Catholic life apr 2014

Catholic Life Publication of the Diocese of Sale

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ISSUE 181

April 2014

Former vicar general dies

WARRAGUL parish priest Fr Herman Hengel conducts the graveside ceremony for Mgr Dan McCartan at Warragul Cemetery.

WARRAGUL - Former Sale Diocese vicar general Mgr James Daniel (Dan) McCartan died suddenly on March 15, shortly after telling staff at his nursing home he was off to meet God. Aged 83, he came to Australia almost 60 years ago as an Irish missionary priest to serve in Sale Diocese.

Mgr McCartan was born in Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland in 1930 and after his schooling, entered All Hallows Seminary in Dublin to train to be a missionary priest.

He chose Sale Diocese and after being ordained in July 1955 by the Auxiliary Bishop of Honolulu John Scanlan, he set sail for Australia.

Mgr McCartan arrived in Sale Diocese in November 1955 and was sent to Yallourn as assistant priest where he remained for 16 months before being sent to the first of three postings to Warragul.

He also served there from 1964-67 as administrator, then as parish priest from 1987 to 2003, and finally chose it as his place of retirement Over the years as a priest in the diocese, he willingly went wherever he was sent and

Trinity FAMILIES

managed to serve in all but the rapidly growing western end.

He was in the Sale Cathedral parish twice, Yarram, Omeo, Orbost, Dalyston, IonaMaryknoll and Morwell.

The year 2000 stands as an important one in Mgr McCartan’s life as he was made a Prelate of Honor, which entitled him to be called monsignor, as well as being appointed vicar general, a consultor and member of the Council of Priests.

In 2007 he retired to Warragul, at first living in a unit in Witton St. near to what is now the Sion House diocesan headquarters, and then later at the nursing

home.

In Ireland he grew up around horses and was a keen horseman who enjoyed the hunt.

As a young priest Fr McCartan played Australian rules football with the Warragul based team known as the Dusties and often laid claim, tongue in cheek, that it was his success that prompted Ron Barassi to start importing Irish footballers to AFL. After finishing his career he then went on to serve on the league tribunal.

Mgr McCartan’s funeral was held at Warragul Cemetery on March 24, fittingly on the • Continued Page 3

Mgr Dan McCartan

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We ask you donate generously to our diocesan charity Trinity Families so we can help the people in our region.

Phone: (03) 5622 6688 Visit us on Facebook and www.trinityfamilies.org.au

Page 2 - Catholic Life, April 2014

In this Issue Cardinal Pell’s departure leaves a void Page 4 Pakenham couple’s 65th anniversary Page 6 Celebrating 50 years as a monsignor Page 7 Sale dean part of Brisbane Oratory Page 11 Archbishop a Vatican consultor Page 13 How to make your own Easter eggs Page 17

Travelling through transition IN my previous article I shared some thoughts about being in a time of transition, thinking especially about our diocese not having a bishop.

I have heard that we need “to start at the end” which means to give attention to what has ended. For our diocese at present the particular “what has ended” is the leadership and ministry of Bishop Christopher Prowse.

Saying that his ministry as bishop in our diocese has ended, doesn’t mean that all his work has ended. Much of what he started or did is going on during this time.

In addition the diocese is still functioning; our parishes and schools and works of charity are continuing. People are praying and living out their faith. Much goes on.

Now I would like to share some thoughts on the second, or central, stage of transition. This is the main and, perhaps the longest, part of transition.

For an individual it might be called a place of emptiness or time out, which can be a positive period of self-discovery when the person looks to what he or she was doing, is doing in the present, and will do in the future.

This takes time and for an individual there can be time on hand, especially if it is between jobs.

Time needs to be spent on this. There can be feelings to recognize; positive feelings such as exhilaration or fulfilment or negative feelings such as fear or anxiety.

Such feelings are important; when we don’t recognise them they can control us, when we do recognize them then we choose what to do about them.

What is this mid stage of transition like for a community? Well we too can look back over past activity as well as our present situation, and identify some hopes for the future.

We might have our own feelings about what we have been through. We might also try to identify the certainty within the uncertainty.

Our faith is a certainty; it is the same when we are without a bishop as when a bishop is present. Our liturgy goes on too. It is not as if everything stops.

I can give some examples of our present life too. The group of priests known as the Council of Priests ceases when we are without a bishop but the College of Consultors continues. In our diocese they are the same people.

What is happening is that they meet as consultors to deal with everything they would have dealt with in either group.

This may sound unclear but it means that we have a very consultative process of governing in operation during this time of transition. I believe it is serving the diocese well.

The Diocesan Pastoral Council cannot exist without a bishop.

However, for the sake of continuity and for the sake of the diocese, it now meets as an interim body. The work continues and that is of benefit.

The new bishop will decide how he wants to use this group, having it continue to meet means he will be able to call on it, or change it, if he chooses.

The members of these bodies know that we are in transition.

They are not making “new” decisions or instigating “new” initiatives; they are helping already existing efforts to continue during this time of waiting.

An event that happens each year is the Chrism Mass, where the oils used in sacraments are blessed and the priests and deacons make a renewal of their commitment to ministry. It is something that I have found helpful over the years.

We need a bishop for that Mass. This year Bishop Vincent Long will be coming to be the celebrant at the Chrism Mass, which is to be celebrated in St Mary’s Cathedral, Sale, at 11am on Tuesday April 15. Parishioners from across the diocese are always welcome to attend.

So we have some things happening that reflect being in transition. We leave open for the next bishop whatever can be left open.

We continue to do what we believe is essential or helpful to the life of the diocese and its people. We might all give attention to questions such as what kind of community of faith we are in the diocese of Sale.

In other words, even as a community, we spend this time of transition doing what we can and all the time waiting for the particular gifts and emphases the new bishop will bring.

This time has its own work to do. We are invited to do it well and fruitfully.

Fr Peter Slater Diocesan Administrator

Fr Buckley to move to Traralgon soon TRARALGON – Fr Bernard Buckley has been appointed parish priest of Traralgon to re-

Catholic Life PO Box 1410, Warragul Vic. 3820 Phone: (03) 5622 6688

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place Fr Mathew Joseph TOR who has returned to India.

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priest of Lakes Entrance and Orbost and will move to Traralgon on April 24.

Bairnsdale parish priest Fr Peter Bickley will take over as administrator of the two eastern parishes but will continue to live in Bairnsdale.

Priest in residence in Lakes Entrance will be current Bairnsdale assistant priest Fr Janeesh Jose, and new assistant priest at Bairnsdale will be Fr Siju Xavier.

Fr Jose will retain living quarters in Bairnsdale and his time between the three parishes will be worked out with Fr Bickley.

Diocesan administrator Fr Peter Slater announced the changes following a meeting with his consultors.

He thanked the priests for their cooperation and also Fr Babu Antony for his work as administrator at Traralgon after Fr Joseph left.

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Catholic Life, April 2014 - Page 3

Trinity Families gearing up for May appeal TRINITY FAMILIES will hold its annual May appeal in Catholic parishes across the diocese.

This year the appeal will also revert to giving parishioners the option of pledging an annual contribution for the next three years.

It was this proven method which quickly raised more than $1 million when the charity was first launched under the name Bishop’s Family Foundation.

Envelopes will be made available for one-off cash donations with a slip which can be filled out for credit card transactions.

But for those used to making transactions over the Internet, we are establishing facilities

with the National Bank to allow donations to be made on Facebook and on our new webpage www.trinityfamilies. org.au.

Executive officer Colin Coomber said making donations via the webpage and Facebook would enable receipts to be automatically issued which would cut down on overheads of printing off and posting receipts.

He said the response to the launch of Trinity Families had been good with many people renewing their pledges and others sending cheques.

Businesses in the region would soon start to be invited to join with Trinity Families in building a sound base to support

families in need.

Mr Coomber said the aim was to at least double the size of the trust fund over the next few years.

“Those who can afford to help provide services for those in need, will be asked to dig deep.”

He said that it seemed that hardly a day went by that people were not asked to support some cause.

“Many are worthy of support but we ask everyone to be vigilant against those

organisations who spent vast sums in promotion.

“How much of the money actually gets through to the cause they are supporting.”

He said that in recent weeks paid collectors had been working Gippsland to raise money for various charities.

“These young overseas travellers are doing it to put money into their own pockets to fund their working holiday.

“I have been told that some of these collectors get to keep half of what they raise, which probably means that once other overheads are deducted, only about 30 cents in every dollar goes to the cause.”

Mr Coomber said it was also worth considering how much

benefit each particular charity was to the Greater Gippsland community.

Supporting overseas aid was a worthy thing to do but people needed to be wary of those charities which did not offer tax deductibility for donations.

He said Trinity Families had full deductible gift recipient status from the Australian Tax Office and only allocated funds to charities working in our region who also had DGR status.

Please visit and like us on Facebook.

Should you wish to contact Trinity Families, phone 5622 6688 or email trinity@sale. catholic.org.au.

Funeral of Mgr Dan McCartan • From Page 1 feast day of his namesake St McCartan who was an obscure 4th Century Irish bishop.

He was buried in the old section of the cemetery in one of three graves he had purchased for the parish from the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion when they left Warragul.

The requiem Mass in St Joseph’s Church, Warragul, was attended by a large crowd of mourners which included family members from Ireland.

His brother Brian and sisterin-law Ita brought the gifts to the altar during the offertory procession.

In a short eulogy, a nephew Mick McCartan recalled fondly the regular visits by Mgr McCartan to family in Ireland and how his priestly rituals affected family life.

His uncle would rise early to say daily Mass at 6am and when the Mass was over, family members would ponder what to

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do for an hour or so until it was their normal time of rising.

He brought a chuckle from mourners when he said his uncle was some times stubborn and grumpy, but was also gifted with a great sense of humor.

Long time friend Jo Rankin, Warragul, said Mgr McCartan had grown to be a father figure for him and virtually a grandfather for her children.

Mgr McCartan had taught her family a lot about faith, family and life in general.

She said it had been an honor and a privilege to be part of his life and that of the wider McCartan family in Ireland.

The monsignor’s memory had wavered in recent years but he had never lost his love for the Church or diocese.

She said he was always determined to do God’s work and 15 minutes before he died he told staff at Amberlea, where he lived, that he was off to an extremely important meeting with God. In his homily, diocesan administrator Fr Peter Slater said Mgr McCartan was a man with a keen sense of justice and an equally strong intolerance of injustice.

He was always a generous host and would always be remembered for entertaining gatherings with his recital of Banjo Paterson’s poem Rio

Grande’s Last Race.

Mgr McCartan had taken the trouble to indicate the scripture reading he wanted for his funeral.

The first reading from Genesis about God commanding Abram to leave his country and go to a foreign land was fitting.

Mgr McCartan was one of the last of the great wave of Irish missionary priests, and as such knew what it was like to live as a stranger in a foreign land.

He had brought the light of Christ to Gippsland in serving the diocese for almost 60 years.

His coffin, covered with red roses, was carried by Dennis Rankin, Luke Rankin, Brian McCartan, Mick McCartan, Joe Brady and Michael Gargan.

At the cemetery tenor John Black gave a stirring rendition of Danny Boy, described by Fr Herman Hengel as an “Irish rebel song.”

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Administrator’s deputy named FR Herman Hengel, parish priest of Warragul and Drouin, has accepted the role of deputy to the diocesan administrator.

This means that should administrator Fr Peter Slater be away from the diocese, or otherwise unavailable, Fr Hengel will act in his place.

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Page 4 - Catholic Life, April 2014

Betting suspended

YOU can virtually have a bet on anything you like nowadays and so Betstar opened a book on who would replace Cardinal Pell as Archbishop of Sydney.

However, the company obviously had a rethink as they have now suspended betting.

Normally that would happen if it became obvious if some one had insider knowledge.

As you can see by the analysis at right, there are few candidates with their hand up to be favorite.

Perhaps the company got nervous when a bishop had a bet!

Church attack

WHITE cockatoos can be annoying with their raucous screeching but in Warrnambool they have attacked the church.

The Warrnambool Standard newspaper reported last month that the cockies had managed to chew their way through a couple of the soft sandstone blocks on the tower of St Joseph’s Catholic Church, apparently in search of suitable nesting holes.

Just a dash

THE death of Mgr Dan McCartan just before St Patrick’s Day reminds us of the Irish priest’s quiet way of celebrating.

When based in Sale at the cathedral parish he used to gather parish and diocesan staff together for morning tea

Cardinal leaving creates a void which is hard to fill

By Colin Coomber and serve them a stiff Irish coffee.

For the uninitiated Irish coffee is black coffee with a liberal dash of whisky.

When he could lay his hands on it, Mgs McCartan used to prefer the traditional poiten (pronounced potcheen) which Americans would call moonshine - a potent homedistilled liquor.

Priest’s death

WE forgot to record previously issues the death of Fr Ted Cooper SDB who served several years at Bairnsdale and Omeo parishes in the 1990s.

The friendly, always smiling Salesian priest died at Engadine, NSW, and was buried alongside other Salesians at Rupertwood, Sunbury.

Fr Ted was principal of several Salesian schools over the years and also served 10 years in remote communities in the Northern Territory before spending the “retirement” years helping out in various parishes of which Bairnsdale was one.

He was aged 87 and had been a professed Salesian since 1945.

THE vacancy created in Sydney Archdiocese by the elevation of Cardinal George Pell to head Vatican finances has set people wondering who might be the next Archbishop in the harbor city.

In the normal course of events that decision would not have had to be made until after January 2016 when the Cardinal would hand in his resignation as Archbishop of Sydney to the Pope on turning 75.

By then there would have been several likely candidates including Archbishop Mark Coleridge and our former bishop, Archbishop Christopher Prowse.

However, Archbishop Prowse is only months into the seat at Canberra and Goulburn, and the man he replaced, Archbishop Coleridge is only two years in Brisbane next month.

It might be tempting to promote Archbishop Coleridge because he has several years experience at the Vatican in various posts, including several years as chaplain to John Paul II, and he was outspoken in his criticism of others within the Church who chose to do nothing when confronted with sexual abuse by members of 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.

Cardinal George Pell clergy.

Melbourne’s Archbishop Denis Hart is chairman of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference but considering he is one of a swag of bishops scheduled to retire in 2016, it would make no sense to move him to Sydney for such a short period and to create another vacant archbishop’s seat.

Dominican Bishop Anthony Fisher has been in Parramatta for several years after previously being a Sydney auxiliary bishop but at age 53, he may be too young to take over the principal Archdiocese in Australia, which normally carries with it an eventual red zucchetto of a cardinal.

If appointed, Bishop Fisher would have 22 years in the job and that might be too long for the one person. Despite this the local media in his diocese which takes in a large swag of Sydney has installed him as the front-runner.

Looking around the country, there are few other obvious candidates other than Archbishop Phillip Wilson from Adelaide who turns 64 this year.

He is a former head of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

Of the two Sydney auxiliary bishops Bishop Peter Comensoli has been appointed apostolic administrator by the Vatican until a new archbishop can be appointed but has only been a bishop for three years and is our second youngest bishop at age 50, so he is unlikely.

The other auxiliary Bishop Terry Brady had been a bishop for almost seven years and served 18 months as apostolic administrator of the longvacant Diocese of WilcanniaForbes but is not regarded as a front runner.

Bishop Chris Saunders of Broome has proved himself a great bishop in the 18 years he has been working in the remote Western Australian communities, and at age 64 is ideally placed but the step-up from the bush to Sydney might be regarded as too great.

Archbishop Tim Costelloe SDB, from Perth, would be another under consideration

as he has experience as a Melbourne auxiliary before going to Perth two years ago, and at age 60 he would be regarded as neither too old nor too young.

Melbourne auxiliary Bishop Vincent Long Nguyen has just turned 53 which makes him too young for this position but perhaps ideally placed for a diocese of his own not too far down the track. The priestly rumor-mill has suggested he could be a front-runner for the Sale position when it is eventually filled, however, we think a first time bishop will be more likely this time around.

Hobart Archbishop Julius Porteous has hardly had time warm the seat in Tasmania after last year moving from Sydney where he was an auxiliary bishop and so would be considered unlikely.

Other prominent Australian bishops who can be disregarded because they reach retirement age in the next two years are Darwin’s Bishop Eugene Hurley, Wollongong’s Bishop Peter Ingham, Geraldton’s Bishop Justin Bianchini, Port Pirie’s Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ, and Wagga Wagga’s Bishop Gerard Hanna.

Also possibly in the too old category are Bishop Joe Oudeman OFM Cap, Brisbane auxiliary, Bishop Les Tomlinson, Sandhurst, and Bishop Peter Elliott, Melbourne auxiliary, who are all over 70.

In Maitland-Newcastle, they think their Bishop Bill Wright has a show, and in Bathurst they think Bishop Michael McKenna could also be a chance.

Bishop McKenna is a former priest of Sale Diocese and has an impressive curriculum vitae which includes stints as secretary to the ACBC and rector at Corpus Christi Seminary.

Of the other six or seven bishops, you could write your own odds.

The great number of Australian bishops facing retirement over the next few years will only compound problems as there are virtually 10 vacancies awaiting bishops.

Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide all have auxiliary bishop positions to fill and then bishops are still needed for Sale, Broken Bay, Wilcannia-Forbes, and as of last week, Townsville.

Throw into the mix the replacements for Brisbane auxiliary Bishop Brian Finnigan and Lismore’s Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett who have already reaching retiring age but continue on in the job.

Having sifted the episcopal pool, it is difficult to see who will get the keys to St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney.

It is always possible to elevate someone who is not already a bishop but that would be unlikely.

Cardinal George Pell is a big man in stature but it is the big shoes he leaves behind which will be hard to fill.

Catholic Life, April 2015 - Page 5

Smoke and ash Marriage education programs causes evacuation MORWELL - The costly fire which burnt into Hazelwood open cut coal mine had a disastrous effect on the township of Morwell.

Thick choking smoke and high carbon monoxide levels blanketed the town for days at a time, forcing residents to wear face masks and those with health problems to leave town.

Sacred Heart Primary School which is located in the most affected southern part of the town, less than half a kilometre from the mine was evacuated.

The 132 student school was moved to the vacant former Presentation junior campus of Lavalla College at Newborough.

The school was fortunate to be able to bus the students and staff to the one location and keep the group together.

State schools were not as fortunate, moving classrooms groups to various other schools in the district where they were accommodated in school halls and sometimes squeezed into the back of other classrooms.

The fire which was believed to have been deliberately lit in the Driffield area on February 9 burnt up to the edge of Morwell and set light to a large section of the open cut coal mine.

Hundreds of fire fighters, helicopter fire bombers and appliances brought from Melbourne and interstate to assist, took more than a month to control the fire.

On days of light southerly winds conditions in the town became intolerable.

Headaches, sore eyes and lack of breath were frequently reported by residents.

The Princes Freeway speed limit was dropped from 100kmh to 80kmh because of smoke.

With the fire virtually extinguished after six weeks, smoke levels have dropped to satisfactory levels but residents are now faced with costly cleanups to clear away the thick layer of fine ash which has settled on the town.

The ash has made its way into buildings and this has delayed the return of students to Scared Heart.

Principal Lance Rooney said it was hoped to have the school operational for the start of second term but that depended on the progress of cleaning.

He said the school was able to access funding set aside by the State Government but the cleaning was a lengthy project which was greater than first envisaged. “Every air conditioner, wall, sill, bench and even the books have to be cleaned.�

Mr Rooney said that once it was apparent that the mine fire was going to take a long while to extinguish, Catholic Education College staff assisted in organising the move to Newborough.

He said Lavalla Secondary

College had willingly offered the former junior campus which is not normally used during first term.

The six classes of students were able to easily be accommodated at the campus.

Mr Rooney said students went to Sacred Heart each morning where they were collected by the buses and then returned again to the school at the end of the day.

MARRIAGE and relationship education programs are conducted in Sale Diocese by CatholicCare Gippsland.

Young couples planning marriage are recommended to attend a day-long group session conducted in Warragul or one of the FOCCUS sessions.

The group sessions known as The2ofUS are held regularly in Warragul throughout the year but bookings are essential to avoid the disappointment of missing out.

Remaining sessions for the year will be on May 4, July 27, September 14 and November 9.

CatholicCare also conducts the FOCCUS program which

takes place in a private, confidential setting with a facilitator.

Couples individually fill out a questionnaire and then the facilitator works through their responses with them in three one hour sessions.

Married couples are not left out as there are two marriage enrichment programs planned for the year.

On June 1 from 10am to 4pm there will be a R (Relationship) Day which is a fun day for couples to renew, relax, recall, romance, revisit, revitalise and rejoice in their relationship.

This program is based on the seven principles of making marriage work and couples will

be invited to explore ideas that help build connection, friendship and intimacy in their relationship.

On October 19, also from 10am to 4pm, the Difference to Eternity program will explore the mix of personalities in marriage relationships. It challenges couple to accept and appreciate the opportunities these differences offer.

Brochures for these various programs are available in most parishes but you can also find out more information by contacting CatholicCare on 5622 1188, visiting the website www. ccaregipps.org.au or emailing info@ccaregipps.org.au.

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Page 6 - Catholic Life, April 2014

Pakenham couple celebrating 65 years of marriage PAKENHAM - A Golden Wedding anniversary was once the benchmark of achievement for most couples but Jack and Margaret Kelly are stretching the boundaries after having celebrated their 65th anniversary in February.

They live at Catholic Homes’ Shanagolden nursing home in Pakenham where they continue their devotion to each other and the Church.

They participate in recitation of the rosary and attend Masses.

Jack, 90, and Margaret, 89 next month, once lived in the fast lane being actively involved in Church and community, but these days, they enjoy the sedate pace of life in the retirement home.

Jack and Margaret marked 65 years of marriage by renewing their wedding vows at a Mass celebrated before Fr John Readman who lives in one of the self-contained units at Shanagolden.

The couple met shortly after Jack returned from four years in the army during World War 2, which saw him in action in New Guinea and Borneo.

In those days dances were the most common place for people to meet and so it was on the dance floor at the Dandenong Town Hall where their paths first crossed.

Margaret was then living in Cranbourne and had attended the dance with her brother and sisters.

They married at St Mary’s Church, Dandenong, on February 19, 1949, and

moved into a home they built in Dandenong during their engagement.

Margaret had grown up on the land at Archie’s Creek in South Gippsland where her parents were dairy farmers and worked at the local butter factory.

Jack found a job as a plasterer after the war and stayed in the trade for 40 years until his retirement, mostly working in the Dandenong and Berwick area which he says has been undergoing a housing boom for most of the past 65 years.

They raise four children in Dandenong and were highly active in church activities, working bees, school committees, fetes, Knights of the Southern Cross, St Vincent de Paul and whatever else was needed.

The children fondly remember eying the enormous sponge cakes made by their mother, only to be disappointed to learn that the mouth-watering array was destined for a street stall or supper at some Church function.

The Kellys moved to Berwick in the mid 1970s and again became actively involved in the community and Church they love.

Margaret’s failing health led to her becoming one of Shanagolden’s first residents when the facility opened two years ago and Jack joined her there about eight months ago.

Their children are Michael, Pakenham, John Dandenong, Moira (Phyland) Hawthorn, and Paula (Clarke), Pakenham.

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The kindness of strangers I RECENTLY broke down on a country road. I didn’t even know where exactly I was.

That’s a problem. But up went the bonnet and I gazed in sheer desperation at this strange and wondrous sight – the engine. It all looked perfect. I didn’t know what to do, nor where I was or in which direction to walk for help. No houses were in sight.

That’s a bigger problem!

The number of people who stopped to offer help amazed me. Not one or two but about eighty per cent of the cars passing by stopped. I found out where I was, rang the RACV and the rest is history.

So what’s so special about that? That simple act of kindness made such a difference. “Are you OK?”, “Can we help in any way?” “Is anyone coming for you?” Later on, many people told me that stopping to help has become a thing of the past; we are too busy, too focussed on what they have to do, where they have to get to, that we don’t trust one another much anymore, that we are quick to make judgments by looks, by what’s on the surface and, in such a culture, acts of kindness are either taken for granted or treated with suspicion.

Pope Francis told the Bishops of Brazil that: At times we lose people because they don’t understand what we are saying, because we have forgotten the language of simplicity and import an intellectualism foreign to our people. Without the grammar of simplicity, the church loses the very conditions which make it possible to fish for God in the deep waters of his mystery.

The grammar or language and simplicity is not just about theological formulas but in the way we interact with each other, it is expressed in both word and in action. Fishing for God means being able to find God in the ordinary as well as the extraordinary, the mundane as well as the mysterious because God is in both! In Jesus’ final journey, the moments of small

Reflections

by Jim Quillinan kindnesses stand out – Veronica wiping His face with a towel, Simon carrying His cross even if only for a while, those who stayed with Him by the cross, Joseph of Arimathea who gave his tomb for the body, We still remember them.

The late and much loved Irish poet, Seamus Heaney had the extraordinarily gift of describing the presence and action of God in the smallest things, the intangible in the tangible. His poems are so memorable precisely because they describe the reality of the world, even in its smallest events and they reveal its mystery. No doubt his faith enabled him to see what he called ‘moments of transfiguration’, those moments which ‘catch the heart off guard and blow it open.”

His poem ‘Miracle’ recalls his precarious descent on a stretcher in a stairwell of a Donegal bed and breakfast in the minutes following his stroke. He describes it in tandem with the story from the gospels of the crippled man lowered through the roof to meet Jesus because that was the only way his friends could get him past the crowd. For Heaney the miracle is in the kindness of the people who bear the weight of the one struck down: Not the one who takes up his bed and walks But the ones who have known him all along And carry him in There is a real sense of gratitude and even bewilderment in being carried by such people, the wonder of this ordinary act of kindness, For the sick, this familiarity, this “having known him all along” is the first touch of healing. These acts of kindness are ‘the language

and grammar of simplicity’, as Pope Francis puts it.

What moments catch us off guard, what moments and actions open our hearts to others? Pope Francis recently lamented “the sad sign of a globalization of indifference that is slowly making us get used to the suffering of others as though it were a normal thing.”

The nightly news bombards us with scenes of the horror of war, the starvation of so many millions, the tragedy of the millions of displaced people, refugees simply seeking a normal life like you and I enjoy daily.

This creeping indifference is not something that is easily overcome. Firstly, it takes an active sense of gratitude.

Back to Seamus Heany. In an interview he was asked to choose an epitaph for himself, Heaney chose a line from another poet: ‘wherever that man went, he went gratefully.’

His attentiveness and alertness to finding God in the ordinary and mundane seemed to create a profound sense of gratitude, for the big things and the small which is evident throughout his work. His poetry reminds us that gratitude makes us feel glad to be alive, glad to be loved and to be capable of love. It is in gratitude that we find God. Gratitude even for the smallest of things is so much part of the simplicity which Pope Francis talks about.

Overcoming indifference takes gratitude but also a bit of retraining and, like any learning or relearning of a skill, it takes practice. We begin to overcome it by a determination to commit acts of kindness and generosity which respond to those we meet each day.

Catholic Life, April 2014 - Page 7

Golden jubilee of being made a monsignor TRARALGON – Mgr John Allman PA has celebrated the golden anniversary of being made a monsignor, He was made a Prelate of Honor by Pope Paul VI on January 27, 1964.

Mgr Allman later went on to be awarded the highest papal honor of Prothonatary Apostolic by John Paul II in 1990, making him a double monsignor.

Most of his priestly life has been spent in Traralgon and Sale, and while living in retirement at O’Mara House in Traralgon, he still celebrates Mass there and helps the parish out by celebrating weekly Masses at Glengarry.

Mgr Allman relies on a walking stick to get around but is still determinedly independent.

Instead of accepting a lift with others to the installation of Archbishop Prowse in Canberra last year, he chose to make the lengthy road trip by bus in both directions.

He celebrated the golden anniversary with a luncheon at Traralgon Vineyard on February 25, attended by clergy from across the diocese, and some diocesan and parish staff.

Diocesan administrator Fr Peter Slater said Mgr Allman had been a “fierce servant of the Church” who had shown outstanding loyalty to a successive of bishops and priests of the diocese.

He was a true son of Gippsland, raised in the Heyfield area as a member of a family which had settled here during the gold rush times.

In his response Mgr Allman said there was a rich tradition of celebration of important events in Sale Diocese and that was why he had organised the gathering.

He said that the time monsignor was often a daunting one for people, especially those outside the Catholic Church, and so he had always referred to himself as “Fr Allman” when making phone calls or meeting someone for the first time.

He then told a story of a migrant woman who used to call him “Bishop Allman” after he was made a monsignor because back in Europe bishops were routinely called “monsignor”.

The woman often used to call him, “bishop” in public but things came to a head when he was helping Bishop Arthur Fox pack luggage in the boot of his car.

The bishop has his head in the boot, arranging bags in meticulous order when the woman came out of the cathedral, saw Mgr Allman and said “Hello Bishop Allman.”

Everyone laughed when he recounted how Bishop Fox had sprung upright to see who was calling the monsignor a bishop but cracked his head on the boot lid.

Mgr Allman said he first

MGR John Allman PA with (from left) Fr Peter Bickley, Bairnsdale, Fr Brendan Hogan, Narre Warren, and Fr Mathew Joseph TOR, who has now returned to India after being parish priest of Traralgon. suffered a stroke 22 years ago and while it had slowed him down, he was grateful that he had been able to keep moving and doing what he could to assist the Church in Gippsland.

“I still do what I can do, even if it is slowly.”

He said a new Bishop of Sale would bring changes but in his experience these changes were always good changes.

It was important to accept change and move on quickly.

Mgr Allman was ordained in July 1951 and was assistant priest at the Cathedal parish until February 1955 when he went to Bairnsdale for four

months.

He returned to the cathedral and in 1957 was made administrator and secretary to Bishop Lyons.

He became a member of the Roman Catholic Trust Corporation and then in 1962 became a consultor.

He was diocesan administrator in 1968 and then with the appointment of Bishop Arthur Fox later that year he was again bishop’s secretary.

Mgr Allman was appointed as parish priest of Traralgon in 1970 where he oversaw the extensive remodelling and extension of St Michael’s

Church, during his 12 years in the parish.

He became vicar general in 1979 and then returned to Sale as Dean of the cathedral in 1982.

He remained in Sale for the next 17 years, again overseeing a major extension to the cathedral and serving as vicar general under Bishop Jeremiah Coffey.

Mgr Allman moved back to Traralgon in 1999 as assistant priest but also supplied at Drouin, Trafalgar and Heyfield.

He officially retired in July 2000.

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Page 8 - Catholic Life, April 2014

School is (finally) in at St Thomas the Apostle and St Thomas’ amicably shared facilities and activities such as “Clean Up Australia Day� and the blessing of a new statue of Mary in the St Agatha’s school grounds.

On Friday, March 21, the whole school had an excursion to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Cranbourne and learnt about establishing a sustainable garden which will help the students plan their new garden in Cranbourne East.

Over 50 families were able to join the school and have lunch together as a whole school community at the Cranbourne Gardens.

Whilst this was happening, furniture removalists came and moved the furniture to MacKillop Way, Cranbourne East. Many families and staff helped prepare the grounds and learning area in readiness for the Monday opening.

PRINCIPAL Brendan Marrinon with some of his staff in the spacious staff room.

Already visitors, including the director of Catholic education Maria Kirkwood have positively commented on the friendly and welcoming tone that the school is generating.

The students are currently working in the one, rather large room which will become the school’s multi-purpose hall when Stage 1 is completed in July.

In the meantime, the students, families and staff are enjoying the relatively unusual opportunity of starting a new school community and are privileged to be founding members of the church in Cranbourne East, following the spirit of St Thomas the Apostle who founded the church in Chennai, India.

STUDENTS finding their way around the brand new Cranbourne East school on the first day.

Following Royal Commission THE Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse continues its hearings around Australia and much of the evidence presented can be very distressing.

The Truth Justice and Healing Council website www.tjhcouncil.org.au is a good place to visit to keep abreast of what is happening and for a summary of the evidence being presented without being confronted with explicit detail.

The council has Twitter and Facebook resources and chief executive officer Francis Sullivan also writes his regular Blog spot Frankly Speaking.

The site also has links to a YouTube channel where people can watch updates on the various cases being examined by the Royal Commission and to find out about the recommendations to help ensure that the Catholic Church is a safe place for children.

The Royal Commission website www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au can be used to access transcripts of evidence presented so far and you can even watch live streaming of some of the public hearings.

Key dates for the various hearings around Australia are set out on the site up until the end of June.

New SFX buildings THE newest building at the Officer campus of St Francis Xavier College will be officially opened on April 23 at 10am.

The Design Art Technology building will be opened by Jason Wood MP, representing the government, and Catholic Education Office director Maria Kirkwood.

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CRANBOURNE EAST - A new school community was born at 9am on March, 25 at Cranbourne East with students moving into the new St Thomas the Apostle School.

Both parent schools, St Agatha’s, Cranbourne, and St Therese’s, Cranbourne North, are proud to welcome St Thomas the Apostle to the Cranbourne Parish.

With 122 students from Prep to Year 6, and 12 staff members the new “baby� was somewhat overdue as a result of the unusually heavy rains in November, however the new arrival proved to be worth the wait.

The community actually began lessons at in St Agatha’s School Hall and one other classroom at the beginning of the year.

This proved to be a positive experience as both St Agatha’s

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Catholic Life, April 2014 - Page 9

Next eConference on Pope Francis PARISH groups across Sale Diocese are urged to participate in the next eConference hosted

by Broken Bay Institute which will focus on Pope Francis who has now served a year as head of the Catholic Church.

BBI and the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference have announced the eConference will be titled Pope Francis: Modelling the Ministry of St Peter.

It will be streamed live over the internet on Wednesday, June 11 from 10am to 3pm.

Anyone with a computer can watch the eConference live and free of charge but in the past many parishes have provided facilities for parishioners to come into a central point to watch.

Presenters will be Archbishop of Perth Tomothy Costelloe SDB, congregational leader of the Sisters of St Joseph Sr Monica Cavanagh RSJ, Catholic Institute of Sydney

OUR FAMILIES NEED YOUR HELP

president Associate Professor Gerard Kelly, Sydney Archdiocese communications manager Selina Hasham and the BBI head of mission and culture Fr Noel Connolly SSC. The conference will cover a range of topics including leadership, women, ecumenism, interfaith dialogue, ecclesiology, mission, media and communications. Each presenter will have one session of 20 minutes focusing on particular aspects of Pope Francis and his ministry.

The last session of the day is a question and answer panel, answering questions put by participants who have been watching the event around the world.

Last year the questions came via Facebook, Twitter and email from around Australia and as far afield as China and New Zealand.

For more information visit www.bbi.catholic.edu.au.

Times are tough for many families in our region with many suffering uncertain employment prospects. Government assistance only goes part-way to easing their burden.

What happens when a family member has special needs, requires drug, alcohol, family or relationship counselling, needs bereavement support, suicide prevention, emergency accommodation, or assistance with an at-risk adolescent?

Trinity Families has invested more than $1 million in funding other charities who run such projects and we could have given three times that amount if we had access to the funds.

We are appealing to all families and businesses in the Greater Gippsland area to donate generously to boost our trust fund so that we can assist more families.

Bishop Putney dies, 67 TOWNSVILLE - Bishop of Townsville Michael Purtney AM died last Friday morning after a 15 month battle with cancer.

He was admitted to hospital on March 21 to drain his stomach of an excess of fluid which had been produced by the cancer.

His health had deteriorated rapidly in the past couple of weeks but he was still able to welcome the Apostolic Nuncio to his annual dinner and also launch his book titled My Ecumenical Journey.

Bishop Putney was ordained a Brisbane auxiliary bishop in 1995 and was appointed fifth Bishop of Townsville in 2001.

Prior to his cancer diagnosis

in December 2012, he was chair of the Bishops’ Commission for Mission and Faith Formation, co-chairman of International Methodist-Roman Catholic Dialogue, a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and chairman of the National Council of Churches.

He was last year made a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday honors.

The bishop will be remembered as being a leader in ecumenism and bringing the various Christian denominations together to discuss their particular faith traditions.

Trinity Families only allocates funds for projects run by charities in this region, so you can be sure that your donation is giving great value to our families. Your donation goes on earning funds to distribute year after year – a gift that goes on giving!

Make a donation by visiting www.trinityfamilies.org.au Or send your cheque or credit card donations on the form below to: Trinity Families, PO Box 1410 FAMILIES WARRAGUL 3820

Trinity

You can also visit us on Facebook or Phone 5622 6688

EĂŐůĞ ŽůůĞŐĞ ŝƐ Ă ĚLJŶĂŵŝĐ ůĞĂƌŶŝŶŐ ĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƚLJ ŽīĞƌŝŶŐ Ăůů ƐƚƵĚĞŶƚƐ ĨƌŽŵ zĞĂƌ ϳ ƚŽ ϭϮ Ă ĚŝǀĞƌƐĞ ĂŶĚ ĞŶŐĂŐŝŶŐ ĐƵƌƌŝĐƵůƵŵ ǁŝƚŚŝŶ Ă ŶƵƌƚƵƌŝŶŐ ĂƚŚŽůŝĐ ĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƚLJ͘

ƉƉůŝĐĂƟŽŶƐ ĨŽƌ ϮϬϭϱ ^ĐŚŽůĂƌƐŚŝƉƐ ĂŶĚ zĞĂƌ ϳ ŶƌŽůŵĞŶƚƐ ĂƌĞ ŶŽǁ ŝŶǀŝƚĞĚ͘ ƉƉůŝĐĂƟŽŶƐ ǁŝůů ďĞ ĂĐĐĞƉƚĞĚ ƵŶƟů

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Donation form: Trinity Families I/We enclose $............ towards the work of Trinity Families

&ƌŝĚĂLJ ϯϬ DĂLJ ,ŝŐŚ ĐŚŝĞǀĞƌ ^ĐŚŽůĂƌƐŚŝƉƐ ĂƌĞ ŽīĞƌĞĚ ĨŽƌ͗ Academic Excellence The Arts Sport ƉƉůŝĐĂƟŽŶƐ ĂƌĞ ǀŝĂ ƚŚĞ EĂŐůĞ ŽůůĞŐĞ ǁĞďƐŝƚĞ ƵŶĚĞƌ ͚ ŶƌŽůŵĞŶƚƐ͛͘ ŶƋƵŝƌŝĞƐ ƐŚŽƵůĚ ďĞ ĚŝƌĞĐƚĞĚ ƚŽ͗ ŶƌŽůŵĞŶƚƐ͗ ;ϬϯͿ ϱϭϱϮ ϵϵϮϴ ƌĞŐŝƐƚƌĂƌΛŶĂŐůĞ͘ǀŝĐ͘ĞĚƵ͘ĂƵ

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Please find enclosed a cheque/money order payable to the Trinity Families or debit my Visa or Mastercard.

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Page 10 - Catholic Life, April 2014

Getting organised to protect yourself and your PINs I HAVE recently been receiving letters in the mail, saying that soon I’ll have to use PINs (Personal Identification Numbers) for all my credit/debit cards as no longer will signatures be allowed.

This is on the basis that PINs are more secure, easy and efficient. I’m sure they are, but I’m not sure they are for me – and no doubt lots of others, too.

Also it started me thinking about all these passwords and PINs we have to use.

I have three credit cards, four debit cards and then various membership cards and the like.

Then there are passwords on the computer – my work computer alone has 27 different password requirements for various program access, let alone for my personal one.

Some need me to use at least eight digits, some only three, some need letters and numbers, some just one or the other.

The really confusing ones need upper and lower case letters, numbers and punctuation marks or other symbols combined.

And all issuers of these programs expect me to keep all these different passwords and PINs different, secure and yet still remember them without writing them down and keeping the list with the machine. Humbug, as Scrooge would say!.

Yet, if we think about things, these myriad different sets of numbers (used inclusively to

DOLLAR$ & SENSE with David Wells

cover all combinations) have an extremely important part to play in our lives, and this is only going to get larger and larger.

Soon we will only be able to use our credit card with a PIN. One of mine will allow me to choose a PIN, the others issue me one and that’s the one I must use. I can’t choose a number I remember.

Effectively I now have to know more than 20 individual “signatures” for me to go about my daily business, and writing my name will just about cease to be part of that. This proliferation of identifiers makes things more difficult and more risky in its own way.

When my first wife died more than 20 years ago, fixing bank accounts and asset transfers was quite simple – tedious maybe, but simple.

Once I had a death certificate, my signature was sufficient to allow access to all the information required to calculate an estate and to finalise matters.

Now, however, with the changes to privacy laws, in the increasing (and not always accurate) impositions on identifi-

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cation things are far more difficult.

Apart from identity fraud and the fraudulent use of credit cards, both of which are increasing in frequency and amount, there are also problems in gaining legitimate access to required information.

I know that if I was hit by a bus, my wife and business colleagues would have some great difficulty in establishing connections with banks, with my work processes (such as insurance companies, banks and client accounts) to enable both my situation to be managed, and

that of many of my clients to be handled as well.

For another individual it may be less, but just as difficult. Without these numbers then bank accounts could be frozen, income diverted and a huge amount of inconvenience incurred before matters were resolved.

So what do we do? We’re told not to use simple, easily identified numbers (birthdates, sequential numbers etc), not to write them down and not to let anyone else know them.

But there comes a time when someone has to know them and has to be able to use them.

We need what is becoming known as an “electronic will”.

I have written all my passwords and all my PINs into a document that I can access when I need it.

This document is stored in a couple of different formats

on two different USB drives that I keep secure. I once used a password manager program, but I forgot the password and it locked me out.

This way all the passwords needed at work, all my bank PINs and the passwords on my home computer are available for when I forget them, or my executor needs to access them.

All I need to do now, is to let someone I trust implicitly know where to find the USB drives when I can’t access things myself. If only I could remember the safe places I put them.

• 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.

Tips on added password security THE above article by columnist David Wells highlights the problem confronting many of us.

There are free programs such as KeePass which can be downloaded for free. These programs allow you to record all your passwords, user names and other details in the one file which is protected by the one super password.

In the modern world passwords should be complicated to lessen the ability of a hacker accessing your information.

Many years ago, I was one of several journalists who decided to see how many passwords we could find for about 40 staff on our system.

During tea breaks over a period of three or four weeks we managed to find more than half just by trial and error, using football team names, children’s names etc.

To ensure security, passwords should not be a word because if it is to be found in a dictionary, it is not safe.

It is recommended that passwords should contain both uppercase and lowercase letters

and at least one numeral.

An effective way of remembering your password is to use the beginning letters of a phrase you can remember such as “I am the second of two sons” which could translate as “Iat2ndots”.

Similarly you could choose something like “In the beginning when God created the heavens and earth” which would be “ItbwGcthae.”

Use this complicated but easily remembered super password you create to access the details of the other passwords which you use to access your bank, web sites etc.

However, a word of warning – you need to store the information in at least two places as your computer, tablet, or smart phone might die, be lost or stolen.

David’s idea of having the information on a memory stick which you have locked in a safe is a good one. Make sure you include your super password so in the event of your untimely demise, your executor can unlock the information.

Marian conference at Traralgon TRARALGON – Theme of the annual Marian Conference at St Michael’s Church on May 10 will be Mary, Queen of Priests and the Family.

The day begins at 9am with adoration, rosary and confessions and will be followed at 10.30am by the talk by guest speaker Fr Benedict La Volpe OFM Conv, parish priest of St Joseph’s, Springvale.

At noon there will be a procession and crowning of Our Lady’s statue followed by Mass.

Following lunch, at 2pm, the second guest speaker will be Fr Peter Ferwerda, parish priest of St Patrick’s, Kerang The Divine Mercy Chaplet will be at 3pm, with the day drawing to a close at 3.15.

Fr La Volpe is a Conventual Franciscan Friar and has been with the Order since 1995, and ordained to the priesthood in 2005.

After studying at Melbourne, Fr La Volpe was sent to Rome for five years where he studied Theology and a Licentiate in Franciscan Spirituality, as well as studies in the Theology of

Consecrated Life.

He was assistant priest at Kellyville, NSW, from 2005-2009 and since then has been parish priest of Springvale, also looking after St. Mark’s Church in Dingley Village.

Fr Ferwerda considered the priesthood in his teen years, but he pushed it aside because of a desire for marriage and became a medical doctor, until he accepted his call many years later after visiting Medjugorje.

For enquiries about the conference, please contact Pat Crozier on 0400 218 417.

Fr Benedict La Volpe

Korumburra school centenary KORUMBURRA – St Joseph’s Primary School will celebrate its centenary on the weekend of June 21-22.

There will be a cabaret ball on Saturday, June 21 from 7.30pm, with tickets costing $35 a head. Those attending must be aged 18 years or over.

On the Sunday morning the centenary Mass will be held at 9.30am, followed by Devonshire tea and a school opening morning from 10.30am.

Tickets are available from the school by calling 5655 2040, or Natalie Kratz 0438 502 325, emailing principal@sjkorumburra. catholic.edu.au of at Facebook at www.facebook.com/StJosephs KorumburraCentenary

Catholic Life, April 2014 - Page 11

Cathedral Dean to be part of Brisbane Oratory DEAN of St Mary’s Cathedral Parish, Fr Andrew Wise will move to Brisbane next year to be part of the first Oratory established in Australia.

An Oratory is a religious society of secular priests who live in small communities of usually up to a dozen priests.

Fr Wise has been instrumental in negotiations to form the Oratory and is the third priest to be named as part of the Brisbane Oratory in Formation announced last year by Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge.

The Oratory in still in a preparatory phase and is due to make a formal beginning in mid-2015 .

In announcing the forthcoming move of Fr Wise from Sale Diocese, diocesan administrator Fr Peter Slater said Fr Wise had been instrumental in bringing about this new initiative for the Church in Australia.

He had received much support and encouragement along

the way from our former bishop, Archbishop Christopher Prowse as well as from priest friends.

Over a long period, together with Archbishop Prowse and his spiritual director, Fr Wise had discerned a calling to belong to this new community.

Fr Slater said the diocesan consultors, in their advice to the former bishop, had also given their support to his decision to allow Fr Wise to be released from the Diocese of Sale to pursue this calling in Brisbane.

The move to Brisbane was not due to occur until mid-2015 and Fr Wise would remain incardinated in the Diocese of Sale.

He said the news had been made public because Fr Wise would be linked to the development of this emerging community during this year as well as next.

However, this would always be in a way that did not interfere with his present responsi-

bilities to the Cathedral Parish.

Fr Wise said Oratories were first established by St Philip Neri in Rome in 1564, so that working together, small communities of priests could better serve the mission of the Church. There were now about 500 priests worldwide in about 90 Oratories.

He said that he was one of four priests involved at this stage and they already had a seminarian in training in Toronto, Canada.

He thanked Bishop Prowse who had been very supportive because he saw it as the Holy Spirit at work. The bishop had been patient and encouraging as the process of setting up the Oratory was worked out.

Fr Wise said that Oratories were generally always located in large cities under the care of an Archbishop.

On Ash Wednesday, Fr Wise was in Brisbane for the blessing by Archbishop Coleridge of

the Oratory’s first preparatory residence Casa San Giralamo (House of St Jerome). This is the name of the house where St Philip first stayed when he arrived in Rome. It is a large weatherboard house in the Brisbane suburb of Annerley.

Two of the future Oratorian priests are presently serving the

Annerley-Ekibin Parish. Archbishop Coleridge has not as yet announced a permanent home for the Brisbane Oratory community, but it is likely to be in the inner city area of Brisbane.

More about this Brisbane Oratory project is available at http://brisbane-oratory.org/

What does an Oratorian do?

THE Oratorian resides in an Oratory community of his choosing and is not subject to transfer to other Oratories or communities.

Nor does he take the vows of poverty, chastity or obedience, though the Oratorian seeks these perfections through voluntary observance.

The Oratorian vocation allows greater flexibility in pastoral work than a religious order and allows the priest to live in the same community without being periodically transferred by the local bishop.

It is possible for an Oratorian to take up additional apostolates, or change his apostolate, at his own initiative and the discretion of the Oratory community, always guided by the local Ordinary. Oratorians are involved in ministries as diverse as schools, hospitals, prisons, university chaplaincies, seminary teaching, and work in curial offices in Rome. They also serve in traditional parish ministries.

Oratorians are not members of a religious order at all, but rather secular priests living in a community under the simple rule of fraternal love and charity. Those entering priesthood as Oratorians do so with the intent of fulfilling their lifetime’s work in the same place.

The community life of an Oratory is very important. The Oratory community lives out its mission in fraternal charity in its place of resi-

dence. At this house, operating like a family, they mutually support each other in service to the Church.

Like in any family, the unique customs of an individual Oratory are very important. Because no vows are taken by Oratorians, this mutual support in fraternal charity is what binds them together.

As a general rule, Oratorians will pray together twice a day, morning and evening, which consists of a half an hour of mental prayer each.

They also take meals together and have recreation together. This structure allows Oratorians to grow in fraternal charity, while also engaging in their apostolates for the building up of the Church.

In addition to offering Mass, Oratorians pray the Liturgy of the Hours daily, though not in common as is the custom in many religious orders.

The Oratorian community gathers each evening for Evening Oratory, which consists of silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, ending with a litany.

Fr Andrew Wise

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

The above information is a précis of information on the Brisbane Oratory in Formation website http://brisbane-oratory.org/.

Local links for Egyptian speaker at prayer day Guest speaker was Hasib NARRE WARREN – CathoJosephite lic Women’s League members Ayoub, a grandparent from organised and hosted the first Egypt, who was visiting his leadership World day of Prayer in Narre family whose children attend

THE Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart have made their six yearly leadership changes.

Two Josephite sisters with links to Sale Diocese have taken leadership roles in the VictoriaTasmania region.

Sr Mary Carmel, originally from Morwell where her parents still live, and Sr Marianne Zeinstra who has worked in this diocese are regional councillors. The other two regional councillors are Sr Carmel Jones and Sr Anne Porter.

The new regional leader is Sr Kerrie Cusack who has replaced Sr Josephine Dubiel who has returned to South Australia.

Nationally Sr Monica Cavanagh is the congregational leader, replacing Sr Anne Derwin.

Warren on March 7.

Although attended by only 21 from Our Lady Help of Christians parish, it was a very prayerful time.

CWL connected with and invited the other 18 church communities in the district but none came and joined in.

Trinity Primary School in Narre Warren South.

Hasib was very informative about his homeland from where a group of women had prepared this year’s prayer service which was entitled “Streams in the Desert”.

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Page 12 - Catholic Life, April 2014

Reflections for youth on the words of Pope Francis BRING FORTH HOPE, Pope Francis Speaks to the Youth of the World, by Christopher Ryan MGL, published by St Mary’s Press, distributed

by St Paul’s Publications, paperback, 120 pages, rrp $12.95.

THE author is well known to many of our youth through his involvement with World Youth Days and the Journey of the Cross around Australia.

He is rector of the Missionaries of God’s Love and a well-known public speaker who has shown his enthusiasm at various youth events.

In this book he gathers together 52 weekly reflections based on the words of Pope Francis.

He invites young people to read, reflect and act on the Pope’s words of hope and inspiration for their lives.

It is evident that Pope Francis, like John Paul II, believes deeply in the power of youth of the world to bring forth a renewal of the Church and society.

Each of the weekly reflections starts with a short, usually one sentence quote from scripture, followed by a short statement from Pope Francis, and then a reflection from the author, a call to action and a prayer.

Fr Ryan understands the modern world of youth where long passages are a waste of time and so everything is short and sharp.

This would be a wonderful book to give to a young person or for members of youth groups to have to promote some group discussions.

HOLY CROCODILE! Stories of Saints and the Animals Who Helped Them

by Caroline Cory, published

by Our Sunday Visitor, distributed by Rainbow Books, hardback, 48 pages, rrp $15.95.

WE have never seen a book like this before, an assembly of various legends involving saints and animals.

While there are stories involving St Clare, St Benedict, St Brendan, St Cuthbert and St Colman, most are about saints who are little known.

The legends come not only from Catholic traditions but also Orthodox and Coptic Christianity.

Talking about Books Exodus, Leviticus etc., and the Psalms have been separated and fitted in at appropriate parts.

The first 11 chapters of Genesis have been slotted in as wilderness stories, a collection of the stories repeated over and over by the Israelites and finally written down as some time after their arrival in the promised land.

YHWH’s laws have been presented in table form and cover the second third of the book.

The treatment certainly makes the Old Testament easier to understand and this book will no doubt be discussed in theological circles for quite some time.

The book is about creatures who come to the aid of saints because they recognise them as people of goodness.

In almost all cases the animals act outside their natural instincts and because they involve legends steeped in antiquity we will never know whether they are the truth or an embellishment of a particular saint’s life.

The short stories in the book would appeal to youngsters but they are stories best read to them because the print used is small. Upper primary and lower secondary school students would have no problems with the text.

THE PROMISED LAND, by Brian A. Curtis, published

by Xlibris, paperback and hardback versions, available from Amazon and Angus and Robertson on-line, 508 pages, rrp posted $25.75 (paperback), and $67.99 (hardback).

THIS is an interesting book because it is basically a reworking of the Old Testament to present the books in a more logical historical order to make it easier to understand.

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Browse through our range of books and sacramental and religious gifts, or search for specific items by author, title or keyword.

Open seven days Phone and mail orders welcome. Credit cards accepted

Phone (03) 9639 0844 custserv@catholicbookshop.com.au

The author is an ordained Anglican minister who ministers and does social work in Tasmania.

When reading the Hebrew Scripture in a standard Bible, one often comes up against obstacles which prevent us from understanding the narrative.

Customs of the times and geography are rarely provided in Biblical text because the people for whom these stories were originally written knew the information already.

A parallel in today’s world could be that when we say that someone flew from Melbourne to London, everyone would know that it means they travelled in an aeroplane from airport to airport, without providing the detail. But 4000 years from now will people understand that aeroplanes are our normal means of inter-city travel?

Normally, one would have to undertake Bible studies or further reading, or have the stories explained from the pulpit, to really understand what is happening.

However, the author has overcome this problem by adding his own narrative to the stories in italics to help us gain the full picture.

This book does not follow the traditional order of Genesis,

The book marks his 40 years as a priest but the selected pieces come from his time as a bishop, rather than the whole of his religious life.

The homilies give a glimpse of his delight in the celebration of the liturgy, his commitment to its dignity and beauty, and the opportunity to instruct and sanctify the people.

BABY’S FIRST BIBLE, by Sophie Piper and Maria Maddocks, published by Lion Children’s Books, distributed by Rainbow Books, hardback,40 pages.

WORDS FROM THE WOUNDS, Selected Address, Letters and Homilies of Archbishop Mark Coleridge, edited by Anthony Epko and David Pascoe, published and distributed by St Paul’s Publications, paperback 342 pages, rrp $24.95.

THIS book comes hot off the press and is expected to be well received because Archbishop Coleridge, the Archbishop of Brisbane, is well known as a man who is able to use the English language to great effect in his homilies and other writing.

In the foreword by Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Paul Gallagher it is noted that Archbishop Coleridge made a name for himself when working for the Secretariat of State in the Vatican.

He was “a wordsmith and a man of ideas, the type of person who quickly makes himself indispensable. He could grapple with the sources and resuscitate a flagging text.”

The writing in this book bring to the wider Church community an understanding of how well he handles the language and also the thought behind the man.

Up until now, that has mainly been reserved for his audiences in Melbourne, Canberra and more lately Brisbane where he has served as bishop.

THIS publisher never tires of putting out children’s Bibles and we never tire of reviewing them.

It is really a misnomer to call these Bibles because they are really only a collection of stories from scripture.

The writing is just a snippet, summarising the main points, to read to a youngster.

For instance the final story is called the Easter Garden and sums up the whole crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus in five short sentences. These basically say cruel people put Jesus to death on a cross, his friends went to say goodbye at the tomb, found it empty, angels said He was alive, and then the good news of Easter is that God’s love is stronger than anything.

Simple text with basic colourful illustrations, but powerful for a youngster yearning for knowledge.

Rockhampton bishop named A BRISBANE priest Fr Michael McCarthy has been appointed the 10th Bishop of Rockhampton.

He is a former rectory of Holy Spirit Seminary in Brisbane and between 2009–2013, was Dean of Brisbane Northern Rivers Deanery and parish priest of Holy Cross Parish, Redcliffe.

The 63-year-old priest has been until now the episcopal vicar for clergy of the

Archdiocese of Brisbane and parish priest of Hendra and Northgate.

His appointment to replace the retired Bishop Brian Heenan was announced on March 10.

Bishop Heenan retired last October.

Born in 1950, Fr McCarthy was educated in Toowoomba and after obtaining the Bachelor of Applied Science Degree from the University

of Southern Queensland, he studied for the priesthood at St Paul’s National Seminary, Sydney. He qualified with a Master of Arts in Theology from the University of Queensland.

Fr McCarthy was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Brisbane in 1978 and commenced his priesthood as associate pastor in Gympie in 1979.

Catholic Life, April 2014 - Page 13

Quick calendar

What’s on & when APRIL

JULY

4-5 – Unwind retreat for Year 11 and 12 students, Rawson 6 – Daylight saving ends (turn clocks back 1 hour) 13 – Palm Sunday 14 – Serra Golf Day, Sale Golf Club 15 – Mass of the Oils, St Mary’s Cathedral, Sale, 11am 18 – Good Friday 18 – Annual collection for Holy Places 19 – Holy Saturday Easter Vigil 20 – Easter Sunday 21 – Easter Monday public holiday 22 – 2nd Term begins 23 – Official opening of Design Art Technology building at Officer campus of St Francis Xavier College, 10am 24 – Valley Region meeting, noon, Morwell parish centre, Wilson St 25 – Anzac Day public holiday 25 – St Mark 27 – Canonisation of John Paul II and John XXIII 27 – Divine Mercy Sunday 29 – St Catherine of Siena

Peter’s Pence collection month 5 – St Thomas the Apostle 14 – 3rd Term begins 22 – St Mary Magdalene 27 - The 2ofUS CatholicCare pre-marriage education program, Warragul 31 – St Ignatius of Loyola

MAY Trinity Families appeal month (formerly Bishop’s Family Foundation) 4 – The 2ofUS CatholicCare pre-marriage education program, Warragul 10 - Marian conference, St Michael’s, Traralgon 10-11 – Education of Seminarians Bursary Fund collection 11 – Mother’s Day 13 – East Region meeting, 10.30am, Lakes Entrance 20 - Diocesan Pastoral Council meeting, 9.30am, Room 58, Sion House, Warragul 20 – Central Region meeting, 7.30pm, Warragul 24 – Our Lady Help of Christians 26 – Deadline for June Catholic Life

JUNE 1 – Ascension 1 – R Day marriage enrichment day for couples, Warragul 4 – Catholic Life published 6-7 – Emmaus Spirituality Centre promotional weekend 8 – Pentecost 9 – Queen’s Birthday public holiday 11 – South Region meeting, 11.15am, Leongatha 15 – Trinity Sunday 19 – Valley Region meeting, noon, St Kieran’s church meeting room, Moe 21-22 – Centenary celebrations at St Joseph’s Primary School, Korumburra 22 – Corpus Christi Sunday 24 – Nativity of St John the Baptist 27 – 2nd Term holidays begin 27 – Sacred Heart of Jesus 28-29 – St Vincent de Paul annual Mass for the Poor Appeal 29 – Sts Peter and Paul

AUGUST Annual CatholicCare appeal 5 – Diocesan Pastoral Council meeting, 9.30am, MacKillop Room, St Michael’s, Traralgon 6 – The Transfiguration 8 – St Mary of the Cross MacKillop 11 – Deadline for August Catholic Life 11 – St Clare 12 – East Region meeting, 10.30am, Bairnsdale 12 – Central Region meeting, 7.30pm, Drouin 15 – The Assumption 20 – Catholic Life published 21 – Valley Region meeting, noon, Lumen Christi Hall, Churchill 27-28 – Catholic Women’s League state conference, Warragul Arts Centre 28 St Augustine of Hippo

SEPTEMBER 7 – Priests’ Welfare Foundation annual Father’s Day collection 7 – Father’s Day 13 – St John Chrysostom 14 – Exaltation of the Holy Cross 14 - The 2ofUS CatholicCare pre-marriage education program, Warragul 19 – 3rd Term holidays begin 21 – St Matthew 27 – St Vincent de Paul 27 – AFL Grand Final

OCTOBER 1 – St Therese of Lisieux 4 – St Francis of Assisi 5 – Daylight saving begins (turn clocks back 1 hour) 5-19 – Extraordinary Vatican synod on the family.

6 – 4th term begins 6 – Deadline for October Catholic Life 15 – Catholic Life published 15 – St Theresa of Avila 18 – St Luke 19 – Difference to Eternity marriage enrichment program, Warragul 19 – Mission Sunday Appeal 22 – South Region meeting, 11.15am, Leongatha 26 – Valley Region meeting, Noon, St Mary’s Church meeting room, Newborough 28 – Sts Simon and Jude

NOVEMBER 1 – All Saints 2 – All Souls 4 – Melbourne Cup public holiday 9 – Dedication of the Lateran Basilica 9 - The 2ofUS CatholicCare pre-marriage education program, Warragul 11 – Remembrance Day

Prowse a Vatican consultor ARCHBISHOP Christopher Prowse has been appointed by the Vatican as a consultor to the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.

This organisation is linked to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Commission president Cardinal Kurt Koch wrote in a letter of welcome to Archbishop

Prowse that the appointment would enable his valuable collaboration with the aim of promoting and nurturing relations between Jews and Catholics.

Archbishop Prowse has long shown great interest with inter-religious dialogue and at his installation as Bishop of Sale, reserved the front rows on one side of St Mary’s Cathedral for representatives of

other faiths including Islam and Buddism.

His is currently chairman of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference Commission for Ecumenism and Inter-Religious Relations and is also a member of the Bishops’ Commission for Relations with Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.

Traralgon PP returns to India TRARALGON parish priest Fr Mathew Joseph TOR has returned to Kerala, India after being recalled by his Provincial.

He is a Franciscan of the Third Order Regular which is an Indian Order.

Fr Joseph, a former secondary school principal, came to Australia six years ago to serve in this diocese but his provincial has been keen for several years for him to return to India.

He first served as assistant priest at Narre Warren from 2008-2011 when he went to Traralgon as administrator before being appointed parish priest in May that year.

Fr Joseph has a brother in Narre Warren and during his time here a couple of relatives have come to Australia to enrol as seminarians for the Diocese of Sale.

On February 21, St Gabriel’s

A COLLECTION of cards made Mathew Joseph.

Primary School, Traralgon said farewell and thank you to Fr Joseph.

The children from each grade made their own special card

by the children to farewell Fr which was presented to him in front of the whole school assembly, to thank him for his care for the Traralgon Parish.

Players sought for golf day THE annual Serra Golf Day will be held at Sale Golf Club on Monday, April 14.

Sale Diocese clergy play an annual stableford match against members of the Serra Club the day before Mass of the Oils each year.

This hotly contested event is played for the Fr Frank Carroll Shield, named after a late Sale Diocese priest who entered the priesthood after his wife died.

In recent years the event has also been opened up to golfers from other denominations and the Catholics compete against non-Catholics for the Jeremiah Coffey Perpetual Shield.

Golfers with a handicap play a stableford but all other non-handicapped occasional wielders of

golf clubs complete in a calloway event.

Sandwiches and coffees will be served from 11.30am with golfers taking their places around the course for the 12.15 shotgun start.

An early 8am start can be arranged with organisers Reg Carmody or Alan Wyatt.

Anyone can turn up and play in the event for $10 which includes the light lunch.

The annual two-course dinner is held at the golf club that evening for players, supports and friends. Cost for non-clergy wishing to attend is $30 a head.

For more information contact Reg Carmody on 5144 3349 or 0427 443 349 or Alan Wyatt on 5143 0454 or 0409 449 104.

Noted historian dies, age 84 BRIAN Lloyd, an engineer by profession and an historian by inclination, died in early March at the age of 84.

Mr Lloyd was born in 1929 into a Catholic family from Gippsland’s upper Goulburn goldfields, whose historian he was later to become.

In the 1939 Black Friday bushfires when he was four, the Lloyd family home at the Ten Mile was burnt down, forcing the family to take refuge at the local hotel.

After his school education Mr Lloyd qualified as an engineer, working for the Board of Works among other positions.

He soon became secretary of the Australian Professional Engineers Association, and was later President of the Institute of Engineers, the peak professional body.

He wrote a history of the engineering profession in Aus-

tralia and gained among other qualifications a degree of Doctor of Philosophy in his field.

Mr Lloyd was genial, generous and outgoing, a good speaker and organiser. He was public-spirited, had wide ranging interests, and could keep a number of balls in the air at any one time.

Hhe produced about a dozen books on the upper Goulburn goldfields, based on locations such as Woods Point, the Ten Mile, Kevington, Jamieson and Gaffney’s Greek.

Two were written in conjunction with Howard Combes, who spoke at his funeral. Brian ranged further afield, publishing books on Rutherglen, Beechworth and Harrietville.

A decade ago he summarised his work on the upper Goulburn goldfields with Gold in the Ranges: Jamieson to Woods Point, and a few years ago pub-

lished another comprehensive book Gold in the Walhalla Region.

Mr Lloyd’s books were based on his family and ancestor’s memories of the region, his personal familiarity with the terrain, and his technical knowledge of mining operations.

He was among the foremost of recent Gippsland historians, and the most prolific. For his industry he was awarded an Order of Australia decoration.

His wife Beth pre-deceased him by 25 years. His funeral at Brighton was attended by his children, grandchildren and friends.

His son Chris remembered him as a ‘man justifiably proud of his professional achievements, who was passionate about history, who genuinely cared about our planet’s future, who put ‘the bush’ in our blood and gave us a ‘sense of place’.

Page 14 - Catholic Life, April 2014

Enrolments sought for Officer’s new parish kinder OFFICER - Enrolments for 4-year-old and 3-year-old kinder are currently being accepted for St Clare’s Early Learning Centre in Majestic Drive, Officer.

This centre which is being established by St Patrick’s Parish, Pakenham will be next to the new St Clare’s Primary School

and will serve both St Clare’s and St Patrick’s schools.

It is the first such centre in the diocese and attendance at it will guarantee children a Prep place at a Catholic school in the parish when the child reaches school age.

Enrolments for both programs can be made from birth.

Enrolments will be accepted for children residing within the St Patrick’s Parish boundary, which stretches between Gum Scrub Creek to the west and Dore Rd to the east, not the Cardinia Shire Council boundary.

Both 4-year-old kinder (15 hours per week) and 3-year-old

pre kinder (3 hours per week) places will be available.

The Early Learning Centre has two rooms operating and will cater for up to 75 4-yearold places in its first year.

The timetable in relation to placement offers for both 3-year-old and 4-year-old kinder will be the same as for the

council and community kindergartens, with offers of places in July and August of the year prior to your child attending.

Enrolment forms and further information are available at St Patrick’s Primary School Office phone 5940 2888.

Gathering of new Oblate parishes in partnership MOE - More than 100 parishioners from Immaculate Heart of Mary, Newborough, St Kieran’s, Moe and St Brigid’s,

Yallourn North gathered in St Kieran’s school hall for their first parishes in partnership gathering on March 2.

The day commenced at 11.15am with a shared lunch followed by the gathering which commenced with associate

PARISH priest Fr Harry Dyer OMI with Moe and Newborough parishioners.

St Kieran’s says no to bullying

By Jannah Reid MOE - St Kieran’s Catholic Primary School took part in the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence on March 21.

It is a day where school communities across Australia ‘take a stand together’ against bullying and violence.

In order to celebrate the day and share this message each classroom took part in a lesson/activity which was relevant to the children in that classroom.

This included discussions, team working activities, role plays, group work and games and focused on the key ideas; bystander bullying, working together, showing kindness, not putting down others, what bullying is, and how we can make our school a bully free zone.

St Kieran’s Catholic Primary School community is dedicated to creating a supportive school environment, free from bullying, harassment and violence.

By working together we are sending a clear message to young people that bullying and violence, in or outside of school, are not okay at any time.

pastor, Fr Paul Smithers OMI, leading the parishioners in the diocesan prayer for families.

Fr Harry Dyer OMI, first parish priest of the new parishes in partnership, welcomed parishioners and then addressed them outlining his thoughts and vision as they move forward together.

Pastoral items that were raised were weekend and weekday Mass times, youth group, care for parishioners in aged care facilities, combined newsletter, communion to the sick, reconciliation times, school involvement etc.

After Fr Dyer‘s input there was an open forum where parishioners had the opportunity to share their thoughts on the pastoral items raised and how the parishes can come together and move forward.

A follow up meeting involving the parish councils of Moe and Newborough, with Fr Dyer was

Youth to get ‘real’ at State Youth Games

By Cassie Gawley

BEN and Jayme say no to bullying.

held on March 11 at St Mary’s Primary School, Newborough.

This meeting reviewed the items raised at the gathering and discussed how and when to implement some of the suggested changes so as to move forward in the partnership.

The meeting decided on the following arrangements to become effective on Palm Sunday: Saturdays: - St Brigid’s, Yallourn North, 5pm; St Kieran’s, Moe, 6.30pm; St. Kieran’s, Moe, 1st Saturdays, 9.30am.

Sundays: Immaculate Heart of Mary, Newborough, 9am; St Kieran’s, Moe, 10.30am.

Weekday Masses: St. Kieran’s, Moe: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, 9am; Immaculate Heart of Mary, Newborough: Wednesdays, 9am; Latrobe Valley Village, Newborough: Thursdays 9.40am

STATE Youth Games is an ecumenical annual event run

by Youth Vision Victoria for church groups all over the state.

It combines a camping atmosphere with competitive sporting activities during the day, and includes dynamic evening programs on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

The event is open to highschool aged teenagers, young adults up to the age of 30, and youth leaders.

The theme of this year’s games is “Real” and encompasses guest speakers, competitions, live music and fun!

Last year, the Diocese of Sale formed a group called “Peter’s Crew” with over 30 young people and attended the SYG for the first time. This year we hope to make our team even bigger!

State Youth Games runs at Larder Park,Warragul, over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend from Friday June 6 until Monday June 9.

Registrations are now open.

Visit www.stateyouthgames. com/vic/ to find out more and to register. For more information on the diocesan team Peter’s Crew, please contact me via email at cassieg@sale.catholic. org.au

Personal reflection on Rite of Election experience

By Tamina Taylor MY involvement in the Rite of Sending and the Rite of Election as an RCIA candidate, was a highlight, symbolising a significant transition in our journey towards Easter.

Thorough preparations at Wednesday night RCIA meetings and in depth discussions with my sponsor, prepared me in part for these rites, but there were a few aspects which struck me deeply from the experience.

Beginning the day with the Rite of Sending at St Joseph’s Warragul, I felt affirmed by the church community and my sponsor that we were ready to take the next step towards being initiated into the Church at Easter.

Even though we faced the altar, I could sense the physical presence of the whole congregation standing up to assure their

support, along with my sponsors hand gently on my shoulder.

As one by one we signed our names in the parish book, I felt we were publicly making a choice and committing ourselves to the next stage of our journey to God. I was humbled and delighted when a few parishioners stopped to talk to me after Mass to wish me well for that afternoon’s Rite of Election in St Mary’s Cathedral in Sale.

The symbolism of sending us, not off on our own but with our sponsors by our sides, to meet with the diocesan administrator, Fr Peter Slater, who was to receive us later that day, was quite moving.

Heading off towards St Mary’s Cathedral, we were once again physically taking another step in our journey (besides the hour plus road trip it took to get there) to join all other catechumens and

candidates from across the diocese at the Rite of Election.

On arrival we were warmly greeted and had the opportunity to briefly talk with Fr Slater about why we personally wanted to become a Catholic and what it means to us at this stage.

That in itself was opportunity for another level of personal reflection when you have to articulate your thinking and to consider how it has perhaps changed since first joining the RCIA group. A few aspects of the Rite of Election really impacted upon me.

Firstly St Mary’s Cathedral, the heart of the church, the mother church, felt a fitting place to have such an important celebration take place.

The cathedral icons, symbols and features, the hymns and beautiful angelic voices of the choir created a physical environment that was welcoming us into

this new life as a Catholic, expressed so beautifully in a rich and meaningful Rite of Election.

Also, the importance of the use of our names struck me as the parish book was presented as a pledge of our commitment and then our names were called out individually.

I was struck by the importance of being called by name and what it meant to be elected by God. It was affirming to have our sponsors again acknowledge that they believed that we are ready to move into our final preparation period.

• Tamina Taylor is an education officer with the Catholic Education Office and has been part of the RCIA process at St Joseph’s parish, Warragul.

Catholic Life, April 2014 - Page 15

world news ...

world news ...

Rome a tourist Mecca for papal canonisations HOTELS and other forms of accommodation within several hours of Rome are booked out for the canonisations later this month of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II. Several million tourists will descend on Rome for the April 27 event, with some estimates being as high as five million people.

Where they will stay and how close they will get to the actual event is anyone’s guess.

A large number of Polish pilgrims are expected to arrive in support of John-Paul II but there will also be large numbers from other European countries, and indeed from around the globe.

Shiploads of pilgrims from Spain and other Mediterranean countries will be accommodated in the nearby towns of Fiumicino and Civitavecchia where they will be docked.

Rome is expected to be in a virtual tourist gridlock for sev-

Blessed John XXIII eral weeks because many people have chosen to go there for Easter ceremonies the weekend before and then the national holiday on April 25 which celebrates liberation of the country from facism.

Authorities in Rome have spent months considering how to avoid overcrowding, and allow orderly access to St Peter’s

Cardinal suggests

Elevate women to Roman Curia CARDINAL Walter Kasper believes there are ‘too many bishops in the Curia’ and has suggested putting women at the helm of the Pontifical councils, reports Vatican Insider.

In an interview with Italian newspaper Avvenire, Cardinal Kasper said: ‘Women’s role in the Church should be rethought and integrated into the Pope’s ideas for greater synodal dynamism and a missionary conversion’.

In effect, he said, women should be offered leadership roles within the Pontifical councils and in the future Congregation for the Laity given how many bishops the Curia has.

Temporary mandates should be introduced in the Curia to prevent careerism, calling priests who already have some pastoral experience.

‘Up until now, women have generally only attended the synod as auditors, holding roles of little significance,’ Kasper said in the interview. ‘There are always two or three female auditors who speak at the end of the meetings when everyone has already spoken.

‘I ask myself how it is possible to prepare two synods on the family without giving a role of primary importance to women? A family cannot exist without women. It makes no sense to speak about the family without listening to what they have to say. I think they need to be called and listen as of right now, as we enter the preparatory phase.’

The German cardinal who gave the opening speech at the recent Consistory on the family went on to say the following: ‘I think that women need to be present at every level and even given positions of full responsibility. The intuition which the female mind has to offer is a vital resource.

‘A Church without women is a mutilated Church. There are so many of them actively involved in Church bodies. Can we imagine community, charity and cultural centres today with no women? Without them, parishes would close down tomorrow. Women are already ahead and out there in a Church like Francis’ that is “going out”.’

Square.

There will be just 10,000 reserved seats for guests and dignitaries in the square, but there will be free un-ticketed access to the whole area which comprises St Peter’s Square, Piazza Pio XII, and Via della Conciliazione, the road which runs from Castel Sant’Angelo into St. Peter’s.

Large screens will be erected in various places around the city to allow pilgrims to gather there to watch the ceremony.

The evening prior to the canonisations will be a night of prayer, with many parishes in Rome open until midnight so that pilgrims will be able to keep vigil.

Pope John XXIII is best remembered for being the Pope who changed the course of Roman Catholicism by invoking the Second Vatican Council which ran from 1962-65 and although he died before it ended, the reforms had a major effect.

He was also strong on Christian unity, which he demonstrated from the start of his pontificacy by inviting the Archbishop of Canterbury to Rome and established a Secretariat for Christian Unity.

He issue several encyclicals including Mater et Magistra (Christianity and Social Progress, 1961) and Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth, 1963), and was responsible for opening dialogue between the Church and Russia and other Communist countries.

He played a pivitol role in de-

Blessed John Paul II longest serving popes in history, spending almost 27 years as head of the world’s Catholics.

He was in world focus from the start, as he was the first nonItalian pope for 456 years and he declared a universal pastoral ministry by taking the Church out to the world.

He criss-crossed the globe to visit every continent and was a prodigious writer of sermons, talks, letters and encyclicals.

Regarded as a conservative pope, he recentralised power in the Roman Curia.

John Paul II survived an assassination attempt in 1981 and

later famously forgave his attacker.

Many credit him with having a world-changing effect by encouraging the fall of Communism in his native Poland and other eastern-bloc countries, and also for speaking out against apartheid in South Africa.

He wrote 14 papal encyclicals including Ecclesia de Eucharistia (Church from the Eucharist), Redemptoris Mater (Mother of the Redeemer), Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the beginning of the new millennium), and Veritatis Splendor (The Splendour of the Truth).

John Paul II wrote extensively about workers and the social doctrine of the Church, which he discussed in three encyclicals: Laborem Exercens (On Human Work), Solicitudo Rei Socialis (Social Concerns of the Church), and Centesimus Annus (Hundredth Year).

Through his encyclicals and many Apostolic letters and exhortations, John Paul II talked about the dignity of women and the importance of the family for the future of humanity.

His lecture series later published as Humanity of the Body produced sound moral teaching in matters relating to sexuality.

Fitting the day he will be canonised is the second Sunday of Easter, often called Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast day promulgated by him in 2000 at the canonisation of St Faustina.

Irish struggle with Church THE Church’s teaching on marriage and family life is disconnected from the real-life experience of many Irish Catholics, the country’s bishops have acknowledged, reports The Tablet.

Giving a summary of the responses to the Vatican questionnaire, the Irish Bishops Conference said it is not experienced by many Catholics as ‘realistic,

Order wealth questioned THE Vatican office responsible for about 900,000 priests, brothers and sisters in religious orders around the world has called on them to re-evaluate their wealth and to issue critiques of the global market capitalist economy, calling it unjust to the world’s neediest.

At a conference near the Vatican for some 500 treasurers of the global orders the Vatican office looked back to the earliest teachings of the church, calling on the religious to reject accumulation of goods in order to follow Jesus, “the poor man who lives in solidarity with the poor.”

Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo, secretary of the Vati-

fusing the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 when he appealed to Russian and United States leaders to avert nuclear war.

When he died in June 1963, flags flew at half mast around the world; an honor never before paid to a pope.

John Paul II was one of the

can congregation, said, “Disciples must have nothing, not bread, not money in their bags.”

He criticised orders that have accumulated great wealth over the years: “We always justify accumulation for the mission, but then that money doesn’t arrive at the mission.”

Accumulating such wealth, the archbishop said, “entails the danger of not being in the presence of God ... to lose the memory of God -- trust in him -- and forgetting about the poor.”

Archbishop Carballo’s office, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, organised the summit at the request of Pope Francis.

compassionate or life-enhancing’.

Many respondents expressed ‘particular difficulties’ with the teachings on extra-marital sex and cohabitation by unmarried couples, divorce and remarriage, family planning, assisted human reproduction and homosexuality. Some found the Church’s position on these issues left them feeling ‘guilty and excluded’, the bishops said.

The leadership of the Association of Catholic Priests welcomed the bishops’ decision to release the summary, saying if people are asked for their opinion, it is important that the results be made known.

The group said it was ‘now beyond dispute’ that there was a serious gap or disconnect between official church teaching on family, relationships and sexuality and Catholics’ beliefs and practice. It suggested that the laity, clergy and bishops should come together and search for ways for bridge this gap.

The bishops underlining that they had a responsibility to present the Church’s teaching on marriage and the family faithfully and in a positive and engaging way. But they admitted

it must be done in a way that showed compassion and mercy towards those finding it difficult to accept or live the teachings.

Respondents to the survey also cited ‘immense challenges’ for families in Ireland arising out of severe financial hardship, unemployment and emigration.

Other difficulties identified were domestic violence, infidelity, neglect and other forms of abuse, as well as the constant pressures on ‘family time’.

Some respondents also expressed concern about the limited amount of state support for marriage and the family.

‘Stillborn’ baby survival miracle THE survival of a baby delivered stillborn, and who began breathing after 61 minutes, has been hailed as a miracle.

It is being attributed to the intercession of American TV evangelising Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

If accepted by the Vatican as an authentic miracle, the Archbishop would be elevated from Venerable to Blessed as his supporters push for his eventual canonisation.

Page 16 - Catholic Life, April 2014

Beliefs and practices of the Church in Australia

By Sophy Morley MUCH of what we know about the Catholic Church in Australia today is a result of the work the Pastoral Research Office has done over the years.

Since established by the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference in 1996, the office has carried out many research projects that have helped us grow in understanding of the Catholic Church in Australia, its people and structures, its context and challenges.

Beliefs and practices of Australian Catholics: “What we know and why it matters” was the key theme of the recent inaugural two day PRO conference in Melbourne.

About 120 participants representing Catholic parishes, diocesan agencies and other bodies such as Catholic Education, Catholic Health and Catholic Social Services attended.

The conference, and parish workshop day which followed, explored the issues that were relevant to all Australian Catholics.

Delegates heard about the research, what it meant and how that knowledge could be applied to the building up of the Church in Australia. There was also plenty of opportunity

Two new principals appointed TWO new principal appointments have been announced by the director of Catholic education Maria Kirkwood.

Lance Rooney, who has been acting principal at Sacred Heart Primary School, Morwell, has been made principal from the start of term two.

He has held a number of leadership positions including deputy principal at Immaculate Heart of Mary, Newborough, from 2006 to 2013.

Damien Forrester has been appointed principal of St Michael’s Primary School, Heyfield, from term three.

He is currently a specialist teacher and religious education coordinator at St Joseph’s Primary School, Wyndham, Western Australia.

He has also held a number of leadership positions during his career including acting principal and second in charge.

Mr Forrester replaces Damien Hogan who became principal at St Patrick’s Primary School, Stratford, at the start of this year.

for responses via questions discussion and comment, during the plenaries, forums and workshops and also at break and meal times.

Highlights of the conference included the opening keynote presentation by the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Paul Gallagher on Parishes Without Parochialism. We were also fortunate to hear several presentations by Dr Mary Gautier, senior research associate at Centre for Applied Research in the Apostolate, in Washington DC. Dr Gautier was able to compare and contrast the situation and emerging trends from the Catholic Church in the United States with research data from Australian. She noted several common developments: increasing cultural diversity in parishes, decreasing Mass attendances, and the greater involvement of lay people in ministry and leadership.

The challenge for the church, according to Dr Gautier is that “instead of being a church that welcomes and receives by keeping the doors open, let us try also to be a church that funds new needs, that is able to step outside itself and go to those who do not attend Mass, to those who have quit or are indifferent. The ones who quit

East Timor immersion trip for five

By Marian Kee WARRAGUL - The Immersion to Timor Leste in December was the first time that MaristSion College had been involved in such a program organised and operated through Catholic Mission and in conjunction with St Francis Xavier College Beaconsfield .

The college had five participants – Year 12 students Erin Farrell, Alex Kubale and Lydia Fox and staff members Marian Kee and Fiona MacRae. Luke Keighery, our volunteer guide from Catholic Mission in Sydney, proved to be an excellent leader with a wealth of knowledge and experience to make our trip a wonderful learning opportunity. Rhonda O’Connor, the pastoral associate from St Francis Xavier College was central to the organisation of this trip and was an excellent support both prior to and during the trip.

On arrival in Dili, we were overwhelmed by the humidity and heat. We travelled in ex United Nations troop carriers which in itself was an experience with no air-conditioning or comforts that we are used to travelling in here at home. Our

Emmaus Spirituality fundraising EMMAUS Spirituality Ministry are having a fundraising weekend on Pentecost June 7-8.

The Emmaus Spirituality fundraising team will be contacting people from all parishes who have made a retreat day, prayer day, first spiritual exercises, full spiritual exercises or come to spiritual direction.

These people will be asked to

PASTORAL Research Office director Dr Bob Dixon presents at the conference. sometimes do it for reasons more broadly about leadership, that, if properly understood and saying that through our baptism assessed, can lead to a return. we were all called to exercise But that takes audacity and servant leadership, encouraging courage.” each person to use their gifts Dr Ruth Powell, director in the service of the whole of the National Church Life community.

Survey, spoke of how we share The Building Stronger our faith with others. “How Parishes Project has shown that do you testify? How do you empowering leadership had an witness?” were questions that extremely positive influence on she posed in her workshop. sustaining and fostering strong Dr Bob Dixon, director of and vibrant parish communities. the Pastoral Research Office, Among the various research presented a workshop of projects carried out by the effective parish leadership PRO in recent years are the and revealed that research had social profiles of every parish shown that the single most in Australia, compiled using the important indicator of a vibrant 2011 Australian Census data. and vital parish community was A copy has been posted to each the quality of leadership of the parish and profiles for parishes parish priest and parish leaders. and dioceses are now available He challenged us to think as downloads from the website.

http://www.pro.catholic.org.au/ census_data2006.

The National Church Life Survey has provided the Church with very useful material on what Catholics think about their faith, their parish, their experience of Sunday Liturgy and the life of their parish communities.

Snapshots from the NCLS, the census, and other sources, have been highlighted in monthly editions of Pastoral Research Online. Aspects of the Australian church life and other useful data such as the trends in Mass attendance, the percentage of overseas born Catholics, comparison of religious beliefs

by Mass attenders, types of parish worship, music in worship, and faith formation have been mentioned in the monthly bulletins. http://www. pro.catholic.org.au/node/49 Building Stronger Parishes is an ongoing project of the PRO that is exploring signs of vitality and parish community strengths in a sample of 20 highly diverse parishes selected from across Australia. Ideas and examples of how parishes overcame challenges and embraced a new vision can be found on the website http:// www.buildingstrongerparishes. catholic.org.au

brief share their experiences at Masses.

This weekend will involve a collection for Emmaus Spirituality Ministry to help those who cannot afford to make a retreat, prayer day, first spiritual exercises or full spiritual exercises as well as take care of both the Newborough and Greenmount properties.

drivers shared their lives and knowledge and love of their country with us.

Our first stay over in Dili was at the Dominican Orphanage at Bidau where we were met by the dedicated and generous sisters and beautiful children. The three nights at the orphanage were an amazing and, at times, overwhelming experience of joy and love, witnessing their simple and faith filled lives.

Our students spent time playing with the children, teaching them and sharing two trips to the beach for a swim.

One evening we visited Hera Farm and met the older boys from the orphanage. These boys live fairly independently, working the farm, walking to school or further education or to church often in extreme weather conditions and over very hilly terrain.

Whilst in Dili we visited the Santa Cruz Cemetery and the Chega exhibition – both were a truly emotional experiences highlighting the struggles for independence.

Leaving the orphanage was a sad time as the Sisters and the orphans surprised us by singing a farewell song for us ‘I had a dream’ and presenting us with traditional Tais scarves.

From Dili we travelled east to rural villages and visited the Comoro Kindergarten, Ahisaun Foundation, a house for young people with physical disabilities, St Damien’s Leprosy Clinic and the Ponta Leste Youth Centre and we visited markets.

The visits gave us the opportunity to meet many young people who work for NGOs or are in the country as volunteers with many welfare organisa-

MEETING some of the local children in East Timor. tions. Their generous spirit and convent set high in the hills community mindedness was in- overlooking the ocean – a most relaxing and restful experience spiring for us.

Our final days were spent in Our visit to the community at Lalelia with its beautiful Balibo where we visited the church, community centre and memorial for the five journalkindergarten showed us exam- ists who were killed in Balibo. ples of how a community can We also visited the fort, the work together with the financial many significant buildings and help and expertise of overseas sites that were places of significance in the Indonesian invasupport agencies.

We stayed in Bacau and met sion of Timor Leste.

The people of Timor Leste up with two Marists Br Fonz Van Rooj who is the director of are friendly, warm and welcomthe Marist Teachers College in ing. They have so little yet they Bacau and Br Tony Clarke who are very generous. The children works with formation of broth- are cared for in extended family environments and we saw them ers and immersions.

We went to churches for as curious, happy, friendly and Mass a number of times and sharing whenever we met them.

The reality of how different there was often standing room only and the singing was amaz- our lives are in Australia coming. Faith and church involve- pared to the people of Timor ment is central to the lives of Leste was confronting and prethe people of Timor Leste and sented us with the challenge to their faith is what brings them make a difference.

Alex, Lydia and Erin were all together as a community, Mass is a very happy and celebrated very grateful for the opportunity event and any East Timorese at- to be part of such an experience and said that what Timor Leste tend every day.

The town of Maubara pro- and its people had shown them vided a beautiful retreat in a will stay with them forever.

Catholic Life, April 2014 - Page 17

Create your own colorful traditional Easter eggs OK so it is now school holidays time and you are wondering what activities you can organise to keep the school-age children busy.

With Easter coming up there is an excellent opportunity to get them involved in making

Easter eggs in the traditional European way (no chocolate here).

You will need some eggs, food dyes, birthday cake candles, masking tape and some paper towels.

White eggs dye the best

so when buying eggs at the supermarket look for a carton of white eggs rather than the brown eggs.

Boil the eggs in water for at least 10 minutes, or if you have older children, you might wish to try making the Easter eggs with fresh eggs and then blowing them. These are much more fragile but will last longer.

To decorate, give your children a thin birthday cake candle to draw an interesting design on the egg. If you want multi-colored eggs, wrap sections of the egg with masking tape.

Make up strong solutions of red, yellow and blue food dyes in separate glasses and then use a spoon to gently lower the eggs into the dye.

Remove the egg, dab off excess dye with a paper towel, remove some of the masking tape, then lower into the next color.

Repeat the process for the third color and you will have a multi colored Easter egg with no dye on the areas marked with the wax candles.

If you went down the boiled egg path, all you have to do is let the egg dry and the children have a lovely hand-made Easter egg to give to someone – or devour themselves on Easter Sunday.

If you used a fresh egg, let it dry and then blow it.

To blow an egg, use a large darning needle to make holes at both pointy ends. One hole should be larger than the other to allow you to use the needle to

pierce the yolk and white multiple times without further damaging the egg.

Then hold the egg over a cup or glass and blow steadily through the smaller hole to force the yolk and white out into the container. Make sure the egg is completely empty or otherwise it will eventually smell like – well, rotten eggs, which is to be avoided.

You can save the mixed up yolk and white to make scrambled eggs, omelette or in other cooking.

Wet weather fun with pen and paper What about dice games?

A FUN game to teach children is the old game of paddocks, sometimes called dots and dashes.

Use a ruler to prepare a grid of dots on the back of a scrap A4 piece of paper. Show them how you do it so they can prepare the grid for subsequent games.

We suggest you draw a dot with a fine felt pen every centimetre and to start with go 11 dots wide and 11 dots down so you have a 10cm by 10cm grid.

Ge the children to take turns drawing a dash to join dots either vertically or horizontally. Eventually when dashes form three sides of a square, a child can claim the “paddock” by drawing the fourth dash and putting their initial in the square.

Having successfully selected a paddock, the child gets to draw one more dash. If that creates a paddock, then they can keep going until no more paddocks are formed.

Eventually, the children will develop tactics to avoid setting up the other player but in

doing so, things will become gridlocked and then a chainreaction will allow one player to claim multiple paddocks on the one turn.

This game is great on rainy days and can be played by children as young as six.

DICE games are always fun and something like Yahtzee can be a great challenge for teenagers and adults.

Avoid playing it on the Internet as it is really then becomes a one person game and therefore anti-social.

Yahtzee games can be purchased but there is no need to go to the expense.

All you need is five dice, often sold in cheapy stores for a couple of dollars. The rules and score pads can be readily downloaded on the Internet, then let the fun begin.

For another easy dice game involving the younger children and adults, draw a scorecard with the initials of all the players across the top and then numbers 2-12 running down the

side.

Take two dice and take turns having throws. Add together the resultant number and then tick it off in the player’s column.

It may take some time for a player to throw all possibilities and fill their card. First one to do so is the winner.

April saint is a Doctor of the Church St Catherine of Siena 1347-1380 Patron Saint of Fire Fighters Doctor of the Church Feast day: April 29 THE 25th child of a wool dyer in northern Italy, St Catherine started having mystical experiences when she was only 6, seeing guardian angels as clearly as the people they protected.

She became a Dominican tertiary when she was 16, and continued to have visions of Christ, Mary, and the saints.

St Catherine was one of the most brilliant theological minds of her day, although she never had any formal education. She persuaded the Pope to go back to Rome from Avignon, in 1377, and when she died she was endeavoring to heal the Great Western Schism.

St Catherine’s letters, and a treatise called “a dialogue” are

considered among the most brilliant writings in the history of the Catholic Church. She died when she was only 33, and her body was found incorrupt in 1430.

Since 1866 she is one of the two patron saints of Italy and in 1970 she was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI. In 1999 Pope John Paul II named her as a one of the six patron saints of Europe.

Others vigorously protested when she received the Dominican habit because up to that point only widows had been accepted as tertiaries.

Initially she lived in almost total silence and solitude in the family home.

Her custom of giving away food and clothing without asking anyone’s permission cost her family significantly but she demanded nothing for herself In about 1368, aged 21, Catherine experienced what she described in her letters as a “Mystical Marriage” with Jesus, later

a popular subject in art.

She left her withdrawn life and enter the public life of the world, helping the ill and the poor, where she took care of them in hospitals or homes.

Her early pious activities in Siena attracted a group of followers, both women and men, who gathered around her, and they began travelling widely advocating reform of the clergy and advising people that repentance and renewal could be done through the total love for God. She began dictating letters to various scribes as she wrote to various people of authority as she begged for peace between the republics and principalities of Italy and for the return of the Papacy from Avignon to Rome.

She carried on a long correspondence with Pope Gregory XI, asking him to reform the clergy and the administration of the Papal States.

In 1376 Catherine went to Avignon herself as ambassador of Florence to try to make peace

with the Papal States. While in Avignon, Catherine also tried to convince Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome which he did in 1377.

Catherine returned to Siena and founded a women’s monastery of strict observance outside the city in an old fortress.

Late in 1377 or early in 1378 Catherine again travelled to Florence, at the order of Gregory XI, to seek peace between Florence and Rome. In late November 1378, with the outbreak of the Western Schism, the new Pope, Urban VI, summoned her to Rome. She stayed at Pope Urban VI’s court and tried to convince nobles and cardinals of his legitimacy, both meeting with individuals at court and writing letters to persuade others.

From the beginning of 1380, Catherine became very ill being unable to eat or swallow water and then on February 26 she lost the use of her legs, possibly the result of a stroke. On April

21 she had a stroke and died eight days later on April 29.

St Catherine is usually depicted in religious as holding flowers and a Bible, or crucifix.

Sometimes a crown of thorns or a model of a church are also depicted.

Page 18 - Catholic Life, April 2014

For the Young and Young at Heart Color this Easter scene

Time for a Laugh

JUDGE: Did you stab the victim to death?

Defendant: No your honor.

Judge: Do you realise what the penalties are for perjury?

Defendant: Yes, and they are a lot better than the penalty for murder.

FOR a chance to win a prize from Catholic Life, children are invited to colour in the picture of the crucifixion by mid May. We will deliver the prize to the winner and feature their photo in the next issue on June 4.

Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Age . . . . .

Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Send entries to Catholic Life Colouring Contest. c/- PO Box 1410, Warragul 3820.

This month’s prize winner LATEST colouring contest winner is CHARLOTTE AESCHLIMANN, 6, who attends St Laurence’s Primary School in Leongatha.

We will get the prize out to her after the school holidays.

Meanwhile, we wish all the children a safe holiday.

Don’t forget to spend some time colouring in the picture FEBRUARY winner Isabelle Valentine from Trinity Primary, for a chance to win a prize.

Narre Warren South, displays her prizes.

AUSSIE scientists built a gun specifically to launch dead chickens at the windshields of airliners travelling at maximum velocity.

The idea was to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with birds to test the strength of the windshields.

Air New Zealand engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the windshields of their new aircraft. Arrangements were made, and a gun was sent to New Zealand.

When the gun was fired, the engineers stood shocked as the chicken hurled out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to smithereens, blasted through the control console, snapped the engineer’s back-rest in two and embedded itself in the back wall of the cabin like an arrow shot from a bow.

The horrified New Zealanders sent results of the disastrous results to the Aussie scientists and begged for suggestions as to what went wrong.

The response was “Defrost the chicken!”

“It’ll be good for the students” mulled the dentist.

“I’ll charge you $50. But it will be traumatic, mate.”

“Och, now yer talkin’ laddie! It’s a deal,” said the Scotsman. “Can ye confirm an appointment for the wife next Tuesday then?”

A BANK robbery is taking place by a masked gunman and everyone is ordered to lie face down and not look at him.

He is just about to walk out the door with the money when his mask slips.

He pauses and yells “I’m going to shoot anyone who saw my face. Did any of you see it?”

One man replies “I think my missus caught a glimpse.”

SHEILA walked into the kitchen to find Bruce stalking around with a fly swatter.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Hunting Flies” he responded.

“Oh. Killing any?” she asked.

“Yep, three males, two females,” he replied.

Intrigued, she asked. “How can you tell them apart?”

He responded, “Three were on a beer can, two were stuck on the phone.”

A MAN and his wife were sitting in the living room and he said to her, “Just so you know, I never want to live in a vegetative state, A SCOT living in Sydney dependent on some machine phones his dentist to enquire and fluids from a bottle. If about the cost for a tooth that ever happens, just pull extraction. the plug.” $220 for an extraction, His wife got up, unplugged mate!” the TV and threw out all of $220?”, the man replies. his beer.

“Huv ye no’got anythin’ cheaper?”

THE blonde stopped at “That’s the normal charge, the drink machine, put $2 in mate” replies the dentist. and out tumbled a bottle of “Whit aboot if ye didnae drink. She immediately put use any anaesthetic?” in another $2, and another “That’s unusual, mate, but drink came out.

I could do it and knock $20 After she did this five times off.” the man behind her asked if “Whit aboot if ye used one she minded if he could use of your dentist trainees and the machine as he was in a still withoot an anaesthetic?” hurry.

“I can’t guarantee their “No,” she snapped. “Can’t professionalism and it’ll be you see I am on a winning painful. But the price could streak!” drop to $180.”

“How aboot if ye make it LET’S see. Judges, New a trainin’ session, ‘ave yer Zealanders, Scots, women, student do the extraction men, blondes ... that’s with the other students probably enough people to watchin’ and learnin’?” upset this month.

Catholic Life, April 2014 - Page 19

Classifieds bingo Sacred Heart School

BINGO Every Friday

Morwell RSL Club, Elgin St., Morwell

Join our

Easter Party Friday, April 11 Giant Easter Giveaways Eyes down 11am. Ticket sales 10.30am Now 55 games at 20 cents per game.

Further details phone 5134 8484 or 5133 7221 (AH)

public notices

VOCATIONS Priests & Deacons Are you considering a vocation as a priest or deacon for the Diocese of Sale?

If so please contact Diocesan Vocations Director

Fr Darek Jablonski 5133 8132 vocations@sale.catholic.org.au

prayer 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.

READERS please note that published prayers reflect the beliefs of those who place the advertisements. Catholic Life makes no judgement on whether these beliefs are in accord with the established theological and canonical accords and we ask readers to judge for themselves, especially in regards to suggested fulfilment of requests made in these prayers.

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.

Positive partnerships program TRARALGON - St Michael’s Primary School Preps and Grade 1/2 children hosted Learning Assemblies and invited family and friends to join them.

The Grade 1/2 afternoon began with a prayer time in the school hall before they returned to the classroom to enjoy some games.

Grade 1/2 teacher, Mrs Ringin explained, “To begin

wanted known

the year together we thought it would be a great opportunity to get to know everyone and spend some fun time with their child and the other children playing board games within the Grade 1/2 Flexible Learning Space.”

The Preps held their assembly in their classroom. They listened to the story of ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’ and then made their very own hungry caterpillars. The families were also asked to provide feedback

about what they would like for their child in 2014.

Prep teacher, Mrs Scholtes said, “We invited families and friends in to be part of our school day and to familiarise them with some of the activities we do.

“It is really important to us that we build relationships with our children’s families as a positive partnership between school and parents are essential in every child’s learning.”

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PREP student, Mila makes her caterpillar with her mum

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Page 20 - Catholic Life, April 2014

Dramatic demonstration of world’s inequality WARRAGUL - A dramatic demonstration of the inequality in the world was brought home to a group of Year 9 students at Marist Sion College last month.

They participated in a global reality meal to raise their awareness of the work of Caritas Australia and Project Compassion.

Students were prepared for the day by religious education teachers who taught them about global hunger but the students were not prepared for what followed.

Parents were notified of the event and the senior religion and society class acted as waiters and waitresses on the day.

The Year 9s were randomly balloted into three groups and filed into the hall which had been divided into three.

On one side of the hall the largest group of students had to sit crowded on the floor, in the middle were students on chairs, and the third section had a small number of students sitting at tables with table cloths, plates and flowers.

It was explained that 1.4 billion people or a fifth of the world’s population lived on less than $1 a day and that just under a billion people a day went to bed hungry and every day 22,000 children died from hunger or other preventable causes.

MEMBERS of the poverty group eat their meagre lunch of boiled rice and water.

The group sitting at tables They were frequently hungry, picking coffee beans in Kenya represented the 15 percent of often homeless or living in and would have to go to the the world’s population fortunate flimsy houses which could not poorer group because he could enough to be able to afford a withstand the elements. If they no longer support his family. nutritious daily diet. As a group were lucky they were tenant A girl from the poorer group they consumed 70 percent of farmers who had to pay 75 was then told she was from the the world’s grain and had a percent of their harvest to the same Kenyan village and that because workers at the coffee good life with comfortable landowner. homes, jobs and health care.

Six students from the poorer plantation had been laid off The middle group was told group were then told they lived and had no money, they could they represented 30 percent in an area of East Timor where no longer afford to buy the of the world’s population who Caritas was working with the vegetables she grew. She was lived on the edge, probably community to teach better told she would receive only a owning no land and working as farming practises, how to make half portion of rice and water day laborers for small wages. food which could be sold at the for lunch.

Lunches were then served This small income sometimes local market, and setting up with the poorer group being allowed access to electricity savings and credit groups. and a few years schooling for They were then invited to given a scoop of plain boiled their children. take their place in the middle rice in a plastic cup and a glass The third group sitting on the at the same time as six from of water.

The middle group was given floor was told they represented the middle were told they came the majority of the world’s from Ethiopia where their sandwiches, fruit and a glass ROAST chicken anyone? Nick Gleeson serves lunch to some of the population who earned little crops had failed during the of cordial, while the rich group richer group (from left) Mel White, Chiara Mulqueen and Giorgia and struggled to meet their worst drought in 60 years and was served at the table by families’ basic needs. they were now to join the poor waiters who delivered pizza, Devine. roast chicken and lemonade. group.

The final indignity of the One student from the rich Help Religious Sisters - the unsung heroines in the Church! group was told he was a middle world inequality of wealth has manager in a large coffee highlighted when the surplus hey smile, they heal, they teach, they comfort. Around company which was benefitting of uneaten food from the rich the globe Catholic religious sisters quietly perform their Sr Lucia a religious sister from Italy rendering dedicated and heroic service without remuneration and because world coffee prices had table was scraped into bins to assistance to the poor in barely even noticed by the wider world. But in order to help othdropped, but the price he sold be thrown out rather than being Ethiopia ers, they themselves also need to be helped, for although they coffee to consumers remained distributed among students are ministering angels to so many, they themselves still need from the poorer groups. the same. their daily bread and a roof over their heads.

All students paid the same One of the middle group Each year the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) price for their meals and all the was then told that because of supports over 9,000 religious sisters in every corner of the globe. the drop in prices of coffee he money will be given to Project Many religious congregations turn to the charity for help, not least for the formation of their precious new vocations. While had been laid off from his job Compassion.

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many congregations in the Western world have few or no new vocations and even seem to be dying out, in other parts of the ^VYSK [OL YLSPNPV\Z JVTT\UP[PLZ HYL ÄSSLK ^P[O `V\UN HUK ZTPSPUN faces.

ACN also helps those sisters active in the charitable apostolate, relieving them of the daily burden of supporting themselves while they also care for the poorest of the poor, whether in the slum quarters of the great cities, in the vast expanses of the Amazon rainforest, or in the remotest regions of the African Savannah.

It is vital that the indispensable work of religious sisters in Christ’s Holy Catholic Church and throughout the missions worldwide continues. Religious sisters are the unsung heroines in the Church. ACN is therefore proud to help them in their efforts to make the world a better place, even just a little.

The average grant ACN gives to support a religious sister or novice is $300 – but whatever you can afford will be enormously appreciated. ACN forwards the donations directly to the religious superiors in charge of the religious communities and congregations.

0 >L LUJSVZL [V Z\WWVY[ [OL ^VYR VM 9LSPNPV\Z :PZ[LYZ MVY [OL WVVY HUK WLYZLJ\[LK *O\YJO I enclose a cheque/money order payable to Aid to the Church in Need or please debit my Visa or Mastercard

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Some of the young and vibrant Dominican Sisters from Ho Chi Minh City that ACN supports The Papal rosary designed by the Vatican rosary makers will be sent out to all those who assist this cause 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

PONDERING the inequality of the situation Brayden May eats his portion of boiled rice while sitting on the floor.