCC Liaison Officer on the Board of the Jewish Christian Muslim Association of Australia.

Since 2015 I have presented papers at conferences including ANZATS, ACTA, the Australian Lonergan Workshop, the Fourth International Receptive Ecumenism Conference, Women as Church Conference, ISMAPNG Theological Association, Postgraduate Student Experience Symposium, ACU Postgraduate Conference, and the UD Research Days.

My husband and I have four children.

The Ascension of the Lord - Matthew  28:16-20

After a long time of trying to run away from her calling, a ‘Samuel moment’ turned Danni’s head, heart, and ears to listen and her theological training began in Lincoln, England, before moving over to Brisbane with her family and a horse in 2014. After completing her studies at St Francis Theological College, she was ordained deacon and then priest at St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane.

Danni is passionate about her ministry, serving the pastoral as well as feeding the spiritual needs of the parish. She has been heard to declare that if she was a stick of seaside rock, she would have ‘Parish Priest’ running all the way through her!

She is blessed to be part of a lively and incredibly diverse parish that incorporates 3 mainland and 4 island churches and thrives on embracing the different personalities and cultures each centre nurtures. Danni’s cheese and wine bible studies are the stuff of legend and she wholeheartedly supports the great Anglican tradition of hospitality. The only thing she takes as seriously as her ministry is her coffee.

Sixth Sunday of Easter - John 14:15-21

Sue Martin grew up playing in nature, living beside Devlin’s Creek in Northern Sydney, with parents deeply committed to family and faith, especially a faith that does justice. Sue was educated by the Good Samaritan Sisters at Pennant Hills where she started to imagine herself as an eco-warrior. Sue studied agricultural science at Sydney University, becoming an agronomist, wanting to make our farming landscapes treed again. She married David and had four boys quickly and now has six amazing grandchildren. Her parish life is at St Madeleine’s Kenthurst, and she is active in the synodal journey for Parramatta Diocese assisting with the Laudato Si’ team there. Sue’s working life has included working in school, university, catchment management and local government settings. When she commenced employment as the sustainability officer at St Ignatius’ College, Riverview in 2009, she also found her home in the spirituality of the Jesuits. In 2019, the Jesuits called Sue to the position of national Project Officer for, what they then called, Reconciliation with Creation.  Sue also juggled the part-time Caritas National Earthcare Coordinator from 2019 to 2022. Since 2022 Sue has worked full-time assisting with Jesuit ministries better respond to Laudato si’ both in Australia and Asia Pacific. These responsibilities include assisting the coordination of RAOEN (the Rivers Above ecclesial network) caring for oceans, Indigenous people and our Church across Asia Pacific. Globally Sue is also part of the Ecojesuit team.

Fifth Sunday of Easter - John 14:1-12

Fourth Sunday of Easter - John 10:1-10 - Abundant Life Now

Third Sunday of Easter - Luke 24: 13-35

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains references to suicide ideation which may distress some listeners. If this raises any issues for you please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. 

Dr Debra J Phillips is an Education lecturer at Australian Catholic University. Her doctorate awarded in 2020, an interdisciplinary, autoethnographic analysis of suicidality, provided background for her ongoing work into teachers’ mental health. Dr Phillips’ current research and writing explores the spiritual and sociocultural factors that can lead to teacher burnout as well as those factors that protect and strengthen their mental health. Debra’s research is underpinned by theology, sociology, psychology and the theorising and practice of visual-arts. Because of the sensitive and taboo nature of researching suicidality she promotes the ethical parameters that guide research in mental ill-health and seeks to develop collaborative practices in teaching, research and writing. Dr Phillips comes from a background of school-based teaching practice (disability education, Geography, Religion), education and teachign experiences across education sectors, and a background of post-graduate study in education, gender studies, narrative and theology. Dr Phillips is a practicing artist.