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Modern life is replete with addictions. Alcohol takes its toll. Illicit drugs kill. Pornography is plentiful, accessible and destructive. Experts say that the gambling addiction is the hardest to break. One thing is certain: therapists will not be without work. Can we offer anything from our rich spiritual tradition? Well educated, formed in the Jewish faith, Saul of Tarsus undergoes an unexpected conversion, re-orientating him from persecuting Christians to the warm embrace

Chapter Four of Magnificent Humanity is important. Pope Leo XIV claims: Truth can be manipulated. Freedom can descend into anarchy. Work can become slavery. The traditional definition of truth is the ‘alignment of the mind with reality.’ But because we are body, soul and spirit, ‘truth is the conformity of the body, soul and spirit with reality,’ with the ultimate reality being God. The search for truth is fundamental, not only on a personal level, but for democracy itself. T

The experience of success is important. Joy is the word that comes to mind. However, it may be that the experience of failure is more important. Paul speaks in Romans of the mysterious failure and fall of Adam. We find it in Genesis 3, where God responds to failure, not by accusing, but by questioning Adam, with no less than four questions! The questions are designed to enable Adam and Eve to understand the experience of failure more deeply. This helps them to go forward with

AI will bring great benefits. In personal use, Pope Leo XIV says: Three aspects deserve particular consideration: the ease with which results are obtained, the impression of objectivity and the simulation of human communication (MH 100). Surely science, innovation, education and health will benefit enormously through AI. But it is artificial, not human intelligence: AI surpasses human intelligence in speed and computational capacity, yet this power remains tied to data proces

Strategic plans are helpful, but they are not a panacea: The harvest is rich, but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest (Matthew 9). Prayer is the panacea. We have to stand before the Lord and ask him – beg him – to send labourers. God desires labourers everywhere – in every walk of life: The eyes of faith behold a wonderful scene: that of a countless number of lay people – men and women – busy at work in their daily life and a

The Church’s Social Teaching began with Abraham and Sarah. It is 4,000 years old. What depth! It developed in the most profound manner from the late 19th century onwards, because of rapid changes in society known as the Industrial Revolution. Pope Leo XIII responded magnificently with Rerum Novarum (1891). The Berlin Wall came crumbling down in 1989 and Pope St. John Paul II wrote Centesimus Annus (1991). It honoured the memory of Leo XIII and called for a society of free wo