The Record Newspaper - 28 November 2012 by The Record

Record

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

the

We d n e s d a y, N o v e m b e r 2 8 , 2 0 1 2

the

Parish.

the

N at i o n .

the

World.

$2.00

therecord.com.au

THE RECORD BOOKSHOP’S

CHRISTMAS 2012

CATALOGUE

For the best deals on Christams decorations, gifts and much more get our Christmas 2012 Catalogue FREE inside.

Little parish’s approach puts beauty and transcendence back into Church design

Angels in the architecture

The Romanesque-looking Divine Mercy Church at Maryville Downs near Lower Chittering takes shape and, below, an artist’s impression of the finished structure

WORK has stopped on a new church in the Lower Chittering due to a lack of funds. The unfinished, Romanesque church is located in the rapidly expanding community of Maryville Downs, about 15 km north of Bullsbrook. Construction of the Divine Mercy Church will not recommence until the parish has sourced all of the funds it needs to complete the project. Parish Priest Fr Paul Fox and parish council chairman Maurus Ward are urging Catholics to get behind the project, while thanking those who have made it possible to get it to around 75 per cent completion, to date. Mr Ward told The Record the

cost of materials and labour had risen since the project began and several benefactors had been unable to honour their promises due to the global financial downturn and other unforeseen circumstances.

I am confident we will raise the funds to complete it, but we do need support. However, Fr Fox told The Record, “I am confident that we will raise the funds to complete the church in due course but we do need support.” “It will be a most beautiful

church to serve as a parish church and as a place of pilgrimage.” In addition to its two bell towers, the church will also feature a large steel-framed copper-clad dome. Its external walls have been built using pre-cast reinforced tilt panels, which will be clad with stone work using rocks collected by parish members over several years. Once completed, the Divine Mercy Church will also serve the growing Immaculate Heart College for its whole-of-school masses. A special Mass will be offered each month for the church’s benefactors. Donations can be made to the: Divine Mercy Church Building Fund, PO Box 8, Bullsbrook WA 6084. For more information, call Fr Paul Fox on 0427 085 093.

PHOTO: COURTESY FR PAUL FOX

LOCAL

therecord.com.au November 28, 2012

Parish education great for Rockingham

Round-Up JUANITA SHEPHERD

St Denis plans for a greener parish future St Denis’ parish in Joondanna has set up a greening committee to assist in the redevelopment of their church and parish centre grounds. The committee will publish a weekly list of work required to be completed on the parish and on the St Denis parish website. Parishioners are encouraged to volunteer for jobs, which will be detailed in the notices. The redevelopment is expected to take a number of years to complete with the end date dependent on funding. A gardening maintance strategy will be implemented to provide parishioners with different levels of involvement while also developing a sense of community spirit and working towards a unified goal.

the very first baby to be born at the hospital, was one of hundreds of people to attend a special ceremony at the Pan Pacific hotel that commemorated the hospital. The 75-year-old said her parents named her after the hospital’s original name because they were so impressed with the care they received and she regularly vistied it with her mum in her early years. Perth Governor Malcolm McCusker spoke at the event and told the audience he had been born

Christmas lessons in Claremont St Thomas the Apostle parish in Claremont will be conducting lessons in celebration of the road to Bethlehem advent liturgy, which is based on the traditional English ceremony of nine lessons and carols. The open event will be held on December 6 from 7.30pm to 9.00pm and will include music and contemplation in preperation as well as short readings from the old and new testaments.

Ukraine’s lost souls remembered in film St John the Baptist parish in May l an d s c om m e m or at e d

Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Rockingham showcased the success of its parish education program (PEP) during Mass of Christ the King this month. PEP students partook in readings and presented their workbooks to celebrant Fr Daniel Chopra during the offertory procession. Each student received a PEP graduation certificate on the day. PHOTO: LEANNE JOYCE

Anne Hough was the first person born at St Anne’s hospital in Mount Lawley on July 17, 1937. PHOTO: MERCYCARE

Holodomor last Sunday, a famine which began during peacetime in Ukrainian SSR in 1932. The famine lasted one year and claimed the lives of millions of Ukrainians who died of starvation. Panahyda, a solemn memorial, was held by the Ukranian Catholic community in Perth, after which Holodmor Ukraine’s Genocide, a film by 12-time award winning filmmaker Bobby Leigh was screened. The film was released in March has both English and Ukrainian subtitles. After the film Dr Lesa Melnyczuk, who presented the film to the parish, gave a short talk remembering

at St Anne’s Hospital one year after it opened and joked he has left a poor impression of himself as a messy and loud person, but has since rectified that. Archbishop Timothy Costelloe also spoke at the event and said the hospital had been a great service to the community. Mercy Hospital Mount Lawley first opened in 1937 as St Anne’s Nuring Home and was founded by the Sisters of Mercy. The order handed over control of the hospital to Mercy Care in 2001, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year.

those who perished during the famine (see story next page).

Volunteers needed Shopfront Xmas party St Anne’s celebrates 75 Homeless support centre Shopfront in Maylands is hosting a Christmas years of births part on Saturday, December 8 for their regular clients. The parishioners of Infant Jesus Parish in Morley will assist Shopfront by providing plates of mixed salad. They are seeking more volunteers to wash vegetables and help Shopfront pre-

Andrew Editor Peter Rosengren

editor@therecord.com.au

Accounts Officer Phil Van Reyk

accounts@therecord.com.au

Journalists Mark Reidy m.reidy@therecord.com.au Robert Hiini r.hiini@therecord.com.au Sarah Motherwell s.motherwell@therecord.com.au Juanita Shepherd j.shepherd@therecord.com.au Advertising/Production Mat De Sousa

production@therecord.com.au

Classifieds/Panoramas/Subscriptions Catherine Gallo-Martinez

first century November 30

In the synoptic Gospels, Andrew is a Galilean fisherman grouped with his brother, Peter, and with James and John in the inner circle of apostles; in John’s Gospel, he is the disciple of John the Baptist who is the first to follow Jesus and who brings his brother to the Lord. Many traditions about Andrew come from the apocryphal second-century Acts of Andrew, which depicts him as a zealous missionary in the Black Sea region who is crucified — tied to an x-shaped cross — by the Roman governor. Some early church historians also said he evangelized in Greece and Asia Minor. He is the patron saint of Scotland, Russia, Greece and those who fish for a living.

Take Saints to the waves in Style with a cruise from our extensive selection.

office@therecord.com.au

Record Bookshop Proofreaders Chris Jaques

Sunday 2nd - Violet 1ST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (YEAR C) 1st Reading: Jer 33:14-16 The days are coming Responsorial Ps 24: 4-5, 8-9, 10, 14 Psalm: Walk in your truth 2nd Reading: 1 Th 3:12 - 4:2 Generous in love Gospel Reading: Lk 21: 25-28, 34-36 Stay awake Monday 3rd - White ST FRANCIS XAVIER, PRIEST (M) 1st Reading: Is 2: 1-5 Spears into sickles Responsorial Ps 121: 1-2, 4-5, 6-9 Psalm: Go to God’s house Gospel Reading: Mt 8: 5 -11 Just give the word Tuesday 4th - Violet ST JOHN DAMASCENE, PRIEST, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH (0) 1st Reading: Is 11: 1-10 The root of Jesse Responsorial Ps 71: 1-2, 7-8, 12-13, Psalm: 17 Right judgement Gospel Reading: Lk 10: 21-24 I bless you, Father Wednesday 5th -Violent 1st Reading: Is 25: 6-10 Death to be destroyed Responsorial Ps 22

Bibiana Kwaramba bookshop@therecord.com.au Eugen Mattes

Health care providers Mercy Care celebrated the 75th anniversary of Mercy Hospital Mount Lawley, which was formally St Anne’s Hospital, earlier this month. Guildford resident Anne Hough,

READINGS OF THE WEEK

SAINT OF THE WEEK

Crosiers

pare for the Christmas party. The vegetable preperation is expected to take place the day before the Christmas party. For more information call 9276 8500.

•

CRUISING

•

FLIGHTS

•

TOURS

Psalm: The right path Gospel Reading: Mt 15: 29-37 Jesus feeds the crowds Thursday 6th - Violet ST NICHOLAS, BISHOP (0) 1st Reading: Is 26: 1-6 The everlasting rock Responsorial Ps 117: 1, 8-9, 19-21, Psalms: 25-27 Love ha no end Gospel Reading: Mt 7: 21, 24-27 Acting om Jesus’ words Friday 7th - White ST AMBROSE, BISHOP, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH (M) 1st Reading: Is 29: 17-24 Lowly will rejoice Responsorial Ps 26: 1, 4, 13-14 Psalm: My light and help Gospel Reading: Mt 9: 27-31 Jesus heals blind men Saturday 1st - White THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (SOLEMNITY) 1st Reading: Gen 3: 9-15, 20 Mother of all who live Responsorial Ps 97: 1-4 Psalm: Sing to the Lord 2nd Reading: Eph 1: 3-6, 11-12 Spritual blessings Gospel Reading: Lk 1: 26-38 Highly favoured me

•

Contributors Debbie Warrier Barbara Harris Bernard Toutounji

Mariette Ulrich Fr John Flader Glynnis Grainger

The Record PO Box 3075 Adelaide Terrace PERTH WA 6832 21 Victoria Square, Perth 6000 Tel: (08) 9220 5900 Fax: (08) 9325 4580 Website: www.therecord.com.au The Record is a weekly publication distributed throughout the parishes of the dioceses of Western Australia and by subscription. The Record is printed by Rural Press Printing Mandurah and distributed via Australia Post and CTI Couriers.

divisionof ofInterworld InterworldTravel TravelPty PtyLtd LtdABN Lic No. 9TA796 AA division 21 061 625 027 Lic. No 9TA 796

200 St. George’s Terrace, Perth WA 6000 Tel: 9322 2914 Fax: 9322 2915 michael@flightworld.com.au www.flightworld.com.au

Michael Deering 9322 2914

Catholic clarity for complex times CATHOLIC families and those searching for truth need resources to help them negotiate the complexities of modern life. 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!!

Send your Year of Grace stories to parishes@therecord.com.au

LOCAL

therecord.com.au November 28, 2012

Belief in God is “compatible” with science says Pope By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service BELIEF in God is not only compatible with science, it is ultimately necessary for the preservation of human life on earth, Pope Benedict XVI has said. The pope spoke about “the reasonableness of faith as an encounter with the splendor of God’s truth” during his weekly general audience on November 21. “Faith, truly lived, does not conflict with science, rather it cooperates with it, offering it basic criteria so that it promotes the good

of everyone, asking that it forsake only those efforts that - by going against God’s own plan - can produce effects that backfire against humanity,” he said. He told about six thousand pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall that it was reasonable to believe “our lives are at stake.” He said while science is constantly discovering new truths about man and the cosmos, faith revealed what is truly good for humanity and opened “the horizon toward which (humanity) must direct its journey of discovery”. Pope Benedict XVI said religion

taught science to see human beings as the governors and custodians of creation. “Man stands at the summit of creation not to exploit it foolishly

able ally of faith” since it helps unlock God’s plan hidden in many mysteries of the universe and faith too helps science serve the good and promote “the truth of man” in

“It is critical that humanity open itself up to faith and knowing about God and his plan of salvation.” but to take care of it and render it livable,” he said. “Therefore it is critical that humanity open itself up to faith and knowing about God and his plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.” The pope said science is a “valu-

fidelity to the divine order. The pope dismissed arguments that human reason is hindered by Catholic dogma. “The exact opposite is true,” he said. He said since intelligence and

faith are necessary conditions for understanding the meaning and authentic message of divine revelation and mysteries of the faith are not irrational but represent an “overabundance of meaning, significance and truth”. “If reason sees darkness when looking at mystery, it’s not because mystery has no light, but rather because it has too much,” he said. The Pope noted the day was also the celebration of the Feast of the Presentation of Mary and urged Christians to offer spiritual and material support to cloistered religious communities.

Ukrainian genocide remembered THE UKRAINIAN Church of St John the Baptist in Maylands held a Holodomor memorial service this week to remember the millions of people who died during a peacetime famine in 1932. About eight million Ukrainians died of starvation during the manmade famine in Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. A service was conducted by Fr Wolodymyr Kalinecki to remember the tragedy and was followed by a talk by the president of the Ukrainian Society Dr Lesa Melnyczuk. Dr Melnyczuk is the author of Silent Memories, Traumatic Lives; Ukrainian Migrant Refugees in Western Australia, which tells of the genocide of the Ukrainian people by Soviet Russia under Stalin. It has only been in recent years, since the demise of the Soviet Union that Ukrainian migrants living in WA have been able to speak of their experiences without the fear their relatives back home would be shot or sent to Soviet forced labor camps. The Australian Government officially recognised the Holodomor as an act of genocide in 2003. Dr Melnyczuk’s book is available for purchase at the WA Museum.

Parishioners gathered at St John the Baptist Church in Maylands to remember the millions who died of starvation in the Holodomor.

PHOTO: SUPPLIED

Find The Record and all of it’s unique content online at www.therecord.com.au

LOCAL

therecord.com.au November 28, 2012

School will answer the big questions FATHER David Callaghan knows what it is to speak the truth in new and interesting ways. The Canberra based Missionaries of God’s Love priest will be heading west in January to lecture at the Disciples Summer School (January 6-13) where he will present talks such as ‘Man Up’ and ‘Is my smart phone a brain-eating zombie?’ Fr David will speak directly to the challenges people face today. “It seems that we are so busy trying to keep up with the rapid pace of society that we have lost our ability to judge how these changes affect us,” Fr David said. “Media and technology are becoming the two greatest forces shaping our culture, and are therefore shaping us as human beings. “This has a direct influence on our understanding of what it means to be in relationship with God and with each other.” The Disciples Summer School he attended in Perth when he was 18 had a major effect on his life. “[It] really set me on the path of discerning my vocation,” Fr Callaghan said. “I’ve been involved with many church events over the years and I am yet to find one that is as good as Summer School. “In one week, this event opens people up to the beauty of our faith, a deep encounter with Christ and a powerful experience of the love of God expressed through Catholic community.” Held annually, in four locations across Australia, the week-long retreat is billed as an opportunity “to experience God’s Holy Spirit in new and profound ways”. Various local and interstate speakers, all with formal theological training and/or extensive personal

Young participants discover God and community at the Disciples Summer School in Perth, earlier this year.

experience of faith and Christian community, will deliver the school’s many lectures and seminars. The sessions allow participants to explore different areas of faith, to ask questions fostering spiritual growth, and to discuss numerous

Immaculate Heart College Through Mary to Jesus: “The Way, the Truth and the Life” John 14:6

Immaculate Heart College in Maryville Downs, Lower Chittering, is seeking two suitably qualified Early Childhood teachers for the commencement of 2013.

EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS This is a co-educational independent College that teaches the Catholic Faith. It opened in January 2012 and is enjoying a rapid growth rate, with classes from Kindergarten to Year 4 in 2013, and to Year 6 over the next few years. The successful applicants will be practising and committed Catholics with Early Childhood teaching qualifications. They will join a dynamic, enthusiastic and committed team of educators. For more information, please contact the Principal, Dr Angela EvangelinouYiannakis, on 08 9571 8135. Applications close Monday 14th December 2012. Applications may be emailed to: angela.e-yiannakis@ihc.wa.edu.au or posted to: The Principal Immaculate Heart College PO Box 8 BULLSBROOK WA 6084 For more details on the College, please visit our website: www.ihc.wa.edu.au

topics relevant to evangelisation and the Church. The retreat will also feature a vibrant experience of communal and personal prayer including the Divine Office, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Adoration, and

Charismatic praise and worship. Summer School is run by the Disciples of Jesus - a Catholic community with branches throughout Australia, Papua New Guinea, The Philippines and Indonesia. The community is made up of families,

PHOTO: CAMERON VAN DEN BOGERT

singles, priests and consecrated men and women. For more infor mat ion about, or to register for the Disciples Summer School, visit www.summerschool.org.au. - VANESSA SPEARY

Questions answered in new little Ordinariate catechism By Robert Hiini A GREAT deal of natural curiosity surrounding the Anglican ordinariate has been answered with the publication of A little Catechism on the Personal Ordinariates for former Anglicans authored by Melbourne Bishop Peter Elliott, a former Anglican. Not only does the small tome answer the question of what the ordinariate is and can do, but also questions about who is able to join, whether ordinariate priests must be celibates and how ordinariate worship might be different to that in Western and Eastern Catholic churches. Australia’s Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross came into being on June 15, 2012 and is one of three ordinariates established for former Anglicans throughout the world, along with those in England and the United States. A personal ordinariate is a special kind of diocese entrusted to the pastoral care of a leader or ordinary, and directly responsible to the Holy See’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Their establishment was made possible in 2009 when Pope Benedict XVI responded positively to requests from traditional Anglicans that they be allowed to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while retaining their Anglican traditions or patrimony. Anglicans currently in communion with Cantebury and other members of Traditional Anglican groups, are eligible to enter the Ordinariate, as are former

Anglicans who had already joined the Catholic Church, and Catholics who have a very close family member who is a member of the ordinariate. Prospective Catholics of the ordinariate apply in writing and are instructed in a program devised by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “Cradle Catholics” who do not have a very close family member in the ordinariate, cannot become registered members but are free to take part in the worship, sacraments and pastoral life of ordinariate parishes, just as they might in Eastern Rite

A new book answers questions about a community fully Catholic and distinctly Anglican. Catholic churches. Married former Anglican priests can be ordained to the ordinariate with a dispensation from celibacy granted by the Pope. The catechism also features many interesting tidbits that might sound very novel to most Catholics. Ordinariate clergy, for example, are permitted to undertake appropriate work outside their ministry, but only with their ordinary’s permission. The catechism also tries to answer lingering questions Anglicans might have about joining an ordinariate and uniting themselves to the Catholic Church. Bishop Elliott addresses the discomfort some might feel at joining

the Catholic Church; feeling uneasy with Marian dogmas; divorce and remarriage; papal infallibility and the Church’s teaching on human sexuality and family planning. A little Catechism provides Anglicans and Catholics with a picture of what the ordinariates proud and dignified patrimony will look like. A liturgy “proper to the Anglican tradition” is being prepared jointly by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for Divine Worship, drawing from Anglican sources including the Book of Common Prayer, the English Missal and the Book of Divine Worship. In July, the Holy See announced the first liturgical texts approved for use by the ordinariates - the Order for Funerals and the Order for the Celebration of Holy Matrimony. The order for celebrating marriage is perhaps emblematic of the ordinariates themselves, in exhibiting distinctly Anglican traditions, now added to the deposit of Catholic worship, and Catholic understandings previously absent from the Anglican forms of the rite. The three distinct elements of the Anglican celebration remain; the preface, which sets out the objects of marriage; the exchange of vows and giving of rings; and the blessing of the couple. In the ordinariate’s order of celebration however, it is no longer the priest who “marries” the couple. Instead the couple are understood to have married one another, as per Catholic teaching. A little Catechism is available from The Record Bookshop for $10.00 plus postage and handling.

LOCAL

therecord.com.au November 28, 2012

New era dawns for Catholic Education

Brown Joey book set to launch

A NEW era of Catholic Education begun last week when Tim McDonald was commissioned as the director of Catholic Education in Western Australia. Mr McDonald’s wife, children and father looked on as he was commissioned by Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB at St Michael’s Chapel in Leederville in the presence of the Catholic Education community. Dozens of principals were commissioned by their dioceses’ bishops and a number of principals were presented with a Brady award in honour of their years of service to the Catholic schooling system. Mary Cresp’s new rsj book.

Bottom left, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB commissions Tim McDonald, pictured above with his wife and kids. Top left, Geraldton Bishop Justin Bianchini commissions a Catholic principal. PHOTOS: SARAH MOTHERWELL

AS THE Josephite Sisters celebrate 125 years of service in Western Australia, a book documenting their efforts to stay true to their founder, St Mary MacKillop’s vison, will be released. Former Josephite and congregational leader, Mary Cresp RSJ has authored In Her Footsteps: a History of the Sisters of St Joseph in WA from 1920-1989, which will be launched by Notre Dame university’s Vice Chancellor Celia Hammond. The book is a commemoration to the women of faith who have dedicated their lives to serving God. The launch will be held at Notre Dame University in Fremantle on December 10. RSVP before November 29 to lmccarthy@ sosjwa.org.au or to 9334 0999.

PACK YOUR BAGS, LEAVE YOUR WORRIES BEHIND Losing luggage is a headache, but it’s nothing compared with the stress and worry about costs if you need emergency medical assistance whilst overseas. Catholic Church Insurance (CCI) Travel Insurance protects you 24/7. With cover to suit all destinations, and protecting you from the cost of lost luggage right up to emergency hospital expenses, you can pack your bags with complete peace-of-mind.*+ CCI Travel Insurance includes: • • • • • •

Unlimited overseas emergency medical assistance+ Unlimited overseas emergency medical and hospital expenses+ Choice of your own doctor or medical advisor^ Personal liability cover of $5 million Optional cover for specific items of value (up to $5,000) Help available 24 hours, 7 days a week^

At CCI we care about you, not just your luggage.

BEFORE YOU GO ANYWHERE

GO TO CATHOLICINSURANCE.ORG.AU

OR CALL 1300 655 003

FOR A COMPETITIVE QUOTE

This insurance is issued and managed by AGA Assistance Australia Pty Ltd ABN 52 097 227 177 AFSL 245631 trading as Allianz Global Assistance as agent for the insurer Allianz Australia Insurance Limited (Allianz) ABN 15 000 122 850 AFSL 234708. Catholic Church Insurance Limited ABN 76 000 005 210 AFSL 235415, 485 La Trobe Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, arranges this insurance as a promoter for Allianz. Terms, conditions and exclusions apply. To decide if it is right for you please refer to the relevant Product Disclosure Statement, which can be requested by calling 1300 655 003; or online from www.catholicinsurance.org.au. *Cover for luggage and personal effects available with ‘Comprehensive’, ‘Australia Only’ and ‘Frequent Traveller’ plans. Not included with ‘Budget Cover’ plan. + Medical Assistance, Medical and Hospital Expenses available for overseas destinations only and does not cover costs incurred in Australia. ^Help provided via Allianz Global Assistance.

CCI TheRecord ad NOV12.indd 1

05/11/2012 12:46:53 PM

LOCAL

therecord.com.au November 28, 2012

St Luke’s has a riot of a time SAINT Luke’s Woodvale have a lot of diversity to celebrate and when they do, it’s a “riot of colour”, one St Luke’s parishioner told The Record this week. The parish has just held its annual ‘International Fun and Food Nite’, facilitated by the parish’s social committee to coincide with their spiritual patron, St Luke’s Feast Day. “[The event] reflects the rich multiculturalism of the parish and has aptly coincided in the past with Harmony Sunday,” one parishioner told us. “There is always a riot of colour on display with the many national costumes and décor and a DJ [who] helps get all ages on the floor to rock the night away.” Woodvale is part of the City of Joondalup where 37.6 per cent of residents were born overseas, according to the 2011 census, slightly higher than the Perth average (34.3). The area has a large number of migrants from the United Kingdom (18.6 per cent as against the Perth average of 11.4), South Africa (3.4/1.7) and New Zealand (3.0/3.1). The number of migrants from all three groups grew from 2006 to 2011, particularly the number of South African-born residents (up from 2.3). The night began with Mass. The entire celebration was an expression of thanks for the “wonderful life enjoyed by all who live in this great southern land”, one the organisers said.

Parents want what’s best for their kids, war rages on

Syrian children at Syria’s border with Turkey on November 25 as a gunfight raged behind them. PHOTO: CNS

Parishioners of St Luke’s Woodvale celebrate their ethnic and cultural diversity at the ‘International Fun and Good Nite’, wearing the cultural dress of their lands of origin while celebrating life in Australia. PHOTO: ST LUKE’S WOODVALE

ISTANBUL (CNS) - Many Syrian families fleeing war in their homeland and stranded in Turkey are desperate to provide a sense of normalcy for their children despite the chaos and upheaval of war, said the head of an emergency mission of the US bishops’ Catholic Relief Services. “Both fathers and mothers’ biggest concern (is) that their children are scared and have seen terrible things ... and need something to do,” Jennifer Poidatz, head of the agency’s Syria emergency response team, told Catholic News Service. Poidatz said assessments carried out in November showed that a primary concern of refugee parents on the border was that their uprooted and troubled children were spending long hours in cramped and crowded temporary homes with nothing to do. “Kids are withdrawn and not sleeping. This is what parents are concerned about,” said Poidatz. She said that, in response, CRS was working to establish childfriendly spaces where the children can spend time with each other under the guidance of trained staff and volunteers. “Parents want the best for their kids. Despite having to leave their country, they want normalcy and safety” for children “who need a safe place to go,” Poidatz told CNS. CRS’s announcement of the child-friendly spaces coincided with the publication in a newspaper of the results of a Turkish university psychological survey showing that thousands of Syrian refugee children in the country were facing “severe psychological problems.”

Dangerous crash couldn’t keep good Oblate down FATHER Leon Anderson is a survivor. The Oblate priest celebrates 40 years of priestly life this year. It is a milestone he nearly did not reach by around 19 years. In August 1993, he survived a near-fatal car accident while returning from celebrating Sunday Mass at St John’s in Erica, an outstation of St Kiernan’s in Moe, Victoria. His car skidded on a wet road and hit a tree. Fr Leon then spent the next two years in intensive rehabilitation programs. Eventually, he made a remarkable recovery and was well enough to work at St John Vianney’s in Springvale North and later Our Lady of Lourdes in Lesmurdie, Western Australia. He was ordained in the thennew Oblate parish of Immaculate

Heart of Mary in Sefton, New South Wales, on December 8, 1972. He was the first priest to be ordained at the parish. Born in Sydney in 1946, Fr Leon was educated by the Christian

He was returning from celebrating Sunday Mass when his car skidded and hit a tree. Brothers at Strathfield. He completed his secondary education at Chanel College in Geelong, Victoria while also attending the nearby Oblate Juniorate at Lovely

Banks. In 1965 he entered the Oblate Novitiate and began studying at St Mary’s Seminary in Mulgrave the following year. Following his ordination, Fr Leon worked for two years at St Kieran’s in Moe, Victoria, followed by a 10-year stint at Eagle Junction in Queensland where he worked predominantly with youth. In 1985 he was sent to Lesmurdie in Western Australia where he worked for three years as assistant priest at the former Oblate parish of Our Lady’s. In 1988 Fr Leon was appointed parish priest of Kalamunda in Western Australia where he stayed until 1992. Fr Leon retired in 2011 to the Little Sisters of the Poor home in Glendalough.

Born in Sydney, Fr Leon Anderson OMI has served Catholics in Western Australia for many of his 40 years of priesthood. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

therecord.com.au

MILESTONES

moments past, passing and to come

November 28, 2012

The woman who moved to be close to her church

The legacy of Margaret Neesham includes over a hundred descendants and a lifetime’s devotion to her parish of Palmyra. opposite Our Lady of Fatima par- during a day out at Bicton Baths. with the look she gave him.” Mr would all pray the rosary.” Obituary Margaret Nora Neesham Born: March 31, 1922 Entered eternal life: August 21, 2012 By Juanita Shepherd

argaret Nora Neesham, fondly known as Peg, left behind more than a hundred children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and a legacy of enduring grace and unshakeable faith. The youngest of 13 children, Mrs Neesham was born in Fremantle on March 31, 1922. At the age of six, Mrs Neesham’s family moved from East Fremantle to Palmyra and built their house

ish within close proximity to the local school, which Mrs Neesham attended from the age of seven. Mrs Neesham learned to play the piano from Sr Modwina after her mother insisted she learn to play a musical instrument to fill her spare time. By the time she finished school at the age of 14 she was an accomplished pianist and continued to play for the rest of her life. It became a regular sight to hear her play at any event needing music including weddings, funerals and confirmations. Mrs Neesham’s love for music was rivalled and exceeded only by her love for her family and her faith. In her late teens she met Ted Neesham, a baker by profession,

The young couple had a long and happy marriage but their first meeting did not foreshadow this as their son Gerard Neesham, former coach

The young couple had a long and happy marriage - but their first encounter did not exactly foreshadow this. of the Fremantle Dockers, told The Record. “Mum was never a big one for getting her hair wet,” he said. “Dad pushed her into the water and thought that was the end of that

Neesham said his father was persistent in wooing his wife-to-be and would tag along with Mrs Neesham and her older sisters when they would go to the pictures. “Dad could only woo mum by buying her a block as close to the church as possible,” Mr Neesham said. The couple married at Our Lady of Fatima parish in 1942. They went on to have 13 children- seven boys and six girls. Mr Neesham said his mother committed her life to her faith and family and both of which were entwined. “She had a statue of Our Lady in her bedroom and every May she would bring the statue down and put it in the back room and we

When her youngest son Harry served in the Vietnam War, Mrs Neesham prayed the rosary every day; Lieutenant Neesham later said he owed his mother hundreds of rosaries in return. There was always a bed available for any travelling priest at the Neesham home and the family had a great relationship with the parish priest and the clergy. Gerard Neesham said Our Lady of Fatima parish priest Father Francis Ughanze told him he already felt that his personal space in the church was diminished without Mrs Neesham there. “She helped with novenas, made sure everyone got to church – she was a driving force in a quite humble way,” he said.

Holy sponge cake for birthday cheer Former WA southwest priest, Fr Brian Morgan celebrated his 80th birthday with a cake modelled as St Peter’s Basilica. By Mark Reidy

HEN Maree Tyrrell began to organise the 80th birthday party of Fr Brian Morgan she wanted to do more than just honour the life of an inspiring, humble and still very active priest - she wanted the occasion to be a celebration of the priesthood. Her dreams were fulfilled when over 150 of Fr Brian’s friends, including 13 priests, gathered at the Doubleview Bowling Club on October 27 to give witness to the powerful influence of a priesthood faithfully lived. The venue had been elaborately decorated to reflect Fr Brian’s love and dedication to the Church and his special devotion to his beloved Virgin Mary, highlighted by a spectacular cake created in the image of Vatican’s St Peter’s Basilica. The sit-down affair lasted throughout the entire afternoon, providing the opportunity for guests to share how their lives had been touched by the ever-smiling octogenarian. Numerous speeches were given, traversing the 63 years of consecrated service from Fr Brian’s life as a Christian Brother at Tardun Agricultural School in the Northern Wheatbelt to his time training in Rome and his journeyman existence throughout the southwest of Western Australia. Long time friend, Elly Moir, spoke for many when she shared the joy and blessing that Fr Brian had brought to her family, focusing not only on his spiritual commitment, but also to the countless kilometres he travelled over his many years of service to parishes, families and individuals throughout the rural communities. The presence of representatives from Mullewa, Dongara, Wilga, Boyup Brook, Tambellup, Pemberton, Dardenup, Bunbury, Bindoon, Bullsbrook, Ledge Point, Broomehill, Singleton, Katanning, Lake Grace, as well as numerous suburbs throughout Perth testified to the impact made by this unassuming and gentle man of God. Fr Brian was relunctant to draw any attention to himself on the day and told The Record he would rather honour those who organised and attended the celebration. “It was a wonderful occasion to see all the dear people who have made up the fabric of my pilgrimage and it gave me an opportunity to thank them for the love, understanding and generosity they have given me over the past 60 years”,

Fr Brian Morgan enjoys the moment and the remarkable ‘Vatican’ cake at his 80th birthday party.

he said. “There was even a couple, Peter and Margaret Thomas from Mullewa, who have been friends since 1952.” “It was a truly memorable occasion and I can’t express my gratitude enough to the wonderful team who made the day possible.” During her speech, Mrs Moir

He has been able to constantly steer us toward our ultimate goal of heaven. referred to Fr Brian’s love and faithfulness, describing how she had contacted him several months ago, at three o’clock in the morning, moments before she was to undergo high risk surgery. She received a blessing and would later discover that Fr Brian had remained in prayer for the remainder of that night interced-

ing for her. Mrs Moir described Fr Brian as a “nourisher of faith”, who was able to inspire others through his homilies and provide hope and comfort during the Sacrament of Reconciliation. “We could share our joys and our

problems with him, as he has such a wonderful capacity for listening”, she said, describing how his capacity to give his complete attention to the person he was with endeared him to many. “I’m sure, like me, many of you

PHOTO: SUPPLIED

have been rendered to tears at times for the overwhelming love that comes from God, working through Fr Brian.” Mrs Moir also referred to the insightful advice provided by the ever-smiling priest, who has been gifted with the unique ability to seamlessly weave his words of counsel with Scriptural wisdom “He is able to constantly steer us to toward our ultimate goal of heaven,” she said. “He suffers when we suffer, he is joyful when we are joyful, he has both sympathy and empathy, he gives direction and encouragement and carries all these in prayers to God.” Ms Tyrrell said the celebration was a wonderful opportunity for the Church community to express their love and respect, not just for Fr Brian, but for all priests - a sentiment she believes was beautifully reflected when Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey sang ‘A Priest in the Order of Melcizedek’, at the conclusion of speeches.

WORLD

therecord.com.au

November 28, 2012

Pope-authors have abounded THE NOVEMBER 21 publication of Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, which completes Pope Benedict XVI’s popular three-volume series on the life and teachings of Christ, is the latest reminder of the author’s prolific output, now amounting to more than 60 books. One of the most prominent theologians of his generation, Pope Benedict has produced studies in a wide range of specialised fields, including Mariology, Christology, ecclesiology, ecumenism and eschatology. He has written collections of prayers, meditations and even an autobiography, all displaying his characteristic combination of rigorous scholarship and a lucid style accessible to the educated general reader. And then there are his official papal documents, including an encyclical on the virtue of faith expected to appear in early 2013. Pope Benedict’s literary accomplishments clearly distinguish him from the ranks of Church leaders past and present. Yet he is not the only distinguished writer ever to have occupied the papal throne. Among the works of St Gregory I (590-604), known as “Gregory the Great,” is The Dialogues, which historian Eamon Duffy has called “one of the most influential books of the Middle Ages.” A collection of biographies of 6th-century Italian saints, it gives most attention to St Benedict of Nursia, the founder of Western monasticism. The chapter titles clearly convey St Gregory’s emphasis on miracles, as well as his storyteller’s knack for grabbing the reader’s attention: “How Benedict, by the sign of the Holy Cross, broke a drinking glass in pieces”; “How a loaf was poisoned, and carried far off by a crow”; and “How the man of God knew that one of his monks had received certain handkerchiefs.” A former monk himself, who unhappily gave up contemplative life when he was elected pope, St Gregory wrote a set of guidebooks, Pastoral Care, on the proper selection of priests, the virtues necessary for pastoral life and the need for variety in preaching to different audiences. “For the things that profit some often hurt others,” St Gregory writes; “the medicine which abates one disease aggravates another; and the food which invigorates the life of the strong kills little children.” A different writer for a different age was Pope Pius II (1458-64), formerly Aeneas Silvio Piccolomini, a famous Renaissance humanist scholar and writer. A libertine in his youth, with several illegitimate children, he renounced his dissolute ways at the age of 40 and became a priest. But his notorious novel, Tale of Two Lovers, remained as a legacy of his former life. Scandalous in another sense is

Pope Pius’s 13-volume autobiography, The Commentaries, written after he became pope, which recount the intrigue and ambition of the Renaissance papal court in fascinating first-hand detail. Not least among the current pope’s literary forerunners was the man who immediately preceded him. Blessed John Paul was not only an academic philosopher but a poet and playwright. He was especially

active as a creative writer in his 20s and 30s, as a priest in post-war Communist Poland. Blessed John Paul’s play Our God’s Brother is based on the true story of a Polish painter who founded a mendicant religious order. Another play, The Jeweller’s Shop, the story of three marriages, presents matrimony as not merely a sentimental relationship but an image of Trinitarian love.

The future pope’s poetry draws directly on his youthful experiences, including work in a quarry. “His muscles grew into the flesh of the crowd, energy their pulse. As long as they held a hammer, as long as his feet felt the ground,” Blessed John Paul writes in The Quarry. “But the man has taken with him the world’s inner structure, where the greater the anger, the higher the explosion of love.” - CNS

If the hat fits, wear it (or try it on)

Vatican police chief talks to Interpol Churches, particularly in Italy and Europe, are packed with valuable works of art that thieves can carry away with greater ease when a church is practically abandoned or when the priest and local people have no idea of the objects’ value, said the Vatican’s police chief. Humanity’s spiritual thirst and desire to praise God “have given life to works of inestimable value and to a religious patrimony that gives rise to greed and the interest of art traffickers,” Domenico Giani, the head of the Vatican police, told members of Interpol. Giani spoke on November 7 in Rome at the general assembly of Interpol, the international police organisation that coordinates crime fighting and crime prevention around the world. Many of the religious artworks created by and for Catholics, Giani said, are difficult to protect because they often are in isolated church buildings where no anti-theft measures are employed, or in churches that basically are abandoned because religious practice has fallen so steeply. In addition, he said, “in countries where revolts are under way or there are internal struggles fed by a hatred so strong that people try to destroy anything that represents ‘the enemy,’” the conditions are ripe for the theft of religious art and its permanent loss. While the Vatican doesn’t have those problems, it does recognise its potential “vulnerability” as a target for art thieves because of the high value of its artworks – monetarily, but also as immense witness to the faith throughout the ages, he said. The Vatican is “dense with artistic riches,” so much so that UNESCO considers Vatican City as a whole – all 109 acres of it – to be a world heritage site. - CNS

ITALY

Benedict entrusts new academy to Salesians

New Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, at top, poses with pilgrims from his country during a reception for six new cardinals in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican on November 24. New US Cardinal James Harvey lets John Stollenwerk, 8, of Mequon, Wisconsin, try on his red zuchetto following the consistory. PHOTOS: PAUL HARING, CNS

‘Grief for dead shows life is precious’ THE UNIVERSAL, natural human reaction to the death of a loved one should show believers and nonbelievers alike that human life has value, Pope Benedict XVI said. “The awareness of the sacredness of the life entrusted to us – not as something we can dispose of freely, but as a gift to safeguard faithfully – belongs to the moral heredity of humanity,” the pope wrote in a message to a dialogue between Catholics and non-believers, in Portugal. The gathering from November 16-17 in Guimaraes was organised by the Pontifical Council for Culture as part of its “Courtyard of the Gentiles” project, bringing thinkers together to discuss topics of concern to society. The pope said

VATICAN

the Portugal meeting was designed to bring together “believers and non-believers around the common aspiration of affirming the value of human life amid the growing wave of the culture of death.” Pope Benedict said that while the value of life can be affirmed by anyone who thinks the matter through logically, for those who believe in God the value of life is even clearer. “We are not an accidental product of evolution,” but created and loved by God, he said. In his message, he said people could ask why he brings God into the question if he really believes that the value of life can be clear to anyone using logic. “In response, I would cite a

human experience: The death of a loved one is, for the person who loved her, the most absurd event imaginable. She, unconditionally, is worthy of life; it is good and beautiful that she exists,” the pope said. “At the same time, the death of this person would appear, in the eyes of someone who did not love her, as a natural, logical event.” He said the response of the one who loved the deceased is a logical – and not simply emotional reaction – if that person was loved “by an infinite power.” “One who loves does not want the beloved to die, and if he could, he would prevent that death forever,” the pope said. While “finite love is powerless” to keep someone alive, “infinite

love is almighty,” he said. In the Christian vision, “God loves every person who, therefore, is unconditionally worthy of living.” Faith in God and God’s love gives even greater power to the natural belief in the value of every human life, he said. In addition, peace and harmony increase in societies where the God-given value of human life is recognised. The world has “many problems that need to be resolved, but they never will be if God is not placed in the centre” of people’s lives and decisions, the pope said. “One who opens himself to God does not distance himself from the world and from other people, but finds brothers and sisters.” - CNS

Pope Benedict XVI has established the “Pontifical Academy of Latinity” to promote the study of the Latin language and culture. The new academy, he said, should promote the study of Latin, particularly in Catholic schools, universities and seminaries, helping young generations learn Latin, “including through the use of modern means of communications.” Pope Benedict named as president of the new academy Ivano Dionigi, 64, a Latinist and rector of the Alma Mater Studiorum at the University of Bologna. The pope said the academy would work with the Salesian Pontifical Institute for Higher Latin Studies at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome to design and support Latin courses and seminars. He said serious studies of theology, liturgy, the Church fathers and canon law require knowledge of Latin because most of the basic sources in all of those fields were written in Latin. - CNS

AUSTRIA

Vatican to push for Saudi faith freedom The Vatican addressed concerns about its participation in a new Saudi-backed interfaith centre, insisting it would use the forum to press for the religious liberty of Christians in Muslim lands. A Vatican delegation was scheduled to join UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon on November 26 for the inauguration of the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre, named for and financed by the king of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia forbids the practice of any religion except Islam, even in private. Groups of liberal Muslims and members of the Austrian Green Party protested the centre in the days leading up to its inauguration. - CNS

WORLD

therecord.com.au November 28, 2012

Pakistani court releases ‘blasphemy’ charge girl THE ISLAMABAD High Court ordered police to dismiss blasphemy charges against a Christian Pakistani girl whose arrest and detention drew international condemnation. The ruling from Chief Justice Iqbal Hammeed ur Rehman on November 19 said there was no evidence that Rimsha Masih burned papers from the Quran, reported Pakistan’s Dawn news agency.

“The court has quashed the case, declaring Rimsha innocent,” Akmal Bhatti, the girl’s lawyer, told Agence France-Presse. Rimsha was taken into police custody on August 18 after a resident of the area in which the girl and her family lived accused her of burning pages of the Islamic holy book. She was released on bail on September 8. Two weeks after Rimsha was

Deaths signal pressure for legal abortion in Ireland

For the devout in Mali, all roads lead to Kita

EXPRESSING anguish and sorrow over the death of a pregnant woman in an Irish hospital, the country’s Catholic bishops said that pregnant women must receive all treatment to save their lives, even if it results in the unintended death of an unborn child. The statement on November 19 came three weeks after the deaths of Savita Halappanavar, 31, who died after a miscarriage, and her unborn child. Halappanavar died after hospital medical staff determined they could not end the child’s life because they could detect a fetal heart beat, even as the woman’s husband, Praveen, urged them to save his wife’s life. Mrs Halappanavar’s death on October 28 at University Hospital Galway has led to an outpouring of public anger. Thousands of people have taken to the streets calling for the country’s constitutional ban on abortion to be overturned. In a statement, the Standing Committee of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference described the case as “a devastating personal tragedy” for the Halappanavar family and acknowledged that the circumstances of her death had “stunned our country.” The bishops’ statement sought to clarify Church teaching on the need for medical intervention to save the life of a mother. The bishops said they believe Ireland’s medical guidelines contain adequate ethical provisions to allow medical staff to intervene as long as necessary steps have been taken to save both mother and unborn child. The bishops insisted that the

picked up, Khalid Jadoon Chishti, the imam or prayer leader who accused her of burning pages of the Quran, was taken into police custody. According to a police official quoted by the Associated Press, witnesses claim the imam tore pages from a Quran and planted them along with burned pieces of paper in the girl’s bag. He faces charges of planting evidence and desecrating the Quran

used against the girl. The courts have yet to rule in the case. Rimsha’s parents said she is 11 years old and has Down syndrome; a court-appointed physician reported she was about 14 and is developmentally delayed. Paul Bhatti, the only Christian member of Pakistan’s federal cabinet, confirmed the high court had dismissed the case. “I welcome this order. Justice has

been done and the law of the land has been upheld by the court,” he told Agence France-Presse. “It will send out a positive image of Pakistan in the international community that there is justice for all and that society has risen up for justice and tolerance,” he said. Out of fear for their safety, Rimsha and her family moved to an undisclosed location after the girl’s release. - CNS

Pilgrims attend an annual Catholic pilgrimage in the town of Kita, western Mali on November 17. Nearly 7,000 pilgrims participated in the two-day celebration, lead by Archbishop Jean Zerbo of Bamako, Mali. PHOTO: MALIN PALM, REUTERS, CNS

Catholic Church has never taught that the life of a child in the womb should be preferred to that of a mother. “Whereas abortion is the direct and intentional destruction of an unborn baby and is gravely immoral in all circumstances, this is different from medical treatments which do not directly and intentionally seek

Archdiocese of Vienna CATHOLICS

1.3 million

PARISHES

660

PRIESTS

1,195

DEACONS

170

BAPTISMS

10,637

CONFIRMATIONS

11,220

WEDDINGS

2,306

ORDINATIONS

VOWS

28 men 23 women

CHURCH RE-ENTRIES

1,084

LEAVING THE CHURCH

16,527

PASTORAL ASSISTANTS

242

MONASTERIES

238

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

to end the life of the unborn baby,” the bishops said in their statement. The bishops also reiterated a statement made by Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to CNS on November 18 that Ireland is a safe place for expectant mothers. Pointing to international health care data, the bishops said “Ireland,

without abortion, remains one of the safest countries in the world in which to be pregnant and to give birth. This is a position that should continue to be cherished and strengthened in the interests of mothers and unborn children in Ireland.” The maternal mortality rate in Ireland stands at 4.1 per 100,000

births and is among the lowest in Europe. Archbishop Martin told CNS he believed doctors, nurses and midwives “set out always to save lives.” “The fact that our maternal mortality is so low is a sign that there is something that is working well in the system,” he said. - CNS

Vienna to reduce parishes by more than 75 per cent over the next 10 years AUSTRIA’S Vienna Archdiocese will press ahead with a major reorganisation that will including liquidating most of its parishes over 10 years, despite objections from some local Catholics. The archdiocese’s 660 parishes will be merged over the next decade into around 150 larger parishes, each served by three-five priests and offering regular Masses. “Our emphasis isn’t just on reorganising the Church, but on reinvigorating the missionary impulses of the entire Christian community,” said archdiocesan spokesman Michael Pruller. “Although we can debate how best to achieve it, the plan’s main aim isn’t open to discussion.” Pruller told CNS that falling numbers of clergy and laity had necessitated the changes. He said smaller affiliated communities within the parishes will be run by lay volunteers authorised to conduct the Liturgy of the Word. Pruller said archdiocesan bish-

ops would draft the new parish boundaries and steps for implementing the reorganisation by January 1, 2013. He added experiences from Latin America, Africa and Asia suggested ordained priests were not needed “in every small town and village” and that larger parishes could be introduced “without losing the nearness of people to their church.” “As society changes, the Church has to change its old-fashioned practices and structures, too,” he said. “The Church’s mission of apostolate and evangelisation isn’t just the responsibility of parish priests, but of the whole community of baptised and confirmed. If this reorganisation creates more vibrant Christian communities, praying, celebrating Mass, conducting mission and helping the needy together, then it could offer a model for Church reforms throughout Europe.” Speaking in mid-September, after the reorganisation was announced,

Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schonborn said the reform would be the archdiocese’s biggest for two centuries and would mean “saying goodbye to much that has become dear to us.” However, he added that the reorganisation would help pool resources, reduce administration and “leave more time for evangelisation.” “This is about a new cooperation between priests and laity from their common Christian vocation,” the cardinal told the news conference, which was reported by Austria’s Kathpress news agency. “We have to free ourselves of the traditional image that the Church is present only where there’s a priest and stress the common priesthood of all baptised,” he said. Pruller said the reorganisation had been preceded by a “long consultation phase,” but could not be “discussed endlessly.” He added that the plans would not alter the ratio of priests to lay Catholics. - CNS

CELEBRATING VATICAN II

therecord.com.au November 28, 2012

CELEBRATING VATICAN II

therecord.com.au

November 28, 2012

Why silence at Mass is golden

Brother, have you been ...

SAVED?

Recently I was in Mass with my wife when a lady in front of us began talking to someone beside her during the Offertory. It may have been important to her but I always find this exceedingly distracting and annoying. Is there anything that can be done about it?

With all sorts of charlatans offering salvation, Christianity's answers are looking more convincing, writes Michael Cook.

rother, have you been saved? That's a question we associate with soapbox preachers. But the question of salvation has not gone out of style. Only the answer has. Only last month, for example, two leading bioethicists published a book on salvation. Julian Savulescu, of Oxford University, and Ingmar Persson, of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, have written a passionate proposal about saving the human race, Unfit for the Future: The Urgent Need for Moral Enhancement. We have an extraordinary capacity for self-destructive behaviour, they contend, and our selfish pursuit of profit, passion and power could trigger a global apocalypse. Whether this happens because of climate change or a nuclear holocaust, our doom will be our own doing. Savulescu and Persson have a plan. Their ambition is familiar: to make mankind virtuous; the means are not: drugs, genetic engineering, and neuroscience. "We have radically transformed our social and natural environments

be laid aside and attention may turn to other things, but the truth as such does not disappear. Ideologies have their days numbered. They appear powerful and irresistible but, after a certain period, they wear out and lose their energy because they lack profound truth. They are particles of truth, but in the end they are consumed." The irresistibility of truth is one of Benedict's most consistent themes. In a culture of moral relativism which denies the existence of truth, and ultimately of a difference between good and evil, beauty and trash, Christianity has become a bulwark of common sense. He constantly reminds listeners that if God exists, the universe must be intelligible because it has been brought into being by an ordering mind. In the end, truth always triumphs. And third, Benedict senses that Gen Y is responding to Christianity. "We are seeing the reawakening of this restlessness, and they too begin their journey making new discoveries of the beauty of Christianity, not a cut-price or watered-down version, but Christianity in all its radicalism and profundity." World Youth Days draw millions of young people from all over the world to celebrate with the Pope. Justin Martyr, a second-century Christian philosopher, pointed out that although Socrates was a great man, no one ever had died for Socrates, while both scholars and tradesmen died for Christ.

Despite all this, Benedict is confident. He has a strategy. He has tactics. He has a game plan. He believes the desire for God is profoundly inscribed into every human heart and cannot diappear. by technology, while our moral dispositions have remained virtually unchanged,” they write. “We must now consider applying technology to our own nature, supporting our efforts to cope with the external environment that we have created." In other publications, they have advocated using technology to make people more altruistic and more loving. Essentially what these philosophers are offering is the hope of salvation from human depravity. Creatures as corrupt as ourselves can only do the right thing if we are on drugs. The bioethicists’ dark and pessimistic view is that humans must become less human to be saved. Compared to them, Calvin was an optimist. Salvation will never become oldfashioned because there is no escape from death. Everything within us hopes for freedom from suffering and immortality. If traditional Christianity is not the answer, how about technology? A 31-year-old Russian billionaire, Dmitry Itskov, is developing

Justin Martyr, a 2nd century Christian philosopher, pointed out that although Socrates was a great man, no-one had ever died for Socrates.

Pope Benedict XVI leads his general audience in St Peter's Square at the Vatican on October 24. Global trends acknowledged, the 85 year-old theologian is convinced Christianity has a bright future.

immortality technology – if you can afford it. “Substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans,” he claims. “A new era for humanity will arrive!" This is only an extreme example of the hucksters of hope. Every day, we are bombarded by soapbox preachers selling happiness with a new iPad, or new cosmetics, or new ice cream – or politics. As November 6 drew closer, you might have remembered the giddy exhilaration of 2008. “There has never been anything false about hope,” said then-Senator Obama. Well, Senator, it depends on wheth-

er what you hope in has a use-by date. The promise of Christianity has always been "an hundredfold now in this time… and in the world to come eternal life". It’s a good product, far better than the one touted by snake oil salesmen. When people tire of gewgaws and trinkets, the odds are good that traditional Christianity will make a miraculous comeback, no matter what Richard Dawkins & Co say. Certainly, this is what Pope Benedict XVI believes. Taking advantage of the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, he is promoting 2012-2013 as a "year of evangelisation". Journalists – and

some Catholics – may be sceptical, but he sees in the distance "a new

Dawkins is a good speaker, but his crowds fit into a community hall. The Pope's crowds spread over denselypacked acres. springtime". He has set up a department in the Vatican dedicated to promoting evangelisation (mis-

sionary work, really) in countries which have shaken off Christian culture. He convoked a meeting of the world’s bishops for a synod on evangelisation in Rome which ended last month. This new vigour in the Vatican has been largely ignored by the media. Vaticanistas have cynically interpreted the synod's focus on "the new evangelisation" as code for wooing Catholics who lapsed because of the Church's stand on issues like women priests, divorce and contraception. But Benedict is more ambitious than that. Instead of clawing back lost market share, he is reviving the Church's ambi-

tion to convert everyone. What are the chances of success for a program which must necessarily stretch far beyond the 85-year-old's lifetime? Superficially, they do not look good, at least in the West. The Catholic Church's reputation has been tarnished by sex abuse scandals in countries where it was once strong, such as Ireland, Australia and the United States. Attendance at Sunday Mass is low. There is a shortage of priests. There are many dissenters. Despite all this, Benedict is confident. He has a strategy. He has tactics. He has a game plan. Recently he gave an interview in which he

PHOTO: PAUL HARING, CNS

explained why Christianity's future is bright. First, because people thirst to fill an inner emptiness. "The desire for God, the search for God, is profoundly inscribed into each human soul and cannot disappear," he said. "Certainly we can forget God for a time, lay Him aside and concern ourselves with other things, but God never disappears. St Augustine's words are true: we men are restless until we have found God." Second, because Christianity is true. "The Gospel of Jesus Christ, faith in Jesus Christ, is quite simply true; and the truth never ages. It too may be forgotten for a time, it may

Dawkins is a good speaker, but his crowds fit into a community hall; the Pope’s crowds spread over densely-packed acres. These impressive displays of enthusiasm and hope suggest that something unprecedented is just over the horizon. Contemporary society offers many salvations. There is shoptil-you-drop consumerism, sex, drugs, Islam, Scientology, and even Savulescu and Persson's moral enhancement. But Christianity's appeal is as strong as ever: the God who created man also loved man enough to share in his wretchedness. Salvation through the cross is a unique message which has incredible resilience. It's far too early to write it off. - www.mercatornet.com Michael Cook is editor of MercatorNet.

et me begin by considering the importance of silence, not only in Mass, but in general. Modern life tends to be noisy. People have the radio or recorded music on when they are driving, when they are working, when they are resting. Television occupies a good number of hours in many people’s lives, even when the family is gathered together for a meal. It seems we feel uncomfortable when all is still, when there is silence. Yet we all need silence. We need time to think, to reflect, to commune with God, just to be still in his presence. We need “interiority”, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls it: “This requirement of interiority is all the more necessary as life often distracts us from any reflec-

Silence helps focus our prayer and respects others' efforts to pray during Mass, writes Fr John Flader this week. PHOTO: TIM KUPSICK, CNS

tion, self-examination or introspection” (CCC 1779). For this reason it is so important to turn off the radio, CD player or iPod from time to time. Then instead of being bombarded by sound, which leaves the mind passive and numb, we find ourselves able to think, to make plans, to talk with God, to pray. It is a different world – a world of peace and quiet. Then we wonder: why do I always have the radio on? What a difference between our noisy, busy world and that of a monastery, where silence reigns practically, or literally, all the time. We may not be called to that life, but we can appreciate how different such a world would be. At least we could try it some of the time. It would be good for our soul and our peace of mind. Everything about the birth of Christ in Bethlehem speaks to us of silence. The book of Wisdom seems to describe it: “When a deep silence covered all things and night was in the middle of its course, your allpowerful Word, O Lord, leapt from heaven’s royal throne’ (Wis 18:14-15).

Q&A FR JOHN FLADER

We sing “Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright” and “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given”. If only we could live this spirit always. If we need silence in our busy, everyday world, we expect to find it especially in our churches, which are the house of God. To come out of the noise of traffic, of talking and of problems into the silence of a church is truly refreshing. There we find God in the tabernacle and we can commune with him in stillness. It is like an oasis. If no Mass is being celebrated at the time, there is generally deep silence, as people pray and bring their lives and intentions before God. The prophet Habakkuk urges: “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him” (Hab 2:20). If silence is so important in church in general, it is even more important during the celebration of the “sacred mysteries”, as we call the Mass in the Penitential Rite. The Mass should be a time of prayer, of recollection, of actively following the prayers and readings, of preparing for holy Communion and of giving thanks for it afterwards. Even if some are not caught up in this spirit, they should be respectful of the many others who are. This applies as well before Mass, when many arrive early in order to prepare themselves for the mysteries which are to follow, and after Mass, when many stay behind to prolong their thanksgiving. In this regard the General Instruction of the Roman Missal says: “Even before the celebration itself, it is commendable that silence be observed in the church, in the sacristy, in the vesting room, and in adjacent areas, so that all may dispose themselves to carry out the sacred action in a devout and fitting manner” (GIRM 45). This does not mean that there is no place for chatting with those we have not seen for some time. But that place is outside the church, before, or better, after Mass. What can be done? Some churches have a sign at the entrance, reminding everyone that this is the house of God and they should observe a respectful silence. If necessary, the priest can remind the parishioners from time to time of the need for silence, out of reverence for God and respect for others. Let us pray that all will observe this spirit, which is so important for everyone.

- frjflader@gmail.com

VISTA

therecord.com.au

November 28, 2012

Living in the

KINGDOM OF The Reformation unintentionally undid the medieval synthesisof faith and reason. Now we romantically seek a spiritual life free from authority and tradition, or rationalistically seek truth as if human beings were autonomous and self-sufficient, writes Archbishop Charles Chaput. Do the Archbishop’s questions about life for US Catholics have implications for Catholics in Australia as well?

HE day may come when Catholics in the US can support neither of the main American political parties or their candidates. Some think it’s already arrived. Alasdair MacIntyre, the Notre Dame philosopher, argued along those lines a few years ago, explaining why he couldn’t vote for either a Democrat or a Republican. I don’t know what Professor MacIntyre did this year. For my part, along with my brother bishops in Pennsylvania, I believe it’s important to vote today and on every election day. A well-formed Catholic conscience can choose wisely between the candidates. And this year, vital issues were at stake. Still, elections are tough times for serious Catholics. If we believe in the encyclical tradition—from Rerum Novarum to Evangelium Vitae; from Humanae Vitae to Caritas In Veritate—then we can’t settle comfortably in either political party. Catholics give priority to the right to life and the integrity of the family as foundation stones of society. But we also have much to say about the economy and immigration, runaway debt, unemployment, war and peace. It’s why the US bishops recently observed that “in today’s environment, Catholics may feel politically disenfranchised, sensing that no party and few candidates fully share our comprehensive commitment to human life and dignity.” Any committed Christian might be tempted to despair. But the truth is that it’s always been this way. As the author of Hebrews wrote, “here we have no abiding city” (Heb 13:14). Augustine admired certain pagan Roman virtues, but he wrote the City of God to remind us that we’re Christians first, worldly citizens second. We need to learn— sometimes painfully—to let our faith chasten our partisan appetites. In the United States, our political tensions flow from our cultural problems. Exceptions clearly exist, but today our culture routinely places rights over duties, individual fulfilment over community, and doubt over belief. In effect, the glue that now holds us together is our right to go mall-crawling and buy more junk. It’s hard to live a life of virtue when all around us, in the mass media and even in the lives of colleagues and neighbours, discipline, restraint, and self-sacrifice seem irrelevant. Brad Gregory, the Notre Dame historian, seeks to show how we got this way in his recent book The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularised Society. His answers are surprising, and for some readers, controversial. But his book is also important—and in its explanatory power, brilliant. Gregory argues that today’s relativism and cult of the consumer— what he ironically calls “the goods

life”—have roots that run centuries deep. He wastes no time on nostalgia for a golden age that never existed. But he does show with riveting clarity that in the sixteenth century, Protestant Reformers unintentionally set in motion certain ideas that eventually enabled today’s radical self-centredness. Gregory also shows that while the Reformers lit the fuse, medieval Catholics laid the dynamite. Late medieval laity were, quite often, profoundly pious. And because they were pious, they minded when their leaders weren’t. Pious lay people had an appetite for reform precisely because of their devotion. Late medieval clergy too often preached one thing and did another. Greed, simony, nepotism, luxury, sexual license, and schism in the hierarchy created an intolerable gap between Christian preaching and practice. Many Catholics worked for reform from within. Some had success. Franciscans, Dominicans, and Cistercians owe their origins to medieval reform. Humanists such as Erasmus and Thomas More were part of an international community of letters determined to renew Christian life from the inside. Saints such as Catherine of Siena and Bernard of Clairvaux spoke truth to ecclesiastical power. But one key difference separated these Catholic voices from the Protestant Reformers: the Catholics believed that the Church had her teachings right. She just needed to actually live them. The Catholics believed that Christ’s presence in the Eucharist and other sacraments, in the Scriptures, in the saints, and in the Church’s historic doctrines offered an authentic, allencompassing Christian way of life sufficient to sanctify human existence—if it was actually embraced and shorn of its abuses. The Protestants, preaching sola scriptura, threw much of it away. The Protestants believed that the deposit and structure of Catholic faith were fundamentally flawed, that Christ no longer abided in the Roman Church, and that Scripture alone communicated God’s will. Sola scriptura changed everything for Western Christendom. The Church became the churches, and the process inadvertently, but relentlessly, fueled individual sovereignty and relativism. Gregory says a great many hard things about the results of sola scriptura. But before congratulating ourselves for avoiding that mistake, Catholics need to linger over why Christian life was ripe for such destructive turmoil in the first place. Too many Catholics— especially, but by no means only, clerical leaders—lived their professed faith with visible cynicism. Gregory’s first lesson, then, is that the way we live matters. Our failure to practice caritas has consequences

Author Brad Gregory has charted a remarkable account of the true meaning of the Reformation and the Enlightenment which have created a culture of meaninglessness. But Catholics failed to live their faith and are just as responsible, writes Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

for our unitas, then and now. But Professor Gregory doesn’t stop there. He’s only warming up. The Reformers’ stress on sola scriptura sought to close the gap between Christian preaching and practice. But it failed at that, while opening a Pandora’s Box of new problems. Competing interpretations of Scripture actually intensified the confusion. Lutherans read Scripture one way, Calvinists

offered wisdom sola ratio. From Descartes, through Hobbes, Spinoza, Rousseau, Kant, Hume, Hegel, and others, on to Heidegger and Levinas and their successors, the great end-run around revealed religion and its traditions began, seeking truth based on human reason alone. But as Gregory shows, the philosophers fared no better than the Reformers. Competing ideas prolif-

The Kingdom of Whatever is a world of hyperpluralism where meaning is self invented by millions and therefore society as a whole starves for meaning... another, with varieties of Anglicans, Anabaptists, Baptists, Puritans, Pietists, Methodists, and Quakers veering off into options beyond counting. Gregory also chronicles the secular philosophers who stepped into the breach. In the place of sola scriptura, the Enlightenment

erated. Truth, and answers to life’s big questions, remained disputed. In more recent times, Nietzsche, Foucault, and the post-modernists have been honest enough to say so, scorning the Enlightenment as much as they scorned Christianity. We can see the results in today’s pervasive spirit of irony and scep-

ticism. As Gregory explains, our culture’s metaphysical chaos has helped shape our politics, economics, and science. No corner of everyday life has gone untouched. Politically, Reformation leaders turned to secular rulers for protection from the papacy, fuelling the growth of the modern secular state. Popes and bishops, who had once been a countervailing force to medieval secular power, found they had much less leverage over kings in the new dispensation. Early modern states spent decades at war with each other, ostensibly over theological differences. But, in reality, churches and states used each other for their own very practical ends. States grabbed the chance to expand their power, and churchmen sought protection and state support. The result was bloodshed and exhaustion, militarily but also metaphysically. Medieval intellectual life and religious practice had been impressively unified. In a monastery or a scholastic university, the

VISTA

therecord.com.au November 28, 2012

WHATEVER

pursuit of knowledge integrated organically with the pursuit of virtue. But the new, post-Reformation universities increasingly came under secular rather than ecclesial control. They segregated theology into a separate faculty of weakened importance, shifting their energies to train professionals and scientists who could serve the state’s growing commercial ambitions. Reading Gregory, we see that much of early modern history is the story of how mercantilism and the market supplanted the Church as the forces ordering common life. Early experiments in religious toleration had largely commercial motives. Weary of endless religious disputes, the burghers of the early Dutch Republic stopped requiring membership in their official (Protestant) Church and welcomed merchants and artisans of all faiths. England, America, and other states followed suit. They acknowledged religion as a public good but effectively reduced it to a private choice, meanwhile—in practice—revering commerce as a national purpose.

The Reformation also had implications for science and technology. With varying degrees of selfawareness, when the Reformers dismembered the sacraments, they changed the way Western culture perceived nature and the whole material world. As an example: even today, to the extent Catholics are formed by the sacraments, we live in a world infused with God’s presence. For both the medieval and modern

world was part of a spiritual cosmos, but after the Reformation, that confidence is no longer shared. Consequently, modern merchants, universities, and intellectuals have developed the habit of seeing matter as spiritually inert, which means it is available to be manipulated to serve human desires. But real science never has proven, and never can prove empirically, that nature is spiritually inert. To the extent secularists (or religious

Ordinary Catholics have been colonised by the greed, sexual anarchy and materialism of the culture. Catholic, the material environment is a medium for divine grace. But the Reformers’ disdain for works and sacraments inevitably made faith a more inward, abstract experience. As Gregory details, when the sacraments are no longer public patrimony but merely private practices, culture inevitably changes. Westerners used to believe that the

fundamentalists) insist upon that, they are ideologues, not scientists. Catholics have always believed God works in and through natural causes. He revealed himself to us in his son, Jesus Christ. But God also exists utterly outside creation. He is wholly Other. He is not merely the biggest Sky Fairy or Super-Being in the heavens. In other words, the Christian God is not the kind

of God who can be “disproved” by anything we might see under a microscope or through an experiment. Yet many today, indebted to an anti-sacramental metaphysics, insist that a conflict must exist between science and religion. This is false. And it didn’t have to be this way. In some ways, Gregory’s book could be subtitled “the West’s crisis of faith and reason.” The Reformation—sincerely, zealously, and with the best intentions— unleashed centrifugal forces that undid the medieval synthesis of revelation and philosophy. Ever since, our culture has gone down one intellectual dead-end after another, romantically seeking a spiritual life free from authority and tradition, or rationalistically seeking truth as if human beings were autonomous and self-sufficient. The great Western marriage of faith and reason—the shared confidence that faith is personal but also communal, that reason isn’t against faith but extends it—that is what the Reformation cost us. Catholics have made terrible and costly mistakes in this story. As noted, the Reformation happened for good reason. Every point Professor Gregory makes is told with balance, respect for all sides, and historical detail buttressed by nuance; 145 pages are devoted to endnotes. Gregory’s account of the Galileo crisis is especially interesting. He explains how Church leaders, having rightly understood the Reformation’s threat to sacramental metaphysics, overreacted and misjudged Galileo’s significance for theology. In our own day, of course, Catholics have continued to find plenty of ways to bring the faith into disrepute. The Church took too long to articulate her own theologically-grounded doctrine of religious liberty. The sexual abuse crisis has earned many priests and bishops a millstone around the neck for wounding the innocent and causing good people a crisis of faith. And ordinary lay Catholics have let themselves be colonised by the greed, sexual anarchy, and materialism of the culture around them. In too many instances, if we look at the way American Catholics actually live, we consume, relativise, and trivialise like everyone else. To cultivate virtue, to pursue a life of self-sacrifice, to live joyfully and infused by the sacraments is not something anyone can do alone. It’s too hard. We need grace. We need companions. We need to be taught and trained. This is why God gave us the Church. Too often flawed and all too human, she is nevertheless our Mother, and always, always a gift. Modern Western political theory tries (or pretends) to steer clear of prescribing morality. Because our society divides so bitterly over

matters of truth and ethics, modern lawmakers tend to enshrine individual privacy and autonomy. But in doing so, they diminish the life-giving social importance of religious faith. This legal “neutrality” isn’t so neutral. In feeding the sovereignty of the individual, our public leaders fuel consumer self-absorption, moral confusion, and—ultimately, as mediating institutions like the family and churches wither—the power of the state. The Reformation has led, by gradual, indirect, and never-intended steps, to what Gregory calls the “Kingdom of Whatever.” It’s a world of hyperpluralism, where meaning is selfinvented by millions, and therefore society as a whole starves for meaning. No wonder Catholics find elections these days so grim. To be a Catholic in 2012, in the modern

Now we need to repair a culture of disbelief and its inhuman politics. West at least, is to live at the end of a long history. Brad Gregory eloquently shows us some of what that means. Our moral failures and our intellectual choices have had consequences over the centuries. And now our culture is fractured. But it didn’t—and it doesn’t— need to be that way. The Church is still here, still calling us to repentance, still summoning us to the sacraments. In this Year of Faith, she invites Catholics to a great new evangelisation—not against fellow Christians from other traditions, but in friendship with them as brothers. Our ambition must be to repair a culture of unbelief and to heal the inhuman politics that flows from it. And if we can’t achieve that in concert with our fellow Christians, then we can at least live the Gospel more faithfully ourselves. It’s time, and long past time, to close the gap between our words and our actions; our preaching and our practice. Professor Gregory has reminded us with uncommon grace and clarity that we cannot escape our past. But neither do we need to be captured by it. That alone makes his book worth the price. Charles Chaput, a Capuchin Franciscan, is the archbishop of Philadelphia and the author of Render Unto Caesar. This article originally appeared in Public Discourse: Ethics, Law, and the Common Good, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute of Princeton, New Jersey at www.thepublicdiscourse. com/2012/11/6902/. Reprinted with permission. Editor’s note: The Unintended Reformation can be ordered through The Record Bookshop (08) 9220 5900 or via: bookshop@therecord.com.au

FUN FAITH With

DECEMBER 2, 2012 • LK 21: 25-28, 34-36 • 1ST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (YR C)

CROSSWORD

Across 3. ‘Watch yourselves, or your ____ will be coarsened by debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will come upon you unexpectedly, like a trap. 5. When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your ____ is near at hand.’ 6. For it will come down on all those ____ on the face of the earth.

Down 1. And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and ____ glory. 2. ‘There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in ____, bewildered by the turmoil of the ocean and its waves; men fainting away with terror and fear at what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. 4. Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to ____ all that is going to happen, and to hold your ground before the Son of man.’

LIVING HEARTS SURVIVE GREAT LIBERATION AGONY

GOSPEL READING Lk 21: 25-28, 34-36

‘There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the turmoil of the ocean and its waves; men fainting away with terror and fear at what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.’ ‘Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened by debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will come upon you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come down on all those living on the face of the earth. Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to hold your ground before the Son of man.’

WORD SEARCH

LIVING HEARTS SURVIVE GREAT LIBERATION AGONY

WINNER SARAH RAPHAEL, AGED 10

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.

And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. - Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36

VISTA

therecord.com.au November 28, 2012

ANGEL OF COMFORT for the suffering in Sinai

Comboni nun Sister Aziza works with Eritreans who have been tortured and raped during their exodus from their homeland. She acts as a voice for those seeking refuge in Israel, writes Judith Sudilovsky.

OMB ONI Sister Azezet Kidane is fluent in Amharic, Tigrit, Arabic and Sudanese dialects, so she was a natural choice when a shelter for African refugees needed help. It was only after the nun, known as Sister Aziza, began conducting interviews with Eritrean refugees that she realised the people she was talking to had been tortured. “It is a horror story what is happening,” she told Catholic News Service from the African Refugee Development Centre’s shelter for single mothers and pregnant women in a low-income neighbourhood of Tel Aviv. Shahar Shoham, director of migrants and statusless people at Physicians for Human Rights Israel, said the first clue that something was happening in the Sinai Peninsula was the condition in which refugees arrived at their clinic in Tel Aviv. “They told us of torture and rape and we saw the scars of their torture. People who were shot by the Egyptian forces at the border started coming to our clinic,” said Shoham. “Sister Aziza is a blessing for us. People feel comfortable opening up to her,” she said. “The torture continues even now. As we are speaking it is happening.” In two-and-a-half years, Sister Aziza has taken testimony from some 1,500 refugees. As the Eritrean nun taps on the doors of the rooms, women greet her with hugs and kisses; a young girl runs after her to clutch her hand as they walk down the street together. “I can’t say all of the people I’ve interviewed have been kidnapped

and tortured, but most of them have been,” she said as she sat underneath the shade of tree in a dusty lot next to the women’s shelter. “Sometimes (the victims) can’t even (recount) what happened to them and when you know (what happened) you can’t repeat it, it is shameful that a human being could do such a thing.” Many of the women who arrive at the shelter are pregnant from rape. Eritreans leave their country to escape poverty and forced military service for the authoritarian regime. In October, a delegation from the US Catholic Conference of Bishops’ Committee on Migration visited Egypt and reported that Eritrean refugees were being apprehended by Sudanese enforcement authorities while en route to Egypt. The authorities turn the refugees over to members of the Rashaida tribal clan, who sell them to Bedouin tribesman in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. A statement by Kevin Appleby, director of migration policy for

Top: Comboni Sister Azezet Kidane (Sister Aziza) hugs a child at the nursery school in the African Refugee Development Centre’s shelter in Tel Aviv, Israel. Above: Sister Aziza, walks with a child in front of the African Refugee Development Centre’s shelter in Tel Aviv, Israel. PHOTO: CNS/DEBBIE HILL

gees and consider them for “expedited resettlement.” He also said the US should also encourage Israel to “uphold its responsibility as a signatory of the 1951 refugee convention and halt the practice of denying entry to refugees and deporting them to dangerous situations.”

Israel is building a fence along its 150-mile southern border, cutting off the refugees’ escape from the Sinai into Israel. In March, Israel began building a new detention centre in the south of the country; initially, the centre will hold 8,000 people.

Sister Aziza is a blessing for us. People feel comfortable opening up to her ... The torture continues even now. As we are speaking it is happening. the USCCB, said some 700 refugees were in captivity in the Sinai in mid-October. The refugees are subject to systematic rape and torture, he said. Egyptian and Israeli authorities are aware of the kidnapping rings but still the practice continues, he said. He urged the US government to work with Egypt to identify the “torture houses,” rescue the refu-

Physicians for Human Rights Israel reports that some 7,000 of Eritrean refugees have been held for ransom and tortured and raped at the hands of their Bedouin kidnappers. Another 4,000 people have died en route to Israel, either as a result of being smuggled, tortured, or shot by the Egyptian soldiers following a shoot-to-kill policy, the agency said.

At the Tel Aviv shelter, two Eritrean women -- one visibly pregnant -- sit at a metal tray set with coffee cups and grinder in front of the open door of their sparsely furnished room. A blue-and-green checked kitchen towel protects the last of their traditional round ambasha sweet bread from flies. The women offer visiting journalists a slice of ambasha, but they

decline to be interviewed or photographed. The refugees are tired of journalists and being interviewed, Sister Aziza said. They see no concrete results from all the interviews they have given. “How many journalists, how many videos have been done but the world is silent,” said Sister Aziza, who was named a 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report Hero by the US State Department for her work exposing the situation. “Nothing changes, nothing gets better for them. It is only getting worse. They are disappointed with all the efforts.” Through Caritas Italy funding the Comboni sisters have helped the women open a nursery for the young babies at the shelter so the mothers can work. In a separate basket-weaving workshop, women use their traditional skills to create colourful cloth baskets they sell. Sister Aziza’s phone number, which is passed around by word of mouth, is available 24 hours a day to refugees, human rights workers, diplomats and Israeli government agencies. The Israeli Prison Authority often contacts her for advice about underage refugees. The work of listening to the refugees’ stories is difficult, she said, and all she can do is be there for them to listen and then listen some more. Just a few days earlier she had gone on a 10-day retreat with a silent order near Jerusalem in order to gather her strength together to continue the work she said. “Without prayer, I could not do this work,” she said. “I want people of the world to break the silence, but only God will be able to change the hearts of the people.” - CNS

OPINION

EDITORIAL

A new evangelisation for non-practising Catholics

he Synod of Bishops’ meeting on the “new evangelisation” has been completed and the Year of Faith is now under way. It began on October 11 and will continue until November 24, 2013. It’s hardly a secret why Pope Benedict XVI called for both of these events. As he has pointed out repeatedly, the world (especially in the West) continues to become more secularised. Fewer Catholics are practicing their faith. Secularism is on the rise. Two days before the Synod of Bishops started, one of the world’s leading organisations researching religion, the US’s Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, released a study which showed that nearly 20 per cent of the American public are now unaffiliated with any religion. Previous Pew studies have revealed that more than 30 million Americans now call themselves former Catholics – second in size only to those who call themselves Catholics. However, it’s misleading to think of the Catholic Church as the largest denomination because surveys show that only 17 per cent of Catholics attend Mass every weekend. Even those who do attend Mass weekly often have only an elementary understanding of the teachings of the Church. In his talk to Catholic lawyers and judges at the dinner following the mass known as the Red Mass for legal practitioners on October 9, Auxiliary Bishop Christopher Coyne, apostolic administrator of the Indianapolis Archdiocese, emphasised that the new evangelisation must target those former Catholics and Catholics who are not practicing their faith. It’s common for Catholic teachings to be ridiculed these days, especially by secularised young people. The number of weddings in the Church has decreased alarmingly as couples cohabitate before marriage. Matthew Kelly, who heads the Dynamic Catholic Institute in Cincinnati, has written a new book titled The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic. He writes that research has shown that only 6.4 per cent of registered parishioners contribute PO Box 3075 80 per cent of the volunteer Adelaide Terrace hours in a parish, only 6.8 per PERTH WA 6832 cent of registered parishioners donate 80 per cent of financial office@therecord.com.au contributions, and there is an Tel: (08) 9220 5900 84 per cent overlap between Fax: (08) 9325 4580 the two groups. He has rounded off the 6.4 per cent and the 6.8 per cent to seven per cent, which he considers the percentage of dynamic Catholics in the United States. Considering what the Catholic Church has been able to contribute with only 7 per cent of its members, Kelly writes, think of what it could accomplish if 14 per cent or more of its members could be considered dynamic Catholics. If you’re wondering what the four signs of a dynamic Catholic are, they are prayer, study, generosity and evangelisation. Kelly’s book devotes a chapter to each of those four signs. The Pew Forum might tell us that Catholics continue to comprise 22 per cent of the American population, but the number of active Catholics, to say nothing of dynamic Catholics, is far lower. We are actually a contracting Church in this country. And yet, we’re doing far better than the Catholic Church in Europe, where weekend Mass attendance in Italy is 11 per cent, in France four per cent and in Germany 12 per cent. England, of all places, where the Catholic Church was persecuted for centuries, is the only bright spot. For the first time since Henry VIII, it is now the dominant religion there. So it isn’t surprising that Pope Benedict has decided that we must have a new evangelisation. We need something to fire us up. As the pope told the bishops at the beginning of the synod, “Being tepid is the greatest danger for Christians. We pray that faith becomes like a fire in us and that it will set alight others.” In his homily at the Mass that opened the synod, the pope said “the Church exists to evangelise” by sharing the Gospel with people who have never heard of Christ, strengthening the faith of those who already have been baptised, and reaching out to those who “have drifted away from the Church.” It’s those who have drifted away from the Church, either calling themselves former Catholics or just failing to practice their faith that we must make efforts to reclaim. We don’t do that, though, by watering down the Church’s teachings. Rather, we must try to make them see that belief and adherence to the teachings of the Church are the best ways for people to find happiness – eternal happiness in heaven, to be sure, but also happiness here on earth.

For Christians, the greatest danger is being tepid.

THE RECORD

From time to time, The Record samples current commentary from around the Catholic press, here is an editorial titled “The new evangelisation should focus on non-practicing Catholics” from the November 9 issue of The Criterion, newspaper of the Indianapolis Archdiocese. It was written by John Fink, editor emeritus.

therecord.com.au November 28, 2012

LETTERS

Thanks to The Record for Kristallnacht story AS A MEMBER of the Executive Committee of the Council of Christians and Jews, WA Inc., I wish to express appreciation for the coverage in The Record of our Kristallnacht Commemoration held on November 8 at the Sylvia and Harry Hoffman Hall, Yokine (November 14, pp. 10 –11). The WA branch of the Council was established by Anglican priest Rev Dr Rowan Strong who was Chair for some 15 years. Our current Chair is Catholic priest, Rev Dr Charles Waddell. The work of the Council is endorsed by five local faith communities (two Jewish — Perth Hebrew Congregationand Temple David Congregation — and three Christian — Catholic, Anglican, and Uniting Church), all of which were represented at the commemoration. Besides those mentioned specifically in the article, the Uniting Church was officially represented by the Moderator, the Rev Ron Larkin (an Honorary President of CCJWA), who lit the memorial candle for the righteous gentiles, and was accompanied by his wife, the Rev Vivien Larkin. Other Uniting Church representatives were conspicuously present in that choristers from St Stephen’s School comprised more than a quarter of the audience. Anglican Bishop Brian Kyme, representing Archbishop Herft, led the closing prayer. Events such as the Kristallnacht Commemoration are owed, in no small part, to the considerable voluntary work by Anglican biblical scholar Dr Mary Marshall. We are also indebted to Vice-Chair Ken Arkwright OAM (Temple David), Treasurer Eric Schneider (PHC), and Committee members Rev Marie Wilson (Uniting Church minister, and MC at the event), and Dr Ralph Hickling, for their work

on behalf of the Council. Once again, thanks to Juanita and Mat for the coverage of the event, and for making the issues of religious and cultural intolerance, through the address of the Honourable Kevin Parker AC RFD QC, so dramatically visible. Judith Schneider Committee member, CCJWA Inc. FREMANTLE, WA

The times in which we live MANY non-religious people today think they can find happiness by deciding what is right and wrong themselves (relativism) and protesting that Christians want ‘to impose their morality’ on them. But the greatest danger to society is not from Christian beliefs which have given us our freedom and rights but from a secular aesthetic which will not tolerate any dissent at all from its tenets and which demands total compliance (totalitarianism) Religion has been almost silenced in the Western world because our public institutions – our parliaments, the judiciary, the media, the universities and schools etc – keep a strict adherence to aesthetic materialism, the zeitgeist or spirit of the times, to which they are slaves and which is not our common heritage. They want an easier life. In today’s spirit, there is hardly a reference to the full narrative of our culture, of the well-grounded transcendent beliefs we have in our origin, destiny and Judaeo-Christian morality – proved over time, to be the natural law basis of our freedom, duties, rights, prosperity and the developments of all our arts, music, literature and sciences Secular materialists think they alone have discovered the key to full truth and happiness by reducing human nature, marriage and

family to mere arbitrary ‘social constructs.’ Our Judeo-Christian culture alone has certainly been tempered and often enhanced by its GraecoRoman foundation and influences such as the Enlightenment, the Reformation and scientific influences but the basic consensus of the narrative and morality has never been replaced because it is the objective truth of natural law, instinct and experience. Our deepest yearnings are for the culture of truth, beauty and goodness – true love and unending life – and not for the debased culture of greed, lust, envy, hatred, violence and death which are the results of those who are slaves to the compulsion of self –indulgence. Fr Bernard McGrath BENDIGO, VIC

Theologian nailed it on post-Conciliar errors CONGRATULATIONS on your article ‘Mission decline after Council’ (The Record, November 7)), regarding misinterpretations of Vatican II. Among other merits, there is a proof by Ralph Martin that we moderns turn the Gospel on its head. Far from affirming Mt 7:13-14, Lk 13:24 etc., in our holyness we allege the exact opposite: that the way is broad, leading to eternal life, and those who find it are many – or all; that the way is narrow, leading to eternal death, and those who find it are few – or none. For more, see my article ‘Grace, Freewill and Predestination’, in the October 2012 issue of Matrix, online journal of AMAIC – the Australian Marian Academy of the Immaculate Conception. Fr David Watt St Philomena’s Chapel MALAGA, WA

Girls are different. It’s just plain obvious. A nine year old daughter wields a devastaing gift for getting what she wants. Is God trying to tell me something here, asks Peter Rosengren?

Y DAUGHTER just turned nine. But to my way of thinking she is nine – going on 16. Soon, I fear, I will be ringing other fathers, men with grown-up daughters, seeking their advice on how to handle this mystery that is a girl somewhere on the path to becoming a woman. But I doubt they will be able to help one iota. A year or so ago we were at Mass one Saturday night. I was seated with the cantors in our little Neocatechumenal community. My wife and children were sitting facing the altar and I found my attention drifting away from Father’s words of wisdom towards my family. I noticed my daughter was not dealing well with a fine homily for adults and was instead gazing at the ceiling, almost looking as if she was experiencing a vision. Having spent many years of my own childhood biding my time until I could get out of the Church and run around outside, I knew - or thought I knew - what was going on in her mind. What happened next suprised even me. “Yes!” she suddenly exclaimed out loud as though she had experienced some kind of revelation. Everyone present heard her,

and faces all around the community reflexively turned to see what was going on. Seated in front of her were two young boys, one then aged about 11. “What?” asked the 11-year-old who had turned around after her exclamation. As everyone in the community waited, including a very patient priest whose homily had just been interrupted, she pointed at the 11 year-old-boy and with complete deliberation and in full view of everyone announced “I’m going to marry you!” Mass disrupted about as completely as it’s possible to do. On another occasion I was sitting on the couch in the loungeroom practising music. Her Serene Highness, the Jade Lion Kung Fu Fighting Princess, approached me with an expression on her face I already knew perfectly. I could already see that she wanted something from me and was contemplating the ways she could get me to give her... whatever. Several seconds passed as she stood there weighing up her options. Finally, she put on the sweetest, cutest expression she obviously thought would win me over and launched into the sales pitch. I tried not to laugh because it seems a strange thing about girls and women that they seem to do this. I

remembered a friend saying to me once “Women have a cinema screen right inside the front of their heads. They’re watching the movie and they can see everything, the tuxedo, the bridesmaid’s outfits, the whole lot.” They were, I think, quite wise words. I wanted to tell my daughter I was not stupid as other fathers are. I had just seen her trying to figure out how to get me to acquiesce. So why did I give her what she wanted? My daughter and my wife are two of the women in my life. Others are in heaven. Thinking a lot about the significance of what it is to be made male and female in the image and likeness of God I once realised that God is beautiful just as, in a man’s eyes, a woman can seem beautiful. Now, whenever I see or meet a woman who seems beautiful, I realise that God is revealing something of who God is to me. I used to think of God as the figure of authority. In some ways it helps. But I also see God as a mystery. I see that it is possible to fall in love with God. God is love, but God is also... beauty. Every girl and woman is a mystery because she actually is an image of the mysterious Creator. For me, the beauty that is femininity is one sign of who God really is. A nineyear-old helped teach me that.

OPINION

therecord.com.au November 28, 2012

Blessed be the weak and incompetent

can’t believe November is nearly at an end. It seems we’ve scarcely become accustomed to our family’s autumn schedule, and now it’s time to start getting stressed out about Christmas. The challenges of homeschooling four children and meeting my other commitments have occasionally stretched me to my limits. Then there are the mountains of laundry, editorial deadlines, household chores, driving the 32-kilometre round trip thrice weekly for the kids’ music lessons and choir practice, plus coping with my husband’s occasional absences due to farm work, community service and business travel. (And they also expect me to cook? Every day?) Some days, even Purgatory looks good. I’m having one of those days. Actually, I’m having one of those decades. And now here I am, supposed to write a column about how we should all relax, trust God, and

@ Home MARIETTE ULRICH

have a peaceful Advent. I’ve sometimes thought the way to avoid accusations of hypocrisy would be to quit writing and live my life of under-achievement in total obscurity (if there is such a thing in the spiritual realm). But I think in the long run, the only one who would be pleased with such a plan would be Satan. He loves to remind us of our deficiencies. If he can succeed in tempting us to discouragement and despair, we might even abandon our vocation or apostolate. Have you ever said to yourself, “If I can’t do the job perfectly, I won’t do it at all?” GK Chesterton would counter with the pithy: “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.”

We can’t wait until we’ve reached perfection before we decide to serve the Lord. Even if perfection (or even being consistently competent) were humanly possible, it probably wouldn’t be good for our souls. Weak and foolish as we mortals are, we would inevitably think our success had something to do with our own ability instead of with the grace of God.

Jesus doesn’t want Superwoman; he wants a lump of wet clay. If Jesus had wanted disciples who were perfectly efficient, disciplined, organised, self-assured, etc., he would have chosen Pharisees instead of fishermen and tax collectors. He does call us to perfection, but only through His grace.

The Lord is hard-pressed to show His power and salvation through someone who is hell-bent on proving herself clever and self-sufficient. Jesus doesn’t want Superwoman; he wants a lump of wet clay. And if there’s anything I’m fairly good at, it’s imitating a lump of wet clay. Wet clay isn’t pretty, but if it hides a docile spirit, it’s all God needs to make a work of art. As St Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10: “My grace is enough for you, for in weakness power reaches perfection. And so I willingly boast of my weaknesses instead, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I am content with weakness, with mistreatment, with distress, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ; for when I am powerless, it is then that I am strong.” Trying to do everything with my own strength will not ensure a peaceful tidy home, well-behaved children, or success at homeschool-

ing and freelance writing. I must turn to God, seek to please only Him, and keep my eyes on the prize (Jesus). Faithfulness to Him may not ensure “success” by worldly standards either, but as Mother Teresa has pointed out, God does not call us to be successful, only to be faithful. I’ll close with another favourite quotation from Chesterton: “The snail does the perfect will of God slowly.” Likewise it can be said that the sinner does the perfect will of God imperfectly. But at least he strives to do the will of God. If you wake up some days feeling like a failure, rejoice. You’re probably on the right path. Praise God for His goodness to you, commit your way to Christ and follow Him. Blessed are the weak and incompetent, for they shall rely on the Lord, and His power will be made manifest through them. Relax, trust God. And have a peaceful Advent.

The parent-school partnership One could be forgiven for being pessimistic about youth after Dr Andrew Kania’s article ‘Rites without Responsibilities,’ but there is much to be proud of in the partnership between parents and teachers in the educatiuon of youth, writes Anne Pitos.

he transition from adolescent to adult is arguably the most difficult phase of our lives that we, as individuals, have or will face. It marks an ‘in-between’ time when our physical, emotional and spiritual selves endeavour to make sense of the world and the expectations of society and peers. It is a time when we truly learn about the balance between freedom and responsibility, personal desire and shared values. It is a pathway marked with conflicting signposts, the occasional pothole or unexpected curve in the road, but it’s a path with a promise that the destination will be liberating and full of possibilities. Our youth do not face this great transition and its challenges alone. Parents, families, friends, schools and the Church all have vital roles to play to ensure the journey out of adolescence is one where the young adult becomes a confident, compassionate, committed and Christ-led member of our community. I am of the strong belief that it is the enduring partnership between parents and schools, working together with complementary purpose, that delivers the best result. It is not a perfect partnership, just as the society in which we live has more than its fair share of flaws, false promises and tribulations. However, it is a partnership where the failings of one can become the success of the other. At a time when our adolescents are immersed in an increasingly interconnected world, of near-instant communication, of exposure to unfiltered concepts of behaviours and attitudes, our parents and families have never had it tougher. Whatever the excesses of the world, parents are challenged to make sense of it all in the home and instil the values and model the actions we wish to see in our children. Some families are spectacularly successful at it - and their children are testament to the love and devotion that raising a family requires. Sadly, some families and parents hit rough waters and much support and help is required. For most families, however, it is an ongoing ‘work in progress’ marked with highs and lows, steps-forward and set-backs. The love may never waiver, and the faith may remain strong, but patience and hope is often tested

as we battle our parental desire to protect and comfort, with the need to build resilience and independence in our teenagers. It is in this environment that schools - and we can be particularly proud of our Catholic schools - work to educate our adolescents in mind, body and soul. These schools seek to instil and reinforce in students the Catholic ethos, to support the values and aspirations of their parents and families, to prepare them to understand the society in which they live, and how to survive and thrive. This is an endeavour that lasts an entire childhood, from pre-school to primary to high school, and then beyond. That transition from adolescent to adult is formally marked by many Rites without Responsibility, with a significant number of them schoolbased. Dr Andrew Kania in his article “Rites without Responsibility” (The Record, November 4, 2012) refers to two in particular; the school ball and the post-school ‘leavers’ or schoolies week; however, there are numerous others, such as Graduation or Speech Night, various formal farewell activities, and the WACE examinations themselves. All of these events have

a purpose and even some symbolism, offering parents and schools a specific opportunity to educate our young adults on societal expectations, appropriateness and responsibilities. The school ball, for example, offers a tremendous final opportunity for teachers and school leadership to educate our students on how to behave and what is appropriate

At a time when youth are immersed in a nearinstant and unfiltered world, parents have never had it tougher. in a formal social setting. Catholic schools go to great lengths to ensure that school balls reflect our ethos in terms of cost, dress standards and general behaviour. Furthermore, they provide opportunities for our students to be trained in social etiquette, and many schools include a charitable donation as part of the ticket price, which reinforces the focus of our schools on social justice. Our schools issue strict guide-

lines on the avoidance of alcohol, the organisation of pre-ball and post-ball gatherings, and on the demeanour of students and their partners at the event itself. While I wholeheartedly support the notion that the highest standards of dress and behaviour must be paramount in all activities provided by Catholic schools, and I recognise that on some occasions, students do not live up to our expectations, the impression could easily be gained that our schools are entirely negligent in this matter. This is far from the case. The cooperation of parents is always sought and almost always given in delivering appropriate outcomes and while they are generally on-side, this is an area where schools do not have complete control. For parents and families, the school ball is often a shared ‘rite of passage’ and marks another change in the relationship between child and parent. Occasionally the parents have a difficult time in calibrating their own expectations of an event such as a school ball, between restraint and the desire for it to be a most special shared occasion. We may not always agree with such choices. Sometimes that

parent–school partnership falters or hits a bump on the road, but it is important that we who are school leaders and parents do not surrender at that rare stumble. Given the great lengths to which Catholic schools go in order to provide enjoyable and uplifting Year 12 balls, their attempts to provide an alternative to the less appealing standards sometimes evident in our secular society deserve recognition and acclaim. Similarly, we recognise there are less than desirable elements of the post-school experience that has become known as ‘leavers’. Many of our Year 12 students, however, share those concerns and reject the excesses, instead seeking a more fulfilling and enriching way to mark the transition into postschool life. This silent majority are unheralded for their choices to spend ‘leavers’ quietly in the company of their friends, demonstrating their work ethic by seeking out part-time employment or actively choosing to undertake community service projects. Our Catholic schools have been at the forefront of developing alternatives for our departing Year 12 students, ranging from small group reflections on a Cape-to-Cape walk, to visiting missions for the poor and needy in Thailand or Laos whilst participating in a community-building program. These are just two examples, where school, students and parents work to offer meaningful Rites with Responsibilities that have value beyond the moment. The headlines of our press and the social commentators may, with some justification, highlight poor behaviour and the questionable activities of a number of graduating students. However they do not do justice to the many who, without fanfare, act with maturity, restraint, purpose and a sense of responsibility. These are the values that parents and schools, working together, strive to instil in our students. So many of those students are amazing young men and women, and that is something to celebrate. Those tasks are never complete, but have faith that your Catholic schools and their teachers are moulding a generation of young adults of whom we can be proud. Anne Pitos is the principal of Iona Presentation College in Mosman Park

PANORAMA

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1 Day With Mary 9am-5pm at Corpus Christi Parish, 43 Lochee St, Mosman Park. Day of prayer and instruction based on the Fatima message. 9am Video; 10am Holy Mass; Reconciliation, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, Eucharistic Adoration, sermons on Eucharist and on Our Lady, Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10 Healing Mass - In honour of St Peregrine A healing Mass in honour of St Peregrine, patron of cancer sufferers and helper of all in need will be celebrated in Saints John and Paul Church, Pinetree Gully Road, Willeton on Thursday December 13, 2012 at 7pm. There will be Veneratins of the relic of St Peregrine and annointing of the sick. For enquiries phone Jim on 9452 1539.

Children’s Rosary Group - Special Christmas celebration and blessing 9.30am at St Mary’s Parish, Cnr of Franklin & Shakespeare Sts, Leederville. Blessings for children, parents, grandparents. All children are to bring a flower to take up for the Mass and tag the name of a parent or grandparent that has passed away or someone that is sick on the flower. Includes: activities for children, bible formula reflection. Please bring a plate for a shared lunch. RSVP and Enq: Rose 0437 700 247.

NEXT YEAR 2013

UPCOMING SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2 Divine Mercy 1.30pm at St Francis Xavier’s Parish, Windsor St, East Perth. Main Celebrant: TBA. Homily: Holy Family. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Holy Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy will be offered. Refreshment afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771. 36th Annual Rosary Procession 3pm at St Joseph’s Parish, 20 Hamilton St, Bassendean. Procession in honour of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Followed by homily, Benediction and refreshments. Please bring a plate to share. Enq: admin 9379 2691. Tridentine Latin Mass 2pm at Good Shepherd Parish, Streich Ave, Kelmscott. Other dates: Sunday 16th and Sunday 30th – same time. Enq: John 9390 6646. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4 Emmanuel Centre’s Christmas Party 11.30am at Emmanuel Centre, 25 Windsor St, Perth. Share with Archbishop Emeritus BJ Hickey in preparation for Christmas. Come, join in the singing and meet other people of Emmanuel. Children welcome. Christmas Carols; Lunch BYO to share, tea, coffee, and cool drink supplied. RSVP: November 30. Enq: Admin 9328 8113 (Voice) or 9328 9571 (TTY) or SMS 0401 016 399 or Fax: 9227 9720 or Emmanuelcentre@westnet.com.au. Advent Preparation- Spirituality & The Sunday Gospels 7-8pm at St Benedict’s School hall Alness St, Applecross. Presented by Norma Woodcock. Cost: collection. Accreditation recognition by the CEO. Enq: 9487 1772 or www.normawoodcock.com THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6 Prayer in the style of Taizé 7.30-8.30pm at Our Lady of Grace Parish, 3 Kitchener St, North Beach. Prayer, song and silence – in candle light – the symbol of the light of Christ Jesus. www.taize.fr. Enq: admin 9448 4888 or Joan 9448 4457. Auslan Café - Sign language workshop 10.30am-12pm at St Francis Xavier’s Emmanuel Centre, 25 Windsor St, Perth. It’s Australian Sign Language –a social setting for anybody who would like to learn or practice Auslan in a relaxing and fun atmosphere. Light lunch provided. Enq: Emma emmanuelcentre@westnet.com.au.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 26 TO MONDAY, JANUARY 28 Youth Inner Healing Retreat (live-in) 7.30am at St Thomas More College, 48 Mounts Bay Rd, Crawley. Led by the Vincentian Fathers. Registration and Enq: Sonia 0410 596 520 or Sheldon 0415 841 737 or dmymau@gmail.com. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10 Our Lady of Lourdes 70th Anniversary Mass – with Archbishop Costelloe 9.30am at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, 207 Lesmurdie Rd, Lesmurdie. Enq: Fr Kenneth 9291 6282 or 9291 8952 or 0434 934 286. St. Louis Parish Boyanup – Mass Celebrating 100th Year Anniversary 10am at St. Louis Parish, Cnr Bridge St and Thomas St, Boyanup. Begins with Mass followed with luncheon at Hugh Kilpatrick Hall. RSVP for catering purposes. RSVP and Enq: Frances 9731 5058.

EVERY MONDAY Evening Adoration and Mass 7pm at St Thomas Parish, Claremont, cnr Melville St and College Rd. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and evening prayer. 8pm - Communion Service (including night prayer). Enq: Kim on 9384 0598. 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.

LAST MONDAY OF THE MONTH Be Still in His Presence – Ecumenical Christian Program 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 cuppa. 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 0408 952 194. Novena to God the Father 7.30pm at St Joachim’s parish hall, Vic Park. Novena followed by reflection and discussions on forthcoming Sunday Gospel. Enq: Jan 9284 1662.

8pm - Rosary Cenacle, short talk and refreshments at the Parish. Enq: st.bernadettesyouth@gmail. com or 9444 6131. EVERY THIRD THURSDAY Auslan Café – Sign Language Workshop 12.30pm at St Francis Xavier Emmanuel Centre, 25 Windsor St, Perth. Its Australian Sign Language - Auslan Café is a social setting for anybody who would like to learn or practise Auslan in a relaxing and fun atmosphere. Light lunch provided. Enq: Emma emmanuelcentre@westnet.com.au. EVERY FRIDAY Eucharistic Adoration at Schoenstatt Shrine 10am at Schoenstatt Shrine, 9 Talus Drive, Mt Richon. Includes Holy Mass, exposition of Blessed Sacrament, silent adoration till 8.15pm. In this Year of Grace, join us in prayer at a place of grace. Enq: Sisters of Schoenstatt 9399 2349. Healing Mass 6pm at Holy Family Parish, Lot 375 Alcock St, Maddington. Begins with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament; Rosary; Stations of the Cross; Healing Mass followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Enq: admin 9493 1703 or www.vpcp. org.au. EVERY FIRST FRIDAY Mass and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 11am-4pm at Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins St, Glendalough. Exposition of Blessed Sacrament after Mass until 4pm finishing with Rosary. Enq: Sr Marie MS.Perth@lsp.org.au. 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 0433 457 352 and Catherine 0433 923 083.

Ninth Annual Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal 5.30-6pm at St Luke’s Parish, 2 Parkside Rmbl, Woodvale. Novena to Tuesday, December 4. A devotion of 30 minutes of public prayer with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Novena prayer, reflection and Benediction. Enq: Fr Francisco stlk@iinet.net.au. EVERY FIRST TUESDAY Short MMP Cenacle for Priests 2pm at Edel Quinn Centre, 36 Windsor St, East Perth. Enq: Fr Watt 9376 1734.

Healing and Anointing Mass 8.45am Pater Noster Church, Evershed St, Myaree. Begins with Reconciliation, then 9am Mass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, anointing of the sick and prayers to St Peregrine. Enq: Joy 9337 7189.

REGULAR EVENTS

EVERY WEDNESDAY Holy Spirit of Freedom Community 7.30pm at Church of Christ, 111 Stirling St, Perth. We welcome everyone to attend our praise meeting. Enq: 0423 907 869 or hsofperth@gmail.com

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, then thanksgiving Mass and light refreshments. Enq: Kathy 9295 0913 or Ann 0412 166 164 or catholicfaithrenewal@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 Marie. Meeting room beneath Cathedral. Enq: 9223 1372.

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). Vigils are two Masses, Adoration, Benediction, prayers, Confession in reparation for outrages committed against the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Enq: Vicky 0400 282 357; Fr Giosue 9349 2315; John/Joy 9344 2609.

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.

Immaculate Cafe Immaculate Cafe is now open every Sunday 9.30am-1pm at St Mary’s Cathedral Parish Centre, downstairs after Mass. Coffee, tea, cakes, sweets, friendship with Cathedral parishioners. Further info: Tammy on smcperthwyd@yahoo.com.au or 0415 370 357. Pilgrim Mass - Shrine of the Virgin of the Revelation 2pm at Shrine, 36 Chittering Rd, Bullsbrook. Commencing with Rosary followed by Benediction. Reconciliation 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. Praise and Worship 5.30pm at St Denis Parish, cnr Osborne St and Roberts Rd, Joondanna. Followed by 6pm Mass. Enq: Admin admin@stdenis.com.au.

Divine Mercy – Healing Mass 2.30pm at St Francis Xavier’s Parish, Windsor St, East Perth. Main Celebrant: Fr Marcellinus. Reconciliation in English and Italian offered. Divine Mercy prayers followed by Veneration of First Class Relic of St Faustina Kowalska. Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771.

Singles Prayer and Social Group 7pm at All Saints Chapel, Allendale Sq, 77 St George’s Tce, Perth. Begins with Holy Hour (Eucharistic Adoration, Rosary and teaching) followed by dinner at local restaurant. Meet new people, pray and socialise with other single men and women. Enq: Veronica 0403 841 202.

Padre Pio Prayer Day (Feast of the Immaculate Conception) 8.30am at St Bernadette’s Parish, 49 Jugan St, Glendalough. St Padre Pio DVD in Parish centre. 10am - Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Rosary, Divine Mercy, Adoration and Benediction. 11am – Mass, St Padre Pio Liturgy, Confessions available. 12pm - Lunch (bring a plate to share) Enq: Des 6278 1540.

EVERY SECOND SUNDAY Healing Hour 7-8pm at St Lawrence Parish, Balcatta. Songs of praise and worship, exposition of Blessed Sacrament and prayers for sick. Enq: Fr Irek Czech SDS or office Tue-Thu, 9am-2.30pm 9344 7066.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10 A history on the Sisters of St Joseph in WA. 6pm at Michael Keating Room, Cnr Cliff and High Sts, University of Notre Dame. “In Her Footsteps: a History of the Sisters of St Joseph in WA from 1920 – 1989 “ by Mary Cresp. The book tells the story of the service of the Josephites to the Catholic community as they responded to changing demands and challenges while remaining true to the vision of their founder Saint Mary MacKillop. RSVP by November 29. RSVP and Enq: lmccarthy@ sosjwa.org.au or 93340999.

November 28, 2012

SUNDAY, MARCH 17 St Joseph’s School Waroona - 70th Anniversary Celebration Mass 10am-3pm at St Joseph’s School, Millar St, Waroona. Is inviting all past students, staff and families to help celebrate their 70th anniversary at the school, Millar St, Waroona. Begins with Mass celebrated by Fr Chiera, Vicar General of the Bunbury Diocese and will be followed by a day of fun, food and festivities. Please pass on this information to anyone you know from the school in the last 70 years. Enq: Admin 9782 6500 or www.stjoeswaroona.wa.edu.au.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8 One Day Faith Renewal Retreat – Part 3 9am-4.30pm at Holy Family Parish, Lot 375, Alcock St, Maddington. Cost free. Morning tea and lunch provided. Enq: Admin 9483 1703.

Hour of Grace – Feast of the Immaculate Conception 12-1pm at Holy Spirit Church, Keaney Pl, City Beach. Hour of Grace in honour of the Immaculate Conception at Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament during the Hour with Rosary and quiet time. Enq: Admin 9341 8082.

therecord.com.au

EVERY FIRST SUNDAY

EVERY FOURTH SUNDAY Shrine Time for Young Adults 18-35 years 7.30-8.30pm in Schoenstatt Shrine, 9 Talus Dr, Mt Richon; Holy Hour with prayer, reflection, meditation, praise and worship; followed by a social gathering. Come and pray at a place of grace. Enq: Schoenstatt Srs 9399 2349. Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood, Religious Life 2-3pm at Infant Jesus Parish, Wellington St, Morley. Includes exposition of Blessed Eucharist, silent prayer, Scripture, prayers of intercession. Come and pray those discerning vocations can hear clearly God’s call. 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 038 483.

Holy Hour - Catholic Youth Ministry Mass at 5.30pm and Holy Hour (Adoration) at 6.30pm at Catholic Pastoral Centre, 40A Mary St, Highgate. Enq: www.cym.com or 9422 7912.

EVERY FIRST WEDNESDAY

Pro-life Witness – Mass and Procession 9.30am at St Brigid’s Parish, cnr Great North Hwy and Morrison Rd, Midland. Begins with Mass followed by Rosary procession and prayer vigil at nearby abortion clinic, and 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.

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 FRIDAY OF THE MONTH Discover Spirituality of St Francis of Assisi 12pm at St Brigid’s parish centre. The Secular Franciscans of Midland Fraternity have lunch, then 1-3pm meeting. Enq: Antoinette 9297 2314.

Adonai Ladies Prayer Group 10am in upper room of St Joseph’s Parish, 3 Salvado Rd, Subiaco. Come and join us for charismatic prayer and praise. Enq: Win 9387 2808 or Noreen 9298 9935.

EVERY SECOND WEDNESDAY Chaplets of Divine Mercy 7.30pm St Thomas More Parish, Dean Rd, Bateman accompanied by Exposition, then Benediction. Enq: George 9310 9493 or 6242 0702 (w). EVERY THURSDAY Divine Mercy 11am at Ss John and Paul Church, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Pray the Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy and for consecrated life, especially in our parish. Concludes with veneration of the first class relic of St Faustina. Enq: John 9457 7771. 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 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. Holy Hour Prayer for Priests 7.30-8.30pm at Holy Spirit Parish, 2 Keaney Pl, City Beach. All welcome. Enq: Linda 9341 3079. FIRST AND THIRD THURSDAY Young Adult’s (18 to 35) Dinner and Rosary Cenacle 6.30pm St Bernadette’s Parish, 49 Jugan St, Mount Hawthorn. Begins with dinner at a local restaurant.

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 Vigil for Life – Mass and Procession 8.30am at St Augustine’s Parish, Gladstone St, Rivervale. Begins with Mass celebrated by Fr Carey, followed by Rosary procession and prayer vigil at nearby abortion clinic. Please join us to pray for the conversion of hearts and an end to abortion. Enq. Helen 9402 0349. 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. EVERY FOURTH SATURDAY OF THE MONTH Voice of the Voiceless Healing Mass 12pm at St Brigid’s Parish, 211 Aberdeen St, Northbridge. Bring a plate to share after Mass. Enq: Frank 9296 7591 or 0408 183 325.

GENERAL Free Divine Mercy Image for Parishes High quality oil painting and glossy print – Divine Mercy Promotions. Images of very high quality. For any parish willing to accept and place inside the church. Oil paintings: 160 x 90cm; glossy print - 100 x 60cm. Enq: Irene 9417 3267 (w). Sacred Heart Pioneers Would anyone like to know 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 Dr, Malaga. Mass of the day: Mon

6.45am. Vigil Masses: Mon-Fri 4.45pm. Enq: Fr David 9376 1734. Mary MacKillop Merchandise Available for sale from 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 is 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. Is your son or daughter unsure of what to do this year? Suggest a Cert IV course to discern God’s purpose. 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 9523 3566. Saints and Sacred Relics Apostolate Invite SSRA Perth invites interested parties, parish priests, leaders of religious communities, lay associations to organise relic visitations to 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, Simon Stock and Blessed Pope John Paul II. Free of charge and all welcome. Enq: Giovanny 0478 201 092 or ssra-perth@catholic.org Enrolments, Year 7, 2014 La Salle College now accepting enrolments for Year 7, 2014. For prospectus and enrolment please contact college reception 9274 6266 or email lasalle@lasalle.wa.edu.au Acts 2 College, Perth’s Catholic Bible College is now pleased to be able to offer tax deductibility for donations to the College. If you are looking for an opportunity to help grow the faith of young people and evangelise the next generation of apostles, please contact Jane Borg, Principal at Acts 2 College on 0401 692 690 or principal@ acts2come.wa.edu.au Divine Mercy Church Pews Would you like to assist, at the same time becoming part of the history of the new Divine Mercy Church in Lower Chittering, by donating a beautifully handcrafted jarrah pew currently under construction, costing only $1,000 each. A beautiful brass plaque with your inscription will be placed at the end of the pew. Please make cheques payable to Divine Mercy Church Building fund and send with inscription to PO Box 8, Bullsbrook WA 6084. Enq: Fr Paul 0427 085 093. Abortion Grief Association Inc A not-for-profit association is looking for premises to establish a Trauma Recovery Centre (pref SOR) in response to increasing demand for our services (ref.www.abortiongrief.asn.au). Enq: Julie (08) 9313 1784. RESOURCE CENTRE FOR PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT - 2013 COURSES Resource Centre for Personal Development Holistic Health Seminar The Instinct to Heal Tue 3-4.30pm; RCPD2 Internalise Principles of Successful Relationships and Use Emotional Intelligence and Communication Skills Tue 4.30-6.30pm, 197 High St, Fremantle - Tuesdays 3-4.30pm. Enq: Eva 0409 405 585. Bookings essential. 1) RCPD6 ‘The Cost of Discipleship’ This course combines theology with relationship education and personal/spiritual awareness by teaching self-analysis. 2) ‘The Wounded Heart’ ‘Healing for emotional and sexual abuse promotes healing and understanding for the victim and the offender. Holistic counselling available - www. members.dodo.net.au/~evalenz/. Religious items donations for Thailand Church Fr Ferdinando Ronconi is the parish priest at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Phuket, Thailand. He is in need of religious items such as rosaries and holy medals for his local congregation and visitors. If you are able to help, please post items to: PO Box 35, Phuket 83000, Thailand or, if you are on holiday in Phuket, bring your donated items with you to church and stay for Mass! Fr Ferdinando can be contacted on tel: 076 212 266 or 089 912 899 or ronconi.css@gmail.com Good Shepherd Parish History I am compiling the history of the Good Shepherd Parish and everyone who has been a part of building the Good Shepherd community is invited to write their story and include photos. An editor has been engaged and the deadline to receive your story is 30th January 2013. Please forward on email: goodshepherdparishhistory@gmail.com Any enquiries ring Nick De Luca on 9378 2684 or 0419 938 481. WANTED: Christmas Crib Figurines needed for new parish. Contact Fr Francis on 9296 7088 or hn1002004@ yahoo.com.au.

Panorama

The deadline for Panorama is Friday 5pm the week before the edition is published.

CLASSIFIEDS

therecord.com.au November 28, 2012

CLASSIFIEDS RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

Deadline: 11am Monday TAX SERVICE

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.

QUALITY TAX RETURNS PREPARED by registered tax agent with over 35 years’ experience. Call Tony Marchei 0412 055 184 for appt. AXXO Accounting & Management, Unit 20/222 Walter Rd, Morley. Trade services.

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.

SETTLEMENTS

KINLAR VESTMENTS www.kinlarvestments.com.au Quality handmade and decorated vestments: albs, stoles, chasubles, altar linen, banners. Ph Vickii on 9402 1318, 0409 114 093 or kinlar.vestments@ gmail.com. MEMENTO CANDLES Personalised candles for Baptism, Wedding, Year 12 Graduations and Absence. Photo and design embedded into candle, creating a great keepsake! Please call Anna: 0402 961 901 or anna77luca@hotmail.com to order a candle or Facebook: Memento Candles.

FURNITURE REMOVAL ALL AREAS. Competitive rates. Mike Murphy Ph 0416 226 434.

BOOKBINDING RESTORATION BOOKBINDING and conservation, general book repairs, Bibles, Breviaries, sad, old and leather bindings renewed. Tel: 0401 941 577.

ACCOMMODATION HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION Esperance holiday accommodation, 3-bedroom house, fully furnished. Phone 08 9076 5083.

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, no hidden costs. Ring 9481 4499 for a quote. Check our website on www. excelsettlements.com.au.

PILGRIMAGES EXODUS PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND 5th November - 20th November, 2013 Are you interested in being part of our 16 DAYS OF EXODUS PILGRIMAGE (following the footstep of Moses) to the HOLY LAND (Egypt, Jordan and Holy Land) for just $4,100 from 5th November - 20th November, 2013? If interested, please for early reservation/booking and other inquiries, contact: Fr. Emmanuel (Spiritual Director) on: 0417 999 553, fremmanueltv@hotmail.com. Trinidad on: 0420 643 949, dax_gatchi@ yahoo.com. Nancy on: 0430 025 774, rncarfrost@hotmail.com PILGRAMAGE OF MERCY -Depart 11th May 2013. Fatima/Poland/Czestochowa/ Auschwitz/Divine Mercy./ Vilnius Lithuania/Rome/ Gennazzano. Fra Elia (Stigmatist) Civitavecchia (miraculous Madonna shrine) Subiaco/Medjugorje 5 countries Exceptional value all inclusive $6,890. Yolanda 0413 707 707/ Harvest toll free 1800 819 156 23 days.

Subscribe!!!

HEALTH LOSE WEIGHT SAFELY with good nutrition. Free samples. Call or SMS Michael 0412 518 318. NATUROPATHIC SERVICE: For a natural approach to achieving good health, call Martin today on 0407 745 294.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY Home-based business. Wellness industry. Call 02 8230 0290 or www.dreamlife1.com.

SERVICES RURI STUDIO FOR HAIR Vincent and Miki welcome you to their newly opened, international, award-winning salon. Shop 2, 401 Oxford St, Leederville. 9444 3113. Ruri-studio-for-hair@ hotmail.com BRENDAN HANDYMAN SERVICES Home, building maintenance, repairs and renovations. NOR. Ph 0427 539 588. WRR LAWN MOWING AND WEED SPRAYING Garden clean ups and rubbish removal. Get rid of bindii, jojo and other unsightly weeds. Based in Tuart Hill. Enq: 6161 3264 or 0402 326 637. BRICK RE-POINTING Ph Nigel 9242 2952. PERROTT PAINTING Pty Ltd For all your residential, commercial painting requirements. Ph Tom Perrott 9444 1200.

Classifieds Short Sharp Cheap

For $85 you can receive a year’s worth of The Record delivered to your house

Name:

_____________

Address:

_____________

Suburb:

_____________

Postcode:

_____________

Telephone:

______________

I enclose cheque/money order for $85 Please debit my

Bankcard

Mastercard

Visa Card

No Expiry Date: ____/____ Signature: _____________

C R O S S W O R D ACROSS 1 Jesus healed his daughter (Mk 5:22–42) 6 “Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had ___” (Jn 12:1) 10 Diocese in the Province of Perth 11 Member of an order of St. Angela Merici 12 Describes the Word 16 Rite in the Church in the West 18 This was rolled in front of Jesus’ tomb 20 Prayer ender 21 Influential Catholic Hollywood costume designer 22 Judas betrayed Jesus with one 23 Gift bearers 24 Possible Easter month 26 Entice one to sin 28 Heavenly 32 Certain vow 33 Catholic author, Graham ___ 35 He was in the lion’s den 36 Founder of the Discalced Carmelites

Calling all Catholic families, schools, parishes and organisations ...

How are you celebrating the Year of Grace? Send your stories to parishes@therecord.com.au

27 29 30 31 32 34

A parish position (abbr.) “___ Dei” Native language of Jesus One of the prophets Husband of Rebekah Reuben or Gad, for example The Sacred ___ of Jesus Where Joseph and Mary had to stay Italian archdiocese with the Ambrosian rite Monasticism began here Number of popes named Alexander Given name of Mother Teresa Religious instruction, formerly (abbr.) Peter cut this off the soldier of the high priest

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

DOWN 2 He could speak well (Ex 4:14) 3 Second Greek letter in a title for Jesus 4 Catholic actor who played Peter Maurin in “Entertaining Angels” 5 ___ Carmel 7 Husband of Priscilla 8 Model of virtue

Got something to say?

Send your letter to editor@therecord.com.au

W O R D

Name on card: I wish to be invoiced Send to: The Record, PO Box 3075, Adelaide Terrace WA 6832

9 13 14 15 17 19 21 25

S L E U T H

TheTRecord he Record LastBookshop W in ord 1911 The

November 28, 2012, The Record

December Catalogue BOOKS ON PARENTING AND MARRIAGE

FROM

ax Sculley’s definitive critique of Yoga, Tai Chi and Reiki comes with a timely warning that despite these practices’ surface appeal for helping fitness, relaxation and health, they are closely linked to underlying Eastern philosophies that are incompatible with Christianity. Vatican documents, including one authored by the present Pope when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, have highlighted the spiritual dangers associated with methods of meditation associated with Eastern religions. Despite these warnings, Yoga, Tai Chi and Reiki continue to be promoted in parishes, schools and religious orders. Max Sculley’s detailed and well documented analysis of Yoga, Tai Chi and Reiki includes gripping personal stories that bring home the dark side of these practices.This book needs to be widely circulated among teachers, clergy and religious.

“This book, Yoga, Tai Chi, Reiki, by Br Max Sculley, provides an invaluable insight into the background to these practices. His research reveals the underlying ‘philosophies’ or world views that have given rise to these techniques. He shows clearly that using the techniques leads many into a new spiritual world. These practices and techniques cannot be viewed as only being of benefit at the physical and emotional levels. Of their very nature they draw a person into the spiritual realm. The techniques rely not only on physical movement but engage a person in entering into an altered state of consciousness. Their powers derive from engagement with the spiritual world. Persons utilising the practices will be invited to engage their minds with the techniques in order for them to have any real benefit. This is where the danger lies.”

A GUIDE FOR CHRISTIANS

YOGA TAI CHI REIKI ONLY

$27

- Bishop Julian Porteous, From the Foreword

Brother Max Sculley is a De La Salle brother based in Brisbane.

BIBIANA KWARAMBA Bookshop Manager

Telephone: 9220 5912 Email: bookshop@therecord.com.au Address: 21 Victoria Square, Perth 6000