Behold I stand at the door and knock...

The Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff is days away. In God's awesome providence, the divine Scriptures read at Mass this Sunday give us a powerful statement about the role of the Pope.

Let us pray for a good and holy Pope, who is zealous for the faith.

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can do this via email:

frpchandler@armidale.catholic.org.au

Als...

Each year, this Sunday of Divine Mercy reminds us and compels us to enter more deeply into the Divine Heart of Christ, wherein is a limitless ocean of mercy, waiting to be poured out upon those who dispose themselves to receive it.

This feast day is intimately connected to the Paschal Mystery of Christ's death and resurrection and so it finds its place correctly and properly on the Second Sunday of Easter, when our Risen Lord g...

We have reached the goal of our Lenten fast, abstinence and penitential practices, that is, the Day of the Resurrection of the Lord. Alleluia! He is risen as He said.

With joy and thanksgiving, let us deepen our faith and our love for our Risen Lord. Let us tell Him how much we love Him and how grateful we are that He has conquered death, and its origin, which is sin.

Let us spend the next 40 days of the Easter Season deepening our u...

As we seek to follow Jesus on His path of suffering and death this day, and desire to unite ourselves with His heart and mind, there is no other person better to help us than the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother. Through her eyes and through her heart we can unite ourselves more closely to Him.

O Jesus crucified, for us You suffered; for us You died on the Cross!

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ...

As we enter into the Sacred Paschal Triduum, let us endeavour, through careful reflection, to know something of the mind and heart of Our Lord on this most tragic and momentous evening.

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can do this via email:

frpchandler@armidale.catholic.org.au

Also if you would like to support me in this work, please send me an email and I w...

Palm Sunday begins Holy Week, that most moving and mournful week of the year. We are meant to enter more deeply into the sufferings and death of Christ and to go with Him on His way of the Passion. As He gives Himself fully for our salvation, our hearts can yearn even more for what is to come on Easter Day while at the same time being filled with thanksgiving and awe.

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions...

The woman caught in adultery and brought before Jesus is almost as well known as the prodigal son of last Sunday.

However, the masterful writing of St John and the divine wisdom of Jesus create for us a multi-layered story that is capable of misunderstanding, as I will show. 

But it is also a parable that teaches us, with real people, the justice of God and His abundance of mercy and compassion.

If you would like to contact me to pro...

The Year C readings this Sunday include the well-known parable of the Prodigal Son. This is a story of many threads and themes. The one I want to highlight is that of conversion and to link that with the great, and much-underused Sacrament of Confession. Make sure you go to Confession before Easter.

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can do this via email:

frpchandler@a...

"The Lord is kind and merciful", we say in the Responsorial Psalm at Holy Mass on this Sunday of Lent. This holy season is appropriate to approach the sacrament of forgiveness and healing, Confession or Penance or Reconciliation. In this podcast I want to answer some questions about this beautiful and much under-rated sacrament.

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can d...

The Transfiguration of the Lord led me to ponder upon the human soul and the mission of the Church for the salvation of souls. I hope you find some helpful and encouraging, as well as enlightening, aspects to this podcast.

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can do this via email:

frpchandler@armidale.catholic.org.au

Also if you would like to support me in this ...

Lent is a hard road. It is paved with self-denial, almsgiving, fasting, abstinence from meat, more deliberate and careful prayer. We can't change that but we can joyfully accept it out of love for Jesus and our desire for solidarity with Him.

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can do this via email:

frpchandler@armidale.catholic.org.au

Also if you would li...

This podcast looks at the Holy Mass.

Holy Mass will be and should be an important part of our life, as I hope this podcast will demonstrate. Especially, during Lent it should be the ignition for an intense life of prayer.

Quite often the sacrificial nature of the Mass is overlooked or not known about. But the communion aspect of Mass cannot exist except when joined to the sacrifice.

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback...

Indulgences are somewhat misunderstood, even by Catholics. But they form a key part of every Jubilee Year and they do so also in 2025. Understanding indulgences and using them is part of the great spiritual treasury that Christ has left to His Church. Let's find out more about them AND use these effective means of grace.

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can do this via em...

I'm exploring over the coming weeks, before Lent begins, some topics from our beautiful Catholic faith that are worthy of our attention before we enter into Lent. I am hoping that the catechesis (teaching) contained in these podcasts will help you to make Lent more fruitful.

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can do this via email:

frpchandler@armidale.catholic.org...

This beautiful and multi-faceted Feast provides us not only with a glimpse into the life of the Holy Family but also into the studied and careful way that God implemented our salvation..

This day is also Candlemas, as it is 40 days since Christmas.

Enjoy this beautiful feast day!

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can do this via email:

frpchandler@armidale.catholic.org.a...

This podcast concludes the discussion of important and helpful matters for us as the Season of Lent begins.

 I make a particular call for all of us to go to Holy Mass more during Lent because of its centrality to our Catholic faith; because of its power to impart divine grace; and its power to make our parishes into "powerhouses of prayer". 

May the holy penitential season of Lent begin well for you!

If you would like to co...

January 26th is the national day of Australia.
It is the day on which Catholics, through the holy sacrifice of the Mass, pray for our nation and its peoples, and entrust our past, present and future into God's merciful and loving providence.

If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can do this via email:

frpchandler@armidale.catholic.org.au

Also if you would...

In our "woke" culture, where every difference is celebrated (and enforced) it may seem a counter-cultural claim that Jesus, born in Bethlehem, is the Saviour of every person.
But that is not a claim we as Christians invented. On the contrary, it is the plan and will of God that has been revealed to us through Christ. The Epiphany of the Lord is a day when we can give thanks to God that we have heard the Gospel, been b...

This beautiful and ancient title given to Mary has weathered many objections over the centuries. It is a title beloved of Catholics and one we use regularly with great love. But to those outside the Catholic faith it is either misunderstood or rejected. We as Catholics should know how to defend this title, and so defend our heavenly mother, and give reasons for the faith we hold; the faith that is ancient and goes back to the apost...