Discovery - December 2004

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discovery, circulation 68,000 copies, is published 6 times a year in school term and circulates to all families with a child in a Catholic school in Western Australia and all Catholic parishes in the state as well.

The older I get, the less I feel that I really have anything to write for people that isn't already said far better or more eloquently by others, and so I am inclined to write less and simply focus on choosing what others say so that their better words can appear in print for the benefit of others.

I realise that a fundamental change has taken place in the pace and tenor of our society in the course of my own lifetime and I am saddened by it because I have seen its effect everywhere. I have never seen a better description of the nature of this change than in the words of the great Irish poet WB Yeats, who wrote the following in a famous poem called The Second Coming : "Turning and turning in the widening gyre, The falcon cannot hear the falconer.

Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold, A blood-dimmed tide is loosed,

And everywhere, the ceremony of innocence is drowned.

The best lack all conviction, While the worst are full of a passionate intensity."

For readers who are interested, a 'gyre' is apparently an ever-increasing spiral - moving outwards and further away from the centre.

I don't know that Yeats was writing about the 20th Century, and as far as I know he was not particularly religious, although he had dabbled in obscure religions a bit in his younger days. But, applied to the world in which we now live, his words are almost astonishingly prescient. Think of the suffering in places in Africa or elsewhere throughout the world, like Iraq. Think of the meaninglessness which so many people in our own apparently-happy societies experience in their daily lives.

It is true, after all, that things could be described as having fallen apart in some fundamental sense, that we

have lost touch with what is most important. But what is the answer?

I read Yeats' lines as pessimistic. But while I share a sense of foreboding about what the future could hold I do not share his pessimism, despite the terrible nature of so much of the 20th and (so far) 21st centuries. We are drawing closer to Christmas, a season the meaning of which still seems to survive with affection in most people's hearts and thoughts. That's a good thing.

I have to confess that Christmas is now, for me, largely a time of rushing around meeting obligations - to printers, friends, relatives, children and others - and not a time of peace or relaxation, much less focussing on the meaning of the season. There is Christmas Mass of course, with new toys rolling about the aisles and children darting between pews, where one briefly tries to focus on being in touch with the One for whom the occasion is named. But for

millions of people around the world Christmas feels like an irrelevancy. They are simply trying to survive.

I prefer, instead, to think of them and to pray for them too, although I know deep down that the One to whom I pray is already close to them and doesn't need my prayers to be so.

And I remember that as He is close to my suffering brothers and sisters everywhere, without exception, God's goodness fills the world to overflowing, even though we may not see it as clearly as we would like.

So this Christmas, join me, and hundreds of millions of others throughout the world. Go to Church and ask Him to help you get to know Him better. If you ask, He will help you, I promise. And that would be a good Christmas indeed. - the editor

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A gift from Misha

The following story, which appeared in The Christmas 2002 edition of The Record, was so popular with readers it is reprinted for the benefit of the wider discovery audience.

Around Christmas time, 1994, two young American missionaries found themselves teaching religion to a group of boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in an orphanage in Moscow.

Many of the children had never heard of the story of Christmas. So these two young missionaries spoke about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem, and how, finding no room in the inn, they went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.

Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word. To complete the story, the missionaries gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given a small paper square, cut from some yellow napkins. No coloured paper was available in the city. Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn-out nightgown, were used for the baby’s blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan-coloured felt which they had brought with them from the US. The orphans were busy assembling their manger as the missionaries walked among them to see if they needed any

help. Here the missionary continues: “All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat - he looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at little boy’s manger. I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger. Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the boy why there were two ba-

bies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him looking at this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously.”

For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately - until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger.

Then Misha made up his own ending to the story as he said:

“And when Maria laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don’t have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn’t, because I didn’t have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much. I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, “If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?”

“And Jesus told me. “If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me.” So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him - for always.”

As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. At last, the little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay with him - for always.

Want to give a REAL gift to someone this Christmas?

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A Prayer for Christmas

LOVING FATHER help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds and the worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift, and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

by Robert Louis Stevenson

Where should you be this Christmas?

In a Church. This year, do something meaningful with your Christmas season. Why not take your family along too?

Two Catholic organisations offer a way to escape the madness of Christmas shopping - and give a gift that will really help someone and warm the hearts of those closest to you.

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Local writer turns out a beauty

“Forgiveness warms the hearts that have grown cold”. That is the underlying message for all readers of the new children’s book The Story of Little Beauty by Mandy Varley, author and illustrator.

A valued member of the support staff at St Anthony’s School in Wanneroo, Mandy recently published the story that centres around a visually impaired sea horse – Beauty.

Beauty’s visual impairment is understood and accepted among her friends, however, a run in with

a group of jellyfish results in Beauty being teased, before both groups find themselves in a dangerous situ-

I BELIEVE IN ANGELS is available from The Record for $19.95 including postage. Contact Kylie on 9227 7080 to receive your copy of this remarkable CD by Mary Croft in time for Christmas.

Wation that only she can get them out of. Through her forgiveness of the taunting jellyfish, Beauty manages to lead everyone to safety and both groups become friends.

Initially born out of project requirements for the Special Learning Needs module of the Teacher Assistant course of study that she was undertaking at the time, The Story of Little Beauty reflects Mandy’s personal inspiration.

“Having been given the task of writing a story about someone with special learning needs, I went home

e have been blessed for over 20 years to have Mary Croft as a parishioner here at Our Lady of Grace North Beach, sharing her special gift of a beautiful voice regularly with the parish community at the 9.30am Mass on a Sunday.

She sings with and purity that you cannot help but listen, but most importantly it helps you to pray.

Mary demonstrates her own great love of God not only with her beautiful voice, but also with her special warmth and passion.

This she also shares with us through her involvement and participation with other parish activities.

She encourages all she meets to be assured of God’s great love for us all.

Mary continually spreads her spirituality and love of God through her personality.

Her two CD’s One Day at a Time and now her new CD I believe in Angels provide great comfort and inspiration to many here at North Beach.

full of enthusiasm and it all just came together,” said the first time author.

“I prayed a lot for inspiration and the story just flowed in the form of a poem. It was so exciting that I stayed up all night writing. Coincidentally (or not) the messages about forgiveness, kindness, tolerance and respect kept recurring. These are the strong messages that our children need to hear and have reinforced,” she added.

With an anti-discrimination and anti-bullying message for children of all ages (and indeed adults as well) The Story of Little Beauty has the potential to be used as a text in Religious Education. It also incorporates a formal class activity whereby children close their eyes and use their other senses to touch, feel and ‘see’ a collection of seashells. Having launched the book at the end of last term, Mandy said the experience was “all a bit mind blowing”.

“I can’t believe it has actually been published but I do be-

lieve it is the result of God wanting us to use the gifts and talents that we have and share them with others.”

- Phil Bayne, CEO

Media

The Story of Little Beauty ($9.95) is available by contacting Mandy on (08) 9307 6103, mob: 0439 716 156 or by email: jsvarley@optusnet.com.au

It's marriage, mate!

Avideo seminar entitled “The Good News about Sex and Marriage” will be a feature of activities organised by the Respect Life Office in January.

The four-part series with feature Christopher West, a leading teacher of Pope John Paul’s Theology of the Body.

West drew big crowds at a number of venues during a visit to Perth sponsored by The Record in 2003.

The seminars will be conducted on Mondays from January 10 to 31 at the Catholic Pastoral Centre, Mary St, Highgate.

There will be Mass at 6.30pm, and a video at 7pm, followed by discussion.

The discussion groups will be led by people who have completed the Theology of the Body course with Christopher West at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family.

The evenings will close with supper.

Register now on (08) 9375 2029 to guarantee a place.

An investment of $20 for the 4week series will include a certificate and a course handbook. (Scholarships are available). Single night attendance is $5.

Mandy Varley

Christopher West

UK Teen Pregnancy Unit a $100 million dud

Campaign sees opposite effect as conceptions soar under contraceptive plan

A 40 million pound British Government campaign to reduce teenage pregnancies has been branded a failure after areas specifically targeted for improved contraception services and advice saw huge rises in underage conceptions. New figures show that teenage pregnancy rates rocketed in the three years following the establishment of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1999. Some of the worst hit areas include places such as Lambeth in South London, which was designated as a target in 1999 when 361 girls - nine per cent of those under the age of 18 years - became pregnant. In spite of the efforts of the pregnancy unit, the number of teenage girls falling pregnant in the Lambeth area rose to 406 by 2002, a figure which represents one in 10 girls aged under 18 years.

Nationally, the number of under18s becoming pregnant in the UK soared by almost 1,000 in just 12 months, an increase of more than two per cent on the previous year.

Australian campaigners for distributing contraceptives to teenagers in State schools could pay attention to the results of a similar program overseas. The above report was on the front page of The West Australian in November.

In one school four 15-year-old girls were all pregnant by the same 16-year-old boy. The figures, published on the unit's website, have led to calls for the Government to reverse its teenage pregnancy policies, which depend heavily on the easy availability of contraception and the

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A Christmas Carol

morning-after pill rather than promoting sexual abstinence. Critics say all the evidence indicates that the policies are encouraging sexual activity among teenagers and making problems of single teenage motherhood and abortion worse rather than solving them.

They say the Government must

also share part of the blame for a 30 per cent increase in levels of sexually transmitted infections among 16 to 19-year-olds in the last five years.

"Nobody wants to say 'I told you so '," said Robert Whelan, deputy director of Civitas, an independent think tank.

"But a number of people have been warning the Government since the start of the strategy that it was destined to fail because of its almost complete reliance on the twin pillars of more explicit sex education and easy access to contraception for teenagers.

"These policies have been pursued for 30 years to no good effect. All attempts to incorporate an element of abstinence education have been treated with contempt by the staff of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit and they are now reaping the whirlwind of their short-sighted folly." British Prime Minister Tony Blair set up the unit to halve the rate of conceptions among girls under the age of 18, the highest in Europe, by 2010. But the latest

figures show that the recorded number of conceptions went up to 41,868 in 2002 from 40,966 in 2001. The actual number of conceptions is far higher because the unit has vigorously promoted the use of the moming-after pill, a powerful drug which induces very early abortions in pregnant women.

Six of the 10 worst areas in the country saw dramatic increases in teenage pregnancies while the rates dropped slightly in the four other areas.

The figures forced British Children’s Minister Margaret Hodge to concede that the Government’s scheme had not produced its intended effects. “We do not appear to have seen a blip and that did worry me,” she said.

“We don’t know why that happened but we have done a lot of analysis and I do believe we are on the right track. In some ways we are making progress. But we have a long, long way to go. We are now focusing on those hot-spot areas with real problems.”

- Catholic Herald

“Duc in altum!” – “Put out into the deep”.

Pope John Paul II has chosen these words of Jesus as the watchword of the Church as she advances with a firm and confident step into the third millennium. Now he has shed new light on the Holy Rosary for us too, and has entrusted it to us as a priceless means of help as we venture forth into the “vast ocean” of the new millennium. By adding the five Luminous Mysteries the Holy Father has enriched our prayer life. The Rosary booklet contains all 20 mysteries as well as excerpts from the Holy Father’s apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, scripture readings, meditations and prayers.

This booklet is intended not only for those who have already enjoyed a Christian upbringing, but also for all those who were deprived of this and are therefore unfamiliar with the great treasure that is the Rosary. This beautifully illustrated little booklet is now available fora donation of $3.00 (includes postage). Also available are the Papal Rosary beads. To obtain the Rosary booklet and the Vatican Rosary beads we ask fora donation of $15.00 (includes postage). All proceeds will go towards the work of Aid to the Church in Need for the persecuted and threatened Church worldwide.

Life in the midst of a storm

■ By Mark Reidy

Iasked God for peace and He sent me a Storm. Literally. A few weeks ago as I sat surrounded by the broken lives of the young people who hang out on Perth’s city streets I could feel a sense of hopelessness weighing upon me.

How could these lives ever be changed? Wherever you turned there was pain and anger: this one was sexually abused, that one never knew their father, another was beaten up by a parent. This one had to steal money to support a mother’s drug addiction, that one had to mind her little sister while Mum prostituted herself. The sadness seemed depthless. Every set of eyes you looked at reflected back either emptiness or rage.

Sometimes it gets overwhelming, like arriving at a shipwreck and seeing so many struggling to keep afloat that you don't know which

one to reach out to. It can feel as though you are just standing helplessly by and watching them drown before you. I was having one of those days.

What was the point, I asked myself. Aren’t we all wasting our time?

In worldly terms they all seemed to be on a one-way road to destruction. I looked around sadly. Who could penetrate such deep pain? I needed to receive some sense of

inner peace to let me know that our efforts were not fruitless... It was then that God sent His Storm!

Of Maori descent he was named Storm at birth. His scarred and weathered face portrayed the battles of 40 tough years. He had a presence of strength about him that went beyond his confident stance and broad shoulders. It came from somewhere within and shone through his eyes.There was no

emptiness or rage here.He surveyed the scene around us with a look of authority. “There’s a spiritual warfare going on around here, Brother," his gravelly voice announced matter-of-factly. And then Storm shared his story.

When he was born his young mother lived in violent circumstances and was unable to care for him. His natural father was nowhere to be found, so the man who had

raised his mother stepped in to do the same for him. Due to his shyness Storm’s childhood wasn’t an easy one, but at home he was loved by a man who had sacrificed much. A man whom he later learned had spent many hours prostrate before the Lord praying for him (he couldn’t kneel because of damage done to his legs in an accident many years before). Storm remembered sitting on his knee one day when he was about 10 years old and telling him that he was the most perfect man in the world.

“No” his father figure told him, “Jesus Christ was the only perfect man.”

Storm had been raised in a relationship with Jesus, but when the man who loved him unexpectedly passed away when he was 13, Storm’s world collapsed around him. Suddenly he was alone and afraid and this once-shy little boy became a raging ball of fury. Within six months he was a “patched-up” (fully fledged) member of Auckland’s infamous “Black Power” gang. Mixing with some of the most violent and angry men in New Zealand his own rage multiplied. “I was on a mission to hurt God”, he

Continued on page 7

Continued from page 6 said. “’I hated him. Whatever He didn’t want me to do - I made sure I did it.” It seemed Storm wanted to seek revenge on a God whom he perceived had taken away the only love he had known.

Describing himself as a “face-smasher”, for the next two decades he fervently launched himself into a life of violence and hatred. Gang warfare, heavy drug and alcohol abuse, and “everything that goes with it”. An endless spiral of sex, abuse, crime, jail, even witchcaft, occult practices and some activities he did not want to describe, prevailed and Storm’s rage outgrew the confinements of a notoriously dangerous gang.

Even the other members became fearful of him. Completely out of control, he would drink for hours on end at bars and everyone would be too scared to approach him.

“That was just how I wanted it," he said. If Police where called and found that he was involved they would send for another five cars.

However despite his life of selfdestruction at no stage did Storm stop talking to Jesus. He’d always thought that He was “cool” (he later realised the irony of hating God but considering Jesus his friend). But finally the weight of rage, violence and hatred emptied Him completely.

He remembers the night vividly. An “incident” (which he didn”t want to elaborate on) finally brought him to his knees. At the time he was alone in a bare galvanized shed with a concrete floor and the rain pounding incessantly outside. He lay on his stomach, face pushed to

the cement, arms outstretched, and he cried until he could cry no more, From this depth he yelled out to God.

“And there before me I felt the presence of Jesus. I couldn’t see Him, but He was as real as you are now. And we spoke, not in words but somehow interiorly. I asked Him everything I’d ever wanted to know and He answered me."

“I repented and asked His forgiveness. I dont know how long this went on but as I squeezed the last tear from my little toe I was suddenly filled with a peace that I cannot describe. It was far beyond any drug I had ever tried."

“And there before me I felt the presence of Jesus. I couldn’t see Him, but He was as real as you are now. And we spoke, not in words but somehow interiorly. I asked Him everything I’d ever wanted to know and He answered me. It’s too much to tell you but let me share this:

“There was one night many years ago when I burst into a nightclub filled with members of the ‘Mongrel Mob’ gang. I was full of fury. I didn’t care if I died. I screamed and yelled at them. I said I’d fight every one of them - individually or all together. I didn’t care. I knew these were vicious men, yet

not one of them approached me. I told them how gutless they were, then I walked up to their president and spat on his head. Still nothing happened, so I walked out disgusted.

“I asked Jesus why I didn’t die that night, why no-one had moved. The scene replayed in my mind, only this time I saw a different dimension. Behind every gang member stood a vicious demon, however behind me I saw two huge Archangels who stood with arms outstretched and palms facing out, ensuring that they were unable to move."

Storm now sings Gospel songs in the city each day and spends time talking to young people in the midst of this battle. He doesn’t receive any benefits because he knows God will provide him with exactly what he needs. Any extra he gives away. A number of the people from the streets acknowledge him as we talk. The respect they have for him is obvious. “Yeah” he said as he looked around. “There’s a spiritual battle going on here, but don’t worry brother, we ve just got to keep bringing the light of Jesus into this darkness.”

And as we parted ways I knew that God had heard my plea. The calm I had asked for had come, through His Storm.

Mark Reidy is a Ministry leader with the Holy Spirit of Freedom Community, a Catholic community that reaches out to the poor, especially 'street kids', those caught up in prostitution or addiction and any others in need of support.

The HSOF can be contacted on (08) 9228 1800.

Christmas Carols for your family

Tuesday December 7

Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School Swinstone St – Rockingham 7pm – in the school undercroft.

Friday December 10

Sacred Heart Primary School - Highgate 6pm – Grassed area of the school.

Here's an idea for a Christmas gift that perhaps you haven't though about. This coupon is issued by Caritas Australia and could lead to the perfect Christmas present for someone who really needs it.

Want to know more about this and one other similar idea?

See our story on Christmas shopping with a difference on Page 9

Friday December 10

Chisolm Catholic College Beaufort St, Bedford 7.30pm in the College Quadrangle

Friday December 10

St Dominic’s School 95 Beatrice St, Innaloo 7pm on the school oval

Name on Card:

Today’s date: ................./................./................. Delivery is within 14 days of receiving your order.

Tuesday December 14

Our Lady of Mt Carmel, Mullewa 6.30pm in

WU2's Bomb Explodes

hether music merely mirrors a culture or acts as an incendiary for cultural change is difficult to know. But given contemporary music’s half century long obsession with sex and drugs, one is inclined to hope it is the latter after hearing the latest album from the world’s greatest rock band U2.

U2 has a reputation for dealing with the BIG subjects whether they be war (Sunday Bloody Sunday) or third world poverty (Band Aid) and combining the subject matter with poetic lyrics and soaring sounds. But just as importantly, running through their lyrics are frequently Christian themes that cannot be understood without recourse to the gospels.

In their single Beautiful Day , for example, are the words - And, see the bird with a leaf in her mouth

After the flood all the colours came out

The bird with a leaf in her mouth refers to the dove that Noah set free to search for land. The leaf in her mouth refers to the leaf brought back to the Ark by the dove when the water had lowered and the colours that came out after the flood refer to the rainbow.

U2’s lead singer, Bono, is a superb songwriter and his musical gifts are on full display in the band’s latest album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb , which has entered the album charts at No. 1 around the world.

By now probably most people would have heard the lead song from the album, Vertigo.

In Vertigo a war is raging.

The jungle is your head . . .

The night is full of holes

As bullets rip the sky

But this is not a battle for territory

or treasure. This is a battle for your soul.

Hello, hello (¡Hola!)

I'm at a place called Vertigo

It's everything I wish I didn't know

Except YOU give me something I can feel, feel. Vertigo is a nightclub, a place where the soul becomes dizzy, unbalanced, in danger of succumbing to temptation.

All of this, all of this can be yours

All of this, all of this can be yours

All of this, all of this can be yours

Just give me what I want and no one gets hurt

But even in this plastic environment there is a symbol of hope.

The girl with crimson nails

Has Jesus 'round her neck

Swinging to the music

Swinging to the music

And to whom is this conversation being addressed?

Lights go down, and all I know Is that YOU give me something I can feel your love teaching me how

Your love is teaching me how How to knee, kneel

How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb seems a strange name to give to an album that has nothing to do with atomic bombs let alone how to dismantle them. U2’s lead singer, Bono, has said in a number of interviews that the atomic bomb of the album's title is his father. The title being a metaphor for the cold war which existed between the father and son and which finally ended in peace. My favourite song from the album

is titled Sometimes you can’t make it on your own. Bono wrote it for his father as his father lay dying in hospital. In a review published in the politically conservative US journal, National Review, one writer described this song as “the show stopper, as honest a confession as any rock band has ever laid down. It deftly puts the lie to the notion that rock & roll can’t handle (much less recapitulate) the deeper experiences of life”.

Sometimes is a gorgeous ballad that begins slowly and builds in intensity. Bono’s lyrics are full of pain, and the further the band takes you into the song, the more heartbroken it gets. By the time Bono sings

.Can, you, hear, me, when, I, sing

You're the reason I sing

You're the reason why the opera is in me

Well hey now

Still got to let you know

A house still doesn't make a home Don't leave me here alone. . . his voice has turned to something between a scream and a cry, full of passion and despair. That’s the mood the song will leave you in, like a person that’s poured out all of his heart and is now left empty.

One reviewer has put Sometimes alongside One , U2’s bittersweet meditation on love, as one of U2’s greatest song. Now that is really saying something given that in 2003 music experts from music industry magazine Q rated One as the greatest song ever recorded.

Other songs from the album include Crumbs from your table, You were pretty as a picture

It was all there to see

Then your face caught up with your psychology

With a mouth full of teeth

You ate all your friends

an indictment of the wealthy West’s failure to adequately assist third world countries tackle disease and malnutrition with anything more than a few crumbs from the table.

In A Man and a Woman , Bono draws a distinction between love and romance singing "I could never take a chance of losing love to find romance" . So very counter cultural. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is U2’s most mature album, not necessarily its best song for song, but its songs are full of wisdom and poetry that puts them into an entirely different league to the shallow formula performers such as Britteny Spears.

How do you dismantle an atomic bomb? The answer is given in the final words of the albums’ last song, Yahweh: Take this heart

And make it break

In other words, with love.

- By Frank Lindsey

WIN WIN WIN

discovery has U2's new CD - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb to give away to one lucky person who can answer this question correctly.

Name the four band members of U2

Write your answer, name and address and telephone number on the back of an envelope and send to discovery , PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902

Forget the Chrissie madness Here are Christmas gift ideas that really count

■ By Jamie O’Brien

Catholic Mission and Caritas Australia have provided an opportunity for the real meaning of buying and giving Christmas gifts to be re-born.

The organisations are both running initiatives that allow people to make a donation to Catholic missions on behalf of someone else as a gift.

Director Francis Leong said the initiative by Catholic Mission is an opportunity to return to the Christian meaning of Christmas.

“Christmas is about the birth of Jesus,” Mr Leong said.

Giving a gift to the needy instead of the relatively rich is a reminder of Jesus’ promise, “whatever you do for the least of my brethren, you do for me.”

To take part in either one of the projects, instead of spending money at a department store, a donation is made to Caritas Australia or Catholic Mission on

behalf of the person for whom the gift is intended.

A customised certificate, including a photo and description of the project where the money has been directed is sent to the person on whose behalf the donation was made and the giver of the gift.

Mr Leong said the idea helps sow the seed of Christmas charity and faith, at the same time as helping a child in need.

“As Christians we should also try to sow the seed of the real meaning of Christmas,” said Mr Leong.

Money raised from the initiative by Catholic Mission will go directly towards projects involved in the care of children in more than 150 developing countries. “There are so many needs amongst the poor in these countries,” he said.

In the case of Caritas funds raised will go towards alternative income opportunities for those

who have been caught up in situations such as child prostitution, child soldiers and human trafficking.

“There are so many needs amongst the poor in these countries,”

“We provide assistance to educate them so that children will be prepared for their life situations so they don’t fall into a cycle of poverty,” said Caritas Director Ann Fairhead.

Mr Leong said it is important the wider community knows that Christmas is about more than just satisfying material wants.

“It’s also about helping others less fortunate.”

Mr Leong contrasted the origins of Christmas gift-giving with the actual experience in different parts of the world today.

Christmas gifts originated with St Nicholas who gave gifts to the needy as symbols of Christ’s love.

In the western world today so many are so engrossed in material consumerism that they’ve forgotten Christ and the poor.

By contrast for many people in developing countries Christmas was entirely about going to Church to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

“The initiative aims to counteract culture and suggest that we can give back the sense of Christmas.

“It goes against the consumerist culture that we have been caught up in,” he said.

The initiative by Catholic Mission came as a response to people who felt that they would like to direct their money where it would sow a seed that Christmas isn’t about Santa and shopping.

“In this way money is spent on sowing the seeds of charity rather than the standard action toy that lasts a week and then gets thrown in the corner,” Mr Leong said.

Melissa Edworthy, from the Donor Services at Caritas Australia

said the initiative, which is in its third year has had a fantastic response.

The idea was taken up from Caritas partner organisation Trocaire in Scotland.

Caritas is the second largest humanitarian organisation after Red Cross.

The initiative came as a response to the increase in the number of people who wanted to give someone a meaningful Christmas present.

With the Caritas initiative, donors can choose what project they want to direct the money to in the areas of education, food, health and water.

Both initiatives are directed towards providing support for whole communities.

“This way everyone benefits,” Ms Edworthy said.

The gift that keeps on giving: an example of the Certificate which will be issued by Perth's Catolic Mission Office, to a person nominated by you when a donation is made.

Technology

Losing that ‘personal’ touch?

Saving some time, but losing that ‘personal’ touch?

If you’ve ever been on someone’s ‘everybody’ e-mail address list, you know what that means.

■ By Dick Reeder

Humans are created by God for personal relationships first with Him, and then in a giving of oneself to another. In general, this gift, like every gift, is worth to the recipient what it costs the giver in time and effort.

We tend to value the gift of a communication received from another person in proportion to the time it takes the other to give it. Thus a personal visit takes more time than a postcard or a phone call and is more greatly valued.

With today’s timesaving technology, one would expect we’d have eons more leisure time than our forebears. Instead, we seem busier than ever, and time is more precious than ever.

Of all verbal communications, an e-mail takes the least time. Seasoned users keep several email address books, each listing groups of people based on their “casual friends,” “family,” “business associates” and so on. Some e-mail users combine all their address books into an “everybody” list. With a click of the mouse button, their message is sent forth to dozens or hundreds of recipients. How many e-mails do you receive daily from people you haven’t spoken with in years? Sure, it only takes a second to hit the “delete” key, but those seconds add up. And who wants to risk hurting another by clicking “reply” and asking to be removed from their list? Perhaps all e-mail enthusiasts should spend some time reflecting on their address books. Might some people value the gift of an e-mail as equal to its cost in time and effort? If it takes someone a minute to bang out a message that they send to 100 people, each one receives less than a second of the sender’s time. Do those senders think we don’t know that?

I have received e-mail confirmations of orders from a reputable online shoe store that are intended for a lady living 1,000 miles from

here. We have identical last names, and our first names begin with the same letter. Somehow, the store has my e-mail address attached to her name. I also once received a resume that was intended for a headhunter because of this same similarity of names.

"people are losing their true selves and what belongs to them. Any deeper communication between people is being lost now if it cannot be produced and imparted by these superficial outward forms of relationship and by having mastery of the same technical apparatus.”

Identity crisis

E-mail is the great depersonalising agent of our age, surpassing even television. Speaking of technology’s impact on culture, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger once said that "people are losing their true selves and what belongs to them. Any deeper communication between people is being lost now if it cannot be produced and imparted by these superficial outward forms of relationship and by having mastery of the same technical apparatus.” Man is far more profound he said. “If he is united with others on this superficial level, at the deeper level within he will rebel against this uni-

Catherine Parish @ home As personal as you want...

Christmas is upon us again, noisy, joyful, frantic, busy, frustrating, tiring time that it is. An intensification of the usual noisy, joyful, frantic, busy, frustrating, tiring lives that families lead these days. Even though we try to keep things simple, it still seems that there is not enough time in the day to get through everything - school, sport, music, drama; work, meals, washing up, laundry, housework. The list of must-do’s is endless it seems.

formity, because he unconsciously recognises that it reduces him to slavery.”

Speaking of the Internet in 2003, Pope John Paul II said its recent growth “provides an opportunity for expanding the Church’s missionary outreach.” In a letter to a technology convention that same year, the Pope wrote, “The complexity of the communications system in which we move ... causes bewilderment about what is real, what surrounds us and who surrounds us.” This bewilderment, he said, can lead one to ask “Who am I?” and the answer thus obtained “depends to a large extent on the suitability of the instruments used for communication.”

The Pope clearly sees the Internet as a neutral tool, one that can be used for good or for ill. Being the consummate personalist that he is, he likely would frown on the depersonalisation that so often accompanies the use of e-mail by its enthusiasts. So, e-mail depersonalises. But is it really a technological or communications improvement at all?

Consider the perspective of author Richard Todd. Writing in Newsweek (July 30, 2001), he imagined if Alexander Graham Bell had invented not the telephone, but computer e-mail back in the 1800s, and it had gained wide use for many years - and then the telephone came along.

“Imagine the ensuing clamour - direct conversation with anyone, anytime, anywhere,” Todd writes. “E-mail would be in the trash heap, next to IBM Selectrics and mag-card machines.”

How wonderful it would be to know that precious hour on Sunday that we spend at Mass could be a quiet, hassle free, peaceful, interior time of personal renewal and sheer quiet rest - a break from the frenetic pace of the other six days of the week (and the rest of Sunday for many of us if we are honest). Mary ‘pondered things in her heart’; Jesus went into the desert to pray. In fact he constantly sought solitude in which to commune with His Father. Yes, participating in the Mass is a communal act; but it is also an intensely personal time. We all sit together in the Church doing the same thing, offering the Sacrifice of the Mass - but we all do it differently, each one of us involved in our own deeply personal relationship with Our Lord in these brief moments of union with Him.

The imposition of, for example, intrusive music, slide shows, lay people using homily time to speak, congratulations and clapping at various times, is really distracting. Non-stop external activity and noise is so unrestful and seriously hinders the nurture of a personal, interior relationship with Christ. It all draws one out of one’s own ‘soul space’ and into external, people-centred activity that becomes very like the atmosphere we have to live in every other day of the week - non-stop, loud and intrusive, with no time to think. That vital hour spent in the Church paying special attention to Jesus actually present is so often taken from us by the well-meaning but ultimately distracting activity that sometimes goes on throughout Mass. It is no wonder that people feel free to

converse among themselves at any time during Mass apparently with little regard to the seriousness, the beauty and the absolute importance to every person there of what is happening on the altar. You can’t expect people to be attentive and focused when there is so much going on that precludes such a state of mind.

We need serenity and periods of silence to ‘recharge our batteries’ too. The day of rest is a human necessity - and the author of the Book of Genesis knew it. After all the necessary (and lets face it the unnecessary) work we do all week to keep the wheels of life turning, we need a quiet time to refresh our spirit; maybe more than ever in this joyful - but frenetic - season of Christmas.

What a gift it would be, to be sure of finding that quiet time at Mass.

Beata Colica and

Arnold

Taylor

What does a funeral cost?

Costs come from five main areas:

1. Funeral directors costs, covering professional fees, transportation, facilities and equipment

2. Coffin or casket – we offer a large and varied selection, from simple veneered particle board to solid or carved timber, so that we can meet the needs of all families

3. Cremation or burial site fees

4. Other costs such as flowers, clergy fees, press notices, registration of death fees

5. Cost of headstone, monument or plaque.

Many funerals these days cost around $5,000-7,000. At Purslowe Funeral Homes every funeral is tailored to the preferences and needs of the family and so costs can vary. We provide an up front estimate of costs so that you know what charges are being incurred. In this way, you remain in control and the final cost depends on the choices you make.

Good information about costs is an important part of funeral planning. For more information visit our website or call Arnold Taylor or Beata Colica. You’ll find us easy to talk to.

You can turn to the people at Purslowe

www.purslowefunerals.com.au

254 Hampton Road, South Fremantle ☎ 9335 4111 PFHF157

Unlock your potential

There's a new initiative on the education scene open for business in 2005 - a Scripture College that aims at helping students change the world. It might just help you choose your direction in life too... Want

to expand your potential? Want to live a life of purpose and a life that has maximum impact?

Do you want to build a life of great adventure? Do you want to experience the excitement of changing lives? Do you want to influence the world in your generation and in the generations to come?

That kind of life takes a decision on your part. A decision to chase the dream, to unlock your passions, and to learn. It takes a decision to pursue God’s purpose for your life; to recognize your uniqueness and commit to developing it. It takes a decision to meet Jesus in a real and personal way. It takes a decision to let the Gospel be the measure and guide of life’s decisions and plans.

The new Acts 2 College of Mission & Evangelisation (acts2come) which opens in 2005 offers students the opportunity to unlock your potential. An opportunity to grow in your faith and understanding of God’s Word. It is an environment that focuses on the love of God, the person of Jesus, and the power of His Holy Spirit. An environment in which you can look at life in the 21st century, the issues facing us, and recognise that you can make a difference. An environment of training for people who want to be leaders in their own life and in

the lives of others. The task of changing our world seems huge, because it assumes the dimensions of society and the world. But when God invites us into service, he also provides the necessary strength and grace to answer his call (‘what is impossible with men is possible for God’).

The College takes its name from the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles which tells of the outpouring of God’s Spirit at Pentecost, the dynamic difference in people’s lives, and their impact on the world. It's about living that life today. The College will encourage expectant faith among participants and a belief that they can, in the Lord, make a difference.

Acts2come has an emphasis on competency based training, life and leadership skills, creative arts, and opportunities to apply the training in practical and meaningful ways. There is an emphasis on the development of Christian character, and commitment to your personal growth as an individual much loved by God, through training that is tailored to the uniqueness of each student.

Acts2come is open to people who have just left High School, or who are looking for a break from their University or TAFE studies, or from their employment. It also welcomes people of other ages and life situations.

Sometimes students completing Year 12 are unsure of exactly the direction they should take when they leave High School. The one-year course is designed to assist Catholic youth grow in their faith and also prepare themselves for future University/ TAFE studies or employment. The courses, which will be at Certificate levels, can provide a bridge year for these students.

Participating in the College will be an experience

“It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”

Pope John Paul, World Youth Day 2000

of dynamic Christian living. Skilled lecturers from Perth, and other parts of Australia, will present courses designed to be informative, dynamic, and interactive. In addition, students will have opportunities to learn practical leadership and ministry skills such as communication, music ministry, public speaking, leading small groups, establishing and running a youth group, and a variety of other skills.

The College is a work of the Disciples of Jesus Community who have conducted Summer Schools in a number of States in Australia since 1983. In 1987, the Community established the Sydney-based Institute for Evangelisation. Initially, it offered part time courses, and in 1991 offered a one year fulltime course. In 1997, the 3 month residential ‘Asia Pacific School for Evangelisation’ was established, in Canberra, for the purpose of equipping young people for the work of evangelisation including initial proclamation, discipleship and community building.

College contact hours will be on Mondays and Tuesdays during School terms. This will enable students to obtain part-time employment. Further details, and an application form, can be obtained from the website at http:// acts2come.disciplesofjesus.org or by contacting the College on 9202 6868.

Chrismas origami

You will need

* Greeting cards

* Ruler

* Pencil

* Scissors

* T-square or triangle

* Paper cutter (optional)

* Glue stick

What to do

With a few simple folds, and a cut here and there, you can make just the right box for small gifts or treasures. To begin, separate the front of the card from the back by cutting along the fold. Origami always begins with a square, so measure the shortest side of the front of the card, and make the other side the same length. For example, if your card measures 5”x7”, make the square 5”x5”. The front will become the top or lid of your box. To make the bottom, again use a square, but make it .25” smaller than the lid. In our example, the paper for the bottom will measure 4.75”x4.75”.

To make the lid, turn the front of the card face down. Place the ruler diagonally on opposite corners, and lightly draw a pencil line between them. Repeat for the other two corners. An “x” will result from connecting opposite corners with the pencil. Fold one corner up to the centre of the “x” and unfold. Being careful to keep the corner on the line, fold the same corner up to the resulting crease. Keeping the corner

in this folded position, fold the card again. Fold it once more so that it touches the centre line. Unfold and repeat this step for the other three corners.

Using the scissors, make four cuts on the creases. Fold the pointed tip of one “triangular-shaped” side down. Fold again. Fold the triangluar tabs in, and stand the card up. Fold the legs in to make the side of the box. Repeat for the opposite side. To make the box shape, fold one of the other sides up and over the first two sides. Repeat for the other side. Use a glue stick to glue the tabs down inside the lid.

To make the bottom of the box, repeat the above steps using the back of the card. Draw the guidelines on the inside of the card or the side with the greeting printed on it. Fold the box bottom as before, and cut in the same way.

To assemble the bottom, fold and glue as we did for the box top. To make the inside of the box neater, glue small squares of paper or felt over the inside of the box top and bottom.

Make sure the interesting part is in the centre of the card before you do any measuring or cutting.

Santa

is lost. Can you help him make his way to the North Pole?

Christmas Kitchen

Make haystacks to represent baby Jesus lying in the hay in the manger. You will need 1 package choc chips, 1⁄2 cup peanut butter, 4 cups chow mein noodles, mini marshmallows.

Melt choc chips and peanut butter together for 1 min in microwave, stir and microwave for additional 1 1⁄2 min until melted.

Add chow mein noodles and stir with 2 spoons/forks as tossing a salad. Drop onto waxed paper. Add a marshmallow to represent baby Jesus.

Movie

■ By Jamie O’Brien

Lots of Christmas-themed movies promise to become instant yuletide classics. Few deliver. But the agreeable comedy

“Christmas With the Kranks” comes closer to being a sugarplum slam-dunk than any film in quite some time.

Directed by Joe Roth and based on the novella “Skipping Christmas” by uber-author John Grisham, this delightful dose of holly-jolly fun will warm the hearts and tickle the funny bones of all but the grinchiest of grinches.

Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis star as Luther and Nora Krank, a couple whose all-out approach to celebrating Christmas has made them famous throughout their closeknit Chicago suburb.

But this year is different. Their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) is fly-

ing the coop to do voluntary service in Peru, dampening their holiday cheer.

With the nest empty, Luther suggests the unthinkable: skip Christmas.

He proposes that they forgo their usual festivities - including their annual Christmas Eve bash - and take a romantic Caribbean cruise instead. Nora hesitates at first, but soon warms up to

TYBURN NUNS

the idea of a week in the tropics. The same can’t be said for their militantly merry neighbours, who mobilise to persuade the Kranks to reconsider. Their unsuccessful efforts are spearheaded by ringleader and block busybody Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Aykroyd). Refusing to cave to their pressure, Luther pulls a Scrooge and humbugs anything to do with the holiday, putting the kibosh on decorations and nixing his support of a police charity, as well as the local Boy Scout troop’s Christmas tree drive (much to Nora’s chagrin).

As the holiday approaches, the war of wills escalates, reaching a boiling point when Luther refuses to put a large illuminated plastic snowman on his roof like everyone else, inciting a “Free Frosty” rally on his front lawn. But when Blair calls and tells her parents that she has decided to come home for the holiday - and is bringing her new Peruvian fiance - Luther and Nora must make a mad scramble to deck the halls and whip up some lastminute Christmas spirit. To do it in time, they’ll need to quickly mend

some fences and solicit help from the very neighbours they’ve alienated.

Allen and Curtis are at the top of their game and totally at ease with the physical comedy their roles demand.

The supporting cast is equally pitch-perfect; it includes Cheech Marin and Jake Busey as local cops and Austin Pendleton as a mystery guest at the Kranks’ Christmas party.

Though the movie lacks the timeless magic of Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” or even the Rockwellian nostalgia of “A Christmas Story,” it does share one essential ingredient with those two perennial favourites: heart. Unlike several recent yuletide films which serve up sour eggnog, the picture’s overall tone is unabashedly uncynical.

“Christmas With the Kranks” manages to be genuinely sentimental without being sappy, as evidenced by a tender olive branch scene between Luther and his neighbourhood sparring partner (M Emmet Walsh), whose Christmas with his ailing wife is made brighter by Luther’s generosity.

And while the film makes only passing references to the religious dimension of Christmas, its strong, counterconsumerist message of selflessness, family and coming together as a community clearly embodies the spirit of the season.

Kranks' Christmas not half bad A LIFE

If you’re looking for a holiday treat, you might want to spend this Christmas season with the Kranks.

Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis are 'in the zone' as comedians in Christmas With the Kranks, out now in cinemas.

Photo: CNS

"No one told me that I could have a relationship with God."

- David Harp

God broke through twice... A story of falling down, and getting up all over again

■ By Jamie O’Brien

A“He was presented as something, not as someone.”

After being sexually abused at the age of 13, David began a journey that ultimately resulted in living out same-sex attraction.

At the age of 16, David’s parents divorced, and he moved to the city to live with his mother. He finished high school, started a new job and was studying parttime at University.

remarkable story of the mercy of Christ emerged from David Harp of Perth's Flame Ministries International, who told his story to a packed room at the archdiocesan Respect Life Office dinner dance last Saturday night.

At the age of 36, David knows only too well, loneliness of samesex attraction and the suffering that comes not from being homosexual but living it out.

His story starts from the age of 10, when he survived a car accident that killed two of his close friends.

“I remember my mother telling me, God has saved you for a reason,” David said.

David’s mother, Marion Pallas says she never had any doubts that he couldn’t come out alive from the accident.

He was in intensive care for two weeks.

“There is no way that David should have lived through that accident, but everything happens for a reason,” Mrs Pallas said.

At that time David was an Anglican, but felt God was someone far away and that it was impossible to have a personal relationship with him.

“No one told me that I could have a relationship with God.

Very soon he replaced God and with what he thought was a more fulfilling lifestyle through homosexuality.

“At that time God was someone far away and I thought I could never have a personal relationship with him.”

Weekends would be consumed with binge-drinking and promiscuous sex.

It wasn’t until David was 20 that he met Shenton, a young Catholic man.

A couple of years later David began reading some of Shenton’s books about God and the Church.

“The books presented Jesus as someone that I could know,” David explained. “It was the first time I had heard that Christ could exist in my life personally and that the events from the Acts of the Apostles can happen in my life today.”

From that moment, David knew his life needed to be different.

He made a solemn pact with Shenton to remain celibate as the only option available for persons with same-sex attractions. In 1993, David saw a Flame Ministries “Praise Rally” advertised in The Record and knew he had to attend.

After seeing the excitement of those at the Charismatic Mass at St Mary's Cathedral, David became convinced that he could have this too.

He registered for an FMI "Set My People on Fire" conference and a few months later he was given the opportunity to go on mission with FMI to conduct “Set My People on Fire” in England.

Not having had a good relationship with his father as he was growing up, David had the opportunity to reconcile with him.

“I became really close to him in the year before he died and I felt that God was saying that everything was going to be ok.”

Without any hesitation, David became a Catholic on May 3 1994, the day before leaving to go on mission.

Back in Australia nine months later, David came to know that Shenton had broken their commitment to stay celibate.

Consequently David left FMI, stopped going to Mass and rejected God. “At the time I felt that God had let me down,” he said. A

seriously sinful way of life became David’s way of filling the huge feeling of emptiness that had overcome him.

He became a workaholic, which resulted in stress and clinical depression, started binge drinking again and was violent.

Attempts to take away his anguish by engaging in promiscuous gay sex, did not help solve the increasing numbness and despair.

Problems progressed when he began smoking marijuana, taking ecstasy, cocaine and speed.

The downward spiral forced him to resign from his job and declare bankruptcy. After a two-week binge on heavy drugs, David was unprepared for the comedown, and his thoughts turned to suicide.

“That night, I went back to the FMI Cathedral Praise meeting and was welcomed without judgement or question.”

David was able to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation after seven years and was welcomed back to Flame Ministries.

“Christ had not given up on me, and He redeemed my life by healing my drug addiction,” he said.

David said he poured his heart out to God in those moments and was also thankfully able to reconcile with his friend Shenton.

FMI Director and Evangelist Eddie Russell said he prayed every day for seven years for the wellbeing of David.

“I felt like the father of the prodigal son when he returned to FMI,” Mr Russell said.

“It was a wonderful experience.”

At the beginning of 2003, David developed a type of pneumonia symptomatic of HIV and after a visit to his doctor was sent to Royal Perth Hospital. In severe crisis,

David surrendered his life to God. After hours of prodding and poking, the doctors diagnosed David as HIV positive and told him he had AIDS.

“The next 10 days were the most intimate I have ever had with God,” David recalled.

“I realised I had to put my faith into action.”

Within a few weeks, David recovered from the pneumonia and in a report to his doctor a month later, the specialist wrote, "David returned to Immunology Clinic today for the one-month review after his commencement of HIV+ medication. He has had the most remarkable increase in CD4 count I have ever seen in one month’s time.

His CD4 count has gone from 68 (4%) up to 348 (12%) in only four week’s time...."

This meant that while there was still a significant count of the HIV in his blood, David no longer had AIDS. The Record has seen copies of David’s medical records and can verify the results.

Nearly six months later more blood tests confirmed the work God was doing in his life.

HIV was now undetectable.

Still feeling unsure, David asked himself if God had really broken into his life again.

A second opinion and visit to his doctor gave him the answer to the somewhat miraculous results. The doctor read the reports and was amazed.

According to David, he sat back in his chair, paused for a while and gleefully exclaimed: "These results are truly miraculous.”

David Harp can be contacted through the Respect Life Office on (08) 9375 2029.

Archbishop Barry Hickey, Clare Pike, Director of the Respect Life Office, and David Harp at the RLO's first dinner dance last Saturday. Photo: Carole McMillen

David Harp