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Along The Track
Welcome to the Along the Track section — a space for thoughtful reflection, spiritual insight, and connection. For more than seventeen years, Jim Quillinan’s reflections have offered gentle wisdom, provoked deeper thinking, and invited readers into conversation about faith, life, and our shared journey. Whether you’re returning to familiar themes or discovering these reflections for the first time, Along the Track offers moments of pause, encouragement, and inspiration for all who walk with us.
ALONG THE TRACK ARTICLES
2026
20 October – The Eye of the Beholder
A beautiful ornamental tree graces our front garden. I often told its previous owner how much I admired it; he was a neighbour who lived a couple of streets away. He hated it. Over the years, it had been mutilated, abused and made unwelcome.
One day, he dug it up and dumped it in our garden. A good day for him and a good day for us! We welcomed it, planted it, cared for it, watered it, fed it and watched it grow. It took a while, but it is now a thing of rare beauty. People stop to admire it, comment on it, and to photograph it.
One day, he dug it up and dumped it in our garden. A good day for him and a good day for us! We welcomed it, planted it, cared for it, watered it, fed it and watched it grow. It took a while, but it is now a thing of rare beauty. People stop to admire it, comment on it, and to photograph it.
13 October – Leave No Trace
Have you ever watched those crime shows (and there are so many of them) where the detectives search for the culprit, even years and years after the crime. They access CCTV, phone and bank records, DNA, peoples’ recollections, car registrations and all sorts of other things. Sometimes it looks as if we are under constant surveillance and that we leave some trace behind, wherever we go no matter how briefly that may be. These shows remind us that we don’t have to die to leave a legacy. We do that every day.
6 October – My Favourite Day
This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Ps 118:24).
It is a very long time since I read Winnie the Pooh, but I do remember these lines: “What day is it?” asked Pooh. “It’s today,” squeaked Piglet. “My favourite day,” said Pooh.
Today might just look like any other day, but it is not It is a gift. We did not earn this day, we didn’t merit it or have some inalienable right to it. This day is a reminder that each of us has the gift of life and all that it offers
It is a very long time since I read Winnie the Pooh, but I do remember these lines: “What day is it?” asked Pooh. “It’s today,” squeaked Piglet. “My favourite day,” said Pooh.
Today might just look like any other day, but it is not It is a gift. We did not earn this day, we didn’t merit it or have some inalienable right to it. This day is a reminder that each of us has the gift of life and all that it offers
15 September – Our Image of God
Sir Ken Robinson was an extraordinary educationalist – a recognised authority on creativity in education and a great storyteller. Among his many stories he included this one. A little girl was in a drawing lesson, she was 6 and she was at the back, drawing, and the teacher said this little girl hardly paid attention, and in this drawing lesson she did. The teacher was fascinated, and she went over and asked, “What are you drawing?” and the girl said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” The teacher said, “But nobody knows what God looks like.” And the girl said, “They will in a minute.”
1 September – God with A Human Face
Pope Benedict called Jesus ‘God with the human face.’ Pope Francis added if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.
It is always helpful to take a bit of time occasionally to refresh what we know – to think again about who Jesus is, to come to understand what he did and why, and what he asks us to do.
It is always helpful to take a bit of time occasionally to refresh what we know – to think again about who Jesus is, to come to understand what he did and why, and what he asks us to do.
18 August – Intelligence isn't Artificial
A couple of afternoons a week I pick up my two little granddaughters from school. Along with the others, they burst through the gates and run along the path. Walking is rarely an option, especially if there is a puddle in sight or if nature has left the gift of autumn leaves or wildflowers in the grass.
4 August – To Those Who Keep Us Moving
From our earliest times, we have been people on a journey, travellers. Moses led the people out of Egypt, and they roamed the desert for years. Way back around 600 BC, the prophet Jeremiah said: This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16).
21 July – Read it to us Again
At a recent Mass for the children, the Parish Priest had this to say: “Luke wrote this Gospel about sixty five years after Jesus died. He wrote it because he wanted you to hear it, he wanted you to hear what Jesus had to say, what Jesus did.”
23 June – Tradition
The kitchen in the in old house I grew up in was a multi-functional space. We started the day around the table in that room, and we ended the day there too. It was a gathering space around a huge open fire, a place where meals were prepared and eaten, it was where the news of the day was shared, not easy in a big family when everyone is talking over each other.
9 June – Why Work?
Sometimes it’s hard to go to work, isn’t it? We are tired, or apprehensive or we’d just rather do something else! If we don’t see a purpose in what we are doing, work can be tough. It can become a grind, the same old thing day in, day out. No matter how good and exciting our job may be, there are times when it can become a bit monotonous. If we don’t feel that our work has a purpose, that is valued, that we are not just a ‘service or function,’ as it were, then things can be tough.
2 June – All Lives Matter
On Saint Patrick’s Day a few years ago I went into an Irish pub somewhere in Melbourne for a quiet Guinness. Only a couple of others were in the bar as I waited for my companion to turn up. One of those in the bar launched a tirade of abuse at me, very loud, aggressive and foul mouthed and seemingly never ending. At one stage I thought he has going to hit me, so when he drew breathe, I asked him what on earth was the problem. He stopped yelling and looked quite shocked. “Is there something I can help you with?” I asked him. “Have we met before?”
26 May – The Gift of the Spirit
I read this story many years ago: An elderly Cherokee brave told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. The battle, he said, is between two wolves inside us all. One is evil, it is anger, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, kindness, hope, humility, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The boy asked his grandfather, which wolf wins. The one you feed, the grandfather said.
19 May – Entitlement
Some years ago overseas, one of my dining companions complained that her chips were cold. The waiter told her quite forcefully that ‘you can’t always have hot chips.’
I guess we can’t always have what we want. Last Christmas my little granddaughter was convinced that Santa would bring her a magic unicorn that would grant her (and our) every wish. It took some adept footwork to convince her than such a creature did not exist. You can’t always have hot chips.
I guess we can’t always have what we want. Last Christmas my little granddaughter was convinced that Santa would bring her a magic unicorn that would grant her (and our) every wish. It took some adept footwork to convince her than such a creature did not exist. You can’t always have hot chips.
5 May – Past Present Future
During a recent parish planned giving campaign, we were confronted by the rather challenging question: “If your church disappeared tomorrow, would your community miss it?” Or put another way, can we say “Our town is a better place because of our church.”
Christ gives us a choice to follow him – or not. We weren’t called to be passengers, but disciples, followers of him, promoters of his message in word and in action. What message do we want our church to give our community today? What does it need?
Christ gives us a choice to follow him – or not. We weren’t called to be passengers, but disciples, followers of him, promoters of his message in word and in action. What message do we want our church to give our community today? What does it need?
21 April – Anthem
We are by nature story people. We like hearing them and telling them. Stories tell our history and help explain what we believe and who we are, where our values lie. Some of us are good story tellers, others not so good but we still tell them anyway. But which are true, the stories people tell about us or those we tell ourselves?
24 March – What Are You Carrying?
Some years ago a retired principal told me that he had lived with a remark made by a teacher when he was in his mid-teens. “Are you as stupid as you look?” the teacher asked him one day in class. It may not sound much but to a self-conscious teenager it did mean a lot. He carried that hurt and the anger for a very long time. We can be very cruel to each other – sometimes what we say can be much more hurtful than any punishment imposed.
3 March – Alone
All of us like our privacy, we like to feel in control, to decide things for ourselves, if we can. We also like to have our own space and to be able to have some
control over what is happening around us and to us. That’s all natural enough.
control over what is happening around us and to us. That’s all natural enough.
10 March – The Choices We Make
It is a sad fact that none of us will get through life without facing criticism, sometimes fair, sometimes unjustified, we will face opposition, we will be misunderstood, and our motives or actions may be judged poorly for reasons often unknown to us.
17 February – Is Lent Easier?
‘What are you giving up for Lent?’ we were asked. We gave up lollies, milk or sugar in our tea, I remember my father not being able to eat eggs, milk, cheese or butter. I have some vague memory that, on some days no food could be taken until 3pm, the hour of Jesus’ death. But then all that was relaxed.
So why was that easier?
So why was that easier?
10 February – Cradles of Hope
The school bell has been silent for these last weeks but now it is inviting this community to gather for another year, another adventure, more challenges.
A school doesn’t work, it can’t fulfil its purpose without a community, students, parents, carers, teachers and those who make it a place of welcome, support and adventure.
A school doesn’t work, it can’t fulfil its purpose without a community, students, parents, carers, teachers and those who make it a place of welcome, support and adventure.
27 January – Australia Day: The Way We Are
I saw a whale not so long ago. She called in for a visit and a bit of a rest in Horseshoe Bay at Bermagui. What a calm and peaceful place to visit when you are travelling thousands of kilometres to get back home to Antarctica. I wonder how many times she has visited over these last decades and what kind of Australia is she visiting now, what changes has she seen?
ALONG THE TRACK ARTICLES
2025
9th December – Christmas Afterall
In the lead up to Christmas last year, a number of articles appeared in the daily press with a common theme, the loss of Christmas. One writer lamented that, As 25 December nears, it’s hard to know where to find beauty and meaning, let alone any joy. Yes, there is a joy about Christmas but not so much this year. So he suggested that: In the absence of joy, this Christmas must be one for quiet contemplation.
25 November – Dare to Dream
Christmas is on the horizon once again. The supermarkets are telling us that anyway! It comes around much more quickly as you get older! It is a time we look forward to, a time that makes a difference whether we are believers or not. Underneath all the pressure and the haste, Christmas is a time of kindness. Kindness is so much more than being ‘nice’. It arises from a genuine concern for others, it describes actions that are generous, helpful, and considerate, often without expecting anything in return.
18 November – In the Twilight of the Jubilee Year
Every twenty-five years, the Church asks us to take part in a Jubilee year. The 2025 Jubilee Year called us to be “Pilgrims of Hope” in a world that is sorely in need of renewal in vision and in action. The Jubilee Year offered us a time to find hope and to be agents of hope in our families, our workplaces, our communities, our local churches.
11 November – Learning by Waiting
Not long before Christmas last year I was in a waiting room where a mother of three children was paying the bill. The little ones were impatient and were running amuck. In frustration she said to them: “OK, there will be no advent calendar tonight!”. The response was immediate!
4 November – Alone or with Others
Some years ago I was a visitor at a country parish church for Sunday eucharist. I was early so, after being greeted very warmly in the foyer, I went into the almost empty church. Over the next ten to fifteen minutes, the noise outside grew and grew, and I wondered what on earth was happening. Just people gathering for the usual Sunday celebration, meeting up, sharing their week, telling stories just as people do when they get together. Sound familiar in your parish?
October 21 – Sermon on the Mount
Jesus’ mission was not to make us angels or superhuman. True, we are all called to holiness, wholeness. As Jesus put it, I have come so that you may have life to the full. He gave us an indication of what that might look like at various times, not the least of them in what we have come to know as The Sermon on the Mount. Life to the full isn’t just about life after death but in the here and now. It is not about health, fitness and diet, however important they may be. It is also about finding happiness, purpose, direction, something or someone to commit to.
7th October – Time for Tomatoes
It’s that time again, time to put in this year’s crop of tomatoes. For some reason I didn’t have much luck with them last year but here’s to a better harvest this year.
What would we do without the humble tomato? It comes in so many shapes and sizes, so many varieties, so many taste sensations, so many ways to use it.
What would we do without the humble tomato? It comes in so many shapes and sizes, so many varieties, so many taste sensations, so many ways to use it.
16 September – Rest
One of the earliest images of God the Bible offers is the story about God walking around the garden when the cool evening breezes were blowing, talking with those God has just created. It’s a story of contrasts, firstly about an all-powerful God who can create out of nothing but then it is a story about a God who enjoys company, who stops to rest and wander in the garden, to breathe in the damp, fragrant evening air, to delight in friendship and conversation. It’s also a story about the gift of creation and what can be done with it by the creativity of a gardener’s hands and labour and how they can take the gifts of water and soil and sunlight and use them to make a garden.
9th September – In the Present
Words matter. How we speak, how we describe things matters. Words enable us to connect with others, they help us share our thoughts and feelings, our ideas and dreams. They help us to describe how we feel, what is important to us, what we believe. The meaning and importance we give to things can depend upon the words we choose to describe them. They help us describe how we see what is real.
1st September – Marriage
Marriage is a relationship of equals, a partnership. One person’s needs are not more important than the other’s. Differences don’t mean one is subordinate to the other, just that they will do things in their own way! That doesn’t require subordination but rather support, co-operation and appreciation of the different gifts and abilities each one brings to the relationship. That may be one of the reasons we came to love them.
19 August – Grace at Meals
I recently saw a sign on a family dining table which said:
Thank you, God, for all your many blessings,
for the food and the company and please God,
may there be no phones at our table.
Amen.
Thank you, God, for all your many blessings,
for the food and the company and please God,
may there be no phones at our table.
Amen.
5 August – God's Own Country
How many times have you heard that expression? People from the north of Australia to the South and from East to West, describe their patch as “God’s own country”. And it is to them. Sadly, we don’t always treat it as such.
29 July – Stories to Tell
Not so long ago I was talking to a friend who told me that he had never read a novel. He is an avid reader, but not of novels. “They’re just made-up, make believe,” he said. That may be the case, but stories don’t just entertain, they help us understand others, what it is like to walk in their shoes. They help us understand our world, where we came from and why and how we got here. They can help us imagine the future and think about the future we would like.
22 July 2025 – Doors
Years ago a group of us conducted a census of a large suburban parish. That entailed knocking on every door which brought with it a degree of apprehension, to say the least. What kind of a reaction would I get? Sometimes doors slammed. Sometimes we were greeted by anger, confusion, criticism or just silence. Other times when the door was opened we found a welcome, amazement even and sometimes a cuppa and cake!
24 June 2025 – Pilgrims of Hope II
On the Camino pilgrimage some years ago, it took a couple of days to work out what was missing. In the villages we walked through in a particular area, the silence was very loud. It took us a while, but we slowly realised there were no children. Schools were closed because families had moved away. There was no employment. In some cases, the big conglomerates had taken over the family farms. In these villages in Spain, there was a sense of depression about the future. A similar problem is faced by many of the more remote communities in Australia but even closer to home in rural areas too.
17 June – Pilgrims of Hope
We are almost halfway through the 2025 Jubilee Year in which Pope Francis has asked us to be Pilgrims of Hope. Each of us. I wonder why he chose hope? Why pilgrims?
10 June – The Other Son
One of the most memorable characters in Jesus’ parables is the elder brother in the story we have come to call The Prodigal Son. He evokes strong emotions, mostly sympathy, sometimes anger but also we are mystified. Why did Jesus include him in this story?
3 June – Pentecost
Once again we welcome Pentecost. Or do we? We know the story, how after the resurrection of Jesus, his followers were confused and lost. What are we supposed to do now? When anyone dies, we want them back, we want things the way they were. So they gathered together, locking themselves away, fearful, confused, not knowing what on earth to do. Yes, yes they did hear all that about “I will not leave you orphans” and “I will be with you always.” They heard him say so often, ‘do not be afraid’ and even ‘peace be with you, my peace I give you.’
27 May – Being There
There are times when we are lost for words. We simply do not know what to say, what to do. Words don’t come easily when a relative or friend dies, we often don’t know what to say or do for those he or she leaves behind. It is much the same when someone we know is very sick or someone close to them. I read an article some time ago where the author wrote that he did not visit his close friend’s hospitalised father because he didn’t know what to say or do. After the father died, he turned up at the funeral because ‘that’s what friends do.’ His friend asked him, “Where were you?”
20 May – Making Room
I recently read a short reflection by an Irish Jesuit who offers Mass in one of the local prisons. The congregation is usually made up of three groups he wrote. “The first are the ‘cradle Catholics’, the second are members of various reformed traditions who didn’t make it out of bed in time for the Anglican service; the third are people who look like they may never have been inside a church in their lives. “Maybe the third group come out of curiosity, just to have something to do. They have no idea where they are or how to behave, but they are also the ones who listen the hardest,” he wrote.
6 May – Meeting God
At the beginning of a retreat many years ago, the facilitator began by telling us to ‘meet God where God wants to meet you.’ It was, I suppose, another way of asking us to keep in mind that: The desire for God is written in the human heart, because each person is created by God and for God: and God never ceases to draw each person to himself. Catechism #27
29 April – Bless our Home
Home. What a powerful word that is. Home is much more than a house. We can buy or build a house, but we have to create a home. That takes more than time or money. While the building may not change all that much over the years, the home may. It can go through stages just as we do.
22 April – Kindness
My little granddaughter brought me a baby skink today. They are all over the place at the moment, taking advantage of the last rays of sunshine before winter. If it wasn’t dead then it was very, very close to it or doing a very good job of acting but ‘no’, we had to look after it and find a warm place in one of the pot plants and find something for it to eat. We spent quite some time beside the pot plant while she sang one or two songs to comfort it.
25 March – An Invitation
A long time ago now, not long after I first started teaching, I was assigned a pretty tough class, only four or five periods a week but that was enough for them and for me! Many, if not most of them just wanted to be out of there and into the workforce. The worst of it was that I had them for the last two periods on Friday afternoons and fellow teachers will understand what I mean by that.
11 March – The Sacraments
Jesus came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man to him and begged Jesus to heal him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village where he spat on the ground and made a mud pack. He rubbed that on the man’s eyes and then put his hands on him and asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes again and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly (Mk 8:22-25). It is dramatic isn’t it. He could have just said ‘be cured’ and walked away but instead we have this ritual. There’s a message in that.
25 February – What is Lent?
Michael Leunig offers a very appropriate prayer for Lent:
On this day (at this time),
your gift to us O God,
help us to move simply:
To look softly:
To allow emptiness:
To let the heart create for us,
On this day (at this time),
your gift to us O God,
help us to move simply:
To look softly:
To allow emptiness:
To let the heart create for us,
11 February – Nothing Special
There’s an ad on television that, apart from trying to flog us a product, reminds us of the special moments in life we so often take for granted – dinner with friends, or at home with family, visiting grandma and so on. When we are asked, what did you do last night or over the weekend we so often reply “Nothing special.” Yet these are the special moments that make life worthwhile, that help us understand who we are and that give our lives purpose and meaning.
28 January – Another Year of School
Once again our schools will welcome students to another year of learning, of discovery. For some it will be easy, for others this year will present challenges. Some will return reluctantly, some full of excitement, others with apprehension. And parents and caregivers and teachers will do their best to guide them through this adventure, the highs and the lows, the successes and the failures.
Educating with Purpose
Faith-filled learning for every student, every day