The harsh, dry and rough scrubland of Northern Uganda, where students from the University of Notre Dame recently visited, bears resemblance to parts of Australia, although it’s history could not be more different.
Agroup of students from the University of Notre Dame Australia based in Fremantle were fortunate to visit a few programs supported by Caritas Australia in Uganda, where they met some of the most amazing and resilient people on earth.
Caritas Australia supports programs in the Lira district that assist families to farm again as they return from camps.
Oxen, ploughs, seeds and other support are provided, and the locals work in groups: rebuilding communities and sharing the workload.
Some of the groups Notre Dame students saw were almost all women.
The war killed many men, and involvement in income generating programs also empowers women in rebuilding communities. Another consequence of the war was the large number of child-headed households.
The dual afflictions of disease and war left behind many orphans to be cared for by other young people, or their grandparents.
Young mothers also suffered from rape as a weapon of war, yet, somehow find the strength to
support others while dealing with the traumas of their experiences and current difficult survival.
Caritas supports the younger children in these households through school.
Fifteen-year-old Robert Odong is an orphan who supports his tenyear-old brother for whom Caritas provides school fees, books and uniform.
Their programs also give vocational and technical training to young people like Robert so they can find work, or provide other income generating activities.
The truly remarkable thing about these communities is the way that orphans are helped by other people
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who cannot really afford it. These people have witnessed brutality yet retained their compassion. Caritas does not so much provide aid or charity as effective assistance to people who deserve it.
As people no longer live in camps, the programs assist them to develop their farms and businesses.
This means that participants are
no longer dependent on aid, and are able to rebuild their lives and plan for the future. In addition to agricultural programs, Caritas water programs, such as building wells, provide other basic daily needs.
For further information on Caritas and their work, contact the Perth Office 9422 7925 or visit: www.caritas.org.au.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Dr Hassan Wirajuda has encouraged Catholic students to study in his country.
Addressing Chisolm Catholic College students on February 7, Dr Wirajuda said: “We Indonesians wish to see more Australians studying in Indonesia – it will make you more competitive.”
Dr Wirajuda was brought to the school by Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, a former student of CBC Highgate, which joined St Mark’s College and became CBC Bedford, which amalgamated with Dominican Sisters St Thomas Aquinas School in 1989 to become
Chisolm College.
Mr Smith, who graduated from CBC Highgate in 1972, wished to show Dr Wirajuda a Catholic school from his home state that runs an Indonesian language class.
Dr Wirajuda was in Perth to sign the Lombok Treaty with Mr Smith, bringing into force the AustraliaIndonesia Framework for Security Cooperation.
Dr Wirajuda revealed to the the Chisolm College students that Australia is helping Indonesia repair or build 2000 schools.
Chisholm College has been offering Indonesian classes for years 8-12 for 10 years.
chool is in for more than 68,000 Catholic students this week, with schools all over the state opening their doors for the start of the 2008 school year.
From Albany to Kununurra, Catholic schools were buzzing with excitement and anticipation as students returned after the summer break.
They were joined by nearly 5000 teachers ready to take up the challenges of the year ahead. 2008 is a particularly exciting year for Catholic schools as they continue their journey of planning and preparation for World Youth Day in July.
Many schools will be sending delegations to Sydney for this once-in-a-lifetime event.
Mercedes College in Perth opened the school year with an overnight vigil and Mass to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady in Lourdes.
Students, staff, families and community members conducted an overnight vigil at the school’s Lourdes Grotto, concluding with Mass near the Grotto on the feast day – Monday February 11.
Emmanuel Catholic College in Beeliar welcomed Year Seven students onto the campus for the first time this year.
Emmanuel is the first Catholic secondary school to enrol Year Seven students as part of the system’s move towards Year 712 secondary colleges.
Iona Presentation College in Mosman Park is preparing for its Centenary Mass on Monday March 17 at Challenge Stadium.
The Mass will bring to an end an inspiring program of centenary celebrations that began last year.
Iona is also celebrating its sporting success with Year 11 student Lauren Mitchell being nominated as a member of the Australian Olympic gymnastic team.
The school is also building on its reputation for excellence in swimming with 11 students participating very successfully in this year’s state swimming championships.
As a result of their impressive medal winning streak, three girls have been chosen to participate in the Olympic trials in Sydney in March and five girls have qualified for the national age championships in Brisbane in April.
Perth’s World Youth Coordinator Anita Parker reflects on what Lent means to Gen Ys, Xes and everyone in between (and younger).
When it comes around to Lent, young people think about the usual things they were encouraged to give up as children and don’t often get a chance to look deeper into the meaning of why the sacrifices were made.
How does the Lenten sacrifice link to our faith as Catholics today?
As a child growing up I remember having to give up icecream, lollies and chocolate for the 40 days of Lent and having the wonderful reward of indulging in oversized chocolate Easter eggs on Easter Sunday.
Of course we had to go to Mass first and then my Mum and Dad would set up a treasure hunt around the house for all the chocolate eggs.
I never thought much about why we had the practice other than it was what Catholics did for Lent.
As the years have passed I realise that I still have a strong addiction to chocolate and I still maintain that as one of my Lenten sacrifices, but I have become more aware of the three elements of the Lenten period which consists of prayer, almsgiving and fasting.
Let’s explore how young people can develop these common practices into their daily lifestyle today.
Prayer is our main connection point with God. You could call it a Bluetooth connection or a wireless connection if you’d like. Young people keep their lives very busy, and I am one of those very busy people too.
We all know how frustrating it is to have a bad mobile connection and how difficult it is to communicate with people when our coverage drops out.
To establish a stronger connection with our faith, prayer must be at the centre of our practice. When we pray, it is a conversation with God
which requires us to talk to him, but also to listen to him in silence.
A regular commitment to attend Mass, to pray and have silent time with God every day, even five minutes, could be the start of an effective Lenten practice that should continue past Easter.
Almsgiving is a common practice for people to share their wealth with those less fortunate.
I have frequently tried to challenge myself to “give until it hurts”. It is easy for young people to spend money on our phones, movies, internet downloads, clothes and many other material things.
We tend to see our loose change as the excess funds we could possibly donate to Caritas or Vinnies.
Lent challenges us to be able to forego buying any new clothes, or going to see movies, taking luxuries out of our lives and using that money (not our spare funds) for the almsgiving.
This is when the sacrifice ‘hurts’ a little and we are able to appreciate our lifestyle better.
It has saddened me in my travels, especially to third world countries, to see how poor people live in other parts of the world. Women spend their days collecting cardboard boxes and plastic bags off the streets to resell for money so that their families can eat.
I question myself as to how often I have wasted materials that can be recycled and reused, how fortunate I am to have the things I do.
The act of almsgiving teaches me to move against the materialistic nature of our society and to appreciate how happy the poor people can be when they have so little and how miserable we can be with so many ‘things’ around us. The best things in life are free!
Lent challenges us to be able to forego buying any new clothes, or going to see movies; and to take luxuries out of our lives and use that money
(not our spare funds) for the almsgiving.
The final area of fasting links also to the practice of moving against the materialistic nature of our society.
It is a fantastic evangelisation talking point to explain to nonCatholics why I have chosen not to eat indulgent foods during Lent or why I am fasting on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday.
The practice in itself challenges my stomach at the best of times and temptation is always around to break the sacrifice.
This is the greatest test against temptation and is the perfect training ground for self-control. When we learn self-control to say ‘no’ to indulgent foods during Lent,
it makes self-control easier when faced with issues as we grow up such as chastity: having to say ‘no’ to sex before marriage, and having the self control to say ‘no’ to drugs and other prevalent issues with young people today.
In my work as the Coordinator for the Perth World Youth Day office, there are many opportunities for young people to work together and to explore the issues with their Catholic faith.
It doesn’t mean that we are all perfect Catholics, we all have our faults and failings, but it’s what we do from today onwards that will make a difference in our lives and the lives of others.
It means that we can work as a support structure to deepen our practices of the Catholic faith. People are encouraged to get involved, even if they are not connected to the Church or have drifted from their practice of the Faith.
On Ash Wednesday, the ashes placed on our forehead were a visible sign to the public that we are Catholic and entering into the Lenten period.
The Perth WYD office will also give a public witness on Scarborough Beach on Saturday February 23, when we hold the second annual WYD Sand Sculpture Competition.
This public witness will bring about awareness of our Faith through Christian symbols on the sand. All are welcome to come along to make this a big witness.
To encourage young people to connect with each other, all pilgrims who are traveling to WYD will be meeting at the monthly WYD Sunday Sesh gatherings. This will bring together over 2000 young people to prepare them for WYD. The first session is on this Sunday, February 17.
The largest public witnesses will be the journey of the WYD Cross and Icon to our parishes, schools and public places in May and June. July School holidays will have the Days in the Diocese celebrations in Perth and WYD in Sydney with
half a million young Catholics and the Pope.
The WYD Cross and Icon are the ‘Olympic Flame’ for WYD. It will be an opportunity to deepen our prayer life and as young people contemplate the crosses we bear in our own lives and how our faith can support us.
It will also be a chance to take our faith out into a public arena to encourage others to have a physical encounter with major symbols of our faith.
Days in the Diocese will extend the hand of friendship to young people from around the world into our homes and we will share our time and our possessions to make others feel welcome and comfortable.
There will be a community service day as an opportunity to reach out to those in need within our community. Our biggest gathering will be public celebrations of a youth festival and a large scale commissioning Mass together in Perth.
Our mission is to work together as the body of Christ, make our faith known publicly, to have fun and be young people at heart who love Christ and our Catholic faith.
Young people (16-35) who are looking to get connected with the Catholic faith again or would like to attend these events, all details are on our website: www.wydperth. com or you can call 9422 7944.
West Australians have the chance to become ‘virtual’ friends with Pope Benedict XVI and evangelise at the same time by joining The Papal Facebook Initiative on the massively popular networking website. Since June 2007, 17,000 members have joined the group that, like others on the website, seeks to unite people of common interests around the world. Only this one is different: when 1 million members are reached, those who started it will send a petition to the Pope to start his own Facebook page, enabling millions of Catholics around the globe to encounter the Pontiff in a whole new way.
This page, if started, will also provide an opportunity for catechesis and formation on an intellectual, spiritual or human basis. The group can be found by logging onto www.facebook.com and typing in “Papal Facebook Initiative” in the site’s search engine. Other networking ‘groups’ on the Facebook website started by active Catholics include, “You might be a hardcore Catholic if…”, a Pope Benedict XVI fanclub, Six30 with CYM, Christopher West Huge Fanclub, Embrace the Grace 2007, “Theology of the Body - JPII Generation, and Perth’s World Youth Day Office also has a Facebook page, giving interested people a networking opportunity in which to share their beliefs. You
Enquiries: 0417 056 706
Government House Ballroom St Georges Terrace, Perth 7pm / 7.30pm start
Admission Free! Faking It will be launched and available for $15 ($10 conc.)
Refreshments provided.
Get Real! with Women’s Forum Australia
On: March 7
At: Government House Ballroom, St Georges Terrace
Santa Maria College in Attadale launched its 70th anniversary celebrations on February 5 with the blessing of Archbishop Barry Hickey and the whole school community.
When: 7pm
over the last seventy years.
Over one thousand college community members attended the Mass, which was celebrated by Archbishop Barry Hickey, Fr Sean Fernandez, Fr Geoff Beyer and Fr Don Kettle in remembrance of the College’s opening in 1938.
Anne Pitos, College Principal, said the Mass was a source of joy and spiritual enrichment for the Santa Maria community. “Our opening Mass allows the College to join together in faith at the beginning of the school year, thanking God for our many blessings and asking for continued guidance.” she said.
“Particularly this year, we also remember Sisters of Mercy and Past Principals, Staff and Students who have diligently guided our College
“In our Eucharist, we honoured the commitment and dedication of our pioneering educators, Sisters of Mercy, Perth, past Principals, Chaplains and the broader community”.
Several special events, reunions and archival displays have been planned for 2008 and the College encourages those interested to visit their website: www.santamaria. wa.edu.au.
Admission is FREE and by registering with a friend you could WIN a $400 digital camera.
Call: 0417 056 706 for more information.
Join now and meet other Christian singles. Choose between one-onone dates and group dinners. Give it a go, it works!
Open 10am - 6pm
Tuesday - Friday
Face paint, jelly and laughter were the order of the day last month when over 30 children from various backgrounds attended a Vinnies Youth Camp on the beach at Busselton.
The Camp is run by the St Vincent de Paul Society for children aged 8 – 12 years who would otherwise not have the opportunity to partake, and involves art and craft, swimming, outdoor games and team building activities all set within a positive and encouraging environment. State Youth Manager of the St Vincent de Paul Society, Rebecca Callaghan says “Vinnies Youth Camps are run every year and every camp is a different experience. Offering these children who are often from disadvantaged situations
an opportunity to attend a camp is very rewarding and we hope that with the help of the community and the ongoing work of the Vinnies Youth volunteers we can continue this wonderful work”.
Vinnies Youth is a Special Work of the St Vincent de Paul Society. Youth members and volunteers coordinate and run a variety of different programs that target the needs of disadvantaged young people.
These include Buddy Days, Homework Centres, Juvenile Detention Centre visits and these wonderful camps – all of which run thanks to the kind support of West Australians.
“This Busselton Camp was a beautiful setting and the children
had a wonderful few days where they could make new friends, play games, try new activities and bond with their leaders and fellow campers”, Rebecca said.
A Vinnies Volunteer from the camp who thoroughly enjoyed the experience as a leader said “Before the camp I never really knew how much of a difference an organisation like Vinnies and its volunteers can have on the people they help, but now I’ve truly witnessed it. Thank you for the opportunity to really put my faith into action!”.
For further information about the Society, volunteering or the Vinnies Youth Camps please phone (08) 9475 5400 or log on to www.vinnies.org.au/wa. To donate to the Society call 13 18 12 or for welfare assistance call 1300 794 054.
Catholic schools in Western Australia have performed outstandingly in last year’s Tertiary Entrance Examinations (TEE). The overall Year Twelve performance by Catholic students in 2007 was the highest ever achieved by the system.
The Catholic system was the only sector to increase the mean Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER) of its schools. This now stands at 81.55, the highest score for the past five years. Additionally, the Year Twelve TEE cohort in Catholic schools grew by nearly 300 to 2625 students, signalling ongoing growth in the system.
The Director of Catholic Education, Mr Ron Dullard, commented that the performance was particularly pleasing, not only for the higher achieving schools, but also because of the outstanding increases in achievement recorded by Catholic schools in lower socio-economic areas.
Mr Dullard also highlighted the strong performances by nonmetropolitan schools, particularly by MacKillop Catholic College (Busselton), Bunbury Catholic College, St Joseph’s College (Albany) and Nagle Catholic College (Geraldton).
Some highlights in 2007 were:
• 10 schools achieved a graduation rate of 100% with 18 in the top 50
• 17 schools were in the top 50 in terms of the number of students in the top third
• 16 schools were in the top 50 according to the number of students recording scores over 75
• 21 schools out of 33 outperformed like schools from other systems.
Catholic schools also performed strongly in vocational education. A particular highlight of 2007 was the awarding of the prestigious Beazley Medal in Vocation Education and Training to Michelle Kite, a student from Corpus Christi College.
In 2007, over 680 000 hours of vocational training were delivered to 3196 students, resulting in the issue of 1726 full certificates.
Mr Dullard commented that this was a pleasing result in that it demonstrates that Catholic schools were able to fully cater for the educational needs of all students. He also noted that Catholic schools have continued in their mission to develop the cultural, social and spiritual needs of all children.
Alive with colour and emotion, the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City is more than a jewel box for lovers of fine art. It is also the pope’s private chapel and the room where cardinals from around the world meet to elect new popes.
As Discovery had such a fantastic response with 100’s of entries the last time we ran the Sistine Chapel Competition we are running it again with a new picture from the book.
This time we have three books to give away. Winners and runners-up will be published in the next issue of Discovery.
Entries need to be in by 12th March
Enjoy!
Orientation Week, from February 18 to 24, focuses on easing new and current students into university life. It’s about getting involved, exploring the campus, meeting new students and preparing for university.
The week involves campus tours, workshops for academic writing, sausage sizzles, library and IT tours and an introduction to the Student Life Office and Student Association who assist in ensuring students have an enjoyable time while at university.
“Orientation week allows you to meet potential lecturers and tutors. They were really friendly and showed me around campus. I felt like a real part of the University community before classes had commenced.” Leigh Dawson said. As a new event this year Dr Jim Elliott will be speaking to new students about the transition to university and culture shock. Dr Elliott is a specialist in transitions into university and helping students when things may have not gone as planned.
Many students may face a number of challenging differences that they possibly did not expect. The session is to help all students understand the changes they may face and provide some strategies to make a successful transition. Orientation week culminates with Family Day on February 24. This event gives new students and their families a chance to see the campus, find out about Notre Dame
PHOTO: UNDA
Student Services, followed by afternoon tea and a Student Welcome Mass in the Holy Spirit chapel.
Notre Dame students prepare for World Youth Day.
This coming July we celebrate World Youth Day which will be held in Sydney. Organised by the Catholic Church, World Youth Day aims to bring young people together from around the world in light of new friendships and hope. In preparation for World Youth Day, The University of Notre Dame, Fremantle campus has been busy organising a range of events as well as preparing those who will be making the journey to Sydney.
In the lead-up to the pilgrimage, a group of Notre Dame staff and students are having regular gatherings to prepare for
the experience of World Youth Day. “The aim of these meetings is to form a sense of community within the pilgrimage group, to better appreciate what is meant by pilgrimage as a physical and spiritual journey and to achieve the hopes and goals that each individual holds in choosing to go to World Youth Day,” chaplain Fr Greg Watson OMI explains.
In July the group will be travelling to the International Oblate Youth Gathering in Melbourne and then join other World Youth Day participants in Sydney.
Along with regular meetings the Fremantle campus is hosting and welcoming the World Youth Day Cross and Icon. This will be on May 21, in conjunction with CBC Fremantle and St Patrick’s Parish and Basilica.
■ By Michelle Jones, Associate Lecturer, Philosophy & Theology
“So, what is God’s Spirit saying to you, Michelle?”
Such was the question posed to me in 1996 by Professor Emeritus Michael Jackson – then the Dean of Notre Dame Australia’s School of Philosophy and Theology – during my meeting with him to fathom the intricacies of my enrolment in the Bachelor of Arts (English Literature and Theology) program.
While I do not remember my answer to the question, I do remember the impact that the question itself made upon me.
I remember thinking that if this was how a theologian engaged with his students then theology was not just yet another academic discipline. It was something much more.
Throughout my undergraduate studies at Notre Dame, and also during my later studies there for a Master of Theology, the ‘much more’ of theology began to reveal itself to me.
Professors like Michael Jackson led me to realise that, first and last, a theologian is a person of prayer. The deepest truths of theology, unlike those of physiotherapy or law or mathematics, for example, are inaccessible to human reason and can only be discovered in that leap of loving trust that is faith.
And then, serious academic analysis of these truths necessarily leads back to prayer; after all, it is the God who is ultimate mystery that we are studying! So theology, I came to discover, is like a love relationship.
The more you love a person, the more you want to know them, and the more you know them, the more you love them!
Upon completing my Masters at Notre Dame, and desiring to broaden my theological horizons, I commenced studies
towards a Licence in Spiritual Theology at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas (popularly called the Angelicum) in Rome. As a lay Australian woman I was certainly a novelty in the mainly clerical environment of the Angelicum. In fact, I so fascinated one of my professors that, for a whole semester, he simply called me “Australia.”
During my three years at the Angelicum, I was predominantly exposed to the Dominican spiritual tradition, and this enriched my appreciation of the ‘much more’ of theology. I learnt from the great Dominican St Thomas Aquinas, for instance, that the student of theology not only receives divine things as knowledge in her mind; she also becomes one thing with them by love and by affection.
And I was exposed to the motto of Dominican teaching and preaching: “to pass on to others what we ourselves have contemplated.”
In Rome, my ever-deeper immersion in theology did not occur simply through what I heard in the lecture hall. Living in the Eternal City was itself immensely formative.
Often, while walking home from the supermarket, laden with groceries and trying to dodge swarms of law-defying youths on scooters, I would think about the lovers of Jesus who had walked the same cobblestoned streets before me.
I realised that although we are perhaps separated by centuries, these lovers, these pilgrims, saints, theologians, are my kindred spirits.
Now that I have returned to Australia, I am delighted to have the privilege of joining the staff of Notre Dame’s School of Philosophy and Theology in Fremantle. I am still listening to what God’s Spirit is saying to me – and I hope to help the students whom I have the honour of encountering to do the same.
To become the antidote, women neeed
to turn away from the social onslaught of what they should look like to recapture an authentic
feminine beauty.
■ By Emily StimpsonThe little girl, eyes soft and brown, nose freckled, age maybe 7, stares into the camera. “Here it comes,” promises the music playing in the background. “Here it comes.” Then, it comes. The young girl’s face disappears, replaced by image after image of halfdressed women – modeling lingerie, selling tyres, spraying cologne. Then more women, women holding bottles of creams, gels and lotions, promising firmer, softer, younger-looking skin.
Then even more women, injecting themselves, augmenting themselves, starving themselves into perfection... or at least, the going notion of perfection on any given day. Words flash across the screen.
“Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does.” The little girl reappears and stares back into the camera.
More than just an advertisement, “Onslaught,” the lastest video in Dove’s Campaing for Real Beauty, is a one-minute slice of the world through a woman’s eyes.
Cultural poison
Turn on the television, scan the maga-
zine rack at the grocery store, take a walk through the mall. Wherever you go, wherever you look, you’ll see the same thing: Beautiful women telling other women that their worth is in their body, that their value can be measured with a bathroom scale.
The right clothes, the right creams, the right hair, they promise, will bring happiness. Unless men find you desirable, they warn, you’re nothing, no one, and you will end up alone.
Unfortunately, women are listening. Depression, anxiety, self-mutilation, immodesty, promiscuity, eating disorders –all are run-of-the-mill problems in schools and homes across the country.
And all, at least in part, are the consequences of current cultural conceptions of feminine beauty, conceptions that define woman as a sexual object and limit beauty to a singular and rare type of physical trait.
Those conceptions are fed by the multibillion-dollar fashion, beauty and diet industries.
And they are exacerbated by the breakdown of the traditional family – absent fathers and mothers unable or unwilling to give their daughters the time, attention and affection they need. Those conceptions also harm more than just women and their self-esteem.
Ultimately, they lead both men and women away from God and each other. By playing on the lower instincts of the one, the insecurities of the other, the constant barrage of images incarnating those
conecptions become occasions of sin and despair for both sexes. They are nothing less than cultural poison.
For Catholic women, living, working and raising children in today’s culture, the question is not only how do they protect themselves and their daughters from that poison, but how do they help the culture find an antidote?
How do they conteract the effects of the culture’s conceptions of feminine beauty and help both men and women recover a correct understanding of the dignity and vocation of women?
The answer is to become the antidote. Catholic women must come to understand what real beauty is and pursue it. They must become the living embodiment of true beauty.
By doing so, not only can they learn to protect themselves from negative cultural messages about beauty, but they can help others do so as well. That task falls to woman as part of her feminine vocation, as one of her essential responsiblilities as the female image of God.
Ever since Eve first stunned Adam in the Garden, women and beauty have walked hand in hand.
In Scripture, woman is the beloved, the one sought after, the one who draws man away from his father and mother so that he might become one flesh with her. In history, she is the muse, the inspiration of the
world’s greatest poetry, painting and song.
In the culture, she is the one who civilises children and men, who cultivates beauty in the city and the home. And in the family, she is the giver and nurturer of life, whose face is the first sight a child learns to see with delight.
Through her body and through her soul, woman makes visible the invisible beauty of God.
Through her actions and through her interests, she images her Creator, the author and source of all beauty. It is for this very reason that the devil has a vested interest in attacking beauty.
Warp woman’s spiritual beauty with vanity and insecurity, warp woman’s physical beauty with dangerous diets, unflattering fashions and mindless surgeries, warp woman’s understanding of her true worth and dignity and you’ve warped the living image of the beauty of God.
Warp men’s perception of feminine beauty, and you’ve sealed the deal, shattering the capacity of both sexes to image the Trinity in a holy, life-giving communion.
But just as the devil has his interests vested in attacking feminine beauty, so should Catholic women have their interests vested in recovering a true understanding of that beauty, in passing it on to their daughters, and in living as witnesses to that beauty in the culture.
- Continued on page 8
Agood defence against the problems of body image and self image outlined in this issue of discovery is to learn to like yourself and to reinforce that attitude through the affirmation ‘I like myself’.
Say it if ever you’re feeling down. Say it as you look yourself in the eye in the bathroom mirror every morning, and if the little voice inside wants to deny it, repeat ‘I like myself’ until the voice shuts up and you can face yourself and mean it.
Saying ‘I like myself’ has nothing to do with vanity (I like myself because I’m smart or pretty or strong) or comparisons (I like myself because I’m smarter than half the class or prettier than Jane or stronger than Harry) or conditions (I will like myself when I get thinner or get rid of my pimples or become more popular).
Learn to like yourself because you are the only person you are ever going to be, and there is no point in not liking the person you are going to live with all your life.
When you learn to like yourself, you will find it easy to like other people, and other people will find it easy to like you.
The deepest and best reason for liking yourself, the reason that will never go away, is that you are made in the image and likeness of God.
You are a direct expression of the will of our Father in heaven, and you are the only person who can be the person God wants you to be. As He said, “I have called you by name and I love you.”
Jesus proved that love by dying on the Cross for you and by giving you Himself in the Sacrament of love, the Blessed Eucharist.
There can’t be any better reasons to like being who you are.
Providing key insights into the mystery of femininity and the vocations of both men and women, Pope John Paul II’s theology of the body was, in many ways, a response to the destructive understanding of women behind current misconceptions of feminine beauty.
Recently, Our Sunday Visitor talked with Lisa Lickona, a mother of six and international lecturer on theology of the body and parenting, about how the theology of the body can help women and their daughters reject cultural messages about beauty and come to a deeper understanding of their own vocation.
Mrs Lickona said that Pope John Paul II’s teaching and writing on women give us a rich picture of the origins of woman’s beauty – “the genius” with which God created her. “The genius is the unique way she gives of herself, both physically and spiritually. Physically, you can see that in motherhood. She gives life to the baby, first in her womb and birth, then through nursing the baby.
“Spiritually, women give of themselves through their gift of being attentive to persons in very specific needs. John Paul II emphasised that women have that gift whether or not they have children.
As for her body, John Paul taught that it manifests the beauty of her person, reflecting that inner disposition to give life, to nurture.
“Because the culture has been so deformed by contradictions we have a view of the feminine body as something to be used for pleasure and men have been primarily trained to look at a body and evaluate it based on its sexual desirability, not its orientation to motherhood.
“That’s a view we have to protect young girls from. We don’t want them to be used, we want them to be loved, and we want them to know their beauty comes from being able to give of themselves in the service of life.“There is no clearer model of feminine genius than Mary. She’s daughter of the Father, mother of the Son, spouse of the Holy Spirit. And in all those
Continued from page 7
That recovery is no easy matter. It requires the work of men and women, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. It involves prayers, conversion and sacraments.
It demands living counter-culturally, reassessing the littlest details of daily life, from clothes and entertainment to conversation and friends.
But the recovery of a correct understanding of feminine beauty doesn’t begin with any of those things. Inspired by Pope John Paul II’s theology of the body, it begins with four simple principles.
One: The source of a woman’s worth and dignity is not her sexual desirability. Her dignity comes from God, who created her, loves her and desires to be with her.
Two: From her relationship with God flows all that makes her beautiful in his eyes – a prayerful soul, a humble spirit, a selfless heart.
different dimensions, she is the one who is beloved. Her beauty comes from being the beloved of God. Parents pass on this knowledge with their love, their presence and commitment to their children, especially with young girls.
“If you think about how woman is depicted in Scripture, in the Songs of Songs, it’s as the beloved. Oftentimes we lose sight of the spousal distinction that’s there. Man is the “lover”; woman the “beloved.” “I think because of that there’s a distinct need in women’s psyche to feel loved and appreciated. They need to know they’re beautiful inside and out. So pour your affection on your daughters.
“The love between the parents is also critical. That radiates to the child the truth of who God made us to be. The love of God has to be manifested through the parents. The more girls know they’re loved and desired by God, the less tempted they’ll be to measure their worth by what boys think of them.
“In a girl’s relationship with her father she comes to understand what it means to relate to members of the opposite sex.
“Fathers have to understand that their daughters want their dads to consider them beautiful and to love them as they are. A dad can make his daughter feel like she’s the queen of the universe by appreciating her inside and out, her looks and virtues.
Ultimately, it’s the love and engagement of the father that plays the strongest part in helping a girl know that, ‘I am a gift. My dignity comes from God, and that’s not just something I’m going to throw away by dressing a certain way or engaging in certain behaviours.’
“In the same way, fathers set the standard for modesty. When watching a football game on television, it’s a huge thing for him to register displeasure with the ads, shutting off the TV commercials or changing the channel. The more the father witnesses that he doesn’t view women as sexual objects, that he’s not going to sit there and ogle women, the more likely his daughter will have a correct understanding of her worth”
Without that kind of beauty, true beauty is impossible.
Three: In the words of Pope John Paul II, “The body expresses the person.” In other words, whatever is on the inside eventually shows up on the outside.
No matter what the billboard models say about beauty, in the long run, the surest way for a woman to make herself unattractive to both God and men is to have a soul infested by vanity, immodesty, vulgarity and promiscuity.
Conversely, a beautiful spirit will always make itself known through a smile, a laugh, a body that moves with grace or a voice that speaks with intelligence.
All those things and a thousand more influence how attractive people think a woman is. Beauty is more than the sum of one’s parts.
Four: Chucking soap and donning burkas are not appropriate responses to the culture’s wrong-headed notions of feminine beauty. It’s
3 million – 4 million American women suff
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OK for women to want to look lovely. Again, the body expresses the person.
It’s entirely fitting for a woman’s body to reveal the beauty of her soul. But that doesn’t mean kowtowing to the culture’s standard of beauty. It means looking truly lovely – graceful, well-dressed, put together, healthy, confident, eschewing both immodesty and slovenliness.
It means caring for the face and body with which God graced her. And it means rejoicing in her own unique loveliness with both gratitude and humility.
Those four principles lay the foundation for a recovery of authentic feminine beauty: a beauty that begins in the soul and is manifested in the body, that is feminine, not sexless; selfforgetful, not self-absorbed; graceful, not sexy. This is a beauty every woman can possess, and
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nly by becoming that in Christ women escape the onslaught lies coming at them every day. only by being beautiful – truly, wholly, ody and soul, mind and spirit beautiful n Catholic women help the culture recover it has lost – the truth about the dignity vocation of women and a window into the haustible loveliness of God.
With two girls aged one and two, young mother, Christina Ryan, says mothers of young girls have their own battles to face when protecting their daughter’s modesty.
“Bratz Dolls are a particular problem for very young girls. With their plump lips, cat eyes and alluring poses, they subtly teach girls how society expects them to act later in life –something I never want my girls to reproduce,” the Ascot mother said, adding that advertisements for such colourful toys on the TV are even harder to control.
With another child on the way, Christina says modesty can even be difficult to maintain when purchasing small children’s clothing.
However, it is through Christina’s modest fashion example that Jacinta (aged two) and Elizabeth (aged one) have already begun to understand proper modesty.
“I regularly tell both my girls that they are beautiful, because I believe that in giving them positive body image they will have the strength to maintain their modesty later in life,” she said.
‘Starting early’ is at the core of Christina’s strategy for maintaining modesty, “especially when my efforts are up against t-shirts for my two-year-old with slogans like, ‘Look at my face,” she said, adding that condoning such an outlook provides a cheap alternative to everything a person has to offer.
“Modesty shows that a person has much more to offer than merely physical appearance and a certain pride in that knowledge.
“I want my children to grow up knowing that real beauty does not just lie in their appearance, but rather in how they present themselves as a whole person – for our family, modesty is a large part of what it means to be truly beautiful,” Christina said.
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“Fashion, peer pressure and summer make it harder to be modest,” said mother of seven, Margaret Laundy, who believes it takes a strong person to dress against society’s pressures.
Ocean Reef mother of two girls, aged eight and 16, she says the most important thing she learnt was that an awareness of modesty needs to begin early in life.
“I started emphasising modesty much earlier with Bernadette, my eight-year-old and realised the great difference it made to her outlook,” she said. Highlighting modesty and healthy body image for the Laundy household has included little TV and the banning of reality TV and soap operas, which Margaret says gives a terrible message to young girls. More importantly, Margaret has focused on providing her two girls with feminine roles within the family, which, coupled with positive reinforcement from their father, Peter and five brothers, has imparted self worth and an understanding of responsibility.
“I have also always encouraged my girls to dress themselves from an early age, to dress well and to find pride in being well groomed,” she said, adding that there are plenty of clothes that can be very flattering without being immodest. And while Margaret also concedes that no parent wants their child to be ostracised by others, she has found many supportive families with children of similar ages, who are happy to promote true beauty. For the Laundys this means showing appreciation for the body without abusing it through drugs, alcohol or by emphasising sexuality, being unfit or poorly groomed.
“A lot of mothers may want to be their child’s friend, but mothering must come first, especially when it comes to modesty and protecting a child’s naturally positive body image. I just continue to pray for the graces to be the mother God intends me to be,” she said.
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The Australian Young Christian Students organisation has clearly marked out its journey over the next year: to empower students and enrich their lives and their faith.
Empowering students to recognise the fact that they are all created in God’s image – Jesus’ image – the YCS has identified body image, bullying and racism as the three key areas of their work, under the banner “100% respect”.
Nationwide research and discussion throughout Australia’s YCS networks has revealed that body image, bullying and racism are the three issues of biggest concern among our younger generation.
After their recent national conference in Sydney, the YCS released a statement saying that students have been victims of bullying, homelessness, poverty, patronising; they have been disregarded and disrespected, which in some cases has led to youth disrespecting themselves.
This has led to self-harm, eating disorders and believing they are worth less than they are. Bullying, racism and the divide between the wealthy and the poor are not conducive to bringing about the Kingdom of God,” the AYCS Vision For Our World formulated at the national conference said, and vowed to “overcome these issues via action taken by students in a connected international movement”.
“It is the example of Jesus Christ which gives the direction students need to feel empowered and passionate about changing the world around them,” the YCS’ 100%
Respect statement said. “His openness, patience and radical thinking have burnt fires of faith and passion in people for centuries, and offer a path by which the world of respect the YCS works for can be achieved.”
The YCS asks the community to work with young people by involving them in organisations and activities so that their enthusiasm and perspective can influence community members on a local and personal level.“We believe that a truly Christian response is not to withdraw from our world, but to interact with it and transform it in the image of Christ,” it said. The YCS also acknowledged the influence of the media in young people’s body image and bullying problems, and called on the media to “provide an accurate picture of the struggles and challenges faced by young people both in Australia and around the world”.
The AYCS’ Vision For Our World, formulated at the national conference, states that students around the world should be able to live in supportive and harmonious families, free from the burden of domestic violence and broken homes.“It is the light of Christ which will shine through each of our actions to bring about God’s Kingdom,” the YCS Vision said.
The YCS is also urging West Australian students to send them stories about disrespect to send to mass-media and government organisations as a “big impact package about who we are and how young people live”.
YCS can be contacted on 9422 7911 or perth@aycs.org,au
Perth’s Young Christian Students coordinator Victoria Burrows has risen up the ranks, being appointed the AYCS’s National Formation Coordinator to be based in Melbourne until July.
She will be replaced in Perth by Rosemary Parker, while Victoria, who has developed a rapport with many Perth Catholic schools developing young leaders, will now work to support the growth and development of the Melbourne YCS, while supporting the Port Pirie, Perth and Parramatta dioceses, the formation of Adult Assistants and chaplains, the Formation of Active Christian Leaders and is also responsible for supporting the students in the development of the 100% Respect Campaign. She will work as a team with Devett O’Brien who is the National Coordinator who will be based in Canberra for the first half of the year. Both their locations will change after WYD, and both their roles will be heavily involved in WYD, especially Victoria’s in the pre and post formation-period of the event to be held in Sydney from July 15-20. Victoria will live at the Northcote parish with Fr Michael where the YCW started in Australia, and will remain on the Australian Catholic Youth Council. Her job description requires her to be willing to learn more about the Cardijnian spirituality and particularly the Review of Life method (see, judge, act).The Young Christian Workers was started by Monsignor (and later Cardinal) Joseph Cardijn, a Belgian priest.
At Whiteman Park we have eight exciting Environmental and Transport Heritage Education Programs which have been developed to link in with the Education Department’s publication Outcomes and Standard Framework.
For details of these interactive, low-cost programs (from $2.00 to $6.00 per student), call 9209 6000 or visit www.whitemanpark.com
discovery
CFFFL and Discovery
Father Kevin Cummins is an Irish Catholic priest and works as chaplain at Graylands Hospital. What is remarkable about Father Kevin is that he is a Catholic priest in the Melkite Rite and is a husband, father and grandfather. Barbara Harris, vice chairperson of the Committee For Family and For Life recently interviewed Fr Kevin and his wife Roula who work as a team at Graylands Hospital in the Catholic chaplaincy there.
Father Kevin described his unusual faith journey from an Irish Roman Catholic to Deacon Kevin in the Byzantine Rite to Father Kevin, a Melkite priest.
Fr Kevin explained briefly that within the Eastern Rite tradition of the Catholic Church there are several Traditions, for example, Antiochene, Alexandrian, and the Byzantine Tradition.
All these different Rites recognise the Pope as their head.
Father Kevin’s journey began when, as a young man, he went to Greece for a holiday and stayed.
It was in Greece that Fr Kevin was introduced to the Byzantine Tradition and to his future wife, Roula whom he married 42 years ago. Roula is from the Orthodox Tradition and they found the Byzantine Tradition a happy medium.
Friendship with the Byzantine exarch (bishop) in Athens set the wheels in motion. Later the couple moved to England and Kevin began teaching there. In 1980 Kevin began studies to become a Deacon in the Roman (Latin) Tradition.
In 1992, the exarch of Athens in the Byzantine tradition, who was a friend of the Cummins family, rang Kevin and asked him to come back to Athens where he would ordain him a Deacon.
The Cummins children had all finished university and had started work, so they moved to Athens.
Roula’s mother, who lived in Athens was not well and Roula wanted to be close to her mother.
After 11 years as a Deacon in the Byzantine Tradition the Melkite exarch was prepared
to ordain Deacon Kevin as a priest. Roula remembered the time well.
“We were in Athens and got a phone call at 2am one day to say that Kevin would be ordained in Perth on the feast of the Annunciation in March 2007,” he said. “We had nothing ready.
We had planned to come to Perth to be with our daughter, Tania, who was going to give birth in April, but we didn’t have visas nor had we done any packing.
“The Bishop delayed his trip to Perth until after the baby was born and so Kevin was ordained priest in the Melkite Tradition.”
A courtesy visit to Archbishop Barry Hickey of Perth by Fr Kevin and Roula catapulted the pair into Graylands Hospital.
The Bishop of Athens, Kevin’s Bishop graciously gave his permission for Kevin to take this Ministry.
Being involved in Mental Health was not a new experience for Kevin and Roula.
The couple had both been befrienders in the organisation called MIND (now know as National Association for Mental Health) that is the leading mental health charity in England and Wales.
The organisation works to create a better life for everyone with experience of mental distress by advancing the views, needs and ambitions of people with mental health problems; challenging discrimination and promoting inclusion and education; and inspiring the development of quality services which reflect expressed need and diversity.
Fr Kevin and Roula originally came to Graylands Hospital Chaplaincy to fill in for six weeks at the maximum. Attempts are
presently being made to extend their visas.
“The response has been very positive,” Fr Kevin said.
“People accept the situation of a married couple and it makes it easier for both of us to approach people who sometimes are wary.
“Being married we have worked together for many years as a team. We sort of complement each other.”
Roula recalled how one of the patients asked her if she could bake some biscuits.
“I must confess that I did bake the first batch but bought biscuits from the shop after that. They often view me as their mum or auntie and call Kevin, ‘Pop.’
“People accept that Kevin has children and understands problems of family. For example last week Kevin baptised his grandson.
“The people here knew about it and my daughter brought our grandson in. People now ask, ‘How is the baby?’ ‘How was the christening?’”
It was evident that Fr Kevin and Roula take their role very seriously. During the interview at Graylands Hosptal, there were several intermissions while Roula or Fr Kevin was called out to ministry.
Fr Kevin says: “Many patients hear voices. They think they’re being attacked by devils so they come to you for ministering for healing. It’s not my healing but they do appreciate blessings and are constantly asking for blessings.”
“My contribution sometimes,” says Roula, “is simply to sit with someone, perhaps give someone a hug. There are so many young people here, the same ages as our children. There are many people here or visitors to
Members of the Committee for Family and for Life are:
Bishop Don Sproxton 9223 1351
Fr Doug Harris 9444 6131
Dorothy Beyer 9286 2897
Jennifer Carroll 9243 0966
Barbara Harris 9328 8113
Derek Boylen 9325 1859
Lydia Fernandez 9328 2929
Margaret Maassen 6380 5314
Bronia Karniewciz 9375 2029
people here who are around the same age as us.”
“You know,” says Fr Kevin, “people here can say the weirdest things sometimes and some very profound things, too.
“It is humbling.
“We are learning so much and people are so trusting.”
Fr Kevin and Roula are conscious of the great unmet need at Graylands. Already they have extended their celebration of Mass and communion services to some of the other wards, for example the locked wards.
Not everbody is able to get to the Chapel, or the Pastoral Centre.
“When people are sick the sacraments become very important. The Lord is full of compassion,” Fr Kevin said.
“When we look at the situation there is a feeling of helplessness.
“We cannot just take out a book and find something that will fit.
“The Lord is here and we are just his agents. Just today a patient who has been hospitalised for more than 30 years came out with, ‘Kevin, it is not who you are; God loves everybody’.
“I’m learning every day.
“They are suffering children of God and it is rewarding. It is a joy to be here.”
Fr Kevin and Roula Cummins can be contacted at Graylands Hospital Pastoral Centre on 9347 6682
The Archdiocesan Committee for Family and for Life Newsletter, through Discovery, can be downloaded from the internet. Go to the Perth Archdiocesan homepage www.perthcatholic.org.au, click “organisations”, then click “ecclesiastical organisations”, then click “Committee for Family and for Life”. The Newsletter is available in alternate formats, Braille, Plain English text and on audio tape by contacting Su Goh on 9242 4066 at the L.J.Goody Bioethics Centre.
What?! Surely not in a Catholic school!
“Absolutely!” says Christine Fernandez, operations manager at Natural Fertility Services. “It is vital that children know the truth about themselves; that they are beautiful and good, to love themselves as they are, and to look forward to the changes in their growing bodies, their emotions and their relationships.”
Natural Fertility Services, at 29 Victoria Square, supports parents and teachers in their challenge to educate children about Catholic values with regard to human sexuality and keeping their fertility healthy and safe for the future. The majority of their family life educators are parents, so they understand firsthand the enormity of the task to live a life that is often counter-cultural. They are passionate about our work with children and have plenty of stories to tell about their family experiences. Their children provide them with plenty of material.
“When I tell a group that I have been married to my husband for nearly 16 years and we are still going strong the classroom erupts in spontaneous applause,” says Christine.
“Yes, love can last a lifetime and children need to know that it is a possible and more fulfilling way of life to strive for Catholic ideals in their own lives. We do not need to buy into the lies of the me culture we live in.”
Christine likes to tell the story of her first glimpse of their third child by ultrasound when he was six weeks in utero.
He was as big as a grain of rice with an enormous beating heart. He may not have looked particularly human at that early stage of development, but she fell in love with him and eagerly awaited his birth.
“Every child has their own special story of birth and early life and we encourage children to explore their stories and pictures with their parents and caregivers. Life is a precious gift,” says Christine.
Natural Fertility Services began its journey into upper primary religious education in 2004, after 30 years experience in secondary schools.
It launched a pilot program at Padbury Catholic Primary school. Since then the Becoming a Man and Becoming a Woman programs have been a huge success, running for 90 minutes in single sex groupings so that boys and girls can concentrate on their own issues and concerns while they gain insights into the mysteries of the opposite sex.
Throughout the presentations the educators are peppered with interesting questions like: How can you breathe in the uterus? How do multiple births occur? What about conjoined twins? Do identical twins have the same fingerprints? Is it true that athletes have more girls? Why do miscarriages happen? Is it mum or dad that determines the sex of a baby? We have some fascinating discussions about genetics!
The individual groupings of boys and girls also produce interesting gender specific questions such as: What is inside the testes? Why does it hurt so much when you get hit in the testes? Do wet dreams hurt? Are they healthy and can you have them during the day? Do sperm cells die? How do sperm cells know where to go? And for the girls: Can you run out of eggs? When can I expect my first period and what can I do if I get my period at school, camp or in the middle of the bush or a beach with no shops? What activities can I do with a pad on? Can you go to the toilet when wearing a tampon? Can it get lost inside my body and what if the string breaks? If you don’t know that you are pregnant and put a tampon in, will it hurt the baby? The list is endless!
Thirty-seven Catholic primary schools in the Perth Archdiocese and the Bunbury Diocese have enjoyed the new programs since 2004. Natural Fertility Services now has a diverse Family Life Education Team running the programs: Derek Boylen, the Director, Sofia Campbell from Argentina, Alessandra D’Amico born in Egypt with Italian and Greek heritage, Catherine Gordon from Hong Kong, Nancy Turner, an Italian Aussie, and Christine Fernandez the charismatic Canadian with a Singaporean husband and Eurasian children. A colourful crew by all accounts!
Teachers in the schools have responded positively to the new programs.
Lou Miller, Year 7 teacher at St. Benedict’s Primary says the educator “…had instant rapport with the boys. Her presentation was very well organised and set at just the right level for this age group. Fantastic presentation!
She has laid a solid foundation for me to centre my religious education unit around this term.”
Jen Rudyard, Year 7 teacher, said: “thank you for your visit to Holy Rosary Primary, it was a valuable experience for the children and they thoroughly enjoyed the visit.”
Kelly Winfield, Year 7 teacher at Padbury Catholic Primary, said: “I loved the human connection of your presentation”
Jack Traziotti, Year 6 teacher at St Michael’s Primary Schoo, said: “An excellent presentation. The boys remained engaged and interested throughout. All boys that I spoke to enjoyed the presentation and found it informative and helpful.”
Katie Foster, Year 7 teacher at St Michael’s Primary: “The content and presentation were directed well to their level - a presentation well worth the wait. It was interactive ...The educator was very confident and comfortable. In addition, she was very knowledgeable about the topic… Even I found myself learning some new things.”
If you would like to make a booking for your school, or would like more information about joining our Family Life Education team (as we need all the help we can get!), call them on 9223 1396.
A workshop on Coping with Grief will be held at:
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Hall, corner Lesmurdie and Glyde Roads, Lesmurdie, on Wednesday, February 20 from 7.30-9pm.
It will be conducted by Gerry Smith, the director of Grief Management Educational Services, and a respected grief counsellor for more than 25 years.
The workshop will cover not just grief issues relating to the death of a loved one, but also to any life-changing situation, such as divorce, loss of employment, children leaving home or diagnosis of an illness (eg mental illness).
Admission to the workshop is sponsored by the: Catholic Mental Health Group
For more information, contact Barbara, from Emmanuel Centre, a self-help centre for people with disabilities, their families and carers, on 9328 8113.
Medicallyandscientificallyaccurate
Picture this:
A young couple arrives at a home, is warmly greeted by an older couple and for the next two hours or so, the foursome watch a short video, pore over workbooks and share life experiences. There is frequent laughter, some tears and a reluctant parting at night’s end, with promises of another meeting the following week.
■ By Su GohWelcome to Marriage Preparation, Willetton Parish style, where each engaged couple preparing to marry in the Church, is taken under the wings of an older, married couple who “mentor” them through seven weekly sessions of intensive relationshipbuilding exercises.
Started in the late 1980s using the Sponsor Couple Program created by Fr Rob Ruhnke, the then family life director for the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, USA, the parish-based program has prepared close to 200 engaged couples, with the help of about 22 sponsor couples over the years. There are currently six sponsor couples, with each expecting to
sponsor two engaged couples a year.
Several sponsor couples have been with the program for more than 15 years, including the original program coordinators, Basil and Christina Fernandez, Willetton parish stalwarts, who are as passionate about the program today as when they first started.
“There is something wonderful about sharing the joy of a young couple as they discover new ways to a richer and deeper relationship with each other,” said Christina, who was overjoyed when her own daughter
Vanessa and her fiancé Markus, went through the program before their wedding last year.
The Willetton Marriage Preparation group is now in its second “phase”, having adopted an updated version of the US program last year, called “Today and All the Days of Your Life.
However, it still retains the very intimate couple-to-couple approach to marriage preparation which has proved very effective.
The program covers topics like family of origin, communication with God and
each other, sex and sexuality, romance, disillusionment and joy. Even stewardship and finances are covered in the course designed for prospective marriage partners.
Vanessa Fernandez-Kennedy, who recently celebrated her first wedding anniversary, sums it up thus: “The program was a warm and wonderful experience for us.
“The one-on-one meetings helped to create a great sense of support, trust and openness between us and our mentors, which continues to this day. The sessions opened our eyes to the realities of married life and gave us relevant and vital knowledge which will serve us well throughout our marriage.
“What we appreciated most was the opportunity to share with and learn from our mentors.”
Ask any young child you see at John Paul Church in Willetton what he likes about coming to Mass and chances are, his answer will be “the Blessing”.
Ask any parent, and you’re likely to get the same answer.
The Blessing is what one parent describes as “a special and unique part of the Mass at John Paul” when children who are too young to receive Holy Communion are invited by the priest to come forward to receive individual blessings.
It occurs after the distribution of Communion and the period of thanksgiving. What follows is a heart-warming scene that never fails to evoke smiles, and sometimes laughter as eager children pour from the pews - some dragging tiny siblings barely steady on their feet – to wait patiently for their turn to be blessed. They are joined by beaming parents carrying babies in their arms.
Even more remarkable than the lack of jostling among such a press of little bodies, is the stillness and quiet the children display as each waits for the touch on his head which lets him know he has been blessed.
For most parishioners, this practice is much more than just a misty-eyed moment, or a welcome distraction for the kids. It says to them that their children are welcomed and valued members of the parish family, and it is therefore a cherished tradition.
“It encourages families with young children to attend Mass as this part of the Mass is set aside just for them,” said Russell Godsall, father of Thomas, 12 and Liam, nine, Thomas was born soon after Russell and his wife, Joanne, moved into the parish after migrating from England.
“It is something wonderful, as parents of a newborn child, to take him up to be blessed for the first time,” Russell added.
For Simon and Joanne Bowen, Willetton parishioners for 17 years, and parents of three girls now aged 13 – 21, the blessing is one of the reasons they feel a strong sense of belonging to the parish. Said Simon, who is chairman of the parish pastoral council, “The blessing has always been important to us as a symbol of the nurturing nature of our parish. It is through traditions such as the blessing that we have formed our view of John Paul as a family-based parish.”
587 Newcastle St
West Perth 6005
ph: 9227 7080
email: bookshop@therecord.com.au
Mon,Thurs, Friday 10am - 4.30pm,
Closed Tuesday’s
Playlist:
1. Eric Levi Ameno
2. Amy Grant Angels
As pilgrims prepare for Sydney, World Youth Day have released ‘Receive The Power – the Album’. Featuring both versions of the official theme song, Receive The Power, this album is a collection of some of the world’s leading Christian, Australian and International artists.
$29.95+postage
11. Fr Stan Fortuna The Humility of God
■ Reviewed by Natalie Thomas
The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: The 25 Year Landmark Study
By Judith Wallerstein, Julia M. Lewis & Sandra BlakesleeAvailable from The Record Bookshop for $27.95 + postage
In 1975 sociologist Judith Wallerstein embarked on a project of walking with “children of divorce” to document what they were really going through.
Wallerstein followed many children from a range of different ages and backgrounds from soon after their parents divorce until 25 years later. She believed these children, now adults, would adjust to living relatively normal adult lives.
solution at all to the problems that exist in troubled marriages. Divorce seemed to end the immediate tension, but it made way for a new long-term tension, which emerged more clearly in the children’s adult lives.
Divorce, which legally declared their parents’ marriage ended, did not end the problems, hurt and trauma of the troubled marriage. Instead, it hid these problems, hurt and trauma underground taking away from children the possibility of having the underlying problems in their parents’ marriage resolved and the scars healed.
3. Guy Sebastian & Paulini Receive the Power
4. Hayley Westernra Amazing Grace
5. Gary Pinto Behold the Cross
6. Guy Sebastian Taller, Stronger, Better
7. Stacey Orrico There’s Gotta Be More To Life
8. Mary Mary Shackles (Praise You)
9. Switchfoot Dare You To Move
10. Avalon Testify to Love
12. Carrie Underwood Jesus, Take the Wheel
13. Rachel Lampa Blessed
14. Il Divo Ave Maria
15. Russel Watson You Raise Me Up
16. Amelia Farrugia Until We Meet Again (Irish Blessing)
17. Brooke Fraser Hymn
18. MercyMe I Can Only Imagine
19. Amelia Farrugia / Robert Galea / Paulini / Guy Sebastian / German Silva
Receive The Power (Intl. Version)
Mel Gibson’s powerfully moving interpretation of The Passion of Christ, that portrays the unbreakable passionate love of God for all humanity, which was the basis of Christ’s life, death and resurrection in order to break Satan’s hold on man, restore all creation back to God and unleash the power of God in man by making an everlasting communion with us. (Also includes ‘The Compassion of the Mother of Christ in the Passion of Christ’ booklet) $29.95+postage
Witnesses For Christ Lenten Program 2008
As we come together this Lent in preparation for World Youth Day, we encounter Christ through prayer, reflection, word and song. “Witnesses for Christ” is designed for use by small groups, families or individuals to consider the Gospel reading for the following Sunday, and to reflect on the Gospel passage and a personal testimony.
The themes through Lent are:
Session 1 (Second Sunday of Lent): The Transfiguration
Session 2 (Third Sunday of Lent): Jesus & the Samaritan Woman
Session 3 (Fourth Sunday of Lent): The Healing of the Man
Born Blind
Session 4 (5th Sunday of Lent): The Raising of Lazarus
Session 5 (Passion Sunday): The Crucifixion
Witnesses For Christ CD (containing a reading of the Gospel passage, a reflection on the Gospel, a short guided meditation and a final hymn for each session)
$12 +postage
Witnesses For Christ Program & Study Guide (containing opening prayer, Gospel reading, Reflection, Discussion questions, testimony & concluding prayers for each session)
$8 + postage
What she found was an Unexpected Legacy of Divorce, a collection of testimonies of the unvoiced inner lives of children of divorce, and the wounds they carry within them as part of the very core of who they are.
Wallerstein does not condemn parents who have divorced. She also makes it very clear that no spouse or child should live in a violent or unstable home. Separation is a necessity in some cases. Rather, her book is a look deep under the surface of children’s experiences of divorce.
As I prepared to read this book I was partly skeptical and partly fearful about what I would read. Would my own experience as a child of divorce be confirmed here? If it was, what became of those children I identified with? So, I began reading.
All the children felt isolated from their parents, who went into their own survival mode during the course of the divorce, leaving children in a certain sense raising themselves and becoming grown-ups before their time, without the proper guidance as to how to do this. Also, because the underlying problems of the marriages were not resolved, this began to affect every parent’s relationship with their children.
Parents constantly voiced to their children a negative and derogatory attitude toward their ex-spouse. As the children identified closely with both their parents, this affected the way the children saw themselves, their parents and how they began to relate to their parents. Children were very cautious as to who they were and what they did in the presence of both parents.
As these men and women spoke it was like looking into a mirror of my own inner life. I identified with the myriad of hurts and fears that they were also living with. From their life stories I saw with great clarity why I am the way I am. I began to see how my parents divorce left me with a latent fear of commitment, constant doubting as to whether long-term and life-long commitment to anything was possible, no matter how much assurance I received from others.
I realised how my parents’ unstable marriage and divorce left me with a deep sense that conflict was never resolvable, and always ended in abandonment and the two parties going their separate ways, so matters were best avoided and never challenged or resolved.
Through this book I also began to remember that children see the world differently to adults. For a child, your family is your world. The love between your parents is what matters and that union keeps everything together. When parents argue children believe their parents will work it out. When parents divorce it does not make sense. “How can something else be greater than your love and our lives together?”
When a child’s indivisible world is divided finally into two it begins a cycle of living that is not as it should be. Love and hope are replaced with disintegration and fear. All children of divorce grow up with the desire to make everything in their lives a success, including marriage.
Yet even in success, there is a constant fear that the bottom will eventually fall out and dreams fail. As a result, we live our lives in trepidation. As I continued to read, story after story confirmed that divorce is not a
All this added together left children with identity issues. They did not know who they really were in adult life because they did not have the freedom and help to be who they truly were growing up.
In cases of violent marriages, divorce did not end the cycle of violence. One young man in particular described how, even after the divorce, his father still had problems with anger and violence. He still voiced an extremely violent attitude toward his ex-wife. The boy began to take on his father’s violent attitude, even toward his mother. His sister continued to carry severe scars from these encounters.
Ultimately, the UnexpectedLegacyofDivorce is not just a testimony to the damage divorce does to children. It is also hope for children who have experienced their parents’ divorce. As we become more aware of the wounds we each carry, we can embark on their healing.
With the very real grace of God we can begin to break the thinking and behavioural patterns our parents’ divorce created within us and replace them with healthy patterns. We can begin to confront our fears, forgive our parents and let go of the resentment we feel toward them.
Hopefully, we will have an opportunity to speak with our parents about how their choice affected who we became and start to bridge the distance the divorce created between us and our parents. Eventually we may even be able to help our parents begin their own healing process.
For children of divorce this book is a relieving exploration of the deep feelings and experiences we have within us. For parents who have divorced, this will be painful to read but it will express many things your children have wished to express. For those who are considering divorce, please consider these testimonies first.
$9.95 + postage
Prayers for Catholics Experiencing Divorce
$11.95 + postage
Available through The Record Bookshop
■ Reviewed by Mark Reidy
This book does not take a moralising stance on the issues raised by divorce, but addresses the subject from the perspective of those who have already made the decision. Both Bedard, with firsthand understanding of divorce, and Rabior, an experienced social worker, are aware of the emotional and spiritual trials associated with the decision and have opted to concentrate their efforts on the journey of healing that is necessary but, they state, does not necessarily always follow.
This concise 69-page book interweaves personal testimonies with practical advice on how to cope with grief and other powerful emotions and its progressive format assists the reader in identifying their own stage of healing and responding accordingly.
The authors are firm in their belief that the level of hurt experienced and subsequent healing required is unique to each individual, but they have found that wrestling with the questions of “Who was I?” “Who am I?” and “Who will I be?” are common to most people.
It is important, they write, that one finds their fundamental identity in their relationship with God and that prayer be the avenue in rediscovering oneself in the aftermath of separation.
But they are well balanced in their approach and are adamant that the process of healing must incorporate areas such as individual, group or specialised therapy if appropriate. The book attempts to clarify issues surrounding the annulment process, receiving Church Sacraments as well as addressing common misconceptions of Church teaching and has been given an Imprimatur by the Auxiliary Bishop of St Louis, Most Reverend Robert J Hermann.
Its final chapter, From Darkness to New Life, addresses the issue of forming new relationships, but emphasises that this is often rushed into and consequently can lead to further pain. Reconciling with God and healing oneself, they suggest, must be achieved before considering any future options.
Not having had any firsthand experience of divorce, but knowing a number of people who have lived through or are going through the process, I found this book evoked a sense of both enlightenment and discomfort.
It not only gave me an insight into the feelings of hurt, abandonment, grief, anger and guilt that can be experienced by those who have lived through the tribulations of divorce but it also revealed my own ignorance and inhibitions when interacting with these people. It is a book that many going through the journey of divorce will identify with and it will offer them great hope, but I believe it will also benefit anyone who knows someone going through the painful process.
Divorce is a subject that many Catholics feel awkward about. However, books such as this will provide a greater understanding and inspire a deeper compassion toward those who find or have found themselves in this situation. Meanwhile, the second book of forty-four prayers also published by Liguori is a companion to “Catholics Experiencing Divorce” and is designed to mirror the journey of healing that is mapped out in that book. The prayers are written from a personal perspective, expressing the raw pain of initial separation and loss and addressing the reality of emotions that can be experienced. They progressively reflect the path toward new life and new hope, which the authors acknowledge are different for each person. The reader is able to focus on the prayers that are most relevant to their particular stage of healing and evolve accordingly. Reading like contemporary psalms, the prayers are designed to assist readers in expressing their heartfelt cries to God as they bring Him their fears and hopes.
They will help those experiencing divorce to recognise the presence of God in their personal journey as they rediscover themselves and their self-worth. They can also guide those who pray them in identifying even the most elusive thoughts and feelings and lead them more deeply into the understanding of a loving and merciful God.
Support available in Perth
The Beginning Experience describes itself as “A weekend away for a lifetime of change”. Its vision is that widowed, separated and divorced people will work through their grief, be healed, transformed and become free to love again. A Catholic initiative that began in the US in 1974, it is open to people of all faiths. There are now 150 centres operating throughout the world, including Perth.
The weekend is not a counselling experience but is about acknowledging and expressing personal feelings in a safe and intimate environment with others who are in a similar situation and is guided by facilitators who have also suffered marriage losses.
WBy Mark Reidy
e have reached a point in history, like no other, where fathers and father figures are called to be heroes to the generation that follows.
I became convicted of this when I recently attended the sentencing of a young man for a particularly vicious and sadistic murder.
Watching the convicted man’s expressionless face and vacant eyes as the judge announced a 27-year minimum sentence, it wasn’t difficult to see that something inside him had died long ago.
As he sat in the dock listening to the brutal details of the murder, he seemed to be suspended in a place of physical, emotional and spiritual aloneness, even oblivious to the fact that there was no one in the court that day to support him. As the judge clinically described his childhood of sexual and physical abuse, of the introduction to heroin by an uncle at the age of nine, of addiction at thirteen and the prostitution he engaged in to support his habit, it must have reinforced his life of abandonment and neglect.
Yet his expression never altered. It made me wonder where his father or the men in his life, those who were responsible for protecting him, had been.
It made me look at my own role as a father. Did I fully comprehend and embrace the role that has been bestowed on me as their legal, but far more importantly, their spiritual guardian?
Did I truly understand that every word and action that I direct towards them would contribute to the person that they would become? Sigmund Freud recognised the necessity for heroic men: “I cannot
think of any need in childhood”, he once said, “as strong as the need for a father’s protection”.
Yet it seems that throughout the latter part of last century it is a role in which an increasing number of men have been derelict. We are all born with an innate need to feel protected, but if this foundational premise is not fulfilled, then the fear ignited by its absence will ensure that the individual will look elsewhere to attain it.
With record numbers of families breaking down or financial pressures minimising the time fathers spend with their children, today we are left with many children growing up in an environment that is bereft of heroic role models; men they can learn from and aspire to be.
They are being robbed of the authority that is inherent to fatherhood, which is designed to establish boundaries in both behaviour and attitude. It is an authority that is intended, not only to form a basis for their independence, but also to protect them during their most vulnerable years.
Its absence, according to the Canberrabased Fatherhood Foundation, has led to spiralling increases in crime, drug use, suicide, violence, rape, sexual disease, incest, abortion, single parents, mental illness, poverty, bullying and a lowering of educational performance. It is an absence that is forcing young people to seek refuge in choices that provide short-term solace, but inevitably lead to spiritual and emotional destruction.
It is time that we who are fathers embrace the responsibility that has been entrusted to us. Not only to identify areas of our lives in which we can make personal sacrifices for the sake of our own children, but also to seek ways in which we can reach out to those children who do not have fathers or father figures in their lives.
It is time to become the heroes that the young people of today are so desperately seeking.
www.nd.edu.au
The University of Notre Dame Australia will be welcoming new students this month for Semester 1, 2008 including domestic, international and study abroad students. Students have enrolled into all courses including our four new courses in 2008, Bachelor of Arts/ Graduate Diploma of Education, Bachelor of Science/ Graduate Diploma of Education, Bachelor of Outdoor Recreation and Pre-Medicine Certificate.
The Pre-Medicine Certificate prepares studentsfor entry into the Graduate Medical Degree at the University of Notre Dame Australia. It is four units completed concurrently with an undergraduate degree of choice.
Our Orientation Week, 18-24 February, is a great opportunity for new students to find out more about University life and to meet fellow students and staff.
The Admissions Office staff is available throughout the year and welcomes any enquiries regarding applications. Please contact us on 9433 0537 or admissions@nd.edu.au
Do you want to be kept updated this year about our events?
Register your details at future@nd.edu.au or call 9433 0533
Open Day – Sunday 17 August – 10am to 4pm
Enjoy a day exploring the Fremantle Campus. Everyone’s welcome.
•Attend information sessions about courses and the admissions process at Notre Dame
•Participate in interactive demonstrations and workshops
•Tours of the Fremantle campus
•BBQ Lunch
•Friendly staff available to answer any questions you may have about courses and studying at university
•PLUS course information sessions and workshops
A Day in the Life of a University Student – Friday 11 July – 9am to 2pm
ATTENTION ALL YEAR 10, 11, & 12 STUDENTS
Have you ever wondered what university life will be like? Notre Dame offers high school students the opportunity to be a Uni Student for a day. Students go through the process of enrolling, attend mini-lectures as well as hear about the transition from high school to university.
During my time at Notre Dame I have acquired a repertoire of teaching strategies and practical experiences to enhance my knowledge and understanding of becoming an Early Childhood Educator. These practical experiences were a huge part of the benefits of completing my Bachelor of Education degree at Notre Dame. These allowed me to experience teaching in different years and to explore an array of teaching methods and approaches to the development of each child’s learning. Notre Dame provided small classes to enhance my learning along with practical activities and knowledge for real-life situations. The lecturers and tutors were caring and positive about my needs and were happy to answer any of my questions along the way. Through Notre Dame’s extensive 32-week teaching practicum I was able to put my knowledge and teaching strategies into practice. This has equipped me with the personal experience and the confidence to become a successful teacher for the children of the future.
”Notre Dame provided... practical activities and knowledge for real-life situations