Broken Bay News August 2017

Lindfield-Killara Parish Ring out the Bells!

Celebrating National Vocations Awareness Week Inspiring joy and love in the Catechist Ministry Broken Bay leads the way with fight for school funding

BROKENBAYnews Broken Bay News celebrates 20 years! 1997-2017

BROKEN BAY NEWS PUBLICATION OF THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF BROKEN BAY AUGUST 2017 ISSUE 189

HEART TO HEART

Called to Love and Serve

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et me tell you a story…

When I was studying to be a priest, we would write a ‘self-assessment’ (a bit like a personal performance appraisal) at the end of each year. The idea was to take some time to reflect on the year, to examine our personal progress, and to name some of the key dimensions of growth and challenge. It would then be discussed with the Seminary staff, and these together would form the basis of progress in the year ahead. I was 25 by the time I completed my self-assessment at the end of fourth year, and well and truly heading ‘down the road’ towards priesthood. In fact, I’d gotten rather ahead of myself, as in that selfassessment I made the rather egotistical final statement that it wouldn’t be worth my while becoming a priest unless I was going to make a

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difference in the world. Talk about getting a big head! Anyway, thankfully the Vice Rector at the time (who himself is now a bishop like me) got to see a draft of what I’d written before it was formally submitted. He quickly told me to pull my head in, get over my ego, and go back and write something honest about myself! It was about the best bit of advice I received in the Seminary. I can’t say that I have not fallen into the sin of pride and arrogance since, but it has been a constant reminder to me not to let the corruption of power go to my head.

I tell this story today because, as I write this, I am mindful that I will be seeing soon a few young men from our Diocese who are thinking about becoming seminarians.

I recall my own pathetic moment in selfaggrandisement in the hope that I might see better the goodness in these young men who courageously desire to walk the path of Christ’s priesthood. Unlike a job or career, priesthood is not ‘my thing’, but a shared vocation. It comes about through a dialogue between the individual and the Church – the priesthood is not ‘mine’, but ‘ours.’ Therefore, a priestly vocation is a joint project of the individual, the faith community, and Christ.

This leads me to ask a question: What key characteristics might we look for in someone whom we might wish to become a priest of the Diocese for us? My own reflection on this

question has led to four characteristics. Let me say something about each of them.

“Humanity: you’ve gotta love it.”

WITHOUT a doubt, Jesus Christ died for all of humanity. But that greatest sacrificial gift to the world was not offered towards some mass of generalised humanity – it was offered to each human person, individually. A diocesan priest – who is to be the mediation of God’s sacrificial love – needs to begin, continue and end in an offering of oneself for each and every person encountered on the road through life.

A diocesan priest must be, first and foremost, a people person. Someone who says they love the Church, but has little time for God’s People, who are the Church, is not what we need in our priests. Instead, natural warmth, a giving heart, a willing presence: these are the signs of a good human being. We need to seek out good human beings first, if we want good priests.

“Location, location, location.”

UNLIKE a priest who belongs to a religious congregation, diocesan priests do not follow a particular charism or founder. Diocesan priests find their meaning and purpose in and among the particular faith community to which they have been sent. Therefore, we diocesan priests are priests of a definite place, a specific location, a particular people. I get a little suspicious of

HEART TO HEART any diocesan priest who talks of his priesthood in general terms within the Church, and forgets to tell me about the people – in their joys and hopes, their griefs and sorrows – he is called to love and serve. As God once put it: You are my people, and I will be your God.

“A ‘married’ priesthood.”

NOW, before you get too excited, note that the ‘married’ is in inverted commas! It has always struck me that being a priest would somehow lose its heart if there was not also the sacramental vocation of marriage and family life. One of the titles Jesus took to himself was that of ‘bridegroom’. His love on the cross was a nuptial love – a self-giving, self-sacrificing, passionate love. Priests are meant to be mediators of this same sacrificial love. But Christian marriage couples are the very embodiment of sacrificial love. So, for me to understand well what I’m meant to mediate, I need to immerse myself in the lives of those who are living it. A diocesan priest is a ‘married’ priest to the extent that he finds his priestly meaning by journeying with those who live – and give – their hearts to another in a partnership of life and love.

“Get off the couch, and out into the world.”

CHRIST did not call me to dwell in a safe

and secure humidicrib of personal piety and private devotion with Him. He called me to go out and be with God’s people; to get dirt under my nails and sweat on my brow. This is a way of simply saying that the priesthood is not mine, to do with as I wish. Instead, the priesthood was given to me only so that I might give Christ to others. The priesthood always calls for openness to others, and a willingness to get involved in their lives. It is missionary – it’s about going out, and giving out. None of this can be done stuck at home, waiting for others to come to me.

Therefore, someone who would want to be a diocesan priest is someone who has a heart to learn how people live, invites them into a relationship with God, and accompanies them through life. And you can’t do that lying on a couch (or hiding in the church)!

A final word. You might be wondering why I haven’t said anything about prayer, sacramental practice, zeal for the Gospel, good moral living, celibacy, doctrinal orthodoxy, and a myriad of other things we might consider important to foster in the diocesan priesthood. I do not question the absolute need for all of them, and more. It is just that these are the sorts of things that do not make sense unless they have been ‘washed through’ with the four characteristics named above. My prayer life,

for example, might be of the highest order of personal intimacy with God, but if it is detached from, and uninformed by, the lives of ordinary people then I might best belong in a monastery, but certainly not a parish.

Everyone is called to holiness; not everyone is called to diocesan priesthood.

So, in your parishes, and among your family and friends, look for young men who might show the signs of goodness named above. They might very well be waiting to hear a word of encouragement from you.

But don’t badger them day and night, or try to get them to live out your dreams – after all, it’s not your vocation! So, be gentle, discerning, encouraging; and allow the Good Shepherd find a way, if He so desires.

Please pray for me, as I pray for you.

Most Rev Peter A Comensoli Bishop of Broken Bay

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DIOCESE OF BROKEN BAY Most Rev Peter A Comensoli Bishop of Broken Bay

NEWS & ISSUES

You can’t hurry love

Diocesan Office: Tel (02) 9847 0000 Fax (02) 9847 0201 Caroline Chisholm Centre Building 2, 423 Pennant Hills Rd Pennant Hills NSW 2120 (Access off City View Rd) PO Box 340 Pennant Hills NSW 1715 officeofthebishop@dbb.org.au

By Catherine Day Through the eyes of one young woman, this series will explore what it means to be Catholic in the modern world.

Starting with what it means to be a single Catholic and ending with social issues such as Same-Sex Marriage, this series hopes to provide a fresh perspective on the issues that are all too important.

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avigating the modern world as a young Catholic is difficult.

So often, we are made to believe that we are backwards and our beliefs are so outdated that they belong in a museum. As a result, too many Church youth get caught up in the lies being peddled: “sex before marriage is fine”; “people have the ‘right’ to die”; “there’s nothing wrong with being Catholic and pro-choice”. Here’s the truth though; getting tangled up with these lies does make life difficult.

We get stripped of our dignity, and before you know it we’ve all become disposable.

Let’s look at the modern day ‘dating scene’. What are the rules of dating? Well, if you are going for an expiry-date relationship, you have to set an end date from the start and then keep it as casual as possible. But what is casual? I think it means you never fall in love or have no expectations for it to develop into anything serious.

Basically, this is what I like to call the ‘time-filler’. People don’t like to be alone. God doesn’t want us to be alone –that’s why he made Eve after all. But this sort of ‘relationship’ keeps you from growing into the person you want to be and, the person God wants you to be. It has no purpose other than making you feel good and keeping you busy for a short time.

If the ‘time-filler’ isn’t for you, that’s okay. Maybe you are after a serious relationship and want to tell the person you really like

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them but don’t know how. Long ago, your grandfather sent your grandmother a five-page love letter. Clearly he didn’t know trees needed saving, but you do. So, how do you tell someone you like them?

Send them a photo. Not just any old photo, but one of you…naked.

How else is the receiver going to know you’re interested in them?

Besides the obvious security risk (photos have a funny way of ending up online), there is a huge problem with this approach. Once a relationship becomes sexual, even if only in its language, there is never any going back. As Catholics, we believe that sex needs to occur within the parameters of marriage because sex outside of marriage reduces us and the person we’re having sex with into objects and rejects God plan for our sexuality and bodies. God designed sex (yes, He thought of it first), to be a beautiful expression of love for a man and woman. It is a gift that needs to be given freely, totally, fruitfully and faithfully. The moment you start playing around with that, is the moment that you start to be seen as a sexual object.

While at university, I had a friend who was Catholic but who also believed the lies. After he broke up with his girlfriend of three years, I asked him what happened, why did they break up? His answer threw me back: for about nine months the relationship was nothing but sexual. They weren’t going out, they weren’t talking, all they were doing was having sex.

He tried dating a new girl who said no to just about everything sexual; they didn’t last a year because he couldn’t handle not having sex.

Therein lies the problem.

Years ago, dating (or rather courting) was about spending some time with a person, getting to know them and discerning if they were the one you’d marry. It was usually a time spent making a commitment not only to the other

CHANCERY OFFICES Director, Office of the Bishop Private Secretary Sandie Cornish Vicar General: Very Rev Dr David Ranson VG Chancellor Jo Robertson Diocesan Financial Administrator, Director, Office for Stewardship: Emma McDonald

person, but also to God as a couple.

As Catholics, we should be focused on God all the time. Our purpose in life is to live for God. If we date the way the world tells us to, we run the very huge risk of trying to find the one who will make us immediately happy. Dating this way becomes very self-centred.

Dating for God is different.

The modern world tells us that to be happy while dating, you need to be sexually active. The problem with this is that the focus of the relationship shifts: rather than building each other up and working towards God, it becomes self-serving. For centuries, it was understood that men and women gave themselves to each other only through marriage. The reason being that rather than being only biological and almost animalistic, sex is meant to unify not only husband and wife, but also husband and wife with God. It is an expression of not only our love for each other, but also for God’s love for us.

I have been told that I do have an outdated, idealistic notion of dating; and I couldn’t be happier about that. I see it as a time to develop a relationship that goes beyond friendship. It’s a time to consider if the person you’re with is the one. I do believe, strongly, that if we seek a person not to satisfy our immediate happiness and bodily pleasures, we will find ourselves with the right person.

The person who encourages us to grow, not just as an individual but as a child of God, is who we should be dating. Dating shouldn’t be about filling in time because you’re lonely. Date with intention; date to grow deeper in love; date for God.

Director, Office for Communications Annie Carrett Director, Office for Evangelisation: Daniel Ang Safeguarding (Chancery) Manager Jodie Crisafulli Tel: (02) 9847 0212 Director, Marriage Tribunal: Adrienne Connaghan Tel: (02) 9847 0458 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) Alison Newell

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE Director: Peter Hamill Tel (02) 9847 0000 PO Box 967 Pennant Hills NSW 1715 CATHOLICCARE Executive Director: Trish Devlin Tel: (02) 9481 2600 PO Box 966 Pennant Hills 1715 Children’s Services: Tel: (02) 9481 2660 Family Centres: Brookvale – Tel: (02) 8968 5100 Naremburn – Tel: (02) 8425 8700 Waitara – Tel: (02) 9488 2400 Warnervale – Tel: (02) 4356 2600 Foster and Residential Care: Tel: (02) 4340 0786 Mission, Hospital Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care (02) 9481 2658

BROKEN BAY NEWS Editor: Melissa Loughlin Tel: (02) 9847 0722 news@dbb.org.au Design: Chris Murray Printed by NCP Printing 21,000 copies of the Broken Bay News are distributed monthly through 26 parishes and 44 schools in the Diocese of Broken Bay. The Broken Bay News is a member of the Australasian Catholic Press Association.

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Our Neighbourhoods of Grace Exploring our missionary outreach

Ring out the bells!

Lindfield-Killara Parish

An active community with an outward looking focus

By Debra Vermeer If you’re driving up the Pacific Highway at Lindfield in coming months and hear a melodious ringing of bells coming from the Catholic Church, you’ll know it’s just one of the ways that the Catholic Parish of Lindfield-Killara is reaching out to its local community.

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he bells, which are currently being installed, will signify that Mass is underway and the Consecration is being performed, says Parish Priest Fr Colin Blayney.

“It’s one way of signifying to people in the wider community that something special is going on inside,” he says.

And, if you miss hearing the bells, you might notice the electronic sign, which not only gives information on coming events at the parish and the school, but also offers spiritual quotes from the likes of Julian of Norwich, Thomas Merton and Pope Francis to motorists crawling up the busy highway.

“We do try to engage people and reach out to them,” Fr Colin says.

“In fact, inspired by the last Proclaim Conference, we have a group of parishioners in the early stages of setting up a Parish Evangelisation Committee to look at new ways of reaching out to people and we’re looking into starting up an ALPHA group too.”

Lindfield-Killara Parish is made up of the two former Parishes of Holy Family, Lindfield and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Killara, which came together as one in 2010.

Situated on Sydney’s North Shore, the area has a broad demographic and is becoming increasingly multicultural.

“It wouldn’t be the common perception perhaps, but we have quite a high percentage of young people in this area – above the national average,” Fr Colin says. “ There are lots of young families, and of course, we have plenty of seniors too.”

Along with Fr Colin and Assistant Priest, Fr Thomas Alackakunnel, a small, but dedicated staff supplements a vast army of volunteers who bring to life an array of different activities and ministries within the Parish.

The staff includes a Parish Secretary, Sacramental Program Coordinator and Assistant Coordinator, Bookkeeper and Human Resources Manager, an Infrastructure and Maintenance Manager, a Youth Ministry Coordinator and one staff member also has responsibility for the coordination of the parish’s child-protection responsibilities.

“We’re very blessed to have a lot of people actively involved in the life of the Parish,” says Fr Colin. “We did a tally up of all the people involved in the various

ministries recently and it was about 400 people – that’s about half the Parish. “ The generosity of our people is a real strength of the Parish. And it cuts across every demographic. Young adults, young families, senior parishioners, they’re all involved.”

The Parish has four youth focused groups, including a playgroup once a week, a Year 4-6 group called Blast, a Year 7-12 youth ministry called Fusion and a Young Adults Group, which meets every second Sunday night.

The Young Adults Group take turns cooking the meal and having a faith discussion over the meal. Some of the young adults also help in the leadership of the youth groups, while some of the Year 10 youth group

members help in leadership of the younger group.

The Parish also tries to find roles for Year 10 students who have to do community service as part of their studies. So far, they’ve helped with social functions and also with the Children’s Liturgy of the Word on Sundays.

Seniors are also well looked after, with a monthly healing Mass and morning tea held at Killara and a pastoral care group which helps provide transport for elderly people to get to the Mass. Parishioners provide Holy Communion for the housebound and there are two nursing homes within the Parish at Lindfield and Killara, as well as Lourdes Village, where Fr Terry Johns lives in retirement and acts as chaplain.

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Our Neighbourhoods of Grace Exploring our missionary outreach

The Parish is currently involved in a project to lease some of the large carpark space at Killara to a group which will build two homes, specially designed to cater for people with dementia. And it has had a long association with Woods Cottage, a home to provide supported living for people with intellectually disabled adults.

“Woods Cottage was begun by a group of parishioners back in the 1980s during the International Year of the Disabled, who wanted to do something to help people with disability,” says Fr Colin. “And for many years it was run entirely by parishioners until more recently, increasing compliance and funding issues meant that the Parish passed

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over the management of the service to CatholicCare. But the Parish is still responsible for the physical building and remains very committed to it.”

The Parish social justice group provides education on justice issues for parishioners and also supports young people who are undertaking immersion experiences overseas, by holding an annual fundraising appeal.

Ecumenism is a big feature of life within the LindfieldKillara Parish area, thanks to a longstanding involvement with the Roseville-Lindfield-Killara Interchurch Fellowship.

Fr Colin, who is the Chair of the Broken Bay Diocese Ecumenical Commission, says

there was very strong ecumenical activity already underway when he arrived in the Parish.

“And I was very pleased to step into that and to work with that,” he says.

The group holds three ecumenical services in Lent, rotating among the member churches and also rotating preachers among the clergy. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is another opportunity for shared prayer, as well as Advent.

Plus there is an annual lunch of the clergy and lay executive of the Interchurch Fellowship.

Recently, the Lindfield-Killara Parish hosted an adult education day for the local Catholic, Uniting Church and Anglican

communities to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

Another one is scheduled for October, on the topic of Martin Luther and his wife Katharina.

With the local area becoming more multicultural, the Parish is home to a Chinese Catholic Community, which meets for Mass every Sunday at 12 noon and afterwards has a community lunch in the hall.

Among the many Parish volunteers are teams assisting with the RCIA program for people enquiring about the faith; catechists going out to the local area public schools; as well as all the liturgical ministries, including a strong musical team.

The Parish also offers various

Our Neighbourhoods of Grace Exploring our missionary outreach

devotions and other spiritual nourishment; including a monthly Scripture study group and an annual retreat at Tarrawarra Abbey in Victoria. Many of the parish activities take place in the newly renovated Shirley Wallace Parish Centre.

Central to the life of the Parish is Holy Family Catholic Primary School at Lindfield.

Principal Lou Dogao, says the relationship between parish and school is a warm one and is always growing.

“For example, at the moment our School Advisory Board is quite focused on developing that relationship even further,” he says.

One way that the relationship between school and parish is

strengthened and maintained is that a member of the Parish Pastoral Council attends the School Advisory Board meetings and reports back to the parish community on matters of shared interest.

“We believe that the more communication there is, the greater the relationship will be.”

A popular feature of the local calendar is a combined school and parish Christmas Carols night, with shared singing, food and fun.

Fr Colin says that quite a number of the families in the school are active in the parish and this helps form strong bonds.

“We also have the monthly whole school Mass and also classroom Masses with each

class each year. They’re lovely occasions, when the kids invite their families along.”

An active community with an outward looking focus, LindfieldKillara Catholic Parish is looking forward to hearing the first ringing of those bells that will gently reach out into the local community, inviting people to come and see.

The proposal to install the ring of five bells in the tower of Holy Family Church at Lindfield came from the Australia and New Zealand Association of Bellringers, who also arranged some of the funding for the project.

“There has been hundreds of hours of volunteer work done by

the bellringing fraternity to bring it to this stage of near completion,” Fr Colin says.

“What’s even more wonderful is that a group of our young parishioners have been training to ring the bells. They’ve been going along faithfully to lessons at Naremburn and at St Mary’s Cathedral and learning how to be bellringers. It’s extraordinary.”

The bells were blessed by Bishop Peter A Comensoli in May and are scheduled for their first ringing on 17 September followed by the Bishop’s Dedication of the ring of bells on 12 November.

“We’re looking forward to them ringing out and letting people know there’s something special happening over here.”

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NEWS & ISSUES

Broken Bay News celebrates 20 years!

By Melissa Loughlin It was July 1997 that the first black and white issue of the Broken Bay Diocesan News (as it was known then) was published.

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ince that day 20 years ago, the Broken Bay News has developed into a glossy, full colour, award-winning magazine that helps spread the good news to all in the Diocese of Broken Bay. The newsletter began with an editorial committee appointed by Bishop David Walker, consisting of Fr Bill Aliprandi (Managing Editor), Phil Pearman (Editor), Rosemary Pearman (Advertising Manager) and Geoff Duggan (Distribution).

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A highlight of the early years was a competition to rename the Broken Bay Diocesan News in February 1998, with the winning entry receiving a bible! Out of all the entries and suggestions for new names, the editorial committee selected Yvonne Rein of Mona Vale as the winner, for suggesting it stay the same. (Wait, what?) It was in November 1999 when new editor Jane Favotto came on board that the name was eventually changed to Broken Bay News (without a competition being held or anything!)

In the following years the publication grew into a full-colour magazine, with another new editor on board in September 2002, Annie Carrett. Articles were taken off the cover and replaced with beautiful eyecatching photographs.

Broken Bay News has won numerous awards over the years at the annual Australasian Catholic Press Association Awards, and in 2016 won Best Print Magazine. This is what the judges had to say: “The Broken Bay News is clearly a magazine for its community. It is energetic, interesting and pleasant to read. A reader can quickly get a feel for the diocese by reading Broken Bay News.

As the editor of Broken Bay News since December 2015, I would sincerely like to thank and acknowledge all our contributors, writers, photographers and our loyal advertisers who have given us the opportunity to continue printing the magazine. I would like to especially

acknowledge a few of our long-term advertisers who have been with us since that first edition, Ann Wilson Funerals, Clare Communications and Harvest Pilgrimages.

Thank you also to Bishop Peter A Comensoli, who inspires us with his wonderful column each edition. In 2017 we have seen an end to a few printed publications with the switch to digital media, but we love producing this magazine for you. And we hope you love reading it. We always welcome feedback from our readers, so please let us know if there’s anything you want included in Broken Bay News or anything we can do better. You might even suggest we keep the magazine’s name the same! You can email the editor melissa.loughlin1@dbb.org.au

NEWS & ISSUES

Director of Schools Peter Hamill, Danielle Cronin (NCEC), Vanessa Mazzei, Alexia Silver, Bishop Peter A Comensoli and Annie Snell met in July to discuss education funding reforms

Principals Sue Host (OLPS, West Pymble), Suzanne Kavanagh (Mercy CC, Chatswood) and Mary Hor (Sacred Heart, Pymble) in Parliament House, Canberra to meet with MPs and Senators

Broken Bay leads the way with fight for school funding Catholic schooling in Australia has been an important and integral part of communities since the 1830s.

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early every suburb will have a local Catholic school around the corner, neighbourhood children who attend, or friends who teach there. The staff, students and families come from every walk of life both socially and financially.

The community of schools that is grouped under the Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay consists of 44 local, low-fee paying schools distributed throughout the North Shore, Northern Beaches and the NSW Central Coast. In all, the Catholic Schools Office in Broken Bay oversees the education of more than 17,000 students and employment for more than 2,000 staff. This is no mean feat.

In June, the Federal Government passed The Australian Education Amendment Bill, which would see funding cut to many of our Catholic systemic schools in Broken Bay. During the week leading up to the Bill passing, representatives from Broken Bay including seven School Principals and three parents made their way to Canberra to have their voices heard.

The three parents, Alexia Silver, Vanessa Mazzei and Annie Snell, representing their school communities on the Lower North Shore, were determined to meet with as many MPs and Senators as they could to explain how the flawed SES system would in fact cut government funds to their school, leading to increases in school fees.

There is no doubt that the pressure put on the Education Minister and the Senate by our Broken Bay community helped in gaining the concessions for Gonski 2.0.

“We wouldn’t have been able to have our voices heard in Canberra if it wasn’t for the amazing force behind us, over 2000 parents from Catholic schools in Broken Bay that joined our Facebook group, signed the petition and contacted their local members and senators relentlessly,” said Alexia Silver.

“This whole experience has shown us how wonderful our communities are,” added Annie Snell. “We are so grateful for all the support we received from the Broken Bay community. All the hard work was worth it.”

Local Catholic schools are an integral part of the community, and these proposed changes to funding would affect not only the students and their parents, but also grandparents, parish communities, teachers and the wider Catholic community.

It was not only the parents and principals that campaigned, but staff, clergy, Bishop Peter A Comensoli and Peter Hamill, Director of Schools in Broken Bay. They met with Education Minister Simon Birmingham and most of the MPs in the Diocese of Broken Bay in the weeks leading up to the Bill.

“I would like to thank our talented and passionate community of parents, principals, teachers, support staff, Catholic Schools

Office staff and clergy who have appeared on television interviews, set up Facebook pages, started petitions, produced videos, and travelled to Canberra and met with politicians,” said Peter Hamill.

“Our Catholic families have appeared in national newspapers and local daily papers, have marched, telephoned, emailed, and gathered at parent forums in their hundreds. For that, I am immensely grateful.”

Catholic education leaders continue to believe this legislation was developed hastily and adopted without sufficient scrutiny. The Bill, however, was passed with some concessions that do give Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Broken Bay a 12-month reprieve from rising school fees.

The concessions include a review of the SES (SocioEconomic Status) system, additional funding to maintain

the System Weighted Average for 12 months and greater autonomy of school systems to distribute Commonwealth and State funding to the needs of their schools. Some of the changes have been included in the legislation; other changes are promises by the Education Minister Simon Birmingham.

Effectively these concessions mean that the school system of the Diocese of Broken Bay should be able to operate in a similar manner in 2018 as it did in 2017.

The Catholic Schools Office in Broken Bay along with the National Catholic Education Commission will continue to be engaged in discussions with the Federal Government for the next 12 months. A review of the SES is long overdue and must be conducted thoroughly and rigorously.

We have a small reprieve but the fight is not over yet!

Annie Snell, Bill Shorten, Vanessa Mazzei, Alexia Silver and Tanya Plibersek met in Canberra to discuss the effect of the Education Amendment Bill on Catholic Schools in Broken Bay BBN

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ACROSS OUR DIOCESE

Priests in the Diocese of Broken Bay attended Safeguarding Training Workshops. Present at the Workshop in May are (l-r) Anita Biddle (Safeguarding Officer), Fr Raja Kommareddy, Fr Thomas Alackakunnel, Fr Jim McKeon, Fr Colin Blayney, Fr Vincent Trung, Fr Brian Moloney, Fr Harry Kennedy, Fr Leonse Kurian, Fr Paul Finucane, Fr Paul Durkin, Fr Vincent Varghese, Fr Bob Crawford and Jodie Crisafulli (Safeguarding Manager)

Compassion and Commitment for

Broken Bay Safeguarding Month

The Diocese of Broken Bay is dedicating the month of September 2017 to Safeguarding, with the theme Compassion and Commitment.

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hroughout September the agencies of Broken Bay, CatholicCare, Catholic Schools Office, Chancery Offices and Parishes, will be promoting or participating in a number of scheduled events including; • 31 August – Day of Prayer for all victims/ survivors of abuse • 4 to 9 September – Child Protection Week (promoted by the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect) • 10 September – Catholic Church Child Protection Sunday

• 17 September – Children’s Choir Games (Ku-ring-gai Chase Parish) • 19 September – Twilight Talk: Safeguarding Experiences • 20 September – A Gathering in Solidarity (Frenchs Forest Parish) Pope Francis has called on the Universal Church to hold a Day of Prayer for the victims and survivors of sexual abuse. Bishop Peter A Comensoli welcomes everyone in the Diocese of Broken Bay to a special Liturgy of Compassion and Commitment to be held at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral, Waitara on Thursday

Compassion LITURGY OF

AND COMMITMENT Thursday 31 August 2017 7.30 pm Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral Yardley Ave, Waitara

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31 August at 7.30pm. The Liturgy will bring everyone together to pray in solidarity for victims and survivors of sexual abuse.

Please take the time during September to pray for those who have suffered abuse and to also turn your mind to the actions required to ensure Broken Bay is a safe place for those who participate in its communities.

Safeguarding involves being SAFE, ATTENTIVE and RESPONSIVE and is everyone’s business.

Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults SAFEGUARDING children and vulnerable adults is the action of many within a community. Actions of Safeguarding are often proactive, common sense, practical and visible and implemented by a community to ensure children and vulnerable adults are welcomed and know that they are cared for and safe.

The Office for Safeguarding and Professional Standards (Chancery) looks after all child protection and safeguarding matters for the Chancery and Parishes. The Manager of this Office is Jodie Crisafulli who reports directly to Bishop Peter A Comensoli. Jodie is supported by Anita Biddle (Safeguarding Officer) and Lucy Sarkis (Screening Administration Assistant).

The Safeguarding Team have had a busy year training all staff in the Chancery Offices and parishes as well as all the Clergy in Broken Bay with the latest Safeguarding and Child Protection requirements.

If you would like more details on Safeguarding or training, please contact the Office for Safeguarding and Professional Standards (Chancery): E: safeguarding@dbb.org.au or P: 02 9847 0432.

EVANGELISATION

The Rise of the ‘Nones’

By Daniel Ang, Director, Office for Evangelisation

It’s been called ‘losing our religion’, ‘the rise of the nones’ or our journey into ‘no man’s land’.

W

hatever its description, the headline of the 2016 Census was that more Australians identified as ‘no religion’ than Catholic, with the former now 30.1 per cent of the population while 22.6 per cent of Australians self-identify as Catholic.

Without doubt the rise of the religiously unaffiliated is a cultural phenomenon that challenges the assumptions and outreach of our Church in significant ways. For example, there may have been once a hope that those who were baptised and guided to the faith in youth and who drifted away for some years might eventually return to the Church at a later age, perhaps when they had children of their own. This was certainly the story for many baby boomers who, once emancipated from their parents, became ‘seekers’ and explored other options, before coming home to the Catholic fold or settling in a new Church.

However, today the figures are not showing that kind of return to Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. Disaffiliation is here to stay.

This long term distancing from religion is the product of various factors and each person will bear their own story. For some, it has been a poor experience of parish, the Church, the exercise of authority or scandal that has contributed to disaffiliation; for others it may be disagreement with a particular teaching of the Church. Still others have decided to shed the Catholic ‘brand’ as they have come to the plain and simple conclusion that their lives simply no longer reflect the map of faith they were taught.

The result is many today feel comfortable in saying, ‘To be honest, I don’t belong anymore’.

However, just as with Scripture, it is easy to read just one part of the story of faith to the exclusion of others. While we may not be a particularly ‘religious lot’ as Australians this is not to say we have no inclination towards the divine or transcendent. We are, as described by the National Church Life Survey Research team, a ‘moderately religious or spiritual nation’ with near on 60 per cent of Australians believing in a personal God or some sort of spirit or life force. The positive relationship between religious and subjective wellbeing continues to appear strong, and over a quarter of Australians report having had a mystical or supernatural experience. Just as in the USA, many ‘nones’ in Australia are far from atheists.

It is just that the Church is no longer seen as a shaper of their lives.

Of course, the value of religion is that it transmits and can sustain a spiritual life and experience which, without the challenge and gift of a practicing community and religious

tradition, can become introspective or mere sentiment. It is precisely religion that makes access to the experience and living tradition of Jesus possible. The Christian comes to know about Jesus not by intuition but through the Church, by its proclamation and living testament. Certainly, when the Church’s witness to the Gospel is poor, it can appear as an obstacle to faith rather than its bearer. When the Church’s witness is strong, it can nurture, support and build up faith. What the Census figures confirm is that for many, it is not enough to belong to the ‘Catholic tribe’ for its own sake or by custom without personal engagement and growth in faith and a real sense of belonging to a community of vitality and personal change which the Church is called to be.

In the midst of a changing religious landscape, it could be suggested that Christian faith will be increasingly a personal and intentional choice for the few rather than a mere cultural inheritance for the many. In this sense we may, as has been suggested, be at the dawn of personal Christian conviction. The ‘culture of authenticity’ in which we live has created a situation in which each person has his or her own way of realising one’s humanity. It is important to find out and to become all that one can be, to not simply run alongside the events of life but to be truly inside of them, living them from within.

Our challenge in the mission of evangelisation is to engage with this new social

imaginary and provide space for the personal grasp of faith. As it has been said, ‘God has no grandchildren’, only daughters and sons who he knows by name. The calling of our parish and school communities is to support a personal response to this divine presence, to foster that sense of the transcendent that stirs within people’s lives, and encourage this into an active seeking and an explicit encounter with the living Christ present in his Church.

Pope Francis’ accent on the need for personal accompaniment in our communities is then extraordinarily timely for the Australian Church. The opportunity is there for us as a faith community to develop forms of mutual journeying, whether in small groups of conversation, by our Christian hospitality, spiritual friendships and personal exchange to be apostles in this new situation for faith. We do not have to be perfect to be an example, to witness to or companion others. The Census data is calling us to move beyond religion without relationships, beyond the anonymity of the crowd, to the task of personal and generous outreach in faith.

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Vocations Awareness Month

“Jesus, I trust in you”

By Martino Hoang My name is Hoang Tri Hieu, though in Australia I use my Italian name, Martino.

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he Vietnamese call St Martin de Porres Martino! This is my baptismal name that my parents chose for me, and so he became my patron, too. The feast day of St Martin De Porres is my birthday, which is why I love the name now!

I come from Vietnam, a country Australians know very well and I am very proud of our culture. My family consists of my father, my mother, a younger sister, a younger brother and me. We have a very close relationship with each other, even in difficult times.

My father, Quan, is the cornerstone of our family. I love his firm, but flexible personality.

He worked as a porter in a small company, but he had to retire recently for health reasons. He loves us all and considers himself responsible for the wellbeing of our family.

My great source of inspiration is my mother, Hue. She is special for me. She is both a housewife and a saleswoman, getting up very early in the morning to prepare the food she is going to sell. She takes responsibility for the organisation, management and discipline of the family.

My younger sister, Thao, was married at the age of 22, and she is really happy with her husband, Nam and their 1-year-old son. My younger brother, Tam, is still a pupil in the well-known high school in our home town. He is one of the most intelligent boys in our village, especially good at mathematics!

I was a Vietnamese pre-seminarian in Xuân

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Loc Diocese before I moved to the Broken Bay Diocese in Australia. I studied at the Open University in Ho Chí Minh City, which offers a good standard of training for its students.

I chose the four-year course in Information Technology (IT), and graduated in 2012 with a degree in Computer Science.

While I was a pre-seminarian in Xuân Loc Diocese, I lived with a big group of preseminarian brothers for over two years. Living together in community in this way provided a good opportunity for us, as future priests, to get to know each other.

Why do I want to be a priest? This is a question I often asked myself and was asked by a priest in Xuân Loc Seminary before I became a pre-seminarian. I have always wanted to be a priest, ever since I was 10 years old, when I became an altar server in my parish. At that time I came close to the Lord. I thought about it for a long time, when I was a student, and then, at my parents’ suggestion and the advice of my Parish Priest, I decided to take the entrance test for St Joseph’s Major Seminary.

I was very happy to have been accepted as a pre-seminarian. I know that it is very challenging to be a priest and to serve God’s people, but I keep repeating the prayer: “Jesus, I trust in you”. This encourages me to be more confident to respond to the call of God. While I was staying in the seminary, the vice-rector, Fr Joseph Thao suggested that I

might become a missionary priest in a foreign country, other than Vietnam.

Fr Joseph is full of inspiration and enthusiasm. Whenever I talk to him, he always widens my horizon with a range of ways of hearing the Word of God and acting upon it. I know I have been so blessed to meet and get to know him so early in my life.

He has inspired me and continues to nurture my vocation. He has not only changed my thinking about vocation and evangelisation, but has also broadened the way I look at the call of the Lord.

While visiting the Diocese of Broken Bay in 2014 and 2015, it was my honour and great privilege to meet the priests and Catholic parish communities.

I always leave Australia with mixed feelings, as each time I visit I find I have a deep fondness for the parishioners of Broken Bay, whom I have grown to love very much in my short time with you, and to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude.

It would be a great privilege for me to belong to the Diocese of Broken Bay and to share its spiritual riches. I have a golden opportunity to expand my vocation through the divine providence manifested in the hospitality of the people of Australia and Broken Bay, in particular. Through the love of God, I believe I have the potential to be a good seminarian in the Diocese and this will allow me to be a part of Broken Bay’s future.

Furthermore, I have already been in my training vocation for five years, and I realise that I still need to study many things, before I can become a good priest in the future.

There will be a lot of difficulties to face, but I hold a firm belief that these are the challenges that God is offering me. Therefore, I must face them with the grace of God, and in this way, I will gain the confidence to face anything for love of Him. I look forward to carrying out the will of God and serving the people of the Diocese.

Vocations Awareness Month

The Augustinians

www.osa.org.au

The Order of Hermits of St Augustine (Augustinians) is a religious order of brothers (many of whom are ordained priests) within the Catholic Church.

T

he Order was founded in 1256 under the Rule of St Augustine.

The Order is one of the mendicant religious orders that originated in 13th century Europe to minister to the people of emerging urban centres. Over the centuries, the Order quickly spread to many parts of the world.

Today there are over 2,700 male Augustinian friars serving in around 40 countries on the various continents. The Augustinian Contemplative Nuns united to the Order, and the numerous groups of Augustinian Sisters are affiliated to the Augustinian friars.

There are a variety of ministries in which Augustinians are involved.

What unites Augustinians is the living of religious life under the Rule of St Augustine with its emphasis on community life, prayer and service motivated by love.

We are “Active Contemplatives.” We are Men of Heart. We serve God and His

people in diverse ministries as pastors, educators and missionaries.

Recently, the province of Australia was blessed with the Ordination of three new Priests.

Fr Francis Belcina OSA, Fr Saldie Resolado OSA, and Fr Percival Sevare OSA, by His Excellency Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana, Apostolic Nuncio to Australia at St Kieran’s Church, Manly Vale on 27 May 2017. Fr Francis is now appointed Assistant Priest at North Harbour Parish.

Consider the Priesthood? Are you restless? Searching? Are you interested in becoming an Augustinian? If you’re interested in religious life within the Augustinian Order get in touch with our vocation director, Fr Minh-Tan HOANG OSA: minhtanhoang@ yahoo.com.au or 0407 456 228, who will listen, discuss and establish a relationship to help you discern your vocation and spend time with the Augustinian community within Australia.

L to R: Fr Saldie OSA, Fr Percival OSA, Fr Francis OSA

Hazardous men wanted for the Augustinians è A journey of friendship è Low incomes, no wife or children è Ridicule and suspicion in the eyes of today’s society è Painful sacrifices will be required Your success is the Salvation of thousands of souls and entry into eternal communion with Christ the High Priest Men wanted to journey on the way with St Augustine!

Who are not afraid to take up their cross and in these increasingly troubled times, not only stand by Christ and His Church, but bravely mount those crosses and hang with him.

Consider the Augustinian Priesthood The Order of Saint Augustine – Vocation Fr Minh-Tan Hoang OSA PO BOX 7278, Warringah Mall, Brookvale NSW 2100, AUSTRALIA Email: minhtanhoang@yahoo.com.au Or Call: 0407456228 www.osa.org.au

Sister of Mercy with healing hands

By Michelle Goh

I joined the Sisters of Mercy (Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea) three and a half years ago when I made my first profession of religious vows.

I

first contemplated the possibility of religious life after finishing specialist medical training in dermatology. At that time, I enjoyed my work in medicine because I liked the variety and intellectual challenge of the profession, the people interaction, the lifestyle and also the satisfaction of knowing that through my work, I was helping others. At the same time, there also was a deeper longing for ultimate meaning, and spiritual search for how to better fit my Christian faith into how I was living and what I was doing.

As a Sister of Mercy now, I am blessed to belong to a group of committed Christian women who constantly model for me a balanced contemplation-withaction mode of being and doing.

Out of our relationship with Jesus, we try to live the Gospel message through our service to

the community especially the poor and disadvantaged of our world, through our ministries in health, education, welfare and social justice. Having first experienced and known God’s loving kindness (mercy) in our lives, we try to share God’s mercy and compassion with those around us.

My current ministry is in medical dermatology – in clinical practice and medical education. I hope that by my work in health ministry, I am participating in Christ’s work of healing in God’s kingdom. I am deeply grateful for the gifts and opportunities that I have received, and am thankful that I am able to give back to the community by serving those in need of health care.

I feel that living religious life as a Sister of Mercy helps me love God and my neighbour with all that I am, and so be the best person that God has made me to be.

Reach out to a broken world with compassion, hospitality and justice...

EXPLORE MERCY

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Vocations Awareness Month

Adrian Gomez to be ordained a Permanent Deacon (at last!)

By Melissa Loughlin

It was ten years ago that Adrian Gomez applied to enter formation for the Permanent Diaconate in the Diocese of Broken Bay.

I

t has been a long journey, but at long last, Adrian will be ordained

by Bishop Peter A Comensoli on Friday 11 August at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral, Waitara.

Adrian, the Youth Ministry Coordinator at St Leo’s Catholic College, grew up in a religious family and his passion for his faith was set alight when he joined the youth group Antioch. It was during this time Adrian felt a calling, but had not heard of the Permanent Diaconate back then.

“I discerned whether I was called to priesthood and spent three years in the Seminary of the Good Shepherd,” said Adrian.

“These were wonderful years of great spiritual growth for me, but I ultimately discerned that this was not where God was calling me. I left and got married, but still continued to feel a strong call to a ministry of service in the Church.”

Adrian and his wife Cristina and their two children, Julian aged 12 and Sophia aged 10, are parishioners at St Patrick’s, Asquith, part of Ku-ring-gai Chase Catholic Parish. When he is ordained, Adrian won’t be appointed to a parish at first, to

allow him to fulfil his full-time role at St Leo’s.

“Balancing a family, full-time job and the diaconate will be a great challenge. Bishop Peter has been very understanding in recognising these competing demands, particularly with my wife and two children, and has said that he will not appoint me to a parish or as a chaplain at my school. Rather he has asked me, initially at least, to be involved with marriage formation and accompaniment,” said Adrian.

“St Leo’s principal, Tony Gleeson, has also been very supportive of my formation and future ministry.

Thanks to this there will be some flexibility in how I use my time and find balance in my life.”

As a Youth Ministry Coordinator at St Leo’s, Adrian teaches religion, facilitates retreats, takes students to feed the homeless through the Vinnies Van, visits the elderly at McQuoin Park nursing home, organises Masses and other liturgies, leads prayer and runs a lunch-time Bible Study group.

“I don’t see myself doing these things differently, but as an ordained minister the Church’s love will be present in a more visible

Adrian and Cristina Gomez

way through my service,” said Adrian. “As well as this symbolic change, the Diaconate will open up new opportunities for ministry – I am really looking forward to bringing families and communities together into the presence of God in those significant moments of life, love and loss – journeying with them as I celebrate baptisms, weddings and funerals.”

Although Adrian’s journey to Permanent Diaconate has been a long one, he could not have done it without amazing support around him, especially his wife Cristina. “She is a woman of great faith and has a deep understanding of theology that both inspires me and keeps me grounded,” said Adrian. “My parents started me on my journey of life and faith and have continued to support me in my discernment.

My formation began under the guidance of Michael Slattery, a wise and balanced guide, and Fr Paul Durkin and Deacon Peter McCulloch were both in formation

What are you so afraid of?

with me and I grew a lot from our time of shared discernment. And finally Fr Jim McKeon, who I have known for 20 years and served at his ordination; it has been wonderful to reconnect with him as my Director of Formation.”

“As Christians we are all called to be missionary disciples, with our diverse gifts and ways of service building up the Body of Christ,” added Adrian. “In every parish there are already many people exercising diakonia (service) through teaching, leading prayer and pastoral care of those in need.

As a Diocesan community we need to recognise these gifts and calling forth those who are exercising them to official ministries – whether lay or ordained. Deacons are icons of Christ the servant, they are called to be people who model and empower the Christian community to service of God and neighbour.

To use the words of a well-known hymn, they are people who ‘hold God’s people in their hearts’”.

By Jane Maisey

As I began my Emmaus Journey (commonly known as Novitiate) with the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in August last year, I met with my new spiritual director; our eyes locked, her eyebrow raised and she wisely asked me “What are you so afraid of?”

“W

hat are you so afraid of?” has been stuck to my consciousness like melting honey onto my daily fresh toast.

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I knew that as I left New Zealand, gave up my design business and entered into the Emmaus Journey that I was

walking a path with an unknown end point. This path is countercultural, it requires courage, trust and a kind of blind faith.

Fear is an emotion we all feel.

But where does being afraid come from?

When I think about my spiritual relationship with God I remember that when I am really loving, living in the moment and trusting, that fear somehow takes a leave of absence. Fear seems to show up like an uninvited guest if I focus on how the future will go, if I plan, or view things solely from my perspective. If I lose trust

and faith then fear is there as a swift uninvited replacement.

As I move into a deeper commitment I need to remember daily to press ‘Ctrl Z’ on fear; to step back, breathe in, trust in God, let go, live in the present, one day, one step, one bad joke at a time…

If you want to make God laugh, tell her your plans!

I hope and pray that we can live lives where unnecessary fear has a leave of absence. Please pray for me – I pray we will journey with embracing hearts, trust in God who is Love and push Ctrl Z on our fears together.

Vocations Awareness Month

The Missionary Dimension of our Christian Calling National Vocations Awareness Week In his message for the 54th World Day of Prayer for Vocations this year, His Holiness Pope Francis draws our reflection towards the call “to go out from ourselves.”

“A

ll Christians are called to be missionaries of the Gospel! As disciples, we do not receive the gift of God’s love for our personal consolation, nor are we called to promote ourselves, or a business concern. We are simply men and women touched and transformed by the joy of God’s love, who cannot keep this experience just to ourselves.”

Our commitment to this mission, this call to Holiness shared through our Baptism, is not an added extra to our Christian life, but an intrinsic element of our faith – our vocation.

National Vocations Awareness Week, which has been dedicated by the Church to recognise and promote the distinct calling we have all received through God’s great gift of love, provides an opportunity for all Australian dioceses, parishes, schools, religious communities, youth and campus ministers, and other Catholic organisations, to focus at the same time on this ‘call to Holiness.’ This year it will be celebrated from 6-13 August.

Each vocation, be it married life, religious life, consecrated life, permanent diaconate, priesthood or the single state, is a gift to the other, one enhancing and contributing to the fulfilment of the other. Their interconnectedness advances the Kingdom of God in the world.

The week is a time to focus our prayers and support for all, particularly for those considering a vocation to priesthood and religious life, and especially for our young people who might be asking, “To what vocation in life is God calling me?”

We may often think that vocations to priesthood and religious life sit outside our responsibilities, but raising up vocations comes from within our communities and from within our own families. It

could be a simple invitation or encouragement to someone to consider this path that brings great joy and fulfilment.

Pope Francis asks us to continue in our prayers for all vocations: “With… confidence born of the Gospel, we become open to the silent working of the Spirit, which is the basis of mission.

There can be no promotion of vocations or Christian mission apart from constant contemplative prayer…. I ask parish communities, associations and the many prayer groups present in the Church… to continue praying that the Lord will send workers to his harvest.”

If you are someone who would like to know more about vocations to the priesthood, permanent diaconate or religious life, or you want to find the best way to bring that invitation to someone you know please contact: Fr Paul Durkin Director, Office for Vocations E: paul.durkin@dbb.catholic.edu.au T: 02 9484 1427 Fr Jim McKeon Director, Formation for the Permanent Diaconate E: jim.mckeon@dbb.org.au

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Contact Contact Contact Katrina Katrina Brill Brill Katrina Brill Katrina.brill@sosj.org.au Katrina.brill@sosj.org.au Katrina.brill@sosj.org.au www.sosj.org.au www.sosj.org.au www.sosj.org.au

T: 02 4369 1211 BBN

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AUGUST – OCTOBER 2017

Office for Evangelisation PULLOUT EVENT CALENDAR

THE DIOCESE OF BROKEN BAY EXISTS TO EVANGELISE, TO PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST, GATHERED AS FRIENDS IN THE LORD AND SENT OUT TO BE MISSIONARY DISCIPLES. THE OFFICE FOR EVANGELISATION SERVES THIS MISSION AND PROMOTES THE GROWING MISSIONARY OUTLOOK OF PARISHES, FAITH COMMUNITIES AND INDIVIDUALS.

EVERY STORY HAS A FAMILY: TELLING THE CHRISTIAN STORY OF FAMILY LIFE A presentation on Marriage and Family Life by Bishop Peter A Comensoli “The Bible is full of families, births, love stories and family crises.

This is true from its very first page…” (Amoris Laetitia #8) Presenter: Most Rev Peter A Comensoli, Bishop of Broken Bay Date: Tuesday 8 August 2017, 7:30pm – 9:00pm Venue: The Light of Christ Centre, end of Yardley Avenue, Waitara RSVP: By Friday 4 August 2017 to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448 Date: Thursday 12 October 2017, 10:30am – 12:00pm

LIVING FAITH: CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING Catholic Social Teaching is a rich treasury of thought and teaching on social concerns. This ENCOUNTER course highlights the key principles of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and presents some of the major social documents of the Church and their relevance for us in the twenty-first century. This course highlights that love for God cannot be separate from the love of one’s neighbour, especially the most poor and powerless amongst ourselves.

Presenters: Dr Sandie Cornish, Private Secretary to Bishop Peter A Comensoli, Director of the Office for the Bishop Dr Cristina Gomez, Life, Charity, and Social Development Coordinator, Catholic Life & Faith Formation Team Date: Tuesday 19 September 2017, 7:00pm – 9:30pm Venue: Nulty Room, Hornsby Cathedral Parish, 23 Yardley Avenue, Waitara

Venue: The Parish Centre, The Entrance Parish, 239 The Entrance Rd, The Entrance

RSVP: By Wednesday 13 September 2017 to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448

RSVP: By Tuesday 10 October 2017 to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448

Date: Wednesday 20 September 2017, 7:00pm – 9:30pm

THE EUCHARIST: NOURISHED + SENT

Venue: Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish Centre, 9 Currie Road, Forestville RSVP: By Thursday 14 September 2017 to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448

A Presentation by Professor Clare Johnson The Eucharist is the ‘source and summit’ of our faith life, sustaining us in our mission as Catholic Christians by providing nourishment and encouragement for our journey in discipleship.

In this ENCOUNTER series, Professor Clare Johnson will relate how the liturgical celebration, particularly the Eucharist, facilitates the building up of the Body of Christ, emphasising that we are anointed and sent to live the life of the Gospel in the world.

Date: Thursday 21 September 2017, 10:00am – 12:30pm Venue: St Mary of the Cross MacKillop Catholic Parish, 91 Sparks Road, Warnervale RSVP: By Friday 15 September 2017 to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448

Presenter: Professor Clare Johnson, Director of the ACU Centre for Liturgy Date: Thursday 24 August 2017, 7:00pm – 9:00pm Venue: St Leonard’s Hall, Corner of Willoughby and Donnelly Roads, Naremburn RSVP: By Monday 21 August 2017 to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448 Date: Wednesday 6 September 2017, 10:00am – 12:00pm Venue: Parish Centre, Our Lady Star of the Sea, 165 Serpentine Road, Terrigal RSVP: By Monday 21 August 2017 to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448

PUTTING RUNGS ON THE LADDER You’re invited to your ‘Place at the Table’ at our Annual TriDiocesan Social Justice Twilight Reflection Evening.

Join Catholics from the Dioceses of Parramatta and Broken Bay, and the Archdiocese of Sydney for a prayerful dinner event to celebrate our social justice work and reflect on the theme of 2016-17 Social Justice Statement: “A Place at the Table–Social Justice in an Ageing Society.”

CHRISTIANS IN THE MIDDLE EAST & INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE: PAST & PRESENT SITUATIONS. A Presentation by Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald Archbishop Fitzgerald will consider the present situation concerning Christians in the Middle East and the importance of religious freedom as a fundamental human right, as well as the plight of other faiths, emphasising the importance of interreligious dialogue for the promotion of peace in our world.

Date: Saturday 19 August 2017, 10:00am – 12:00pm Venue: Caroline Chisholm Centre, Building 2, 423 Pennant Hills Road, Pennant Hills (Vehicular entry via City View Road) RSVP: By Thursday 17 August 2017 to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448

CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM RELATIONS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Date: Wednesday 23 August 2017, 6:30pm – 8:30pm

Speaker: Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald

Venue: St Columba’s, 213 Elswick Street, Leichhardt

Date: Saturday 9 September 2017, 7:00pm

Cost: None

Venue: Gleeson Auditorium, Australian Catholic University, 25A Barker Road, Strathfield

RSVP: By 18 August. Please advise dietary requirements.

Cristina.Gomez2@dbb.org.au or 9847 0428

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Further information and RSVP: info.cccmr@columban.org.au

AUGUST – OCTOBER 2017 PRAYER: AFFIRMING THE RELATIONSHIP This ENCOUNTER course highlights the necessity of an active and vibrant prayer life for fostering a personal relationship with Jesus. It will cover the nature, aims and ways of praying, thereby giving a sense of confidence in “how to pray.” There is great richness and diversity of Catholic prayer practice. This course will foster an appreciation of prayer as a response to God’s love, as well as develop an appreciation of the relationship between personal prayer and communal liturgical prayer.

Presenter: Very Rev Dr David Ranson, Parish Priest Holy Name Parish Wahroonga and Vicar General Diocese of Broken Bay Date: Tuesday 12 September 2017, 7:00pm – 9:30pm Venue: St Cecilia’s Parish, Wyong RSVP: By Friday 8 September 2017 to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448

Safeguarding The Hope Of The Church Date: Saturday 12 August 2017 Time: 9:30am – 2:00pm Venue: Holy Name Wahroonga Parish, 35 Billyard Avenue, Wahroonga

Serving In A Church Of Mission Date: Saturday 28 October 2017 Time: 9:30am – 2:00pm Venue: TBA

TWILIGHT TALKS Catholic Youth Broken Bay invites you to Twilight Talks. Join Young Adults from around the Diocese to connect, share a meal, pray and be nourished by inspiring speakers.

Safeguarding Experiences Presenter: Most Rev David L Walker, Bishop Emeritus, Diocese of Broken Bay

Date: Tuesday 19 September 2017

Date: Thursday 28 September 2017, 7:00pm – 9:30pm

Time: 6:30pm – 9:00pm

Venue: Our Lady Help of Christians, Epping

Venue: TBA

RSVP: By Monday 25 September 2017 to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448

Open New Horizons For Spreading Joy with Malcolm Hart Date: Tuesday 10 October 2017

Presenter: Most Rev David L Walker, Bishop Emeritus, Diocese of Broken Bay

Time: 6:30pm – 9:00pm

Date: Thursday 5 October 2017, 7:00pm – 9:30pm

Venue: TBA

Venue: Sacred Heart Church Hall, 1 Keenan Street, Mona Vale RSVP: By Monday 2 October 2017 to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448

Catholic Youth Broken Bay TRAINING DAY CYBB Training Days are an opportunity to gather young people and youth leaders interested and involved in local ministry to network and receive essential spiritual and practical formation.

PRAISEFEST Join young people from across the Diocese at PRAISEFEST! Get a chance to catch up with friends while enjoying our pre event Festival, encounter God through vibrant and honest worship, and receive spiritual nourishment through an inspiring and relevant message on Mary: Great Things (Magnificat).

BBQ dinner will be provided from 6:00pm before our night begins.

Date: Friday 1 September 2017 Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm Venue: Epping and Carlingford Parish

For more details on any CYBB events and RSVP: youth@dbb.org.au

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) CCD training and formation opportunities serve those involved in the mission of Special Religious Education (SRE) in our State Schools but are also open to those in catechesis and evangelising outreach in our Diocese. The Office for Evangelisation offers CCD training to all interested people providing formation that enables the Gospel to be taken into the lives of others.

CCD Ministry Induction – Compulsory Training for New Catechists – 7 x 2 hour sessions over 4 days Central Coast Region – Course Type: CCDMI Venue: Lecture Room, Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, 12 Ashton Ave, The Entrance Dates: Mondays 23, 30 October, 6, 13 November 2017 Time: 9:30am – 2:30pm (13 November 9:30am – 12:00pm) RSVP: By Monday 16 October to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448

North Shore & Hornsby Region – Course Type: CCDMI Venue: Caroline Chisholm Centre, 423 Pennant Hills Road, Building 2, Pennant Hills (Vehicular entry via City View Road) Dates: Fridays 20, 27 October, 3, 10 November 2017 Time: 9:30am – 2:30pm (10 November 2017, 9:30am – 12:00pm) RSVP: By Friday 13 October to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448 Northern Beaches Region – Course Type: CCDMI Venue: The Lakes Parish Hall, 21 Lagoon Street, Narrabeen (Only Street Parking available) Dates: Tuesdays 17, 24, 31 October, 14 November 2017 Time: 9:30am – 2:30pm (14 November, 9:30am – 12:00pm) RSVP: By Tuesday 10 October to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825 / 9847 0448

Safeguarding Children & Integrity in the Service of the Church and Classroom Management The Department of Education requires all SRE teachers (catechists) and helpers to undertake initial and ongoing training in the areas of Safeguarding Children, including child protection, and Classroom Management. It is mandatory for catechists and helpers to update this training every three years.

One day workshops are being made available in three separate venues across the diocese to allow all catechists easy access to this important training.

Northern Beaches Region Venue: St Kieran’s Parish Centre, 2 King Street, Manly Vale Date: Wednesday 4 October 2017 Time: 9:30am – 2:30pm RSVP: By Wednesday 27 September to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825/ 9847 0448 North Shore & Hornsby Region Venue: Caroline Chisholm Centre, 423 Pennant Hills Road, Pennant Hills Date: Thursday 5 October 2017 Time: 9:30am – 2:30pm RSVP: By Thursday 28 September to registrations@dbb.org.au or 4332 9825/ 9847 0448

Be kept informed about upcoming faith education and formation opportunities within the Diocese. Please contact David Patterson, Catholic Life & Faith Formation Coordinator, at david.patterson@dbb.org.au to receive a monthly e-News detailing events from around the parishes.

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EDUCATION

Third Time Winners

St Leo’s Catholic College from Wahroonga took out the top prize for the third year running at the annual Battle of the Chefs competition.

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t Peter’s Catholic College in Tuggerah came second with Mater Maria Catholic College from Warriewood rounding out the top three.

Seven secondary schools from across the Diocese took part in the competition, which was held at St Peter’s. “ The standard of our students is continually lifting each year, resulting in all schools performing to a very high level,” said Phil Cox, Education Officer, Secondary Vocational Learning & Curriculum.

Teams of six students took part from each college, comprising three Year Twelve students to prepare the meal, and three Year Eleven

students to watch and help clean up. Competitors had just ninety minutes to prepare, cook and plate up one main meal and one entrée or dessert, with judging criteria including personal presentation, hygiene, technical skills, work flow, and final product.

The competition was judged

by Dimitri Aronis and Sandra Stowe from Ourimbah TAFE and Karl Kard, head chef and owner of The Edge Bar Café in Tuggerah. The judges commended the standard of work displayed by each team, as well as the students’ professional approach to teamwork.

“We were really fortunate to have such highly qualified chefs

give their time and expertise,” said Mr Cox. Mr Cox also thanked Simone Peat at St Peter’s Catholic

College and the VET team for all their hard work on the day, as well as their organisation behind the scenes.

Song and Dance Forty-five students from St Leo’s Catholic College in Wahroonga took to the stage recently to perform the musical Guys and Dolls.

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tarring Sam Harmon as gangster Sky Masterson and Laura Moran as his love interest Sarah Brown, the musical ran for three nights at The Light of Christ Centre.

Written by Frank Loesser in 1950, the show is a celebrated

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musical comedy about gangsters, gamblers and lovers in the 1920s New York underworld.

Under the guidance of Mrs Olivia Gauci – Director of Music and Samantha Murphy – Director, the cast and crew worked tirelessly on the show for

five months, rehearsing every week and often on weekends.

The musical opened with a matinee performance for local primary school students and had its final performance later that week on the Saturday night.

“The dance routines are

brilliant, and everyone has gained so much confidence in their acting, singing and dancing skills,” said Sam and Laura. “The whole cast have such an amazing connection, and even though it’s been a lot of work, we are all just loving being in the show.”

EDUCATION

Football Success Broken Bay Diocese students and teachers have been kicking goals both literally and metaphorically this year – with our football and touch teams winning their grand finals.

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he Broken Bay Girls Under 15s Touch team took out the NSWCCC championship in Dubbo, while the Boys Open Football team won their Grand Final against Metropolitan Catholic Colleges after an undefeated season.

Samuel Brisby, a teacher at St John the Baptist Catholic School, Freshwater, also represented Australia in the men’s Open Touch Football team, which won all five of their

games against Japan and New Zealand at the championships.

The Open Boys and Open Girls teams made it to the Touch Grand Finals, but lost in very close games, with the Under 15 Boys team missing out on the Grand Final by the narrowest of margin.

Mark Feledy manager of the Under 15 Girls Touch team commented, “From the outset, the girls were extremely committed and determined,

and were rewarded with a sensational victory.”

The Open Girls coach, Rachael Elcoate, said that all four teams did Broken Bay proud. “We had a good training session the day before and this was paramount to

the success of the association,” she said. “We certainly look forward to next year.”

Nineteen students from Broken Bay Diocese were also selected for NSWCCC state teams, quite an achievement.

Quick Thinking Saves School

Parents and teachers saved the day when a fire broke out after hours at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic School in Wyoming.

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hen Naomi Purkis arrived at the school to attend a meeting after hours, she could smell burning coming from the staff room. She alerted the Assistant Principal Maria Kennedy and staff member Lyndsey Wiggins, who were

working in a nearby office, and the three went to investigate.

They arrived just in time to see the dishwasher burst into flames.

Luckily, they acted quickly.

Maria grabbed the fire blanket from the wall while Naomi ran to get the extinguisher,

which Lyndsey used to douse the flames. Naomi then rang emergency services in Gosford.

By the time the firemen arrived, the fire was extinguished and everybody was safe.

The fire had begun when the dishwasher malfunctioned. “If

not for their actions, the school would have most certainly lost the administration area and perhaps some classrooms,” said Fiona Bell, Work Health and Safety Officer from the Catholic Schools Office.

What a great save!

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EDUCATION

Teachers Acknowledged Two teachers in the Diocese have been recognised for their long service and commitment to the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award.

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lara Hollestelle-Watson, teacher at Mater Maria Catholic College in Warriewood and Claire Dorey, teacher at Mercy Catholic College in Chatswood, were recognised for ten and fourteen years’ service to the award respectively.

The pair joined 24 other

leaders at a ceremony in Parliament House where the Minister for Sport, Hon. Stuart Ayers MP, presented them with medals. The CEO of the National Award Authority, Peter Kaye AM, also attended and presented them with certificates.

In his speech, Minister Ayers

acknowledged the significant contribution that the Award had made to so many young people in NSW. The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is a structured youth development program which empowers Australians aged 14-25. To

achieve the Award, young people must learn a skill, volunteer in their community, improve their physical wellbeing, and experience a team adventure in a new environment. Adult Award Leaders such as Kiara and Claire support participants to achieve the Award.

Young Readers, Young Leaders Teachers became students for a day at a workshop to refine their skills in teaching literacy.

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80 teachers from 31 Broken Bay primary schools were involved in the workshop which was held at the Light of Christ Hall in Waitara.

Sheena Cameron and Louise Dempsey, who are internationally recognised experts in literacy and authors of The Writing Book, ran the workshop, sharing evidencebased ways to teach writing and

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embed oral language skills in primary school kids.

Michelle Perry, Assistant Principal and leader of literacy at St Patrick’s Catholic School, East Gosford, said she was struck by the “range and depth” of the activities.

“They took into account the diverse needs of students,” she said.

Jemma Satchell, a teacher at Sacred Heart Catholic School at Mona Vale, agreed. “It was a

motivating and encouraging day,” she said. “Sheena and Louise offered practical ideas that I have been able to implement into my classroom straight away.”

“The beauty of these strategies is that they can be applied from Kindergarten to Year 6,” said Karen Townsend, Assistant Principal at Prouille Catholic School in Wahroonga. “They ensure students are central to the learning process.”

EDUCATION

Parent Engagement Day Holy Cross Catholic School at Kincumber ran their second Indigenous Parent Engagement day on 2 June.

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ave Ella, Educational Officer and members of the Aboriginal Engagement Team met Indigenous parents and carers from across the Central Coast to take part in a program designed to support parents with literacy and numeracy in the home.

Holy Cross student leaders began the day with an acknowledgement of country, and then The Glen dance troupe put on a spectacular performance, with students joining in the dance.

Parents were welcomed by Dr Mark Askew, Head of Educational Services at the Catholic Schools

Office, who acknowledged the importance of parents in fostering learning outcomes.

The day started with a number of workshops to teach parents strategies to engage their children in literacy and numeracy. These included hands-on activities using items that could be found around the home.

Mr Ella congratulated the Aboriginal Education Workers on the progressive and innovative work they are doing with students and families across the Diocese.

At the end of the day, students from Holy Cross performed a

traditional dance, while students from St Joseph’s Catholic College at East Gosford made lunch for the guests.

Mr Peter Hamill, Director of

Schools in the Diocese, closed the day by thanking the team for their work and praised parents’ strong commitment to their children’s education.

1-2-3 Magic

More than 50 parents attended a course at St Martin’s Catholic School at Davidson recently to participate in the 1-2-3 Magic parenting program which course facilitator Jeanie McDonnell ran over three weeks in the school library.

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he 1-2-3 Magic and Emotion Coaching program teaches parents and caregivers of children under 12 how to deal with difficult behaviour by using an easy signalling system to provide discipline and structure. The signalling system requires the parent to use less emotion in their engagement, which encourages the

development of children’s ability to self-regulate their behaviour and emotions.

St Martin’s School Principal, Helen Leigh commented, “What a great response to 1-2-3 Magic. We can all use a few more parenting ideas. While three weeks was a big commitment, it allowed time to try out ideas, talk to others about

strategies and bring questions to the next week’s session.”

The course received positive feedback from the parents, who praised the relevance of the content and said that the strategies were likely to be very useful.

“It was simple and easy to follow and has made a difference in my approach,” said Susanne Bragge, a

parent and teacher. “The course was engaging and so informative.

It showed me that I have options to manage children and build positive relationships with them.”

Kate Miller agreed. “The Emotional Coaching component of the course was a highlight as it challenged my current parenting ideas and introduced me to far more effective ways of communicating with my children and providing them with the skills needed to identify and manage their own emotions, feelings and behaviour.”

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NEWS & ISSUES

The Technology of Faith

By Annie Carrett, Director, Office for Communications

You don’t need a brains-trust to acknowledge that the cultural landscape has changed significantly with the use of Social Media and technological innovation in the digital sphere.

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t has taken some time, but thankfully we non-natives are starting to drop the term ‘new technology’, as we finally embrace the fact that the technology bus will not wait for us.

In recent years we have come to an agreed understanding of the main principles of the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of technological innovation.

For Catholic communicators, our challenge now is to move past that framework and into the ‘what’ of the digital landscape.

Rapidly emerging in the reality of our current cultural experience is a rising sector of what we might call ‘unaffiliated’ people. Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures alone indicate a decline not only in those who nominate themselves as Catholic, but who even recognise faith as part of their life. According to Elizabeth Drescher, Adjunct Professor of Religion and Pastoral Ministry at Santa Clara University CA, this

unaffiliated group feels little or no connection to organisational faith.

In fact, according to Drescher, in the US and Canada alone, 50 per cent of people raised as Catholics will eventually leave the Church.

The spiritual lives of people no longer connect with institutionalised religion. In a survey of 1100 people undertaken by Drescher, 35 per cent under the age of 30 saw themselves as unaffiliated. Sadly, it is not just this younger age-bracket that has shifted their membership.

According to the survey, numbers of unaffiliated are also rising with those over 30. We spend a great deal of research and energy in Church to address our declining youth participation, but our young people may just be taking their cues from parental disenfranchisement.

Across these statistics, it is perhaps important to look closer at what this ‘unaffiliation’ represents.

On the surface it may seem like a rejection of God, but the reality

seems more a move away from traditional faith practice. ABS figures still hold close to 70 per cent of the population nominating a belief, with Christianity remaining the most common at 52 per cent.

Those undertaking Drescher’s survey saw themselves as very ‘spiritual’, just not ‘religious’. Their practices and yearnings seek the experiential and centre on how they relate closely to family and friends – even pets. As their numbers grow, their particular ‘practices’, often adopted across broad spectrums of ritual, are increasingly permeating the culture and worship of the traditional faith practitioner.

As people locate this experiential spirituality more and more in their everyday lives, we are seeing rapid increases in the sharing and shaping of stories of personal meaning through digital networking. What then is the reality of our faith practice as it is integrated into this digital world of constant narration?

What will occur when we translate all we have into a digital environment – our symbols, our Sacraments, and our liturgies?

As our understanding of time and location is radically transformed, perhaps it is still far too early to answer such questions.

But, it is not too early to really listen

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to what people are expressing in the digital sphere, and to what they are searching for. By truly listening to the needs, the wounds and the stories within this digital culture, we can learn to respond better and in more meaningful ways.

Drescher says that it is not about mastery over a new cultural expression, but a better understanding of our relationship within it, that will shape how we evangelise the ways of living our faith in Christ.

For Catholics communicating in this digital age, according to Sr Nancy Usselman fsp, Director of the Pauline Centre for Media Studies in California, we must be critical thinkers who offer a transformative presence and value technology as playing a meaningful part in our faith life “This networked culture needs a soul – it needs meaning, life, hope and joy,” she says.

“To give culture a soul we must bring Christ into the popular media culture, which is so desperate for a Saviour. We have to become a transformational presence.”

Usselman says that becoming this presence is not about creating content, but embracing a media mindfulness – again, listening to the desires and needs of humanity and weaving together landscapes and interactions that bring profound significance to people’s lives.

It is a call to become ‘cultural mystics’, offering “direct experience, with direct encounter and with the transformative presence of God in Christ.”

In a world of digital noise, how mindful are we of not just adding more information into our flooded world, but really offering this sense of the mystery of God into our environment?

What we need to embrace is the value that technology can bring to a meaningful spiritual ground. It too can be a site of the Holy.

To return to Professor Drescher, “The more closely our stories can be tied to the everyday lives of people and their lived experience, the more power they will have. This is where the digital sits, a place to nurture the spirit.”

Both Professor Elizabeth Drescher and Sr Nancy Usselman fsp spoke in June at the combined SIGNIS World Congress and the US Catholic Media Conference held in Quebec.

NEWS & ISSUES

‘Walking the Way’

Inspiration for the journey as we walk with our children ‘Walking the Way’ reflection mornings for parents are happening in our schools across the Diocese, supported by the inspiring ‘Walking the Way’ book and resources.

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he reflection mornings take place at the school and are designed to nurture the Catholic faith in parents and carers as well as offering simple, effective tools to assist family faith sharing.

The ‘Walking the Way’ program supports parents by encouraging them to learn from

each other and to empower them to walk with their children on their faith journey.

Families are encouraged to access the ‘Walking the Way’ website, http://walkingtheway. dbbcso.org/ where they can find family related resources, a calendar of reflection mornings and upcoming events.

All parents and carers are invited to join us for our inaugural Walking the Way retreat: Friday 27 October 2017. 9am – 4.00pm. A day of rest, reflection, joy and rejuvenation to be held in the beautiful grounds of St Joseph’s Retreat Centre, Kincumber.

Local Family Funeral Home chosen to become official members of World Kindness Australia!

• A Conversation in Kindness and Compassion • 50 Years Of Serving The Community.

Albert & Meyer Funeral Directors, a family run funeral home in Thornleigh, celebrates its 50th Anniversary in 2017 and has been chosen to become an official member of World Kindness Australia.

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lbert & Meyer is the first funeral home in the world to become members of this Global Movement.

“Everyone will suffer from grief, loss or trauma at some point in their lives. How we have personally chosen to grow from these experiences is to genuinely commit to creating a kinder world,” said Rebecca Pincott, Manager.

This is a first for the Funeral Industry and we encourage other members of the community to spread kindness and compassion, which can often be tested in

our most challenging times.

Experiencing the loss of a loved one or going through trauma can provide unique challenges as we struggle through the grieving process, and a touch of kindness can go a long way to help ease this pain.

One of the commitments the business has taken on is to meet the key performance indicators for World Kindness Australian membership. This commitment to the value of kindness is to volunteer at local community groups, nursing homes and charities in their personal time.

ALBERT & MEYER FUNERAL DIRECTORS

To commemorate this exciting partnership, an official signing ceremony and cocktail reception was held in July. At this event there was a panel discussion “A Conversation in Kindness”, including a Q&A addressing complex issues through living in a kinder world. Leaders within our community joined the General Secretary of the peak global body, The World Kindness Movement, Michael Lloyd-White, to discuss how we as a community can get behind the global campaign through expressions of kindness.

Rebecca Pincott

…serving the Diocese of Broken Bay since 1967 Rebecca Pincott Michael Bolton

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NEWS & ISSUES

Catholic Leaders meet with World Bible Societies

By Annie Carrett A world meeting of Bible Societies took place in Sydney in early July, hosted by Bible Society Australia.

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or the 200 plus delegates from 110 Societies, Manly NSW provided a picture-postcard backdrop to share strategies, successes and struggles, whilst working to build a blueprint for the worldwide Bible cause.

CEO of Bible Society Australia, Greg Clarke says that the work of the Bible Societies is the broadest mission imaginable.

“We are not a Church, but we work with all the Churches, and have a very clear focus on making

Bishop Richard Umbers

the Bible available to all people, in their language, or in whatever format they need.”

“It is important these days that we get ourselves on the radar so that people are aware that the Bible is what holds Christians together.

“Christ in His word holds the Church together.”

Working in over 200 countries, the Societies focus on two main areas of engagement and advocacy.

“Engagement is helping people to read the Bible,” says Mr Clarke.

“We have Bible reading programs and electronic programs where you can receive a daily Bible email from us, even Apps on your phone. There are all manner of ways of engaging with the Bible as well as selling Bibles to Churches and organisations.

“Then there is Bible Advocacy – acknowledging that people don’t necessarily know why they should open a Bible. In order to really understand the world you need to have engagement with yourself and the Bible. It has shaped who we are.”

Thursday 6 July was ‘Catholic Day’ and key leaders, Cardinal John Dew, Archbishop of

Cardinal John Dew

Wellington New Zealand; Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana, Apostolic Nuncio to Australia; Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Archbishop of Brisbane; Bishop David Walker, Bishop Emeritus of Broken Bay and Bishop Richard Umbers, Auxiliary Bishop Sydney Archdiocese addressed delegates specifically around building relationships that will open new ways of engagement with the Scriptures.

“We need to be a more Biblical Church,” said Archbishop Mark Coleridge. “It is clearer than ever

Rev Dr Chris Monaghan Cp Lecturer in Biblical studies and president, Yarra theological Union

that as a Church we cannot just put up a sign saying ‘business as usual’, we have to set out into new territory and do things in new ways – all of that with a view to becoming a Church that is more missionary at a time when we might be tempted to turn within.”

“To be a more missionary Church we must be a more synodal Church, as Pope Francis has made clear. And, to be a more synodal Church we have to be a more listening Church – a more contemplative Church, which means a more Biblical Church,

Dr Debra snoddy Lecturer in Biblical studies Catholic institute of sydney

Most Rev David L Walker Bishop emeritus of Broken Bay, aCBC Representative to the Catholic Biblical Federation

The Gospel of MaTThew: Journey inTo Discipleship Friday – Saturday 6 – 7 OctOber 2017 24

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NEWS & ISSUES listening to the word of God in Scripture in new ways.”

Bringing about a greater relationship to Scripture may see the forging of stronger partnerships with organisations like Bible Society Australia.

“We are committed to exploring new ways of working together,” says Archbishop Coleridge.

“I would like the collaboration in this country to move into a new phase, as we move to the Plenary Council and beyond. The practical question is how can we at this time, and on this journey, work together in new and more powerful ways?

“It would be great if they could accompany us, the Catholic Church in Australia, on our journey to our Plenary Council, and beyond, and help us listen to the Word of God in Scripture in new ways, bringing all their experience and resources to that journey as a companion on the way.”

Partnership is certainly a key word in the conference discussions.

“There are many practical ways for engagements between organisations such as Bible Society Australia and the Catholic Church in Australia,” says Bishop Richard Umbers.

“The Church is always reforming, and looking for new ways of engaging with the same

text. We are always deepening our understanding and building on 2000 years of reflection – and that reflection continues. In practice, it is how do we actually get people reading the Bible, reflecting upon it, and then following what the Holy Father is very concerned with – discernment. Obviously Scripture forms the soul of that discernment where God speaks with us.”

Amongst discussions of partnerships and the practicalities of bringing the Word to new people, the beauty of Scriptural engagement remained present.

When asked what passages held a special place, answers were as rich and varied as the Word itself.

“I think my favourite passage is just a few words from John, Chapter 15: “Remain in my love,” said Cardinal John Dew. “I used to see this as an invitation to remain in prayer, but I now see it as an invitation to be in God’s presence all the time. It’s a very simple few words, but for me a powerful invitation from the Lord to remain in ‘My love.’

“I also absolutely love the account of the Transfiguration, particularly in Luke’s Gospel, where they come down from the mountain, where it says that Jesus ‘resolutely set His face towards Jerusalem.’ Even though on the mountain they had been talking about what was happening in

AUDIO

Archbishop Mark Coleridge

Jerusalem, He had the courage to set His face and head towards Jerusalem. For me that speaks about when life is tough, or there are difficult things, (that is the road to Jerusalem). Just set you face and walk....or try to!”

Archbishop Mark Coleridge has many favourite passages.

“I took my Episcopal Motto from the famous passage towards the end of John’s Gospel: John 19:34. In Latin it reads Sanguis et Aqua – blood and water. It is taken from the passage where Jesus is dead on the Cross and one of the soldiers came up and pierced His side with a lance and immediately there flowed forth blood and water. The wound becomes a fountain. This looks back to the

VISION

great passage of Ezekiel Chapter 47, where the Prophet sees the stream of water coming from the side of the temple and it becomes a great river flowing down to the Dead Sea turning the desert into a garden, and the Dead Sea teems with life. Christ’s body on the Cross is the new temple – and from the side of that temple flows the stream that is not just water, but is blood and water, and it turns the desert of the cosmos, and the desert of death, into a garden. Take those two passages together and you get something at least of what I like most in Scripture.”

For Bishop Umbers, delightfully it is John 21:12-19; and “Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast!’”

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ACROSS OUR DIOCESE ce

ols Parent Conferen

12th Catholic Scho

St Paul’s Manly to host Parent Conference

A conference for

#futureready Preparing our Children for a Changing World

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roken Bay Catholic School Parents are proud to host the 12th Council of School Parents NSW/ACT Conference at St Paul’s Catholic College, Manly.

The Conference will be held from 8-10 September 2017 with the theme for the Conference #futureready Preparing our Children for a Changing World.

The Council of Catholic School Parents Conference brings together parents, carers and educators from across all 11 dioceses in NSW/ ACT for a weekend of networking, sharing and learning to engage parents in the faith development, learning and well-being of their children. It is an opportunity for parents from all our various school communities to build upon their skills to support their children and to further develop collaborative home-school relationships.

The Keynote speaker for the conference is Dr Lea Waters, who will run a Masterclass on the Friday night about Visible Wellbeing in Education. Dr Waters keynote talk on Saturday will be on Strength-based Parenting.

Saturday’s program also includes workshops on • Raising your Child in an Online World • What skills will our children need for the future workplace?

• A Parent’s guide to social and emotional learning • Using neuroscience to understand and connect with your child • Parenting resilient teens for a changing future • Mindfulness for a happier family A highlight of the Conference will be celebrating Mass with

FUTURE READY:

children for Preparing our rld CONFERENCE a changing wo

Bishop Peter A Comensoli at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel, opposite St Paul’s. The Conference dinner will follow Mass and be held at the historic St Patrick’s Estate, Manly, catered by the International College of Management.

Sunday’s program includes keynote speeches from Barbara Barker on Parent Engagement and why it Matters, and Dan Fleming on the Future Spirituality in our Families. Sunday workshop topics include Slowing down childhood, Personal Wellbeing and selfcare for parents and carers, and Setting your child up for success after school.

Running parallel to the Parent Conference on Saturday 9 September is a Kids Conference where students will have the opportunity to build their creativity, practice mindfulness and explore technological skills.

Workshops for kids include Fun and Games with Coding and Robotics, circus skills, magical music with Simon Hyland, Wellbeing through meditation, mindfulness, art and movement and Growth mindset for kids.

“The Conference is a wonderful opportunity for parents and caregivers throughout the 11 dioceses in NSW/ACT to

Proudly hosted by...

parents of primary

Broken Bay Parents Catholic School

Council of

Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT

s

ents, and educator

& secondary stud

7 8, 9 & 10 SEPT 201 , MANLY ST PAUL’S COLLEGE

Dr Lea WatersCentre, University of ology Keynote Preser nter: of Positive Psych International ent-Elect of the Founding Directo Waters is the Presid has been listed in the Melbourne. Dr and ology Association Positive Psych since 2009.

Who in the World Marquis Who’s 100 Women of Australia’s Top and is listed as one of was s Water Dr and Westpac Bank Financial Review ing, positive Influence by the on positive parent a world expert recognised as e organizations. positiv and education

e

Chair in Positiv Psychology University of Melbourne

s world Workshop Topic child in an online • Raising your the future • Parenting for for the whole family s • Mindfulness child up for succes • Setting your childhood • Slowing down cted to your child conne g Stayin • ers speak about For all information & workshops visit: rentcouncil.com www.brokenbaypa

Panel

? for our young people future-ready mean the 21st world, what are rapidly changing can globalised and the future? How “In an increasingly es and knowledge needed for ” century skills, aptitud children to be ‘fit for the future? e their parents prepar se Purpo Public ess, school Stewart-Weekes members of busin Moderator: Martin ed regard e highly students.

Panel will includ past / present y education & systems, tertiar

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come together to hear from wellrespected and highly accomplished researchers and leaders in education and parent engagement, share ideas and learn from others who share the same passion and interest in the wellbeing and academic life of children, and want to assist in making their schools the best they can be,” said Donna Falzon, Broken Bay Diocesan Parent Representative. “Broken Bay is proud to be hosting the conference this year and as with previous CCSP Conferences, those who attend will come away invigorated with ideas, new ways of thinking and feeling more connected with a community of families beyond their own schools.“ For more information about the conference and to register visit

http://www.brokenbayparentcouncil. com/2017-parent-conference.html

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CatholicCare’s Mary Mac’s Place in Woy Woy receives donation of $8000 from the Australian Filipino Association of the Central Coast Oh, What A Night! huge surprise was in The first clue that this was her acceptance speech And so the night continued, Astore for Kim McIntyre, going to be a little different (for the cheque, not the a marvellous night, an Central Coast Family Centre Manager, as she made her way up the lift at the Central Coast Leagues Club, where she had been invited to accept a very generous cheque on behalf of Mary Mac’s Place from the Australian Filipino Association of the Central Coast.

Being in the fortunate position of being asked to accept donations for Mary Mac’s Place on previous occasions, Kim was expecting a low key event, seated with other recipients and perhaps a light supper of tea and scones.

was the sign on the door as Kim stepped out of the lift, Coronation Ball 2017. The second clue, everyone was wearing a ball gown, third clue … tiaras!

crown) where she thanked the Filipino Association and explained how their donation would support the brilliant work of Mary Mac’s Place.

unexpected night, a night that will be remembered so fondly, with such joy, a glittering thread in the fabric that is CatholicCare Central Coast.

Feeling a little under dressed, but being the consummate professional, Kim made her way to the reception desk, where she was greeted with the reverence reserved for a Head of State! Kim was ushered to the VIP table, which was laid in a way that would rival any royal wedding.

Kim was made to feel so welcome; the Australian Filipino Association of the Central Coast went out of their way to show kindness, offer friendship and to make Kim feel included.

The three-course meal was magnificent, as was the amazing entertainment, which included traditional dance, serenades and ended with the crowning of the Charity Queen, Michelle O’Beirne.

Mary Mac’s is located in the St John the Baptist Parish in Woy Woy. Mary Mac’s supports people at risk of homelessness or who are homeless through a lunch time meal, companionship, laundry and shower facilities and access to food to take home. If you would like to make a donation please contact CatholicCare Central Coast on (02) 4356 2600 or

Kim received a thunderous round of applause after

centralcoastfamilycentre@dbb.org.au

FAMILY CENTRES: Central Coast • Naremburn • Waitara DISABILITY FUTURES: Central Coast • Northern Beaches • Northern Suburbs OUT OF HOME CARE: Foster Care • Therapeutic Group Care EARLY LEARNING AND CARE: Forestville • Lake Munmorah • Terrigal • Waitara • Woy Woy OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS CARE: Carlingford • Collaroy Plateau • Davidson • East Gosford • Forestville • Freshwater Lake Munmorah • Manly • Mona Vale • Narrabeen • Pymble • Waitara • West Pymble • Woy Woy BBN AUGUST 2017 HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY: Gosford • Hornsby • Manly • Mona Vale • Royal North Shore • Wahroonga (SAN) • Wyong

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ACROSS OUR DIOCESE

Youth Ministry on the right path at Chatswood

By Catherine Day

Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, Lord. Psalm 89:15

O

ne of the Diocese’s growing youth groups belongs to the Chatswood Parish. Acclaim Youth Ministry is a large group of post and school-aged youth coming together to celebrate faith and gather in fellowship. The group meets regularly to live and learn about our Catholic faith, acting in both deeds and words and enthusiastically sharing the gift of our faith with others.

For the last five years, Acclaim has grown in to a strong group that mentors and nurtures its members. Under the guidance of Adrian Brannan, who has been in the role of Pastoral Associate Youth Ministry for nearly five years, Acclaim seeks to engage with the wider community. And for the last five years, they have managed to successfully establish a strong youth group that does just that.

Adrian and his team of “true disciples”, which includes Teresa Uymatiao and Tiffany Chan, have worked hard to encourage new and old members to grow in faith; through music, social and spiritual ministry. Three parts of a whole, these different approaches to Acclaim’s ministry continually see not only a steady number of participants, but also strong bonds of friendships develop.

According to Adrian, it is the music ministry which sees a higher number of attendees. This part of

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the ministry plays an important role within the parish – they lead the congregation through worship at the weekly 5.30 Sunday Youth Mass. What is of significance is that the music team always has new members. The current members in leadership roles ensure that when a new musician comes along, they are mentored to take on responsibility. There is a pathway and expectation that a new member will step up and eventually be part of the leadership team.

The second part, and what Adrian calls “the glue that holds it together”, is the social ministry.

It is here friendships are formed.

For example, Teresa will have a meal with a new member within a fortnight of them joining the group. It is here birthdays are celebrated, sporting events are attended and successes are celebrated. The success of the group overall, is dependent on the level of engagement and the formation of relationships. While the social aspect is important, Adrian believes that what makes Acclaim different from other social groups, is the fundamental Christian teachings that allows the friendships to grow in Christ.

Lastly, the spiritual ministry is where everyone from the parish comes together. Once a month, on Sundays, members from the parish across different age groups, attend

Bible study. With participants such as Deacon Roberto Corpuz sharing their wisdom, the group has a high attendance rate.

Overall, the success of Acclaim comes from its leadership team.

When Adrian filled the role of Pastoral Associate Youth Ministry, he adopted a team of leaders who were hungry to make the youth group their own. For example, the Acclaim logo was designed by Tiffany and then taken to a graphic designer to create. They are a group of young adults who want to share their faith with others.

While Acclaim has been successful, Adrian has also been working hard with the neighbouring Catholic schools to create stronger and better engagement with school-aged youth. Chatswood Parish and its Catholic Schools, Mercy Catholic College and St Pius X, attracted one of the largest school/parish contingencies from the Diocese to World Youth Day in 2016.

Adrian, the parish and the schools also run ALPHA programs, retreats, and hold weekly chapel Masses in the schools.

Adrian does believe that they are making a positive impact. One only needs to look at this year’s Passion play. While the play was staged by Acclaim, a number of high school students participated; both through a desire to be involved and, more

importantly, though faith. Adrian has acknowledged that it has taken a lot of effort to work with the school youth, but over the last two years they have made great strides and this is something Adrian is very proud of.

As for the future, Adrian wants to see a pathway for young families to grow in the Church. He has a recurring emphasis to set up more and more activities for our Junior Acclaim (years 5, 6, 7 and 8). He believes an environment where the youth can see a pathway of fellowship that they can belong to throughout their schooling and long past, should be created. That they can graduate from ‘Acclaim Junior’ into our vibrant, popular and active Acclaim Young Adults group and hopefully eventually then into a Family Group of support as they mature to that phase of life with partners, families and children of their own. “We are seeing the first offspring of some of our original Acclaim members start to attend primary school, as time passes I would love to see these individuals benefit from the community of believers in the same way their parents did,” said Adrian.

Without a doubt, the ministry work from Chatswood parish is a genuine fellowship of sharing all in faith and through Christ’s love.

It offers a place for everyone to belong, and to be supported.

ACROSS OUR DIOCESE

Iftar dinners and the kindness of strangers

By Melissa Loughlin

During the month of June, staff and parishioners from the Diocese of Broken Bay attended Iftar dinners with Australian Muslim families. uring the holy season of Ramadan, Muslims fast during daylight hours and then break their fast with an Iftar dinner.

The dinners are arranged through the Affinity Intercultural Foundation, so the family knows who is coming. They open their homes to non-Muslim guests with representatives from local councils, government, public service, media and various faith and community groups.

This year was my first experience at an Iftar dinner and it was wonderful. It is a weird feeling to knock on a stranger’s door and be invited inside, along with other strangers, to share a meal. The hosts of the Iftar dinner I attended were Muhammed and Sevtap, and their two children, an 8-yearold son and 5-year-old daughter.

They are a Turkish family who only immigrated to Australia 18

months ago. They were so friendly and welcoming and the children were adorable. There were six guests for dinner, my colleague Carmen Smith, a lady from the Buddhist Council, another Turkish friend of the family and a food journalist and her father (originally from Hong Kong).

It was eclectic bunch, atheists, Buddhists, Muslims and Catholics all at the one dinner table! The conversations were easy and free-flowing, with everyone keen to know everyone else’s stories and backgrounds.

The food was amazing and there was no end to it! Plate after plate of delicious Turkish dishes, followed

by Gullac (a Turkish milk dessert served especially at Ramadan).

After dinner we retreated to the lounge for tea and nuts, then Turkish coffee and chocolates.

We were all given leftovers to take

home too! To say we were full would be an understatement! We were also given beautiful scarves, hand-made by Sevtap’s family. I felt like the flowers I had brought for the family were definitely not a fair exchange.

It was a wonderful experience to meet new friends, learn about other cultures and religions and share a meal. It’s amazing how much you find you have in common! I have to

admit, I was slightly nervous before knocking on the door (I was early and was the first one to arrive), but Sevtap and Muhammed made me feel so welcome, it was like visiting friends or family. I will definitely be going again next year!

If you would like to be involved in 2018, contact David Patterson in the Office for Evangelisation, Diocese of Broken Bay on email david.patterson@dbb.org.au

Help Religious Sisters - the unsung heroines in the Church!

T

hey smile, they heal, they teach, they comfort. Around the globe Catholic religious sisters quietly perform their dedicated and heroic service without remuneration and barely even noticed by the wider world. But in order to assist others, they themselves also need to be helped, for although they minister to so many, they themselves still need their daily bread and a roof over their heads.

Each year the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) supports over 11,000 religious sisters wherever the Church is poor or persecuted.

It is vital that the indispensable work of religious sisters in Christ’s Holy Catholic Church continues. Religious sisters are the unsung heroines in the Church. ACN is proud to assist the inspirational work carried out by religious sisters in some of the poorest, most dangerous places in the world.

A complimentary Vatican rosary blessed by Pope Francis will be sent to all those who can assist with a donation of $20.00 or more to support this cause and tick the box in the coupon below.

BBN

D

The Papal rosary designed by the Vatican Rosary makers will be sent out to all those who can assist this cause with a donation of $20.00 or more and tick this box

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AUGUST 2017

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2017

hoir Games Children’s C

ACROSS OUR DIOCESE

2017 Broken Bay Diocese Children’s Choir Games Imagine fifty-plus music ministers, excited, enthusiastic, ready to work as a single team, gathering on a Sunday afternoon, working tirelessly and cheerfully for four hours of workshops and rehearsals and performances.

I

magine them talking and laughing and learning from each other, learning new music and new skills: this is what the Broken Bay Diocese Children’s Choir Games is all about.

Singers from Year 2 to Year 12 from different parishes and schools within the Diocese of Broken Bay are invited to come and compete in the 2017 Children’s Choir Games at Ku-ring-gai Chase Catholic Parish on Sunday 17 September.

Singers will be grouped into three choirs who will rehearse together, learn new music and polish their choir skills. Then the three choirs will compete against each other in three categories: Action Songs, Spirituals, and Part-Singing.

Points will be awarded both by

our official adjudicators and by audience acclaim, and there will be prizes for the winning choir.

Registration will open from 12.30pm and rehearsals and workshops begin immediately after registration. The competition begins at 3pm, with families, friends and parishioners invited to come and add their enthusiastic support while the choirs compete and perform in the three categories, plus an impromptu Skills Challenge. Afternoon tea for everyone will follow.

This is a wonderful opportunity for young people to come together, to eat, talk, sing, work and compete in a friendly competition that celebrates the work that young musicians are doing in our parishes. It’s also a rare chance to

! g n i S d n a Come

Pa ris h -gai Ch as e Cath ol ic ho st ed by Ku -ri ng

rch, at st Patrick’s Chu asquith 17 september 2017

experience singing in a massed choir, to support and encourage each other, and to share music that inspires, excites and delights.

Enquiries and pre-registration: Ku-ring-gai Chase Catholic Parish Office parishkccp@dbb.org.au 9456 2450

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NEWS & ISSUES

Inspiring joy and love in the Catechist Ministry “And this is the job of the catechist: constantly to go forth to others out of love to bear witness and to talk about Jesus, to proclaim Jesus. This is important because the Lord does it; it is the Lord who impels us to go forth” Pope Francis

M

andy Carrigan is a volunteer Catechist Coordinator at Toukley-Lake Munmorah Parish on the Central Coast. She is a married mother of two children, both in Catholic schools, where Mandy volunteers. She is also a Teacher’s Aide by trade and cooks hamburgers a few hours a week at the local takeaway shop.

About 18 months ago, Michael Tebbutt, CCD Coordinator for the Central Coast, called Mandy and asked if she’d like to fill the role of Catechist Coordinator at the Toukley-Lake Munmorah Parish. After he explained what was involved, Mandy happily accepted the volunteer role (although the amount of work that was involved sounded like it should be a paid job!)

Fr Stephen Wayoyi called Mandy later and thanked her for taking on this important ministry. “I was thinking, hang on, what have I taken on here?” said Mandy. “But it’s all worked out beautifully because I love what I do, I love working with the volunteer catechists and I love being around them. I love feeling their joy and sharing their happy times, and helping them through their tough times.”

Mandy has learned very quickly on the job. She coordinates catechists in six State schools in the parish area. “It can be a little bit tricky to get a handle on who’s at what school in what class at what time, and have they got everything they need to do that,” said Mandy.

“We’re in six schools altogether and there are two schools that we

have approached that we would certainly like to start teaching Special Religious Education (SRE) in. So we just need a few more people to become catechists.”

“We can always use more people and if anyone ever feels like it’s their calling to come in and help out in a class or they just want to have a look at it and see what’s involved”, said Mandy. “Ring your local parish because it’s a beautiful ministry to be involved in. And you’re working with the youth, so you’ve got their energy, you’ve got their spirit, you’ve got their joy.”

When Mandy took on the ministry, some of the catechists were feeling a little tired and they hadn’t had anyone to listen to them for a while. Mandy listened to them, and heard that they were giving of themselves all the time.

“They were always just giving to these children and their families and I thought, you know what, these people need to be nurtured and uplifted,” said Mandy. “They need to be shown, not told, but shown how important they are. Not only in the lives of the children but in the lives of the schools and in their own lives and in the life of the parish.”

Mandy thought to herself, “Ok well I can’t wash their feet, it was coming into winter, but if I can’t nourish them that way spiritually, then I’ll feed them.” A friend of Mandy’s, who is a beautiful cook, said to her “Oh I can make some nice Thai pumpkin soup,” and she thought “that’s perfect”.

“It’s simple and easy. So I invited all the catechists personally, not

just through technology, and I ended up with quite a large table of 12, surprisingly enough, which was just a coincidence. And I had made this beautiful table with water and flowers and tablecloths and the beautiful pots of soup, had the crockery and cutlery and some lovely fresh bread to break. And we just enjoyed a simple meal. So we didn’t have a meeting, we actually didn’t talk about our formal ministry in any way, but we just had time to get to know each other.

And it was probably one of the best moments in my life because it made a difference to each of them.”

From that moment on, Mandy and her catechists have had a more positive attitude and joy with the ministry. “We’ve turned from being ‘this is so difficult’ and ‘I don’t have this and I don’t have that’ to ‘I had a really great time today’ and ‘I really loved my class today’ and ‘I really loved it when I walked to the local shops and there was a child there that knew me and introduced me to their parents’. So I think that that’s one of the main parts in this role is to nourish them, but keep their energy levels high. Keep them filled with joy. And keep them always wanting to go back.”

One of the catechists in Toukley-Lake Munmorah parish is Diane Healey. Diane loves her volunteer role and enjoys working with children. Diane spent 25

Mandy Carrigan

What is a Catechist?

• A catechist teaches the Catholic faith to Catholic students in public schools in the Diocese of Broken Bay • There are 1,000 trained catechists in Broken Bay, ministering to up to 21,000 Catholic students in 180 public schools • There are more Catholic students in public schools in the Diocese of Broken Bay than in the Catholic Schools System • Volunteers are always needed. If you can’t volunteer your time, please donate to the Charitable Works Fund Appeal this August, to help support our volunteer catechists in Broken Bay

years a teacher in a primary school, has four children and eight grandchildren. Diane and Mandy get along extremely well and have a great working relationship. “She inspires us all,” said Diane.

Please give generously to the CWF appeal this August

CatholiC DioCese of Broken Bay

Diane Healey and Mandy Carrigan BBN

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Want to learn more about your faith, theology and spirituality?

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• Seeks to inform and inspire educational leadership to be transformational and incarnational • Explores the synthesis between theory, cutting edge research and practical application to school contexts • Features insights into outstanding peer leadership practice with regard to Catholic Mission and identity • Offers the opportunity to engage with fellow leaders in education on the crucial topic of Catholic mission & identity Every participant will receive a free copy of Building Intentional Faith Communities by Rev Dr Gerald Arbuckle SM.

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