Free
Catholic Life Publication of the Diocese of Sale
Shanagolden unashamedly Catholic - Pages 9
ISSUE 170
Farewell to Benedict feature - Pages 10-11
March 2013
St Brendan’s undergoes facelift - Page 12
Welcome Pope Francis By Colin Coomber
THE world will watch closely for any perceived changes of direction in the Catholic Church following the election of 76-yearold Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as Pope Francis. Media attention focused on the fact that he was the first Pope from the Americas and Southern Hemisphere, the first Jesuit to be elevated to the position and the first to choose the name Francis. The new Pope has clearly broken the mould and will be a much different leader to Benedict XVI. He stood humbly before the thousands gathered in St Peter’s Square and asked them to pray with him. There were no wide grins, nor pumping the air with two raised fists as seen from his predecessor. Even more noticeable was the fact that he dressed in white with a plain pectoral cross, rather than the rich trappings of office usually worn by Benedict. Pope Francis is said to have been runner-up to Benedict in the last papal conclave, being second in all ballots until he urged the cardinals not to vote for him. Vatican observers believed before this conclave that there was a strong indication from cardinals that there would be a return to an Italian Pope. The Italian cardinals, which make up almost a quarter of those eligible to vote, missed getting one of their own elected for the third time in a row but may have thrown their support behind Cardinal Bergoglio of Buenos Aires who was born of
poor Italian immigrant parents. The new Pope comes from outside the Roman Curia which many believe wields too much power and has been responsible for the winding back of many of the progressive reforms of Vatican II. He is said to have rejected posts within the curia and only visited Rome when absolutely necessary. Described as a moderate, he has strong view on poverty, human rights and economic inequality but the media may have missed the mark by suggesting he is a supporter of a Latin American-inspired Liberation Theology which was crushed by the previous Pope, when as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. Pope Francis does not appear to have supported the Marxist approaches of Liberation Theology but certainly has been a champion of the poor and oppressed. It is said that he has preferred to live in a small apartment instead of the bishop’s residence, use public transport and do his own cooking, rather than be waited on by others, but with his elevation to the papacy, his options will now be limited for security reasons. As a cardinal, Pope Francis has been strongly opposed to abortion, euthanasia and homosexuality and so it only took the homosexual lobby groups an hour or so after the election to denounce him. He has also spoken strongly against same-sex marriage and the adoption of children by homosexual couples. He has supported the use of contraceptives to prevent the spread of disease, though he opposed their free distribution in Argentina.
POPE Francis smiles as he waves to the thousands who had gathered in St Peter’s Square to await the outcome of the papal conclave. The 76-year-old’s election surprised many because they were predicting the conclave in the historic Sistine Chapel could drag on for a week.
Your generous gift will go on giving A donation to the Bishop’s Family Foundation will aid needy families in the Diocese of Sale by funding much needed counselling and other programs. Send tax deductible donations to: Bishop’s Family Foundation, PO Box 1410, Warragul 3820 Phone 5622 6600 for more information
Page 2 - Catholic Life, March 2013
‘And now let us begin this journey’ - Pope Francis W
hat a momentous month we have all witnessed! On February 11, 2013 Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus, announced his intention to resign on February 28. Then on March 13, 2013 Pope Francis became the successor of St Peter. Pope Francis arrives with many “firsts”. He is the first Pope from Latin America, the first non-European in modern times, the first Jesuit, the first named Francis. Although Pope Francis gained a doctorate in Germany, on so many other dimensions he comes from such a different world from the German born Benedict XVI. Argentina and its socio-culturaleconomic profile would be in vast contrast to Bavaria in Germany. Yet the two men share a particular Christian virtue in abundance: humility. So often over the past month I have heard people talk of Benedict XVI’s humility. The humble manner in which he announced his resignation and moved into an intense contemplative phase of his life was remarkable. He faced his physical diminishment with courage and
To God’s People in the Catholic Diocese of Sale total trust in Jesus. Continually he placed the centrality and discovery of Christ before us all. Repeatedly he reminded us that it is Jesus alone who leads His Church. Such humility gave us all a real lesson on what foundation true Christian leadership rests. Now we are beginning to witness this same humility in our new Pope, Francis. I was amazed at the initial encounter he had with the people of Rome when he was introduced to the world immediately after the announcement of his election. There seemed to be a moment of initial total surprise. The new Pope looked stunned as if to say: “What has just happened to me?”. The largely Italian crowd seemed perplexed as if to say: “Who are you?”. He said to the crowd: “The Cardinals have gone almost to the ends of the earth to get a new Bishop of Rome”.
After leading them graciously in prayers for Benedict XVI, he then asked a favor from everyone. Humbly, before he gave his blessing, he asked the crowd to pray for him. There was that beautiful gesture of him bowing low as he received the prayer of the world. A deep prayerful silence came down on everyone for a precious moment. It seemed that such humility reached out to the world and made initial contact. The Shepherd reached out to his sheep for the first time. He said: “And now let us begin this journey ….. a journey ….. of love, of mutual trust.” The simplicity and fatherly pastoral care of Pope Francis in these first moments will remain with us for a long time. In the midst of all our complexity and sophistication in the modern world, such little acts of humble respect can be
easily overlooked but can have an enormous evangelical impact. We know that the Holy Spirit has raised up for us a Universal Shepherd who is prayerful, humble, close to the poor, and comfortable with silence. Such characteristics of the Holy Spirit now set the tone for the new pontificate. They also set the tone for the type of Christian leadership we ought try to imitate in the years ahead. The Year of Grace and the Year of Faith continues. We never expected these “Years” to unfold as they are doing. But, as the Popes remind us, the Church is led and animated by Jesus. May we continue to be amazed in Holy Week especially as the Holy Spirit leads us all further into the merciful arms of our Heavenly Father - in Jesus, Crucified and Risen. Happy Easter everyone! With the continued promise of my prayers and encouragement, Bishop Christopher Prowse Catholic Bishop of Sale
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Cemetery proposal
TRARALGON Cemetery secretary-manager Dennis Seymour points to the Catholic area to be developed near the grave of Fr David Cagney.
DIOCESE OF SALE
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TRARALGON – A proposal to develop new graves in the Catholic section of Traralgon Cemetery will be put to interested parties at a public meeting on April 9. Cemetery trustees believe that about 25 new graves can be provided in the old section of the cemetery between existing Catholic graves and the roadway. Secretary manager Dennis Seymour said the trust wanted to hear from the Catholic community about whether they wanted this area developed alongside the traditional grave sites. Most burials at the cemetery now took place in the lawn or monumental sections but there had been some demand in the past for traditional plots.
He said the meeting in the new chapel would be at 5pm and he hoped there would be a good attendance to discuss the cultural and religious issues surrounding development of the new area and a possible extension to the existing mausoleum. The mausoleum has room for 16 above ground burials and all but one of these had either been used or pre-purchased. Mr Seymour said there had been occasional approaches from the Italian community for more above ground burials and so it would be interesting to see if there was wider support for this proposal. More information about the meeting can be obtained by calling the cemetery on 5174 9071.
Editor: Colin Coomber Published monthly except January. Deadline for advertising copy and editorial contributions for next issue is Monday, April 8 Issues distributed free through parishes and schools from April 17 Published by Catholic Media Gippsland, an agency of the Diocese of Sale. Printed by Express Print, Morwell. Member of Australasian Catholic Press Association & Australasian Religious Press Association
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Catholic Life, March 2013 - Page 3
Pope Francis the son of poor Italian immigrants POPE Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, one of five children of poor Italian immigrants. He obtained a Masters Degree in Chemistry before studying to be a Jesuit priest. He entered the seminary in 1958 and was ordained in 1969. Among his many roles was to be novice master and Professor of Theology at the Jesuit Semi-
Angelus message stresses power of God’s mercy POPE Francis made the power of God’s mercy his central message as he celebrated Mass at St Anna church in Vatican City and delivered his first Angelus address to pilgrims in St Peter’s Square. During his homily at the local church, Pope Francis said: “Mercy is the Lord’s most powerful message. “If we are like the Pharisee before the altar, who said: ‘Thank you, Lord, for not making me like all the other men, and especially not like that fellow at the door, like that publican’… well, then we do not know the heart of the Lord, and we shall not ever have the joy of feeling this mercy. “It is not easy to trust oneself to the mercy of God, because His mercy is an unfathomable abyss – but we must do it!” He said that God “has the ability to forget… He kisses
you, He embraces you, and He says to you: ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now, on, sin no more.’ Only that counsel does He give you. “We ask for the grace of never tiring of asking pardon, for He never tires of pardoning.” The Pope greeted excited crowds after the Mass outside the church, with some chanting “Francesco! Francesco!”. Later, he delivered his first Angelus address to an estimated 300,000 pilgrims in St Peter’s Square. He returned to the theme of God’s mercy, saying: “Dear brothers and sisters the face of God is that of a merciful father who is always patient with us.” He said he had been reading German Cardinal Walter Kasper’s book on the subject of God’s mercy. After praising the volume he joked: “But I’m not trying to flog the book to you.”
Caritas chief applauds election of new Pope CARITAS Australia, the international aid and development organisation of the Catholic Church, has welcomed the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, Pope Francis, as the first Latin American and Jesuit Pontiff. Caritas CEO Jack de Groot said Cardinal Bergoglio, the 266th Pope, was a robust defender of the poor and the first Pontiff to be elected from the Southern Hemisphere. “His is a man of passion, simplicity, coupled with a strong heart for the poor. He is also a strong advocate globally for social justice and the upholding of human dignity.” It was estimated that 80 percent of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean were Catholic. Mr de Groot said Pope Francis would be a powerful influence in developing countries around the world, fighting for the rights of the poorest of the poor. “Cardinal Bergoglio is a man who has lived through conflict
in Argentina and is well aware of the challenges the church faces in the 21st Century, including those faced by the poorest of the poor. “His compassion was demonstrated when he visited a hospice in 2001 to wash the feet of 12 patients living with HIVAIDS. “Later in 2007 Cardinal Bergoglio highlighted the importance of social justice when he told a gathering of Latin American bishops that they lived in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most, yet reduced misery the least. “Cardinal Bergoglio went on to say that the unjust distribution of good persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to Heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers.”
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His parting words after leading the Angelus before the exuberant crowds were: “Don’t forget the Lord will never tire of forgiving us, but it is us who tire of asking forgiveness.”
nary in Buenos Aires. He was the Jesuit Provincial from 1973-79 and then became rector of the seminary in San Miguel from 1980-86. He was appointed auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires by Pope John Paul II in 1992, and then became archbishop in 1998. He was created a cardinal by John Paul II in 2001 and was appointed a member of five different congregations with the Roman Curia. As the first Jesuit Pope, Francis ends a somewhat tenuous relationship between the Society of Jesus and the Vatican. The Jesuits were formed in 1534 by St Ignatius of Loyola, St Francis Xavier and several other young men and have grown to be the largest male religious order in the Church. They are known for their evangelising, taking Christianity to Asia and the America,
establishing seminaries and schools, and now operate in 116 countries including Australia. Disputes with the Vatican led to Pope Clement XIV supressing the order in 1773 and it could have disappeared completely but Catherine the Great refused to allow the papal decree to be enacted in Prussia and Russia. The Jesuits continued to exist in those countries and the suppression order was finally lifted in 1814 by Pope Pius VII. Even still the order was still banned in Norway until 1956 and Switzerland until 1973. In Latin America the Jesuit priests and brothers were involved in the development of Liberation Theology which again put them at loggerheads with the Vatican as did their differences of opinion on other matters such as birth control and creation of women deacons.
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The Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale is not subject to the provisions of the Corporation Act 2001 nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Deposits with the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale are guaranteed by CDPF Limited, a company established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference for this purpose. We welcome your investment with the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale rather than with a profit orientated commercial organisation as a conscious commitment by you to support the Charitable, Religious and Educational works of the Catholic Church. Neither the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale nor the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Trust Corporation for the Diocese of Sale are prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority; contributions to the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale do not obtain the benefit of the depositor protection provisions of the Banking Act 1959; the Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Sale is designed for investors who wish to promote the charitable purposes of the Catholic Diocese of Sale.
Page 4 - Catholic Life, March 2013
20 years of Rite of Election
Passion play
THE Melbourne Passion Play at Doncaster is well worth visiting if you have a chance. The full production takes place at Ruffey Lake Park on Palm Sunday (March 24) at 1.30pm and Good Friday (March 29) at 10am. We have been to a couple of these free performances over the years and they have been extremely well done. The actors and audience move to various locations around the park and at times the audience becomes part of the huge crowd following Jesus. If you want to know more visit www.passionplay.info
Out of date
AMAZING how many calendars and date pads still list Melbourne Cup Day as a metropolitan holiday only. It was been a statewide holiday for a few years now. Public servants and bank staff in the country used to get it off and it often led to great confusion in most country centres so the change was welcomed. Local public holidays and half day holidays gazetted by municipalities for show days or racing cup meetings also have become a thing of the past because a lot of the cup meetings are now on weekends, and the municipalities are so large that they cover several towns who would want different dates.
Abandoned WHAT is it with all the presumably abandoned cars being left beside our highways? They don’t appear to be just broken down because they often sit there for weeks at a time with no effort to recover the cars. Of course that invariably attracts miscreants who break the windows and flog the number plates, probably to be used in drive-off petrol thefts from service stations. There seem to be one or two abandoned or broken down cars beside the highway at any given time.
Turn back time A TIMELY reminder that daylight saving ends on the first Sunday in April, not the last Sunday in March which would make it Easter Sunday. Write yourself a note to turn the clocks back one hour when you go to bed on April 6 and you won’t suffer the embarrassment of being an hour early for Mass on Sunday morning. You’ll get an extra hour’s sleep.
SALE - A large group of people from around the diocese gathered at St Mary’s Cathedral on the first Sunday of Lent to take part in the Rite of Election. Forty-nine catechumens and candidates met Bishop Christopher Prowse before the ceremony at the chapter house where they had the opportunity to meet the bishop and be welcomed to the Catholic Church community. A beautiful ceremony then took place led by the bishop assisted by Dean of the Cathedral Fr Andrew Wise and Deacon Mark Kelly with Sophy Morley directing the choir. Catechumens and candidates were presented to the bishop by Rita Elswyk. The bishop formally declared the catechumens to be members of the elect to be initiated into the sacred mysteries at the next Easter Vigil. The candidates, those already baptised, were welcomed to
CATCHUMEN Thi Mai Huynh from Bairnsdale. complete their initiation into full communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Sacraments. Afternoon tea completed the
and her sponsor Peter Pauwels day with the bishop cutting an anniversary cake celebrating 20 years of the Rite of Election in our diocese.
Website upgrade and hiccups THE diocesan website has undergone a major change over the past few months. The general appearance of the site has altered slightly and now users see a slightly different layout depending on whether they are accessing the site on computer, tablet or smart phone. After much work behind the
Of all the decisions we make in our lifetime, making a valid will is among the most important.
This final testament speaks loudly of the values, causes and possessions we hold most dear. We bequest personal treasures and mementos to special friends and loved ones and ask them to care for them after our passing. If you hold the Church dear, you may consider leaving a percentage of your estate or a specific amount to the Diocese of Sale. The Diocese is grateful for the support of its benefactors, who have enabled the Church to grow in its service of its people, and invite you to share in this rich heritage.
scenes, a new log-in section has been created for parish priests and parish secretaries so they can access the latest policies and instructions on a wide range of topics. These cover not only diocesan policies and governance but Workcare requirements, health and safety issues, public liability and links to the awards covering parish employees. This section is now operational and is being checked prior to parish priests being advised a parish user name and password. Provision has also been made for a priest only section should this be required in the future. An upgrade to the operating system made it necessary to increase the bandwidth because we found in the week leading up to Christmas that our system went down and people could not access Christmas Mass times or link to CDF Online. On top of this, our site was off the air for 24 hours in the middle of February after being hacked by a person or group which appears to
target Christian sites. This attack on our host’s server also caused problems for several school sites who use the same host. The attack was nuisance value and nothing of importance could be accessed as our site does not store personal details or online passwords Our site www.sale.catholic.org. au continues to be a high volume one with 5852 unique visitors during February and we can expect this number to rise this month because of people accessing Holy Week and Easter service times which have just been posted. Friday is the most popular day to access the site with a large number looking for weekend Mass times. As with most information sites, visits are normally not long and our average visitors stays around two minutes. Other popular pages are CDF Online, parish contacts, diocese contacts, Living Liturgy and Catholic Life.
Away for a weekend and need to check local Mass times? Use the QR scanning app on your smart phone and it will take you directly to the Diocese of Sale website
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Catholic Life, March 2013 - Page 5
Hospital’s bold new plan to treble bed numbers BERWICK - St John of God Berwick Hospital will grow to 200 beds as part of its redevelopment plan. Chief executive officer Lisa Norman said 2013 marked St John of God Health Care’s 10th anniversary in Berwick so it was fitting that it announced its future development plans that would take it through to the next decade. She said that Melbourne’s south east corridor was rapidly growing and careful planning has been required to ensure future health care services would meet the needs of the local community. “Our plan includes a two stage redevelopment commencing in 2014 with the first stage expected to cost $65 million. The first stage would include two additional theatres and overnight beds, increased day surgery capacity, an intensive care unit, cardiac services and construction of a comprehensive cancer centre that would provide chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments. “With over 1000 births every year, the first stage will also include a new state-of-the-art maternity unit with 30 inpatient rooms, six delivery suites and a larger eight cot level 2 special care nursery.” She said the hospital would build a multi-level car park, a new pathology laboratory, a new radiology and imaging department. The two stage process would see the hospital almost triple in size from its current 70 bed capacity. Lisa Norman said that SJGHC’s board approval to proceed to feasibility stage demonstrates the group’s long term commitment to Casey and Cardinia residents. “Casey and Cardinia are vibrant and growing communities. We want to maintain first class healthcare services which meet the needs of our community now and into the future. By redeveloping and expanding services at SJOG Berwick we will ensure we can deliver this.” Ms Norman said that the hospital already employed over 400 staff and had over 200 visiting doctors covering a wide range of medical and surgical disciplines. “Over 80 percent of our caregivers live in Casey and Cardinia. As we grow we will be able to offer more employment opportunities to local people which is good for us and our community. “Independent surveys conducted by
Press Ganey already place us in the top 10% of all private hospitals in Australia for patient, staff and doctor satisfaction – we are very proud of this achievement and will continue to make SJOG Berwick the preferred hospital of choice for patients, caregivers and medical staff.” Ms Norman cited the hospital’s formidable reputation and high satisfaction rates as one reason why Berwick successfully won the board’s approval for further investment. “Of course, raising this level of capital is a major undertaking for SJGHC. Therefore SJOG Berwick will seek community support to assist in fundraising for this major redevelopment”. To assist with some of the immediate needs the hospital will build a day oncology unit which is due to open this June. This would enable the community to access chemotherapy treatment close to home. Ms Norman said: “We know that there is already great demand for local cancer AN artist’s impression of the proposed new entrance to St John of God Hospital, services in Casey and Cardinia. There- Berwick.
AN artist’s impression showing staged development of the Berwick hospital. fore, we have decided to fast-track this component of our redevelopment plans so that we can offer this service now and develop the comprehensive cancer treatment centre as part of the stage one process.” She said that the community would be kept informed as architectural and engineering plans were developed prior to the expected build starting in 2014.
St John of God Berwick Hospital We Care About People
Pray for more vocations
young man speak about his vocation.” The bishop has asked priests if they could offer hospitality to a seminarian coming to one of the Masses over that weekend. Finally, there would be an extra collection especially taken up that weekend for the Seminarian Bursary Fund. This was a practical way in which we could assist in the increasing costs of educating seminarians.
Administrators are appointed SRI Lankan priest Fr Hilarion Fernando OSB has been appointed administrator of Maffra and Heyfield parishes. His appointment was announced by Bishop Christopher Prowse last month, replacing Fr Andrew Wise, Sale, who had be administrator since the retirement of Fr Frank Young last year. The Bishop has also appointed Deacon Tony Aspinall as administrator of Koo Wee Rup and Iona-Maryknoll parishes in the absence of Fr John Allen who is serious ill. Fr Peter Kooloos, Leongatha, has been reappointed episcopal vicar for administration for another three years.
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PEOPLE across Sale Diocese are being urged to pray for vocations to the priesthood. Bishop Christopher Prowse said more young men were needed to study at Corpus Christi Seminary to ensure a steady supply of priests for the diocese. It was good that there were now five men studying at the seminary. “I believe it is the fruit of our prayer and a slow, but sure, maturing vocational culture within the Diocese of Sale. “Let us continue to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life in our diocese. This is a top pastoral priority. It is surely a grace of our Years of Grace and Faith.” He said that on Good Shepherd Sunday, falling on April 21 this year, the diocese would have three priorities. The first was to pray for vocations in all our Masses over this weekend. This could be a particular feature of a prayer of intercession. It could also be an opportunity for our priests and deacons to give testimony to their vocational call, perhaps in their homilies. Vocations director Fr Darek Jablonski, would make available seminarians to speak at Masses throughout the diocese if requested by the parish priest. “Surely there can be no greater way to encourage vocations than to hear a
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Page 6 - Catholic Life, March 2013
Helping to preserve Sale Diocese history A KEW priest with an eye for preserving history has ensured that our diocesan archives has the special Australia Post cancellation postmark used to recognise the 125th anniversary of Sale Diocese. Fr Michael Kalka was responsible for organising the postmark which was in use for most of the year and then travelled to Sale to get an envelope postmarked on the last day of issue, December 28.
The postmarks are routinely destroyed by Australia Post but he was successful in having head office pass it over on the proviso that it was held in archives. Fr Kala came to Warragul to present Bishop Christopher Prowse with the postmark and two copies of envelopes postmarked on the last day of issue to go with those obtained when it first went into use in May. Sale Diocese was the first in
Australia to have its own commemorative postmark. Fr Kalka has proved a good friend of the diocese, having previously discovered and returned four colored tiles featuring angels which once flanked the tabernacle on the high altar in St Mary’s Cathedral. In his latest trip he also presented two marble bookends hewn from the disused Buchan marble quarry.
Student leaders gather
CHATTING are (from left) Jack Parwata, Nagle College, Bairnsdale, Brad Hoffman, Catholic College Sale, Emily Jeffrey, Lavalla College, Traralgon, Catholic Education Office youth minister Jarryd Atkinson, Brittney Smith, Marist Sion College, Warragul, CEO assistant director Dr Rose Duffy csb, and Jake Uhlenberg, St Peter’s College, Cranbourne. STUDENT leaders from all reflections. He believed it was GOOD Friday was always a secondary schools in Sale Dio- an excellent experience for all special day in my childhood. No matter what was hapcese attended a formation day involved. pening on the farm, no matter at Sion House, Warragul on They also had the opportuniwhat catastrophe may have beFebruary 27. ty to reconnect with other stuBishop Christopher Prowse dents, whom they had met last fallen any of the stock, just bemet the students over morning year at the leadership days held fore three o’clock we were all herded into the car ready for the tea and then led a session in the in Warragul and Sale. chapel. “It was good to see how some Good Friday ceremonies. I don’t think I have missed Jake Uhlenberg, St Peter’s of them, including ourselves, one since, including a very College, Cranbourne said the had applied the skills we learnt memorable three and a half day was a wonderful experi- at those sessions to enable us hour celebration at Holy Cross ence, as they were challenged to work towards fulfilling our to delve deeper into ourselves, roles as College Captains in cathedral in Honiara a few years ago. through prayer, blessings and 2013.” The liturgy of Good Friday is ancient, compelling and dramatic. The words of the final prayer have always stayed with me: ‘We pray that You continue ~Servicing Gippsland~ your healing work within us.’ Maffra 5147 1954 The Good Friday ceremonies remind us in a very stark way Sale 5144 1954 of Jesus’ love and commitment Heyfield 5148 3354 to his Father and to us, and the Brad Pal Col healing power that commitment brings. Our Family Caring For Your Family With 25 Years Experience In a very graphic way, Jesus shows us what that healing means. Even in His time of agony and suffering, Jesus opened his heart and forgave one of those crucified with him, He forgave those who engineered his death, He forgave those who deserted him in his hour of need. No grudges, no retribution – just forgiveness. This healing power is much 287 Commercial Rd 303 York St., more than curing an ailment, an YARRAM SALE organic problem. It goes to the 5182 5722 5144 9898 very heart of who we are, what we believe, what motivates us. It is about a rebuilding and Yarram, Traralgon, Bairnsdale, energising of our trust in God, Sale, Pakenham, Jindabyne it is about drawing us out of isoPhone 0417 376 483 lation or self-absorption into an richer understanding of God’s vision for us and our world, it is about liberating us from sin by the work of God’s Spirit and 73 Argyle St., the fruits of that Spirit are love, TRARALGON joy, peace, patience, kindness, LMCT 2140 goodness, faithfulness (Gala5174 8290
BISHOP Christopher Prowse admires the marble bookends while visiting Jordanian priest Fr Peter Alhijazin (left) looks at the final day envelope and Fr Michael Kalka holds the now disused cancellation postmark.
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Reflections by Jim Quillinan tians 5:22). One of the other prayers we say during that ceremony includes this one: Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires are known and from you no secrets are hidden. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit……. The heart is our hidden centre. It is the place of truth, where we are most alone with ourselves and with God. If we wish God to continue this healing work within us we have to face ourselves honestly - no illusions, no hiding, no deception, no harboring of resentment towards others, or blaming others, all of which damage our relationship with God. There are no secrets. This healing work urges us to seek forgiveness, to express our sorrow not just in word but in working towards reconciliation within our own hearts and in our own lives and promoting such an attitude and commitment in others. We overcome our own pettiness, our own selfishness by our openness and generosity, by building on the Spirit’s gifts of love, joy, patience, kindness and so on. Continuing this healing work means being big enough, openhearted enough to be able to ask for forgiveness and being humble enough to seek direction. It means expressing gratitude for the gifts we have been given,
the support and encouragement of others and for the undeserved gift of God’s grace to heal and inspire us to action. They are all part of recognising our own helplessness and our continuing need for God’s grace. The prayer ‘cleanse the thoughts of our hearts’ urges us to forgive as Jesus did, but also to be active in working towards that healing work in others and in our world. That’s the challenge of the cross. Good Friday reminds us that God’s healing work has already begun within us – we pray that we may have the courage and openness to allow that healing work to continue, that we will not stand in its way by our intransigence or our lack of faith. That’s why we pray that the Spirit will cleanse the thoughts of our hearts. St Paul calls on us to have courage because God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is already at work within us (Ephesians 3:20)”.
Catholic Life, March 2013 - Page 7
Traralgon Lenten appeal launch TRARALGON – The annual Lenten Project Compassion appeal was launched in Sale Diocese by Bishop Christopher Prowse at Lavalla College’s St Paul’s campus, on February 12. Students representing various other schools around the diocese attended the function in the Champagnat Centre. A special guest was Caritas Australia representative Melinda McHugh who spoke about two weeks she spent in Peru to visit a shanty town which had benefitted from the support given by Project Compassion. She said the shanty town was one of extreme poverty on the edge of Lima which was a
heavily polluted and dusty desert city. Many of the homes did not have roofs because it rarely rained and there was no running water in the village which relied on water supplies which were trucked in once a week. Ms McHugh said she visited a woman who had been taught about health and the importance of having clean water. Caritas had also taught her life skills and how to build a bathroom in her home, a skill which she was now passing on to neighbors. After the launch Project Compassion candles were presented to students representing each school.
CARITAS Australia representative Melinda McHugh (left) with Kildare campus director Doug Doherty and Sale Diocese missions director Susan Grout. Mr Doherty is newly arrived from Ireland, having moved here with his wife Jane and two children at the start of this year.
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Page 8 - Catholic Life, March 2013
‘I am who I am’ - To quote from Exodus 3:14 Talking Catholic Education with Maria Kirkwood hopefully the audience. I assumed that anyone reading an article written by a Director of Catholic Education would perhaps want to know about the educational institutions and how they have been experienced by a newcomer. Along with writing, I have lately had cause to do a fair bit of reading about myself! Believe it or not this is a relatively new experience. One gets accustomed to reading the standard biographical notes that are prepared for introductions to speeches and the like, but these recent experiences have been quite different. The website of the Parliamentary Inquiry into the management of sexual abuse within organisations has been one such arena, where work I have done for the Archdiocese of Melbourne has been picked over, commented on and reported in a range of different ways. It doesn’t make for easy reading but reading difficult things was part of what went with the territory of my previous position. None of those entries shocked me because I understood the context of that subject. What did, for a brief period, take me
aback, was the attack that appeared in the local publication Into the Deep. I would have missed the significance of it and probably skipped over it, as the heading (Fairy Floss!) was not something that would normally attract my attention. However, a well-meaning colleague thought I should have a look and to my surprise I found it was about my articles in Catholic Life. It would seem that a Director of Catholic Education, new to a diocese, whose primary role it is to provide support, encouragement and healthy leadership to a group of priests, principals, teachers, students, parents and Catholic Education Office staff cannot possibly be taken seriously if she has the gall to actually find some positives and things to celebrate in the schools and colleges she is visiting for the first time. Apparently, according to the unknown person who penned the article, the main indicator of whether or not these schools are real Catholic schools, and therefore to be commended, is if there are multitudinous young faces at Mass on Sundays! By daring to suggest that our
schools and colleges are places of warmth and hospitality, with young people who are welcoming and lively and engaging; who can speak with confidence about their school, their experiences and can actually explain and describe the religious icons that are visible around them (many of which are the results of their own work) leaves quite a lot to be desired. It left me wondering which Jesus figure the author of the article was emulating in the attempt to undermine and demean an authentic leader in the diocese, not to mention the many fine young people and educators she was congratulating. God’s words to Moses at the burning bush, in naming Himself, “I am who I am�, has always resonated with me in its simplicity of statement.
We all come to know who we are through our experience of others and their responses to us. It takes some resilience not to be adversely affected by the negativity so often directed our way. As a teacher of many years standing I have always held to the view that we assist in the growth and development of healthy, confident and happy individuals by modelling joy and confidence and humour and giving young people as much positive and affirming feedback as possible. (PS - My family of several brothers, a husband and son all had a great laugh at the fairy floss bit and it has become preferred nomenclature for the warrior princess with whom they are accustomed to dealing!)
Student numbers rise THERE has been a healthy rise in the number of students attending Catholic schools in Sale Diocese. The February census shows a total 16,942 students – up 591 or 3.6 percent on the previous census in August. The number of students at the seven secondary schools rose 4.6 percent to 7963 while the numbers in the 34 primary schools rose 2.7 percent to 8988. By far the largest secondary school is St Francis Xavier College which has 2257 students spread across campuses at Bea-
consfield, Berwick South and Officer. Largest primary schools are St Catherine’s Berwick South (622), St Patrick’s Pakenham (568), Mary MacKillop Narre Warren North (551), and Trinity Narre Warren South (534). Several other schools have more than 400 students. As can be expected the schools with the largest growth are at the western end of the diocese while the schools in the smaller towns in the east are more likely to have dropped in numbers.
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THIS is the fourth article I will have written for Catholic Life since commencing in the Diocese of Sale, as director, back in November. It has been an interesting and unusual experience writing for a mainly unknown audience. The very fact of writing for Catholic Life was not necessarily a choice. I just picked up where previous directors left off and assumed this was a “given� and came with the territory of being the Director of Catholic Education. Any writing I had done in my former roles was always for a known audience, mainly principals and teachers and occasionally for priests and bishops. Being new to both the role and this diocese I have made a point of trying to get around to the schools and colleges here and to mix and listen and learn. I have recently told a group of graduate teachers that one of the most important elements of being a teacher is the capacity to be reflective - on their practice and on their own personal reactions and felt responses, as they engage with this craft of teaching and develop their skills and competencies. As an educator, I like to practise what I preach and so my visits to schools have involved that same reflective behavior. The opportunity to write about those early experiences gave a medium for sharing the reflections. I had felt that this was an appropriate way of doing justice to both the role and
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Catholic Life, March 2013 - Page 9
‘Shanagolden unashamedly a Catholic facility’ PAKENHAM – The new Shanagolden Village and Aged Care Facility was unashamedly Catholic but open to all. Bishop of Sale Christopher Prowse stressed this point at the new facility’s official opening and blessing on March 3. He said Shanagolden was Catholic Homes first facility in Sale Diocese and was much needed. There was great pressure in Australia to provide better facilities for the aged and here we were actually building places where people could see home and light despite their frailty and advanced age. Bishop Prowse said the recent retirement of Pope Ben-
edict had given a great insight into that there eventually came a time to realise that the body and mind could no longer do the things it used to. He said the architecture of the aged care facility allowed a flood of natural light which helped dispel any suggestion that retirement homes were dull places. Shanagolden was unashamedly Catholic and so a nice chapel had been built to meet the needs of residents. At the same time the facility displayed the true meaning of the word catholic which mean “open to everybody.” The bishop then told a moving story of his visit a few days
IN the mood for blessing, Bishop Christopher Prowse blesses the hairdresser and one of the residents on his journey around Shanagolden.
earlier when he had blessed a dying non-Catholic woman and renewed the wedding vows of her and her husband of 71 years. Catholic Homes chairman Peter Collery said the land for Shanagolden had been purchased in 2006, so it had been a seven year journey to the opening. Bishop Emeritus Jeremiah Coffey had been keen to have the name Shanagolden to acknowledge the small village in Limerick from where many of the original Pakenham settlers had emigrated. He said there had been lots of discussions around the board table but eventually Bishop Coffey had his way. Bishop Prowse, accompanied by the official party, toured the aged care facility, blessing each wing and all staff and residents he came across. The Shanagolden facility has more than 70 residents already, some living in independent housing units which surround the aged care facility. Fr John Readman and Mgr Ken Hodgson are two retired clergymen who have made Shanagolden their home. The internal streets in the development have been named Presentation Way after the Presentation Sisters, then there is a Coffey St. after Bishop Coffey, Scannell Way after parish pastoral worker Sr Christina Scannell RSJ and former par-
BISHOP Christopher Prowse blesses part of the aged care facility known as Cork House, the home county of Bishop Jeremiah Coffey. Looking on are (from left) Pakenham parish priest Fr Bernie Mahony, Catholic Homes chairman Peter Collery, Catholic Homes chief executive officer Greg Pullen and Shanagolden residential services manager Leonie McLeod. ish priests are recognised with established as a plantation vilRuth St. after the late Fr Frank lage and today has a population Ruth, O’Reagan St. after the of about 300. late Fr Frank O’Reagan, and Nearby, there are the ruins of Day St. after the late Fr Brian an Augustinian convent, one of the first established in Ireland. Day. According to the families Individual wings in the aged care facility are named after who settled in Pakenham, they Irish counties of Clare, Kerry had been encouraged by their local landlord to learn English and Cork. A string quartet entertained and to be educated. He also disresidents and invited guests be- couraged them from emigrating fore and after the opening cer- to America, suggesting Australia instead. emony. The village features in a wellShanagolden in Gaelic means “old shoulder’ and is presumed known folk ballad of the same to be named after a hill shaped name by Sean McCarthy which like a shoulder. The village, has been recorded by dozens of which dates back to 1580s was different artists.
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Page 10 - Catholic Life, March 2013
Farewell to Benedict 256th Pope - April 19, 2005 to February 28, 2013
Emotional farewell address O
N his last full day as Pope, Pope Benedict XVI delivered an unusually personal and emotional farewell address, thanking the faithful around the world for their support and assuring them that he would remain in their service even in retirement. “I will continue to accompany the path of the Church with prayer and reflection, with that dedication to the Lord and to his bride that I have tried to live every day till now and that I want to live always,” the Pope told a crowd in St Peter’s Square on Wednesday, the eve of his resignation. About 150,000 people turned up for the event in which the Pope spent 15 minutes touring passageways through the crowd, waving and giving blessings as people called out messages of support. Abandoning his usual practice of giving a catechetical talk on a devotional text or theme at public audiences, the Pope
spoke about his time as pope and his historic decision to resign. Pope Benedict recalled his almost eight-year pontificate as a time of “joy and light, but also difficult moments”. “The Lord has given us so many days of sun and light breeze, days in which the catch of fish has been abundant,” he said, likening himself to St Peter on the Sea of Galilee. “There have also been moments in which the waters were turbulent and the wind contrary, as throughout the history of the Church, and the Lord seemed to be asleep,” he said. “But I have always known that the Lord is in that boat and that the boat of the Church is not mine, it is not ours, but it is his and he does not let it sink.” The Pope, said he would step down because his “strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry”. He told the crowd that he had
made his decision “in full consciousness of its gravity and also novelty, but with profound serenity of soul”. Although he would be retiring to a life of prayer, meditation and study in a monastery inside Vatican City, he said, he would continue to serve and sacrifice for the Church. “Whoever assumes the Petrine ministry no longer has any privacy,” he said. “He belongs always and totally to all, to the whole Church. “My decision to renounce the active exercise of the ministry does not revoke this,” he said. “I am not returning to private life, a life of trips, meetings, receptions, conferences, etc. I am not abandoning the Cross, but remain in a new way beside the crucified Lord. I no longer carry the power of office for the government of the Church, but in the service of prayer I remain, so to speak, within St Peter’s precincts.”
Resignation a bold move By Colin Coomber
T
HE bold decision by Benedict XVI to resign from the papacy is one which is likely to shape his successors for centuries. Future Popes now have a modern precedent to follow should they decide they are unable physically or mentally to continue in the Church’s highest office. Benedict’s decision is ground-breaking because his retirement is nothing like the situation faced by the first Pope to resign more than 700 years ago. Celestine V’s resignation in December 1294 was at a time of great in-fighting between the cardinals. Celestine was an 80-yearold Benedictine hermit, who was not even a cardinal, when elected in July 1294 and he immediately recognised his incapacity. He was taken to Rome against his will and one of his first decrees was to allow Popes to resign — and then a few months later did so. His successor Boniface VIII was elected 11 days later and had Celestine imprisoned to stop him being used as a pawn by
enemies of the Holy See. Celestine died two years later and was canonised in 1313. Celestine’s decree allowing Popes to resign has stood for centuries but it is the precedent which Benedict used in making his decision. However, as Cardinal George Pell points out, Benedict has now created a situation whereby if people disagree with a Pope they could bring pressure on him to resign — something which Popes have not had to face for centuries because being Pope has been seen as life-long election. Benedict will have been very aware of this possibility and before announcing his decision to retire, had to balance the risk against the tradition of Popes serving until death, as was ably demonstrated by the suffering John Paul II who strongly believed that God would call him from his office to heaven when the time came to vacate the chair of St Peter. Benedict’s increasing frailty, which saw him use a motorised platform at Christmas Masses last year
and use a walking stick, is believed to be the main reason why the Pope chose to step down. Doctors are also believed to have advised him not to take long aeroplane trips and that would greatly curtail his attendance at important events such as World Youth Day in Brazil. Many writers have published fanciful reports of the Pope resigning because of various scandals within the Church but the truth of the matter is likely to be nothing more than the fact that his strength of mind and body has deteriorated. After all Benedict is not a young man. As he nears his 86th birthday, he was already the fourth oldest pope since Celestine when accurate records began to be kept. When elected eight years ago there were only five older men ever elected to the position and Vatican commentators believe it was a deliberate decision by the cardinals to choose an older man so that his papacy would be shorter than the 27 years of John Paul II which some believed went on too long.
Gregory XII an unwilling retiree T
HE last Pope to resign was Gregory XII who was one of three claimants at a time of the great schism in the Church. Prior be being elected the 80-year-old Gregory agreed to resign immediately if the anti-Pope Benedict XIII did so as well and that would allow the schism to be healed by the election of a new Pope. Gregory reneged on the agreement, as had his predecessor Innocent VII, and so some of the cardinals summonsed a Council of Pisa in 1409 at which both Gregory and Benedict were both deposed. They elected Pope Alexander V instead.
However, there were now three claimants to the Papal throne, each with his own factional support. The Church was experiencing torturous times and it took until the Council of Constance in 1414-18 to convince the then 89-yearold Gregory to resign which he did in 1415. By the time his successor Martin V was elected in 1417, Gregory had died. Martin was the first universally recognised Pope for 39 years and began almost 600 years of history with 59 Popes between Gregory and Benedict XVI resisting the desire to retire from office.
Catholic Cath Ca thol olic ic Life, Lifife, e, M March arch ar ch 2 2013 013 01 3 - Page g 11
Farewell to Benedict 256th Pope - April 19, 2005 to February 28, 2013
Thank you Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus O
ur hearts and prayers go out in these days to His Holiness, Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus. We thank the Lord for his extraordinary leadership since 2005 as the 265th successor of St Peter. When I reflect on his legacy as Pope, one particular quote from him stands out: “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” (Deus Caritas Est, 2005, 1) I would suggest that this theme – the discovery of Christ afresh in the world of today - holds the key to understanding the enduring theological legacy of his pontificate. It helps us to understand what New Evangelisation is all about. This rising prominence of the experiential dimension of our faith will endure surely in the decades ahead. Soon after the news that Benedict XVI was
leaving the papacy, I was interviewed by a local radio station in Gippsland. At a certain point the interviewer asked me a strange question: “What will be the politics behind the election of a new Pope?” Wondering how to answer this, I found myself replying: “Rather than answer the Papal election from the paradigm of politics, I would prefer to answer using the paradigm of Pentecost!” I then began to explain to the bewildered interviewer that the Church in her earliest moments answered its first crisis together in prayer in the upper room of Pentecost. I was confident that this tradition would continue now in the Sistine Chapel. I think ultimately, and not only for the Papal election, the Church today finds herself back in the Cenacle of Pentecost. This acknowledges that the Church is the work of the Holy Spirit. She is a
work of Grace in a Year of Grace and Faith. It is Christ’s Church. The words of Benedict XVI a few days ago stresses this. He said: “What sustains and illuminates me is the certainty that the Church belongs to Christ whose care and guidance will never be lacking.” What really impresses me about Benedict’s papal leadership in these days is his profound humility – a real lesson for us all to follow. We recall his first
A leading Church figure P
RIOR to becoming pope, the then Cardinal Ratzinger was a major figure in the Vatican for many years and as head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith he was often referred to by the non-flattering title of “God’s Rottweiler.” While sometimes controversial, he had a strong influence on the direction of the Church under John Paul II. At Vatican 2 he would have been regarded as a liberal theologian, but adopted more conservative views shortly after as shown in his prolific theological writings which defend traditional Catholic doctrine and values. During his papacy, Benedict XVI strived to heal the rift with the breakaway Pope Pius X movement began by the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and revived a number of traditions including elevating the Tridentine Mass to a more prominent position and encouraging regular Latin Masses to be said. Another major directional change for the Church under his leadership was creation in 2009 of a
personal ordinariate to allow Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict was highly intellectual as was indicated by the content of his three encyclicals Deus Caritas Est (2005), Spe Salvi (2007) and Caritas in Veritate (2009). He also wrote four post-synodal apostolic exhortations – Sacramenentum Caritatis on the Eucharist as the source and summit of the Church’s life and mission (2007); Verbum Domini on the Word of God in the Church’s life and mission (2010); Africae Munus on the Church in Africa (2011); and Ecclesia in Medio Oriente on the Church in the Middle East (2012). He published a Jesus of Nazareth trilogy on the
life and teachings of Jesus and also a two volume The Fathers on the Fathers of the Church. As Pope he undertook 24 apostolic journeys abroad including three World Youth Days in Cologne, Sydney and Madrid, and his final trip was to Lebanon last September. April 16, 1927 – Born Joseph Ratzinger at Marktl am Inn, Germany, baptised same day. June 29, 1951 – Ordained as priest. 1958-77 – Regarded as one of the western world’s leading theologians and appointed full Professor of Theology in 1958. Served at several universities. 1962-65 – Contributed to Vatican 2 as an expert theological adviser. May 28, 1977 – Ordained Archbishop of Munich and Freising. June 29, 1977 – Appointed a cardinal, one of the last appointed
words on his election night (April 19, 2005) when he referred to himself as “a simple, humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord.” And then in his long interview which became the book Light of the World, he told Peter Seewald (p.17) that he was “a simple beggar before God – even more than other people. I pray first and foremost to our Lord, but I also invoke the saints. I am friends with Augustine, with Bonaventure, with Thomas Aquinas and the
Mother of God.” The recent events make us see afresh that these words are not just pious sentiments but the real heartbeat of Benedict XVI. We can certainly say that he is devoid of all pretence and arrogance, a Master Teacher of the Catholic Faith, a gentle and humble pastor, a contemplative in the Catholic world giving birth to a new evangelisation. For these gifts to the Church and so many others, we thank the Lord with all our hearts. I am sure you will join all of us now in the Diocese of Sale and throughout the world in praying that the Holy Spirit has raised up a suitable successor to St Peter in the person of Pope Francis. Yours sincerely in Christ, Bishop Christopher Prowse BISHOP OF SALE
Where to now??
I
N retirement Pope Emeritus Benedict will dedicate the remainder of his life to prayer and study in a Vatican monastery. He is now living in Castel Gondolfo the papal summer residence outside of Rome but will return to the Vatican to live at Mater Ecclesiae Monastery which sits on a hill beside St Peter’s Basilica. The monastery has 12 cells and a chapel and had been used since 1994 for different orders of cloistered nuns but has been vacant since last November which the Vatican Press Office announced it would be remodelled. Vatican spokesman Fr Frederico Lombardi said the former Pope would not be cloistered and would have as much freedom as he wanted
Benedict’s timeline by Pope Paul VI. August 1978 - Takes part in conclave to elect John Paul I. October 1978 – Takes part in conclave to elect John Paul II November 25, 1981 – Appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. 1981 to 2005 – Head of the Pontifical Commission for the preparation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other duties with Roman Curia. 2005 – On death of John Paul
to attend various functions and to travel if he wished. In stepping down from office, the Pope’s ring of office was removed and his papal seal was broken – the same traditions as would have occurred had he died. As Pope Emeritus, Benedict will continue to wear the white robes and zucchetto, in a move which has surprised Vatican curia who had suggested he would revert to wearing a black clerical attire. Even the title Pope Emeritus caught them off guard as they had indicated a likely titles would be Bishop Emeritus of Rome. Formally, Benedict will continue to be referred to as “Your Holiness Benedict XVI” II, as Dean of College of Cardinals he organises the funeral and preparations for the conclave to elect a successor. April 19, 2005 – Elected 265th Pope and takes the name Benedict XVI. September 2010 – First state visit by a Pope to Britain. February 11, 2013 – Announces his intention to retire from Papacy, citing age and health as reasons for his inability to properly perform the role of Pope. February 28, 2013 – Steps down as Pope.
Page 12 - Catholic Life, March 2013
St Brendan’s undergoes facelift LAKES ENTRANCE – The iconic St Brendan’s Church in Lakes Entrance has been extensively remodelled and modernised. Bishop Christopher Prowse will bless the works at 2pm on Sunday, April 7.
WATER trickles from the wall of St Brendan’s into a small pool. Above is a quote from Exodus.
The changes are far from cosmetic and the works have been so extensive that the church is almost unrecognisable. The entrance has been moved from the rear of the church to the highway side where a stunning copper panel and glass wall has been created. Running water was a feature of the old church with its bubbling baptismal font and stone lined stream crossing the flood near the water worn altar rock. The water now cascades down the outer wall beneath a quote from Exodus 47 “A stream comes out from the temple … where the water flows it brings health and life teems.” The water then flows in a narrow channel to large bluestone blocks engraved with the words “Whoever believes in me. and “Fountains of living water will pour from my heart.” Modern stained glass windows carry an ancient Celtic fisherman’s prayer and a quote from Matthew’s Gospel “Who is this that even the wind and sea obey him.” The interior of the church has been changed completely with new cloth covered tiered seating and a part of the floor in the adjoining hall has been raised to bring it up to the level of the church. The seating sweeps around in a curve before the sanctuary where perhaps the greatest
changes have taken place. Gone is the model of the fishing boat which housed the tabernacle and dominated the front of the church. The huge river worn altar rock, often referred to as “the stone the builders threw away” has been cut down and retained. However, to overcome its uneven surface it has been lowered and topped by a modern wooden altar. The pile of rocks which once former the lectern have been removed and replaced with a new one which has been built from a huge slab of rock, and topped with curved wood to hold the lectionary. An engraved metal panel running down one side features the four Gospel authors. Dominating the back wall is a large semi abstract crucifix with glass side panels featuring swirls and circles to represent the ocean by which the town of Lakes Entrance owes its existence. The modern design of St Brendan’s comes from Anthony Russo who runs Orchard Designs, a contemporary art and design business in Pakenham. His works are in great demand in churches and schools and also feature in the modernisation of St Patrick’s Church, Pakenham, and the altar area at Shanagolden.
THE stones which dominated the previous sanctuary have been retained in the lectern and beneath the remodelled altar.
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THE new front of St Brendan’s with its tall spire, copper panels and a line of engraved bluestone blocks. The entrance is to the left of the picture instead of at the rear of the church.
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Good Friday collection SPECIAL Good Friday collections will be taken up to aid churches and holy places in the Holy Land. Last year just over $13,000 was raised in Sale Diocese to be sent to the Holy Land Commissariat for the upkeep of sacred places. People are asked to give generously as in previous years at the services to commemorate the Lord’s Passion.
Catholic Life, March 2013 - Page 13
Quick calendar
What’s on & when March 24 – Palm Sunday 28 - Holy Thursday 28 – Term one ends 29 – Good Friday 29 – Special collection for Holy Places 30 – Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil 31 – Easter Sunday
April 6 – First Saturday devotions, Fish Creek, 9.30am 7 – Divine Mercy Sunday 7 – Daylight saving ends (turn clocks back 1 hour) 8 – Deadline for April Catholic Life 8 – Annunciation 15 – Second term begins 16 – East region meeting, Lakes Entrance, 10.30am 17 – Catholic Life publication 18 – Valley region meeting, Morwell, noon 21 – Good Shepherd Sunday 21 – Special collection for Education of Seminarians Bursary Fund 23 – World Book Day (UN) 23 – Diocesan pastoral council meeting, Sion House, Warragul 25 – Anzac Day 26 – St Mark Feast Day
May Bishop’s Family Foundation appeal month 3 – Sts Philip and James Feast Day 6 – Deadline for May Catholic Life 11 – Annual Marian Conference, St Michael’s, Traralgon 12 – Ascension 12 – Mother’s Day 13 – Our Lady of Fatima 14 – Central region meeting, Trafalgar, 7.30pm 15 – Catholic Life publication 15 – Release of Bishop Prowse’s pastoral letter on new five year pastoral program for diocese 19 – Pentecost 22 – West region meeting, Nar Nar Goon, 10.30am 24 – Our Lady Help of Christians solemnity 26 – Trinity Sunday 31 – Visitation of the BVM Feast Day
June 2 – Corpus Christi Sunday 3 – Deadline for June Catholic Life 7 – Sacred Heart of Jesus solemnity 8 – Immaculate Heart of Mary memorial 8-9 – St Vincent de Paul Society annual collection for the poor 10 – Queen’s Birthday Holiday 12 – Catholic Life publication 20 – World Refugee Day (UN) 20 – Valley region meeting, St Kieran’s, Moe 21-22 – Sale Diocese Year 1112 youth retreat 24 – Birth of John the Baptist solemnity 26 - South region meeting, Leongatha, 11.15am 28 – Second term ends
29 – Sts Peter and Paul solemnity
July Peter’s Pence collection month 3 – St Thomas Feast Day 8 – Deadline for July Catholic Life 9 – Ramadan begins 15 – Third term begins 17 – Catholic Life publication 22 – St Mary Magdalene memorial 23-28 – World Youth Day, Rio de Janeiro 25 – St James Feast Day
August Social Welfare – CatholicCare Collection month 5 – Deadline for August Catholic Life 6 – Transfiguration of the Lord solemnity 8 – St Mary of the Cross MacKillop Feast Day 9 - International Day of Indigenous Peoples (UN) 12 – International Youth Day (UN) 13 - East region meeting, Bairnsdale, 10.30am 14 – Catholic Life publication 15 – Assumption solemnity (Holy Day) 15 – Valley region meeting, Traralgon, noon Mass, followed by meeting 17 - Diocesan pastoral council meeting, St Michael’s Parish Centre, Traralgon 20 – Central region meeting, Warragul, 7.30pm 21 – West region meeting, Nar Nar Goon, 10.30am 22 – Queenship of Mary memorial
September 1 – Father’s Day 1 – Priests’ Welfare Foundation annual Father’s Day Collection 2 – Jewish New Year 2 – Deadline for September Catholic Life 4-6 – Australasian Catholic Press Association conference, Melbourne 6-8 – Australasian Religious Press Association conference, Melbourne 11 – Catholic Life publication 14 – Federal election 14 – Exaltation of the Holy Cross Feast Day 20 – Third term ends 21 – International Day of Peace (UN) 21 – St Matthew Feast Day 23-25 – Secondary students youth camp 27 – St Vincent de Paul memorial 30 – Deadline for October Catholic Life
October 1 – International Day of Older Persons (UN) 1 – St Therese of the Child Jesus memorial 4 – St Francis of Assisi memorial 6 – Daylight Saving begins (turn clocks forward one hour) 7 – Fourth term begins 7 – Our Lady of the Rosary memorial
Compromises, compromises SITTING here looking out of the office window on a lovely sunny morning, Port Phillip Bay looking glassy and with a number of large vessels coming and going, makes me think of far away places and other things that I might be doing. I enjoy my job, believe me, but I can also dream. I have travelled extensively and I know just how much fun it can be. There is a downside to all this, though. We all dream of doing the things we want to do when we retire, but also that it would be great if we could do those things earlier, too, when we are younger and fitter. But we have a career to pursue, a family to raise and fund and a mortgage, too. That’s the problem – when we’re in our prime, we don’t have the time and money (most of us, anyway.) Life is all about balances, and every decision we make, every choice we take, everything we do, means that there is something we won’t be doing. Life is a compromise and the consequences of these compromises makes us what we are, personally, socially and financially. As this is ostensibly a financial column, I’ll deal with financial compromises here. The first part of any compromise is to prioritise your wishes. What are the good bits? These can be very different to different people. Marriage?? Do you want financial independence before taking on the more enjoyable facets of life? Or do you want the good bits while you are still young and have a working life ahead of you? Do you want to see your family off your hands and then use the rest of your life spending their inheritance? Each choice has a cost. A new house will cost you more than renting (there is an investment case for never buying a house) but will give you greater domestic security as a rule, and satisfaction, too. However, buying a home will mean that initially the mortgage will become a far greater part of your expense and will need you to give up partying and dining out five nights a week. Or postponing the overseas trip, the “Grand Tour”. Starting a family will also put many plans for a financially carefree life on hold too. And a family is usually at least a 20 year deferment unless you do whatever it is with the family. If you do the grand trip earlier then that would usually mean deferring things like buying a house, or starting a family, or establishing a career, until a later. My daughter has recently arrived back in Australia after nearly five years away. She’s seen 53 countries in that time and took three months to travel from the UK, via India and Africa. At her age she did things that I wouldn’t (couldn’t) at my age. Now she has to restart her career. I’m at the peak of mine.
DOLLAR$ & SENSE with David Wells
She doesn’t have a house, I have a mortgage to suit both of us. We each have made choices. So how do you balance things? Sort out your priorities as early as possible and work toward them, financially and physically. It’s amazing how positive things happen to people who think, plan and act positively. I should add the word “consistently” to this, too. I know of someone who had a small promotion and a pay rise. They spent five years increase in salary throwing a party to celebrate! You can start special purpose funds for specific things that are important in your life. Seeing progress toward you goals is a huge motivator. There are ways to travel cheaply with children, even if there is a compromise with accommodation and the like. There are ways to get a house and still travel, or do the other things that are important to you. You need to know what is
truly important or you can spend a great deal of money investing in only memories, without achieving your dreams. A word of caution in all of this. Establish your priorities early in life and keep them up to date. But still allow a little variation – life can be very boring when it’s all done by numbers. • This report is intended to provide general advice. In preparing this advice, David Wells and Baillieu Holst Ltd did not take into account the investment objective, the financial situation and particular needs of any particular person. Before making an investment decision on the basis of this advice, you need to consider, with or without the assistance of an adviser, whether the advice is appropriate in light of your particular investment needs, objectives and financial circumstances.
Dargo Easter Mass DARGO – For the first time in many years Mass will be celebrated in Dargo at Easter. Mass will be at noon on Easter Sunday, celebrated by Fr Hilarion Fernando from Maffra.
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Page 14 - Catholic Life, March 2013
The Black Saturday bushfires in Gippsland context THE recent bushfire at Seaton, Heyfield and Glenmaggie ushered in this summer’s bushfire season. It came out of the hills suddenly on to the plain in the early morning, fanned by a northwest wind, and started a devastating grass fire. Later when the winds changed the fire moved north into the mountains near Licola and burned out of control for weeks. This fire replicated one in the same area some years ago. If it rains heavily in winter, as it did last year, you get lots of fuel for grass fires in summer. If it does not rain, you get tinder dry bush. You can’t win. Soon after the Heyfield fire another one in the Harrietville, Mount Hotham and Dinner Plain region flared up dangerously, and continued to burn in the alps more or less out of control for weeks. Fortunately in these areas there are few inhabitants, so the danger to life is less. Some years ago an immense fire that began near Gaffney’s Creek burnt a million acres of uninhabited mountain country, but caused no loss of life. We are told that these fires are nature’s way of reinvigorating the Australia bush. The historian Bill Gammage has recently published an award-winning book, The Biggest Estate on Earth, showing how in the past Aborigines, though the use of fire, created a changing mosaic of enclosed burnt areas where game feeding on the succulent new grasses could be trapped. This year’s fires are a reminder of the disastrous Black Saturday conflagration of four years ago, which in terms of lives lost were the worst in Australia’s history. Historically most fires in Gippsland have been north of the Princes Highway, such as the extensive fires of 1939. The last major fires in south Gippsland were those in 1898. A beautifully illustrated book on the fire which began at Churchill on that day has recently appeared: Beneath Dark Skies. It tells the stories of the people who battled the fire in the Callignee, Koornalla, Le Roy and Traralgon South communities. The book has graphic photographs and paintings of the fire’s destruction of homes, sheds and bush, and also of how
Gippsland Gistory H with Patrick Morgan
the area has been regenerating in the intervening years. Eleven people died, and about 150 houses were destroyed in these fires. The fire which began at Churchill was so intense, on a day of 48 degrees with a strong north wind, that it reached Woodside and the sea about four hours after it began at two o’clock in the afternoon. The book Beneath Dark Skies begins with short memories of the people who perished. The rest of the book consists of the horrific stories of those who survived the inferno in the eastern Strzelecki hills. The first decision was whether to get out, or to stay and defend one’s home. Many people were trapped on their properties and couldn’t leave because of the suddenness of the fire, the steepness of the terrain, and the narrow roads blocked with fallen trees and traffic. The next ordeal was waiting for the fire to approach. The
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graphic, first-hand descriptions below give some indication of what it was like as the fire hit: “The air was filled with what sounded like jumbo jets going overhead. It was like massive fireballs rolling over your head. It was pitch black, but the glow
of the flames really stood out. The wind was insane.” “It was like a movie where napalm had just been dropped. All the trees were just burning stick figures and the ground was hot.” “Fire burst through the bush edge like a giant blowtorch. There were embers everywhere, travelling horizontally across the sky and whirling around one’s feet in a cyclonic fashion.” “Then it was absolute mayhem. They were hit with immense wind-driven flames licking all around them. The noise was incredible. The fine ember shower was like a swirling red incandescent snowstorm. The fire crowned through the trees on the roadside with a deafening roar and a convection force so great that it lifted sizeable sticks and broken branches, dropping them all around the house and on the roof.” Some people sheltered in tanks, fish ponds and dams; one family huddled in their bathroom as the house burnt down around them. Some of the CFA fire crews lost their own homes while they were out on duty defending the properties of others. Recovery took a long while, the immediate recovery of finding or replacing accommodation, the longer one of psychological coming to terms with the catastrophe. Recalling their experiences for this book was another step on the road to recovery for the survivors. We live near Boolarra, and had a premonition of the Black Saturday fires a week before. Fires from Yinnar and Mirboo North met at Boolarra, where 30 homes were destroyed. Fortunately massive firefighting resources were at hand,
about 150 fire trucks and six helicopters and planes. The town was surrounded by fires on all sides, and for a whole afternoon water was dropped on the edges of the town as soon as fences and house timber began to smoulder. People who stayed to defend their homes in Boolarra said it was a nightmare experience. You couldn’t see what was happening because of thick smoke, there was no water or electricity, and the constant sound of helicopters, fire trucks and emergency vehicles with sirens blaring roaring made it seem like a war zone. Two CFA volunteers “copped a fireball over their ute. They ran out of oxygen, taking about two minutes to find air. It was bloody scary.” The town would have been destroyed, like Marysville was, except for the massive prevention effort. On the next weekend, Black Saturday, resources had to be spread around and there was no warning time, unlike Boolarra which had a few days to prepare. The Boolarra fires came south along ridges towards our house and farm a few kilometres south of the town. Our property just survived, but a neighboring house a few hundred yards away and some haysheds were burnt to the ground. But we had escaped south to the coast some hours beforehand. However our fires were nothing compared with the Black Saturday ones a week later. Beneath Dark Skies has been published by Andrea Gordon, Traralgon South, and sponsored by the Westpac Bank; it can be purchased at some Westpac branches for $25.
Fr O’Connell 80th birthday
FR Tom O’Connell (right) proudly wearing his OBE medallion with Fr Denis O’Bryan, Cranbourne. TRAFALGAR - FR Tom O’Connell has celebrated his 80th birthday with a Mass and several functions with fellow priests and deacons and Trafalgar parish. There was a parish and community function on March 3 and one attended by clergy on his actual birthday, March 6. Friends and a relative from Ireland were stunned to hear
that Fr O’Connell had accepted a British award in the form of an OBE (Order of the British Empire), but it turned out the OBE was an Aussie one “Over B.... Eighty”. Awards are nothing new to the popular retired priest as in 2005 Baw Baw Shire awarded him an Australia Day medal for commitment to the local community.
He retired in 2008 after 52 years serving the Catholic Church in Gippsland. He was ordained at All Hallows, Dublin in June 1956, as a priest for Sale Diocese and arrived here six months later. Fr O’Connell has been in Trafalgar since 1980, preferring to retire in the town where he has so many friends.
Catholic Life, March 2013 - Page 15
Women’s interfaith A new Bible for only $11 fellowship begins Talking about
SEVENTEEN women from right across Australia have embarked on a journey of faith and leadership development as they take up the new-look Young Catholic Women’s Interfaith Fellowship. One member of the fellowship hails from Sale Diocese. Liz Roberts, a parishioner from St. Patrick’s Pakenham started the program in Sydney in late February. The fellowship, which has been relaunched with a new structure this year, will see the women, from 12 dioceses, undertake a formation program which includes theological studies, interfaith engagement and leadership development.
my understanding of theology, which is currently very basic, and doing it this way will fit in with my busy life in my local community,” she said. The academic program will be enhanced by the residential component so the participants will have opportunities to engage as a group in prayer, meditation, reflection and personal growth. A personal highlight for Liz was the time the group spent with Sr Elizabeth Delaney SGS learning about the structure of the Church and ecumenism. “Sr Elizabeth explained the structure of the church in a very simple way using cut out paper people to show the different
LIZ Roberts from St Patrick’s Pakenham (left) with new friend, and fellow participant Philipa McIlroy from Melbourne Archdiocese, in the rose garden at Good Samaritan Sisters’ Mount St Benedict Centre, Pennant Hills. It is a project of the Austral- roles and responsibilities within ian Catholic Bishops’ Confer- a diocese and the wider church; ence and is being sponsored and the demonstration really by various religious congrega- worked! tions, institutions and Church “The ecumenism lecture agencies. gave me a chance to think Liz has returned home fol- about on my own experiences lowing the first of five the resi- of ecumenism locally, through dential weekends, over the next organisations such as the 4C’s, two years, at the Good Samari- (Cardinia Combined Churches tan Sisters’ Mount St Benedict Caring, who provides welfare Centre, Pennant Hills and Bro- support in Pakenham) and the ken Bay Institute where the local Christmas carols which fellows will, for the first time, involves a number of the Chriscomplete the academic compo- tian churches.” nent of the fellowship. Liz enjoyed spending time Chairman of the ACBC Com- ‘under one roof’ with the other mission for Church Ministry, participants in a building which Bishop David Walker, said the was the former noviciate for the fellowship, which first began in Good Samaritan Sisters. 2006, acknowledged and sup“There are ‘Good Sam’ Sisported the essential place of ters in my parish, so it was women in the Church and the lovely to have this connection important role they can play in through the location of the felinterfaith relations. lowship … it was a peaceful “The Young Catholic Wom- place to reflect on my life and en’s Fellowship has an out- faith as I begin the next part of standing history of forming the journey. women to take on leadership “It was just wonderful to get roles within the Church in to know the other ladies on the many different areas,” Bishop fellowship and share our stories Walker said. and life experiences. “There is “It is our hope that these 17 just so much we can learn from women will graduate having each other, and together, over learnt more about their own the next two years,” Liz said. faith, about engaging with peoDirector of the Office for ple of other faiths and about the Participation of Women, sharing their knowledge and in- Donella Johnston, said the sights with others through lead- generous cooperation of many ership.” Church groups and organisaOver the next two years, the tions had enabled the fellowwomen will study to complete ship to evolve into this dynamic a Graduate Certificate in The- and inclusive format. ology through BBI, studying Ms Johnston said the particionline. pants themselves will contribLiz Roberts, 37 said the op- ute a great deal of time, energy portunity to do the study in a and creativity to making the flexible model was one of the Fellowship a life-changing and life-enhancing experience. attractions of the fellowship. “I was really keen to deepen
THE NEW COMMUNITY BIBLE (Catholic Edition), published and distributed by St Pauls Publications, hardback, 2281 pages, rrp $11. WHEN many people go into a religious bookshop with the intention of buying a Bible, they often leave empty-handed on the first visit because there are so many Bibles to choose from.
For a Catholic there is the confusion as to whether a particular Bible is deemed Catholic. There is nothing heretical in any of the Bibles that we know of, but to be classed as a “Catholic Bible” it needs to have the deuterocanonical books such as Maccabees and the letters from James, Peter, John and Jude which some Bibles leave out. This latest offering is an international version published in Australia but it carries in its heredity an Asian influence from the controversial 1980s Christian Community Bible produced in the Philippines. The black and white illustrations are produced calligraphy-style and the people depicted have a definite Asian appearance. The footnotes to the text are highly informative but the purists who are used to European produced Bibles might cringe at comparative references to Hindi and Muslim practices in the extensive footnotes. The translation used appears to be sound and it has done away with the cumbersome “Yahweh” used in the Jerusalem Bible and replace it with “the Lord”, which is in keeping with a Vatican directive of several years ago. Interestingly, Yahweh still appears in some of the Old Testament footnotes. Apart from the affordable price, the best things about this Bible is that it has cutout tabs for each book, there are extensive cross-references and the footnotes are both informative and scholarly. The translation does have some inclusive language but has not gone overboard as with some Bibles which change every reference to a man to “a person” even when it is quite obvious that the person being referred to is a male. Archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge has been a strong advocate of this Bible, urging people to buy and read it.
Books HOLY DAYS, Meditations on the Feasts, Fasts and Other Solemnities of the Church, by Pope Benedict XVI, published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, distributed by Rainbow Books, paperback, 86 pages, rrp $16.95. POPE Emeritus Benedict was a certainly a busy man and as an academic had no trouble in putting his thoughts to paper. His meditations on the various holy days have been rolled into this small book with each day being given 80 to 200 words to think about. The days are in chronological order throughout the Church’s liturgical year and the English translations are clear and precise. The front cover features a painting of the Last Supper and the rear cover has a photograph of the Pope reading in his summer residence. THE INFANCY NARRATIVES – JESUS OF NAZARETH, by Pope Benedict XVI, published by Random House, distributed by Rainbow Books, paperback, 239 pages, rrp $29.95.
BENEDICT XVI produced a magnificent two book series on Jesus in 2007-2008 and then several years later released the small Infancy Narratives as a follow-up which might help readers of the main works to gain a better understanding of the child Jesus. This version is in large print and is easy to read.
Benedict takes what Matthew and Luke say about the young Jesus at the start of their Gospels and tries to understand what they were meaning to convey to readers in their day. Throughout he points out that even in Jesus’ time people were confused about Him. People in his home town of Nazareth were amazing to hear him speak and questioned where this young man, who they knew as the son of a carpenter, could get such wisdom. Benedict goes through Jesus’ background, the annunciation, His birth, visit by the Magi and His presentation in the temple. So little is mentioned of Jesus’s formative years but Benedict is able to draw together the pieces in a way in which readers can gain a much better understanding of the person of the child Jesus and His place in the world. ST PAULS SUNDAY MISSAL and ST PAULS WEEKDAY MISSAL, published and distributed by St Pauls Publications, hardback and softback versions, rrp $29.95 to $79.95. THESE new missals are complete editions covering the full three year cycle within the Church. They carry the new text and responses as used by the Church in Australia. The two Sunday missals are identical in content but the red hardcover version costs $39.95 and the green hard-wearing vinyl covered version costs $29.95. The Weekday Missals are both blue with the hardcover “popular edition” costs $59.95 and the vinyl “standard edition’ $79.95. We are not sure what difference there is between the standard and popular editions because they both have the same number of pages and identical indexes. These missals are available now through church book rooms and can be ordered through most piety stalls.
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Page 16 - Catholic Life, March 2013
Nagle leadership Mass held
First Saturday devotions FISH CREEK – The First Saturday devotions for the The Marian Movement of Priests are being held on the 1st Saturday of each month. The devotions consist of: Exposition, Confession and Rosary, talk by the celebrant, Benediction, Mass and Angelus. In South Gippsland the devotions will rotate between
the various Mass centres and on April 6 it will be the turn of Fish Creek. It will be conducted by Fr Joseph Abutu at Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church, Foster St., Fish Creek, from 9.30am until noon. For further information please contact Ben or Eileen Worsteling 5639 4118.
On the road to Rio and a new Pope PICTURED (from left) 2012 Nagle College Dux Thomas Deery (ATAR score of 98.4), Elizabeth Shanahan (90.10), Jake Goodluck (91.90), Kate Ammitzboll (92.25), Amanda Emonson (94.30), Patrick Bowers (95.75) and Amanda Scott (Dux of Legal Studies with a score of 41). Absent from the photo are Lauren Chila (93.40) and Jessica Porter (93.45). BAIRNSDALE - Nagle College Be the Change; Make it Count’. as his focus, referring also to celebrated the 2013 Leadership This also provided the theme the Gospel reading: “Today’s Mass on Monday 18 February. for the prayers and the homily, Gospel reading calls us to make the most of our talents. May The first of the College mass- given by Fr Peter Bickley. es for the year brought the colAt the conclusion to the cele- be there could be a connection lege community together to bration of Mass, Fr Bickley and here with being a human instalcelebrate the commencement of Fr Pulis blessed the badges of lation, an art work in progress, office that were presented to the to be our best … this new arthe 2013 school year. The community witnessed student leadership team and the rangement we are calling Good the induction of the 2013 stu- house student leaders, together Standing might help some peodent leadership team and all with a candle which was sym- ple be that, to be the best they Year 12 students as leaders; bolic of the college motto – Let can be, to use their talents to help them take a risk – to make welcomed all students and staff Your Light Shine. All Year 12 students were the year count.” who have joined Nagle College The second part of the gatherfor the first time in 2013, and presented with a college badge to acknowledge the 2012 VCE to mark them as student lead- ing was to recognise and coners and role models during their gratulate the achievements of academic awardees. The celebration began with final year. The students then the Year 12 Class of 2012. Students who achieved the the procession into Presentation made the following Year 12 highest study score above 40 Hall of the Year 12 students to commitment: “As the Year 12 class of 2013 in their VCE Subject were prethe upbeat song Firework by we commit ourselves to em- sented with the Dux of Subject Katy Perry. The students were led by the bracing this stage of our jour- Award. These were Lucas Arstudent leadership team and the ney and all the challenges and thur (Year 11 in 2012), Vivien house leaders who carried the joys along the way. We ask for Cadd, Kynan Robinson, Amancollege and house banners. This God’s guidance and strength to da Scott, Elizabeth Shanahan, was quickly followed by the encourage us to walk together Brigid McNamara, Jake Goodentry of the celebrants, Fr Pe- inspired by the teaching of the luck, Kate Ammitzboll, Lauren ter Bickley and Fr Joseph Pulis. Lord. Nurture us and give us Chila, Jessica Porter, Amanda Year 11 student, Narissa Egan, hope, courage and faith as we Emonson, Patrick Bowers and gave the traditional Welcome aspire to live to our full poten- Thomas Deery. Dux for 2012 was Thomas to Country which marked the tial and be the best that we can Deery with an ATAR score of commencement of the celebra- be.” Principal Neville Powles, ad- 98.4. He delivered a poignant tion of Mass. The theme for the Year 12 dressed the assembly and used response to his award, giving Class of 2013 was ‘Take a Risk; the theme for the Class of 2013 advice to current students and encouraging them to take advantage of the opportunities available to them now. “To score well in VCE is a team effort. The term ‘Dux’ comes from the Latin word ‘Ducere’, which means to lead. However any successful leader needs a great team around them, and I certainly did from my VCE teachers, to my fellow students and most importantly my parents who were always there for me. Don’t underestimate at all the importance of this year of school. Use this year to perfect your study routine. If there are two words that sum up how to succeed in VCE, they are consistent effort.” Finally, the Monash Prize for 2012 Year 11 Academic Excellence, valued at $1000, was presented to Joshua Kugelmann. Merit Certificates for this award were also presented to Alana Short and Jarrah Nicholson, with Erin Weir the recipient of a new award for 2012 in the form of the Monash University Campus Year 11 Achievement Award. The celebration concluded with a vote of thanks by the 2013 college captains Ben Calnin and Paige Philip.
YOUNG people from around Victoria who are gearing up to join the Bishops of Australia on pilgrimage to World Youth Day 2013 have another bucket list item in their sights – meeting the new Pope Francis. Amid news of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation, the Catholic News Agency reported the Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro announcing that the new Pope would attend World Youth Day. During Mass at a parish in Rio, Archbishop Orani Joao Tempesta said that when he spoke with Benedict XVI about the event, the Holy Father told him, “The Pope will go to World Youth Day. Me or my successor.” The Victorian dioceses have joined forces to offer young pilgrims three itinerary options on the road to Rio with all three groups merging into one as they arrive in Rio to celebrate WYD week together. Pilgrims choosing the Project Peru itinerary will begin their pilgrimage with a week in Lima, Peru working the Christian Life Movement. The CLM is an international ecclesial movement founded in Lima in 1985 and works in communities to support the process of the New Evangelisation. CLM has invited Victorian pilgrims to work with locals to build a staircase in a shanty town while they are in Lima. The second option for Victorian pilgrims is the Mission Chile itinerary. Bishop Christopher Prowse will be among the Victorian pilgrims who will spend five days in Santiago, Chile, before heading to WYD. The St Columban’s Mission Society has invited Victorian pilgrims to spend some time with the parish of San Matias in Santiago. San Matias parishioners are planning social and sporting activities, cultural exchange, work projects and sight-seeing trips for our visit with them. The final itinerary for Victorian pilgrims is Roads to Rio which includes a few days of sightseeing in the magnificent city of Rio De Janeiro before WYD week begins. All three Victorian groups will come together for the beginning of WYD week in Rio and will stay with several thousand other pilgrims travelling with the Bishops of Australia at a special site which has been nicknamed “Aussie Central”. Aussie Central is an exhibition centre in Rio which has
been rented out for Australian and New Zealand pilgrims to call home during WYD. Accommodation will be basic (we will be camping out on the floor!) but we will have access to on-site first aid, the Australian WYD support structure and 24 hour security. There is even a café for our morning caffeine hit before we set off each day. Our WYD week in Rio will be a smorgasbord of faith, festivals and fun. The WYD week takes place over six days, beginning with an opening Mass and concluding with an evening Vigil and final Mass with Pope Francis. During the week, pilgrims from all walks of life attend catechesis sessions and unite in prayer and the sacraments. The youth festival will also take place each day where pilgrims can reach across barriers of language and culture and celebrate together their Catholic faith through music and theatre and all manner of celebrations. We will also have the opportunity to reflect on the WYD 2013 theme: “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mathew 28:19). This theme, announced by Pope Benedict XVI during the general audience on August 24, 2012, stresses the missionary character of WYD. The Pope spoke of the joyful participation of the 2 million young people at WYD in Madrid 2011, in what he called “a wonderful experience of brotherhood, an encounter with the Lord, a sharing and growth in faith: it was a veritable cascade of light.” This theme invites young people from all around the world to ponder this call to mission and participate in the WYD as the living witnesses of Christ. If you would like to join the approximately 150 Victorian pilgrims on the road to Rio to meet our new Pope it’s not too late but you need to get your skates on! Registrations are closing in just a few weeks. Go to http://www.wydtours. com/wyd-pilgrimages/vic/ victoria/ for all the registration details or contact Brendan Lindsay, Victorian WYD Coordinator, on 9412 3306 or wyd2013@cam.org.au.
Catholic Life, March 2013 - Page 17
For the Young and Young at Heart Colour the Last Supper
WHEN Jesus told the disciples at the Last Supper that one of them was going to betray Him, the disciples were astounded. Colour in the picture and send it to for a chance to win a prize. Which one do you think might be Judas?
Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Age . . . . . Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Send entries to Catholic Life Colouring Contest. c/- PO Box 1410, Warragul 3820.
This month’s winner
A prize winner
Off the seventh tee, Joe sliced his shot deep into a wooded ravine. He took his eight iron and clambered down the embankment in search of his lost ball. After many long minutes of hacking at the underbrush, he spotted something glistening in the leaves. As he drew nearer, he discovered that it was an eight iron in hands of a skeleton! Joe immediately called out to his friend, “Jack, I’ve got trouble down here!” “What’s the matter?” Jack asked from the edge of the ravine. “Bring me my wedge,” Joe shouted. “You can’t get out of here with an eight iron!” THERE was a very gracious lady who was mailing an old family Bible to her brother in another part of the country. “Is there anything breakable in here?” asked the postal clerk. “Only the Ten Commandments.” answered the lady. THERE are only two kinds of people in the world. There are those who wake up in the morning and say, “Good morning, Lord,” and there are those who wake up in the morning and say, “Good Lord, its morning.” THE priest announced to his congregation: “I have good news and bad news. The good news is, we have enough money to pay for our church renovations and a new parish hall. “The bad news is, it’s still out there in your pockets.”
WINNER of the colouring contest featuring King Neptune and his daughter is young Chloe Aherne, 5, who attends Columba Catholic Primary School at Bunyip. We had lots of entries, which is always pleasing, and the standard was very good. Keep the entries coming in. We enjoy getting them all. We will deliver Chloe’s prize next week so she can enjoy it during the school holidays.
What number is missing?
SARAH Rainey, who is in Grade 6 at St Mary’s Primary School in Sale, displays the prize she won.
QUIZ ANSWER: The centre two squares should be read as one number (eg 1&3 = 13). The sum of the two outer numbers equals the centre number, therefore 5 + ? = 12, making the answer 7.
Answer at right
Time for a Laugh
THE priest was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was going to ask the congregation to come up with more money than they were expecting for repairs to the church building. He was annoyed to find that the regular organist was sick and a substitute had been brought in at the last minute. The substitute wanted to know what to play. He said “You’ll have to think of something to play after I make the announcement about the finances.” After Mass, the priest paused and said, “The parish is in financial difficulty; the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected and we need to find another
$10,000. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up.” At that moment, the substitute organist played the National Anthem, and that’s how she became the regular organist!
AN elderly gent was invited to an old friends’ home for dinner one evening. He was impressed by the way his buddy preceded every request to his wife with endearing terms such as: Honey, My Love, Darling, Sweetheart, Pumpkin, etc. The couple had been married almost 70 years and, clearly, they were still very much in love. While the wife was in the kitchen, the man leaned over and said to his host, “I think it’s wonderful that, after all these years, you still call your wife those loving pet names.” The old man hung his head. “I have to tell you the truth,” he said, “Her name slipped my mind about 10 years ago and I’m scared to death to ask her what it is!” THERE was a huge walnut tree by the cemetery fence. One day two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts. “One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me,” said one boy. The bucket was so full, several rolled out towards the fence. A man walking past the cemetery heard voices and stopped to investigate. He heard, “One for you, one for me. One for you.” “Goodness!” he shuddered, “It’s Satan and St Peter dividing up the souls at the cemetery!” He quickly called another couple of passers-by over and told them Satan and St Peter were dividing the souls. They scoffed at him but then heard “One for you, one for me. One for you, one...” One of the men said “Let’s see if we can see the Devil himself.” Shivering with fear, they edged toward the fence, still unable to see anything, but they heard, “One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me. And one last one for you. That’s all. Let’s go get those nuts by the fence, and we’ll be done.” Needless to say the three men fainted.
Page 18 - Catholic Life, March 2013
Sabbatical experience leaves lasting impression BAIRNSDALE parish priest Fr Peter Bickley spent several months at the end of last year on sabbatical leave, attending a course in the United States. Twenty-six religious sisters, religious brothers, and priests from orders and dioceses around the world participated. The following is a heavily abridged version of a six page report he made following his return: We discovered that it is a program that has served the world church for over 25 years. It is a sensitive prayerful program that from its conception reaches out to the needs that grow in the lives of minsters everywhere around the world. Warmly we share our stories, our confidence grows as we are listened to. The generous spirit of care already in our hearts deepens in response to each story as a duty of care, - affirmation, renewal and enrichment grows. The grounds of Oblate School of Theology so welcoming for rest, renewal and enrichment. The grotto to Our Lady of Lourdes and the Shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe are wonderfully inviting resting places for prayer. You cannot help but hear Mary’s fiat, ‘Let it be’, with it, her invitation to rest awhile to sit with her, to come and pray. We are invited to join Faith Sharing Groups, to select our spiritual director, with each we share important time every week of our four months together. It is in the faith sharing groups we hear each others’ stories, tentative at first, then as the story is shared, the warm responses giving understanding and encouragement, bonds us warmly. It’s a time of great trust, vulnerable time, healing time. It’s also a time of transition. Participants have come, not
knowing what their new appointments will be, many hesitate to let go of their former missions, to take on something new. These stories are repeated among our participants, beautifully, remarkably, they keep their focus for God, whatever the hardship, they endure, they pray, they work on and love their particular area of the apostolate God has sent them to. But for some, the years have taken their toll, and it’s to this program they come. Four valuable months, finding rest, renewal and delightful enrichment, praying together in our daily mass, studying together throughout the course of the program, recreating together, concentrating on health issues, and putting in hard hours in exercise to shed those pounds that have become a threat to their physical health. Dieticians and doctors, share their expertise and monitor us during these four months. Always there is encouragement, no longer is there accusation that you are overweight, but rather, encouragement and care - monitoring to help shed a few pounds. Medication is very real among this group - high blood pressure, heart problems and other medical issues, carefully being monitored. Some suffering depression, some suffering loss of confidence, some just burnt out. Others seeking refreshment, renewal, enrichment. For myself, I will remain ever grateful to Bishop Christopher for his enthusiastic support in encouraging me to go on sabbatical. I found the time very probing, challenging and rewarding. I enjoyed this time in relaxation, renewal, enrichment which came in many ways. I faced various issues through the groups and with the help of a very wise and effective spir-
New initiative of the youth office By Cassie Gawler BE Still is a retreat for Year 11 and 12 students who are currently undergoing their VCE studies. The retreat aims to provide an overnight escape from the busy and hectic lifestyle of VCE by providing an opportunity for these young people to reconnect with their faith, make some new friends and have some fun. During VCE, the stresses of study, future planning, assessments and prerequisites can be
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so overwhelming to students, that faith gets pushed to the side. It is important for young people to nurture their relationship with God during all parts of their lives, particularly the difficult ones During Year 11 and 12 it is imperative that students are looking after, not only their physical and mental wellbeing, but also their spiritual wellbeing. The retreat will be from 5pm Friday June 21 to 5.30pm on the Saturday at The Summit, 21 Cemetery Road, Trafalgar East. Cost is $30 per student (includes accommodation, all meals and activities) The retreat will be held during a relatively quiet time in the VCE calendar, away from any major exams or assessments in order to have little impact on the students study timetable.
itual director Fr Roger Keeler, from Canada, now on staff at Oblate School of Theology. The end result for me, I am excited to be returning to Bairnsdale, I will remain ever grateful for the many years I had the good fortune to be in Traralgon and the Latrobe Valley for in my time on sabbatical I shared this hurtful time of separation and leaving Traralgon among others whose experiences identified with mine.
I have now let go and am ready to move into the mission of East Gippsland where the star shines brightly in faith hope and love in the people of God there, too. So using John Paul II words, ‘Be not afraid’ which I have adopted for myself, I say yes to all that will be and thanks for all that has been. Our final days together were of celebration our gatherings expressed a tint of sadness in
our parting but also recognised the permanent friendships that had grown. We gathered with our organisers, and the Oblate School of Theology Faculty in thanks for all that had been shared. This closing prayer of the sabbatical says it well: “Blessed are you O Lord our God, King of the Universe, for you have commanded us to observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” - Fr Peter Bickley
The bishop visits St Patrick’s
BISHOP Christopher Prowse and Fr Bernie Mahony check the progress of new building works surrounded by prep students Brodie, Luca, Michael, Saebra, Bria, Lucinda, Sasmi, Jofrey, Jess, Nikolas, Lachlan, Tari, Lucus, Dana, Liam, Jasmine, John, Cody and Ashleigh from Prep JT. PAKENHAM - St Patrick’s Primary School had a visit from Bishop Christopher Prowse. He spent time talking to Year 6 students about the sacrament of confirmation which most of them will receive later this year. He also talked with the students about the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and how the conclave of cardinals would go about the difficult process of choosing a new leader for the Church.
The bishop also attended the ecumenical World Day of Prayer, which was celebrated at St Patrick’s this year. Representatives from all classes above Year 4 joined him for this and participated in the ceremony. While at the school Bishop Prowse viewed new school building works with parish priest Fr Bernie Mahony and stayed for assembly, addressing the whole school.
An impromptu interview with school captains Jackson and Chloe sourced information about the importance of friendship and “buddies” in school and in our lives. He got the captains to introduce their buddies and talk about the benefits of having a special buddy of your own, especially when you just start school.
Principal loses his locks MAFFRA - The students and parents from St Mary’s Primary School in Maffra along with their principal Darren Stanbury, took the plunge and were brave and shaved for the Leukaemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave last week. The ‘St Mary’s Shavers,’ consisted of a team of 12 who had their shave thanks to Samantha Thompson from ‘Hair Raunch’ in Maffra. Samantha generously donated her time to shave the team. Mr Stanbury said “It is wonderful that our Catholic schools are creating an awareness of others in our community. Our own school has been effected by the effects of cancer and it seems the very least we could do.” Mr Stanbury added that he had lost several students to cancer and one to leukaemia and knows first-hand how it can traumatise families and com-
ST Mary’s principal Darren Stanbury has his head shaved as part of the school project to raise money for the Leukaemia Foundation. munities. The day also provided an opportunity for other students and staff to be involved in a Crazy Hair Day which proved to be a great hit with the children. All proceeds from the shave are donated to the Leukaemia
Foundation. St Mary’s Primary School’s goal is to raise $2000. Donations can be made through the school office and official receipts given. It would welcome donations from community members.
Catholic Life, March 2013 - Page 19
Emmaus ministry finds a home
Classifieds wanted known Let’s leave something for those in need
The Bishop’s Family Foundation helps families by funding charitable projects throughout the Diocese of Sale. You can help by making a bequest in your will. If you need more information contact
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5622 6600 for some guidelines. Do it today and sleep easy knowing you have done your part Eyes down 11am. Ticket sales 10.30am Now 55 games at 20 cents per game.
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HOLY SPIRIT You who makes me see everything and shows me the way to reach my ideals, you who gives me a divine gift to forgive and forget the wrong that is done to me; in this short dialogue I want to thank you for everything and affirm once more that I never want to be separated from you, no matter how great the material desire may be. I want to be with you and my loved ones in Your perpetual Glory. (Mention your request). Thank you Holy Spirit for your love towards me and my loved one. Amen This prayer should be said for 3 consecutive days. After the 3rd day the request will be granted, no matter how difficult it may be. While making the request one must either promise to publish on granting the favour or promise to circulate copies of it to as many people as possible. This is to spread the wonder of the Holy Spirit.
THE former Josephite Convent at 48 Monash Rd, Newborough is the new home of the the Emmaus Spirituality Ministry for the Diocese of Sale. A sacred place of prayer, love and peace. An agreement was signed by Fr Stephen Onuoha and Ruth Spierings to share the premises at Newborough. This arrangement will provide Emmaus with rooms for spiritual direction, prayer days, retreats and some office space. Work was then carried out by the parish and Emmaus to make the house a beautiful and peaceful environment in which the ministry could flourish. Emmaus resources are limited but with prayer this challenging task was undertaken. Volunteers from Emmaus Team, past programs and spouses worked over two weeks to paint, garden and clean etc. The costs were further reduced by
prayer THANK YOU St Jude. O Holy St Jude Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke your special patronage in time of need. To you I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you to whom God has given such great power to come to my assistance. Help me in my present and urgent petition. In return I promise to make your name known and cause you to be invoked. St Jude pray for us and all who invoke your aid. Amen.
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kind donations, including those from Dulux and Bunnings. Floor coverings for the premises were purchased at greatly reduced cost by astutely buying from auction sites. Emmaus owes an enormous debt of gratitude to a gentleman from St Mary’s Parish who, using his skills as a carpenter and cabinet maker, saved Emmaus considerable expense. The generosity of many have enabled the house to be furnished. Paintings, chairs, tables, towels, plants, a water feature, as well as such religious items as crucifixes, a beautiful bible and paintings. The joy and love with which the gifts are given and received are testament to God’s blessing on this ministry for the Sale diocese. In the midst of all the activity around Newborough, the Emmaus Ministry team has continued to provide spiritual direction to many, the full Ignatian spiritual exercises, retreat days and weekends in parishes. Part three of the spirituality formation program Apostolic Leadership – at St Patrick’s Pakenham had 18 participants. The fourth part will be conducted over the four Saturdays in April at St. Patricks. Emmaus is strongly committed to this aspect of ministry , the formation of people to take their place in the life of the Church. If you would like a retreat, prayer day, spiritual direction or might be considering the full spiritual exercises in daily life please contact Ruth Spierings, Emmaus Spirituality Ministry for the Diocese of Sale, on 5998 2664 or email salespirituality@ hotmail.com. The postal address is PO Box 240 Newborough 3825. Emmaus is a non profit organisation with a policy that no one be turned away due to financial reasons.
Annual Serra golf day is next week SALE - The annual Serra Golf Day will be held at Sale Golf Club, Longford, next Monday, March 25. The annual event is a social day for priests and religious who compete against Serra club members and guests. As has been the case in recent years clergy from other religions will also be taking part in the event which helps to promote religious vocations. This year there will be two starting times for the stableford event – 8am for the early birds and the normal 12.15pm shotgun start. Trophies are presented that evening at a dinner at the golf club. Non-golfers are welcome to attend. To sign up for a great day’s golf contact Reg Carmody on 5144 3349 or 0427 443 349 or Alan Wyatt on 5143 0454 or 0409 449 104.
Page 20 - Catholic Life, March 2013
Are you game?
Records tumble at carnival
THE Youth Ministry Office is inviting interested parish and school youth groups to be part of the State Youth Games this Queen’s birthday weekend. The SYG is an action-packed ecumenical weekend of sports and activities for young people. Approximately 3000 people camp out together, play sports all day and celebrate at night. It is organised by Youth Vision Victoria – the youth ministry arm of Churches of Christ in Victoria. Youth Groups from all over the state travel for the event. Young people of the Diocese of Sale will be invited to join our “Peter’s Crew” team and to attend Mass and a barbecue on the Saturday night. SYG is open to anyone in Year 7 or above. The upper age limit for individual sports is 30, but youth leaders over 30 may
SALE - Catholic College Sale students competed in the College’s annual swimming carnival with some long held college swimming records being broken. Year 7 student Joel Hutchins wowed his peers as he powered through the pool to swim a 35.59 second backstroke race, breaking the College record of 2007 by 3.71 seconds. He also went on to break the records held in 50m freestyle and butterfly. Year 9 student Josh Tatterson will go into the history books after smashing four College records in freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly. Josh’s fantastic efforts beat the 2007 50m breaststroke record by a whopping 3.16 seconds with a time of 39.33 seconds. Sports coordinator, Br Paul Murphy said “We were delighted with the way the students
participate in any of the team sports with their young people. People of any age may attend the weekend and enjoy the exciting atmosphere of the event. Aside from the fun of cheering for your team, there are many opportunities to assist by umpiring, scoring, setting up, participating in things like the disco, worship, coffee lounge, or doing other organisational tasks. Although State Youth Games is organised by Churches of Christ, youth groups from many denominations attend. If you are interested in being part of the Diocese of Sale’s “Peter’s Crew” group please let Jess at the Youth Ministry Office know on 5622 6693 or jessd@ sale.catholic.org.au. You can also get more information about SYG at http://stateyouthgames. com/vic/.
Siblings win karate medals CRANBOURNE – A brother and sister from St Peter’s College both won medals at the Victorian State Karate Championships earlier this month. James and Georgina Thornton, are both in Year 7 and are former St Agatha’s Catholic Primary School students. The pair, who live in the suburb of Sandhurst, competed in their weight and age divisions
with James being silver medallist in the boys weight /12-13 year old competition. Georgia won the gold medal in the girls weight/12-13 year old competition, one better than last year when she won a silver medal. Two years ago she won a bronze. Both Georgia and James have received invitations to train with the Victorian state team
for possible selection to represent Victoria at the national championships in Tasmania in August. In the meantime they will be focussing on competing at the Australian Open Schools and Universities Championships in Sydney on April 19 where they will represent St Peter’s College.
participated and supported those competing. The weather was great and the atmosphere was exciting.” Records were also broken on the day by Year 8 students Kieren Jones in freestyle 31.06 seconds and Aaron Castle in breaststroke 40.99 seconds. Meanwhile Ben Dessent made
his mark when he broke the Year 10 boys breaststroke record with a time of 41.56 seconds. Students enjoyed perfect weather on both days of the carnival and team spirit was high, with banners and house chants taking pride of place.
A sky-high garden
Seminarians studying in Nigeria
Catholic Life Sale
CAMERON Dourley and Albert Hercus are amazed by the height of the sunflowers at St Joseph’s Primary School.
The Eucharistic rosary designed by the Vatican rosary makers will be sent out to all those who give a donation of $15 or more and tick this box. Aid to the Church in Need …. a Catholic charity dependent on the Holy See, providing pastoral relief to needy and oppressed Churches
KORUMBURRA – The Joseph’s Primary School garden is going full steam ahead, after it was started last year. Each class was responsible for one part of the garden project and this year we are now being rewarded with beans, herbs and other produce.
Students are particularly proud of their sunflowers, planted by the 2012 Prep/One class, with one measuring up to 2.65 metres. The school looks forward to continuing the garden project this year.