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I Say, I Say with MARK REIDY
Love’s lesson
from the heart of a
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Once reviled, forever glorified, Catholics celebrate the
Hope of the world
A child sits on a man’s shoulders while holding a candle as they join in an Easter sunrise procession outside a church in Manila, Philippines.
PHOTO: CNS/CHERYL RAVELO
No right way to do wrong thing: Watson By Giles Tuffin FORMER brothel madam and prostitute outreach director Linda Watson has slammed proposed legislation to legalise brothels in restricted areas, calling for the installation of surveillance cameras to name and shame clients. The Prostitution Bill, which is currently being negotiated between the government and key independents, would allow registered brothels, sex workers and brothel owners to legally operate in some non-residential areas. Ms Watson, who made repeated attempts to break out of the sex
industry over twenty years, operates a women’s shelter to help former prostitutes regain control of their lives. Offering aid through Linda’s House of Hope has made her an enemy of madams and brothel owners and she has been repeatedly threatened, and her shelter shot at and fire bombed. She claims registering brothels will simply lead to corruption of enforcement agencies, and an increase in hotel-based prostitution run by organised crime. “Legalising prostitution is legalising the abuse of women and it will indeed further exploit women
and children in the sex trade,” Ms Watson said. Legalising prostitution would
Legalising prostitution is legalising the abuse of women and will lead to further exploitation of women and children. normalise sex work to unsuspecting women and children, leading them into a “violent industry” already affecting, she estimated, around
ten thousand women in Western Australia. “Politicians think they’re helping. In fact, they’re harming innocent, unsuspecting children who enter a trap. It’s a lion’s den they’re entering,” she said. Ms Watson questioned how the government was proposing to legalise an “unsafe workplace”, seeing an estimated 15 men per shift. She questioned how the government could credibly monitor their physical and mental health. She also had concerns about how many licences would be issued for brothels, noting that, with the legislation as it currently stands, the
number of licences would simply increase with demand. The controversial laws, which are designed to curb brothel growth in suburban areas, come at a time when use of prostitution services are on the rise due to the rapid increase of fly-in, fly out workers in recent years. The solution wasn’t to legalise brothels, Ms Watson said, but to use the “Swedish model” of making the purchasing of sex an illegal act, and re-educating men who use prostitutes by sending them to “John school”. John schools encourage men to see prostitution continued page 4
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April 25, 2012, The Record
LOCAL ROUND-UP Benefit goes both ways for Catholic volunteers
Self-made Joseph students not the only ones to profit
Life a right for the tiniest of tots
PALMS Australia, major overseas service agency of the Australian Catholic Church, assists many overseas communities and will be holding an information session for volunteers in Perth on May 17. Volunteers will exchange skills and knowledge with people of another culture and so empower communities, fostering sustainable development. In return, volunteers will be enriched through their own immersion in another culture, and will return to share new understanding with their own communities. Contact Sarah Torcasio on 9518 9551 or sarah@palms.org.au for further information.
The Right to Life Association will hold Life Week 2012 from Monday, May 7 to Sunday, May 13 which is Mother’s Day. The growth of a baby to ten weeks in the womb will be highlighted, with special emphasis on the baby’s feet. Volunteers are sought to hand out a special message and casts of ten week old feet in a variety of locations. Go to www.righttolifewa.com.au or email righttolifewa@westnet.com.au for more information.
La Salle students show charitable acumen
The New Norcia Institute for Benedictine Studies will be launched at 2pm on Sunday, May 6, 2012 with a guest speaker and panel conversation. The Institute offers an environment conducive to prayer, study and reflection. It aims to encourage participants at all stages of life to reflect on their journey of faith with the pastoral support of rich traditions in prayer, discernment and discipleship, whether as lay people, professed religious, academics or in ordained ministry. Guest speaker will be Dr Michael Casey ocso, a monk of Tarrawarra Abbey in Victoria. He is a world-renowned scholar of monastic spirituality and retreat master, holding a degree in Scripture from Leuven and a doctorate from the Melbourne College of Divinity. The monastery has just finished hosting a retreat - “Work in Christian Life” given by Carmel Ross. For further information on upcoming events, go to www.newnorcia.wa.edu.au.
ALL Year 7-12 students in the St Joseph Education Support Centre at La Salle College run a card and sewing enterprise and are involved in all aspects of the business including design, production, sales, orders, stocktake and finances. Each year, profit is donated to a charity chosen by the Centre. This year, principal Wayne Bull presented a cheque to Brian Tierney, Director of The Shopfront, and Mrs Vicki Battistessa who were then treated to morning tea catered and served by Centre students.
Immigration expert to grace our shores CONVERSATIONS On Tap at The University of Notre Dame, 32 Mouat
More than hospitality in the offing
Young entrepreneurs from La Salle College serve their goods. The students study at the College’s St Joseph Education Centre, learning all aspects of business with monies going to charity. PHOTO: SUPPLIED St, Fremantle will hold Dying to Live: A theology of migration with Fr Daniel Groody, CSC, PhD on Monday, May 7, 2012 commencing 6pm. Fr Groody is a Holy Cross religious, scholar, teacher, and award winning author and film producer. Currently an Associate Professor of Theology and Director of the Centre for Latino Spirituality and Culture at the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame, he has worked with US Congress, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops,
World Council of Churches and the Vatican on issues of theology, globalisation and immigration. Bookings are essential and can be made on 9433 0840 or fremantle. events@nd.edu.au.
Mercy to Vietnam MercyCare, a not-for-profit Catholic provider of hospital, health, aged care, family and community services in Perth, has reached out to Vietnam following a request
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French by birth, Domitian became the bishop of Maastricht, in the Netherlands, and had a prominent role at the synod of Orleans, France, which refuted heretical errors. He evangelized in the Meuse River area of Europe’s Low Countries, converting people and founding churches and hospitals. He prophesied a plentiful harvest to spur almsgiving, and one legend has him slaying a dragon that had poisoned the water supply of Huy, Belgium. His relics are still venerated in a church there, and he is remembered in a procession to a local spring.
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Catholic clarity for complex times CATHOLIC families and those searching for truth need resources to help them negotiate the complexities of modern life, many of which are also active challenges to the desire of parents to lead their children to an encounter with the beauty of the Church. At The Record’s bookshop you can find great books for the family at good prices. Turn to Page 20 for some brilliant deals NOW!!
Sunday 29th - White 4TH SUNDAY OF EASTER 1st Reading: Acts 4:8-12 Testimony from Peter Responsorial Ps 117:1, 8-9, Psalm 21-23, 26, 28-29 Love without end 2nd Reading: 1 Jn 3:1-2 God’s children Gospel Reading: Jn 10:11-18 The good shepherd
Responsorial Psalm: Gospel Reading:
Monday 30th - White ST PIUS V, POPE (0) 1st Reading: Acts 11:1-18 Peter responds to criticism Responsorial Ps 41: 2-3; 42: 3-4 Psalm: Thirsting for God Gospel Reading: Jn 10:1-10 Life to the full
Thursday 3rd - Red SS PHILIP AND JAMES, APOSTLES (FEAST) 1st Reading: 1 Cor 15:1-8 A reminder of the gospel Responsorial Ps 18:2-5 Psalms: The glory of God Gospel Reading: Jn 14:6-14 I am in the Father
Tuesday 1st - White ST JOSEPH THE WORKER (0) 1st Reading: Acts 11:19-26 Barnabas, a good man Responsorial Ps 86:1-7 Psalm: Rock of refuge Gospel Reading: Jn 10:22-30 The Father and Jesus are one
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from The University of Notre Dame. MercyCare’s supply manager, Terry Anderson, oversaw donations to support a nursing trip, saying: “We like to help where we can because there are other medical facilities around the world that simply don’t have access to the basic supplies and equipment that can make a big difference in healthcare”. Donations of surplus hospital beds have also been sent to Tanzania and general medical supplies including surgical gloves and IV sets.
Wednesday 2nd - White ST ATHANASIUS, BISHOP, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH (M) 1st Reading: Acts 12:24-13:5 Prophets, teachers
Ps 66:2-3,5-6,8 May God bless us! Jn 12:44-50 Jesus comes to save the world
Friday 4th - White 1st Reading: Acts13:26-33 The promise fulfilled Responsorial Ps 2:6-11 Psalm: Serve the Lord Gospel Reading: Jn 14:1-6 I am the way Saturday 5th - White 1st Reading: Acts 13: 44-25 The word of the Lord spreads Responsorial Ps 97:1-4 Psalm: Ring out your joy Gospel Reading: Jn 14:7-14 Let us see the Father
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April 25, 2012, The Record
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Melbourne’s heart for transparency By Sarah Motherwell MELB OURNE’S C at h o l i c Archbishop Denis Hart has welcomed the Victorian Government’s decision to launch a parliamentary inquiry into how religious and nonreligious organisations have handled allegations of child sex abuse. Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu announced the inquiry on April 17 after a confidential report by the Victorian police was leaked on April 13 detailing the suicides of 40 alleged victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. Archbishop Hart released a statement following the leaking of the
report saying he was deeply saddened to read of the suicides in the media, and that serious issues had emerged that needed exploring. A spokesperson for the Melbourne Archdiocese said: “The only information the Archdiocese of Melbourne has about such suicides is what has happened in the media. We don’t have access to any information that links suicides with sexual abuse.” Leaders of other religious institutions have also thrown their support behind the inquiry including Anglican Archbishop Philip Freier and Uniting Church moderator Isabel Thomas Dobson.
The Victorian inquiry will investigate the effectiveness of the process known as the “Melbourne Response”. The process was intro-
We have nothing to hide from such an independent inquiry ... it will confirm this duced in 1996 to provide an alternative avenue of resolution for victims who did not want to, or could not
go to the police with complaints. Archbishop Hart said it was his oft-stated preference that allegations be investigated and dealt with by police. Since the process’ establishment by independent commissioner Peter O’Callaghan QC, 320 out of 330 claims of abuse, most of which took place before the 1970s, have been upheld. Mr Baillieu’s announcement of the inquiry comes after the release of the Cummins’ report, Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry in January this year, followed by increased pressure for a state-based inquiry. Recommendation 48 of the report,
written by former Supreme Court judge Philip Cummins, calls for a formal investigation into the process by which religious organisations respond to the criminal abuse of children by their own personnel. Archbishop Hart said in a statement he was convinced such an inquiry would “clear the air around this painful and distressing issue” and rejected any allegations of a cover-up. “I have every confidence that this will be confirmed by the inquiry,” he wrote on theage.com. au on April 20, “and that it will be found the Archdiocese has dealt with this very difficult issue fairly, reasonably and appropriately”.
Our ancient patrimony: not cats, not dogs - fish By Sarah Motherwell SINCE he was 15 years old, priest of the Immaculate Conception parish in East Fremantle, Fr Stephen Astill, has pursued his passion of collecting fish - he has even brought one to Mass. “Fish are one of the earliest Christian symbols. Not cats, not dogs - fish,” he said. The 59-year-old Jesuit priest currently collects different varieties of tropical and goldfish but prides himself on his two Siamese fighting fish. The freshwater fighting fish, one blue and one pink, are kept in separate tanks because, as their name implies, they will attack each other if there is a conflict over territory. Last year, on the fourth Sunday of Advent, the colour of which is rose, Fr Astill brought his pink Siamese fighting fish to Mass and placed it up onto the altar. He said parishioners asked why he had a bowl of water on the altar but were thrilled to see the fish when they got a closer look. Fr Astill has plans to increase his collection to include saltwater fish because he said they are the most spectacular in God’s creation. Send us your parish pet story at parishes@therecord.com.au
Immaculate Conception Parish, East Fremantle priest, Fr Stephen Astill and his nameless, fine-finned friend.
PHOTO: SARAH MOTHERWELL
Maranatha Centre for adult faith forMation Maranatha is offering courses at Newman Sienna Centre 33 Williamstown Rd, DOUBLEVIEW Commencement Date: Tuesday 3rd May 2012
Term 2 Daytime Courses Timetable - 8 weeks: $50.00, 6 weeks: $40.00
Tuesday (8th May – 26th Jun) (8 Weeks) 9.30am-12pm Discovering the Link between Psychology & Spirituality with Sr Jacqueline Jones sja (Alternate Venue: LJ Goody Bioethics Centre) 1pm – 3.30pm Three Giants of the Early Christian Church – Origen, Augustine, Maximus with John Auer Thursday (3rd May – 7th Jun) (6 Weeks) 9.30am -12pm Engaging the Universe – Story1 with Sr Shelley Barlow rndm Thursday (10th May – 28th June) (8 Weeks) 1pm - 3.30pm The Trinity for Non- Theologians with Dr Michelle Jones
Term 2 Evening Courses Timetable - 6 weeks cost $35.00
Mondays: (7th May – 18th Jun) 7pm - 9pm The Spiritual Journey of Thomas Merton Part II with Mr John Auer To Register or for more information, contact the Maranatha office Ph : (08) 9241 5221, Fax :(08) 9241 5225 Email: maranatha@ceo.wa.edu.au Or check our website: www.maranathacentre.org.au All units will be presented at Newman Siena Centre unless an alternate venue is indicated. Alternate Maranatha venue for this term LJ Goody Bioethics Centre 39 Jugan St MOUNT HAWTHORN WA 6016
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April 25, 2012, The Record
Presidential plaudits for SJOG nursing ST JOHN of God Health Care’s work in East Timor has received dual endorsements, being praised in a comprehensive review of its Dili-based Nursing Development Program and receiving recognition from outgoing president, Dr José Ramos Horta. Having initiated a Pathology Development Program with the Timorese Ministry of Health in 2004, St John of God Health Care expanded its commitment in Timor-Leste by establishing a Nursing Development Program in 2010. A review of the first year of the Nursing Development Program, conducted by development expert Dr Elizabeth Reid AO, recognised the program as having “achieved significant outcomes in a challenging context”. The review praised the competency and commitment of nurses employed in the program: “The Program is appreciated by the Timorese at all levels and has earned strong support from them for its continuation ... and measured expansion,” Dr Reid stated. “Few capacity building efforts in Timor-Leste create such a sense of pride in achievement, of self-esteem and engagement, particularly during their establishment phase. The Nursing Development Program has achieved this,” Dr Reid added. St John of God Health Care was approached by the Timorese Ministry of Health to develop nursing in 2008. SJOG committed to funding the program over five years through its Social Outreach and Advocacy Services, focusing on areas of high mortality and high morbidity. An initial team of nurses was deployed in June 2010 to work closely with Timorese nurses and staff at Dili’s national hospital – Hospital Nacional Guido Valadares to provide training, mentoring and
Children play in the streets of Dili, East Timor, in 2007.
support. Dr Reid’s report highlights the deployment of nurses on permanent two-year contracts (rather than fly-in, fly-out arrangements), effective learning of local languages and a genuine partnership, engendering trust with the Timorese, as clear success factors. Anthea Ramos, Group Manager for International Health, said: “The
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Regional Engagement Coordinator, WA & NT (Full-time, Perth-based) Caritas Australia, the aid and development agency of the Catholic Church, is currently seeking a fulltime Regional Engagement Coordinator to take forward its work in the Archdiocese of Perth and to support our regional Diocesan Directors in the Dioceses of WA/NT. Working in Perth, as part of a national decentralised team, the Regional Engagement Coordinator manages a staff member and also serves as the Diocesan Director for the Archdiocese of Perth. If you are energetic, friendly, organised, have a passion for social justice with a desire to work for the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable people in our world, this may be the role for you. This diverse and exciting role is responsible for: • Enhancing the profile of Caritas Australia and raising awareness of global justice and development issues • Maintaining, building and supporting a network of active volunteers and partners who can assist Caritas Australia to carry out its Diocesan engagement and fundraising programs • Inviting and offering Australian Catholics opportunities to actively participate in the life of the Church through supporting Caritas’s mission by prayer, giving, action or volunteering A strong understanding of, and empathy with, the ethos of the Catholic Church is essential. Experience in managing staff and volunteers will be highly regarded. To view the full Position Description and to apply for this position, visit www.caritas.org.au/jobs and send your application to jobs@caritas.org.au by 5pm 11 May 2012. Applications must specify residency or work visa status, include a Curriculum Vitae and a cover letter which addresses the Selection Criteria indicated in the referred Position Description. If you require additional information about this most rewarding role, please call Patricia Ryan, Regional Engagement Coordinator QLD/ Diocesan Director on 0418 182 302. The successful candidate will need to undergo a Working with Children and a National Criminal History Record Check.
report produced by Dr Elizabeth Reid is a glowing endorsement of our nurses’ outstanding qualities. “They have shown great resilience, flexibility and passion in a challenging environment and a willingness to remove themselves from a relatively comfortable living in Australia.” Caregivers received certificates
PHOTO: CNS
of appreciation from outgoing president and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr José Ramos Horta at Dili’s Presidential offices. St John of God also conducts a national Pathology Development Program and a primary health care partnership with the Bakhita Community Medical Clinic in the Ermera District.
No right way to do wrong thing: Linda Watson cont. from page 1 as an abuse of women and help those addicted to using prostitutes overcome dependence by coming face-to-face with former sex workers. Ms Watson also advocates surveillance cameras or a semi-permanent police presence at brothels to identify and publicly shame men. “Men who use brothels are as ashamed as the women working there,” she claimed. “They know they’re abusing women, and they’re also abusing themselves.” While Premier Colin Barnett is allowing a conscience vote for Coalition members, Opposition Leader Mark McGowan is opposed to the laws and is enforcing a vote along party lines. The government is attempting to secure the votes of independent MPs Adele Carles and Janet Woollard as well as Liberal MPs Graham Jacobs and Peter Abetz. Ms Carles has previously expressed support for the Swedish model. Her amendments include increased penalties for brothel owners who use children, and the establishment of a $5 million fund to support women’s shelters and exiting prostitutes. Dr Woollard, Mr Abetz and Mr Jacobs have been reported as saying that a sunset clause was nonnegotiable, and are also demanding a cap on brothel numbers. Ms Watson claimed the government should “forget the proposed legislation”, saying there was “nowhere in the world (where) legalised prostitution worked”. “There is no right way to do the right thing,” Ms Watson said.
April 25, 2012, The Record
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WORLD
Exodus of an unwanted kind BEIRUT (CNS) - Pope Benedict XVI will visit Lebanon on September 14-16, Maronite Catholic Patriarch Bechara Rai announced during Easter Mass at the patriarchal seat in Bkerke, Lebanon. Patriarch Rai said on April 8 that the Pope will meet with the country’s religious and civil officials, including President Michel Sleiman, a Maronite Catholic during an open-air Mass in Beirut on September 16. In a statement, Sleiman said the Pope’s visit would affirm the depth of the “historical relations that tie Lebanon with the (Vatican) and will form an occasion to focus on Lebanon’s position, message and role as a witness of freedom and coexistence.” It marks the Pope’s second visit to the Middle East; in May 2009 he visited Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. The announcement comes amid increased concern over the plight of Christians across the Middle East, emigrating in increasing numbers. Of Lebanon’s population of nearly 4 million, approximately 33 per cent are Christian, considered a high estimate. Half a century ago, Christians represented about half the population. In Iraq, a Christian exodus since the American-led invasion in 2003 has reduced the Iraqi Christian population by two-thirds.
In an interview with Vatican Radio broadcast on April 9, Archbishop Paul Sayah, vicar general of the Maronite Patriarchate, said the Pope’s visit would “inject a new dynamism,” not only in the Lebanese society and Christians, but in the whole region. Noting that the Christian pres-
ence in Lebanon has a “significant impact” on the country, Archbishop Sayah said the visit would “incite the Lebanese once again to play the role they are expected to play in this part of the world.” The Archbishop said the apostolic exhortation would offer “a special message not only to Lebanon but
also, and especially, to the countries of the region” where the outcome of the “so-called ‘Arab Spring’” is still “not yet clear.” The Pope’s message, he said, will be especially important for the “tragic situation” in Syria, “which I am sure the Holy Father will address in one way or another.”
Vatican cites US nuns for doctrinal issues VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Citing “serious doctrinal problems which affect many in consecrated life,” the Vatican announced a major reform of an association of women’s religious congregations in the US to ensure their fidelity to Catholic teaching in areas including abortion, euthanasia, women’s ordination and homosexuality. Archbishop J Peter Sartain of Seattle will provide “review, guidance and approval, where necessary, of the work” of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Vatican announced on April 18. The Archbishop will be assisted by , and draw on the advice of fellow bishops, women religious and other experts. The LCWR, a Maryland-based umbrella group that claims about 1,500 leaders of US women’s communities as members, represents about 80 per cent of the country’s 57,000 women religious. The announcement from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith came in an eight-page “doctrinal assessment,” based on an investigation that Bishop Blair began on behalf of the Vatican in April 2008. That investigation led the doctrinal congregation to conclude, in January 2011, that “the current doctrinal and pastoral situation of LCWR is grave and a matter of serious concern, also given the influence the LCWR exercises on religious congregation in other parts of the world.” Life ethics were core to their concerns.
Child’s Bible - ‘God Speaks to His Children’ The Catholic Church’s most successful Child’s Bible ever! Feed a Child with the Word of God
Worldwide, the Church is under attack Beautifully illustrated by Spanish nun, from atheistic regimes, militant Islam, Miren Sorne, this delightful Child’s bible is sects and basic ignorance of the Faith. available for a donation of $7.00. The international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is able to counter these attacks by supplying Child’s Bibles to children and families who simply cannot afford them, in countries where the Church is poor or persecuted. Since its launch in 1979, ACN has printed and distributed 48 million copies of God Speaks to His Children in 167 languages. It is the Catholic Church’s most successful Child’s bible ever!
Bolivia
Rosary from the Holy Land
Simple in design and yet profound in its symbolic significance, the olivewood rosary, handmade in Bethlehem by Christian families struggling for survival, are also available for a donation of $7.00. All proceeds will go towards the work of Aid to the Church in Need for the poor and persecuted Church worldwide.
This inspiring book can also teach the Faith here in Australia: with your family, godchildren, or in your parish or school. The Child’s Bible is a perfect gift for children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces, especially to mark a First Holy Communion. The Bible complements the catechism and children’s rosary booklet also published by ACN and available via our website.
BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED THROUGHOUT 48 Bible stories from the Old and New Testaments Available for a donation of $7.00 A lovely gift idea!
Record WA
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April 25, 2012, The Record
Looking with the eyes of the
Magdalene Goodness stood utterly defeated, malice having seemingly won. But those who have witnessed the Resurrection, after following Christ and experiencing faith’s lowest ebbs, will never be in any doubt again, writes Pope Benedict XVI.
By Pope Benedict XVI Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and throughout the world. Christ, my hope, has risen. May the jubilant voice of the Church reach all of you with the words which the ancient hymn puts on the lips of Mary Magdalene, the first to encounter the risen Jesus on Easter morning. She ran to the other disciples and breathlessly announced: “I have seen the Lord.” (Jn 20:18) ... Every Christian relives the experience of Mary Magdalene. It involves an encounter which changes our lives: the encounter with a unique Man who lets us experience all God’s goodness and truth, who frees us from evil not in a superficial and fleeting way, but sets us free radically, heals us completely and restores our dignity. This is why Mary Magdalene calls Jesus “my hope”: he was the one who allowed her to be reborn, who gave her a new future, a life of goodness and freedom from evil. “Christ my hope” means that all my yearnings for goodness find in him a real possibility of fulfilment: with him I can hope for a life that is good, full and eternal, for God himself has drawn near to us, even sharing our humanity. But Mary Magdalene, like the other disciples, was to see Jesus rejected by the leaders of the people, arrested, scourged, condemned to death and crucified. It must have been unbearable to see Goodness in person subjected to human malice, truth derided by falsehood, mercy abused by vengeance. With Jesus’ death, the hope of all those who had put their trust in him seemed doomed. But that faith never completely failed: especially in the heart of the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ Mother, its flame burned even in the dark of night. In this world, hope can not avoid confronting the harshness of evil. It is not thwarted by the wall of death alone, but even more by the barbs of envy and pride, falsehood and violence. Jesus passed through this mortal mesh in order to open a path to the kingdom of life. For a moment Jesus seemed vanquished: darkness had invaded the land, the silence of God was complete, hope a seemingly empty word.
And lo, on the dawn of the day after the Sabbath, the tomb is found empty. Jesus then shows himself to Mary Magdalene, to the other women, to his disciples. Faith is born anew, more alive and strong than ever, now invincible since it is based on a decisive experience: “Death with life contended: combat strangely ended. Life’s own champion, slain, now lives to reign”. The signs of the resurrection testify to the victory of life over death, love over hatred, mercy over vengeance: “The tomb the living did enclose, I saw Christ’s glory as he rose. The angels there attesting, shroud with grave-clothes resting”. Dear brothers and sisters. If Jesus is risen, then – and only then – has something truly new happened, something that changes the state of humanity and the world. Then he, Jesus, is someone in whom we can put absolute trust; we can put our trust not only in his message but in Jesus himself, for the Risen One does not belong to the past, but is present today, alive. Christ is hope and comfort in a particular way for those Christian communities suffering most for their faith on account of discrimination and persecution. And he is present as a force of hope through his Church, which is close to all human situations of suffering and injustice. May the risen Christ grant hope to the Middle East and enable all the ethnic, cultural and religious groups in that region to work
Darkness had invaded the land, the silence of God was complete, hope a seemingly empty word. together to advance the common good and respect for human rights. Particularly in Syria, may there be an end to bloodshed and an immediate commitment to the path of respect, dialogue and reconciliation, as called for by the international community. May the many refugees from that country who are in need of humanitarian assistance find the acceptance and solidarity capable of relieving their dreadful sufferings. May the paschal vic-
Archbishop Salvador Pineiro of Ayacucho in Peru, above, participates in an Easter procession and Anglican Archbishop Michael Jackson and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin , below, lead a Good Friday procession in Dublin PHOTOS: CNS
tory encourage the Iraqi people to spare no effort in pursuing the path of stability and development. In the Holy Land, may Israelis and Palestinians courageously take up anew the peace process. May the Lord, the victor over evil and death, sustain the Christian communities of the African continent; may he grant them hope in facing their difficulties, and make them peacemakers and agents of development in the societies to which they belong. May the risen Jesus comfort the suffering populations of the Horn of Africa and favour their reconciliation; may he help the Great Lakes Region, Sudan and South Sudan, and grant their inhabitants the power of forgiveness. In Mali, now experiencing delicate political developments, may the glorious Christ grant peace and stability. To Nigeria, which in recent times has experienced savage terrorist attacks, may the joy of Easter grant the strength needed to take up anew the building of a society which is peaceful and respectful of the religious freedom of its citizens. Happy Easter to all.
April 25, 2012, The Record
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Golgotha still stands outside city of the world Visiting the reputed site of Christ’s death is concrete in more ways than one.
Top, Christian pilgrims touch the Stone of Unction, which commemorates the anointing of Jesus before his burial inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Above, a man dressed as guard participates in a Good Friday procession in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos. PHOTOS: CNS
Clockwise from above: J R Galvez, 30, portraying Christ, carries a wooden cross while he is whipped by a man portraying a Roman soldier during a procession on Holy Thursday in Manila. A woman and girl take part in a procession through the streets of Ayacucho, Peru, during Holy Week celebrations. An Iraqi Christian boy living in Jordan prays during a service at a Chaldean Catholic church in Amman. PHOTOS: CNS
JERUSALEM (CNS) - It can be a daunting task to find a quiet moment of contemplation at any of Jerusalem’s holy sites, but it is especially so at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Easter. But at the Stone of Unction, which commemorates the anointing of Jesus before burial, some faithful find the noise from other visitors fades away. The smell of rose water with which the stone is periodically bathed permeates the immediate vicinity. Teame Tesfamichael, 24, a Catholic refugee from Eritrea, was oblivious to the flashing of camera lights and the jostling of other pilgrims who had come to touch the stone. At one corner of the stone he slowly knelt, bending from the waist down to place his forehead reverently on the stone. His lips moved in silent prayer as his hands clasped the stone’s edge. He kissed the stone, then again placed his forehead against it. He did this several times. And as others came and went, snapping their pictures and placing their souvenirs on the rock, Tesfamichael remained in prayer. “I have no words to express what it means for me to pray here,” he said after he finished praying. “More than anything, I feel the one who died here for me. I feel humble to be here ... I am so simple,” he said softly. Several years ago, Tesfamichael fled Eritrea, crossing the Sahara Desert to Libya. There, he tried unsuccessfully to reach Europe before crossing back to Egypt and finally reaching Israel via the Sinai Desert. He has lived in Jerusalem for three years and said he comes to this spot often to give himself strength. “I never thought I would be here in Jerusalem, but God gave me this,” Tesfamichael said. “When I come here I get my mind relaxed when things are difficult. He died for me and I want to cry here like one of his disciples.” A contemplative Catholic nun from Belgium who lives in a Jerusalem cloistered community said she comes to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre once a year to be “closer physically to the mystery which happened here.” “It is to touch my faith,” said the nun, who asked not to be identified, as she gazed on the Stone of Unction. “It is not only a spiritual thing but also a physical thing, and I imagine myself one of the people there,” she said. “For me this is the mystery. Christ was laid down here and it is his humanity. Every year
my faith is renewed with new details.” Though this rectangular slab of stone has been smoothed by centuries of prayer and devotion, the actual stone itself dates only to 1810, said Dominican Father Jerome MurphyO’Connor, a New Testament scholar at the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem. He said the tradition of the stone first appeared in the 12th century. Esperanza Qumsieh, 38, is able to visit the church and the stone twice a year, at Easter and Christmas. As a Palestinian Christian from Bethlehem, West Bank, she receives an Israeli travel permit to cross into Jerusalem via the checkpoint 15 minutes away. She knelt by the stone and, bending her head, she closed her eyes and prayed. Next to her a tour guide marched in with his group of pilgrims, and some Russian women with their hair covered by kerchiefs
I have no words to express what it means to me to pray here. More than anything I feel the one who died here for me. jostled to get a place next to the stone. A Russian mother and her two young children knelt and placed their foreheads to the stone. The mother urged the children to place their crucifixes on the stone and took them out of their packing when the children failed to do so. Deep in prayer, Shizuko Pieta Hanson, 64, knelt before the stone, head bent and eyes closed. She prayed for her sisters who are stuck in poverty and for God to help her to be selfless and better serve others, she said later. Originally from Japan and now a member of the Holy Spirit Parish in Annandale, Virginia, Hanson said she converted to Catholicism a decade ago. With tears in her eyes, she said she was grateful to God for bringing her to this spot. “He took all of our sins and, with that, he gave us all a second chance. It is love,” Ms Hanson said. “As I go home I will pray and meditate quietly on the experience. I will take strength from this. Faith is not something of the past; the belief is here and now and we have to act on it, so that is what I am praying for.”
THE RECORD
Candle to bee or not to bee
In the revised text of the Easter Proclamation (Exsultet) it is sung or said: “... accept this Easter candle, a solemn offering, the work of bees and of your servants’ hands …” and, in regard to the flame, “… for it is fed by melting wax, drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious”. At their Easter
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While studies show the wisdom of getting married and staying married, people are denying their innate desire for marriage and family and despair in finding a partner for life.
FATHER DAVID WATT ST PHILOMENA’S CHAPEL, MALAGA
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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AS our society becomes more concerned about violence and crime in general, it becomes less concerned about the collapse of marriage and the random abuse of sexuality. These conflicting views are surprising because stable families and committed fathers are society’s best defence against crime and violence, random sexuality, and many other ills. This is not an opinion. It is a fact. Back in 1725, after an exhaustive study of ancient history, Giambattista Vico concluded that marriage between a man and a woman is an essential characteristic of civilisation. Without strong social norms to encourage a man to direct his sexual attentions to a single woman and thereafter care for their mutual offspring, chaos ensued. In the early 1930s, British anthropologist Joseph Daniel Unwin set out to prove that marriage was an irrelevant and even harmful cultural institution. In his 1935 book Sex and Culture, he chronicled the decline of 86 different cultures and said: “the evidence was such as to demand a complete revision of my personal philosophy.” In 1993, when there was alarm about a crime wave in Perth, Dr Alan Tapper of Edith Cowan University published the facts and figures to support his statement: “family breakdown in the form of divorce and separation is the main cause of the crime wave”. A long-term study of thousands of British children, from birth to age 32, revealed that even when unmarried fathers remained in the household, their children suffered all the disadvantages of the children of divorce. The WA Telethon Institute for Child Health Research studied the mental health of teenagers in WA and concluded that living at home with both their married parents produced the best mental health outcomes. These are but a few of thousands of studies which consistently reveal the wisdom for individuals, families, and society of getting married and staying married. There have been no studies producing empirical evidence in favour of divorce or cohabitation. The long-term historical studies show that once a society broadly abandons the practice of fidelity in marriage and chastity before marriage, it has about three generations left before its culture goes into serious decline. We began this process in the early 1960s. Beginning at an early age, nearly all people have an innate desire to find a life partner and establish a family. Humans have a natural capacity to recognise that marriage is the best and safest place for adults and by far the best environment for raising children. While children have their own relationships with each parent and with their siblings, they have those relationships within the unity of their parents’ love for PO Box 3075 one another. This shelter extends Adelaide Terrace to grandparents, uncles, aunts, PERTH WA 6832 and cousins from both sides of the family, leading to society at office@therecord.com.au large and eventually to the capacTel: (08) 9220 5900 ity to choose their own spouse Fax: (08) 9325 4580 and build their own family. This is not an idyllic vision, nor is it the reality for everyone even in a strong society, but it has been the foundation on which this country was built and for the success of humanity. Our rejection of this understanding of human nature coincided with the introduction of the contraceptive pill. When men and women accept the notion that it is wise to drug women every day in order to avoid life itself, there are bound to be consequences. Within a generation we were killing 10,000 babies a year in their mothers’ wombs (KEMH figure provided to an MP in 1998) and parliament did not have the strength to do anything but legalise it. The conscious and subconscious meaning of these things is that sex means everything and life means very little. In the 1960s, major changes in films, television, magazines, newspapers and advertising led inevitably to what is now commonly regarded as a sexually obsessed culture. In the 1970s came ‘no-fault’ divorce, the meaning of which was quickly distorted to the assumption that betraying one’s lifelong pledge to a spouse involved no fault. Finally, the Health Department from 1980s onwards and the State Education Department from 2000 onwards began to teach children from primary school up that since they were going to be sexually active it was necessary that they learn to use condoms. The result of all these factors, including the unresisting or downright encouraging attitudes of adults (sexual ‘sleepovers’ for high school students, for example), meant for a very large number of young people the betrayal of their innate desire for marriage and family, and despair that they would ever find a person with whom they could share a life of intimacy and fidelity. The result, as history had foreshadowed, was a great deal of anger, aggression and crime, compounded by alcohol and drugs. There is no easy answer to this, but all of us need to do whatever we can to refocus our society on the truth about human love, human sexuality and the wonder of life.
The Record kindly published a simplified version of an article I wrote 10 years ago concerning our obsession with modern means of communication, whence the reference to my being four years a priest. The Record retained this reference while eliminating the date in the article, which is potentially confusing. Apart from this one point, however, I find the editing to be carried out skilfully. The issue of April 4 in which my article appeared also providentially contained the Easter message from Bishop Saunders, including these words: “We have become slaves to technology. The so-called social media, including Facebook and Divas Chat, together with the ubiquitous texting, have replaced meaningful communication to some extent and driven us in every direction but together”.
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Blind to the causes of social malaise
Clarity over communication error
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editorial
April 25, 2012, The Record
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Letters to the editor Vigil many parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Perth and indeed throughout Australia, instead of a wax candle containing at least a percentage of beeswax, use white plastic PVC tubing with an Easter symbol pasted on the front into which will be inserted an oil container with a wick and filled with oil. It is, surely, in reality an oil lamp rather than a candle. Whilst it can be asserted that the lamp is the work of God’s servants, how can the use of this oil lamp be reconciled with the words of the Proclamation, that it is the work of bees, that its flame is fed by melting wax drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious? Is it that the use of an oil lamp as an Easter candle, although it contradicts the text of our great Easter Proclamation, does not really matter? FR JOHN B FLYNN, SAC PASTOR EMERITUS RIVERTON
Explanation of readings needed
I was disappointed that the question box response to a query about the end times did not use the opportunity to explain how the Church does read the scriptures that speak about the end times. The writer rightly warns against excessive literalism but doesn’t point to any concrete examples. There certainly is a place for literal readings of scripture in Catholicism. Did you know, for instance, that the Church takes Matthew 24 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 literally when it speaks about the Great Apostasy, the great tribulation and the coming of the Antichrist? Our Fundamentalist brethren are guilty of hyper-literalism with Revelation 20:4 where the Church takes the “Millennium” symbolically, referring to where Christ reigns through His Church (ie, now). So if your fundamentalist neighbour asks you what you believe about the end times, you can tell him that you are a posttribulational a-millenialist. At least he’ll know what you’re talking about! GEOFF JONES KALGOORLIE, WA
Do you have anything to say? Send your letters to office@therecord.com.au.
Spirits stand emaciated as communities continue to die What will they see? Guardians of tradition or people who share their love.
A
fter spending time in a refugee camp in Bosnia in 1994 I came to understand the power of love that is generated by the experience of community. While the horrific experiences of pain and loss were unique to each individual, there was a shared recognition and identifying with the needs of one another. Most families had been forced to leave their houses with little warning and arrived with only the few possessions they could carry on their backs. All of them, however, were weighed down by the heavy burden of grief that came with losing all they once knew - including loved ones who had died in the conflict. Coming from numerous villages in central Bosnia, they gathered together in a railway yard, still within hearing distance of frontline bombing, and made homes in abandoned train carriages that had been left there. A community was born within those dilapidated railway cars, symbolically and literally linked together by a shared sense of loss and an unknown future. Here I witnessed a group of struggling individuals bond together to build a support network for one another and, as external assistance began to filter in, resources were pooled and divided equally. It was an experience that left me with a sense of hope – a belief that the darkest depths of the human condition will never snuff out the light of hope. At the time I did not associate this communal response to the group of faithful believers who gathered each evening to pray, but with the hindsight of spiritual awareness, I now recognise the characteristics of our own Christian heritage that were at work here. Jesus had resurrected the light of
I say I say
By Mark Reidy
God from the darkness of a tomb. This was the light that founded the early Christian communities as they bonded together and prevailed against the onslaught of persecution. There was a communal spiritual awareness; no darkness would ever overcome the light that they had received. It is this sense of community that
The sense of community that seems to be lost can be found in the steep decline in numbers of people who actually attend church. seems to have been lost over time. Surveys and studies are consistently reminding us that over the past fifty years in Australia there has not been a huge drop in those who believe in God or even with those who are willing to associate themselves with a particular denomination, but the steep decline is found in the number of people who actually attend church. Increasingly, it seems, fewer and fewer people are identifying their spirituality on a communal level, preferring to confine it to a personal relationship with God. Catholic writer, Fr Ron Rolheiser, links this phenomenon to a broader social context, “declining church attendance is paralleled every-
where: families and neighbourhoods are dissipating and breaking down as people guard their privacy and individuality more and more.” We are living in a society that is losing its inclination to share with one another and is instead choosing to embrace a culture of self-preservation and, sadly, this is affecting our church communities. It seems, ironically, that we have maintained, or perhaps even increased, our desire for an intimate and personal relationship with God but this has not enhanced our ability to reach out and embrace one another. We have, in essence, dismantled the symbolism of the cross. The cross is made of two adjoining beams, one reaching from earth to heaven – a sign of our primary call to a relationship with our Heavenly Father – but this holds up the horizontal beam which symbolises our call to outreach and embrace one another. We cannot have one without the other. Our churches must be countercultural in a world that is becoming communally averse. As with the first Christians, we must form communities founded on the sacrificial love of Christ that will distinguish us from the world outside. “And all who shared the faith owned everything in common; they sold their goods and possessions and distributed the proceeds amongst themselves according to what each one needed” (Acts 2: 44-45). This does not refer simply to material goods, but rather to the attitude of our hearts. When people look at our church communities, what will they see – a group of individuals guarding and conserving their faith, or a united group bonded together and driven by the desire to share the love they have received with each other?
FUN FAITH
April 25, 2012, The Record
WITH
SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012 • JOHN 10: 11 - 18 • 4TH SUNDAY OF EASTER
JOSEPH, AGED 3 AND ANNA, AGED 8
LILLY, AGED 5
SIOBHAN, AGED 9
WIN!!
SEND YOUR COLOURED IN PICTURE TO THE RECORD AT PO BOX 3075, ADELAIDE TERRACE, PERTH WA 6832 TO BE IN THE RUNNNG TO WIN THIS WEEK’S PRIZE.
CROSSWORD
Across 3) In this gospel reading, Jesus says, “I am the good ____.” 7) Jesus says that he received the command from his ____. Down 1) A hired man works for pay and has no ___ for the sheep.
2) A good shepherd lays down his ____ for his sheep. 4) “I have ____ to lay it down, and power to take it up again.” 5) In this gospel, Jesus says that a hired man sees a ______ coming and leaves the sheep and runs away. 6) This week’s scripture
COLOUR IN COMPETITION WORD LIST CONCERN SHEPHERD POWER WOLF
JOHN FATHER LIFE
reading is from the Gospel according to ____.
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April 25, 2012, The Record
PANORAMA SATURDAY, APRIL 28; SATURDAY, MAY 5 The Bible and The Mass 10.30am-12pm at St Paul’s Parish undercroft, 106 Rookwood St (near Alexander Dr), Mt Lawley. Fr Tim Deeter will again present this 2-part series outlining the biblical rationale for the revised Mass translation, and the biblical foundations for all of our Mass prayers.
NEXT WEEK SUNDAY, APRIL 29 75th Anniversary 10am Mass at St Francis Xavier Church, Quairading followed by lunch. Celebrating the anniversary of the blessing and opening of the parish. Enq: Boyle (08) 9645 1513 or Box 163, Quairading 6383. Reflection Day 10am at Secular Franciscan Order, Redemptorist Monastery, 190 Vincent St, North Perth (enter though main door). Morning tea followed by morning prayer 10.30am. Mass at 2.30pm. Please bring a plate for shared lunch. Enq: Angela 9275 5658. TUESDAY, MAY 1 Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” 7-8pm at St Benedict’s School Hall, Alness St, Applecross. How can we deepen this relationship with Christ? Presented by Norma Woodcock. Everyone is welcome. There will be a collection. View a weekly short video broadcast at www.thefaith.org.au. Accredited - CEO - Faith Formation for ongoing renewal $10 reg. Enq: 94871772 or www. normawoodcock.com.
What’s on around the Archdiocese of Perth, where and when
afternoon concludes with veneration of first class relic of St Faustina Kowalska. Followed by refreshments. Enq: John 9457 7771. Latin Mass 2pm at Good Shepherd Parish, 42 Streich Ave, Kelmscott. Enq: John 9390 6646. SATURDAY, MAY 12 Divine Mercy 2.30pm at St Francis Xavier’s Parish, Windsor St, East Perth. Mass will be offered by the main celebrant Fr Marcellinus Meilak OFM. Divine Mercy prayers followed by veneration of first class relic of St Faustina Kowalska. Followed by refreshments. Enq: John 9457 7771. St Padre Pio Prayer Day 8.30am at St Lawrence Parish, Balcatta. St Padre Pio DVD in parish centre. 10am exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, rosary, Divine Mercy, silent adoration and benediction. 11am holy Mass, St Padre Pio Liturgy. Confession available. 12pm. Bring a plate for shared lunch. Enq: Des 6278 1540. FRIDAY, MAY 18; SUNDAY, MAY 20 Opening the door to your heart 6pm at St John of God Retreat Centre: 47 Gloucester Cr, Shoalwater. A reflective weekend for young professional women seeking the path to the Sacred which will lead us through many doors. Life provides us with lots of challenges that sometimes can close the most important door, the door that forms who we can become. The door opener is Christ. This weekend will assist in taking a closer look at the door of your heart as you grow in intimacy with the door opener. Sunday begins at 1pm. Enq: Sr Ann 0409 6029 27 or Sr Kathy 0418 926 590.
FRIDAY, MAY 4
SUNDAY, MAY 20
Communion of Reparation All Night Vigils Good Friday As Friday, April 6 falls on Good Friday, the Friday/ Saturday vigils at St Gerard Majella Church, Mirrabooka and Corpus Christi Church, Mosman Park will not take place but will recommence on Friday, May 4 as usual.
Latin Mass 2pm at Good Shepherd Parish, 42 Streich Ave, Kelmscott. Enq: John 9390 6646.
Healing Mass There will not be a Healing Mass on Good Friday, April 6 at St Peter’s Parish, Wood St, Inglewood. The next Healing Mass will be on Friday, May 4 and every first Friday following. Pro Life Witness 9.30am at St Brigid’s Midland. Commencing with Holy Mass, followed by Rosary procession and vigil at nearby abortion clinic, led by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. Please join us to pray for an end to abortion and the conversion of hearts. Enq Helen 9402 0349. SATURDAY, MAY 5 Day with Mary 9am-5pm at St Jerome Parish, 36 Troode St, Munster. Day of prayer and instruction based on the Fatima message. 9am video; 10.10am holy Mass; Reconciliation, procession of the Blessed Sacrament, Eucharistic adoration, sermons on Eucharist and on Our Lady, rosaries and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286. Vigil for Life 8.30am at St Augustine’s, Gladstone St, Rivervale. Commencing with holy Mass, followed by Rosary procession and vigil at nearby abortion clinic, led by Fr Paul Carey SSC. Please join us to pray for the conversion of hearts and an end to abortion. Enq Helen 9402 0349.
UPCOMING SUNDAY, MAY 6 2012 Busselton May Rosary Pilgrimage in Honour of Our Lady 12.30pm at Queen of the Holy Rosary Shrine, Bove’s Farm, Roy Rd, Jindong, Busselton. Begins with hymn singing and concelebrated Mass led by Fr Tony at 1pm. Followed by rosary procession, benediction and afternoon tea. Note: Roy Rd runs off Bussell Hwy, approx halfway between Busselton and Margaret River. Enq and bus bookings: Francis 0404 893 877 or 9459 3873. Parish Mission 6pm at St Joseph’s Parish, 20 Hamilton St, Bassendean. Presenting a parish mission entitled To Serve is to Reign by Fr Joseph Aytona, Fathers of Mercy. Five consecutive nights, confession followed by presentation and benediction prayer service. Except the last night on Thursday, 5.30pm confession, 6pm holy Mass followed by closing dinner. Bring a plate and RVSP is needed for dinner. Topics include The Holy Eucharist, God’s Infinite Mercy, The Church: Mother and Teacher, The Universal Call to Holiness and Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Enq: 9379 2691 or stjosephs.bassendean@perthcatholic.org.au. Divine Mercy 1.30pm at St Francis Xavier Parish, 25 Windsor St, East Perth. Celebrating 20 years of Divine Mercy devotions in the Archdiocese of Perth with thanksgiving. Mass will be celebrated by Fr Marcellinus Meilak OFM and Fr Johnson Malayil CRS. The
Two Hearts Fundraising Lunch 12-3pm at Bali Modern Cuisine Restaurant, U4/1163 Albany Hwy, Vic Park. Special guest Fr Ronan Murphy. Door prizes and raffles. Enq and booking: Vicky 0400 282 357or Nick 0428 953 471 or John/Joy 9344 2609. Meditative Prayer in the style of Taize 7-8pm at St Joseph's Convent Chapel, 16 York St, South Perth. Chapel doors open at 6.30pm. Remembering the 21st Anniversary of Sr Irene McCormack’s death in Peru, includes prayer, chants, scripture reading and silence in candlelight. Bring a friend and a torch. Africa Day Inauguration Celebration 9.30am at North Perth Monastery, 199 Vincent St, North Perth. Mass followed by entertainment. Bring a plate to share. Drums are already being warmed, all welcome for music and dance. Enq: Bibiana 0458 945 444 or Rose 0409 688 547 or Patience 0411 667 353. SUNDAY, MAY 27 Taizé Prayer Evening 7-8pm at St Lawrence Parish, Balcatta. Spend an hour listening to simple music (canons), short readings from the scriptures and intercession prayer. Reflect on the mercy of God in silence. Enq: Fr Irek Czech SDS or parish office Tues - Thur, 9am2.30pm 9344 7066. SATURDAY, JUNE 16; SUNDAY, JUNE 17 Books Books Books 10am-4pm at Myaree Parish, Evershed St, Myaree. Pater Noster School/ Parish Hall.
REGULAR EVENTS EVERY SUNDAY Gate of Heaven Catholic Radio Join the Franciscans of the Immaculate from 7.309pm on Radio Fremantle 107.9FM for Catholic radio broadcast of EWTN and our own live shows. Enq: radio@ausmaria.com. Pilgrim Mass - Shrine of the Virgin of the Revelation 2pm at Shrine, 36 Chittering Rd, Bullsbrook. Commencing with rosary followed by benediction. Reconciliation is available before every celebration. Anointing of the sick administered during Mass every second Sunday of the month. Pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin of the Revelation last Sunday of the month. Side entrance to church and shrine open daily between 9am-5pm. Enq Sacri 9447 3292. EVERY FIRST SUNDAY St Mary’s Cathedral Youth Group – Fellowship with Pizza 5pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth. Begins with youth Mass followed by fellowship downstairs in parish centre. Bring a plate to share. Enq: Bradley on youthfromsmc@gmail.com. EVERY SECOND SUNDAY Healing Hour 7-8pm at St Lawrence Parish, Balcatta. Join us for songs of praise and worship, exposition of the
Blessed Sacrament and prayers for the sick. Enq: Fr Irek Czech SDS or parish office Tues - Thur, 9am2.30pm 9344 7066.
Bateman. A beautiful, prayerful, sung devotion. Includes exposition followed by benediction. Enq: George 9310 9493 or 9325 2010 (w).
EVERY THIRD SUNDAY
EVERY THURSDAY
Oblates of St Benedict – Meeting 2pm at St Joseph’s Convent, York St, South Perth. For all interested in studying the Rule of St Benedict and its relevance to the everyday life of today for laypeople: Vespers and afternoon tea afterwards. Enq: Secretary 9457 5758.
Divine Mercy 11am at Ss John and Paul Church, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Pray the rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy and for the consecrated life, especially here in John Paul Parish. Concludes with veneration of the first class relic of St Faustina. Please do come and join us in prayer. Enq: John 9457 7771.
EVERY FOURTH SUNDAY Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood, Religious Life 2-3pm at Infant Jesus Parish, Wellington St, Morley. The hour includes exposition of the blessed Eucharist, silent prayer, scripture and prayers of intercession. Come and pray that those discerning vocations can hear clearly God’s call. Voice of the Voiceless Healing Mass 12pm at St Bridgid’s Parish, 211 Aberdeen St, Northbridge. Bring a plate to share after Mass. Enq: Frank 9296 7591 or 0408 183 325. EVERY SECOND AND FOURTH MONDAY A ministry to the un-churched 12.30-1.30pm at St John’s Pro-Cathedral, Victoria Ave, Perth (opposite Church offices). With charismatic praise, and prayer teams available. Help us ‘reach out to the pagans’ or soak in the praise. Enq: Dan 9398 4973. EVERY LAST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH Filipino Mass 3pm at Notre Dame Church, cnr Daley and Wright Sts, Cloverdale. Please bring a plate to share for socialisation after Mass. Enq: Fr Nelson Po 0410 843 412, Elsa 0404 03 8483. EVERY MONDAY Evening Adoration and Mass 7pm at St Thomas Parish, Claremont, cnr Melville St and College Rd. Eucharistic adoration, reconciliation, evening prayer and benediction, followed by Mass and night prayer at 8pm. Enq: Kim on 9384 0598 or email to claremont@perthcatholic.org.au.
The Life and Mission of St Mary MacKillop 9.30-11.30am at Infant Jesus Parish Centre, cnr Wellington Rd and Smith St, Morley. Cost: $15. Enq: Shelley 9276 8500.
LAST MONDAY OF THE MONTH Be Still in His Presence – Ecumenical Christian Programme 7.30-8.45pm at St Swithun Anglican Church, 195 Lesmurdie St, Lesmurdie (hall behind church). Begins with songs of praise and worship, silent time, lectio divina, small group sharing and a cuppa at the end. Enq: Lynne 9293 3848 or 043 5252 941. EVERY TUESDAY Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal 6pm at Pater Noster Church, Marmion and Evershed Sts, Myaree. Mass at 5.30pm followed by benediction. Enq: John 040 8952 194. EVERY FIRST TUESDAY Short MMP Cenacle for Priests 2pm at Edel Quinn Centre, 36 Windsor St, East Perth. Enq: Fr Watt 9376 1734. Novena to God the Father 7.30pm at St Joachim’s parish hall, Victoria Park. Novena followed by reflection and discussions on forthcoming Sunday gospel. Enq: Jan 9284 1662. EVERY WEDNESDAY Holy Spirit of Freedom Community 7.30pm at The Church of Christ, 111 Stirling St, Perth. We are delighted to welcome everyone to attend our Holy Spirit of Freedom praise meeting. Enq: 042 3907 869 or hsofperth@gmail.com. Bible Study at Cathedral 6.15pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth. Deepen your faith through reading and reflecting on holy Scripture by Fr Jean-Noel. Meeting room beneath Cathedral. Enq: Marie 9223 1372. Holy Hour - Catholic Youth Ministry CYM is back in 2012, followed by $5 supper and fellowship. Mass at 5.30pm and Holy Hour (adoration) at 6.30pm at the Catholic Pastoral Centre, 40A Mary St, Highgate. Enq: www.cym.com or 9422 7912. EVERY FIRST WEDNESDAY Holy Hour Prayer for Priests 7.30-8.30pm at Holy Spirit Parish, 2 Keaney Pl, City Beach. All welcome. Enq: Linda 9341 3079. Novena to St Mary of the Cross MacKillop 7-7.45pm at Blessed Mary MacKillop Parish, cnr Cassowary Dr and Pelican Pde, Ballajura. Begins with Mass, novena prayers and benediction. Followed by healing prayers and anointing of the sick. Enq: Madi 9249 9093 or Gerry 0417 187 240. EVERY SECOND WEDNESDAY Chaplets of Divine Mercy 7.30pm at St Thomas More Parish, Dean Rd,
St Mary’s Cathedral Praise Meeting 7.45pm every Thursday at the Legion of Mary’s Edel Quinn Centre, 36 Windsor St, East Perth. Includes praise, song and healing ministry. Enq: Kay 9382 3668 or fmi@flameministries.org. Group Fifty - Charismatic Renewal Group 7.30pm at the Redemptorist Monastery, 150 Vincent St, North Perth. Includes prayer, praise and Mass. Enq: Elaine 9440 3661. EVERY FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH Prayer in Style of Taizé 7.30-8.30pm at Our Lady of Grace Parish, 3 Kitchener St, North Beach. Includes prayer, song and silence in candlelight – symbol of Christ the light of the world. Taizé info: www.taize.fr. Enq: secretary 9448 4888 or 9448 4457. EVERY FIRST FRIDAY Healing Mass 7pm at St Peter’s Parish, Inglewood. Praise and worship, exposition and Eucharistic adoration, benediction and anointing of the sick followed by holy Mass and fellowship. Celebrants Fr Dat and invited priests. 6.45pm Reconciliation. Enq: Mary Ann 0409 672 304, Prescilla 043 3457 352 and Catherine 043 3923 083. Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life 7pm at Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins St, Glendalough. Mass followed by adoration with Fr Doug Harris. All welcome. Refreshments provided. Healing and Anointing Mass 8.45am Pater Noster Church, Evershed St, Myaree. Begins with reconciliation followed by 9am Mass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, anointing of the sick and prayers to St Peregrine. Enq: Joy 9337 7189. Catholic Faith Renewal Evening 7.30pm at Ss John and Paul Parish, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton –Songs of Praise and Prayer, sharing by a priest followed by thanksgiving Mass and light refreshments after Mass. Enq: Kathy 9295 0913 or Ann 0412 166 164 or catholicfaithrenewal@gmail.com. Communion of Reparation All Night Vigils 7pm-1.30am at Corpus Christi Church, Lochee St, Mosman Park or St. Gerard Majella Church, Cnr Ravenswood Dr/Majella Rd, Westminster (Mirrabooka). The Vigils consist of 2 Masses, Adoration, Benediction, Prayers and Confession in reparation for the outrages committed against the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Enq: Vicky 0400282357 or Fr. Giosue 93492315or John/Joy 93442609 EVERY SECOND FRIDAY OF THE MONTH Discover the spirituality of St Francis of Assisi 12pm at St Brigid’s Catholic Parish Centre. The Secular Franciscans of Midland Fraternity meet for lunch followed by 1-3pm meeting. Enq: Antoinette 9297 2314. EVERY FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH Healing Mass 12.35pm at St Thomas Parish, cnr Melville St and College Rd, Claremont. Spiritual leader Fr Waddell. Enq: Kim 9384 0598, claremont@perthcatholic.org. au. EVERY LAST SATURDAY Novena Devotions – Our Lady Vailankanni of Good Health 5pm at Holy Trinity Parish, 8 Burnett St, Embleton. Followed by Mass at 6pm. Enq: George 9272 1379.
GENERAL Free Divine Mercy Image for Parishes High quality oil painting and glossy print – Divine Mercy Promotions. Images are of very high quality. For any parish willing to accept and place inside the church. Oil paintings - 160 x 90cm and glossy print - 100 x 60cm. Enq: Irene 9417 3267 (w). Sacred Heart Pioneers Is there anyone out there who would like to know more about the Sacred Heart pioneers? If so, please contact Spiritual Director Fr Doug Harris 9444 6131 or John 9457 7771. St Philomena’s Chapel 3/24 Juna Drive, Malaga. Mass of the day: Monday 6.45am. Vigil Masses: Mon-Fri 4.45pm. Enq: Fr David 9376 1734. Mary MacKillop Merchandise Available for sale from the Mary MacKillop Centre. Enq: Sr Maree 041 4683 926 or 08 9334 0933.
Financially Disadvantaged People Requiring Low Care Aged Care Placement The Little Sisters of the Poor community - set in beautiful gardens in the suburb of Glendalough. “Making the elderly happy, that is everything!” St Jeanne Jugan (foundress). Registration and enq: Sr Marie 9443 3155. Resource Centre for Personal Development The Holistic Health Seminar “The Instinct to Heal’’, every Tuesday 3-4.30pm; and RCPD2 “Internalise Principles of Successful Relationships and Use Emotional Intelligence and Communication Skills” every Tuesday 4.30-6.30pm, 197 High St, Fremantle - Tuesdays 3-4.30pm. Enq: Eva 0409 405 585. Bookings are essential. Courses held at The Faith Centre in 2012 450 Hay St, Perth 1. RCPD2 - Internalise Principles of Successful Relationships and Use Emotional Intelligence and Communication Skills This course provides knowledge of principles that, if applied, will improve all relationships. Skills of self-analysis are taught as well as communication skills. Mondays: 5-7pm, until 10 Dec. For enquiries or bookings ph Paul 0402 222 578. 2. RCPD4 – Increase Personal and Spiritual Awareness and Improve Relationships This course promotes self-awareness and spiritual growth. Emotional development is explained in order to improve understanding between persons. Study of Psychology and Theology. Mondays: 10am–12.30pm, until 10 Dec. For enquiries or bookings ph Eva 0409 405 585. 3. Higher Certificate in Biblical Studies The Higher Certificate of Biblical Studies is a distance education programme that can be followed in your own home at your own pace with periodic face-to-face contact workshops. Tutorial assistance is available as required. It is equivalent to a one-year tertiary course, although it is recommended that you aim to complete it in two years. For enquiries and enrolment, ph The Faith Centre on 6140 2420. Is your son or daughter unsure of what to do this year? Suggest a Certificate IV course to discern God’s purpose for their life. They will also learn more about the Catholic faith and develop skills in communication and leadership. Acts 2 College of Mission & Evangelisation (National Code 51452). Enq: Jane 9202 6859. AA Alcoholics Anonymous Is alcohol costing you more than just money? Enq: AA 3253 5666. Saints and Sacred Relics Apostolate Invite SSRA, Perth invites interested parties, parish priests, leaders of religious communities, lay associations, to organise relic visitations to their own parishes, communities, etc. We have available authenticated relics, mostly first-class, of Catholic saints and blesseds including Sts Mary Mackillop, Padre Pio, Anthony of Padua, Therese of Lisieux, Maximilian Kolbe and Simon Stock and Blessed Pope John Paul II. Free of charge and all welcome. Enq: Giovanny 0478 201 092 or ssra-perth@ catholic.org. Aboriginal Scholarships, Year 7, 2013 – Closing April 27, 2012 As a commitment to working with Aboriginal people to enhance life choices and help further career opportunities for Aboriginal youth, La Salle College offers Aboriginal Scholarships each year. This scholarship entitles the recipients to full/ partial tuition. Applications close April 27, 2012. An application form can be downloaded from the college website at www.lasalle.wa.edu.au by viewing Scholarships under Parent Resources. Enrolments, Year 7, 2014 La Salle College is now accepting enrolments for Year 7, 2014. For a prospectus and enrolment form please contact college reception on 9274 6266 or email lasalle@lasalle.wa.edu.au. Pellegrini Books Wanted An order of Sisters in Italy is looking for the following: The Living Pyx of Jesus, Fervourings From Galilee’s Hills, Fervourings From the LoveBroken Heart of Christ, Fervourings From the Lips of the Mast, Listening to the Indwelling Presence, Sheltering the Divine Outcast, Daily Inspection and Cleansing of the Living Temple of God, and Staunch Friends of Jesus, the Lover of Youth. If you are able to help, please contact Justine on 0419 964 624 or justine@waterempire.com. Secondhand Electric Organ Good working condition. Angela Vigolo would like to give it away to a good home; maybe a parish would like it? Enq: Angela 9276 9317.
Panorama Deadline Friday 5pm
April 25, 2012, The Record
Page 11
CLASSIFIEDS Deadline: 11am Monday RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS
MISSION ACTIVITIES
ACCOMMODATION
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 Rd, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.
LEARN HOW TO MAKE ROSARY BEADS for the missions and special rosaries for family and friends. Phone: (02) 6822 1474 or visit our website: OurLadysRosaryMakers.org.au.
HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION Esperance holiday accommodation, three bedroom house, fully furnished. Phone 08 9076 5083.
RICH HARVEST YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP Looking for Bibles, CDs, books, cards, gifts, statues, Baptism/Communion apparel, religious vestments, etc? Visit us at 39 Hulme Ct (off McCoy St), Myaree. Ph 9329 9889 (after 10.30am Mon to Sat). We are here to serve.
BOOK BINDING
KINLAR VESTMENTS www.kinlarvestments.com.au Quality handmade and decorated vestments: albs, stoles, chasubles, altar linen, banners, etc. 12 Favenc Way, Padbury. By appointment only. Ph Vickii on 9402 1318, 0409 114 093 or kinlar.vestments@ gmail.com.
TRADE SERVICES BRENDAN HANDYMAN SERVICES Home, building maintenance, repairs and renovations. NOR. Ph 0427 539 588. PROPERTY MAINTENANCE Your handyperson. No job too small. SOR. Jim 0413 309 821. BRICK RE-POINTING Ph Nigel 9242 2952. PICASSO PAINTING Top service. Ph 0419 915 836, 9345 0557 or fax 9345 0505. PERROTT PAINTING Pty Ltd For all your residential, commercial painting requirements. Ph Tom Perrott 9444 1200. LAWNMOWING AND WEED SPRAYING Garden clean ups and rubbish removal. Get rid of bindii, jojo and other unsightly weeds. Based in Tuart Hill. Enq: 9443 9243 or 0402 326 637.
FURNITURE REMOVAL ALL AREAS. Competitive rates. Mike Murphy Ph 0416 226 434.
POSITION AVAILABLE
NEW BOOK BINDING, general book repairs; rebinding; new ribbons; old leather bindings restored. Tydewi Bindery 0422 968 572.
ELECTRICIAN WANTED Robmar Electrical Service (EC007003). Apply to Rob Mazone 9306 5773 or 0417 957 329.
PILGRIMAGES
SETTLEMENTS ARE YOU BUYING OR SELLING real estate or a business? Why not ask Excel Settlements for a quote for your settlement. We offer reasonable fees, excellent service and no hidden costs. Ring Excel on 9481 4499 for a quote. Check our web site on www.excelsettlements.com.au.
TO OUR LADY OF VELANKANNI, ST FRANCIS XAVIER, ST PHILOMENA, ST MOTHER THERESA OF KOLKATA Tour covers all main cities in India: Chennai, Pondicherry, Velan-kanni, Bangalore, Mysore, Cochin, Goa, Delhi, Thaij Mahal, Kolkata, Darjeeling and more. Contact Charles Donovan 0400 216 257 or F Sam 0426 506 510.
TAX SERVICE QUALITY TAX RETURNS PREPARED by registered tax agent with over 35 years’ experience. Call Tony Marchei on 0412 055 184 for appointment. AXXO Accounting & Management, Unit 20/222 Walter Rd, Morley.
ACCOMMODATION Practising Catholic professional woman 54 years seeking accommodation in/near Fremantle in return for housekeeping/babysitting/other duties. Currently working in childcare so POLICE CLEARANCE, WWCC and references all available. Can’t afford rent but I’m a great cook, come with own sewing machine. I’m a professional family and adultolescence counsellor, love reading books out loud and have a great sense of humour. Pls ring Rebecca after hours 0449 854 144.
OPTION 1: 25 DAYS: PILGRIMAGE TO HOLY LAND, ROME, COLLAVALENZA, DUBLIN (IRELAND FOR EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS), KNOCK AND MEDJUGORJE Departing May 22, from $7,790, includes flight transfers, bed, breakfast, evening meals, guide, taxes. Spiritual Director Fr Ronan Murphy. Leader Yolanda Nardizzi. Tel: 9245 2222, Mob 0413 707 707. OPTION 2: 19 DAYS: PILGRIMAGE TO ROME, COLLAVALENZA, DUBLIN (IRELAND FOR EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS), KNOCK AND MEDJUGORJE. Departing May 29, from $5,990, includes flight transfers, bed, breakfast, evening meals, guide, taxes. Spiritual Director Fr Ronan Murphy. Leader Yolanda Nardizzi. Tel: 9245 2222, Mob 0413 707 707.
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C R O S S W O R D ACROSS 3 Mary, Stella ___ 9 Home of St Teresa 10 Vatican ___ II 11 Grandmother of Timothy 12 Type of knowledge that is a condition for mortal sin 13 Rebekah’s and Isaac’s sons 15 Perfume the altar 16 Chant, as a monk 17 ___ of Cyrene 20 Kind of reverend 22 “Fort” diocese in Indiana 23 ___ and Omega 25 Make a father of 26 Catholic United States Chief Justice Taney 29 David is their patron saint 31 Jesus shared this with his apostles the night before he died 32 “…for whatever a man ___, that he will also reap” (Gal 6:7) 35 Characteristic of God 36 “___ you destroyed our death…” 37 One of two names in a Catholic book publishing company DOWN 1 Vocation 2 Beatific ___ 3 Mary ___ Killop, saintly founder of the Sisters of St Joseph 4 Mass for the dead 5 Australia’s first Catholic prime minister 6 Commit a deadly sin 7 Founder of the Knights of Columbus, Fr Michael J ____ 8 “…the spirit indeed is willing, but the ___ is weak.” (Mk 14:38)
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14 Direction from the Jordan to Bethlehem 15 ___ of Ars, title by which the patron saint of priests is known 18 Liquid used in some sacraments 19 Advent through Ordinary Time 21 Mary Magdalene mistook the Risen Jesus for this (Jn 20:15) 22 See 37A 23 Noah took them into the ark 24 Element of the Sacrament of Reconciliation 27 Mass part 28 The ___ Room, where the disciples experienced the Holy Spirit 30 Ishmael and Isaac, to Abraham 33 A sacrament is an outward ___ 34 “Can any of you by worrying ___ a single moment to your life?” (Mt 6:27)
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R ecord Perth’s faith burning
EASTER 2012
W E S T E R N A U S T R A L I A’ S A WA R D - W I N N I N G C AT H O L I C N E W S P A P E R S I N C E 1 8 7 4
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HOW WE CELEBRATED
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INSIDE
Christ was fully immersed in life The Archbishop’s Good Friday homily Page 6
What you want to believe is true
Hope has no surer foundation than the Risen Christ. Page 7
Stuck in the tomb
What is keeping Perth’s homeless in despair? Page 12
HOW WE CELEBRATED EASTER 2012
Alleluia! He is risen, indeed,
“EVERY Christian relives the experience of Mary Magdalene,” Pope Benedict XVI said in his annual Ubi et Orbi address (‘to the City and the Word’). Every sincere follower of Christ knows what it is to have the bottom fall out. “With Jesus’ death, the hope of all those who had put their trust in him seemed doomed,” the Pope said. Perhaps many of us – certainly me – fall short of the Magdalene’s quiet kernel of hope; of the faith exhibited by the most unassuming of Christ’s followers. “(I)f we, like Paul, can see this death as a sign of wisdom and power, or whether, in our heart of hearts, it is for us, like the Jews and Gentiles of old, a stumbling block, a folly,” Perth Archbishop Timothy
Costelloe SDB told the Good Friday crowd, “a scandal which we can’t really understand and which we therefore make safe by civilising it, by sanitising it, by putting it into the “religion” box. “(It is) to be believed in, yes, to be brought out on Sundays, or whenever we feel particularly “churchy”, but which we won’t allow to enter too deeply into us, in case it might really challenge us, and upset us, and demand of us more than we are willing to give,” the Archbishop said. In some of Christ’s followers, the hope was never truly extinguished, as the Pope said in his message: “Faith never completely failed: especially in the heart of the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ Mother, its flame
burned even in the dark of night.” Christ’s resurrection can deliver us from self-doubt and from fear, the Archbishop told the congregation at the Easter Vigil at St Mary’s
Christ’s victory over death was front-andcentre in celebrations throughout Perth. Cathedral, pre-figuring the Pope’s Ubi et Orbi comments. “(I)n spite of the difficulties, the sadness, sometimes even the despair which marks our lives, we
Pope Benedict XVI and Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB were singing from the same song sheet this Easter as local Catholics celebrated the Risen Lord who unites and gives life to all.
are still, deep down, people of hope. In the secret places of our hearts, we really want to believe that life is stronger than death; that love is stronger than hatred; and that goodness is stronger than evil.” Christ’s victory over death was front-and-centre of celebrations here, as much as it was throughout the rest of the Universal Church. Parishes and schools around Perth went to some lengths to act out the final loving acts of Christ. Fr Thai Vu of Willetton went so far, not only to wash parishioners’ feet on Holy Thursday, but also to kiss them. The thespian efforts of parishioners, young and old, helped others lift their hearts and minds to God as witnessed by images from
celebrations at Good Shepherd Lockridge where young people donned compelling costumes for the Stations of the Cross; Mary in her solemn raiment and young men dressed as Roman Centurions who looked every bit the part. And then on Easter Saturday we awaited the Resurrection of Our Lord, renewing our own fervour while we welcomed catechumens who were graced and enjoined to Christ sacramentally for the very first time. Yes, it’s the same every year and yet, in every which way different. The Risen Christ waits for us, not in the yesteryear, but now. In his message to the Church, every Christian can claim the Holy Father’s opening remark as their own: Christ, my hope, has risen.
HOW WE CELEBRATED EASTER 2012 Willetton l Sts John and Paul
Above, Parish Priest Fr Thai Vu marks the five wounds of Christ on Willetton parish’s Paschal Candle. Clockwise from far left, Fr Vu follows Christ in attending to the feet of parishioners; the parishioners of Willetton await the Resurrection; Fr Anibal Leite dips the Paschal Candle as Fr Vu prays; children and adults are welcomed into Christ’s fold. PHOTOS: HOWARD ONG
THREE adults and two children were received into the Catholic Church at the Parish of Sts John and Paul, Willetton during their Saturday night Easter Vigil. The reception capped a vibrant celebration at the parish with services throughout the Easter Triduum being well attended. Following the example of fraternity set by Christ, Parish Priest Fr Thai Vu and Assistant Priest Fr Anibal Leite gave their utmost when washing the feet of 12 parishioners on Holy Thursday. Later that evening, a large number of parishioners spent quiet time with the Lord at the Altar of
Repose. Good Friday saw a large crowd overflowing to the courtyard outside the church. At the Veneration of the Cross, the acolytes brought out individual crosses to parishioners spread throughout the church compound so that the whole congregation could celebrate and reflect on the immensity of Christ’s sacrifice. On Easter Saturday, the church welcomed its newest members. Following baptism, the three adult members came forward to be anointed through the Sacrament of Confirmation. The design of the baptismal font aided the celebration, said one
parishioner, allowing entrance from one end and exit from the other, symbolising the liberation of the Jews from Egypt and the renouncement of sin. The three adult candidates were the first in the church to receive both Body and Blood during Holy Communion. “The ceremony was a vivid reminder to all present that God is at work in the community, as he continually draws new members to our Church,” one parishioner told The Record. “It was a night for all to savour and remember. The Lord is risen, Alleluia.”
HOW WE CELEBRATED EASTER 2012 Woodvale l St Luke’s
The children of St Luke’s prepare the way for the Lord on Palm Sunday. PHOTOS: ST LUKE’S
Disciples of Jesus l City Beach, Fremantle
Above and left, member of the Disciples of Jesus Covenant Community re-enact the Passion of the Christ at Holy Spirit Parish, City Beach on Good Friday. The following day the community took the Passion to the streets of Fremantle. PHOTOS: DISCIPLES OF JESUS
By Reg Firth IN today’s world, many people shrug off the Easter weekend as just another holiday break. The focus is on sport, shopping, pleasure. For the majority who have embraced secularism there is no thought of entering a church, or giving time to God; no thought of why we have the holiday called Easter. At Fremantle and City Beach, the Disciples of Jesus Covenant Community proclaimed Jesus through dramatic re-enactments of the Stations of the Cross. Shopping centres are busy. In Fremantle on Easter Saturday, it was not only last minute shoppers, but buskers and street performers entertaining the crowds as well. Among all this was a group of 40
Catholics sharing the real message of Easter. Even the most disconnected were drawn into the spectacle. Amongst the shoppers, Jesus was dragged before Pontius Pilate, condemned to death, and then had a huge rugged cross thrust on his shoulders. He was led to Calvary, and crucified. What would have been the reaction of the crowds on that first Easter in Jerusalem 2000 years ago? Some were moved. Others gave the event a casual glance and continued with their shopping. A few even ridiculed. Some of the onlookers approached the actors and shared how the drama had touched them. Some enquired how they could become more connected with God. The Passion drama has been pre-
sented in the streets of Fremantle for the last 17 years by the Disciples of Jesus Community. On Good Friday, the Disciples presented the drama at Holy Spirit School in City Beach. Parish Priest Fr Don Kettle began with prayer and a stirring speech about the Holy Land. A number of TV crews filmed segments in City Beach and Fremantle for their news bulletins over the weekend. The dramas were a powerful witness. Both at City Beach and Fremantle, they made a public declaration about God’s amazing love for everyone - even those who reject him. They brought the Truth, the Light, into the lives of shoppers in Fremantle; a message of forgiveness and hope. The actors touched many lives through their courageous production.
HOW WE CELEBRATED EASTER 2012 Thornlie l Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart Thornlie’s youth, 11 years and younger, preparing for Easter at their weekly Lenten activity session. Older youth (12+) attended a separate group. PHOTOS: SACRED HEART THORNLIE
SACRED Heart in Thornlie has had a healthy number of young people in the parish for many years. Later last year, young people made a request for “more spiritual stuff ” in a special youth parish survey. They certainly got what they asked for this Lent with a newly formed Youth Ministry Committee introducing a new approach to the normal weekly parish Stations of the Cross. Every Friday evening during the six weeks before Easter, while adults went to the regular Stations of the Cross in the Church, we invited their children or young adults to join the Youth Ministry Leaders for their own ‘Lenten Experiences’. The younger children up to 11 years of age would go to activities with Graham Maher and Veronica Carter based on the Sunday Gospels of Lent with appropriate reflection and activities. The young adults from 12 years upwards would join the youth ministry leaders for the Stations of the Cross from World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney. The Passion of Jesus Christ was
Above, Thornlie’s diverse congregation welcomes the risen Lord in song at their Easter Vigil.
writ large throughout the streets of Sydney, culminating at Barangaroo on Sydney’s waterfront where the final events of Christ’s life were played out before hundreds of thousands of onlookers. Thornlie youth would view a few of the stations each week from the official WYD Stations of the Cross
DVD, taking the journey with Jesus. This was followed by reflection and then breaking into small discussion groups. Attendance for both groups was very encouraging, averaging about 30 each group each week. No hitches were reported in the parish’s other Easter services.
procession to the special altar of repose in the parish hall, used for the first time for this purpose since it was recently built. On Good Friday there were 15 Stations of the Cross around the grounds of the church, using the prayers of the late Pope John Paul II’s Passion of the Cross, with the last station ending in the church. The 3pm Passion service on Good Friday was conducted by Fr Dennis, with the homily followed by the Universal Prayers, the Veneration of the Cross, the Communion Service, the collection for the Holy Land and the congregation left the church in silence.
At the Easter Saturday 8pm Mass celebrated by Fr Dennis, a baby, named Cedric Nathan Carino, was immersed naked three times into the font filled with warm water at the front of the church by Father. This was the first time in our parish that a naked baby has been baptised in front of the congregation. The Mass took about three hours with Father singing many of the prayers in full voice, accompanied by a guitarist. At other times the choir sang with the organ or guitar accompanist, led by Carla Klomp. Easter Sunday Masses were at the usual times of 7.30am and 9.30am.
Bentley l Santa Clara By Glynnis Grainger
Santa Clara Parish Priest Fr Dennis Sudla takes up the liturgical yoke at Bentley’s Good Friday celebrations. PHOTO: G GRAINGER
Santa Clara Bentley Parish Priest Fr Dennis Sudla led the Easter Triduum ceremonies this year for the first time since joining the parish in February. At the Holy Thursday Mass the washing of the feet ceremony took a new twist with the inclusion of two women. Two women, parishioners Dominique Bayens and Josephine De Costa, joined 11 men whose feet were washed by Fr Dennis, garbed in a white apron, assisted by his acolytes and altar servers. The Blessed Sacrament was carried in
HOW WE CELEBRATED EASTER 2012
Above and right: Easter Vigil at St Mary’s Cathedral was a night for candle-lit contemplation and the new life of baptism. Left, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe at the Chrism Mass on Tuesday, April 3, preparing the oils for blessing. Bottom left, the Archbishop delivering his homily at the Easter Vigil. PHOTOS: ROBERT HIINI
We are a peo
The suffering and death of Christ on the cross defy being put in the “religion” His Resurrection conquers all difficulties, sadness and fear, confirming our se
Good Friday homily of Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells his audience in Corinth, and also us, that we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called ... a Christ, who is the wisdom of God and the power of God. As we gather together this afternoon to remember the death of the Lord, and to enter into it as fully
as we can, we might ask ourselves if we, like Paul, can see this death as a sign of wisdom and power, or whether, in our heart of hearts, it is for us, like the Jews and Gentiles of old, a stumbling block, a folly, a scandal which we can’t really understand and which we therefore make safe by civilising it, by sanitising it, by putting it into the “religion” box, to be believed in, yes, to be brought out on Sundays, or whenever we feel particularly “churchy”, but which we won’t allow
to enter too deeply into us, in case it might really challenge us, and upset us, and demand of us more than we are willing to give. Hard questions for a beautiful autumn Friday afternoon, but if we don’t ask such questions on Good Friday, when will we ever ask them? So can we see the wisdom in the degrading suffering and death which we recall today? Can we see the power of God in the humiliation and the pain? I suppose the answer might be a ready “yes” if we can manage to somehow skip over the events of this Friday without too much thought and reflection, and concentrate instead on the Sunday, the day of resurrection, the day of death’s defeat: but in a sense, that is too easy. Christians are called to enter as deeply into the death of Jesus as they are the resurrection. It is only through death that resurrection comes, and if we seek too easily to avoid the death, then we run the risk of missing the resurrection too. Where, then, does the wisdom and the power lie? What stands behind this death, that can make it life-giving for us? Paul again gives us an insight when he says, in his letter to the Christians at Philippi, that: Jesus, although he was in the form of God, emptied himself. He humbled himself, and became obedient ... even to death on the cross. Paul is encouraging us here to see that at the heart of everything which Jesus said and did was an approach to God and an approach
to life which led him to death, yes, but which, in and through that death, led him to full life. It was an approach of humility, an attitude of obedience, a readiness to let go and hand all things over to God: a readiness to surrender control. This is the wisdom and the power of Jesus: he was ready to give everything into God’s hands, in trust. This afternoon’s celebration of the Lord’s death is a challenge to us to do the same thing, to seek to build into our daily lives the same attitudes. It was not easy for Jesus: in the garden, after his last supper with his disciples, he prayed, aloud and in silent tears, for God to deliver him from death. He struggled with the call to give everything into God’s hands. But, despite the struggle, he was eventually able to say, “Father, not as I would have it, but as you would have it”. It will be for us, too, a struggle. To let go, to surrender control, to be vulnerable and open and unprotected: these are all things which we find so hard to do. But, united with the Lord, we too can grow to the point where we can say, “Father, not as I would have it, but as you would have it”. When Jesus, as he died, said to his Father, “Into your hands I commit my spirit”, he was not only making the final and inevitable gift of himself to God which death must be for all of us: he was also confirming and sealing the gift of himself which he had made in every moment of his life. He was able to commit himself into God’s hands with trust at the
end, because he had committed himself in trust into God’s hands every day of his life. He had had friends who were dear to him, and with whom and for whom he had even wept, and he had many people who cared for him and attended to his needs, but he could also say, “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”. He had a mother whom he loved, and a family who were concerned for him, but he could also say, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me”. Jesus was fully immersed in life, but he knew that it all came from God and must all be returned to God. He lived and loved fully, but he did not grasp onto or cling to life and love: for him, God was at the heart of everything, and only God was to be clung to with a passion and a determination which would not allow him to let go. If we can look into ourselves, and discover there a deep desire for life and for love, for integrity and wholeness, then we have discovered too a call to follow Jesus in his daily giving of his life to God, in his daily readiness to surrender control, in his daily willingness to let go and allow God to be the main actor in his life. It will lead us to death, yes, just as it led Jesus to death. But for us it will be a death to selfishness, to greed, to bitterness, to sin, and it will be for us a rising to a new and truer life and love. Father, not as we would have it, but as you would have it. Father, into your hands we commit our lives.
HOW WE CELEBRATED EASTER 2012
Left, a catechumen and a catechumen sponsor prepare for the Rite of Confirmation at St Mary’s Cathedral’s Easter Vigil. Above, Perth Mass goers greet their Archbishop, Timothy Costelloe, after Easter Sunday Mass. Right, pastors renew their priesthood at the Chrism Mass. Below right, a cantor leads the congregation in worship at the Easter Vigil. PHOTOS: ROBERT HIINI, CHRIS JAQUES
ople of hope
” box, Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB told St Mary’s Mass goers. ecret hope: Life really is stronger than death. Easter Vigil homily Our celebration tonight is the culmination of a journey ... That journey began to reach its close last Sunday, when we all carried palms and relived the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem, full of the enthusiasm of the crowds who greeted him so excitedly, but with the thought ever present in our minds that, in just a few short days, that same crowd would turn against him, as we ourselves have perhaps so often done. Then, just two nights ago, we remembered the Lord’s Last Supper with his disciples. We recalled his humble gesture of getting on his knees to wash his disciple’s feet; we heard him say to the disciples, and to us, that we are called to wash each other’s feet, and we experienced, as we do every time we celebrate the Eucharist, his great gift of love, the gift of the Eucharist, the gift of his own self, given for us. Yesterday, we mourned with the whole Church as we recalled his last hours and we travelled with him the painful journey to Calvary and his death. Last night and today a sense of sadness but also of expectation has accompanied us as we awaited and prepared for tonight’s celebration. This is the story of every Lent, of every Holy Week. Year after year we gather to remember the same events, to live through them and to try and catch their meaning. Why? Why do we do this year after year? I think the answer must be that in spite of the difficulties, the sadness, sometimes even the despair
which marks our lives, we are still, deep down, people of hope. In the secret places of our hearts, we really want to believe that life is stronger than death; that love is stronger than hatred; and that goodness is stronger than evil. As we look back over recent years we can be overwhelmed by the many tragic events which have taken place in Australia and in the wider world, and perhaps also in our own personal and private lives. As we look at the increasing culture of violence around us, the disregard for human life which seems to be growing stronger in our society, the suffering of so many in the Middle East and other places, and as we wonder just how to respond with justice and with generosity to the many people who, fleeing persecution and misery, want to settle among us, we might be tempted to believe that hate is the stronger force; that violence is the ultimate victor; and that closing down and closing in is the only answer – but year after year we keep coming back to celebrate Easter, because the deepest part of us won’t let us believe that. Where does this hope come from? In the end, it can only spring from the feast we are celebrating tonight. It springs from the fact that, with tonight’s celebration of the Lord’s resurrection, we are being reminded again, through the ancient liturgy of the Church, that the God who has made himself known to us in Jesus, is true to his promises. We can put our trust in him, believe his word, and rely on his strength.
When the disciples were called by Jesus, and started to follow him, they began to experience a new kind of God, different from the one they had been taught to believe in, the God who destroyed enemies, seemed to seek revenge, and who needed to be kept at a safe distance. Gradually the disciples came to sense that the God whom Jesus spoke about might actually be the real God, a God to believe in, a God to love more than a God to be frightened of. This was the God who, through Jesus, healed the sick and the lonely, forgave sinners, took pity on the crowds and fed the hungry. It was the God who, through Jesus, forgave even those who were executing him. This was a God to believe in. This was the kind of God to bring people hope, to bring people alive. With the death of Jesus, all the hopes and dreams of the disciples died too. It must have seemed to them that Jesus had been deceived. How could God have allowed it all to end up like this? Were evil and hatred after all much stronger than goodness and gentleness and love? The dreadful despair of the disciples at the death of Jesus was all the deeper, because of the greatness of their hopes and dreams, which died in their hearts as Jesus died on the cross. But into that despair, in a way that they could never have dreamed possible, Jesus came, risen from the dead, alive again, and in a whole new way. The disciples struggled to believe, as we often do, but they saw and they knew that the dead Jesus was now alive. And with the risen
Jesus, the hopes and dreams of the disciples about the God of love also rise from the ashes of despair. In the resurrection, God is saying to the disciples, “All that you have hoped for, all that you have learnt to dream of, in Jesus, is now a reality for you. I really am as Jesus has revealed me to be.” God is saying the same to us tonight. In the resurrection of Jesus we find the final confirmation that God is as Jesus tells us; that, in coming to know Jesus, we come to know God, who loved us so much that he
came among us so that we could see in Jesus, and touch in Jesus, and love in Jesus, the God whom we otherwise could never have seen, never have touched, and never have truly loved. This is the source of our hope. This is the meaning of Easter. Let us hold fast to Jesus, uniting ourselves with him in this Eucharist tonight. Let us invite him into our lives so that he can fill us with that gift of peace which comes from knowing that, in him, we have found the true face of the living God.
HOW WE CELEBRATED EASTER 2012 Kelmscott l Good Shepherd
The sorrow of Good Friday gave way to the joy of resurrection at Good Shepherd, Kelmscott. Above far left, Parish Priest Fr Andrew Lotton venerates the cross. Above, members of the parish’s Neocatechumenal Way liturgy. Below left, a tradition is born as parish children prepare to break a giant Easter egg. PHOTOS: P ROSENGREN
By Juanita Shepherd KELMSCOTT Good Shepherd parishioner Scott O’Callaghan may have gotten more than he bargained for when he volunteered to take part in an Easter re-enactment. Mr O’Callaghan volunteered to take part in the washing of the disciples’ feet by Jesus with parish priest Fr Andrew Lotton doing the honours. He found himself both clean and enlightened by the experience. “It was very humbling and made me realise how God humbled himself for man,” Mr O’Callaghan said. The re-enactment was part of
the Maundy Thursday service at the parish hall. Fr Lotton celebrated several liturgies and the night Vigil Mass over Easter.
Scott got more than he bargained for when he volunteered this Easter. “Good Friday was a powerful reminder that God gave us his only son so that our sins may be
forgiven,” Fr Andrew said in his homily. Parishioners acted out the Stations of the Cross while Fr Marcello Parr Gonzalez struggled to be heard, reciting the prayers over strong winds. The Easter Vigil on Saturday night was a joyous celebration as the people of Good Shepherd Church, in unison, denounced Satan and welcomed the risen Christ into their hearts with lit candles in their hands. “Easter is a beautiful way to celebrate our Christian faith,” Fr Andrew said. “It is the Resurrection of Christ and Jesus came to take away the sins of the world.”
Maylands l St John the Baptist, Ukrainian Catholic
By Sarah Motherwell
Clockwise from above left: intricately painted pysanky eggs, lovingly created according to long custom; Fr Wolodymyr Kalineck leads Ukrainian Catholics in worship; Father blesses the assembled baskets before proceeding to bless the people.
PHOTOS: L VALEGA
THE parishioners of St John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Maylands are keeping their traditions alive, continuing the customary practice of getting their Easter baskets blessed. Easter baskets are the pride and joy of a Ukrainian Catholic family, with a lot of time and effort spent in preparing them. The contents of the basket are blessed on the Saturday night and Sunday morning of the Pasch by parish priest Fr Wolodymyr Kalineck after the Holy Liturgy and taken home by respective family to be eaten on Sunday. Each basket traditionally contains a paska, Easter ritual bread that can be covered with symbolic signs made of dough such as a cross. But the shining glory of the basket is the “pysanky”, hand painted Easter eggs decorated with bee wax. Traditionally, the custom is passed
on to the women of the family, however, it is also being passed on to sons in some families. The basket itself is lined with a beautiful serviette and decorated with plants and herbs. Parishioners attend church on Friday, decorating a tomb with flowers and a shroud of Jesus. Four men carry the shroud and walk around the church three times, followed by the congregation who sing prayers. After this ceremony, the congregation return inside and the shroud is placed on the tomb. A group of young people stand guard at the tomb while people pay homage to the body of Christ lying inside. On Saturday night the shroud is removed from the tomb by the priest and placed on the altar for 40 days until Ascension. Parishioners walk out of the church to prepare for the Resurrection, singing, “Christ is Risen”.
HOW WE CELEBRATED EASTER 2012 Rockingham l Our Lady of Lourdes
Frs Michael Separovich (Parish Priest, left) and Benny Calanza (above) leading Easter celebrations.
PHOTOS: LEANNE JOYCE
Lockridge l Good Shepherd
Scenes of an emphatically re-enacted Stations of the Cross at Good Shepherd Parish, Lockridge. PHOTO: COURT GOOD SHEPHERD LOCKRIDGE
HOW WE CELEBRATED EASTER 2012 Spearwood l St Jerome's
Above, Somascan postulant Chris De Sousa helps St Jerome's Spearwood Parish Priest Fr Johnson Malayil CRS with the Paschal Candle. Left and below, Fr Johnson is assisted by his brother Somascan priests. PHOTOS: MAT DE SOUSA
City Beach l Holy Spirit
Far left, Parish Priest Fr Don Kettle and servers in Adoration at the parish's Fr Phelan Memorial Chapel. PHOTOS: HOLY SPIRIT CITY BEACH
HOW WE CELEBRATED EASTER 2012 Matthew Gibney Catholic Primary School l High Wycombe
Children from Matthew Gibney in Years 3-6 retold the Easter Story with song, from Palm Sunday through to Easter Sunday. PHOTOS: COURTESY MATTHEW GIBNEY
Ursula Frayne Catholic College l Victoria Park URSULA Frayne Catholic College in Victoria Park has taken the joy of Easter and channelled it into generosity during Lent, uniting its celebrations with action. Proving that anyone can be a philanthropist, students and staff at the college’s Duncan Street campus have excelled over the past six years in their donations to the Project Compassion Appeal, raising more than $52,000 for the global Catholic charity, Caritas. “Over the past few years, we have seen an increasing awareness from our students for those in need and this has been reflected in their wonderful generosity,” Principal John Armstrong said. “The money raised will be used to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate who may not have adequate food, shelter, water
or schools”. This year’s total of $14,367 was raised by donations, sausage sizzle, free dress day, cake stalls and an Easter Egg raffle. Not to be outdone in any way, the primary students on the Balmoral Street campus in East Victoria Park also raised $2,307, giving a grand total from both campuses in 2012 of $16,674. On top of this, students and staff also donated Easter Eggs that were then distributed to women’s refuges, hostels, and to others who don’t always have the luxury of such a treat. With an average of 800 secondary students and 500 primary students over the last few years, said one college staffer: "The sum is a reflection of the generosity of heart that exists within the school community."
Students from Ursula Frayne Catholic College re-enacting the Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrow). PHOTOS: COURTESY URSULA FRAYNE
Australia’s street destitute stuck in the tomb By Mark Reidy THOSE living on the streets of Perth have no difficulty understanding the crucifixion and burial aspects of Easter, but they struggle to identify with the resurrection. As altars across the city were stripped bare on Thursday evening, a dark blanket of gloom was cast over those who are homeless in our city. Many drop-in centres and welfare agencies shut their doors until Tuesday and this meant that access to food, showers and laundry facilities became even more difficult than usual. This sense of isolation, sadly, allowed for a smooth transition into the silence and heaviness of Good Friday. The emptiness that dwelt within them manifested itself in the deserted streets and the echo of their footsteps. Those who have no place to call home, who have addictions or are afflicted with mental illness find it easy to embrace the suffering, anguish and abandonment that Jesus experienced. They are familiar with the darkness of the tomb, but the glory of the risen Christ that is celebrated by Christians across the globe is beyond their comprehension. The only thing resurrected by the thought that families and communities are gathering joyously together on Easter Sunday is their own sense of disconnection and social alienation. Joanne, who spent several years
living on the streets, believes that Easter is the most difficult time of the year for those who are homeless. She says that the sense of loneliness and depression that normally pervades their lives is magnified over the this period. “When you throw boredom into
the mix it becomes a real powderkeg of aggression. Last year was one of the most difficult,” she recalls. “A lady I knew was brutally stabbed to death by her partner, another young man was violently assaulted by a group carrying machetes and I found a friend dead
in the park.” Her shoulders slump as she relives the trauma. “Yeah,” she sighs, “It was a very sad Easter.” A glimmer of light, however, has begun to pierce the darkness of Joanne’s life, as several Christian families have recently welcomed
her into their lives and homes. The fullness and transforming power of the resurrection, however, will only be revealed to people such as Joanne when there are enough hands willing to help roll away the rocks that are imprisoning them within their tombs.
allow our memories of anguish to choke us or set us free” when a one legged man on crutches came up the aisle to the sanctuary. Although the man told Fr Dominic to stop and be quiet, Fr Dominic continued preaching: “Each of us is called to remember Jesus so that we recognise Jesus in the breaking of the bread of our own lives for one another in love,” Fr Dominic said. When Fr Dominic had finished the man said: “May I speak now?
“I heard the bells ringing; I got into my car and came down here. I
blessed him and offered him a seat in the closest pew. A few parishioners got up and sat next to him to show him that he was not alone. When the washing of the feet was to begin, one of the twelve men chosen offered this man to take his place. Thomas Bennetts recounts that as he and Fr Dominic approached him to wash his foot, the man was crying. “You could almost see the hurt in his eyes, and the joy in his eyes
when he found a place that he could get comfort.” During Communion, while most people were praying, the few around him listened to him share his story; that he knew he needed God in his heart to find strength to move on with his life. “I thought you would have chased me away,” he told Fr Dominic before leaving the church that night. “I found love here … I have always wanted to come back to God”.
Christ renders miracle at Northam By Ki Lucy MOST Catholics know Holy Thursday as the day of the Last Supper with Jesus and his chosen twelve, but there’s another story that will also be remembered at St Joseph’s, Northam, for years to come. Father Dominic Savio was giving his sermon, saying how we could “give meaning to our memories of sufferings by allowing them to make us better or bitter; or we can
He walked up the aisle while Father was preaching and told him to stop and be quiet. want to know how I can welcome God into my heart.” Fr Dominic prayed over him,
Queens Park/East Cannington l St Joseph and St Francis
Left to right, the Norbertine Canons of Queens Park/East Cannington lead their congregation in Easter worship. PHOTO: COURTESY NORBERTINES
EASTER for most is busy enough. But the joyous season is perhaps even more involved for the religious, including the Norbertine priests and brothers who administer St Joseph’s, Queens Park/East Cannington. Parishioners packed Palm Sunday celebrations to the brim with Parish Priest and Prior-Adminstrator Fr Peter Joseph Stiglich,
OPraem as the main celebrant and Fr Shaji Puthenpurayil, OPraem, celebrating the Sunday mid-morning Mass at St Francis’ Church. Deacon elect, Bro Christopher J Lim OPraem, preached the word and served at the altar, also distributing Communion. The Sacred Triduum was celebrated by Frs Stiglich, Puthenpurayil, Joshy Arimana, and Deacon Lim beginning at 8pm and followed by a procession to the Priory Chapter Room for Adoration. The community, fellow religious and parishioners all joined in and,
near midnight, Pascal Compline was chanted by all. In the morning, the Norbertine community gathered for the Pascal Lauds at St Francis’ Church, East Cannington. Fr Stiglich led the Stations of the Cross. At 3pm, the Norbertine community gathered to celebrate the Passion of the Lord with around 600 people at St Joseph’s Church. The next morning, the community gathered to chant Pascal Lauds. At 8pm the Easter Vigil began with the Lucenarium - Service of Light - at the front of the church. Deacon
Lim carried the lit Pascal candle and chanted “light and peace in Jesus Christ, our Lord”, raising the candle each time with the people responding, “Thanks be to God”. Hymns, readings and a responsorial psalm followed. By the time of the Gloria, the lights in the church were all lighted. After the homily, Fr Stiglich led the singing of the blessing of the new water at the font after which all present renewed their baptismal promises. Then six selected parishioners bore big glass dishes filled with holy water and everyone blessed themselves.