The Record Newspaper 06 August 2008

At World Youth Day in Sydney about 1500 young men and 850 young women at just one gathering stepped up to the plate to offer themselves in discernment of their vocation to priesthood or religious life. WHY DID THEY DO IT? VISTA

“Be

CHOOSING YOUR VOCATION

-

Taking the Next Step

INDEX THE GOD OF ASTRONOMERS TOO

Vocation - Pages 2-3

Vocation - Pages 4-5

Vocation - Pages 6-7

Perspectives - Vista 4 - Pg 9

Panorama - Page 14

Classifieds - Page 15

Resource Me! - Page 16

CAFFEINE FOR PARISHES?

Saint for the week

Afra

died c. 304 feast – August 7

The cult of this martyr was established around Augsburg, Germany, but her stor y is entirely legendar y. She reportedly was a pagan prostitute arrested as a Christian during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian. Put on trial and ordered to sacrifice to the gods, she refused. She told her persecutors : “My body has sinned; let it suffer. But I

for Today

Nineteenth

Elijah

The joyful monastic life rules

NINE different cultures represented at the Tyburn priory ensure that it is a vibrant, youthful community where consecrated Religious live lives of joy.

The Novitiate House for the Tyburn Nuns in Australia and Oceania was founded in 1956 at North Sydney.

After moving to Manly near Sydney’s North Head in 1962, the Priory again moved in 1986 to Riverstone in the Parramatta Diocese, near the Blue Mountains.

Here the monastic church was built and then consecrated in 1988.

The Mother Garnier Retreat House, in memory of the saintly Foundress of the Tyburn Nuns welcomes private retreatants and groups for day retreats.

There is also a shrine of the Patroness of Australia - Our Lady Help of Christians which is a centre of devotion and pilgrimage.

There are nine races represented in this vibrantly youthful community. The Benedictine Oblates of the Community are a rapidly growing group and they come from all over Australia.

The two outstanding spiritual qualities of this community are: Faith And Joy.

Walking with Him Daily Mass Readings

10 S 19th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Gr 1 Kings 19:9.11-13 A gentle breeze

Ps 84:9-14 A voice of peace

Rom 9:1-5 Sorrow so great

Mt 14:22-23 The wind dropped

11 M St Clare, virgin (M)

Gr Ezek 1:2-5.24-28 The glory of the Lord

Ps 1481:1-2.11-14 Praise the Lord

Mt 17:22-27 A great sadness

12 T St Jane Frances de Chantal, religious (O)

Gr Ezek 2:8-3:4 Do not be a rebel

Ps 118:14.24.72.103.111.131.

Your will is my delight

Mt 18:1-5.10.12-14 The little ones

13 W Ss Pontian, pope, and Hippolytus, priest, martyr (O)

Gr Ezek 9:1-7.10.18-22 No pity, no money

Ps 112:1-6 Praise the Lord’s name

Mt 18: 15-20 Two or three gathered

14 T St Maximilian Kolbe, priest, martyr (M) Red Ezek 12:1-12 A symbol for Israel

Ps 78:56-59.61-62 Remember God’s words

Mt 18:21-19:1 Forgive always

15 F The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary P Wh Solemnity Vigil Mass

1Chr 15:3-4.15-16. 16:1-2 Joyful times

Ps 131:6-7.9-10.13-14 Ring out their joy

1Cor 15:54-57 The sting of death

Lk 11:27-28 Blessed womb Mass during the day

Rev 11:19.12:1-6.10 A sign appeared

Ps 44:10.12.16 The queen in gold

1Cor 15:20-26 All die in Adam

Lk 1:39-56 Woman most blessed

16 S St Stephen of Hungary (O)

Gr Ezek 18:1-10.13.30-32 Renounce your sins

Ps 50:12-15.18-19 Create a pure heart

Mt 19:13-15 Little children

What is it to enter monastic life? How can one ever explain it to one’s mystified family and friends… some of whom really thought that people stopped doing that sort of thing in the Middle Ages.

For what it is but a turning away from the bright flickering lights of the world, a softening of its voice and music, a lessening of its tensions and demands – ‘dying’ to the world only so that one can reawaken to the greater reality, the unseen Truth that stands at the centre of human existence.

The radiant splendour of this Reality,

God, is revealed to us through our participation in the Work of God.

With the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at its centre, the choral celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours and Eucharistic Adoration, the Work of God moves us through sanctified time and the Liturgical Seasons, unfolding before our wondering, awe-filled gaze the deep Mysteries of our Faith, leading us to the first and highest expression of our vocation: our total consecration to the worship and praise of the Most Blessed Trinity, through and in union with the Eucharistic Heart of our Redeemer: Jesus, Love, Incarnate.

Glory be to God in the Highest! – before Him in prayer we bring the needs of humanity – to Him we belong.

Come and share our joy!

A LIFE OF PRAYER

areyoucalledtotheBenedictine lifeofdivinepraiseandEucharistic prayer fortheChurch?

TYBURN NUNS

Contact the:

Rev Mother Cyril, OSB, Tyburn Priory, 325 Garfield Road, Riverstone, NSW 2765 www.tyburnconvent.org.uk

Working with the forgotten

The Brothers of St John of God

THE Brothers of St John of God, formed themselves around John of God at Granada, Spain, in the early 1540s to help him care for those who were living on the ‘edges of society’.

He was well known for his hospitality towards people and his followers today try to perpetuate his attitudes and values in a style of care that they describe as Hospitality. Today the ministries of the Brothers and their CoWorkers are found in most countries around the world.

Brother Gavin Greenwood recently made his life time commitment of Solemn Vows as a brother and is now living and working with people who have disabilities in Melbourne. As a brother he has been involved in working with people who are homeless in Sydney, Hospital Chaplaincy in New Zealand and more recently assisting the brothers in Papua New Guinea.

The brothers in Australia are involved in a variety of ministries that not only take in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea but also various types of involvement with brothers from the Asia Pacific Region including Vietnam, India, and the Philippines.

At a recent meeting of our brothers held in Sydney it was noticed that our involvement in the Asia Pacific Region has increased over the years and that the commitment of the Order is manifested by the numbers of ministries that are now growing in this area.

EDITOR

Peter Rosengren cathrec@iinet.net.au

JOURNALISTS

Anthony Barich abarich@therecord.com.au

Mark Reidy reidyrec@iinet.net.au

ADMINISTRATION

HOSPITALLER LOVE

As lived out by St. John of God five centuries ago, our vocation is to give of ourselves completely and freely; to be a Brotherly presence; a symbol of hope for our world; proclaiming God’s Hospitable love.

We are called to a charism of Hospitality and love that promotes healing, advocacy and reconciliation for those suffering in our society.

BROTHERS OF ST JOHN OF GOD

Will you accept God’s invitation to a life dedicated to Hospitality?

Contact:

Vocation Director

P.O. Box BN 1055

Burwood North NSW 2134

Telephone: 02 9747 1699

Fax: 02 9744 3262

Email: vocations@johnofgodbrothers.org.au

Web Site: www.vocationsstjohnofgod.com

Bibiana Kwaramba administration@therecord.com.au

Brother Gavin Greenwood

Back from WYD, pilgrims take over Ocean Reef

What comes with spiritual unity? Friendship, of course.

PILGRIMS returning from World Youth Day in Sydney made a big impact on the 6pm Mass at St Simon Peter Parish in Ocean Reef last Sunday.

They provided a 10-member choir, undertook the readings and collections, and provided enthusiastic post-Mass hymns of praise before adjourning to the Parish Centre for a pizza meal.

Most of the parish contingent of about 30 young pilgrims attended, determined to witness to the parish and to maintain the friendship and spiritual unity they had developed over the last 12 months.

Joseph Laundy, one of the leaders of the organising and fund-raising committee, said he had been surprised when 30 young people turned out for the first meeting held last year.

With some adult support, but with the young people doing most of the work for ten fund-raising events, the parish raised nearly $28,000 to pay the airfares and transport for pilgrims, including $3000 to help a group of Polish pilgrims.

“It was a great witness to the parish of the importance and value of the young people in the Church,” he said.

For Joseph, the highlight of the Sydney experience was connecting with the Pope at a personal level rather than as a distant figurehead. “When he spoke about violence on TV and its effect on youth, he was a real Father, caring for the youth of the Church.”

His brother Patrick Laundy shared WYD with his wife Sarah and said that it added a different dimension to the experience. He found it immensely encouraging to see so many people sharing one faith and having one leader, the Pope. “For everyone from around the world, the Mass was the same; it had the same meaning and they all knew where they were. It was a genuinely universal experience,” he said.

Sarah, a teacher, said she loved the real sense of family and community when meeting people from all over the world. “You could talk

to anyone; it was totally friendly and safe,” she said. Christopher West’s talks were the highlight of the catechesis program for her.

Brothers Matthew and Cameron Little have already begun the task of trying to keep in touch with the new friends they made in Sydney, including the very generous host families.

“It was amazing to see how many people came together for the same cause, supporting the Pope and the Faith,” said Cameron.

Matthew said that looking over the crowd and the display of national flags at the Randwick Mass gave a great sense of the unity in such a huge number and variety of people.

Melissa Franke, a student of classical singing and musical theatre at the WA Academy of Performing Arts, was asked by Fr George SDS to take a lead role in a play exploring the meaning of the Our Father at the last Mass at Gosford before the pilgrims moved to Sydney.

“The Bishops loved it,” she said.

“Spiritually it was such a journey, even in the first week. We received the Holy Spirit to bring back to our community, and we are doing that,” she said.

Fernando Baptista said he was delighted to encounter so many different ways to praise and worship God, including the exploration of the Our Father at Gosford. Getting to know so many young people from the parish during the pilgrimage was a lasting highlight for him.

For Prendiville College student

Pilgrims!

We want your story! For a special edition ‘What I found at WYD’

Tell us in your own words what was special or what you feel you got from being at WYD. 150 words maximum PLUS photo (must be hi-resolution!).

DEADLINE: 15 August email to: production@therecord.com.au

Michael Graham the highlight was the great sense of unity. “There were so many new people celebrating the same things; everybody was into the Faith, the catechesis, the prayer, and everybody was so friendly and supportive,” he said.

Peter Babinski, who came to WA from Poland six months ago and is a student at Sacred Heart College, Sorrento, said that going on the pilgrimage he had wanted to meet Jesus in his heart, and to make new friends who are Catholics. He had gained both.

The spiritual experience of so many forms of prayer had given him a real meeting with Jesus in his heart.

Daniel Reed (20), who has an ambition to be a golf pro, said he was amazed at how everyone was so “friendly, peaceful and very happy”. “They were so loving and approachable, singing, chanting and rejoicing in their faith and in one another.”

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‘Wakey, wakey!’ Sleepy pilgrims slowly get ready for the WYD closing Mass with Pope Benedict at Randwick. The Record is asking all readers who were pilgrims to write and tell us about what they found through the WYD experience.

PHOTO: SYLVIA DEFENDI

Vocations

You can run, but you can’t hide

■ By Anthony Barich

MARIST Father Michael Moore tried to lose the call to the priesthood, but God has a habit of not letting go those he has chosen to lead His people.

Born in Sydney before moving to Canberra, Fr Moore felt the call to the priesthood as early as age five. His Catholic family had a great love for the Church and for priests. His mother’s brother was a priest.

He never thought too much about ‘the call’ until he met the Marist Fathers. His brother went to St John’s College, Woodlawn in Lismore, NSW, run by the Marist Fathers, who attracted him with their family and missionary spirit.

When he left school he joined them, but left after a year to study mathematics at university.

“I was trying to lose the call,” he recalled to The Record, but it didn’t lose him. God wouldn’t let him go.”

Growing up during the tumultuous years of the Vietnam War and conscription and the widespread use of the Pill as a novelty that society was convinced “freed” its individuals, Fr Michael found his calling by recognising the suffering of those around him.

The chaos around him forced him to deeply ponder what it really means to be a Catholic in a world descending in to anarchy.

In his first couple of years out of the seminary Fr Michael was confused and uncertain, but the call kept coming back. In his first year of university there was a Marist Father from the Oceania Province studying there parttime at the University of Sydney. Reminders were everywhere.

The early 1970s marked the end of conscription to the Vietnam War, and Fr Michael was looking to see what place faith had in an Australia that had changed so dramatically. “How could Christianity respond to all this,” he constantly asked himself.

He could see that many people at university with him were suffering. The new things that the students filled their lives with like the Pill didn’t seem to answer the suffering in their lives. So he returned to the Marist Fathers seminary in Sydney and was ordained in 1980.

In 1984, he met a Neocatechumenal community in a Melbourne parish which helped him personally as it gave him a genuine Christian community where he could grow in faith with other people.

The ‘Neocats’ had a new approach based on introducing people to an experience of Christ risen from the dead.

“If you start to follow a person and fall in love with them, you change almost immediately,” Fr Michael says, “because what they offer is so much more attractive than anything else you’ve got.” He was referring, of course, to Christ, who became real like never before.

The community had the capacity to offer Christ to people, and Fr Michael saw a new missionary approach, and he was hooked. It was the missionary spirit, after all, that had drawn him to the Marist Fathers in the first place.

“When the world changes, you’re forced to think, ‘what does it mean to be Catholic’?” he

said. “It’s like you’ve been surviving in a metre of water, then after World War II, you’re in 10 metres of water. What good news can I offer others, and what’s good for me?” Fr Michael often found himself pondering.

This coincided with Pope John Paul II’s call for a New Evangelisation in the mid-1980s. Fr Michael had attended a meeting in Rome with the Neocats initiators and Catechists, and he was impressed to say the least.

“That’s how the Church works,” Fr Michael says. “You’re baptised, then you reach 17-18 and you need to decide, ‘is my baptism a waste of time, or do I respond to the call’?”

Prayer and further discernment then follow when a young man has the courage to answer this call when he enters the seminary.

He says it is important to note, in regards to one’s faith journey to whatever calling they have, the advice of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which says that after baptism, more catechesis is needed so one can grow in faith, because the world is more radically secular and one needs to deepen their faith to survive it.

He says that it is never too late to seek further formation and catechesis, as faith always enlightens one’s decisions in life.

“The Gospel talks about people being enlightened because they are blind, not because they are wicked,” he says. “A sense of faith helps you see things the way the Church sees things.”

He says the key is to meet people on an existential level. While lecturing in theology at the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle, Fr Michael says a female student approached him and asked why can’t people get drunk. His simple answer was that the Church is all about love, and if you get drunk you’re not responsible to make decisions in love.

Suddenly everything was clear for the girl. “They understand straight away,” he says. “It’s not about right and wrong, it’s about love.”

Staying the course of his original missionary spirit, Fr Michael has preached the good news in Samoa and the Solomon Islands. “To go somewhere outside Australia to take the Good News elsewhere is an exciting thing,” he says.

Now he’s the rector of Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Morley, which houses students from around the world, mainly Latin America, who are also drawn to the missionary spirit.

The journey continues, and the Holy Spirit never lets go.

WAY OF ST JAMES

CATHOLIC HEARTLAND

From High Church to beach

■ the altar since he was eight. He always had a calling that this was where he was meant to be.

In becoming a Catholic he realised, while he worked at Myers in secular employment to pay his living expenses, just how strong that calling was. It was a time in his life when he wasn’t able to offer the Eucharist, which he had done since his ordination as an Anglican priest in 1977.

Fr Richard, now 60, grew up in North Curl Curl – 18km northeast of Sydney - attending Anglican High Church-style parish and Sunday school that used the traditional liturgical colours to illustrate the significance of Sundays and feast days until he was baptised at 13.

That is the definitive memory Fr Richard has, along with his vibrant parish that had many interesting visitors, especially missionaries talking about their work abroad, which were key factors that drew him to the priesthood.

For Fr Richard, the very lives of people that Christ enriches and touches through his ministry of the sacraments and his love, are that which enrich him as a priest.

“People have invited you to this holy space, be it their wedding, baptism or confession. It’s really nice to be a part of that moment and be able to share the sacrament,” he says.

“Following a vocation is about being open to the possibility and letting things happen.”

Born in 1948 – a ‘baby-boomer’ – he grew up in a very tribal church existence. There were the Irish Catholics and the English Protestants, and the animosity extended into the business world, which he found out when he worked in the Commonwealth Bank and then the retail industry upon leaving school.

Even so, the Catholic Church was alive and vibrant, full of overseas priests with many and varying personalities; schools were staffed by priests and consecrated Religious and Novenas and Benediction were regular family events. The Anglican Church was similarly alive.

“There was the expectation that kids would consider the priesthood or Religious life as a possibility among their career possibilities in life,” he recalled to The Record

Through the 1960s to the 80s, the exposure to publicly clad Religious and priests became less and less, and “youngsters could go right through the Catholic education system without ever seeing a priest”.

This, he says, is part of what is needed for the renewal of vocations in the Church – visible witnesses to the faith by their garb and their personality, aside from the good works they do.

“Parishes and Religious orders need to expose youngsters to Religious people,” he says. “If you put before them the potential and the possibility to become one, then at least it’s on the horizon for them. That opportunity has to be there. We have to encourage people to at least think about serving Jesus as a priest or religious.”

His own formation in the Anglican Society of the Sacred Mission, which he joined in the Adelaide Hills in 1972, drew him more into the mysteries of the faith.

The order’s founder Fr Herbert Kelly intended to train men for ministry not by learning things by rote but to be thoughtful and prayerful about their vocation. SSM students were expected to search things out for themselves.

He calls his formation at St Michael’s House in Crafers, in the Adelaide Hills, as “very Catholic” in that it gave him a sense of belonging to an ancient story that is very much alive today.

“I enjoyed the lifestyle at St Michael’s – praying five times a day, daily Mass, meditation, Morning Prayer, Midday Office (prayers of Intercession said with the Psalms), Evensong and Compline the prayer regime was similar to the Benedictines,” said Fr Richard.

His parents were not religious and were startled and even concerned about his vocation, as they feared he would always be poor as a church mouse.

He met his wife Pam in Perth and around 1990 they had discussed the possibility of becoming Catholics together. He never assumed this would automatically mean he would become a Catholic priest, but that was his hope all the same. He was, after all, drawn to the altar.

In what he described as literally a “leap of faith”, Fr Richard decided during 1997, in a God-given gap in his career, to act on the ‘talk’ and make contact with Bishop Robert Healey, who had mentored him and Pam since 1990. He was due for long service leave and this was an opportune moment for Fr Richard after five years at Kwinana Anglican Parish and two locums to follow his dream and become a Catholic.

Once he left the Anglican Church he and Pam had nowhere to live until, through family, he and Pam found a unit in North Beach, where they also found their spiritual home at Our Lady of Grace Parish. Archbishop Barry Hickey appointed Dominican Fr Jordan Perry, who looked after them and guided them into Holy Mother Church, and on October 25 they were received into the Catholic Church at Our Lady of Grace, North Beach.

In 1998 he applied for Catholic ordination to Archbishop Hickey, who presented his case to Rome, and on Palm Sunday 1999 the prelate shared a meal with the Smiths and told them he’d been accepted, but had to complete a couple more years’ studies at Notre Dame University and St Charles’ Seminary. Subsequently he was ordained a Deacon on October 12, 2002 and then ordained a priest on March 22, 2003 just in time for Easter.

“I really wouldn’t be happy not being a priest,” he says. “I discovered that when I worked for Myers. I knew I was where I was supposed to be.

“To be a priest is a very privileged occupation in which one discovers a great depth of love, and a place I personally feel called to be in. Vocation is as much about exposure as anything. We have to actually want to do it and be happy doing it. The ‘prayer thing’ goes hand in hand with the life of being a priest. There are good and not-sogood days of the prayer life, but I’ve learned to be still and to be reflective, which stems from my training at St Michael’s.

“Priesthood is about service, not being lord and master. Priesthood is a space that is wonderful to be in. I would recommend it wholeheartedly and without reservation.”

Medjugorje Extension

Medjugorje Extension

Lourdes (3) Loyola Santo Domingo De Silos (1) Burgos Leon Astorga (1) Sarria (1) Santiago De Compostela (2) Coimbra Fatima / Anniversary (3)

Italy (9) Rome Siena Subiaco Assisi Terni (Fra Elia) Osimo (St Joseph Copertina) Loreto Lanciano Fatima (3) Garabandal (2) Lourdes (2)

Irish Heartland?

pilgrimage extension to Medjugorje (6 nights)

Czestochowa (2) Auschwitz Wadowice Krakow (3) Shrine of Divine Mercy Budapest (2) Vienna (2) Prague (2)

Iconic: Fr Michael Moore’s vocation is a unique mix of the missionary charisms of the Marist Fathers and the Neocatechumenal Way.

PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH

And loving it: Fr Richard Smith, a former Anglican priest, was drawn to the altar as a child and cannot imagine himself doing anything else more fulfilling.

PHOTO: ANTHON Y BARICH

Vocations

God stays with Hong in the darkness of a cell

While Western journalists arriving in China to report on the Olympics complain about having Internet access blocked by authorities, one Perth priest was thrown in a cell not much bigger than himself for two years - all for refusing to renounce his Faith.

■ By Anthony Barich

THE priesthood is a remarkable thing.

Proof that it can flourish in the darkest of places where the human spirit would be expected to crumble is in the story of Father Hong Pham’s response to God’s call.

His refusal to renounce his faith while a De La Salle Brother in Communist Vietnam in 1977 resulted in his imprisonment.

He remembers like it was yesterday: The Communists took over the South on April 30, 1975, but he continued his formation and made his Religious vows in August that year.

And while some priests and Religious fled the country, he stayed.

“This is my country,” says Fr Hong, now assistant priest at Good Shepherd parish in Lockridge.

“Even though the Communists aren’t friendly, these are my people,” Fr Hong Pham remembers thinking.

The government immediately took control of all the Catholic schools and started sacking the Religious staff one by one, bringing in their own teachers, telling Religious they could not teach or even pray.

By Christmas 1977 they had sacked over 500 Religious Brothers, Sisters and priests – Redemptorists, Dominicans, Salesians, De La Salle Brothers and Cistercians.

He remembers them asking him point blank to renounce his Catholic faith. He refused, and they threw him into a 2m by 1m cell for two years, with his wrists and ankles

shackled. During his 10 years in prison he received two meals a day: a small bowl of rice with salt water for lunch and dinner. No breakfast.

Many of his friends ate grasshoppers, and even now he says they taste better than chicken. “I know you can’t imagine that”, he tells me, “they change colour like a prawn. We burn them and we eat them.”

Scorpions and centipedes were also on the menu, but “if you catch a rat it’s better. If you can have a meal with nutritious meat then that’s a good thing.”

Fr Hong and his prison friends also used to make hot dogs out of earthworms by washing them with water and ash.

After leaving them to ‘marinate’ for two days, they can be mashed and shaped into a

hot dog, then boiled. “It’s very good!” he says. “Now, I can be happy everywhere, eat everything. I never take anything for granted.”

This whole experience taught him three things about life, which also relate to the priesthood:

● Freedom is the most precious thing.

● Man proposes but God disposes, therefore divine providence can help you and lead you to do His will.

● Everything comes from God’s love.

The relentless faith of the priests and Religious he lived with in the most trying circumstances in prison stoked the fire of the Holy Spirit within him to want to become a priest himself.

“They said we can’t preach in prison, so another way to serve the people of God is

by sharing the Sacrament,” he said. Waiting until all prisoners were asleep because some would dob them in, they would use a host and wine that families had sent them disguised as biscuits and medicinal wine for arthritis, the priests consecrated them into the body and blood of Christ and shared it with the Religious and other believers.

After being released in 1988 under the Vietnamese Government’s “open-door” policy, his Statement of Release said, “This man should present himself at the Central Police Station every Monday morning to report what he had done and whom he had met.”

As he tells this to The Record, he is not reading off the statement. It has been burned into his memory. Yet he laughs as he says it.

“I laugh at how you can possibly live there,” he says.

He finally found his opportunity to escape Vietnam in 1998. A keen martial artist since childhood, Fr Hong Pham was in Australia as coach of the Vietnamese national team at the eighth South East Asia Championship in Melbourne, preparing for the 2000 Olympics. His whole team also defected and was accepted by the Department of Immigration. “When I look back, it was God’s grace, though at the time I didn’t know what was happening or why.” He decided to defect when the government asked him to spy on his fellow Religious.

Martial arts had given him concentration, patience and self-discipline – gifts that served him well both in prison and as a priest, which has been a liberating and fulfilling experience for him. He was also a Scoutmaster at Dalat University.

Now as a parish priest at Lockridge, he sees himself as a follower of Christ “when I am always ready to serve people. That’s it.”

His experiences have also taught him the value of self-sacrifice, service and celibacy in the priesthood, which go hand-in-hand.

“If I had my own family I must take care of them, but celibacy lets me serve more freely,” he says.

“My vocation has been a series of God’s call and my response at every stage of my life.”

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Disclaimer:

Devout: Fr Hong Pham, motorcycle rider and martial arts expert, was imprisoned for 10 years in Vietnam just for being a Catholic. Now he rides free, and is relishing the chance to live out his priesthood. He takes nothing for granted and, rather than despising God for his difficult life, praises Him. PHOTO: ANTHO NY BARICH

Vocations

John Paul the Great inspires Gospel youth

■ By Clare Pike Missionaries of the Gospel foundress

THE charism and spirituality of John Paul II is beginning to grow and blossom within a new community in Perth called the Missionaries of the Gospel.

In 2004 it became apparent that the Holy Spirit wanted a new community to be formed, to continue the work He had begun in John Paul II.

I cannot describe the joy I felt when I was presented with this idea.

I was surprised it did not already exist in the Church because it seemed so obvious that we needed it.

At the same time, the approach of JPII so deeply resonated in my own heart.

After discerning many different communities of sisters, I knew I was finally home and was eager to give Christ my life through this community.

Since then, many preparations have begun, including writing a letter to John Paul II in 2004 to share the idea with him.

Many subsequent preparations and discussions culminated in the celebration of Mass by Archbishop Barry Hickey on 23 June 2007.

At this time our provisional statues were officially recognised and Beatrice and I were enrolled as postulants.

A week later we set off for Poland to spend nine months studying the language, culture and history of JPII’s homeland.

It has been such an extraordinary experience.

As we came to know the person of Karol Wojtyla, Christ was slowly revealing to us our identity and what He is calling us to.

We believe that through John Paul II, our Lord was teaching us a way of responding to the problems of modern society, that He is calling the whole Church through us, to consider a special way of ‘being with’ people and with God that opens, transforms and unites hearts to Christ.

As I’m sure you know already, an encounter with Christ through John Paul II often began with simply being in his presence. He had a way of really listening to you, of making you feel like your experi-

ences and thoughts were important. He emphasised your dignity, and affirmed that you are important, simply because you ‘are’. If someone struggling with a problem approached JPII, he would not provide directions and solutions straight away, because he believed that we all have the capacity to discover Truth and freely choose Good, and he was a living witness to the hope that Goodness could always triumph over evil.

Millions of people were drawn to JPII, to his way of being with people, especially because it stands in stark contrast with what they have experienced in a world that has little time for others and is scared to be with other people especially if they are suffering.

Through JPII’s gift of self to others, the Holy Spirit is reminding us that we need to examine the way we love others, for it is only in being a gift to others that we discover the meaning of our existence.

So in the future our community of sisters, brothers, priests and lay men and women (married or single), hope to grow in our relationship with Christ so that this gift for the Church may flourish through us.

Our community will not have one particular apostolate. Already we can see that God is calling people from diverse backgrounds (for example mothers, engineers, students) to this particular way of being and are eager to join the community.

John Paul II has said that unless the missionary is a contemplative, he can not proclaim Christ in a credible way. So whilst we will be an active community, our prayer life is a priority for us.

Our Spirituality will include entrusting ourselves to our Blessed Mother in all things (‘Totus tuus!’), we will also have a strong devotion to the Eucharist, the Holy Scriptures, the Way of the Cross, to our Lord’s Divine Mercy and to the mystery of the Holy Trinity dwelling in each person.

It is also very important for us to be witnesses of hope, men and women eager to share the light of the resurrection with every person, regardless of what they have experienced or the despair that confronts them.

We have much to learn, and we must be patient as the shape of

for each other as we strive to entrust our lives to Mary our Comfort and Guide, and become saints of the

new millennium. Our website, like this community, is currently under construction: www.mg.org.au

this new charism for the Church is slowly revealed. Let us commit to praying with our late Holy Father

Loved by youth: A youth presents Pope John Paul II with a ball during a special audience at the Vatican. The late pontiff and his promulgation of the idea that each person has a special dignity has inspired the charism of the Missionaries of the Gospel.

PHOTO: CNS

Vocations Hold fast to Truth

Telling people the Truth isn’t imposing values, says prominent think-tank founder.

■ By Anthony Barich

KNOWING the Catholic faith and holding fast to its truths is the best way to evangelise and overcome intolerance, a founder of the Acton Institute told an audience in Sydney.

Father Robert Sirico, co-founder and president of the US-based think tank, told The Record on July 23 in Sydney that there is “no reason” to be defensive about the Catholic faith.

World Youth Day, he said, is a perfect example of the faith being presented to the secular world confidently and without compromise.

“World Youth Day itself is part of ongoing formation - for both Catholics and the secular world,” suggested Fr Sirico, who was in Australia at the time to witness the event. “It’s when we’re unsure of ourselves that we become defensive, and I don’t think there’s any reason for that.

“We need to engage people of different lifestyles and beliefs and propose to them, not impose upon them, the truth of the faith, and engage in an honest conversation about it.”

Father Siroco has high hopes for the fruits of WYD08.

Having been a ‘veteran’ of World Youth Days in Rome, Toronto and Denver, he said the latter especially showed remarkable fruits in vocations to married, priesthood and consecrated life.

“Seeing 300,000 people on the streets of Sydney gives one a sense that they’re not alone and that the Catholic faith has a plausibility that we can recommend to the world,” said Fr Sirico, who is from the diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The Acton Institute, dedicated to the study of free-market economics informed by religious faith and moral absolutes, launched in Sydney on July 4 its documentary “The Birth of Freedom.”

The documentary is “exploding the myth” that being religious is by definition intolerant, the priest explained.

It makes the case that the institutions of human liberty, the resistance to various forms of enslavement, misogyny and non-acceptance emerge from a Christian idea of the inherent dignity of the human

Catechists vital for God’s Plan

Commissioning Eucharist for Catechists

ON July 30 a Eucharistic Celebration in thanksgiving for the Ministry of Catechists took place in the Chapel of St Michael the Archangel located at the Catholic Education Centre, Leederville.

Catechists are volunteers who provide Religious Education and catechesis for those Catholic children who do not attend Catholic

Missionaries rising up to challenge

person.

Father Sirico said that other social institutions emerged from around that: law courts, the right of contract, the right of private property, free exchange, free expression and the right of religious practice.

A new generation of missionaries rise up to meet the challenges of the future

■ By Fr Patrick McInerney

COLUMBANS are missionary priests, sent ad gentes (“to the nations”). Traditionally, our members have come from Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“These things are unknown in the ancient world, and it’s very telling that they emerge from the Judeo-Christian West,” he said.

“There’s a reason for that, and I think it’s our anthropology and our understanding of who the human person is.”

The film credits Catholic monasticism as the first institutions to embrace the “spirit of innovation” that dragged civilisation through the dark ages from the years 5001400.

It also credits key members of the Church’s hierarchy, including Popes, with converting Roman Emperors responsible for slaughters and inhuman gladiatorial contests.

It also notes that many agents for social change in the history of Europe and the United States were motivated by belief in God, and publicly stated so. These included Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln.

“We want our secular friends to understand the liberty that we take for granted, and what the roots of that liberty are,” Father Sirico said.

“Our hope is to vigorously respond to the myth that religion and religious commitment is a form of intolerance and ‘the Dark Ages.’ The Dark Ages were a myth, as the film says.

“Some of the greatest achievements in human invention come from that very period.”

Father Sirico said there is a common perception that atheists are ‘free thinkers’ where as religious believers are ‘shackled.’”

“We just want to basically explode the myth that religion is intolerant, or that the embracing of truth is itself an act of intolerance,” Fr Sirico said. “I just don’t think that’s true.

“The very notion of tolerance depends upon something you disagree with – something you believe is true but you’ll tolerate the contrary.

“We have to get over the idea that holding to the truth means that we disrespect people and their liberty.

“We may disagree with people, but we ought never to disrespect their person.”

Schools and for adults with intellectual disabilities.

During the celebration the Most Rev Donald Sproxton, auxiliary Bishop of Perth, commissioned thirty four new Catechists and reminded them that the focus of the ministry is the person of Jesus Christ.

He asked Catechists to renew their commitment, made through their baptism, to grow into the fullness of Christ and participate in the mission of the church for bringing about the Kingdom.

Bishop Sproxton said Catechists communicate their own lived experience of their faith; they evangelise effectively because of the people they are.

He encouraged all Catechists to

Now our new members are being called by God from Chile, Fiji, Korea, Peru, Tonga and the Philippines.

Although youth from other countries are responding to the missionary call, God continues to call young Australian Catholics too, so that the Church’s mission may be truly universal and inclusive of all peoples.

Accordingly, Columbans invite young Australian men to join their peers from other countries for a lifetime of missionary adventure.

Columbans are a multi-cultural society. Members of ten different nationalities work together with other priests, sisters and laity on mission in fifteen different countries. Our international membership and diverse experience of mission in different places give us a global perspective on the Church and the world.

Following the Gospel “option for the poor” we freely choose to be in solidarity with the poor and the marginalised, witnessing first-hand the devastating effects on their lives of violence, poverty, injustice and ecological destruction.

This combination of global and Gospel perspectives transforms us and gives us the “missionary edge” that characterises our life and work. Columbans are at the frontier of the Church’s involvement in working for peace, justice, reconciliation, and a sustainable use of resources.

We are at the crossroads of dialogue between peoples, cultures and religions.

Columbans respond with Gospel concern to the needs of our sisters and brothers in countries around the world. We rely on your prayers, support and encouragement to call forth a new generation of young Australian missionaries to help carry God’s mission into the future.

Fr. Patrick J. McInerney

Columban Mission Institute

Locked Bag 2002 (167 Albert Road) Strathfield. NSW. 2135 Phone:(02) 9352 8000 Fax:(02) 9746 8033

E-mail: patrickmcinerney@columban.org.au

Website: www.columban.org.au

continue their ongoing formation.

Deacon Greg Lowe preached the homily at the Commissioning Eucharist and told Catechists, ‘The Kingdom of God can be found in the heart. You have discovered a treasure in your heart that you cannot keep to yourself. In a community some things are worth holding on to. Two of these things are the Church and your faith and God is in both. Tonight let us give thanks for the Church, our faith and for Catechists and be grateful for all three.’

PHOTO: DIANA ALTIERI

Fr Robert Sirico

Right: Catechists being commissioned as a group in the Chapel of Saint Michael the Archangel

Vocations

Preaching the Gospel is what it’s all about, says young Dominican

■ By Anthony Barich

BROTHER Mannes Tallis lived out his Dominican vocation on a massive scale on July 20 when he sang the Gospel to over 400,000 at the final Mass of World Youth Day at Sydney’s Royal Randwick Racecourse.

Brother Mannes, 31, is in the home stretch of his several-year priesthood training with the Order of Preachers – the Dominicans – started in the early 1200s by St Dominic, the great preacher who fought the verbal fight for the Church against the Albigensians. A similar spiritual battle is being waged today for the souls of Australia’s youth, and Catholics around the world are hoping WYD08 will prove to be a telling blow to the secularism that has engulfed the nation and much of the western world.

For Brother Mannes, who will be ordained in Adelaide in December, chanting the Gospel at the final Mass carried out the charism of his order’s founder – preaching the Gospel, the Good News.

Brother Mannes said that the whole experience increased the burning desire in him to become a priest.

“Something at WYD which made me desire the priesthood more was the amount of young people who wanted to hear more about the faith, or wanted their confession heard,” Brother Mannes said, referring to the hundreds of youth who queued

Knights’ National Prayer Crusade For Vocations

THE Knights of the Southern Cross (KSC) will launch their second National Prayer Crusade for Vocations on September 7.

The aim of the Crusade is to pray for an increase in vocations generally, so that more priests and deacons can be released to provide badly needed Military Chaplains for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Bishop Max Davis AM DD, of the Military Ordinary for Australia, has advised the Knights that there are 36 fulltime Catholic Chaplain positions available but only 13 currently filled.

The situation with part-time Catholic Chaplain positions is similar with only 18 positions filled out of 47 available.

Bishop Davis is in desperate need of more chaplains to care for the Catholic members of the ADF and their families in Australia and overseas.

His flock numbers around 40,000.

The Supreme Knight of the Knights of the Southern Cross, David Huppatz, has called on all Catholics throughout Australia to join the Crusade, which will run from September 7 to November 29.

The commitment is simple. Contact Bob Perkins, National Executive Officer, KSC by e-mail at neo@ksca.org. au or by phone (02) 6247 2977 to obtain a Crusade Registration Form.

Fill in and return the Registration Form.

Pray the special Crusade Prayer (available on the Registration Form) each day for 1 week during the Crusade. You can choose the week.

around the city of Sydney from July 15-20 to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation from hundreds of priests during WYD08.

“Those two things are crucial and that is what the priesthood is for – the preaching of the Good News and the bestowing of God’s mercy. I hope to go to Madrid as a priest in 2011.”

While chanting the Gospel at the final Mass was certainly the biggest moment in his life thus far, his Priestly ordination Mass and the first Mass he celebrates as a priest

will be “far more meaningful in the long run.”

Even so, “this opportunity will be one I never forget,” he said.

While he jumped at the chance to chant the Gospel to a sea of young people when approached by the event’s Master of Ceremonies, Fr Don Richardson, he was humbled and was nervous about whether he’d do a good job.

“I was really nervous as I brought the book to the lectern, but about halfway through singing the Gospel I became a little more composed as

I had rehearsed the tune so many times, it had become a part of me,” he says.

“I did look out at everyone part of the way through, because I had sort of memorised the text somewhat, but it did not compute that I was really singing in front of so many people, let alone the viewing audience via internet or TV.

“It was really surreal.”

With a global audience estimated to be in the millions, he received Communion from the Pope - which he will never forget - though he had met the pontiff when he was still known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

The Mass expressed for the hundreds of thousands of youth at WYD08 the universality of the Liturgy – the same miracle of the altar performed every day in every parish, school and community throughout Australia and the world.

“I was impressed that it all worked out, but at the end of the day it was a Mass – and the Mass is the Mass whether the Pope is celebrating it or a humble country parish priest,” he says. “It is the action of Christ that matters, not so much the environment in which it takes place.”

Brother Mannes often chants the Epistle and Gospel in the Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite (Latin), which he finds easier than singing in the vernacular –plain English.

While the Dominican order in Australia has stagnated in terms of vocations over the past 30 years,

there has been a new springtime during and following the pontificates of Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

Young men driven and drawn by the truth of the Catholic faith are standing up to be counted –young men like Brother Mannes, his order’s WYD coordinator Father Dominic Murphy, and Bishop Anthony Fisher, Cardinal George Pell’s Auxiliary Bishop in Sydney.

Bishop Fisher ordained Brother Mannes on December 22 last year as a deacon – the last step before being ordained a priest. The Dominican bishop was also originally Brother Mannes’ Student Master at St Dominic’s Priory in the leafy suburb of Camberwell.

Under his guidance, Brother Mannes has developed a love for the Church, the truth it proclaims and the Trinity at the centre of it all. And he’s not alone as a young man passionate about the faith.

“I enjoyed being with my group of university students (at WYD08), and what’s more one of the lads actually said he has considered a vocation to the Dominicans, so I will be praying that the gives us a go,” Brother Mannes says.

As for himself, Brother Mannes had considered the priesthood long before he ever heard of WYD, though he was involved in the Palm Sunday Mass for the WYD Cross and Icon in 2006 in Rome, and was “one of the lucky ones” to actually receive the Cross from the German contingent who hosted WYD05 Cologne.

Life, priesthood is a pilgrimage for adventurous soul

■ By Anthony Barich

MARLON Pia’s family barely talked to him for five years when he told them he wanted to become a priest.

Marlon, now a student at St Charles Seminary in Guildford, is from a typical family in the Philippines – six kids, strong Catholics etc.

But that family faith wasn’t as strong as the cultural norm that said the eldest son must carry on the name of the father.

In Marlon’s case, the men on his father’s side were engineers, lawyers, seamen or teachers. Those were his choices.

But Marlon stuck to his guns.

Through his first five years of seminary studies in Manila his family barely spoke to him.

When they did, the conversation was brief and distinctly cold.

After those five years, his family was gradually convinced that he was serious about his vocation.

They are in regular contact now as he completes his studies at Guildford, and he will be ordained a

priest for the diocese of Bunbury in 2010. But it wasn’t always that way.

For total immersion, first-year students at Manila’s big seminary don’t get to see their family except at Christmas; and Marlon’s family didn’t come and see him that year.

It was his first Christmas alone in nearly 20 years. Yet he wasn’t totally alone – he spent it with his seminary brothers, and their families.

Like many priests, Marlon felt the call when a child, but he lacked the courage to take that next step.

That was until Pope John Paul II chose Manila to host World Youth Day 1995.

During the Vigil the night before the final Mass, the pontiff told the four million young people there: “Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you.”

For Marlon, who was attending WYD95 aged 15 with 70 from his parish (and that was one of their smaller groups), it was exactly what he needed to hear.

“I used to be so excited about what my future will be, what kind of university course I would take,” Marlon said.

“But after my encounter in 1995 with the Holy Father and many young people from different cultures, I sensed a longing for something new – an experience of something deeper – and the belief that God was calling me somewhere else.

“And that strong desire in my heart, which was fairly vague at first, has become clearer and clearer with the passage of time and the help and support of other people.”

So he launched into the deep, and after five years in Manila’s seminary he was visited by Fr Gerald Dan - a priest now based at Mandurah who was a good mate of his in the Manila seminary.

Fr Gerald invited him back to WA, and Marlon said yes after taking 10 months to think about it with advice from his spiritual director, once Bunbury Bishop Gerard Holohan visited him in the Philippines while there to also visit families of Filipino priests in his diocese.

Living in another country is no problem for Marlon. He’s always been adventurous and loves new experiences, developing friend-

Adventurous: Marlon Pia.

was another watershed moment for Marlon. With the dedication required through all the long walks and sleepless nights, the event itself was a true pilgrimage.

“World Youth Day in Sydney really reminds me that life really is a pilgrimage,”

The Word of God: Dominican seminarian Mannes Tallis, from Adelaide, carries the Gospel to the lectern during the Final Mass at Southern Cross Precinct during World Youth Day.

PHOTO: WYD08/GETTY IMAGES

Vocations

Young men step into breach full of love for God

Last year, The Record’s Anthony Barich spent a day in the life of a student at St Charles Seminary, and found that WA’s future priests share a faith-filled camaraderie…

IT was at the Vatican of all places where Archbishop Barry Hickey heard the words he loves to hear from a young man:

“Hi, I’m Mark. I’m from Perth and I’d like to become a priest.”

During a year of discernment, Mark Baumgarten was in Rome in 2006 for one of Pope Benedict XVI’s Wednesday audiences at St Peter’s Square, and happened to literally bump into the Archbishop.

Though he had already all but made his mind up, providence was surely giving young Mark a serious tap on the shoulder by this fortuitous meeting at Catholic Church headquarters.

His intention to take the priestly vocation was sealed during an intense 30-day “Spiritual Exercises” course in Phoenix run by a Jesuit spiritual director, designed by St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, to bring an individual’s calling to the fore.

“St Ignatius strikes me as a structural genius,” Mark said of the course. “With a spiritual director, the Exercises have a very powerful impact.”

His mind was made up. The day after he returned he called Fr Armando Carandang, then Perth’s vocations director. He was on his way.

He entered St Charles’ Seminary in February last year and loves it.

Of course, as Mark freely admits, the politics of human existence – ie getting on each others’ nerves - doesn’t disappear just because you’re in the seminary, but it holds together because they are all moving towards the same goal.

In the life of a seminarian there are moments of fiery competitiveness, pure tranquility and uplifting liturgy that prompted Mark to say he felt like he was “floating” after experiencing the Easter liturgy at the seminary this year.

Indeed, the late Pope John Paul II said that a seminary is called to be “a continuation in the Church of the apostolic community gathered about Jesus, listening to His word, proceeding towards the Easter experience, awaiting the gift of the Holy Spirit for the mission” (Pastores Dabo Vobis, 1992).

The academic studies that Mark experienced in his first year were introductory as classroom takes second place to understanding the dynamics of seminary life.

On the Tuesday morning, when The Record visited St Charles’ last year, the seminarians got a 45-minute sleep-in.

Morning prayer from the Divine Officeotherwise known as the Prayer of the Church or the Breviary - and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament start at 7.30am. Usually they would start at 6.45am.

Half an hour later they adjourn to the dining hall that used to be split into classrooms, and sit down to the average breakfast of cereal and toast.

Fr Don Hughes OMI (Oblate of Mary Immaculate), the Rector of the seminary, browses part of The West Australian, and the seminarians cast lots to get the sports section or whatever section they fancy. A copy of The Record is lying around somewhere.

Forty-five minutes later they retreat to their accommodation for a house meeting. I sat in on MacKillop House’s meeting, appropriately named after Australia’s first beatified person. It’s minor housekeeping stuff, but relevant none-the-less. One seminarian asked about fixing the cooling system in the chapel – he could’ve sworn there was an instruction manual in the sacristy somewhere.

Other issues mentioned were reiterated on the notice board as one walks through the hall of the building where Fr Don takes first-years

through a Gospel reflection at 9.30am, then took them through some local Church history at 10.45, with a snack in between.

During Gospel reflection, Fr Don takes the opportunity to make some telling points to the first-years, who today number only two as three others, two of them from Burma, are indisposed.

In an intimate one-on-two session with Mark and young Nathan Florio, Fr Don tells them of the importance of Pentecost – the theme of the coming week’s Gospel reading.

Mark, an astute 29-year-old who has clearly done his fair share of prayer and teachings thanks to St Ignatius, already has a rather strong clue. But Fr Don seeks to clarify all the same.

“The important thing about Pentecost is that it wasn’t just an isolated event 2000 years ago; we are changing all the time, and every day the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit come to the fore in our everyday lives.

He quotes Cardinal John Henry Newman: “To live is to change, to be perfect is to have changed often.”

So it is personal change that the seminarians seek, in part through the Prayers of the Church in the Breviary, which can be used by the laity and which Mark carries with him to the chapel for his midday prayers.

Usually it is a moment of quiet reflection, sitting in peace before the Tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is held, but on this occasion he shares it with me.

The prayers of the Breviary, in part, are made up of the Psalms that formed the groundwork of the Liturgy of the Jews for 12 centuries before Christ and were handed down to the Christian churches.

This time of personal prayer is part of almost two hours of free time, during which a few opportune moments presented themselves for hobbies the seminarians pursue to help retain a sense of self.

African seminarian Bonaventure Echeta, a solid bloke not averse to the odd bout of competitiveness over an afternoon game of table tennis, was spotted hauling his mountain bike out of his room for some solid fitness work, clad in cycling tights.

It is during these moments of doing the very Aussie thing of sitting on the verandah – minus a tinnie of VB – that seminarians can take time out to chat to each other or just enjoy the serenity.

The new accommodation houses are named after appropriate saints – MacKillop (Josephite founder Mary MacKillop), Vianney (St John Vianney, patron of priests), de Paul (St Vincent de Paul; and the Vincentians ran the seminary for 30 years), and the first-years stay in Prendiville (named after Archbishop Redmond Prendiville, who bought the property for St Charles’ Seminary) that houses the library, games room and store room.

As Mark noted, every part of seminary life is geared around formation – spiritual, academic, human and pastoral.

Seminarians study a standard four units a semester at university, but some may do two or three, depending on their adaptability to the language or concepts.

Students from second-year onwards attend Notre Dame on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Fridays are kept free for sacramental focus – liturgy and singing as well as cleaning the kitchen and their houses and sport – while Saturdays they can leave the seminary to visit family, and Sunday is for reflection in the morning, with Benediction and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the evening.

Just after lunch at 1.20pm, the first-years joined Margie Bramston for “Voicecraft”, which for the many international students means learning how to pronounce the English language properly and effectively, which they’ll be doing plenty of as priests in public addresses.

At St Charles’, there are students from as far as Africa, Myanmar, Vietnam and India.

For the students whose first language is English, like Mark, it’s about learning to project one’s voice effectively, structuring speeches and using aids to get the message across well. Much of their future outside the seminary will be spent preaching and speaking in public, so these classes are time well spent.

Not so long ago...

■ By Anthony Barich

NOT so long ago, Mark Baumgarten earned a crust awakening in children a sense of adventure.

Dressing up as a pirate or Darth Vader, Mark would entertain at children’s parties.

Now he has embarked on his own adven ture, training to be a priest at St Charles’ Seminary in Guildford to awaken in others a love for God and His Church – something he only realised in his late 20s when he “fell in love with the Church, through Jesus”.

As Mark has testified, he has taken the “long way around” to finding God in His Church.

He is one of 25 young men aged from early 20s to mid-40s, at St Charles’ Seminary in the idyllic surrounds of Guildford, right on the banks of the Swan River – a place conducive to solitude and reflection.

But it’s not all beer and skittles. “St Charles’ can be challenging, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Mark says upon reflection.

“Any community is challenging, living with so many other blokes, but we’re all preparing to give our whole lives to God, so it’s only natural that you go through difficult things.

“You’d go through stressful times preparing for marriage, giving your life to someone. What we’re doing isn’t that different in that regard.

“I relish the difficulty, because it’s for the glory of God. “There have been times when things have spilled over, but I’m enjoying it.” Even when he had drifted from the Church as a teen and no longer attended

Mass, Mark always felt that he wanted to do something for the greater good. He lived in an ecumenical community that catered for the homeless, but as time went by, differences started to emerge between himself, as a baptised Catholic, and the other Christians who ran the centre – and a longing for the Sacraments fermented in his heart.

The Sacraments became more important to him, and as his general faith focused more on what the Church offers in this regard it opened up the Religious life as a possibility. It had become clear to him that there were two options – marrying and having a family or entering the Religious life, but they were incompatible. He could not do both.

“So one of them had to miss out,” he says with not a hint of regret.

Here we go: Perth diocesan vocations director Fr Thai Vu speaks with student Brennan Sia at the St

Seminarian Peter Geers dries the dishes in the kitchen while fellow student Jean-Noel

Housework: Mark Baumgarten does some seminary chores... with love.

Asked if they wanted to make a commitment to priesthood and religious life, more than 2000 WYD pilgrim youth said... ‘Yes!’

In recent decades there has been much talk of a “vocations crisis”. But it seems that members of the Neocatechumenal Way have not heard about it.

By Marco Ceccarelli

There could not have been a better setting for the vocational meeting of the Neocatechumenal Way than the grassed terrain of Sydney’s Domain, surrounded by several Sycamores, a tree so dear to the evangelical landscape.

Over 40,000 young members of the Way from around the world who had celebrated Mass with Pope Benedict XVI only a day earlier, gathered in the open space behind St Mary’s Cathedral to meet with the initiators and international leaders of the Neocatechumenal WayKiko Arguello, Carmen Hernandez and Fr Mario Pezzi.

The Neocatechumenal Way is a way of initiation to faith within

Christian formation. It is present in 112 countries of the world with almost 20,000 communities. The Statute of the Neocatechumenal Way was approved on June 13.

Presiding over the meeting was Cardinal George Pell who encouraged the young crowd, saying that the Holy Spirit was breathing through the Neocatechumenal communities and into an Australian nation that, to many, is becoming more secular by the day. He urged the young people to continue in their mission as Christians and to remain signs of the love of Christ for the youth of Australia.

The magnitude of support for the movement within the upper echelons of the Catholic Church was proved with the presence of Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna Chri¬stoph Schönborn and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick (Archbishop emeritus of Washington), plus the Cardinal Archbishops of Bogota and Barcelona.

Perth Archbishop Barry Hickey, his Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton, Bunbury’s Gerard Holohan and Broome’s Christopher Saunders joined these.

A special welcome was given to Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco

city that will host the next World Youth Day in 2011; while the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide, was also present.

The variety of flags fluttering in the crowd was breathtaking as Kiko welcomed brothers and sisters from Spain, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, Poland, Lebanon, Egypt, North and South America, Africa, China, Japan and Malaysia, to mention a few. The Australian crowd was left till last, rising to its feet when called.

The Neocatechumenal groups from around the globe had been travelling throughout the week leading up to World Youth Day following 40 set itineraries that reached the major cities of Australia, plus some Aboriginal communities.

The message behind the gospel of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) was chosen by Kiko as the theme around which the meeting was to revolve. Zacchaeus was a wealthy but hated tax collector in the town of Jericho who climbed a Sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus as he walked past. Jesus told Zacchaeus to descend from the tree to serve as his host for the rest of the day, an act

Top: Over 800 young women stepped forward nominating themselves for consecrated Religious life.

Above: Kiko Arguello, founder of the Neocatechumenal Way, smiles at the gatherinng of up to 40,000 from the movement. PHOTOS: JAMIE O’BRIEN

Vocations

Celebration: Neocatechumenal founder Kiko Arguello watches as Cardinal Theodore McCarrick adresses the crowd, above; young women kneel as they offer themselves for discernment of a vocation to religious life at top; Cardinal George Pell addresses the pilgrims, top right; Archbishop Barry Hickey, who was accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton, enjoys the moment with Kiko Arguello and Australian Responsible for the Neocatechumenal Way, Toto Piccolo.

PHOTOS: JAMIE O’BRIEN. PHOTO TOP OF THIS PAGE: MARCO CECCARELLI

Here I am, Lord: Some of the 1000 or so young men who came forward to offer themselves in discernment of a vocation to the priesthood kneel. Meanwhile Neocatechumenal Responsible Fr Mario Pezzo, at right, prays during the celebration. Neocatechumenal Way founder Carmen Hernandez, above photo of Fr Pezzo, addresses the massive crowd of Neocatechumenal pilgrims.

PHOTOS: JAMIE O’BRIEN

Drawn to the church from a young age

Perspectives

Young give me hope for the future

Anne O’Shannon

When I was younger we did not go to Church or anything like that. My father was Church of England in those days and my mother was Catholic.

I used to see people going to Catholic Churches. I remember a lot of my friends went but they did not want to go. I thought, “I’ll go! Pick me! I would love to try that.” I suppose from an early age I was drawn to the Church.

Why I became Catholic

with Debbie Warrier

I had faith in God but I do not think I realised it.

My husband Carroll is Catholic. I met him in England while we were both travelling. After we came back from London to Australia we decided to get married. We travelled around Australia and finally settled in Perth. I felt anchored after years of restless travel. We have two children, Caitlin who is 16 years old and Liam who is 13. Both go to a Catholic High School.

While we were settling in Perth we met a number of people who were Catholic and active in the Church. They were inspirational. Then when our children were baptised they got involved in the Catholic Church and I had more inspiration to draw from. Their faith was contagious!

Other Catholics I had met influenced me too. I realised being Catholic was the type of person I wanted to become and I was always meant to be. I read about the RCIA, asked about it and then decided to do it. My sponsor for my confirmation was Ina Richards. She and her family embraced me and my family. They were very supportive.

There were people that were less supportive. They were like, “Why is she doing that for?” I was already in a Catholic environment and they didn’t know why I needed it to be formalised. However, I was supported by my husband, two children and their God parents.

I was confirmed at Easter in 1998 at St Simon Peter’s Church, Ocean Reef. I love Easter and the traditions of the Catholic Church. I never go away from my home at that time of year. I like to go to Saturday Mass at my parish and see other RCIA participants being baptised. It inspires me again and I get the same feeling out of it.

The RCIA process is non-judgmental. If you are uncertain about anything regarding faith or initiation into the Catholic Church you can bring it up. If you don’t agree with something you have the freedom to say that. Questioning things is all part of the process. You are taught the reason for going to Church. I left high school when I was 15 years old. I returned to study as an adult and attended Tuart College. Now I work part time and study part time. I am doing a Science degree at Murdoch University and am in my final semester.

I find I can separate science and faith. The more I know about science the more I find out what I don’t know. What I don’t know can only be explained by faith. Faith requires no evidence.

My conversion was gradual. It awakened me. I have always believed in something greater then me and my life. I think that once I found faith in God I found faith in myself.

with Catherine Parish

Something that seemed to blow away a lot of cynical Sydneysiders during the Pope’s visit was that it was actually quite nice to have happy young people around – that, indeed there WERE still lots of happy and pleasant young people in the world.

And something that seemed to really irritate some of the secular press was that there were just so many of those joyous young Catholics having fun, being nice to each other and everybody else! Sydney that week wasn’t nightmarishly chaotic and horrible to be in; it was fun in a clean-cut kind of way, apparently.

I was reading about this phenomenon while sitting in a small shopping centre car park, waiting to pick up my son after he finished work last night.

Distracted by the rumbling engine of a rather speccy-looking, hotted up car, I glanced up as it parked in front of me. A young man got out, but instead of running in to the shops as I expected, he went round to the passenger side, and helped out a more than middle aged little lady. He supported her as she got out and then, as she leaned against the side of the car, he got her walking frame out of the boot.

While she got herself going on that, he went into the back seat to get her handbag. It looked like a well rehearsed sequence, and all the while they were

chatting, having a bit of a joke and a laugh. They went into the shops, he ambling along keeping pace with her. At eight o’clock in the evening, maybe after a long day’s work or study, this young man was happy to give his time to the unglamorous task of helping someone do their shopping.

It was wonderful to see the way it was done; he was not oversolicitous or patronising, or obviously masking impatience; there was a delightful naturalness about it, they both seemed to be quite happy with life at that moment.

That is the sort of thing that does remind you that there are many, many generous and kind-hearted young people out there, quietly doing good for others without fanfare or reward, often under difficult circumstances.

Those who nurse elderly or sick relatives, who visit the home-bound, who help others to fulfil the necessary tasks

of life like shopping and cleaning when they cannot do it for themselves, and perform a thousand other unacclaimed acts of kindness. I don’t know what their personal reasons for being kind to others are, any more than I know what is behind that young man’s kindness to an incapacitated lady.

What I do know is that it is reassuring to see that goodness is still very much alive and well and living in young people in the course of their everyday lives.

It gives great confidence that our young Catholics will rise to and embrace the challenges thrown out by Pope Benedict at the World Youth festivities, to learn to know, love and live their faith in its fullness, including the need to give of yourself without financial reward, not only in the immediate aftermath of all the highs of World Youth Day and the delirious excitement of the moment, but for the rest of their lives.

‘Black legends, new light’

Ipause when someone asks me, as people regularly do, why it is that I persist with my faith, why I bother - as a same sex attracted man - with the popes and the Catholic Church. I flick my eyes in that meaningful way men sometimes do when they’re caught off guard, and then I launch into something like an apology.

I should return the question, of course, and ask: Why does the Church still bother with me?

Even better, I could ask why the person thinks I do not love Christ, and love Him with such a power of devotion that I love whatever is His, including His most holy Church?

That’s rather too much for most settings, however, so I usually just say that the church that some people call homophobic (or worse) is not the Catholic Church I serve.

Why?

Because so much of what people claim to reject is not even recognisable as Catholic teaching.

Certainly, solid blocs of Catholics – even some experts - consistently get the wider teaching on human sexuality wrong. Sex is for procreation, right? But that is only part of the story. The Church teaches about the “sexual and affective complementarity” of the sexes.

By the same measure, many people in the Church (and most people outside it) are unaware of the more specific, key distinction between homosexual acts (condemned outright), and the treatment of those who experience same sex attractions (loved, without limit).

Misinformed critics reject something, therefore, but it is not the Catholic Church.

Surprisingly, most people respond very favourably to an engagement along these lines. I’m sure now it’s because where

Being

Heard

By John Heard

they are not pure inventions; most of the more shocking claims made against the Church (rather than against individual Catholics) are black legends.

Those who trade in black legends take real situations, and exaggerate the negatives. They simultaneously obscure any positive connotations, so that a powerful lie works itself into popular memory.

Under the influence of a black legend, some disputed period of Catholic history - the era of the Spanish Empire, for instance – takes on a new life. Associated characters, such as the Grand Inquisitor (Fr. Tomas de Torquemada) who was called “the light of Spain, the saviour of his country, the honour of his order”, are transformed in later readings, emerging eventually as archetypal villains.

Repeated many times, by various interested parties, a black legend with all its negative associations eventually comes to stand in for the Church herself. The idea really takes hold when every Catholic is seen to be guilty by association, and the Church is viewed as always only the sum of its worst parts.

During the World Youth Day visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Sydney, for instance, some media outlets juxtaposed images of Catholic worship, and papal symbols, with headlines and images referring to child sex abuse, and other crimes.

One Australian television station, indeed, devoted airtime in the lead up to, and during the event, to lengthy

reports on an unrelated, decades old case of sexual impropriety between a long-defrocked priest, and an adult male. Many good people couldn’t help but view this as an attempt to introduce a negative narrative, a black counter to the flood of hugely positive, joyful reports coming out of Sydney.

It didn’t work, but the attempt was instructive.

In the case of the Spanish Inquisition, it is helpful to tell people that many of the most outrageous claims, and most of the more gruesome images of torture and stake-burnings, derive from Northern European, Protestant, and Anglo-Saxon propaganda. Echoes of this original context survive into our own times, and ideological / political narratives that paint Catholic Spain as dark, cruel, and unenlightened are clearly discernible in the two Elizabeth films starring Cate Blanchett.

When one learns that the same individuals who would not have hesitated to burn a Catholic for “Popish superstitions” often also wrote anti-Inquisition propaganda, otherwise intractable critics are moved.

Certainly, when one reveals the real source of a black legend, and tells an interlocutor that the Church is not really like the thing they’ve been encouraged to fear and revile, new space opens up.

If Catholics are humble enough to admit our failings, both believer and critic can enter into love.

When a Catholic can stand, in solidarity, with someone who moments before took him for an evildoer, or a promoter of lies, and recognise the same evil, and show the lie as it applies to the Church, some impairment is removed.

Truth is served, and everyone gains.

John Heard is a Melbourne writer.

johnnyheard@gmail.com

Perspectives

Hello? Is this thing on?

How differently would you behave if you knew that every word you said and every thing you did would be scrutinised in the public forum?

Isay I say

By Mark Reidy

I’m fairly confident that there would be moments for most of us, such as an unkind word or a lustful glance, that we would be relieved to know, weren’t privy to anyone but ourselves.

What triggered this introspection was the recent “microphone gaffe” made by US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson in regard to Presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Not realising that he was still on air during a live TV campaign appearance, Jackson muttered that he would like to remove certain parts of Obama’s anatomy. Of course, the media stampede that followed ensured that his words echoed across the globe.

It left me wondering what I would do differently if I had a microphone and camera taping my every word and action. Would it alter the way I spoke about others when they weren’t present? Would I be more vigilant of the way I behaved in private?

I won’t provide you with a public confession here, but these are questions that I believe we should all ask ourselves.

Because if our public persona differs in any way to our unseen lives and our behaviour is moulded and guided only by what others think of us, then we are, to some degree, living a lie.

When commenting on Jesse Jackson’s mishap, US historian Michael Beschloss made an interesting observation. In the world of political campaigning, he said, “... nothing seems to happen except by design, then suddenly there’s a mistake, and we seem to be able to see into these people’s souls”.

He was, of course, speaking metaphorically, but his words should serve to remind us, as Christians, that while the world can only know us by what we say and do, our Father in Heaven has direct access to every thought and emotion that is captured by the “microphone” in our minds and hearts.

It is a daunting concept and one that I am often not conscious of, but it is, whether I acknowledge it or not, a spiritual reality. Jesus made it very clear that it is impossible to hide anything. “If a man looks at a woman lustfully”, He tells us, “He has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt 5:28). And even more blatantly, he spoke of God as a “... Father who sees all that is done in secret...(Matt 6:4).

However, while it is important to be mindful of the omniscient nature of God, it is essential that we do not

misconstrue the relationship that He desires to have with us. He is not a distant, domineering policeman who seeks to control us through guilt and the fear of punishment, as was sometimes depicted in the not too distant past.

His vigilant watch over each one of us must be seen in the light of a loving father who is so concerned for his child that he wants only what is best. One who understands perfectly that we will stumble and fall and make wrong choices during our earthly journey, but, if we choose to allow Him, His loving arms will always be there to guide us back to the path that leads home.

When we truly understand the context of this relationship, we will not live with the fear that we are being constantly monitored, but rather we will find peace in the knowledge that God loves us so much that He will never allow our microphones to be switched off. reidyrec@iinet.net.au

Also the God of astronomers

In clear view

By Guy Crouchback

Irecently tried to read Anglican Bishop John Robinson’s notorious work of theological “modernism,” Honest to God I would not recommend this book. Apart from its theology it is written in an style which makes it most difficult to understand what the Bishop is actually trying to say.

However, on one point he was clear and understandable: he claims that our image of God must go: that our religious writing, art, etc. has a picture of a three-level Cosmos, with God as an old man with a beard sitting on a throne above the clouds, below that the Earth we walk on, and below that, somewhere underground, Hell. And this, the Bishop says, does not accord with modern astronomical knowledge.

Well, as a matter of fact, it never did in the Christian era. Already in pre-Christian thought we can detect increasing tensions between ancient, primitive images of the gods as people living somewhere in the clouds - or on Mount Olympus - and what astronomy was discovering.

Before Christ was born learned people already knew that the Earth was a sphere in space. In about 200 BC Eratosthenes, an official of the great Alexandrian Library, calculated its diameter very accurately.

From about 100 BC we have,

in the Athens museum, a calculator used for computing planetary orbits. The ancient astronomers and philosophers knew the stars were unimaginably and inexpressibly distant - that by comparison with such distances the whole Earth was a point of no magnitude.

Objections to Columbus sailing west to India were not based on ideas that the Earth was flat and he would sail off the edge, but that it was impossible to carry provisions for such a long voyage (a valid point: if America had not been there Columbus would have starved to death somewhere in the Pacific).

Why then, have we had an image of God as an old man sitting on a throne a few miles above the clouds, when our astronomy has always given us a different picture of the Cosmos?

I think the reason, and here I follow C.S. Lewis, is that this idea of a noble and regal-looking man is the highest image of which our imagination is capable. It is not an adequate image, but any alternative is even less so and it is the best humans can do. Bishop Robinson seems to prefer to describe God as

“the ground of our being,” which to me suggests a sand-bank.

Another term for God favoured by some modernist theologians is “The first cause.” Up to a point I accept that: if the universe had a cause (and it is hard to believe its creation was an event without a cause), whatever caused it must be, by definition, God. But an image of God which stops there seems so abstract, remote and cold, that it is almost impossible to relate to it. And such a Creator may not relate to its creatures or have any personal concern for them.

Thus we have two related problems: the impossibility of having an adequate image of God, other than as a man and, for those who accept the evidence of a Creation, lack of evidence that that Creator cares personally about us. The only answer to both these problems was, it occurred to me as I read, an odd one: that God should somehow become man, perhaps most fittingly about the time increasing astronomical knowledge was forcing these problems upon us. And until I reached that point I really had not seen where my speculations were leading me.

Saint-making an exhaustive job

Q&A

By Fr John Flader

Blesseds and Saints

Can you please tell me the difference between a “Blessed”, such as Blessed Mary MacKillop or Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassatti, and a “Saint”? What is necessary for someone to be called “Blessed” or “Saint”?

It may be helpful to go back to the beginning of the process of beatification and canonisation in order to consider the various stages along the way that lead to the declaration of someone as “Blessed” and eventually “Saint”.

The norms that govern the process are contained in Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister, of the 25th January 1983, and the norms issued by the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints on the 7th February 1983 for the implementation of that document at diocesan level.

Before commencing the cause of someone who died with a reputation for holiness, it is ordinarily necessary for at least five years to have passed since the death of the person. This allows for greater balance and objectivity in evaluating the case. As is well known, in the case of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Pope John Paul II, this requirement was waived.

The bishop of the diocese in which the candidate lived and died is responsible for beginning the investigation. A postulator is appointed, who gathers all possible information about the person. With the permission of the Holy See, the bishop forms a tribunal and calls witnesses to testify regarding the life and particularly the exercise of the virtues by the person. Once the Holy See has approved the beginning of the process at diocesan level the person may be called “Servant of God”.

Meanwhile theologians examine the person’s writings, including unpublished works such as letters and diaries, which must be found to contain nothing contrary to faith or morals. And it must be verified that, in keeping with a decree of Pope Urban VIII, there has been no public veneration of the person. Private veneration and devotion, making use of a prayer card of the person, is of course permitted.

When the diocesan investigation has concluded, all the documentation is forwarded to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints. There a

Relator is named to oversee the cause and to prepare the Positio, a summary of all the documentation. This includes a biography of the person and the evidence for the heroic exercise of the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, and related virtues such as humility, chastity, etc.

The Positio is examined by theologians appointed by the Congregation who give their judgment, and if the majority is favourable, it is then examined by cardinals and bishops who are members of the Congregation.

If their judgment is favourable the Prefect of the Congregation presents the results of the entire process to the Holy Father, who gives his approval and authorises the Congregation to draft a Decree of Heroic Virtues. When the Decree has been made public, or promulgated, the person is called “Venerable”. In the case of a martyr, a decree on the fact of martyrdom replaces the need to investigate the exercise of heroic virtues.

In order to proceed to beatification, it must be verified that a miracle attributed to the intercession of the person has taken place. Miracles, which are often naturally inexplicable medical cures, are examined thoroughly by medical experts in the relevant field and by theologians appointed by the Congregation.

In a sense, the human judgment of the holiness of the person is made by the study leading to the decree on heroic virtues, and then the divine confirmation of this judgment may be said to be given through the verification of the miracle.

When a decree on the miracle has been promulgated, the Holy Father decides on a date and place for the ceremony of beatification. With beatification, the person is now called “Blessed” and public veneration, usually limited to a particular place or to the houses of the religious institute to which the person belonged is now permitted. A feast day is assigned and texts for the Mass and Divine Office are approved.

For canonisation another miracle, which has taken place after the Beatification, must be verified. Once the study of the second miracle has been approved by the Congregation, the Holy Father approves the whole cause and sets a date for the canonisation. This judgment of sanctity involves the exercise of papal infallibility.

With the canonisation, usually conducted by the Holy Father himself, the person is included in the list of the saints and acquires the title of “Saint”. The new saint may be venerated publicly in the universal Church and parishes and churches may be dedicated to him or her.

director@caec.com.au

The Athens Museum holds a calculator from 100BC used for computing orbits.

Perth Stewardship September

Looming Perth meet offers parish life a spark

Does parish life seem to be dead or dying in your parish? Little known or understood by most Catholics, stewardship is being rediscovered by many parishes as a key to building a buzzing community that evangelises, and will be the focus of a major Perth conference in September. Will your community be represented?

■ By Mark Reidy

The opportunity to learn about an exciting concept that is transforming Catholic parishes across the US, Canada and the United Kingdom into vibrant, dynamic and life-giving communities, is being offered to every parish in Western Australia.

The Stewardship Institute is a two-day seminar that will be presented in Perth on September 2425, and event co-ordinator, Brian Stephens, is adamant that all those who participate, both priests and

parishioners, will be gifted with a fire to inspire and invigorate their church communities.

The Seminar, to be held at the Infant Jesus Parish Centre in Morley, is the chance for participants to truly understand and embrace the, often misunderstood, principles of stewardship, Mr Stephens said.

“Many Catholics have been led to believe that stewardship is simply about financial giving”, he told The Record.

“But those attending will leave with the understanding that it is about building the Church community, both locally and universally, on the collective time, talents and treasures of its individual members. It is not a program; it is a way of life.”

This is the third year that the Institute will be presented in Australia, with seminars held in Sydney in 2006, Sydney and Brisbane in 2007 and this year in Sydney and Perth.

Mr Stephens said the seeds planted by those who attended previous events are already bearing fruit in the eastern states, and are also taking root in several Western Australian parishes.

Fr Richard Rutkauskas, assistant priest at Sts John and Paul Parish in

Willetton, attended the seminar in Sydney last year. Initially, he admitted, he was sceptical of its parish-transforming promises, but said that he returned with a passion that has since reinvigorated his church community.

Another “convert” to the stewardship cause is David Emery of Our Lady of the Mission Parish in Whitford who also attended last year’s gathering.

Now chairman of the parish’s Stewardship Committee, Mr Emery believes that the Church in Australia will experience a new lease of life as local churches adopt the wisdom passed on by the Stewardship Institutes.

He believes that by encouraging and nurturing the talents, time and treasures within a congregation, individuals are able to recognise that they are a vital part of the church community.

This awareness, that each individual possesses unique and irreplaceable God-given gifts, is foundational to the current stewardship movement.

The body behind this movement, the US-based, International Catholic Stewardship Council (ICSC), which was formed in 1962, encourages individuals to recog-

nise that all that they are and all that they have belongs to God and therefore must be used to build up His kingdom, both locally and universally.

Although many parishes are embracing this concept with renewed vigour, its origins can be found in Scripture.

In his letter to the Corinthians, St Paul writes of the many different gifts, activities and ways there are of serving, but indicates that, “in everybody it is the same God who is at work in them all” (1 Cor 12:6).

He then provides us with an analogy, which describes the human body as being made up of many parts, all different, but each part vital in their unique way to the functioning of the whole.

In other words, by acknowledging and appreciating the uniqueness of individuals, not only is each person built up, but so too is the Church.

The Stewardship Institute endeavours to promote this sense of belonging and teamwork within a parish context by empowering seminar participants with the knowledge and skills to nurture the giftedness and resources that already exist within their church communities.

Although the Morley seminar is open to all interested parishioners, Brian Stephens believes that it is particularly important that as many priests as possible are able to attend.

Not only will they receive a clearer understanding of the communal advantages of stewardship, he said, but, once activated, priests will find that they have more time to focus on their sacramental responsibilities.

Mr Stephens said that invitations for the Perth Stewardship Institute were sent to every priest in WA several months ago and had hopefully been passed onto parishioners.

He is excited by the US Presenters at the Morley event, Fr Gerry Schreck and Mrs Margot Truett, who both have extensive experience in the formation and practice of Stewardship.

Mr Stephens also acknowledged the support provided to the Institute by the Catholic Development Fund who have provided sponsorship for the seminar to priests in the Perth Archdiocese.

The cost of registration is $230.

For further information and registration go to www.australianstewardship.catholic.net.au or contact Brian Stephens on (08) 9422 7924

Stewardship ‘is an antidote to consumerism’

Speakers say stewardship is about appreciating God’s blessings

■ By Robert Delaney

It takes money to operate the ministries of the Church, but the message of the 2007 conference of the International Catholic Stewardship Council was that promoting stewardship is really about encouraging appreciation of God’s blessings and a sense of gratitude.

However, the pastor of a parish honoured during the conference in Miami Beach, Florida, went one better, saying that even encouraging a broader conception of stewardship is not the ultimate aim.

“Stewardship is not the goal; evangelisation is the goal. Stewardship is the means to the end, the how of evangelisation,” said Father Andrew Kemberling, pastor of St Thomas More Parish in Centennial, Colorado.

His 6,500-family parish received the council’s an award for the parish that best exemplifies an all-round approach to stewardship.

Father Kemberling said he believes many priests resist embracing stewardship because they hate asking for money, but he also believes more priests would promote stewardship if they understood it as a means to “calling people to discipleship.”

Nearly 1,000 people from the United States and 18 other countries attended the conference, which had as its theme “Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response.”

Speakers laid out the theology behind Christian stewardship and shared techniques and success stories of the results of effective stewardship promotion in encouraging people to give of their time, talent and treasure.

In his remarks, Father Kemberling said he believes “God has revealed to me that stewardship is the conversion of a materialistic, consumeristic world - because our people

are drowning in materialism, and it is keeping them from hearing the good news of Jesus Christ.”

As a result of its stewardship efforts, the parish is abuzz with participation, with about 6,000 of its parishioners involved in volunteer activity and anywhere from 800 to 1,200 people to be found at each of the seven Masses on weekends, said the priest, who has been pastor of the suburban Denver parish for seven years.

The school is thriving, with 660 students, and another 1,500 children in the religious education program. And parishioners’ giving makes possible an active outreach to the

poor, Father Kemberling continued. Even the schoolchildren raise about $70,000 a year for charity.

The council’s annual Christian Stewardship Award was presented to Father Michael Shields, a priest of the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska, who went as a missionary 13 years ago to Russia’s Siberia region, and is now pastor of the Church of the Nativity in Magadan, Russia. His work in the former Stalinist prison camp city is supported by many people in the Anchorage Archdiocese and beyond, with the archdiocese serving as a conduit for donations.

Another award went to Katherine

King for her work in promoting stewardship, first in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and then for 12 years as director of stewardship and development for the Diocese of Oakland, California.

King pioneered stewardship programs in the Oakland Diocese, first in English and Spanish, but eventually to 17 of the area’s ethnic groups. “In some of the languages, you couldn’t even translate ‘stewardship’ - they didn’t have a word for it,” she said.

King also became an important source of advice to stewardship promotion officials in other dioceses. Clergy and lay experts addressed the stewardship theme from the

standpoint of dioceses, parishes and church-related institutions such as schools. Spanish speakers were able to attend talks in their language.

Cardinal Juan Cipriani Thorne of Lima, Peru, was one notable among the speakers.

James Kelley, director of development for the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, and the new president of the council’s board, presented charts showing the results of a survey on the effects various stewardship promotion activities make in parish collections and volunteer participation.

Hospitality also figures in stewardship promotion, Kelley said, showing that parishes that offer coffee and doughnuts after Masses have higher average collections than those that do not.

“There’s no question that the more welcoming a parish is, the better,” he said.

Kelley and Michael Murphy, the council’s new executive director, said the board would be implementing the results of a membership survey, including making future annual conferences more affordable.

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Missionary: Father Michael Shields, a priest of the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska, who has been serving as a missionary for 13 years in Russia’s Siberia region, speaks at the 2007 International Catholic Stewardship Conference in Miami Beach, Florida. An important conference on stewardship and how it can help parishes will be held in Perth in September. Perth Stewardship office director Brian Stephens is urging all parishes to send representatives.

PHOTO:CNS/ROBERT DELANEY, MICHIGAN CATHOLIC

Cologne experience brought pledge to God

■ By Sylvia Defendi

WORLD Youth Day was more than just a celebration of the faith for 21 year-old Perth pilgrim Daniel Tolczyk.

The young seminarian, who went to WYD in Cologne, promised himself that he would attend every future WYD.

“In Germany I made many friends and enjoyed being surrounded by a Catholic community,” he said.

“It was great to see that the Church is alive and not in the minority.”

It was after the last WYD in Cologne, 2005, that Daniel decided to give religious life a go.

“It’s the only way to know for sure,” he said.

“You will never know what you’re getting into until you give it a go,” he now espouses.

A seminarian with the Salvatorians, Daniel said it was wonderful to see so many young Christians in his home town for WYD in Sydney.

Asked why he chose to join the Salvatorians, Daniel said he found them relatable normal men who did extraordinary things in their lives.

“The community is also very young. They are apostolic and we are very people oriented, which I love,” he said.

The recent WYD experience helped Daniel to deepen his relationship with Christ and find his identity in the Church.

“Everyone has a vocation and I came here to be open and find out where I belong,” he said.

For Daniel the WYD experience cemented his vocation at an opportune time. He will be required to renew his vows soon.

Orders relish hope renewed

■ By Sylvia Defendi

WHILE youth were at the forefront of World Youth Day celebrations, many not quite as young relished the hope World Youth Day brought Australia.

For Sr Therese McLaughlin FMM, a Franciscan Missionary of Mary originally from Perth, WYD brought an enthusiasm for the Church in Australia never before seen.

“Being among the young people and seeing their life has renewed hope for me in regards to the Religious order,” she said.

Sr McLaughlin, a nun of 27 years, has been living and working in Pakistan where she cares for children in a boarding house.

There are 90 Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in Pakistan

What the media missed in

■ By Sophie Caldecott

OXFORD, England, (Zenit.org)

- A couple of weeks ago, more than 223,000 Catholics gathered together in Sydney to celebrate their common faith in the largest event Australia has ever hosted - World Youth Day.

Despite the fact that a representative from almost every corner of the world could be found at this dynamic event, despite the atmosphere of elation, energy and love, and despite many interesting talks, the main - perhaps only - interest of the English media was the relatively small group of protesters who wanted to make sure that their objections to the Catholic Church didn’t go unheard.

The angle the media was trying to spin on the story seems absurd to someone who was there, singing and dancing in the brightly coloured crowd. This was not just any crowd - when else and for what other reason in the world would that many young people get together and be so considerate and friendly toward each other, so joyful and excited and unselfconscious without being drunk or on drugs? There was clearly something else going on at that gathering, something unique and fascinating that the media completely failed to pick up on, and it had nothing to do with protesters.

World Youth Day crowd.

It took us a while to figure out that the leaflets handed to us as we walked out of the train station - about how we are saved by God’s grace and not by our own works - were not actually from fellow Catholics, but from Baptists who were concerned for our souls.

Contrary to the expectations of the general public and, perhaps, the people who instated the “annoyance” laws, many World Youth Day goers relished the opportunity for some friendly discussion in the street with people who, on the whole, had little accurate knowledge and understanding of the Church and Catholic teaching.

“I became convinced that I am called, along with all the people of the Church, to witness to Christ by addressing this ache that the world is feeling.”

I only wish we had had more time to talk to the protesters, getting to the root of their anger and sharing our point of view with them. Unfortunately, reducing an opinion down to a slogan on a Tshirt or a sign is rarely an adequate means of expressing an opinion.

Christ by addressing this ache that the world is feeling. As West put it, there is only so long that you can eat out of the dumpster before getting sick. This world has been eating out of the dumpster for far too long, and it desperately needs to be shown the way to the wedding feast. Benedict XVI commissioned us young people to be bold witnesses of Christ to the ends of the earth, praying for a new Pentecost and an outpouring of the Spirit. I for one am convinced that John Paul II’s Theology of the Body holds a vital key for doing this.

Being part of World Youth Day is to experience the Church in all her varied glory and youthful energy. The various flags seen in Sydney that week pointed to the universality of the Church, her children being fed by the sacraments and living and breathing as one body, in Christ.

and Sr McLaughlin said they have a constant stream of vocations to their order.

“We have hope in Pakistan because of the constant interest but in Australia it’s different,” she said.

Sr McLaughlin spoke from the Vocations Expo, which drew thousands of youth each day to view what religious orders in Australia had on offer. “It’s amazing that young people are interested in coming to this centre for a religious expo. To see them gathering at WYD speaks of the Church’s unity,” she said.

Asked what about WYD stood out the most according to her, Sr McLaughlin spoke of a group of young Franciscan nuns from America who volunteered their time for the success of WYD.

“They impressed me. It touched me that they had come all this way just to volunteer,” she said.

The protesters who made their presence felt around the events surrounding World Youth Day can be broken down into several main groups: representatives from the gay community, people angry about cases of sexual abuse in the Church, atheists trying to “educate ignorant believers,” Protestants who believe that the Catholic Church is the “whore of Babylon” and people who believe that condoms are the solution to AIDS.

The smattering of various protesters holding signs and watching thousands of young Catholics pass by probably weren’t sure what reaction to expect, but I would imagine they were prepared for the worst. Far from receiving abuse, however, the people holding the rainbow flag sporting the message “Gay, Free, Happy” received cheery waves and smiles, while many people assumed that the

One speaker, Christopher West, delivered a series of talks on Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body during the week in Sydney, and listening, I couldn’t help but be brought close to tears, wishing that the Church’s critics could hear this teaching.

This teaching is not the authoritarian, repressive set of rules that it is so widely believed to be. It is teaching of freedom, love and logic. This is the Truth that the whole world is searching for, thirsting for desperately, whether or not they fully acknowledge it.

John Paul II exposed the flaws of modern thinking about sexuality, answering the deep ache for love that we all experience by pointing us back to the constant teaching of the Church throughout history - the teaching that the human person has an inherent dignity, that we are created in God’s image, and as men and women are described by him as being “very good.”

Perhaps the reason that the secular world was inevitably bound to miss the point of WYD is because without Christ there is no way that humanity can be united in truth and love. The great joy with which the young Catholics of the world greeted Benedict XVI proved that the Church is not only alive and growing, but ready to listen to the Holy Spirit speaking through Peter’s successor. The secular media focused on the protesters, missing the real point of WYD, because they didn’t know what to make of the Pope’s powerful words to the expectant youth of the Church: “Our world has grown weary of greed, exploitation and division, of the tedium of false idols and piecemeal responses, and the pain of false promises. Our hearts and minds are yearning for a vision of life where love endures, where gifts are shared, where unity is built, where freedom finds meaning in truth, and where identity is found in respectful communion.

“This is the work of the Holy Spirit! This is the hope held out by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is to bear witness to this reality that you were created anew at baptism and strengthened through the gifts of the Spirit at confirmation. Let this be the message that you bring from Sydney to the world!” (Address at Sydney Harbour, July 17).

Sophie Caldecott, a student of English literature at Durham University, participated in the WYD pilgrim group from the Oxford Oratory

Brothers in arms: Dan (right) and his buddy Joseph Laundy (left) at the Opening Mass of World Youth Day at Barangaroo.

PHOTO: SYLVIA DEFEND I

Hopeful: Sister Therese McLaughlin at the WYD08 Vocations Expo.

PHOTO: SYLVIA DEFENDI

The Pell tolls: Australia is ripe for the harvest

■ By Anthony Barich

THE tide of secularism is turning the other way in Australia thanks in part to the efforts of the Neocatechumenal Way, Cardinal George Pell of Sydney told 40,000 of them the day after the World Youth Day week.

The Archbishop of Sydney praised the movement at Sydney’s the Domain on July 21, saying he believes Australia is ripe for evangelisation.

“Thanks for the contribution that the Way has made to the life of the Church throughout the world,” the prelate said.

“I have already expressed my gratitude so many times for you, especially for your contribution here in Australia, with the priests, with the brothers and sisters, and especially the families in mission. We are very, very grateful for this.

“But there is another particular reason for gratitude. It is the fact that you have passed through every part of Australia before this World Youth Day preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“In almost all the dioceses of Australia, certainly in all the provinces, you have gone preaching in the streets the person and the teaching of our brother and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

“Young people in Australia, so many of them, understand very little of religion. But, in many ways, I think that many of them are

like Zacchaeus (in the Gospel reading of the day). They are rich enough, interested in the person of Jesus, and want to hear what we have to say about Jesus, our Redeemer. And

Be like Zacchaeus: fulfil God’s plan

continued from Vista 2 which inspired Zacchaeus to give half of his money to the poor, and repay four times the amount to all those from whom he had stolen.

Kiko used the figure of Zacchaeus to invite the young people present to convert and live a Christian life that fulfils and puts into practice the Word of God. His was an urgent message to those present, and to all the young people of the world, to climb down from the Sycamore tree of their lives, a tree which reflects the securities and comforts of life and the tendency one has to keep God at arm’s length.

It is a tree from which we are all afraid to descend. Kiko also spoke of the condition of slavery in which modern day man finds himself, condemned to a life of egoism, of pleasure and of interest in economic growth.

Once again he reaffirmed his invitation to all to break free from those chains which

keep man enslaved to the world and ask discernment from God to be able to be free and renounce the will of Satan.

Kiko’s announcement of the Kerygma (Good News) , translated into various languages via radio, seemed to strike many of those listening as he encouraged the crowd to have as their primary desire in life the aspiration to follow Christ, so that they may see the wonders he has in store for each and every one of them.

After these words of encouragement came the apex of the evening: the vocational call, first for men and subsequently for women. Prompted by Kiko’s invitation to come forward if there were any men who felt called to give their lives for Christ and enter the priesthood.

Fifteen hundred youths stood up and came onto the stage creating a river of people from different nationalities, united in their desire to give themselves to Jesus Christ. It was a scene, which left almost every onlooker in awe.

The young men knelt down together as Cardinal Pell prayed over them. Then one by one they received a special blessing from the bishops present.

Following the call for men was a call for women who felt the desire to join religious orders. Answering was yet another river of young people, this time 850 women, all standing up as a sign of their availability to the vocation to consecrated life.

As these women climbed the steps of the stage they did so under the gaze of the statue of the Virgin Mary, spiritual mother of the Neocatechumenal Way, the first woman to have said a definite and sincere ‘yes’ to the will of God in her life.

The vocational meeting concluded with a song composed by Kiko on the gospel of Zacchaeus. Combined with the Mass with Pope Benedict XVI only the day before, this event was yet another sign of the strength with which the Holy Spirit is working in Australia in this moment.

One hopes that the good which has come out of the ensemble of events for this World Youth Day may be a revival of many forgotten Christian values amongst not only the young people but the entire population of, in Pope Benedict’s words: “This great southern land of the Holy Spirit”.

they will listen when there are those there who are preaching the gospel.” The cardinal added that while he visited a number of countries inviting pilgrims to attend WYD08 to reinforce one’s own faith,

The day God shook a young Canberran

■ By Anthony Barich

FOR many people, an event called ‘Receive the Power Live’ on July 18 was the climax of World Youth Day, but for at least one man, it was nothing less than a lifechanging event.

With Bishop Joe Grech and the famed Matt Maher Band among the main acts, Receive the Power Live at Barangaroo – the site of the Opening Mass presided over by Cardinal George Pell - was geared to be one of the big events of WYD08 in Sydney.

‘Receive the Power’ is itself an excerpt from the theme that Pope Benedict XVI chose for WYD08, taken from Acts 1:8: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses…. (to the ends of the earth).”

he invited the Neocatechumenal Way to Australia to “reinforce the faith and goodness of the young in Australia, especially young Catholics of Australia. And you have done exactly that. A thousand thousand thanks”. He noted that the Neocatechumenal Way has not made as spectacular progress in the English-speaking peoples as it has in other parts of the world, but he believes that the tide is changing. “I think our fellow Catholics are understanding that you are not people with two heads, that you are not a threat, but that you are truly people of the Gospel, followers of Jesus Christ, trying to do his will in our somewhat difficult situation,” he said.

“It’s not the worst of times. It’s not the best of times. But I believe that the finger of God is upon the Neocatechumenal Way, and I believe that the breath of the Spirit is blowing through you.

“I often say this: Jesus didn’t say, ‘There are five or six good and different holiday packages. It doesn’t matter which one you choose. Jesus said: ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. Come, follow me. Because I bring the treasure, the pearl of great price and the treasure hidden in the field.”

“When we know and understand that Jesus does not expect us to live just like people who never really heard or understood his mission - that is the reason for the theme of World Youth Day: ‘When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power, and you will be my witness to the ends of the earth’.”

Michael, a man in his mid-30s from Canberra, had been to many different Churches and events looking for that deep peace and a sense of feeling ‘at home’ with God.

He wandered into WYD08 searching for answers that did not lie anywhere else.

There were charismatic ‘prayer teams’ scattered around the ‘Receive the Power Live’ event, where people could pray with others for their own petitions, or just to find a sense of peace.

At about 8.30pm that night, one of the men in the prayer teams belonging to the charismatic Disciples of Jesus community, Martin Pannell, saw Michael amidst a crowd that was wrapped up in the joyful celebrations.

Yet Michael seemed lost, and somehow alone, despite being surrounded by hundreds of WYD08 pilgrims enjoying the moment.

“The reason I approached Michael and offered to chat with him was he was standing ‘alone’ in a big happy crowd of people but he looked sad, lonely and a bit lost,” Martin told The Record

“After a brief chat about the night and how he was feeling - lost, alienated, disconnected from others and God - I offered to pray with him.

“As I put my hand on his shoulder and we both closed our eyes to pray he began to shake - very gently - as if he was really cold. It was a cold and windy night and we

PHOTO: CNS

were outdoors, so I asked Michael if he was warm enough.

“He said he was and that God was at work in him... as we continued to pray and chat, Michael continued to gently shake.. it was like one long shiver - but it was gentle and peaceful, although strong as well.

“Then he said he wanted to give his life completely to the Lord again. So we prayed for this and as he made his own prayer to Jesus in his own words he began to stop shaking and he settled into a really deep place of peace. I have no idea what was really going on in Michael’s heart, or much about his background, or why he was shaking... as this guy was a complete stranger to me before we started to pray.

“But I do know without a doubt that God was there, God was at work and this event provided a moment of grace for he and I as we prayed together.”

As the night went on, Martin noticed that Michael appeared much more relaxed, happy and peaceful.

“It was though a spiritual burden, or a heavy backpack was taken from him and he enjoyed the rest of the night,” Martin said.

“My guess is that something was blocking Michael from really entering into relationship with others and especially with God and through the anointing of that particular night, he was set free and we rejoiced and smiled at that together…”

Larger than life: Cardinal George Pell of Sydney addresses the Neocatechumenal Way gathering at the Domain on July 21, at which nearly 2000 youth pledged themselves to God. PHOTO: SYLVIA DEFENDI

Step up: Young men stand forward to nominate themselves for the priesthood.

Devout: A pilgrim prays after receiving Communion during an outdoor Mass at WYD08. Conversions abounded at the event.

kids pics Kids bitz jokes

THE POPE VISITS AUSTRALIA

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Sydney for World Youth Day, so the Cardinal sent a limo to the Airport to bring him to the city.

While Pope Benedict’s luggage was loaded into the limo, (and he doesn’t travel light), the driver noticed the Pope was still standing on the curb.”Excuse me, Your Holiness,” said the driver, “Would you please take your seat so we can leave?”

“Well, to tell you the truth,” said the Pope, “they never let me drive at the Vatican when I was a cardinal, and now that I’m Pope, I’d really like to drive today.”

“I’m sorry, Your Holiness, but I cannot let you do that. I’d lose my job! And what if something should happen?” protested the driver, wishing he’d never gone to work that morning.

“Who’s going to tell? Besides, there might be something extra in it for you,” said the Pope with a smile.

Reluctantly, the driver got in the back as the Pope climbed in behind the wheel.

The driver quickly regretted his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floored it, accelerating the limo to 105 mph. (Remember, he’s German.)

“Please slow down, Your Holiness!” pleaded the worried driver, but the Pope kept the pedal to the metal until they heard sirens. “Oh, Dear God, I’m gonna lose my license -- and my job!” moaned the driver.

The Pope pulled over and rolled down the window as the cop approached, but the cop took one look at him, went back to his motorcycle, and got on the radio.”I need to talk to the Chief,” he said to the dispatcher. The Chief got on the radio and the cop told him that he stopped a limo going a hundred and five.

“So bust him,” said the Chief.

“I don’t think we want to do that, he’s really big,” said the cop.

The Chief exclaimed, “All the more reason!”

“No, I mean really important,” said the cop with a bit of persistence.

The Chief then asked, “Who you got there, the Mayor of Sydney?”

Cop: “Bigger.”

Chief: “Premier Morris Iemma?”

Cop: “Bigger.”

Chief: “Prime Minister Kevin Rudd?”

Cop: “Bigger.”

“Well,” said the Chief, “Who is it?”

Cop: “I think it’s God!”

The Chief was stumped, “You been drinking, John?”

Cop: “No Sir.”

Chief: “Then what makes you think it’s God?”

Cop: “He’s got the Pope as his chauffeur.” www.mickthejoker.blogspot.com

activities

~ DEAR KIDS!~ ~ DEAR PARENTS/ GRANDPARENTS ~

If you have great kids recipes please share them with us and we will publish your recipe in kidz bitz with your name. If you would like poems, drawings or photos published please send all to:

Justine Stevens, The Record, PO Box 75 Leederville WA 6902 or email production@therecord.com.au

SAINTS COOKING

EVER!

COOKING WITH THE SAINTS

By Ernst Schuegraf

A feast of spiritual and culinary delights!

Over 170 recipes from 21 countries.

Richly illustrated with colour photos of saints and dishes including inspiring short biographies of 73 saints.

The Record Bookshop 9227 7080 $59.95

St Angelo

St Angelo, who was one of the early members of the Carmelite Order, suffered martyrdom for the Faith at Leocata, Sicily. His parents were Jews of Jerusalem who were converted to Christianity by a vision of our Lady. She told them that the Messiah they were awaiting had already come to pass and had redeemed His people, and she promised them two sons, who would grow up as flourishing olive trees on the heights of Carmel; one as a patriarch and the other as a glorious martyr. From childhood the twins displayed great mental and spiritual gifts. When,at the age of eighteen,they entered the Carmelite Order, they already spoke Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. After Angelo had been a hermit on Mount Carmel for five years, Our Lord appeared to him and bade him go to Sicily, where he would have the grace to offer the sacrifice of his life. The saint immediately obeyed the call. During his journey from the East as well as after his arrival in Sicily, he converted many sinners by his teaching, no less than by his miracles. At Palermo over two hundred Jews sought Baptism as the result of his eloquence. Similar success attended his efforts in Leocata, but he aroused the fury of a man called Berengarius, whose shameless wickedness he had denounced. As he was preaching to a crowd, a band of ruffians headed by Berengarius broke through the throng and stabbed him. Mortally wounded, Angelo fell on his knees, praying for the people, but especially for his murderer.

CONIGLIO SANT’ ANGELO (Rabbit St Angelo)

Ingredients:

MAKING THINGS RIGHT (Revised)

The Sacrament of Reconciliation

By Jeannine Timko Leichner

Through fun activities such as, fill the missing words, colouring, puzzles, codes and more, children will learn profound truths about God’s infinite mercy and love, the effects of sin, what it means to say sorry, forgiveness and the joy of Reconciliation. It includes a Parent/Catechist Guide, which is consistent with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and provides an overview of each section. It is the top choice of religious educators in the USA.

The Record Bookshop (08) 9227 7080 $12.95 + postage

1 kg rabbit, cleaned salt flour for dusting

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 clove garlic

550g tin plum tomatoes

1 sprig rosemary (pinch)

1 sprig thyme (pinch)

125 ml white wine fresh basil leaves salt/pepper for sauce

Method:

Clean rabbit and cut into small pieces, taking out as many bones as possible. Lightly salt and flour pieces. Fry them in oil in a heavy based pan until well browned.

Slice garlic finely. Drain tomatoes and chop roughly, reserving juice. Add garlic, tomatoes, rosemary, thyme and white wine to pan and cover.

Cook over moderate heat for about 1 hour. after half an hour add basil. During cooking, stir occassionally so sauce does not stick. If the sauce is too thick add some of the drained tomatoe juice.

Season with salt and pepper. serve hot.

Nikolas’ drawing of the plane he took on the school holidays

Brandon’s first collage

Panorama

A roundup of events in the Archdiocese

Panorama entries must be in by 12pm Monday.

Contributions may be emailed to administration@therecord.com.au, faxed to 9227 7087, or mailed to PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902.

Submissions over 55 words will be edited. Inclusion is limited to 4 weeks. Events charging over $10 constitute a classified event, and will be charged accordingly. The Record reserves the right to decline or modify any advertisment.

Sunday August 10

CHOOSE TODAY WHO YOU WILL SERVE – JOSHUA

24:15

2pm to 6pm at Our Lady’s Assumption Parish, 356 Grand Promenade, Dianella, come and hear talks and Mass celebrated by Fr Christian Masimishila from Zambia. Bring prayer requests and intentions. All welcome. Enq: Rose 0430 164 991 or Keith 0411 108 525.

Tuesday August 12

COUNCIL OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS WESTERN AUSTRALIA: MYSTICAL AWAKENINGS; CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY IN JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY

7.30pm at Anglican Parish Applecross, 54 Simpson Street, Ardros (parking at rear) Rabbi Moshe Bernstein, Educational Director, Council of Orthodox Rabbis and Educators, and Dr Nancy Ault, Lecturer in Practical Theology, Murdoch University, will discuss some of the developments and practices that have surfaced in contemporary Judaism and Christianity. Cost $5 members, non-members $10. Enq: ralphh@iinet.net.au

Wednesday August 13

LUNCHTIME LECTURES

12:30pm at Kim Beazley Lecture Theatre, Murdoch University; Holiness and How to Attain It by Fr David Watt STL - Gregorian University, Rome, PhD, Cambridge. All welcome. Free parking.

Friday August 15

PERTH WYD REUNION – CELEBRATION MASS

6.30pm at St Benedict Applecross Parish, 115 Ardross Street, Ardross; after WYD, come lets celebrate Mass together for the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

Friday August 15

FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF OUR LADY LATIN MASS IN THE CITY

7.30am and 12.10pm Low Masses, 6.30pm Sung Mass at St John’s Pro-Cathedral, Victoria Avenue, Perth. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament after 12.10pm Low Mass till before the Sung Mass. This is a Holy Day of Obligation. All welcome. Enq: Fr Michael Rowe 9444 9604.

Saturday August 16

PERTH WYD REUNION – PILGRIM SESH REUNION

At Disciples of Jesus, 67 Howe Street, Osborne Park; sign up for the come back of the Sunday and Saturday Sesh. Register with your pilgrim group, one session will be run - choose morning or afternoon, Time –TBC and debrief your WYD experience, have fun activities, workshops and sharing time. Email details and time: wydperth@highgate-perthcatholic.org.au or 9422 7944.

Sunday August 17

PERTH WYD REUNION – POST-WYD REUNION PARTY

1pm to 4pm at Vietnamese Catholic Community Centre, 3 Victoria Road, Westminster, bring your photos, stories, some food and drinks to an informal gathering with all Perth World Youth Day Pilgrims. RSVP to: wydperth@highgate-perthcatholic.org.au or Office 9422 7944.

Wednesday August 20

TAIZE MEDITATION PRAYER

7.30pm to 8.30pm at St Thomas More Catholic Church, 100 Dean Road, Bateman: spend an hour in Group Prayer and relax after a busy day in a candlelight atmosphere of prayer and song. All welcome. Enq: Daisy/Barney 9310 4781.

Wednesday August 20

ST SIMON PETER PLAYERS PRODUCTION AND CREATIVE TEAM (CREW) MEETING

7.30pm at Our Lady of the Mission, Camberawarra Drive,

Whitfords; inter-parish group seeks crew to stage its next original production in 2009, The Story of the Three Marys, Mary of Nazareth, Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene. Enq: Gerald 9404 7272.

Thursday August 21

ST PEREGRINE HEALING MASS

7.00pm at St John and Paul Church, Pinetree Gully Road, Willetton. A Healing Mass in honour of St Peregrine, Patron of Cancer sufferers and helper of all in need. Celebration will include Veneration of the Relic, and Anointing of the sick. Enq: paddyjoe@iinet.net.au

Friday August 22

MEDJUGORJE EVENING OF PRAYER

7pm to 9pm at St Peter The Apostle Parish, Wood Street, Bedford; an evening of prayer with Our Lady Queen of Peace, commencing with Adoration, Rosary and Benediction followed with Holy Mass. All welcome. Free DVD on Medjugorje. Enq: Eileen 9402 2480.

Saturday August 23

ST PADRE PIO PRAYER GROUP

9.45am at Infant Jesus Church, 47 Wellington Road, Morley. Exposition, Rosary, Divine Mercy, Adoration and Benediction, Fr Meilak. Confession in English or Italian. 11am Mass, St Padre Pio Liturgy, Celebrant Archbishop Barry Hickey. Attending Priests invited to Concelebrate. 2pm shared lunch. Tea and coffee provided. Enq: Des 6278 1540.

Saturday August 23

LAUNCH OF THE TELEPACE AUSTRALIA INC

After 11am Mass at Infant Jesus Church, Wellington Road, Morley by His Grace Archbishop Hickey President of Telepace. Official announcement will be made during lunch. Bring plate. Enq: Rose 0437 700 247 or Des 6278 1540.

Saturday August 30 to Monday September 8

SILVER JUBILEE OF THE NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF GOOD HEALTH, VAILANKANNI

6pm Vigil Mass at Holy Trinity Church, 8 Burnett Street, Embleton; Celebrant Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon followed by Novena, devotions, Benediction and banner hoisting. Times weekend 6pm, weekdays 7pm. September 1,2, and 6 blessing of children, anointing of the sick and Novena Food Fete. 8 September, after Mass, candlelight procession to Grotto to honour Our Lady and farewell Archbishop. Bring plate. Enq: George 9272 1379.

Saturday September 6

DAY WITH MARY

9am to 5pm at St Andrew Church, 53 Belleville Gardens, Clarkson; 9am Video on Fatima. Day of prayer and instruction based upon the Fatima message. Reconciliation, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons on the Eucharist and Our Lady, Rosaries, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286. Transport: Nita 9367 1366.

Sunday September 7

DIVINE MERCY

1.30pm at St Joachim’s Church, Shepparton Road, Victoria Park, Holy Rosary and Reconciliation. Sermon on St Gregory the Great, by Fr Terry Rag. Followed by Divine Mercy prayers, Benediction and refreshments. Video/DVD on Holy Rosary, Part 3 by Fr John Corapi. Enq: 9457 7771.

Thursday September 11 to Sunday September 14

FEAST OF OUR LADY MARIA SANTISSIMA DEL

TINDARI

7.30pm at Basilica St Patrick, Adelaide Street, Fremantle; Triduum Mass celebrated by Fr Christian Fini O.M.I –Melbourne. 9.45am Sunday concelebrated Mass, principal celebrant Archbishop Barry J Hickey. 2pm Sunday procession from the Basilica through Fremantle Streets. Enq: Joe 0404 801 138 or 9335 1185.

Friday September 26

MEDJUGORJE EVENING OF PRAYER

7pm to 9pm at St Gerard’s Parish, Changton Way, Mirrabooka; a prayer with Our Lady Queen of Peace, will commence with Adoration, Rosary, and Benediction ending with Holy Mass. All welcome. Free DVD on Medjugorje. Enq: Eileen 9402 2480.

Monday September 29

DIVINE MERCY PILGRIMAGE TO GINGINCHITTERING FEAST OF THE ARCHANGELS

11.30am lunch BYO at Gingin; 12.30pm Holy Rosary and Way of the Cross - with Pilgrim Cross. 1.30pm depart Shrine of Divine Mercy for 2pm Holy Mass, followed by Divine Mercy Devotions and Benediction. 3.30pm Tea. 4.30pm return. Divine Mercy Prayer Groups welcome. Transport: Francis 9459 3873 or 0404 893 877. Enq: Sheila 9575 4023 or Fr Paul 9571 1839.

Mid October

DIVINE MERCY APOSTOLATE

Pilgrimage to Lourdes for nine days. Father Meilak will be the Spiritual Director. This invitation is open to anyone who would like to join us. Consider this wonderful place of healing for all humanity in body, mind and spirit. Lourdes celebrates 150 years this year. Enq: John 9457 7771.

Every 1st Tuesday of the Month

HEALING MASS

7.30pm at St Joachim’s Parish Hall, Shepparton Road, Victoria Park. Incorporating hymns, spiritual reflection and Novena to God the Father. Enq: Jan 9323 8089.

Every 1st Sunday of Month

DIVINE MERCY

Commencing with the 3 o’clock Prayer at Santa Clara Parish, Bentley, followed by the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, reflection and Benediction. All friends and neighbouring parishes are invited. Tea and coffee provided. Enq: Muriel 9458 2944.

Every 2nd Wednesday of Month

CHAPLETS OF THE DIVINE MERCY - MONTHLY DEVOTIONS

7.30 pm at St Thomas More Catholic Church, Dean Road, Bateman, the next beautiful and prayerful, sung devotion will be held on 13 August. All welcome. Enq: George 9310 9493 home or 9325 2010 work.

Every 1st Thursday of the month PRAYER AND MEDITATION SERVICE USING TAIZE SONGS

7.30pm at Our Lady of Grace, 3 Kitchener Street, North Beach, the next service of prayerful, beautiful chants sang together, in meditative silence, bathed in candlelight and reflecting on themed readings will commence 7 August. All welcome. Enq: Beth 9447 0061 or office 9448 4888.

1st Friday of Month VIDEO COURSE SESSIONS

7.30pm at St. Jude’s Church, Prendiville Road, Langford, course by Fr John Corapi on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. First session commences 8 August and will last about two hours. Tea and coffee break during the evening. All welcome. Enq: Ivor 9451 3587 or Fr Terry 9458 1946.

Every Thursday JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE

7.30pm, July 31, Acts 2 College of Mission and Evangelisation, Osborne Park using The Bible Timeline; The Great Adventure can be studied towards accredited course or for interest. Resources provided. See http:// www.acts2come.wa.edu.au/ or Jane 0401 692 690.

First Friday and First Saturday

COMMUNION OF REPARATION-ALL NIGHT VIGIL

Corpus Christi Church, Mosman Park, 47 Lochee Road. Starting with Mass at 7pm on Friday with Father Bogoni and concluding with Mass at midnight. Confessions, Rosaries, Prayers and silent Adoration every hour. Please join us for reparation to The Two Hearts according to the message of Our Lady of Fatima. Enq: Vicky 0400 282 357.

Every Saturday VIDEO / DVD NIGHT

After the 6.30pm Mass St Joseph’s Church, 20 Hamilton Street, Bassendean, a variety of Videos/Dvd’s will be shown. Videos approx. 30mins. Want to learn more about our Catholic faith? Bring the family along, no charge. Enq: Parish 9379 2691.

Third Sunday of the Month

OBLATES OF ST BENEDICT MEET

2pm St Joseph’s Convent, York Street, South Perth, affiliated to Benedictine Abbey of New Norcia. All interested in studying rule of St Benedict, its relevance to lay people’s day-to-day life. Vespers and tea conclude meetings. Enq: 9457 5758.

Every Saturday

HOLY SPIRIT OF FREEDOM CHARISMATIC PRAYER MEETING

10.30am to 12.30pm at St Peter the Apostle Parish Hall, 91 Wood Street, Inglewood. All welcome. Enq: 9475 0155.

First Friday of Each Month

CFC PRAYER ASSEMBLY

7.30pm at St Joachim Parish Hall, Shepperton Road, Victoria Park. The Couples For Christ and its Family Ministries welcome all members who now reside or are visiting Perth to join the community in its monthly general prayer assembly. Enq: Tony and Dolly Haber 9440 4540.

Every Sunday

LATIN MASS KELMSCOTT

The Latin Mass according to the 1962 missal will be offered every Sunday at 2pm at the Good Shepherd Parish, 40-42 Streich Avenue, Kelmscott, with Rosary preceding. All welcome.

Every Tuesday

THE GOSPEL OF ST MATTHEW - COURSE

7.30pm St Joachim’s Parish Hall, Shepperton Road, Victoria Park. Exciting revelations into the Gospel of St Matthew are being offered free of charge. Conducted by Fr Douglas Rowe SFP. Participants will be introduced into an insightful exploration of this fascinating Gospel. Light refreshments will follow. Please bring your bible and a friend.

AL-NON FAMILY GROUPS

If a loved one’s drinking is worrying you – please call AlNon Family Groups, for confidential information, meetings etc. Call 9325 7528, 24 hours.

BOOK DONATIONS WANTED

We urgently need donations of Altar Vessels, Catholic books, Bibles, Divine Office, Missals, Lectionaries, Sacramentaries etc. Telephone: (08) 9293 3092.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

Jesuit Volunteers Australia calls for part-time volunteers to respond to the needs of people in the community who live in marginalised circumstances. At the heart of this program is a reflective process, based on Gospel values, which underpins the work of the volunteers. To learn more: www.jss.org.au. Enq: Kevin Wringe 9316 3469 or email kwringe@iinet.net.au.

Classifieds

Classifieds: $3.30/line incl. GST 24 hour Hotline 9227 7778 Deadline: 12pm Monday

Girl defends honour

Spanish girl killed resisting sexual assault could be raised to the altars

VALLADODID, Spain ( CNA) - The Archdiocese of Burgos has spent the last year gathering information to promote the cause of beatification of Marta Obregon, a Spanish girl killed during a sexual assault in 1992.

That year on the night of January 21, the feast of St Agnes, Marta was returning home from the Arlanza night club. Although her home was less than a quarter of mile from the club, she never arrived. She was kidnapped by Pedro Luis Gallego, who had been accused of various rapes and homicides.

According to the Spanish daily El Mundo, Gallego took her in his car a few miles outside Burgos where he tried to rape her in a field. Marta did everything she could to resist the

Official Diary - AUGUST

assault. The so-called “elevator rapist” beat her severely and stabbed her 14 times in the chest.

Her naked body was found near a highway.

Marta Obregón Rodríguez was born on March 1, 1969 in La Coruna in northern Spain.

She was the second of four attractive and energetic sisters. Her mother is a supernumerary in the Opus Dei, but Marta decided to join the Neocatechumenal Way after leaving behind a rebellious adolescence. She believed she found the love of her life in her boyfriend Francisco Javier Hernando.

“Marta attracted you like a magnet. Whatever place she went to she immediately made friends. She triumphed wherever she went. Everyone wanted to be with her, talk to her and know about her,” Hernando recalled.

12 Opening of Angelico Art Exhibition - Bishop Sproxton

14 Council of Priests - Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton Opening and Blessing of extensions, St Emilie’s Primary School, Canning ValeBishop Sproxton

15 Mass for Feast of Assumption, Mercedes College - Archbishop Hickey Ordination to Diaconate, St Gerard Majella - Archbishop Hickey

15-17 Parish Visitation, Bateman - Bishop Sproxton

16 & 17 Confirmation, Mt Lawley - Archbishop Hickey

17 Procession for Feast of Assumption, Mundaring - Archbishop Hickey

18 Reception for Anniversary of Independence, Republic of IndonesiaFr Ari Pawarto OCarm

21 Northbridge History Project Irish Event, Northbridge - Archbishop Hickey Visit Confirmation Candidates, Morley - Archbishop Hickey

MISSION MATTERS

Reflections on this Sunday’s Gospel; Matthew 14:22-33

Like the disciples in the boat, missionaries throughout the developing world find themselves living and working in the stormy waters of global poverty, civil war, ethnic persecution and environmental catastrophes. They find great comfort and courage in the calming presence of Jesus amidst terrible persecution and unimaginable human suffering. Your prayers can invoke Jesus’ calming presence amidst the chaos and confusion and strengthens their work as they confront the stormy waters of our violent and broken world each day. Does your parish have a prayer group for our missionaries?

Call the Mission Office on 9422 7933 should you want to explore this idea further.

You’ll never miss

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BOOK REPAIRS

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General repairs to books, old bibles & missals. 2ndhand Catholic books avail. Tydewi Bindery 9293 3092.

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RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ ALL SAINTS HANDCRAFTED ROSARIES AND CHAPLETS

View our current range of original rosaries, chaplets and bracelets for all occasions. Custom orders in the beads and colour of your choice are welcome. Contact Elisa on 0421 020 462 or email allsaintscreations@iinet.net.au

■ RICH HARVEST – YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP

Looking for Bibles, CDs, books, cards, gifts, statues, baptism/communion apparel, religious vestments, etc? Visit us at 39 Hulme Court (off McCoy St), Myaree, 9329 9889 (after 10.30am Mon to Sat). We are here to serve.

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‘Modern meets tradition.’ Quality hand-made & decorated. Vestments, altar cloths, banners. Vickii Smith Veness. 9402 8356 or 0409 114 093.

■ CATHOLICS CORNER

Retailer of Catholic products specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for baptism, communion and confirmation. Ph: 9456 1777. Shop 12, 64-66 Bannister Road, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.

■ OTTIMO

Shop 108 TRINITY ARCADE (Terrace Level) Hay St, Perth Ph 9322 4520. Convenient city location for a good selection of Christain products/ gifts. We also have handbags, fashion accessories. Opening hours Monday-Friday 9am-6pm.

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EMPLOYMENT

■ CARETAKER COUPLE

For Catholic Church, Bindoon. Accom provided. Suit active pensioners. For details telephone 9571 1839 or 9576 0006.

HOLIDAY ACCOMODATION

■ MANDURAH

Fully furnished, Air Conditioned 2 Bedroom Flat 100m to Halls Head Beach ring 08 9385 9732.

HEALTH

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Do you, or your loved one, suffer Dementia. Get into Dementia Remission like me! http://www. wgrey.com.au/dm/index.htm or (02) 9971 8093.

SETTLEMENTS

EFFECTIVE LEGAL, family owned law firm focusing on property settlements and wills. If you are buying, selling or investing in property, protect your family and your investment, contact us on (08) 9218 9177.

WANTED

■ PLEASE HELP

A monstrance, candelabra and icons are required for Eucharistic Adoration at Murdoch University. If you are able to assist with any of these items please contact Fr Joe Cardoso on 0403 303 667.

PRAYERS REQUESTED FOR

■ MILLEN KYE EVELYN

Followed the Good Shepherd home 21st July 2008. Indelible memories of an irreplaceable family member, passionate in embracing pursuits and uncompromising in striving for excellence as a teacher and breeder of Pembroke Corgis. Educated by the Presentation Sisters at St Augustine’s Rivervale and Iona in Mosman Park. Fondly remembered daughter of Christopher James (dec) & Rose Myrtle (dec), Sister of John Christopher and James Rennie and their respective families, dear friend of Fr Eamon McKenna. Safe in the arms of Jesus, Eternal rest grant unto her, we pray, Amen.

DEATH NOTICE

■ MAHONY, PHYLLIS

Of your charity, please pray for the happy repose of the soul of Phyllis Scott (Phyl) Mahony of Swan Village, Bentley. May she rest in peace.

BOOK SALE 2 weeks only

BRAVE LITTLE BEAR

The inspiring story of a teenage mother.

By

Bernadette Black

Brave Little Bear comes from the meaning of the author’s name, Bernadette. Bernadette fell pregnant at 16 years of age in Year 10 at a private Catholic school. Acting against the advice of some of those around her she chose to go ahead with her pregnancy. This is her inspiring story

WAS $19.95 NOW $14.95

THEOLOGY OF THE BODY IN JOHN PAUL II

What it means, why it matters

By Fr Richard Hogan

In this illuminating and comprehensive commentary Fr Richard Hogan (a priest with a background in theology and natural family planning) explains why Pope John Paul II’s teachings on the theology of the body speak so powerfully to a new generation of believers. $24.95

GREAT WOMEN OF THE BIBLE

By Fr Jude Winkler OFM Conv

A wonderful illustrated book for children, especially girls, telling the stories of some of the beautiful and spiritually strong women of God’s plan of salvation throughout the Bible. 32 pages. Suitable for ages 4-8.

$2.50

AVE MARIA

Gregorian chants

Directed by Fr Lucien Deiss

CSSp

The world has come to rediscover in recent years the uplifting beauty of one of the Church’s spiritual treasures – Gregorian Chant. This beautiful 21track CD is made up of ancient chants honouring the most beautiful woman ever: Mary, the Mother of God. $24.95

MEMORY AND IDENTITY

By Pope John Paul II the Great

A truly historic work of personal thoughts on his own intellectual and spiritual and pastoral journey that leaves for posterity the teaching and mission of this remarkable Vicar of Christ.

WAS $35, NOW $24.95

FIRST BIBLE STORIES

Beautifully illustrated and retold in a simple, lively style, this book is the perfect introduction to the Bible for children. Comes bound with ribbon for tying it shut.

$22.95

I’LL PRAY ANYWAY!

The story of Daniel

By Marilyn Lashbrook

Children love to listen... but even more they love to participate. Daniel is just one in a series of children’s books presenting Bible stories in simple words a young child can understand. Daniel, and the other books, make it easy for the little ones to learn about God. Suitable for ages 4-8.

$4.95

GIRLS GONE MILD

By Wendy Shalit

Young women reclaim self-respect and find it’s not bad to be good.

All you can say about this book is simply... buy it for the girl in your life! Young women are pressured by almost everyone today to conform to life patterns that are self-destructive. Wendy Shalit’s book is part of the counter-revolution because it encourages young women to reclaim the dignity that was always theirs in the first place. $39.95

FAITH FRIENDS

The Rite of Christian Initiations of Children: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation

From our very own Western Australian Presentation Sisters comes this excellent teacher’s guide for the preparaton of children for the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmaiton modelled on the RCIA program.

Recommended by Archbishop Barry James Hickey. $5.00

BECOMING CATHOLIC

A parent’s guide to Baptism, Eucharist and Reconciliation

By Kathy Horan

In recent years the trend has been to make sacramental celebrations a parish event and to involve parents in the preparation of their children. The new collaboration has been accompanied by a re-discovery of how the sacraments were celebrated in the early church.

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