NEW ICONS SPEAK OF THE FACE OF THE FATHER’S MERCY
By Jamie O'Brien
Jesus is the one who comes to reveal to us the truth about who God really is, Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB has said, in blessing the new icons in the Chapel and classroom of Redemptoris Mater Seminary, Morley.
Speaking Sunday evening 30 April, Archbishop Costelloe reflected on the Gospel reading of Matthew 25: 31-46, which speaks about The Last Judgement.
He was joined for Sunday Vespers by Redemptoris Mater Seminary Spiritual Director, Fr Noe NavarreteApaez and Deacon Felipe Fernandez. “In tonight's gospel, we find presented to us, perhaps the clearest statement in the whole of the New Testament about what the final judgment will be all about,” Archbishop Costelloe explained.
“And the final judgement will be all about whether or not we reflected the face of the Father's mercy to everybody we meet.
“I was hungry, and out of mercy and love and compassionate care. You gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and out of mercy and compassion and love and care, you gave me something to drink. I was sick and you visited me. I was naked and you clothed me,” he said, repeating the words of the Gospel.
“We could go through each one of these and each one of them is a statement about what a compassionate merciful response looks like.
“And that's what the church is called to be - that is what we're all called to be,” Archbishop Costelloe explained. The icon of the Deësis, which is located in the Chapel and the icon of the Appearance of Christ, which is located in the downstairs classroom
of Redemptoris Mater Seminary, are replicas of those painted by initiator of the Neocatechumenal Way, Kiko Arguello.
The new icons at Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Morley have been painted by husband and wife, Jose-Manuel and Maria Jesus Canete and their son Miguel.
Mr and Mrs Canete, who hail originally from Spain, were sent to Australia as a mission family by Pope Benedict XVI and live in Canberra.
Speaking about the icons at the evening liturgy on Sunday 30 April, Seminary Rector, Fr Michael Moore
SM highlighted how the eyes of Christ are a particular feature.
“If you look at the face of Jesus Christ, and you see the eyes, if you're on this side, it's like he's looking at you, but if you're on the other side, it's like he's looking at you again also, or if you're sitting directly in front, it’s like he’s looking at you again,” Fr Michael explained.
“It’s a particular technique of the icon writers. No matter where you sit, it’s a sign that Christ wants to communicate to you the love of the Father,” he said.
Some other features of the icon in the Chapel, Fr Michael explained, include
• The dark blue circle represents Christ on the earth and the world;
• The black circle represents death; that we all experience;
• The light blue represents heaven and the eternal life; emphasising that Jesus Christ crosses the thread because he lived on earth, experienced death, rose again and is now seated at the right hand of the father in heaven interceding for us.
Archbishop Costelloe with Redemptoris Mater Seminary formators, Spiritual Director, Fr Noe NavarreteApaez, Rector Fr Michael Moore SM and Vice-Rector Fr Luis Tijerino on the occasion of the blessing of the new icons, Sunday 30 April 2023. PHOTO: JAMIE O'BRIEN/ARCHDIOCESE OF PERTH.
SALVADO’S NEW FACILITIES TO ENHANCE LEARNING SKILLS
The Salvado Catholic College community will benefit from new art and science learning spaces, thanks to the latest upgrade in Salvado’s ongoing expansion project.
The college community, Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA) representatives, and guests gathered for the blessing and opening of stages 3, 3a and 3b of the college’s construction project on Thursday, 16 March.
In her official opening address, CEWA Executive Director Dr Debra Sayce acknowledged the important partnership between CEWA and Federal and State Governments in ensuring families in WA continue to benefit from school choice.
“Funding was made possible with the support of a $12.4 million State Low Interest Loan and a $2.1 million Commonwealth Capital Grant,” Dr Sayce said.
“Salvado has been able to upgrade ground floor facilities, with students benefiting from new science laboratories, a science, technology, engineering and mathematics
laboratory, project and equipment storerooms, and a laboratory preparation space,” she said. Future upgrades will include a visual and fashion art studio, a food science laboratory, a design, technology and materials workshop, a new toilet block, storage area, outdoor covered student work areas and two hard courts.
The college will be equipped with an e-learning resource centre which has two student workrooms, a media pod, an audio-visual pod, an information communications and technology pod, two performing arts spaces with storage areas and, six general learning areas. There will also be two staff collaboration areas.
“Together these spaces will mean students and teachers at Salvado are teaching and learning in a modern school environment which gives them the opportunity to explore their God-given gifts and develop the skills needed to contribute to their communities when their time here is done,” Dr Sayce said.
Armadale Parish Priest Fr Mark Baumgarten, St Helena’s College Ellenbrook Principal and Salvado College Foundation Principal, Santino Giancono, CEWA Executive Director Dr Debra Sayce, Member for Darling Range, Mr Hugh Jones MLA, Federal Labor Senator Louise Pratt, current Salvado College Principal Ian Hagen, New Norcia Benedictine Priest Fr Robert Nixon OSB and Salvado College students, at the opening of the new spaces, Thursday 16 March.
PHOTO:AMANDA MURTHY/CEWA.
Armadale Parish Priest Fr Mark Baumgarten is assisted by Salvado College Ian Hagen to hang a cross in the new spaces, Thursday 16 March. PHOTO:AMANDA MURTHY/CEWA.
SPECIAL FEATURE: THE VOICE: WE MUST STRIVE TO LISTEN, SAYS FR FRANK BRENNAN
By The Catholic Weekly
What are Catholics to think about the proposed referendum on the Voice to Parliament? During the first year of his pontificate, Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium said: “An authentic faith – which is never comfortable or completely personal – always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better that we found it.
“We love this magnificent planet on which God has put us, and we love the human family which dwells here, with all its tragedies and struggles, its hopes and aspirations, its strengths and weaknesses. The earth is our common home and all of us are brothers and sisters.”
Pope Francis then quoted with approval his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI, who wrote in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est that “the just ordering of society and of the state is a central responsibility of politics,” and that the Church
“cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice.”
Pope Francis added this observation: “All Christians, their pastors included, are called to show concern for the building of a better world. This is essential, for the Church’s social thought is primarily positive: it offers proposals, it works for change and in this sense it constantly points to the hope born of the loving heart of Jesus Christ.”
Our recent Australian Plenary Council endorsed the Uluru Statement from the Heart and encouraged, “engagement with processes for implementing the statement, including local, regional, and national truth-telling efforts.”
I suggest ten steps for Catholics inspired by our Catholic social teaching when approaching the forthcoming referendum. I couch these suggestions in terms appropriate for those of us who are not Indigenous.
We are all invited into constructive dialogue. We must strive to listen to community leaders who know what is good for their communities just as
those of us who are not Indigenous know what is good for ourselves and our loved ones.
1. Be attentive to the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Stop telling them what is good for them. Start listening to them. Accept that they know what is good for them, just as we know what is good for us and our loved ones.
2. Don’t expect all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to agree about legal, political and constitutional questions. It’s called living in a democracy.
3. Form respectful relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and engage in respectful conversations with those who are your friends.
4. Having heard a range of Indigenous voices, make your own decisions about what Aboriginal aspirations are morally justified. What would be right and proper for Australia in the 21st century?
The Welcome to Country Smoking Ceremony at the start of the Opening Mass of the First Plenary Council on Sunday 3 October at St Mary’s Cathedral. PHOTO: RON TAN/ARCHDIOCESE OF PERTH,..
JESUS IS THE BEST LIFE COACH, POPE FRANCIS TELLS HUNGARIAN YOUTHS
By Cindy Wooden
The life of faith is not a game, but it does require commitment and training, Pope Francis told thousands of Hungarian young people gathered in a sports arena in Budapest.
"How do we win in life?" the Holy Father asked the young people gathered in the capital's László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, Saturday 29 April.
Success has two basic steps, he said, "First, aim high, then train."
Everyone has a talent, the Holy Father said, but using it just to earn money or have fun will not bring happiness.
"Put your talents to good use," he said. "Don't be afraid."
Listening to the deepest desires of one's heart may reveal a longing to have a large family or to serve others and the church through priesthood
or religious life. Even if society seems to treat those vocations as unreasonable, he said, they are not unattainable desires.
The first step in training for a full and happy life, he told more than 10,000 young people, is "dialogue with Jesus, who is the best of coaches. He listens to you, encourages you, believes in you and is able to bring out the best in you."
"He constantly invites you to be a team player, never alone but with others: in the church, in the community, sharing your experiences with others" -- in person, the pope said. Spending all of one's time on the phone, interacting only with virtual friends, "is not good or healthy."
A bit of silence each day also is needed, he said.
"Nowadays, we are bombarded with the message that we have to be fast, efficient and practically perfect, like machines," he said. "Then we often
find that we run out of gas and are at a loss for what to do. We have to learn how to stop and fill our tanks, to recharge our batteries."
Prayer, reading the Bible, reading a book, enjoying nature - those are all things that are better with silence, he said.
Silence, Pope Francis said, "is the door to prayer, and prayer is the door to love."
Two young women and two young men briefly shared stories of their faith journeys with Pope Francis and with their peers.
Bertalan Krabót, 15, told Pope Francis that when he was younger, he did not see the point of Mass or confession and thought faith had little relevance to his life.
"The saints are all up in heaven; they've won, they've finished their match, and I haven't."
Pope Francis blesses children at the Blessed László Batthyány-Strattmann Institute in Budapest 29 April 2023. Since 1982, the institute serves children with limited vision, mobility issues and other special needs. PHOTO: CNS/VATICAN MEDIA.