General: That the members of all religions may cooperate to alleviate the human sufferings of our time.
Missionary: That the Church,in the countries where totalitarian regimes still reign,may be given full freedom to carry out her own spiritual missions
Perth: 11 December 2003 Price: $1
Archbishop Barry Hickey announced on Monday that the choice of the design for the completion of the Cathedral is imminent.
The Archbishop’s full statement is on pages 8 and 9, together with illustrations of the four possible designs.
The Dean of the Cathedral and Chair of the Cathedral Project Committee Monsignor Thomas McDonald said St Mary’s Cathedral was likely to be completed in 2006, a little under 150 years after it was started.
He said the completion project would cost about $10 million, of which $2 million had been received through a generous bequest from the estate of Jim and Alice Hassell.
“Cathedrals are meant to be a thing of beauty, to inspire, uplift and strengthen the faith of those who enter them. St Mary’s
Cathedral is the mother church of the Archdiocese, and this is a monumental undertaking,” the Dean said.
Earlier this year, four local architects had been invited to submit concept designs by the end of November.
They would be displayed in the Cathedral over the Christmas period and in some other parishes in the Archdiocese in January so that the public would have an opportunity to comment. The other parishes were yet to be decided.
A choice of design and architect could be made by the end of February when the architect would be commissioned to prepare the final design and specifications.
These would be submitted to the Perth City Council, the Heritage Council and other interested parties such as Royal Perth
Hospital. Depending on the time needed for the necessary approvals, work towards the historic completion of St Mary’s Cathedral could begin before the end of 2004, said Monsignor McDonald.
The four architects chosen to prepare concept designs had all done considerable work for the Church and were given a comprehensive brief prepared by a Cathedral Project Committee.
The stated objectives were to create a cathedral that served the contemporary liturgical needs of the Roman Catholic Church and the Archdiocese of Perth, and to reflect local architectural and building traditions including local materials and local craftsmanship and industry.
Physical requirements included a spacious nave, clear sight lines to the sanctuary from all seating positions, wide aisles, no columns, seating increased to 1200, and improved acoustics.
Innovations were to include a crypt, parking for a minimum of
100 cars, incorporation of a Parish Centre either underground or as a separate building on the site, and an adequate area off the narthex for a small holy shop/information/welcome area.
The building is to integrate the three eras of building on the site: the 1865 Cathedral built under the supervision of the Benedictines; the 1929-30 building according to architect Michael Cavanagh’s design which is now the eastern end of the Cathedral but which was not completed because of financial problems as the Depression struck; and the new building which will overcome the problems created by the inability to complete the Cathedral in 1930.
Historically, the first Cathedral in Perth is what is now known as the Pro-Cathedral of St John the Evangelist in Victoria Ave. This is the true heritage building of the Church in Perth. The foundation
By Debbie WarrierHundreds gathered in St Mary’s cathedral to watch Neo Catechumenal seminarians Milton Arias and Clesio Mendes ordained to the priesthood, on Saturday December 6.
Father Arias has been appointed Assistant Priest at St Mary’s Cathedral, in Perth from January 30 2004.
Father Mendes has been appointed Assistant Priest at Good Shepherd Church, in Kelmscott from January 30 2004.
The two new priests bring the total of ordinations from the archdiocesan Redemptoris Mater missionary seminary since its foundation in 1994 to 18 and the total of ordinations for the Archdiocese by the Archbishop to seven for this year.
Archbishop Barry Hickey concelebrated the Mass with approximately 40 other clergy from around the Archdiocese.
He welcomed those who had travelled from Fr Arias’ native Colombia and Fr Mendes’ native Brazil to be present for the special Mass.
He told the congregation the 2003 ordinations of Richard Smith, Michael Merrifield, John Daly, Brandon Crawford, Thi Lam, Milton Arias and Clesio Mendes were cause for great celebration.
“We should give thanks to God for providing for his people,” the Archbishop said.
He described Fr Arias’ and Fr Mendes’ preparation for their ordination as a journey in their own personal formation, one that would continue throughout the rest of their lives.
“Holy Orders is an invitation to be closer to God, to be another Christ amongst the people. It requires humility and the confidence that God will give us what we need to serve,” he said.
Archbishop Hickey told those assembled the work of a priest was the continuation of God’s work. He defined that role in three specific areas sacramental, pastoral and a ministry of words.
“As representatives of the coming of the Kingdom of God you will minister to those who need the care of the Good Shepherd and salvation,” he told the priests.
The Archbishop then spoke of the current state of the world.
Continued - Page 2
Photos - Pages 4 & 5
The Record, established in 1874, is distributed to Catholic Churches, presbyteries, religious houses and subscribers throughout the Archdiocese of
Per th, Geraldton, Bunbury, Broome and overseas. THE TEAM
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Hugh Ryan, Paul Gray, Fr Tim Deeter, Tony Evans, George Russo, Peter Dwan, Norma Woodcock, Guy Crouchback
The Gospel for the First Sunday of Advent contained some very good and confronting advice for keeping the spirit of Advent.
The words that Jesus spoke to his followers were direct and straight to the point. We might well think about the three main points he made and build them into our preparation for Christmas.
Firstly Jesus asked his hearers to look at what we would call today, their lifestyle. He said “Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness”. We live in a society today which confuses freedom with licence, where many think they can live anyway they please and do so without restraint. Our Lord warns us that certain things are not right and must be avoided.
We must therefore examine how we are living and if we have fallen into bad habits or a sinful lifestyle, now is the time to stop and put our lives back on track.
Then Jesus urged us not to be burdened with “the cares of life”. The point here is that we must not allow the burdens of life to undermine our trust in God. We all have cares and worries, but must not give in to despair. After all it was Jesus himself who said “Come to me all you who labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest”.
Jesus then urged the people to pray and to stay awake because momentous things were about to happen. He was probably referring to his death, his resurrection, the destruction of Jerusalem and to his return at the end of the world.
He is asking us to pray. Let us do
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The Basilica of St Patrick Fremantle is establishing ‘AMemorial Book” for the names of all those buried either from the Basilica of St Patrick Fremantle3 or St Anne’s North Fremantle. Records were kept from 1850 to 1917 and from 1997 to the present day. If you know of relatives or friends buried from either church between 1917 and 1997 please phone the Parish Office 9335 2268 or write to Fr John PSherman omi, Basilica of St Patrick, 47 Adelaide St, Fremantle, WA6160.
so more fervently this Advent, and take time to reflect on the season we are in. Advent is an immediate preparation for Christmas. It is also a reminder that we need to look forward to Christ’s second coming at the end of the world and be always ready to meet him.
Perhaps we can place a few reminders of Christmas in our homes as an encouragement to pray. We might have a little crib in the lounge room, or a small table with a cloth and a candle together with the Bible open at a Gospel account of the birth of Jesus.
Little touches like these can help us enter better this season of Advent when we wait to welcome again with joy the Child who was born at Bethlehem.
Most Rev B J Hickey
Archbishop of Perth
Continued from Page 1
“There is a need for the message of Christ,” he said listing wars, exploitation, poverty and general sinful behaviour as the increased impetus.
The Archbishop asked the community to support and pray for the two new priests.
To Fathers Arias and Mendes he expressed the hope that that they would never lose that sense of awe that comes from being Christ’s representative, nor see it as their right to privileged treatment.
He offered his congratulations to both and specifically asked those present to pray that their ministry will be filled with many graces.
During the Mass, neo catechumenal seminarians Jose Antonio Obando and Ernesto Cerutti played guitars to the music of their community. Listeners clapped their hands in time to the music that was flavoured with South American influences for the occasion.
After the Mass, well wishers lined up to congratulate Fr Arias and Fr Mendes.
Fr Milton said of the ordination Mass “It was very good. I feel privileged that God has called me. I have been shown Christ’s mercy, forgiven my sins and am very grateful.”
Fr Clesio added “Throughout my preparation to be a priest I have been aware that God exists, God is love and God is faithful. My parents, four friends from the Neo Catechumenal Way in Brazil and the others here today came not for me but to see the great works God will do through me.”
The following clergy changes have been announced by Archbishop Barry Hickey.
Fr Jim Nestor, Fr Jim Corcoran and Fr Jim Petry are all to move to Niana House at Castledare early in the New Year.
Mgr Peter McCrann will conclude his term at Cottesloe by the end of January to take up other parish and pastoral work.
Fr Wayne Davis has been appointed Parish Priest of Holy Rosary Church, Nedlands, effective from 26 January 2004.
Fr Ossie Lewis has been appointed Parish Priest of St Mary's Church, Leederville, effective from 26 January 2004.
Fr Thomas Pandaraparambil has been appointed Parish Priest of St Pius X Church, Manning, effective from 26 January 2004.
Fr Don Kettle has been appointed Director of Catholic Youth Ministry from 1 January 2004.
Fr Michael Merrifield has been appointed Assistant Priest of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Rockingham, effective from 30 January 2004.
Fr Brandon Crawford has been appointed Assistant Priest of St Joseph's Church, Northam, from 30 January 2004.
Fr Thi Lam has been appointed Assistant Priest at Our Lady of Mercy Church, Girrawheen, from 30 January 2004.
Fr John Daly has been appointed Assistant Priest of St Thomas More Church, Bateman from 30 January 2004.
Fr Milton Arias has been
Archbishop Barry James Hickey
appointed Assistant Priest at St Mary's Cathedral, Perth from 30 January 2004.
Fr Clesio Mendes has been appointed Assistant Priest at Good Shepherd Church, Kelmscott, from 30 January 2004.
Fr Denis Sudla has been appointed Assistant Priest at St Vincent de Paul Parish, Redfern, Sydney from 30 January 2004, by arrangement with Cardinal George Pell.
Fr Robert Cross, Dean of St Charles' Seminary, is to return to Geraldton Diocese at the end of this year.
Fr Stephen Giles MHM is to conclude his appointment at Moora on 1 January 2004 as the Mill Hill Fathers in Western Australia are being recalled.
Fr Peter Bianchini has been appointed Parish Priest of Sacred Heart Church, Highgate, effective from 30 January 2004. The Camillian Fathers will take pastoral care of St Aloysius' Church, Shenton Park, with Fr Sean Bredin as Parish Priest effective from 30 January 2004. Rather than call for expressions of interest in Shenton Park, I have appointed the Camillians there because it is central to their work in a number of hospitals, all close to Shenton Park.
Fr David Gallegos OSM has been appointed Administrator of St Denis Parish, Joondanna to fill in for Fr Leo Spicer, who is on sick leave with a back problem that needs surgery. We welcome Fr David as we pray that Fr Leo will recover soon.
Priests may express their interest in the Parishes of Maddington, Dianella, Willetton, Cottesloe and Moora.
There will be further moves, including the country. They will be published in The Record as they are made.
It was the end of an era when St Augustine’s Parish in Rivervale bade farewell to Sr Raphael Porter PBVM and the Presentation Sisters at Mass on Sunday November 30.
Sr Raphael is retiring as principal of St Augustine’s Primary School after 14 years. The Presentation Order first took over from the Sisters of Mercy at the school in 1956.
Approximately 200 parishioners, past and present, attended the Mass that celebrated the contribution to education the Religious Order had made.
Parish Priest Father Eamon McKenna expressed gratitude on behalf of the St Augustine’s school community.
Fr McKenna said the Sisters fulfilled the roles of Catholic schools to sustain each human soul, to teach each child to know Jesus and make the world a better place by their presence.
Kindergarten teacher Mary Mclure spoke about her former student days, when the classroom wooden desks were connected
together. “The Sisters built St Augustine’s Primary into the school it is today. In this school community they instilled values that will carry through to the future,” she said.
Father Eugene McGrath concelebrated the Mass. His two sisters, Sister Pius McGrath and Sister Angela McGrath, were respectively an ex principal at St Augustine’s in Rivervale and an ex principal of Notre Dame in Cloverdale.
As a token of the appreciation of the school community, former treasurer Mr Fred Pereira gave a gift to the Congregation Leader of the Presentation Order Sister Kathleen Laffan.
Sr Kathleen said the Sisters were sad to leave the school and that a lot of love had been invested into their time there. She added that it was also a happy occasion as they left the school in the capable hands of the new principal Mr Art Lombardi together with the dedicated lay staff. Sr Kathleen hopes they will continue to be inspired by the life of the Foundress of the Presentation Order Sister Nano
The Collegium Symphonic Chorus will perform its annual rendition of Handel’s Messiah at St Patrick’s Basilica in Fremantle, on December 20 and December 21 at 8.15pm.
Publicity Officer Margaret Lutz described what audiences could look forward to. Musical Director Margaret Pride will conduct this venerable work and Perth audiences will be the first in Australia to hear all choruses of this musical piece sung from memory.
The chorus will be supported by a world-class orchestra of early music players under the leadership of violinist Paul Wright and by specialist Baroque soloists. Melbourne based soprano Vivien Hamiliton returns to Perth to join mezzo-soprano Sarah Janet Dougiamas, tenor Justin Friend
and baritone Mark Alderson. All will sing the solo roles of this three century-old masterpiece. Fremantle parishioner Mrs Mina Amata is one of the volunteers who give generously of their time to assist with venue management for the occasion.
Mrs Amata has given 51 years of voluntary service within the Catholic community in Fremantle. Both Mrs Amata and Dr Pride recently received a Centenary Medal of Australia. The latter received the award for services to choral music in Western Australia.
Tickets prices are: $34(full), $28 student/seniors (concession card numbers must be supplied) and there is $1 discount for cash or cheque payments (SAE required). The Collegium Booking Office on 9286 3836 or visit web-site www.collegiumchoirs.com.au
Nagle and to share her story with the students of the future.
When the Presentation Sisters took over the running of the school 48 years ago, there were 110 students and enrollments went up to Year 3.
Sister Brendan Curtain and Sister Dominic Cunningham increased the size of the coeducational primary school from Year 4 to Year 7.
The ground floor of the new school was erected almost immediately. Parents and parishioners helped partially furnish the three rooms on that level.
In 1959, a second storey was added which became the Girls Junior High School. A decade later the Parents and Friends Association was formed. By 1971, the school population had increased to 155.
In the 90’s, the school became increasingly multicultural and in 1994 a kindergarten was built. The school later received a grant to improve staffing and administration facilities.
There are currently 220 students that attend the school.
After Mass, the Sisters and their well-wishers mingled in the school grounds over refreshments.
Borni is a remote inland village in Bangladesh, 60 kilometres from the nearest small town Natore. Transport facilities are very rare, especially during the rainy season. Most of the people that live in Borni are farmers or labourers. The majority of people are illiterate and are often out of work and live in extreme poverty.
The Sisters of Charity, with the support of Catholic Mission, have set up a boarding house and education program for orphans and poor children to assist their education. They help about 450 people in the village, and 60 orphans are provided with everything in the boarding house, including shelter, food, clothing, medical care and education expenses. Some other poor girls are also given shelter at the boarding house due to the distance they travel to school.
One of the children they have helped is Dina Rozario. She is a nine-year-old whose mother died at childbirth. She has three older sisters and her father is a day labourer. He struggled to maintain the family, and was obliged to give away his three eldest daughters, and left Dina with her grandmother. He remarried and moved to a far away village. Dina’s grandmother worked in houses as a maidservant, but found it very difficult to take care of Dina’s basic needs. When Dina was four years old she became very weak and sick and started to beg in the streets, which is futile in a village where almost everyone is
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poor. Finding no other way to maintain Dina, her grandmother took her to the Sisters of Charity where they took her in. She felt at home straight away and became a friend to everyone. She is now healthy and is studying. She never hears from her father, which is painful for her, but her grandmother visits her often.
Another family that is grateful to the Sisters of Charity and Catholic Mission are the Costas. Their father was a poor landless day labourer in the village, who built a small house for his wife and three children. He was often sick and found it difficult to find a job. He decided to go into the city to look for work, where he also failed. His wife, who was also sick, tried to work for some families back in the village, and constantly wrote to her husband
asking for money. Eventually the poor man became desperate, saw no other way out and hanged himself. He was 33. His wife 29, and their three children aged 11, 8 and 4 had their house fall down around them. The Sisters of Charity have provided the family with a decent small house with a tin roof. They have helped the mother to find some light work and have provided necessities like food, clothing, education expenses and medical assistance for the children.
You can help Catholic Mission achieve their goal of Life for All this Christmas. Become a Children’s Mission Partner and help fund projects like this one to give children in more than 160 countries a brighter and fairer future. Visit www.catholicmission.org.au or freecall Catholic Mission on 1800 257 296.
The Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Seminary in Morley was established in 1994, and was specifically set up to train and form priests of the Neo Catechumenal Way.
Pope John Paul II has described the Way, founded in Spain by Kiko Aguello in the 1960s, as an itinerary of faith valid for our society and our times, one of the new charisms of the Second Vatican Council to bring the light of the Gospel to today’s secular society.
The Rector of the Morley Seminary is Father Michael Moore SM, who is assisted by the Vice Rector Father Gonzalo Mazarrasa.
Saturday’s ordinations brought the total number of those ordained from the seminary to 18. Currently, there are 18 seminarians at the seminary.
The seminary survives on Divine Providence which Fr Moore defined as “We live on what God inspires [others] to give us.”
There are 50 Redemptoris Mater Seminaries in the world.
Australia has two, one in Perth and one newly established in Sydney. The goal of the seminaries is to provide priests for the New Evangelisation called for in recent years by Pope John Paul II.
The seminary is located at 26 Camboon Road, Morley. For further inquiries, contact Fr Moore on (08) 9275 7411.
The two deacons prostrate themselves during the Litany of the Saints, above. Left: Fr Arias gives his blessing
The
Diocese of Bunbury is seeking an enthusiastic staff member to be primarily responsible for the development of evangelisation and support programs
Specifically, the position will be responsible for coordinating diocesan programs and initiatives in youth ministry and assisting parishes and Catholic schools in the preparation and delivery of youth programs.
The successful applicant will have a background in working with young people and an ability to work with and coordinate volunteers. They should be able to communicate effectively with young people, possess organisational skills, excellent interpersonal skills and a willingness to travel throughout the diocese to work collaboratively in a team environment. Computer literacy skills and working knowledge of Microsoft Office products would be highly desirable. Applicants should be committed to the teachings of the Catholic Church and have a desire to share the Catholic faith with others, particularly young people.
Applications including covering letter, CV and references will be treated in strictest confidence and can be emailed to Fr Tony Chiera, Vicar General at tchiera@bunburycatholic.org.au. Applications close 27th January 2004.
Catholic Diocese of Bunbury, PO Box 2005, BUNBURYWA6231 www.bunburycatholic.org.au
The new priests concelebrate their first Mass with Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton, Archbishop Barry Hickey and Emeritus Bishop Peter Quinn of Bunbury in St Mary’s Cathedral on Saturday. At right, Fr Corran Pike prays over his new brother priest Fr Clesio Mendes. Part of the ordination Mass sees fellow priests coming forward to pray a blessing over the new priests who have just been ordained. Saturday’s ordinations brought to 42 the number of priests ordained for the Archdiocese of Perth in the last 6 years. Photographs:Peter
“Duc in altum!” – “Put out into the deep”.
Pope John Paul II has chosen these words of Jesus as the watchword of the Church as she advances with a firm and confident step into the third millennium. Now he has shed new light on the Holy Rosary for us too, and has entrusted it to us as a priceless means of help as we venture forth into the “vast ocean” of the new millennium. By adding the five Luminous Mysteries the Holy Father has enriched our prayer life. The Rosary booklet contains all 20 mysteries as well as excerpts from the Holy Father’s apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, scripture readings, meditations and prayers.
This booklet is intended not only for those who have already enjoyed a Christian upbringing, but also for all those who were deprived of this and are therefore unfamiliar with the great treasure that is the Rosary. This beautifully illustrated little booklet is now available fora donation of $3.00 (includes postage). Also available are the Papal Rosary beads. To obtain the Rosary booklet and the Vatican Rosary beads we ask fora donation of $15.00 (includes postage). All proceeds will go towards the work of Aid to the Church in Need for the persecuted and threatened Church worldwide.
Sunday on with Paul Gray
by Norma Woodcock‘THE LORD IS VERY NEAR – WHAT MUST WE DO?’
‘What must we do?’ So begins the Gospel, Luke 3:10-18. A feeling of expectancy had grown amongst the people who had gathered to hear John the Baptist preach. Some were beginning to think that John might be the Christ.
John made it very clear to them that someone was coming who was more powerful than he was. Someone who would baptise them with the Holy Spirit & fire.
‘What must we do?’ the people asked John.
Surely as we approach the celebration of our Lord’s birth we must also ask the question ‘What must we do?’
Let’s listen to John the Baptist’s answer. He does not suggest ascetical practices like fasting, he is more radical, he suggests a selfless concern for one’s disadvantaged brothers and sisters. John preaches here in advance what Jesus will preach.
There is nothing wrong with fasting but sometimes it is easier to perform ascetical practices than to reach out to others in some way.
‘What must I do?’ I remember some years ago asking the Lord this question. The Bishops had been speaking about the distribution of wealth. Now, although I am not wealthy by worldly standards, we are comfortable enough, so I asked the question, ‘What Lord can I do.’ The answer was given to me some weeks later. It was a freezing cold day and I was out shopping. A little old lady was standing there and we both were shivering with the cold. I said to her, ’I can’t wait to get home and put my heater on.’ She looked down and said, ‘I can’t put a heater on.’ I looked at her in amazement and said, ‘Don’t you have a heater?’ She sadly replied. ‘Oh yes I do, but I can’t afford the electricity.’ I knew what I had to do. I opened my purse and gave her all the money I had in it, about $60. Her eyes filled with tears and she said, ‘That will pay for my whole winter’s heating.
God is waiting for us to ask, ‘What must I do?’
John the Baptist answered the people by telling them to share with those who have nothing and to the tax collectors he said, ‘Exact no more than your rate.’ To the soldiers he said, ‘No intimidation! No extortion! Be content with your pay!
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary p686 says, ‘John’s diverse responses to the question, ‘What must I do?’ could indicate that even the clearest response never relieves anyone of the responsibility of asking again and struggling for an answer……. Only hearts that have been deeply affected by the Gospel are always open to what God expects as the next concrete requirement after the present one.’
‘What else must we do?’
The 2nd reading, Philippians 4:4-7 tells us. This scripture speaks about our attitude. We must practice tolerance. We have to learn to be happy and not to worry. We need to capture the thoughts of our imagination that lead us away from hope. This is an ever deepening, ongoing process. St Paul had to learn how to be content in all circumstances. It just didn’t happen for him and it won’t just happen for us. We have to work and trust God in all things. Philippians tells us to ask God for what we need with prayer and thanksgiving and that the peace of God will guard our hearts and our thoughts in Christ Jesus. Yes the Lord is very near, let us enter these last days of preparation for Christmas by asking, ‘What must I do?’
Norma Woodcock is the Director of The Centre for Catholic Spiritual Development and Prayer. Website: www.normawoodcock.com
Are there any moral issues at stake in the arena of international trade? To most people, trade is like motor car engine mechanics – something that's undoubtedly important, but best left to the experts.
So it is when our Federal Government says it's pushing ahead with moves to secure a Free Trade deal with the United States, many of us might assume an attitude like this: "well, I don't really know whether we need a Free Trade deal with the States, but those guys in government are the experts.
"So if they say we need it, we need it. Let's leave it up to them."Trusting your mechanic to fix your car is one thing.
I'm not sure we should leave important matters of national destiny in the hands of Government – without at least questioning what they're doing.
In the case of the Free Trade deal, which Trade Minister Mark Vaile is trying to "lock in" in behind-thescenes negotiations with American officials before Christmas, there's little opportunity for questioning.
That's because unlike members of the United States Congress, our elected parliamentarians won't be looking at the details of the free trade agreement until it's locked in by our executive leaders.
If it's fixed up as Mr Vaile is hoping, the first time it will come under any kind of open democratic review will be when Congress looks at it. It's a deal that's out of our hands, literally. It's even out of the hands of our elected members of parliament.
That's cause for concern. There are many people in the Australian community who have expressed strong concerns about the wisdom and the ethics of our signing on to a bilateral deal (i.e. country-to-country) with the United States. Some of the most obvious critics have been film and entertainment industries personalities
whose views, many people might say, can be easily dismissed.
They're just "pinko" actors and artists, after all. Laborvoters and Lefties to a nongender-specific person, every one.
That's a fairly common stereotype of the way people in the arts and entertainment industries are seen. Because of that stereotype, many other non-experts in the community may well believe there's nothing substantial in their complaints.
What most people don't realise is it's not all just Lefty actors and agitators who are concerned about the rush to a free trade deal with the US.
One academic, Melbourne University's Prof Ann Capling, fears that the current increase in bilateral trade deals may make our world more divided, even threatening to return us to a Depression-era style arrangement of feuding trading blocks.
We all know what that led to – World War II. A major driving force behind the current "free trade deal" push is the investment desires of major multinational corporations which owe no allegiance to any nation or state.
Meanwhile groups like the Catholic Commission for
Justice, Development and Peace and, in Victoria, Liberty Victoria (formerly known as the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties) are also concerned about the Free Trade deal.
They've jointly published a report called The Big Chill, which raises doubts whether a Free Trade deal with America has really worked for the benefit of other countries who've gone down a similar path (see the report at www.ccjdp.org).
According to the report, private investors have made legal claims against the Governments of Canada and Mexico totalling more than 27 billion dollars since the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed in 1992.
One example: the multinational courier company UPS is seeking $160 million from Canada under a tribunal process set up under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Why? Because UPS claims the Canadian postal service has an unfair monopoly over delivery services.
Liberty Victoria also believes that the public ownership of Telstra is an issue in the negotiations between the Australian Government and the Americans. On the
American side, public ownership of Telstra is seen as an obstacle to foreign investment in this country.
They also believe that the US side wants the Foreign Investment Review Board abolished – even though the FIRB is a fairly powerless body whose only real function is to advise the Treasurer over any concerns it might have about particular foreign investments in this country.Let me sum up. There's a secret trade deal being negotiated by our Government with the USA at the moment, which our parliamentarians won't get a vote on.
And there are substantial concerns that powerful overseas investors will use the deal to gain greater control over important parts of the economic decision-making process in this country.
And also, it won't be good for the world trading environment, overall. Shouldn't we make some protest about this? Or even just make a noise?
This is not being antiAmerican. Let's remember: Australia and America are already the closest of friends, and trading partners. We go to war alongside the Americans, regularly. And send our top talent in every field to America, from sport to brain science, every year.
Perhaps a free trade deal, if honoured by America, could bring some benefits to some Australian industries.
But others would certainly suffer. Why then do we need a deal like this which raises so many potential problems?
The underlying issue for Australians is that we've got to be more realistic about the way the world really works.
In the world of international trade, large corporate interests too often take precedence over legitimate local and national concerns. We need to scrutinise this trend more closely. And ask questions of our leaders.
This Third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday because the Church call us to rejoice. We even have brighter coloured vestments at Mass and light a pink candle to ensure that we get the message to rejoice and be happy.
The best way to rejoice and be happy is to love your enemies, whoever they may be. They do not have to be personal enemies – most of us don’t have them. Our real enemies are those who do not rejoice for the reasons we have been given for rejoicing. And ultimately, of course, our deepest enemies are the parts of ourselves that do not rejoice. And these we must love because that is the secret of happiness.
It seems like a strange psychology, and in many ways it is little wonder that it does not get much approval in a society that is built on a belief in having adversaries – adversarial politics, an adversarial system of justice (well, law, anyway), adversarial business competition, and an education system based on competition, failure for some, and all too often a them and us attitude between the teachers and the taught.
We are too busy fighting to rejoice –and we are too busy complaining about what is wrong with the rest of the world
Iwish to express my utter disappointment regarding the absolutely unnecessarily explicit and inappropriate image displayed in the edition of discovery of December 2003.
You have claimed to target discovery for young people. As you well know, young people undergo many moral and spiritual trials in regard to chastity and purity.
Being a young person myself I can quite safely say that we are trying to avoid and keep away from the ‘erotica’ in the magazines, on the television, pictures, books, billboards and so on.
Now we have in a colour photograph on the centrefold of discovery the same type of image that we are trying to avoid elsewhere. It appears that the garbage we fight against is now in a Catholic magazine.
Keeping in mind the consideration that discovery is condemning such pictures, it doesn't justify the fact that the images and descriptions in the text are too graphic for spiritual safety. Such material is dangerous and unnecessary in a Catholic magazine. The aims of such a magazine are – or should be - supposed to elevate the mind to matters other than the topics mentioned.
True, we know that such topics are everpresent and constantly staring us in the face, but such a topic does not require the importance and attention as was displayed in the middle pages of your paper.
Dominic de Souza ForrestfieldI write to object strongly to you, about the material you are printing, sometimes in The Record and more so in the discovery I really cannot see how these articles tie up with true Catholic teaching. I was raised not to fight evil with evil. Take a stand, yes, but your continuing comments on sex seem to me a little obsessive. Comments can be printed about pornography, without photographs that display pornography. This appears to me to be engaging in double standards.
Mrs Patricia Schilling RockinghamPOBox 75, Leederville, WA 6902 Tel:(08) 9227 7080, Fax: (08) 9227 7087 cathrec@iinet.net.au
to imbibe the reason why we should rejoice.
The prophet Zephaniah, writing about 630 years before the first Christmas Day, gave us a good reason for rejoicing and the Church reminds us of it in the first reading. Zephaniah was writing in a time of religious degradation when all the old idolatries had reappeared and men worshipped almost anything but the God of their ancestors, the God who had brought them out of the land of slavery into peace and freedom. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it.
“Woe to the city, rebellious and polluted,” he wrote. “She hears no voice, accepts no correction; In the Lord she has not trusted, to her God she has not drawn near.” Still sounds familiar, doesn’t it.
But Zephaniah went on to write: “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion … Be glad and
exult with all your heart.” Why was that?
“The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty saviour. He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you.”
It is a remarkable change. We are not to be downhearted because of the rebelliousness and idolatry of the world around us. We are to rejoice because our saviour is in our midst and rejoices over us with gladness and renews us in his love. He sings joyfully because of us!
Writing 2000 years later, in 1373 when she wrote the first book written in English by a woman, which she called Revelations of Divine Love, Julian of Norwich gave a remarkable insight into this message, not by discussing Zephaniah but by revealing what Jesus revealed to her after her intense suffering and her many years of prayer and meditation.
She said Jesus told her “It gives me great joy and happiness, it is a perpetual delight to have suffered for you. If I could suffer more I would”. She went on to describe how the Father is delighted with all that Jesus has done for our salvation, and he rewards Jesus with a gift that fills Jesus with delight – and the gift is us. (This was a unique wonder, a complete delight: that we are his crown! Julian said
the preferred partnership option. Some 30% of Australian babies are now born to single or cohabiting mothers.
But cohabitation spells danger for such children. The Christchurch Health and Development Study followed up 1265 children from their birth in 1977 to the age of 21. It found that 44% of de facto couple parents separated before their child was five, compared with only 11% of married couples. Child abuse risks soar in single parent or blended families. Affirmative action for marriage should be at the top of every government's agenda.
Roslyn PhillipsAdelaide
My congratulations on the December issue of discovery, especially the articles: "Dear Padre" (on the Mass) and "Young People Take a Stand".
As a Christian, a mother and a teacher, I have been despairing at the eroding of the values I hold so very dear. To see the sacred symbol of the Cross dangling between revealing cleavage is symbolic of how insensitive some women have become to the sacredness of the symbol and to what modesty considers appropriate dress. (And of course this deviation in dress code is mild to what we are being exposed to on a daily basis.) I note that one of last week's news items on TV reported that Playboy magazine's sales have decreased. In one sense this is good but in another it is not: It is an indication that the need for such pornographic magazines is not as strong because such content is blatant on our TVs (Video Hits!), in our magazines, in our shopping centres and some workplaces as acceptable code of dress.
Hats off to our young people for protesting about the erosion of values. The article on the Mass was solid and well written. May I reproduce it to go home to all my students' parents? God bless you at this lovely time of Advent.
Cathy Corbitt Bull CreekThe latest ABS figures on marriage show that cohabitation is increasingly
My eight-year-old son recently received the sacrament of First Reconciliation at Our Lady of the Mission, Whitford’s Parish. Prior to receiving this sacrament, the children undertook classroom activities and attended three workshop evenings with their parent/s. At one of the sessions, the children were asked to write their own Prayer of Praise after a discussion on how God shows his goodness to us. I would like to share with you my son’s Prayer of Praise.
MY PRAYER OF PRAISE
By Alexander BraghieriWe give thanks to you Lord for the earth, peace, hope and harmony. We give thanks for friends, teachers to teach us and parents to love us.
We thank you for the Ten Commandments to make the world a better place. We thank you for giving us strength. We thank you for loving us and forgiving us.
Amen
Sue BraghieriHillarys
As I watched the recent episode ‘Sex and the Holy City’ on ABC television's Foreign Correspondent a note lay on my kitchen table. "Type writer ribbons for Eric!" While the BBC's Panorama production tried to convince its viewers the poverty, malnutrition and spread of the Aids in Third World countries was due to the teachings of the Catholic Church on chasti-
in describing her feelings about this revelation).
She was further shown that the love which made him suffer exceeds his suffering as far as heaven is above earth.
“It is God’s will that we have heartfelt joy with him in our salvation,” Julian wrote. “He wants us to find great comfort and strength in it, and to be completely and happily taken up with it, by his grace.”
That is what the Lord, speaking through Zephaniah, told us when he said: “He will sing joyfully because of you.”
It is what Pope John Paul means when he tells us God is besotted with humanity.
However, we cannot be “completely and happily taken up with” God’s rejoicing in us if we are hating our enemies, or even giving them rent free space in our minds. We can only fully enjoy the love of God when we are not occupied with and fretful about other things.
It is a message the world may not understand and a message we may struggle to put into practice, but it is worth the effort. It is only when we undertake it, that the world will change.
That is why the Church calls us to Rejoicing Sunday. With God’s grace, we can make a habit of it.
ty, fidelity, contraception and abortion, I thought of the desperate phone call from Eric in the Philippines.
Sitting in a shanty hut with a Filipino mother and her children, a reporter cited the Catholic Church's opposition to abortion as the cause of such poverty in the Philippines. This is a lie.
Last July, Imee Marcos, quoting figures provided to her by the Commission on Population, told the Philippines Parliament thousands of abortion clinics are thriving in Metro Manila alone, with over 1000 abortions performed in the country daily. Why did Eric want typewriter ribbons? To type letters against abortion to his country's newspapers. For years he has written against the anti-life imperialism of International Planned Parenthood, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the endemic corruption of successive Filipino governments. One thousand abortions a day has done nothing to eliminate poverty, hunger and Aids in the Philippines.
Until journalists grow out of their juvenile Catholic bashing, the women and children whose plight they so illogically blame on Pope John Paul II, will continue to suffer so iniquitously.
Denise Cameron Secretary, Pro Life VictoriaCatholics and our beliefs have taken a political pounding in recent years, with a minority of good Catholic and Christian politicians in our WA parliament. Many people are lulled into believing that the result of a West-Poll survey is sufficient reason to change the laws of God.
But if every Catholic in WA were to write to their local member in protest at attacks on our fundamental beliefs, this would represent a tidal wave of opinion.
One reason why we lose the battles against issues such as abortion, homosexual legislation, and rights of the family, is because the other side want to win more than we do. When Election Day arrives, we waste our vote.
Catholics, please get involved politically by letter writing, lobbying and encouraging others in your Parish to do likewise.
Pat Shea MullalooOn this day, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I am pleased to announce that a decision on the completion of our Cathedral is imminent.
The Cathedral Project Committee under the chairmanship of Monsignor Thomas McDonald, Dean of the Cathedral, has invited four local architects to submit concept drawings on how the Cathedral can best be completed, to provide us with a building of awe and beauty, respectful of the past, and suited to the needs of today and the future.
The invited architects have all been involved in local Church projects.
It was thought that they should have the opportunity to handle a project as important as the Cathedral.
The conceptual drawings have now been received. They will be displayed in the Cathedral and in different locations in the Diocese for public viewing and comment.
The first group to view them will be the Council of Priests at their meeting this week.
It is my hope that many people will take the time to examine these proposals, as our Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Archdiocese and needs to be worthy of the sacred functions it fulfils.
In every Diocese the Cathedral holds a place of prominence. Why?
The very name of “Cathedral” comes from the name for the Bishop’s Chair, the “cathedra”, the symbol of the Bishop’s teaching authority.
The Cathedral is the focus of unity of the whole Diocese gathered around the local Bishops. It expresses the common faith of the people and their unity with Christ and the Apostles through their successors, the Bishops.
The Cathedral is the place where the Bishop gathers with his priests and people to celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. The Cathedral must therefore be a place of great beauty, where art, light and
sound combine to move the heart. The Cathedral is to be a place of quiet prayer and joyful celebration.
In its noble architecture and interior design the Cathedral is to enhance the solemnity of its liturgy and the glory of its music and inspire the assembly to praise and worship the Most High God.
This is the vision I have for our own Cathedral.
In its completion it will encompass three centuries the small but noble 1865 Cathedral, the enlarged 1930 Cathedral of soaring Gothic architecture, and the completed Cathedral of the 21st century that will bring the past, the present, and the future into a harmonious unity.
This is the brief to our architects.
May Mary, in whose honour our Cathedral is dedicated, lead us to make wise decisions for the honour and glory of God.
+ B J H i c k e y Archbishop of Perth 8 December 2003 Perth, WA
Continued from Page 1 stone was laid 160 years ago on December 27. It was the first Church building of any kind and was erected on the first piece of land granted to the Catholic Church by the Government.
Monsignor McDonald said after the bequest of $2 million from the Hassell estate, Archbishop Barry Hickey formally initiated the project to complete the Cathedral in an announcement printed in The Record, on August 12 1999.
In 2000, he appointed a Cathedral Building Committee, chaired by Mr Denis Cullity, which considered a range of options, including completing the Cathedral according to the Cavanagh design; leaving things as they are, with ‘patch up’ work to overcome the greatest deficiencies; or to design a replacement for the remains of the 1865 building which would complement the Cavanagh section and incorporate modern requirements.
The last option was the one recommended to the Archbishop and accepted by him. The building committee then handed over to the project committee.
The committee now responsible for completing the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary consists of Monsignore Thomas McDonald as chairman, Archbishop Barry Hickey, Bishop Don Sproxton, the Vicar General Father Brian O’Loughlin, Yangebup Parish Priest Father Brian Rosling, Sister Kerry Willison, Mrs Therese Temby, Mr Steven Court and Mr Greg Russo.
In September, Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles dedicated the new Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral amid much pomp - and controversy. Although some have criticised the new structure as too expensive and too modern architecturally, others have praised it for the way it embodies and symbolises the Catholic tradition in its structure and adornments. Cardinal Francis Stafford, an American who serves as president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Laity, situates himself in the latter camp. The USCatholic newspaper Our Sunday Visitor recently spoke with Cardinal Stafford about the Los Angeles cathedral and other cathedrals of the world, old and new.
O U R S U N D A Y V I S I T O R : You were born, raised and ordained in Baltimore, where one of America’s landmark cathedrals, the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, stands. Do you recall any pivotal experiences of the old cathedral as a young person?
C A R D I N A L S T A F F O R D : Yes, I remember as an adolescent coming into the old cathedral designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. It was just after the Archbishop of Baltimore had died. I was a student at Loyola High School. I paid my respects in the ancient cathedral, and I remember coming in and connecting with the specific role of the cathedral as the place where the bishop or archbishop teaches in the person of Christ.
V I S I T O R : You served as the papal legate at the dedication of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles. What was your initial response to the exterior?
C A R D I N A L S T A F F O R D : My overall impression was of the genius of the architect, Jose Rafael Moneo. By genius, I mean the immense faith which informed his talent. He immediately captured the site of the cathedral, which is next to the Hollywood Freeway like the river Seine is immediately attached to the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. The waterway is replaced by the modern freeway. Moneo proclaimed the Paschal Mystery to all through that magnificent cross that shines forth in light, revealing the wonderful love that God has for us in giving His own Son upon the cross. The cantilevered angles of the architecture speak of the tension of our being both body and soul and our constantly striving toward reaching up to God in our journey. One needs to stand before the exterior to allow it to enter into one’s self. One doesn’t quickly gather in the complexity of the exterior design. One must move to allow it to become a living piece of architecture. As one moves, the cathedral moves with one. The bell tower seems to be constantly moving, especially for people driving up the freeway. It’s a very live piece of architecture reflecting the vitality of the human body, as every piece of architecture reflects humanity.
V I S I T O R : What struck you most about
the interior of LA’s new cathedral?
C A R D I N A L S T A F F O R D : The interior reflects a mystery. We don’t encounter immediately a vast expanse as in an ordinary cathedral. The portal is overshadowed by Mary, through whom the Messiah has come to us, Mother of God and Mother of the Church. She’s not just a Madonna, but is Queen of Heaven. She is not haughty, but regal. She is a strong woman. She is very noble, speaking of the dignity of woman that needs to be articulated today - both for men and women.
Inside, there is a long passage that eventually curves and then the panorama of the vast interior unfolds. The great interior cross dominates the cathedral. It’s placed to the left, and the tension of the asymmetry of the architecture speaks to us of the constant movement into God. And then there is the magnificent red marble altar, symbolic of the Blood of the Lamb.
V I S I T O R : Your early ordained ministry included social work through Catholic charities. Your leadership has demonstrated the Church’s preferential option for the poor. Is it good stewardship to spend US$200 million on this structure when the Church of Los Angeles has so many people struggling with daily needs?
C A R D I N A L S T A F F O R D : Ask the poor Latinos and Vietnamese waiting in line by the hundreds to enter the cathedral and then standing mutely before the interior
crucifix. To touch that cross speaks to them of Isaiah 53, the suffering servant. They find, through touching that cross, some meaning to their suffering and their poverty. There is no way you can gainsay that. Materially poor people have deep hungers. How is that hunger to be filled? People, especially poor people, have been coming out in tens of thousands to greet
Mary and be succoured, embraced and consoled at the cathedral. There is no way you can weigh those consolations in terms of money.
We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on missiles for destruction and killing.
Those missiles are costing US$200 million each. We send them off as if they’re nothing; as a matter of fact, they’re the cost of a cathedral.
I think the Archbishop of Los Angeles had an intuition that his people still needed a place of gathering which in its form called them to something beyond everyday life, that is, to God. His pastoral sense, his sense of the religious needs of the people proved correct.
The cathedral is a confirmation of the Church’s emphasis upon the importance of memory - “Do this in memory of me”contrary to Nietzcsche’s call to forget the past. The Church is saying our very humanity is dependent on recalling the past.
The new cathedral does that through the adobe style, reminiscent of the Franciscan missionaries who came to California from Mexico. Owing to the vision and courage of the cardinal and his confreres, the cathedral has truly become what it was intended to be: a spiritual heart of the city of Los Angeles.
V I S I T O R : In addition to functioning as “spiritual hearts,” how have cathedrals impacted cultural history?
C A R D I N A L S T A F F O R D : Cathedrals are our great tradition, a tradition that has built a continent - probably two. Ivisit enough cathedrals to be aware that the central meaning of Europe is to be found in its cathedrals. All of Europe was built around cathedrals. Europe is a creation of the cathedral. That would be true also for the United States. Moreover, when you think of the continent-wide experience of the
“People in a Cathedral are released at least momentarily from being earthbound.” -
Cardinal Francis Stafford
American peoples, cathedrals have stabilised and renewed their cultural history.
“The cathedral is a reminder that all of the people of God are gathered together by the Spirit to proclaim the manifold gifts of the Spirit that inform the body of Christ.”
A cathedral not only makes use of the philosophical and theological understandings of a given people, but also gives form to materials available and to the technology of the day. With soaring buttresses, the Gothic cathedral spoke of spiritual hunger. People rejoiced in giving praise and thanksgiving to God through the best tech-
nology. The cathedral in Los Angeles does the same for us. It is built not only with the latest in materials, but also with sophisticated arithmetic, making best use of the available computer technology. There is only one 90-degree angle in the cathedral. That is not possible without the technology that allows architects and engineers to be so precise in planning.
V I S I T O R : What predominant emotions do cathedrals stir for you?
C A R D I N A L S T A F F O R D : One never forgets walking into a great Gothic medieval cathedral. The cathedral is one of the great expressions of the dignity of the human person. It manifests what human religious sense can create from desire for transcendence and in praise of the transcendent. The cathedral calls us, in its best expression, to the mystery of God.
We meet Him through coming together in the visible, artistic harmony of a cathedral - in what is beautiful, what is good, what is true.
The cathedral is a reminder that all of the people of God are gathered together by the Spirit to proclaim the manifold gifts of the Spirit that inform the body of Christ. St Peter’s Basilica in Rome speaks to us of 20 centuries of Catholic narrative. One is con-
San Fernando began March 9, 1731 when fifteen families of fifty-five settlers arrived at the Presidio of San Antonio and were welcomed by Captain Juan Antonio de Almazan in the name of King Phillip V of Spain. The cornerstone of the church building in the new village was laid in 1738, making it the first parish church in Texas. The church was completed in 1755 and the original walls still stand today forming what is now the sanctuary of the present church. These walls are the oldest standing structure in the city of San Antonio.
stantly uplifted by the unfolding of the Catholic tradition. St Peter’s calls us to live the virtues; it speaks to us of what we have lost, for the most part, in post modern society. Chartres is my favourite European cathedral. Chartres is a mystery of light. God is light.
I remember attending a meeting held in one of the transepts in the cathedral in Seville, near an altar dedicated to Mary. One sits in wonder and awe before the reredos [elaborate screens attached to the back of the altar]. The stone architecture and sculptures unfold the mysteries of Christ and the Church in layers upon layers of geologic super-time.
V I S I T O R : As you know, master builders added the Seville cathedral to a mosquean interesting layering of history and religion. Any comment on the current state of Islam?
C A R D I N A L S T A F F O R D : Our two traditions Christian and Islamic can find some common foundations. When we are confronted with the political suicides of young men and women in Israel, we must go back to the story of Abraham, which is common to all three monotheistic religions. The sacrifice of Abraham questions the sacrifice of one’s child. The tolerance
Our Lady of Chartres Cathedral, famous for its flying buttresses and spectacular rose window, is located southwest of Paris.
A miraculous healing well was the reason for building the first church on this site in the Fourth century. The current basilica, built between 1194 and 1260, is perhaps the finest example of the High Gothic style. Although it was sacked and desecrated during the French Revolution, it was repaired and managed to escape damage during World War II.
of Islamic society’s sacrifice of their sons and daughters for religion is intolerable in light of the story of Abraham. They are buying into the worst of Western existentialism. Sartre said that the only thing a thinking individual could do is commit suicide. An antidote to that is for Islamic leaders to forbid these suicides which are a form of child sacrifice.
V I S I T O R : In the third millennium since the Incarnation of Christ can we come closer to God in a cathedral?
C A R D I N A L S T A F F O R D : The architects of the great cathedrals had that as a paramount objective of design that people would be removed from the distractions of daily life and called to the glory in which the experiences of daily life are constantly unfolding, that is, the glory of God. People who visit a cathedral are released, at least momentarily, from being earthbound. They seek things that are above. In a cathedral we’re called to something that speaks of the ascension of humanity to the right hand of the Father. That’s what a cathedral really calls us to: We human beings are destined to sit at the right hand of God with Christ.
There has been a church on the site of St Peter’s tomb since the Fourth century, but the current basilica, which covers just under five acres, was built mostly in the 16th century, designed primarily by Bramante at the behest of Pope Julius II. Michelangelo continued the work after Bramante’s death and designed the dome, which is an architectural wonder at 438 feet in height. The famous colonnade, shaped like embracing arms, was designed by Bernini, as were the marble baldachino and St Peter’s chair.
CITY (CNS) — In what the Vatican termed an “exceptional discovery,” scholars in the Vatican Library found a manuscript containing nearly 400 verses of the ancient Greek poet Menander. Half the verses belong to a well-known comic play by Menander, but the other half are new — perhaps part of an unknown work. Menander, who wrote in the fourth century BC, is considered the comic genius of the ancient Greeks.
The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, announced the “sensational” find on December 5, saying the manuscript came to light a few days earlier.
It said the Greek pages were found in a manuscript that had originally been copied in a ninth-century Syrian monastery. The pages were discovered and identified by Francesco D’Aiuto, a young scholar who has worked for several years on Greek manuscripts at the Vatican Library.
The report said it appeared that the 200 new pages of Menander treated roles and situations typical of classic Athenian comedy — including the characters of a young woman, a newborn and an old woman. “But to what comedy these new verses belong is not clear. ...It cannot be excluded that it involves an unknown work of the comic poet,” the paper said.
While Gregorian chant and pipe organs hold pride of place in Catholic liturgical music, the use of new compositions and other instruments are appropriate at Mass if they reflect the sacredness of the occasion and help people pray, Pope John Paul II said.
“To the degree that they help the prayer of the church,” other instruments and musical styles “can be a precious enrichment” of the liturgy, the Pope said in a December 3 document on sacred music.
The document, released only in Italian, marked the 100th anniversary of a document on the same theme written by Pope Pius X.
While many modern liturgical songs use styles and instruments “not lacking in dignity,”
Pope John Paul said, “one must ensure that the instruments are appropriate for sacred use, suited to the dignity of the temple, are able to support the faithful’s singing and promote their edification.”
Sacred music functions both as a way to pray and to praise God as well as a way to involve the entire congregation in the celebration of the Mass, he said.
As St Pius X said, music is “an integral part of the solemn liturgy” and not merely a decorative device, the Pope wrote.
“Throughout its history, the church has favoured song in its liturgical celebrations, providing — according to the creativity
of every culture — marvellous examples of melodious commentary on the sacred texts of the rites of the West as well as the East,” Pope John Paul said.
The Pope reminded readers that at a general audience in February, “I underlined the need ‘to purify worship of stylistic rough edges, of sloppy forms of expression, and of clumsy music and texts, which are hardly consonant with the greatness of the act being celebrated’ in order to assure the dignity and beauty of liturgical music.”
The music used at Mass must be sacred music based on sacred texts, he said. Its content and tempo must match the gestures and tone of the liturgical action it accompanies.
Secular music is not appropriate at Mass, the Pope said, nor are “elitist” attempts to “introduce into the liturgy ancient or
contemporary compositions which, while perhaps having artistic value, indulge in a language that is incomprehensible.”
In the Latin-rite Church, Gregorian chant has had a special place for centuries, and its beauty and appropriateness for Catholic worship have not waned, he said.
Pope John Paul said, “I make my own the ‘general law’ that new liturgical music should “draw its inspiration and taste” from Gregorian chant.
“Obviously, it is not a matter of copying Gregorian chant, but rather making sure that new compositions are pervaded with the same spirit that gave rise to and slowly modelled that music,” he said.
With solemnity and dignity, the Pope wrote, the music at Mass should reflect an “exuberance of joy, love and faithful
expectation of the salvific intervention of God.”
The papal document also emphasised the importance of well-trained choirs, cantors and instrumentalists not only in making the Mass beautiful, but also in helping the congregation participate through singing.
When the celebrant and other ministers, the lector, cantor, choir and assembly all fulfill their assigned roles, he said, the result is a “spiritual climate that makes the liturgical moment truly intense, participatory and fruitful.”
Pope John Paul asked the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments as well as bishops and priests around the world to be more vigilant in assuring an appropriate use of suitable liturgical music and to promote both the training of liturgical musicians and the work of composers.
I n releasing a report that acknowledged the church’s past failures, Irish bishops apologised for their handling of child sexabuse cases.
Bishop John McAreavey of Dromore said the 332-page report, released on December 4, was an “act of sorrow” and “openness.”
“For what has happened we are truly sorry, and while we cannot undo the wrongs of the past, we can use this research to help us deal with victims of abuse with understanding, compassion and sensitivity,” said Bishop McAreavey, who spoke at the news conference releasing the report. The report, commissioned
by the church two years ago, made 19 recommendations for protecting children, handling complaints from alleged victims and training and supporting priests to prevent future abuse.
“In the light of the report’s recommendations, we are committed to improving upon our existing policies and the processes which currently operate to deal with this issue,” Bishop McAreavey said.
Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh, president of the Irish bishops’ conference, said the report “tells a very complex and tragic story of deep hurt, and trust betrayed.”
Archbishop Brady, in apologising to the victims of clergy sex abuse, said the church failed in its “pastoral responsibilities” in handling the cases.
“We hope that this report can be a useful part of the telling of the story, and that it will help to ensure that the next chapters are of healing and reconciliation. We hope that someday those who have been abused
and harmed will feel able and be ready to forgive. Until that day we will continue to work to restore people’s trust in the church,” the archbishop said.
More than 100 Irish clergy have been convicted of sex offences in the last decade, according to The Associated Press.
A compensation panel formed earlier this year is expected to pay up to US$700 million to thousands of claimants who allegedly suffered abuse at church-run schools and orphanages from the 1940s to 1980s. The government is responsible for most of the settlement since it had the responsibility of supervising the institutions, the AP reported.
The research examined the psychological and social impact of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and how the church managed sex abuse complaints.
Researchers surveyed 1,081 citizens and conducted interviews with seven victims of molestation and eight priests convicted of
sex-abuse crimes. They also interviewed more than 100 high-ranking diocesan officials as well as 35 Irish bishops, and concluded that church leaders were guilty of bad management.
The survey was conducted by psychologists at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
“This empirical research measures for the first time an overview of the impact of clerical child sexual abuse in Ireland on the abused, the abusers and church personnel,” Bishop McAreavey said.
“Clearly in relation to clerical sexual abuse we failed many young people over too long a period,” the bishop said, noting that the church, in dealing with abusers, used “the best psychiatric advice available at the time.”
Bishop McAreavey said that in light of the report’s recommendations, the church would improve its existing abuse policies.
Thanks to the efforts of concerned governments and nongovernmental organisations, the United Nations will put more emphasis on the 10th anniversary of the 1994 International Year of the Family than originally planned, according to the Vatican nuncio to the United Nations.
Archbishop Celestino Migliore said in an interview on December 4 that the UN Secretariat, which carries out the day-today work of the world body, had intended to leave the observance in 2004 up to individual governments.
But he and others working with him thought the United Nations itself should mark the event to “keep up the momentum” that came from activities during and following the 1994 observance, an emphasis strongly supported by the Vatican.
As a result, the nuncio said, adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly was secured, and plans were laid for a UN celebration on May 15.
The focus of such actions has been on supporting the traditional family unit, as opposed to efforts by others to give equal status to various forms of the family, he said.
Archbishop Migliore was interviewed
while attending a seminar on the family arranged by a coalition of nongovernmental organisations formed in March and called the “IYF+10 Committee.”
The seminar designed to help launch the anniversary was held at UN headquarters in New York. It was sponsored by the Path to Peace Foundation, an agency headed by the nuncio, and the World Family Policy
LIRA, Uganda (CNS) — An Italian missionary priest was shot and wounded and a church worker was killed after they were ambushed by Ugandan rebels.
Comboni Father Guido Cellana, 66, was returning to his mission parish outside Lira when his vehicle was ambushed on November 28 by members of the Lord’s Resistance Army, said Father Sebhat Ayele, Comboni superior in Lira.
Father Cellana was shot in the hand; the church worker died at the scene, Father Ayele said. The rebels stole US$50 from the priest and took the vehicle’s radio. They also seized nine bags of maize flour, which Father Cellana was delivering to displaced people in the region.
The rebels had threatened to kill Father Cellana in late 2002, after the priest’s warnings to local residents had thwarted a potential rebel attack.
The attack on the priest and killing of the church worker followed a November 18 attack on a village outside Lira in which 30 people were killed and several others kidnapped.
Paul Ojok, who survived the attack, said the rebels attacked his village in the early morning, setting about 40 houses on fire and killing people at random.
“I was sleeping and at 3 am I heard a voice calling me to stand up. Two people
had already broken my door and I found myself at gunpoint,” he said.
He said as one of the rebels tied his hands behind his back others went in and ransacked the house, taking two sacks of beans and about $50. Outside his house, the rebels ordered Ojok to lie face down and started beating him.
“The rebels beat me with sticks on my head and legs,” he said.
The rebels also beat his wife and 1year-old son, he said.
Together with other abductees he was forced to carry a heavy load of salt to a rebel hideout. Several people were killed in captivity, he said.
“The rebels killed 12 people at my home, four others just a few metres from my home, then two more ... they are just too many,” he said.
He said the rebels killed at whim, with or without any confrontation or struggle on the part of the captives.
In captivity, victims were killed by machete or axe, Ojok said. The rebels made their victims lie face down and then hit them at the back of their heads.
He said the rebels would laugh when they heard their victims cry for help.
Father Ayele said rebel operations in northeast Uganda have caused people to flee to Lira, which has swelled from a population of 90,000 to 500,000 during the past year. Thousands remain homeless with little to eat; with the government, nongovernment organisations and the church unable to cope with the situation, he said.
Centre, an agency based at Brigham Young University in Utah.
Support also came from the US mission to the United Nations. Seminar speakers included Wade Horn, representing the Bush administration. Horn is assistant secretary for children and families in the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Official UN involvement came through an opening presentation by Jose Antonio Ocampo, head of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Participants expressed a widespread and long-standing view of many pro-family activists that what has worked against the interest of authentic family life has been an emphasis in UN meetings on abortion and contraception, the right of adolescents to such services without parental consent, and the recognition of nontraditional forms of the family on an equal basis with traditional forms.
About 150 people heard speakers who included Maria Sophia Aguirre, who teaches economics at The Catholic University of America in Washington, Patrick Fagan of the Heritage Foundation, Philippines Senator Francisco Tatad, Mandana Zand Erwin of the Iranian Children Foundation and a representative of Qatar, which will host an international conference on the family in November 2004.
Archbishop Migliore said his involvement in the current initiative began at a
meeting with Ana Teresa Aranda, who is director general of the Mexican government’s family department and was also a seminar speaker.
Then they enlisted the help of other governments and developed a resolution introduced by Benin, with many co-sponsors, and approved by consensus in the General Assembly on December 3, he said.
The resolution begins by calling the 10th anniversary an opportunity to “strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of efforts at all levels.” It notes that 2004 events will include the May 15 International Year of Families celebration and a General Assembly session marking the anniversary next fall.
It urges governments and nongovernmental organisations to help strengthen “the livelihood of families,” and asks the UN secretary-general to report on preparations for the observance “at all levels.”
Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement on December 4, saying that after 10 years it was “time to take stock” and consider “what more can be done on issues of direct concern to families.”
“It is my hope that the observance of the 10th anniversary of the International Year will be an occasion when all partners — governments, the UN system, nongovernmental organisations and private enterprises — come together, reaffirm global commitment to the well-being of families and work with determination toward that vital goal,” Annan said.
Pope John Paul II has asked Catholics to pray not only for new vocations to the priesthood and religious life, but for the strength, holiness and fidelity of those who already have answered God’s call.
“Our first obligation is to pray to the ‘master of the harvest’ for those who already closely follow Christ in priestly and religious life,” the Pope said in his annual message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
“It is indispensable to pray that the ‘called’ remain faithful to their vocations and reach the highest possible degree of evangelical perfection,” Pope John Paul said in the message released on December. 5 at the Vatican.
The message, initially available only in Italian, is sent to bishops all over the world. In 2004, most dioceses will mark the vocations’ prayer day on May 2, the fourth Sunday of Easter.
Pope John Paul said his “heartfelt wish” was that prayers for vocations would intensify. They should be prayers “both of adoration for the mystery of God as well as of thanksgiving for the ‘great things’ he has accomplished and never ceases to realise despite human weakness.”
The Eucharist should be the centre of prayers for vocations, he said.
“The sacrament of the altar has a decisive value for the birth of vocations and for their perseverance because those who are called can draw from the redeeming sacrifice of Christ the strength to dedicate themselves totally to the
Photo:CNS
proclamation of the Gospel,” Pope John Paul said.
Priests and religious, he said, have a particular obligation to pray for new vocations and for people to take their place in continuing to serve God and their neighbours.
“The strength of the witness of those who are called depends on their holiness,” he said, and that is what will attract others to follow their example and dedicate their lives totally to God and to the church.
“This is the way to fight the drop in vocations to the consecrated life that is threatening the existence of many apostolic works, especially in mission countries,” he said.
An intrepid British navy captain must seek and destroy a Napoleonic frigate menacing the waterways of the early 19th century in the lavish historical high-seas adventure “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” (20th Century Fox).
It seems as if waging war against the diminutive Corsican always has a way of engendering alliances. In an instance of strategic cooperation not seen since Waterloo, three studios have joined forces — 20th Century Fox, Universal and Miramax — and have placed director Peter Weir at the helm of a US$135 million budget, marshaling an armada of filmmakers to rival Wellington’s numbers, in order to bring the movie, based on Patrick O’Brian’s highly popular maritime novels, to the big screen.
Trading in his gladiatorial sword for a sextant, Russell Crowe plays “Lucky” Jack Aubrey, the stalwart but affable captain of the HMS Surprise, whose seafaring exploits fill the pages of O’Brian’s swashbuckling series — 20 in all (the film combines elements of the first and 10th books).
Paul Bettany (miscast, according to O’Brian purists) is on board as Stephen Maturin, who, in addition to his sans-anaesthesia duties as ship surgeon, serves as Aubrey’s confidant, providing cello accompaniment to the captain’s violin playing sessions.
Maturin’s pre-Darwinian naturalist curiosity not only fuels the two men’s relationship with emotional tension, but supplies the filmmakers with an excuse to become the first feature film in movie history to shoot on the Galapagos Islands.
Set seven years earlier than the 10th novel — in 1805 rather than 1812 — during the
Napoleonic wars, the film opens with an overlay of text explaining, with military economy, the mission facing Aubrey and his crew — hunt down and seize the Archeron, a French man-o’-war which represents the evolutionary next step in naval warfare. After an initial engagement off the coast of Brazil, the HMS Surprise is outmatched by the faster, heavier-gunned frigate. But the briny Brit shows his barnacled battleship still has a few, er, surprises in her sails.
Tracking his prey with Ahab-like tenacity down the length of South America, around the perilous Cape Horn and into the vast Pacific Ocean, Aubrey must weather titanic squalls, near mutinies and omen-tainted dead calms.
Yet, in true heroic fashion, it is the inner storms — the tidal waves of pride, which dwarf the outer swells — that Aubrey must master and command if he is to win the day for England, Henry and St George.
Firing a shot at the bow of would-be Oscar contenders, Weir has achieved a stunning victory on both a large and intimate scale. The film contains the grand spectacle of the original source material, as well as its painstaking attention to detail, proving effective as both a work of historical realism and escapist fare.
And while the movie echoes the thrills of such past classics as Captain Blood (1935), Aubrey and his mates are endowed with complicated inner lives absent from their silver-screen antecedents. While the film’s nautical lexicon is at times impenetrable to landlubbers, the story is well paced, or, to borrow a salty phrase from Aubrey, “quick’s the word and sharp is the action.”
Following in the swashbuckling footsteps of fellow Aussie Errol Flynn, Crowe (who bulked up in keeping with the book’s
description of the wily seadog) is well-cast, exuding a sense of steely determination tempered by blithe humour and genuine affection for his men.
Crowe’s Aubrey, whether manning guns or puns, moves with convincing ease among officers and scurvy sailors alike. Crowe softens his “tough guy” image, taking time to visit an injured young midshipman, enthralling him with stories of his days serving under the legendary Lord Nelson.
Beneath its epic rigging, Master and Commander explores deeper thematic waters, including friendship versus duty and the role of hierarchy in staving off anarchy.
While containing several graphic naval battle scenes, the film shows their consequential toll exacted in human life, with Weir’s hand maintaining a strong hold on the wheel, steering the narrative ship clear of the morally treacherous reefs of gratuitous violence.
On a pleasantly surprising note, rather than using a rudder of political correctness to sail around the topic of religion — or tossing it overboard completely — the film contains a touching moment of Aubrey leading his crew in reciting the Lord’s Prayer at a funeral service for their fallen comrades.
With 19 other books in dry dock, the Master and Commander series should have enough wind in its sails to keep the franchise afloat and Crowe in the crow’s nest, for years to come.
Due to naval battle violence with related gory images, a suicide, and minimum mildly crude language, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III — adults.
‘Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the land
All the theatres were empty
‘Cause the movies were bland.
The studio execs were tucked in their beds
While visions of Oscars danced in their heads.
While Ma in her kerchief and I in my cap
Were perched on the sofa, the remote on our lap.
We checked local listings, we even checked twice
But most shows were naughty, and too few were nice.
We surfed through the stations, and what did we see?
Tabloid-style tell-alls and reality TV.
When up on the roof I heard a loud swish, I jumped up and moaned, “Not that darn satellite dish!”
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.
With a little old driver, so lively and quick, Was it a “Queer Eye” guy, or jolly St. Nick?
No sooner down the chimney did he appear, Than he informed me he’s changed his career.
He said with a sigh, “I’m old and arthritic, I’m giving up toys, I’m now ‘Santa Critic.’”
So, just which movies did make Santa’s Top 10?
I’ll give you a hint: None starred J-Lo and Ben.
“‘Finding Nemo’ was great, ‘Big Fish’ ranked quite high, ‘Spellbound’ is a gem, ‘Seabiscuit’ made Rudolph cry. ‘Master and Commander’ is up there, so’s ‘Return of the King,’
Perhaps ‘Mystic River’ or ‘The Triplets of Belleville’s your thing.
“While ‘Cold Mountain’ and ‘Last Samurai’ have grand scope and size,
In truth, ‘Winged Migration’ should take home the prize.
More films to see before my work is done, But could you give my red suit to Paris Hilton?
“Such a request, I know, sounds rather bold, But from what I hear, she might be quite cold.”
Then I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!” - CNS
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Ltd for all your residential, commercial painting requirements.Phone Tom Perrott 9444 1200.
ALL areas.Mike Murphy 0416 226 434.
RELIGIOUS CATHOLIC
SHOP 16/80 Barrack Street, PERTH (inside Bon Marche Arcade).New phone number:9225 7199.
RETREAT from the everyday pressures of life and experience Benedictine hospitality at the Monastery Guest-house.Situated 132 kms north of Perth in the historic town of New Norcia.Twin rooms with ensuites or single rooms.Join the monks for daily prayer and Mass.Directed retreats by arrangement.Tariff by donation, suggested donation $45 full board. Inquiries:Guesthouse sec. phone (08) 9654 8002, fax (08) 9654 8097.Email: guesthouse_nn@hotmail. com.Please quote ref.R3
Bibles, Books, CD’s, Cards, gifts, Statues, Baptism & Communion Apparel, Albs, Vestments and much more. RICH HARVEST,39 Hulme Court,Myaree,9329 9889 after 10.30am.
Phone Carole to place your classified 9227 7080
Why not stay at
27 McLaren Street,North Sydney Restful & secure accommodation operated by the Sisters of Mercy, North Sydney.
• Situated in the heart of North Sydney and short distance to the city
• Rooms available with ensuite facility
• Continental breakfast, tea/coffee making facilities & television
• Separate lounge/dining room, kitchen & laundry
• Private off-street parking
Contact:Phone:0418 650 661 or email:nsstorm@tpg.com.au
THE RESOURCE
Centre for Personal Development is opening a new shop front, outreach and counselling centre in Fremantle.We need volunteers.If you are interested please phone EVA on 9438 3330
KINLAR Vestments, albs, copes, stoles, frontals, chasubles, coffin palls.altar cloths, graduation gowns. Ph:9378 4752
O Jesus, Who hast said, ask and you shall recieve, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you, through the intercession of Mary, Thy Most Holy Mother, I knock, I seek, I ask that my prayer be granted (make request).
O Jesus, Who hast said, all that you ask of the Father in My Name, He will grant you through the intercession of Mary, Thy Most Holy Mother, I humbly and urgently ask Thy Father in Thy Name that my prayer be granted.(Make your request).O Jesus, Who hast said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but My word shall not pass”, through the intercession of Mary, Thy Most Holy Mother, I feel confident that my prayer will be granted. (Make your request). Thanks for favours granted.
12End-of-Year Mass for Mercedes College StaffArchbishop Hickey Naming of L J Goody Bioethics Centre LibraryBishop Sproxton
14Mass to celebrate Fr Nino Vinciguerra's 25th Jubilee of Priesthood,St Brigid's Midland - Archbishop Hickey Procession and Benediction St Lucy Association, St Jerome's Spearwood - Archbishop Hickey Graduation Mass and Ceremony Notre Dame UniversityBishop Sproxton
15Ordination to Priesthood,Mandurah - Bishop Sproxton
16Gathering of Catholic Migrant Centre volunteers,Cathedral Parish Centre - Archbishop Hickey
17Meeting of priests in the Wheatbelt,Northam - Bishop Sproxton
18Reconciliation,Bateman - Bishop Sproxton
19Mass to celebrate 10th Anniversary of St Simon Peter Church, Ocean Reef - Archbishop Hickey Missa de Gallo,Mirrabooka - Bishop Sproxton
21Mass at St Gerard's,Mirrabooka - Bishop Sproxton
22Mass at Foundations Catholic Ministry - Bishop Sproxton
24Christmas Family Mass,Lockridge
25Midnight Mass,St Mary's Cathedral - Archbishop Hickey Midnight Mass,Kwinana - Bishop Sproxton
Saturday December 13
DAY OF PRAYER FOR YOUNG MEN
A day of prayer and reflection for young men discerning their vocation in life will be held from 9am to 5.30pm at the Redemptorist Monastery,190Vincent St, North Perth.It will be led by Fr Hugh Thomas CSsR. Enq 9328 6600.
Saturday December 13
HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS
An hour of prayer for vocations before the Blessed Sacrament Exposed will be held at the Redemptorist Church,190 Vincent St,North Perth.From 10am to 11am.
Sunday December 14
ETERNAL WORD TELEVISION NETWORK:1 - 2 PM ON ACCESS 31
This week we will present:Reflections for Advent by Bp William Lori,and a delightful musical presentation, Christmas in the Alps,by talented organist,Diane Bish.Donations to keep EWTN on air at Access 31 are gratefully accepted.Postal Address,The Rosary Christian Tutorial Association,PO Box 1270, Booragoon 6954.For enquiries about programs and videos,please ring 9330-1170
SECOND Rite of Reconciliation
TUESDAY,DECEMBER 16,St Simon Peter Parish, Ocean Reef,7pm.12 priests in attendance.All welcome.
WEDNESAY,DECEMBER 17,7.30pm at St Pius X Church,23 Paterson Street,Manning.There will be 12 priests in attendance and everyone is welcome to join us in preparation for Christmas.
Friday December 19
NEW DIVINE HOLINESS PRAYER GROUP
All night Eucharistic Vigil at St Bernadette’s Church, Jugan St,Glendalough commencing 9pm.Readings on the Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ with hourly Rosaries and hymns.Concluding with Parish Mass 7.30am Sat followed by Rosary and Benediction.All welcome.Enq 9342 5845 or 9444 6131.
Wednesday December 31 – Thursday January 1
NEW YEAR’S EVE ALL NIGHT VIGIL & MIDNIGHT MASS
Principal Celebrant:Archbishop Hickey.St Mary’s
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 5, 2003 (Zenit.org) - The basis of all Christian holiness "is the response to a call and obedience to a divine inspiration," the Papal Household preacher said in an Advent homily to the Pope and Roman Curia.
Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa's meditations in preparation for Christmas are focused this year on the theme: "This Is the Will of God, Your Sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3): Reflections on
& LANCELIN
Yanchep & Two Rocks - Christmas Eve (Wed 24th), 7pm Mass.Christmas midnight Mass, 11.30pm Carols & Mass at St James, 2 Lagoon Dr.Yanchep. Lancelin - Christmas Day Mass (Thurs 25th) 9am at Our Lady of Fatima.Gingin Road. Guilderton - Christmas Day Mass (Thurs 25th), 11.30am at Community Hall, Wedge St.Enq:Fr Francis:9561 2172.
OUR LADY’S ASSUMPTION MANDURAH
Christmas Even Open Air Youth Mass & Carols by Candlelight, 6.30pm.Bring Candles, Chairs and Rugs.MandurahCatholic College, Coodanup.
Christmas Mass Times at Church, Creey St.Midnight Christmas Eve.7.30am and 9.30am Christmas Day.Falcon Mass Centre 7pm Christmas Eve, 8.30am Christmas Day.
Cathedral,Victoria Square,Perth.Begins 11pm with Rosary,midnight Mass & prayer of Dedication of the New Millennium to the protection of Mary,followed by Exposition,prayers and Benediction till 7am Holy Mass.Tea/coffee provided.Parking in Cathedral grounds.
Sunday March 7
50th ANNIVERSARY
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary School Hilton will celebrate its 50th Anniversary.All are invited to celebrate this historical occasion.Past families, students,staff and volunteers are welcome to send in their memorabilia,photographs or memories of events over the years.Please contact the school by phone 08 9337 7066,fax 08 9314 6005 or email admin@olmchilt.wa.edu.au
HOLY HOUR
Every Wednesday at St Mary’s Cathedral we have a holy hour from 11am to 12noon for all sick people and especially for our young people including the drug addicted and street kids.Please come and join us in prayer.Those who wish to may also bring along a list of names of all the sick people they would like to pray for.
CATHEDRAL NOVENAS
In honour of The Infant Jesus of Prague.every Tuesday at 11am and 1pm.In Honour of St Joseph,every Wednesday at 1pm.Please join us in prayer for our Holy Father,priests and religious,holy vocations,the sick,the deceased and all your special intentions.
PERPETUAL ADORATION
Christ The King Church,Lefroy Rd,Beaconsfield commenced perpetual adoration of The Blessed Sacrament on October 1 this year.24 hours per day The Blessed Eucharist is present for joyful prayer.Approx.200 parishioners have already pledged to attend at least one hour per week.We need help to fill some late evening,early morning hours or anytime day or night. If you can help please phone Joe 9319 1169(h) 9430 7937 (w) or 0419 493 100 (mob).You are invited to attend anytime on a permanent or casual basis.
BASILICA OF ST PATRICK
Novena for family life every Friday till Christmas at 11.45am followed by the 12.10pm Mass – Make a gift of prayer to your family for Christmas.
Christian Holiness in the Light of the Experience of Mother Teresa of Calcutta."
"The beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta last October 19 put before everyone's eyes the fact that there is only one authentic greatness in the world -sanctity," Father Cantalamessa said.
Holiness is, first of all, a "gift" that Christ has given us, which is translated into a "commitment that must govern the whole of human existence.”
The fundamental act on which Mother Teresa's sanctity was based was "the response to a call, and obedience to a divine inspiration.
“It is never too late to begin to become saints," the preacher explained, referring to Mother Teresa's personal experience, when at age 36 and already a religious of the Sisters of Loreto, she received a call to be at God's disposition for a work he would indicate.
In the end, "Mother Teresa, as Mary, said her full 'fiat,' her 'yes,' and she said it with joy," the preacher said. All the "great undertakings of holiness of the Bible and the history of the Church rest on a 'yes' said to God the moment he reveals his will personally to someone."
"We must not be afraid to recognize what God has been able to build on that little 'yes,' despite our resistances and infidelities," he continued.
"The first and decisive call from God is followed by many other discreet invitations that we call good inspirations," the priest said. Obedience to them is "essential for our sanctification," he added.
"What God wants in particular from each one is" primarily discovered through "inspirations of grace," those "interior requests of the Spirit in the depth of our heart through which God not only makes known what he asks, but at the same time communicates the necessary strength to realize it if the person accepts," the Capuchin said.
"If acceptance of inspirations is important for every Christian, it is vital for those who have tasks of governance in the Church. Only in this way do we allow the Spirit of Christ himself to guide his Church through his human representatives," he added.
skips just one day of doing the laundry, “it’s over.” After all, to run a household with 14 children (13 of whom are adopted), she needs to do a minimum of five loads a day.
“If I were to not do the laundry, then when I get up tomorrow, I would have 10 loads of laundry instead of five,” said Shanklin, a parishioner of St Edward Parish in the US city of Baltimore, who begins each day at 4:30 am.
Some might call Shanklin crazy for adopting 13 children. But she said she would do it again “in a minute, in a heartbeat.”
The full-time executive director of Community Support Services for the Deaf in Baltimore County has two biological children — Patrick, 15, and Kelly, 23; Kelly no longer lives at home. Shanklin adopted her first child in 1987. Since then, her racially diverse family has grown to include 12 more adopted children.
In any given week, she will wash 35 loads of laundry, buy 15 gallons of milk and go through
nearly 100 bottles of juice. The pantry of her 10-bedroom home contains 11 bottles of sauce, six bottles of salad dressing and other items in bulk quantity. In the hallway, nearly a dozen backpacks line the shelf.
Downstairs in the laundry room, each child has his or her own basket arranged neatly on a shelf. Uniforms — most of the children attend private schools — and church clothes hang on a line to dry.
Shanklin also breeds golden retrievers to help support the cost of school fees.
So in the morning, one child will tend to the dogs, one sets up breakfast, another finishes the lunches and then everyone sits down together at the long table in the kitchen.
“And you can’t sleep in because, if you do, you’re buried,” said Shanklin, who is divorced. “I mean if you think about it, that’s 15 pairs of socks a day and then you have to match all those socks. And that’s assuming no one changed for gym class.”
But she said plenty of people are around to help and the children also readily pitch in with chores.
Vinetta Queen — “Nanna” to the kids — stays at the home during
the day, caring for the youngest child, Alexis, and welcoming the others home from school.
Shanklin’s parents, who are in their 80s and live next door, help out doing whatever they can and her friends are also quick to lend a hand. One friend even picked up the family’s grocery bill for the entire year.
In any given week, she will wash 35 loads of laundry, buy 15 gallons of milk and go through nearly 100 bottles of juice.
The pantry of her 10-bedroom home contains 11 bottles of sauce, six bottles of salad dressing and other items in bulk quantity. In the hallway, nearly a dozen backpacks line the shelf.
In addition, the women’s group at St Paul, Ellicott City, has provided clothing, tuition assistance and even a second washing machine.
So why do it?
“I would never have thought that
I would have had more than a child or two,” said Shanklin, who attended Catholic primary and high schools and belonged to her local parish when she was growing up.
“Probably at 26, my spirituality and religion was more ritual than an actual identity or closeness of feeling,” she told The Catholic Review, newspaper of the Baltimore Archdiocese.
But once she became involved in foster care and started adopting, that all changed.
“What I found for myself personally is the children and their needs and the experience at St Edward brought me into a realisation of my religion,” Shanklin said.
In addition to her two biological children and a foster child for whom she cared for many years, Shanklin has a 3-year-old, a 4year-old, 5-year-old twins, a 7year-old, an 8-year-old, a 9-yearold, a 10-year-old, four 12-yearolds (called the ‘91ers because they were born in 1991) and a 16year-old.
Shanklin said most of the children were born addicted to cocaine and most have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. One child has Asperger syndrome, which is a form of autism.
Before they came to her country home, where they can play in open fields, in the woods and beside a stream, many of the children suffered physical abuse. Shanklin said part of the reason she adopted so many children is that she couldn’t bear to separate siblings. She has three sibling groups.
“I really think that helps kids survive, too, because they have that identity,” she said. “They’re all functioning very well.”
While gathered around the large kitchen table on a recent Sunday afternoon, munching pizza with her brothers and sisters, Ronda, 10, spoke excitedly of caring for her puppy, while Sean, 4, talked about playing football with older brother Levick.
“It’s always felt like normal because this is the way it’s always been,” said Kelly Coble, Shanklin’s biological daughter, who is studying for a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland and stops by the house often to visit.
“At the same time, it’s brought a lot of attention to our family, and I’ve seen so much,” she added. “I think it has really opened my eyes up from an early age to how things really work and how we’re really lucky.” - CNS