The Record Newspaper 18 June 2008

THE R

“Be indefatigable in your purpose and with undaunted spirit resist iniquity and try to conquer evil with good, having before your eyes the reward of those who combat for Christ.”

-Bishop Matthew Gibney 

Port Kennedy opens

■ By Anthony Barich

Fourteen years of hard work paid off on June 8 when Archbishop Barry Hickey dedicated St Bernadette’s Church in Port Kennedy.

The well-timed affair, held just a day before a tornado ripped through nearby Rockingham, was an “impeccable achievement”, according to new parish priest Fr Gavin Gomez.

Fr Gomez, previously assistant parish priest at Claremont, said that the building stands as a symbol that “God has found unity and a sincere faith in this community, one that promises to continue to generations to come”.

Fr Richard Doyle, the founding parish priest in 1994, said the adjacent school has always been closely linked to the parish. Indeed, Masses were first held in the Year One classroom until the congregation outgrew it and were moved to the parish hall.

He credited the school principal at that stage, Garry Burgess, with fostering this link by encouraging school teachers to be actively involved in parish life by, among other things, catechising the students.

At one stage up to 75 per cent of the teachers were active in the parish, ensuring the spiritual community would remain strong beyond the current generation, he said.

In his homily, Archbishop Hickey urged the parishioners, whom he called “pioneers”, to reach out to those distanced from the Church”, and Continued - full report, photos - Vista 1

Fr Seraphim OSB, monastic labourer in the New Norcia vineyard, returns to the Lord at 94

Returned home: Fr Seraphim Sanz

Spain.

Perth gets new priest, Fr Pavol

■

By

Anthony Barich

Archbishop Barry Hickey has ordained a new priest for the Archdiocese of Perth. Fr Pavol Herda, 29, moved to Australia from Slovakia in 2003 on the invitation of Mgr Sean O’Shea, who visited the seminary in Bratislava where Pavol studied philosophy and psychology for three years.

He was ordained at St Joseph’s Church in Subiaco on June 6, with over 800 attending a thanksgiving Mass the following night at Thornlie church. The Archbishop

will accompany Father Pavol for another thanksgiving Mass at his home village of Cierne Klacany on June 28.

Fr Pavol comes from a country where there are so many seminary applicants that some are being turned away.

He initially said no to the invitation but eventually felt drawn to Australia, and Mgr O’Shea became a mentor to him during many visits to Rottnest Island, where the Monsignor is based.

A self-confessed sports fanatic, Fr Pavol recently held a soccer tournament where Continued - Vista 2-3

A benediction: Newly-ordained

INDEX WHO WON THE COMPETITION?

The Parish - Pages 4-5

The Nation - Pages 6-7

Letters - Page 8

Perspectives - Pages 12-13

Panorama - Page 14

Classifieds - Page 15

RESOURCES - Page 16

More than 900 entries were received from children around Perth for the WYD Colouring Competition

de Galdeano OSB is pictured in this recent photograph at New Norcia with two nephews who visited him from

The beloved monk passed away on June 3 in his 95th year.

PHOTO: COURTESY NEW NORCIA MONASTERY

Fr Pavol Herda prays over Archbishop Barry Hickey.

PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH

New beginning: An altar server waits to process into the new Church of St Bernadette at Port Kennedy on June 8.

PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH

Saint for the week

Juliana Falconieri

1270-1341

feast – June 19

Juliana was the only child of a wealthy couple in Florence, Italy, who had built the church of the Annunciation there. She refused to marry and was enrolled as a tertiary with the Servite order; her uncle, St. Alexis Falconieri, was one of the seven founders of the Servites.

For nearly 20 years, Juliana

The jarrah of St Mary’s lives again in beautiful works of devotion

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,” Jesus tells us in the Gospel today, “and nothing hidden that will not become known.” May our stewardship of God’s gifts be such that we would not be ashamed if it were seen in the clear light of day. see Matthew 10:26 For

Walking with Him Daily Mass Readings

22 S 12TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Gr Jer 20:10-13 We will master him

Ps 68:8-10.14.17.33-35 Lord, answer me

Rom 5:12-15 Death through sin

Mt 10:16-33 Do not be afraid

23 M

Gr 2Kings 17:5-8.13-15.18 Judah remains

Ps 59:3-5.12-13 Help us, O Lord

Matt 7:1-5 Do not judge

24 T Birth of St John the Baptist, Solemnity Wh Vigil Mass

Jer 1:4-10 I am a child

Ps 70:1-6.15.17 In you I take refuge

1Peter1:8-12 Faith without sight

Lk 1:5-17 Do not be afraid Mass during the day

Isa 49:1-6 Before I was born

Ps 138:1-3.13-15 You knew me

Acts 13:22-26 One comes after me

Lk 1:57-66.80 To be called John

25 W

Gr 2Kings 22:8-13. 23:1-3 Consult the Lord

Ps 118:33-37.40 Bend my heart

Mt 7:15-20 False prophets

26 T

Gr 2Kings 24:8-17 Exile in Babylon

Ps 78:1-5.8-9 Holy temple profaned

Mt 7:21-29

My father’s will

27 F St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop, doctor of the Church (O)

Gr 2Kings 25:1-12 Jerusalem attacked

Ps 136:1-6 We sat and wept

Mt 8:1-4 You can cure me

28 S St Irenaeus, bishop, martyr (M Red Lam 2:2.10-14.18-19 Cry to the Lord

Ps 73:1-7.20-21 Lord, help us

Mt 8:5-117 Jesus heals

Readers of The Record have the chance to win a part

of history

WHEN a large part of St Mary’s Cathedral was demolished in preparation for the final completion of the historic building the site was a temporary mess.

Much of the original Jarrah used in the construction of the Cathedral when it was completed in 1865 and again in the 1920s was salvaged for re-use.

But a substantial quantity of wood unable to be turned into something new was left to be eventually sent off to the tip.

However Record editor Peter Rosengren, whose father Gordon was a teacher and woodworker, knew that even the scraps left lying around were historic and could be refashioned into something new.

Over several days last year he used a trailer and some volunteer labour to cart away the scrap so that it could be saved for another day.

The results is the St Mary’s Cathedral Crucifixes which The Record first began producing through the efforts of Pregnancy Assistance chairman Brian Peachey, who is also a bit of a jack-of-all-trades.

Mr Peachey is a keen amateur woodworker and has fashioned many items over the years, including the altar and tabernacle in the Pregnancy Assistance chapel.

However the response to the first advertisement in The Record for the crucifixes was so great that Mr Peachey was kept busy for the better part of six months filling all the back orders received from readers of the paper, many with a connection of some kind to the historic cathedral.

Many either met or were married at the Cathedral, or had children baptised there, or have seen relatives ordained there or grieved for deceased family members and friendsSt Mary’s has a special place in the heart of Perth Catholics for many reasons.

Enter Mater Dei College whose staff have come to the rescue, facilitated by College Principal Mr Clem Mulcahy.

Design and Technology teachers Rob Norgrove and Chris Gray, together with

Technical Assistant Rob Heintz generously agreed to help produce the second generation of the crucifixes in recent weeks.

The result is another batch of these rare high-quality crucifixes available through The Record

The beautifully-crafted crucifixes are made in two styles, either to hang from a wall or to stand on a base, and Mater Dei are passing along proceeds to their local Young Vinnies social

justice group. Readers of The Record have the chance to win one of these rare works of history starting in the Wednesday July 2 edition of The Record

Mr Rosengren said he had been delighted to see the results of the fine woodworking skills of Mater Dei’s staff.

“These are beautiful - and historic. It’s fantastic to see something like this saved for a whole new generation of people instead of ending up in a

rubbish dump somewhere,” he said. The crucifixes are available from The Record.

Currently in stock are the 25 cm wall crucifix and 32cm wall crucifix. The 25cm standing crucifix will be in stock soon.

Mr Rosengren said other objects will be manufactured in the future, including pens, stationery sets, and keepsake boxes. Orders can be made with Natalie or Caroline, ph (08) 9227 7080.

High-schoolers sign up to pack WYD backpacks

Young people pitch in for WYD pilgrims

HIGH school students from all over Sydney are volunteering their time to pack over 275,000 pilgrim backpacks for World Youth Day Sydney 2008.

Over 2500 Catholic school students will be involved in the process that will operate until June 2008. The packing centre, in Sydney’s western suburb of Granville, is made up of 14

Peter

Anthony

Paul

work-stations that are laid out like a factory production-line.

“We are really pleased to have the young people of Sydney playing such an important role in preparing for World Youth Day,” said Geoff Morris, WYD08 Director of Pilgrim Services.

“This is the perfect example of how the schools, parishes and wider communities are all coming together for a common cause. That is the whole purpose of World Youth Day,” he said.

Already over 200,000 backpacks have been prepared by the students containing

items such as WYD08 books, pen, bandana, ‘Pilgrim Passport’ containing vouchers for shopping at Sydney Airport, tattoos, McDonalds voucher, rosary beads, poncho, water bottle, clip-on koala, kinetic torch and a thermal blanket.

Upon arrival, the students from years 7-10 are provided with a brief history of WYD, undergo a short training in OH&S matters and receive a demonstration of how the packing process works.

Most of the backpacks will be sent to about 400 accommodation centres around Sydney where pilgrims will stay in July.

Something new: Mater Dei College Design and Technology teacher Rob Norgrove, above, displays two of the different-sized crucifixes in the school’s Design and Technology workshop, while Technical Assistant Rob Heintz, below, passes a length of wood through a planer to ready it for being turned into a crucifix. One of the finished products can also be seen below at left. PHOTOS: BERNIE MAHONY

Seton pulls out all stops for Myanmar

Seton College students get a glimpse of wider world fundraising for Myanmar

SETON Catholic College students in Samson have been working hard to raise funds for the people of Burma, following the catastrophic Cyclone Nargis, with the help of special Religious congregation.

The Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition have been educating and helping the people of Fremantle for a long time.

They first landed in Fremantle in 1855 and have also been working with the poor of Burma for over 150 years.

The Sisters have 29 convents throughout Myanmar with several communities in the devastated delta region.

Initially their work in Burma focused almost entirely on education but they now work in the

villages, working closely with the people, especially in regards to healthcare.

Seton College in Samson was formed in 1990 when De Vialar College, which was run by the Sisters, amalgamated with St Brendan’s College.

It is because of this association that Seton students know that all funds raised will go directly, through the Sisters, to the people in need.

Organisers told The Record that Seton’s students “showed great initiative” in contacting local businesses for donations of food and drinks for their fundraising sausage sizzle on May 15.

Generous donations andassistance was received from Eurostyle Smallgoods in Bibra Lake – owned by the parents of one of the studentorganisers, Julia Hlevnjak – and the local Woolworths on Stock Road, which supplied all the food for the sausage sizzle.

The students raised $1300 from the sausage sizzle and $1800 in a week. At the close of fundraising last week, May 30, $2800 had been collected.

“When one hears criticism of today’s young people it is very rewarding to be associated with those who have a social conscience

and a generosity of spirit,” an event organiser told The Record

“They organised the sausage sizzle in 24 hours – this included posters around the College advertising the event.”

At Seton College, each school House has its own charity which it supports throughout the year.

Students of Ward House contribute their fundraising to the Sisters who work in Myanmar, and the school will continue its fundraising efforts “for some time to come”.

Anyone who wishes to donate to the Appeal can contact Seton College on (08) 93114 1816 or via admin@seton.wa.edu.au

I’m John Hughes, WA’s most trusted car dealer

Is it true that when people come to do business with me, they will be treated with courtesy, sincerity, professionalism and efficiency?

Is it true that “I want your business and I’m prepared to pay for it” and “I stand behind every car I sell”.

Is it true that I have over 40 technicians who are dedicated to getting my used cars in first class condition before sale?

Is it true that most of my sales are not from direct advertising but personal recommendation, repeat business and reputation?

Is it true I have my own finance company to assist good people with poor credit to buy cars from me?

Is it true I sell over 1,300 vehicles every month in Victoria Park and that is the biggest number from any one location in Australia?

Is it true that I have a warehouse selling cars under $10,000 and that I offer a full money back guarantee within one week?

CLINIC OPENS IN JUNE

Other Billings WA clinics situated at Fremantle and St John

The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) will be assisting up to 100 youth from Sudan, Myanmar (formerly Burma) and other poor and oppressed countries, attend World Youth Day (WYD) in Sydney, 15 – 20 July 2008. Without financial assistance, youth from these poor and oppressed countries, would not be able to respond to the Pope’s invitation for all youth of the world to attend WYD.

ACN sponsored the youth delegation, pictured left, to WYD in Cologne 2005. These young people from Sudan returned home and spread the good news of their meeting.

James Shawish will never forget the words of the Holy Father. “He encouraged us to feel united with God, our country and the world at large. He urged us to go and proclaim what we had heard to our friends, to their families and to

had experienced when we were together as brothers and sisters from

The heroes: Student leaders from Ward House organised every aspect of the fundraiser - generating the idea, seeking donations, advertising, cooking, selling and cleaning up.

PHOTO: COURTESY SETON COLLEGE.

the Parish

Architect of Kalumburu finds peace

Father Seraphim Sanz de Galdeano OSB, 1913-2008

FR SERAPHIM’S end came more quickly than anticipated. In the morning of June 2, 2008 he had a severe attack of the asthma that he had suffered from for many years.

Later in the day there followed a severe heart attack that required his admission to Royal Perth Hospital.

It was there that he died the following day at 11.30pm after another heart attack.

Seraphim (Serafín) was born in Villatuerta, Navarre (Spain) on October 28, 1913, to the very devout couple Francisco Sanz de Galdeano and Valentina Mañeru Laseras.

He was the eighth of ten children, two of whom died before he was born. Two older sisters joined Religious congregations; one of them, Luisa, spent years in Venezuela nursing lepers.

His brother Ramón, three years his senior, joined the Benedictines in the monastery of El Pueyo in the early 1920s, and was killed by the Communists with the other 18 monks of the community in 1936.

It was one of Serpahim’s great hopes in his latter years to see his brother beatified with his monastic brethren along with so many other martyrs of the 1936-39 Civil War, a hope not destined to be fulfilled.

It was while visiting his brother in El Pueyo that Seraphim first ‘caught the bug’ of monastic vocation. He was admitted there as an aspirant to do his secondary studies in 1924. The next ‘bug’ was the missionary one, which he caught when Abbot Catalan of New Norcia visited El Pueyo to call on the several youngsters there already recruited for New Norcia and in the hope of

adding to their number. Seraphim fell in love with the idea of being a missionary-monk, and volunteered for New Norcia.

On finishing his time in El Pueyo, he went with three others to the monastery of Belloc in the south of France where he did his novitiate for New Norcia.

He was received as a novice on October 24, 1929, and was told by the Abbot of Belloc to keep his baptismal name of Seraphim.

He made his first profession on October 26, 1930, which that year was the feast of Christ the King.

On April 29, 1931, Dom Seraphim arrived in Fremantle with Abbot Catalan and seven others, including two young Spanish women who were coming to join the Benedictine Sisters in New Norcia. They travelled to New Norcia the same day on the back of the truck that went to meet them. Seraphim soon settled into the routine of study, prayer and work of the student-monks, doing the standard three years of philosophy and four of theology, the last of these being spent at St Patrick’s College, Manly, where several New Norcia monks had their first real and sustained exposure to Australian life and language away from the Spanish surrounds of New Norcia. He was ordained to the presbyterate by Archbishop Gilroy, Co-adjutor Archbishop of Sydney, on 30 November 1938.

A few months later, Fr Seraphim was on his way to the real missionary work he had so much looked forward to since his early years in El Pueyo. He was assigned to the Benedictine Mission at Kalumburu, where he spent from March 1939 to October 1949. His name is associated with the rescue of the passengers and crew of the state ship Koolama when it was bombed by

the Japanese in 1942. His services to Australian Army and RAAF personnel when they were located at or near the Mission from 1942 to war’s end in 1945 were much appreciated. In 1949 he was recalled to New Norcia and was stationed at Wyening ‘Mission’ most of the time before returning to Kalumburu as superior in May 1955. The next twenty-five years were years of intense and sustained activity in which he was inspired and inspired others to build the Mission into a model self-supporting community. Houses were built, trial crops planted, fruit and vegetable garden expanded considerably, cattle raising and horse breeding introduced, and water and electricity supply greatly enhanced.

But times were changing with regard to the Indigenous people of Australia, who were being encouraged in many places to break free of their dependence on Missions and Churches and seek self-determination. Fr Seraphim thought that change was being promoted and even imposed that was not in the best interests of the Aborigines.

In 1981, after the Mission had been separated from its ecclesiastical dependence on New Norcia and incorporated in the Diocese of Broome, and after the management had been handed over to the Aboriginal Corporation of Kalumburu, he went back to New Norcia to allow the new regime to find its way without his con-

sidered opposition. Back at New Norcia, now aged 68, he planted an orchard behind the monastery, and nursed it through its first several years, enlisting help from a former Kimberley associate in the Agricultural Department.

For some years he also assisted with pastoral work in New Norcia parish. He made audio tapes for his family in which he recounted his experiences in New Norcia and Kalumburu, and was rather shocked to find that these had all been transcribed and published in Spanish without his knowledge and permission.

He thereupon decided, on reaching 75, to begin writing up his life and experiences in English, a project that he added to a few times as he grew older. ‘Pen-pushing’, as he used to call it, came to seem more appropriate to his time of life, and he undertook to set down in writing much of the detailed knowledge he had acquired of the Pelà language used by the Kuini tribe of Kalumburu. He was greatly assisted by senior Kalumburu women Dolores Cheinmora or Djinmora and Mary Pandilo. Meanwhile the process for the beatification of the El Pueyo community, including his brother Ramón (Fr Ramiro), was proceeding, and hopes were held that the beatification might be held no later than 2000.

With a view to urging the process on and with a dream of reinstalling a small Benedictine community in

the monastery where it all began for him, Fr Seraphim sought and was granted leave in 1998 to go to Spain to live in El Pueyo with the two elderly Claretian priests who resided there looking after the sanctuary. His hopes and his dream proved illusory, and he returned to New Norcia in 2001.

Fr Seraphim regularly requested permission from Abbot Placid Spearritt of New Norcia to return to Kalumburu. This was finally granted after a three-month language-research visit in 2004, and in October that year he left on what he hoped would be his final trip to Kalumburu, ‘to leave my bones there’.

It distressed him greatly to witness the breakdown of much that he had worked so hard to achieve in his 40 years at Kalumburu, and as he grew increasingly frail it became clear that he needed nursing home care. He came south in June 2007, and was admitted shortly afterwards to the Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged in Glendalough, where he spent just under a year before his death. He was very well cared for by Sisters and staff, and gradually emerged from the depression that had come upon him.

After visiting him some weeks ago, the writer observed to his fellow monks that Seraphim seemed happier than he had been since returning from Kalumburu.

Fr Seraphim was devoted to the Blessed Sacrament and the Mass, to Our Lady and the Rosary, and led a very disciplined priestly and monastic life. He was sometimes hard on himself and could be hard on others, setting himself very high standards of consistency and perseverance. He was not lacking in a sense of humour, and could be said to have mellowed in his later years. From boyhood he had an extraordinary way with birds, animals and even reptiles (snakes and crocodiles) was a very keen observer of their behaviour, and from Kalumburu sent a number of bird specimens and reports of sightings to the West Australian Museum.

He was awarded the MBE in 1970 and the OAM in 1995 for his outstanding services to the Aborigines of Kalumburu, and in 1996 he was awarded the Civilian Service Medal for assisting the war effort at Kalumburu during the Second World War. May he rest in peace.

Catholic parents put voice on web

THE Parents and Friends’ Federation of Western Australia, an independent voice for the parents of more than 60,000 students in 127 Catholic schools throughout WA, has recently launched its upgraded website www.pff.wa.edu.au so that it is now an interactive site.

The PFFWA website is an important source of information and assistance for P&F Association members at the local school level, as well as a useful networking vehicle, and the new ‘blog’ will be most helpful in mobilising and expressing parental concerns and comments about a range of topical issues.

The PFFWA, established in 1954, was the first non-government school parent body in Australia and the first to obtain any public recurrent funding for non-government school students anywhere in Australia ( $10 per pupil via the Brand Government in 1965) .

While the 1.1 million Catholic and other non-govt school students around Australia now receive about

$7billion per year in Federal and State recurrent funding, they are still a long way behind the 2.2m students in govt. schools, who are allocated approx. $24billion per year ( a difference of approx. $4500 per pupil ).

The PFFWA’s analysis of the State Government’s 2008/09 Budget reveals a further widening of the government/non-governent per pupil funding gap, according to PFFWA executive director Laurie Eastwood.

The State’s average funding per government school student

has increased over the last seven Budgets by 77.3 per cent (or $4702 each) to $10786 per pupil, while the allocation per non-government school student has only been increased by 43.7 per cent (or $652 each) to $2145 per pupil – a gap of $8641 per pupil.

This reduces to about $4800 per pupil when Federal funding is taken into account. He said that the P&F Federation and similar bodies and organisations therefore feel they must remain vigilant and continue raising public and political awareness of the needs of children in our sector as well as continuing to represent parents’ interests on a wide range of organisations dealing with educational and social issues.

In this regard, Mr Eastwood said that the PFFWA website has a wealth of other information, and the new ‘ blog ‘ site will carry a range of topics for discussion, the current topic being the ‘Scholastic Book Club’.

Gone to God: One of the many remarkable figures of New Norcia, Fr Seraphim Sanz de Galdeano OSB, born into eternal life on June 3. His brother was martyred by by Communists during the Spanish Civil War. PHOTO: COURTESY NEW NORCIA

the Parish

Link between parish and school essential: Fr Gatt

We cannot miss opportunities to evangelise, it is the cornerstone of local church ministry: parish priest

■ By Anthony Barich

PENTECOST is not just an event that occurred over 2000 years ago when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles as Jesus promised and gave birth to the Catholic Church. It continues to impact the hearts and minds of today’s youth so that faith is something tangible in their lives.

Fr Michael, Gatt, St Kieran’s parish priest in Osborne Park, has made it his mission to strengthen the ties between the parish and the adjoining school, and on Pentecost Sunday saw 72 young people confirmed. In this way, history repeated itself as the participants heard the Gospel where Jesus sent out 72 Disciples to announce the Good News.

In April last year Archbishop Barry Hickey said Catholic primary and secondary schools are to be accountable to their parish

priest for their religious activities in accordance with the Australian Bishops’ Mandate Letter

“Many parents want to baptise their kids so they can send their kids to a Catholic school, so we can’t

afford not to educate our children in the faith. In the faith you can give them the sacraments, which are for life,” Fr Gatt said. “Because they are confirmed, it’s easier for them to approach a priest because

Feeding masses no worries at WYD

■ By Anthony Barich and Dan McAloon

TALK about a barbecue for the ages.

What’s being considered Australia’s largest-ever barbecue is being planned for July 16 when World Youth Day 2008 links with Rotary Australia to serve lunch to more than 120,000 pilgrims at 200 locations around greater Sydney.

“There’s no better way to welcome young people to our country than to host a traditional barbecue,” said Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, World Youth Day coordinator, as he turned sizzling sausages and onions on a barbecue on June 8.

He invited onlookers to sample the “smell and flavor of Aussie hospitality.”

The Big Aussie BBQ will involve 80 Rotary clubs joining with parishes to serve the pilgrim lunch at

catechesis venues scattered around the city. Some 220,000 sausages are on order, along with just as many bread slices, slices of onions and servings of tomato sauce, or ketchup in American parlance.

The midday barbecue is just one of the meals being planned for the thousands of visitors from 170 nations who will make their way to Australia for World Youth Day from July 15-20.

In all, more than 25 million food items - enough for 3.5 million meals - are on order for the six-day celebration. The items will be included in more than 900,000 hot evening meals served at locations around Sydney.

Bishop Fisher said all preheated dinners will be gluten free.

Geoff Morris, director of pilgrim services for World Youth Day, said his team has the “very special challenge” of planning to feed the largest mobilisation of young people

in Australia’s history, even more than the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

“We want to provide pilgrims with a good feed and a little bit of an Australian taste,” he said.

“We have tried to do that by including some of our more iconic items such as Tim Tams, Weet-Bix Crunch cereal, Vegemite, lamingtons and good old baked beans.”

Cadbury will provide 425,000 chocolate bars, produced in Tasmania.

Mrs Mac Pies has supplied more than 200,000 traditional Big Aussie Beef Pies for the gathering.

All that is in addition to nearly 1 million pieces of fresh fruit and more than 2.4 million bottles of water that will be consumed by the hungry crowds.

Cutlery and packaging will add 5.5 million items, with an emphasis on reusable and recyclable packaging.

they are part of something special. The Sacraments of the Church as the Sacraments of life, and are very important.

“They’re not just for when we are kids but for all our lives. If they don’t receive the sacraments in childhood they wont get it when they’re 30 or so.”

The confirmations, attended by 2000 family and friends, was the result of the Sacramental Program that the parish facilitated under Fr Gatt’s guidance during March, April and May. The success of the event can be measured, he says, by the figures, which “speak for themselves”.

The key, Fr Gatt says, is positive communication between school and parish, and constant encouragement of catechists, students and parents alike.

“The communication between school and parish is superb, they encourage the children and we do what we can to encourage them –and the numbers reflect it,” Fr Gatt said. “We’re happy to have these blessings from God and be positive about the spiritual community, because what I give to them I can’t give to anybody else. We can’t afford to miss out on these blessings or not encourage them.

“If we lose our school children we don’t have much left; we have to build on them. They need all the encouragement they can get. Parish life is enhanced with a school because without it, as a priest, you don’t have much to work with. At my 40th anniversary I said I would do another 40 years, because I enjoy the sense of a spiritual community. I’m open in every way to the people who I preach to, to the Church.

“The faith, then, is a living entity, you don’t need to make an effort, it’s natural and spontaneous.

He said that those other 2000 relatives and friends reminded him of the beginning of the Christian Church where Christians were gathering around the Apostles to hear the Word of God and embrace it into their lives.

“I sincerely thank the parents, sponsors and teachers for the good support they have given to both the school and parish community.”

The Sacramental Program also reaped the benefits of students celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation (45 students); the First Holy Communion celebrated on the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ (46 students) with a grand total of 163 students.

LIFE IN THE SPIRIT

Are you searching for something in your life,...... but not quite sure what?

Do peace and happiness elude you .....despite your best efforts?

A Life in the Spirit Seminar conducted by the Gosnells Charismatic Prayer Group can answer these questions and more! This seminar will help you to discover the personal love of Jesus Christ and the power of His Spirit to transform your life. Conducted over 7 sessions the seminar is open to all people 16 and over. Admission is free, but a collection will be taken up.

Venue: Catholic Church, 175 Corfield St, Gosnells.

Time/Dates: 8.00pm - 9.30pm, Friday evenings, 27th June - 8th August.

Info: Carol 9456 5835 (A/H) or Dan 9398 4973 (A/H).

Go out and make fishers of men: Osborne Park parish priest Fr Michael Gatt blesses confirmation candidates at St Kieran’s School, the result of a successful catechesis program that saw the school and parish work closely to evangelise the young people.

PHOTO: COURTESY DEREK PETERS

the Nation

Tasmanian prelate urges new course for justice

■ By

Paul Gray

HOBART Archbishop Adrian Doyle has issued a plea for “restorative justice” rather than imprisonment as an effective way of dealing with crime.

A high level of recidivism – criminals relapsing into crime after being punished – demands that more attention be paid to rehabilitation within the prison system, the Archbishop believes.

“The current approach sees over half of those who spend time in our prison system re-offend and eventually return to the prison

environment,” Archbishop Doyle said. “While custodial sentences are a necessary part of the criminal justice system, every effort should be made to ensure that the prisoner doesn’t re-offend after being released.”

The Hobart Archbishop’s comments came in response to a Tasmania Law Reform Institute report on sentencing.

The report said there is a need for more detailed information to be collected and made public about recidivism rates.

The report also noted there is a strong belief among the public that sentencing is too lenient for

sexual offences and rape. However the Institute’s director Prof Kate Warner also said harsher sentencing was not the answer.

“Given the limited impact sentencing can have on crime levels, the public should not be encouraged to think that crime can be solved by punishment,” she said.

In his comments on the issue, Archbishop Doyle said real justice demands more than prison, and highlighted the role of “restorative justice” and rehabilitation.

“While there is much public debate on harsher sentencing, short or suspended sentences should be applied where there is every chance

that the convicted person could be rehabilitated,” the Archbishop said.

Where possible, he said, an offender should be directed into a restorative justice program.

Restorative justice is a term that has emerged in the last 10 years. According to a national crime body, the Criminology Research Council, it refers to a range of informal justice practices that require an offender to take responsibility for his or her wrongdoing and to meet the needs of affected victims and communities.

The “restorative” term refers to the restoration of victims, offenders and communities, and emphasizes

the repair of harm resulting from the crime, including harm to relationships.

Restorative justice programs often involve “conferencing” between offenders, victims and their families. Such programs are becoming more common around Australia.

Archbishop Doyle welcomed the recommendation that a pilot conferencing program be set up in his state.

“Restorative justice is not taking a soft option,” he said. “It makes the offender directly accountable to the victim, who is involved in the process, for their actions and behaviour.”

Smith takes wait and see stance on abortion funds

■ By Paul Gray

AUSTRALIA’S Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith has refused to comment on a move to allow Australian foreign aid to be spent on promoting abortions in the Third World.

A Ministerial spokesman confirmed to The Record, in response to a request for Mr Smith to comment on the issue, that the Minister “has not expressed a view on this matter and will await the decision of Caucus in due course.”

The new Foreign Affairs Minister kept to his neutral position on the abortion-aid issue as abortion

began to emerge as a front-page news topic once more.

Legislation is expected soon in the state parliament of Victoria after the tabling of a final report on the law of abortion.

The report canvasses options for the decriminalization of abortion in the state.

In an explanatory note, the Law Reform Commission of Victoria says the final report is exclusively about decriminalisation options and not about ethics.

“We have not been asked to address the question of whether decriminalization is an appropriate policy. Nor have we been asked to make judgments about the ethical and philosophical arguments concerning abortion,” the Law Reform Commission says.

The Victorian Government, headed by Labor Premier John Brumby, is expected to introduce legislation proposing some form of decriminalisation in the wake of the report.

Meanwhile pro-abortion lobbyists have achieved a victory since the Rudd Government decided it would consider the implica-

tions of a May 2007 parliamentary report recommending removal of Australia’s ban on aid funding for abortion training or services.

The Howard Government had not acted on the report.

In an ironic twist, it is the “National Security Committee” of the Labor Party federal caucus which has been given the task of initiating change in the abortion policy.

The Government explains that all matters relating to foreign affairs and trade, including foreign aid, come under the auspices of the Caucus National Security

Contact: 0418 650 661

or email: nsstorm@tpg.com.au

Committee. Current family planning guidelines for the Australian government overseas aid program state that funds “are not available for activities that involve abortion training or services, or research trials or activities which directly involve abortion drugs.”

Opposition to this restriction found expression in the 2007 report of a parliamentary group which inquired into “sexual and reproductive health” in relation to overseas development goals.

Lately the possibility of a change in Australian policy has begun receiving international attention

with Catholic News Service in the United States reporting the possibility of Australia lifting restrictions on abortion-related aid.

The focus of the CNS report was a question from Queensland National Senator Ron Boswell to government officials on whether any countries receiving aid from Australia had yet requested funding for services related to abortion.

According to Senator Boswell, the Government officials “responded that they were not aware of any particular requests to fund abortion related activities.”

The Queensland Senator commented: “Why is the Rudd Government even considering funding abortion in its overseas aid programs when Australia has never done so in the past and has not been approached by other countries to do so?”

An implication of Senator’s Boswell’s question – and of the answer it received – is that the issue of aid funding for abortion is one that has been constructed by Australian activists with an ideological commitment to promoting abortion in the Third World.

However, there is a global dimension to the issue.

The United States Government also has a policy of opposing aid funding for abortions, and this policy has been targeted by pro-abortion rights groups overseas.

The American policy was introduced under President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s, and later overturned by the Clinton Administration.

It was reintroduced by President George W. Bush.

As abortion is an issue of worldwide concern, it is now being fought out at all levels of the human community: global, national and local.

Vietnam, Vatican, talk

A Vatican delegation led by the undersecretary for relations with states left Vietnam after gaining agreement on a timetable for enhancing bilateral relations.

The Holy See delegation was in Vietnam for their annual visit from June 9-15. They met with Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and other top Religious Affairs officials.

The delegation also met with representatives of the Vietnam bishops’ council.

According to Vietnam’s official news agency, VNA: “The two sides agreed to a timetable for enhancing bilateral relations and also agreed such discussions should be held in the spirit of mutual trust and respect.

Vietnam is about 7% Catholic.

In Rome: Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith is shown around the Sala Regia at the Apostolic Palace, which houses the Offices of the Secretariat of State and the Papal Apartments in the Vatican, by Monsignor Joseph Murphy of the Vatican Secretariat of State. Mr Smith visited the Vatican on June 3 and attended Mass in St Peter’s Basilica the following morning.

PHOTO: OFFICE OF STEPHEN SMITH

Newest Catholic uni goes for second Fleming term

■ By Paul Gray

ONE of the best media performers in the Catholic Church in Australia, Fr John Fleming, has been reappointed for another fouryear term as President of Sydney’s Campion College.

Campion College is a “liberal arts” tertiary college employing teachers who openly avow their loyalty to the magisterium of the Catholic Church.

The college, located at Toongabbie in outer Sydney, will see its first cohort of graduates this year.

“We are creating leaders here at Campion and as we increasingly become known for the quality of our education, many will be attracted to a college that trains students to change and invigorate their communities,” Fr Fleming said on his reappointment.

The first batch of Campion graduates who will leave the College later this year will undertake further studies in law, medicine, teaching, politics and diplomacy.

Fr Fleming is a married priest who is a convert from Anglicanism. He was formerly an Anglican vicar.

He is well-known for both his expertise in media commentary and for his contributions in bioethical research and debate. With Dr Nicholas Tonti-Filippini, he co-edited the volume Common Ground? Seeking an Australian Consensus on Abortion and Sex Education, published last year.

Campion Board chairman, Mr Joe de Bruyn, said that under Fr Fleming’s leadership Campion College has achieved a 25 per cent growth in student numbers each year.

“The board is satisfied with the outstanding progress being made, both academically and in the physical amenity of Campion.”

The host of a long-running talkback radio program in Adelaide and director of the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute, Fr Fleming has given much of his time in recent years to helping establish Campion.

Fr Fleming says the College’s contribution to the higher education scene in Australia is vital.

“The continued growth of Campion as a quality, high level institution of higher learning promoting the liberal arts is of fundamental importance.”

Catholic facebook

THE first exclusive World Youth Day social networking Web site to connect pilgrims with the Catholic Church and “virtual pilgrims” around the globe was launched on June 12 by Cardinal George Pell and WYD08 coordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher.

Hosted by Australian telecommunications company Telstra, Xt3.com was launched at the Telstra Experience Centre with 100 young people, who Cardinal Pell and Bishop Fisher invited to be their online friends.

“We are very excited to launch Xt3.com and to be helping young people and their friends plan their trip and share their faith and excitement for World Youth Day,” Bishop Fisher said.

The name ‘Xt3’ was inspired by Pope John Paul II and stands for Christ in the Third Millenium. Pope John Paul II spoke of young people’s special task to bring the message of Christ to the world in the third Millennium.

Xt3.com is the brainchild of two English brothers, John and Robert Toone, and Chris Purslow who will continue to promote the site with the Archdiocese of Sydney after WYD.

Faith connection features such as ‘Ask a Priest’ and ‘Prayer Intentions’ will be unique to the Web site, plus

users will have the ability to create discussion groups and debates on contemporary issues. Xt3 will also provide pilgrims with the ability to join official WYD08 groups, charity action groups and create their own interactive profiles.

Private messaging; event calendars; the ability to embed other websites such as parish websites onto Xt3; and a video and multiple photo uploading facility are also possible on the Web site.

The website can also coordinate and organise young people to do something to build a better world, according to Xt3.com co-founder John Toone. Xt3 wants its members to use the site to create initiatives in areas such as social justice, charitable activities, and spreading the Christian message in a secularised world.”

It will also be a way to link together Church agencies and existing groups to share resources and help each other. Over 2000 users joined the ‘alpha’ test site since February 2008 to provide testing, feedback, and to enhance the site in time for its worldwide launch.

The site will also help pilgrims planning their trip to WYD08, or administrators of religious educations programs hoping to create interactive forums for students and young adults.

He’s back: Fr John Fleming, above, a convert to the Catholic Church and a well known bioethicist has been re-appointed as President of Campion College, a small Catholic university based in Sydney. Fr Fleming has served as Campion’s founding President for the last four years. PHOTO: COURTESY CAMPION COLLEGE

Perspectives

A matter of morality

Those who have read older books on the history of the Church and books about the many apparitions of Our Lady will be familiar with the fairly common practice of observing connections between the moral state of a society and its social and economic conditions. Our Lady often warned that only if people changed their ways would their circumstances improve, and authors often reported that such changes did occur. In our own ‘enlightened’, cynical, secular and materialistic age, such connections are rarely made, and when made, are scoffed at. Unfortunately, this deprives us of an important insight into the power of the human state of mind to influence the world around us.

There is a general tendency in our society to acknowledge some aspects of the power of the mind to influence outcomes. Football coaches, sales managers, and entrepreneurs of all sorts generally agree that a positive attitude, determination, persistence and belief are far more likely to produce positive outcomes than the opposite states.

This general understanding is, in fact, buttressed by scientific studies which show that a positive or negative attitude to life’s events (particularly its setbacks) has definite effects on almost every aspect of a person’s life, including health and longevity. These effects are general and therefore not predictable on an individual basis – neither an individual person nor an individual attitude or event – but they are no less real for that.

But when it comes to considering the practical effect of the moral state of a society, we tend to flee almost in terror rather than consider the power of our influence. The most fundamental element of morality is love because God is love and we are made in his image and likeness.

THE RECORD

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Leederville, WA 6902 cathrec@iinet.net.au

Tel: (08) 9227 7080

Fax: (08) 9227 7087

When husbands and wives consistently love one another, their children are at peace and they develop more of their potential and they develop strengths that carry them through life’s challenges.

When husbands and wives don’t love one another, children become confused and fragile, and when the lack of love extends to divorce they generally do not develop their potential, and conversely their vulnerability to life’s temptations – such as alcohol, drugs, and misguided use of sexuality – is increased.

When parents are truthful, children tend to grow in truth, which is also a fundamental of the moral state of humanity. But when one or both are in a state of denial and deceit about what is going on in their lives, the effect on the rest of the family is silently destructive. Outside the family, people who love other people and treat them with genuine respect contribute more to and draw greater contributions from others.

The effect of the moral state of humanity also influences the world around us – those who love animals and plants understand them best and produce the best results from them.

All of these and many other effects are visible and demonstrable in the world around us, not necessarily one-on-one, but often so.

And what is visible in the smallest and most important unit of society, the family, is also visible on the broad scale of the community – in the classroom, on the sportsfield, in the workplace, and in parliaments and governments. When you look at the poor of the world who refuse to surrender to misery and look at the wealthy societies like our own where people suffer epidemics of anger, aggression and depression, it becomes obvious that what really matters is what we believe about goodness and how to live it.

Morality is about what is good in human nature. Anything else is destructive.

Loreto school story

On behalf of Loreto Nedlands I would like to thank you for your article in the May 21 edition of The Record, on Unveiling of the Mary Ward Sculpture at Loreto Nedlands. We were very excited to be featured so prominently, and it was very kind of the editor, Peter Rosengren, to supply each Loreto family with a copy of The Record, which will serve as a lasting memento of this occasion.

Jennifer Healey Principal

Victorian thanks

Just a short note to tell you how much we enjoy The Record, it is very carefully prepared with most interesting and informative articles – you do a sterling job all round so be proud.

Just one item I wanted to comment on is, recently there was an article on a radio program in Perth, which seem to be costing a lot of money and effort to produce.

We have managed here to present one hour every week for the past 17 years with the sponsorship of two Knights of the Southern Cross businessmen, Pat Kelly and Eddie Woods, sponsoring blocks of 13 weeks at a time, with normal community station ads.

A fraction of the costs mentioned in the article, as the producer and panellist (me) and male readers are all volunteers on a roster from the Knights and various parishes on the Mornington Peninsula.

Only the two of us – no interviews, no excessively hard work, no ad hoc comments, no face to face interviews or drama and it works well! No frustration or burnout. We use scriptural readings of the day, reflections from the Redemptorist fathers, and news from the Perth Record, so, along with suitable hymns, the hours goes in a flash.

If anyone is interested over there I would be happy to advise the detail. People tend to make a big deal of radio but the Catholic Church should have long since had reliable people

Reverence for His Precious Blood as well?

The new General Instruction of the Roman Missal requires communicants to make an act of reverence, in the form of a bow, as they approach the Sacrament at Communion. This of course applies both to the Host and the Precoius Blood. However, not all communicants receive form the chalice, but simply pass by without any sign of the Real Presence in the Precious Blood. Surely, in the spirit of the general instruction, the same act of reverence should be made to the Lord in the chalice even though there is no intention to receive.

Fr Geoff Beyer Swanbourne

to get onto every community station where they can beg, borrow or steal a time slot.

All the writers for The Record are great and special wishes to John Heard, a fellow Melbournian, whose deep thinking I admire greatly and I find his work very useful.

Mrs Maureen Federico Frankston Sth Vic

Crouchback shock

I was shocked to read Mr Crouchbacks’ vitriolic attack on Pauline Hanson in The Record (May 14). She is not “silly”, nor “uneducated,” certainly not when one compares her to some politicians. She was elected because she gave voice to a number of deep and urgent concerns, which the electorate has, and which are never addressed by the main parties. Her notions were not “socialist-derived”. They were her own, and what is wrong with some socialist ideas? Read 1st James. Her sense of dignity and taste is bad? What has that to do with her value as our representative? What about other politicians who show their superior taste by snapping bras and sniffing women’s chairs?

The establishment however felt much the same as Mr Crouchback and cast her in jail for her lack of taste – in daring to contest their rule.

Peter Gilet Albany

Muslims tuning in

Muslims worldwide are turning in to Father Zakaria Botrous on the Internet.

Father Botrous, a priest of the Coptic Christian Church, sits there dressed in black robes, a huge cross around his neck and within reach a Bible and a Koran. Referring to these, he encourages Muslims to convert to Christianity.

Being on the net allows Muslims to access this information about Christianity safely – even in countries like Saudi Arabia where converts can be in danger. Father’s internet broad-

casts are in Arabic with Italian, French and English transcripts accessible.

Arabic-speaking Muslims – up to 20 million of them – now have a chance to hear the Christian Gospel in understandable words.Father often challenges Muslim authorities to disprove his comments about Islam and the Koran. They never succeed.

He has been declared Islam’s “public enemy number one “ by Arabic newspaper “al-Insan al-Jadid”. Yet he never tries to turn Westerners against Islam.He simply tries to draw Muslims towards the love of the God revealed by Jesus Christ.

Father’s website is at http://www. fatherzakaria.net

Arnold Jago Mildura

Great Jesuit reunion

I recently had the pleasure and the privilege of attending a reunion of ex-students of St. Louis School, Claremont. I had not seen most of those present (some forty or so) for over sixty years, so was looking forward to the evening, held at John XXIII College, to renew old friendships.

As was fitting, proceedings started with Mass, but the highlight of the affair had to be when every person in the Chapel came forward to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion.

After all those years those ex-students of the Jesuits are still faithful, and I must say that I am proud to be one of their group. At a time when we see so many falling away from the faith, it was truly uplifting.

The Jesuits may have been strict, but they taught us to love our Lord, which is really what life is all about, isn’t it?

Peter Wells

Thanks for paper

Thank you so much for the faithful forwarding of The Record and Discovery each week. I am so grateful, so appreciative, again, a Very Big THANK YOU.

Fr B L Morgan, Mandurah

We criticise the Chinese, but are they really any different from us asks MarkReidy?

- Page 12

Golden opportunity - five dates in the next twelve months to receive a plenary indulgence.

- Page 10

Port Kennedy church opens thanks to link with school

Continued from Page 1 to the children in the parish, so they are drawn into the larger community.

He urged them to help children appreciate that “this is a house of God so they may benefit from all your hard work”.

Fr Gomez says that while it took some adjustment for the children moving from the parish hall to a church, this goal set out by the Archbishop is already well on its way.

“There is an important difference between a church and a hall, and I noticed that as the kids entered here in a sense of awe,” Fr Gomez said.

“They have a good sense of spirituality, that God is present with them and they are very respectful of the sacred space they are coming into.”

The school now has 500-plus students, but it was not always that way.

Fr Doyle said that in the early days there were no roads leading to the church, and that wild animals roamed the area.

He said the school was a virtual meeting place for parishioners, so

the church was always integrated with it by sharing resources. “We’d see each other every second day,” Fr Doyle said of church and school staff and students.

Though he stood down as parish priest, he told The Record that “my heart is still here”, and it is clear that parishioners still clearly have a soft spot for him.

Archbishop Hickey noted the congenial attitude of the parish, saying “there’s no airs or graces here – I get called mate”, but he found that refreshing, and assured them of his continued support and prayers.

Fr Gomez also thanked Frs Gerard Stoyles, a visiting priest from Adelaide; Tim Foster and Hong Pham for their contributions over the years, and Fr Michael Merrifield, who left the priesthood.

The parish still owes $1.5 million for the project, but has received $700,000 from Catholic Development Fund and a further $500,000 from the Archdiocese of Perth.

To help out the parish, call Fr Gavin on 08 9593 4670 or email portparish@gmail.com.

Welcome: Port Kennedy parish priest Fr Gavin Gomez opens the doors of St Bernadette’s Church for the first time before the dedication ceremony, led by Archbishop Barry Hickey. PHOTOS: ANTHONY BARICH

Thanks: Archbishop Barry Hickey receives the keys to the new church by David Campbell, the builder’s representative. Peter Gunn, chairman of the building committee, holds the plans to the church.

Liturgical dancers: The Word of God is carried into the church with much fanfare at the dedication of St Bernadette’s Church in Port Kennedy.

Symbolic: Archbishop Hickey smears the altar with the Oil of Chrism as part of the ceremony consecrating it exclusively for the service of God.

Cute: School music teacher Adrian Doyle leads the school choir in welcoming the bishops and priests before the crowd processes into the church.

Pavol embarks on ‘ awesome ’ resp on Pavol embarks on ‘awesome’ respon

Continued from Page 1

hundreds turned out, and through this he invites youth to Holy Hour and Bible study that he has started at Sacred Heart parish in Thornlie where he was based as a deacon.

Mgr O’Shea revealed to The Record the “incredible” story of how Divine Providence brought young Pavol to Perth, leaving his family behind.

In 1998 when based at Mosman Park parish, Mgr O’Shea approached a seemingly troubled young Slovakian girl here on a study visa who regularly attended Saturday Mass. She revealed that she must return to Slovakia as her roommate had completed her studies and would leave the unit they shared and she could not afford the rent on her own.

Mgr O’Shea offered her the unit attached to his presbytery if she simply did some upkeep work on his property, and she worked as a waitress to supplement her income.

Months later she agreed, they struck up a friendship and she told him that her mother, who worked as the Bratislava seminary’s book-keeper, had expressed her sadness at so many seminarians being turned away.

Mgr O’Shea told Erika to tell her mother “we’ll gladly have them in Perth”. Her parents invited him back to Bratislava and he visited the seminary, and the Rector told his students of Perth’s need for priests.

The rest is history.

Now married and living in Mand Erika attended Pavol’s ordination.

Mgr O’Shea says Fr Pavol will be asset to the Archdiocese”, having ma such a sacrifice moving here that “w take for granted”. “He’ll be a solid m He’s quite intelligent, knows what’s a of him, and has absorbed the local c very well,” Mgr O’Shea said. “His En is quite good even though he couldn speak any when he first came here.”

Archbishop Hickey said Father Pa has entered a job with an “awesome responsibility” as one who stands in footsteps Christ to free people of th troubles, and to lead people to love and one another.

“The world needs priests, needs t know them so they can teach them of entering God’s kingdom.”

The Archbishop and his Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton kneeling fo blessing from the newly ordained pr stunned many of the congregation a ordination.

St Charles Seminary students from overseas later told The Record that actually a common practice in coun for the bishop to receive the first ble by the new priest.

Fr Pavol told The Record that whe bishops kissed his hands, they kissed hands of he who stands as the perso Christ as a priest, not Pavol Herda t person.

Voice of the Voiceless launches out into the deep in their

■ By Anthony Barich

The Voice of the Voiceless support ministry for priests and seminarians is off and running.

Last Sunday, Voice of the Voiceless, a ministry started by Fr Nicholas Nweke, executed its first practical example of its ministry holding a night of dinner and entertainment for retired priests at Guildford Landing reception centre adjacent to St Charles Seminary on June 1. The night was an act of solidarity between priests and seminarians, continuing the tradition of a fraternal bond that has permeated the faithful since Christ commissioned the Apostles by sending the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the birth of the Church.

In this vein, St Charles Seminary rector Fr Don Hughes OMI recounted how now-retired priest Fr Henry Byrne visited him in the Oblate missionary seminary in Kilkenny, Ireland.

The favour was returned on Sunday as the long service of Fr

Byrne and other retired priests including Fr John O’Reilly and Fr Jim Petry, Fr Anton Hesse and Fr Dan Foley was acknowledged.

Fr O’Reilly, who celebrated the 50th year of his priesthood this year, appreciated the act, and said it was mutually beneficial for the senior priests and seminarians alike. “The retired priests will have a greater interest in the progress of the seminarians now that they know them,” Fr O’Reilly said.

“I know it was good for the seminarians, as one told me it was an inspiration to him seeing priests who had persevered, and that they can still be so interested in the priesthood after all these years that they actively show an interest in the next generation of priests in training.”

Further developments have evolved since Archbishop Barry Hickey, who was present on Sunday, officially launched and commissioned the ministry on February 23.

Redemptorist Father Hugh Thomas has volunteered to be the ministry’s spiritual director and

VOV general coordinator John Sutton announced that the ministry plans to evangelise through parishes. “We now need to go out to the parishes of the Archdiocese to explain what VOV is, and the programs which will be put in place to provide support to priests, seminarians and Religious,” Mr Sutton said.

Fr Nicholas, originally from Nigeria, will meet the Archdiocesan Vicar for Clergy Fr Brian McKenna, the Archbishop and other senior clerics to discuss how the ministry can practically grow in the diocese.

Fr Nicholas started the ministry inspired by John Paul II, whose Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Ecclesia in Africa” said that the Church Fathers at the Synod had declared that “the Church must continue to exercise her prophetic role and be the voice of the voiceless, so that everywhere the human dignity of every individual will be acknowledged”.

VOV helped St Charles seminarians from overseas with the English language, and plans to support seminarians in poorer regions of the world spiritually and materially.

Guildford Landing is a popular haunt for priests and seminarians for major functions, and the centre’s proprietors Henry and Monique Lefebvre and Nicky Hymus continued their support, waiving the fee to use the facility, reducing the cost of the meal and donating a cake and hamper.

The ministry started in 2006 in a room at St Anne’s presbytery in Belmont when Fr Nicholas brought friends together to carry out JPII’s mission by starting VOV with a wide range of objectives, including praying for the late Pope’s canonisation. The group meets monthly at Santa Clara Church in Bentley every fourth Saturday for a Healing Mass and for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at midday; and every third Friday for prayer, scripture and music at 188 High Rd, Riverton.

For enquiries email Fr Nicholas at jr_nweke@yahoo. co.uk or call 08 9063 2056/08 9880 1436; or call St Charles seminarian Bonaventure Echeta on 0438 387 312 or email annybigg74@yahoo.com.

au or call Freddie Low on 0411 261 145 or email Freddie@Ismcorporate.com

Family: Mgr Sean O’Shea with Erika and her husband Alex and child John. Erika’s plig responsible for him visiting the seminary in Bratislava, where her mother worked and Pa studying.

PHOTO COURTESY OF M

Pucker up: Practical joker, retired pries on the cheek after receiving a gift from

nsibility to stand in step s of C hrist to stand in steps of Christ

durah,

Perth’s newest Slovakianborn priest is one from left field, and reveals the key to recognising one’s vocation

■ By Anthony Barich

Perth has a new priest from Slovakia that has a special connection with the youth of the Archdiocese, and is drawing them into a deeper relationship with Christ in extraordinary ways.

Having only moved to Perth to complete his seminary studies in 2003 from Slovakia, Father Pavol Herda, 29, is a self-confessed sports nut.

He’s played soccer since he was nine, loves ice hockey and rollerblading and still plays for a local suburban soccer team.

Last month he started up a soccer tournament at Sacred Heart parish in Thornlie, where he was on parish placement as a deacon.

Through this social interaction, he gets to know the youth in his parish and has roped many into Bible study and a Holy Hour of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with Taize praise and worship.

On June 6, he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Perth by Archbishop Barry Hickey at St Joseph’s Church in Subiaco, a few drop-punts away from Subiaco Oval, the home ground of Perth’s two Australian Football League clubs West Coat Eagles and Fremantle.

The ordination would have taken place at St Mary’s Cathedral in the heart of the city but it’s undergoing extensive renovations to be completed by Easter 2009.

“Once you ‘catch’ them by playing sport with them, and they start to admire you, you can talk to them about almost anything in life, even faith,” he says. “I love working with youth; seeing something special growing in them.” These means of evangelisation, and straight-talking demeanor, seems to be working.

Just before giving the final blessing at Father Pavol’s ordination Mass, Archbishop Hickey said that

as he stepped off the train arriving at the church for the ordination Mass, he was presented with a petition from Thornlie parishioners asking for Pavol to be placed at their parish as a priest.

“The oil hasn’t even dried on his hands (from the ordination ceremony) and he already has a legion of fans,” the Archbishop quipped.

Father Pavol’s parents - Pavol Snr and Maria – travelled from their village of Cierne Klacany, Slovakia, for their son’s ordination, and were reduced to tears as they approached him after the fanfare had died down to offer words of love and advice.

“I dedicate you to the protection of Holy Mary,” said his father.

“Be a faithful priest and maintain at all times a relationship of love among your fellow priests,” his mother said, loosely translated from Slovakian.

He leaves this week for holidays back in his home village, where Archbishop Hickey will join him in celebrating a Mass of thanksgiving.

He will miss World Youth Day next month as he will still be in Slovakia. But it was not always all rosey. Father Pavol said he fought inner demons almost daily, often wanting to leave the seminary.

Why did he stay? The only explanation he could proffer was that God wouldn’t’ let him leave. “I believe the vocation to the priesthood is a gift from God,” he said.

“Many young men have received this vocation but just say no.

“Many times I tried to say no.

There was lots of fighting going on within myself, and many temptations. But it’s like falling in love – it’s a subtle thing that grows within you, and it takes courage to say yes when Christ says, ‘come follow me’.”

Father Pavol came from a strong Catholic family, but he says that has little to do with him discerning his vocation.

“Many men have become fine priests with no faith formation at all from their families,” he says.

“You need to be sensitive enough to recognise the call. I felt it even in my teenage years, but it is not something we can often recognise clearly in the world today.

“Even now, I am still discerning my vocation, learning more about it.”

Pax: Archbishop Hickey embraces Pavol with the sign of peace during his ordination ceremony Mass.

Symbolic: The Archbishop hands Pavol a chalice and paten, sacred vessels that hold the Body and Blood of Christ and which are central to their ministry as priests. PHOTOS: ANTHONY BARICH

Motherly embrace: Pavol is hugged by his mother after his ordination at St Joseph’s Church.

Henry Byrne, gives Fr Nicholas a peck

former Nigerian priest.

Good times: Fr Nicholas Nweke with children from the Voice of the Voiceless ministry at the dinner for retired priests.

Many hands: Retired priests Frs Jim Petry, Henry Byrne, John O’Reilly and Anton Hesse with Archbishop Barry Hickey and Fr Nicholas Nweke.

Perth World Youth Day – Journey of the Cross and Icon Colouring competition winners

■ By Tammy Nguyen, Perth World Youth Day Office

IN preparation for the arrival of the WYD Journey of the Cross and Icon into our diocese, the Perth World Youth Day Office together with The Record held a colouring-in compe-

1ST PRIZE WINNERS

2ND PRIZE WINNERS

3RD PRIZE WINNERS

TOP 5 WINNERS

tition for our pre-school and primary school children. We received over 900 entries from all schools and parishes around the Archdiocese of Perth and they have put A LOT of effort in colouring and decorating “The Icon of Our Lady”. On behalf of the Perth World Youth Day Office we would like

to give our thanks to all the participants who have entered the competition, our judging panel and also our sincere thanks to our sponsors, Perth Mint and Gattos Christian Shop, for donating the prizes. This is what you have all been waiting for; here are the Top 5 winners in each section.

Preschool Primary Primary (4-6 years old) (7-9 years old) (10-12 years old)

Sophie Vuleta

Samara Maeder Mary Haydon

Orana Catholic Primary Armadale Christian College Homeschool

Clare Farrell

Kym Inkster Caitlin Ross

Orana Catholic Primary Xavier Catholic School St Brigid’s College

Georgia Shehade

Stephen Haydon Ashleigh Trivanovic

Orana Catholic Primary Homeschool St Peter’s Primary

Anthony Luk

Joseph Haydon Isabelle Carbone

Aranmore Catholic Primary Homeschool St Lawrence Primary and and and

Rachel Sandon

Clarissa Luk Rohan Rath

Mary MacKillop Catholic Aranmore Catholic Primary Orana Catholic Primary

Anthony Luk and Clarissa Luk - Aranmore Catholic PrimaryIsabella Carbone - St Lawrence Primary with Tammy Nguyen

First Prize winners

Caitlin Ross - St Brigid’s CollegeClare Farrell, Sophie Vuleta, Georgia Shehade - Orana Primary

Stephen, Mary and Joeph Haydon - Homeschool

Rachel Sandon - Mary MacKillop Primary

Rohan Rath - Orana Catholic Primary

Sophie Vuleta, age 6

Samara Maeder, age 9

Mary Haydon, age 11

Chiara 3 years: Ballerina dancing in the flowers

kids art Kids bitz jokes

~ DEAR PARENTS/ GRANDPARENTS ~

If you have great kids recipes please share them with us and we will publish your recipe in kidz bitz with your name. send to: Justine Stevens, The Record, PO Box 75 Leederville WA 6902 or email production@therecord.com.au

~ DEAR KIDS!~

If you would like your poems, drawings or photos published please send them to:

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

puzzles

BIBLE BRAINTEASERs

CATHOLIC CULTURE BRAINTEASER

Which one does not belong in each list and why?

◊ Notre Dame, St Peter’s, Hagia Sophia, Kölner Dom

◊ Prague, Manilla, Rome, Denver

◊ Benedictine, Schoenstatt, Dominican, Franciscan

◊ John, Pius, Benedict, Barnabas

Solutions from last Record

o Balthasar: Balthasar is one of the three Magi who come to worship Christ after His Birth. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were the three youths in Daniel 13 who defy King Nebuchadnezzar’s order that they bow down and worship a golden cult image of him. In a rage, Nebuchadnezzar orders the boys be thrown into a fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar sees them walking around in the furnace along with the Son of God. They miraculously escape unharmed by the flames.

o Samson: Is the young man in Judges who was set apart for God’s service and blessed by God with great strength. Zechariah, Isaiah and Jeremiah are all Old Testament Prophets.

o Stephen: Stephen was the first Martyr of the Catholic Church. Whilst preaching that Christ was the Saviour, a band of unbelievers dragged him outside of the city of Jerusalem and stoned him to death. The saint prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then he fell to his knees and begged God not to punish his enemies for killing him. Sarah, Tobias and Raphael are all characters in the Book of Tobit.

o Cletus: Cletus was a Pope of the Church in 76AD. He is one of the Popes we call upon for intercession in the first Eucharistic Prayer. Thomas, Andrew and John we also honour in the First Eucharistic Prayer, as members of Christ’s Apostles.

Happy Birthday

TOP TEN SIGNS YOU MAY NOT BE READING YOUR BIBLE ENOUGH:

10) The Priest announces the sermon is from Galatians ... and you check the table of contents.

9) You think Abraham, Isaac & Jacob may have had a few hit songs during the 60’s.

8) You open to the Gospel of Luke and a WWII Savings Bond falls out.

7) Your favorite Old Testament Patriarch is Hercules.

6) A small family of squirrels has taken up residence in the Psalms of your Bible.

5) You become frustrated because Charlton Heston isn’t listed in either the Concordance or the Table of Contents.

4) Catching the kids reading the Song of Solomon, you demand: “Who gave you this stuff?”

3) You think the Minor Prophets worked in the quarries.

2) You keep falling for it every time when Priest tells you to turn to First Condominiums. And the number one sign you may not be reading your Bible enough:

1) The kids keep asking too many questions about your usual bedtime story: “Jonah the Shepherd Boy and His Ark of Many Colors.”

HOSPITAL BILLS

A man was brought to Mercy Hospital, and taken quickly in for coronary surgery. The operation went well and, as the groggy man regained consciousness, he was reassured by a Sister of Mercy who was waiting by his bed.

“Mr. Smith, you’re going to be just fine,” said the nun, gently patting his hand.

“We do need to know, however, how you intend to pay for your stay here. Are you covered by insurance?”

“No, sorry, I don’t have any insurance,” the man whispered hoarsely.

“Can you pay in cash?” persisted the nun.

“I’m afraid I cannot, Sister.”

“Well, do you have any close relatives?” the nun essayed.

“Just my sister in Townesville,” he volunteered. “But she’s a humble spinster nun.”

“Oh, I must correct you, Mr. Smith. Nuns are not spinsters; they are married to God.”

“Wonderful,” said Smith. “In that case, please send the bill to my brother-in-law.”

CATHOLIC CRYPTICS 7 Gifts

Solution from last Record

AYLOFS wisdom

TXOVDLBRXOYXC understanding

GFTXLVK cousel

PFDBYBTOV fortitude

IXFAKVOCV knowledge

EYVBK piety PVRD FP CFO fear of god

KIDS COOKING

EGGS IN A FRAME

Ingredients:

1 egg

1 piece of bread

butter/margarine

Method:

A fun alternative to plain eggs on toast that the kids will love to prepare. Cut out center of a slice of bread with a biscuit or cookie cutter. Butter bread generously on both sides. In a frying pan, brown bread “frames” on both sides. Drop 1 egg in center of bread. Cook slowly for a few minutes then cover pan until white starts to set. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Lift out carefully and serve.

EASY CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

250g very soft unsalted butter

250g self raising flour, unsifted

250g caster sugar

4 eggs

2-4 tsp vanilla essence

4 tbs milk

Butter Cream Icing

250g unsalted butter, softened 2 cups icing sugar Food colouring

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.

Line 2 x 12 muffin pan with patty papers. Put butter, eggs, vanilla, flour, and caster sugar in a food proceesor. Blitz until mixture is smooth. Add milk and blitz again until smooth.

Divide mixture evenly between the tins and bake for approx 15-20 mins. Best to check at 15 mins by pressing lightly on the top of the cakes, if they spring back up they’re done. If your finger makes an indentation leave for a few minutes and test again so you don’t over cook.

Cool on a wire rack and when cool ice. Icing Cream butter and icing sugar together until thick and fluffy. You can add colour if you wish. Spread thickly on cakes and then decorate as desired with lollies or icing flowers etc

FRUITY OMELETTE

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon oil

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons vanilla yogurt

1/3 cup seasonal fruit

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Method:

Combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Beat with a fork but don’t make it frothy. Heat oil on medium heat in a flared omelet pan. Tilt skillet to coat the pan with oil. Pour egg mixture into the hot pan and cook until edges are golden brown. Use spatula to separate omelet into quarters and turn one quarter at a time. Cook on other side until golden. Remove. Drop a spoonful of yogurt and some fruit (strawberries, blueberries, peaches, or any fruit you like) in the center of each omelet quarter. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Happy Birthday from The Record staff: Grace Edmonds is turning one on June 22.

PHOTO: MELISSA AND GARY EDMONDS

June 2008

The Year of Paul June

Pope Benedict XVI has decreed a Pauline Year to commemorate 2000 years since the birth of St Paul, the greatest missionary. Here are the archdiocesan eight churches where you can gain a Plenary Indulgence - the writing off of all punishment for sin - by praying the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed, being cleansed after Confession in the Sacrament of Penance and nourished by Holy Communion, on these dates: June 28 and 29, 2008, January 25, 2009 and June 28 and 29, 2009.

St Simon Peter Church, Ocean Reef

St Simon Peter Parish, founded in 1986, is named after the man Jesus Himself gave the ‘Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven’ (Matt 16:19), and who would be “the Rock on which I will build my Church” (Matt 16:18). Both Peter and Paul had pivotal roles - Peter as the first Pope, Paul extending the Christian faith to the Gentiles. Legend has it that Saints Peter and Paul embraced at St Peter’s Square shortly before being executed. The Ocean Reef church’s stained glass windows represent key moments of Peter’s life that offer pause for prayerful reflection.

Parish priest: Fr Ryszard Sadowski

Confessions: Saturday after 8.30am Mass, 5.30pm; Tues, Fri 6.30pm. Mass: Saturday 6.30pm; Sunday 8am, 10am, 6pm.

2009

St Mary’s Church, Kalgoorlie

Church of Sts Peter and Paul, Redemptorist Monastery

The man, the legend: This is a statue of St Paul at the ‘Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls’ in Rome. An archeologist and inscriptions expert at the Vatican Museums believes he has rediscovered the tomb of St Paul, buried deep beneath the main altar of the basilica.

PHOTO: CNS

Parish established in 1896, services the Goldfields Catholic Community, along with All Hallows in Boulder, St Joseph’s Norseman, St Mary’s Coolgardie, St John Vianney’s Kambalda. Priests: Frs Joseph Rathnaraj, Nelson Po. Mass times: Saturday 6.30pm; 10am Sunday. Confession times: Saturday 11.30am, 6pm; Sunday 9.30am.

Above: The Apostles in a boat saw Jesus walking on water and were terrified. Peter came to him when called but sank, due to lack of faith, and Jesus saved him. Below: Jesus sees Simon and Andrew at their work as fishermen on the Sea of Galilee and calls to them: “Come, follow me.” They left their nets and followed Him.

Monastery opened in 1903. Priests (CSsR): Frs Joe Carroll, John McGannon, Ron McInnes, Daniel Magill, John Martin, Gerard Neagle, Brian Russell, Hugh Thomas, David Hore, Kevin Crock, Brian Doro. Mass times: Saturday 6.30am, 5pm (not Vigil Mass); Sunday 7am, 9am, 10.30am, 6pm. Confession times: Sat 10am-noon, 4pm-4.30pm, 5.15pm-6pm.

Princes of the Church: The central mural by Croatian artist Karl Macek that overlooks the church’s sanctuary, depicting St Peter, left, who was crucified upside down, and St Paul, who was beheaded. The sword also refers to St Paul’s saying that the Word of God is a ‘two-edged sword that curts deep into the hearts of people’.

June 2008 The Year of Paul June 2009

St Joachim’s Pro-Cathedral, Victoria Park

St Joachim’s Church has been the Pro-Cathedral for key diocesan celebrations like Easter and Christmas while St Mary’s Cathedral is out of action due to conservation and restoration works, due to be completed by Easter next year. It has been chosen as a site to receive the Plenary Indulgence for the Year of St Paul as it is the centrally-located Pro-Cathedral that stands in place of St Mary’s Cathedral.

Priest: Monsignor Thomas McDonald, Dean of St Mary’s Cathedral, now administrator of St Joachim’s Pro-Cathedral.

Mass times: Saturday 6pm, Sunday 8am, 9.30am, 11am, 6pm.

Confession times: Saturday 5pm-5.45pm.

St Joseph’s Church, Northam

St Joseph’s Church in Northam is the centrally-located church in the Avon Valley, and chosen as a site of the Plenary Indulgence because of this.

The parish, whose church was established in January 1892, also administers the Bakers Hill (Holy Family), Wundowie (Our Lady Queen of Heaven), Toodyay (and Jennacubbine parishes.

Priests: Fr Andrew Bowron, fr Dimitri Roh.

Mass times: Satirdau 6.30pm, Sunday 8am.

Confession times: Saturday 11.30am-12.30pm; before each Mass.

Basilica of St Patrick, Fremantle

The Basilica of St Patrick, Fremantle, on Adelaide Street is not only the only Basilica in Western Australia but a long-standing icon of the port city. Run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), the Fremantle parish was established in 1850.

Priests (OMI): Fremantle parish priest Fr John Sherman; his assistant Fr John Archbold. Also residing at Fremantle presbytery are Fr David Shelton (prison chaplain), Fr Gregory Watson (University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle chaplain).

Mass times: Saturday 6pm, Sunday 7am, 8.30am, 9.45am (Italian), 11am, 5pm.

Confession times: Saturday 9.30am-10.30am, 10am-11am (Italian), 11.30am-noon, 4.30pm5.30pm.

St Jerome’s Church, Munster

Spearwood parish was established in 1949. St Jerome was a biblical scholar who lived in Bethlehem and translated the Bible from the original languages of Greek and Hebrew into Latin. It is due to his outstanding conneciton witht the scriptures that the church named after him has been chosen as one of the site where a Plenary Indulgence can be attained by faithfully adhering to the requirements, that include praying the Lord’s Prayer, praying for the Pope’s intentions and Penance after Confession. Priests: Fr Johnson Malayil, Fr Justin Salvaraj Francis.. Mass times: Saturday 6pm; Sunday 8.10am, 6pm. Confession times: Before and after every service; Saturday 9.30am-10.30am, 5pm-6pm.

St Paul’s Church, Mt Lawley

Parish established 1956. St Paul’s Church has two representations of the evangelist. One, to the right, is a stained-glass window that overlooks the sanctuary at the front, and depicts him with the Bible and a sword, a common image associated with him. Surrounding him are the symbols for the four evangelists of the New Testament - the angel/ human (Matthew), the eagle (John), the lion (Mark) and the ox (Luke). Also in the church is a statue of St Paul, again with a sword. as he persecuted Christians but also died by the sword. These representations can be used for reflection during prayer to gain the Plenary Indulgence.

Priest: Fr Clayton Mitchell. Mass times: Saturday 6pm, Sunday 8am, 9.30am. Confession times: Saturday 5pm-5.50pm.

The Eucharist is everything to me

Stella Pereira

During my morning prayers, I call on the Holy Spirit to guide me. I pray for loved ones, priests and Religious and specific prayer requests.

I lift up the day and pray for all the people I’m going to come into contact with. I ask Jesus to cover them with His precious blood. I consecrate everything to the Lord. I light a candle at my little altar before leaving the house.

Perspectives

‘You blew it up! Damn you all!’

Scientists and British parliamentarians would have us believe that we’re not so different from the animals. Yet they also say that in merging animal and human DNA, the products will be ‘mostly human’?

Please explain...

Life, the universe and everything

By Anna Krohn

Arecent cover story in the New Scientist journal proclaimed: “It’s finally time to kiss goodbye to the idea that humans are qualitatively different to other animals.”

endeavour” and one by the way needed “to keep Britain at the forefront of world research.”

So sold on the making Britain the “ruler” of the stem cell waves was the PM that Labour Cabinet Ministers who opposed embryonic research were required to make threats of resignation before they were given a “free vote” (similar to the Australian conscience vote) on matter.

They joined a group of 176 parliamentarians who attempted unsuccessfully to move an amendment that would ban the creation of interspecies embryos.

In 2006 two scientific teams from King’s College London and the University of Newcastle made a controversial application to Britain’s biotechnology licensing body.

Their principle application sought to use existing embryonic stem cell techniques but using human DNA inserted into cow eggs (from which the nuclei had been removed) to create a new type of embryo.

Why on earth do this?

aim to fuse into existence, experimental embryos using the human DNA and animal eggs.

They argue that the proposed experiment is ethical because after all the embryos would be “mostly human” (does that mean just a tinsey bit animal?).

And furthermore, the creatures would be destroyed before 14 days of development- before they got old enough to see what might have really happened to them, or to scare the horses.

In controversial work with human embryos, the scientists and their lobbyists now commonly smooth the debate by employing new and unfamiliar names.

Here the “mostly human” embryos are called “Cybrids” or “admixed human embryos.”

Central to the heavy lobbying by the research groups is also the now familiar enlistment of special interest charities for the disabled and chronically ill.

How I Pray Now

Then my husband Stephen and I go to daily Mass. After that we drive to work. While driving we say the Rosary and the Divine Mercy chaplet. We also pray for specific situations like birthdays.

with Debbie Warrier

The biggest influence on my faith was my mum. She was a living saint. We learnt so much more about her after her death. We went to Singapore for her funeral.

At the service we met so many people we had never seen before and we would ask them, “How do you know Mum?”

They would say things like, “Oh, we had a child that was sick and she looked after her until she was well.” Mum passing away was a turning point in my faith. She was a pillar of strength praying for all of us and after she died I took on that role.

My faith is everything to me. The Eucharist is my support in joys, trials and sufferings. We go to Adoration every opportunity we get and are on the roster at St Gerard’s Perpetual Adoration.

We also attend Adoration at our parish in Greenwood. The Blessed Sacrament is my strength. We’ve had health problems with our family and friends. I have stopped worrying now. I take it to the Lord and say, “OK, You take care of this.”

I go to our parish Charismatic prayer meeting weekly. As an intercessor, we get prayer requests regularly for various reasons. We turn to the Lord and He never fails to show us that every prayer is answered.

People come to us with problems like wanting their children to come back to church. We’ve prayed over people with cancer and they’ve been cured. These people come back to us and keep saying, “Thank you” for prayers being answered and we tell them, “Don’t thank us. It’s the Lord’s doing.”

Stephen and I take Holy Communion to the sick and pray with them. To see the joy in their faces when we walk in the door and to sit there and listen to them is inspiring. They perk up and are just so happy that Jesus is coming.

We have grown so much from seeing their strength and joy. There is great love in our Catholic community. Our current priest is Fr Vincent Conroy. I’ve really been blessed with our spiritual Parish Priests, both past and present. All of them have encouraged and kindled my prayer life.

I go to retreats once or twice a year. I have grown so much as a result. Now when I go to Mass each day, I realise Jesus is within me.

I don’t need to look anywhere else. It’s like I have got all my resources in me and its coming out to the people I meet. Even if they’re difficult I try and look for the Jesus in them. The Eucharist is alive and real. It makes everything possible.

Do you have a story? Contact Debbie at: debwarrier@hotmail.com

The article continued in sweeping triumph, that scientific research had finally ripped out the last objection to that quaint notion “ingrained for centuries” that we humans are anything special.

A few weeks ago, as if on cue with these sentiments, the British Parliament, firmly supported by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, voted to permit the creation of animal-human hybrid embryos for research purposes.

Brown argued that such stem cell research “was an inherently moral

The researchers said that because cloning is so inefficient, many “precious” eggs are needed to create the human embryos (clearly not so precious) used in such destructive experimentation.

It seems those pesky creatures, women, are neither efficient egg “producers” nor are they willing to hand over their ova in the quantities which meet the researchers “needs”.

Cow or rabbit eggs can be re-claimed from the slaughterhouses and laboratories without much fuss.

In order to obtain embryonic stem cells and other information, the teams

However 17 stem cell scientists warned in a Times advertisement that there was little evidence of any promise in using the hapless “cybrids”. Even a public servant scientist in favour of the research said: “We have to be careful not to overhype it, because we can’t promise anything will work.”

Those opposed to the creation of “admixed” embryos argue that it is simply bad science to describe the “cybrids as 99.9 per cent human. We just don’t know. The animal ova used process are not “just empty or passive” shells as claimed.

Mammalian eggs are the largest cells in the animal world - and they contain both DNA and small sub-cellular “organelles” which influence the

Words are a last resort for Gospel

Family is the Future

with Karen & Derek Boylen

“ALWAYS preach the Gospel and when necessary use words.”

These are the famous utterances of St Francis of Assisi to his followers.

It also happens to be a trait of those we consider to be the most Christian in our lives. People who stand out because of the virtuousness of their lives more than the words they say.

Christians bear the greatest witness, not when they are proclaiming from the roof tops, but when they live a gospel inspired life.

When we encounter someone in our lives who is virtuous it is natural for us to want to be around them, to spend time with them, and to model our lives on them. Wanting others to spend more time with us, to live the life Christ calls us too. Hmmm... that sounds a lot like evangelisation.

Often as parents, when we consider passing on our faith we think about helping our children to understand what the Catholic Church teaches or we focus on the sacraments often attained in childhood such as first reconciliation, first communion and confirmation. These are important understandings and stages in a child’s life. However, a crucial part of our role is helping our children to become virtuous people.

In today’s world the word virtue has become an antiquated term but simply put it is a character trait valued as being good. The Catholic Church teaches that there are four cardinal virtues upon which all other virtues are based. These are justice, fortitude, prudence and tem-

perance. The cardinal virtues have been elaborated and developed by the doctors of the Church and often appear in Christian art and iconography.

However, for parents with growing children it is simpler to broaden this list so that it includes such traits as, empathy, helpfulness, fairness, tolerance, caring, courage, joyfulness, excellence, honesty, etc. One the most basic virtues that all parents can teach their children and for which there are countless teachable moments every day is respect. From the moment a parent first teaches a child to say “ta” they are teaching their child to show respect.

Parents often don’t think about imparting manners and teaching respect as a component of Catholic formation. While we might not think of it that way it’s hard to imagine a good Christian with appalling manners and a lack of respect for others.

Teaching our children to show respect for others includes: using please and thank you; manners at the dinner table; apologising for hurting another; gentleness with other people’s things, etc. This is a formation in the Christian faith. Helping our children to develop the character trait of respect for oth-

ers is helping them to develop a deep understanding that there is an inherent dignity in every person.

Later as they mature we can put words around why we show respect. We can talk to them about the way that every person is made in the image and likeness of God and that it is in serving others that we find Christ. In his first letter St Peter he tells us to “have respect for everyone...” (2:17). As Catholics, respect for the dignity of all human life is the corner stone of our social teaching.

Helping our children to develop virtuous traits like respect is like helping them to grow spiritual muscles; strength of character that will help them to live a gospel life on a daily basis. The foundation for the formation of our children as Christian adults who bear witness through their actions to the gospel way of life begins at home, in the early years. It begins with the cultivation of those virtuous traits by which Christians are recognised; which attract others to us; and which inspire others to want to follow Jesus. As the old hymn says “they will know we are Christians by our love, by our love.”

-derek.cmes@perthcatholic.org.au

Charlton’s fears realised

metabolism and development of the new embryo. In the early stages of embryonic development it is the animal component of the egg cell that could well determine the engagement of the human DNA. The proposed process, based on “reductionist” biology, really does involve the crossing of the species

God wants us on the Sabbath Perspectives

Q&A

By Fr John Flader

Mass on Sundays

I recently heard of someone who left the Church over the teaching that failure to attend Mass on Sundays through your own fault is a mortal sin. He said the Orthodox don’t have such a strict teaching, nor do the Protestants for that matter. Why is the Catholic Church so demanding on this?

Aline - and with it the deeply held ethical divide which respects not only the dignity of the human but the integrity of the rest of creation as well.

As Jeremy Rifkin, the outspoken critic of much of the bio-tech commercial enterprise, and neither traditionally pro-life nor Catholic,

warns that we are gazing at a pathway to “a brave new world in which all of nature can be ruthlessly manipulated, but now with human-animal chimeric experiments we risk even undermining our own species’ biological integrity in the name of human progress.”

-annakrohn@hotmail.com

China just trying to blend in

I

say I say

By Mark Reidy

Renowned for the Great Wall that once held out foreign invaders, it appears that China is applying the same tactics to its Olympic preparations.

According to a book written by missionary priest and journalist, Father Bernado Cervellera, in a bid to ward off negative media attention, Chinese authorities have erected “very tall and long walls” around some of the country’s most impoverished areas.

Undoubtedly this government would have been meticulous in its preparation to open its doors to the rest of the world, and after years of surveillance have obviously concluded that success, western-style, must be an observable commodity.

They have done their homework well. Material wealth and position in society are indeed the very bedrock on which our civilisation is founded. As adults we become defined by our professions, the suburbs we live in, the cars we drive and increasingly, how we physically present ourselves to the world. These influences have become the measuring sticks for success and failure and underpin the capitalistic hierarchy that we live in.

From a Christian perspective these factors, in themselves, are neither right nor wrong. But when they become the gauge for a per-

son’s worth then it is time to look at exactly where our society has gone astray. We have all been raised within an education and social system that is performance-orientated.

At primary school we were categorised between A and F in the classroom and by colour-coded ribbons on the sporting field.

These moulded the perceptions of ourselves and of those around us. As teenagers we became more vulnerable to media influence and our self-image was further distorted by pressure to wear the right clothes and possess the latest gimmicks.

We then entered adult society, which ranked us on a dollar/social standing scale and the conviction that our value was defined by what we did or how we portrayed ourselves, was complete.

But this situation is certainly not new to our modern era. In fact Jesus was at his most passionate when he confronted it in his time on earth. “Alas for you”, he told the scribes and Pharisees, “...You are like white-

washed tombs that look handsome on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of corruption.” (Matt 23:27).

Jesus’ words are a warning to us today as much as they were for the “holy” men of old. God will not be impressed by our worldly status, by what we earn or own, or even by what we say and do.

In fact he tells us that if public acknowledgement is our motive then we have already had our reward. But when we are motivated in our thoughts, words and deeds by our love of God, it is then, Jesus tells us, that, “...your Father, who sees all that is done in secret, will reward you” (Matt 6:4).

So we should not be too condemning of China as it erects its façades and prepares to present a false image to those looking in. It is simply trying to blend in to a wider world that upholds such behaviour.

It is, in fact, the very same world that we have all blended into.

-reidyrec@iinet.net.au

north African city in presentday Tunisia. They were taken to Carthage to be interrogated by the Proconsul Anulinus.

Among the testimonies is that of Emeritus, who was not afraid to say that he received Christians into his home for the Eucharist. When the Proconsul asked him: “Why have you received Christians in your home, transgressing the imperial dispositions?” he answered: “We cannot live without Sunday.” It is as if he had said: “We cannot live without Sunday Mass.”

The 49 were subsequently put to death.

s I mentioned in an earlier column, it is not the Church that is so demanding, it is God Himself when he gave the Israelites the Third Commandment.

On top of that, our own understanding of who God is and of how much he loves us demands that we worship him through Sunday Mass as a bare minimum.

The Third Commandment given by God to Moses was very strict: “You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people” (Ex 31:12-14).

The punishment of death for failing to observe the Sabbath makes it clear that God regarded this commandment as very serious.

Fortunately today the Church does not invoke the death penalty for those who miss Mass on Sundays!

Some 1200 years after Moses, at the time of Our Lord, the Jews still took very seriously the Sabbath obligation, as is clear from the many accusations against Jesus himself for failing to observe it (cf. Mt 12:1-2, 9-14; Mk 2:23-28, 3:1-6).

Then also, when we realise who God is and how good he is to us, we want to worship him and to do it in the way Jesus taught us, through attendance at the celebration of the Eucharist: “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19).

Thus if the Church declares that it is a mortal sin to miss Mass on Sundays through our own fault, it is not an arbitrary imposition but rather a reminder that the obligation is serious in itself.

The early Christians took the Sunday Mass obligation very seriously, even when it involved a serious risk. In 303 AD, during the persecution by the Emperor Diocletian, a group of 49 Christians, including a Senator, were arrested while gathered in a home for the weekly celebration of Sunday Mass in Abitene, a

The writer of the account in the Acts of the Martyrs commented on the Proconsul’s question as to whether these Christians had taken part in the Eucharistic assembly: “O foolish and ridiculous question of the judge! As if a Christian could be without the Sunday Eucharist, or the Sunday Eucharist could be celebrated without there being a Christian! Don’t you know, Satan, that it is the Sunday Eucharist which makes the Christian and the Christian that makes the Sunday Eucharist, so that one cannot subsist without the other, and vice versa?”

It should be remembered that at that time the Church had no precept requiring attending Sunday Mass. It was simply engraved on the hearts and minds of Christians that they could not let Sunday pass without attending the celebration of the Eucharist, even when it was exceedingly dangerous to do so.

Attendance at Mass on Sundays should be the same for us today. It is an essential aspect of our identity as Catholics. There is no true Christian life without the Sunday Eucharist, whether or not the Church declares that missing Mass through our own fault is a mortal sin. The least we can do is set aside one day a week for our God, and one hour for Sunday Mass.

Another testimony on the importance of Sunday Mass in the early Church comes in a homily of St John Chrysostom (ca 349-407). Preaching on the feast of some martyrs, he lamented that nothing would keep some Christians away from the circus – think of football, in today’s terms –while they were careless about attending Mass: “And at the circus, without a roof above them to keep off the rain, the crowds stand there crazy, the rain pouring down on them, and the wind blowing it in their faces, and they think nothing of the cold or the rain or the distance, and nothing will keep them from going there, and nothing will keep them at home!

But to go to the Church a shower, or the mud on the road, is a serious obstacle!” (In M.F. Toal, The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, vol. 2, p. 137)

Panorama

A roundup of events in the Archdiocese

Panorama entries must be in by 12pm Monday.

Contributions may be emailed to administration@therecord.com.au, faxed to 9227 7087, or mailed to PO box 75, Leederville, WA 6902. Submissions over 55 words will be edited. Inclusion is limited to 4 weeks. Events charging over $10 constitute a classified event, and will be charged accordingly. The Record reserves the right to decline or modify any advertisment.

Saturday June 21

ST PADRE PIO PRAYER GROUP - ITALIAN

Starting 8.45am at St Lawrence Church 392 Albert Street, Balactta, St Padre Pio DVD. 10am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Rosary, Divine Mercy, Adoration and Benediction followed by Holy Mass, St Pio Liturgy at 11am. Lunch 12pm, tea and coffee provided. BYO Lunch. Enq: Rosa 0437 700 247.

Saturday June 21

PARENTS AND FRIENDS’ FEDERATION OF WA ANNUAL MASS AND DINNER

Starting 5.45pm with Mass at St Thomas More Chapel, Crawley, followed by Annual Dinner, 7pm for 7.30pm at Royal Perth Yacht Club (Guest Speaker, Mr Ian Dalton, Executive Director, Australian Parents Council) “Where have all the Parents Gone?” Registration details www.pff.wa.edu.au or 9271 5909.

Sunday June 22

PERTH WYD SUNDAY SESH #5 “GRAND FINALE!”

Starting 6pm with Mass at Infant Jesus, 47 Wellington Road, Morley, the Sesh will commence at 7.15pm. All WYD Leaders and Pilgrims must attend. Theme: We belong to the worldwide church & Perth days in the diocese. Guest Speaker: Paul Kelly. All welcome. Enq: Tammy 9422 7944 or www.wydperth.com http://www. wydperth.com

Sunday June 22

GOSPEL CONCERT

1.30pm - 4.15pm at St Patrick’s Basilica, Fremantle. Some of WA’s finest gospel performers will come together for a traditional and ecumenical concert at St Patrick’s. Profits will support the work of Cross Roads Community, providing drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Tickets $15 adults and $3 children are only available advance purchase. Enq: erichancock@swiftdsl. com.au or phone 9446 1558.

Saturday June 24

NOVENA DEVOTION TO OUR LADY OF GOOD HEALTH VAILANKANNI

Starting 5pm at Holy Trinity Church, Embleton, followed by Vigil Mass at 6pm. Enq: Monsignor P McCrann 9271 5528 or George 9272 1379.

Wednesday June 25

HOUR FOR SHEEN CONCERT

Commencing 7.30pm at Trinity College, Trinity Ave, East Perth. Gibney Hall. Featuring the talented young bariton Daniel Mullaney, WAAPA graduate soprano Cathriona Walsh; June Glen prize winning poet and Daniel Carney former Concert Master WA Arts Orchestra. Tickets including supper $25 (concessions available) Bookings: Daniel 9291 8224.

Wednesday June 25

GROWING IN FAITH AND COMPASSION

Starting from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, at John XXIII College, MacKillop Room. Presenter: Murray Graham (Inigo Centre Director) Cost: Donation. Enq: Murray 9383 0444.

June 27 – August 8

LIFE IN THE SPIRIT SEMINAR

Meet Jesus in a personal relationship of love, and discover the power of His Spirit working through you! The Gosnells Charismatic Prayer Group presents this 7 week seminar, Friday evenings, 8.00pm - 9.30pm at Gosnells Church, 175 Corfield St, Gosnells. Starts June 27th. Details from Carol 9456 5835 (A/H)

Friday June 27

MEDJUGORJE EVENING OF PRAYER

Commencing 7pm with Adoration, Meditation and Rosary at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Miles Street. Karrinyup. An Evening of Prayer with Our Lady Queen of Peace followed

by Holy Mass. Concluding 9.30pm. Enq. Eileen 9402 2480.

Friday June 27

ALAN AMES MINISTRY HEALING SERVICE

Starting at 7pm with Mass at St Peter’s Catholic Church, 93 Wood Street. Bedford. Followed by talk and healing service. Enq: Loretta 9444 4409.

Saturday June 28

A MORNING RETREAT

Starting from 9am to 12 Noon John XXIII College, MacKillop Room. Inner Freedom and Healing (Part 2). Presenter Murray Graham (Inigo Centre Director) Cost: Donation. Enq: Murray 9383 0444.

Sunday June 29

PERTH WYD SUNDAY SESH #5 GRAND FINALE!

Starting at 6pm with Mass at St Joachim Parish, 122 Shepperton Road, Victoria Park, the Sesh will commence at 7.15pm. All WYD Leaders and Pilgrims must attend. Theme: We belong to the worldwide church & Perth days in the diocese. Guest Speaker: Paul Kelly. All welcome. Enq: Tammy 9422 7944 or www.wydperth.com http://www.wydperth.com

Sunday June 29

FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART

Starting at 2.30pm at Our Lady’s Assumption Church, 356 Grand Prom, Dianella. Procession and Solemn Mass. All welcome, join in praying for peace in the world and our families. Associations please bring your banners. Enq: Franco 9275 4504.

Saturday July 5

DAY WITH MARY

Staring from 9am to 5pm, at Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament Church, Corfield and Isdell, Gosnells. 9am Video on Fatima. Day of prayer and instruction based upon the Fatima message. Reconciliation, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons on the Eucharist and Our Lady by His Grace Archbishop Hickey, Rosaries, Blessed Sacrament Procession and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

Sunday July 6

INTERNATIONAL FOOD FAIR- ST EMILIE DE VIALAR

BUILDING FUND,

Commencing from 10am - 3pm, St Emilie’s Primary School, 151 Amherst Road, Canning Vale. Savour authentic flavours from Australia, Asia, Europe and more. Sniff great buys at Bargain Corner, live band, games, and great prizes at the Treasure Trove. Coupons $10, now on sale All Welcome! Enq: Francis 04 3756 2263 lksltt@yahoo.com Dominic 04 4705 3347 celestialorchids@gmail.com

Sunday July 7

DIVINE MERCY – AN AFTERNOON WITH JESUS AND MARY

Starting 1.30pm at St Joachim’s Church, Shepperton Road Victoria Park. Holy Rosary and Reconciliation, Sermon on St Thomas the Apostle by Fr Hugh Thomas. Divine Mercy prayers and Benediction. Refreshments, then Video/DVD, The Power of the Holy Rosary Part 1, with Fr John Corapi. Enq: John 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608.

Thursday July 10

PERTH DAYS IN THE DIOCESE YOUTH FESTIVAL

Commencing from 2pm to 10pm, on the Perth Esplanade, get ready for Perth’s biggest free youth event. Come join thousands of young

people from around the world travelling to Perth prior to WYD, with live bands, dance, powerful speakers, street theatre, drama and indigenous performances. Tickets: visit wydperth.com, email wydperth@highgate–perthcatholic.org. au mailto:wydperth@highgate and #8211;perthcatholic.org.au Silvana 08 9422 7944.

Every Friday to 11 July

NEW LIFE IN GOD’S SPIRIT SEMINAR

Starting from 7.30pm – 9.30pm, St Brigid’s Church, Corner Aberdeen and Fitzgerald Street Northbridge. Be filled with grace, love and power of the Holy Spirit. Renew your faith by listening to talks and testimonies given by Charismatic Priests and laypeople. Enq: Jenni 9445 1028 or 0404389679.

Saturday July 12

PERTH DAYS IN THE DIOCESE COMMISSIONING MASS

Commencing at 10am, on the Perth Esplanade, come celebrate with all the pilgrims heading off to WYD. Mass celebrated by Archbishop Hickey, concelebrated by international bishops and priests from around the world. Details for tickets visit wydperth.com or email wydperth@highgateperthcatholic.org.au. or Silvana 08 9422 7944.

Sunday July 13

THE WORLD APOSTOLATE OF FATIMA - HOLY HOUR OF REPARATION

Starting 3pm at St Mary’s Church, Franklin Street, Leederville. All welcome. Enq: Diana 9339 2614.

Monday July 21

ST PIO PRAYER GROUP DEVOTION MASS - WYD

Mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Dominica Ambrosia at the Capuchin Church in Sydney. Details and bookings travel to Sydney phone Nick 93782684.

Wednesday July 23

ST SIMON PETER PLAYERS – PUBLIC MEETING

Starting 7.30pm at St Simon Peters Parish Centre. An inter-parish Performing Arts Group seeks players and crew for its 2009 original production, The Story of the Three Marys, Mary of Nazareth, Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene. No experience necessary. Enq: Gerald 9404 7292.

Friday July 25

MEDJUGORJE EVENING OF PRAYER

Commencing 7pm with Adoration, Meditation and Rosary at Santa Clara Parish, Palmerston Street, Bentley. All welcome to an Evening of Prayer with Our Lady Queen of Peace, followed by Holy Mass. Concluding 9pm. Enq: Eileen 9402 2480.

Every Saturday VIDEO / DVD NIGHT

Starting after the 6.30pm Mass, at St. Joseph’s Church, 20 Hamilton Street Bassendean. A variety of Videos/Dvd’s, will be shown i.e. The Saints, Conversion Stories, Catholic Teaching etc. Videos approx. 30mins. Want to learn more about our Catholic faith? Bring the family, no charge. 14th June showing Saints & Catholic Rome. 21st June, Padre Pio - The Man Who Knew Suffering’.

Every Saturday HOLY SPIRIT OF FREEDOM CHARISMATIC PRAYER MEETING

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

First Friday of Each Month GENERAL PRAYER ASSEMBLY

Starting at 7.30pm at St Joachim Parish Hall, Shepperton Road, Victoria Park. The couples

for Christ and its Family Ministries welcome all members who now reside or are visiting Perth to join the community in its monthly general prayer assembly. Enq: Tony and Dolly Haber 9440 4540.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

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

Every Sunday LATIN MASS KELMSCOTT

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

Every Tuesday THE GOSPEL OF ST MATTHEW - COURSE

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

VOLUNTEER DRIVER

Emmanuel Centre is a self-help centre for people with disabilities and their families and does not receive Government grants. For the past 15 years Emmanuel Centre has survived largely on recycling newspapers. The firm that has collected these newspapers will no longer take them. Another outlet has been found but the papers need to be delivered to Canning Vale. Emmanuel Centre is looking for a volunteer who has a truck and who will take newspapers for recycling from East Perth to Canning Vale. Every couple of months we have five-tonne of bundled newspapers for recycling. Please call Fr Paul 9328 8113 or ring pager 9480 5960.

First Friday and First Saturday

COMMUNION OF REPARATION ALL NIGHT VIGIL

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

First Friday of the Month

WITNESS FOR LIFE

Pro-Life Mass at St Brigid’s, Midland starting at 9.30am. Followed by Rosary, procession and prayer vigil at abortion clinic. Led by Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. Enq: Helene 9403 2444.

BOOK DONATIONS WANTED

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

Editor: Long submissions will be edited without any ruth.

Is saying sorry ever enough?

True Love Waits coordinator

Stephen Gorddard reflects on how sometimes saying “I’m sorry” just isn’t enough.

We’ve all been there. You hurt someone, and the guilt kicks in as you realise that you’re responsible for it. So you humble yourself and say, “Hey, I’m sorry.”

Anticipating the “it’s okay” response, your hit for six when you hear: “No you’re not!” Or perhaps even worse, no response at all! Your relationship just moved into a new “ice-age”.

Frustrated and gobsmacked, you wonder how you could ever make things right when the other won’t even accept your apology. Perhaps you’re beginning to regret offering an apology, starting to feel they probably owe you one for being so rude. After all you’re the one trying, right? The problem is that an apology is more than just the two words “I’m sorry”. It involves a number of elements that really should be part of every apology.

Gary Chapman, author of the best seller The Five Love Languages tried his writer’s hand at this topic. The result was “The Five

Languages of Apology”. Essentially, he’s getting at the same idea: that an apology has a number of elements:

• Expressing Regret- “I’m sorry.”

• Accepting Responsibility- “I was wrong”

• Repenting- “I’ll try not to do that again”

• Making Restitution- “How can I make it right?”

• Requesting Forgiveness -“Will you please forgive me?”

Many may not recognise anything “new” here. In fact, if you frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation, you’ll find all of those elements have been indispensible parts of the sacrament for a couple of thousand years.

It turns out the Church actually does hold the truth for those who seek it. So maybe next time we find ourselves at in that familiar place of needing to apologise, we would do well to remember that the other person, in some innate way, might need more than just “sorry”. Real life involves real people who make real mistakes. The need for apologies impacts all our relationships.

True Love Waits is holding a free seminar titled “Restoring Trust, Rebuilding Relationships” on Monday night 7.30pm, June 23, in Highgate. Contact Stephen on 0431 228 630 or truelovewaitswa@yahoo.com for more info.

MISSION MATTERS

Missionary reflections on this Sunday Gospel

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” .” Catholic missionaries throughout the world are affirmed by these words as they live and work under unimaginably persecution and oppression. In being a voice for the voiceless, many pay with their lives each year. Your prayers sustains the presence of our missionaries amongst those who are being persecuted for their beliefs and strengthens our voice against the injustice. It is a voice that cannot be silenced no matter how many are martyred in Christ’s name. Call the Mission Office on 9422 7933 should you want to explore this idea further.

ACCOMMODATION

■ ST ANNE’S CHURCH, BINDOON accom for retreat/family/group or single $25 per night or $100 for family or group. BYO food. Tea/coffee provided. Tel 9576 0975.

BUILDING TRADES

■ BRICK RE-POINTING Phone Nigel 9242 2952.

■ PERROTT PAINTING PTY LTD

For all your residential, commercial painting requirements. Phone Tom Perrott 9444 1200.

■ BRICKLAYING

20 years exp. Quality work. Ph 9405 7333 or 0409 296 598.

■ PICASSO PAINTING

Top service. Phone 0419 915 836, fax 9345 0505.

CHRISTIAN SINGLES

Meet other Christian singles over small group dinners or on individual dates. FigTrees is Perth’s ONLY genuine Christian dating agency. So, call 9472 8218 to make an appointment or check out our web site figtrees.com.au. 9-328 Albany Highway, Victoria Park. Open Tues-Fri 10am - 6pm.

HEALTH

■ DEMENTIA REMISSION

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

BOOK REPAIRS

■ REPAIR YOUR LITURGICAL BOOKS

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

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ KINLAR VESTMENTS

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

■ CATHOLICS CORNER

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

■ RICH HARVEST – YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP

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

■ OTTIMO

Shop 108 Trinity Arcade (Terrace Level). Hay Street, Perth Ph 9322 4520. Convenient city location for a good selection of cards, candles, statues, medals, apparel and gifts for baptism, reconciliation, communion, confirmation and weddings. We also stock a range of Monastique skin care product made by the Carmelite Sisters, fashion accessories, jewellery, handbags and Australian made gifts. Opening hours 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Thursday. 8.30am to 7pm Fridays.

NOVENA PRAYER

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, Loved and preserved throughout the whole world, now and forever. Sacred Heart of Jesus Pray for us. St Jude Worker of Miracles Pray for us St Jude helper of the hopeless Pray for us

OFFICIAL ENGAGEMENTS

26

-

Sproxton

26/27 Confirmation, Cottesloe - Fr Brian O’Loughlin VG

28 Thanksgiving Mass of Fr Pavol Herda, Slovak RepublicArchbishop Hickey

Confirmation, Joondanna - Bishop Sproxton

Confirmation, Greenmount - Fr Brian O’Loughlin VG

Servite College, 50th Anniversary BallFr Brian O’Loughlin VG

29 Confirmation, Manning - Bishop Sproxton

Inauguration Mass for Pauline Year, Mt LawleyFr Brian O’Loughlin VG

THE R ECORD Bookshop

Hear His Word Hear His Bibles for all the family!

Ignatius RSV Holy Bible

This is the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, revised according to the Liturgiam Authenticam 2002. Excellently presented softcover which comes with colour maps of the Biblical world.

$39.95+postage

NRSV Holy Bible

This is the Catholic NRSV (New Revised Standard Edition) translation of the Holy Bible, which features anglicised text, hardback cover and bookmark.

$29.95+postage

RSV Catholic Bible Compact Edition

A beautiful Bible, made of bonded leather, with gold edged pages, and bookmark. Comes with presentation page and gift box. Available in black, burgundy, acorn or timber.

$49.95+postage

Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics

Breakthrough! was created for young Catholics aged 10 to 14 years old, leaving childhood and entering adolescence. Ten special features help make the Bible easier to read and understand. You will learn about the great people of the Bible, see how God broke through into human history and connected with humanity, and, most importantly, discover how God breaks through into your life today!

$34.95+postage

Children’s Illustrated Bible

First Bible Stories

This highly popular Bible for children aged 8-12 years old, features detailed illustrations and information panels on life and customs in Biblical times, to help young readers understand each book of Scripture in greater detail.

$24.95+postage

By Paragon Books

This is our most popular children’s Bible, filled with the most beloved Bible stories for children, retold in simple and lively fashion. Beautifully presented in hardback cover, with presentation page, ribbon closure, and full colour illustrations it is a perfect gift for Baptisms, toddlers and children up to 6 years old.

$22.95+postage

The World Youth Day Cross and Icon swept across the State of WA, mobilising thousands of Catholics young and old. Here is part one of our collection of its journey through WA. The next will appear in The Record once the symbols leave the State.

Cross and Icon journey through Bunbury

LOCAL Church officials were excited about the prospect of hosting the World Youth Day Cross and Icon, encouraging all participants, especially the youth, to wear clothing with colours from the World Youth Day logo: blue, yellow and orange.

Dr Michael Jackson, Coordinator of the Bunbury Diocesan Pastoral Office, says: “It is very significant that, while in Bunbury, we have the WYD cross and icon procession conclude at the site of the old Cathedral, which is such a spiritual place for us, as we focus on building a new Cathedral for the people of Bunbury.”

St Lawrence & Mary Immaculate churches, Balcatta

Bunbury

Bunbury

Heave-ho: Bunbury Catholic College students process with the World Youth Day Cross during its visit to the rural city.

Festive: Liturgical dancers help celebrate the arrival of the Cross and Icon with Bunbury Catholic College students.

Bunbury

Bunbury

Massive: The World Youth Day Cross surfs over the congregation at Bunbury Catholic College Mass.

Nothing stops us: Bishop Gerard Holohan and Mayor of Bunbury David Smith at the site of the Bunbury Cathedral with the WYD Cross. On the road: Neocatechumenal Fr Manoel Borges carries the Cross to St Thomas the Apostle Church, Claremont with City Beach and Claremont parishioners.

Claremont

Claremont

Respectful: City Beach parisioners, along with Sister Joseph from North Beach, also part of the group, venerate the WYD Cross at St Thomas the Apostle Church in Claremont.

Balcatta

Moving: Balcatta had a procession in the streets, (above) an outdoor Mass and veneration of the Cross and Icon. PHOTOS: JASON MARTINO

Claremont

Upright: City Beach and Claremont parishioners hold the Cross up before it is venerated at St Thomas Church.

ne y of th e Journey the C RO S S CROSS & I C

World Youth Day Cross and Icon- Bateman

Parish

■ By Cheryl Lopez

THERE was an air of excited anticipation in Bateman on Sunday 8th of June. Parishioners flocked to St Thomas More Church to be part of a major Parish event – the arrival of the long awaited World Youth Day Cross and Icon.

In the church courtyard, children took part in special craft activities and families were able to get ’up close and personal’ to the Cross and Icon. Family photo sessions in the casual outdoor setting will ensure wonderful memories to share in the future.

As Mass time drew near people

moved inside from the courtyard.

The church was filled to capacity as the procession began. The level of excitement rose as the cheerful, vibrant sounds of the Youth Music Ministry filled the church. Parish youth, resplendent in their red Tshirts reverently carried the Cross and Icon to the front of the church. As the concelebrated mass began parishioners could take in the full, colourful vista; a sea of red, the white vestments of the priests, deacon and servers and in the art work above, the wide arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House sails, a smiling Pope Benedict XVI waved at us all.

After mass, WYD Parish Pilgrims presented a dramatic reflection that they will perform in Sydney. Then the more solemn part of the celebration began; the veneration of the Cross and Icon. Quiet, reflective

Crossing a rugged country Kimberley-style

A SPECIAL heavy-duty trailer has been made to carry some precious cargo across the rugged terrain of the Kimberley.

Due to the rough remote roads of the Kimberley, the Diocese of Broome has had to put together a four-wheel drive vehicle and a heavy-duty trailer to carry the World Youth Day Cross and Icon which began its long Kimberley journey on June 17.

Faced with the challenge of producing a specialised vehicle for the

job, Bishop Christopher Saunders turned to diocesan staff member Trevor Parnell, a multi-skilled and rather determined man.

Within a few weeks the unique trailer was put together and the bishop’s four-wheel drive was polished and suitably signed for the event.

“We have always had to improvise up here,” Bishop Saunders said.

“It’s part of the culture of remote living in the great Australian outdoors and we wanted to make sure as many people as possible see the Cross and Icon, no matter where they live.”

The trailer cover can be removed

Bateman

music allowed the church take on a prayerful atmosphere as people lined up to spend a few moments in personal veneration of these two symbols which have travelled so far and represent so much to people all over the world.

People came and went throughout the evening of veneration with many joining in the multi language Rosaries.

As the evening drew to a close, so did Bateman’s small part in the journey to Sydney of the Cross and Icon. For the 130 Bateman pilgrims on their way to Sydney it was a taste of things to come, for others anticipating our part in the Days in the Diocese it gave a link to young Catholics world wide, and for others it gave a feeling of quiet confidence that the future of the church is in the good, faithful hands of the young people of our parish.

and the Cross can be carried upright into town as the vehicle moves slowly along. A speciallypadded cradle nurses the Cross box protecting both the Cross and its container.

By the time it has finished the Cross and Icon will have covered over two and a half thousand kilometres through the diocese, from La-Grange/Bidyadanga to Beagle Bay to Lombardina/Djardindjin, back to Broome; to Halls Creek to St Mary’s Church in Balgo; to Mulan to Billiluna to Warmun then finally Wyndham and Kununurra, before finally finishing its journey on June 27.

Enter the king: Bateman’s World Youth Day group carries the WYD Cross into St Thomas More Church before the Mass.

Heavy: Bateman’s youth lift the World Youth Day Cross into position at St Thomas More Church.

Bateman

Still: Youth attend to the WYD Cross during Mass at St Thomas More Church, Bateman.

Bateman

Look at us: Parishioners pose with the WYD Cross and Icon.

Bateman

Eager: Mary MacKillop Primary School children carry the Cross.

Ballajura

Public witness: The Cross and Icon visit Ballajura City shopping Centre.

Ballajura

Colourful: Procession through streets.

Ballajura

Broome

CBC Fremantle

CBC Fremantle

Army procession: CBC Fremantle students publicly witness their faith by processing through Fremantle with the WYD Cross and Icon on the first day of events. Hundreds turned out for the celebrations.

Chisholm Catholic College

Centre of attention: Chisholm Catholic College students lead their peers in readings and prayers during the Cross and Icon visit.

Proud young men: CBC Fremantle students pose with the WYD Cross at Monument Hill.

CBC Fremantle

Cultural: A smoking ceremony as part of Welcome to Country was performed by indigenous elder Marie Taylor for the Josephites’ celebrations.

Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, South Perth

Many hands: Children carry the Cross.

John XXIII College

Kolbe Catholic College/Rockingham parish

Nocturnal: Kolbe students and Rockingham parishioners with the Cross at Rockingham Beach.

Interest: Aboriginal youth venerate the Cross at its arrival at Perth Airport.

Perth airport

Stations of the Cross, Swan River Foreshore

Mazenod College, Lesmurdie

Jour ne y of th e Journey the C R CR

Stations of the Cross, Swan River Foreshore

Harvey

WYD cross and Icon visit Harvey

THERE was a buzz of excitement in the air at Our Lady of Immigrants in Harvey when the parish officially welcomed the arrival of the World Youth Day Cross and Icon.

On Tuesday May 27 Diocesan Bishop Gerard Holohan joined more than 200 people including members of the Harvey parish, surrounding parishes, students from local and neighbouring schools and the community at large for a special celebration to welcome the WYD symbols.

The day began with the arrival of the cross and icon at St Anne’s Primary School grounds.

Students formed a guard of honour for the cross and icon as they were carried in a special procession around the school grounds and into the church for the Liturgy and Stations of the Cross.

Harvey parish priest Fr Joseph Angelo coordinated the special Mass which involved the students and parishioners. A youth band sang songs throughout

the Mass and students from St Anne’s took part in the Stations of the Cross.

Students and parishioners from Harvey, Mandurah, Bunbury, Waroona, Pinjarra and Brunswick schools and communities also assisted with the liturgy.

Ambassador for the WYD cross and icon journey Fr Chris Ryan also spoke about the meaning of the cross and the history of WYD.

The day concluded with afternoon tea at the school’s Mercy Hall as the cross and icon made its way to Bunbury for further celebrations.

“The arrival of the WYD cross and icon was a very exciting and memorable one for the Harvey parish and all those in attendance,” said Fr Angelo.

St Anne’s school principal Phillip Rossiter also commented on the significance of the day.

“It was a unique chance for the students to see and touch and important icon of the Catholic Church and connect their faith to reality,” he said.

Lumen Christi College

Stations of the

Mercy College, Koondoola

Young faith: Students hold the WA Cross and Icon banner.

Involved: Local students carry the Cross in Harvey.

Re-enacting: Trinity College and Mercedes College students re-enacted the first three Stations of the Cross on the Swan River Foreshore, starting at 7am.

On the water: Morley-Leederville youth representatives re Perth.

Public: The Cross is carried just before the fifth and sixth Stations of the Cross were re-enacted on Perth foreshore.

Eventful: Bishop Holohan venerates the WYD Icon.

RO S S ROSS & I C ON ICON

WYD 2008 Cross, and Our Lady’s Icon pass through the Goldfields

■ By Harry Argus

ON Wednesday June 4 the Cross and Icon of Our Lady arrived in Kalgoorlie from Esperance by vehicle at 11am, under the escort of 12 young, caring men and women who are representatives of the WYD 2008 from Sydney, Perth, Bunbury and Kalgoorlie.

So began10 hours of veneration at selected locations in the regional city for the faithful of the Goldfields.

St Mary’s Church in Kalgoorlie was the first location where the World Youth Day Cross and Icon were venerated, which included a beautiful concelebrated Mass by Frs Joseph Rathnaraj Fernando, Nelson Po and Chris Ryan MGL, the latter travelling with the symbols around the country.

Fr Joseph gave the homily, and students from the two Catholic primary schools read the Scriptures and the Prayers of the Faithful.

After the Mass, a special combined school celebration was then held in the Kalgoorlie Basketball Stadium, where students from St Mary’s and Joseph’s Primary Schools, plus John Paul Senior College, attended to venerate the Cross and Icon.

During the celebration, the students read from the Scriptures, and sang some of the songs.

The John Paul College Brass Band gave a beautiful rendition of the WYD Theme Song, “Receive the Power,” by

Guy Sebastian; and a moving Liturgical Dance was also performed to the same song by students from St Mary’s School.

The homily was given by Fr Chris Ryan.

From the Basketball Stadium, the Cross and Icon travelled to the Hall of the Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged, where the two holy items were once again venerated by the elderly and frail.

Late in the afternoon, the Cross was carried down Hannan Street and was venerated for about an hour by shoppers in St Barbara Square.

The Square is a large paved area in central Kalgoorlie, and named after the patron saint of miners.

After sunset the Cross and Icon then travelled to the famous gold mine in Kalgoorlie and was venerated beside the “Golden Mile Super Pit;” where the Rosary was recited by the faithful in the crisp night air, while the Southern Cross stars could be seen looking down from above.

From 7pm the Cross and Icon were venerated in All Hallows Church in Boulder, where prayers, hymns and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament became part of the prepared liturgy.

The evening finished off with a beautiful supper at All Hallows Church Parish Centre.

The Cross and Icon were well received in the Goldfields by the faithful, and many blessings flowed in the parish from its visit.

Fr Ryan presented a homily on a theme of the Cross being like a treasure of gold that you look for.

Early on the following morning, the Cross and Icon travelled to Southern Cross on its return to Perth.

Kalgoorlie

Cross, Swan River Foreshore

e-created the ninth Stations of the Cross at the Coode Street Jetty in South

Stations of the Cross, Swan River Foreshore

Leading the youth: Archbishop Barry Hickey and students carry the WYD Cross at Mercedes College, just before the procession moved past the site of St Mary’s Cathedral in Perth CBD.

Big feast: Local schools combine to celebrate the arrival of the WYD Cross and Icon.

PHOTO: HARRY ARGUS

Grand moment: Fr Chris Ryan MGL during the Bunbury-Perth handover ceremony with the Esperance youth who drove up for the event at St Mary’s Church, Kalgoorlie.

PHOTO: HARRY ARGUS

Jour ne y of th e Journey the C RO S S CROSS & I C

ABOUT 400 people attended the Northam event, with students from St Joseph’s School, Bindoon Agricultural School and Sacred Heart Goomalling, plus many members of the parish community. The celebrations included a procession through the streets of Northam, with a brief stop in the town centre to share the meaning of the WYD Cross and Icon. The event concluded with veneration of the WYD Cross and Icon in St Joseph’s Church.

The St Joseph’s School and Parish have sponsored Verity Bray, Amanda Howlett, Edith Osborne and Xuan Nguyen to attend WYD in Sydney, under the supervision of Mrs Caroline Parnham (Head of Secondary) and Ms Fiona Tabone (Religious Education Coordinator).

Lockridge

Lockridge Lockridge

The St Joseph’s School and parish community hosted the WYD Cross and Icon on June 6.

Northam

Mass: Fr Vinh Dong celebrates Mass with a packed-out church for the visit of the WYD Cross and Icon.

Come to Me: Hundreds gather for veneration at Good Shepherd Church after Mass.

Down we go: Parishioners take the Cross down before Mass so the Eucharistic celebration could take centre stage.

Margaret River

Margaret River

Margaret River

Help from high places: St Thomas More Catholic primary school students carry the Cross to the church. Bishop Gerard Holohan walks with them.

Prayerful: Cross and Icon in St Thomas More Church Margaret River.

Loving it: St Thomas More Catholic primary school students enjoy participating in the Cross and Icon festivities during the symbols’ visit to the region.

Northbridge - Queen of Peace Youth Group

Neocatechumenal Way

Neocatechumenal Way

Notre Dame University Fremantle

Journey of the Cross and Icon

ON the May 21, staff and students from the University of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle Campus participated in hosting the World Youth Day (WYD) Cross and Icon as part of the lead up to WYD in Sydney from July 15-20.

The Mayor of Fremantle, Peter Tagliaferri, welcomed staff and students from local Catholic primary and secondary schools as well as family, friends and local community members who had gathered in the Town Square to watch the handover of the Cross and Icon from students from Christian Brothers’ College (CBC) to students from Notre Dame.

University Chaplain Fr Greg Watson OMI said: “The visit of the World Youth Day Cross and Icon to Notre Dame’s Fremantle Campus offers us an opportunity to approach our faith in new ways.

“It offers us an opportunity to ask old questions in new ways and to seek answers that speak to our students and staff in our day”.

After the handover, the Notre Dame community proceeded down High Street, into Mouat Street where the Cross and Icon were placed in the student common room. Also on display was a photo exhibition presenting ideas of the cross as seen through the eyes of students from the University and local high schools.

Congratulations to everyone who was involved in this exhibition as it was a great success and a fantastic expression of what the cross means to different people.

Air shot: University of Notre Dame Australia staff, students and community members process along High Street in Fremantle. PHOTO: UNDA

Perth YCS/YCW/Youth Impact, Forrest Chase

Perth YCS/YCW/Youth Impact, Forrest Chase Prendiville College

Public witness: The Cross is venerated in the public square in Perth CBD.

Look-in: A student venerates the Cross.

High spirits: Frank Colangelo with Sister Maria in Perth City.

Ukrainian Catholics @ Swan River Stations of Cross

Ukrainian Catholic Community Thornlie

Happy: Actors who performed the last Station of the Cross at Swan River foreshore from the Ukrainian Catholic community with the Icon.

Young faith: An infant venerates the Icon at Forrest Lakes Shopping Centre Scenic: The Ukrainian Catholic community with the Cross at G.O. Edwards Park, Burswood.

Jour ne y of th e Journey the C RO S S CROSS & I C O

Toodyay

■ By Caroline Smith

FOR parishioners at St Luke’s, Woodvale, the arrival of the WYD Cross and Icon on May 24 provided an inspiring focus for the journey to World Youth Day.

The holy symbols were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of about 200 people, including past and present parishioners, members of St Anthony’s church in Wanneroo, and the Little Sisters of the Poor, Edgewater.

Following Reconciliation, Mass was concelebrated by parish priest Fr Trevor Simons and Father Chris Ryan, who has been accompanying the WYD Cross and Icon on their journey around Australia.

Father Trevor felt that hearing about the worldwide journey of the items was of particular importance.

‘I was personally very touched by Father Chris Ryan’s comments about them having been to Ground Zero,’ he said. After Mass, people had the opportunity to venerate the Cross and Icon, before taking part in the walk to Pinnaroo Memorial Garden, to hand over the WYD Cross & Icon to Our Lady of the Mission parish, Whitford.

About 60 people took part in the procession, taking turns to carry the items, while rain threatened overhead. Suzi Martins, the co-ordinator of the event, said that receiving the WYD Cross and Icon was an unexpected honour for St Luke’s.

‘We found out about it at the beginning of this year,’ she said. ‘We were surprised and very excited to be given this opportunity.’

The parish has rallied around the seven young pilgrims going to Sydney, taking part in raffles for fund-raising. ‘Everyone has been really supportive,’ says Justine Smith, one of the WYD team.

Seeing and venerating the Cross and Icon helped to focus the group on their way to Sydney, reminding them of their connection to other young people around the world.‘I can’t wait to get there,’ said Ms Smith. ‘We have so many people to share our experience with.’

THE excitement in the lead-up to World Youth Day was palpable for Whitford Parish pilgrims when they received the Cross and Icon on Saturday afternoon from their Woodvale neighbours at Pinaroo Memorial Park.

The weather forecast promised heavy showers, and as the Cross and Icon were carried along its path, supported by the shoulders of eager parishioners, the clouds collected overhead and looked as if they were ready to release their rain and spoil the event.

About 500 people collected at the Pinaroo lake, and gave the Cross and Icon a rousing welcome. A Nyoongar elder also expressed joy at having the symbols of Christ’s love visit the land of her people, and welcomed the Cross and Icon’s presence by placing a sprig of a native flower in the frame of the icon of Our Lady.

After a gospel reading, prayers of the faithful and blessing, Whitford parish received the symbols and began their journey back to the church amidst the sounds of songs, flashes of coloured flags, and many prayers for the

clouds to keep the rain back for a little while longer, and if there was any sceptic to the power of prayer present that day, they would have surely thought twice as the Cross made its way along the path remaining dry.

The local police could not believe the turnout, and in the end re routed the procession through a back street to avoid disruption to the traffic on Whitfords Avenue.

Upon arrival at the church, streamers were sent into the air to celebrate the joyous occasion, which had been eight months in the planning. What was not planned was the blackout that ensued when the floating metallic filaments draped themselves across the power lines and caused a short-circuit.

But the night still proceeded, aided by hundreds of candles, torches, and glowsticks that aptly read “Christ is the light”.

Many parishioners joined the events which were planned around the Cross and Icon, participating en masse in Rosary and especially the adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction led by Fr Bosco.

Toodyay

Whitford

Woodvale

WYD Cross & Icon visit to St Lukes Woodvale

Energised: Friar Gabriel, of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, leads the Cross and Icon through the streets of Toodyay.

Lone warriors: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate carry the World Youth Day Cross out of St John the Baptist Church in Toodyay, led by Perth WYD coordinator Anita Parker.

Right: Handover ceremony from Woodvale parish to Whitford parish at Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park, where hundreds gathered to farewell and welcome the WYD Cross and Icon. PHOTOS: NEVILLE WRIGHT

Nice shirts: Woodvale’s World Youth Day group with the WYD Cross and Icon. They were commissioned by Fr Chris Ryan MGL during the event at St Luke’s Church to go to WYD and be inspired. Fr Ryan travels throughout Australia with the WYD Cross and Icon.